Naruto was sick and tired of all these easy missions. He wanted something with excitement, adventure, and some fighting. He wanted to put all the training to use. So, when the Hokage told him he was going to go babysit a kid, he threw a tantrum.
To their surprise, it worked, and they got a D rank mission. Even Kakashi hadn't seen that one coming.
"You'll be escorting him into Land of the Waves, good luck."
With that, they started walking.
"What are you so excited about, Naruto?"
"Hah! We're going to show the Hokage that we're excellent ninja when we ace this mission so he'll start giving us harder missions from now on! Believe it!"
"Are you sure someone like that is capable of a mission like this?"
Naruto stopped his obnoxious cheering instantly. He spun around and pointed at the bridge builder. "I'll show you! I'll show you that I can become Hokage and then everyone will have to acknowledge me!"
"Even if you do become Hokage, I'll never acknowledge someone like you," the old man replied.
"When I'm Hokage, you won't have a choice, old man," Naruto said.
"Hmph, we'll see about that," the silver haired bridge builder replied.
On that note, the trip was quiet except for the birds. A puddle of water lay innocently on the ground, and Naruto hardly resisted jumping in it. A look from Sakura prevented him from doing so though, and he frowned while walking after that. A few yards later, two figures emerged from it. Without warning, two chains wrapped around Kakashi. They were pulled, and he was reduced to a blood stain on the ground. Sakura cried out.
"Number one," one of the gas masked figures said, and launched an attack at Naruto. Sasuke reacted quickly, and pinned the chains to a tree with a kunai. He jumped onto the gloves where the chains were attached and kicked both of them in the face at the same time. They released the chains, and refocused their attack on the bridge builder, but Sakura stood in the way. They were almost upon the two, when Sasuke appeared out of nowhere to defend her. There was no need though, as Kakashi grabbed the two in a head lock.
"Naruto, you can't allow yourself to freeze like that. Good work Sakura, Sasuke. I'm sorry I didn't help you earlier, I had to see who was the target."
Laying the spot where Kakashi's body was were a few logs. The masked man examined the claws on the edge of the gloves.
"Kakashi sensei..."
"Those claws were poisoned, you're going to need to cut open to the wounds to get the poison out, Naruto," Kakashi interrupted.
"WHAT!"
"Kakashi sensei, I don't think we should complete this mission, we're not ready for it," Sakura said. "None of us have ever been in a real fight before."
"If Naruto can't treat his wound, then we will need to get him treated too..." Kakashi said.
Naruto drew a kunai and stabbed his hand. "I'll show you that I can take care of myself and treat my own wounds," he said angrily. "I will complete this mission, I swear it on the pain in my left hand."
A needle darted out and struck him in the neck. Naruto recoiled at the pain, and reached up to touch the sore spot. Kunai were sent in the direction the needle had come from, from both Kakashi and Sasuke. A few tense seconds passed in complete silence, but no one appeared to fight. Kakashi picked out a shard of glass.
"Somebody disagrees, this is the antidote to the poison they gave you. Interesting, apparently we have allies that don't want to show themselves. Someone doesn't want you dead. Let me see your hand."
Naruto gave Kakashi his hand, and his sensei wrapped it in white bandages, even though the wound was already mostly healed. While he was at it, he picked the shards of glass from Naruto's neck. On the way to the Land of the Waves, the bridge builder explained why people were after him, and he was almost done when there was a splash near the pier. Haku, who had been sitting by the side of the water, got up and waved at them, and that was the last thing any of them saw before the boat was tipped over and they were thrown into the icy cold water.
Sasuke was the first to emerge, followed by Naruto, and then Sakura.
"Where are Kakashi sensei and the bridge builder?" Sakura asked as soon as she surfaced. Sasuke dived into the water, closely followed by Naruto, then Sakura. The water was a large blur, but it looked like Kakashi was fighting a dark blur with a large sword. Swirling water prevented them from trying to help, and Kakashi from getting away, limiting the battleground. Because of this, they could see that Kakashi was getting thoroughly pummeled, despite his sharingan. The bridge builder was nowhere to be seen.
Then the water stilled, allowing them to get to Kakashi. The assailant darted towards the surface, and Sasuke gestured at Naruto to get Kakashi. Naruto nodded and dove after him while Sasuke pursued their attacker. Sakura helped Naruto get to dry land, where they could help him.
