I don't own Naruto. I hope you enjoy the chapter!
Warning: gore and fighting
Chapter 4: Land of Waves
"Alright Sarutobi, give us a C-Rank mission. Now." Naruto was glaring at the Hokage. Iruka was affronted that Naruto would speak to the Hokage like that. However, he was too afraid of the trio to speak up. The Hokage sighed.
"There is a C-Rank mission available. However, I want you to take Team Ten with you." Naruto, Shikamaru and Ino glared and stalked forward.
"What? Are we not strong enough?" Naruto growled.
"Not at all. I wish for the other Genin teams to see the real shinobi world and this is the safest for them since you'll be there," the Hokage explained. Naruto, Shikamaru and Ino relaxed. Team Ten was called in and told about their C-Rank mission. Sasuke smirked triumphantly. Sakura did a victory dance. Choji frowned before putting on a determined look.
"However, you will be accompanying Team Seven on this mission," the Hokage added. Their faces fell. Sasuke and Sakura glared at the three Genin, but they just shrugged it off.
"Bring in the client," the Hokage ordered. An old man in slightly tattered clothes walked in.
"A bunch of snot nosed kids? Why would you-" the old man started. However, a sword, scythe and a bakuhatsu pointed at his face made him stop. The looks on Naruto, Ino and Shikamaru's faces stopped the man from speaking another word. After Team Seven put away their weapons, the Hokage introduced the man as Tazuna.
"You are to escort him to the Land of Waves. That means he has to arrive their safely." The Hokage looked at Team Seven, who just shrugged. He sighed.
"Meet at the gate in half an hour. Go gather your things." The group dispersed. Kakashi spoke to Tazuna.
"Sorry about that. They don't take too well to being insulted." Tazuna just sighed and let it go.
Most of the Genin were gathered by the gate. Ino was leaning against the tree, filing her nails. Sasuke was leaning against the wall. Choji was looking around. Sakura was staring at Sasuke. There was no sign of Naruto or Shikamaru. Asuma and Kakashi arrived with Tazuna.
"Where are your teammates, Ino-boar? Or were they too scared and ran away?" Sakura taunted. Ino stood up and knocked the tree. Sakura burst into laughter. However, it was quickly stopped and Naruto landed on the ground from the tree top. An orb of shadows started rising out of the ground. When it was as big as the Genin, the shadows seeped away, revealing Shikamaru. Team Ten gaped and Team Seven started walking. Naruto turned around.
"Are you coming?" The others hurried after Team Seven.
They were still walking. They passed a puddle and Team Seven shared a glance. Once most of the group was past, two Chuunin leapt up and used chain gauntlets to kill Kakashi. Instead of gaping, Team Seven grinned and starting fighting. Shikamaru sent a wave of senbon, leaving the enemy shinobi with senbon needle in key points to restrict movement. Ino immediately went after one with her Neko Te. Naruto took the other with his sword. Both ninja fell to the ground after Team Seven moved. They didn't get up. Kakashi reappeared, revealing that he used a substitution jutsu at last minute. Team Ten sighed in relief.
"Is the dobe really stronger than me?" He was an Uchiha. The Uchiha were the best shinobi in Konoha.
"Good job, team," Kakashi complimented. Choji looked like he was going be sick. Sakura looked nausea. Sasuke gave them a grudging respect. The bodies were disposed of and the group continued. Tazuna had gone pale.
"So why were those ninja targeting you, Tazuna?" Shikamaru asked. Tazuna jumped. He stammered a bit before he broke down and revealed the whole story. Gatou was an evil business man who had taken over the Land of Waves by controlling the sea. Tazuna was the bridge builder so Gatou wanted to kill him.
"Alright, now that the sob story is over, let's go," Naruto said. The group continued on.
Later, Naruto was playing with one of his kunai and he threw it into a bush. When they checked, there was a white hare. Team Seven immediately connected the dots. Meanwhile, a giant sword came flying at them. Most of the group ducked, but Team Seven back-flipped out of the way and remained standing. A man wearing cow print pants with no shirt and bandages over his mouth stood on the sword, which was stuck in a tree.
"Sharingan no Kakashi. No wonder the Demon Brothers failed. They faced you," he said. Naruto gritted his teeth. They hated it when someone took credit for their kill.
"Momoichi Zabuza," Kakashi said, lifting his forehead protector for his left eye. For once he was being serious.
"Geez, give credit where it's do! Kakashi wasn't the one who killed the Demon Brothers! That was all us!" Naruto yelled. Zabuza looked over Team Seven and laughed.
"You expect me to believe that you're the ones that killed the Demon Brothers?" Zabuza asked. He started laughing. The laughter died in his throat when Team Seven released their killing intent. It was way too strong to come from Genin. Ino giggled.
"Oh, it'll be so fun to dismember you and rip you limb from limb!" she said. Team Ten looked vaguely sickened. Zabuza was disturbed by how much they enjoyed the thought.
"It would be better if we add poison, "Shikamaru said, adding his two cents, "It makes it more painful for him." Naruto nodded thoughtfully. Team Seven got into fighting positions. Zabuza laughed again. Ino and Naruto sped toward him with Shikamaru staying a safe distance away. Ino pulled out her Chigiriki. Naruto hefted his sword and Shikamaru held senbon ready to throw. Zabuza kept his eyes on Ino and Naruto and didn't notice Shikamaru throw the senbon until a few penetrated his skin. Ino and Naruto leapt at him, both swinging their weapons. Zabuza could tell. They were genuinely trying to kill him. He blocked the weapons and finally noticed the senbon. While he was distracted, Ino switched to the Neko Te and started scratching at the missing-nin. He received a few deep scratches that bled quite a bit. Naruto grinned and raised his sword to slice off Zabuza's arm.
