A/n: Sasuke doesn't know that Kakashi has the Sharingan, since he didn't see Kakashi's fight with Mikeal. Edward's never mentioned it to him (for obvious reasons) and Ares' gang referred to Kakashi as the Kopī Ninja no Kakashi (Copy-nin Kakashi) as opposed to his alternative nickname Sharingan no Kakashi, which is the reason Sasuke's not bombarding Kakashi with questions.
Chapter 11- Teamwork
08: 14 Thursday
Sakura walked down the streets of Wave Country, shivering at the sights that greeted her. People lay on the sides of the streets, pale and wrinkled, skin dangling loosely from their frail bodies. Children lay everywhere, bellies bloated and plump while the rest of their limbs looked like yellow bones. Flies were everywhere, probably due to this blasted humidity, circling the people and feeding off their sick sweat. Tazuna's explanation on Wave's condition hadn't prepared her for the sheer poverty the citizens were experiencing.
"It's sad, isn't it?" Tenten plodded beside Sakura, her voice soft, "Watching this is like… I wish we could do something. Maybe we should have got one of the guys to do this job after all."
Sakura nodded; when she had volunteered to go get groceries with Tenten because she wanted to avoid the 'hard' jobs, she hadn't expected this. Seeing these needy people, and knowing that she couldn't help them, was by far the hardest job. Now, Sakura only wished she were at guard duty, or helping to build the bridge, or whatever.
"It makes me want to castrate that man," Sakura whispered as a feeble-looking boy reached out a thin arm towards her, casting a hopeful look towards the pink haired girl as if she were going to be his savoir. She couldn't help him right now, because she hadn't brought any money, but oh how she wished she could! He looked like a small meal would do him a world of good. Well, when the bridge was built, hopefully the situation in Wave would improve. It made Sakura all the more determined to complete this mission.
Tenten giggled slightly, abet a little evilly, "Yes, I'd like to see that man screaming like a little girl."
"Oh yeah," Sakura's eyes glittered as she remembered the story Edward had told them, "He did once…"
She recounted the entire tale to her new friend, watching Tenten's eyes grow as wide as saucers in joy. When she finished, Tenten let out an impressed sigh, "This Edward… he's that braided blond that we travelled with? He seems to be on good terms with your teammates, though Gai-sensei said that Kakashi is Team Seven's sensei."
"Oh, yeah, Kakashi's our actual sensei. Edward's like, Naruto's and Sasuke-kun's older brother or something. He originally came with us for a vacation, though I think the real reason was that he was worrying. Well, it turned out that it was a good thing he came, anyway. I think we would have failed our mission if Edward wasn't there when we were attacked by the Village of Chaos."
Tenten sighed again, "I wish we hadn't missed that battle. I wanted a chance to prove myself."
Sakura giggled slightly at the choice of words, "You sound just like Naruto."
"Oh no, I hope not. I have nothing against your teammate -he's kinda cute and funny- but he's a loudmouth…"
"Still," Sakura's voice was wistful, but she couldn't help it. She could tell what Tenten was thinking; after all, Sakura had thought the same thing not too long ago, "Naruto has the skills to back it up. When push comes to shove, there's no one I'd rather have at my back."
And Sasuke-kun would be at her side, of course.
Tenten startled, looking surprised, but then that quickly faded into amused understanding, "Yeah, I guess some ninjas can be surprising huh? And strong ones will have their eccentricities. Like Lee, even with all his talk of 'youth' and his ghastly green outfit, he's still a super strong genin. Oh yeah, but the way, I'm sorry for all the proposals he's given you."
Sakura shook her head, laughing, "It's alright. It's more funny than anything else. Naruto's giving me those all the time. Though I admit, there's only one person I actually want to hear a proposal from…"
"Sasuke?" Tenten threw Sakura a teasing grin, "I can see the way you look at him. I must admit, he's a pretty good pick. Good looking, smart, talented… Are you going to get together anytime soon?"
Sakura couldn't help the blush that rose up her cheeks, "Th-th-that is… Well, what about the way you look at Neji?"
"What?" Now it was Tenten's turn to look startled, and Sakura couldn't help but feel pleased.
"Well he is a bit cold," Sakura teased, "And more than a little stuck up, but I'm sure you could pull him out of those tendencies. Besides, his long hair is kind of dreamy."
"And what about your guy?" Tenten mocked right back, a grin on her face, "He's beyond moody, and a little too close with Naruto one might say. Hey, do you think that those two…"
"No! No! No!" Sakura turned pale, turning an aghast look at Tenten, "That's disgusting to think about! My own teammates… ugh, thanks a lot."
Tenten laughed, her voice tinkering like bells, "No problem. Ask me anytime. Though, you have to admit, a situation like that is every yaoi's girl's dream."
"Not mine," Sakura shuddered; no, her Sasuke couldn't be gay. Not that she had anything against gay people or anything, but just not her Sasuke! If Naruto was gay, fine, but he had to go be gay with someone else. "Besides, Sasuke can't be gay, he wants to revive his clan."
Tenten's smile slipped off her face, "Oh yeah… clans."
Sakura instantly caught onto Tenten's deteriorating mood, "What's the matter?"
"It's just," Tenten's mouth twisted, "I'm not all that into clan superiority. Having Neji sprout off his stuff about Hyuugas is annoying beyond belief, but I have to be the mediator between him and Lee, so I can't say anything. Besides, it's not like Neji has it easy in his clan… Anyway, I don't come from a clan, so people always underestimate me. I want to prove that a clanless female ninja can truly become one of the best!"
