Summary: She looks up to gaze at his coal obsidian eyes as he gazes downward at her enchanting sky blue eyes. They both thought, "Is this love?" Who says opposites can't attract? SasuFemNaru… MORE PAIRINGS INSIDE
Pairings: SasuFemNaru, ItaFemKyuu, LeeSaku, NejiTen, ShikaTema, KibaHina, ChouIno
Warnings: OOC-ness, language
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto
Kesshite Wasuremasu
by Aesura
Kakashi versus Zabuza
"What a thick mist. I can't see ahead," noted Sakura.
The team along with Tazuna and a ferry man were sitting in a boat in the middle of the calm sea. Around them, like Sakura said, was a thick mist that reduced their vision greatly. They could see no more than a few meters in front of them. Naruto sat at the bow of the boat followed by Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi, while Tazuna and the ferry man sat at the bow.
"We should see the bridge soon," stated the ferry man. "The Wave Country is at the base of the bridge."
They weren't disappointed. After five minutes, the group was greeted with the sight of a huge creation constructed of concrete, steel, man-power, and human thinking. Naruto did not really pay that much attention to it, having seen many of its kind through her travels with Ero-sennin, though her teammates were captivated by its sight.
Kakashi stared lazily at Tazuna. "Tazuna-san, before the boat gets to pier, I have a few questions to ask you." He paused, waiting for a reaction. None. "I need to know the identity of the men after you, and their reason they're after you." He continued. "Or I can call this mission off once we hit shore."
After a few seconds, Tazuna sighed dauntingly. "It looks like I have to tell you the real story. …No.., I want you to know the truth. As you said, this is most likely out of the scope of the original mission. It turns out that an extremely terrible man is after my life."
Kakashi kept his stare. "Extremely terrible man? Who?"
"You've probably heard his name before…The wealthy shipping magnate Gatou."
The name peaked Kakashi's interest. "Huh? Gatou…from that Gatou Company? He's said to be one of the world's wealthiest men."
Tazuna continued. "Yes… Officially he runs a large shipping company.. But secretly, he sells drugs and other illegal items, using ninjas and gang members to take over businesses and countries." He paused, letting out a breath. "It was about a year ago when he set his eyes on the Wave Country. Thorough money and violence, he quickly took control of my country's shipping industry. Gatou now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The one thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge."
Sakura seemed to be thinking. "I see… Since you're building the bridge, you're in the way."
"Then those ninja were sent by Gatou," Sasuke noted.
"And he'll most likely send Jounin rather than Chuunin next time," Naruto concluded.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes at Tazuna. "But what I don't understand is if you knew ninja could be after you, why did you hide that fact when you hired us?"
"The Wave Country is a really poor." Tazuna looked down. "Even the feudal lord has little money. Of course, we do not have much money either.. not enough for an expensive B-rank mission. If you quit your mission after I land, I'll definitely be killed…" He sighed. He looked up at them. "But don't worry about it! If I die, my cute ten year-old grandson will just cry for a few days!"
"…" Naruto and Sakura sweatdropped.
"Oh yeah, and my daughter will live a sad life hating Konoha shinobis forever. But it won't be your fault. Not at all!"
Kakashi looked at his teammates and huffed out a breath of air, smiling sheepishly at the bridge builder. "Well, I guess we have no choice. We will protect you at least until you get beak to your country."
"Oh? Well, I'm very grateful." he said in gratitude, though it sounded a bit acted out, as if he had planned to tell that whole guilt trip speech from the start…
"I win," Tazuna thought to himself.
The group made it ashore without much trouble. Once out of the boat, Tazuna and the ferry man exchanged a few words before he took off using the boat's engine.
Kakashi took in the changes since his last visit to the Wave Country. The scenery of has not changed much but he did note the conditions of some of the housing. They looked to have seen better days adding to the story of how poor the country has become. Much has changed in a few years.
"Okay! Get me home safely," instructed Tazuna.
