"What a think mist, I can't see ahead," Sakura muttered.
Mayumi shook her head, "It doesn't matter if you can't see, just so that funny looking guy in the back can."
"We should see the bridge soon. The Wave Country is at the base of the bridge," the funny looking guy said.
The four genin sat next to each other watching out from the front of the boat. Sakura decided to pay absolutely no attention to the blue haired girl. She still wasn't too happy with her. Naruto was watching out the side of the boat eagerly trying to see the bridge. Mayumi was relaxed next to Kakashi. She happily rested against his side lazily, only happy because she wasn't next to Sasuke. Sasuke glared at everything and everyone that looked at him. He was in a bad mood and was getting tired of Mayumi ignoring him. He was going to talk to her; he just had to find out how to get her alone.
"Wow! It's huge!" Naruto shouted when the bridge came into view.
"Hey, be quiet," the guy that was paddling snapped at him. "Why do you think we are hiding in the mist and not using the engine? We'll be in deep trouble if Gatou finds us."
Naruto covered his mouth.
(flash back in italics)
"Sensei," Tazuna spoke. "I want to talk to you. It's about this mission..."
Kakashi and his students turned to the oldest man.
"You're right," Tazuna began. "This job is most likely outside of your duties. It turns out that a super dangerous man is after my life."
"Super dangerous man?" The Jonin asked.
"..."
"Who?"
"You've probably at least heard his name before."
"..."
"The wealthy shipping magnate, a man named Gatou."
"Huh? Gatou..." Kakashi shouted in his shocked state. "From the Gatou Company? He's said to be one of the worlds few extremely wealthy people."
"Yes," Tazuna took over. "Officially he runs a large shipping company... But secretly he sells drugs and other illegal items, using ninjas and gang members to take over businesses and countries. He's a very nasty man. It was about a year ago when he set his eyes on the Wave Country. Through money and violence, he quickly took control of the country's shipping industry. Gatou now has a monopoly on all business traffic in the country. The only thing he has to fear now is the completion of the bridge."
"I see..." Sakura said. "Since you're building the bridge you're in the way."
"So those ninjas were hired by Gatou?" Sasuke asked.
"Is he an old fart?" Mayumi questioned.
Tazuna nodded.
She turned to Sasuke and pulled on his arm, "Sasuke-san! He's talking about that old fart that you wanna kill! Maybe you can kill him sooner then you thought!"
Sasuke shook his head her to prevent himself from laughing.
Naruto stared blankly, not understand any of it.
"But what I don't understand is," Kakashi spoke. "If you knew ninjas could be after you...Why did you hide that fact when you hired us?"
"The Wave Country is super poor," Tazuna spoke. "Even the Feudal Lord has no money. Of course we don't have much money either... Not enough for the expensive B-Rank mission. Well if you quit the mission now I will definitely be killed..."
"But-" Kakashi started but was stopped by the old man.
"Don't worry about it! If I die, my cute ten year-old grandson will just cry for a few days! Oh yeah, and my daughter will live hating Leaf Village ninjas forever. But it won't be your fault. Not at all!"
Everyone glared at him.
"Well, I guess we have no choice. We will protect you at least until you get back to your country," Kakashi told him.
"We'll be there soon," the strange man said. "Tazuna-san...It looks like we've avoided detection so far but...just in case. We'll take the route that has vegetation. It will make it harder to spot us."
"Thanks," he told him.
The boat went through a tunnel. Mayumi growled slightly not liking the fact that she could only see the way out. Everything else had turned black. She crawled away from her Otou-san; she wasn't just going to sit there. Her hand landed on someone's bare leg. A hand shot out and grabbed her shirt collar. She closed her eyes afraid of what would happen next.
They pulled her to their face, "Naruto?"
Mayumi shook trying to think about which person it was, "...N-No."
The hand didn't loosen but held on tighter. Before she knew it she was sitting and she had placed in between the person's legs. She was pulled back so that she was resting against their chest.
"Stop ignoring me," the person whispered in her ear.
Well it definitely wasn't Sakura, that much she could tell. The person sighed contently and wrapped their arms around her. But the only thing she wanted to know was who it was...who was she ignoring again?
"Wow!"
She looked back to see that more light was coming in. The reason of that was because they had reached the other end of the tunnel. The light slightly burned her eyes but she was happy that she could see again. Naruto was staring excitedly at the small village that they had come to. She smiled at the place as well, liking the way that the trees grew out of the water.
