The Meetings

by fluffy5469

Naruto has never had a friend before nor has he ever thought that he would befriend the rest of the genin before his own team. He's invited to weekly genin meetings and suddenly everything changes. He's no longer alone as he interacts with Teams 8 & 10 and forges strong lasting bonds between the next generation. Mostly drabbles of the main events, follows cannon but diverges.

5. Chapter 5: The Fifth Meeting (Part One)

Wow, it's been a while! But I made a monster chapter to make up for it! It was like 50 pages in word, so enjoy!~

Thanks for the comments, follows, and favorites!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...

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The Fifth Meeting (After Wave but before the Chunin Exams)

"You think he'll be here today?" Kiba asked as he pushed around the food on his plate. Akamaru whined in sympathy. Although he was a dog and couldn't really tell humans apart by their looks, he knew his partner was talking about the male yellow one. He too missed the one that always smelled a little too much like a fox mixed with sunshine happiness with a twang of something spicy and bitter. He didn't really know how a boy could smell like a feeling, but Akamaru figured that he had just felt the boy's presence, not scent.

"Maybe… I didn't see him around the village and when I asked Iruka-sensei they said he was still on a mission," Shikamaru replied in between munching his breadsticks.

"What type of mission takes that long, anyways?" Ino asked annoyed before worrying her lip again. "I hope they're all alright… All of them, even forehead." She whispered the last part and then blew a few bubbles in her milkshake.

"They'll be alright," Hinata said confidently. Without the seal restricting her thoughts anymore, she wasn't as shy anymore and could talk without always stuttering. "Naruto never gives up!" she insisted as if Naruto only needed his guts to conquer any problem in front of him.

"Troublesome, that's what I'm worried about…" Shikamaru muttered under his breath. He could just see Naruto refusing to give up in a hopeless situation to save someone and then getting hurt.

Choji pointed to the entrance and asked, "Wait, isn't that him there?" The other genin snapped towards the entrance and saw Naruto walking towards them.

"Yo!" Naruto waved.

"Naruto, you have returned," Shino was the first one to greet Naruto.

"You're back!" Ino exclaimed. "Where were you all those weeks?" she asked stabbing a chopstick at him in a tell-me-all-about-it gesture.

"Funny story, actually. I was on a mission," Naruto said taking a seat next to Kiba and stealing some of his food.

"Well? Aren't you going to explain about it?" Kiba asked while scooting over to give Naruto some room to sit down. He was too relieved at having Naruto back to complain about him taking his food. Akamaru yipped happily as Naruto petted him while he ate.

"We finally got tired of catching Tora," Naruto began and the other genin winced at the reminder of the devil cat. "So, I asked Jiji for a better mission and he gave us a C-rank to Wave!"

"Wait, wasn't that the place that was just recently under Gato's rule?" Shikamaru asked. "I heard someone went on a mission down there to free the place."

"Yeah! That was us!" Naruto chirped as Ayame set down the bowl of ramen Naruto ordered.

"But that was like an A-rank mission!" Kiba protested. "There's no way you could've gotten it."

"We didn't know it was A-ranked back then. We thought it was a normal C-rank to protect a bridge builder from bandits. We didn't find out until later when two ninjas came out of a puddle and fake-killed Kakashi-sensei! I thought he died and froze up when they attacked, but he pulled off a Kawarimi. Then they attacked and he stopped them after Sasuke fought off one of them. When we interrogated them, we found out that Gato was after Tazuna because he was building a bridge to connect Wave to the mainland. So, we decided to go on."

"What! Why would you guys go on? Shouldn't you have come back?" Ino asked.

"We almost came back because of the poison on the claws," Naruto admitted, "But I have super-fast healing so I just stabbed my hand to let the poison out."

"I think Ino meant to ask why your jounin-sensei didn't stop the mission? Why did he continue on?" Shino added.

"We had to help them! Otherwise Tazuna and his family would die, we couldn't just leave him there. Also, Kakashi-sensei thought it was only a B-rank at most, until we got attacked by Zabuza."

"Why does that name sound familiar?" Shikamaru wondered not noticing he was rubbing sauce on his chin in his worry.

"Kakashi-sensei said he was part of the Seven Misty-eyed Strongmen or something? Naruto shrugged and finished up his third bowl of ramen. "He was famous for killing all his classmates and stuff. And he had this wicked cool sword!"

"You went up against one of the Seven Swordsmen of Mist!" Ino's jaw dropped open and looked at Naruto with wide-eyes.

"No, Kakashi-sensei fought against him. I felt something off in the forest and threw a kunai at a white rabbit which he substituted with. Then Zabuza threw a super big sword at us and we all ducked. Then Kakashi-sensei fought against Zabuza and it was all like Boom! Swoosh! Pow! And Zabuza made a clone to attack us with his killing intent or something and Sasuke was all like I'm about to die and stuff but Kakashi-sensei said he'd protect us and stuff but then he got trapped in a water bubble thingy." Naruto emphasized his story telling with large hand gestures, almost knocking over his ramen.

"How did he survive then?" Choji asked after Naruto finished off his fourth bowl.

"At first Kakashi-sensei told us to leave but we were like, 'No Way!' And then Sasuke and I did a combination attack! I gave him a Fuma Shuriken and Sasuke used a Shadow Shuriken technique so there were two of them flying at Zabuza. But he noticed this and ducked. What he didn't notice was that I was transformed as the second Fuma Shuriken and I attacked Zabuza with a kunai so he had to let go of Kakashi-sensei. That water walking technique you told me about really came in handy there Shika because then, he threw me into the river!" Naruto beamed Shikamaru who blushed slightly.

"Congratulations, Naruto. When did you master water walking?" he wondered.

"I learned it before we left last weekend after our last meeting," Naruto said. "You can learn almost anything when you have enough shadow clones working on it."

"Man, I wish I could make a shadow clone, but I don't have enough chakra yet," Kiba complained and sulkily stirred his soup.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Kaka-sensei says that your chakra grows the more you use it, so you should get there soon enough," Naruto consoled. Shikamaru noted that Naruto was using a nickname for his sensei. So, they got closer on the trip? He wondered and vaguely felt a small jealous pang before it was smothered by the joy he felt at Naruto finally connecting with his team members. Although he knew it was wrong, he couldn't help but want to hoard Naruto and keep him only to their small group. He felt leery inviting the rest of Team 7 to join them, but when he saw that blindingly happy grin on Naruto's face, he knew he'd have to deal with. Hah, how troublesome! He thought affectionately as he listened to Naruto talk.

"So, what happened for the rest of the mission?" Ino asked impatiently. The rest of the genin also looked at Naruto, deeply interested to hear the rest of the story.

"Well, after we were done with Wave and buried Zabuza and Haku we went to Whirlpool and then we came back here," Naruto finished as if he already explained everything.

"Wait, you can't just end there! You got to tell us what happened!" Kiba burst out while the other genin nodded and stared at Naruto, urging him to tell the rest of the tale.

"You sure you want to know? It's a long story…" Naruto hesitated, still unused to having people pay attention to him.

"Naruto," Shino began, "We want to know. Why? Because we are your friends and we care for you."

Naruto blushed, which the genin secretly delighted at. Making the blonde blush once again after such a long absence gave them all warm fuzzy feelings. "Alright. Then, I better start at the beginning…"

---

Before the Fifth Meeting (Finally, The Trip to Wave!)

Shrouded in the shade of the forest, four figures loomed ominously as they glowered at their target. "Is the target in sight?"

"Yes commander!" "Target spotted!" "Ready to detain." Three voices answered back together.

"Alright… GO!" the tallest one commanded from the shadows. Three figures burst out from the undergrowth and pounced on the unsuspecting target.

"Mission Completed!" Naruto announced as he hugged Tora tightly to his chest, not allowing the cat escape again.

"Nice teamwork guys!" Kakashi eye-smiled at his genin. "Let's go to the Hokage tower and turn this mission in." He started walking towards the tower. "We might even have some time for another mission if we hurry," he goaded his genin to walk faster.

"Woah! Really, Kakashi-sensei? Are we going to rescue princesses, capture bad guys, save a village? Or…" Naruto babbled excitedly, his eyes growing wider as he thought of all the possible missions they could get. Sasuke scoffed at his teammates wild guesses, but a hint of excitement could be seen in his eyes. "…Or maybe we have to stop a group of S-rank villains run by a super evil bad guy who everyone thinks is dead and was brainwashed by an alien plant into using the moon to take over the world to promote peace!" Sakura just shook her head at the blonde wondering why only crazy people liked her. If only it was Sasuke instead… Sasuke, on the other hand, stepped a little further away from Sakura, feeling a strange vibe coming from her that usually came from his fangirls.

Kakashi chuckled at his genin's antics. "A plan to take over the moon, Naruto? Where do you come up with these ideas?" He asked and opened the door to the tower ushering them in.

"Well I had this strange dream where it happened but then a really old toad blamed Shikamaru for changing the future in a croaky voice and then I woke up," he explained as he handed Tora over to the Fire Daimyo's wife. She squealed and almost strangled Tora in her excitement. Kakashi just shook his head and handed the report to the Hokage.

"I see you have all been having fun!" Hiruzen smiled at the youngsters in front of him. "So what mission do you want to take next? Iruka has a whole list of them for you to choose from."

Iruka cleared his throat and read of the list, "Weeding the field, painting fences, babysitting the elder's grandchildren, and—" he was cut off by Madame Shijimi's scream as Tora escaped once more. "And apparently catching Tora again," he finished with a smile, looking expectantly at Team 7. Naruto wanted to complain about the boring missions but he remembered reading about how mission assignment was established after a joint genin mission between Konoha and Uzushio went wrong. But wait, if he remembered correctly, genin should be able to ask for C-ranks too.

"Iruka-sensei, can't we have a C-rank instead?" Naruto asked, unconsciously pouting and looking up at Iruka with watery puppy-dog eyes.

"Okay," Iruka agreed almost automatically before instantly regretting what he just said. "Wait, I don't think you're ready for-" he hurriedly tried to deny the request but Kakashi cut him off.

"We'll take a C-rank, Iruka. They're ready for it." Kakashi's tone held no room for any arguments. Iruka closely studied Kakashi's expression, his doubts halted by Kakashi's unusually serious tone. He noticed the pride Kakashi held for his team in his eyes.

"If you're sure…" he said warily. Hiruzen watched this display, bemused. He knew how hard it must be for Iruka to see that Naruto was finally growing up. He made up his mind to send Team 7 on a C-rank mission. Now which one looks good? Trailing his finger down the list, he spotted one that was perfect for them. And it's near Whirlpool too… Wasn't Naruto asking to go there?

"It's settled then." Hiruzen announced, getting excited. "Team 7, you will have an escort mission to Wave. After which, you will stop by the Land of Whirlpool to search for any hidden artefacts. Do you accept your mission?" He winked at Naruto who smiled at him cheerily.

"We accept our mission," Kakashi's voice rang out in the empty mission room.

"Awesome! Thanks, Jiji!" Naruto bounced excitedly. He couldn't believe he was finally getting to see where his ancestors used to live and that he was also getting a C-rank mission! So cool! I need to get Jiji a thank you present! Hmmm…Maybe I should prank those councilmen for him? His eyes glinted deviously as Danzo shivered, suddenly sensing something bad going to happen to him soon.

Sasuke's lips twitched upwards at the thought of finally getting a C-rank mission. Soon I'll be able to take even higher missions until the day I will be strong enough to finally face you…

Sakura squealed inwardly as she noticed Sasuke faintly smiling at her. She started to daydream about the future. We're going on a trip together! And then Sasuke will have to notice me, and then he'll fall in love with me, and we'll get married happily for ever after. Hah! Take that Ino-pig! She smiled lost in her thoughts. If only Naruto wasn't coming with us. She sighed. Oh well, at least it's not another stupid D-rank!

Kakashi eye-smiled at his genin, fondly guessing what they were thinking about. Pranks, revenge, and boys… They haven't changed much from their introductions. I better remind them about what to bring for the mission. Knowing Sakura, she'll pack only her red dresses. And Sasuke will follow the academy guidelines strictly, but he'll probably not pack enough stuff, while Naruto will definitely pack too much stuff, especially with those storage seals he has now…

With each of Team 7 lost in their thoughts, they almost missed Tazuna's big entrance. "Here's your client! He's a bridge builder from the Land of Wave and you four will be protecting him from bandits on the road."

"This is my protection? An old man and his three stooges? Especially the shortest one with a stupid-looking face. Are you sure you're a ninja?" Naruto just stayed quiet. Normally he would yell back, but he was used to people insulting him. It was better being underestimated. Wasn't that what being a ninja was about? Besides, he was way too excited about the C-rank to care about any of the old drunk man's insults. The drunkard just huffed, seeing he couldn't get a rise out of the blonde, while Sasuke and Sakura didn't even notice Naruto was insulted.

Kakashi was about to open his mouth and say that no, he was not an old man, thank you very much, when Tazuna insulted Naruto. He waited for Naruto to blow up, but noticed that Naruto didn't say anything. It's almost as if he expects to be insulted by people and is now just resigned to it… "Now, that's not very nice Tazuna-san. You shouldn't provoke your protectors." He smiled widely until his eyes were near slits. "Otherwise, something bad might happen…" There that should be enough to scare him off of Naruto…

Tazuna shuddered slightly and held his hands up in surrender. Kakashi smiled again, satisfied and looked back to his genin. Sasuke and Sakura didn't seem to notice that anything was wrong. Naruto, on the other hand, was staring at Kakashi, shocked. He still couldn't believe that people stood up for him, although it was getting more and more common every day since he made friends with the other genin. He smiled at Kakashi who gave him a small thumbs-up. "Alright, my cute little genin. Go pack up your stuff and we'll meet by the village entrance in an hour. Don't be late!" The three genin sweat-dropped when they heard Kakashi's last sentence. As if you should be saying that! They thought simultaneously. Kakashi then shunshined away to pack his own stuff.

Sasuke and Sakura both headed to their own houses to pack, while Naruto stayed behind. He already had all his stuff on him thanks to his seals, so he didn't need to go pack. He walked up the spiral staircases to the Konoha Aviary and entered the circular building. Two Chunin were at the desk. One had short shaggy hair tucked into a cap letting his bangs fall in front of one eye, while the other had spiky hair tied back underneath his forehead protector and a beard.

"Welcome to the Konoha Aviary, for all your fast-paced messenger needs when the Konohagakure Central Post Office can't help you," the spiky-haired Chunin manning the store said. "Please head over to the civilian side to mail your letter, these birds are exclusively for Konoha's ninja use." He explained and pointed to the opposite corner where the ninja with bangs stood. Naruto walked over to the corner and scrutinized the birds, searching for one that looked like it could travel long distances. He finally settled on a large homing pigeon that was preening its feathers. "So, this bird will be able to reach anyone anywhere and if they can't be found, then they'll drop off the letter back at your home if you buy a two-way message bird?"