"Yeah, yeah." Kakashi replied, allowing Naruto to once again lead the way. He did not show it much, but he was worried. "Like Naruto said, if we get attacked again, it will surely be Jounin instead of Chuunin." He glanced at the scenery.
The weather was getting warm and the entire countryside covered with a sunny gleam as the summer season finally sets in. The group marched down the forest road in silence. The whole scenery was covered with summer foliage. The green leaves from the trees along the roadside littered all over the branches as birds chirped from their tops. Suddenly Naruto stopped in her tracks, sensing something from her right.
"There!" Naruto exclaimed, throwing a kunai at the low-lying shrubs. Tazuna, Sakura, and Kakashi were greatly surprised by the young ninja's actions. Sasuke, on the other hand, showed no signs of sudden emotion, maintaining his relative calmness while a thick silence filled the air. After a few seconds, Naruto walked over to the bush, pushing back a few of the leaves, revealing a shocked rabbit paralyzed with fear, the kunai barely a centimeter over its head. She was relatively surprised at its condition. "This rabbit looks a bit ..strange…"
"NA-RU-TO!" Sakura screamed, making the blonde jumped by her abrupt loud voice. "Of course it looks strange, baka! You almost killed it with your kunai!"
"That's not what I mean! Look at its fur. I didn't know rabbits in this time of the year turned white. I always thought they did that during the later fall and winter time when there is less sunlight."
Once hearing Naruto's observance, Kakashi narrowed his eyes, scanning the foliage. "She's right. That's no ordinary rabbit… it was raised indoors, away from the light, which could only be for one purpose: a kawarimi. The owner must have used it when Naruto threw the kunai." The jounin turned his head, eyes focused on a particular tree. "So… they're already here…"
"I see. So I got noticed." The hidden shinobi grabbed the long hilt of the sword hanging on his back when he saw that Kakashi was looking in his direction. "Heh. This is going to be fun."
"Everyone, get down!" Kakahsi ordered. They all quickly did as told when they noticed the large blade spinning in the air flying towards them.
The giant sword passed harmlessly overhead and continued flying forward until it embedded itself firmly on one of the larger trees ahead of them, a figure immediately appearing on top of the handle of the huge sword. The group finally got up and looked at the being.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Kakashi addressed the man. "Well, well, if it isn't the Hidden Mist's missing-nin Momochi Zabuza. One of the famous Seven Swordsman of Kirigakure," he greeted passively.
Momochi Zabuza was a fair-skinned shinobi with a lean, muscular build. He wore his hiate-ate to the side of his forehead so the metal plate rested on his left. He also was topless, only having a leather strap that was used to holster his giant sword. His pants were pin-striped with urban camouflage leggings that melted into his open-toed ninja sandals. He also had similar colored loose arm warmers that started at his elbows and ended at his back-hands. Bandages wrapped around his neck and lower head, hiding his mouth and nose.
"If he's our opponent, I'll need this." Kakashi lifted his hand to his hiate-ate, ready to reveal his shielded left eye. "This could be treacherous."
"If I'm not mistaken, you're Hatake Kakashi, the famous Copycat Ninja," greeted Zabuza, glaring at the group from the corner of his eyes. "I'm sorry, but I'll need you to hand over the old man."
Without lowering his guard, Kakashi slightly adverted his attention to his students. "You three, stay back and take a defensive position. Assume the Manji formation. Protect Tazuna. Do not interfere. He's different from the other two." The three nodded. They pulled out kunai and immediately took up positions around Tazuna. When he was satisfied they wouldn't be in trouble, he turned his attention to the enemy. "Zabuza, first…" Kakashi lifted up his hiate-ate, revealing a striking red eye, three black totems spiraling in a spiral around the pupil. "..fight me."
Sasuke was shocked. "Sharingan?" He had heard from the elders of a person outside his family having the Sharingan… They always talked in hushed whispers about how it was a disgrace for as someone as the White Fang's son to have their prized doujutsu. He never would've thought that said person would be his sensei…
"Ah, I already get to see your famous Sharingan. I'm honored."
