AN: hi all, I seem to start all ANs lately with an apology, I am really bad at updating regularly, sorry. This time I have a good excuse, my computer broke and I had to save up to buy a new one. Then I had to take a couple of weeks to get used to the new operating system. Whoever designed Windows 8 is either an idiot or a sadist, I can't tell which. Anyway I'm back now yay!
Before we start, from the last lot of reviews a couple of questions came up that I would like to answer now if I may:
What was the green thing Kurama saw? A small caterpillar on a blade of grass some ten metres back. It's not his fault Naruto walked straight past it, the hairless monkey should learn to be more observant. (They may be friends now but that doesn't stop the Kyuubi from being an ass.)
What is a Tsundere? As far as I understand it, which is not very much, a Tsundere is a term used to describe a character type who runs hot and cold. You know the one who is abrasive, abusive or just plain violent towards the main character but who is actually quite nice in reality they are just hiding behind a hostile manner. Such characters usually appear in Shoujo or girl's manga, hence the perceived insult. They also appear quite often in Dating Sims, which gives a whole new level of connotations. It's the first thing I thought of in the scenes where Kurama finally makes peace with Naruto, when he is pretending not to be interested even as he is listening in to Naruto talking to the other Bijuu.
Also Haku is a boy, sorry but I have always thought of him as a boy, a very effeminate boy but a boy none the less. I remember being slightly confused that Naruto mistook him for a girl when I first watched the anime.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto; I just think he's awesome.
Warning: May contain spoilers and/or clichés, if you are bothered or offended by either; why are you reading fanfiction? Also Shounen Ai used in Omake for comedic effect, read at your own risk.
'thinking'
"speaking"
Jutsu
Seals
"demon speak"
Chapter 17.
Even though it was expected, Naruto had to admit that the sight of his teacher seemingly being torn to shreds was quite shocking and so he finally forgave his younger self for freezing up as he had. After all though he had been the victim of the occasional beating as a child he had never been the focus of killing intent before, at least not to such an extent, nor had he had someone he was close to killed before his very eyes, unlike the Uchiha who had not only witnessed his parents murder first hand but had also been subjected to hours of mental torture from his brother where he was forced to witness the destruction of his Clan over and over again.
Naruto was a little put out though that this new, untraumatised Sasuke reacted almost as fast as his obsessive counterpart to the same stimuli, for as soon as the last chunks of 'Kakashi' hit the ground both boys were in motion. Naruto smirked slightly whilst he turned to meet the Demon Brothers as they suddenly appeared behind him, their razor sharp chain already furling around his 'unprepared' body as they intoned "Two down," in monotone stereo, and he tightened his grip on his kunai as he saw Sasuke charging towards them from the corner of his eye.
Not moving a muscle Naruto watched as Sasuke let loose a shuriken that sped towards the razor chain that was encircling his body forcing it off course towards a nearby tree to which Sasuke then secured it with a well thrown Kunai. Sasuke then jumped up onto the clawed hands of the shinobi brothers and kicked out with both feet into their surprised faces causing them to fall back and release the chain securing them together.
Naruto smirked as he cockily saluted his dark-haired teammate with two fingers. "Thanks for the assist!" he called out even as one of the Demon Brothers appeared, sinisterly, behind him. As the enemy shinobi started to lash out at the seemingly unaware Genin, he in turn was taken by surprise as two hands shot up out of the dirt and encircled his ankles, dragging the wide-eyed missing-nin beneath the ground so that only his head remained above the surface.
Crouching down Naruto smiled cheekily as he said, "Nigh-night!" and slammed the hilt of his kunai into the Demon Brother's temple, knocking him out. A quiet poof was heard below Naruto's feet as the clone Naruto had summoned to perform the Earth Style: Groundhog Technique Decapitation dispelled.
Meanwhile the other brother had turned to attack Tazuna who was now guarded by a lone Genin. Scared out of her mind, Sakura fell back on basic Academy training and took up a guard position in front of the client, telling him to stand back as she did so. Just as the enemy was about to strike with his oversized, clawed fist Sakura closed her eyes, but instead of the expected excruciating pain she felt only the faint breeze of displaced air in front of her and heard a meaty thud of flesh meeting flesh at speed.
Cautiously opening her eyes she was amazed to see not only Sasuke standing protectively in front of her but also her sensei, alive and holding on to the unconscious body of her attacker with one arm. "Kakashi-sensei he's alive!" she whispered joyfully even as Sasuke grunted in annoyance, 'What a show off,' was his only petulant thought.
"Good Job Sasuke, Naruto. Very smooth." Their teacher congratulated the boys, "You too Sakura."
"But Kakashi-sensei I didn't do anything," protested Sakura, "I just stood by. Unlike Sasuke or even Naruto, at least they did something."
"Don't sell yourself short Sakura you performed your role in the team well. You protected the client while the heavy hitters of the team took out the threat." advised Kakashi with an eye smile, "Don't worry about not reacting as fast as those two. After all Naruto has been involved in attacks before…"
"Right those enemy Kunoichi during second year of Ninja-Academy," agreed Naruto with a nod.
