I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Escorts
Naruto sat on the steps beside Sasuke and Sakura while Kakashi leaned against the railing across from them.
"Alright," Kakashi began. "Since you're going to be my first team in years, why don't we start with getting to know each other. Say your name, your dream, and some of your hobbies, things you hate, etcetera. Why don't you go first Sakura?"
"Alright," Sakura nodded. "I'm Sakura Haruno. what I like...I mean the person I like is...uh..."
She looked over at Sasuke and blushed resting her chin on her hands.
"My hobby is...uh...my dream for the future is..." This time, she squeezed her eyes shut and screamed into her hands out of excitement.
"And what do you hate?" Kakashi questioned not expecting an answer.
"Naruto!" Sakura shouted. "And anyone that tried to hurt Sasuke."
"As if you could do anything about it," Naruto smirked.
"Go ahead Naruto," Kakashi sighed.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto smirked. "I like ramen, my mother's cooking, and training. I hate making my mother mad, and people that think they can pick on people just for the hell of it. My hobbies are spending time with friends and family and training. My dream, is to become Hokage."
"Alright," Kakashi nodded. "Your turn."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," Sasuke stated calmly. "My hobbies are training, pushing my limits, and spending time with my older brother and mother. I like to train, to be strong, and to beat Naruto at anything and everything. I dislike coming in last, seeing my friends in pain, seeing people take advantage of each other, and traitors. As for my dream...my dream is to one day surpass my brother as a ninja and prove my worth."
"Now you Kakashi," Naruto grinned.
"I'm Kakashi Hatake," Kakashi stated. "Things I like and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future...never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies."
"Well that was totally useless," Sakura stated. "All you told us was your name."
"Did I?" Kakashi wondered aloud. "Strange. Usually I don't give away that much free information."
"Kakashi," Minato suddenly interrupted appearing beside Naruto. "I have a mission for the four of you. It's only a C-rank mission but I suspect it may be a bit more dangerous than the normal variety."
"What is it?" Naruto questioned.
"You'll have to come get the scroll to find out," Minato smiled. "Plus, you have to meet the client anyway."
And with that, he was gone again.
"Dangerous huh?" Kakashi wondered aloud. "He must have a lot of faith in this team. Come on, shouldn't keep him waiting. Actually, Sasuke, Sakura, you two go on ahead. I need to speak with Naruto for a moment."
They both nodded and left and Naruto turned to him.
"I was wondering, does anyone know who your father is?" Kakashi questioned.
"It's alright to say it but I don't generally tell anyone unless they ask," Naruto replied. "It's not exactly a secret, just that no one bothers to ask. Sasuke knows though."
"I see," Kakashi nodded. "Has he taught you his teleportation jutsu yet?"
"He says I can't learn it until I'm ready," Naruto grumbled. "But I suppose if this mission is dangerous, it might be his way of telling me I'm ready."
Kakashi nodded and they caught up with the others and went to get their mission.
"Ah, there you are," Minato smiled. "The mission is an escort service. Depending one who want him out of the way, it could be anywhere from D to A-rank in difficulty so be careful. Pay may increase depending on how the mission plays out."
"Who are we escorting?" Kakashi questioned.
"Me," stated a grey-haired, bespectacled man with a large beard and dark eyes wearing a sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi, pants, and sandals as he stepped into the room.
He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head and reeked of alcohol. There was a bottle in his hand and Naruto doubted it was soda.
"A bunch of brats?" the man spat after taking a moment to look at his body guards. "I thought I hired protection, not signed on as a babysitter."
"You saying you'd rather go alone than with three genin capable of fighting jonin and a jonin capable of fighting Sanin?" Naruto questioned exaggerating quite a lot.
"Genin huh?" the man questioned before belching. "Your funerals. At least I get one real ninja. Name's Tazuna."
"Naruto," Naruto smirked. "Shall we?"
"Alright," Kakashi smiled. "Time to leave."
They left the village and began walking away and after a couple of minutes of Sakura trying to get Sasuke to talk to her, Naruto felt his foot sink into water. He looked down and saw two puddles, one of which his foot was in, but it was as warm as a hot spring, and he knew it hadn't rained in days. He pulled his foot out of the water and shook it.