The boat came to a stop next to a dock. She felt the arms around her pull away and push her away gently. She watched as Sasuke walked away from her. Wow she was stupid...why hadn't she realized that he was behind her? Speaking of Sasuke...They needed to have a talk, he wasn't supposed to be kissing her when he was gay and with Iruka! What was he-...HE WAS CHEATING ON THEIR SENSEI!
The group walked out of the small town and into the trees. Mayumi felt slightly nervous with the way that her Otou-san was looking, and the fact that Naruto was giving Sasuke a funny look made her feel like Naruto was either mad at the Uchiha or had decided that he too was gay and liked him.
"There!"
Everyone stopped in shock as Naruto threw a kunai into some bushes.
"Heh...Just a rat..." Naruto mumbled.
"Stop trying to act cool! There was nothing there!" Sakura screamed pointing a finger at him.
"Hey," Kakashi spoke. "Please stop using shuriken...It's seriously dangerous."
"Hey Midget!" Tazuna shouted. "Stop acting like a moron!"
Naruto started to look around again before he threw another shuriken, "There!"
"I said stop!" Sakura screamed as she hit him.
"Oww!" Naruto cried in pain.
Mayumi started to walk over to Sakura to make the girl regret hurting the blonde. Sasuke caught her actions and stopped her. Mayumi looked down at the firm hold the Uchiha had on her arm. She sighed in frustration but didn't leave to boy to save her friend.
"Somebody is after us, I swear," Naruto told her.
"Yeah right!" Sakura squeaked. "Oh!" She said as she looked at a scared rabbit that Naruto had almost beheaded. "Naruto what have you done?"
"Oh...Just a rabbit," Tazuna whispered.
Naruto clung the rabbit to himself, 'I didn't mean it lil' rabbit!'
Mayumi smiled at the animal and pulled it from her best friend, "Hey there lil' bunny! You can live with me and Otou-san from now on!" She hugged it close to herself happily.
Sasuke almost smiled at the scene that he was "cute", almost.
"Mayumi-chan you're going to kill it!" Naruto told her, trying to pry it away from her.
Sasuke didn't like were the boys hands were seeing as that was where the poor rabbit was located. He walked over to the scene and reached for the blonde angrily.
"Everyone get down!" Kakashi shouted as he and Tazuna got to the ground quickly.
Sasuke pulled at Mayumi and tossed her down then placed himself on her lightly for protection. Sakura jumped at Naruto and pushed him, too, to the ground landing on top of him. The blade that flew over them landing in the side of a tree. Everyone stood to their feet quickly to see who or what had attacked them. In front of them stood a shirtless man, with bandages wrapped around his face, his forehead protector was slanted slightly, his pants were striped and around his arms and legs he wore camouflaged arm and leg warmers.
Sasuke pushed Mayumi behind him hoping to keep her out of the fight all in all if it could be helped. Kakashi seemed to have the same idea and nodded his approval to the Uchiha who had his daughter, and closest person to his heart, out of harm's way.
He looked back to the man that he recognized, "Well well, if it isn't the Hidden Mist's Missing-Nin Momochi Zabuza-kun."
Naruto started to charge at the man but Kakashi put his hand out and stopped him, "Everybody get back. This one's on a whole other level."
Everyone stared up at the Mist-Nin.
"It will be a little tough," Kakashi said as he pulled his forehead protector up. "...unless I do this.."
"You appear to be sharingan Kakashi... Sorry but..." Zabuza said looking back at the older Hatake. "...the old man is mine."
Sasuke's eyes widened as he looked at his Sensei.
"Surround and protect Tazuna-san," the Jonin told his students. "Do not enter the fight. That's the teamwork here. Zabuza, first..."
"Fight me."
The students looked at their teacher and stared at the strange red eye. Mayumi wasn't as shocked but never before had seeing his eye sent a shiver through her. Before it had always looked calm and made his whole face brighter. But now it had an angry glow to it, almost as if it was clawing at him to do some damage.
"Ah...I already get to the famous sharingan," Zabuza said, almost mocking him. "I'm honored. When I was a member of the Hidden Mist's assassin team I kept a handbook, it included information on you. And this is what it said, "The man who has copied over a thousand Jutsu... Copy Ninja Kakashi"."
"Sharingan! Sharingan! What the hell is that?" Naruto shouted to his Sensei.
"Sharingan," Sasuke started to explain. "It is said that some have the ability in their eyes to read and defeat all types of Gen, Tai, and Nin-jutsu. The Sharingan is one of the types of pupil that gives you this power. But that's not the only ability the sharingan has."