Wow… wait what? Tenten didn't come from a clan? When Tenten had creamed all the boys -including Sasuke and Naruto- at weapons practice the other day, Sakura had assumed… "But then how did you get so strong?"
"Hm?" Tenten blinked, then smiled, "I practice all the time. All day every day. You can't make your dream come true by not doing anything, right?"
Make her… dreams come true? Why did Sakura feel like she wasn't exactly heading towards that direction? Tenten seemed so determined, so confident, that Sakura couldn't help but want to be a part of that. But… Sakura frowned thoughtfully; what exactly, was her dream? To marry Sasuke-kun, to get acknowledged, to become a good ninja? Was she actually doing anything to get these dreams accomplished?
A loud cackled interrupted Sakura's thoughts. Sakura looked up, seeing a red haired, flamboyant woman standing on a roof. She wore an Iwa headband with a scratch through it, a smirk on her face, "Hehehe… kiddies, I'm afraid you won't ever get to realize your dreams."
07:47 Thursday
Sasuke sipped his coffee, and sighed in contentment. He was sitting at the kitchen table, in the bridge builder's house. There wasn't much furniture, but the room had a nice sense of warmness. Naruto and the other guys had left early on, leaving only Sasuke and Kakashi left, guarding Tazuna's family. Mrs. Tsunami had gone upstairs, and the kid was doing who knows what.
Kakashi had placed his elbows on the table (which was really bad manners, Sasuke's inner self protested) and netted his fingers together. He leaned forwards at Sasuke's sip, tucking his chin on top of his netted fingers and smiled creepily, "You drink coffee? Maa, such an adult drink."
"I suppose it's not for you then," Sasuke murmured through his cup, rolling his eyes.
Kakashi blinked, once, twice, before smiling once again with that eye of his. "Maa, maa, was that a retort? That's mean Sasuke-kun."
Sasuke smirked, and put down his mug, "I don't usually drink coffee; Aniki doesn't let us. Ever since he heard that it stunts your growth, he's pretty much banned coffee from our house. But I think it's nice to drink it once in a while."
Aniki really had a problem with being called short. Sasuke had no idea why. If it were someone like Naruto… sure, then Sasuke could understand. The orange-clad idiot was short. But, Sasuke did not remember Aniki ever being anything less than average height.
"Maa, the 'Edge of Death' is scary when that word is said," Kakashi said slightly in abashment.
Wasn't he ever? But… "What do you mean by the title 'Edge of Death'? You've mentioned it earlier, but I hadn't really remembered to ask."
"Ahh… of course. Circumstances then were hardly the time for questions, correct? Well, it's just the jounin title that Mr. Elric has gained. Just like Gai is called the Green Beast of Konoha, your Aniki has become famous for… well, why don't you ask him?"
Sasuke had been listening intensely when Kakashi said that. He blinked, not used to being denied information, but instantly was thankful for it. It was something he should ask Aniki instead; Kakashi was right. Going behind Aniki's back like this was pointless.
Nodding to himself, Sasuke instead changed the topic to another area of interest that had been bothering him. "Alright then. But earlier, when you gave Aniki that warning, what did you mean by it?"
Just before Aniki had left, Kakashi had stopped him, saying words that Sasuke had suspicions about, but wasn't wholly sure of the meaning. Then, Mrs. Tsunami had come before Sasuke could question the one eyed man, offering coffee. Sasuke hadn't refused.
"Ahh," Kakashi eye smiled again, "Recognized it as a warning, did you? Tihehehe, my team is soooo smart…"
Sasuke waited for an answer, and waited. When one wasn't forthcoming from the starry eyed ninja, Sasuke cleared his throat, and glared.
Kakashi instantly came back to the real world. He beamed, "Alright, here's the situation as follows. Do you understand why your Aniki left?"
Sasuke nodded slowly, "He said he had to investigate something."
"That's right, but that's not the whole story. The one he's investigating… is Gato. Konoha is a ninja system which depends on its clients, and Gato is one of the wealthiest men in the world…"
"So it'd be bad for Konoha to get on his bad side," Sasuke realized, "It'll not only make him wary of hiring Konoha in the future, but if we do something to him, then the other wealthy magistrates will be cautious of Konoha as well. It'd be economic suicide."
"Exactly," Kakashi nodded, "So I warned your Aniki about it. But he replied…"
Edward's eyebrow twitched. He turned away, his voice coming out in a low growl, "Yes, I know. This ninja system… But worry not Hatake-san, I won't be obvious."
Sasuke relaxed, "That's fine, then."
Kakashi blinked, and suddenly turned serious, "Sasuke, it's good and all that you're trusting of your Aniki, but please do remember that he is just one ninja. This progression of thought was fine when you were younger, but you are part of the Konoha force now, and you can't afford to think childishly like this. The Edge of Death is brilliant, yes, but even he can make mistakes. He isn't infallible."
Sasuke frowned, and sipped at his coffee again. He agreed with Kakashi that with anyone, one couldn't depend on them completely, but the thing was, Aniki wasn't just anyone. Aniki was… different.
Kakashi sighed, seeming to sense what Sasuke was thinking, "Everyone thinks that their situation is different. Sasuke, I am saying this for your own good, because I am your sensei. Don't put such high expectations on your Aniki, because you will be disappointed in the end."