"Going to have to watch my step," Naruto commented. "Last thing I need is to catch a cold."
"True," Kakashi smiled.
They continued walking and after less than a minute, two shinobi, one wearing a black cloak over a grey shirt and pants and the other without the cloak, exploded out of the puddle landing on opposite sides of Kakashi and swung their mechanical, clawed hands, one each. The spiked chain attached to their arms, connecting them, wrapped around Kakashi, restraining and constricting him. Then, they both pulled on the chains hard and Kakashi was ripped to shreds. Then, the ninja appeared behind Naruto.
"Now it's your turn," the two growled.
They jumped back and began flailing the chain around, forming loops and bends that they could trap Naruto in. However, before they could do anything, two kunai with a set of prongs on the base of the edges of the blade shot out of the air and tacked the chain down exactly three links from both hands. The two ninja tried to stand but they were stuck. The two Naruto clones that had thrown the kunai disappeared and Naruto grinned.
"Nice try," Naruto smirked.
Suddenly, both ejected the chain and one in the cloak shot toward Tazuna while the other charged at Naruto.
"Protect Tazuna!" Naruto shouted jumping over a slash from his opponent's clawed hand. "I've got him."
Naruto landed beside the chain and retrieved his kunai, readying himself for another attack. This time, when the shinobi charged, Naruto swept his hand aside with one arm, careful to avoid the claws, then drove his right kunai into the shinobi's stomach. The shinobi dropped and Naruto pulled the kunai out and leapt back as the shinobi slashed at him again. The gauntlet was on his left arm while the other, which Sasuke was fighting, wore his on the right arm.
Naruto ducked under a third slash then switched his kunai to reverse grip and began spinning and slashing his opponent with them, ending the fight by disabling both arms and legs but not killing the ninja. His opponent dropped to the ground just as Kakashi appeared and knocked the other out with a hit to the back of the neck. Then, Kakashi looked over at Naruto and blinked in surprise.
"Impressive work Naruto," Kakashi commended. "You too Sasuke. Sakura, next time, perhaps you should spend less time staring at Sasuke, and more time helping him."
Kakashi tied the two ninja to a tree then stepped back as they both woke up.
"Les us go!" the one with the cloak demanded.
"I don't think so," Kakashi smiled.
"Judging by their skill, I'd guess they're chunin, right?" Naruto smirked.
"That's correct," Kakashi nodded. "Their specialty lies in relentless attack. Not stopping until the job is done."
"How did you know about our ambush?" the one Naruto had fought questioned.
"Simple," Naruto replied. "It hasn't rained in weeks, it's a clear day, and I stepped in a puddle with no water anywhere nearby. Not to mention the puddle was at body temperature."
"I figured it out from everything except the temperature, since I didn't step in it," Kakashi stated.
"If that's true, why did you leave it for the genin to fight them?" Tazuna questioned.
"Simple," Kakashi stated. "If I had taken them out early, I wouldn't have learned anything. I wanted to know who their target was and what they were after."
"What are you getting at?" Tazuna questioned.
"I needed to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja," Kakashi stated. "Or if they were after you, the Master Bridge Builder. When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection, from robbers and highwaymen. You never said there were ninja looking for you, hunting you down. If we had known this, it would be a B-rank mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination, and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we had known we were going to be fielding attacks from enemy shinobi, we would have staffed for it and charged for a B-rank mission, instead of a C-rank one. Apparently, you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."
"We're genin," Sakura stated. "This is too advanced for our level of training."
"Hm," Kakashi thought. "What do you think Naruto?"
"I can handle a few chunin," Naruto smirked. "Unless we have the incredible luck to meet some S-rank Missing Nin, we can handle it."
"I agree," Sasuke spoke up. "We're not likely to meet anything we can't handle. I say we go ahead with the mission."
"Alright then," Kakashi smiled. "Let's go."
They continued walking for several hours, this time being careful to watch for ninja. just after nightfall, they reached a port and rented a ferry to go the the Land of Waves. When they got there, they entered a dense fog, so thick that they couldn't see anything. After a while, they reached the bridge, a massive structure that sat unfinished.
