Disclaimer: Jeeze these disclaimer things are a pain...Well, if you don't get it yet, I own nothing.
Last time: Gohan beats the crap out of Zabuza and Kakashi and Gohan try to explain the difference between ki and chakra.
This time: Training and the battle gets ready to begin anew.
Okay, one quick thing before the start of the chapter, it has been suggested that I pair up Gohan with one of the kunoichi like Ino or Tenten. Personally, I lean towards Tenten. Let me know if you would like a GohanTenten, GohanSome other kunoichi or no pairing at all.
Gohan awoke and noticed that it was still dark outside. He tried uselessly to fall back to sleep for close to half an hour before realizing that it was useless.
'Great. Up before the sun is. I hate getting up early,' he groaned to himself before grabbing his capsule case and heading for the door, deciding that he might as well train if he was going to be up this early. He arrived in the clearing that the five warriors had been talking at yesterday (or was it still today?) and pulled out the capsule with his cape in it.
He pulled the white garment on and shrugged a little. The thing felt a little light for him. Gohan would have to up the weight sooner or later. Maybe Konoha had a weight shop he could look at. If he got money to by some weights with that is. The young saiyan stretched out and began to run through some basic exercises as a warm-up. It didn't take long before he was bouncing all over the clearing, nothing more than a blur, locked in combat with enemies only he could see.
Kakashi was the next to wake up, though much later than Gohan had. The sun was bathing the room in a gentle golden light. Then he noticed that Gohan's sleeping bag was empty.
'Odd. Where'd he go? I thought teenagers liked to sleep in.' Still pondering the mystery, he entered the modest kitchen that seemed to double as a kitchen and family room for the less than rich Tazuna household. The lanky jounin was surprised to see Tsunami was up as well, getting breakfast ready for her guests.
"You know you don't have to do that," he said, startling the young woman, who clearly had not heard his entry.
"Oh! Kakashi-san! You scared me!" She exclaimed, one hand over her heart. "It's okay though, I don't mind cooking for you."
"I wasn't talking about that," Hatake answered. He swept one hand around the room, indicating the bare pantries and cabinets. "I meant that you have so little. It would be rude for us to eat you out of house and home when you have barely enough for yourselves, much less three growing teens."
Tsunami shook her head forcefully. "I don't mind," she repeated, "really I don't. It may be rude to eat up our food, but it would be even more shameful for me to allow you a room without any meals!" Kakashi could see that the young woman was adamant about this and there would be no use in further pressing the argument.
"Suit yourself," he answered with a shrug. "I'm gonna go and see if I can't find Gohan."
"Is he missing?"
"Hardly. I can feel his presence on the other side of the village. I just want to make sure that he's okay. When the other three decide to get up, tell them to come to the clearing where we were at yesterday. They'll know where to go." He left and Tsunami busied herself with the kettle that sat on the meager wood-burning stove.
When the jounin found him, Gohan was floating some ways up, locked in a sparring match with no one. Kakashi was amazed at the boy's abilities. He was even faster than he'd let on during his battle with, no, more like pounding, of Zabuza. The young saiyan was punching faster than anyone Kakashi had ever seen, excluding Arashi-sensei of course. The jounin just couldn't bring himself to admit that the Yondaime Hokage was human. Something about that blond haired man had seemed so…godlike. He'd always given off an aura of being able to handle any situation and defeat any foe. It had been that presence that had kept many a shinobi from fleeing when the Kyuubi had come to decimate the village.
Finally, Gohan's furious movements slowed to the point of being visible, then stopped all together. Sweat soaked the boy's face and gi. Kakashi made a mental note to chuck him into the ocean if he didn't jump in himself. No way would the jounin have a member of his team reeking like a hippo on a humid day.
Gohan was exhausted. He'd been going nonstop since he'd woken up and he was beat! Now would be the time to go back and get breakfast, take a dip in the ocean to get this stench off of him, and then see what Kakashi had planned for the group that day.
"Very impressive." Speak of the devil, there was Kakashi now. "No wonder you were able to go toe-to-toe with Zabuza. How'd you get so fast?"
