A/N: Sorry for the delay guys! Spring break you know. Spent all yesterday in the car, and had no energy to work on the story. Forgive please! Anyway, please read and review! Hope to hear from you guys.
The five of them had boarded a small boat, and were moving quietly through the water. All around them was nothing but white, the surface of the ocean shrouded in a dense and heavy fog. Narumi had climbed into the prow of the boat and sat utterly still, her face turned towards the great whiteness in front of them. Kakashi saw her sniffing at the air a few times, almost like an Inuzuka. He could have sworn that she was using her sense of smell to replace her impaired sight, searching for scents carried across the water on the wind. For a moment he wondered if she might not be, if the Kyuubi might not have other effects on her body besides just the incredible healing rate he had observed earlier when the girl cut her hand open. Saburo was sitting between Kakashi and Narumi, and the rosette seemed subdued. He didn't look directly at anyone for very long, and he hunched his shoulders defensively when he did look at them. Also, Kakashi saw guilt flash in his eyes anytime he looked at the bandages on Narumi's hand. Kakashi shook his head quietly. Freezing up in your first battle was nothing to be ashamed of, but the consequences of such a reaction could be deadly to yourself or a comrade. This was a hard lesson for Saburo, but it was one that the boy would have to learn.
Sasuke sat across from the other boy, his posture declaring him to be utterly calm and relaxed as he leaned against the side of the boat. The boy reminded Kakashi a bit of himself at that age, which told him he'd have to be careful. He didn't want this team seven to turn out as his own had, and Sasuke's declaration of hatred, and all-consuming thirst for vengeance on the first day...had not been comforting. But on the other hand, he could see hopeful signs with the boy. Though it wasn't obvious, Kakashi had caught him darting a couple of careful glances at Narumi when he thought no one was looking. Keeping an eye on her. Also, despite the apparent dislike between the two, Sasuke had not hesitated to protect his teammate when she had been in danger. And despite the fact that there seemed to be a blossoming rivalry between the Uchiha and his blonde teammate, Narumi had not hesitated to take up the supporting position behind him when she could have fought to take the lead. So the two of them worked well together, and were protective of each other when they needed to be. That was a very good sign, especially for Sasuke.
A quiet voice murmured softly behind him, "Our destination is just ahead. The land of waves is at the base of the bridge." Dragging himself out of his contemplations of his students, Kakashi looked up. An unfinished bridge loomed above them, impressive in its size. Kakashi's eyes narrowed and he turned to Tazuna, who was sitting just behind and to the side of Kakashi himself. Kakshi had purposefully taken up a position between his students and the other man. It wasn't that Kakashi felt the old man was a threat exactly, he simply wasn't comfortable with someone who would knowingly pull fresh gennin into an obviously dangerous situation sitting directly behind his students. "Tazuna-san. Before we reach the pier, I'll have to ask you something." His students suddenly turned to focus on the two of them, each of them attentive to the conversation. "The men who are after you. I need to know who and why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore." Tazuna dropped his head for a minute so that his hat covered his eyes and shaded his face. Then he looked up and met Kakashi's eyes. "The man who seeks my life is a very short man, but he casts a very long and deadly shadow."
Kakashi frowned, mentally reviewing the bingo book. The man sounded like a Nara but...then Kakashi sighed. Civilians. When they spoke like this, they intended their words as metaphors or some-such nonsense. They didn't understand that ninja would take them literally at their word. Mentally throwing his half-formed thoughts of nuke-nin out the window, Kakashi sat back a bit. "Hm. Who is he?" Tazuna's face was grave. "You know him. At least, I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world, the shipping magnet, Gatou." Kakshi's uncovered eye widened in surprise. "Gatou? Of Gatou Transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him!" Narumi leaned forward eagerly, and Kakashi heard her voice asking soft but eager questions. "Who, who? What, what?" Tazuna's face was serious. "He's a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true. But below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations...he sells drugs and contraband on the black market, using gangs, and nuke-nin." Tazuna shifted, his eyes tired. "It was one year ago when Gatou set his sights on the land of waves. He came to our island and used his wealth to take total control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply...vanished. In an island nation like our own, a man who controls the sea controls everything, right down to our very lives. But there is a threat to his power over us, and that is the bridge. When it is complete, we will be joined to the mainland, and that will break his control. Gatou fears the bridge I am building, and so he is trying to have me killed, before it can be completed."
Saburo sat back, temporarily back to his normal analytical self. "So that's it. You're in charge of the bridge, so you're standing in this guys way." Sasuke turned his head to glance at his teammates, his voice firm. "That means that those guys we fought in the forest were working for Gatou." Kakshi stared hard at the bridge builder. "If you knew this man was dangerous, and would be actively trying to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?" Tazuna looked at the bottom of the boat again, avoiding their eyes. "Because the land of waves is a small, impoverished nation. Even our nobles have little money. The common people building this bridge could never afford an A or B-rank mission." Kakashi glared at the man for an instant, and mentally snarled. Little money? What did he care if they had little money? His students only had one chance at life, and that would be put at quite enough risk in the course of their lives as Shinobi without this moron pulling them into things that were too dangerous, too early. The calmer part of his mind quietly reminded him that it would set a bad example for the students if he told Narumi that she couldn't attack the client, and then killed the man himself. Inconsistency would be a bad thing. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to continue listening to the man, and dismiss his anger for the moment. Tazuna looked up at them. "If you end this mission when you drop me ashore, there'll be no bridge. I'll be dead before I ever reach home." Suddenly the old mans eyes turned crafty. "...but don't feel bad about that. Of course, my sweet little grandson will be upset, he'll cry 'Grandad, I want my Grandad!'" Out of the corner of his eye, Kakashi saw Narumi and Saburo's faces drop into expressions of incredulous disbelief as they realized what was going on. "Oh. And my daughter will condemn the ninja of Konohagakure, denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father, and living her life in sorrow." Even Sasuke's expression had shifted, the boys eyebrow twitching as he glanced over at his teammates. Tazuna shrugged and continued. "Ah well. It's not your fault, forget it." Kakashi sighed in unison with his team, before replying to the older man in dry tone. "Well. I guess we have no other choice. We'll have to keep guarding you." Tazuna pasted on a look of surprise that was totally unconvincing. "Ooh. I'm very grateful."