"Mr. Tazuna," Kakashi spoke up. "Before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something. The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I'll have to end this mission when we drop you ashore."
"I suppose you should know," Tazuna sighed. "Like you said, this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks to end my life is a very short man who casts a very long and deadly shadow."
"A deadly shadow?" Kakashi questioned. "Hm, who is it?"
"I'm sure you've heard his name before," Tazuna stated. "He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. The shipping magnet Gato."
"Huh?" Kakashi blinked in surprise. "Gato? Of Gato Transport? He's a business leader. Everyone knows him."
"That much is true," Tazuna admitted. "But below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he employs in business, he sells drugs and contraband using gangs and ninja. One year ago, he came to the Lad of Waves and used his vast wealth and power to take control of our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way disappeared. In an island nation, anyone that controls the sea controls everything. Finance, the government, our very lives. But there's one thing he fears. The bridge. When it's complete, it will join us to the mainland and that will break his control. And I, am the bridge builder."
"So that's it," Sakura nodded. "Since you're in charge of the bridge, you're in this gangster's way."
"That means the ninja from the forest, were working for Gato," Sasuke stated.
"I don't understand," Kakashi began. "If you knew he was dangerous, knew he would send ninja after you, why did you hide that from us?"
"Because the land of waves, is a small impoverished nation," Tazuna replied. "Even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for an A or B-ranks mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me before I reach home."
"Then I suppose we'll just have to do what we were hired to do huh?" Naruto smirked from the front of the boat.
Tazuna smiled and nodded. After another few minutes, they reached a tunnel and silently entered it, passing through quickly but quietly. On the other side, they could see that there was a wide bay with trees growing out of the water and buildings lining the port. They made their way to the dock and got out, then watched as the ferry sped away using the motor, since silence was no longer an issue.
"Right, now take me to my home, and I mean get me there in one piece," Tazuna ordered.
"Right," Kakashi nodded. The next ninja they send won't be chunin. They'll be jonin. Elite ninja with deadly skills.
After several minutes, Naruto heard someone off to one side and threw a kunai that way and they all watched silently for a moment before cautiously walking over. The thing he had thrown his kunai at, was a rabbit. It was pure white and laying against the tree in shock with the kunai just above his head.
"Oops," Naruto grimaced walking over and retrieving his kunai then walking back to the others. "My bad."
That's a Snow Rabbit, Kakashi thought. But the color...they only have white fur during winter. When the days are short, and there's little sunlight.
Kakashi slowly turned around and took in their surroundings.
This rabbit was raised indoors, away from the light which could only be for one purpose, Kakashi thought. Replacement technique.
He turned around and looked into the tree over the others just as something in it moved.
"Look out!" Kakashi shouted.
Naruto instantly shoved both Sasuke and Sakura out of the way then leapt into the air with Tazuna as a massive sword passed under them, spinning through the spot they had all previously occupied. The blade stuck in a tree and a shinobi landed on the grip, staring down at them. He wore grey pants, camouflage forearm and leg warmers over black sandals, had pale skin, no shirt, bandages around his neck and over the bottom of his face, had his forehead protector sideways so that it was on the side of his head and crooked, and had a harness running diagonally up his chest then around his neck to hold his sword.
That must be... Kakashi thought then looked at his team.
"Well well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi greeted stepping forward.
Rogue ninja huh? Naruto thought. This aught to be interesting.
"Stay back you three," Kakashi ordered. "He's in a hole other league from the others. If he's our opponent, I'll need this."
He reached for his forehead protector and pulled it up off of his left eye, revealing a red iris with three black tomoe evenly spaced around it and an old scar running down through his eye, likely why his eye was different.
"Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye," Zabuza snarled. "Did I get that right?"
Sasuke looked at Kakashi in surprise and distrust but Kakashi simply glared at Zabuza.
"It's too bad," Zabuza smirked. "But you'll have to hand over the old man."
"Manji Formation," Kakashi ordered. "Protect Tazuna and stay out of this fight. I taught you team work and now it's time you use it. I'm ready."
