To say that I was feeling great the next morning would be a fucking lie. I didn't sleep…at all. I stayed up all night, keeping watch while everyone else slept. Naruto and Sasuke did try to relieve me of my duty a few times, but I told them not to bother, since there was no way my insomnia was going to let me sleep. Although, Kakashi did stay with me for the morning watch, just in case I passed out from sleep deprivation. It was a genuine concern and, truth be told, I'm glad Kakashi was with me for the morning watch.
The night watch was creepy as hell. My past life kept bugging me with memories of me watching horror movies. Like, I abhor horror movies with a passion, especially if they're slasher films. Of course, I only have my curiosity to blame for getting me to watch a good amount of the Friday the 13th series as well as Halloween. Once the memories started popping up, night watch went from manageable to downright creepy. And by creepy, I mean creepy, in the sense that camping out at night, in the middle of a forest, just screamed horror movie material. Stupid horror movies and their stupid clichés, keeping me on the edge for no good reason…
Morning watch was the complete opposite once I had calmed down, with a little help from Kakashi. I found the morning air to be rather refreshing, unlike Naruto, whose complaints said otherwise as he muttered in his sleep. The ambience that I previously considered creepy was now calming to my senses. I might have spaced out a few times just staring at the scenery of my surroundings…
I nearly stabbed Kakashi with a kunai when he decided to test my reflexes while I was spaced out. He scared the crap out of me, the bastard…
Even though I had calmed down considerably, in comparison to yesterday, the anxiety was still there. I had a difficult time eating breakfast because of how nauseous I felt. Breakfast, by the way, consisted of ration bars because hunting would take too much time. If we wanted to make it to the Land of Waves without any delays, we needed to leave as soon as possible while it was still bright outside. With a civilian in our care, daylight was a necessity for travel.
As we were packing up, Kakashi took special care in teaching us how to effectively cover our tracks, for future references. We left immediately after that.
…
I still kept a close eye on the ground for any suspicious puddles as the day went by. The sun was shining and the temperature was moderately warm, both of which were appropriate for the season of spring. Of course, moderately warm will eventually change to uncomfortably hot with the approach of summer, which was like a couple of months away.
I'm not looking forward to summer, for various reasons, apart from the weather. With summer, also came the Chuunin exams. The Chuunin exams are held twice a year. Between late spring and summer and between late autumn and winter are the times when they are usually held. It depended on the location.
I know Konoha was going to be hosting one of this year's Chuunin exams. I just didn't know when. It was a little disconcerting and knowing Kakashi, he was most definitely going to volunteer our team for the exams. And if my memory served me well, we were going to get a huge blast from the past come these exams. I shuddered as unpleasant memories suddenly plagued my mind.
"Are you okay, Chōko-chan?" Naruto asked me, having noticed my distress.
"A bit…" I inhaled deeply and then slowly exhaled. "I just recalled some unpleasant memories involving that guy… Give me a moment and I'll be fine."
Be gone, foul memories!
"Just what happened to her?" I heard Tazuna ask Kakashi.
"A lot," Kakashi simply said. "You could say it was traumatic, but I wasn't there for it."
Technically, Kakashi was telling the truth, since, to a majority of people, Kakashi and Hound were two different people. And barring that, Hound had arrived late before being promptly poisoned by Sasori, so he wasn't there to see a giant snake nearly crush me…
"We were," Sasuke remarked, gesturing at himself and Naruto. "But we rather not talk about it…"
Naruto nodded his head. "Yeah, it was a bad day-ttebayo…"
Tazuna stared at us for a moment before nodding his head. He understood how much of a touchy subject it was with us.
"Oh, and a friendly reminder, if any of you guys see a snake, tell me so that Chōko-chan doesn't have to deal with it!" Kakashi was smiling and his tone had been cheery, but there was an underlying sense of seriousness in his words, which got his point across.
I thanked Kakashi after that before pulling out a half-eaten ration bar that was left over from this morning's breakfast. I…did not eat a lot, so I was hoping to get some more food into my stomach. I felt relieved to see that my appetite had returned.
It's one thing being unable to sleep, but being unable to eat was seriously not good for my health. Hell, this stress was just not good for my health and I think Kakashi is onto me… That would probably explain why he brought out Pakkun.
"Kakashi-sensei?" I turned to Kakashi. "About Pakkun…"
"You want me to bring him out again?" Yup, definitely using Pakkun as a stress-reliever.
Hmm… "Later."
"Just keep that mutt away from me." Aww, is Sasuke still salty about that bite? "Do you really want to mess with the medic of this team?"
Oh shit, Sasuke just realized how valuable he is as the White Mage of the team. Wait, wouldn't he be more of a Paladin, since he has minor healing abilities and is more on the offensive? Eh, I guess Sasuke is more of a Cecil Harvey then a Rosa Joanna Farrell and—wait a fucking second.
Cecil Harvey is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal…Sasuke is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal…holy crap, brain, way to go and make that connection.
…
Cecil Harvey should come off as Seshiru Hāvi, so Hāvi Seshiru it is… Hahaha, I found a fake name for Sasuke if he ever needs one! Man, I'm good! Duuude, I need to see what else I could do!
