Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long. Ive had a lot of tuff keeping me busy, and I've hardly had time to write. But here's a chapter, to appease you. Hope it was worth it!
A lone boat emerged from the mist towards the mainland of the Land Of Waves. Six passengers on board. Naruto, Hinata, Sasuke, Kakashi, Tanuza, and their guide. All dedicated to finishing this bridge. Silently, and stealthily, their boat made its way through the archway of the bridge, to reveal the land of waves mainland.
"Woooooow..." Quietly Gasped Naruto, in awe of the sight before him.
The guide pulled his ship into the dock as quietly and quickly as he could "okay, here Tazuna. I've got to get back."
"Thank you, Reyli. It was a risk. I shouldn't have asked it." Tazuna bowed.
'Didn't think twice about asking us for help though, did he?' Shrugged Naruto, as he watched the boat drift away.
The party of five wondered through the forest path on their way to the village Tanuza lived. Every step of the way, guarding against ambush.
A lone rabbit jumped into the road. No one took notice, and carried on as normal. No one except Kakashi.
'A grey haired rabbit? They're supposed to be Hibernating...'
"I'll be taking the old man off your hands now."
The five man party pirouetted to face a lone figure, standing on a tree branch, with a massive sword in hand.
"Well well. The Demon of the hidden mist. Zabuza!" Kakashi said.
Everyone looked between Kakashi and Zabuza. Did these two know each other?
"Ah, Kakashi of the Sharigan eye. It is a pleasure" Zabuza laughed lightly.
'WHAT?!...' Sasuke instantly took notice of the word 'Sharingan'
"Well, it would be lovely to chat, but I'm on a right schedule, you see. So hand over the old man, if you please." Zabuza demanded.
Kakashi stood to face Zabuza. "Everyone, get back. Protect Tazuna." Everyone nodded.
"Heh heh... You think children will be able to stop me?" Zabuza taunted.
"No, i dont. Looks like..." Kakashi grabbed his mask, then lifted it down, to show his second eye, which gleamed bright. " I'll have to work a bit harder."
Kakashi had a Sharingan eye.
'WHAT?!... The Sharigan... '
"Ah, to see the legendary Sharingan eye so early in our acquaintance. " Zabuza said, almost sounding Honoured.
"What's this Sharingan eye they keep talking about?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke didn't move, but he spoke " the Sharingan... Is a Bloodline trait that allows the user to copy, mimic, and learn any Jutsu it see's..."
"Ah, yes." Zabuza said, sounding almost nostalgic. " oh the stories I've heard. The legendary Kakashi Hatake of the Sharingan. The man who learnt a thousand Jutsu's thanks to the Sharingan."
'1000 Jutsu's?!' Naruto mentally shouted.
'But...' Sasuke slowly put together, as his mind raced ' the Sharingan is a bloodline trait available only in the Uchiha clan... How...'
Zabuza chuckled lightly, performing demented handsigns " hidden Mist Jutsu."
Fog appeared from the woods and lake, engulfing the surrounding area into a sea of Fog. Kakashi backed up to protect his team. The three Genin formed triangle formation around Tanuza.
"Heh heh heh heh... Heheheheheheh..." Zabuza's satanic chuckled echoed the area " heart, lungs, liver, Brain, neck, spine, arteries, throat... So many fleshy areas... Which should I strike first?... Mwuhahaha..."
'So this is the feeling... Of knowing the enemy... Knowing the enemy has my life in his hands...' Sasuke said, holding his kunai, shaking ' I Hate it! You just want something- ANYTHING to break it! You begin to want to die just to end it.' Sasuke, uncontrollably, began turning to his kunai toward his chest.
"Sasuke."
Sasuke immediately snapped back into reality, taking control of his body again.
"Don't panic. I won't allow, my comrades to die!" Kakashi said, smiling at Sasuke.
"Too late."
A slash from the mist ripped into Kakashi's torso, spilling blood from his chest into the ground. It would have been a fatal blow, but Kakashi disappeared into a cloud of smoke. A shadow clone!
Zabuza immediately turned behind him, to see Kakashi dashing toward him, ready to strike him. Zabuza blocked the strike and pushed Kakashi out to the water.