"The Sharingan… I heard of that. Isn't that the trademark ability of the Uchiha Clan?" Sakura questioned.
"Hai… Sharingan… The eye creates it, and it is the power the pupil generates." explained Sasuke, keeping his eyes on Zabuza. "The sharingan allows the user to see through genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu and cancel their effects. But that is not the only ability the Sharingan possess."
Zabuza seemed amused. "Correct. But the scary part is that Sharingan can understand how an opponents technique works, and copy it."
Kakashi kept his gaze on Zabuza, ignoring the mist that started to surround them. Zabuza squatted down on his sword handle, eying Kakashi. "Let's end all the talking. I have to kill that old man." Tazuna gasped in fear, even though he was being protected by the three genins around him. The missing-nin stared at Kakashi for a few more moments before standing up. "But, Kakashi, it seems I have to defeat you first."
The Swordsman shinobi moved quickly, pulling his sword from the tree and pushing off in a jump. He landed on top of the surface of a nearby body of water. The water surface started rippling violently around him and started to swirl as droplets formed around him in a miniature torrent. His arms were positioned as if performing a technique, both hands forming a half-ram seal while the right hand was in front of his face and the left arm up pointing up at the sky. The mist started to become thicker until Zabuza suddenly disappeared.
"Nani? He disappeared!" gasped Sakura.
"He'll come after me first." Kakashi said, moving to a position several feet in front of Sasuke. "This guy, Momochi Zabuza, was a member of the Kirigakure ANBU. Besides being one of the Seven Swordsmen, he was known as the Silent Killerbecause of his silent killing techniques. Just as the name applies, it's a killing technique that's executed in a flash and is carried out in absolute silence. So keep alert for anything."
The genin instantly were on guard. Their eyes darted back and forth, from Kakashi-sensei and their client, to looking for Zabuza. The action soon became harder to perform as their vision limited with each passing second.
"The mist is getting thicker," Naruto stated, not liking that her visual range was being reduced.
"The Wave Country is surrounded by the ocean, so a mist often emerges," Tazuna explained.
Sakura watched as Kakashi's form disappeared into the mist. "Sensei!" she shouted in worry. An eerie silence followed soon after. Behind the three genin, Tazuna felt a terrible feeling of tension. Knowing the knowledge that someone dangerous was lurking about, unseen, undetectable, and that he is most probably powerless once the enemy decides to strike.
"There are eight targets."
Sakura gasped. "What was that?"
"Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the subclavian artery, kidneys, heart," the voice of Zabuza floated about the now to thick to see through fog along with a wave of killer intent. The pure killer intent that was coming from all around them caused Tazuna, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to freeze up. Naruto bowed her head and her hair was covering her eyes, gulping down the fear she felt. She had sensed killer intent before, but not one so abrupt and intense before. This missing-nin isn't fooling around. "Which one should I go after? Heh heh."
Sasuke was frightened beyond belief, not thinking clearly. Yet when he caught sight of the frozen blonde beside him, a deathly image of her lying on the ground dying, body bloody and him not being able to do anything to help the blonde flashed in his mind as if it were a glimpse into the future. The emotions of that image floated to him, the helplessness and distress over welling him. Instantly, the Uchiha's demeanor changed. He was no longer scared nor frightened, but willing and ready for what ever was going to happen next.
Kakashi heard the voice as well and tried to pinpoint it, but it was nearly impossible. Mist shinobi were known for their silent killing techniques and from what he read in the bingo book about this man, he was one of the former Seven Swordsmen of Kirigakure. Though what he had read was not too good, the man was the first of the Swordsmen to betray his own homeland and try to kill the Mizukage. Though that spoke words to Kakashi about how the Kage of Kirigakure was treating his people, seeing as so many people were trying to kill him.
"Heh heh… too slow." The three genin's eyes widened at the same time when they felt a back presence behind them. Tazuna stared in fear at seeing Zabuza right in front of him preparing to strike. "It's over."