"Hehe, exactly," Zabuza nodded at the boy who gave the information out. "That's not all... What's even scarier is... That you can copy your opponent's techniques once you see them."
Sakura and Naruto stared at the male Hatake in shock. Sasuke glared at their Sensei and tightened his hold on the blue-haired girl. Mayumi stared at the boy in front of her, he didn't look to happy about something and she wanted to find out. Her heart almost started to beat faster when he looked at her then back to Zabuza.
"Now," The Mist-Nin said from his spot in the trees. "Let's end all the talking. I have to kill that old man."
The man from the mist jumped to the water and put on hand in the air while the other came in front of his face.
"Over there!" Naruto shouted.
"And on top of the water!" Sakura added.
"No shit Sherlock!" Mayumi growled at Sakura.
Sasuke looked back at the girl and shook his head.
"Ninpou," Zabuza said, starting his jutsu. "Hidden Mist no Jutsu."
"He's gone!" Tazuna shouted as Zabuza disappeared.
Mayumi shook her head, were they all going to state the obvious.
"He'll come after me first," Kakashi told his students. "Momochi Zabuza... As a member of the Hidden Mist he was known as an expert in silent killing. You don't even notice until you're already dead... It's not like I can use the sharingan perfectly. You guys be careful."
"The mist is getting thicker!" Naruto shouted.
"Eight choices," came a voice from the mist.
"What?" Sakura froze suddenly scared out of her mind.
"Liver," the voice came back. "Lungs. Spine. Clavical vein. Neck vein. Brain. Kidneys. Heart. Which one should I go after?"
The students stared in fear in front of themselves. Knowing that they and their Sensei were the only things that stopped the man from his target.
Sasuke's eyes were the widest. His fear was greater then he had every felt for a long time. He pulled Mayumi closer to himself enjoying the warmth and happy feelings that she gave off. The way that she shivered however took him out of that feeling. She too was scared but was trying to push it out of her mind, the fact that Sasuke was sweating from his new fear told her that she most definitely should be afraid. She clung to the boys arm and the kunai that she held in her other hand.
"Sasuke," Kakashi spoke without turning around. "Don't worry. I'll protect you guys even if it kills me."
Sasuke blushed slightly as did the rest of the genin.
"I don't let my comrades die."
"We'll see about that!" Came the voice.
Zabuza appeared behind the genin, "It's over."
He started to swing his blade but was stopped by Kakashi who pushed his students out of the way of the man. The students along with Tazuna fell to the ground. Kakashi pushed a kunai into the Missing-Nin's back.
"Sensei! Behind you!" Naruto yelled.
The man that Kakashi had stabbed disappeared into water. The Leaf Jonin turned but not soon enough. The real Zabuza was behind him and he swung his sword at the man. Sakura let out a scream as the man was cut in half. Mayumi let out a cry and Sasuke pulled her to him to keep her from crying. The girl closed her eyes and hid her face in the Uchiha's shirt. Sasuke held her close while he watched Kakashi turn to water. He looked down at the girl and made her look up.
"Don't move!" Kakashi said.
He now stood behind Zabuza with a kunai pressed to the man's throat, "It's over!"
"Wow!" Naruto shouted.
"Haha!" Sakura giggled happily.
Sasuke stared without showing how happy he actually was to know that his Sensei was alive.
Mayumi blushed and clung to Sasuke in her excitement. She turned and smiled at the boy feeling happy that he had made her look up.
"Hehe," Zabuza laughed. "Hehehe... It's over? There's no way you can defeat me with your monkey-like imitations. Hehe... But that was impressive of you. At that time... You had already copied my Water Clone no Jutsu... You had your clone say those words to attract my attention while the real you hid in the mist and watched me. Nice plan. But... I'm also not that easy."
Kakashi stabbed the man in front of him when he realized that the real Zabuza had appeared behind him.
"That one's a fake too?" Naruto shouted.
Zabuza swung his sword but Kakashi ducked out of the way. His sword got stuck in the ground so he did the only thing he could. He kicked the silvered haired man and sent him flying. Zabuza ran at him and with his sword in hand. He skidded to a stop and hit the male Hatake into the water.
"Foolish," he said.
"SENSEI!" Naruto shouted.
Mayumi jumped and clung tighter onto Sasuke who flinched slightly from the feel of her nails.
Kakashi surfaced from the water.
"Heh, fool," Zabuza said from behind him while forming hand signs.
Water began to form around Kakashi putting him into a water prison, "Hehehe, I now have you in my inescapable special prison. It makes things tougher if you can move, you know? Now... Kakashi, we can finish things later. First I'll take care of them."