Okay, let's start with Naruto! C'mon, brain, let's see how far our time looking at all of those wiki pages will get us and—oh god dammit, I knew this was eventually going to tie back into Yu-Gi-Oh. I just didn't think Japanese voice actors would have done that alone and not the abridged series…
Well, fake name for Naruto is now Kaiba Mokuba, and let's work on Kakashi! Crap…that's a lot of potential fake names. Welp, my work is done…wait, what was going on again?
"You blanked out, didn't you?" Sasuke looked blankly at me.
"Yes." I didn't even hesitate to answer Sasuke's question. "I totally did and I thought up a fake name for you if you ever need it…you too, Naruto."
"Really, what is it-ttebayo?" Naruto looked expectantly at me.
"Nah, I'm saving it when we need it." Probably on a different mission, who knows? "By the way, if you ever need a fake identity, Kakashi-sensei, I'm your girl."
"I'll keep that in mind…you feeling better?" Nice to see you're still concerned about me.
"Yup!" I certainly feel happy.
"Are they always like this?" Crap, I forgot Tazuna is with us.
"Oh, for the most part, yes," Kakashi replied. "And before you ask, yes, she has a tendency to blank out like that. Try not to get too surprised when she blurts out something."
Tazuna stared at Kakashi for a good minute before taking a drink out of his sake bottle. I'm surprised he still had some in there, or maybe he had another bottle on him. Certainly seems like it…
…
The rest of the day went without any hassles, though I still continued to keep a close eye for anything out of the ordinary. The next day brought in a repeat of yesterday's events, minus the part where I blanked out and teased Sasuke for getting bit by Pakkun. I wasn't going to piss off the Paladin of the team—fuck that.
Oh, and I still couldn't fall asleep. Sleep deprivation and paranoia do not mix, by the way. I was on edge come the fourth day. Everything stood out, my mood wasn't the best, and I already made it clear that I wanted no one to touch me. I didn't want to accidentally stab someone or punch them in the face—I was that tense.
By midafternoon, I noticed my vision beginning to blur, but then I realized Kakashi just took my glasses. Normally, I'd lash out against anyone who had taken my glasses, but I was too focused on my surroundings to do so. I'm keeping my out on you, puddles— "Aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!"
I screamed loudly when I heard the sound of rattling chains. I immediately turned around and threw everything I had on me at the two missing-nin who stood at the ends of the spiked chain that was wrapped around Kakashi. I have no idea how long I was screaming and throwing kunai and shuriken, but eventually, everything went black.
…
…
When I woke up, I was rather disoriented. My head was pounding, and my body felt heavy, yet…I was moving?
"Where am I?" My voice was sluggish and my vision was blurry, but that was probably because my glasses were missing and—hello, what is this silver fluffy thing I'm touching?
"That's my hair, Chōko." Oh…hey, Kakashi. "And to answer your question, I'm carrying you since you passed out. This is why sleep is important."
Well, excuuuuse me for having insomnia!
"Are you going to stop touching my hair?" You're funny, Kakashi. "Well, since you're still awake, I guess I should tell you that you saved my life."
Oh that's nice—wait, what? "I did? Wait…what happened again?!"
Because I'm pretty damn sure that the Kakashi wrapped up in those chains was a fake. Or did some divergence of some sort happen? Oh god, I don't even want to know…
"We're still going to Wave, dattebayo!" Naruto blurted out, making me focus on his figure, which appeared to me as an orange blur. He was close by, that's for sure.
"We'll tell you on the way," Sasuke remarked. While Naruto was an orange blur, Sasuke was blue…wait, aren't those colors like, complementary or opposite?
…
Oh damn, this rivalry even extends to color.
"Oh, and Naruto?" Sasuke seemed to be carrying something on him, but shitty vision is shitty. "It's your turn to carry the backpack."
Backpack?
"But it's heavy!" Naruto complained.
Heavy…wait, is Sasuke carrying my backpack?
"How else was I going to carry you?" Kakashi remarked.
I need to stop talking out loud like this…
"You don't think I know?" Sasuke sounded annoyed. "Besides, it's been five minutes. It's your turn."
"Just take the backpack, brat." Tazuna was also annoyed, as well as anxious. Considering what happened before I passed out, I wouldn't blame him.
Meanwhile with me, my eyes are starting to feel heavy.
"Just go to sleep, Chōko," Kakashi told me. "It's going to be a long day."
You don't have to tell me twice, I actually feel sleepy for once and I'm not going to pass up sleep while I can get it…
…
…
I heard the entire story from Sasuke once I woke up, which was sometime after everyone had set up camp. I just sat up in my sleeping bag, wide-awake and alert. I ended up head-butting Naruto when I did that (oww), much to Sasuke's amusement. Kakashi is starting to rub off on Sasuke and I don't know whether I should find it funny or worry.
