Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto

A/N: As you may have noticed I didn't wait to post this chapter like I said I would. This is due in part to my own impatience, but also I'm hoping if I get a few more chapters out there I will be able to get some more feedback.

Alternate Path

Chapter 2 - First fight and meeting

At that their teacher and squad leader finally spoke up, "Naruto do you ever think about anything other than ramen?"

"No, not really why? Should I?

Sighing in defeat their sensei responds, "No Naruto, nothing at all".

The loud group continues on oblivious to the pair of eyes that is watching them.

Kakashi once again looks up from his book sensing someone near them when several shuriken are suddenly shot from the nearby bushes. Kakashi dodges them with ease, but his students aren't as fast as him and end up with a few scratches.

Everyone then takes a defensive stance, around Tazuna, scanning their surroundingss, but they don't have to wait long for the next set of shuriken to come. Fortunately, this time everyone is able to block the attacks completely.

Since the element of surprise is gone the hidden man steps out from his hiding place. Now standing before team 7 (Kakashi's squad in case you didn't know) is a tall, black haired man, with a white mask covering the lower half of his face and carrying an overly large sword on his back. Said man speaks, "I am Zabuza Momichi, now you will all die".

Well I should be getting close now, now much longer' muses the dark haired teen as he nears his destination. As he recalls his last meeting with Orichimaru he thinks to himself, 'I still can't believe this sword is so important for me to bring back'.

flashback

With a malicious grin, Orichimaru explains the reasons for this mission to an unconvinced Sasuke, ""As you know Sasuke-kun, Itachi is a member of the Akutsi. So getting close to him will be very difficult by yourself. However, I have a certain subordinate who would be all too happy to assist you by defeating Itachi's partner, Kasumi. All he requires in return is a sword from one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist."

With one eyebrow raised the youngest Uchiha asks, "Why the sudden interest in my revenge? All you ever did before was teach me a few techniques".

At this Orichimaru responds with a hiss, "You could say I have a vested interest in not allowing the Akutsi's ambitions to be realized".

end flashback

Sensing several different chakras ahead he is broken away from his thoughts. Quickly he realizes that they are fighting, and so thinking it must be Zabuza and the group Leaf he sprints off in the direction his senses tell him to.

Reaching his destination he quickly hides himself to observe the situation. He sees two copies of the man known as Zabuza. One is fighting a group of three that seems to be around his age, and the other has encased a familiar looking ninja in a sphere of water.

The group of three consisted of a blonde wearing all too bright colors, a girl with solid white eyes (these two were facing the Zabuza double head on) and a pink haired girl in a defensive stance next to Tazuna. Seeing as Zabuza has the upper hand in this fight Sasuke decides to intervene 'Damn, I was hoping to just sit in the shadows for this mission.'

Sasuke speeds away from his hiding spot, delivering a hard kick into Zabuza's midsection that instantly stops the man's mocking of the 'kids' in front of him as he stumbles back. "What the hell" is the only reaction from a stunned Zabuza.

Not one to give the enemy time to respond, Sasuke launches into another attack on the stunned assassin who only narrowly dodges a few kicks and punches from the teen. Finally beginning to recompose himself this Zabuza is able to knock Sasuke to the ground only to realize that was just a distraction. He turns around just in time to see his other self forced to break its hold on Kakashi in order to block the windmill shuriken (is that what it's called?) from taking off his right arm.

Deciding that he could find out who this new kid was after Zabuza had been dealt with, the now free Kakashi lifts his head band to reveal the sharingan and proceeds to attack Zabuza.

When the second Zabuza turns around, the one who wasn't holding Kakashi, Naruto and Hinata realize he has left himself open to attack. Naruto charges up his Rasengan and charges forward delivering the powerful jutsu into the back of the clone that makes it instantly dissappear with a "POP".

Seeing as Zabuza will soon be defeated, Sasuke decides act hurt from the counterattack he received and simply watches the battle between Kakashi and Zabuza. He watches as Zabuza performs a series of hand signs that are copied by the other ninja. It is then that he realizes why the man with silver hair looked familiar. 'That is Kakashi, the one who taught me the basics behind the chidori'. With that he smirks to himself,'Heh...the small ball of electricity I was able to hold for just a couple of seconds all those years ago is a far cry from what I can do with it now'.

Sasuke's thoughts are interrupted when, with one final jutsu, Zabuza is slammed into a nearby tree. Ready to go in for the kill Kakashi is stopped when several darts suddenly strike Zabuza's body.

Everyone looks up to see a masked ninja who explains that he is a hunter nin sent to kill and retrieve Zabuza's body. The masked ninja drops down from the tree he was standing on and starts to drag the assassin's body away.

As the group of ninja watch the pair head off into the distance they remember the teenager who is still on the ground holding his side. They turn and finally get their first good look at him. Their mental reactions are:

'It's definitely weird that someone his age would be out here by himself, but who cares he is gorgeous!' Sakura

'He is so pale, and why is he out here and alone?' Hinata

'Heh, he looks like a teme to me.' Naruto

'That was some surprise attack kid. Still I can't believe you were effected so much by a simple counter attack' Kakashi

"Hm...you know it is impolite to stair." remarked a slightly irritated Uchiha.

Kakashi is the first to speak, "Thanks for your help...er?"

"Sasuke" was all he replied.

"Right..well Sasuke thanks for your help, but why are you here?" inquired Kakashi.

Now reciting the excuse he was told to give, "I'm a genin from Sound. I was sent here because my village has a contract to kill a crime lord called Gato. I was told he had been targeting a bridge builder named Tazuna, so I hoped that by getting close to Tazuna I would be able to find Gato."

As he finished his little lie he noticed that Kakashi seemed to accept his story. "Very well. We are ninja from Konoha. I am Kakashi, that boy over there is Naruto, the girl next to him is Hinata, and the girl standing next to Tazuna is Sakura. Our mission is to protect Tazuna, and while our missions may not be exactly the same they are indirectly related we could benefit from each other's help. Your only lead is that Gato is targeting Tazuna right? So staying close to him would be a priority. You are welcome to tag along with us for a while if you would like."

Not at all convinced that Zabuza is dead, and still needing to complete another task to fulfill the mission requirements he decides to accept Kakashi's offer.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who has read so far. Stick with me and I'm sure I'll get better. Now to clear some things up.

-Probably in a week or so though, I plan on going to a more set schedule. I'm thinking Tuesday/Friday updates, or maybe just on Fridays. Depends on school and work I guess.

-During the eight year time skip, Naruto and Sakura have trained with both Jiraiya and Tsunade respectively. Though perhaps not to the extent they have in the manga. Basically Naruto is about as powerful as he was when he confronted Sasuke at Orichimarus lair, and Sakura is a talented medical nin. They are both chunnin level in ability, just not in rank.

-I'm not exactly sure how strong Zabuza really is in the actual story but he did seem pretty weak compared to others with his title. So I made him strong enough to cause problems for Kakashi's squad.

-Kakashi's offer probably wasn't too realistic, but it served my purposes.

-From a writers stand point, I think this is my best chapter so far. I went back over the Prologue and chapter one and realized that some events weren't connected together very well, so I tried to improve my transitions in this chapter. I also tried to give more details about the characters and their actions. I know I still need to improve though.

-Only 1 review so far, but it helped a lot. Originally my only justification for sending Sasuke on this mission was to retrieve Zabuza's sword to give to Suigetsu. I now know that wasn't enough of a reason to justify the risk, so I have added another development that I hope will suffice. You all should find out within the next two chapters.

-I'm not sure when the next chapter will be up. Hopefully soon, but I want to get a rough outline of my next few chapters before I start writing the next one.