serialkeller: They were there. You likely missed them because you were expecting something flashy. Mizuki's were fairly easy to spot as I shoved them right in everyone's face. Seals and the mud clone. The Uchiha's were a bit more subtle. The very thing you thought was a weakness. The clones. Menma didn't face Kakashi once during the bell test.Every time the two fought it was a mud clone. I'm not saying there's a connection there, but who else do you know that acts that way in the series?
Subtlety, misdirection, attacking from the shadows, those are Menma's bread and butter right now. If you want flashy you'll have to wait for the Chuunin Exams arc for the first bit. Most of the rest won't happen until Shippuden.
Chapter 4
Several months had passed since graduation and Team 7 had just finished its most difficult and grueling mission yet - the capture of a ferocious wild beast. Or rather, it was difficult for Sasuke and Sakura. Menma had simply set down a paralysis seal and waited for the other two to chase the cat into it. The paralysis didn't last very long, only 4 or 5 seconds, but it was long enough for him to hog-tie the little bastard.
Menma stared blankly at the other two as they trudged up to him, panting, covered in dirt, and scratched up.
"You two look like you've gone through a war," he smirked.
"Shut... up..." His pink haired teammate panted out at him. The other just let out a grunt.
He handed them both a bottle of water and waited for them to catch their breath.
"How are you alright? You were out there chasing that thing with us." Sasuke demanded with a glare.
Menma pointed at the one that had been with them the entire time as it dissolved into mud. "Why do myself what I can send a clone to do?"
"But... teamwork..." Sakura seemed even more out of breath than before.
'Just how bad is her stamina? Where-' He stopped that train of thought and grinned evilly. "Oh, hi Ino!"
Sakura seemed to revive at those words and jumped to her feet to fend off the woman 'encroaching on her territory'. "Huh? Where's Ino?" She asked.
"Not here." Menma told her flatly. "As for teamwork, what do you think the training and sparring is for? Learning teamwork from babysitting and pulling weeds is just a bunch of crap they tell genin to make them do the chores the villagers are too damn lazy to do themselves."
Menma then bent down and picked up the tied up cat, smirking as it tried in vain to scratch and bite him. "Come on, let's go dump this thing off." He started walking towards the Hokage tower while poking the cat and grinning as it hissed at him.
Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and shrugged.
"Do you guys think Kakashi-sensei will get us another mission after this?" Sakura asked them.
"No." Sasuke said.
Menma put his free hand to his chin to think for a moment. "Sasuke is right, he'll probably dismiss us to go read his trashy novels again." Tora seemed to start annoying him so he started swinging the cat back and forth like a pendulum.
Kakashi chose this moment to show up. Upon seeing the cat swinging back and forth he gave Menma a flat look. "Do you have to torture the cat like that?"
WHUMP
The cat hit the side of a building before doubling its hissing and spitting. Menma shrugged. "He seems fine. Besides, what the client doesn't know won't hurt her." He went back to swinging the cat around.
They reached the tower with Menma still swinging the cat around. The client had a fit when she saw this and mashed the cat into her chest.
"I can teach you the proper method for breaking necks, you know, just in case." Menma told her, staring at the cat. The client gave him a horrified look, quickly paid her fee, and rushed out of the building.
The Hokage shook his head. "Alright, we've got plenty more missions for you to choose from. Babysitting. Walking dogs-" "Tora!" "And capturing Tora... again."
"Seals sure are amazing. It's a shame they're so difficult." Menma said, seemingly out of nowhere. "Just a few lines different and a paralysis seal can become an explosive seal."
"Right... we also have weed pulling-"
"Hokage-sama." Menma cut him off. "We'd like a mission, please. If we get any more of these D-ranked choresI might just snap and let a certain furball out to play."
The Third stared at Menma for a few long minutes. Turning to Kakashi he asked, "Kakashi, do you believe your team is ready for a C-ranked mission?"
"Well, it might be a nice change of pace," he replied.
"Bring in Tazuna," the Hokage ordered.
Moments later a sweaty old drunk walked in and gave them a sour look. "What? I wanted ninja, not a bunch of kids. And look at that one's eyes. What the hell is wrong with him?"
Menma's eye twitched at the comments. "There's nothing wrong with me and we areninja."
"Ninja my ass. You all look like you're barely off your momma's teats." The drunk sneered at him.
"Do you want to die, old man? Is that it? Do you know where I got these rings from? A lack of sleep, something I bet you spend a lot of time doing," Menma hissed out.
"Now now, let's not threaten the client." Kakashi said, trying to calm him down.