They soon arrived in the bay they had been heading towards. After traveling through a tunnel, they broke out into a sunlit place with bright blue water, and small trees that grew up out of it near the shore. Ocean going birds flitted through the skies, and the shores and shallows were lined with houses, buildings, and networks of walkways built on stilts. Narumi lit up with eagerness, leaning forward over the prow as she took in the sites. Kakashi watched her for a moment, and smiled quietly. She could be annoying and loudmouthed, but her love of life was a pleasure to watch at times like this. He was pleased to see that Saburo seemed to be feeling a bit better, as the boys green eyes widened with interest, and he leaned forward beside his teammate. It reminded him a bit of Rin and Obito.
Soon they were pulling up to one of the walkways. Kakashi and his team stepped up onto the firmer footing of the wooden planking, closely followed by Tazuna, who paused and turned to speak to the boatman who'd brought them over. The man was still in his boat, and his voice was still low. "This is as far as I go." Tazuna nodded. "Right. Thank you for taking such a risk." The other man nodded once, switched on the previously unused motor of his boat, and sped off across the bay. Tazuna turned quickly back to Kakashi and his waiting team. "Alright, take me to my home." Kakashi nodded once. "Right." As they started off towards the old mans home, Kakashi's mind was working furiously. 'The next ninja they send won't be chuunin. They'll be jounin.' Kakashi sighed, and wondered why it was that he always seemed to attract trouble, no matter what he did.
They had left the bay behind and were walking along a fairly deserted forest path, when Narumi suddenly launched a kunai into the bushes with a cry. Kakashi looked at her in surprise. The girl had been bouncing along, excitedly peering in all directions, when she'd suddenly reached for her holster with no apparent reason. Except that Kakashi could have sworn he'd caught a flicker of something, just as Narumi had thrown her kunai. Both her teammates were staring at her as if she'd run mad. Saburo was the first to get his voice back. "Narumi, what the heck are you doing?" She looked over at her teammates and pointed. "Saburo-kun, someones following us!" Kakashi walked over to the bushes, and parted them to have a look. He saw a rabbit, apparently too frightened to move, huddled just beneath the kunai, which was buried in the tree trunk above it's head. Saburo and Narumi had walked over, and Saburo, who seemed much recovered from his earlier guilt, threw his hands up. "Great, you've attacked a rabbit." Narumi flushed, and looked both embarrassed and guilty over her mistake. Kakashi however, was studying the thing intently. 'That's a snow rabbit...but it's coat is still white. We're well into summer, it should be brown by now.' Turning, Kakashi surveyed his surroundings carefully, and with suspicion. 'If it's coat is still white, that means it's not only been raised indoors, but that it's been kept away from the light. A dark place, like a safe house. That serves only one purpose. A kawarimi of some kind. So they're already here.'
Suddenly Kakashi sensed his enemy. And the attack he had just launched in the direction of Kakshi's gennin team. His eyes shot back to where Sasuke, Saburo, and Tazuna were standing over Narumi, who had knelt over the rabbit she had supposedly terrified. "Look out!" He cried, command entering his voice and causing the gennin to all snap to attention. An enormous sword suddenly came spinning out of the trees, heading directly for Tazuna. As it neared them, they all dove for the ground, and Kakashi was sure that his students felt the wind of it's passing. Sailing over their heads, the oversized blade bit deep into the trunk of a nearby tree quite high up. A shinobi landed on the handle of the sword as soon as it had stopped moving. Kakashi rose, and studied the man intensely. He wore long striped pants, and arm and leg warmers dyed in the standard camouflage pattern of Kirigakure. His chest was bare, and he wore bandages wrapped up his neck and over the lower half of his face, just as Kakashi wore his own mask. Kakashi recognized him instantly. Affecting confidence, he walked forward with his hands in his pockets, and cocked his head backwards to look up at the other man. "Well, well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi. Nuke-nin of Kirigakure." Behind him, Kakashi heard shifting and the clink of metal. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Saburo reaching for his holster, trembling, but with his eyes fixed on the nuke-nin. Before he could try something stupid, Kakashi caught his eye, and shook his head. Then he turned back to Zabuza.
Eyeing the man, Kakashi took stock of his chances, considering the fact that he had his gennin team with him. Analysis result? Could be tricky. Shifting, Kakashi reached up for his hitae-ate, preparing to uncover his left eye. Zabuza watched him, and spoke. "Sharingan Kakashi, did I get that right?" Off to Kakashi's side, he saw Sasuke stiffen, eyes widening as he fixed his sensei with a shocked look. Zabuza continued. "It's too bad, but I'm afraid you'll have to hand over the old man." Kakashi ignored the implied threat, and called out to his team in his best 'you-will-obey-me-now-and-ask-questions-later' voice. "Manji formation! Protect the bridge builder, and stay out of this fight." Saburo and the other gennin shifted uncertainly, but Kakashi shoved the distraction out of his mind and adjusted his hitae-ate, opening his sharingan eye. The world suddenly jumped into view with an unnatural clarity, and he felt a corresponding drain on his chakra reserves. Nothing he wasn't used to. Zabuza turned fully towards him, eyes narrowed, voice smooth. "Well, looks like I get to see the sharingan in action. This is an honor." Narumi looked up at Kakashi, thoroughly confused. "Everyone keeps saying sharingan, sharingan. What the heck is sharingan sensei?" It was Sasuke who answered, his voice incredulous. "Sharingan is a special power that resides in the eyes, a dojutsu. Those who posses it can instantly comprehend any tai-,gen-, or ninjutsu that they see. But there's more to the sharingan than that. A lot more." Narumi and Saburo eyed their teammate nervously.
