Author's Note: I just wanted to state a simple fact. As far as characters go, I don't waste time describing certain things like what people from the anime/manga look like. I assume, for the most part, anyone reading this has at least some knowledge of Naruto. Also I want to say that anyone who reads and enjoys this, let me know. If you have any input or suggestions or maybe just a question, I encourage you to leave me a review. It's nice to know people appreciate, or at least enjoy, what you take time to do sometimes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything from his universe. I only own Nazo who I created.

"Talking"

'Inner Thoughts'

You Can't Be Serious

Chapter 4

Finally Some Excitement

It had only been several hours since they left the gates of Konoha. It had been a very uneventful trip thus far. Apart from the endless stream of words coming from Naruto's mouth it was quiet too. Honestly Nazo had never actually wished he would be attacked by an enemy ninja. He was bored out of his mind to say the least. Yes he had done a lot of traveling, but it was usually at a pace only ninja could achieve and maintain. With Tazuna under their care that wasn't going to be happening. In an effort to keep from being bored he decided to experiment with his 'Vision'. Now as far as everyone knew he was blind, only a perverted, toad sage knew he wasn't. The truth was he had very special eye's. With them came immense power, but immense sacrifice. That would all be explained when he actually had to use his real sight though. The way he saw things was easy enough to understand, but much harder to accomplish. It was comprised of several things, all including chakra. First was something very basic, the Inuzuka clan did it regularly, he used chakra to enhance his sense of smell. The second was just as basic, he used chakra to also enhance his sense of hearing. Both of those had taken some getting used to, the first three days he used chakra to enhance his smell he couldn't stop sneezing. It took him two weeks to stop having severe headaches from enhancing his sound. The last step to his vision was a constant pulse of chakra he used like a bat uses sonar to see. Now while that might seem like an awful lot of chakra being used simply to see, it honestly was. Using his eyes was even more chakra intense though. He could also use less chakra by enhancing his sense because he had better chakra control than anyone he had ever met. Only a certain medical genius with a gambling addiction rivaled his chakra control. His freakish chakra reserves added to that perfect control allowed him to release those pulses and enhance his senses all day. That information taken into account could make experimentation risky. He took that into account, but then again he was really bored. He mulled over a few possibilities in his mind before choosing the one that seemed most entertaining. He gathered a bit of chakra and focused it for a few seconds as they walked. Wondering how much he should use he continued to gather the chakra. After several minutes he figured it was enough chakra to get at least a mile or two worth of sight. He finished focusing his chakra and released it at once. He had to remind himself to not ever do this again.

Naruto had actually ran out of topics to talk about so he was walking quietly beside Nazo, his hands resting behind his head. Nobody was talking, or doing anything. Everyone was quietly walking beside each other, not even looking at each other. Sakura wasn't even glancing at Sasuke very often. Tazuna had run out of sake about an hour ago, so even he was being quiet, he probably had a hangover. Naruto noticed a small movement out of the corner of his and and turned to face his sensei. He was simply walking, but he had his hands together like he was focusing on something. Naruto watched him curiously for a minute before dismissing it as a way to relax. He found out only two minutes later it was much more than a way to relax. One second Naruto was walking down the road with his teammates, everything at peace. The next he was thrown violently off the path and sent crashing through several trees before one finally stopped his flight. As his disorientation wore off Naruto dizzily stood up. He made his way back to the road only stumbling twice. He was glad to see he wasn't the only person caught off guard. Apparently the chakra blast had even sent Nazo flying backwards into Tazuna. The two of them were laying in a tangled mess in the middle of the road. Naruto looked around for Sakura or Sasuke and saw Sakura walking back to the road from the woods. He tried to stifle his laughter at the sight. Her hair was the biggest mess he had ever seen. Between the dirt, moss, twigs, and leaves her bubblegum hair was a frizzy disaster. She growled angrily as she saw him trying not to laugh, and he immediately choked down the laughter. It wouldn't last long as he saw Sasuke stumble back toward the road, barefoot.

