Here is the new chapter, this part is kinda complicated because I wanted to present some fresh stuff to this arc without exceding in the way gennins fight agains enemies clearly stronger (Zabuza, Haku) and not making them appear too strong. As such I present you this update on the Wave Country Arc
As usual I thank Hikari no Okami for being the beta of this story.
This time our beautiful Beta has honored us with a note at the end of the chapter, please be sure to read it. No more to say, enjoy.
To be a Ninja
The gigantic sword vibrated as it traveled through the air. We all managed to duck just in time; one second later and it would have cut something more than a few strands of my long hair. The sword finally stopped as it chopped itself into a large tree. When I rose my sight there was a man standing on the grip of the sword horizontally embedded in the tree. If this was the same man that had thrown the sword then his speed was far more than anything we had encountered before.
"Damn I was expecting something bad, yet, this…" cursed Anko-sensei and her voice died in middle of her phrase
"I'm actually surprised the demon brothers were defeated by a bunch of kids leaded by a nobody-Kunoichi"
"You're Momochi Zabuza aren't you?!" demanded Anko-sensei "The so called Mist Demon, a missing-nin from the Mist Village"
I guess I better prepare to see mist then… I sighed as a shiver ran through my spine at the sole remembrance of my nightmares
"I see you at least know that much about me" the man turned around still standing on the sword.
He was using warmers on both legs and arms, they had a military camouflage design; he wore simple strapped pants and his headband was placed in a diagonal line from his left side of the head, his muscular chest was bare. His face was the scariest thing I had seen so far: Small, dark eyes, fixed on us like a cobra's on its prey, his eyebrows were so small and close to his eyes that seemed as if he didn't had any at all, and his expression was extremely cold, so much it was disturbing. The lower part of the face was covered with bandages.
"I have to kill the old man, but I don't hold a grudge against any of you. If you surrender now and beg me, I'll may consider giving you a quick death instead of a slow torturous one"
"What did you sai-!" Naruto-kun was ready to charge against this new enemy but Anko-sensei stopped him placing a hand in front of him
"Guys" Sensei's voice was serious, something wasn't right "do not fight him, stay back and protect Tazuna-san. This one is on a whole different level" Naruto-kun and Midori-sempai placed them around Tazuna-san and I had to hurry up to catch up to their defense formation
"Fine…" said the missing-nin crouching on his sword to take the grip "…let's end the talking and finish this" kicking the tree he both liberated the sword and gave himself enough impulse to reach a nearby pond and submerge into it…but instantly he came out, STANDING ON THE SURFACE OF THE WATER!
"Ninpou, Hidden Mist no Jutsu" he said and just a second later he had disappeared and a thick mist covered all the place
"Shit! Where is he?" cursed Naruto-kun taking out his sword
"Watch it, the mist is getting heavier!" announced Midori-sempai
"Liver…" the body-less voice of Zabuza reached us from everywhere, making a drop of cold sweat run all my back …"lungs, clavicle vein, jugular, brain, kidneys, heart…8 possible targets in an assassination…which one should I target?"
"Fuck!" cursed Anko-sensei under her voice, yet I managed to hear her "Keep your eyes opened, he's got the advantage in this mist" her tone was clear, even for her this would be a hard fight.
"Then I say we strip him from his advantage!" Midori-sempai started to concentrate a large amount of chakra and suddenly released it "Dispel!" the mist suddenly disappeared, but the pressing sensation created by the energies of Zabuza, Anko-sensei, and Midori-sempai was overwhelming, just like the feeling before you do something dangerous, like standing before a wild animal or on the edge of a tall cliff, it was so heavy I even began trembling
"Focus Hinata!" scolded me Midori-sempai "Get a hold of yourself, we can't allow us to make mistakes right now"
"Don't worry Hina-chan" reassured Naruto-kun with a small voice "Together we can get through this" apparently I wasn't the only having a hard time
"Don't they look cute? Scared of a little skirmish?" Zabuza's voice came from behind me, in the middle of us, in front of Tazuna-san, how did he manage to get this close without being noticed?! Was it speed? Stealth? Maybe he just had both "It's over" he finished as we were barely turning around. I could see he had a tight grip on his sword, ready to strike us down
But a second later Anko-sensei appeared in front of him, a kunai blade in each hand, in a fraction of a second she had moved to us and slashed Zabuza in a perfect vertical line, right in the middle of his body. However, instead of blood his body released water, it was a water clone
"Foolish" out of sensei's own shadow Zabuza appeared once more, his large sword already swinging against her.
