Even the smallest interruption can have astounding consequences.

Also, team 7 get some screen time.

The old man, Tazuna, was many things, but a slacker wasn't one of them. Although the work required to finish the bridge was now down to about a week and a half, people were motivated to finish it, inspired by the fact that Gato was no more. As the bridge builder put it, the ruthless businessman met his end at the end of a ninja's blade. With the danger of him and his thugs gone, the workers could both focus and take it easier, eliminating the fear-induced mistakes that slowed down production. All in all, it went quicker.

As for the ninja themselves, adapting to living in the abandoned family home was turning out to be simpler than expected. Kakashi called dibs on the couch, letting his genin sleep on the floor. When confronted on this, he simply replied it builds character, and that as shinobi they'll have occasions where sleeping on the floor will be a dream come true. After that explanation, even the usually hot-blooded Naruto seemed to calm down.

Haku was getting better, but still didn't wake up. Finally able to finish the diagnosis, Amane simply stated that with the amount of damage his lungs and blood vessels took, any serious exertion would put too much pressure on his heart, which may decide to shut down from the stress. Breaking the news to Zabuza was somewhat easier than expected; the man only nodded, then went back to watching over the boy.

All these years, and he was not a step closer to realizing his greatest ambition. And with the promise he was forced into making, he never would, at least not the way he planned it. He would have gathered the money, used it to amass followers, and then just repeat the same thing from all those years ago; only this time, the child Mizukage would die. Now he had to find a different way.

And Haku... the boy was willing to give everything for him, even his own life. Seeing that was, put lightly, a serious shock. The easiest way to describe it was as a reminder, a reason why he fought, why he ever had his dream of freeing the village. It was to secure a place for people like Haku, the ones who had the bodies and abilities to become shinobi, but not the hearts and souls. He wanted to use his power to shape the hidden Mist into such a place.

But his power wasn't even enough to get past Sharingan Kakashi, the infamous jonin of the hidden Leaf. Why? They both fought in the name of their villages, right? Why was the difference in power so great? He had managed to outdo the Sharingan, so that wasn't it, but something was still missing. Because he didn't have that 'something' the Demon of the Mist couldn't defeat his Konoha adversary...

At least, with him and his genin having forced their way into their hideout, he could talk to the man, if he were so inclined. That could wait until Haku woke up, though.

On his side, Kakashi was busy training his genin. The day was relatively clear, and the air didn't give any hint of incoming rain. He marched his squad out into the nearby forest, and sent them running a couple dozen laps while he finished the first act of Icha Icha Violence, the second book in the series. As the panting kids returned, he lifted his gaze, and gave them a content nod.

"Alright, today we're going to be doing tree walking..."

"But Kakashi-sensei, we already know that!" Immediately interrupted Naruto. For all his potential, his over-zealousness was a major nuisance that came with training.

"Let me finish, Naruto. Now as I was saying, we'll be doing tree walking, the only difference is, we'll be training how to fight."

With that said, the silver-haired jonin produced a pair of long sticks, as well as a pair of ropes. Noticing the blank looks he was receiving, he thought it prudent to try and explain his idea. "Sakura, use these ropes to tie the non-dominant hand of the boys behind their backs."

She gave him another blank look, and even the usually indifferent Sasuke was staring at him with a puzzled look. At first prompt, the girl did as she was told, partially tying her still confused teammates. Kakashi then threw the long sticks to each of the boys, and pointed to a large tree at the edge of the clearing.

"You're going to go up that tree, and on my signal, try and knock each other down. Each time your opponent touches the ground, you get a point. No Sharingan allowed, and you play to twelve points. Winner gets to ask anything they want from me, and if it's within my power to grant, they shall have it."

Intrigued by the possibilities of the mentioned reward, both boys nodded, a competitive flare in their eyes. As soon as they reached the upper half, they began swinging at each other. At first it was carefully, not to lose their footing, but as more time passed, and their confidence in their technique rose, the moves started getting more and more serious. In the first five minutes, Sasuke had two points to Naruto's one.