"Either of you seen my sandals?" Was all Sasuke could get out. Given that he was standing right in front of their sensei, the sudden blast of chakra blew him, quite literally, out of his shoes. The proof was that his sandals were sitting right where Sasuke was standing before the blast of chakra. Sasuke put on his sandals while Sakura was busy cleaning everything out of her hair. Naruto checked himself to make sure he didn't lose any weapons or the such, Nazo had stressed that after their last spar. Finding everything where it should be he checked on Tazuna and Nazo. Naruto helped his sensei stagger to his feet, leaving Tazuna grumbling about useless ninja from the ground. Nazo was reeling from one hell of a headache. He deemed it a bad idea to gather and focus chakra when you weren't going to pay close attention. He had no idea at all how far the pulse had gone, but the information was overwhelming. He would take two-hundred Kage Bunshin dispersing at once over this any day. He did count himself lucky though, had he not done so they could have possibly died. As bored as he was, he doubted he would have noticed the small puddle of water just a ways up the road. Seeing as how it hadn't rained in quite awhile, there shouldn't be any water. That could wait though, now he had to face three angry teenagers, one having a now horrible hair day.

"Care to explain yourself?" Sakura fumed as she tapped her foot angrily. Naruto was a bit upset about being flung through the air and trees, but overall he thought it was funny. He would be using that for a prank in the future for sure. Sasuke was also upset, but he was now thinking of ways to use that in a fight. That made Sakura the only person actually angry about the whole ordeal.

"Now Sakura I can explain, just let me talk." Nazo was waving his hands nervously in front of him, hoping to escape any punishment.

"What's to explain? There was nothing happening. We were only walking down the road!" Sakura was more angry than when Naruto had accidentally kissed Sasuke. Nazo could swear he saw steam rising from her ears.

"Well what had happened was" Nazo started to make up an excuse before it dawned on him. "Wait a second, I'm the sensei here. Why should I be afraid of you?" If Nazo could have said anything to earn a death warrant, he had just done it. If you looked closely you would have seen Sakura's anger rise. It was just like watching a mercury thermostat rise to a higher temperature. Starting at the bottom of her neck, where the skin is visible, she turned red. The red slowly crept up reaching her face, then enveloping her entire face. Now she was steaming, so to speak.

"LOOK AT MY HAIR!" She shrieked at the top of her lungs. Naruto, Tazuna, and Sasuke all held their ears in pain as the inhuman wail echoed around them. Naruto looked up as the noise died down and felt sorry. Poor Nazo. Naruto didn't know his sensei used chakra to enhance his hearing, but the sight made him sorry. Sasuke just covered his face and looked away as he heard a barely audible whisper from Naruto.

"Poor sensei, I wonder if he is deaf and blind now?"

As Team Seven, plus Tazuna, continued to walk Nazo contemplated how this had occurred. He had been in tight spots while fighting before, but this wasn't even a fight. His ears were filled with a constant ringing, so any enhanced hearing was shot. His equilibrium was way off as well, as his staggering walk indicated. He had finally slowed the bleeding down, but it would still occasionally drip out of his ears. Also thanks to his own stupidity his chakra reserves were dangerously low. He still had about as much chakra as a chuunin, but that was minuscule to him. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he forgot all about that special puddle of water. He was reminded as they walked past the puddle and he suddenly found himself wrapped in spiked chains. The last thing he heard was a cry of fear as Sakura and her teammates turned to see him before the Demon Brothers ripped him to shreds.

"Sensei!"

Sakura cried out in fear as she watched their sensei get ripped to shreds. It was the first time she had seen death in any form. Nothing had prepared her for this. She completely broke down and dropped to the ground. Tears began to stream down her face as she sat on her knees hands loosely at her sides. She had no control over her body as the two enemy ninja glared at her deviously. One of them laughed before saying something to the other.

"I'll take pinky brother, you get the emo and the shrimp." The other nin nodded and disappeared. He reappeared in front of Naruto smiling evilly. Naruto was reacting almost the same as Sakura. He wasn't on the ground sobbing uncontrollably, but he was frozen in both fear and shock. He couldn't make a single move as the enemy nin brought back his clawed hand and swung it down toward his head. Naruto shut his eyes and waited for the pain, but instead he heard a clang.