"Well, looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action," Zabuza sneered. "This is an honor."
Suddenly a very thick fog began to roll in and Naruto instantly realized it wasn't natural.
"We have a standing order jonin," Zabuza snarled. "We were supposed to destroy you on sight. Your profile was in our bingo book. It called you, the man who copied over a thousand jutsu, Kakashi, the Copy Ninja."
"Looks like our Captain's famous," Naruto grinned.
"Enough talking," Zabuza decided. "I have to exterminate the old man, now."
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura instantly slid into Manji Formation around Tazuna making sure that Zabuza Couldn't get to Tazuna before they got to him.
"So I have to exterminate you first Kakashi?" Zabuza questioned. "So be it."
He dropped down grabbing his sword and kicking off the tree, taking the sword with him then vanishing. They all looked around but Naruto saw him first.
"One the water!" Naruto warned.
Zabuza was standing atop the water with his right hand a Seal of Confrontation in front of him and the other hand in the same seal over his head.
He's building up a huge amount of chakra, Kakashi thought readying himself.
"Ninja Art, Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Zabuza growled before vanishing again as the fog thickened considerably.
"He vanished," Sakura gasped. "Sensei?"
"He'll come after me first," Kakashi stated.
"But who is he?" Sakura questioned.
"Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi stated. "The ex-leader of the Hidden Mist Assassination Unit. He's a master of the Silent Killing Technique. As the name suggests, without sound or warning of any kind. It's so fast you pass form this life without realizing that it happened. The Sharingan cannot fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard. Well if we fail, we only lose our lives."
"How can you say that?" Sakura questioned.
"This is some mist," Naruto commented.
"The Land of Waves is surrounded by ocean," Tazuna stated. "The swirling mists are ever present."
"Sensei!" Sakura suddenly called as the mist was too thick to see him anymore.
"Eight points," Zabuza's voice said, drifting out of the mist.
"What's that?" Sakura gasped.
"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart," Zabuza listed. "Now, which will be my kill point?"
After another tense moment, Kakashi formed a hand seal and sent his chakra out in a pulse that pushed the mist away, clearing their view.
What an intense thirst for blood, Sasuke thought. One shallow breath, one tiny movement of the eye, is enough to bring on instant death. If it goes on like this, I'll go insane. A clash of two jonin intent to kill. I've never felt anything so chilling. It's as if my own life is being choked off.
He gripped his kunai with both hands so tightly that it shook and his knuckles turned white.
"Sasuke!" Kakashi called. "Calm down. I'll protect you with my life. All of you. I will not allow my comrades to die. Trust me."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Zabuza sneered, suddenly appearing directly in the center of Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke. "It's over."
Kakashi leapt at Zabuza, shoving the others out of the way. Kakashi drove his kunai into Zabuza's chest but all that poured out was water. Then, the real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi.
"Behind you!" Naruto shouted.
"Die!" Zabuza shouted swinging at Kakashi.
The sword tore through Kakashi, bisecting him. Then, Kakashi also turned into water.
"The Water Clone Jutsu," Zabuza snarled. "It can't be. Even in the mist he was able to copy my jutsu."
Suddenly Kakashi appeared behind him with his kunai to his throat.
"Now it's over," Kakashi stated.
"Alright!" Naruto cheered but Zabuza simply laughed.
"Finished?" Zabuza smirked. "You really don't get it. Your jutsu is nothing but a crass imitation. I'll never be beaten by a mere Copycat Ninja like you. You are full of surprises though. You'd already copied my Water Clone Jutsu when you made your little speech. Very skillfully executed. You made your clones say those words to draw my attention, while you hid in the mist, waiting for me to make my move. Nice try."
"But I'm not that easy to fool," the real Zabuza finished as he appeared behind Kakashi, swinging his massive blade.
Kakashi ducked under it and the sword stuck into the ground. Zabuza instantly spun switching hands and kicking Kakashi away.
"Now!" Zabuza said grabbing his sword and running after Kakashi but slid to a stop just short of a field of makibishi spikes. "Makibishi spikes! Trying to slow me down. Useless."
