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Chapter 7: The Demon of the Bloody Mist

"Hello." talking

'Hello.' thinking

"Hello." Kyuubi talking

'Hello.' Kyuubi thinking

*Knock* Sound effects

"Bunshin no Jutsu" Jutsu

Konoha had a reason for being called the village hidden in the leaves. It was surrounded by a humongous forest in all direction, making it very hard to find. If anyone tried to get to Konoha through the forest without a proper guidance, they were bound to get lost. . The only way anyone could get to it was through the paths that were made by clearing the trees. On one such path, one could see a group of people, moving away from the village of Konoha. The group was being led by a black haired boy, followed by a clearly drunken old man, who was flanked by one blonde haired boy and a black haired girl. The rear was brought up by a silver haired masked man.

"So, why does someone from Wave need an escort from Konoha?" asked the blonde haired boy. "Don't they have ninja of their own?"

"No they don't Naruto." replied Kakashi, the silver haired man, "In fact, there are only so many countries that actually have ninja of their own, even fewer have a hidden village, and only five of those villages have a Kage."

"Really?" asked a puzzled Naruto. "So Konoha is one of those hidden villages?"

"Yes." this time, Misaki replied, "The other four are Suna, Kiri, Kumo and Iwa."

"Oh!" exclaimed Naruto. "I have heard of them. Didn't realize they were the only ones that had a Kage."

"Of course you wouldn't, dobe." interjected Sasuke. "You never paid attention to class did you?"

"Ehehehehe…" chuckled Naruto nervously while rubbing the back of his head.

As the group made small talk, they continued their journey towards Wave. Tazuna was mostly out of it, not making too much contribution to the conversation. He was pretty groggy too, slowing them down a lot. He almost fell right into a puddle of water, if not for Naruto grabbing hold of the man and pulling him away. Kakashi carefully stepped over it, before taking a step forward. That was when all hell broke lose.

Two men came right out of the puddle, and charged Kakashi. They had a metal claw on one arm, which was connected by a metal chain with each other. They wore a slashed Kiri headband each signifying they were missing nin.

They ran straight at Kakashi, pulling their chain taut. They then wrapped the wire around Kakashi from behind, and before he could do anything, they seemingly pulled the chain right through him.

"One down…" one of the two trailed off, realizing they had just pulled their chain through nothing. Kakashi had just dissolved instead of bursting onto a shower of blood and flesh. They looked around in confusion, completely forgetting about the three genin.

Big mistake.

One of them was suddenly forced to dodge a swipe from a kunai by Naruto. He quickly recovered, before clawing at the brat. He seemed to have got him when his arm punched straight through the boy, only for the said boy to burst into a plume of smoke. He frantically turned around, only to be kicked right in the face and sent flying.

The other one was also having a hard time. He had been forced to dodge two different fireballs before being engaged in close quarters by Sasuke. He was pushed into defense by the Uchiha prodigy, and not given much of an opening. He soon got frustrated, and swatted away Sasuke's thrown kunai before going for a punch, which Sasuke dodged.

There was something wrong with the punch though, as the chain seemed to have some unnatural resistance to it. He turned around, only to be hit face on by his flying brother. He had pulled his brother right onto him with the punch. They both flew right into a tree, before slumping into the ground.

"Good work, team." praised Kakashi, as he walked out from behind a tree. "That was pretty well handled. Naruto and Sasuke, good job on neutralizing the threat; Misaki, your backup was good." the three genin nodded, before falling back and stood beside a shivering Tazuna. "I believe you have some explaining to do, Tazuna-san." Kakashi said, looking pointedly at Tazuna.

"So… Tazuna-san. Care to explain why you have the Demon Brothers of the Mist after your life?" asked Kakashi with a grave look.

Team 7 had surrounded Tazuna, not just to keep him safe, but as an added measure to ensure he didn't try to escape. They all leaked a certain amount of killing intent as an assurance of pain if he didn't explain. The Demon Brothers, the two Kiri missing nin that had attacked them, was currently bound together to a tree, not far from the group.