"Sensei! Behind you!" warned Naruto-kun, and I feared it was already too late…
But with a surprisingly quick reaction speed Anko-sensei parried the attack with one of her kunai and stabbed Zabuza's neck with the other one
"A water clone is too weak to defeat me" she claimed with a smirk, as the second Zabuza exploded into liquid
"So I see…" once more Zabuza managed to appear behind sensei, even with most of his mist dispersed he was extremely capable of hiding his presence and sending a mortal attack, by this moment I noticed we had moved back giving room for the Jounin to fight "…I'm not stupid, so this time it's the real deal" this time Anko sensei was in a difficult position to stop the attack and make a riposte of her own, and as the sword of the mist nin zoomed closer to her I could hear myself pray in my head for her safety…and just a second before the blade reached her she dropped to the ground, letting the horizontal swing pass her by.
However using the kinetic energy of his swing Zabuza let the sword hit the ground using the inertia as he changed his grip on the sword to twist his body with the movement and kick Anko-sensei from the ground, sending her flying to the water body nearby
"He's strong!" recognized Midori-sempai and I had to agree his taijutsu was as good as his kenjutsu, which was terrifying
Anko-sensei appeared on the surface of the water a second later, but Zabuza had already rushed towards her
"The water, feels weird" cursed Anko-sensei traying to get out of the water, but it was too late, for Zabuza had already reached her and marked a quick succession of seals
"Water Prison no Jutsu" the water around sensei moved to lock her in a large sphere of water
"He's got her!" informed Midori-sempai
"I'll finish with you later" said Zabuza "but I need to kill that old man first" he performed a one handed seal, as his other hand was used to hold the prison in place "Water Clone no Jutsu"
A second Zabuza appeared in front of us
"Sunshine!" called Anko-sensei "Run away! Protect Tazuna!" we three raised our guard
"Look at you…" said Zabuza in a entertained tone "playing Ninja, feeling important and wearing those headbands, pfff, you're just a bunch of brats, you know nothing of being ninja, a ninja is someone that has fought and defeated death, delivering it instead to his enemies. But you? What could you kids possibly know about death? You are nothing, less than maggots, not even your sensei was good enough, she isn't even in the bingo book, how could she expected to defeat me?"
"Bingo book?" questioned Naruto-kun
"It's some kind of list about the most powerful ninja there is, each village gather information on the others to expand the information of their bingo books. It contains data on regular and renegade ninja, only the most worthy ninja appear in the bingo book or posses one" explained Midori-sempai
"You three, or rather four…" he paid a glance to the trapped Anko-sensei "are a thousand years away from being in the bingo book"
"…'A thousand years'…" repeated angrily Naruto-kun, and I recalled how that was the very same sentence Sasuke-san had said to him last time
"When I was your age…" continued Zabuza, and I thought how come a ninja with his mouth covered could be this talkative "…my hands were already tainted with a hundred deaths"
"What?!" Naruto-kun found it hard to believe. I couldn't talk, but I raised my defense a little higher to my face, my fingers almost touching my lips
"What are you talking about?" questioned Midori-sempai
"About that…" began explaining Anko-sensei "in the Hidden Mist Village there was a terrible Gennin exam, that gave it the nickname of Blood Mist Village"
"Surprisingly you know about that exam" praised Zabuza
"Wh-wh-what was that exam?" I asked
"They paired all the candidates to graduation…and made them fight to the death" she continued with a grim voice, our silence denoted we were shocked to our very core.