Sasuke didn't agree, and he knew that no amount of cajoling from Kakashi was going to persuade him. Aniki wasn't perfect, Sasuke knew that, or else Aniki wouldn't have been tricked by Danzo. But for things like this… Sasuke knew that if anyone could do it, it would be Aniki. If anyone could investigate something and find the truth, all without being implicated in the process, it would be Aniki. Kakashi didn't understand that.
Sasuke turned away.
"Maa, maa, don't get mad. If you'd rather avoid the problem, like a child, I won't bring it up again."
Sasuke's eye twitched, but he didn't respond. Doing so would be falling for Kakashi's bait, and Sasuke was anything but easy prey.
Kakashi sighed, "Maaa, you're no fun. Not like Naruto, anyway."
At that remark, the corners of Sasuke's mouth couldn't help but twitch. Really it couldn't. Naruto just got riled up so easily. Although Sasuke had to admit that some of Kakashi's antics were extremely annoying (he had to keep telling himself that it simply wasn't possible to strangle their sense) it was almost worth it to see Naruto's reactions. Almost.
"So… read any good books lately?"
Sasuke glanced back at his 'sensei', giving him Look #34. The one that said 'You are so lame', in the fewest words possible.
Kakashi grinned, and for some reason Sasuke shuddered. "No? Well I have to say, I've read a pretty good book recently. Shall I read you an excerpt?"
For some reason, Sasuke got a sinking feeling in his gut. He had a sense that if he didn't reply, it would be him who would be at the butt of the joke here. So, he returned Kakashi's proposition with a calm tilt of his head, "I doubt that anything you have will be of an interest to me."
"Oh I'm not so sure about that," Kakashi was smiling evilly. How Sasuke knew that through a mask, he wasn't sure, but he was positive Kakashi was smiling evilly. "I think every hormonal boy needs what I have to offer. Even if you have… ah… special needs."
Sasuke's eyes grew as wide as saucers. He froze.
And then, Kakashi frowned, his brows furrowing, "Hm… that didn't exactly come out the way I intended it to."
Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief.
"What I meant was," Kakashi started again, "I can give you access to certain resources that your Aniki might forbid because he is an old prude. Just like coffee, once you get a taste, you're—"
Suddenly, Kakashi stopped talking. His head snapped to the right, eyes narrowed. Sasuke immediately followed Kakashi's gaze, to the window and what was outside it, searching for anything that might be suspicious. He didn't know what had tripped the jounin's senses, but it had to be important. Perhaps the missing nin had finally started attacking?
"Well," Kakashi said softly, before quickly turning back to Sasuke with an eye-smile, "Do you mind taking care of Tazuna's cute little family by yourself, Sasuke? It looks like I might have some business to take care of."
"What are you wasting time here for, then?" Sasuke asked harshly.
"Tihehe," Kakashi giggled, getting up in one fluid motion, "ittle Sasuke is trying so hard to play big ninja."
And before Sasuke had the chance to reply, Kakashi was gone.
Sasuke blinked; he hadn't even been able to follow Kakashi's movements. However silly Kakashi might act, Sasuke had to remember that he was a first rate ninja, even Aniki had said so. The things that he taught his students were no joke either; Copy-nin Kakashi was not someone to take lightly.
A part of him really wanted to go with Kakashi —he was itching for some action— but he also knew just how outmatched he was. Even with the Sharingan, he could not defeat a low class jounin who specialized in genjutsu. And this time, he didn't have Naruto with him.
Besides, like Kakashi had warned him, he needed to guard the bridge builder's family. It was his mission. He wasn't quite as rash as Naruto, so he wasn't going to rush into the fight, though even he admitted he had his moments. Sasuke was not oblivious to his own flaws— every ninja should know their shortcomings, after all. Aniki had told them it was the only way to improve.
And so, Sasuke waited. He didn't have to wait long.
Soon, very soon, the front door was kicked open.
Wait… that wasn't right.
Sasuke stood up, a kunai already in hand. If it were Kakashi, the jounin wouldn't have bothered to come through the front door. Or if he did, it would be in a dignified and idiotic way. This was…
"Kakashi-sempai! Elric-san!" Rock Lee shouted at the top of his lungs, the broken door lying in pieces at his feet, "Help!"
Sasuke walked over in quick, short steps, stopping right in front of the other genin, "Neither Kakashi or Aniki are here right now. What happened?"
"They're not here?" Wide, panicked black eyes met Sasuke's, and Lee wailed, "Nooo! I must find them!"
Sasuke got a horrible, sinking feeling in his gut. Had something happened to Naruto? He knew he shouldn't have let them be split up, he knew it! Sasuke turned towards the direction of the bridge and took off; like hell he was going to do nothing while one of the last members of his family was endangered.
Screw protecting Tazuna's family; it wasn't like that was part of their mission, anyway. If something happened to Naruto… if something happened to Naruto…! Besides, he felt another chakra signature racing towards them— toward where the Tazuna house was. Surely that meant Kakashi had come back from his 'business' and now was going to guard Tsunami-san and Inari?
"I… I failed Gai-sensei," Lee sniffed from beside Sasuke's ear, somehow keeping up with his speed as he ran alongside him. Sasuke wasn't quite sure when Lee had started following him, but then he didn't really care. "He specifically sent me here to find Kakashi-sempai or Elric-san. I can't fail him! If… if I can't find them, I'll do a hundred laps when I get back to Konoha. No, a thousand!"