Tazuna looked at the expressions on the face of the people who were meant to protect him, and realized that he couldn't shirk away from this situation. He looked at the two ninja tied to the tree, and released a sigh. He steeled his resolve, before he began.

"Fine, I'll explain." said Tazuna, a helpless look on his face, "The Wave country hasn't been in the best of shapes for the past few years. Our economy is in shambles, and we are having a very hard time turning it around. And it is all because of one man. Have you heard of a man named Gatou?" he asked.

"Gatou…" Kakashi trailed off, before a look of knowing dawned on his face. Unknown to him, Naruto had duplicated his expression. "As in Gatou from Gatou Corporations?"

"The very same." replied Tazuna.

"Who is Gatou, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Misaki.

It was Naruto who answered her question. "Gatou is a famous businessman in Wave. He owns a shipping company, which had turned him into one of the richest private individuals in the world." Everyone gave a shocked look and Naruto, who ignored it.

Tazuna quickly shrugged the shock of, before continuing. "That is just the official story. The truth is that he uses the shipping company as the front to run illegal activities. Extortion, smuggling drugs, assassinations, prostitution; there is no crime in which Gatou hasn't tried his hands in. It is because of him that our country's economy was destroyed in the first place. He had pretty much run us dry. And now, he is using his ships to block the trade routes in and out of Wave, demanding extremely high tariff from anyone who wants to cross the water."

"It was too much for us. If his reign of crime were to continue like this, the whole country will fall into ruins, and soon we will have nothing left. So, as an act of defiance and as means to bring the economy back up, Me and some of my colleagues began to build a bridge that connect the island of Wave with the mainland. It was inevitable that Gatou would get news of what we were doing, and once he did, he began to scare away my workers. But he realized that just by doing that he wouldn't stop this bridge from completing. So, he put a price on my head, which is why those two men wanted to kill me." He explained.

"So why didn't you say so at the beginning?" asked Misaki.

"Because if I did, this would be at least a B-rank mission, if not A-rank; we can only pay for a C-rank mission, even after pooling all our funds together." said Tazuna.

"Is that so?" said Kakashi, pondering over what had just been said.

Naruto looked to the distance as he heard Tazuna's explanation. Before long however, he completely was lost in thought, and very little of what was said registered into his mind. He heard about Gatou, and was where his attention to the conversation ended. He was worried, thinking about the scroll given to him by Madoka, and what it had entailed. Did she know about the mistake in ranking, and had made sure they get the mission? This was very distressing.

"You have hidden information from us, Tazuna-san. This mission can no longer be classified as a simple C-rank escort mission. I have the power to order my team back to the village for this." said Kakashi in a domineering tone.

"Please don't…" began Tazuna, but he was silenced by the glance that Kakashi gave him.

"But I will not do that." he said, before turning to his team, "I'll leave the decision in your capable hands. Do you think you can handle a harder mission?" he asked them.

Naruto was brought out from his thoughts with the question. He looked at Kakashi and said confidently, "I can handle whatever that Gatou guys throw at us. I am more worried about whether these two can take care of themselves." he motioned at his two team members… before getting smacked on the head.

"Don't be so full of yourself, Naruto." fumed Misaki, "And of course I can deal with it." She hit him on the head again as added measure.

"… And what about you Sasuke?" asked Kakashi.

"Hmph." he nodded. "I have no problem with continuing."

"That settles it then." announced Kakashi cheerfully. "We are going to continue towards Wave."

Tazuna let out a sigh of relief. 'It's a good thing they are an impulsive bunch. I didn't even have to pull out my guilt trip card to get them come along.'

"So, what are we waiting for?" asked Naruto impatiently. "Let's go already."

The group had been walking for quite a while. It was afternoon currently, and it would soon go dark. The sun was already close to the horizon, and it was only a matter of time before it sunk. Naruto was already impatient. He was pretty much jumping with each step with irritation. The other two weren't any better, but managed to hide it well.

"How long is it going to take?" asked Naruto finally, his impatience getting the better of him.