"And Sasuke, well…"
"Aniki got me a tutor," admitted Sasuke reluctantly, to Kakashi's expectant look.
This gave Kakashi pause for a moment, "What kind of tutor trains you to respond to surprise attacks?" he asked genuinely intrigued, not knowing of any such trainer's in the village.
A grey cloud seemed to envelop the boy as he began to mumble petulantly and at length, the only words of which they managed to catch being "Crazy", "Snake" and "Dango".
'Oh Itachi you didn't,' thought Kakashi sweat-dropping even as Naruto approached his mumbling teammate and lay a commiserating hand on the boy's shoulder causing him to look up in surprise.
"Sasuke, I had no idea. I am so, so sorry." Naruto intoned solemnly.
Overcome with emotion that someone finally understood his pain, Sasuke laid an accepting hand on Naruto's wrist were it hung from his shoulder and grunted his thanks. Of course Naruto had to then ruin the moment by tugging the boy into a one armed hug and patting the now tense boy's hair with his other hand while murmuring, "There, there it's okay. The crazy lady can't get you now. Your Onii-san here will protect you."
Sakura's screech of outrage was almost drowned out by Sasuke's equally load shout of, "I will kill you!" which caused their blond teammate to jump away from the raven laughing hysterically as his team chased him around the roadside.
Kakashi only shook his head as he turned away from his highly professional team to address their client, "So Tazuna. I think you and I need to have a little talk."
Clapping his hands to gain his cute little Genin's attention after a rather tense stare off with Tazuna, Kakashi called out, "Now let's get the prisoners situated and find out just what is going on shall we? Naruto bring over your catch and pay attention, you in particular should find this fascinating."
It took only a moment for Naruto to dig up his prisoner and soon enough both missing-nin were tied securely to a nearby tree. Kakashi-sensei crouched down in front of the captives with Naruto beside him and pulled out two seals from his kunai pouch.
"What can you tell me about these?" he asked the young man beside him as he held them out.
"Ah, one's a Chakra Repressing Seal but I'm not sure what the other one is." answered Naruto after a moment.
"Very good," Kakashi praised the boy before continuing, "And I would be very surprised if you had recognised the other. As you said this is a Chakra Supressing Seal," he said as he held it up before placing it on the chakra wire tying the two prisoners together and making the necessary hand seals to activate it. "By placing it on the wire like so we can make it work on anything the wire touches. Thus these two fall under the seal's influence and are no longer able to perform jutsu. If we also remove all their weapons, as we did before, all avenues for possible escape are removed."
"Right," said Naruto nodding his head in understanding.
"Now this seal," continued Kakashi as he held it up, "Is a Transmitting Seal that is keyed into seals held by Hunter-nin from our village. It sends a signal that lets them know that prisoners are waiting to be picked up. If any Hunter-nin are in the area they should receive a summons as soon as I activate this seal."
"Cool," cried Naruto, "I always wondered how that worked." Naruto had noticed that quite often defeated enemy ninja would go missing after a major battle or even a minor scrummage in the future/past, whatever. But as the team leaders of whichever team he was on at the time had not shown any signs of worry at this development, nor had any of his other teammates, Naruto had shrugged it off as a mystery inherent to shinobi battles and had never taken the time to find out the truth.
"Just so." agreed Kakashi, "I'll activate this before we go but first I think we should get some answers from our sleeping friends here." he finished with an eye-smile directed to the Demon Brothers who were just then showing signs of returning to consciousness.
A short interrogation, one reluctant disclosure of deception and a case of emotional blackmail later, Team 7 were once more on the road escorting their client towards the Land of Waves. Tension was high as most of the team did not know when they might be attacked by enemy ninja again. Soon enough they came to the Fire Nation coastline where, after a short negotiation, they found themselves aboard a small fishing boat and heading towards the canal infested islands of the Land of Waves just off shore.
A heavy mist enshrouded the area as the small punt made its way over the choppy waves. Suddenly an enormous shape began to emerge from the fog.
"Whoa, that thing is huge." Sakura breathed, as the enormous, half completed bridge began to take shape from the fog
"Hey keep it down," hissed the punt's pilot, "This mist'll keep us hidden but from this point on we need to stay quiet, turn off our engines and row. We'd be in big trouble if Gato or his thugs caught us."
'Urgh I am not looking forward to dealing with that little weasel,' thought Naruto as his mind took him back to the first battle on the bridge.
"At least you are better prepared this time," murmured a voice from within.
'Yeah. I hope I've got everything covered. But you know Zabuza and Haku are pretty strong. If I don't handle this right anything could happen. You just don't know how they will react.'
"We have gone over this a number of times and I am confident we have covered all the bases. You'll just have to do your best to make sure everything works out and if all else fails you can always use my power again." The Great Beast grumbled not at all comfortable in this role of morale support.
'Yeah, thanks Kurama. I know I shouldn't be doubting like this. As you've said we've planned for every eventuality. I guess I'll just have to trust in my luck that everything will go well and just be ready to adapt if it does not.' he admitted to his friend as he lay his hand on his stomach, 'Thank goodness you are here with me I don't know if I could have done this alone.'