"Yup, these birds from the Land of Keys are known to be untraceable, so they're great for ninja! They always find whoever the letter's for, but you should buy two-way so the other person can write letter back and you'll be able to get it quickly," the bearded ninja explained as he cleaned out the bird bath.

"What if they don't write back?" Naruto fretted as he stroked the pigeon he picked out. It let out a small Coo and nuzzled him soothingly.

The Chunin with bangs let out a whistle, "Wow! That bird really likes you! First time I've seen it snuggle up to someone like that. Hey, Kotetsu, check it out!"

"What Izumo? Woah, that bird really likes you!" the spiky-haired Kotetsu exclaimed in shock as the bird started preening the blonde's hair. Naruto lightly blushed and shifted a little.

Izumo then continued his explanation, "If person it delivers to doesn't write a letter back, then the bird will come back in three days after delivery and let you send another letter." The bird puffed out its chest and cooed.

"Say, do you sell these birds?" Naruto asked hopefully. The bird was starting to grow on him and he'd always wanted a companion other than his plants. And if I had a pet, the apartment wouldn't feel as lonely…

"Sorry, kid. But, nope. If you wanted to send mail unlimitedly, you'd need to buy a monthly or yearly subscription or get a summon," Kotetsu answered as he fiddled with the cash register on the desk. The pigeon ducked its head and crooned sadly.

"A summon? What're those?" Naruto asked after patting the pigeon comfortingly.

"Hmm? There's actually someone in this village that doesn't know about summons?" Izumo raised an eyebrow at Naruto and almost dropped his towel in shock.

"Shut up! I just…didn't pay attention in school much," Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head as the pigeon playfully pecked his fingers.

Kotetsu chuckled, "Well, summons are clans of intelligent animals that live in a special world separate from our own. They're sort of like the Inuzuka's companions, except they're stronger, smarter, and can talk."

"Woah!" Naruto said with wide-eyes. The pigeon bit one of the blonde's fingers jealously. "Don't worry, you're still awesome," Naruto assured the pigeon who cooed happily again before turning back to listen to Kotetsu's explanation.

"Yeah! And the boss summons are really good fighters! But not everyone has them because they take too much chakra to maintain," he explained.

"Where can I get one of them?" Naruto wondered. It sounded like a friend he could have at all times as long as he had enough chakra and he had a lot of chakra.

"Well, unless you find a contract somewhere, you're out of luck. Usually clans have a summons. Like the Uchiha have crows, the Aburame have giant insects, the Sarutobi have monkeys, the Hatake have dogs, the Shimura are rumored to have Baku, and Maito Gai has Tortoises. And there's also the Densetsu no Sannin," Kotetsu elaborated, stroking his beard.

"Wow, Kakashi-sensei has a summon! So cool! Who're the dense seeing three ninjas?" Naruto asked as he wondered if his clan also had summons.

"It's the Densetsu no Sannin and wait what! You seriously don't know them? They're famous in Konoha…" Izumo exclaimed.

"Hah, more like infamous…" Kotetsu snorted and interrupted him.

Izumo continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted, "There's Jiraiya who has toads and loves hot springs and then there's the beautiful Tsunade Senju who has slugs and is a famous healer. They both are traveling around the world right now. And the last one is a traitor to the village. He did experiments on children and was caught by the Third! But he couldn't kill his student, so he banished Orochimaru instead. But his ex-student who lives in the village still uses his snake summons to this very day. Although Orochimaru marked her with his seal, she remained loyal to the village."

So, she has summons too? "Wow, you sure know a lot!" Naruto looked at Izumo with wide eyes making Izumo blush.

Kotetsu laughed "Hahaha! Yup, he sure does! Not bad for a couple of Chunin, huh? So, kid, you buying anything today?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! I'll take the two-way trip for a month," Naruto said as he continued petting the bird.

"Alright, it'll be 15,000 ryo," Kotetsu tallied up and secretly winked at Izumo to not let Naruto know he was getting a discount. Izumo faintly smiled and helplessly shook his head at his partner's antics.

"Here you go." Naruto passed over the money. He then fished out a letter from his pocket seal and gave it to the bird. The pigeon nipped playfully at Naruto's fingers and cooed at him before finally flying out the window.

"Pleasure doing business with you," Izumo called out as Naruto left the aviary. Naruto waved goodbye and walked down the spiral staircase. It's almost time for us to meet. I better head to the entrance! He thought and sprinted towards the entrance.

---

"Huff-I-huff-made it!" Naruto breathed heavily as he laid sprawled on the grass near the village's entrance. Sasuke just rolled his eyes at the typical Naruto-like display.

Sakura had a vein throbbing on her large forehead as she berated the blonde, "Naruto-baka! You were almost late! And you don't even have a backpack!"

Naruto just waved his hand from his position on the ground, "Don't worry, it'll be fine."

"Dobe, where's your stuff? We didn't pack extras for you," Sasuke raised a brow at Naruto.

"I already have everything I need in my pocket seals, Teme," Naruto answered lazily as he stretched out on the grass.

"Oh ho? Looks like you're putting that book I gave you on seals to good use," Kakashi materialized in front of the entrance.

"Yeah I've already gotten to chapter 6-2!" Naruto chirped and stood up, brushing the dirt off of him.

"Well I've gotten to chapter 12 of the book on healing you gave me, Kakashi-sensei. And I bet Sasuke read even further in his genjutsu book than I did, didn't you, Sasuke?" Sakura asked expectantly.

Noticing the others watching him, Sasuke smirked and answered, "Hnn, 38."

"Nice job kiddos!" Kakashi eye-smiled and patted Sakura's and Naruto's heads. Sakura growled and grumbled about how he ruined her hair, while the blonde just leaned into his touch happily, almost purring in contentment. Maa, looks like Naruto is the farthest even though his is the hardest as the other two only have beginner level books. To already be on chapter 62, and still not notice! He shook his head in disbelief. He's really something... Sensei would be proud. A loud yelp startled him out of his thoughts. Kakashi looked up to see Tazuna topple onto the pathway. Revenge is sweet! That's what you get for mocking my genin. Kakashi's eyes glinted a little and Tazuna shuddered, wondering where the cold draft following him around was coming from. "Time to go to Wave!"

"Woohoo! It's my first time outside the village!" Naruto energetically shouted as he bounded along the path outside the village.

"He-y! Wait up for us!" Sakura shouted and grabbed Sasuke and dragged him along to chase after Naruto.

"Oh, to be young and energetic," Kakashi said as he faked wiping a tear away before shuddering. That felt a tad too much like Gai to be safe… or healthy…

"I guess we should catch up," Tazuna hesitantly added, still wary of Kakashi after he threatened him for insulting the blonde genin.

"Yes, I guess we should," Kakashi echoed Tazuna and moved towards him. The bridge builder tensed up as the jounin stalked him until he hit the back of a tree.

"W-Wait! What're you-" he shrieked as Kakashi swung him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and took of sprinting in the direction the genin went.

---

"You don't have to carry me anymore, I can walk," Tazuna pointed out again in vain.

"No, that's okay, I like carrying you, it's faster," Kakashi eye-smiled. And it's uncomfortable for you, which is even better. That'll teach you to insult my genin. Kakashi was still nursing a small grudge against Tazuna. The bridge builder sweat-dropped at the jounin's overly casual response. "Actually, you know what? I think you should walk," he dropped Tazuna on the ground as he narrowed his eyes at a puddle in the middle of the pathway.

"Oww…" Tazuna groaned.

"Hey, you okay, Mister?" Naruto asked. He might not have liked Tazuna in the beginning because of his insults towards him and the fact he smelled a little too much like the drunkards at Shushu-ya, but now all he felt was pity towards the man. Having to hang for three hours upside-down over Kakashi-sensei's shoulders must've sucked. He could relate, being tied to that pole for three days was no walk in the park either…

"Yea 'm kay," he slurred unsteadily.

"Maybe you should sit down somewhere…" Sakura suggested worriedly. This trip wasn't anything like she expected. She never got any alone time with Sasuke and the client was always hanging over Kakashi-sensei's shoulder and the bugs were everywhere and her feet hurt from walking so much that she had to change shoes half-way through the trip and hair was a disaster! There were leaves and mud and sticks stuck in it from Kakashi-sensei's torture-training sessions of hiding in plain sight. She kicked a rock. This sucks…

Sasuke grunted, agreeing that Tazuna should take a break. Sakura immediately brightened up when she heard Sasuke approved of her idea. Cha! True love prevails! Her eyes morphed into hearts. Sasuke noticed and shuddered.

"You know, Ino's and Hinata's eyes do the same thing too. Do you think they learned how to do it in the all-girls flower training classes back at the academy?" He whispered under his breath to Sasuke. The raven-haired genin peeled his eyes away from Sakura's heart-shaped ones and nodded stiffly to Naruto. Maybe I should send some shadow clones to join the girls class and see what they actually learn about. Naruto contemplated and mentally commanded a few shadow clones to join the class.

The genin stopped right in front of the puddle in the middle of the road and sat down. Kakashi's one good eye twitched. Did they not notice anything wrong with this picture?

"It's so hot!" Sakura complained.

"Yeah, it hasn't rained in days," Kakashi pointed out on the slim hope that they would catch on.

"I wish we could take a dip in a pool. The only water I see is that puddle over there," Naruto pointed at the puddle.

"It's strange how it hasn't evaporated yet, right?" Kakashi pointed out the puddle again. Sasuke grunted as a reply. They still haven't noticed yet, have they? Kakashi sweat-dropped. Maybe I need to be more direct. They are only genin after all. "Doesn't that puddle seem suspicious?" He bluntly asked his genin and walked towards the puddle, only to be wrapped in chains and ripped apart!

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cried out and jumped to his feet. Sakura, alarmed by his scream, took a defensive position in front of Tazuna who blinked blearily at the two missing-nin that popped out of the puddle. Sasuke crouched low and counter-attacked while Naruto stood there frozen. Kakashi-sensei's…dead? He thought numbly and felt his chakra rile up. He shot forward and attacked the other missing-nin in a frenzy, barely noticing when a claw nicked him. Sasuke had already finished tying up the other, when Naruto's ninja suddenly changed directions and aimed an attack at Sasuke's unprotected back. "Sasuke! Look out!" Naruto yelled and dashed towards him as he turned around. I'm not going to make it. It's too far! Naruto thought desperately, almost giving up hope, when Kakashi-sensei landed directly on top of the other ninja and flattened him.

"Kawarimi?" Sasuke asked calmly, as if he wasn't almost killed. Kakashi just nodded in reply.

"Now let's see why Tazuna has ninja after him," Kakashi said with a homicidal glint in his eyes. How dare they try to hurt MY little genin!

Naruto eyes widened as he took in the sight of Kakashi in front of him still alive and breathing, not ripped into a bunch of messy chunky pieces like he had thought before. Alive. Kakashi-sensei's okay. The tension drained from his shoulders and the blonde moved closer to Kakashi to reassure himself that his sensei still remained in the land of the living.

"Naruto! You got hurt," Sakura noticed that his hand was sluggishly bleeding.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, not really listening.

Kakashi squinted and analyzed the wound, "It looks like it was made by a poisoned blade."

"We need to go back and get some medicine," Sakura spoke up.

Sasuke nodded. Although this was his first C-rank, and his teammates annoyed him, he still didn't really want them to die. It would be a pain to get used to new teammates… "Let's go back."

"What, no! This is nothing," Naruto insisted and stabbed the cut with a kunai to let the poison drain out. "Really, it's nothing compared to some of the other poisonings-I mean injuries I've had in the village. Really. Look, it's already stopped bleeding. Plus, I've got advanced healing," he explained. Kakashi nearly winced at the reminder of Naruto's terrible childhood. I really need to find out where they keep Naruto's medical files…

"Let me wrap it, just in case," Sakura asserted and Naruto relented when he saw the determined look in her eyes. Sasuke watched closely. He never knew Naruto had advanced healing. Then again, he didn't know much about either of his teammates. Maybe I should listen to them more… for intelligence gathering, not because I care about them. Intelligence gathering, yeah. He tried convincing himself.

"It looks like I was too tough on the prisoners," Kakashi's voice cut across the silence. Tazuna and the genin looked over to where Kakashi was interrogating the two ninjas. They were unconscious, spasming on the ground as white foam dribbled from their mouths. What did he do to them? They thought in horrified awe. "Tazuna, mind telling us why you have the B-ranked Demon Brothers from Mist after you?" he glared at Tazuna who gulped.

"Well…You see…Ok fine!" he stopped dragging out the explanation after Kakashi glared at him harder. "There's this midget named Gato who's trying to kill me because I'm building a bridge!" Team 7 just looked at Tazuna confused. What? "But, you don't need to protect me or my cute daughter or little grandson. Gato will probably attack, but we'll be fine. He'll just kill all of us and Wave, but we don't really need your help," he continued his monologue, guilting the genin of Team 7 into protecting him.

"Gato of Gato shipping corps, huh?" Kakashi muttered. He could probably still handle this mission. It was probably a B-rank, an A-rank at most. "I guess we have no choice," Kakashi announced while his genin looked at him anxiously, wanting to continue on with the mission. "Except to take the mission!" he exclaimed loudly. While the genin cheered, he leaned down to whisper into Tazuna's ear, "But if you ever lie to me about anything that could hurt my genin again, I will make you disappear, understand?" Tazuna dryly swallowed and shakily nodded. "Good. Konoha will send out a delegation to discuss the payment once the mission is completed." He eye-smiled at Tazuna who just sweat-dropped at Kakashi's sudden mood-swing.

Kakashi dismissed Tazuna from his mind and thought about what he had to do next. Let's summon Pakkun for now and let the Hokage know about the change in plans. Kakashi quickly made a few hand signs and summoned Pakkun.

"Wow! Is that one of your summons, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked curiously.

"You got that right, pup!" Pakkun answered for Kakashi. "Yo, Scarecrow, I'll deliver that letter to the Hokage and then guard the prisoners. Sound, good?"

"Yeah, that sounds good, Pakkun. Let me know what the Hokage says, kay?" Kakashi lazily responded.

"Will do!" Pakkun barked affirmatively.

"Sensei, what are summons?" Sakura inquired, shocked that Naruto knew something she didn't. Sasuke also turned towards Kakashi, interested in his answer.