Speaking of Kakashi, he handed me my glasses before Sasuke told me what happened after I had passed out. It was as Kakashi had said, I had saved his life—and yet, something feels off, but I wasn't exactly in a position to question that. I hate it when that happens…
In any case, events of the canon kind occurred (for the most part), in which Team 7 and Tazuna got ambushed by the Demon Brothers, Gōzu and Meizu. Kakashi apparently made it a habit to memorize each and every update of Konohagakure's Bingo Books in his spare time, so that is where the information came from. Gōzu and Meizu were Chuunin-ranked missing-nin from Kirigakure and while they had attacked Kakashi first, their real target turned out to be Tazuna. Sasuke had been the one to come to that conclusion, as he had kept his attention on Tazuna during the ambush.
Sasuke was good at reading people when the situation called for it. It was enough for Tazuna to finally tell the truth. That confirmed that our C-rank mission finally escalated to what Kakashi estimated was a very expensive B-rank…at least. And even though this was a mission we literally didn't sign up for, we were still going to proceed because Naruto is determined to see this mission go from start to finish. Sasuke went along with it because he knew there was no convincing Naruto to change his mind after that.
Kakashi had been the one to finalize that, even though I was knocked out of the time.
"Nice to see that someone else can be leader for once." Truth be told, I'm relieved to have the responsibility shift over to someone else.
"We all know you're still leader—I'm just a stand-in." Kakashi, we all know very well that that's a damn lie. God, you are such a troll!
"So what's your story?" I asked Tazuna, who was in the midst of opening a new bottle of sake. Just how many of those bottles did he bring?
"Not enough, that's for sure…" God dammit, I need to stop saying stuff out loud. "And since you asked, I might as well tell you."
And out of the loop I no longer was! I had been informed about Gatou, who was a shipping magnate and the founder of Gatou Company. So, long story short, Tazuna needed protection because he was Wave's only hope for restoring economic stability and breaking Gatou's monopoly. And we got roped into it because Tazuna didn't have the funds for anything above a C-rank. Talk about our luck, and my brain keeps going into Spanish mode, because I keep thinking about cats when Gatou's name is mentioned. Thank you, Spanish, for ruining words that sound like other words in your language.
Of course, the pronunciation sounds more like the French word, gâteau, which means cake. And the more I think about it, the more correct it seems because gato and gâteau, while similar sounding, at first, have distinct differences overall and I am totally spacing out.
"I lost you, didn't I?" Oh man, Tazuna sounds pissed.
"No…I got the gist of it." Thank you information I already had! I honestly feel relieved that events are turning out the way they did in the manga…even if it meant getting attacked by those missing-nin—oh god, it's only going to get worse from here on out! There's still friggin' Zabuza and his giant sword we have to deal with—I totally want to call the Kubikiribōchō the Buster Sword and oh my god, Chōko, focus!
"Hey, Chōko, look who's here to say hello." Kakashi, don't ever sneak up on me like that and you are lucky I am not armed—what the hell is on top of my head?
"Hello," a gruff voice greeted me.
"Pakkun!" Oh my god, it's the pug! "How's it going?"
I don't know whether I should find it funny or sad that it is extremely easy for me to get distracted when an animal of my interest is involved. So I decided to just focus on the cute pug who sounded like an old man and just have a good time. Because in a couple of days, shit is going to hit the fan and I'd rather not let a repeat of today's events happen again…even if I did manage to save Kakashi's life.
I still feel as though I'm not getting told the entire story, but again, I'm not in a position to question it.
…
…
It was completely early in the morning when we took a small boat to the Land of Waves. We were now six days into this mission. It was chilly, deathly quiet, and especially foggy. You know, the only difference between mist and fog is visibility, so the fact that I could barely see that far away, even without my glasses, means that this was definitely fog.
It was like Silent Hill up in this shit and the silence wasn't helping with the already creepy ambience this fog created. It probably also didn't help that I know there was a part in one of the Silent Hill games where you had to use a boat to get across and just knowing that isn't making my situation any better.
"Ulp!" Also, my stomach was not taking too well to the boat trip. I do not like travel by boat…at all.
I have had only one experience with boats, and that was during my past life, when I traveled from England to France by boat (or ship, but whatever) and I did not have a good time with the constant rocking motion. Naruto was not helping, as every movement he made rocked the boat. Damn Naruto and his stupid curiosity for sightseeing…stop rocking the boat!
"How much longer?" I turned to the rower of the boat for an answer.
"We should be seeing the bridge soon," the rower replied. "It shouldn't be too far."
Considering the fact that we weren't using the boat's engine, it was going to take a little longer than usual to reach the Land of Waves. We were taking advantage of the fog to sneak into Wave without getting caught by Gatou. It was rather tense and—holy crap, that's a huge bridge!
"Wow, it's huge!" Dammit, Naruto, you are going to give our position away if you don't keep your mouth shut!
"Shut up, idiot!" Sasuke hissed at Naruto. "We'll get in serious trouble if Gatou catches us!"
Naruto was quick to shut his mouth then use both of his hands to cover it. His face was red from embarrassment and small beads of sweat were rolling down the sides of his face. He was probably scared that he might have blown our cover.