"We will be there soon." replied Tazuna. "Look. We can already see the sea from here." he said, pointing straight ahead.

The whole group looked forward, and caught a glimpse of the sea. In fact, they were pretty close to it. The only reason they didn't see it before was due to the mist that had gathered around them, something which they didn't notice before this point. They soon reached the shore, and saw a boat waiting for them.

"Tazuna." said the old man standing beside the boat. He quickly hurried forward. "I almost thought you wouldn't show up. If you had been any later, I would have left."

"Sorry about that." replied Tazuna. "Got into a bit of trouble on the way. Nothing too big. Anyway, these are the ninja that are here to protect me." he said, before introducing Team 7 to the old captain.

"Come on." he said, while waving them on. "Hop onto the boat. We haven't got all day."

They quickly clambered onto the speed boat, and soon set off. Not before long, they came across a huge silhouette in the mist.

"That right there is my pride." said Tazuna, pointing at the shadow with some smugness. "That's the bridge that I have been building. Once it is completed, it is going to revive the economy of Wave."

"Wow, it's huge." said Misaki admiring the huge bridge. "Hey Naruto look at that…" she trailed off, finally noticing Naruto.

Naruto was pretty much stuck to the side of the boat, holding on to the railing in order to keep his balance. His face was completely blue, and he seemed to be heaving, only nothing was actually coming out of his mouth. He was already past the vomiting part, and now it was just dry heaves that ran through him every few seconds.

"Oh my god!" exclaimed Misaki. "What happened to you." she quickly ran over to him, but couldn't get too close.

"The boat. It. Moves so much. Cant. Handle it. Feeling. Sick." managed Naruto in between heaves.

"Hmph" grunted Sasuke. "The idiot can't even handle riding a boat." he sneered.

"Shut. Up. Bastard. Once. I get off. This Wretched Boat. I'll. Beat the Crap. Out of you." Naruto said.

"Whatever." said Sasuke.

They had finally reached the shore. Naruto was slowly getting back to normal, and was moving around with almost as much energy as he had before the boat debacle. The captain had left with the boat hurriedly, saying something about Gatou controlling the waters and what would happen if he found out.

"We only have to walk for another hour before we reach my place." said Tazuna, lifting everyone's mood.

Things had gone very smoothly for them since their encounter with the Demon Brothers. Too smoothly, in fact. Kakashi had expected at least one more attempt on Tazuna's life. This did not bode very well, and he raised his awareness level.

It was Naruto who noticed it however. Naruto threw a kunai into the bushes, causing a small burst of chakra to appear on that spot. There was another burst of chakra somewhere behind them, before a swooshing noise announced the movements of something.

"Everyone get down!" yelled Kakashi, diving to the ground, having grabbed Tazuna before him. The three genin ducked under the swirling huge cleaver that passed right above their heads, before embedding itself deep into a tree.

"Copy ninja Kakashi." echoed a seemingly body less voice. "I didn't expect you here." The voice echoed all around the place, before settling on top of the sword. "No wonder the Demon Brother's failed." said the voice, which came from the man standing on top of the sword. His spiky black hair hung over his sideways headband, which showed a slashed insignia of Kiri, showing his previous allegiance. He was shirtless, with only the belt for his sword hanging on his chest. He wore baggy pants with striped patterns and had elbow long wrist-warmers and matching leg warmers.

"Momochi Zabuza," identified Kakashi, "Demon of the Bloody Mist. I should have known you would be here. The Demon Brothers were said to have defected around the same time as you."

"You wouldn't happen to just give up the old man, will you." asked Zabuza. "If you did, we wouldn't have to go through a fight, and we can walk away like professionals."

"That can't happen, Zabuza." said Kakashi. "We are professionals, as you said. And as professionals, I can't leave a client behind." He looked at Tazuna and said, "Even if the client withholds important information."

"It can't be helped then." said Zabuza, jumping down from his sword. He pulled his sword out from the tree, "I really didn't want to kill three green brats but, there's no helping it." He said with a sadistic grin, which completely opposed his sentence. He raised one hand to his mouth and another above his head.

