Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Naruto.
Ch. 4: Life or Death
Kakashi and Zabuza studied each other for a long moment, neither moving a muscle, each mentally predicting the other's first attack. Being a seasoned jonin and former ANBU Kakashi knew not to underestimate his opponent, especially a former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen of the mist. His sharingan slowly spun as he analyzed the swordsman's movement. Zabuza suddenly stepped off of his sword's handle and swung off of the tree, dislodging the blade in the process. In a single smooth motion he brought the sword baring down on the silver-haired jonin. Kakashi, realizing the close proximity to Tazuna, quickly flew through a series of hand-signs before slamming his hands onto the ground.
"DOTON: DORYUU HEKI!" Kakashi shouted, creating a large pillar of earth that launched itself towards the former Kiri-nin. Adjusting himself in midair, Zabuza used the rapidly approaching rock pillar as a springboard and launched himself back towards the surface of a nearby lake. Meanwhile Kurenai had taken to the offensive, assaulting the lone demon brother with quick slashes from her kunai. Meizu, to her amazement, managed to stave off every assault she made, deflecting her kunai with his metal gauntlets. After evading under another slash to his jugular, Meizu quickly rolled away to gain some distance and swung a gauntleted arm at the woman, a long chain emerging from a slot beneath the wrist. Kurenai ducked under the bladed chain and quickly noted a second one bearing down on her from overhead. Leaping back, she narrowly avoided the second chain and quickly pinned it to the ground with one of her kunai.
"Don't think I'll fall for that again," Meizu exclaimed, knocking the kunai away with his free chain. The two chains hung freely at his sides. The two calculated each other's movements before moving into action. Kurenai smiled when Meizu dashed at her. The woman smiled as two chains closed in on her from opposite directions. As they made contact, however, the black haired woman fazed into smoke. When she next appeared there were two of her. When he swung at them they too dissipated into the air only to be replaced by four more, then eight, then sixteen and then Meizu realized that he had been caught in a genjutsu. He reached up to his breather and pressed a button causing several needles within to pierce his skin, breaking the illusion. He was suddenly sent sprawling to the ground from a powerful kick to the face. Blood oozed from the edges of his mask.
Seeing Meizu having difficulty with his fight, Zabuza formed a couple of hand-signs from atop the water. "Kirigakure no jutsu," he said. A large area of dense mist enveloped all the combatants obscuring their vision and putting them on edge. There was a sinister laugh that echoed through the mist yet no one could pinpoint the origin of the laugh.
"Stay alert everyone," Kakashi warned. He searched through the mist for any clue as to where the missing-nin would attack next all the while being taunted by Zabuza's disembodied voice. He listed vital organs he could target, various limbs he could easily dismember and several methods with which to torture them with. To say that the genin were terrified was an understatement.
"Don't worry," the masked Konoha shinobi reassured. "I will protect you."
No sooner had he finished that sentence, Zabuza appeared in the middle of the group of genin. Time seemed to move in slow motion as Kakashi sped towards the enemy shinobi. With lightning quickness he closed the gap, tackled the former mist jonin and plunged a kunai deep into Zabuza's chest. The impact was enough to surprise the genin causing them to stumble away. The supposedly wounded man laughed before bursting into a puddle of water.
"Sensei, behind you!" Sakura shouted, but it was too late. Zabuza, taking advantage of Kakashi's mistake, brought his sword crashing down onto the leaf jonin, cutting through him like paper. The pink haired girl nearly screamed in abject horror until she realized that the Kakashi that was bisected transformed into a puddle of water. The real Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza, a kunai held firmly against the man's neck.
"It's over now," Kakashi stated. He pressed the kunai deeper into the missing-nin's neck only to have Zabuza chuckle darkly. "Indeed it is," he replied. Kakashi suddenly became aware of the presence behind him and narrowly avoided being cut down with the mizu bunshin. Before he could retaliate Zabuza spun using the momentum of his swing to deliver a powerful kick that launched Kakashi into the lake. As he surfaced Kakashi found himself before the masked kiri shinobi. "Suirou no jutsu," Zabuza said encasing the silver haired jonin in a sphere of water.