Sakura was about to turn and ask her sensei about what she was supposed to do, only to find herself staring into a closed scroll held by the man. It was small, and the outer side was a dull grey, but it seemed pretty new. Kakashi eye-smiled before explaining. "I was going to teach you water walking, but decided it was best that all three of you learned that together. Instead, you're going to read this scroll, as it contains the basics of genjutsu."

Sakura's eyes widened at the mention of one of the five great ninja disciplines, remembering her last experience with one all too vividly. She actually relieved a similar scene only days ago on the bridge, but that was no genjutsu... "Alright, I'll have it done in no time at all, Kakashi-sensei."

The jonin nodded, then retreated back to his fairly comfortable tree stump, and kept half his eye on the book, and the other half on the two practicing boys. If he wasn't mistaken, it was six for Sasuke and four for Naruto. The blonde wasn't making it easy for the Uchiha prodigy. That was good; so long as the two kept close to each other skill-wise, they'll be trying to outdo one another, and that would make their progress significantly faster. If they kept at it, and if Sakura kept doing her best to keep up, he might just recommend them for the upcoming chunin exams. Maybe.

The sky clouded over, and the light slowly started fading. Sakura had began warping the nearby shrubbery and making it appear pink to her sensei, and the boys were tied at twenty-one each. Apparently, the promised reward had completely slipped their mind in the heat of competition. Progress-wise, they were doing astoundingly well, fighting upside down for the better part of the hour. There wasn't a fall in the last two.

"Sakura, the important thing about using genjutsu is keeping the opponent unaware of that fact for as long as you can. While some genjutsu distort the foe's sense of reality, they can also pretty easily tell that it's an illusion, and will attempt to break them."

The pinkette nodded, then placed a hand on her sensei's. "Something like this, Kakashi-sensei?"

The silver-haired jonin immediately recognized the strange fluctuation of his chakra, but made no move to dispel whatever illusion the girl cast. Failing to notice anything particularly strange, he shrugged and returned to his book...his book wasn't there.

His eye widened in surprise, staring at the smiling girl for a few moments before he brought a hand up and focused enough chakra to break the genjutsu. Doing so, the book shimmered back into view, and the feeling of weight, easy to forget about since the book was fairly small, returned. Honestly, Kakashi was surprised. Chakra control like that was noticeably rare in a genin, which meant that his little kunoichi had massive potential.

"That was very good Sakura. Mind explaining what exactly you did?" He knew what she did, but was interested in the thought train that led her to choosing that particular approach.

Sakura smiled again, feeling surprisingly good for doing something so simple. "Well, the scroll said that a genjutsu is supposed to target the opponent's senses. Apparently, the most dangerous ones are sound and sight-based genjutsu. I just concluded that, as an experienced shinobi, you'd be less on your guard against a touch-based genjutsu."

Her theory was sound, except for the last bit. He was famous for a variety of reasons, one of them being his ability to never forget about all the ways a foe might try and attack. Touch-based genjutsu was rare, though, as most users of the art preferred staying away from their opponent. Still, for a first attempt, it was very good. She might have a future in that particular style... oh, and there's an idea!

"Excellent work Sakura, now I'm going to teach you a simple genjutsu, and if you manage to use it successfully on whichever of the boys wins their little competition, I'll teach you one more."

"Alright, I'm ready." Needless to say, Inner Sakura was pumped: Cha! Whatever I set my mind on, I can do it! Just you wait Sasuke, you'll see how awesome I really am!

"Alright, this is the 'Demonic Illusion: Paradise Viewing' technique..."

He demonstrated the hand signs, and instructed her thoroughly on the workings and intents of the technique. Unless she has a very good opportunity, she won't be able to use it in battle, but it's very useful to disarm an unsuspecting opponent. It also has its uses in worming your way out of a promise, especially when you know what you promised.

By his professional estimate as a jonin of Konohagakure, Kakashi guessed that Naruto would want a hot bowl of ramen, and that Sasuke would request to see his face. Since he wasn't in the mood for doing either of those things, he'd have Sakura hypnotize the winner into thinking that they've gotten their reward. Yep, he prided himself on his teaching. These kids would be strong shinobi one day...

Wait, he'd have to teach Sakura another genjutsu... Oh well, no plan is foolproof.