Zabuza's voice managed to convey his amusement. "Got it right boy, but that's only barely scratching the surface." Suddenly a heavy mist rolled in, despite the fact that the sky had been clear and bright only a few seconds ago. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, recognizing a native technique of Kirigakure. Zabuza's voice drifted down lazily as the fog thickened. "As for you, jounin, in the assignation squad of Kirigakure, we had a standing order to kill you on sight. Your profile was in our bingo book, it called you the man who copied over a thousand jutsu. The Copy Nin." Kakashi glared up at the man. This was not news to him, nor did it surprise him in anyway. None of it was relevant to his current fight. In the background he vaguely heard Narumi exclaim admiringly, and he could feel the gazes of his other students as well. But he had a battle to focus on right now if they were to all get through this alive. His students were bright, and each of them held a certain amount of potential in one way or another. But none of that would matter if they ended up dead on their first mission outside the village. Zabuza suddenly seemed to lose patience. "Enough talking! I need to exterminate that old man." Kakshi heard his three students moving instantly to take up the manji formation he had ordered. While the action was somewhat more delayed than he had hoped, he was glad that they were in position. Kakashi himself didn't move.
Zabuza glared down at them all. "So I'll have to eliminate you first, eh Kakashi? So be it." Suddenly the nuke-nin gripped the handle of his weapon, and both vanished. He heard a sudden cry from Saburo. "He's over there, standing on the lake!" Kakashi had already turned to face the other man, eyeing him warily as he made a hand-sign. He eyed Zabuza grimly. 'He's building up a huge amount of chakra.' Kakashi hadn't survived as long as he had by being careless. He watched Zabuza carefully to see what action the nuke-nin would take. Zabuza met his gaze evenly. "Kirigakure no jutsu!" As his enemy named his technique, his body seemed to dissolve into the mist surrounding them. Kakashi walked forward to stand between his team and the lake where Zabuza had stood a moment ago. Behind him he could hear Saburo and Narumi murmuring in surprsie. When he spoke, his voice was calm and reassuring. "He'll come after me first." Saburo sounded confused and worried. "But...who is he?" Kakashi kept his senses alert as he answered. It was important that the gennin understand how far over their heads this was, so they wouldn't try to intervene. "Zabuza Momochi, the ex-leader of Kirigakures assassination unit, and a master of the silent killing technique." Narumi's voice was hesitant when she questioned him. "Silent...silent killing?" Kakashi inclined his head slightly, still not looking at his team. "As the name suggests, death is instantaneous, and comes without warning. It's so fast that you'll pass from this life without realizing what has happened. Even my sharingan can't fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard."
Behind him he could hear his students breath start to become shallow and halting, and realized that he'd given them quite a fright. While it was good they understood their position, he couldn't let them sink into terror. That would only slow their reaction time and cause them to freeze up again. Purposefully making his tone light and irreverent, he tossed another comment over his shoulder. "But if we fail, we'll only lose our lives." Narumi made a noise of choked indignation, Sasuke's eyes bored into his back, and Saburo yelped "How can you say that, sensei?" Kakashi was pleased that they'd been pulled back to a state of reasonably calm alertness so easily. Neglecting to answer Saburo's exclamation, he turned his full attention back to seeking out his enemy. After a moment, he heard Narumi speak "This mist...it just keeps getting thicker and thicker." Tazuna shifted and spoke for the first time since his would-be assassin had appeared, his voice rough and strained with anxiety. "The land of waves is surrounded by ocean. The mists are ever present here." Kakashi noted that Narumi had a point. The mist was continuing to thicken. Behind him he heard Saburo nervously call out. "Sensei?" Tazuna gasped, and Kakashi could practically feel the old mans fear spike into terror. The mist must have thickened enough to obscure him from the view of his team.
Zabuza's voice suddenly drifted out of the mist, as clear as if he stood at Kakashi's shoulder. From Saburo's startled gasp, he sounded just as close to the gennin. "Eight points. Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now...which will be my kill point?" Behind him, he could feel the sudden wash of nervous fear from his students, but to their credit, they made no sound. Kakashi narrowed his eyes. It was true that those were the eight points that would guarantee you an instant kill. Any shinobi of chuunin rank or higher could list them backwards and forwards. It was a matter of course when war, killing, and battle were your way of life. But the way Zabuza was listing them was nothing but a cheap and flashy intimidation technique, meant to frighten civilians and gennin. Shameful really.