"Hmm? You didn't learn about them in the academy? Why don't I let Naruto explain?" he said and gently pushed Naruto forward.

Naruto's cheeks reddened slightly. Sakura and Sasuke stared at their teammate, intrigued by the new color he turned. "Summons are sort of like the companions the Inuzuka use, except they're smarter and stronger and live in a different world! They can also talk!"

"What do you mean they live in a different world? That's impossible?" Sakura frowned and crossed her arms. Sasuke listened to their conversation intently.

"It's hard to explain. It's not exactly a different world, but more like a different plane of existence. It's sort of like when you seal something in a storage seal. You can't feel the stuff anymore because it's in a different place. Summons are like that too, they also live in a different place," Naruto tried to explain. Sakura just stared at Naruto in disbelief. Since when did Naruto-baka become smart? I guess I can't call him a baka anymore…" Sasuke was also surprised by his rival's intelligence. I guess there's more to you after all.

---

The group continued on their way down the path, taking a boat across a river and kept walking until they reached a small area to rest in. "What's wrong, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, noticing his blonde student tense up a little.

"It's weird, I feel like something is watching us from over there," he gestured to the forest. "And before we came here, I made a seal to detect killing intent so we wouldn't be ambushed again, and it's warning me that something's over there."

Kakashi was impressed Naruto detected the enemy before he did. My cute students are growing up so fast! He teared-up mentally while he outwardly issued out a command, "Get down!" He then harshly shoved Tazuna down and lightly swept Naruto towards the ground as Sasuke tackled Sakura out of the way. A huge broadsword embedded itself in the trees behind them at the same level their heads used to be.

"I guess that wasn't enough to get rid of Sharingan Kakashi, huh?" a shirtless man said from on top of the sword. His wore long waisted pants and had bandages covering his face. He would look foreboding if it weren't for the cow print leg and arm warmers…

"Sharingan?" Sakura wondered aloud.

"Zabuza Momochi, one of Mist's Seven Swordsmen and a known expert in silent killing," Kakashi summarized as Sasuke eyed him in suspicion, searching for his hidden Sharingan.

"Oh?" Zabuza raised one of his shaved eyebrows. "You've heard of me? Then this should make things easy, hand over the man and no one gets hurt." He grinned, showing off a set of pointed teeth.

"What do you think, kids? Should we hand Tazuna over?" Kakashi asked half-serious as he surveyed the perimeter. Seems like it's only him. There's a presence further out, but it doesn't have any killer intent so it's probably not another ninja.

"Kakashi-sensei We can't!" Naruto protested. Although Tazuna was a cranky old man, he'd grown on Naruto in the short time they'd known each other. It also helped that Tazuna hadn't insulted him once since he got to know him even more. By his estimates, that made him nicer than 90% of the people back in the village! And his family is counting on us! We can't just leave Wave alone! Sakura nodded her head as Sasuke merely grunted his approval.

"Looks like your out of luck, Zabuza. My genin seem to really like our client, so I can't let you kill him," Kakashi started plotting out the easiest way to take down Zabuza.

"Yes, it seems I have to kill your genin before getting to him," Zabuza agreed and made a Mizu Bunshin to deal with the genin. Kakashi discarded his plans and started thinking of the most painful way to kill Zabuza. How dare he go after MY genin!

As if feeling the increase in difficulty, Zabuza tensed up but then relaxed when he remembered Haku waiting in the forest if anything went wrong. He then ducked down as flaming bullet shot past him.

Kakashi wasn't holding back at all. He shot two more fire bullets at Zabuza and quickly made the hand sign for a Kage Bunshin. He sent one to help out his genin and commanded the other to hide in the bushes using Naruto's modified fire-erasing technique to see how the situation panned out. He then uncovered his Sharingan. Man, this is going to drain a lot of chakra. He shot over the burning embers in front of him and set out to confront Zabuza.

---

In the meantime, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were protecting Tazuna from Zabuza's shadow clone. "I'll set up a seal array to protect Tazuna. Give me five minutes and I'll have it up!" Naruto yelled out and immediately unsealed his supplies. Sasuke didn't bother answering and rushed at Zabuza's clone.

"You think a mere genin's sealing array could keep me out?" the Mizu Bunshin mocked before catching ahold of Sasuke's fist and sending him crashing into a tree.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out as Sasuke struggled to stand up. The clone was about to finish Sasuke off when Sakura stepped in front of his path.

"What do you think you can do?" it sneered at Sakura's trembling form. Sakura tried to stop shaking and stand up straight. He's going to kill me! But…I can't step down now, Sasuke needs me! ...and Naruto does too! I can't let him kill my teammates. I might not be able to fight, but that doesn't mean I can't stall! "As if you can hurt me! You're just a little girl playing ninja, and you're not even pretty with that big forehead and flat chest."

Inner Sakura reared up its head after hearing the Mizu Bunshin's insults. YOU'RE GOING DOWN! No one insults me and gets away with it, "I AM NOT WEAK, SHANNARO!" Sakura eyes glinted murderously as she channeled all her strength to her fist and struck the clone. It flew across the clearing narrowly missing Sasuke who's eyes widened at the sudden strength Sakura had shown. He quickly followed up Sakura's attack and shot a flame at the flying Mizu Bunshin. Sakura quickly descended upon the clone and let loose with another series of punches. "My forehead isn't big and I'm still growing. I'm also an amazing ninja, you cow-printed pervert!" she pounded each statement into the clone's head before collapsing on the ground, breathing heavily. Sasuke also stopped attacking, noticing the clone wasn't moving. So, she's not totally useless in a fight after all… He thought as he looked at his teammate in a new light. He shuddered when he noticed that Sakura's eyes were still glinting maniacally. Maybe, that female training class really does teach secret eye techniques…

"Pay attention!" a voice barked across the clearing as Kakashi's Kage Bunshin stood over Sasuke and Sakura blocking the sneak attack the Mizu Bunshin performed. "Never think a fight is over until you destroy the body," he cautioned as he protected the genin. The Mizu Bunshin growled and attacked once more, this time actually managing to pop Kakashi's clone by aiming an attack at Sakura but switching to Naruto at the last second. Sakura and Sasuke tried to fight against the clone, but they were already tired out from their last fight.

"Are you almost done, Naruto? We could really use your help any time now!" Sakura gritted her teeth together and attempted to cast a genjutsu on the clone. The Mizu Bunshin easily released the genjutsu and aimed a water bullet at Sasuke.

"I'm almost done! Give me thirty seconds!" Naruto yelled out as he drew the finishing touches on the array and quickly began running through a series of hand signs.

"Feel free to join us any time now, Dobe!" Sasuke panted as he avoided the water bullet and threw a few shuriken at the clone.

"…Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Snake, Uzumaki Kekkaimon Gofūjutsu: Hachimon Heijō!" Naruto finally finished the barrier seal to protect Tazuna, who goggled at the four large gates that rose up out of the ground. Naruto dashed over to where Sakura and Sasuke were fighting with the Mizu Bunshin and aimed at kick at the clone. "Uzumaki Naruto has finally arrived!"

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted out as she regrouped with them in a Manji formation, blocking the Mizu Bunshin from Tazuna. "Let's have two people attack at the same time but switch out after an attack," she suggested. "Both Sasuke and I are tired from fighting, but since you're fresh, you'll be able to fight more."

"Sounds good," Naruto agreed outwardly. But I don't know how long I can fight for, that barrier really took a lot out of me. Naruto instantly made 30 Kage Bunshin and had two of them disguise themselves as part of the floor using his secret erasing presence technique. "Let's rumble!" he shouted, distracting the clone and allowing Sasuke to shoot a fire ball at its side. The Zabuza-look alike simply dodged and aimed an ice spear at Naruto as Sakura switched positions with Sasuke. Naruto leaned to the side to avoid the spear and stuck his tongue out at the Mizu Bunshin. "Hahaha! You're aim sucks!" Naruto insulted the clone as he dodged.

"What if I wasn't aiming for you?" the clone smirked with its shark teeth at the genin who saw the spear flying at the barrier.

"Dammit!" Sasuke cursed before taking off after the spear.

"Don't bother!" Naruto said as he stopped Sasuke. "There's no way you're going to make it in time and it's not going to be able to do anything to the barrier anyways."

"I used 80% of my remaining strength on that spear! Still think a flimsy barrier is going to withstand its attack?" the clone sneered at the genin. The spear flew in an arc and stabbed straight into the barrier appearing to penetrate before it was engulfed in flames.

"Ha! Take that! Nothing can penetrate my Uzumaki barrier!" Naruto bragged as the Mizu Bunshin stared in disbelief.

"But that's impossible! It should've been able to go through, I used almost all my remaining strength!" the clone couldn't believe that a genin's barrier had stopped one of its most powerful attacks.

"Believe it!" Naruto shouted as his two hidden clones burst from the ground and aimed two kicks at the Mizu Bunshin, sending it flying towards a tree where it crumpled on the floor. As the Bunshin laid on the ground, Sakura slowly crept up and stabbed down with a kunai.

"Take this!" she screamed and plunged the kunai into the clone's chest. It burst into water, soaking everyone in the clearing (except Tazuna who was still in the barrier). Sakura flipped her wet hair out of her face and put her hand on her hip. "That's what you get for insulting a beautiful ninja!" she nodded in satisfaction and then joined Naruto and Sasuke. "We should get going to where Kakashi-sensei is." The other two genin nodded and they took off towards where they last saw Kakashi and Zabuza fighting.

---

Kakashi stiffened as he felt his clone burst after it protected his genin from a sneak attack. Both Kakashi and Zabuza jumped backwards after their last attacks. "That clone…It's not a normal one, is it?" Kakashi asked, suspicious. There's no way a clone could launch a sneak attack after taking that much damage!

"No," Zabuza agreed with a smirk. "It isn't. But you aren't going to live long enough to find out!" Kakashi raced forwards and stabbed at Zabuza who then broke into a puddle of water. "Tricked you!" Zabuza chortled as he slashed through Kakashi who then also burst into water.

"No, fooled you!" Kakashi said as he held a kunai to Zabuza's throat. "It's over!" he announced about to slit Zabuza's throat when he heard the bushes rumble.

"Kakashi-sensei! We're here to help!" Naruto's voice came out clearly.

"Naruto! What're you guys doing here?" Kakashi asked in surprise, slightly loosening his grip on his prisoner. Zabuza took this moment to sneakily substitute with a clone waiting behind him.

"Sensei we came for you! We just finished fighting with that cow pervert's clone!" Sakura agreed. Kakashi blinked at this new nickname wondering what had got Sakura so riled up.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at the situation and smirked, "Looks like you've already got this covered, huh, Sensei?"

"Guessed wrong genin!" Zabuza's voice rang out as he trapped Kakashi from behind allowing the 'prisoner' Kakashi was holding turn back into a pool of water. "Thanks to your distraction, I was able to free myself," he continued.

"Sensei!" Naruto and Sakura cried out as Sasuke's grip tightened on his weapons, preparing to fight Zabuza.

"We fought your clone and won. We're not afraid of you," Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Zabuza.

"You fought my clone and barely won with all three of you? Then you should be scared because that Mizu Bunshin only had 10% of my capabilities! I didn't get named Demon of the Mist for nothing!" Zabuza ridiculed.

"Run! Leave me behind and protect Tazuna!" Kakashi yelled out from the water bubble prison. "Zabuza is on a whole another level compared to you three!" Zabuza aimed his killing intent at the genin, laughing as he saw them shiver.

I'm going to die here today. The killing intent is too strong, I need to… I need… Sasuke thought as he brought up a kunai towards his neck. I need to die! He was about to stab down when Naruto slapped the kunai out of his hands.

"Stop it! What're you guys getting scared of? We just need to free Kakashi-sensei and then we can kick his ass!" He pointed an accusing finger at Zabuza, "And anyways, I've got a real demon inside of me that's way scarier than you are!" Sasuke snapped out of his trance and shook his head. What was he thinking, trying to kill himself? He still had a clan to avenge and repopulate! And it took Naruto, of all people, to snap me out of it! Sakura stopped shivering and stood tall again. As if I'm going to let this cow-pervert scare me! Her inner voice roared.

"Yeah! I'm not scared of you, you cow-pervert with no eyebrows!" Sakura screamed at Zabuza who growled. His eyebrows were a sensitive thing to him. Ever since an accident with a fire jutsu singed them, they had stopped growing. The pink-haired banshee just had to point out his one sore spot… And there was nothing wrong with his cow-print leg and arm warmers! In fact, he thought they were very fashionable. Haku even said they looked very manly on me! I don't look like a cow-pervert! Even though Haku has questionable tastes, he still looks really good…No! I'm not opening that door! Not going there!

The genin, heedless to Zabuza's inner struggles, immediately came up with a plan to free their sensei. "You know what to do right?" Naruto asked as he passed a Fuma Shuriken to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded and smirked, "Leave it to me." Naruto nodded and Sakura rubbed her palms together.

"Let's get this show on the road!" she said and healed a few of the cuts and scratches Sasuke had. That's weird. Naruto doesn't have any bruises, I'm sure I saw him get hit with at least one technique-oh wait, he has that advanced healing thing…

"Oi, Brow-less!" Sasuke called out. "Take this!" he yelled and threw the Fuma Shuriken at Zabuza who easily plucked it out of the air.

"You think that was enough to stop me?" he tried to scoff but was cut off and forced to jump instead when he saw the hidden second Fuma Shuriken hidden in the shadow of the first one. These genin are interesting… "Still not enough!" he said, slightly impressed that three genin could push him so far.

"That's what you think! Now!" Sakura shouted and the Fuma Shuriken turned into Naruto who then threw a kunai at Zabuza.

"Damnit!" Zabuza cursed as he was forced to let go of Kakashi.

"Hahaha, how was our plan, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto laughed as he landed on top of the water. Phew, it worked. Now Kakashi-sensei's free! He noticed then that he was standing in the middle of the water. It's a good thing Shika told me about water walking, otherwise I'd be a sitting duck!

"Nice teamwork, guys! I'm glad those lessons are finally working out for you," Kakashi smiled at his genin who slightly shivered remembering their daily torture-training teamwork sessions. "Maybe I'll cut down on them from now on," Kakashi suggested and all three of the genin perked up at the thought of less sessions. Still, that was a good plan. I'm so proud of them! Especially Naruto. He came up with the plan, and since when could he water walk? Looks like I need to advance their training more… He straightened up and turned towards Zabuza. "I won't fall for the same trick twice!" he announced and sent three water dragons flying at Zabuza who retaliated with three of his own. They stared each other down as the attacks subsided. Strange it's almost like… "He's reading my thoughts?" Kakashi spoke aloud and copied Zabuza's movements. What? Damn! Did he read my mind? That- "Freaky eye is pissing me off! Right?" Kakashi copied, shocking Zabuza.