Gohan grinned. "Piccolo-sensei wasn't exactly gentle when he was training me. Dad didn't take it easy on me either."
"Really? So you've been trained by two people?"
"Yeah. And there's nothing like it, lemme tell you. Both of them didn't hold back or pull any punches." The kid stripped off his cape and tossed it out to the side. Kakashi's hidden jaw dropped when the clothing made the ground crack just from hitting. Man, if Gai got his hands on this kid…Kakashi didn't even want to think about it. Still, maybe Gohan would be able to give that little protégé of his a run for his money. Maybe Team Seven would have to 'bump into' Team Gai during a training session. The scarecrow grinned a little impishly.
Gohan pulled out a little pill-looking thing and hit something on one end before tossing it at the cape. It hit and there was a small explosion and when the smoke cleared, the cape was nowhere to be found, the only evidence of it being there was the abused ground where the heavy thing had landed.
"What is that?" Kakashi asked as the young saiyan picked up the pill. He held it out to Hatake who took it and turned it around in his hand. It was rather plain, just white with a red band running around the middle and a number on it. It didn't look like anything special, nor was there evidence of a heavy cape hidden inside.
"Their called Dynacaps or just Capsules. A friend of mine invented them. You can hold just about anything in them, from some clothes to a whole reservoir, if you really wanted the water. Most people put houses or something inside of them and then go camping."
Kakashi whistled gently, hardly believing what this kid was telling him, even if he'd seen it with his own one eye. "I assume that little tray thing has more?"
"Yep."
"What do you have in there?"
"Um…" Gohan pulled out the tray and began looking at the capsules, comparing the numbers with a little card at the top, which told him what was in each capsule. "I've got my training gear, a fully stocked refrigerator, some books to read in my spare time, and…one empty one."
"Could you put people inside of one?" Kakashi hoped he sounded nonchalant about it. Wouldn't it be nice? Whenever his team needed a time out, just shove 'em in a capsule!
"Nope." Damn, so much for that idea. "My little brother Goten got mad at me one time and tried to do that to me. It didn't work, which just made him even angrier." Gohan smiled at the memory, remembering how his mom had yelled at Goten for trying to stuff Gohan in a capsule and for disturbing his big brother's studies. The younger half-saiyan hadn't been able to sit down without flinching for close to a week.
"Kakashi." Sasuke's voice cut off the conversation the two seasoned warriors were having. They turned around and saw the other three members of their little team standing behind them. "We're here. Now what did you want?" Gohan thought that Sasuke sounded a little too demanding to be talking to a superior that way, but somehow the saiyan didn't think that Kakashi would care too much.
"We're gonna do some training today, Sasuke." Kakashi replied, seemingly ignoring the raven-haired Uchiha's rudeness, flipping the capsule back to Gohan, who caught it and put it away.
"So what's this training we're gonna be doing, Sensei?" Sakura asked. Kakashi scratched his mask, making a show of thinking about it.
"Well, I thought we'd do something fun today." Gohan noted how all of the genin seemed to shudder at that phrase. The young half-saiyan couldn't help but wonder why. Kakashi couldn't be nearly as demanding as Piccolo had been…Right?
Hatake threw a hand out behind him, as if he was a game show host unveiling the grand prize. "We're going to do a little tree climbing." One Son Gohan couldn't help but notice that the three genin's reactions were a little underwhelming.
"Could…you repeat that?" Sakura deadpanned, unsure if she'd heard Kakashi-sensei right. Did he seriously want them to climb trees?
"How is tree climbing training?" Naruto asked, voicing the thoughts of everyone there.
"Oh!" Kakashi sounded as if he'd remembered just why it was training, but none of the teens in the group believed that for a second. "You seem to be thinking that you'll be allowed to use your hands for this training! Sorry, I guess I forgot to mention that little fact. No hands allowed."
"Uh…No hands?" Naruto asked with a squint face. "Then how the hell are we supposed to climb the tree?" The other two nodded with his assessment.