He turned and did a backflip over the spikes just as Kakashi splashed down in the water. Kakashi began to push himself up just as Zabuza appeared behind him.
"Ha ha, fool," Zabuza laughed. "Water Prison Jutsu!"
"No!" Kakashi gasped before being trapped inside a sphere of water.
"This cage is made of water, but it's harder than steel," Zabuza stated. "It's hard to fight when you can't move. I'll finish you off later. But first, your little friends need to be eliminated. Water Clone Jutsu!"
A clone of Zabuza formed in front of Naruto and the others and laughed.
"You think wearing a headband makes you a ninja?" Zabuza questioned. "When you've hovered between life and death so many times that it doesn't faze you, you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly that your profile has been entered into my bingo book, then you may have earned the title ninja. But to call upstarts like you ninja, is a joke."
And with that, he reformed the mist, and vanished.
"Damn this mist," Naruto growled seconds before Zabuza's knee collided with his face.
His forehead protector sailed away and he crashed down hard.
"You're just brats," Zabuza stated stomping on Naruto's forehead protector.
"Naruto!" Sakura shouted.
"Listen!" Kakashi shouted. "Get the Bridge Builder and run! You can't win this fight! He's using all his power to keep me in this prison so he can only fight you with his water clone, but his clone can't go far from his real body. If you get away from him, he can't follow, now run!"
"We've got to do it," Sasuke suddenly said after a moment.
He charged at the clone hurling shuriken but the clone slashed them out of the air easily. Sasuke leapt into the air and moved to smash his fists into Zabuza's clone but he easily caught Sasuke by the throat. Then, he turned, throwing Sasuke away. Naruto took his turn, charging forward and leaping at Zabuza but instead of attack, he curled into a ball as Zabuza kicked him. Then, he landed on his feet in front of Sasuke.
"Ready?" Naruto smirked lifting the headband he had grabbed when Zabuza had kicked him and putting it back on his head.
"What are you doing?" Kakashi shouted. "This fight was over the moment I got caught. I told you to run now do it! Your mission isn't to show how brave you are, it's to save the bridge builder."
"Bridge builder?" Naruto questioned looking at Tazuna.
"We run, he tracks us," Tazuna stated plainly. "We need to end it here."
"You don't get it," Zabuza sneered. "Long ago, there was a graduation exam at my village. In order to graduate, you had to massacre your entire class. However, one boy, not even old enough to take the exam, slaughtered them all easily. and it felt...so...good."
Suddenly he was beside them and smashed Sasuke away, then smashed down on his stomach before resting his foot on his chest and reaching for his sword.
"Don't even think about it," Naruto shouted created a dozen shadow clones.
"Oohh, shadow clones," Zabuza smirked. "And there's quite a few of them."
The Narutos all leapt into the air, attacking Zabuza kunai first and he blocked them all with his sword then spun throwing them off of himself and slashing a few. When Naruto hit and began sliding, he opened his backpack and pulled out a fuma shuriken.
"I'm not giving up, I've still got this!" Naruto grinned throwing it. "Sasuke!"
He caught it and spun, unfolding it and holding it in front of himself.
"Demon Wind Shuriken, Windmill of Shadows," Sasuke said glaring at Zabuza.
"A shuriken?" Zabuza scoffed. "You'll never touch me with that."
Sasuke leapt into the air, hurling the shuriken past the clone at the real Zabuza.
"So, you passed my clone and aimed for my real body, smart," Zabuza snarled before catching the shuriken. "But not smart enough.
Suddenly a second shuriken appeared on the edge of his vision, heading straight toward him.
"A second shuriken in the shadow of the first," Zabuza growled. "Shadow Shuriken Jutsu, typical."
At the last second, Zabuza leapt over the shuriken allowing it to sail past him.
"I told you a shuriken can't touch me!" Zabuza shouted.
Suddenly, the second shuriken was covered in smoke before a kunai sailed out of it and the smoke cleared to reveal a Naruto clone. Zabuza dodged the kunai, ripping his hand free of the water prison jutsu in the process and the water crashed down leaving Kakashi free again. Zabuza moved to throw the shuriken at Naruto but he disappeared in a puff of smoke seconds before Kakashi kicked Zabuza away, taking the shuriken and throwing it to the sand in front of Sasuke.