Meanwhile, Kurenai was having troubles of her own. With the mist now obscuring her vision she was having difficulty staving off the lone demon brother. His sinister chuckles would come from one direction only to have the bladed chain come from another. Before long the black haired woman found herself covered with several cuts. From the corner of her vision she caught a glimpse of Meizu as he quickly circled the woman, however, when she focused on the man her vision began to blur and her body felt strangely heavy. 'A poison?' she thought to herself.
The woman fell to her hands and knees. Her breathing became ragged and shallow. Reaching into her tool pouch Kurenai pulled out a syringe with a standard anti-toxin. Jamming the needle into her thigh she injected the chemical into her bloodstream hoping for the best. It would take a while for the anti-toxin to take effect and in the meantime the two teams of genin were at the mercy of the demon brother. 'Damn it all,' Kurenai thought to herself. All she could do was watch as Meizu made his way towards the two teams.
"Now that she's out of the way," the gauntlet wearing shinobi chuckled. "The bridge-builder and the girl, if you please. I promise to make your deaths quick and painless, unlike your sensei here."
As terrified as they were each of the genin present held their positions. "Over my dead body," Kiba yelled. Meizu laughed at the response and lunged at the small group, muttering a foreboding 'as you wish' as he did. Quickly he smashed his gauntleted hand into Kiba's side sending him into his male teammate. Shino and the canine shinobi crashed into a nearby tree with a sickening thud. Seeing an opening, Sasuke dashed towards the former mist chunin with a kunai readied. Meizu promptly kicked the Uchiha genin back to his spot with such force it left the boy gasping for air. Sakura knelt down next to her injured teammate ready to defend him.
"Now you get to deal with me," Naruto chuckled as he stepped before Meizu. He had a cocky grin and showed no fear. The demon brother smiled wickedly at his bravado. He lifted his arms and swung his bladed chains at the blonde. Without hesitation Naruto grabbed each of the chains with a death-grip. The blades dug into his palms, blood trickling onto the dirt road. Meizu frowned at the turn of events. The masked chunin swung his chains in an attempt to shake the genin off but to no avail. With every pull and every swing Naruto kept his grip firm. Whenever he'd be yanked into the dirt he'd get back to his feet making sure to keep the chain taut.
"Now I have you," Naruto said mischievously. Meizu suddenly became aware of the two blonde bunshins charging after him from his peripherals. 'Bunshin?' he thought bemusedly. His amusement was quickly replaced by pain when the bunshins each punched him powerfully in the sides. The sudden shock was enough for Naruto to pull the chain full force and overpower the chunin, causing the older man to stumble forward.
"Now Hinata," the blonde yelled and Meizu finally noticed the Hyuuga girl charging for him, her hands pulled back and ready to deliver a fierce jyuuken strike. Mustering all of his strength the demon brother pulled his gauntleted arms up to block the attack. Hinata thrust her hands forward, forcing her chakra into Meizu's arms. The man stumbled back, his arms now slack from the blow and he cursed as Shino, Kiba and Sasuke recovered from their injuries.
"We'll handle things from here," Kiba said irritably, brushing the bit of dirt from his clothes. Shino adjusted his sunglasses and followed beside his teammate. The two stalked closer to Meizu, each prepared to return the injuries they'd received twofold. "You all figure out a way to help Kakashi-sensei," the bug user suggested. The masked former-kiri chunin was about to retreat when he felt a sharp pain in the calf of his leg. When he checked his wound he found Akamaru biting into his flesh with an iron grip.
With Meizu preoccupied with Kiba, Akamaru and Shino the others were able to focus on their most important task. Zabuza observed the four rookies with mild approval. "Tenacious little runts, I'll give you that," the former mist jonin complimented. From the water prison he could hear Kakashi mutter an amused 'you have no idea'. He watched the four carefully. Naruto turned to each of the others sending them a wordless signal. He reached into his travel pack and began tossing a few items about before he finally found what he was looking for. The blonde produced a single scroll and unsealed several large windmill shuriken.