"Heh, all you're doing is copying me!" Zabuza began.

"You can't beat me monkey bastard!" Both jounin shouted out at the same time. Zabuza controlled his growing apprehension. That's…me? He wondered noticing Kakashi's form morphing to match his own. It can't be, a genjutsu? Both ninja activated the same jutsu at each other, "Water Explosion no Jutsu!" A huge wave of water descended upon both jounin, No way! I can't keep up, he's pushing me back! Kakashi knocked Zabuza back and pinned him to a tree.

"Can you see the future?" Zabuza had to ask.

"Yes," Kakashi calmly answered. "And the future ends in your death!" He moved towards Zabuza to land the final blow. That's what you get for trying to kill my cute little genin…And trying to ruin our mission. Two needles shot across the clearing and stabbed into Zabuza's neck.

"Hehe… You're right! He's dead~" a masked ninja spoke. Kakashi checked for Zabuza's pulse but couldn't find one. He's dead… "Thank you for stopping Zabuza! I've been trying to kill him for a long time."

"That mask… You're a Hidden Mist Hunter-nin, right?" Kakashi asked while Sasuke and Sakura couldn't believe their eyes. That ninja, he's younger than us and was easily able to kill Zabuza? Sasuke clenched his fists. I need to become even stronger than him to kill my brother. While Sakura was just shocked that someone so small could easily kill off Zabuza, someone their sensei even had trouble fighting! Naruto, on the other hand, was deep in thought. That presence…This man, he feels familiar. And he used ice as a weapon…just like the shadow clone…

"Impressive, you're correct. But, I should expect nothing less from Sharingan Kakashi. Yes, I am a member of the Hidden Mist Hunter-nin. My duty is to hunt down Missing-nin." Kakashi stroked his chin. Judging from his voice, he's not much older than Naruto and he was still able to become a Hunter-nin. This kid isn't normal…

Naruto was tired of thinking any longer and just burst out, "What the hell? Who are you!"

Kakashi answered, "Don't worry, Naruto. He's not an enemy."

"I wasn't asking that!" Naruto was slightly mollified by Kakashi's reassurance that the Hunter-nin wasn't an enemy. "That- Zabuza, a guy that strong, was killed!" Why would he kill him if he was pretending to be him? Was he luring him out by being him or something? Like when I pranked Iruka-sensei by imitating him and saying weird things to people to get him in trouble? But how would that work? I don't get it… While Naruto was confused by the Hunter-nin's actions, Sasuke continued what Naruto was saying in a different direction.

"He's right! That Hunter-nin is the same age as us but was easily able to take down Zabuza! A guy that strong was killed by a kid! How can I understand that?" Sasuke echoed. He was able to get that powerful at the same age as me. Is my training not enough?

Sasuke… Sakura thought in concern.

"Well. I know how you feel but… This is also the truth. In this world, there exists kids that are younger than you…yet stronger than me," Kakashi finished. Sasuke looked away. Naruto just frowned. No, that still doesn't answer my questions, though…

Sakura tightened her bruised fists. Don't worry, Sasuke. I'll get stronger, way stronger. And then I'll be able to protect you, Sensei, and even Naruto. I'll get strong enough to protect my team too so I don't have to be protected anymore! She vowed.

"Your battle is over now, so I'll dispose of this body. It has a lot of secrets~" the Hunter-nin concluded and vanished with the body, only leaving a few droplets behind.

"He's gone!" Naruto exclaimed. And I didn't get to ask why he was mimicking Zabuza…

Kakashi sighed as he looked around and made sure there were no other foreign presences in their near vicinity. "Haaaa… Now we have to take Tazuna home. Luckily I made a clone before this because I'm on low reserves and can barely move." Kakashi's clone jumped out of the bush it was hidden in and piggy-backed Kakashi. "So, where did you leave Tazuna?"

"Over here, Sensei!" Sakura lead the group to where the barrier was.

---

Back in the forest, the masked ninja laid Zabuza's body on the ground. He took out a sharp tool and walked to the body. "Now, I need to make an incision to drain out the blood." He reached towards Zabuza's neck when a hand reached out and caught his wrist. "Oh, you've come back to life already? That's too bad. I was looking forward to helping you," he smiled and shook his hand free.

"No need," Zabuza refused and ripped the senbon free from his neck. "You're too rough with me," he complained. "Couldn't you have aimed for somewhere other than my neck?"

"But then I could have scarred your beautiful body," Haku pouted before continuing. "And the neck is the easiest place to fake your death. But you're getting rusty if a group of genin and a jounin-sensei was able to defeat you."

"They caught me by surprise," he refuted. "It won't happen again!" He scowled and then thought of something and smirked. "Anyways, it looks like you couldn't hold yourself back. Did you have fun playing with the baby genin when you pretended to be my Mizu Bunshin?"

"Don't be jealous, Zabuza-sama, I don't want to play with anyone but you," Haku earnestly proclaimed as Zabuza choked. "Careful, don't aggravate your wound," Haku scolded gently.

"It's because you say things like that kid, I worry about you…" Zabuza muttered under his breath as he shook his head.

"You'll be all healed in one week, what are you planning to do now, Zabuza-sama?" Haku asked, pretending to not have noticed Zabuza's mumblings.

"The plan is still on. Next time, I'll defeat the Sharingan!"

---

Meanwhile, Tazuna was pacing in the middle of the barrier. "I shouldn't have let those kids go without me. What can they do against that ninja. If only I could get out of this barrier!" He sighed and sat back on the ground. I hope they're alright. I shouldn't have concealed what the mission was about. I should've…Hey, what's that? He squinted and saw three figures coming out of the woods. Did they come back? Wait, what's that on their sensei's back? Is that… another sensei? He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. Am I seeing double or is it just the alcohol? But I didn't drink that much today… "Hey! Kids, you're back! And your sensei…your senseis are too!" I'll just pretend there were always two of them… Actually, this explains the mood swings! Convinced he was right, Tazuna ignored the sight of the two Kakashi and turned his attention back to the blonde genin. "I don't know what you did, but this thing is really hard to get out of, kid!"

Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "Thanks!"

"No, it wasn't really a compliment…" the bridge builder trailed off as he saw the two Kakashi approach.

"Hmm, is this an original seal, Naruto?" Kakashi's clone asked raising an eyebrow at Naruto.

"Nope, it's just a Modified Barrier Gate Five Seals Technique: Castle Closing Eight Gates! It's supposed to use a scroll to activate it, but I condensed the formula so I could put it up faster. I'm still only down to five minutes, though. With practice, I should be able to put it up in 15 seconds flat!" Naruto grinned and then pouted at the amount of practice it would take to achieve a feat.

Kakashi was impressed, "Wow! Keep up the good work, Naruto!" He noticed the intricate depictions of the four animal symbols of each direction on the gates. Only really advanced seal masters could invoke the four animal directional symbols in their sealing. He was impressed Naruto had even succeeded at his attempt. Amazing, I don't think even Sensei could do that. Even Kushina had trouble with this seal. He's already on his way to surpassing his parents. "Alright, lets head to Tazuna's place," Kakashi decided after Naruto took down the barrier, allowing the gates to collapse back into the ground. No sign of them to be seen anywhere.

"Okay, Sensei!" Sakura agreed as Sasuke followed her up the path. Tazuna shakily walked up the trail as Naruto offered to switch places with Kakashi's clone. It agreed and placed Kakashi on Naruto's path and headed further down the path to scout for any irregularities.

"We're only five minutes away from my place. I bet my daughter cooked us up some dinner and there's also a resting place for your senseis."

"What do you mean senseis? We only have one sensei," Sakura asked.

"But there are two of them…" Tazuna said confused.

"One's a shadow clone," Sasuke grunted out.

"A what?"

"A shadow clone is when…" Sakura started explaining the technique to Tazuna.

"Ano, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto began as Sakura continued her explanation.

"Yes, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, wondering what was on his student's mind.

"Why was the-" he was cut off by Tazuna's daughter Tsunami opening the door.

"Hello, you must be the ninja my dad hired. Thank you for protecting him and our town!" she said as she ushered them.

"No problem Tsunami-san," Sakura said as she walked inside. "Is there a place where our sensei can rest? He got too excited and tired himself out. He is an old man after all…"

"Hey! Don't call me an old man! I'm still in my prime!" Kakashi defended himself.

"You're old enough to get chakra exhaustion in a small fight, sensei," Sasuke deadpanned.

"Mou, my genin are calling me old! You don't think I'm old, right Naruto?" Kakashi asked Naruto who laid him on the bed.

"Yeah! Being in your 30s is nowhere near old compared to Jiji's age!" Naruto consoled him energetically.

Kakashi sulkily said, "…I'm only 26." Just because my hair is white doesn't mean I'm old! It's genetics, all genetics! Just like how Sakura has pink hair, I have-

"Sensei, why do I feel like you're insulting me in your mind?" Sakura asked sharply, sensing Kakashi talking about her.

"You must be imagining things," Kakashi eye-smiled at her and inwardly sweat-dropped. She has surprisingly sharp senses for someone who's supposed to be only book smart. Actually, speaking of surprises… "Naruto weren't you about to ask me something on our way here?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! I was going to ask why the Hunter-nin was pretending to be Zabuza's clone," Naruto asked as he slurped up the noodles Tsunami served them for dinner.

Kakashi stopped eating and narrowed his eyes, "The same person as the Mizu Bunshin?"

"Yeah, he had the same presence as that guy in the mask. Both of them were very calm and cold. I thought it was weird because both of them didn't give off any killing intent according the seal, so I figured they were the same person."

"What? No way they can be the same person, Naruto-ba…" Sakura was about to continue when she stopped. That's right, he's not an idiot anymore. And he hasn't once asked me out since this trip began… "The clone in the woods burst into water, remember Naruto?"

"It might have switched with the Mizu Bunshin to fight with us when it noticed Zabuza was in danger so it switched back with the clone to help in dealing with Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke inferred as he stirred his soup.

"No way! You said the Hunter-nin killed off Zabuza!" Tazuna disagreed and shook his chopsticks at them.

"I did think the Hunter-nin was strange. Body Disposal Teams usually get rid of the body right in front of us and if he needed evidence then he could've just taken the head. And those weapons he used…" Kakashi trailed off.

"No way!" Sasuke realized while Naruto just looked confused.

"He used senbon, which are traditionally used by medical ninja! I remember reading about them. He could've put Zabuza in a temporary death state, but that means it should take about a week for him to heal after that," Sakura shouted out.

"He could still be alive!" Naruto concluded shaking with excitement at the thought of fighting Zabuza again.

"How are we going to fight him with you hurt, sensei? We could barely take him down the first time and now he has a partner!" Sakura fretted as she pushed her food around her plate.

"Don't underestimate yourselves! Who got me free? You all three did with teamwork! And that's why I'm going to train you until I get better. We should be ready for the fight then."

"Training?" Sasuke asked interested, pushing his finished bowl away from him.

"Sounds like fun!" Naruto beamed at Kakashi-sensei.

"No, it doesn't," a short boy wearing a striped hat objected as he stepped into the room.

"Inari, meet Team 7, they are the ninja protecting your grandfather" Tsunami said as she came over with a tray in her hands.

"Mom, they're going to die," he bluntly stated.

"How do you know? Can you see the future?" Naruto asked confused.

"What? No, I-" he was cut off by Sakura.

"Well of course we are going to die, all humans do eventually," Sakura added conversationally. Sasuke just ignored the shorty. No way was he going to die before he avenged his clan.

"No! I mean Gato's going to kill you," he said heatedly, practically shouting, not liking how the ninjas were making light of Gato.

"Can Gato make water dragons?" Sakura asked.

"No, but he can-"

"Can he shoot fire bullets from his hands?" Sasuke contributed, noticing what his teammates were trying to do.

"Nope, but-"

"Is he trying to use the moon to revive a Rabbit Goddess Alien creature?" Naruto added.

"What?" Inari stopped protesting, confused by the direction the conversation just turned.

"Ignore him…But the point is, if Gato can't do any of these things, why would he be able to kill us? Isn't he just a civilian?" Sakura concluded.

"He has an army of thugs that'll beat you up and kill you!" Inari was yelling at this point. His face reddened with restrained anger.

"Well Naruto can make like a thousand solid clones, so we have our own army… And the thugs can't even do ninja techniques, so we'll probably be fine," Sasuke dismissively stated while wondering why he was getting involved in this conversation.

"You don't understand! You guys aren't heroes!" Inari shouted.

"Sakura never said we were heroes… Most real heroes are dead anyways, so I'm not really looking forward to being a hero any time soon," Kakashi pointed out.

"Huh? Wait, what? Most heroes die?" Inari asked in bewilderment.

"Well to be a hero, you have to protect someone and save them from dying. So, usually when you protect someone, you take their place for them and end up dead. But that's okay, because all people die anyways, so you'll meet them eventually again," Naruto explained.

"How do you know? It's not like you've ever seen a ghost!" Inari immediately protested.

"No, but my something great-grandma's husband's brother liked to bring people back to life. And when he asked them about how the afterlife was they always said it was great! And that they were looking forward to him joining them, so he got creeped out and made it a forbidden jutsu," Naruto eagerly told Inari about the knowledge he had read about in his book of Uzumaki history. Kakashi just looked at Naruto bemused, wondering which relative he was talking about. Then again, the Uzumaki were a strange bunch… He shuddered remembering the more interesting pranks Kushina had pulled as revenge against Minato. I hope Naruto doesn't follow in her footsteps. He prayed but let go of his hope, remembering the peanut-butter prank…

Sakura was gob-smacked. She couldn't believe half the stuff Naruto was saying. Then again, Naruto doesn't really lie. So, that means that there really is an afterlife? Hell yes! I can be with Sasuke forever! While Sakura rejoiced, Sasuke was still processing the fact that the after-life existed and that he would be reunited with his parents (and clan) sooner or later. This means I can see them all again? Mother… Father… I won't let you down when I come join you guys. I will definitely kill Itachi to avenge the clan! He silently promised his parents.

"Really?" Inari asked in disbelief. Ninja really were a lot weirder than he expected. He hadn't believed the stories his dad used to tell him about the stuff they could do. But now, it looked like they might actually stand a chance against Gato, especially if they could talk to the dead!

"Yeah, it was hilarious to read her complaints about the technique! Apparently, he made it to bring his dead pet back to life, but it ended up only working out on humans…" Naruto recalled what he read. He still couldn't believe that the Second Hokage made a zombie jutsu to resurrect Mittens, his dead pet Onbaa...