"You use chakra. Shinobi generally regard the feet as the hardest place to channel chakra, even more so since the feet are usually covered by sandals. Thus it is that much harder because you have to force chakra through the rubber. Of course, it varies from person to person, but I guarantee that all three of you will fall at least once." With that, the masked jounin faced the tree behind him and proceeded to walk straight at it. When he got to it, Kakashi just kept walking, straight up the ancient giant, never once breaking stride, and finally reached the lowest branch, some ninety feet over their heads. The four teens gaped at the ease at which their leader had done it.
"Trust me," he called down to them, "this isn't as easy as I make it look. One the plus side, though, when you're done with this and get all the way to the top, your chakra control will be much better and you'll be that much stronger!" Then he dropped three kunai down to the shinobi members of the group and they got to work.
"Kakashi-san, what about me?" Gohan asked as the jounin dropped from his perch above and landed smoothly beside the Z fighter.
"What about you?" He asked in return as he straightened up.
"Well, it doesn't seem fair for them to be training and me just doing nothing." Kakashi looked thoughtful for a moment before he gave Gohan an eye-smile.
"Well, when their done with the training, the three of them are going to go and help Tazuna out at the bridge. I've noticed that he's always a little shorthanded. Why don't you and I go there?"
"But-,"
"If you're worried about those three, don't be. Sasuke and Naruto are both too stubborn to let someone dote on them all the time, and Sakura will be just fine as long as those two are here." The lanky man began to walk off, signaling a close to the conversation and Gohan had to scamper to keep up.
Elsewhere in the Wave Country, not too far from where Team Seven was busy training, there was a conical hut, suspended between some trees by thick ropes of some kind, and had narrow prison-like windows cut into the exterior.
This was the hideout for Momochi Zabuza.
The Demon of the Mist himself, though, was busy sleeping under the watchful eye of his feminine-looking companion, Haku. The boy had removed his mask, revealing his long hair, which he kept tied up in a traditional bun, though the former hunter-nin had untied it and allowed his hair to spill down his back in a brown waterfall. As for Haku, he too appeared to be asleep, but ask any shinobi who'd been around the block a few times and they'd tell you that Haku wasn't sleeping. What he was doing was more of watching with your eyes closed, using every sense, from hearing to touch, to get a feel for his surroundings.
It was proven true when the double oak doors to the bedroom opened. Though the well-oiled hinges made no sound, Haku's brown eyes flew open in an instant, his left hand, the one away from the door and out of the intruder's line of sight, flashed into a hidden pouch, grabbing some senbon needles. Now the hand withdrew, sliding the thin weapons out of the holster without a sound. Zabuza also woke up, seemingly in a coincidence, but the timing was too good for that. He'd woken up with enough time to throw a kunai, should the need arise, and with this man, that just might be necessary.
"Well, well, well," the new arrival's voice grated on Zabuza's nerves even more than the thought of the brat who'd kicked his ass. Gatou was a short little bastard, complete with pinstriped suit, walking stick, glasses, and hired guns. The Mist-nin conveniently forgot that, right now, he was one of those hired guns. "Never thought I'd see the day when the 'great demon' Zabuza got his ass handed to him by a friggin' kid!"
"How'd you know about that?" Zabuza asked, knowing that Haku would've withheld that information in his report.
The businessman laughed, waving his cane, "I got eyes in all the right places."
"There wasn't anyone else at that lake, bastard." The disabled shinobi ground out. "I would've sensed them if there was."
Now Gatou laughed outright. "Whoever said that my eyes were living? Ever hear of cameras? Sheesh. You damn shinobi never really give a crap about technology do you? Always thinking those weird justu of yours will get the job done," the tiny man held up his hands in a helpless gesture as he spoke before leveling his walking stick at Zabuza. "When will ya learn that the ultimate weapon is money!? Look, thanks to money, I can afford people like you! And I can bribe fools into doing what I want! No blackmail or evil jutsu needed! Face it. You're obsolete!"
"You will not speak to Zabuza-san that way." It was the first time Haku had spoken in the tiny bureaucrat's presence and there was some heat to the kid's cold tone. "If you will not leave now, I will kill you."