A fight…until one of the participants…died?
"Imagine that…" continued Zabuza almost amused "classmates that had lived together, shared meals, and had the same ambitions and dreams, forced to kill each other"
Kill each other?! That was monstrous! What…what would have happened if Konoha had that test too? Would I have had to kill Oshikuru?...and… I turned to see Naruto-kun would Sasuke had murdered Naruto-kun? What about all the others kids we had taken class with?
"However 10 years ago, the village was forced to change that test" resumed Anko-sensei pulling me out of my thoughts
"Oh! You even know about that" acknowledged Zabuza
"Why? What happened?" asked Midori-sempai
"10 years ago…a kid that wasn't even a ninja assassinated all the students" she answered
I could feel my small breakfast warningly high on my throat, but I managed to keep it in
"That was fun" said Zabuza with his sight lost, as if he was remembering something, and suddenly it sank into all us…Zabuza was the one who had killed all the other kids!
"If you understand it then run away!" commanded Anko-sensei "Protecting Tazuna is our mission! And nothing is more important than that"
"As if I would allow that!" suddenly the clone rushed forward towards the one in front of our formation. That was Naruto-kun, he hit him with his knee on the face, sending him prone several yards away, next to where I was. The hit had been so strong that his headband had left his head because of it
"Naruto-kun!" I ran to his side, and what I saw scared me direly. He was afraid, he wasn't even looking at me, he was looking at Zabuza and even if he wasn't trembling his eyes were, wide open. He was terrified, seemed like he was just about to run away. That was when he turned to see me, with my left hand half stretched towards him. And just like that his eyes changed. Without saying a word he stood up. And charged directly at Zabuza
"Naruto-kun! Don't!" "Sunshine!" the three of us tried to stop him…and the result was obvious. Zabuza kicked him as soon as he had been within his reach and sent him back to me.
"Kid, are you stupid?" demanded Tazuna-san
"Naruto-kun! W-why did you do that?!" I demanded worried…then I noticed that tainted by the blood dripping from his mouth, griped with determination in his hand, there rested his headband.
Midori-sempai who has about to say something too closed her mouth.
Naruto-kun stood up and talked clearly "I've swore I to become stronger" he said with his head slightly down "I've swore to protect her, and because of that, I'll never run away!"
He tied the headband firmly around his golden hair, and used the wrist of his jacket to clean the blood from his mouth and raised his head, to look directly at Zabuza "Make sure to write this down in your bingo book, eyebrowless freak! 'The ninja that will become Hokage, Hidden Leaf Village's Uzumaki Naruto, definitely is strong'!"
In my mind I screamed excited, but my lips barely managed to allow a proud "Naruto-kun" to escape. Vaguely, I thanked that I was the only girl our age that had seen that, or more girls would have fallen for him
"Don't be foolish!" scolded us Anko-sensei "this fight is over, we lost, he got me, now go away, he can't move as long as he keeps me here, and the water clone won't be able to follow you too far"
"I'm sorry sensei" said Naruto-kun
"He's right; we won't leave our sensei behind" added Midori-sempai "I'll protect Tazuna-san from Zabuza, you guys, don't worry about us"
"You hear that Hina-chan?" Naruto-kun's head turned to see me, his body still facing Zabuza "are you with me?"
"Always" I replied with a little smile, feeling my determination completely refreshed by his words
"Fools" said Zabuza with a bored tone, even if I was watching how he came at me, my body couldn't catch up. In a split second his foot landed on my chest forcing me on my back, I could feel how my head hit the cold, humid ground an instant before my body followed up with such momentum and it even bounced off the ground. I was watching the clouds and I couldn't even defend myself, I could feel my determination wash away again slowly, my heart pacing up as a dark shadow appeared above me, Zabuza had followed my movement and he was going to continue attacking me.