"Anyways…" Everyone looked over at Kakashi who began speaking, "Training will begin tomorrow morning, so sweet dreams everyone~" He eye-smiled at the group and closed the door to his room.

"I'll help Tsunami out with the dishes before sleeping. Good night Sasuke! …Naruto," she added after a pause.

"Good night Sakura!" Naruto chirped and pulled Sasuke up with him. "Come on Teme!" he dragged Sasuke with him to the bedroom. Sasuke grunted sleepily and waved at Sakura before joining Naruto in setting up the sleeping bags.

Inari was left alone in the living room. Maybe, if it's them, they can actually save this place. He thought as a small hope that his village would be free again reignited within him. He looked up at the picture hanging on the wall and for the first time since his father's death, he brought himself to look at it. Inari silently stared at his dad's smiling face. Father, when I meet up with you again, I'll tell you that even in death, you're still my hero…

---

Day #2: Training in the Forest

"Today's the first day of training!" Kakashi spoke lazily ignoring his genin's high tension. "The first thing we're going to do is talk about chakra."

"What about it?" Naruto asked wondering what they were going to be learning about. Maybe Kakashi-sensei is going to test our affinities! "Are we going to be checking our chakra affinities?" Naruto excitedly bounced on the balls of his heels.

"No, not today. But, I'm surprised you know about them. Do you know what your affinity is?" Kakashi asked Naruto in surprise.

Naruto nodded, "Yeah! Mine's wind! But I'm not that good at it yet. I can only split a leaf so far…" Naruto grimaced remembering how the others could form little balls of their elements on their palms already. He scratched his head, "I've almost figured out how to make a wind ball, but it's really hard trying to figure it out by myself!" Kakashi felt a brief stab of guilt that he pushed away. I should probably teach them more from now on. But it's amazing that Naruto was able to come this far by himself! And it sounds like he's already on his way to recreating his father's technique all by himself.

"No, today we will be climbing trees!" Kakashi announced.

"Tree climbing?!" the genin shouted out.

"How will climbing a tree help us?" Sasuke wondered aloud.

"Yeah! We already know how to climb trees!" Sakura chimed in.

"…Do you mean climbing trees with only our feet?" Naruto asked tentatively.

"Oh? You know about this exercise?" Kakashi asked before remembering his fight with Zabuza. "That's right, I saw that you were able to walk on water…" he mumbled and then snapped back to the genin. "In that case, why don't you demonstrate for us, Naruto? Since you already know how to do it," he eye-smiled at Naruto and gestured to the tree in front of him. This way he could see how efficient Naruto was at using chakra and if he needed any corrections in his technique.

"Alright, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto blushed and placed a foot on the tree.

Sakura wondered what this 'tree-walking' was. How can you climb a tree with no hands? And why does Naruto already know how to do this? She watched Naruto place a foot on the tree. Is he going to kick off the tree or something? Or maybe use a hook to swing up? Her jaw dropped open as she saw Naruto walk up the tree horizontally as if it was the floor and there was no gravity acting upon him. How is he doing that? Is it a ninjutsu! Wait, sensei said this was a chakra exercise. Is he using chakra to stick to the tree? But then he'd have to constantly output the exact amount needed to hold his body up like that! She was shocked. If she remembered correctly, then Naruto used to be the dead-last in chakra control. He couldn't even make an ordinary Bunshin or any genjutsu! How was he using chakra so effortlessly now?

Sasuke didn't know what to think. The 'Dobe', the 'dead-last' of the academy, already knew and was training his chakra affinity and was also able to climb trees with a special technique. So many questions were running though his head: Why does he know this? How does he know this? Who taught it to him? But the most prominent question in his head was: Why don't I know how to do this too? He was unused to the idea of Naruto being better than him at something. He knew that Naruto was stronger now than back at the academy, but how was he this strong already? He already knew about barrier seals back then and he also has his Shadow Clone technique that jounin use. And now he even has that advanced healing factor, while I haven't even activated my Sharingan! Why did it seem like everyone but him was improving after the academy? Even Sakura could punch and take down that Mizu Bunshin while I was just smashed into a tree! He gritted his teeth together.

Once Naruto reached the top of the tree, he supplied a little less chakra to slide down the trunk and land next to Sasuke. "Was that good enough, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked hesitantly. He was a little nervous being picked to demonstrate a skill. Usually when teachers at the academy asked him to do something, they were punishing him for not paying attention or trying to humiliate him as they knew he couldn't do the exercise. It felt a little weird to be picked to display something he could actually do.

"Yes, good job, Naruto!" Kakashi said and Naruto beamed at him with his cheeks still slightly flushed. His teammates couldn't help but blink at the sight of a blushing Naruto. It was just so different from the usual loud-mouth klutz image they held in their heads of him. Kakashi coughed once to get Sasuke's and Sakura's attention back on him and away from the blushing blonde. "As Naruto demonstrated earlier, tree walking is when you use chakra to stick to the tree. And before you say it's a useless technique, it actually helps with chakra control. Right now, you know how to use chakra and how to do a few techniques, but you don't know the exact amount of chakra needed for those techniques and end up overpowering or underpowering the jutsu. If you master tree walking and the later exercise water walking, then you'll be able to use chakra more efficiently and be able to do way more jutsu before running out of chakra." Kakashi stopped talking and took note of his students. All three genin looked eager to begin training.

"Ok, why don't you try first, Sakura? I have a feeling you'll be able to do it," Kakashi prompted.

"Okay," Sakura gulped and first tested out her foot against the bark. She noticed how too little chakra made her slip, while too much repelled her. Ok, so if I use this much chakra it should work. She took a deep breath in and then opened her eyes. She shot forward and ran up the tree. With each step she took, she got higher and higher up the tree. I'm doing it! I'm really doing it! She was thrilled as she felt the breeze lightly play around with her hair. She swiftly moved up the tree and reached the fifth branch from the bottom. "I don't think I can get much further..." she called out and breathed heavily on the branch.

"Wow Sakura! That was so cool! You flew up there like you already knew how to do it!" Naruto said in awe.

"That was good work for your first try, Sakura!" Kakashi called out. Sasuke didn't say anything, eager for his turn.

"Thanks guys!" Sakura panted heavily from where she was.

"Okay, Sasuke, why don't you give it a try," Kakashi said.

"Hnn," Sasuke answered and immediately ran at the tree. He took five steps before he was forced to jump off. Footprints were embedded in the tree at his highest point.

"Looks like you used too much chakra there," Kakashi commented, eying the splintered wood. Sasuke didn't answer. He was surprised that he couldn't do something that even Sakura and Naruto could do. For the first time since being compared to Itachi, he also felt shame in his abilities as a ninja. "Not too bad for your first time. Usually, people with more chakra find it harder to control," Kakashi spoke up.

Naruto nodded unconsciously. He remembered how many hours it had taken to go up to the first branch. Even when he used 500 shadow clones to help him practice, he still only made small improvements. The only reason he was able to get so far today was through sheer hard work, determination, and perseverance.

Sasuke lightened up a little after he heard Kakashi say this. So, the only reason I'm having so much trouble is because I have more chakra than Sakura and the Do… and Naruto. He was unwilling to call Naruto a Dobe in his mind. He had noticed firsthand how much Naruto had improved, and knew that he wasn't the empty-headed muscle-head he appeared to be in the academy. He calmed down and threw himself at the tree once more, happily noting he got higher on the tree this time. Nice, soon I'll catch up to those two. I was only having trouble at first because I had larger reserves than them. Sasuke mistakenly concluded he had a lot more chakra than Naruto, mollifying him and allowing him to soothe his fragile ego.

As the two continued their exercises, Kakashi spoke to Naruto. "Okay, since you already know both tree and water walking, we'll work on your chakra affinity instead. I want you to make how many ever clones you usually use for training and to scatter them across the river. They should all try to split the river in half by using wind release," he commanded.

"Roger!" Naruto saluted and did what Kakashi told him to.

"The original you should go and protect Tazuna. Take 15 shadow clones with you to keep watch. Maybe you can practice your seals and strengthen the bridge," Kakashi suggested after all 500 clones left.

"Alright!" Naruto easily agreed and took off for the bridge with his 15-man clone brigade closely following him.

Kakashi watched Naruto disappear into the distance and headed back to his other genin. They're working hard. He observed. But it seems that Sasuke thinks that Naruto has less chakra than him. He chuckled, easily seeing through Sasuke's thoughts. It's more like Naruto has at least four times as much as I do, while Sasuke doesn't even have a third as much as me… He rubbed his hands together and his eyes glinted slightly. Now the real question is, should I tell him and shred his already failing ego or should I allow him to think he has more chakra than Naruto? You'd think he'd already have noticed by now, with the way Naruto throws around shadow clones as if they were normal cannon fodder… Kakashi smiled eerily again, scaring Sasuke and Sakura who had stopped for a small break. What's wrong with sensei today? They both thought. He's weirder than usual… They silently went back to their exercises unwilling to have Kakashi's attention on them. Kakashi noticed his genin avoiding him and pouted.

---

Day #3: On the Bridge

"…and just add two more seals over there. Then we should have the whole bridge covered," Naruto directed his clones.

"Thanks for the help kid!" Tazuna looked up from the blueprints and thanked Naruto.

"No problem, old man!" Naruto chirped back happily.

"I still don't get why we have to build the bridge…" Inari grumbled. He had taken to Naruto ever since their conversation on their first day there. He sneakily tried watching Naruto on the second day, but Naruto's clones easily noticed him and ushered him over to join them. Now, Naruto was teaching him how to paint small durability seals to cover the bridge. Although they needed to be activated with chakra, with the stencil Naruto made, Inari could easily ink them onto the bridge with no problem.

"Because if we don't connect the lands together, then Gato will continue taking advantage of us," Tazuna reminded Inari.

"But why do we have to risk our lives," he whined thinking about the other workers that quit every day.

"Because if we aren't willing to work and take a risk, how can we expect anything to change?" Naruto asked, repeating one of Iruka-sensei's favorite sayings about homework.

"Wow, you're so cool, Boss!" Inari's eyes sparkled as Tazuna moped in the corner.

"My grandson doesn't think I'm cool..." he muttered dejectedly.

"Hahaha, thanks!" Naruto blushed and rubbed the back of his head. Inari had copied the way his shadow clones addressed him. It seemed like he was picking up a bunch of younger minions that all called him 'Boss'. First Konohamaru and now Inari. Who next? Konohamaru's friends? He shook his head and noticed some shapes approaching. He tensed up and then relaxed when he realized it was the rest of his teammates.

"Inari, why don't you let your mother know that we're almost done. Take one of the kid's doubles with you," Tazuna called out. He had to go into town today for some groceries before he could go home, but he didn't want Inari to be out in town so late.

"Okay," Inari pouted but went back nevertheless.

"Hey guys! How was training?" Naruto asked.

"Not bad," Sakura shrugged. "I stayed on the branch upside down for 25 minutes today which is way better than the 5 minutes I could do before and Sasuke finally reached the half-way point too. What about you?" she asked curious.

"I improved too! I finally split the river a few inches deep today. Soon I'll be able to split it in half!" he boasted.

"That's great, Naruto," Sakura praised sullenly. Although she had excellent chakra control, her stamina still sucked. Seeing her teammate advancing so far and leaving her in the dust really left a bitter taste in her mouth. Naruto beamed his bright smile at her, making most of her resentment fade.

"We're going into town today?" Naruto asked Tazuna.

"Yup, need to bring some meat home today. We're running low on food with all of you here," Tazuna said and led them into town. "Be careful in town, you guys look like easy targets," he warned them before walking into a shop with Kakashi closely following him.

Team 7 looked around. The village was spiritless. Why are they like this? Sakura wondered seeing how solemn everyone was. She noticed people walking around with signs saying they'd work for food. The different environment gave her a cultural shock. Wave was way different when compared to Konoha. And no one looks happy here either...

Naruto was having a sense of Deja-vu as he noticed a small group of children huddled around a trash can, digging through it for any edible remains.

"Look, it's the demon brat!" a villager pointed out.

"He's digging through the trash like a savage," an elderly lady sniffed as she turned away from Naruto.

"Shoo! Shoo!" the owner of the house came out and brandished his broom at Naruto. "We don't want any vermin around our house."

"Ya know what ya gotta do ta keep pests like it away?" a man wearing ragged clothing next doors put in.

"Yeah?" a younger villager asked.

"Ya hav ta put pest poison on the trash. It keeps away little critters like it from raidin' your trash. Makes 'em sick, and they don't come back for a long while. If you're lucky enough, they never come back because the poison kills 'em!" he laughed loudly, revealing his rotted tar-covered teeth. The villagers around him joined in until Naruto could only hear the sound of ugly laughter echoing around everywhere…

He jolted out of his flashback as Sasuke grabbed him. "Usuratonkachi, are you…" Sasuke didn't finish. He couldn't quite get the word 'okay' out as it'd be showing concern and he couldn't care for his teammates. He wouldn't. Especially not if what Itachi said was true. It's better for him to be alone anyways. He didn't have time for friends. Without him noticing, his grip tightened on Naruto's shoulder. The blond patted Sasuke's hand, mistaking the squeezing as an attempt at comforting him.

"I'm alright. Just remembered something…" Naruto trailed off slightly, avoiding looking at the orphans any longer. Sasuke wanted to question him. What memories could make him that pale? He looked distressed… But he restrained himself, repeating over and over in his head that he shouldn't and didn't care about what bothered Naruto.

Sakura browsed the stalls. There's hardly anything left to buy here… She absently noted. She spun around to see if Tazuna was done yet, when she felt a hand brush along her backside. "Kyaaaaaa! A pervert!" Sakura screamed and smashed her heel on the offender.

"…No 'm not a perv'rt…" the baggy shirted man slurred as he collapsed onto the ground.

"He was trying to pickpocket you…" Tazuna sweat-dropped as he saw what had happened.

"Nice heel kick Sakura!" Kakashi gave her a thumbs-up and ruffled her hair.

"Not the hair, Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura pouted. Sasuke and Naruto both inched away from the fallen man on the floor. "Why's everyone in this town like this?" Sakura asked Tazuna who sighed.

"Ever since Gato came, the townspeople have given up. His mercenaries threaten or dispose of anyone who goes up against him. Everyone's lost hope that we'll never be free from under Gato's rule. That's why I'm building the bridge, as a sign of new hope!" Tazuna stood up straight, proudly.

"Wow, old man, you almost sounded cool!" Naruto destroyed Tazuna's moment.