Sasuke stopped mid-step, almost stumbling. Confused, Lee stopped running too. Sasuke's mind blanked as he tried to process what Lee had said and what it meant, and then Sasuke sagged in relief; oh good, so no one was in dire need of help, it was simply the Lee-Gai syndrome at its work. It was a good thing they hadn't gotten too far from the Tazuna house.
"Oh? So you guys are Konoha ninja?"
Sasuke tensed again.
"Yosh!" Lee's voice had turned from pathetic to energized in a second, "And who are you?"
"That is a shame," The new voice continued as if he hadn't heard Lee, "I really didn't want to fight Konoha ninja."
Slowly, ever so slowly, Sasuke turned towards the direction he had felt the chakra signature. No, it wasn't Kakashi, like Sasuke had assumed. Whatever Kakashi was doing, it was consuming his complete attention, and Sasuke shouldn't have depended on the famous ninja to be finished so quickly.
There, sitting on a tree branch almost directly above them, was a Grass ninja with a scratch across his forehead protector.
08:14 Thursday
Naruto huffed, crossing his arms and glaring at the boy across from him. Neji stared back with blank eyes, but still managed a condescending look anyway.
"Yosh! This is great weather! I shall do a thousand pushups after I am done helping Tazuna move the wood!"
At the loud exclamation, Naruto turned his attention back to the other genin that was with him. Lee. Lee was moving building tools at lightning speed, chatting happily with Naruto's clones as he worked. The last member of the hastily made team, Gai, was chatting amiably with Tazuna. Or rather, Gai was yelling about 'youthful' things and destroying Tazuna's eardrums. Honestly, the green clad jounin was even louder than Naruto was.
They had all drawn lots to see who would guard Tazuna first, and it was Gai with Naruto, Lee, and Neji. This didn't really make sense to Naruto, who personally thought that Sasuke should be with him. After all, Kakashi had even said that once they worked together they could bring down a jounin. They would have won the exchange with Baruna if they had more experience, and simply had taken him out as soon as they captured him, instead of giving him time to escape. They wouldn't make the same mistake again.
But then Kakashi had said something about them being able to work with new people, how it was a skill that should be learned early on etc etc. Even Edward nii-san had grumblingly agreed. And Edward nii-san's word was law.
So now here Naruto was, stuck with Neji because Lee wanted to help build the bridge.
"You don't need to be on watchout with me," Neji said in that disdainful way of his, seeming to sense Naruto's train of thought, "My Bakugan covers everything within a 50 kilometer radius."
"Well I don't know how much a 50 kilometer radius is," Naruto replied snippily, even though he did. But hey, he just wanted to annoy the Hyuuga. Neji was a cold fish, and not likeable in the way Sasuke was either. "Besides, if I join my shadow clones we'd all have a hard time manoeuvring. Six is the perfect number for this job, no more no less. Surely you've thought of that?"
Ha! Now that Naruto thought about it, what he had just said was beyond cool. It was like something Edward nii-san would have said.
Neji wasn't nearly as impressed. The black haired boy simply turned away, shrugging his shoulders, "Fine."
Grr... the nerve of that guy! Naruto opened his mouth to retaliate, when suddenly Neji tensed. He whipped his head around to Gai, but the green clad man had already seemed to sense it.
"Guard Tazuna," Gai ordered, all the 'youthfulness' gone from his voice, "This one seems... dangerous. Lee, you're the fastest, go find Kakashi and Edward Elric."
Lee nodded, dropping his plank and sprinting off towards the direction of Tazuna's house. Naruto dispelled four of his shadow clones, allowing the smoke to fill the area as the two remaining shadow clones hid. Hey, you never knew what might happen. Neji shot him a slightly surprised look, but then nodded in acknowledgement, having seen Naruto's move through his bloodline limit.
Mist rolled across the bridge, covering everything in a film of white. Naruto and Neji jumped from their lookout spots to stand beside Tazuna, bodies in their respective fighting positions. Naruto was in a semi crouch, right hand halfway to his weapons pouch. It was a stance ready for anything, ready to shift into anything. Neji on the other hand was standing with one foot a meter behind the other, arms bent and palms spread. If Naruto remembered correctly from all the reports he had read, it was the special fighting technique of the Hyuugas.
"Eight choices," A whispery, deathly voice suddenly seemed to surround them, followed by a blast of killer intent, "Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys, heart. Which one should I go after?"
Naruto couldn't help it, he let out a loud laugh. The killer intent seemed to falter for a moment, and even Gai looked at the blond questioningly.
"I- I'm sorry," Naruto wiped away some tears of laughter, "It's just that- there's so many more ways to kill someone! The solarplex for example, if one hits it hard enough your victim will die! Also, your 'eight choices' aren't exactly very specific. I mean, any idiot could think up of those. At least sound a bit researched; say something like jugular instead of neck vein. Hehe... you're a pretty funny assassin."
There was a pregnant pause.
"Neji?" Gai finally asked.
"I can see. There is one man with a large sword 40 degrees from where I'm standing. He has a scratched Hidden Mist headband, with long bandages covering the lower part of his face. There is another Hidden Mist nin hiding under the bridge, looks to be my age. That one is probably assigned for the real assassination attempt while this one is distracting us."
Pft, show-off.
"Hm... really?" Gai murmured thoughtfully, "I didn't sense the one under the bridge at all."
Ack, what the heck! Neji was getting all the credit. This wasn't cool, this wasn't cool at all. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the black haired boy; well, he'd show him! Getting out of his fighting stance (which was ruined by his laughter anyway), Naruto put his hands together to form rapid seals, "Wind Release: Scatter!"