My heart was pounding, my body was trembling, and I was honestly grateful that Sasuke managed to, not only silence Naruto, but get him to stop moving. "Thanks, Sasuke."
Sasuke just nodded his head and stayed silent.
…
Sometime later, we eventually made it a small town and disembarked alongside a wooden walkway around a house. The boat trip threw off my sense of balance, so when I finally took my first step onto the walkway, I nearly fell. Thankfully, Sasuke helped me out and kept me from falling. I do not like boat trips…
The rower immediately went his separate ways, turning on the engine for a quick getaway. As for the rest of us, we still had a ways to go before we reached our destination point, which was Tazuna's house. We continued moving forward, eventually reaching a forest that made me reach into my weapon holster to take out a couple of kunai to arm myself.
I was not taking chances, it was still foggy and I'm sure a certain Kirigakure missing-nin would know how to use that to his advantage. Oh crap—we are so screwed in this current environment…
"K-Kakashi-sensei?" I turned to Kakashi, who looked at me questioningly. "Can you hold my glasses for me? The moisture from the fog is starting to build up from my glasses and I don't want to keep wiping them clean…"
"Sure, I'll keep them safe for you!" Kakashi smiled as he held out his hand.
I took off my glasses and then promptly placed them in the palm of Kakashi's hand. "Thank you…"
While my vision is shit, I could still make out blurry objects that were nearby. Back when he was still with us, Itachi made sure I knew how to walk around without wearing my glasses. He would usually take my glasses away and help me find ways to work around my hyperopia when it didn't involve my shurikenjutsu. Be it, I was still at a disadvantage, but not so that I was completely helpless when I was without my glasses. The reasons I even focus on the color of the shapes I make out when I'm not wearing my glasses are so I could keep track of them.
Naruto would be orange, Sasuke would be blue, Kakashi would be a mixture of dark colors with a light-colored top, and Tazuna…well, I'm not too sure about the colors, but I can recognize him with his hat—the shape of it, that is. Basically, the first thing that catches my attention for each and every person I come across becomes a rather important aspect I use to identify people when I can't see them well.
Despite this, I still have my limitations, which is why I refused to climb down that tree when my glasses fell off, like nope. And even though this foggy environment made it a bad time to be farsighted, I'd rather have blurry vision than no vision at all. I wasn't lying about the moisture.
Fortunately, the fog began to clear up after twenty minutes. Soon, the sun was shining, everything was bright, and I could actually see with my glasses on again.
Just knowing that the fog was gone took a huge load off of my shoulders. That was one less thing to worry about when Zabuza decided to ambush us. Again, I'm pretty sure shinobi from Kirigakure are quite familiar working around fog and mist. Though, the more I think about it, why didn't Zabuza take advantage of the fog?
At that moment, Naruto ran ahead of us and stopped to scout the area before throwing a shuriken into a cluster of trees. It was all too sudden and paired up with the fact that Naruto was being his loud, usual self…I was startled quite badly. I was also armed and if it weren't for Kakashi and his beautiful weapon-catching skills, Naruto would have gotten hurt.
Of course, Naruto didn't know this and tried to play it off cool. "Heh, just a rat…"
"Naruto, you idiot!" Sasuke walked over to Naruto and literally slapped him upside the head. "Chōko nearly hurt you for that!"
Poor Kakashi was visibly nervous for once, showing actual concern as he said, "Please, Naruto, don't use your shuriken. It's seriously dangerous…"
"Don't scare us like that, you brat!" Tazuna practically exploded at Naruto in anger.
"Please leave the throwing to me…" Even if Naruto's aim was shoddy, he could still hurt someone doing something like that…like himself, when he scared me!
Judging by Naruto's reaction, I think he just wanted some attention since he was the one who had his status as a shinobi questioned the most by Tazuna. Speaking of which, since our encounter with the Demon Brothers, Tazuna started taking me seriously. I mean, I did save Kakashi, but seriously, what the hell happened after I passed out?
"I think I see a shadow!" Dammit, Naruto, that is not how you catch people by surprise when you throw kunai!
The kunai Naruto threw flew into a couple of bushes to our left. There was an audible "thud!" a few seconds afterwards, notifying that Naruto's kunai had hit something…most likely a tree.
"I told you to stop, dumbass!" Sasuke bonked Naruto over the head. "Now you're just wasting kunai!"
Naruto's hands went to his head to tend the bump that was most likely forming after Sasuke had hit him. "But I really did sense something, dattebayo!"
And when Kakashi went into the bushes to check if Naruto was telling the truth, we found where Naruto's kunai went. It had embedded itself at the bottom of a tree's trunk, mere centimeters above a white rabbit's head. Any lower, and the kunai would have killed the rabbit instead of startling it. The poor thing had such a nasty shock, that it was foaming at the mouth. Its body was trembling and its ears were twitching.
I just couldn't believe this. "If you're still wondering how you could accidentally kill a rabbit…that's how."
Naruto was horrified and ran over to the rabbit's side. He picked up the rabbit and held it gently in his arms as he rubbed his cheek against the rabbit's furry cheek. "Sorry, I didn't mean it! Sorry, rabbit!"