Naruto smiled as he felt a gentle warmth rise up from his stomach even as his breath was held in amazement as the darkness, he had only been partially aware of, that surrounded the boat gave way to bright sunlight as the fishing boat left the covered tunnels through which it had been travelling for the last half hour and emerged into the back of the town where the mangroves provided cover for their disembarkment.
Pulling up to a disused jetty behind an old shack, their escort looked around nervously as the team made landfall. "This is as far as I go. Take care of yourself." He told Tazuna as the two men clasped hands.
"Thanks … for taking such a risk. I shouldn't have asked for it." murmured the old man as he prepared to get off the rickety old boat.
"Just get that bridge finished," called his friend as he engaged the engine and puttered off.
"All right listen up," instructed Kakashi as the group met up at the end of the pier, "There's bound to be another attack and next time they probably won't send journeymen. We'll probably face upper level ninjas, so look sharp and leave the fighting to me where possible. Remember your job first and foremost is to protect the client, so form up. Delta formation."
Kakashi-sensei eye-smiled as his cute little Genin sprang into action. Sakura took up her position beside Tazuna, Sasuke and Naruto spread out in front, leaving the centre position for himself. 'Good they're learning.' After observing a few of their informal morning training sessions and coming to realise how they were already showing signs of working as a team, Kakashi had stepped up some of the training he had planned. Not so far as to start on chakra control or introducing new jutsu, that was still a few weeks away on the schedule, but he had covered some situational training including formation drills.
"Okay! Now if I can just make it home in one piece," Tazuna grumbled adjusting the straps on his pack as he watched to team take their places.
"Yeah, Yeah," Kakashi muttered dismissively, "Okay team… move out!"
'Argh! Knowing something is going to happen at any moment is almost as bad as not knowing if something is going to happen. I feel almost as tense as when we infiltrated one of Orochi-teme's bases. Man was that place creepy,' Naruto groaned internally, his senses stretched to the max and his grip tight around his kunai, 'When are they going to show up?' Moments later he paused mid-step, 'Was that…'
"There!" he called out suddenly his arm a blur as he launched his kunai at a nearby bush and heard the dull thunk caused by it becoming lodged in a tree only centimetres above where he had moments before sensed a large chakra source. Ostentatiously grabbing another kunai from his pack he cautiously approached the bushes, flanked on either side by his teammates, his Jonin Instructor staying behind in the middle of the road to guard the mission's client.
"You Baka," screeched Sakura as she caught sight of the supposed enemy, "Why did you have to frighten us like that? It's only a little white rabbit!"
Kakashi turned a deaf ear to the continued bickering of his students, something in that last statement had caught his attention. 'A white rabbit? That's a Snow Hare. At this time of the year and this far south? The only way a snow hare would be in this location was if it was kept as a decoy, like a pet, indoors where there isn't a lot of sunlight and if that's the case it could only mean…' His eye widened in realisation as he frantically called out, "GET DOWN!" even as he himself dove for the ground his hand wrapped firmly around the back of Tazuna's neck, dragging the man down beside him.
He did not notice that even before he had spoken, Naruto had already been on the way down dragging Sakura and Sasuke with him. It was fortunate that he had done so as only a moment later the sound of displaced air rang out through the clearing as an enormous blade spun past, only millimetres above their downed heads, before lodging firmly in a tree just behind them.
Cautiously the team raised their heads to look at the blade that had narrowly missed decapitating them only to find an ominous figure balanced on the handle of the massive blade. 'Oh man. Zabuza may be a jerk when it comes to treating his subordinates like human beings but he sure does manage to look totally badass. Do you think I should start going around bare chested too?' thought Naruto casting a quick look down at his own attire.
"Don't even think about it." growled his internal fashion critic, "The orange was bad enough. Now concentrate, we can't have any mistakes here."
'Yeah, yeah,' though Naruto dismissively as he stood up with the rest of his team, though he did turn his attention back to what was going on.
"Well, well … if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, the kid who ran off and left the Land of the Mists!" called Kakashi his voice just this side of jeering, holding his arm out to form a symbolic barricade he called over his shoulder to his Genin, "Don't interfere and give me some room. This one is on a different level from our previous opponents." Kakashi then raised a hand to his face and grabbed hold of the edge of his hitai-ate where is covered his right eye and began to lift it, "This may be a little rough."
"Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye, I presume?" growled the missing-nin from overhead, his back still turned to the squad, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble could you surrender the old man?"
"Assume the Manji Battle Formation and protect Tazuna-san." Kakashi instructed his team, choosing to ignore Zabuza's question, "All of you stay out of the fight. That's the kind of teamwork this situation demands."
'Not yet, not yet,' Naruto chanted to himself, he couldn't afford to go off half-cocked. For the past few years he and Kurama had gone over and over the memory of this fight, looking for opportunities to step in and time and again they had come to the conclusion that there were just too many variables for him to change too much.