"Keh, you kill me!?" Gatou asked, now rounding on Haku. He took a couple of steps forward and reached up with his cane, poking Haku roughly in the cheek a few times. "Like you could!"
Haku's arm flashed and Gatou's cane went flying, shattered into two pieces by the force of the kid's blow. The businessman stumbled backwards, almost tripping, but he bumped into a hard object. Before the tiny man could see what he'd hit, an arm snaked around his neck and a hand on the back of his head pushed forward, forcing Gatou into a choke that had the man turning blue and gurgling for air in a matter of seconds.
"Yes. I could kill you," Haku's breath tickled the side of the man's face, and his voice was low in the short man's ear. Gatou would have even called it sexy if there wasn't an incredible amount of malice just beneath the surface.
"Haku," Zabuza's voice was filled with dark amusement at his student's actions, "release him. We don't need him dead. Yet." The pressure that prevented Gatou from breathing vanished instantly as Haku promptly obeyed his master's command. He didn't get any time to catch his breath as the hunter-nin seized his arm, crunching the bones together, and hurled him to land at the feet of his hired samurai. All three took one terrified look at Haku, who raised some threatening senbon in warning, then fled.
Zabuza watched as his best weapon strode over to the doors and jerked them closed, the only thing betraying his irritation.
"You didn't have to do anything, Haku," the laid up jounin told the icy shinobi. He lifted the covers on his bed, revealing the hidden kunai that he could have killed Gatou with in a heartbeat, had the little idiot given him the chance. The removal of the covers also revealed just how much damage Gohan had done to the Mist-nin. There were bandages over much of Zabuza's bare torso, holding broken ribs and other bones together, most of them bulging from some form of hidden swelling. A massive bruise decorated what little exposed skin was visible, and, just hidden by Zabuza's body, was his right arm, bound up and splinted. Haku had been using what little medical ninjutsu he knew to speed the healing process, but it was still taking time.
The sight of the injuries reminded Haku what he had wanted to ask his master when the man had the time. "Zabuza-san, what are you going to do about the boy who did that to you."
Zabuza looked thoughtful for a minute, then he looked at Haku and told him, "I'm going to let you handle him."
"Me?" His voice betrayed his surprise before he could stop himself.
"Yes. You're so much faster than I am and with you Kekkei Genkai, there's no way that brat will be able to keep up with you. Just get him alone and trap him in your little funhouse." Haku stared off into space, pondering the best way to lure Gohan into a trap. The young hunter-nin knew that it wouldn't be easy, but he'd never failed Zabuza-san before and he wasn't about to start now!
It was past dark when Sasuke and Naruto dragged themselves back to Tazuna's place. They'd been training ever since Kakashi had put this little test before them, and now both boys were running low on chakra and completely exhausted. The fact that Sakura had managed to make it all the way to the top of the tree on her fourth or fifth try didn't help either of the pair's egos.
"…So my dad uses this technique called the Kaio-ken and beats the big bald guy in a flash. That was when…" Gohan trailed off as the door opened and Naruto and Sasuke lugged each other into the room. He'd been telling the rest of the household, at Sakura and Tsunami's insistence, about his little adventure when Vegeta and Nappa had come to Earth to try and use the Dragonballs to attain immortality. He'd just been at the part when his father, Son Goku, had shown up after training for a year with Kaio-sama, and used the otherworldly guru's training to wipe the floor with Nappa.
"Wow. What happened to you two?" Tazuna asked. "You both look like you got run over by a steamroller."
"I suppose they were training all day." A young voice said derisively. All heads turned to the doorway that led outside and allowed one to go to other parts of the house. Standing in the door was a little kid with a blue and white hat. He had been the one who'd spoke. "Why do you insist on going against Gatou?"
"Because it's what we were contracted to do," Sakura answered, not getting why this boy was acting this way.
"Well then you're all a bunch of dumasses!" Ignoring Tsunami's startled 'Inari!' at his behaviour, he plowed on. "You're all going to die!" With that, he turned around and dashed away, slamming the sliding door to the outside as he did. Everyone looked at Tazuna and Tsunami, who both had saddened expressions.