It took a little while, but eventually Kakashi came back to consciousness. He sat up and shook the water out of his hair, ignoring his multitude of injuries for the moment.
"Where's Sasuke, Naruto, and Zabuza?" where the first words out of his mouth.
"Is that his name?" Sakura asked. "They went after him."
Sasuke was taking a beating. Zabuza wasn't even using his sword, which lay across his back again but pounded Sasuke into the ground and held him there with his foot. He leaned onto Sasuke's ribs, making the smaller boy cough up blood. He gasped for air.
"You're just a little ninja, no, not even that. You're playing with the big dogs now, if I were you, I'd watch my back."
"You may have beaten Kakashi sensei, and Sasuke, but you're not going to beat me! Come on!"
Zabuza drew his sword, and lifted his foot from Sasuke. "If you insist."
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A multitude of Naruto's appeared, surrounding the older and more experienced ninja. They lept into the air and attacked with their kunai, all that the same time. Zabuza shook them off and destroyed them with his sword. Puffs of smoke exploded in the air as his clones were beaten. When they disappeared, there were two Zabuzas standing in the clearing mist.
"Let's play a game, shall we? Which one is the real Zabuza?" they asked in unison. "And which one is the fake?"
Two needles struck each one's throat, and one collapsed into water while the other just plain collapsed. Haku jumped down from the tree and pointed to the one that wasn't a puddle. "I'm guessing that one."
"Judging from your mask, you're a tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."
"A TRACKER NINJA?"
"When ninjas go rogue and turn against their villages, tracker ninjas are sent after them to assassinate them to prevent the rogue ninja from leaking any secrets. You really should study more, Naruto."
Kakashi felt Zabuza's pulse. "He's definitely dead."
Naruto looked at Sakura, and then back to Haku. He couldn't get past that this kid, who couldn't have been any older than they were, had taken down Zabuza. Even Kakashi hadn't been able to beat him, and this kid had killed him... were they really that weak?
"What are you!"
Haku recoiled a bit at the question, just enough so that he wouldn't lose balance. His hand raised defensively.
"Relax, Naruto. He's not our enemy." Kakashi stood up and put a hand in his pocket.
"That's not what I'm asking! Zabuza was so strong, and you just... killed him!" Naruto looked down at his own hands. "Are we really that weak..?"
Haku jumped down from the tree, and Naruto raised his hands defensively. Kakashi put his hand on Naruto's hair. "I understand your disbelief, but in this world there are children smaller than you, and stronger than me."
"We'll just have to push ourselves harder, right?" Sakura yelled with excitement.
"Humph."
Haku picked up Zabuza's body. "I must get rid of this corpse, it contains many secrets. Until we meet again..."
A small whirlwind surrounded them, and they disappeared.
"What did he mean, 'until we meet again'?"
"We need to find the bridge builder," Kakashi said. "Or have you forgotten your mission?"
They would have, if Kakashi hadn't collapsed upon trying to stand up.
Raito paced the inside of her cell, and pulled on her black and white striped sleeve. Haku should have been back by now to tell her how the meeting went. There was still a chance that a bail would be set, but it was unlikely. All the same, she would rather know. This place wasn't exactly a five star hotel, not that she had ever stayed in one before. All the same...
Being in jail definitely sucked.
"Sorry I'm late," Haku said when he was allowed into the room. He smiled. "Zabuza is here, along with our friends from Hidden Leaf Village."
Raito looked concerned. "What happened?"
"Someone was going to die, so I knocked Zabuza out. They think he's dead, and they didn't recognize me."
"Is he ok?"
"He should be fine, he can't move yet and I haven't been able to talk to him."
"You should soon, or else there might be trouble."
As soon as Kakashi woke up, he knew there was something wrong. It was the feeling that was coiled at the pit of his stomach, there was just something wrong with this picture.
"Sensei, you're awake. How are you feeling?"
"Horrible," Kakashi answered bluntly. "But I'll live. I'll have trouble moving for the next week though..."
"Then it's probably better if you don't try to move right now."
"Kakashi sensei! You're finally awake!" the boy wearing bright orange and blue said when he came in to check on his teacher.
"Kakashi sensei," Sakura began. "What was the masked boy?"