A water clone started to appear in front of the shore. As soon as it was finished it walked onto the land all sunken like.
"Hehe," the clone laughed. "Wearing forehead protectors and acting like real ninjas... But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death." The clone started to disappear. "Basically... Once you're good enough to be listed in my handbook...then you can start calling yourself a ninja... You guys should not be referred to as ninjas."
Naruto's eyes widened as the clone disappeared from complete sight, before he knew it he had been kicked in the face and was sent flying, his forehead protector staying behind him. The clone stepped on the protector.
"Naruto-san!" Mayumi screamed while Sasuke stopped her from running ahead.
"Just a brat," Zabuza muttered.
"You guys!" Kakashi yelled to them. "Take Tazuna-san and run away! You have no chance of beating him! As long as he's keeping me trapped in this prison he can't move. The water clone cannot go very far from his real body. Just run away now!"
The genin stared in shock at their Sensei, knowing that if they left he would be killed. Sasuke clung Mayumi as close to himself as possible so that she wouldn't go after her Otou-san. Naruto started to crawl towards them. He stopped and seemed to look at his hand then back to his forehead protector. Naruto stood to his feet and charged at the clone. Kakashi shouted at the boy but other whys went unnoticed.
"He..." Sasuke stared in shock.
"Naruto, what are you thinking?" Sakura yelled.
"No..." Mayumi hid her face again. "Not Naruto-san."
"Bah...Idiot!" The clone shouted as he hit Naruto back.
Naruto flew back till he was just a few meters away from his teammates.
"What are you doing jumping in all by yourself?" Sakura continued to yell. "We Genin have no chance against him!"
Mayumi's hand came down on Sakura's face angrily, "What the hell do you mean? Just because we're Genin doesn't mean that we're just going to leave and give up! Or do you just want to be some lame-ass cowered and leave our Sensei behind when he himself refused to leave us behind to get killed at any moment?"
Sakura stared in disbelief and turned back to Naruto and blushed slightly.
Naruto started to stand to his feet slowly with his forehead protector in head. Mayumi pulled away from Sasuke and pulled the blonde the rest of the way up.
"Hey," Naruto said, blood dripping from his mouth. "You eyebrowless freak... Put this in your handbook. The man who will one day become Hokage..."
Naruto straightened his back and put his protector back on his head, "Leaf Village Ninja... Uzumaki Naruto!"
Mayumi whipped the blood from the boys mouth while glaring at the clone...and the real one...she wasn't to sure which one to glare at.
"Sasuke! Lend me your ear!" Naruto told the Uchiha.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked.
"I have a plan."
"Pft... Teamwork from you?"
Mayumi turned to Sasuke, "Please help him."
The boy nodded getting a bright smile from the girl. The Uchiha smirked feeling like he could kill Zabuza a hundred more times if only he could see that smile once more.
"Now...let's get wild..." Naruto said.
"A lot of arrogance but," The clone said. "do you stand a chance?"
"What are you doing?" Kakashi yelled at the genin, fear in his eyes. "Run away! This fight was over the moment I was caught! Our duty is to protect Tazuna-san! Did you forget that?"
"Old man," Naruto whispered turning to Tazuna.
"Well..." Tazuna said dropping his head. "I planted this seed myself. I'm not going to now say that I desire to live so much that I'd stop you. I'm sorry guys... Fight as much as you want."
"You hear that?" Sasuke said smirking as he walked up to Naruto and Mayumi.
"Are you ready?" Naruto asked him.
"Hah..." The clone laughed. "Hahahaha... You guys will never grow up."
"What?" Naruto shouted at him.
"Going to keep "playing" ninja, eh?" The clone started again. "When I... When I was about your age..." He looked at his hands. "These hands were already dyed red with blood."
Sasuke pushed Mayumi behind himself quickly.
"Devil... Zabuza," Kakashi muttered.
"Ah... So you've heard a little about it," Zabuza said.
"Long ago," the Leaf Jonin began. "in the Hidden Mist village, also called the Blood Mist village...there was a final obstacle in becoming a ninja.."
"Hm," Zabuza looked at the man. "You even knew about that graduation exam."
"That exam?" Naruto asked.
"Hehehe," the clone continued to laugh.
"What's this graduation exam thing?"
"Hehehe." The clone looked up. "Fights to the death between the students. Friends who have trained and eaten at the same table are pitted against each other and go at it...until one of them loses his life. These are friends who had helped each other and shared dreams..."
"...Terrible..." Sakura muttered.