"Inari. My grandson," Tazuna told them without being asked. "Sorry about that. He's been that way ever since his father died a while back."
"His father?" Kakashi asked simply.
Tazuna nodded, "Yes, but not his biological one. The man Inari called father was a great man named Kaiza who came to us from out of nowhere. My real son-in-law had died a year or two prior, but not before he and Tsunami had Inari."
"Inari never really did get what it meant to die," Tsunami added. "Then my husband showed up and Inari found someone he could rely on and talk to." She smiled wistfully. "After seeing how those two got along, it was only natural that I marry Kaiza and let Inari have a father once again."
"Those were happy times," Tazuna continued with a wistful smile. "Inari idolized his father like every little boy does." He looked at Gohan. "Your father sounds like a great man, and Kaiza was no different. He even built a tree house for the kid."
"I take it something bad happened?" Kakashi asked, picking up on where this conversation was going.
Tazuna scowled. "Gatou. That man moved in and began subjugating us one by one. Before long, all of us were in his pocket. Kaiza was one of the few who openly opposed him. In payback for that defiance, Gatou had Kaiza executed. That stole Inari's light and he's been like this ever since."
"That's a shame," Sakura said sadly. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose your father at such a young age.
"Keh. He's just a spoiled little brat," Naruto said viciously, slumping forward onto the table.
"Naruto! How can you say that?" Sakura asked scandalized.
"Yeah, bastard!" Inari yelled, opening the door again. He'd probably stuck around to see if the shinobi and their weird friend would leave after hearing his story. "What would you know about losing someone!?" That was a mistake. In a heartbeat, Naruto had picked Inari up by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall.
"Naruto!" Kakashi snapped, his voice having the edge of a knife. "Stop it! Put him down." He was promptly ignored.
"You think I don't know?" Naruto growled, his voice low and dangerous, his livid face inches from Inari's terrified one. "Get over yourself. You think it's cool to sit around and cry and mope all day!? Get real! Crying won't get you anywhere! Instead of crying, you should get off your ass and actually do something!" Inari grasped the genin's wrists in a feeble attempt to pry them off.
"You don't know what it's like!" Inari repeated. Naruto pushed him harder into the wall. The creaking of stressed wood filled the tiny kitchen. If Naruto wasn't careful, he might push Inari straight through the wall.
"No! I do know! At least you have a family! I'm hated by everyone in my village!" The blond shouted. He let go of the terrified kid, who hit the floor and stayed there, curled up, trying to make himself as small as possible. Naruto turned around, eyes shadowed by his bangs. "I'm going to bed." He jerked the door open and closed it, perhaps much harder than was necessary.
"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked quietly. The jounin didn't respond right away, and when he did answer it wasn't what they wanted to hear.
"Bed. Now." None of the teens were willing to question him, not with that steel in his voice. They knew that Kakashi was angry with Naruto for what he'd done. The three kids weren't wrong either, but Kakashi wasn't as mad as they thought he was. Truthfully, the silver-haired jounin could understand where Naruto was coming from, probably better than anyone, barring Sasuke, who'd lost his entire clan in the course of one night. Heaving a sigh, the masked man stood and headed for the door that Inari had disappeared out of.
The boy whom Kakashi sought was just outside, sitting on the planks that jutted out over the water, extending the pier on which the tiny hovel sat. The kid gave no sign of moving, even when the door rattled shut. A second later and the despondent child was joined by the masked guy.
"You shouldn't blame Naruto for what he did," Kakashi said, getting straight to the point, not willing to waste time on trying to cheer the little guy up. He could tell from the kid's earlier behavior that that would be a futile effort and waste of both their time. "He probably understands your pain better than anyone."
"He didn't have to be so mean about it," Inari grumbled, sulking.
"No, perhaps not," Kakashi agreed, "but you can't deny that what he said was true, you really won't get anywhere if you don't do anything about the problem." His only visible eye took on a shadowed look. "Most of us on this team can understand you," Inari gave the jounin with a startled look, Kakashi pretended not to notice. "My father was known as the White Fang of Konoha. When I was still a young boy, he committed suicide and left me all alone. Sasuke's entire clan was murdered by his brother in a single night! Naruto's already told you that he never knew his parents and that he's hated by the entire village…"
"He's probably lying," Inari interrupted, returning to his self-pity.