"Brat!" Tazuna scolded fondly. "Well, once that bridge is done, everyone will go back to how they were before. Happy, free, full of joy and hope!" Soon, it'll be done, Kaiza, and our beloved village will be back the way it once was. Team 7 was silent the rest of the way back. They each had their own thoughts about the town, but they all had one thing in common, and that was the drive to try even harder in their training to defeat Zabuza and save the town from Gato!

---

Later that night, Naruto was having trouble sleeping. Seeing those street kids really brought back childhood memories… And none of the good ones either. He glanced at the clock and saw it was 4 am. So, I've been staring at the ceiling for three hours? Maybe I should just go keep watch and switch out with whoever has it tonight…

He got up slowly to not disturb anyone in the house and crept towards the front door. On his way there, he passed Inari's room, where he noticed the younger boy had kicked off his blanket. Sneaking in, he tucked Inari in and smiled melancholily as he noticed the boy hugging a picture of his father to his chest. I wish I had a picture of my parents… Or even just their names… He walked silently towards the front of the house and cracked the door open. On the porch, he could make out a figure sitting against the tree cross legged. "Yo, Sasuke, you awake?" he asked quietly.

Sasuke opened one eye and acknowledged his teammate, "Naruto… Not sleeping?"

"Nah! I'm too keyed up, if you know what I mean," Naruto answered back, not really knowing what he was saying but saying it anyways. Sasuke snorted at him. "Shut up!" Naruto murmured quietly. "Budge over, lemme join you," he lazily ordered. Sasuke watched on, amused, as Naruto tried in vain to get him to move. "Te-me," Naruto whined and Sasuke smirked before shifting to make room for Naruto. "Say," Naruto licked his lips nervously, having never voiced this worry out loud before. "Do you believe in aliens?"

Sasuke was puzzled at why Naruto was asking him but answered anyways, "Don't know, don't care…" He wanted to remain indifferent to Naruto's plight, but he had to ask, "Why?"

"I had this weird dream where Hinata and I were on the moon fighting off these aliens. And I was Hokage but I left you to protect Konoha for me because I trust you." Sasuke willed himself to not react to those words. He knew his teammates relied on him, but to actually hear Naruto say he trusted him? Why do they believe in me? Naruto continued his tale, "And I almost died, but Sakura healed me…" Sasuke stiffened up reflexively at the thought of Naruto near death. Damn. Damnit! I actually care about him, about this team. I'm not supposed to be close to them… They'll hold me back from my revenge. He unconvincingly denied his feelings. "…But it all worked out in the end, and," here Naruto blushed. "And, Hinata and I got married." Sasuke's gut churned at the thought of Naruto getting married. It just felt too strange to imagine the blonde as an adult at his own wedding. But, still… I'm impressed that Naruto's subconscious can actually tell that Hinata likes him. "After that, the large toad from the other dream came in and croaked that this path is forever sealed due to the ripples in the time stream caused by a nosy black-haired pineapple-lover…"

Sasuke couldn't speak for a moment. What am I supposed to say to that? To go visit the nin-psychiatrist? He thought sarcastically. But then again… They don't really help. He remembered the disastrous sessions he was forced to go to after Itachi… Not thinking about that today. He cut off the trailing thought and saw Naruto staring at him expectantly. "That… was oddly specific."

"Yeah, and that wasn't even the weirdest dream I've had lately," Naruto pouted remembering the one dream where a creepy snake pedophile gave Sasuke a hickey in the forest. "Sasuke," he said seriously. "Don't ever follow strange men with long hair and tongues into the forest, okay?"

Sasuke had a tick-mark on his face but swallowed down his reply when he saw Naruto was being serious. "Okay," he reluctantly grunted. What does that even have to do with the moon aliens! Where does he come up with these things? He thought in disbelief. And why was he… Was he dreaming about me? Sasuke slightly blushed at this thought, though he didn't know why he suddenly felt embarrassed. And I was in the woods with another man doing things?

Naruto sighed in relief and leaned against the tree a bit more, slightly slipping onto Sasuke's shoulder. The blonde hair brushed against Sasuke's neck ticklishly, but Sasuke put up with it when he saw Naruto's satisfied expression. He was taken aback when he heard Naruto's next question. "Who do you want to kill?"

"I want, no, I need to kill my older brother to avenge my clan," Sasuke spoke solemnly.

"What did he do to your clan?" Naruto asked. Sasuke was surprised that Naruto didn't already know.

"He massacred my clan. I saw him kill my parents right in front of me!" Sasuke's usually stoic voice rose near the end.

"…Did he hate your clan or something?" Naruto asked dumbfounded that someone could just kill off their whole family.

"No, in fact he loved my clan. He was a prodigy and everyone respected him. That's why I have to train harder to surpass him and be strong enough to kill him," Sasuke spoke determinedly.

"But if he didn't hate your clan, and loved them and was super smart, then why did he kill them all?" Naruto asked, still hung up on that part.

"He said that he wanted to test himself. And that he left me alive as a challenge to his strength."

"That makes no sense," Naruto deadpanned. "If he wanted to challenge himself why would he bother killing the kids in your clan? And why would he keep you alive as a challenge? I mean, no offense, but you were a kid… Wouldn't it make more sense to let your parents live?" Sasuke sighed. The reason behind Itachi's sudden betrayal didn't really make any sense. It had always nagged at him, but he always ignored it, unwilling to sympathize with his brother.

"I think his exact words were: 'Cling to a pitiful life, my foolish little brother, and try to kill me!' Or something like that," Sasuke tried to imitate Itachi's voice.

"Right… And you're just going to follow what he told you to do?" Naruto asked skeptically.

"He also told me that the only way I can perfect my Sharingan is by killing my best friend…"

"Wow, thanks for the heads up! Now if you ever try to kill me, I at least know why," Naruto joked.

"Yeah, you'll for sure be the first one to know," Sasuke answered dryly.

"Hey you didn't deny it! I am sooo your best friend!" Naruto crowed. Sasuke's cheeks reddened. He wanted to deny it, but was unable to. It was the truth after all. Out of all the people their age, he was the closest to the blonde. Naruto finished cheering and sobered up, "Did he look guilty when he killed them? Your parents I mean? You know, because he loved them?" Naruto asked wondering how someone could kill their parents when he spent all his life wondering whom his were.

"No, he looked cold, as if it was another mission," Sasuke recalled. "But, now that you mention it, I think he was crying at the end when I caught up to him, right before he trapped me in a genjutsu…"

"Maybe it was a mission," Naruto mused aloud. He remembered that back when the Uchiha clan was still alive, people would stare at them with the same looks they gave him. It made sense to him that someone might have wanted to get rid of the Uchiha clan. "Maybe someone framed your clan for something really big and then ordered Itachi to kill everyone," Naruto suggested.

"Yeah, and they did it because they wanted to harvest the Sharingan from all the corpses," Sasuke sarcastically retorted. "Yeah, right! As if that would happen! This isn't one of your dreams, Naruto, this is real life. Maybe my brother just went crazy from all the pressure of being a child prodigy and he snapped and killed everyone…" Sasuke shifted, getting more comfortable under the tree.

"You don't know that for sure," Naruto pouted.

Sasuke rolled his eyes at his… friend. "When we go back to Konoha, we'll dig up a grave as proof, alright?" Naruto nodded, surprised that Sasuke would humor him to the extent of actually digging up one of his dead relative's graves. "I need to dig up the weeds at the graves anyways, so I'll probably accidentally unearth a few anyways," he clarified. "Some of the roots are stubborn and go down very deep."

"I'll help," Naruto offered and Sasuke accepted by nodding his head at the blonde.

"Actually, the more I talk about this with you, the more I believe my brother needs mental help... Maybe instead of killing him, I should hand him over to the psychologists. They're way worse than the torturers from T&I."

"Or you could make him wear chakra-suppressing seals inscribed on neon pink leg and arm warmers and force him to take D-ranks as atonement. For revenge, you could only give him catching Tora missions and make him wear striped spandex," Naruto suggested cheekily and was pleasantly surprised when Sasuke burst out laughing.

He wanted to stop, but that image… Itachi in a full-on bright neon pink body suit with striped green arm and leg warmers, trying to catch Tora with no chakra while fan-girls stalked him… It was just too funny!

Naruto enjoyed Sasuke's laughter and snuggled up against the tree. So, this is how it feels to have teammates that actually like you and want to get along… He thought as he felt warm on the inside and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Sasuke stopped chuckling and relaxed as he noticed Naruto slinking into slumber. He fondly caressed Naruto's hair and found his eyes closing as well.

The next morning, two boys could be seen deep asleep underneath the tree. One had jet black hair, while the other had bright blonde hair. The darker haired one was tucked into the blonde one's side, and they both had a purple blanket wrapped around them.

My genin are so cute~! Kakashi thought as he made sure Naruto and Sasuke were covered fully. The white haired jounin continued keeping watch over the two genin secretly until they woke up the next morning. Both genin, when they woke up, were confused about where the blanket came from. They never knew it was thanks to their silver-haired sensei watching over them.

---

Day #7: In the Forest

Over the next few days, Team 7's battle power dramatically increased. Sasuke and Sakura had finally mastered tree walking and were now working on water walking on the stream, while Naruto was able to make a six-inch deep cut in the stream relying only on the use of his wind element. Kakashi had also made his genin run through multiple mock battle scenarios and formations to not catch them off guard. After one such training, the genin were wiped out and resting in a clearing in the woods.

Naruto stood up and stretched his back out, cracking it. "I think I'm going to walk around a bit to stretch my legs. Be back in a bit!" he yelled over to his team. Sasuke waved his hand at Naruto and Sakura just grunted. Kakashi looked up over his beloved orange book and gave Naruto a thumbs-up. Naruto wandered deeper into the woods and came across a small clearing. He saw someone picking herbs in the meadow and walked in their direction. "Hello," he called out. The figure stilled and turned to look at Naruto.

"Oh, hello ninja-san," the androgynous villager greeted Naruto and placed their basket of herbs in their lap. "I'm just picking some herbs. Do you need anything?" they asked Naruto.

"Nope, just wondering if you need any help," Naruto spoke up and crouched near them. "I just finished training and I was a little bored. My name's Naruto, by the way."

"You may call me Haku," Haku smiled at Naruto. They both bended down and plucked a few more herbs.

"What do you need these herbs for anyways?" Naruto asked and held up one in front of his face, squinting at it.

"My friend got sick. These herbs are going to help cure him," Haku gently said and moved to the side to gather more of them. "Why are you training so hard for, Naruto?"

"I'm training really hard because I want to get stronger!" Naruto puffed his chest out at these words.

"Why are you trying to get stronger?" Haku asked again.

"I want to become the Hokage, the strongest man in the village. That way I can protect all my friends and family and they won't get hurt in front of me as long as I'm there," Naruto proclaimed remembering how Iruka-sensei almost died for him when they fought Mizuki.

"So, you want to protect your precious people? I think, that only when you are fighting to protect someone, you truly become strong," Haku concluded.

"Yeah! I know that very well!" Naruto agreed.

"I think you will become very strong," Haku said and stood up.

"Oh, you're leaving already?" Naruto asked moving closer to Haku.

"Yes, I must get going soon," Haku brushed off some dirt from his robe.

"Can I ask you something?" Naruto spoke up.

"Yes?"

"Is Zabuza your precious person?"

Haku stopped moving. "So, you know?"

"Yes," Naruto agreed.

"What will you do? Call out to your comrades?" Haku wondered.

"No, they won't reach in time anyways."

"Will you try to catch me, yourself?" Haku turned around to stare at Naruto.

"No," Naruto looked up into Haku's surprised eyes. "I don't think you are a bad person." Haku didn't respond. "But, what you're doing, helping Gato, it's wrong…"

"I know. But for that man, I'm willing to give even my life up. He was my only light in the darkness. He saved me from dying on the streets unwanted and alone. He gave me a home."

Naruto breathed in. "I know how that feels, being so alone you just want to die and then having someone come along and take you away from that loneliness. About wanting to do anything for your savior." He thought of Iruka-sensei and the Hokage. "But sometimes, when you care for someone, that means you have to be able to tell them when they are wrong." He thought of Sasuke and his obsession for revenge. "You have to be able to steer them off the wrong path when they take a wrong turn, even if they resent you for it," Naruto quoted what the Hokage told him was hard about his position.

After a silence, Haku's voice came out again, "I'll think on your words. They are very wise for someone your age." He praised the blonde.

"Thanks, but I was just copying my Jiji," Naruto explained. Haku smiled.

"It was nice meeting you Naruto. If we had met another time, I think we could've become great friends," Haku replied.

"It was nice meeting you too, Haku, and we are friends. Just on different paths." They both looked at each other one last time before turning around and leaving the clearing for good.

Naruto walked back to where his teammates were and waved at them. "Had a nice walk, Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Yep!" Naruto answered. "I learned a lot of things!"

"Oh?" Kakashi raised an eyebrow at Naruto while his other two teammates wondered what actually could Naruto learn when he roamed around in the forest.

"Are you almost better, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I should be back to normal tomorrow morning," Kakashi answered feeling happy that one of his genin cared enough about him to ask.

"Oh, that's good! I think Zabuza is going to attack the bridge tomorrow with his friend Haku," Naruto said relaxed.

"What? How do you know?" Sakura asked in disbelief as Sasuke looked sharply at Naruto wondering what had actually happened in the forest just now.

"I was in the woods when I met Haku," Naruto said and elaborated when he noticed that everyone looked confused. "Oh, right, you don't know who Haku is! He was the Hunter-nin and he also impersonated the Mizu Bunshin for some time. He had the same presence as both of them… Anyways, he was picking up a few herbs in the forest for Zabuza and since Sakura said the only good herbs in the forest were to improve your stamina for a day, it makes sense that they're going to attack tomorrow," Naruto concluded as the rest of Team 7's jaws dropped wide open.

Kakashi recovered first. "Okay, that means we need to rest up earlier today. Let's stop training for today and head back to Tazuna's place." That was close! I'm glad nothing happened to Naruto… Next time, I'm definitely sending a shadow clone with him!

Three voices answered back at the same time: "Okay, Sensei!" "Kay, Kakashi-sensei!" "Hnn!" Kakashi just eye-smiled at his genin and led the way back.

---

The next day, Team 7 was sitting at the table in tension as they watched Kakashi leisurely fill his bowl with milk and eat his cereal. "Wow Tsunami-san, this cereal is really good. Did you add something different to it?"

"My, Kakashi-sensei! You sure know how to make a lady blush! You're, right. I added some home-made dried fruit to the mix for a sweet and sour flavor.

"I think I'll have to take some of this with me back to Konoha," Kakashi laughed.