"I see. Directing me to your shadow clone by saying something I would expect you to say, then using my confusion to trick me. Clever. But on the end..." Zabuza performed a short sequence of handsigns " I am victorious. "
He clutched his fist at Kakashi. The water grew heavy around Kakashi. That's when it clicked into Kakashi's head "NO!"
"Water Style! Water Prison Jutsu!"
The nearby water began to rise, entrapping Kakashi in a shallow sphere of water. The water Prison Jutsu. This Jutsu allowed the user to entrap a target, and If necessary , crush them with the water pressure. It was a technique designed by the mist ninja. The results- lets just say the mist ninja usually got what they wanted, and when they got what they wanted... The sharks had a feast.
Naruto , Sasuke and Hinata watched , powerless, as Kakashi was entrapped by the Jutsu.
"He heheh..." Zabuza chuckled, turning to the three Genin with bloodshot eyes. "And then there were three."
"Man... This is not good..." Naruto gritted his teeth. He looked around, considering his options.
Clearly this guy was way above their level, so they couldn't take him alone. Only two would be able to attack, as one would need to stay behind to protect Tanuza. So it looked like their only main option was to somehow free Kakashi. But how? They couldn't blow up the prison. You can't blow up water. Maybe if they got behind him...
"Water clone Jutsu." Zabuza performed handsigns, with only one hand, and simultaneously, a clone formed, made solely out of water, duplicating Zabuza.
"Surrender the old Man, and I'll allow you all to leave. If you don't, I'll kill you all." Zabuza warned. He was clearly serious.
Naruto performed a single handsign. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
With that, a mass amount of solid clones appeared out of the smoke clouds. Maybe If Naruto's clones could pass the clone, they could attack the physical Zabuza.
"Moron." Sasuke said, performing handsigns " I can just burn them out."
"They're water clones idiot! Fire won't affect them!" Naruto shouted
"Heat evaporates water! Fire produces heat! Take the hint moron!" Sasuke shouted back, slapping his hands together "Fire Style! Fireball Jutsu!"
A ball of fire erupted from Sasuke, aimed right for Zabuza's clone. The clone held up on arm, and i turned into water, blasting away Sasuke's fireball.
"Naïve children." Laughed Zabuza.
"What did I tell you?!" Naruto yelled, charging straight for Zabuza's flank. His clones ran around the side to attack the main body.
Zabuza's clone lifted its left and right arms into a straight degree, then as soon as Naruto's clones passed, water burst out of Zabuza's clones's arms, eradicating The clones.
"Damn it!" Naruto shouted, jumping back "What do we do?"
"Run!" Kakashi shouted " if his clone gets too far away chasing you, he looses control of it! Then he will have to open the water prison to restore Chakra! Remember, We're here to protect Tanuza!"
"Don't worry about us , Kakashi Sensei." Naruto said. He turned to Sasuke. "I have a plan."
"Oh, so NOW you have a plan?" Sasuke smiled annoyingly.
"Heheheheheh..." Zabuza chuckled. Everyone looked at him " little brats playing Ninja's." he held up his right hand " by the time I was your age... I had already dyed my hands with my enemies blood!"
"The bloody mist ritual..." Kakashi realised
"Ho Ho... So you've heard of our little exam?" Zabuza smiled sadistically
"Long ago." Kakashi said, informing his team " the Bloody Hidden mist had earned its name ' the bloody mist' for its graduation ritual."
"W-What kind of ritual?" Hinata said, speaking for the first time.
"It's sort of a... Killing spree... Amongst classmates." Zabuza smiled
"In order to pass the exam... Students were given a knife... And we're pitted against one another... In combat... To the death." Kakashi said. "The weak were killed, surrender wasn't an option, and if you failed, or stepped out, you died."
The Genin team stared at Zabuza in horror. What the hell kind of a nation was that?!
"Without a quelm, or a hint of hesitation... This... Rouge ninja killed over 100 of that years graduation exam!"
Sasuke and Hinata both gulped. Naruto did nothing.
"So what?"
Zabuza blinked.