A lot of why they survived the first time came down to Zabuza underestimating the team, too much could go wrong if he messed with that. Though he did want to show off a little of his strength to give himself credibility later. It would all be a balancing act and he needed to wait for the right time. Thank goodness, if nothing else, the last few years of daily meditation and meticulous planning had taught him patience and the necessity of laying low.
"And now… Zabuza," continued Kakashi as he finally lifted up his hitai-ate revelling his Sharingan eye, "Shall we?!"
"Ah, a most formidable ability is the Sharingan. Able to penetrate any illusion and reflect the power of jutsu back at the perpetrator. Perhaps most fearful of all it's traits is the ability to discern and duplicate it's opponent's greatest skill." mussed Zabuza aloud, "When I was an assassin for the Kirigakure I possessed the usual Bingo Book. It had quite the extensive write-up on you. Including a mention of your impressive record, the man who copied over a thousand techniques, Copy Cat Kakashi."
'Whoa is he really that incredible?' thought Sakura, 'But he's just Master Kakashi...'
'Of course, he's only accomplished that much because of that bastardised Sharingan of his. I don't know what cousin Obito was thinking of, no true Uchiha would ever just give away their eye like that. Humph!' griped Sasuke internally though his chest puffed at the compliment given to his family's doujutsu.
'Argh, what is with major shinobi battles and the endless talking? Hurry up!' complained Naruto feeling antsy.
"Patience brat," grumbled Kurama, "I swear sometimes it's like dealing with a child."
'Oi I heard that!'
"Ah to face the legendary Sharingan so early in our acquaintance this is an honour. But enough pleasantries," continued Zabuza as he crouched on the handle of his blade, "The time for talk is over. I'm on a very tight schedule to polish off the old man. So Kakashi… it looks like I'm going to have to kill you first."
Suddenly Zabuza kicked off from the trunk of the tree, dragging his enormous sword behind him, as he leap towards a nearby lake and landed firmly on the surface of the water. Raising his right hand into the sky, he formed a Ram seal with his left causing water to rise up out of the lake in an insidious mist.
"Over there! He's walking on water?!" cried out Sakura.
'Clever bastard has laced the mist with a fair amount of chakra. It will be difficult to see through even with the Sharingan active,' thought Kakashi analytically.
"The finest of the ninja arts… The Kirigakure Jutsu." intoned Zabuza as he disappeared from view.
"Be careful, Zabuza Momochi of the Kirigakure Assassin Corp is a famous master of the art of silent killing. He will be coming after me first. But letting your guard down around him is like committing suicide. I haven't necessarily mastered every aspect of the Sharingan so all of you stay on your toes!" Kakashi-sensei instructed his team as the fog started to roll in around them.
Unlike last time, Naruto chose to stay silent, knowing that contrary to Kakashi-sensei's surmise they would indeed be Zabuza's first targets.
"There are eight targets," a voice murmured from the fog around them, eerily seeming to come from every direction at once, "Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, the jugular vein, the subclavian artery, kidney, heart…" Sakura, Tazuna and Sasuke started to sweat, their hearts beating overtime as killing intent saturated the area. "So many choices…. What vital, vulnerable place shall I choose? Heh-heh-heh."
'Such terrible blood-thirst. I've never felt anything like it. I can't move! If I draw his attention by even blinking, he'll kill me! I can feel it! This is what it feels like when a master ninja, determined to make a kill, has your life in his hands. I hate it!' Sweat poured off Sasuke as self-destructive thoughts filled his head and his kunai's blade crept closer to his wrist.
"Sasuke, calm down. Even if he gets me, I'll still protect you. You too Sakura and Naruto. I will never let my comrades die!" Kakashi reassured them all with his patented eye-smile even as a sinister voice contradicted him, "I wouldn't bet on that… GAME OVER!" Zabuza deadpanned appearing in amongst the huddled Genin team.
Accessing the power of his Sharingan Kakashi surged forward, slamming his kunai into the Missing-nin's stomach before he could even process the fact that his opponent had moved, scattering the Genin and their client like ten pins as he did so.
"Sensei, behind you!" Naruto called out even as the supposed Missing-nin dissolved into water around Kakashi's blade and another Zabuza appeared behind his teacher, sword already in motion. Sakura screamed as Kakashi was cut in half though it revealed that he two was merely a water clone.
A shocked Zabuza froze momentarily, surprised that the Jonin had managed to copy his ability even through the chakra infused mist, giving Kakashi time to jump behind him and place his kunai against the man's throat.
"GAME OVER."
"Heh-heh-heh," Zabuza laughed creepily over the relieved sighs of the fresh little Genin, "You think it's over? It will take much more than simply mimicking me like a monkey to defeat me. A lot more. Heh-heh, but you are good. You managed to copy my Water Clone in the short time. By making it say something I would expect you to say, you kept my attention on the clone even as you used my Kirigakure technique of hiding in the mist to sneak up behind me. Too bad for you though…."
"I AM NOT SO EASILY FOOLED," finished the voice of Zabuza from right behind Kakashi even as the form of the other 'Zabuza' collapsed in a shower of water.