"Ehm, well, right. I'm Tazuna and you're going to bridge me with your lives! So I can build a super protect!" He slurred out, finishing off his bottle. He frowned and began mumbling to himself. "A... super lives? To bridge my protect? Uhhh..."
Kakashi turned to his students. "Meet us at the gate in one hour."
An hour later the usual three were waiting at the gate while waiting for their habitually late Scarecrow.
Kakashi and Tazuna showed up shortly after. "Yo! You guys all packed and ready to go? Menma, where's your pack?"
Menma pulled a single scroll out of an inner pocket to flash at the man before tucking it away.
"Alright then, let's head out."
They had travelled in silence for about an hour before Sakura asked Kakashi about ninja in Wave. Sasuke didn't seem interested in the discussion and Menma sure as hell didn't care. Either they had no ninja or their ninja sucked so bad they turned to Konoha to get the job done.
Walking over to Sasuke to gave him a nod. "Tell me about Ecchi."
"Itachi?" Sasuke's face darkened. "Why?"
"Because the more we know about him the better our chances of taking him down when the time comes," Menma replied.
Sasuke nodded, it made sense. "Well... he's a prodigy. He's better than even I am. He graduated from the academy at 7. Unlocked his Sharingan at 8. Chunin at 10, and ANBU at 13." Sasuke fell silent, no doubt brooding over his own progress.
"What else?" Menma asked, cataloguing what he had heard. 'Did Ecchi have the Sharingan? I don't remember seeing him use it.'
"He's a Katon user, like most Uchiha," Sasuke added. "I can't really think of anything else. He hasn't exactly been around for me to study."
Both boys saw the puddle up ahead and gave each other a knowing look.
"Ah, sensei, I need to use the restroom!" Menma ran off into the woods on the side of the path without bothering to wait for a reply. A minute later he returned. "Sorry about that, all good!"
Kakashi merely smirked beneath his mask and urged the group forward past the puddle. As soon as they were past the puddle two men jumped out. After wrapping Kakashi in a chain connected between their gauntlets they gave a tug, shredding the Jounin to pieces.
"Got'cha!" One of them said. They quickly turned their sights on Menma and rushed for him to repeat the process.
Sasuke and Menma had immediately responded by pulling out kunai to defend themselves. Sakura had frozen for a second before doing the same and jumping in front of Tazuna to guard him.
When the pair turned and ran at Menma he braced himself for attack. Before they could reach him Sasuke threw a shuriken followed by a kunai, pinning their chain to a tree. The pair released the chain and split up, one continuing after the Sasuke and Menma, the other ran after Tazuna and Sakura.
Sasuke and Menma split apart to force their enemy to pick between them. He turned to rush towards Sasuke.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu." Sasuke breathed out a massive fireball.
When the enemy jumped to the side to avoid the fireball Menma blurred next to him to brutally kick him back into the fireball before he could land. The ninja, seeing this, reached out with his claw to grab the leg, but only managed to slash it before getting kicked back into the fireball. A scream told them the attack worked but that he wasn't dead yet. Menma limped up to the charred ninja and flicked a kunai into his heart.
Meanwhile Sakura didn't fare as well. She had managed to block the first strike before being kicked aside towards a tree. Kakashi decided to show up and catch her before she plowed head first into the tree. He then placed her down and ran towards the enemy but arrived just after he had slashed out the clients throat. A hand to the back of the neck later, he was unconscious.
Kakashi looked down at the old man and sighed. "Menma is poisoned and the client won't survive that wound. Let's go back to Konoha."
"Actually, we're both fine." Menma told him as he and Tazuna walked out of the trees on the side of the road.
Kakashi noticed that the injured Menma and Tazuna both dissolved into mud. "You know, some people might get offended that you're not doing any work around here." He said with a mock angry tone.
Menma waved him off. "Yeah yeah, keeping the client safe and hidden is slacking off."
Kakashi turned to Tazuna and gave him a flat stare. "So, mind telling us why these ninja were trying to kill you?"
Tazuna began to sweat. "What makes you think they're after me?" He glanced around nervously.
"The fact that he-" Kakashi pointed at the unconscious one at his feet. "ignored Sakura to go after you."
Tazuna looked around helplessly for a moment before sighing and slumping his shoulders. "It's Gatō. He wants me dead."
"Gatō Corp, Gatō?" Kakashi asked with a frown. "If he's behind this and hiring missing-nin to kill you this is beyond a simple C-rank. Lying about the mission is a great way to get yourself, and all of us, killed. We should return to Konoha and leave you here for this."