But just as he started to swing his sword, Kakashi appeared in front of him, pushing everyone but the two away from the sheer velocity of his abrupt appearance. Before Zaubuza could even move, a kunai suddenly thrusts forward and impaled the Mist Jounin right through his stomach. Kakashi remained rooted to his spot, seeming to ignore the fact that the Zabuza that was impaled was bleeding water instead of blood.
"Kakashi-sensei! Behind you!" shouted Naruto.
Kakashi looked mildly surprised to see Zabuza behind him. He didn't even made an attempt to block or escape the attack when he felt the air shifted to his left, and the huge blade of a sword coming right at his mid-section. Letting out a battle cry, Zabuza cleaved Kakashi along the waist with a one-handed stroke of his blade. He felt satisfaction at seeing the Copycat's body cut into two. "What?" His eyes suddenly grew wide when to his surprise, the struck-down body of Kakashi turned into water.
"Mizu bushin? No way! He copied me in this mist?" Zabuza stared in shock and froze when he felt a kunai press against his throat.
"Don't move." Kakashi stated coldly. "It's over."
As soon as the tense atmosphere died down somewhat, it was quickly broken by Zabuza's voice. "Heh heh heh… It's over? You don't get it, do you?" Kakashi felt the presence of the real Zabuza behind him.
"... I'm not that easy to defeat!"
The Silent Killer swung his sword in a horizontal slash aimed at Kakashi's upper chest. Kakashi seemed to have anticipated the move, stabbing his kunai into the water clone and jumping at the same time. His feet somehow caught and planted on the broad side of Zabuza's sword and he road it along its arch. Just before the sword hit the ground he leaped and twisted, extending his left out in a spinning crescent kick that the exiled ninja barely avoided. Leaning on his sword handle, he slammed a powerful side-kick against the side of Kakashi's face, sending the jounin flying only to crash into the lake. Grabbing his sword, Zabuza dragging it along the ground as he ran in high-speed to pursue, but he suddenly stopped at seeing caltrops littering the ground.
"Makibishi?" He looked more annoyed at seeing them. "Foolish..." Turning around, he back-flipped over the spikes towards the lake.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted in worry.
"Kakashi-sensei was kicked away... that easily?" Naruto thought.
Sasuke clenched his jaw tightly at seeing Kakashi being kicked away like he was nothing. "He's also strong in taijutsu..."
"Nani? This water's heavy.." noted Kakashi as he surfaced.
"Heh, fool." Zabuza formed a set of hand seals ending with both palms open and out with the index and thumb touching in the middle.
"SUIROU NO JUTSU"
Kakashi suddenly found himself surrounding by chakra embedded water. His body felt heavy and he could not even move an inch as the sphere enclosed upon him. He narrowed his eyes at Zabuza.
"Heh heh heh. It seems you have fell for my trap instead. This is a special water prison that you cannot escape from. You give me a hard time when you're moving. Now then, Hatake... I'm going to finish you off later." He turned to look at the genin and the old man. "First, I'll get rid of them." He formed a half-ram one-handed seal.
"MIZU BUNSHIN NO JUTSU"
The clone of Zabuza started laughing at the scared genin, mocking them. "You three think that because you have those forehead protectors that you are ninja. But ninja refers to someone who has gone through numerous life and death situations. In other words, you can call yourself a ninja when you appear in my bingo book." The clone formed the half-ram seal and mist started to fill the area. "You three aren't ninja."
Sasuke gritted his teeth, his fist clenching tighter around his kunai. "Keep calm, Sasuke." He told himself. "He's trying to goad you into making a mistake. I have to remain calm...!"
"He disappeared again!" Naruto's eyes widened and she saw Zabuza heading towards her with his weapon. Quickly, she raised her kunai in front of her in defense, stopping the sword from cleaving her in half with a second to spare. Though the immense impact from the force of the attack ricocheted her backwards several feet away from the missing-nin.