"It's just a rabbit…" Tazuna remarked. "You killed one before."
"Yeah, for dinner…" Sasuke pointed out. "Naruto doesn't like killing animals for the most part."
"Neither do I, but when you're hungry, you're hungry." The Academy did a good job in getting its students to become efficient hunters. Of course, spending over a month in the deepest part of the forest surrounding Konoha can make a lot of young Academy students do many things when they're hungry and away from home.
"Hey, Kakashi, would it still be considered winter for a snow rabbit to keep its white fur?" Sasuke's question brought up a good point and fuck.
"Sensei…" I tried not to sound scared, but failed…horribly.
Kakashi didn't even bother to respond and instead, made a few shadow clones that were quick to push all of us onto the ground, barely avoiding the large, spinning projectile that had flew over us. The projectile's motion eventually came to an immediate stop after deeply embedding itself into the trunk of a tree. My heart started to race when I realized that it was the Kubikiribōchō that had been thrown at us.
He's here.
Seconds after I had thought that, he appeared. He had moved so fast, that all that could be seen of him was a blur. Then he came to a complete stop and was now standing on top of his sword's hilt. His back was to us, but his eyes were focused right on us.
Momochi Zabuza was as intimidating as I had imagined him to be. It was one thing looking at him from an observer's perspective, but actually being in his presence was just—oh god, I need to do something fast!
"Well, if it isn't Momochi Zabuza, a missing-nin from Kirigakure." Kakashi had put emphasis on "missing-nin" for a very good reason and it was to give us a heads up.
I didn't waste any time pulling out a smoke bomb from my pocket and detonating it. I knew it wouldn't do much good against someone like Zabuza, but it would buy us some time. At least—that's what I thought until I realized that I only had cheap smoke bombs on me. The other smoke bombs are still stored in a sealing scroll that is in my backpack. I knew I forgot to do something!
"Motherfucker!" I was hoping to get Tazuna out of the way, but I needed the other smoke bombs for that because Tazuna wasn't as fast as Naruto and Sasuke to escape before the smoke cleared. Knowing this, I told Sasuke and Naruto about it so they didn't leave Tazuna.
It was around that time that the smoke cleared and I just about near screamed when I found myself staring right at Zabuza, his sword now strapped onto his back. How the hell did he get past Kakashi—oh don't tell me he used my smoke bomb as an opening!
"Hello," Zabuza said before his hand came down and latched onto my braid. He was quite quick that I didn't have time to react.
"Aaah!" The back of my scalp started to burn from the pain that came from getting my hair pulled. It got worse after that and it took me a few seconds to register that I was no longer standing on the ground. I was dangling in mid-air.
I was in some serious pain right now and I only had my long hair to blame for it.
"Chōko!" And there go my friends, worrying about me.
"That's quite a lot of hair you have on yourself." What is it with missing-nin always focusing their attention on me?! I'm just a magnet for trouble, now! "It certainly looks pretty…but pretty won't keep you alive."
You know, I have been contemplating for some time and I think now is a good time as ever to get rid of the fucking braid! Well—I would have, had Zabuza not cut my hair for me. He had used a kunai to just chop off my braid and I have no idea why he did it, but he just did. And since I was no longer connected to my braid anymore, gravity soon took effect and I was falling.
Kakashi had been quick to catch me before I landed onto the ground. He was pissed at Zabuza, who seemed rather content to stash the braid he finished cutting off of my being into his pocket. There goes nearly thirteen years of hair growth.
I'm honestly happy it's gone, but I still don't get why Zabuza, of all people, wanted my hair. Is there a black market out there for stuff like that?! Actually…that doesn't sound too far off, considering the stories I read, in my past life, about people selling their hair for money. Thinking more about it now, the only reason Zabuza is working for Gatou is for money, so it kind of makes sense as to why he wants my hair. Kind of, I still don't get why he's paying more attention to me than Kakashi of the motherfucking Sharingan.
Shortly after Kakashi had put me down, he pushed me behind himself, trying to make sure I was safe from Zabuza. "Why the sudden interest in a Genin?"
Zabuza just chuckled, earning a couple of kunai thrown in his direction from Kakashi. He was quick to dodge them and act as if he hadn't just been attacked. "I just wanted to meet the Genin who took down Gōzu and Meizu."
Oh shit, is that why he's paying attention to me? "Seriously?!"
Are you fricken' kidding me?! This is so not funny! In canon, Kakashi had been the one to take care of the Demon Brothers, to the point that Zabuza understood why the two were easily defeated. As that had not been the case here, where Kakashi has blatantly said that I had saved his life…the ending result was Zabuza showing interest in a Genin who managed to defeat to Chuunin instead of just Kakashi.
Fuck my life!
"So is this all about avenging them?" Kakashi was quite good at keeping his composure, even though his expression said otherwise. He still seemed pissed at the fact that Zabuza gave me a haircut.