"Kirigakure no Jutsu." called Zabuza, and an immediate increase in the mist could be seen. The area was soon covered in so much mist, that it was hard to see their hands, let alone anything else.

"You three guard Tazuna." yelled Kakashi, "I'll take him on."

"No fucking way." replied Naruto, though he still moved into position. "Why do you get to fight him? We can take him on."

"Are you sure brat?" Zabuza's voice echoed from everywhere. "You would end up dead." And with that, he released a killer intent so strong that Tazuna collapsed to his knees. All three of the genin were still standing, but the pressure was making it hard for them.

"Were will I hit?" pondered Zabuza out lot, his voice still seemingly coming out from nowhere and everywhere."There are 8 vital points. So many choices." he said, sounding as if he was salivating from the prospect of killing.

"Don't worry." said Kakashi. "I don't let my comrades die."

"Then maybe this will be the first time?" Zabuza said. All three of the genin panicked, as the voice came from right in between them, where Tazuna was. Zabuza swung his sword, when Kakashi quickly teleported in an stopped the sword with his kunai. Sasuke used that chance to throw a kunai at Zabuza, who let it hit him, before dissolving into water.

'Mizu Bunshin?' though Sasuke, almost panicking. He watched as Kakashi got cleaved in two by Zabuza's sword who suddenly appeared behind him, before he also turned to water. Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza, only to be swatted away by a powerful swing from Zabuza's sword. Zabuza then used the same swing to twist around and cleave the three genin and Tazuna, only for them to disappear in a puff of smoke.

"Kage Bunshin!" exclaimed a surprised Zabuza. He quickly and silently moved out of his position, and not too soon either. The moment he was clear of the area, it lit up before exploding in a cloud of smoke. The shockwave also effectively blew away the Mist, revealing everyone's positions.

Zabuza found himself standing right on the shore, in between the water and Team 7. Kakashi and his genin had formed up, but there was no sign of Tazuna.

"Where is the old man?" asked Zabuza, a bit of anger in his voice.

"Wouldn't you like to know." taunted Misaki. "Kakashi-sensei, leave him to us. You make sure Tazuna-san is safe."

"Are you sure?" asked Kakashi. He couldn't help but be concerned.

"We'll be fine." the reply came from Sasuke. "You should know better than anyone what we can do together."

"True." replied Kakashi. "I still don't know all of it, though." He formed a Mizu Bunshin. "I'll leave him as backup. Don't mess up." he said, before leaving the area.

"Hahahahahahahaha!" laughed Zabuza hysterically. "Do you brats think you can take me, The Demon of the Bloody Mist all on your own?"

"We don't think. We know so." replied Naruto.

"Cheeky. But that won't help you in a fight, will it? Let's see if you have the skills to back up your claim." exclaimed Zabuza, before charging the three genin.

Zabuza closed on them very quickly, making a horizontal slash at them, aiming to split them in half from the waistline. The three of them jumped away in different directions to avoid it.. Naruto was to the right of Zabuza, and on the opposite direction of the sword. He quickly moved in, a kunai at hand. He was forced to bend back however, when Zabuza showed plenty of agility with sword, moving it back for another slice. Misaki, who was on the other end of Naruto, took the chance. With her sharingan spinning rapidly, she sped right inside Zabuza's guard, but was still on the slow side, as Zabuza still managed to bring the sword around, this time continuing the swing he made at Naruto.

Misaki agilely jumped over the swing, before pushing off the blade with her hands. She aimed a heel drop on Zabuza, using the push to do a back flip right above him. Zabuza blocked it with one arm. With Zabuza otherwise occupied, Sasuke quickly charged him, and shoved a kunai right at his solar plexus. He couldn't finish the stab though, as Zabuza displayed his physical prowess by swinging the heavy meat cleaver of a sword with just one hand. Sasuke was forced to slide down onto his knees, before passing right through Zabuza's spread out legs. He managed to inflict some damage however, as he planted the kunai right into the backside of his left knee.