"Naruto...!" Sakura and Sasuke gasped. The Uchiha then rushed to the blonde, catching her from behind to lighten her fall.
"Everyone!" Kakashi shouted from his water prison. "Get Tazuna and run! You can't win against him! He can't move as long as he has me trapped in this hydro-prison. He also won't be able to use his water clone once you get away from him!" His voice became louder. "Run for it, now!"
"Run away? Not an option," said Sasuke, eyes narrowing right onto the man in the prison. "That became unthinkable the moment you got caught. No matter how fast we run or how far we go, he'll track us down, and wipe us out."
"If we try a Manji defense formation," added Sakura, "he can get around it in an instant."
Naruto finally whispered, "In the end, if we're on our own…we're finished."
"Our only chance of survival," thought the three genin at once, "is to rescue, you, Kakashi-sensei!"
"Sasuke. Sakura." Naruto called out, never moving her eyes from her target. "Lend me your ear for a moment."
"You have a plan?" asked the younger Uchiha. "Good, because we have to work together for this one." Sasuke turned to the pinkette. "Sakura," he whispered. "Naruto and I will go through with her plan. You stay with Tazuna and provide support for us."
Sakura nodded, a bit more determined after seeing Naruto's burst of confidence. "Hai." "What? What is this feeling...?" All she knew, she felt excited at working as a team. "Was this what Kakashi-sensei was talking about?"
Zabuza started chuckling. "You seem to be quite confident, but do you even have the chance for victory?"
"What are you all doing?" shouted Kakashi. "I told you to run away! The outcome of this battle was decided when I got caught! Run! Our mission is to protect Tazuna-san. Did you forget that?"
"Hmph!" Sasuke glared at Kakashi. "No, we didn't at all. But teammates don't leave their friends behind. That's how it is."
Naruto grinned. "Are you ready?"
Zabuza laughed at them again. "You sure don't learn, do you? Still pretending to be ninja? Heh.. well… I guess it's time to end this petty game." The water clone appear in front of Sasuke and smashed a fierce elbow into him. Blood spat from his mouth when the clone slammed his foot onto his chest.
"Sasuke-kun!" screamed Sakura.
"Die." Zabuza reached for his sword.
"Zabuza…"
"Hmm?" The missing-nin glanced down to his captive and found Kakashi, as odd as it may seem, to have remained calm and collected, completely unfazed by the pained screams and the torturous beating inflicted upon his pupil.
"Do not underestimate him. Sasuke isn't one to die so easily."
"Kakashi, has your Sharingan become too fogged that you fail to see what was happening before you? Let me tell you this much. If I'm up to it, I could order my mizu bushin slit that kid's neck off in seconds…" Zabuza continued his voice laced with venom. "…that boy is going to die, along with your other students. I'll guarantee you that."
Kakashi met Zabuza's eyes with a hard stare. "He is Uchiha Sasuke, main descendent and prodigy of the Uchiha Clan. He won't die."
The two jounins exchanged glares with each other, something that lasted only for a few seconds but almost felt like an eternity. It was only when they heard the blonde called out that they both pulled their heads away and turned their attention towards the fight.
"Sasuke!" shouted Naruto.
The Uchiha caught the item tossed by Naruto. His eyes narrowed in realization and he couldn't help but smirk. "I see!" Sasuke turned to Zabuza and with a simple flick of his wrist he snapped open the weapon thrown to him. It was a cross-shaped shuriken with four arms that looked like falchion sword blades. "Fuuma Shuriken. Shadow Windmill!"
Zabuza seemed insulted. "A shuriken won't work on me."
Sasuke's eyes snapped one and he launched himself in the air. Rearing his arm back, he used all his strength and momentum of his body to launch the weapon at its target. The huge shuriken cut through the air quick and approached the water clone. But just as it got with arms reach of the clone, the shuriken suddenly changed paths and went around him going straight for the real deal.