Meanwhile with me, I was struggling to stay calm. As for Naruto and Sasuke, they were currently guarding Tazuna. The two appeared to be discussing something amongst each other, so I assumed they were coming up with a plan after my smoke bomb screw up. I hope they thought up something good, because I was currently out of ideas and why the fuck is Zabuza looking at me?!
"Imagine my reaction when I found out that little girl was the one who took down the Demon Brothers." I don't know whether I should be offended by that remark and what's with the mist? "To be honest, I don't really care about them. I just wanted to meet the kunoichi who defeated them."
Okay, I seriously don't like this attention I'm receiving.
"Don't worry, Chōko—I'll handle this," Kakashi said before lifting up his hitai-ate to uncover his left eye, which was a Sharingan.
Despite the years we spent with Kakashi, we never saw his Sharingan eye…until now, that is. To be honest, I'm quite surprised it took this long to see it. Of course, now I have everything to worry about because the fact that Kakashi is using his Sharingan means that Zabuza is dangerous enough to warrant its use.
So when Kakashi told me to run, I ran. I ran over to Tazuna, Sasuke, and Naruto, hoping they had a plan because my mind was blank. By now, the mist was growing thicker and more opaque. It still wasn't enough to call it fog just yet, but it was close.
"Sorry about your hair…" Sasuke frowned.
"It'll grow back!" Though, I don't plan on letting get as long as it did, because I don't have the skill to handle having such long hair.
"It looks weird-ttebayo…" Naruto said before running his hand through my hair. "Heh, it's fluffy!"
Slap!
"Ow!" Naruto clutched his hand to his chest, seconds after I had slapped it away.
"Ask first before you touch!" Have you not learned from me over the years?
"S-Sorry…" Naruto frowned.
I shook my head and sighed. "It's fine!"
Well, it was until Zabuza used the Kirigakure no Jutsu, or the Hiding in the Mist Technique. Sasuke had made an outburst when Zabuza had disappeared from our sight completely. I was terrified when that came to my attention. Kakashi made it worse when he warned us about Zabuza's expertise in silent killings.
"You don't even notice until you're already dead." Kakashi, we get the point! "I can't use my Sharingan to its fullest potential. So don't let your guard down."
Damn it, Kakashi, stop giving me reasons to freak! "Sasuke…"
"Already on it…" Sasuke's eyes went from its usual onyx black to red.
I'm hoping that Sasuke's Sharingan might be able to get us somewhere. Like Kakashi, Sasuke only used his Sharingan when the situation called for it. For the most part, it's because Sasuke doesn't have much experience using it. Our only remaining Uchiha kinda left the day Sasuke activated his Sharingan…
"But if you fail, you're only going to die." Kakashi, please don't sound so nonchalant.
"You're really starting to piss me off, Scarecrow." Naruto scowled.
"The mist's getting thicker!" I think it's reached the point of being fog, because visibility is limited.
"Eight points," Zabuza's voice suddenly spoke. "The larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidneys, and heart…Which one should I go after?"
Yeah, I'm not keen on getting shanked today, thank you very much— "Ulp!"
Have I ever mentioned how much I hate the Killing Intent? Because I really do and—oh my god, it was potent. Tears were streaming down my eyes as my body trembled and my stomach churned. I'm pretty sure everyone else was doing just as bad as I was.
"Don't worry," Kakashi suddenly said to us. "I'll protect the three of you with my life. I won't let anyone on my team die."
The smile Kakashi gave us was so warm and reassuring. It was also genuine, because Kakashi meant what he said.
"I don't know about that." Zabuza was right behind me.
I reacted so quickly, I turned and swung my right foot into his side. I was using my full strength when I kicked and I was hoping to knock Zabuza aside. All I managed to do, instead, was get my entire leg wet as a wave of water splashed to the side. Water clones don't do so well against Akimichi clan strength, from the looks of it.
"Gross!" Now my bandages are wet! "I never knew water clones could be this nasty!"
"So you don't want to learn the technique?" Kakashi sounded a little disappointed when he popped up at our side.
"Sensei, watch out!" Naruto shrieked.
Zabuza had appeared behind Kakashi and swung his sword, slicing Kakashi in half. Instead of the usual blood and gore, Naruto, Sasuke, Tazuna, and I were splashed with water instead. Water clones…water clones everywhere.
"It's over!" Kakashi held a kunai to Zabuza's neck as he stood being the Kirigakure missing-nin.
Knowing what the current trend is, so far, that Zabuza is probably another water clone.
Splash!
Freaking water clones after water clones—oh shit, that's the real Kakashi! "Watch out!"
Kakashi managed to dodge in time to avoid Zabuza's sword as it was swung. Kakashi had dropped to the ground, only for Zabuza to plunge his sword into the ground and use it as leverage to deliver a side kick into Kakashi's side. It had been strong enough to send Kakashi into the pool of water that was nearby us.
Splash!
"Sensei!" Naruto called out.
"I'm sure he's okay…" It's just water—fuck.
"He's from Kirigakure, dumbass!" Sasuke snapped at me. "Water is the last place he should be!"
"I know—I just remembered!" Gosh, don't chew off my head!