"A hunter ninja, who specializes in hunting down rogue ninja and getting rid of their remains, and judging by his mask, he was a member of the Black Ops. They're a special group of elite ninja. They study extensively in physiology, and know the human body inside and out. By the time they're done, there's nothing left of the body. They don't move it, either, to prevent... he lifted someone that was easily twice his weight, and that also goes against the norm. Not only that, but did you see what weapon he used?"
"Regular senbon," Sasuke replied.
"Exactly, they're hard to kill with, kunai would have been a better choice, and I have no doubt that he knew how to use them. Thus, Zabuza is still alive."
"What are you saying? You said so yourself that he was dead!"
"It wouldn't be hard for someone with that level of training to put someone in a state near death," Kakashi replied.
"So what do we do?"
"I can't move very much myself, but I suppose we'll have to train. If Zabuza is still alive he'll probably come after us, given his background."
"What background?" Sasuke asked.
"A few years ago there was a special test for ninja trying to graduate from the academy in the Hidden Mist Village. The students would be paired up, and when it came to graduation, they didn't graduate until one of them was dead. These were their classmates, the people they shared their hopes and dreams with, and in order to graduate one of them would have to die. One student made the system reform, he killed hundreds of students before the test, so they reformed the system," Kakashi explained. "That student was named Zabuza."
"Before the boat tipped, I could have sworn I saw Haku waving at us," Sakura said. "Is it possible that he's actually here?"
"Yeah, I saw him too," Naruto agreed.
"Who?"
"He was a ninja from the academy, he showed up with a girl named Raito for a few days and then left with her. They seemed really close..."
"You bet they were! Haku and Raito were best friends! They even had complete trust in each other!"
"How would you know, Naruto?"
"They were staying with him," Sasuke answered. "We were there when they left. It's possible that they're here, they did get a call from the Hidden Mist Village before they left, but Raito looked really upset about it. If we find them, maybe they would be willing to help us with Zabuza."
"You bet they would! Haku said that he would never abandon his friends! Believe it!"
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask..." Kakashi mused. "Do any of you know where she would be?"
"..." That was information that they hadn't had time to ask for.
"Well, you better start looking then."
Haku closed the police station door behind him. It never failed to strike him as amusing that Raito was in a uniform like that, though he didn't show it for fear of her wrath. That, and it kind of hurt to see her so powerless. If something happened, the way they had her now, she would be powerless to do anything about it. He shook the thought away, nothing would happen. Not when he was the only member of their team currently able to do anything.
"Haku! Wow, I didn't really expect to find you here. This really is a concrete jungle, huh?"
It was true, the cooperate empire was filled with skyscrapers, metal, and concrete. A great statue of water, made of glass, rose in front of the building Haku had just left, the local jail. Sometimes it seemed that there wasn't a single surface in the city left unpolished and sparkling. Giant white pillars rose in front of the building to their side in the court house, with statues of water dragons on either side of the entrance. In the middle of the square stood a fountain, a pair of scales with water running through them. They sat on the edge of the fountain, where other people sat talking and children splashed inside of it.
"Why were you looking for me?"
A bird landed on Naruto and started looking for food in his hair. He plucked it out and held it in his hands. "Where's Raito? We should probably talk about this together, it concerns her too."
"Uh, well... if it's that important, follow me."
Raito was going to kill him. No, she was going to brutally murder him for this. Oh well.
"Why are we in a jail? RAITO?"
Raito didn't say anything for a long time, but the look in her eyes promised murder. And torture. And just about anything painful she could think of, and she was very creative. Good thing her hands were securely bound behind her back. "Hi, Naruto."
"Is that really Raito?" Naruto asked Haku.
"Yes, it's me. What are you doing here, Naruto?"
"Why are you in jail? I'm going to help you out of here, believe it!"
Raito shook her head. "Don't bother, I'll be out of here later this week anyway. Cut to the chase, what do you want?"
"Raito, what did you do?"
"This isn't about me. There isn't anything..."
"He could testify," Haku cut in. "We got into town a day early, which would be an alibi."
"I don't want to drag them into this," Raito argued.
"What's 'testify'?"
"You tell the court what you know," Haku answered. "It isn't hard or anything, you just tell the truth."
"Yeah, and make enemies with some powerful... you too, huh? Are we having some sort of party in here now?"