"I see. So you're going after the real one this time." Zabuza noted. But just as the shuriken could strike him, his free hand snatched it out of the air. "But it's too easy for me!" He felt something. "Huh?" A second fuuma shuriken came from his blind-side before turning and coming right at him. "Another shuriken was in the shadow of the shuriken?"
"A second shuriken was in his blind spot?" Sakura wondered as she watched.
Zabuza watched as the shuriken neared before simply hopping over it. "But it's still too easy for me…"
Sakura gasped and stared in disbelief. "He dodged it!"
Sasuke only smirked.
POOF!
Zabuza's eyes widened and he turned his head to look back. Shuriken turned into the blonde haired kid! Naruto gave Sasuke a quick nod as he returned the gesture, understanding his teammate's plan. They both started performing handseals. "Rat, tiger, dog…"
The Mizu Bunshin has decided that he was going to attack the one closest to him performing the seals, which happened to be Sasuke. It didn't take long before he reached where the brat was. However, just as he went to stab his blade at the Uchiha, one of the girl's clones came in blocking his path, her kunai currently grinding against the massive metal arm being supported by both the young genin's arms.
"…ox, hare, tiger!"
"KATON: HOUSENKA NO JUTSU"
Naruto and Sasuke both took in a deep breath and released a series of small fireballs. Naruto's kage bunshin burst into smoke the moment the flames grazed its back while Zabuza's mizu bunshin, who was now left wide open to receive the full blast, received the same fate, only dispersing into a pool of quickly evaporating water.
Out at the river, Zabuza's eyes grew wide in shock. It seems that those brats have managed to place his clone and him along in a straight line and with him unable to move out of place, the onrushing flames will certainly take him too if he don't abandon the water prison. "There's no choice then!" Zabuza pulled his right arm off the spherical mass of water and ducked out of the fire's way.
He dodged all but one of the fireballs, which lattered behind upon release. Calculating the width and diameter of the attack, Zabuza moved back far enough to avoid being hit. But, what he didn't expect was the fireball extinguishing out, revealing a rapid moving kunai heading his way. His eyes traveled the path of the kunai as it passed just millimeters from his eyes, but managing to barely prick his skin and draw blood. "She hit me!"
Enraged, Zabuza whirled around to face the falling Naruto. The blades of the fuuma shuriken started spinning quickly and he started the motion to throw it at and kill the blonde girl. "YOU DAMN BRAT!"
Naruto landed on the water for a split second before falling in.
Suddenly feeling the shuriken's momentum coming to a halt, Zabuza turned to look at what had caused it. He stared at the closed fist that blocked one of the blades, stopping its spin and his attack. The blade cut deep into the hand all the way to the bone through the skin. Blood poured freely from the severe wound, but the owner of the hand seemed to ignore the pain. Kakashi stared at Zabuza with a calm and cold expression.
Sakura's eyes brightened. "Kakashi-sensei!"
"Don't forget. I'm your opponent," said Kakashi while narrowing his eyes.
Zabuza caught sight of Kakashi's fiery Sharingan, the red orb that seemed to be able to peer deep within a person's soul. After seeing those eyes, the wanted missing-nin couldn't help but feel a tingle of trepidation surge through his body.
"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, you all have disobeyed a direct order." Kakashi said without glancing back at his students. His voice sounded cold and unforgiving.
Their faces fell. They knew perfectly well that although they did all that fighting to save their sensei from the Suirui no Jutsu, they still went against orders and unwittingly placed the life of their client in danger.
'The success of the mission must be placed above everything else.'
This is one of the many doctrines of a shinobi. If things had gotten worst, they along with Tazuna might have all ended up being killed and the blame would have been stacked against them. However, they also couldn't bring themselves to leave Kakashi-sensei behind, and for that they felt absolutely no regret for their actions.
"However…" Kakashi continued, his voice lightening up in approval. "I am very pleased with all of you."
A smile spread across each genin's faces.
"Naruto, go join the rest and secure Tazuna." Kakashi ordered whilst keeping his fist locked against Zabuza's huge blade.