Annoyed, Kakashi decided that he had had enough of the cloying mist, and the enemy's exploitation of his students lack of experience. Bringing his hands together in a basic sign, he gathered his chakra, and shoved outwards, causing a small shockwave that blew the mist surrounding him and his students back. Visibility was still terrible, but at least he could see the gennin again. Sweat was beginning to bead at their temples, and he was sure that they were all being pumped full of adrenaline, but they maintained their formation. Zabuza suddenly sent a wave of sakki washing over them. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and countered with a wave of his own sakki. Suddenly he heard shifting, and the slight squeak of a hand gripping slightly too tightly around a kunai hilt. Kakashi instantly glanced over his shoulder, just in time to see Sasuke. The boy's eyes were wide, and his pupils were dilated. He was sweating more than his teammates, and he grasped his kunai in both hands, no longer in a defensive position, but turning the blade back towards himself. Kakashi swore mentally. Sakki was never pleasant the first time you experienced it, but it seemed like Sasuke was having a particularly adverse reaction, and both Narumi and Saburo were too busy struggling with their own fear to notice the imminent danger of the Uchiha. "Sasuke!" Kakashi snapped over his shoulder, and the boy jerked his face up, meeting his sensei's eyes with a wild look. "Calm down. I'll protect you with my life. All of you. I will not allow my comrades to die...trust me." Despite his cool tone, Kakashi smiled slightly over his shoulder at his students. He knew it wasn't the most reassuring smile, but it seemed to be enough. Sasuke took a deep breath, and while he seemed dazed, he was no longer on the brink of committing suicide. Narumi and Saburo also relaxed a bit, the tight set of their shoulders loosening as they glanced over at Kakshi with nervous eyes.
Zabuza's voice suddenly hissed out of the mist surrounding them. "I wouldn't be so sure." Kakashi spun. The man had appeared behind Saburo and Sasuke, his sword positioned to attack, and his back to Tazuna. "It's over." Kakashi's sharingan widened, and he focused intently on the enemy ninja who was now far too close to his green students for his own comfort. Before Zabuza could swing his blade, Kakashi acted. As the gennin and Tazuna sprang away from the predatory man in their midst, Kakashi moved forward and swiftly plunged a kunai deep into the mans abdomen. There was an instant of frozen silence...and water ran down the blade and over Kakashi's hand to spill to the ground. Narumi suddenly cried out. "Sensei, behind you!" The mizu bunshin dispersed as Kakashi started to turn. Behind him Zabuza shouted. "DIE!" and swung his sword in one stroke that was meant to chop Kakashi in half. Kakashi watched the shock on the mans half concealed face as he destroyed Kakashi's own mizu bunshin, rather than Kakashi himself. Kakashi shot to the nuke-nin's back, and lifted a kunai knife to his throat. "Don't move." He growled. Zabuza froze. "Now it's over."
The gennin surrounding them were frozen, starring at the two motionless jounin. Then Narumi whooped, a wide grin spreading across her face. "Alright! Way to go Kakashi-sensei!" Saburo chuckled, tilting his head down as a smaller version of narumi's grin spread across his face. However, their celebratory spirit was short lived. Zabuza laughed, low and menacing, despite the blade hovering against his throat, and when he spoke, his voice was amused. "Finished?" Kakashi narrowed his eyes warily at the back of Zabuza's dark head. "You really don't get it, do you? Your technique is nothing but a poor imitation. I'll never be defeated by a mere copy-cat such as yourself, Hatake." Kakashi growled angrily at the man, indignant. While he'd certainly prefer to have his enemies underestimate him, that didn't mean he had to enjoy being insulted. "You are full of surprises though. You'd already copied my mizu bunshin technique when you made your little speech to the boy. Very skillfully executed. You made your clone speak to draw my attention, while you hid in the mist and waited for me to make a move." There was a pause as the nuke-nin glanced over his shoulder at Kakashi. "Nice try..." Another presence appeared at Kakshi's back, and suddenly Zabuza's gravely voice was at his shoulder. "...but I'm not that easy to fool!" Kakashi twisted his upper body, slashing through the throat of the figure in front of him, dispersing yet another mizu bunshin as he half-turned towards Zabuza. Narumi cried out in confused anger off to his side as he turned "Wha-? That was a clone too?" Kakashi however, was occupied by the blood thirsty shinobi behind him, who was swinging his sword even as Kakashi turned to face him. Using the momentum of his turn, Kakashi dropped to the ground in a crouch, effectively ducking beneath the swing of the blade.
The weight of the oversized weapon caused it to continue in its arcing path, and bury the tip of the blade solidly in the earth. In an instant, Zabuza changed his grip on the handle, and used the sword to brace himself and gain greater leverage as he shot one leg towards Kakashi in a devastating sidekick. Kakashi grunted as Zabuza's foot landed squarely and sent him shooting off the ground and towards the lake. As he flew threw the air, he heard Zabuza's voice beneath and behind him. "Now." He heard the other man yank his weapon from the ground and charge after him. Reaching into his holster and twisting his body, Kakashi quickly flung a handful of Makibishi spikes into the other mans path, halting his advance momentarily. Then Kakashi was splashing heavily into the water, sinking beneath it's surface. Kakashi grimaced, suppressing the urge to suck in a breath as his body registered the impact with the water. Twisting, he swam back up towards the air, and surfaced, drawing in a quick breath as he frowned at the water around him. 'This isn't normal water...it's dense...heavy.' Before he could further contemplate the oddness of the lake he was currently half-submerged him, Zabuza appeared behind him, standing on the surface of the water as he made a hand sign to channel his chakra. "Fool! Suiro no jutsu!" Kakashi shot around to glare over his shoulder at the other man, locking his sharingan on him. 'Shimata!' Then the water rose suddenly around him, forming a thick, swirling shell that enclosed him and held him prisoner. 'Escaping into the water...bad mistake.'
Kakashi glared at the chuckling Zabuza from within his prison. "This prison is made of water, but it's stronger than steel. It's hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi. I'll finish you off later, but first..." Zabuza turned away from him, eyes going to the three gennin on shore who were still loosely grouped around Tazuna, their eyes fixed on the two jounin. "...your little brats will have to be eliminated." Lifting his free hand into a sign, Zabuza muttered under his breath. "Mizu bunshin no jutsu." Kakashi lifted his head in agitation as another Zabuza clone rose from the water halfway towards the shore, and Kakashi's students. 'He's stronger than I expected.'