"Water Prison no Jutsu!" Fucking hell, now Kakashi's trapped and we're stuck with a missing-nin again!
Twice in a row should not be a thing, Kakashi!
"You may have been trying to escape to the water, but that was a big mistake." Zabuza chuckled darkly. "This is a special prison that you can't escape from. You give me a hard time when you're moving. Now then, Kakashi…I'm going to finish you off later."
Oh crap, he's looking at us right now.
"First, I'm going to get rid of them." Using only his left hand, Zabuza formed the tiger hand seal. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu."
A water clone emerged from the pool of water, its gaze focused completely on us. It was unnerving, especially since Kakashi was no longer capable of saving our asses. We were on our own…just like back then.
"The three of you have hitai-ate on as if you think you're ninja." Okay, Zabuza was just talking down to us now. "But ninja refers to someone who has gone through numerous life and death situations. In other words, you can call yourself a ninja when you appear in my bingo book. You three aren't ninja."
Well, excuse us for barely starting our shinobi career—shit, he's hiding in the mist again! Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
"Don't touch him!" Sasuke yelled loudly as he barely managed to catch Zabuza's right foot before it hit Naruto. "Chōko, do your thing!"
We are so unorganized right now, that I don't really even care! I pulled off my glasses, charged forward, and slammed my fist down onto the Zabuza clone's right knee. Even though it was only a water clone, the sickening crack that came from the action just disturbed me. The clone tried to fight back, but quickly found itself unable to, as, while Sasuke and I kept it busy, Naruto had taken the time to summon a numerous amount of shadow clones, of which apprehended the water clone.
It seemed too easy after that…and it was. I felt tears beginning to well up in the corners of my eyes after an overwhelming blow to my gut knocked me back a few steps. I managed to keep my footing, but not the contents of my stomach, which were emptied onto the ground.
"Gross…" I gagged.
That was painful…oh god, I don't feel good. And the tears—they just won't stop!
"Aaaaugh!" Sasuke!
Thud!
Sasuke landed back onto the ground, loudly yelling when the water clone's left foot stepped down onto his stomach. The water clone had resorted to using its sword as a makeshift crutch, of which it was able to use effectively to still get around. Even with one leg out of commission, it was still capable of fighting.
It had managed to knock each and every one of Naruto's clones, of which Naruto was quick to make more.
"Breaking the clone's knee was rather clever of you…but not clever enough." Zabuza's tone was condescending. "It'll take more than that to stop a water clone of myself."
"A little full of ourselves, aren't we?" I said before coughing afterwards. We needed a distraction to make an opening for ourselves, and I knew just the exact way to do so… "Naruto! Make a harem!"
It took Naruto a couple of seconds to understand what I was saying. This technique sure took its sweet time, but it finally made its appearance and goddamn, was it beautiful. So many naked pigtailed blondes acting provocatively around Zabuza's water clone. It was enough to catch everyone by surprise while I just took the moment to take out my remaining shuriken and kunai out of my holster. This was all I had left before I had to resort to taking out the sets of kunai and shuriken I had stored in a scroll inside my backpack. I needed to make it count before I had to replenish my holster.
I turned my attention to Zabuza, who was still in the midst of trying to comprehend what was going on. Meanwhile, Kakashi just looked so done, even though he was probably running out of air in his container. Typical Kakashi…it's why we love him.
I inhaled deeply and then exhaled before readying the kunai and shuriken in my hands. I was going to take one for the team right now. If I fucked up, then I have Sasuke and Naruto to back me up. If there was one thing I taught Naruto, it was how to fully take advantage of the Oiroke no Jutsu. The art of deception does not only rely on innocent appearances…it can also very well lurk within seductive charms.
Any second now, one of the clones or the real Naruto was going to either slit the water clone's throat with a kunai or gut him with one. In either case, it'll be enough to dispel the water clone for good.
As for me, I was ready for action. I charged forward, running as fast as I can toward Zabuza, who was only just registering that I was heading in his direction. It was at that moment that I threw my shuriken and kunai at him. Zabuza was still far enough away from me so that I could see him with clear vision. I would not miss…so the most Zabuza could do now was deflect the flying projectiles, which are too many for him to do quickly. Of course, that wasn't the only thing I was going to send at him.
"Suiton Teppōdama!" I spat out five balls of condensed water at Zabuza.
There were too many things heading toward Zabuza. It wasn't that much of a surprise that he released his hold on the technique keeping Kakashi trapped in order to avoid the barrage of kunai and shuriken head his way, as well as the balls of condensed water. Kakashi didn't waste any time getting out of the water after that, having learned his lesson the hard way when it came to water and Kirigakure shinobi.
"Thanks, Chōko," Kakashi said as he ruffled my hair. "Now go to the others!"
I did as I was told and returned to my friends and Tazuna. Naruto was in the midst of helping Sasuke off the ground, while Tazuna was nursing a bloody nose. I stared at Tazuna for a couple of seconds, before shaking my head. The Oiroke no Jutsu sure had its perks…maybe I should learn it…
"Hey, Naruto, you think you can teach me that technique of yours?" I'd be lying if I said I wasn't interested in turning my appearance into that of a sexy lady.