"I'll take it from here," Kakashi stated. "Excellent plan, by the way. I'm impressed."
"I got distracted and lost my grip on my jutsu," Zabuza stated.
"Don't flatter yourself," Kakashi sneered. "You were forced to let go. Outsmarted by a couple kids."
"We'll see," Zabuza sneered before beginning to make hand seals.
Kakashi instantly copied him, keeping up perfectly and chanting the seal names in unison with him. Finally, they both finished and two dragons made out of water began to rise.
"Water Dragon Jutsu!" they both shouted.
The two dragons began to fight, water crashing down all around the two fighters as they continued their battle, Zabuza with his sword and Kakashi with a kunai. Finally they leapt away, pushing off each other's weapons and landing one the water at a distance. Then, they circled each other once before stopping and taking the exact same pose, the one Zabuza used to form the Hidden Mist Jutsu and a water clone at the same time.
"He's not just following, he's predicting," Tazuna pointed out. "He moves the exact same way at the exact same time."
"How?" Sakura questioned.
My movements, Zabuza thought lowering his arm to the side as Kakashi did the same. It's as if...It's as if he knows what I'm-
"Going to do next?" Kakashi guessed interrupting an unspoken sentence.
What? Zabuza panicked. Is he reading my mind as well? He looks at me with that eye...
"It makes you furious doesn't it?" Kakashi provoked as they both moved to another hand seal.
"Ha!" Zabuza laughed forming another hand seal that Kakashi mirrored. "All you're doing is copying me."
"You can't beat me with cheap tricks," they both spoke in unison. "I'll crush you!"
Zabuza's eyes widened and he began making seals and Kakashi mirrored them.
"When I finish with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again!" Zabuza snarled then froze seeing something beside Kakashi, a silhouette. What is that?
The silhouette lightened into a spectral version of himself standing behind Kakashi.
It's me! Zabuza realized. But how? Is it his illusion jutsu?
"Water Style, Giant Vortex Jutsu!" Kakashi said as the tomoe in his eye began to spin.
"What?" Zabuza gasped realizing it was the same jutsu he had been about to use.
Water began to rise in front of Kakashi, first forming a ring, then a tunnel, then shooting toward him in a full wall of water.
"Impossible!" Zabuza shouted before the blast hit him and swept him ashore. I was just about to create a vortex but he created one first! He copies my jutsu before I can even do it! I can't keep up!
The vortex sped along the ground, crashing through trees until it finally came to a stop depositing Zabuza at the base of a tree where Kakashi pinned him with a kunai through each arm and leg.
"You're finished," Kakashi stated.
"How?" Zabuza questioned. "Can you, see into the future?"
"Yes," Kakashi said raising a kunai. "This is your last battle, ever."
Suddenly, two senbon stuck into the side of Zabuza's neck, making him slump forward, completely still. Kakashi whipped his head around to look where they had come from and saw a Kirigakure ANBU standing in the tree.
"You were right," the ANBU agreed. "It was his last battle."
Kakashi dropped down beside him, sensing that something was off. He felt for a pulse, but found none.
"No vital signs," Kakashi reported turning again to the ANBU.
"Thank you," the ANBU bowed. "I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time, waiting for a chance to finally take him down."
"By your mask, I see that you're a tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist," Kakashi stated.
"Impressive," the ANBU commended. "You're well informed."
From his voice and size, he's no older than Naruto, Kakashi thought. He's no ordinary kid, but what is he?
"Thank you again," the ANBU bowed before disappearing and reappearing beside Zabuza then leaving with the body.
"That was an impressive shot," Naruto commented. "I don't trust him."
"We haven't completed our mission yet," Kakashi stated. "Let's get the bridge builder, to his bridge."
"Sorry I caused all this trouble," Tazuna apologized. "You can all rest at my house when we get to the village."
"Alright," Kakashi smiled. "Let's get going."
Just as he took a step, he stiffened, then began to fall. Naruto appeared in front of him catching him and setting him down gently.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
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