"And Iruka-sensei said I wouldn't need these," he remarked as he distributed a shuriken to his teammates. They each unfurled the large shuriken, Sakura questioning where the blonde even managed to gather such weapons. His grin never left his face as he replied with an 'it's a secret,' and immediately threw his shuriken, Sasuke and Sakura following shortly after. Zabuza watched as the three windmill shuriken sped towards him but was wholly unimpressed by such a straight forward tactic. The tall man swung his sword deflecting each of the shuriken. It was after he deflected the third when he noticed that two more had been following behind. 'That was a very poorly done kage shuriken no jutsu," Zabuza thought as he deftly leapt over the two shuriken. As he reached the apex of his jump he heard a sudden popping noise. Eyes wide with realization, Zabuza looked behind him to see the two kage bunshins that bested Meizu each throw kunai at his back. Left with only one option, the former mist jonin removed his hand from the sphere of water and deflected the kunai. He proceeded to distance himself from the collapsing water prison and the now freed copy-ninja. With deft hand Kakashi grabbed the deflected kunai and readied a defensive stance.
"Don't think I'm going to be making that mistake again any time soon," Kakashi said plainly. The two jonin eyed each other, Zabuza's gaze far more irritable than the silver haired shinobi's. The shinobi swordsman weighted his options; he could potentially kill the copy-nin, but most likely at the cost of his own life. Meizu was too injured to continue the mission. There was only one option yet even retreat seemed difficult with the copy-nin back in action. With no other escape, the former mist jonin began flowing through a string of hand-seals. As soon as Kakashi saw Zabuza begin forming his jutsu, he dropped the kunai and began copying the bandage wearing man.
"Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!" they both shouted simultaneously. From the lake two colossal dragons made of water emerged. The two serpents twisted around the other before finally colliding head on creating a massive downpour of water. Amidst the falling water the two clashed once again, each blocking the other's attacks perfectly. After another brief exchange the two separated and Zabuza made a hand-seal only to notice Kakashi making the same exact seal. 'It's as if he's-'
"Reading my mind?" Kakashi finished. Zabuza eyed the sharingan user angrily. 'Genjutsu?' he wondered briefly. "It's not genjutsu," Kakashi answered with a hint of arrogance. This set the former mist shinobi off.
"Get out of my head!" he shouted furiously. He formed a single seal when Kakashi suddenly made the same and completed the sequence beforehand. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Kakashi shouted. The former mist swordsman found himself quickly engulfed by a massive torrent of water. The surge quickly swept him ashore, crashing him into the bank and slamming him roughly against a tree. He slumped to the ground, his body drenched, sore and bruised. The masked swordsman's breathing was haggard and shallow. Zabuza gritted his teeth, his grip on his sword tightened. Just as he was about to get to his feet the battered man felt two long senbon drive through his neck and everything went dark.
A masked figure bearing the Kirigakure emblem suddenly appeared next to the downed body of Zabuza carrying the body of the lone demon brother. 'A hunter-nin?' Kakashi thought curiously. The hunter dropped the body unceremoniously next to the former mist swordsman and bowed towards Kakashi in appreciation. "You have my gratitude," the man said. "I've been tracking these two for weeks. Taking them myself would have been quite a chore."
"It's no problem," Kakashi replied. As the two conversed Naruto couldn't help but shake the familiar feeling he was having. It was like something he had felt before, a sort of nagging sensation at the back of his mind that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Before he could follow the train of thought further Kiba, Shino and Kurenai rejoined the group, Kurenai looking a little worse for wear.
"I see you guys managed to free Kakashi-sensei," Kiba remarked, Akamaru barked in mild approval. The three were bruised but wholly intact. The female jonin had taken to leaning on Hinata and Sakura for support.