A torrent of wind exploded out of nowhere, blowing away the mist that had so obscenely covered the bridge. Gai's head whipped towards the blond, eyebrows raised in surprise. Naruto ended his jutsu, pleased. It was an A-rank technique which he'd learned to counter Edward nii-san's mist tricks, and now it was really coming in handy.
The clear sky revealed their opponents, who stood near the other side of the bridge. One was indeed as Neji described, except that Hyuuga forgot to mention how hulking ripped the guy looked. Scary. Just then, another ninja jumped up from underneath the bridge, landing gracefully beside the first one. He really was short.
"Well." The ninja with the big sword eyed the hastily made team speculatively, "Don't we have some impressive genin..."
"Yosh!" Gai exclaimed, recovering quickly. He gave the ninja his signature grin and thumbs up, "They are some of the best of their year!"
"Are they really?" The enemy ninja asked, putting his hands together in a seal, "Ya know, I'd planned to do this quickly before the others got here, so I could take the prize for myself, but this is quite interesting. I think... I'd rather test out these genin for myself."
Suddenly, five identical ninja appeared out of nowhere, surrounding the three Leaf ninja with malicious grins. Water clones. Gai bent down low, peering at one closely, then stood up again, nodding. "Yosh, I see now. You're the Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi. Alright Neji, you can take care of the clones now."
Neji nodded, and then he moved. Not quite as fast as Naruto, and certainly no match for Sasuke, but it was more than enough for the five enemy ninjas. Neji danced among the clones, turning each and every one back into their base element with quick palm strikes.
Zabuza blinked, seemingly impressed, "Hm... he saw through the water clones too. Looks like a rival has appeared... eh Haku? Looks like I've underestimated Leaf nin. Aw well, you can still take care of him, right?"
"Indeed it does," The masked boy replied, and before Naruto knew it, he had moved. The masked boy flew towards Neji, releasing a scattering of senbons. Neji moved his hands in a circular pattern, knocking back the senbons without leaving himself open to the masked helper. Even Naruto had to admit that he was a little impressed by those movements.
"Now," Zabuza lifted his sword, tip pointed towards Gai's chest, "I'd like to experience the Green Beast of Konoha's strength."
As they talked, Neji and the masked boy fought on. The masked boy was faster, but Neji's fist techniques revealed no opening and his Bakugan saw everything around him, giving him a faster reaction speed.
Gai grinned, and got into a standard taijutsu stance, "Hehe... so you've heard of me? Yosh! Naruto, guard Tazuna-san."
Before he had even finished his sentence, the two jounin had already moved. They moved almost too quickly for Naruto to catch, but he could still see them flashing as they exchanged punches and slashes. Unlike their students, Gai was the one who seemed to be faster, but Zabuza's range with his broadsword made it hard for the green clad jounin to close in.
"This is so unfair," Naruto called out, knowing that he was whining but he thought it was rather justified this time, "I won't get to do anything!"
It was true. While Neji got to fight some missing nin lacky (whom Naruto could have defeated easily if he wanted to) and Gai got to take on the big shot himself, Naruto was stuck standing beside an old man with an alcohol problem. Heck, he wasn't even guarding! Anyone who he would have guarded against were fighting with someone else!
Sure, he was supposedly the last line of defence in case the masked boy or Zabuza slipped past Neji or Gai, but he knew realistically that his two ally ninja were unlikely to let that happen. Gai was apparently on the same level as Kakashi-sensei, and Kakashi-sensei was plenty cool. Neji, even if Naruto hated to admit it, was good at what he did. Good enough to be chuunin, maybe.
So in reality, Naruto probably wouldn't get to fight at all.
And then, the masked boy did something strange.
"That is enough," The masked boy said, his voice eerily calm even as he dodged Neji's palms left and right, "We must complete our mission. Demonic Ice Mirrors!"
As soon as he finished the sentence, the air around him seemed to grow colder, bits of frost visible in the air. Suddenly, ten ice plates sprang up around the two fighting children, shielding them from Naruto's view.
Zabuza smiled, cackling madly as he flipped to avoid one of Gai's kicks, "Looks like he finally activated it... his bloodline limit. Your genin will stand no chance now."
Gai didn't even tense, and simply continued pressing on his attack. Naruto was surprised that Zabuza could still talk so normally even when fighting such an intense battle.
"What?" Zabuza sounded surprised, "You don't care about your genin? Hm... not what I expected from Leaf ninja, certainly. Or perhaps... you feel like you can't afford to divert your attention from me?"
Gai shook his head as Zabuza swung his sword towards him, "It's not that. This is one of the most beautiful battles, certainly, but I did not answer because there was no need to. I trust Neji."
"Oh really?" Zabuza sneered, "Well he is dying right about now."
"So you think. He-"
"Listen," Zabuza hissed as he swung his sword again, "Does it sound like your prodigy is putting up a good fight?"
They stopped talking, and with their voices gone Naruto was able to hear what was happening beyond the ice blocks more clearly. Sure, he'd been keeping half an ear with Neji during Zabuza's and Gai's exchange, but he had to admit his attention got diverted. What the two jounin were saying and doing had promised to be interesting, after all, and Naruto had unconsciously shifted his attention to them.
But from what Naruto had seen and heard, it looked like... Neji was losing.
The large bluish white rectangles that surrounded Neji kept Naruto from getting a perfect view of him, but Naruto still had a pretty good grasp of the situation from looking through the spaces in between the rectangles. Senbons seemed to be flying out of the ice mirrors, and Neji could not dodge them all. Eventually, he was going to get too tired, or too dizzy from blood loss- whatever. Either way, Neji was on his way to losing.