It was nighttime, they were completely worn out, and teme broke the Sharingan rule an hour ago. Letting himself slide down the large tree's side, Naruto substituted himself with the long stick, not knowing the rope escape technique. It was a nice day, and he preferred spending it running around the village making trouble than listening to Iruka-sensei's uninteresting explanations.

Sasuke wasn't far behind, but instead of escaping the rope, he substituted himself with the unsuspecting Naruto, making the blonde curse out loud at his predicament. Still, the dobe put up a surprisingly good fight, right up until he decided to break the rules and use the Sharingan. He needed to practice with it anyway, so it was killing two birds with one stone as far as he was concerned.

Since they both reported breaking the rules, Kakashi decided to punish them by having Sakura try her new technique anyway. She took Sasuke's hand, overjoyed to have an excuse to do something like that. She did the same with Naruto, but noticeably slower. With a small channeling of chakra, she started messing around with the flow in their heads. Then she let both of them go and stood next to Kakashi to watch.

Naruto wasn't that surprising, sitting down and digging in into the bowl of ramen that magically appeared at his feet. Ramen was ramen, and he didn't question where it came from. Sasuke, on the other hand, brought his arms up to dispel the genjutsu after a couple of seconds.

"Nice trick, but I could tell that it was too good to be true." He wouldn't tell, but he actually hallucinated having Kakashi take off his mask, revealing... No it was just an illusion, not the real thing. "And let the dobe go, he's looking ridiculous."

Sakura made a quick hand seal, muttered 'release', and Naruto was suddenly panicking, wondering where his bowl of infinite ramen went. "Hey! What's the deal!?"

His teammates only gave him disappointed looks, and started walking back towards the house. Slightly annoyed, the blonde genin followed along, grumbling about wanting to eat ramen. He was one of the few in Konoha who really appreciated the delicate cuisine that is ramen.

The rest of team 7, however, were just ready to go back to a home-cooked meal. Turns out the medic-nin was a decent cook, having gathered quite the cookbook over the course of her travels. Tonight's menu was Kumo-style salmon.

Back at the hideout, Haku stirred. His eyes opened, seeing the familiar beige tone of the ceiling. That was good, he wasn't dead. However, something was definitely wrong. His chest hurt like hell, and he clearly remembered taking the lightning blade from Kakashi Hatake, the copy-nin. For all intents and purposes, he was supposed to be dead.

An unfamiliar woman approached him, and began explaining exactly what had happened while he was out. As the woman finished her story, and Zabuza appeared in the doorway, Haku could only smile.

Getting a second chance in the shinobi world was not as much a matter of perseverance as it was a matter of luck. Simply put, you mess up, you get killed. Or someone close to you, or your entire village. However, the amount of luck it took to survive a bout with Kakashi Hatake the way he fought it was enough to cover the years of misfortune that started with the failed coup. Zabuza wouldn't be making such a mistake ever again. His second chance was in his hands, and it was time to decide what to do with it...

The blonde brat that pestered him with questions on the bridge seemed to be the most excited when he heard Haku was up, and spent quite a long time detailing not only his version of what happened on the bridge, but the one day of training as well. Haku, for the most part, stayed quiet and listened, a serene smile gracing his countenance. The rest of Kakashi's genin were polite enough, but kept their distance. He couldn't blame them, they didn't meet him outside of combat.

And so did another few days pass. Kakashi and his students went out and trained, mostly forced to play high-speed catch on the surface of water. Haku kept getting better, and was soon able to leave the bed. According to him, the pain was nothing; according to Amane, he shouldn't be able to walk yet. Zabuza didn't push him into anything, just silently sitting and watching the Konoha team do their training.

The kids had good heads on their shoulders, as evidenced by the fact that neither the blonde, nor the Uchiha hesitated to attack from above or below when given the chance. It was particularly amusing to see the broody kid get blindsided by a clone coming from above, not able to do anything to defend. It was no surprise they managed to keep up with Haku that long. That and the blonde brat's monstrous chakra.

"Zabuza."

The addressed shinobi lifted his head, meeting the eye of his equal by rank from Konoha. His eye looked serious, and Haku stood up and left on his own, deciding to contribute to the training by having them dodge snowballs.

"What is it?"

Sitting down, the silver-haired shinobi cast a interested look at Haku's snowy assault for a moment before turning back to the swordsman with the look in his eye even more serious than before.