"Ten years ago," Kakashi started. "The Hidden Mist graduation exam...was forced to change. This change after the previous year...when a devil appeared."
"Change?" Sakura asked. "What change? What did this devil do?"
"Without pause or hesitation...a young boy who was not even a ninja...had killed over a hundred of the students."
"That..." Zabuza started with an evil look on his face, "sure was fun."
The male genin's eyes widened as they were charged at. The clone's fist came back and hit Sasuke down. Sasuke coughed up blood as he was stepped on by the clone.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura yelled.
Mayumi held back her hard breaths and forced herself from running to the boy's side knowing that she'd probably end up killing them both. But she couldn't stop. She ran at the man knowing that she'd only get herself hurt. Zabuza removed his foot from Sasuke and grabbed the female Hatake by the neck. He lifted her from the ground.
"Die," The clone commanded the both of them.
Mayumi struggled the best she could, swinging her legs out at the man while her fingers clawed angrily at the fake skin on his arm. Naruto formed a ton of shadow clones. The clone dropped the girl on the ground next to Sasuke and turned his attention to Naruto.
"Ah..." He said. "Shadow Clones... And a large amount."
"Here I come!" Naruto shouted.
Sasuke sat up, blood dripping from his mouth. The Narutos dog piled Zabuza only for the clone to use his sword and got them off of him quickly. The real Naruto flew back and reached into his backpack. He pulled out what looked like a blade and tossed it to Sasuke. The Uchiha caught hold of the item and fell to the ground at the unexpected weight and how hard it was tossed. The boy rolled over and landed on his feet opening up a giant shuriken. He closed his eyes and when they opened they had an evil glow to them. Mayumi stood to her feet blushing but moved herself away from the clone quickly.
"Evil Wind Shuriken Shadow Windmill!" Sasuke shouted
"A shuriken won't work against me," The clone said reaching for his sword.
Sasuke threw the shuriken at the man just as Mayumi got back to Tazuna. The shuriken went past the clone straight to the real Zabuza.
"I see... You're aiming it at the real me... But," Zabuza said as he caught the shuriken. "That's not enough!"
His eyes widened as another shuriken came at him, "Another one in the shuriken's shadow?"
Sakura's eyes widened in surprise. Mayumi wanted to jump up and clap her hands together, but she stopped herself.
"But!" Zabuza jumped over it. "Still not enough."
"Heh," Sasuke smirked, his eyes hidden by his hair.
Their eyes widened when Naruto transformed from the shuriken. Sasuke's smirk got bigger as Naruto went for Zabuza with a kunai in his hand. He tossed it at the Missing-Nin. Zabuza pulled away but still got cut on the face from the blade. Everyone's eyes widened as Zabuza turned around and started to wave the shuriken around his head, getting ready to throw it at the Uzumaki boy. Their eyes only got wider as Kakashi stopped the blade with his hand and shot an evil glare at the Missing-Nin.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled happily.
"... Naruto, great "plan"..." Kakashi mumbled. "You guys have grownup..."
"Hehe..." Naruto giggled. "The aim of the Shadow Clone wasn't to defeat Zabuza but to hide the fact that I had transformed into the Evil Wind shuriken. Of course I didn't think that could beat him, but I thought if only we could break open that water prison. So..." He started to explain. "Shadow Clone was just a diversion. Real body transforms. The clone grabs the shuriken. Passes it to Sasuke. Sasuke combines it with a shuriken he had and throws it."
Zabuza laughed, "I got distracted and released the jutsu..."
Kakashi glared at him, "Wrong! You didn't release it. You were "forced" to release it. I'll tell you that I don't fall for the same jutsu twice. What will you do?"
The man from the Mist grunted and jumped back. He started to do hand signs as did Kakashi. The water started to form around them and soon formed into dragons. The water came down around the genin and the Jonin. Sasuke felt someone grab his hand but he didn't look back. Sakura paid no attention to the two in front of her but continued to protect the fallen Tazuna. Mayumi held onto Sasuke hoping to make him smile and calm down. Naruto, who was still in the water, stared at the men in shock.
The two men ran around in what looked like a dance. Every time Zabuza swung his sword at Kakashi the man would meet me evenly with a kunai. They continued to move around and Zabuza started to form hand signs. Kakashi copied them perfectly each and every time.
'My movements... He's completely...' Zabuza thought.
"...reading them," Kakashi finished.
The Missing-Nin stared wide eyed, 'What? Did he just read my mind?'
He looked Kakashi in the eye, 'Damn! That...'
"...freaky eye is pissing me off!" Kakashi growled. "Right?"