Of course, my question ended up making Naruto blush hard. "S-Sure!"
"Such a stupid move," Tazuna remarked.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Tazuna. "Says the guy with a bloody nose."
Tazuna coughed and said nothing.
Meanwhile with Kakashi and Zabuza, they were currently relying more on advance techniques, of which Kakashi was able to copy without any problems, thanks to the Sharingan. Speaking of the Sharingan, what's up with Sasuke…?
"I might have learned that from him…" Sasuke avoided my gaze after telling me that.
I blinked a few times and grinned widely before laughing out loud. "Heehee, are you serious?"
"Shut up!" Sasuke snapped. "It's not funny!"
"Oh, I'll have you know that it is!" I bet Sasuke was trying to learn the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and picked up the wrong technique.
When a large wave of water blasted right past us, I should have known karma was going to be a bitch. While Sasuke, Naruto, Tazuna were able to brace themselves, I had been too busy poking fun at Sasuke and well…I ended up losing my balance and getting dragged into the current of the water. I got knocked around for a couple of seconds before Kakashi decided to help me out.
I was coughing up water when Kakashi set me down on the branch of the tree that Zabuza had finished crashing into at full force.
"You're going to die now." Kakashi's tone was dark as he pulled out what I believe was a kunai.
I took out my glasses and put them on. Sure enough, Kakashi was holding a kunai.
Oh god, I didn't want to watch this grisly death. Too bad for me, I ended up witnessing the sight of two senbon skewering themselves into Zabuza's neck. My hands immediately went to my neck, almost as if that had been my neck those senbon had punctured.
Within seconds, Zabuza's body collapsed onto the ground.
"Hehe, you're right. He's dead." A masked figure in a nearby tree caught all of our attention.
It took me a couple of seconds to realize that it was Haku and that I had completely forgotten all about him. I still want to burn the image of Zabuza getting his neck punctured out of my memory and uuugh, the image is going to haunt me for life!
"Yeah, he's dead." Kakashi had even checked Zabuza's pulse himself to confirm it.
"Thank you very much." Haku bowed. "I was looking for a chance to kill Zabuza."
"That mask…you must be a hunter-nin from Kirigakure," Kakashi remarked.
Haku lifted his head and looked at Kakashi. "You are very well informed."
"Though…why senbon?" I suddenly asked out loud. "They have little killing power, unless one has the proper medical knowledge."
I know this because that's what Shisui taught me.
"It makes the job less messy to clean up." The response was quite calm, if a bit quick. Haku didn't waste any time after that to fetch Zabuza after that. He said his farewells before vanishing from out sight.
It was only until after they had left that I had realized my mistake in pointing out the little killing power senbon had. I had basically blown Haku's cover and I'm pretty sure Kakashi had caught on, but Haku had left before anyone else could ask a question.
Then Kakashi collapsed, so now we had to deal with an out of commission Jounin-sensei until he recovered. Well, it was a good thing Sasuke had some minor medic-nin training, or else we'd be screwed.
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A/N So Sainganin . San (remove spaces) drew another cute picture of Chōko. The link to the picture is on my profile and I suggest everyone take the moment to check it out! The Pakkun scene in this chapter was meant to be a tribute to it!
By the by, Chōko has lost the long hair. It had gotten so long, that it was only a matter of time until it got cut. One thing that Chōko hasn't noticed is that her ribbon is missing.
Oh, and there are some things that have been kept from Chōko, in regards to Gōzu and Meizu, the Demon Brothers. She took them down, yes, but there really is more to it and because of that, it was the reason Zabuza took an interest in Chōko. Keep in mind that Chōko took down two Chuunin who were older than she is by at least ten years.
Also, there seems to be a running gag of some sort, in the form of Chōko becoming a target of interest in regards to missing-nin. At this point, she might as well be a magnet for them.
AND YES, Sasuke accidentally learned the Oiroke no Jutsu. He had been aiming for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, but got the wrong one. Oh, and the Harem no Jutsu made its first appearance!
Speaking of harems, one thing I noticed about the Naruto fandom is everyone's love for NarutoxHarem. I'm honestly waiting for the day I get to see a fem!Naruto with a REVERSE harem, meaning NO GIRLS…just men. I want to see a reverse harem that does NOT end with fem!Naruto picking only ONE guy (like most reverse harems do in the end). It's honestly something I've been wanting to see, but I doubt I'll ever see it happen.
That aside, shout out to Veedramon for being reviewer #220, and a huge thanks to the readers who sent me a private message instead of a review! I really appreciate hearing from the readers, whether it be from a review or a PM! You guys seriously make my day! Sorry I haven't replied much, I've been busy with the final weeks of classes and yeah…it's finals week next week and just…UGH.
I got a website to finish, a movie to edit, and a final exam to study for—college is hard! DX
It's really late right now, like four in the morning, but I just wanted to get this chapter out for you guys, so I hope you enjoy it! Please don't hesitate to point out any mistakes I made, so until next time, everyone! KD out! XD