What followed was like a ballet of battle as each Jonin-strength shinobi took turns trading blow after blow, ending only when Kakashi was somehow tossed into the lake face first. Before he could right himself, however, Zabuza used a shush-in to appear behind him, his hands already in motion casting hand seals.
"Hah! Gullible fool!" Zabuza crowed before calling out, "Art of the Water Prison!"
'DAMN!' thought Kakashi even as a swirling vortex of chakra infused water rose up around him to formed a sphere with him trap within its watery surface.
"Heh-heh-heh. That prison is inescapable. You're trapped." gloated the Missing-nin triumphantly, "I can't have you running around. You're making my job harder. Just sit tight, I'll take care of you after I've dealt with the others." He informed his captive as he formed another water clone.
"Heh-heh-heh. Little ninja wannabe. Trying so hard to fit in, even wearing a ninja headband. But a ninja in one who has faced death, over and over and over again. Clothes don't make a shinobi, you need skills good enough to rate in a Bingo Book of enemies…" the clone sang in a sing-song voice, before taking on a seriously threatening tone, "Before you deserve to be called a ninja. We don't call your kind 'ninja'. We call them…"
Naruto braced himself as the missing-nin seemed to disappear from view only to reappear right in front of the teen. Zabuza kicked him in the chest, knocking the headband from his head and sending his body sprawling onto the ground.
"Naruto!" Sakura called out in alarm.
"Heh, brats." Snickered the real Zabuza from his place on the lake.
"Everyone listen! Take Tazuna and go! It's a fight you cannot win! If he wants to hold me in this water prison, he can't leave this place." Kakashi suddenly bellowed from within the water sphere, "If his water clone gets too far from his body he'll lose control over it. So get out of here!"
"Sorry Kakashi-sensei. No can do," stated Naruto confidently as he stood up and dusted himself off, "We can't run here. You say he can't move while you're imprisoned, but what's to stop him simply killing you and coming after us. Without us here to distract him it would be easy to do. Then he could just pick us off like flies. No we need to stand here. YAAAAAAAAA!" he screamed a battle cry as he raced towards the missing-nin.
"Hah, imbecile," grunted Zabuza's clone as it stood tall, not even bracing itself as it felt little to no killing intent from the soft little Genin.
The clone was surprised, therefore by the little brat's audacity to snatch his captured hitai-ate from beneath it's foot before continuing on to re-join his team, casually stopping before them as though he had just finished a short jog.
"What were you thinking tackling him yourself? You think you're so cool but a junior ninja like us can't…" scolded Sakura only to be brought up short by the cheeky grin on her teammate's face.
"He, he, I had to get my headband back Sakura," joked Naruto before he became serious, his face assuming a determined look as he turned to face their opponent, "Got a new listing for you Bingo Book right here! A guy who is going to be the next Lord Hokage of Konohagakure so you better pay attention." A foxy grin stretched itself across his face giving him a predatory look as he tied his hitai-ate back around his head, "Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha Genin. I'll be beating you today."
'On our first meeting I thought he was an inconsequential brat with a funny face, but he sure can make a scary face when the need arises,' thought Tazuna in surprise as he began to feel a small kernel of hope that he would actually get home intact.
"Sasuke! Listen up. There's something I want to tell you!" Naruto said as he turned to huddle with his team.
"What is it?" Sasuke asked.
"I have a plan." Naruto grinned mischievously.
"Hmf… so it's time for some teamwork," the Uchiha smirked.
"What about me?" asked Sakura.
"Your jobs to protect Tazuna-san." instructed Naruto.
"Right!" confirmed Sakura as she took out a kunai and moved closer to their client.
"Ok! Let's get busy!" Naruto crowed as the two boys stepped forward to stand in front of the pair.
"Heh-heh, you're very sure of yourself. But do you really think you stand a chance against me?" mused Zabuza's clone, obviously amused by the thought.
"What's the matter with you? I told you to run. Your first priority is to protect the client." Kakashi cried out once more hoping to talk some sense into his rebellious Genin.
"And I told you that's not going to work Kakashi-sensei," Naruto called back, "What do you say Gramps?" he asked over his shoulder.
"What?" stated Tazuna, "Let's face facts, the truth is I got us into this mess by lying. I've had a real long life and it would be wrong to let you kids die because of me. So you go ahead and give this fight everything you got."
"Hmff…" humphed Sasuke with his trademarked smirk, "So that's it."
"Are you ready for this?" asked Naruto excitedly.
"Heh-heh-heh-heh, apparently you don't want care whether you live to get any older. Playing at being a ninja like it's a child's game. I however," Zabuza lectured somewhat pompously in Naruto's opinion as he held a fist up in front of him and stared at them menacingly, "By the time I was your age I had already dyed these hands in my enemies' blood."
As one the defenders gulped except for Naruto who merely yawned as he cleaned his fingernails with the tip of his kunai, "Yeah, yeah. I know all that. Demon of the Mist, killed off his entire graduating class. Over a hundred members of that year's graduating class. Leading to the reform that abolished the long held, yet barbaric graduation ritual of the Village Hidden in the Mist. Yada, yada, yada. I read all about it in my copy of the Bingo Book that Kakashi-sensei confiscated."