Gai seemed to notice it too, for suddenly he tensed and was almost sliced open by Zabuza's broadsword.
"Ah," Zabuza lamented as Gai hurriedly jumped away, the sword serving a bit of Gai's sleeve, "That's why I hate going against genin teams. It weakens the jounins, makes them distracted, and makes them too easy to kill."
Gai didn't pay the bandaged man any attention. He continued jumping, but this time towards Neji. Zabuza however, seemed to have other ideas.
"Hey, your opponent is me." Zabuza grinned, flashing in front of Gai and preventing him from continuing on, "Against that technique, he's finished. If you get by me, I'll kill those two."
"Ugh... Naruto! Are you really as good as Kakashi said you were?"
Huh...? Was it...? Naruto grinned, "Even better!"
Gai turned, giving him a thumbs up, "Good, then go help Neji! I'll take care of this unyouthful fellow!"
Naruto didn't need to be told twice. He had already been thinking of a way to defeat those ice mirrors, which seemed to give the masked boy more speed. He saluted towards Gai, "Yatta! I'm on it Thickbrows-sensei!"
Grinning, he jammed his fingers together in the familiar cross seal, and poof, two shadow clones were made. They stood guard beside Tazuna protectively, while Naruto raced towards the ice blocks that held Neji captive. Experimentally, Naruto slid out a kunai, and flicked it towards the ice blocks.
Just before the kunai hit, a figure leaped out of one of the ice blocks, catching the kunai before it could make contact. It was the masked boy. The masked boy didn't give Naruto any time to stare though, because a second later the masked boy was gone, melted back into the large bluish white rectangles.
Naruto let out a breath; cool. But, now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. He ran around the circle of ice, throwing out almost every piece of weaponry he had. Each and every time, Naruto's kunai were caught or deflected, but Naruto hadn't really been trying to hit the boy.
Naruto grinned, and stopped running. During the whole duration where the masked boy had been catching Naruto's kunais, the attacks on Neji still hadn't let up. The speed didn't slip for a fraction of a second, nor did the accuracy. This masked boy really had skills. However...
Naruto took out a batch of five kunai, one between each of his fingers so it looked like he had suddenly grown claws. Then, when the masked boy flashed by to throw another bunch of senbons at Neji, Naruto released his kunai.
The masked boy hopped out of his mirrors as always to catch them, but this time something was different. In the shadow of the first kunai was another, followed by three other kunais. The masked boy caught the first and the second, but had to jump away to avoid the last three. It was just what Naruto wanted.
He grinned, and finished the last seal to his jutsu, "Fire Release: Burning Bridges!"
A jet of molten fire shot out from in front of his hands, heading straight towards the masked boy. The five kunai that Naruto had thrown earlier had forced the masked boy to jump away from his ice mirrors ever so slightly, so the masked boy didn't have enough time to jump back into them in able to avoid the fire jutsu.
The masked boy twirled, a bit of water rising from the ground to block the incoming fire. The ice mirrors nearest to him also flew forward to intercept the fire, drawn towards the masked boy like metal to a magnet. The fire jutsu hit the ice mirrors head on, and steam erupted from the collision, covering the whole area in a temporary fog of water.
Naruto jumped forward, another kunai already in his hands. His nostrils flared, trying to smell the masked boy even if Naruto couldn't see him. He knew Neji must have escaped the rest of the mirrors by now and-
The steam cleared, and Naruto saw his reflection everywhere. And not just his reflection either, but also Neji's. Somehow, Naruto was now trapped within the ice mirrors just like Neji was. The blond's mouth dropped open. How?
And then, he noticed that something was different about these ice mirrors. Instead of surrounding the two genin circularly, it was more of an oval shape. Somehow, the masked boy had extended his Demonic Ice Mirrors to include Naruto.
"Hey!" Naruto whined, "That's cheating!"
"You're such an idiot," Neji hissed, looking worse for wear. His clothes were ripped in various places, but at least none of the senbon had hit him. Or if they had, he had managed to pull them out of his body when Naruto was distracting the masked boy.
Naruto stuck out his tongue at the Hyuuga just as the masked boy reappeared again inside his mirrors. Naruto noticed that the edge of his sleeve was burnt, and that his hand looked black. So his fire jutsu hadn't been a complete waste then.
Neji huffed, then turned his attention back onto the masked boy, "I don't have time for this. I need to defeat this guy."
Naruto thought about arguing, then decided against. It was so much better to appear cooler. He grinned, "You don't need to worry about that, he's not very hard to defeat. His speed? It's good, but not as good as mine."
"Is that so?" The masked boy asked coldly, "Then you were hiding your real speed all this time? When you were outside?"
Naruto nodded, feeling proud of himself, "Yeah, I just wanted to get a good gauge on your speed. Good enough to beat a chuunin, but not good enough to beat someone trained by Edward nii-san!"
"Let me test your speed then." Before the masked boy even finished speaking, he had moved. His image flashed across the mirrors, but Naruto could see him jumping. The senbons he threw seemed to be coming at a slow rate as well. With a grin, Naruto twirled, avoiding each and every senbon, before throwing a kunai of his own towards Zabuza's helper.
It cut a thin line across the masked boy's arm, staining his sleeve with red. The masked boy stopped moving, and even Neji glanced back at Naruto, stunned.