Zabuza fixed a cruelly amused gaze an the three gennin, who stood watching the approaching danger with frightened eyes. "You think wearing a hitae-ate makes you shinobi? When you've faced death so many times that it doesn't bother you, then you may be called a shinobi. When you've become so deadly that your profile shows up in my bingo book, then, you may have earned the title of Shinobi." As he spoke, the mizu bunshin advanced onto the shore, and lifted a hand to form a sign, and this time, it was the clone who spoke. "But to call upstart brattlings like you shinobi...that's just a joke." And then the clone vanished into the mist. Kakashi saw his students tense, eyes darting around as they tried to find the jounin menacing them. Then Zabuza suddenly reappeared, planting a vicious kick on Narumi's chest, and sending her flying backwards through the air. The girl cried out, her hitae-ate flying up into the air as the knot came loose, and when she landed, she skidded painfully across the ground.
As the girls hitae-ate fell back to the ground, Zabuza stamped on it, grinding it into the dirt. "You're nothing but snot-nosed kids." Sasuke and Saburo both jumped, and turned to look in horror at the blonde. Sasuke's eyes widened, and Saburo cried out in horror. "Narumi! Are you alright!" Kakashi growled again, and cried out to his team in a sharp voice. "Listen, get the bridge builder and run! You can't win this fight!" Kakashi turned his eyes to Narumi, who was still on the ground, turned on her side and staring at the mizu bunshin with terror and desperation. "He has to stay in contact with the Suiro no Jutsu to hold me, so he can only attack you with his mizu bunshin. But that will disperse if it moves to far away from his original body. If you get away from him, he can't follow! Now run!" The gennin stood in shock, trembling with fear but not yet moving. Kakashi was alarmed to see pride flare in Sasuke's eyes as the boy gritted his teeth. The boy was too much like Kakashi used to be, and the older shinobi feared that he was about to get his teammates killed. Sasuke glanced between Narumi and Saburo, both of whom were still staring at the mizu bunshin with wide eyes. Then the boy looked back at him, and Kakashi saw something in his eyes besides pride, a furiously working mind. Then the boy growled out "We've got to rescue Sensei!" With a grunt of effort, the dark haired boy charged the bunshin, sending shuriken flying at the thing as he ran. The bunshin merely pulled out its sword, and deflected the small flock of shuriken with a single swing of the blade. Sasuke sprang high into the air, attempting to attack from above.
The bunshin looked up at him with dismissive eyes. "Too easy." Then it reached up and caught the boy by the throat, holding him above it's head, and threw his struggling form off to the side. Sasuke crashed into the ground, and skidded in the opposite direction from Narumi. Saburo's eyes darted back and forth between his two teammates, obviously torn between going to his teammates, and continuing to stand between their enemy and the bridge builder, and the pink haired boy swore in frustration. "Shimatta! Sasuke!" Narumi had risen to a crouch, and watched with horror as the strongest of her teammates was tossed aside like a doll. Kakashi mentally cursed, and wished the damn kids would just make a run for it. The bunshin advanced on the blonde, who turned to look up at it with wide eyes. Kakashi saw the recognition of her own possible death flash through those eyes. Saw her half turn, planting her hand on the ground as if to run. Felt a burst of relief that at last his students would remove themselves from danger. And just as quickly felt that relief turn to ash as the girl froze, looking down at the hand she'd just planted on the ground. Her injured hand.
Kakashi saw the disappointment, and the strange contemplative look that flashed across her face. The words she'd spoken after the earlier attack suddenly rang through his head. I'm going to be strong. I won't need saving anymore. Kakashi felt a sinking sensation in the pit of his stomach as he watched her. He had a bad feeling about this.
Turning back towards the bunshin, the girl slowly rose to her feet, hands fisted at her sides, and eyes intent on her enemy. She gritted her teeth, and charged the jounin in front of her with a determined snarl. Kakashi looked on in horror. "Narumi, NO!" Saburo paled, and moved as if to dash after her "Narumi, you idiot! What the hell are you doing?" The bunshin just watched her come. "Hmph. Fool." As Narumi reached him, the bunshins larger mass blocked the girl temporarily from Kakashi's view. He saw the motion of its arm as it struck her, and saw her body fly back, rolling painfully across the ground to come to a stop at her teammates feet. Kakashi felt nearly dizzy with relief when he saw she was still breathing. Saburo went to his knees next to her, resting a trembling hand on her shoulder and scolding desperately. "What were you thinking, charging a jounin by yourself? Even Sasuke couldn't get to him! What the hell did you think you were doing?" Narumi shifted, shrugging Saburo's hand off her shoulder, and struggling into a crouch, obviously aching from the attack. Saburo stared at the girl, and Kakashi realized what had caught the boys attention and silenced his panicked rant. In Narumi's injured hand, she was clutching her hitae-ate. Both her teammates stared at her in surprise as the girl rose to her feet. When she spoke, she was still somewhat breathless, but her voice was firm. "Hey you...the freak with no eyebrows." Setting her shoulders and taking a deep breath, the girl ignored everyone else, focused on the nuke-nin in front of her. "Put this in that bingo book of yours. My name is Uzumaki Narumi. One day I'll become Hokage..." As she spoke, Narumi lifted her hitae-ate back to her forehead, and tied it snugly in place. "...and I never back down."