Sasuke gulped as he looked between his teammate and the increasingly irate Missing-nin, silently telling him to shut up. But Naruto mustn't have caught the message, or knowing him simple ignored it, as he continued on levelling a look at Zabuza that the Missing-nin found hard to tear his eyes from, "But you know Zabuza-san, I've seen and done a lot more than you give me credit for. And I ain't playing!"
Swiftly bringing his hand up in the familiar cross formation Naruto created twenty-four shadow clones, twenty of which surged forward to engage Zabuza's clone in combat. The other four turned to the original and snatched up the pre-prepared seals that he was holding out. The clones then assumed their positions encircling Sakura and Tazuna-san. The clones placed the end of the sealing papers in their mouths, before running through a series of hand seals that culminated in them clapping their hands together on either side of the sealing paper simultaneously. As they did so a glowing, purple wall of chakra sprang up between them enclosing them, Sakura and Tazuna within it's glowing surface.
"What?" questioned Sakura as she stretched out a hand.
"Careful," cautioned the clone just behind her, "You wouldn't want to touch that you might burn yourself."
"What is it?" she questioned indignantly.
"It's a low level barrier seal that the Boss picked up in his newest sealing manual. It is called The Enclosing Eggshell Seal. Unfortunately it's not very powerful but it should withstand at least one good blow if that clone manages to get past Sasuke and the Boss. It's just a precaution though, if it comes down it will give you time to get Tazuna-san to safety while we cover your backs." informed the clone on the right.
"Huh," grunted Tazuna, "There's more to you than meets the eye isn't there?"
The clones merely smiled cheekily.
Meanwhile the twenty Naruto clones, including the original, had managed to dog pile Zabuza's clone only to be sent flying in a cloud of dispelling chakra as he lashed out with his spinning blade. Naruto landed heavily on his back, unsealing a large Fuma Shuriken as he did so which he tossed to his teammate, "Sasuke!"
"Heh," Sasuke smirked as he caught the folded blades in one hand, 'So that's your plan.' With one swift movement he unfolded the blades and brought the edged weapon up before his body to stare through the knife-edges. "Demon Fuma Shuriken: Windmills of Shadows!" he called jumping up high into the air and unleashing the large shuriken in the clone's direction.
"Shuriken are useless against me!" scoffed the clone even as the blades bypassed him and sped on towards his original. "At least you had enough sense to target my true form but…"
"Amateurs!" sneered the original as he plucked the spinning blades of death from the air by one hand, not noticing that Sasuke had in fact tossed two Fuma Shurikens until the second had almost cut him off at the knees.
Jumping up Zabuza managed to dodge the second shuriken just in time, laughing diabolically as he did so. He did not notice until too late that the seemingly inorganic object transformed into the blonde Genin moments later, who then proceeded to shoot a kunai at his unprotected back forcing him to dodge once more, this time to the left and let go of his prison jutsu.
Before the Missing-nin could retaliate and cut down the now defenceless Genin, he was blocked by a recovered Kakashi-sensei, his Sharingan eye blazing with fury.
"Master Kakashi," Sakura cried excitedly and with relief.
"You've matured all of you," Kakashi congratulated his team, "Naruto your scheme was brilliant."
"He, he, I managed to distract him from his technique, but only cause he underestimated us." Naruto allowed with a pleased grin.
"Heh, so you made me angry enough to unravel my jutsu?" Zabuza questioned somewhat amused.
"No, you didn't just drop it, my cute little Genin FORCED you to halt your prison jutsu. Just so you know that jutsu won't work on me twice. Your move." Kakashi informed Zabuza whose smirk dropped from his face. The two highly trained shinobi then jumped forcibly apart while simultaneously casting a long series of hand seals.
Naruto pulled himself onto the surface of the lake and ran to the shore just as two enormous water dragons exploded from the lake. As the fight continued Zabuza began to feel uneasy as each of his moves were met by identical moves by his opponent.
'All my moves, all my gestures. It's like he,'
"Sees through them all?" asked Kakashi causing Zabuza's eyes to widen in panic, 'What? He'd reading my mind?'
Unbeknownst to Zabuza, Kakashi had managed to capture him in a rather insidious Genjutsu that forced him to think thoughts and cast jutsu to Kakashi's prearranged script making it appear as though his opponent was reading his mind.
"Water Style: Giant Waterfall!" Kakashi yelled out unleashing a spinning wall of water towards Zabuza after it was apparent that the Genjutsu had worked undermining the man's confidence and halting his movement.
The wall of water washed Zabuza's body clear off the lake, slamming it into the trunk of a tree to which Kakashi then pinned it in place with a kunai through each limb.
"What?" coughed Zabuza, "Can you see the future?"
"I foresee your death," Kakashi said his kunai held at the ready to administer the finishing blow. But before he could do so two senbon suddenly appeared, speared through the neck of the Missing-nin. Alarmed Team Seven looked on as the powerful shinobi's body came crashing down in a shower of blood.