"We thought Naruto had somehow landed himself in jail already, and that we were going to have to bail him out," Sakura answered. "Well, I guess if you're in jail you can't help us. Come on, Naruto, let's go."
"How did I know that you would just abandon people you know just like that?" Haku said, making Sakura start to fume.
"Sakura doesn't know what's going on," defended Naruto. "Hey, I've got an idea! Why don't they... what was the word again?"
"Testify."
"Testify too! Three people have to be better than one, right?"
"Hmph, I don't want to testify for someone who did something bad enough to deserve a trial," Sakura said in a snobby voice. "We shouldn't associate ourselves with criminals, right Sasuke?"
"It's probably better that way anyway," Raito agreed. She smirked. "Wouldn't want to tarnish your perfect reputation."
"What is it that they're accusing you of anyway?" Sasuke asked.
"Two charges of kidnapping, and abandoning my village. Regardless of what happens, they're going to find me innocent."
"Raito! What did you do!"
"Nothing. I'm being set up because I made the wrong person mad. Mostly it's politics."
"Why would they charge you with something if they're just going to find you innocent?" Sakura asked. "That doesn't make sense."
"But you're just a kid! They can't do that!" Naruto protested.
"If I were only a kid, do you think that I'd be in this position? I gave up the rights to being a kid a long time ago, legally, I'm an adult."
"We both are. Now what was it that you wanted us to help you with?"
"A man named Zabuza killed the man we were supposed to escort here, a hunter ninja killed him, but Kakashi sensei thinks that he might not be dead. He's worried we might get attacked," Sakura explained. "We saw what you did to Iruka sensei, and we thought you might be able to help, but if you're in jail..."
"She may be, but I'm not. We'll do what we can."
"In return we'll testify for you," Sasuke said, it wasn't really an offer, more of an acknowledgment of something that was going to happen regardless of what they said. "You can't be sure that they're going to find you innocent."
Raito was about to protest, but Haku didn't give her the chance. "Sounds like a deal then." After all, someone had to prevent Raito's ridiculous logic from getting in the way. These kids were tougher than they looked, Haku could tell. They could handle it. How they were going to deal with Zabuza, he had no idea. The older man wasn't likely to listen to them, but at least he wouldn't kill them. The favors they were pulling for these young ninja...
The three ninja left the room, leaving the team of two alone.
"You need to relax, Raito, they can handle it."
"And if they can't? These aren't people they can just beat up to make them go away."
"Then they're not cut out to be ninja."
With those words, Raito was left on her own. There was no denying the truth to them, but she couldn't help but worry about them. It was a cruel world to be thrust into so suddenly.
"They're late, wonder where they are..."
"Kakashi sensei, I'm sorry we're late," Sakura said as soon as she got through the door.
"I take it you found them then?"
"Believe it! Raito's in jail, so she can't help, but Haku said that he would see what he could do!"
"I wouldn't be so sure, or did you not notice that Haku has two different headbands?" Sasuke said between bites of food. "Not only that, but given Raito's skills, don't you find it odd that she was in jail? It wouldn't be hard for her to do something and not to be caught. They're hiding something from us."
"If you don't trust them, why did you offer our help?"
"Are you sure he has two headbands?" Kakashi asked.
"Now that I think about it, he was wearing a Hidden Mist Village headband, and he also got a headband from our village at graduation," Sakura mused. "Did he graduate twice or something?"
"So what I've heard is true then. I'm sure they've graduated a few more times than that, if what you're saying is true. Raito and Haku are said to have the most complete knowledge of ninja training of this generation. Not much is known about them, but somehow they've managed to convince many nations to allow them to study at their academies, and they've yet to fail once on graduation exams. It's said that one of them isn't able to use any kind of jutsu, either. Having their help would be a great asset to us, but be careful. I'm sure that they're dangerous, so don't taking giving them favors lightly."
"Raito did say that she couldn't use jutsu..." Sakura said. "Do you really think it was them that came to our class?"
"No wonder Raito and Haku were so good at teaching me how to use the Shadow Clone Jutsu, I thought they were teaching me the wrong signs."
'They taught Naruto? No wonder he did so well on the exams,' Sakura thought. 'I wonder why people as knowledgeable as that chose Naruto, Sasuke is a much better choice. He can beat Naruto at anything.'
"All the same, we should be careful. Those two no doubt have a lot of secrets, and may have hidden motives. Don't trust them blindly."