"You really are fast," The masked boy murmured, "Like this, I cannot defeat you."
"So are you surrendering?" Naruto asked.
The masked boy slowly shook his head, looking as if he were an old man trying to reach out to his upstart pupils, though he really couldn't have been much older than Naruto. "You... you are not the only one who has been hiding his real speed."
"Eh...?" Then, Naruto got the implications. He shook his head; no... no way! "I don't believe you. If you're actually faster than this, why'd you let yourself get injured?"
"I hadn't planned on going all out on you," The masked boy said softly, a wistful tone in his voice, "But your skills are too high. If I'm not serious, I'm afraid I won't be of any help to Zabuza-sama. I have not been honest with you; this is not my real speed—I was planning to save my real speed to surprise the jounins, but it looks like I'll need it now. And I will also be aiming for fatal places now. Prepare yourselves."
And then, the masked boy moved.
08:08 Thursday
Edward had been investigating Gato's network when it happened. He felt two chakra signatures, lower jounin level, rapidly closing in on him. Edward tensed, looking at the crowd of people around him. He had been expecting it, but this was really not convenient timing. He was too far away from either Tazuna's house or the bridge to get there before the two ninja engaged him, and his summons weren't exactly ideal for transporting a message. The best he could do was get to a deserted ground quickly, so that no civilians were caught in the crossfire.
Drawing in a small breath, Edward shot towards the closest place where he had seen a forest clearing, hoping that he'd make it in time. He'd take out the threat there, and maybe then they wouldn't have to worry about more incoming ninja. He was confident that he could do it.
He landed in the clearing just as the two chakra signatures reached him, and a second later he heard two quiet thuds as two other ninja jumped from their tree branches. Edward turned towards the enemy ninja, studying them with a critical eye as they did the same for him.
One of them had a really odd hood on that covered most of his face, and the scratched forehead protector of Waterfall Village. The other was from Iwa and had brown hair streaked with red, as well as a long sword strapped to his belt. The most distinguishing thing however…
"What's up with those cloaks?" Edward asked before he could rethink his statement. Really, those cloaks were weird. Some sort of fashion statement? Secret organization?
The masked one smiled (or at least Edward thought he did) and patted down the long black cloak, "That's irrelevant. What's relevant is this question: are you the 'Edge of Death' Elric?"
"What if I'm not?" Edward asked warily.
"Eh? You're not?" The masked one said in surprise, then turned to his companion with narrowed eyes, "You didn't get it wrong, did you? I don't want to waste my time with small fry."
The Iwa nin seemed to gulp, "H-he is the 'Edge of Death', I'm sure of it."
Edward narrowed his eyes; so the brown haired one was a chakra sensor. That explained how he was found and followed so easily.
"Eh?" the Waterfall ninja turned back to Edward with a frown, "So you wanted to trick us, did you? I can understand why, but that's not going to help you. Well, well, whatever. Even if you aren't the 'Edge of Death', with the way you avoided us, I'd say that you were someone famous anyway. I'm sure your head will be worth something at least."
What the heck? Edward sighed, and reached into his pockets for his gloves, "Let's get this over with quickly."
"Yes," The masked one smiled, "Quickly."
And with that, he disappeared.
Or so it would seem to a civilian.
Edward smiled grimly, slipping the gloves onto his hands. He wasn't exceptionally fast, but his eyes had been training to catch quick movements, and his chakra sensing abilities weren't exactly useless either. Silently, he counted to five, and shifted his body towards the left, aiming his fist at—
The masked man jumped out of the way at the last second, having appeared at Edward's side and disappearing just as quickly. The punch hit the floor, making spidery cracks on the ground. Just then, a flash of metal appeared above him, and Edward had to use the hand that was on the floor to propel himself away from the area
The Iwa nin landed where Edward had just been previously, his sword sticking all the way into the ground. Strings of cackling blue light jumped from the sword, and in an instant the ground around the Iwa nin was illuminated. Edward's eyes widened, and he leapt, just as the radius around the missing nin lit with electric discharge.
And then, Edward felt a chakra signature appear behind him, and knew that it was the masked man. The blond however, had not been idle. Throughout the whole time he was dodging the Iwa nin's attacks, Edward had been making handseals. Angling his shoulder downwards so that he could turn in the air, Edward spun around mid-air to face the Waterfall ninja just as the masked man descended on him, kunai held high. Edward took a deep breath, and blew, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."
A plume of wind erupted from Edward's mouth, knocking the masked man into the trees. Edward was also knocked back, due to the recoil he experienced while in air. However, he had been expecting that. Flying just as fast as the Waterfall ninja, Edward spun his body around, taking out a kunai as he did so.
The Iwa nin's eyes widened as he realized the Konoha ninja was on a collision course for him. He took out his sword, but that was all he had time for. Edward's kunai hit the side of the Iwa nin's blade with all the force of the jutsu and the weight of his body, making the Iwa stagger backwards a little. Using the Iwa nin's weight, Edward used his kunai as an anchor and flipped backwards, landing upright in front of the Iwa nin. He readied his kunai to attack again when suddenly—
Edward's heart froze. Just then, Edward felt three other chakra signatures enter the perimeters of his senses, and he knew that he'd been fooled. He swore, letting out a string of curses that he had learned from the military all those years ago. Turning, he jumped towards the direction of the bridge. Screw the black cloak duo, Edward had to get to the others!
Before he could make it five step though, a large fireball lit up the skies, forcing him to jump back to avoid being roasted.