"Heh... All you're doing is copying me."
"You can't beat me you monkey bastard!" Zabuza and Kakashi both shouted.
"Damn you!" The Mist-Nin yelled, angry that he was being copied so easily. "I'll make is so you can never open that mouth again!"
Zabuza stared in shock as he watched another version of himself appear behind Kakashi. He watched Kakashi's eye to see his sharingan start to spin.
"What! Impossible! I'm the one doing the jutsu! Yet I can't keep up!" Zabuza shouted.
Before he knew what had happened the water had gone wild and threw him into the trees. The genin below shouted as cold water touched their skin. Mayumi held onto Sasuke tightly so that she wouldn't be pulled away by the current. The Uchiha grabbed hold of one of her arms so that she wouldn't leave him and the other arm in front of himself as a shield from the cold icy water. Sakura tried her hardest not to get pushed away from Tazuna and she held firm long enough to keep him from a small amount of the water.
Kakashi jumped onto the tree that Zabuza was pushed against, "It's over..."
The Mist-Nin, who had a kunai in his arms and legs turned slowly to the silver haired man, "How...? Can you see the future?"
Kakashi held a kunai up in front of his face and glared at them, "Yeah. You're going to die."
Everyone's eyes widened as Zabuza was stabbed threw the neck with two needles. The Missing-Nin fell to the ground dead.
"Hehe... You're right. He's dead ."
Naruto crawled out of the water and stared in shock at a black haired boy. Kakashi jumped from his branch down next to the corpse. He put his fingers on the neck of the man to find no pulse.
"Thank you very much," the boy said. "I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time."
"That mask," Kakashi muttered. "You're a Hidden Mist Hunter-nin..."
"Impressive," the boy said, bowing. "You are correct."
"Hunter-nin?" Sakura asked.
"Yes, my duty is to hunt down Missing-Nins. I'm a member of the Hidden Mist's Hunter-nin team."
Kakashi watched the boy closely. Taking note that by his voice and height he couldn't be to much older than Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto pulled away from his teammates and ran closer to the boy. He looked back at the dead Zabuza then back. He repeated himself a few more times before he looked back at the boy.
"What the hell?" He shouted. "Who are you?"
Mayumi put her hands on her hips and shook her head, "And even though Zabuza is dead he still yells at the one who saved us..."
She giggled slightly and gave him a thumbs up, "Nice one Naruto-san!"
Kakashi stood to his feet, "Don't worry Naruto, he's not an enemy."
"I'm not asking that! That Zabuza... That Zabuza was killed! A guy that strong... A guy that strong was killed a kid..! By a kid not much different from me! We look stupid! How can I understand that?" Naruto shouted at his Sensei.
"Well," Kakashi told him grabbing hold of his head slightly. "I know how you feel but... But... This is also the truth... In this world there exists kids younger than you...yet stronger than me."
Sasuke stared at his Sensei not liking what they were told as much as Naruto didn't. The boy disappeared and reappeared in front of the body, he started to pick it up.
Mayumi smiled at him, "You look like a girl! Have you meet Sasuke-san?" She pushed Sasuke in front of her. "He's gay! And I think he broke up with his boyfriend so, that makes him free! I think you two would make a cute couple!"
Sasuke turned his head and glared at her.
"What? You don't think he's cute? He's cute enough to me!"
Sasuke glared at her more than frowned.
The boy stared at the pair and shook his head trying to forget what the girl had told and said about him, "Your battle is now over... And now I must dispose of this body. Since it seems to be a body with many secrets... Farewell..."
The boy disappeared getting a wave from the blue-haired girl.
"He's gone!" Naruto shouted.
Mayumi turned to Sasuke and frowned, "Man I was only trying to get you two hooked up with him!... Wow, you can get the girls but not the guys! You must be ugly!"
Sasuke was tempted to slap her but held back and just turned away from her.
"Haaa," Kakashi huffed, pulling his forehead protector back over his eye. "Now we have to get Tazuna-san back to his home. Let's go!"
"Hahaha! Super thanks, guys!" Tazuna shouted. "Come over to my house and relax for a while!"
Mayumi raised her eyebrow and looked at Sakura, "Did he just leave us out? Or did he call us guys?"
Sakura shrugged trying to ignore the girl.
The next thing they knew Kakashi feel to the ground and the genin started to form around him.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Sakura yelled.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried.
"Now's not the time or place to take a nap!" Mayumi glared at him.