"Oh, you tease," Tsunami slapped his back and laughed with him. Naruto just glared at his sensei's mask. He had been watching non-stop since Kakashi had begun eating and even though the food was steadily decreasing, he still had yet to see Kakashi-sensei's face.

Tazuna entered the room with an unopened bottle of alcohol. "If what you say is true, I'm going to need to be drunk while we confront Zabuza," Tazuna piped up as he screwed off the lid and took a swig.

"There, there Tazuna. It's going to be alright," Kakashi rubbed the bridge builder's back soothingly. Tazuna just shivered, drinking more of his alcohol.

"Why are we still here, sensei?" Sakura asked as she double-checked her medical kit once more.

"We're waiting for our guests to arrive." A scuffling was heard as the door swung open. "Oh, there they are right now. Come on students, let's go and welcome them in," his eyes glinted maliciously. Tazuna paled as he heard the screams coming from the living room.

"What do you think he's doing to them?" Inari asked, morbidly fascinated.

"Don't know and don't ever want to find out," Tazuna hurriedly answered as a head of silver-hair popped back into the kitchen.

"The coast is clear. No one will be bothering you guys anymore, but I left a shadow clone of me as insurance," Kakashi told Tsunami. "Come on, Tazuna! Let's go to the bridge right now!"

"If I die, I want it to be known that a man wearing a mask with white hair was the one who killed me," Tazuna whispered to Inari before Kakashi pulled him along.

"Tazuna, already blaming me for your death? You better be careful, someone might think you don't like me, your savior," Kakashi spoke in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"Ahahaha," Tazuna nervously laughed. "No need to take it seriously, it was just a joke! A joke!" he repeated twice and held up his hands to surrender.

"Hmmm… I think I need to carry you just in case of any danger, don't you agree?"

"No, I'm fine," Tazuna hurriedly declined but was once again hoisted up over Kakashi's shoulder like a sack of unwashed laundry. The genin didn't even pay attention to this interaction, already used to their sensei's eccentricities.

---

Meanwhile, Haku stood on the bridge as Zabuza paced back and forth. "Why aren't they here yet?" Zabuza murmured. "Aren't the bad guys usually supposed to be late? Why are we the early ones this time around?" He muttered as Haku pretended that Zabuza wasn't talking to himself. Haku's head snapped up suddenly, as he noticed a dark shadow moving closer to them in the fog.

"Wind slash!" a voice called out, and the fog cleared apart as if someone took a butter knife and split it in half. Team 7 stood out in the distance, with Tazuna drunkenly stumbling behind them, already in a protective seal barrier.

"So, you're alive…" Kakashi said.

"Yes, and it seems like you already knew that," Zabuza said and redid his jutsu for fog once more.

"Wind slash!" Naruto called out again and blew away the wind.

"That's a nice trick, brat! But can you keep doing it even when I attack?" Zabuza made a sign and sent a horde of Mizu Bunshin at Team 7 and then quickly redid his fog jutsu. Take that, brat! No way you can fight them off and get rid of the fog at the same time!

Naruto raised his hand up, ignoring the clones around him, and shouted out "Wind slash!" again to banish the fog. As his hands were busy he was unable to stop the clones' attacks from reaching him. The blade got closer…closer…until it was only a hair's breath away from Naruto when suddenly the Bunshin all burst into water.

"What?" Zabuza uttered in shock.

"Great slashing, Sasuke!" Kakashi complimented Sasuke's weapon skills.

"Humph, it was nothing," Sasuke rubbed his nose and blushed lightly.

"So, you've learned a few new tricks. Well, it's still not going to be enough to stop me and Haku! I'm jounin level and Haku has long since surpassed me. There's no way a team of three genin and a jounin-sensei can take us both on," Zabuza boasted.

"You're going down cow-pervert!" Sakura shouted, causing Zabuza to choke and Haku to blush. Sasuke took advantage of their distraction and launched a hail of shuriken at the pair. Kakashi also took this moment to send a lightning dragon at Zabuza. Haku made a few hand signs and a wall of ice rose up to block Sasuke's attack while Zabuza sent an earth dragon to meet with Kakashi's, rendering it useless. Naruto and Sakura hung back, waiting for an opportune moment to attack.

Zabuza let out a whistle. "Think you can handle the kids, Haku?"

"I'll do my best, Zabuza-sama," Haku serenely replied.

"Okay, I'll leave it to you. I've got a one-eyed bastard to take revenge on!" After he replied he launched a water dragon at Kakashi and separated from Haku. Kakashi easily batted the water dragon out of the sky with one of his own and followed Zabuza to the other side of the bridge. Sasuke took off after his sensei, but Haku blocked him.

"I'm afraid I can't let you past," Haku spoke up and created a wall of ice behind him.

"I just have to defeat you!" Sasuke retorted. "Stay out of it, I can handle this by myself," he told Sakura and Naruto. The two looked at each other and then stepped forward, ignoring what Sasuke said. "I thought I told you to stay out of it!"

"We know you can probably handle it yourself, but…" Sakura began as she sidled up to Sasuke.

"But, we're a team! So, we should kick his ass together!" Naruto ended and pumped his fist in the air.

"Naruto, it's nice to see you again. I wish the circumstances were better though," Haku acknowledged Naruto.

"You know what you're doing is wrong," Naruto furrowed his eyebrows. "Why are you helping Gato?" Sakura looked back and forth between Haku and Naruto trying to figure out their relationship, while Sasuke carefully listened to their conversation.

"Please don't hate me. I do not want to fight, but I will for my precious person. To work for them, fight for them, to make their dreams come true… I will do anything for him," Haku spoke. "Even if I have to kill my heart, I will, so please, don't get in my way!"

"We have things we must protect too!" Naruto yelled.

"For Tazuna, his family, and the other hungry orphans!" Sakura backed him up.

"To take down Gato and free Wave!" Sasuke added.

"We will defeat you because we're… Team 7!" they all spoke in unison, their feelings matching at that moment.

"So be it," Haku said and lowered his mask. He launched icicles at them, making sure to only aim at non-fatal locations, though the genin didn't know that. The three of them ducked to avoid the icicles.

"Man, Haku's fast!" Naruto complained as he jumped to the side to avoid impalement.

"Yeah! We need to make a plan!" Sakura spoke up as she flung another kunai at Haku.

"I'll go distract him, while you two think up a plan," Sasuke didn't look back and tackled Haku. They both went tumbling to the ground and staggered up. Sasuke closed in on Haku and punched at his head. Haku twisted out of the way and hooked his foot onto Sasuke's ankle, tripping him up. While Sasuke scrambled up off the floor, Haku put his hands together and enclosed them in a dome of mirrors.

"Damnit! He's trapped!" Naruto hissed to Sakura who grabbed his collar to stop him from running in to help Sasuke. "Let me go!"

"You can't go in without a plan!" she said firmly as Naruto stopped struggling.

"Okay, but what should we do now?" Naruto asked as he chucked a kunai at the ice wall. It just bounced off, not even leaving a scratch behind.

"Hmmm…" Sakura thought aloud. "I think, I have a plan!" She grabbed onto Naruto's hands and stared determinedly into his blue eyes. "What else can you do with seals?" she asked fervently.

"Well, I can…"

---

While the two plotted, Sasuke was trapped inside the mirrors. He experimentally tried to punch a mirror, but nothing happened. Even when he tried to stab at a mirror, he couldn't even dent it. Growing frustrated, Sasuke shot a fireball at the mirrors, only to have nothing happen again! "This level of fire, can't destroy my mirrors," Haku said from within one. Sasuke spun around to see Haku disappeared. A voice came from the left, "With my mirrors, I can teleport anywhere. It's as if you're moving in slow motion to me."

Sasuke gritted his teeth and shot a kunai at the last place he saw Haku. He dodged as senbon rained down on him and sent another hail of shuriken in vain. He's too fast, I need to predict where he's going to hit him! Sasuke took a deep breath and started tracking Haku with his eyes. Closer… Closer… I can see him, but it's a little off… Just a little more…There! He aimed at the right and tore a piece of Haku's clothing.

"So, you can see me? But that's not good enough!" Haku then accelerated. Sasuke tried to follow, but Haku was too fast! Calm down! Concentrate… He took a deep breath in and opened his eyes. Concentrate and… There! He spun around and kicked Haku out of the mirror. Haku stared up at Sasuke in shock. "Your eyes… You have the Sharingan too?" What? Sasuke stopped and looked into the mirror and saw two tomoe in each eye. It activated! Haku took advantage of Sasuke's distraction and stealthily encased Sasuke's feet in hard ice. "My jutsu uses chakra to speed up and if you can see me now, that means you will catch me sooner or later. It's time to end this!" Damnit! Sasuke thought. I can't get free! It's over… He watched as the senbon got closer to him. Just as it was about to hit, there was a large BOOM! Sasuke watched in disbelief as a pink haired girl smashed her way through the ice and caught the senbon and crushed them into sparkling smithereens. Is that Sakura?

She smiled at Sasuke, but frowned when she noticed the scratches littering his body and glared at Haku, "No one hurts my teammates and gets away with it!" She stomped once, sending a vibration through the ground, destroying the ice around Sasuke's feet. Sakura then pounced on Haku and tried to pound him to the ground, but he dodged.

Sasuke watched Sakura fight Haku as if she was playing a game of Whack-a-mole, while Haku just skillfully danced around her attacks. He couldn't hold back his thoughts anymore, "…the hell?"

"Are you surprised?" a voice startled Sasuke into putting up his guard. He relaxed when he noticed the familiar blonde hair next to him. "I helped augment Sakura's strength with my seals!" Naruto chirped. Sasuke nodded and studied the younger boy. He saw how Naruto was slightly slouched over and breathing heavily as if he used a lot of chakra.

"Nice work," Sasuke quietly complimented Naruto who grinned at him.

"It was nothing," he bashfully scratched the back of his head with reddened cheeks. The two boys watched as Sakura finally got a hit in on Haku who had slowed down greatly after fighting all this time. Before he Haku could get up, she pinned him to the ground and placed a kunai at his neck.

"Okay," Naruto murmured. "It's my part of the plan now." He ran forward and drew out of a bundle of paper. He placed a brush in his mouth and put his hands together making a few hand signs and then pushed in the direction Sakura and Haku were in. "Sakura! Move!"

Sakura looked back and noticed Naruto pointing at them. She dropped the kunai and rolled out of the way. Haku didn't understand why she moved and tried to stand up, but it was too late! Five white chains extended out from the bundle Naruto was holding and wrapped around Haku, neatly tying him up. "You can't get out of these chakra-suppressing chains so easily," Naruto spoke proudly.

"It looks like you have won," Haku noted. He saw no way of escaping. "Do it then. Kill me." He smiled sadly at Naruto.

Sasuke and Sakura looked a Haku in confusion. Naruto only asked, "Is it… the only way?"

"Yes," Haku closed his eyes, waiting for his eventual death. Naruto's other two teammates watched in mounting alarm as he strode forward with a kunai and- "Ouch!" Haku opened his eyes in confusion wondering why Naruto had just hit his head with the back of his kunai.

"There's no way I'm going to kill my friends, dummy! As if I could've killed you!" he retorted as his two teammates fell over. Don't act so dramatically then! They mentally snapped.

"Then what are you going to do now?" Haku asked in bewilderment, still getting used to the fact he was still alive.

Naruto rubbed his nose. "Well, I guess we should go meet up with Kakashi-sensei…" Team 7 got up and dragged Haku behind them as they headed in the direction of where they last saw Kakashi.

---

Kakashi had just about enough of this fight so far. He maintained his stoic look on the outside, but inside he was complaining. His ribs were throbbing from the kick Zabuza had given him earlier, and he just wanted to stop fighting and go home to read about how Tsuki-chan and Jira-kun have a fun time together with Rocha-chan. If Zabuza knew that Kakashi was daydreaming about his porn while they were fighting, he would vomit out a mouthful of blood. Well… It's getting close to the end, isn't it? Kakashi thought disinterestedly as he saw Zabuza straining himself as he attacked. He danced out of the way and swiftly retaliated with a fire bullet. Zabuza easily put it out and growled at him. Kakashi merely eye-smiled. Time to end this farce! "It's the end!" Kakashi yelled out and summoned his nin-ken. They immediately chomped down on Zabuza, holding him in place.

"You captured me, are you going to kill me now?" Zabuza sneered.

"It's tempting, but… I couldn't possibly kill you, Naruto would get upset with me as you're his new friend's most precious person," Kakashi eye-smiled as if he was okay with that. Naruto shouldn't make friends with the enemy! And even if he does, he definitely shouldn't give them a nickname when even I, his awesome Sensei, don't have one! Kakashi pouted remembering Naruto talking about his new friend "Haku". Zabuza shivered feeling that the jounin in front of him was having indecent thoughts… MY cute little genin should only be focusing only on ME, not any outsiders! He would've continued ranting but he saw his adorable genin bringing back a young boy wrapped in chains with them. That must be the fake Hunter-nin… "Did my adorable genin bring their sensei a present?" Kakashi asked.

Zabuza snapped, "Pervert sensei, stay away from Haku! Man, why do you keep attracting weirdos…" He lamented, muttering the last part under his breath.

"If anything, you're a pervert too! Eyebrow-less Freak!" Sakura defended Kakashi who burst out into tears. My genin do care about me! Although, now that I think about it, she didn't deny that I wasn't a pervert… At least she defended me!

Naruto was about to ask Kakashi what they should do with Haku when he heard a high-pitched whistling noise coming from behind Zabuza. The next thing he knew, he was staring at Haku's bent over body on the floor. It all happened so fast.

One second everyone was okay and the next Haku screamed, "Zabuza-sama!" and twisted his body to protect Zabuza from the arrow that was shot at him. Now, all Naruto knew was that there was a bright red blooming wound in the middle of Haku's chest.

"Haku!" Naruto cried out as Sakura ran forward immediately checking his wound.

She bit her lip, "There's nothing I can do." Naruto stood there frozen. Sakura felt so useless right now. I studied healing to help fix them up when they get hurt, but now… But now, I can't even fix up this simple chest wound. Sasuke looked at Naruto concerned. He knew how it felt to have someone close to you killed right in front of you. Naruto…

Naruto just blinked and wiped at the red blood spatters on his cheek. He didn't move and then he heard Zabuza. "Hehe, great job, Haku." The ninja listened to Zabuza's words in disbelief. Zabuza shook free of Kakashi's dogs and stood up again. "I sure picked up something useful! Giving me this final chance!"

Naruto began shaking. Unforgiveable! He instinctually bared his teeth and felt his chakra rumble within him. "Naruto, stay here…" Kakashi commanded as he saw Naruto looked like he was about to jump Zabuza. Kakashi slowly laid Haku on the ground and closed his eyes as Zabuza watched coldly from the distance. "This is my fight," Kakashi declared.