Sasuke watched in horror as Nazo had been killed. Unlike his teammates though Sasuke wasn't fazed. At a younger age he had been forced to watch his older brother kill his entire clan for twenty four hours straight. Something like that would certainly desensitize you to death. Seeing his teammates freeze he took action. Sasuke jumped in front of Naruto and blocked the nin's claw from striking Naruto with his kunai. The nin snarled at him for being stopped from killing Naruto and jumped back. Sasuke turned and flung three shuriken at the nin lunging for Sakura. The shuriken impacted against the other nin's clawed hand with a loud clang, forcing him to jump back. Both nin jumped back to retaliate against Sasuke together. Seeing as how they were able to kill their jounin sensei Sasuke knew they had to be ninja of some power. He figured now was as good as any to test the jutsu Nazo had taught him against an actual opponent. As the Demon Brothers dashed toward him Sasuke flashed through hand seals as fast as he could. As soon as he finished the last seal Sasuke drew a deep breath before exhaling.

"Katon: Karyu Endan." An enormous dragon made of fire erupted from his mouth and flew hungrily at the advancing ninja. They were too close and moving too quickly to dodge out of the way as the jutsu hit them. The dragon exploded on contact with the nin, covering them in a fiery veil. Sasuke covered his eyes as the jutsu exploded brightly. After the explosion, and ensuing flames, died down Sasuke looked at the nin laying on the ground. He was about to turn away before he heard a cough and turned to see the burnt and charred, yet very alive, Demon Brothers slowly stand.

"Damn you brat, you're going to pay for that."

"That really stings. How does someone as weak as you know a jutsu like that?"

Sasuke could normally use that two more times at most, but he knew he was outmatched. He had put as much chakra into that jutsu as he could. Now he didn't know what to do. Naruto was still frozen in fear and Sakura wouldn't stop sobbing. Sasuke ready himself as they began stalking toward him. Luckily for Sasuke none of them would be dying today. Sasuke smirked as he watched what happened next.

The Demon Brothers had never had this much trouble with anyone below chuunin level. Now this pipsqueak of a genin had actually hurt them. That was the strongest jutsu they had been hit with in quite awhile, and it came from a lowly genin. To say they were angry would be an understatement. They began moving toward him before they felt a hand on each of their shoulders. Confused they both looked behind them cautiously. Turning they came face to face with the jounin they had just killed.

"Peek-A-Boo" Nazo smiled before clunking their heads together as hard as he could. The ensuing, sickening thud caused Tazuna to flinch. Nazo looked over at Sakura and Naruto and regretted waiting. He had no idea the two of them would freeze up like that. He knew about the Demon Brothers and wanted to see what his genin were capable of. He was proud of Sasuke. Had the other two not been frozen in fear he was positive the three of them would have easily beaten the enemy ninja. Sasuke had come close on his own, though doing so made him an easy target. He needed to question Tazuna about the mission, it was obviously not a C-Rank escort mission. As of now it was a B-Rank escort mission, but he also need to check on his genin. No matter what the mission was team came first, even if that meant failing his very first mission.

"Naruto are you OK?" Nazo walked up behind him and put his hand on Naruto's shoulder. He felt Naruto cringe and removed his hand quickly. Naruto turned and Nazo saw him visibly relax instantly.

"Sensei! You're alive, but how? I saw you, I saw them, you died!" Naruto said frantically. Nazo squatted down to be at Naruto's level and smiled at him.

"Sorry about that Naruto. I wanted to see how well you three would do against them. I had no idea you and Sakura would freeze like that. I am truly sorry. Now come over here." Nazo led him over to Sakura who had finally stopped sobbing at seeing Nazo alive. As he neared her she stood and ran to him, embracing him in a hug. Sakura began softly sobbing once again as she held onto her sensei. He held her as she sobbed for a minute before softly pushing her away. It was time to find out what happened.

"OK. I need you two to tell me what happened. Why didn't you two move?" Sakura just continued to sob while Naruto fidgeted slightly.

"Well sensei, we haven't seen anyone die before. Nothing has prepared us for this." Naruto's voice was quiet as he spoke, his face toward the ground. Nazo was momentarily angry before calming himself and asking them further.