He raised a fist to the sky and pushed it with force towards my body, sending it into the ground again. I could feel my organs being ripped by the punch, and I thanked it landed my belly and not a little bit higher or it would have broken my ribs. Nevertheless I vomited a little fountain of blood; the feeling was horrible, so painful, so much, I could feel tears forming in my eyes from the unbearable pain.
Zabuza raised his fist once more, and I wanted to scream but I knew his speed wouldn't even allow me that, and just when his fist was moving towards me once more, suddenly everything dyed orange around me, and I felt a pair of solid arms picking me up from the ground.
He had come to my rescue; I threw my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer to him, suddenly feeling secure once more
"I got you Hina-chan" he said into my ear as the orange dye slowly faded off.
"Naruto-kun!" I hugged myself closer to him before he would let me down
"I told you I'd protect her, and I'll make sure you pay for this!!!" he lowered his arms and I placed my feet on the ground, the boy marked a single seal "KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUSTSU!"
Two dozen Naruto-kuns appeared around Zabuza, all of them with their swords up, facing the Jounin who also moved a hand towards his own sword
"Hmmm, Kage Bunshins, and in large quantity" recognized Zabuza, suddenly looking serious about this fight
"CHARGE!" all of the Naruto-kuns moved forward, sword first, to Zabuza, attacking him from all directions. At first Zabuza stopped two or three attacks, but he was suddenly outnumbered and forced bellow the mountain of blonds that fall upon him.
Just a second passed and the commotion quieted down when the mass of clones were suddenly propelled away from the inside, a gigantic blade cutting them or pushing them aside, more or less a dozen were destroyed instantly and the other ones were rapidly disappearing too, until only one remained.
"Found you" Zabuza's pleased voice scared me, but seeing him move toward Naruto-kun with his huge blade in hand scared me even more! Yet, Naruto-kun thought fast and threw his ninja weapon pouch at him, and the enemy reflexively slashed it into with his sword…apparently the blue eyed was counting on that, because the pouch exploded, sending several items all around. Naruto-kun had placed an exploding note inside that pouch to stop Zabuza's approach, and it had worked pretty nicely.
I noticed how a little red weave container landed in front of me; it was a holder for senbon needles, I wondered why Naruto-kun was carring those with him, he wasn't that good with them.
Almost as a reaction I reached to pick them up, and then I felt the chakra coming from the needles…what was he trying to tell me?
"Midori-sempai" I called to the other girl "please lend me you senbon needles" my voice sounded more stable than it usually did, almost as if I had a plan, and then again, maybe I did; although I was sure this was somehow his plan
Midori-sempai threw her holder to me and I placed both of them on my legs, each holder on one of them, and grabbed a handfull
"BYAKUGAN!" I cried concentrating my chakra and suddenly all around me was more defined
I won't run away, I won't remain weak! I'll prove I'm strong, in front of him; I'm going to prove my worth! I'll show them that I'm fit to be a ninja of Konoha!
Tohru's Note: That's all for the chapter, please R&R
Okami's note: Ok, that's the chapter & you know the drill bout checking out my mistakes. This time I want to use this note to point out some details bout the fic. More precisely about Midori.
I know she seems like a Mary Sue, I mean, clan's attacks, all kind of jutsus, even this chapter with Zabuza's mist... but come on people! Tohru's given you some BIG BIG hints that she isn't what she seems to. Believe me, there IS a reason and you may or may not like it, but there IS a reason. It'll be explained so cope with the gal for one more arc (OK, that was too much info...hope the author doesn't censure that) [I'll allow it just this once]
Really guys, if you like the idea of the story and are up for some weird surprises don't let something like that dim the interest.
ooo
And yes, you can send warnings, death curses, bombs, jutsus and stuff for the beta who's mendling too much.
Enough note. Ja ne