I gasped. Wasn't the Sharingan the Uchiha kekei genkai? How did he have it? Unless...

Was he an Uchiha?

No, he couldn't have been.. Then how...?

"Well... Looks like I get to see the sharingan in action. This is an honour." Zabuza sounded almost mocking.

"Everyone keeps saying sharingan sharingan! Will someone please tell me what sharingan is?" Naruto asked irritatingly. I sat down on a branch above Zabuza and glared at Naruto.

"Sharingan... A rare power. It resides in the eyes. The user of this jutsu can instantly see and comprehend any genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu, and reflect the attack back on the attacker. The sharingan is a special and rare form of dojutsu," Sasuke explained. " However, there's more to the sharingan than that. A lot more."

I wondered why he didn't say anything about the Uchiha clan...Then slapped my forehead. Duh! Because Zabuza was here. He didn't want Zabuza knowing of his abilities.

"You got it right, boy," Zabuza's statement was directed at Sasuke. "But you only scratched the surface. The sharingan can analyse an opponent's technique and then copy it to the smallest detail. As for you, jounin, in the assassination unit of the Hidden Mist, we had a standing order to destroy you on sight. Your profile was in our bingo book. It called you 'The Man Who Copied Over a Thousand Jutsu'. Kakashi... The copy ninja."

My eyes widened. He was high in the bingo books? Was Kakashi really that powerful? I wouldn't have thought it upon first impression. He seemed quite laid back; and a bit weird, too, considering he acted surprised when the two chunin jumped out, even though he knew perfectly well they were there. He surely had his reasons though. I supposed, given his reaction to seeing Zabuza, he morphed into serious mode when in action. Also.. I recognised that name.. I couldn't pinpoint it though. Where had I heard that before?

"WOW, THAT'S SO COOL!" Naruto exclaimed, snapping me out of my thoughts. I sweat-dropped. Wrong moment, Naruto.

"Enough talking. I need to exterminate the old man... Now!" Zabuza narrowed his eyes, crouching.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura instantly surrounded Tazuna in a protective stance again, wielding kunai.

"So, I'll have to eliminate you first, eh, Kakashi?" Zabuza said. "So be it." He wrenched his sword out of the tree and jumped until he was standing a few metres away from the tree. I stayed in the tree, observing the scene. I was curious to see what the 'copy cat ninja' could do.

"He's over there!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Standing on the water!" Sakura added. What? I looked down at his feet and sure enough he was standing on water. He was doing a handsign, one hand with his fingers over his lips and one hand up in the air, two fingers pointing towards the sky. He seemed to be building up chakra as it swirled around him.

"Ninja art, hidden mist jutsu!" Zabuza suddenly faded into nonexistence as the chakra faded with him.

"He vanished!" Naruto said with disbelief.

"Congratulations, captain obvious," I retorted, causing them to look up with surprise. They'd obviously forgotten I was in a tree.

"Really, guys? You didn't know I was here again? Am I really that small?" I asked, sweatdropping, making Sasuke smirk. Then Kakashi walked forwards.

"Sensei!" Sakura cried.

"He'll come after me first," Kakashi informed us.

"But.. who is he?"

"Zabuza Momochi, leader of the Hidden Mist assassination unit. He's the master of the silent killing technique."

"Silent? Even with that big ass sword of his?" I asked, surprised.

"Yes, silent. It's as it suggests," Kakashi explained patiently when Naruto exclaimed 'silent?'. "It happens in an instant, without any sound or warning of any kind. It's so fast you pass from this life without even realising what has happened. The sharingan cannot fully neutralise it, so don't lower your guard," he warned. Naruto and Sakura looked frightened whilst Sasuke looked kinda bored.

"Well, if we fail, we only lose our lives," Kakashi added. Woah, how cheerful.

"How can you say that?" Sakura asked angrily. I looked around to notice that the mist was quickly getting thicker, to the point where I could just about see the four of them, even though I was pretty close. Goose bumps rose on my arms as I shivered, feeling the slightly damp cold of the mist encasing me. Eriko whimpered beside me, not liking the feeling of the mist either.

"The mist is getting thicker and thicker!" Naruto cried.

"The land of waves is surrounded by ocean. The swirling mists are ever present," Tazuna explained gruffly.

"Sensei!" Sakura cried.

"Eight points," Zabuza's menacing voice sounded. Sakura jumped with fright.

"What's that?" she cried.

"Legs, spine, lungs, liver, jugular," Zabuza listed. His voice seemed to be getting quieter as he listed them, to the point where I couldn't hear the last three listed. I normally had strangely dog-like senses.

Can the mist block out sound or is it just me? I wondered.

"Arf!" Eriko said quietly beside me. Looks like I wasn't the only one.

"Come on, Eriko," I whispered quietly, leaping down from the tree. Before I could do anything else I felt a genjutsu about to encase me. I quickly put my hands together in a hand sign.

"Release," I said quietly, breaking the genjutsu before leaping away. I watched, hidden, as Zabuza stood behind the five of them, ready to leap in the middle of them. I threw a well-aimed kunai but he caught it without even turning around. My eyes widened. I should have realised.. He was a jounin. Duh! I smacked my head in frustration. I really was losing it. That mist... it seemed to have fuzzed my mind up, broke my concentration. Weird. It hasn't happened to the others...

"Nice try, little girl," he said mockingly.

"Shut it," I growled. I turned around, intending to run, but then I felt a kunai pierce my back. And another one.

"I didn't even hear them coming!" I gasped in surprise. "How did he do that? Even if he is a silent killer..." I broke off, wincing in pain as another kunai stabbed me in the back.

I fell to the floor with a gasp.

Thanks for reading :D Sorry it's short, I didn't a lot of time to write because I got distracted for like, two hours :L Thanks for reading, please tell me what you think!

P.S. If you haven't noticed already, when I write in italics it means she's thinking

Unless it's a dream or flashback, which we'll come to later on. :B