By the time they got back to Tazuna's it was almost sundown. They were given a room that they all shared. At the moment the old bridge builder just relaxed on the floor. Sakura was watching over Kakashi making sure that he got everything he needed. Naruto just happily relaxed on the floor, bugging Tsunami, Tazuna's twenty-nine year old daughter, about getting some ramen. Sasuke sat in the corner of the room with Mayumi resting against him. Mayumi really did care that the Uchiha had pulled her over to him, literally. He seen her trying to rest, stood up, grabbed her arms, and dragged her over to the corner.
The two of them received multiple evil looks from the Haruno girl. At one point when Sakura had walked by them she had "accidentally" dropped a kunai right next to Mayumi's leg. Sasuke had given the girl an evil Uchiha glare. He then smirked at the pink-haired girl and started to tickle the blue-haired girl who squirmed and laughed. A couple of times when she had drifted off he had kissed the top of her head and found himself blushing. He slapped his face to make it look like that was why. The blue-haired girl tried to pull away a few times feeling uncomfortable; she gave up and just pretended to sleep.
Tsunami walked into the room and looked at Kakashi, "You alright, Sensei?"
"Yeah..." Kakashi muttered. "I just can't move for a week or so."
"What?" Sakura said in shock. "The sharingan is incredible but if it puts that much stress on the body, I guess you have to think before using it."
"Well," Tazuna said whipping his face off, "we defeated that strong of a ninja this time. We should be safe for a while!"
"By the way," Sakura muttered. "Who was that masked kid?"
"That's the mask worn by the Hidden Mist's special Hunter-nin team," Kakashi explained. "They are also known as body erasers. Their duty is to completely dispose of the body without a trace. A ninja's body has within it secrets of the village's nin-jutsu, information on different Chakra types, herbs, and other things that will reveal things about the village. For example, if I died, the secrets of the sharingan could be revealed. If you don't be careful there's the danger that the enemy will steal your jutsu."
Sasuke stood up and pulled Mayumi to her feet as well, they both stared at Kakashi.
"A ninja's body can reveal important information," Kakashi continued. "So by killing and disposing of the Missing-Nins who have abandoned their village, the Hunter-nins protect the information from getting out. They are specialists who guard their village's secrets. No sound, no smell... That's a ninja's end."
"So that Zabuza has been chopped up and disposed of? Scary!" Sakura said shaking the thought out of her head.
After awhile Kakashi feel back asleep. Mayumi had left the room with Tsunami to help cook the supper. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke stayed behind to watch over Kakashi. Sasuke kept making excuses to leave the room. This time it was one about the bathroom. He walked by the kitchen for the tenth time and peaked into the room. Tsunami was cutting vegetables facing away from him, while Mayumi was mixing only god knows what and was facing towards him. He could see the look of pure concentration while her bangs fell lightly out of place and dropped over her forehead protector.
The girl stopped suddenly and looked behind herself to Tsunami, "Tsunami-chan... Am I doing this right?"
The woman walked over and made a face, "Well yeah...but I think you should add more sugar."
"How can you tell without tasting it?"
"The color is off, if you add enough sugar then it be lighter then the color you have, but only slightly."
Mayumi nodded, "So what do you want me to do?"
Tsunami dropped her head and smacked her forehead. She heard a noise and looked up to see Sasuke cussing at the cat that she had.
"Sasuke-san, what are you doing?" Tsunami asked.
Sasuke glared at her, "I... I came to help."
He walked into the room cussing to himself, 'Damn it! Uchiha's don't fucking trip over animals!'
Before he knew it he was placed to pealing apples for Tsunami's dessert. Mayumi soon moved on and started to cut potatoes while the black-haired woman started to cook other things. Mayumi's fingers were covered in small cuts and she let out small cuss words only to be scolded by the elder woman. Sasuke wanted to laugh at the girl but refused.
Finally the girl gave up and dropped the knife, "Tsunami-chan! I give! I can't get this down."
Tsunami looked back nervously, needing the girls help at the moment, "Oh...ummm Sasuke-san would you please help her out, you're almost done anyways!"
Sasuke nodded and reached around the Hatake girl. He grabbed her hands and forced her to pick up the knife. He moved her free hand to hold onto the vegetable. Slowly he helped her cut into it and move it over so that it wouldn't become uneven. He smiled to himself enjoying the image of her cooking in his small kitchen. He could easily put up with it, but he wasn't sure if could deal with her insults or not.
"Okay..." The girl muttered. "I see how you're doing it but you're not really telling me...you were told to-"
"Help you," he cut in. "I wasn't told to tell you or just show you, I am helping you."