Never taking her eyes of of the bunshin, Narumi shifted into a battle stance and called back to Sasuke. "Oi, Sasuke. You hear me?" The Uchiha's dark eyes studied his teammate intensely, and his voice was attentive. "Yeah, I hear you." Her grin widened a bit. "I've got a plan." Sasuke snorted quietly. "So you're finally thinking about teamwork, huh?" Saburo glanced between the other two, and opened his mouth. Before he could say anything, Narumi turned her head slightly towards him. "Hey Saburo-kun, I need you to protect the old drunk, alright?" Saburo shut his mouth, and nodded once, backing up to resume a defensive position in front of Tazuna as Sasuke advanced to stand beside Narumi. The blonde used the back of her wrist to wipe a trickle of blood from a shallow cut on her cheek. "Alright, let's bring this guy down Sasuke." The bunshin they faced chuckled. "Big words from such a little girl."
Kakashi felt alarm shoot through his system at the tone of voice being used. "What are you doing, I told you to run! This fight was over the moment I got caught! Now take off already! Your mission is not to prove how brave you are, it's to save the bridge builder. Stay on mission!" Narumi frowned, but looked back at Tazuna questioningly. "Tazuna-san?" The old man frowned. "Well, I guess this all happened because of me, because I was determined to live. But I won't stand in your way on this. Go ahead do what you have to do. Fight to save your sensei!" Kakashi could have roared in frustration. He didn't WANT them to fight to save him, he wanted them to survive their first real mission, thanks all the same! Kakashi had survived the third great shinobi war, and he could certainly survive Momichi Zabuza. The same could not be said for his very young, very green team. His students, however, took this as permission to go ahead with their plan.
Sasuke looked back towards the bunshin, and spoke to Narumi. "Alright, you hear that?" Narumi nodded once. "You ready?" The Zabuza bunshin broke out laughing. "You really haven't learned anything, have you? Still playing your little game, pretending to be shinobi. When I was your age, I'd already bathed in the blood of many enemies." Kakashi shot a glance sideways at Zabuza, and muttered under his breath. "The demon of Kirigakure." Zabuza was still watching the scene in front of him, but his words were addressed to Kakashi. "Oh, so I was in your book too, huh?" Kakashi suddenly hit on idea. Perhaps he could use the mans past to frighten his students into running. Turning back to look at the three of them, he caught and held their gaze. "Used to be in Kirigakure, before an academy student could become a shinobi, there was one final test."
Zabuza glanced down at Kakashi with interest. "Do you know of the graduation exam?" Narumi frowned. "What's the big deal? We had graduation tests too, ya know." Zabuza laughed scornfully. "Did you have to kill the other students to pass?" Narumi blanched, and Saburo shifted back half a pace. "Thats...that's so cruel." Kakashi stared his students down, willing them to understand. "The graduation exam of Kirigakure changed ten years ago. Mainly because of a certain event the previous year. A young boy, a civilian, approached the class...and slaughtered them all. An entire generation of Kirigakure shinobi, gone. That boy became known as Momichi Zabuza, demon of Kirigakure." The Zabuza clone looked absorbed in memories. "It-it felt so..." Then his eyes snapped down to Narumi and Sasuke. "...GOOD!" Sasuke and Narumi jerked, the expressions on there faces a blend of horror and disgust.
Sasuke's eyes widened, and suddenly Zabuza was in front of him, and he was flying backwards across the ground. Kakashi saw Narumi turn to look as Zabuza followed the boy and slammed his elbow into his gut. Sasuke's face jerked back, and a quick burst of blood flew from his mouth. Saburo half turned, and cried out. "Sasuke!" Kakashi's eyes widened, and his mind worked furiously, trying to find a way out of the damned Suiro. Zabuza stomped on Sasuke's torso as the boy lay prone on the ground, resting a foot heavily on the exact spot he'd just struck. Sasuke groaned, one eye tightly closed while the other remained locked on the bunshin above him. The bunshin looked calmly back, and ground it's foot down. Sasuke's other eye snapped closed, and he cried out in pain, gritting his teeth as he fought to remain silent. Kakashi felt raw anger course through his veins, and wanted nothing more than to drive a nice sharp kunai into Zabuza's body. The bunshin continued to torment Sasuke, a dark chuckle once again escaping it's lips. "You're nothing."
Narumi's hands shot together, forming the hand sign specific to the kage bunshin no jutsu, as she growled angrily at the bunshin. "Stop right there!" Suddenly over twenty Narumi's were surrounding Zabuza's bunshin, each of them looking absolutely livid about the treatment of her teammate. Zabuza nearly crooned to himself as his eyes flicked slowly over the surrounding figures. "Oooh. Kage bunshin. And there's quite a few of them." Kakashi watched wide-eyed as each of the Narumi's drew a Kunai at the same time, and narrowed their eyes at the mizu bunshin. When they spoke, it was an echoing chorus. "Here we go!" The mizu bunshin stepped forward, moving away from Sasuke, and allowing the Uchiha to flip over and rise to his knees, a thin stream of blood tracing a red line across his chin from the corner of his mouth.
The Narumi's leapt into the air, and attacked, landing on top of and around Zabuza in a close knit circle that effectively blocked him from her teammate, who watched with dark eyes. The mizu bunshin growled and heaved, sending the Narumi's flying away from him. As the multiple blonde figures skidded across the ground, they began to disperse with puffs of white smoke. One of them flipped onto her back as she skidded, and rummaged around in her pack. "I'm not giving up, I've still got this!" As she came to a stop a few meters behind Sasuke, she threw a folded fuma shuriken towards him with a quick call of his name as a heads up. "Sasuke!" Sasuke launched himself up off the ground and caught the thing with a triumphant cry. Kakashi saw the boys eyes widen slightly as he caught the thing, and watched the Uchiha spin a nearly a full turn to face the mizu bunshin with such an exaggerated motion that it clearly was a waste of movement. Kakashi really needed something to punch. If his gennin were still at the stage where even the strongest was pulling out such flashy moves in an actual fight, there was no way they were going to survive this battle. The mizu bunshin cocked his head curiously at the two gennin, and Narumi grinned cheekily up at him from where she sat, obviously confident that the fuma shuriken would prove a turning point.