"Hai!" Naruto exclaimed, right hand raised in a salute. She then quickly swam to shore.
Back on the battlefield, Zabuza staggered backwards after Kakashi landed his fist squarely against his cheek. It didn't take long before the missing-nin recovered his bearing and immediately returned to a battle-ready stance.
A few paces away, Kakashi remained standing while maintaining an impassive expression. Somehow, his Sharingan eye managed to look down at Zabuza as if he were nothing more than an insignificant piece of dust. Angered by the apparent disrespect as shown by his gestures, Zabuza tightened both hands' grip on the Kubikiri Honsho's long hilt and proceeded to aggressively charge towards the arrogant shinobi. "Prepare yourself, Kakashi!"
Kakashi remained impassive. Soon enough Zabuza caught up with the Copycat ninja. He swung the massive sword down but before he could make through with his intention of cleaving the Konoha shinobi in half, Kakashi launched a quick, sharp kick against Zabuza's gut. The four people watching on the sidelines all marveled at sheer power of the attack that sent the nukenin flying all the way back into the river.
"Sugoi…" thought Naruto in awe.
Zabuza managed to recover while in midair to land with his feet sliding against the surface of the water. "Why… Why can't I catch up with him?" The famed Demon of the Mist pondered inwardly.
"As a shinobi you should have known well enough not to judge other people simply from your preconceptions and their appearances." Kakashi uttered as he walked towards Zabuza.
Seething, Zabuza holstered his sword behind his back and clasped both his hands together forming the ox seal. Directly in front of him, he could see that Kakashi has come to a halt, his hands forming the same initial seal like he is. Both jounins started executing a long series of hand seals while embedding huge amounts of chakra on the water underneath their feet causing the calm river's surface to wave unnaturally.
"SUITON: SUIRYUUDAN NO JUTSU"
Two voices called out the attack in perfect harmony, shocking Zabuza. In front of the two shinobi, a pair of water dragons rose from the lake surface and started to attack each other. The sound of water rushing into and through them were drowned out the sounds of their roars and their attacks. Pitted by their casters, the water dragons slithered around, bit, tackled and ultimately obliterated one another in one massive explosion of water.
Underneath the strong torrent raining overhead, Zabuza held his position, his hands still holding the tori seal while standing a few yards from him Kakashi was doing the exact same thing. "Stange… What's going on?" He asked himself. "The Sharingan is supposed to be an ability where the user memorizes the opponent's jutsu and copies it. But…" His mind went back to the earlier event when the two jounins were executing the series of hand seals in preparation for the Suiryuudan no Jutsu. "The jutsu was executed at the same time." Zabuza narrowed his eyes malevolently at the enemy. "My movements. He's completely—"
"…reading them. That is what you are thinking of just now, right?" Kakashi asked, his voice inert as starts to analyze his enemy.
"Heh.. all you're doing is copying me," Zabuza said, his face reaching insanity. "You can't beat me you copycat bastard!" the two jounins exclaimed at the same time. The missing-nin's pupils dilated, looking at Kakashi with extreme intensity.
"Damn you! I'll make is so you can never open that mouth again!" Zabuza shouted, going through another series of complex hand seals.
"SUITON—"
Zabuza couldn't believe who he saw in front of him. A hiate-ate to the side of his forehead. Urban camouflage leggings that melted into his open-toed ninja sandals. Bandages wrapped around his neck and lower head. "Is that…me?"
Zabuza blinked. No, it wasn't him. It's just that damn Kakashi. Kakashi. "Is this one of his genjutsu?" He turned back to Kakashi and started forming the same set of seals over again. Once he stopped on the final seal, he looked back to Kakashi, only to see his left eye spinning rapidly.
The Sharingan!
"No—!"