"Heh, heh," giggled a muffled voice, it's gender indeterminate, "Your prediction came true," it sang.
Naruto concealed a smile as he looked up and beheld the masked figure of a Hunter-nin in full Kirigakure regalia. Kakashi jumped down from his perch in a tree and checked Zabuza's vital signs whilst keeping an eye on the intruder.
'Dead,' he thought to himself unable to find any signs of life.
"Thank you for your assistance. I hope you don't mind me interfering. But I wanted the satisfaction of killing Zabuza myself." the masked Nin explained with a little bow.
"Correct me if I'm wrong but aren't you a Hunter-nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist?" asked Kakashi for his student's benefit.
"Well aren't you a smart one," he was answered rather pertly, "I am indeed a member of the elite tracking unit responsible for hunting down Missing-nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist. Your battle is over for now and the remains must be disposed of lest they give up secrets to our foes."
"Oh we wouldn't want that," snarked Naruto as he grinned at the 'Hunter-nin' in amusement.
"Well then," continued the Hunter-nin though it's voice was a little off, "I must be going." And with that the Hunter-nin formed a hand seal and shushin'd off with the body.
"Sigh," sighed Kakashi, "Naruto could you go free Sakura and Tazuna-san from your barrier, which we are going to have a little chat about later by the way. Just how far have you gotten into those books without supervision?"
"He, he," laughed Naruto uncomfortably as he raised one hand up to rub at the back of his neck, "Um right away Kakashi-sensei," he said and saluted with two fingers before turning to dispel his remaining clones.
Moments later Tazuna and the rest of the team walked over to join the Jonin, "Now! We still have to escort Tazuna-san the rest of the way to his home. Let's put out best feet forward!" Kakashi ordered with his usual lack of enthusiasm.
"Ha, ha, ha, you poor kids must be so humiliated! But never mind you can lick your wounds at my house!" blustered the old man though he was cut off by a dull thud as Kakashi's body finally gave out on him and he crashed face first onto the road.
"Master Kakashi," Sakura cried with concern.
Naruto only sighed as he crossed his fingers and created two clones to pick up the downed Jonin before turning to their client, "Hey old man, how far to your house?"
"No more than half an hour from here. Will he be okay?"
"Yeah it's just chakra exhaustion. He'll be alright with a bit of rest. He just used the Sharingan too much, it uses a lot of chakra. Isn't that right Sasuke?"
"Hn," came his only reply.
"Oi, Teme answer me when I talk to you!" groaned Naruto, he had hoped that the recent fight might have opened the boy up a bit, no such luck.
"Right, well, just follow me then. My house is just over that ridge and down a bit." said Tazuna turning away from the bickering pair.
Not so far away from the site of the recent battle, the masked Hunter-nin stood over his victim, a pair of scissors he had just liberated from his equipment roll poised in his hand. Sure he knew the fallen Nin could awaken at any moment but there was time enough for his own little amusement, it was a running gag between the two after all and who was he to buck "family" traditions.
"First I'll remove the wrappings around the mouth so the blood can drain out, and then…" he drawled in a monotone, yet somehow blood-thirsty tone. The masked shinobi reached forward to slice the aforementioned bindings only to pause as a restraining hand was placed on his wrist by the once comatose man who pulled aside his own bandages to glare up at him with crazed and blood-shot eyes.
"Enough!" Zabuza ordered abruptly, "I can do it myself."
"Well now," murmured the masked ninja, "Awake already?"
"You have the finesse of a butcher," grumbled the Missing-nin as he pulled the senbon from his own neck, his pained grunts accompanied by small spurts of blood as the needles were pulled free.
"Gently, please, Zabuza-sama. If you pull those out any which way you really will killed yourself!" admonished his newly revealed companion.
"Tsk," snapped Zabuza, "How long are you going to keep that ghoulish mask on! Take it off!"
"Old habits die hard… and it was also useful for my monkey pantomime routine…" sighed the ninja as he finally removed his white hunter-nin mask to reveal the face of a delicate, fair-skinned young man. "They would have killed you if I hadn't intervened you know."
"You needn't have targeted my neck though," grumbled the man, weakened so much that he needed a hand to even sit up, "Any number of other points on my body would have worked just as well. But you are such a sadistic little brat…"
"Exactly!" giggled his subordinate. Zabuza only looked at him.
"I didn't want to mar your perfect body, Zabuza-sama. And besides the neck is so much less muscular than the rest of your body… I can more precisely target the points that will leave an ordinary man paralysed and apparently near death for a full week… but of course someone like you will recover much more quickly right." sighed the young man in an unnaturally seductive voice. Ordinarily Haku wouldn't let this little act that he occasionally indulged in go to far as he knew it annoyed his Master, but at the moment he was feeling a little dangerous.
Perhaps because of the recent close shave, caused by Zabuza-sama uncharacteristically underestimating his opponents, that could have so easily have caused the man's death or perhaps because of the overly amused look that the blonde haired, pampered, little Leaf Genin had directed towards the Hunter-nin, just before he shushin'd away with his burden, as though the fresh Genin had seen right through the pantomime but chose to stay silent for some reason. But either way he felt slightly on-edge and could feel the control over his tongue loosening.