Sasuke unfurled the fuma shuriken, and Zabuza scoffed. "A shuriken? You'll never touch me with that." Sasuke ignored the taunt, and leaped high into the air, whipping his body around to launch the over-sized weapon towards his target. To the surprise of both Kakashi and Zabuza, the weapon curved right past the mizu bunshin, and headed straight for Zabuza's real body. Zabuza watched the weapon fly toward him dispassionately. "Smart." He murmured. As the fuma shuriken reached him, he reached out and caught it with his free hand. "But not smart enough!" Then his head snapped up in surprise as he saw yet another fuma shuriken, this one black, flying towards him in the exact same path. Kakashi stared. 'A second shuriken in the shadow of the first. The kage fusha technique. Nice!' All three of Kakashi's students watched the shuriken fly towards their enemy with intense looks on their faces. Zabuza waited until the last possible moment, and then jumped straight up, lifting his legs just enough that the second shuriken sailed under him, while the hand that held the Suiro no jutsu didn't move. "I told you, a shuriken can't touch me!" Saburo looked alarmed...but Kakashi saw Sasuke's lips curve into a tiny smirk. As the second fuma shuriken sailed past Zabuza, Kakashi turned to look at it. And saw it suddenly transform into Narumi. Narumi with a kunai in her hand. The girl fixed her eyes on Zabuza, and hurled the kunai towards him.
Kakashi stared in blank surprise at his student as the kunai sailed back towards Zabuza. The other jounin twisted his body, yanking back his arm to avoid the weapon, and in doing so released the Suiro that had held Kakashi captive.
Even as Zabuza twisted away, the kunai managed to slice a thin cut just beneath his eye, while the kage bunshin of Narumi back on shore dispersed. The enraged shinobi released the mizu bunshin, allowing it to dissolve as he turned back toward Narumi with a growl, his pupils dilated with anger. As he turned, Zabuza set the fuma shuriken he'd caught spinning, obviously aiming for Narumi as his eyes tracked her body's descent through the air towards the lake surface. Saburo yelled, and Sasuke sucked in a breath, watching with wide eyes. Narumi clenched her teeth, staring at the enemy jounin as he faced her and hissed a threat. "I'll destroy you!" Kakashi set his jaw angrily, and shot around in front of the man, raising his fist to catch the spinning blade of the fuma as Zabuza brought it around to release. The curved blade bit deep into the back of his fist, and thick blood welled up from the wound to drip across his fingers. Kakashi grunted and gritted his teeth against the pain. Behind him, he heard a splash as Narumi dropped into the lake. Finally free to attack the man who'd just tried to kill his team, Kakashi raised his head, and peered dangerously through the limp, wet strands of silver-gray hair that hung over his hitae-ate and eyes. His sharingan burned up at the nuke-nin in front of him. Zabuza's eyes widened, and he looked decidedly nervous. Back on shore, Saburo cheered. "Yeah! Kick his butt, Kakashi-sensei!"
Narumi surfaced with strands of her golden hair plastered to her face and struggling loose from her braid, gasping for air, but beaming up at Kakashi as he stood on the undulating water above her. Though he didn't look away from Zabuza, it was her that Kakashi addressed when he spoke. "Narumi, that was an excellent plan. You've really grown, haven't you?" Narumi flushed a little, and laughed excitedly, adrenaline still singing through her veins, and combining with a sense of elated triumph. "You better believe it Sensei! Me n' Sasuke just kicked the freaks butt!" Tazuna snorted back on shore. "Hah, nothing but a fluke." Kakashi glanced once at his bright haired student, and then over at Sasuke. 'You can call it a fluke, but the teamwork she and Sasuke showed was flawless. On the D-rank missions there was constant rivalry between them, and Narumi was always trying to one-up Sasuke. But when it came down to it just now, they worked together perfectly, without even having to discuss their plan.' Kakashi felt a sense of pride in his two students flower in his chest. His gaze was called back to Zabuza when the other spoke, eyes narrowed as he stared down Kakashi. "Ha, lucky. I got distracted and lost my grip on the Suiro." Kakashi's eyebrows snapped down and his eyes hardened. He would not tolerate a nuke-nin belittling his students achievements. "Don't flatter yourself. You weren't distracted, you were forced to let go." Zabuza glared at him hotly, obviously not pleased at the declaration. "Your technique worked on me once, but it won't happen again. So what's it gonna be, Zabuza?" In the tense silence that followed, Kakashi heard Sasuke murmur something to Saburo under his breath, followed by the sounds of shifting as both of the boys took up defensive positions in front of Tazuna.
Turning his fist so that the blade of the fuma was resting on the metal plate sewn to the back of his glove, Kakashi exerted his strength, and knocked the thing away, tearing it from Zabuza's hand and sending it spinning away into the mist. The two jounin leapt back and away from each other, gaining distance, but keeping their eyes locked on one another. As they landed, Kakashi caught the other man with his Sharingan. Then they both launched into a series of hand signs, identical to each other. At the same moment, they both cried out. "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu!" From the water between them rose two identical dragons formed entirely of water, with glowing eyes of chakra. The dragons rose, twisting gracefully around each other before soaring towards their individual targets. Halfway there, they crashed into each other, collapsing into great sprays of water that crashed down on the two jounin. As the water from the jutsu thundered back into the lake, it caused a wave that enveloped Narumi, and crashed over the shore, dousing Saburo, Sasuke, and Tazuna, while having no effect on the two jounin. Somewhere off to the side, Narumi bobbed up out of the water, but Kakashi couldn't spare a thought to worry about the jutsu's effect on her. He was busy struggling to block Zabuza's over-sized sword with a kunai. As the two jounin struggled against each other, Kakashi saw a flash of unease in Zabuza's eyes. Springing away from each other, the two jounin mirrored one another's movements, darting around each other and making the same gestures. Kakashi carefully used his sharingan on the other man, watching the doubt and alarm grow in his eyes.