"Didn't they go over this at the academy?" Nazo questioned. Naruto only shook his head in response. Nazo was confused, but Sasuke solved the confusion for him.

"Actually they did sensei. Sakura was home sick that day, and the dobe was kicked out of class by Mizuki." Nazo's temper flared once more, but he quelled it down. He wasn't going to take it out on his genin or Tazuna. Although Tazuna had lied to Konoha and his team about the details of the mission. The old man would be catching a little bit of his anger.

"I will be having a talk with Lord Hokage about this when we get back to Konoha. For now however I need you both to be OK to travel. Sasuke great job back there. Those were both chuunin ranked missing nin from Kiwigakure. There is no doubt in my mind that had Sakura and Naruto been able to assist you I wouldn't have needed to intervene. Now Sakura, Naruto, come with me please." Nazo motioned for them to follow him as he led them away from Sasuke and Tazuna.

Sasuke stood leaning against a tree several yards from Tazuna as he waited patiently for his teammates to return. After many minutes Nazo finally returned with Sakura and Naruto. Naruto was smiling again, like usual. Sakura still looked slightly shocked, but she was no longer sobbing.

"Now Tazuna, why don't you tell me about this mission."

"What do you mean?" Tazuna asked nervously.

"This is obviously much more than a simple C-Rank escort. As of now it is a B-Rank, and I don't doubt it could become an A-Rank mission, should we continue. I keep up with the bingo books, the Demon Brothers don't work without guidance. Now why don't you tell us all about it?"

"OK, OK" Tazuna sighed. "My village is poor, we couldn't afford to pay for a higher ranked mission. Everything used to be fine, but then a crime boss named Gato came along. Ever since he and his cronies showed up things have been horrible. I am a master, bridge builder. I'm currently overseeing a bridge. It will connect us to the mainland once again. Once that happens things will improve. We will be able to trade again, people will be able to take jobs. Poverty will end and the money will come flowing back in. None of that will happen without the bridge though and Gato is doing everything he can to stop us. We need protection so we can finish the bridge, but we can't afford it. So I lied about the mission details. I am truly sorry, but we need help. Please don't abandon me now." Tazuna pleaded after finishing his short tale. Nazo had already figured it was something along those lines. He didn't like leaving things unfinished, and he had never failed a mission before now, but he wasn't about to force his genin into it.

"You should be ashamed of yourself Tazuna. You could have gotten yourself, and my students killed. I personally don't like leaving things unfinished, but the choice is up to them. Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto. Do you want to see this to the end? Or would you like to turn back?"

All three of them looked at each other then back to Nazo. Naruto spoke for them "We want to continue sensei. Plus they need our help." Sakura nodded in agreement while Sasuke just looked on. Nazo smiled and nodded to them before turning back to Tazuna.

"Looks like you have yourself a ninja escort." Tazuna sighed in relief at Nazo's words. "However" Nazo continued "Once your village regains its wealth, you will be billed by Konoha."

"Of course, no arguments here." Tazuna said with a smile on his face. Nazo sighed knowing this day was far from over. He waved his hand forward and resumed walking down the road.

"Lets go then, were wasting time."

Nazo was starting to think he was worried over nothing, but like usual whenever he was worried it was justified. Almost two hours of nothing, now this. Nazo kicked Naruto out of the way as a huge sword embedded itself in the tree where Naruto had been standing a second earlier. Naruto gaped up at the sword sticking out of the tree before getting up and running back to the others. The genin took up a loose circle around Tazuna while Nazo lazily stared up at the sword. Everyone watched as a shirtless ninja landed atop the handle of the sword.

"Well, well this is a surprise. I didn't know Konoha had a jounin I hadn't heard about." The ninja spoke, sounding mildly surprised. He was shirtless, really pale, wore a Kiwigakure headband, and had an extreme lack of eyebrows. "Who might you be jounin? I like to know my victims."

"Nazo, my first name shall suffice, I don't have a clan name. It's a pleasure to meet you Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist." Nazo bowed. "I would enjoy doing battle with you, however I don't feel like it today. Any chance in you leaving us alone?" Nazo smiled hopefully.