"No. He's not; Naruto really is despised by the whole of Konohagakure. Even when he was barely old enough to walk, the people of the village would beat him to the point of unconsciousness. No one would let him even shop in the stores. He had to get everything he owned from third-hand shops who overcharged him even then."
"So why is he the way he is?" The boy asked, "Why isn't he…" He trailed off, clearly not able to bring himself to admit it.
"Like you?" Kakashi finished, making the moping boy wince. "Well, I imagine that at one point he was. There were times when I would pass him on the street and he looked like a kicked puppy. Sometimes he would just hide in an alley and break down. But I suppose over time he got tired of it and decided to just hold his head high and go for it." Kakashi smiled. Inari didn't know how he knew, but he did. "Naruto just said 'enough' and quit crying. I wouldn't doubt that he hasn't shed a single tear since. On the way here, he got his hand sliced by an enemy's poisoned weapon, but he didn't even blink. He just took out a kunai and stabbed his own hand to let the poison bleed out."
"Am I supposed to be impressed?" Inari asked mulishly. So the blond jerk could stab himself, big deal.
"No, but what I hope you will see is that you really don't have it so bad and that, instead of belittling your mom and grandpa, you will find a way to help them." With that, the jounin stood and headed back inside. Inari sat in the chilly breeze for a little longer, then stood and ascended the exterior stairs to his room. He grabbed the picture of his father, torn from the one downstairs, and looked out at the rising moon.
"Father. What would you have done?" He asked to thin air, but the whispering wind coming in off the sea gave no answer.
A week later found everyone but Naruto at the bridge, he and Sasuke having made it to the top of their trees, but Naruto being too exhausted to even consider waking up from his coma-like state. Kakashi had decided to take pity on the boy and had given the blond the day off.
Tazuna had wasted no time in putting the three shinobi and one saiyan to work on the bridge. He made full use of Gohan's unbelievable strength, having the thirteen-year-old moving thousand pound beams and multi-ton slabs of concrete, made the week or two before. Everyone had been amazed at the boy's sheer muscle power and control when he'd lifted a three or four thousand pound slab and set it gently in it's place, where the building crew had promptly attacked it like a hive of bees.
"Gohan-kun, doesn't that hurt?" Sakura asked, not believing her eyes the first time she'd seen it.
The black-haired boy just shrugged. "Not really. All I have to do is up my ki a little bit and I can manage. Besides, it's good training."
"That's the spirit, Gohan," Kakashi said from the railing with an approving nod as he flipped the page in his 'Icha Icha Paradise' book. He was hit in the head by a metal pipe soon afterward. "That hurt," he said, rubbing the bump on his abused cranium.
"Serves you right!" Sakura yelled, shaking an angry fist in his direction. "All you're doing is reading that stupid book while we do all the work!" She leveled an accusing finger. "How about getting off your lazy butt and helping!?"
"But I am," the crafty man answered with an eye smile. "Someone has to supervise." That had brought on a whole new wave of shouting from the pink-haired kunoichi.
"That's so pathetic," Zabuza to his companion as he watched the interaction up on the bridge from the boat the pair of missing-nins had 'borrowed' from the marina. "Just watching them makes me wanna puke." The jounin hefted his sword onto his back and looked at his stoic partner, whose face was hidden behind his blank porcelain mask. "You ready?"
"Yes Zabuza-san."
"Okay then." He grinned manically, causing the bandages on his face to stretch. "Let's go have some fun!"
Ah, don't you just hate cliffhangers? Though, if you've read the manga or watched the anime, you know how this turns out, but you never know. I may take this off in a completely new direction. I'm not gonna say here though. . Sorry this took so long, I kinda got sidetracked by obligations at school. College isn't easy, plus I'm writing two other fics at the same time. Oh well. No glossary this time, so R&R!