"Oh, I understand." Tazuna said. "I'll just continue on alone. Wave will be crushed and countless people will die. My daughter will cry and cry, and my grandson will hold a grudge against Konoha forever."
Kakashi sighed and turned to the rest of his team. "What do you guys think?"
Sasuke smirked and nodded his head. Sakura hesitantly agreed. Menma shrugged. "Why not? At least it gets us away from changing diapers." He said.
"Alright then, we'll continue the mission." Tazuna grinned triumphantly at Kakashi's statement.
The group had just finished crossing the water on a boat. The man who owned the boat had been incredibly jumpy and twitchy, like a small animal waiting for its death. He was so bad he seemed to rub off on the others.
As they were walking along Menma suddenly threw a kunai into a bush, making Sakura and Sasuke jump. When it revealed a white rabbit Kakashi went on alert while Menma frowned. 'I thought I felt someone there.'
"GET DOWN!" Kakashi shouted, tackling Tazuna to the ground.
The three genin dropped to the ground just before a giant sword flew over their heads and sunk deeply into a nearby tree.
"The clones sure are getting a workout today." Menma discretely performed hand signs and spit out a bunch of mud as they were lying down.
"Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist. "Kakashi said, revealing his Sharingan. "I'll have to take this seriously."
"The Copycat, eh? I even get to see your special little eye. This will be fun. Kirigakure no Jutsu!"
"Sasuke, Menma, Sakura, protect the client." Kakashi said, pulling out a kunai.
Menma used the mud he had spit out to form into clones of the two ninja they had fought earlier that day. They, along with team 7, formed a protective barrier around Tazuna.
"It won't help you!" Zabuza shouted, appearing in the center of them to cut down Tazuna.
Kakashi blurred over to him and slashed him in the stomach. The wound bled water before the 'Zabuza' collapsed into a puddle. Shortly after a second Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and swung his sword cutting him in two. Kakashi collapsed into a puddle as well.
"It's over." A second Kakashi said, appearing behind Zabuza.
"Or is it?" Yet another Zabuza appeared, grabbing on to Kakashi as the one in front of him turned into water.
The two mud clones jumped forward one slashing high while the other slashed low, both trying to claw Zabuza. Zabuza at first seemed to think they were heading for Kakashi so he held him still. At the last second he realized they were aiming for him and jumped back receiving cuts from both.
"Gōzu! Meizu! You backstabbing bastards!" Zabuza growled at the two.
"It's nothing personal." Gōzu started. "Just business." Meizu finished. The two moved to flank Zabuza while Kakashi remained in front of him. They remained this way for several tense moments before senbon flew out hitting Zabuza as well as the two mud clones.
"I thank you for distracting them. I've hunted those three for some time." A masked man said, appearing out of the trees. "I'll take care of them now."
Kakashi watched the boy warily as he walked towards the three. As he reached Gōzu he seemed to steel himself before cutting off his head. The body dissolved into mud throwing him off for a moment. He threw a glance at the Konoha ninja before blurring over to Zabuza, grabbing him and his sword, and vanishing.
Kakashi frowned and covered his eye. "How far away is your home, Tazuna?" He asked, turning to the man.
"Ah, it's just up ahead, follow me." The old drunk replied before walking on.
Kakashi walked slowly until he was beside Menma. "How are you doing?" He asked him.
"Hmm?" Menma replied.
"The Demon Brothers back there. The first kill is always rough." Kakashi said, glancing down at him.
Menma frowned. "That wasn't my first kill," he said quietly.
Kakashi blinked and paused briefly at that, allowing Menma to walk ahead. He shared a look with Sasuke and Sakura who had been discretely eavesdropping on them. They were all thinking the same thing. 'If that wasn't his first kill, what was?'
In the forest not far away the masked man was carefully pulling the needles out of Zabuza's neck. Zabuza woke shortly and ripped the rest out violently.
"Damn those traitors. What happened to them?" He demanded.
"I assume they're dead," the boy replied. "You weren't actually fighting the brothers. Those were mud clones."
"Mud clones? What?" Zabuza grunted out.
"After I placed the three of you into a false death I prepared myself to kill them for betraying us. When I cut off Gōzu's head, he turned into mud," the boy said.
"Those sneaky little bastards. Watch them while I recover and deal with the one who made the clones," he ordered. It wouldn't do to fall for another trick like that.
The boy nodded. "Come, let's get you back to the hideout."
End Chapter 4
A/N:
Not much to say here. Wave wraps up next chapter and you'll get a hint of the flashy in the exams I spoke of before the story.
Spell-check wanted to change Meizu to seizure. That amused me.