Zabuza chuckled, giving Nazo all the answer he needed. "Any other day I would be happy to oblige. Today I'm being payed to kill you all though. I was hoping to fight someone I could dispatch of easily. Seeing as how I know nothing of you, I'll end this quickly." Zabuza grabbed his sword and jumped away landing on the surface on the small, nearby lake. He made a single seal before the entire area became shrouded in mist.

Nazo held his head in his hand sadly. 'Any other day this would be a cake walk, but I don't know if I have enough chakra to fight him equally. I better try to end this fast.' Nazo turned to his team "Protect Tazuna, none of you are any match for him. Leave him to me." With that Nazo leapt into the mist.

Nazo stood in the center of the lake unmoving. He would have been worried about Tazuna, but he knew Zabuza would want him dead first. As he waited for the first attack he wondered how this would play out. It had been awhile since he fought against another ninja with a water affinity like himself. His thoughts were stopped short as Zabuza's giant sword came swinging through the mist. Nazo brought out a kunai and stopped the sword.

"Sorry Zabuza, but as I'm sure you now know the mist won't hinder my ability to fight at all."

"Ah I see, so you really are blind." Zabuza stated amused. "Well your ability with the kunai shows me this will have to be a jutsu fight." Zabuza jumped back and started forming seals.

'Pretty slow with those seals, horrible for a water attuned. How can he take so long to form seals for a suiton?' Nazo contemplated confused. As Zabuza finished his last seal Nazo saw what was happening. 'I see.' Behind him Nazo heard Zabuza's voice.

"Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu." Zabuza smiled as he caught the jounin off guard. "This fight is over jounin, you're trapped."

"You're right this fight is over." Zabuza turned to see Nazo several yards away. Surprised Zabuza looked inside the water prison. The Nazo inside stuck its tongue at him before dispersing in a cloud of smoke. Zabuza released the jutsu, already performing seals for another. Nazo began rushing through his own seals, a race to finish first. As luck would have it they finished at the same time, both yelling out the name of their jutsu. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" Two dragons of water shot out of the lake, racing toward each other. The ensuing collision of water drenched everything nearby, adding to the already disrupted vision due to the mist. Zabuza had already decided on his next jutsu and started speeding through hand seals. He only managed about half the seals when an explosion erupted in the back of his head, sending him flying. Team Seven was surprised when they saw Zabuza come flying out of the mist and crashing into a tree. A split second later Nazo appeared just feet away from them, looking toward him.

"This has gone on long enough Zabuza. It ends now." Nazo performed hand seals at a speed only few jounin were capable of. Nazo hated showing off his original jutsu, but he was out of chakra and this one was pushing it. The last seal formed he murmured its name. "Suiton: Naimenteki Dekisui no Jutsu." A small drop of water formed out of thin air before Nazo and quickly became larger while speeding toward Zabuza. As the, now a small floating stream, water neared Zabuza two senbon lodged into Zabuza's neck, and he slumped to the ground. Nazo let the jutsu die as a hunter nin landed in front of Zabuza.

The new nin turned to face Nazo "Thank you for your assistance. I have been chasing him for weeks." The nin bowed to Nazo, who nodded his head slightly in return. "Now I must go, again thank you." The hunter nin grabbed Zabuza's body and disappeared. Nazo turned to his students and began walking toward them. They were relieved as he moved toward them before he suddenly stopped.

Nazo looked at them before smilingly. "Night night" He managed to get out before collapsing on the ground in an undignified heap, succumbing to chakra exhaustion. Naruto and Sakura both ran to him, leaving Sasuke with Tazuna.

"Is he OK Sakura? What's wrong?" Naruto pestered her as she used the diagnostic jutsu Nazo had taught her to check on him. After a minute she turned to Naruto.

"He's fine Naruto, he just has chakra exhaustion."

Naruto face faulted in disbelief before whining "You can't be serious."

Jutsu List

Katon: Karyu Endan no Jutsu; Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet Technique

Suiton: Suirou no Jutsu; Water Release: Water Prison Technique

Suiryudan no Jutsu; Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique

Suiton: Naimenteki Dekisui no Jutsu; Water Release: Internal Drowning Technique