"SUITON: DAIBAKUFU NO JUTSU"
Water swirled under Kakashi. The swirl picked up speed rapidly and moved into a halo that circled in front of Kakashi. The water moved faster, becoming a contained torrent of energy that continued to grow. And without warning, the water exploded out in a horizontal cyclone that engulfed Zabuza. For many meters the raging torrent tore across the lake and past the shore into the forest. The strength of the cyclone was strong enough to up-root and destroyed trees and scared the ground. By the time the technique ended, ten meters into shore was torn to shreds while Zabuza was slammed hard against a thick tree at the end of the technique's path. Small kunais flew through the air and the barely conscious Zabuza cried out as he was pinned to the tree by his skin and clothing. "URAGHH!"
Kakashi landed on a branch above Zabuza's pinned form, squatting down and resting his arms on his knees. "..."
"How...?" Zabuza weakly asked. "Can you...see the future…?"
"Yeah..." Kakashi replied, narrowing his eyes at the missing-nin. "And I can tell you this, Zabuza." He twirled his kunai and prepared to strike. "You're going to die."
Just as Kakashi was about to deal the finishing blow, Zabuza's head and upper body recoiled from a pair of senbon piercing right into the missing-nin's neck, spraying blood against the tree trunk. Everyone, including Tazuna gasped in shock. Everyone turned their eyes to the direction from which the needles came from and the trail readily ended on the boy standing on top the sturdy branch of one of the riverside trees. His hair tied in a bun behind the back of his head while his long bangs swayed with the cold wind along with the rest of his greenish yukata. However, what was most intriguing with his clothing articles was the white mask with red designs that kept his face hidden. Engraved on the mask's forehead was the insignia of Kirigakure. It wasn't until Zabuza's body hit the ground did the newcomer spoke. He chuckled. "It's true. He did die."
Everyone stared at him, except Naruto and Kakashi. While Kakashi's attention was mostly on Zabuza's body, Naruto seemed to be upset, looking back and forth between Zabuza and the masked person.
"Hmmm…" Kakashi dropped down by Zabuza and started examining him. After a moment, he shrugged. "He's dead." He looked over at the ninja.
The masked ninja bowed slightly. "Thank you very much. I was looking for a chance to kill Zabuza."
"By the mask, you must be part of the Kirigakure ANBU Hunter-nin squad, correct?" Kakashi asked.
"You are very will informed. I am a member of the pursuing ninja unit that hunt exiled ninja." said the Hunter-nin.
"From his voice and height, he's probably not much older than Naruto… Yet's he's a Hunter-nin…" Kakashi eyed the boy warily. "He's not a normal kid…" The Hunter-Nin waved his arm and disappeared from his tree branch, reappearing in a kneeling position by Zabuza's body. As he picked up the dead shinobi. Naruto observed this, her eyes narrowing in suspicion at his actions.
"Your battle ends here now." said the masked hunter. "I must go dispose of this corpse. It's body is filled with secrets." He formed a seal in front of his masked face. "I bid you farewell."
"Wait a minute!" The hunter-nin and everyone else turned their attention towards the blonde, her stare boarding directly at the masked shinobi.
"Hunter-nins aren't suppose to take the body with them. They dispose of the body of the person they killed right on the spot so there's no room for error." Everyone's eyes widened. "And the weapons you used to kill Zabuza were senbon needles. The way you used them, hitting the pressure point marks on the neck, show that you didn't intend to kill Zabuza. …Who are you really?"
A deathly stillness hung in the air, almost making the atmosphere impossible to breath. Everyone was tense, waiting to see what the newcomer would do. Finally, the hunter-nin sighed. "I didn't want it to come down to this, but…"
With lightening fast reflexes, he threw a few senbons he was hiding under his sleeves. All landed perfectly on the target, right in Kakashi's neck. The jounin's eyes widened in shock, before his eyes drooped from its sudden heaviness, his vision going completely black before he landed on the ground.
"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto and Sakura shouted. The hunter-nin took this time of pandemonium to his advantage and made his escape, with Zabuza's body at hand. Naruto ran over to her sensei and skidded to a stop on her knees, shaking his arm to get some sort of reaction out of him, but to no avail.
"KAKASHI-SENSEI!"