"Nah-uh, uh," the masked man's annoying voice cut through, as he landed gracefully in front of Edward, "No escaping now that we've got you."
Edward tensed, his eyes narrowing, "You're keeping me here on purpose. Why? Are you trying to split us up?"
The masked man looked genuinely surprised, "What? No, we're not 'keeping you here' or whatever. We just want your bounty money, man."
…seriously? Still, those other chakra signatures that had come into Wave Country were no joke, and especially since the directions they were heading in were… Edward growled, lifting his kunai to his face in a backhanded grip, "You couldn't have picked a worse time. You'll soon be regretting that it was today you met Edward Elric."
"Oh," the masked man's eyes lit up, "So you are Edge of Death Elric after all. Good, good. I thought so after I saw you use that little Senju brat's special 'strength'. Yo Tanto, looks like you got the right person."
From behind, Tanto let out a palpable sigh of relief.
Edward's mind was frozen on one word that the masked man had said. He knew he shouldn't be so curious, especially at a time like this, but his over-analytical mind just wouldn't let it go. "Hey… what did you mean when you called Tsunade-sensei 'little brat'?"
"Exactly what I meant," the masked man sneered, "She is a little brat to me. I have fought her grandfather after all. To me, your precious 'Legendary Three Ninja' are no more than little genin."
And then, he did something that nearly made Edward's heart stop. The masked man slipped off his cloak. Edward staggered, taking a step back in spite of himself. He shook, staring at the masked man with wide golden eyes. This…
Their chakra signatures…!
Their chakra signatures were exponentially higher than Edward had first assumed. It was as if those cloaks they wore allowed them to hide the intensity of their chakra, and where Edward had thought they were only low level jounin, in reality they were near kage level!
He couldn't…
"Ah, that feels so much better," the masked man said, stretching out his limbs. The red and black cloak lay beside him. Then, he turned to Edward with a grin, dull green eyes sparkling maliciously, "You're wrong if you think I'm scared of your little title 'Edge of Death'. You… are about to meet the stuff of nightmares. Remember this name as you die. Kakazu of the Akatsuki."
And then, he disappeared. For real this time.
Edward hardly saw him coming. In an instant later the masked man had appeared at his side, delivering a powerful kick to the medic nin's gut. Edward flew backwards, breaking three trees with his body before he finally came to a stop. As he hit the last tree, Edward's body slid down, but he didn't allow himself a moment's of reprieve. Immediately, Edward rolled to the right, and just in time too. 'Tanto' had struck his sword in where Edward had been just previously.
Tanto followed up with his strikes, forcing Edward to constantly dodge. He couldn't even use the special taijutsu he had gotten his nickname from, because Tanto used a sword. Just then, Tanto's ear seemed to perk, and he jumped out of the way. With a horrid suspicion, Edward leapt away too. Just in time. Or perhaps, not quite in time.
A huge whirlwind shredded the area where he and Tanto had been fighting, and Edward had leapt away just a split second too late. He was blown away, landing heavily on the ground with a bleeding arm, having been caught ever so slightly in the jutsu that the masked man had obviously cast. Quickly, he augmented the air surrounding him with his chakra, bringing up a heavy mist. It was very chakra-consuming, especially since there were not a lot of water sources here, but Edward couldn't afford to be conservative. Not now.
Edward gritted his teeth and pushed himself off the ground, arm bleeding sluggishly. He had underestimated them, underestimated them severely. He hadn't thought that Gato would be able to hire any first rate ninja, and Edward had been sure that he could take anything Gato threw at him. Oh how wrong he was. These two's power levels were insane, and together…! Edward had overestimated himself, and he was paying the price for it.
He quickly formed a seal, healing his arm and muting his chakra signature as he did so. He knew that it wouldn't fool Tanto, but hopefully it would buy him some time with Kakazu. Edward's eyes lidded slightly, and he concentrated.
Then, his eyes widened.
This was…!
And then, Edward had to spin around with a kunai in his hand to block Tanto's incoming sword. A moment later, a large gust of wind blew through the woods, clearing it of mist. It didn't matter though. Edward had bought the time that he needed, and…
Tanto's eyes suddenly widened, and he opened his mouth to warn Kakazu, but he was already too late. A huge fireball was hurled towards them, courtesy of Tanto's partner. Tanto made to move away, but Edward wouldn't let him. The blond had grabbed hold of his wrist, grinning as the Iwa nin turned to look at him with wide, hateful eyes. Fire engulfed them.
When the fire died away, Tanto stood there, panting. Electricity crackled around him, showing the world exactly how he had escaped being roasted. He had formed an electric barrier around himself at the last moment, attesting to how great a master he was in his element as he managed to shield himself from an A-ranked fire jutsu with it. Edward on the other hand…
Edward's form fell, looking thoroughly burnt, before the image melted away and the log was revealed. With a clunk, the log landed on the ground, though it was so badly burnt that it could hardly be called a log anymore.
A few meters away, almost within the maze of trees, Edward stood, completely unharmed. Tanto looked over, glowering. Edward smiled back, even though he felt like anything but smiling at that moment. The blond brushed off his cloak, as if completely unconcerned with what the two missing nins thought. He knew that disregard was the easiest way to make people angry, and fighting angry people would make this exchange much faster, even if...
"Maa, depending on me to Replace you was cutting it a bit close, don't you think?"
Edward allowed a grim smirk to spread across his features, turning towards the newcomer who was leaning lazily against a tree trunk, "You're late, Hatake."