When he saw the question grow in his eyes, Kakashi spoke out loud, as if completing a sentence. "-going to do next?" Zabuza jerked back as if burned, and seemed more alarmed than ever. Kakashi narrowed his eyes slightly. Perfect. He wanted this man as far from a calm and collected mental state as possible. When he saw irritation flicker across the mans face, he spoke quietly. "Makes you furious, doesn't it?" Zabuza scoffed, though his eyes were still wide. "Hah, all you're doing is copying me like a monkey." Kakashi mirrored his changing hand sign, and spoke in chorus with his enemy. "You can't beat me with cheap tricks. I'll crush you." Zabuza's eyes shot even wider open, and he launched into a long series of hand signs. "When I finish with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again!" Kakashi ignored the threat, and concentrated on utilizing the hypnotic ability of the sharingan to lure the man into using the same jutsu as himself, half a second too slow. When the other man hesitated, Kakashi took the opportunity to crush him. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Zabuza's eyes widened. "What?" Before he could say more the water at Kakashi's feet swirled up in front of him, and roared towards his enemy in a great vortex. Kakashi faintly heard Zabuza's cry over the roaring crash of the water, but knew that the other shinobi had been swept away by the current. Somewhere off to the side, Kakashi knew that Narumi was struggling to stay afloat in the tossing waters. He glanced off towards her just in time to see the waves throw her up against a bank. Twisting, the girl had the presence of mind to grab a fairly sturdy sapling, and hang onto it. His other students were still in their defensive positions in front of Tazuna, but they'd thrown up their arms to shield their eyes from the stinging spray and strong wind created by the jutsu.
As the jutsu receded, Kakashi pinpointed Zabuza's location, and leapt towards him, sending four kunai soaring towards him. One kunai pierced each of the mans limbs, causing Zabuza to throw his head back and cry out in pain. Kakashi landed on a branch in the tree above Zabuza, glaring down at the man who had dared to threaten his students. "You're finished." Slowly the water summoned by the jutsu receded back into the lake. As the water withdrew from around him, and left him standing on solid ground, Zabuza looked up at Kakashi. "How? Can you...see into the future?" Kakashi stood, glaring down at the man, his voice cold and dangerous as he raised a kunai. "Yes...this is your last battle. Ever."
Suddenly, two senbon embedded themselves deeply in the side of Zabuza's neck. His body jerked with the impact, and blood spurted from the wounds. Kakashi's eyes snapped to the place from which the senbon had been thrown. There stood an oinin of Kirigakure, watching calmly from his branch as Zabuza's limp body crashed to the ground. When the oinin spoke, his voice was young and gentle. "You were right. It was his last battle." Kakashi looked at the oinin for a moment, then shifted his eyes to Zabuza. Leaping down next to the fallen form of his enemy, he knelt by his head and looked closely at the two senbon embedded in his neck. Reaching over, he felt for a pulse. And found nothing. He looked up at his students as Narumi hauled herself out of the water, and sighed. "No vital signs." Then he shifted his gaze back to the very young sounding oinin. The boy bowed. "Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time, waiting for this chance to take him down."
Kakashi glared up at the boy suspiciously. "By your mask, I see that you're an oinin from Kirigakure." The boy looked up. "Impressive. You're well informed. Yes, I'm an oinin. It was my duty to stop Zabuza." Kakashi frowned up at the boy. 'He's no ordinary kid...but what is he? He can't be that much older than Saburo and Sasuke.' Behind him, Kakashi heard Narumi move to join the others. Sasuke had apparently called her a dobe again, and she was launching into her usual reprisal. Standing, Kakashi walked back to his team, and dropped his hand on Narumi's head. The dripping girl looked up at him in surprise, halting her indignant outburst at Sasuke about not calling her a dobe. Kakashi's eyes softened as he looked down at the three of them. "Are you kids alright?" Saburo nodded, eyes bright. "We're fine sensei." The oinin vanished from his branch, and reappeared next to Zabuza's body. Leaning over, he picked up Zabuza's body, draping the larger mans arm around his neck and bracing his other shoulder against the corpses chest as he stood. "I must deal with Zabuza's body. It contains many of the secrets of our people, and those secrets must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands."
Lifting one hand into a hand sign, the boy nodded to Kakashi once. "Please excuse me. Farewell." And with that, both Zabuza and oinin vanished. Narumi started out from under Kakashi's hand, and took a step forward to stand beside him, staring wide eyed. "He disappeared!" Kakashi sighed, and lifted his hand to pull his Hitae-ate down over his sharingan. Then he turned back to Saburo and Sasuke. "We still haven't completed our mission yet. We still have to get the bridge builder to his bridge." Tazuna laughed uneasily, and tipped his wide, bowl-shaped hat back on his head. "Sorry I caused all this trouble for ya. But you can rest at my house when we get to the village." Kakashi nearly rolled his eyes. "Alright, let's get a move on." Turning, he went to walk away. And suddenly became aware that he'd used far, far too much chakra in that battle. His eye shot wide open, and he fell forward, his body refusing to carry him any further now that the danger had passed. As he hit the ground, he heard his students running towards him, and mentally cursed. As the blackness of unconsciousness closed in on him, he had a moment to thank the kami that his instincts and reactions from the war had kept the chakra exhaustion from striking him in the midst of the battle. And then he knew nothing.