"You're exam may have changed, but one thing hasn't changed about this world." Naruto looked up " Death."
"You think you were the only child to kill someone? The only one on earth. " Naruto held up his left hand " these hands... Have blood on them too."
Sasuke and Hinata both gasped.
"You may think your some tough ninja, but in the end, we are all human. And all humans have weaknesses... But me?... I'm different. Within me, I hold the nine tails fox... And if you don't let my Sensei go right now, I'll kill you."
Naruto was just talking a big game. In reality, he didn't want to kill this guy. At least not yet. If this made him even slightly more angry then this plan was working.
"Who?" Zabuza asked " you say you killed. Who?"
"My former teacher. Hinata, you were there. You saw. Mizuki's dead." Naruto said. This part was true.
Hinata was shocked. Naruto had.. Killed Mizuki?... Naruto...
"Heheheheh... The fact you think you can kill me... Is a foolish move." Zabuza laughed.
"We'll see." Naruto said. He nodded to Hinata . He then turned to Sasuke, and threw his rucksack to him " go!"
Sasuke grabbed ahold of the rucksack and, using his chakra to identify whatever it was Naruto wanted him to realise, he understood the plan ' Not bad, Naruto.'
Naruto ran right for Zabuza, with Hinata for back up. Here, Naruto was doing recon. He had to avoid this lethal clone of Zabuza's, so he went full forward. He had a plan. Hinata knew what he must have been thinking too, so she ran right next to him. Zabuza's clone had aimed at them, and was now firin that lethal water at them to activate their plan.
The torrent of water flew towards the two, so Hinata jumped in front of Naruto to initiate their plan.
"Eight trigrams, protective 64 palms! " in just a moment, Hinata began spinning, and was enveloped in a light blue spinning sphere , deflecting all of the water the clone had shot at them well away. Now Naruto ran for the original Zabuza, head first, but with no real intention to do much damage.
"Die Brat!" Zabuza threw several sharp Kunia toward Naruto, who dodged by jumping up in the air, and past Zabuza.
In mid air, everything went in slow motion. Naruto was here. He could identify this part of his plan.
Zabuza's arm had to be in the water prison Kakashi was in. Naruto assumed If the hand was removed, the prison itself would fall. That was all Naruto needed. He landed behind Zabuza and..
Poof!
That had been a clone.
Whilst Zabuza got his head around what the hell just happened, Sasuke had pulled out his windmill Shuriken. "Art of the demon Windmill Shuriken!" Sasuke stepped back, and tree the Shuriken at the original Zabuza, who just grabbed it with one hand.
"Shuriken are useless against me!" Zabuza shouted out of a sense of superiority.
But then, a second Shuriken flew out if the mist, aimed for Zabuza's legs.
"A second Shuriken in shadow of the first!" Zabuza knees-to-chest jumped, avoiding the Shuriken.
Poof!
The Shuriken had been nothing more than a transformation. It had been Naruto in disguise!
Naruto drew one kunia whilst in midair. Now his plan would be tested. He aimed for Zabuza's Jutsu- casting hand, and threw the kunia as hard as he could.
Zabuza had literally no options. He could stay how he was and loose an arm, or release, and try again.
Zabuza ripped his hand out of the water prison, releasing Kakashi. Zabuza was infuriated he had fallen for such a simple trick! He charged straight for Naruto, gripping Hold of as many Kunai he could, lunging for Naruto.
"Eight trigram- protective 64 palms!"
Hinata jumped in front of Naruto again, deflecting all of the Kunai, sending them flying in random directions.
After Hinata's attack had worn off, Zabuza had moved.
Behind them.
Splat!
Blood dripped down from the air. Neither Naruto or Hinata were harmed. They both looked up.
Kakashi! He had blocked the attack with his own arm!
"Naruto, your plan was brilliant." Kakashi said simply.
Hinata helped Naruto up by putting his arm around her shoulders. Naruto was exhausted after pulling off such moves in such a quick sequence, and exhausted all his chakra. Naruto laughed "when my clones made the charge, one stayed behind, whilst I ran into the forest. Inoticed Zabuza wasn't attacking from his original body, so that meant he must be vine ranks there. I knew Sasuke has a second demon Shuriken, so when my clone distracted Zabuza, I snuck around and turned into a demon wind Shuriken , and I threw myself over disguised as a demon wind Shuriken, and threw over myself to Sasuke.
