Disclaimer: Naruto is a registered trademark and/or copyright of Masashi Kishimoto/SHUEISHA Inc., or their respective trademarks or copyright holders.

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Thirty reviews! Hooray! It took longer than I thought to gain inspiration to write this chapter, but it finally came to me. Read and enjoy.

Lots of love to:

lindon2

davethedark

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Elia950

crimsondeathknight

Lmvj

Lord Ezra'eil

Inazuma Kanji

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DarkDesh

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Thousand Tailed Holy FlashFang

New comers Inazuma Tate, Muffin-crumbs, Juopunumies, KIRRAA,weixuan18

and all of the kind people who added this story to their Story Alert and/or Fav'd Story List! THANKS YOU GUYS!

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The sixth chapter of my Naruto© fan fiction, Ladybird. Read and review, my duckies.

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Chapter Six : Beak

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Konoha was in her view, and Suzu descended to the ground.

/Finally here. Now where is the...ah!/

She spotted the gates, looking to a guard stationed on the right of a information desk.

She increased her speed, quickly slowing down when the chunin gasped at her. She cawed loudly.

"What are you doing here, little bird?"

/Hurry up and take the message!/

She cawed again, and brought attention to a small note tied onto her leg with some string. Her grasped her and took the piece of paper. Suzu did not even bother to see if the chunin read the message or not, instead flying rapidly away.

/This feeling...why won't it leave me?/

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A rustle in the bushes.

Handling of kunai.

Hit...your...mark!

Naruto threw the weapon into the neighboring bushes.

"Naruto! What are you doing?!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Something was following us." That caused her to keep quiet, and Naruto moved into the surrounded bush to seek out their stalker.

He spied his kunai embedded into a tree, looked downward and saw....

"Oh my gosh, a bunny?! I'm so sorry bunny, I'm so sorry..."

The shell-shocked rabbit was at a loss for words, a bead of sweat slowly dropping from his face.

"Naruto! You could have killed that poor thing!" Sakura said.

A white rabbit in this climate is very peculiar...Kakashi thought. He lets this marinate in his mind before he finally gets it.

"Everyone down!" He orders. A huge zanbatou flies over their heads like a boomerang, finding itself embedded onto a thick tree. A bandage-masked figure, with cow-print armbands and high-waist pinstripe trousers lands on his killing instrument with a quiet thud.

"Zabuza of the Mist..." Kakashi said, slowly lifting off from the floor. His team, stricken with fear, wobble to their feet and look warily at the missing Mist-nin before them.

"Hatake Kakashi, The Copy Cat Ninja...when did someone as famous as you drag little brats around?"

That really pushed Sasuke and Naruto on edge, and Sakura almost shaking. All held their kunai a little tighter.

"I look forward to engage in a fight with someone of your stature, and maybe get you to unveil that famed Sharingan of yours.

Alarm bells rang in Sasuke's head. The Sharingan is exclusive only to the Uchiha, how did Kakashi...?

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, protect Tazuna."

Naruto retorted "But we can--"

Kakashi stopped him sharply. "This is my fight. Stay out of this."

Zabuza chuckled, and Naruto looked at him and growled. However, he stayed in his place beside Tazuna.

Kakashi lifts his head protector up to unveil a closed scared eye, and then opens it revealing a red eye with three tomoe (1) resembling a pinwheel.

Sakura and Naruto looked in awe at the strange iris, and Sasuke felt himself recoil when he saw his family's bloodline trait.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu..." A eerie mist envelopes the group, and Zabuza seemed to dissipate just as quietly as he came. Kakashi was on guard.

The Mist battle has begun.

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Nightfall is close, and in a few hours the land will be covered by a blanket of darkness decorated with beads of light.

Suzu is crossing the sea to the Land of Waves, going as fast as her wings can take her.

/I must get there in time...are they safe? Is he okay?/

Moving across the sky, warm oranges and yellows mixed with the impending blue and black of the night like watercolors on a overextending canvas. If Suzu was not focusing on getting past the sea into the Land of Waves, she would have appreciated the beauty of it all.

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Naruto and company cannot begin to comprehend the artistry unfolding above then because a layer of mist concealed it from them. Even so, they would not have been paying attention because of the battle between jounin playing out in front of them.

This feeling...it's frightening. Two jounin fighting to the last...It almost wants to make me...Sasuke grasped his kunai hard, wanted to end it.

"Sasuke."

The mentioned gasped, and looked at his sensei. Kakashi gave his student an eye smile, and reassured "Don't worry. I will protect you guys with my life."

Sasuke sighed in relief, and Zabuza laughed mirthlessly. "These kids...there are not ninja, just brats."

Naruto growled again. "That's not true, we are ninja!"

"I bet." He appeared behind Sakura and Sasuke, then make a swipe at where Tazuna stood.

Kakashi stabs his kunai at Zabuza, revealing it to be a clone. The real Zabuza closes in behind him and kicks him forcefully into the water.

This water feels heavier than usual...oh no!

But it was too late. Kakashi was caught in Suirou no Jutsu, Water Prison Technique. Zabuza then creates another water clone.

"Now that your sensei trapped here, you maggots are now in my way. Time to finish you."

Team Seven was panicking, moving back.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, run away! You can't possibly expect to defeat Zabuza. Protecting Tazuna is more important than rescuing me."

"Yes, kiddies," Zabuza said. "Run like your able teacher said. Killing you would be like cutting grass with a scythe."

"It's too late." Sasuke said quietly. "Even if we try he would be too fast for us."

"Kakashi-sensei..." Sakura whimpered. Never in her life has she felt this scared and worthless. Zabuza is right...we are not cut out to be ninja.

"No! We can't just leave Kakashi-sensei to some eyebrowless freak!"

"What do you think we are suppose to do then?!" Sasuke snapped, definitely out of his character.

"Nothing." Zabuza replied for Naruto as he kicked Sasuke out of the way.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed, tears falling from her eyes.

"Eyebrowless freak, huh?" Zabuza said, edging closer to Naruto. The usually loudmouthed ninja's voice closed up, and Naruto could only muster a defiant stare as Zabuza moved toward him.

"Say bye kid." Zabuza said, lifting his zanbatou for a final blow.

Naruto heard the swish of the blade cutting threw air. He closed his eyes, waiting for oblivion.

Then, nothing.

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What Sakura saw was something that she would always remember. A raven cutting into the mist, feather slowly falling. Wings to arms, beak to face, bird into woman. Her transformation was like out of a fairy tale.

Suzu grabbed Naruto and made a back flip out of the way, narrowly missing the zanbatou as it crashed to the ground. It took a few strands of her dark hair, ans she watched as it slowly feel to the ground. She sighed, wiping the sweat from her brow.

"That's nice. I was looking for a haircut."

'Bird-chan' has arrived.

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Notes:

– tomoe is Japanese for plum blossom and comma, after the plum blossoms shape. I wanted to use that to describe the Sharingan instead of just 'dots'. XD

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Next Time: Suzu has finally arrived, and everyone is trying to figure out who she is. Naruto makes up a plan to get Kakashi out of his prison, and Haku arrives on the scene.

STAYED TUNED!