Suddenly, a couple senbon hit a spot on Zabuza's neck. The Missing-nin collapsed. The Genin looked up to see a hunter-nin.
"Thank for incapacitating him. Now I must take my leave." The hunter-nin grabbed Zabuza and vanished.
"Aww, we didn't get to hear him scream," Ino whined. The group continued on to the Land of Waves.
The hunter-nin removed the senbon he had thrown and the senbon thrown by the tanned boy. He bandaged up the scratches left by the girl. He inspected the boy's senbon for poison. He found traces of a poison he was not familiar with. It worried him slightly, but Zabuza-sama was fine.
The group took a boat undercover of mist to the Land of Waves. They disembarked and followed Tazuna to his home. They managed to all cram into one house.
"This is my daughter, Tsunami, and my grandson, Inari," Tazuna introduced. Everyone greeted them. Inari glared at them, but stopped when he saw Naruto's glare, Shikamaru's bored look and Ino' childlike glee. He kept to himself when the three of were in the room.
The group had been guarding Tazuna at the bridge. Team Seven was waiting for a rematch. Finally he made his appearance. The hunter-nin was actually his subordinate. Team Seven stepped up to fight them. They were grinning. Well, Naruto had a manic smile, Ino had a childish grin matching eyes full of malice, and Shikamaru had a smirk. Zabuza's subordinate, Haku, stepped forward first.
"Hyoton: Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors." Mirrors made of ice surrounded them. Ino smirked.
"I'll handle this. Go play with Zabuza," she said. Shikamaru nodded and Naruto grabbed onto his shoulders.
"Yaton: Suteppu," Shikamaru said. He and Naruto sank into the ground, popping back up outside the range of Haku's jutsu. He and Naruto smirked as they faced Zabuza.
"How? It's impossible to escape Haku's jutsu. He moves at the speed of light!" Zabuza protested. Shikamaru gave a dark, cold laugh.
"He may move at light speed, but I move at shadow speed. And no matter how fast light is, the shadows always get there first," Shikamaru explained. He and Naruto launched into an attack. Zabuza blocked most of Shikamaru's senbon, but a couple made it through. Naruto started slashing with his sword, trying to take off Zabuza's limbs.
Ino grinned as she formed some hand signs.
"Hyoton: Senbon!" she called. She was surrounded by senbon made of ice. They shot off, hitting every mirror. The mirrors cracked slightly. She made a few more hand signs.
"Hyoton: Kunai!" The same thing happened, but with kunai. The cracks grew bigger.
"Hyoton: Chigiriki!" Again, but with chigiriki. The mirrors shattered. The girl approached Haku, ready to kill him. She had her metal Neko Te on and slashed at Haku. However, Haku moved and stood in front of Zabuza as Naruto brought down his sword. Haku was sliced nearly in two. Team Seven grinned at the despair in Zabuza's eyes. The despair of realizing how much you care about something after it's gone. The Genin closed in on Zabuza. Ino reopened the scratches from the Neko Te and Naruto was about to deal the finishing blow when a voice said,
"Well, well, the great Momoichi Zabuza, about to be defeated by a bunch of Genin." Zabuza growled at the business man.
"You're Gatou, I presume," Kakashi said. Gatou nodded. He had a bunch of thugs behind him.
"Kill them all," he commanded them. The thugs rushed forward. Team Seven grinned while they dove into the crowd. Naruto crowed as he swung his sword, killing the ones closest to him. Shikamaru used his scythe to cut them and used senbon to poison them. Many of them didn't even know they were poisoned until they felt the effects. Ino slashed at any thug who got close enough. She giggled dementedly. Shikamaru chuckled darkly. Naruto was laughing. Soon all the thugs were dead. Gatou's eyes bugged out.
"How?! You're a bunch of brats!" he shouted. The villagers, led by Inari, showed up and drove Gatou off. Zabuza, who was quickly bleeding out, moved closer to Haku and lay still. Team Ten, Asuma and Kakashi mourned for a moment while Team Seven snapped out of their battle lust.
"Again, good job team," Kakashi said. Asuma spoke quietly.
"Aren't you going to tell them they didn't have to kill them?" he asked. Kakashi sighed and whispered back,
"It wouldn't do any good. They already know that they didn't have to kill them." Asuma's eyes widened as he took it in.
The bridge was finished and the group was on their way home. The villagers said their thanks. They had decided to name the bridge the Great Demon bridge. Team Seven immediately started towards Konoha, and Team Ten jogged to catch up. The senseis followed. Kakashi thought about the fight.
"After all that killing, I half expected them to attack us. But they calmed themselves down. Maybe there's hope that they can return to normal."
Translations!
Hyoton: Senbon-Ice Style: Senbon
Hyoton: Kunai-Ice Style: Kunai
Hyoton: Chigiriki-Ice Style: Chigiriki
Yaton: Suteppu-Shadow Style: Step
Hyoton: Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors-Ice Style: Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors
Note: Most of Ino's jutsu form weapons. That's why they don't have a translation, since that's the actual name of the weapon.
That's it for the chapter! I hope you enjoyed it!