Now while the clone that stayed behind attacked Zabuza, covered by Hinata, I was able to confirm it- a good attack would work. So when Sasuke threw the original Shuriken, I saw Zabuza was able to dodge them. That was when I decided to throw my Kunai at him."
"I see. So you caused me to fly into such a rage that I lost myself and broke the shield-" Zabuza said
"No!" Kakashi said " your shield was broken, by an outside force."
Zabuza threw Kakashi a sadistic stare.
"Just so you know, the same trick won't work twice on me" said Kakashi, ripping his arm our of the kunai. "Your move."
Zabuza jumped back. Kakashi. Just a cocky imbecile. Still, a good fighter. Time to bust out the heavy artillery.
Zabuza began to periderm handsigns. An extra long sequence of them "Toro, monkey, dragon, tiger, horse, boar, snake, dog..."
These patterns repeated themselves constantly for ages.
After a while, Naruto noticed something. Kakashi had been copying the same techniques all this time!
"L-Let me go Hinata." Naruto said "I'm gunna help Kakashi Sensei."
"N-Naruto, you used up to much Chakra...P-Please... Y-You need to rest..." Hinata protested
Naruto turned to protest, but he saw the clear worry in Hinata's eyes. He sighed. He didn't want to rest, but he'd do it. For her sake "okay... Alright..."
Hinata took Naruto to the nearby tree where Sasuke was resting. He had cut his arm during the fight. " out already?"
"Shut up. I got more done then you did."
"What the hell are they doing over there? They're just stood there."
"They're performing handsigns. A long sequence of them."
At that same time, Kakashi and Zabuza both slapped their hands together " Water Style! Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Two massive water dragons ripped out of the water, battling one another, until their eventual destruction.
"Wow." Sasuke said, covering his face from the falling water " what a Jutsu!"
Naruto was about to speak, but he cut himself off. "Huh?"
He had seen someone, dashing about in the trees "who is that?"
Hinata turned to him "huh?"
"In the trees. Over there!"
Sasuke looked over. "I don't see anyone."
Zabuza had grown tired of his fight with Kakashi. "You- ugh!"
Several razor sharp needles had penetrated Zabuza's throat, killing him instantly.
Kakashi traced the needles to the origin of the attack. A Shinobi hunter!
"What the hell?" Naruto shouted. After all that, a few needles had killed Zabuza?!
"Forgive my intrusion." The Shinobi hunter didn't seem more than a few months older than Naruto. " I wanted the satisfaction, of killing him myself."
Kakashi checked Zabuza's pulse. He was dead alright.
"Your a Shinobi hunter aren't you?"
"I see you recognise the mask."
Naruto and Hinata just watched this conversation in awe.
1: what the hell was going on?
2: Zabuza was dead?
3: who the hell is that kid?
Hinata couldn't believe Zabuza was dead. He had fought for hours, so well, then fell to a few needles?
Hinata activated her Byakugan. If Zabuza was alive, she would be able to tell.
A few swirling chakra motions. Nothing unusual... Except...
"I must take my departure now." The Shinobi hunter said, grabbing ahold of Zabuza. "I will take the body away... So the Genin won't have to watch. It's not pleasant what I have to do, I assure you." With that, along with Zabuza dead body, the Shinobi hunter left the area.
"Who was that?" Naruto asked
"A Shinobi hunter from the hidden mist." Kakashi said " they..." Kakashi never finished his sentence. He just fell to the ground
'Damnit...' Kakashi thought ' I used the Sharingan too much...'
"Kakashi Sensei!"
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Kakashi had been moved to the same tree that Sasuke was Sitting under. Sasuke had been wounded, though the wound wasnt life threatening, but it hurt, according to Sasuke.
"Great... " Naruto sighed. He thought about things for a second
"Okay" Naruto said " Tazuna, you carry Kakashi. Your the eldest and the strongest here.
Sasuke, you good to walk?"