"You guys have any trouble," Sakura questioned. The two boys of team eight shook their heads no. "Not really, although for a guy who couldn't use his arms that demon brother guy was still a bit of a handful" Kiba added. "This guy showed up shortly after you guys went to help Kakashi-sensei. Jammed a couple of senbon right through the guy's neck then, bam, guy's dead as a doornail. It was actually kind of impressive if not a little boring."
The two teams spent the remainder of their time tending to their wounds while the Hunter-nin prepped the bodies of Zabuza and Meizu for transport. Once he was set he bade the Konoha shinobi farewell and disappeared via shunshin. "Okay everybody," Tazuna started. "It isn't too far from the village now. Assuming that's the worst of it we should be good for the rest of the way. I'll have Tsunami set up a room for you all to recuperate in once we get there. "The two teams nodded in agreement and continued the final leg of their journey, Kakashi and Kurenai being supported by the genin for the remainder of the trip.
They arrived at a small village that was just outside the main hub of the city where the construction was taking place. Tazuna's home in particular was a quaint place with two floors and a decently sized stream that cut through the front yard. A small bridge led from the road to the front porch where Tsunami was busy folding laundry. When the woman noticed the group her face lit up with a smile, waving the two teams over. Once everyone had introduced themselves, some with more enthusiasm than others; mainly Naruto and Kiba, Tsunami arranged a room for the visitors to occupy for the remainder of their stay in Wave country.
Once everyone was settled into their rooms, women in one and men in the other, they were all called to the dining room for dinner. It was a simple meal consisting of fish, rice and some steamed vegetables. Naruto poked at the colorful array of peppers and assorted beans with his fork. "It's okay Naruto," Kakashi teased. "I know it's not ramen but it's still good."
The blonde pouted as everyone enjoyed a laugh at his expense. He proceeded to practically inhale his food as quickly as he could to avoid the inevitable taste of something he would potentially not like. To his surprise it was actually quite good. The rest of the meal went by peacefully. There was light conversation between Tsunami and the genin, mostly about what their training consisted of and other questions the woman could come up with. During the meal Kiba had taken to playing with a toothpick. He would twirl it between his fingers and perform other little tricks. Naruto was taking a drink of water when he saw Kiba flick the wooden object at Sasuke like a senbon. The toothpick found its mark and stuck the Uchiha boy in the neck. Sudden realization dawned on the blonde causing him to spray his drink at the dark haired avenger. He stood quickly from his chair, eyes wide.
"That hunter-nin was the guy who stabbed me!" He yelled, earning a few curious gazes and on very angry one from a certain Uchiha teammate. "We know," the jonin instructors stated. Naruto deflated at the dismissal of his sudden revelation by the adults. Kurenai and Kakashi exchanged a look and nodded to each other.
"We were actually going to discuss this tomorrow," Kurenai started. "Kakashi and I felt that you all deserve a good night's rest without having to worry about what could be out there."
"However, since the cat's out of the bag," Kakashi said with Akamaru barking at the mention of cats. "We've decided to begin training you first thing in the morning to prepare you for future encounters."
The genin all became excited about the notion of learning something new. Naruto and Kiba whooped in excitement with the others being more subdued. The two jonin instructors were bombarded with questions. 'Is it going to be a cool new jutsu?', 'Will it be something genjutsu related?', 'Will it be anything related to medical jutsu?' and so on. Kakashi held his hands out in a placating manner, settling the genin down.
"We'll cross that bridge when we get there," He said earning a look from Tazuna. "So to speak. In the meantime, finish your meals and then get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a big day."
A/N: Another chapter down. Hopefully the wait is worth it. Unfortunately, however, combat seems to be my kryptonite. It took me a good while to figure out how I wanted the Zabuza encounter to be coordinated. Something to improve on I suppose. Hopefully I'll get better by the time the chunin exams come around. Next chapter begins the chakra control exercises as well as the secret of the mysterious box. Enjoy.