She nodded getting slightly uncomfortable. He felt her squirm slightly but held onto her.
He growled, "Fine, the only thing you have to do is hold onto it so that it doesn't move. Then you slice it slowly, make sure to push it away so that you don't..."
Mayumi put the knife down and turned to him when he stopped talking. She opened her mouth but found his lips on hers. He pulled away quickly remembering that Tsunami was watching them. He pushed her forward forgetting about the knife. The girl let out a loud scream and he stared in shock when he noticed the knife sticking out of her back. Blood dropped down her cloths slowly as she calmed down slightly but tears had formed in her violet eyes.
Tsunami pulled Sasuke away from the girl and stared at the knife in her back. The woman quickly pulled the two of them into a different room so that they wouldn't upset anyone. Mayumi moved slowly but tried her hardest to keep up. By the time they got to the room Mayumi was slowly turning pale. Tsunami pulled the knife from the girl's back and she let out a loud cry in return. Sasuke placed himself in front of her to keep from hitting the ground. She feel forward and clawed the boy's back. Tsunami stared in shock as the wound healed quickly. She shook her head and covered it with a bandage anyways. By the time she was done the wound had been completely healed, the only thing left was a slight red mark. The bandage went around her clothing so that she didn't need to be undressed.
Sasuke clung the girl to himself as tight as he could. He hadn't meant to get her hurt. He felt her relax and soon realized that she had fallen asleep. He did release her but just sat there. Tsunami had left them so that she could finish the meal. Sasuke had a felt guilty but pushed it to the back of his mind quickly, deciding that it had been an accident and that the girl wouldn't hold it against him. He backed up against the wall and pulled her close, he wasn't going to let go this time. He wouldn't let go, not if there was chance that she could slip away. He'd be there, in the dark. So if she didn't know it or want it, he'd still be there, holding her close weather she like it or not he really didn't care.
The door opened to reveal Tsunami, she smiled at the scene, "Supper's ready."
She handed Sasuke his plate and sat Mayumi's down, "Make sure she wakes up and eats it. All of it."
He nodded.
"If you like I'll let your Sensei know and you two can stay here."
He nodded again not liking the idea of moving her while her back was cut open. If only he knew that she had healed completely. The woman walked out of the room to let the Sensei know and bring the rest of them their meals.
Sasuke shook the girl, "Mayumi, you need to eat."
"Sasuke..."
He smiled at how easily the name came from her lips. He liked the sound of it, his name anyways, or at least the way she said it.
"Mayumi-chan, you need to wake up."
The girl moved slightly but did not wake.
A moan escaped her lips, "Stop..."
He blushed slightly when he realized that she was dreaming. How did she have time to dream when she had only just fell asleep?
"D-Don't cry..."
His eyes widened. Why would she tell him not to cry? She'd never seen him cry before, or at least that he knew of.
Her hand raised, shaking, and landed on his cheek. He grabbed her hand and moved it to his lips and he kissed it softly. A smile came to her lips.
"I'm sorry... I... Failed you..." She mumbled.
He made a face and leaded down to her ear, "What do you mean?"
"...I let him..."
"You let who?" He asked, feeling angry suddenly.
"I'm sorry... I...don't hurt him..."
Sasuke's eyes widened, "What do you mean 'don't hurt him'?" He growled.
She feel silent and her breathing calmed. Sasuke growled and bit her ear. The girl jumped awake, and stared at him. Her eyes were bright and her face slightly scared.
She clung to him tightly, "I-I'm sorry I h-had a nightmare..."
Sasuke held her close, being careful not to touch her back, "...It's...okay."
He had never had to put up with someone having a nightmare so he wasn't used to it...at all.
Mayumi cringed, "Sasuke-san... Why are we in here?"
"...Because Tsunami and I didn't think it would be a good idea to move you."
"Oh."
He found himself staring at her lips again. Before he knew it he was leaning towards her but he didn't try and stop himself. Her lips were parted slightly while she took in short breaths, showing that she was still tired.
"Sasuke-san shouldn't you be flirting with Naruto-san?" She whispered right before his lips brushed hers.
He pushed her away roughly and growled, was he ever going to get around her thoughts of him being gay?
YES! LONGEST CHAPTER EVER! Anyways I hope it was okay! I have a poll up asking who you all think the red eyed man is that she's having nightmares about. You don't have to vote on that but I love to know what people think! Thanks to those of you people that have reviewed/vote, it's those things that make me hyper and update more often. Anyways thanks for reading and please review.
For those of you that do review/vote ~ COOKIES TO YOU ALL!