"Yeah, I'll manage." Sasuke said, gripping hold of this cut arm. "But I think we should get some bandages or something."
"I-I have some..." Hinata rooted through her supies and gave the bandages to Sasuke
"Thanks." Sasuke muttered. He wrapped the bandage around his cut. It stung, but at least it wouldn't get infected anymore then It already was.
"Okay, that's one thing sorted." Naruto said. "Tazuna, how much further? "
"About a 20 minute walk west of here." Tazuna said.
"Okay, let's go. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can get these two treated." Naruto sighed
The party set off, headed to the village where Tazuna resided, to find some help for their two wounded.
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"Honestly!"
"Calm down Tsunami."
The group had reached Tazuna's house, where Tazuna's daughter was tending to Kakashi.
"I will not calm down! You know times are hard! Couldn't you have taken him to see the village medic?"
"I won't hire that crook."
"Of course you won't."
"Now now." Kakashi said, from his duvet on the floor. "Honestly, I only need a day or two's rest. I won't be needing medical supplies. And if you could spare some disinfectant for my pupil there, that's all we require. We have access to our own food. We don't wish to be a burden to you."
"Nonsense! You and your team saved my life against that Zabuza mercenary. We'll find a way to manage. Inari and I fish daily, so we'll have plenty of food for you. Make yourself at home!" Tazuna said
Tsunami sighed " As I said, times are hard. I won't be able to pay a penny more than our budget. You and Inari will had to bring back the food, or they have to go hungry." She turned to Kakashi " I'm sorry for my behaviour, but I have to look out for my family here."
Kakashi shook his head " it's quite alright. We have enough food to last us for the journey back. And I'm sure my team will be more than happy to help in any way they can. Catching food, maintaining your boat..."
"Happy to help!" Naruto chirped in.
"Y-Yes!" Hinata jumped in
Sasuke nodded.
"Thank you for understanding" tsunami bowed. " times have been... Tough since Gatö took over Wave harbour"
"What happened?" Naruto asked
" long story short, Gatö took over our harbour, then took the country. It's prompted resistance. Now we're in a state of Civil war." Tazuna said "well, at least that's what everyone here thinks."
"Civil war?" Naruto asked
"Your a dope." Sasuke sighed " two factions inside a land fight one another. That's a civil war."
"Well, it isn't official civil war. A few people go missing every few days, and a couple of confrontations. " Tazuna said " but that hasn't stopped most of the shopkeepers from getting scared and closing shop. Times have been tough, so we catch all we eat. That's why the bridge is so important."
Naruto sat there, taking it all in.
"And that's Also why Gatö wants me dead. If the bridge is complete..." Tazuna's voice trailed off.
Naruto slapped his hands together " right the , looks like we'll have to fight off Gatö then. We beat Zabuza and we can beat Gatö!"
"Hah!"
Naruto was jumped by the voice of a small child, standing in the doorway. To put it simply... He looked like a real brat. He gave all the ninja a nasty look, and looked like he was about to burst out shrieking the roof off any second.
"Inari!" Tsunami said " where have you been?"
"Walking. " he was interrupted by Tazuna giving him a great big hug " hi grandpa." When he was let go he turned to look at team 7, and Naruto in particular. " who're the idiots?"
"Inari! Be respectful!" Tsunami snapped
"But mom, they're gunna die"
"Why you little-" Naruto began, but managed to shut himself up
"Inari, these three heroes got me back to the village safe." Tazuna said, instantly regretting his choice of words.
"Hero? Hah! No such thing. No one can defeat Gatö or his goons. There no use even trying." Inari snapped
"Believe what you want. I ain't givin' up." Naruto said
"Hah! "Inari walked over to the corridor door. " if you wanna live, leave." He then walked into the corridor.
"My apologies for Inari." Tsunami said
"I should give him a right hit." Muttered Naruto.
"I say the same thing to myself occasionally." Tsunami said " please excuse him. He's... Had a lot of pain."
"Try being shunned by the whole village for 12 years for something my father did." Naruto sighed "and he did it to protect me."
"Sounds like you and Inari could be two sides of the same coin." Tazuna said.
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