Zabuza howled with rage and anger, and swatted all three of them away with the flat side of his sword. The three genin retreated, a smug grin appearing on their face. Zabuza stood there, while panting. "You will pay." he said, bending down. He yanked the kunai out, "YOU'LL PAY!" he roared.

He quickly ran through several hand signs, before shouting, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu." A large column of water rose from the sea before falling onto the trio. The three barely managed to dodge it, before Zabuza zoomed in on them, albeit limping slightly. Zabuza swung his sword at Naruto, trying to crush his head with just the force of the swing. Naruto however, surprised all the people present by stopping the swing with a cross block using two kunai. Zabuza grunted, as he put more force into the attack, but Naruto was not going to be out matched. His feet dug into the ground as he began releasing tendrils of chakra from his body. The chakra soon changed color, switching from the obvious blue to the shocking red that people only associated with the Kyuubi.

'What is this kid?' though Zabuza. Not many people can block his swings, and a mere child is doing the seemingly impossible. He was so mesmerized by the brats physical ability, he was almost blindsided when the other two members of the team threw perfectly timed fireballs at him. He quickly dodged, but he couldn't escape the brunt of the explosion. He was sent flying. He tried to right himself in midair, but he soon found Naruto right under him. He was hit in the head with a rising kick, making him fly straight up. Before he could even get his bearings right, he was engulfed in a ball of flame twice the size from the ones before.

"Combination: Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu," yelled Sasuke and Misaki. They watched as Zabuza fell from the sky, parts of his clothing had caught fire, and he was smoking. He crashed right into the ground, creating a medium sized crater. The genin walked to the hole, to find Zabuza using his sword to prop himself up.

"You… can't defeat me." he said, staggering on his feet. "You are just some rookie genin." He said before swinging his sword with all his strength at them. He never finished the swing, as several senbon came flying at him and hit him right on the neck. He slumped down on the spot. An Anbu jumped out from the trees and walked towards Zabuza's body.

"Thank you for weakening him so much. I couldn't have killed him if not for your help." the boy said.

"Who are you?" asked Naruto suspiciously.

"I am a Kiri hunter nin. I have been after Zabuza for a really long time. He was very strong. I am not embarrassed to admit that I couldn't beat him alone. Because you beat him up so much that I was presented with the opportunity." said the boy.

Misaki approached the body, before checking for the regular signs of life. "No pulse, no breathing; I think he really is dead." She gave her opinion.

"If you don't mind, I'll be taking his body." said the hunter nin, before lifting the body up, holding it under his arms. "I am really grateful." He said, giving them a parting glance, before jumping away.

"Well, that was weird." said Naruto.

"Definitely. At least, that take cares of that." agreed Misaki.

"Not exactly." interrupted Sasuke. Naruto and Misaki turned to him, clearly not understanding what he meant. "That was a hunter nin, right." They nodded. "Then why didn't he dispose of the body right here?" he asked.

The two were still bewildered for a moment, before catching on to what he meant. "You mean the hunter nin was Zabuza's accomplice?" asked Misaki.

"I think so, yes." confirmed Sasuke. He turned to Kakashi clone. "You can dissipate now." and with that the clone dissolved into water.

"We need to get to Tazuna-san's home." said Naruto

Omake

Andrew: Whew, Another Chapter done. I must say that I was on a role.

Naruto: You still picked an interesting cut off point again.

Andrew: Well can't be helped. This chapter is near 4000 words without the Omake.

Naruto: True, I guess. Won't there be anyone else in this Omake I wonder.

Andrew: Oh be patient. It's not like you are going anywhere. Anyway, take it away.

Naruto: Alright. Next Time on Blonde Haired Devil:

Naruto: We are still in Wave. We managed to put off Zabuza's attack, but he will be back for more, and this time with backup. Can we defeat him again and protect Tazuna-san? And what does Madoka want me to do? Find out Next Time.

Naruto (aside): Why am I being forced to say silly things like this by myself?