Zabuza bared his teeth at Kakashi and lunged forward. He slashed his huge sword trying to unbalance Kakashi. Damnit! Why can't I keep up with him? He thought frustrated, as none of his attacks connected.

Kakashi vanished and reappeared behind Zabuza, stabbing both of his arms in rapid succession. "Now, both arms are useless, you can't even make a seal."

"Oooh!" a voice spoke up before Zabuza could execute his next move. "You're getting your ass kicked. Hahaha Demon of Mist they called you, what a joke! It's more like Baby Demon…" the stout man mocked as he stepped in front of the ninja.

"Gato… Why are you here? And with all these men?" Zabuza growled.

"The plan's changed. Zabuza, I'm having you killed. I was never planning on paying you anyways…"

Zabuza furrowed his eyebrows together and spoke to Kakashi, "This fight is over now that I don't have to kill the bridge builder anymore, I have no reason to fight you."

Gato laughed obnoxiously and strode forward. "Oh, this one… I remember you! Hehe, you're dead now," he spat on Haku's body and aimed a kick at it.

"What are you doing, you bastard!" Naruto yelled out about to attack but was yanked back by Kakashi.

"Hey, don't attack now, look at their numbers! Don't just jump in," Kakashi spoke trying to unsuccessfully pull Naruto away.

Naruto felt a fiery chakra rise within him, waiting to be unleashed out into the world. "Say something! Wasn't he your friend too?!" Naruto shouted at Zabuza.

"Save it kid. Haku is already dead," Zabuza coldly shrugged.

"Do you really mean that?" Naruto demanded, rage burning through his body. A red mist began leaking out of him. When he noticed Zabuza staying silent he asked again, "Don't you feel anything at all! Weren't you two always together?"

"Shinobi are just tools. Like Gato used me, I used Haku. His death was useful to me. I have no regrets," Zabuza repeated mechanically, a little subdued and not able to look up from the ground.

"Hey… Do you really believe that?" Naruto accused. By now, the red mist shrouded Naruto in a thin layer, still invisible to the human eye.

"Stop, Naruto! We're not fighting him anymore!" Kakashi said as Naruto broke free of his sensei's hold with the boost to his strength the red mist gave him.

"Shut up! My enemy is still him!" he raged pointing at Zabuza. The red mist became heavy in the air and altered Naruto's eyes and teeth, making them more pointed. Naruto breathed heavily and shouted, "He… He really loved you! He loved you that much!" With each word, the red chakra spiked until it suppressed everyone. "Do you really… Really not feel anything at all?" Naruto yelled and punched Zabuza who made no move to block it and laid on the ground, still. Naruto felt the anger drain out of him with the punch, the red chakra retreating within him, giving way to his sorrow. "If I become strong… Will I really become like you?" he asked. He remembered how Haku lit up when he talked about his precious person. "He threw his life away for you!" he shouted, his voice becoming hoarse. "He threw away his dream for you! He died as a tool for you!" Naruto swallowed and choked back his tears. "That's, just… too sad," he finished, tears streaming down his whiskered cheeks.

"Kid…" Zabuza said. "You don't have to say anymore." Naruto looked at Zabuza only to see him shedding tears too. "It pained him to fight you, he was always too kind." Zabuza stood up slowly and staggered towards Naruto who didn't move. "I'm glad I faced you in the end. You're right, kid, a shinobi is still human. We're not emotionless tools. I've lost…" He stopped right in front of Naruto. "Lend me your kunai, kid…"

Naruto looked at Zabuza. "Okay…" he handed over his kunai. Kakashi twitched but didn't move. If that ninja touched one hair on Naruto's head, he was in for a world of pain…

Zabuza shot forward and slashed his way through the hired hands. He didn't bother dodging anything and rushed forward single-mindedly. He didn't stop until he was right in front of Gato, holding the man up by his neck. "Wait! I'll give you anything you want! Money! Women! Anything! Just let me go!"

Zabuza ignored the man's cries and grinned maliciously. "The only place you're going is to hell with me!" He swung the kunai Naruto gave him and beheaded Gato. He then stopped and toppled over.

"Don't look away. This is the end of a man who's lived a hard life…" Kakashi told Naruto.

"Yeah…" Naruto answered staring at Zabuza's fallen form.

"Hey, hey, hey!" "Aren't you guys too at ease?" "Yeah! You killed our meal ticket!" A bunch of the mercenaries drawled as they postured in front of the ninja.

Team 7 coldly gazed at them. "Kakashi-sensei, don't you have an awesome jutsu to beat them?"

"No, this is bad. I used too much chakra in the fight before…"

"Useless pervert-sensei!" Sakura growled and Sasuke agreed silently. Kakashi cried inwardly. Although my students gave me a nickname, I can't be happy with this one!

"Let's fight!" The hired hands raced forward and then stopped as an arrow dug its way into the ground in front of them.

"Stop! Don't come any closer or the citizens of Wave will beat you up!" Inari stated.

"Inari!" Naruto cried out joyfully.

"Hey, a hero always shows up to protect their loved ones, right?" Inari grinned at Naruto who nodded happily back. A crowd of villagers were behind Inari with Tazuna leading them forwards.

"I couldn't just let you fight alone," Tazuna explained when he noticed Kakashi looking at him pointedly. "I used the failsafe to get out of the barrier the kid put up and rounded up the villagers. Inari insisted on coming. He was also the one who got most of the villagers to show up!" Inari blushed.

"That's not true…" he murmured shyly, sneaking a peek at Naruto who was smiling proudly at him. Boss looks really stunning when he's smiling… Inari looked away from Naruto, embarrassed.

"It is too!" a villager argued while the others agreed. "We couldn't just let a kid come out here alone. We need to protect our village too! After all, if we do nothing, then nothing will ever change!"

The mercenaries stared warily at the villagers, not wanting to fight but also unwilling to run away. If it's this much, we can probably win… They thought, their plummeted morale slightly rising. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto cried out and the world was instantly engulfed in orange. Okay… This will be harder, but we can still win. What can an army of brats do anyways… Kakashi copied Naruto and instantly 30 extra Kakashi-clones popped up. Fuck this! I'm outta here! I saw what their sensei could do, no way am I staying for more!

"Do you still want to fight?" Kakashi and his clones eye-smiled menacingly at them.

The mercenaries gulped before screaming, "No we don't Uwaaa! Let's get outta here!"

The villagers cheered, "We did it!" and threw down their weapons, celebrating at the ended rule of Gato. Kakashi walked over to where Zabuza's body laid.

"It… looks like it's over," Zabuza weakly croaked out.

"It is," Kakashi affirmed.

"I see… I have one last request." Kakashi quirked an eyebrow at Zabuza. "I want to see his face.

Kakashi angled his headband over his eye and answered, "Okay."

"It's snowing!" a villager marveled. Are you crying where you are, Haku? Zabuza thought.

"Thanks, Kakashi," he said and looked at Haku's face. You've been by my side for so long… At the end, I want to be by your side too… "If I could, I'd like to go to the same place as you…" Zabuza trailed off and stroked Haku one last time before finally closing his eyes forever.

Naruto sobbed, "You will, hic, don't worry!" He sniffled and said to Kakashi, "Haku was born in a snowy village."

Kakashi said, "I see," and then tucked Naruto into his side. Naruto, wanting comfort at the moment, didn't protest at all and obediently allowed Kakashi to hold him tightly and rub his back slowly. They stood in front of the two corpses. One a young boy that would do anything for his precious person, the other a hardened old man that barely knew what it was like to care for someone until it was too late and he was dying. Team 7 watched over their bodies silently, mourning the loss of two brave souls from their world.

---

Two Weeks Later: Zabuza's Grave Next to the Finally Finished Bridge

"He was brave, wasn't he?" Naruto said in front of Zabuza's grave.

"Yes, he was," Kakashi agreed as he remembered Zabuza cleaving through the forces like a maelstrom through stormy waters. He took after your namesake after you spoke to him, Naruto. He thought, remembering how Zabuza broke down after Naruto rebuked him. Sasuke came out of the house and noticed where the rest of team was, joining them in front of the grave. Sakura quickly followed after Sasuke.

"And Haku wasn't a tool in the end. He was a beloved friend of Zabuza's. He got his wish in the end," Naruto continued as he stared straight ahead at Kubikiribōchō, Zabuza's sword.

"No, he wasn't," surprisingly Sasuke was the one who agreed. Sakura nodded remembering Haku's sacrifice for Zabuza. He must have really loved him. She thought. And in the end, Zabuza loved Haku too. She smiled at the grave willing her tears away. A beautiful friendship like that does not deserve tears. She thought and firmly stood in front of the grave with her teammates.

"I'm glad we came here and helped Wave. I feel we've gained something a lot more precious," Naruto said looking his teammates in the eyes. Sasuke fidgeted a little, unwilling to meet those clear blue orbs, while Sakura blushed slightly. Kakashi didn't stop himself from being drawn into Naruto's eyes. He could feel Naruto's feelings pouring out from them: Protectteamfriendshiplovehappiness and so many more emotions swirled around him, welcoming him like an old friend.

Naruto was about to continue talking when a large bird landed on his shoulder. The other members of Team 7 were taken aback when they saw Naruto didn't seem surprised by the bird. Rather, he seemed expectant? "No letter today either? That's too bad… Nice flying, Hatori! Here I got another letter for you. Do you think you can take it or do you need to rest for a bit?" The bird angrily bit Naruto's fingers before puffing up and cooing. "Okay, okay, I get it! Here's the letter," Naruto fished the letter out of his pocket seal and passed it on to the bird. It nuzzled Naruto and let out a parting Coo before taking off once more.

Everyone was silent or a bit before Sasuke interrupted the silence. "You named it pigeon-bird?" he smirked.

Naruto flushed and said, "Shut up!" as Sasuke snickered.

"So, who's the letter for?" Sasuke asked, not wanting to call Naruto 'Dobe' but unwilling to call him by name either. In the end, he just cut off the name completely when talking to Naruto.

"It's to my Grandma!" Naruto answered as Kakashi widened his one eye. Is someone pretending to be his Grandmother and writing to him? He shouldn't have any relatives alive that I'm aware of. Unless…Could it be? A long-lost Uzumaki?

"I thought you had no family?" Sakura asked bluntly.

"Well, actually, she's more like my Great-aunt, and I just found out about her a few days ago. So, I sent her a few letters, but she hasn't responded yet," Naruto frowned glumly.

"It's fine, you've got us instead," Sasuke comforted him instinctually when he saw that frown. He instantly wanted to take it back after he said it. But it was too late, he could only swallow down his next response and let it go. It helped that Naruto was looking at him with wide grateful eyes. Why did I just say that? He just couldn't help but comfort Naruto when he saw that frown. It just looked so wrong on the blonde's usually sunny happy face. Damn. I'm growing attached to this team…

Sakura felt the need to comfort the blonde too when she saw his sad eyes. She awkwardly rubbed his back a little and was relieved to see it stop hunching over and relax. It wasn't the fact that he was sad, it was more the resigned look in his eyes. As if he truly believed that a long-lost relative wouldn't want to get into contact with him because it was him. She sighed a little. Caring about Naruto now, wow, I've really changed… She peeked at Naruto and saw him beaming at her and Sasuke. Still… It seems that I've changed for the better. She smiled back at them satisfied.

Kakashi could nearly wipe a tear from his uncovered eye. The other eye, as it was, already had tears streaming down from it. My genin team is finally coming together! He rejoiced. He could see the easy comradery forming between his team. Maybe I'm not unable to make connections after all. I care for them, all three of them, deeply, and I won't let them get hurt, ever! His uncovered eye sharpened as he remembered almost losing his genin in their last fight with Zabuza. A cold fear had gripped his heart at the thought. Never! He vowed. Never, will you get that close to death in my presence again. I'll bet my life on you three. Even if I'm defeated, I'll protect you, always. A sudden welling of emotions he hadn't felt since he joined the ANBU, actually, emotions he hadn't felt since his sensei's death, suddenly outpoured. He reacted instinctually and grabbed his three genin in a tight hug. Naruto instantly relaxed into his grip like butter, while Sasuke tensed up. Sakura reached her hands up and returned the hug by wrapping them around the others tighter. This is how a real team should be. She thought. Sasuke stopped resisting and finally relaxed into his teammates' grips. Damn, I am attached and… and… I don't mind. He let go and just enjoyed the warmth of his team, his home, his new family.

Tazuna looked on at Team 7 wondering why they were hugging all of a sudden. "Ninjas… The more I interact with them, the less I understand them," he said, giving up on trying to reason out their actions. He dismissed the hugging ninjas from mind and turned back to his bridge. "This bridge… It needs a name."

"How about The Uzumaki Naruto bridge? A bridge that brings new hope?" Inari suggested.

"I like the sound of that," Tazuna said as he ruffled Inari's head. "The Uzumaki Naruto Bridge: A Bridge of New Hopes, what a fitting name."

---

Replies to Reviews:

slythefoxx2: Yay! Feels! Thanks!

SilentAqua: Thanks for the tips! Yeah, I don't like the super violent women trope too much either. Yup, definitely not Team 7 bashing here. I hope the change seems gradual in this chapter. I tried to make it flow naturally. I won't make Naruto whiny or weak. I think Naruto still has trouble with understanding his emotions, so if anything he'll mostly be confused rather than whiny. Yeah, in the manga I wanted to see more friendship moments. I was really surprised with how close everyone seemed after Part 1, considering they hadn't seen Naruto in like three years...

Wyrths: I swear it's like you read my mind! I was going to write all about that in this chapter, but it got way too long so now the chapter is being split in two parts... You'll just have to wait until next chapter to see. But keep in mind that it's been years since they were wiped out so all the good stuff will already be taken. Yeah, I didn't really change Wave too much, but I tried to adjust it to fit their new skills. I feel I might've made Sakura too powerful, though...

Guest: I still don't know what I'm going to do about Sai, but I think I'll change his obsession with male genitalia. Any pairings, if there are any, will be later, so there's still time to think about that.

Tomb Raider and Walking Dead: Thank you so much! Your review made me super happy when I read it at the airport! I love the NaruShika ship too, but I'm leaning towards the side of no pairings for now. I hope I don't disappoint with how I handled Sasuke and Sakura in this chapter...

Guest: I'm updating right now, sorry for the wait! I'm glad you don't think the characters are too ooc. That's what I was going for :)

Guest: Yay, it's an update!

MegDBrew: Thanks! Yeah, there are a lot of great Naruto fanfics that I'm hooked to too! This fandom never lacks in quality fanfics!