Zabuza only looked at his subordinate with a blank face and sighed before rolling his eyes, "Must you do that?"
"What? I'm just acting how you have trained me to act. After all this is my role is it not." asked the boy innocently, though his eyes carried a different message entirely. True enough the boy's role was that of infiltration expert and intelligence gathering for the gang of missing-nin a role he was happy to fulfil. The only drawback being that given his small stature and youth it had been decided that the best way for him to do so was in the guise of a woman. Truthfully Haku hadn't minded too much, he would do anything for his Master, but having to constantly defend his masculinity even when not on duty and having to watch his back around the Demon Brothers when they had been too long without feminine company, well that had twisted his attitude slightly leading to his "little rebellions".
"But must you be so… feminine all the time?" barked the man, his irritation apparent in every word.
"Of course," answered the boy innocently, it wasn't much but this little act was the only form of rebellion he would allow himself and it was slightly amusing to watch his Master's reactions to the little act. Though this in no way lessened his loyalty, the man before him had saved him after all. Haku was sure of only one thing in his life, that without Zabuza he could have become any number of things but alive wasn't even one of the options. Zabuza had given him a place, a purpose and a reason to live, for which he would be forever grateful, but that did not mean that he was happy with all the man's training methods.
"After all," he continued sweetly, though a bite of steel lay just underneath, "You must have wanted me to act like this why else would you have left me for six months… SIX MONTHS Zabuza-sama… in a Kabuki Theatre studying under the head Onnagata on how to act like a woman. And don't even get me started on the time you left me in the Geisha House."
A dark cloud seemed to envelope the area and a chill filled the air as killing intent started to roll off the Missing-nin before him in waves, bringing Haku up short, perhaps he had gone a too far. "Are you questioning my decisions?" ground out Zabuza threateningly.
'Yep definitely too far,' thought the boy. There was one rule that all members of their little group had to follow, Never Question Zabuza, for his word was law, and Haku had just stepped over that line.
"No… no, Zabuza-sama. Of course not," assured the boy hurriedly bowing low to show his subservience, "I would never do so Master. You know this. I live only to serve you. For am I not your tool?"
Zabuza eyed the prostrate form before relenting and grumbling in his gravelly voice, "You are so innocent and guileless… no doubt it's why I like you."
Haku looked up with a relieved smile, "Heh… well, I am only a child."
Relieved that all was forgiven, the boy stood and looked off, down the slope towards the beleaguer town, "Without us even noticing the mist has lifted. Next time will you be all right?"
"Next time… I'll break the Sharingan spell!" came the intense answer from his determined master. Haku merely smiled.
OMAKE
(The Author wishes to make known that the following scene is intended as a joke and has no bearing on the rest of the story. Thank you.)
Sasuke tightened his grip on his kunai as he settled once more into his ready stance. His eyes flickered frantically between the large panes of ice that hung suspended in the air, trapping him within their cold embrace. His breathed ghosted out in front of him as he waited for his opponent to make his next move, to once more rain needles of ice cold death upon him.
He tensed at a flicker of movement from beside him and then face-faulted to see Naruto in all his black and orange glory standing cockily beside him. "What the hell are you doing here Dobe? Now we are both trapped!" he half screeched.
"I'm here to rescue you obviously, duh." Naruto answered him coolly, "And I needed to be inside for my plan to work."
"Try your best shot," called the eerie voice of the masked shinobi who had previously been hiding within the ice mirrors but whose image had now appeared just in front of the two bickering boys, "But don't be surprised if you fail. For no one has beaten this jutsu … ever."
"Well there's a first time for everything then," stated Naruto confidently as he ran through a series of hand seals before calling out, "Sexy Jutsu!" in a clear voice.
A cloud of smoke enveloped the boy and as it cleared two vastly different reactions was caused in the two witnesses present. While Sasuke turned green and turned away hand to his stomach, the masked shinobi … well first a massive nosebleed shot the mask clean off his face to reveal his identity as Haku. A glorious smile appeared on the young boy's face as he murmured "Oh that perfect body," in a beatific moan and then fainted backwards out of the ice mirrors which shattered into a million pieces as his unconscious body hit the bridge.
For Naruto had performed the Sexy Jutsu which he had modified specifically for Haku. Where instead of his usual pigtailed, golden girl he had instead turned into the image of Haku's Master, clad only in the older shinobi's Hitai-ate, face wrappings and a strategically placed smoke cloud, posed in the usual Sexy Jutsu manner, bent slightly forward in the act of blowing a kiss.
… and that is how I plan to defeat Haku on the bridge," finished Naruto triumphantly as he folded his arms in satisfaction and nodded his head before looking up towards his giant, internal partner to gain his reaction to his most brilliant plan only to find the Great Beast hunched over in his cage with his head buried in his hand/paws muttering about the idiocy of his container.
"What?" asked Naruto hesitantly with his head cocked to one side, "Too much?"