"What will you do from here? You are still a wanted rouge ninja." He asked and stated flatly.

"Return to the Land of Water, and kill Yagura." Answered the swordsman, in the same flat tone.

"Another coup?" His eye twitched, betraying his doubt in the decision to trust the swordsman. Kakashi wasn't one to have tells like that, but something about Zabuza made him react much more strongly than he usually did.

The swordsman, however, only shook his head, "I gave you my word, Kakashi. Only Yagura dies, no one else."

As an A-rank missing-nin, returning to your village and slaying a Kage while not killing anyone else... It was near-impossible. Kakashi's brow shot upward, his puzzlement getting the better of him.

"And how do you intend to do that?"

That got a smile from the mist shinobi, who only pointed to the massive blade on the far side of the field. "With that."

Beneath his mask, Kakashi smirked. The demon of the mist just didn't stop surprising him. The way he put it, he made it seem plausible. Hell, if he doesn't mess around as much as he did on the bridge, he could probably manage to get close enough for a silent killing. Beating the Mizukage in a straight fight was impossible. Even the third would have his work cut out for him trying something like that...

"Alright then, I'll believe you. Make sure to write when you get there."

Zabuza shot him a confused look, but then grinned. "Heh, sure." After that, a somber look came upon him, and he only looked at the four kids' training. His eyes were distant, and it didn't look like he was aware of his surroundings at all.

"What is the purpose of a ninja, Kakashi?"asked the swordsman, not bothering to spare a look at the copy-nin.

The copy-nin didn't expect something like that from a man like Zabuza. Then again, for a man so driven by his ambitions, it's no wonder a question like that would occur to him. It was about the equivalent of 'why do we fight'. He had no ready answer for it, but he had to save face somehow.

"To live by his nindo." That was fairly clever, it should work.

The swordsman considered the answer. What was his way as a ninja? A long time ago, it was to strike true. Nowadays, it seems lost to him, hidden away in the mist. Perhaps that's the reason why he lost, because he didn't fight with all his heart. That blonde genin shouldn't have been able to beat Haku, yet he did, tapping into some kind of freak power. Kakashi never backed down, even when all odds were against him. The question that bothered Zabuza was why he wasn't able to draw upon that kind of strength...

Suddenly, they were surrounded by the kids, all of them wearing serious expressions. Kakashi's eye narrowed, and Zabuza grunted.

"That's so cool!" shouted the ever-energetic Naruto, "I need to find my ninja way right now!"

Ah, an opening. Sharingan Kakashi never missed an opening. "Why? You already have one."

As expected, the blonde just stared at him with a blank look. "Huh?"

"Well, you keep saying how you never go back on your word, and how you're never going to run away. I just thought that was your nindo." Stated the detached jonin.

Catching on, the genin nodded his head furiously. "Yeah, that's it! Right as always, Kakashi-sensei!" No one failed to notice the embarrassed blush.

"You're hopeless, Naruto." Offered the Uchiha, his pink-haired teammate agreeing immediately.

"Going already?" asked the silver-haired jonin, lazily looking up from the couch he was sprawled on. The same book he was always reading was in his hand, momentarily lowering as he noticed the Kunoichi with her gear packed heading for the door.

She stopped, looking surprised, "Well, Haku's gotten better, and I got my ryo...Oh, where's the little Kunoichi of yours?" She looked as if she just remembered something, and reached for a pocket on the side of her bag. Kakashi shrugged.

"Try upstairs, I told my precious genin to pack as well."

Sent off with a nod, the elder kunoichi went upstairs, knocking on door before entering the storage room where the kids kept their things. There wasn't so much upstairs, save for a bedroom, a washroom and a small room for storage. As expected, the pinkette was there, slowly packing up her things.

"Sakura," started the medic-nin, having finally found the scroll she was looking for, "I have a gift for you."

The two kunoichi got along surprisingly well, the small pinkette willing to listen to the travelling medic's many long-winded stories. When, in a fit of amazement, she compared her to Tsunade, the dark-haired kunoichi couldn't help but grow a soft spot for the genin. Besides, she couldn't have any children of her own, and didn't feel any loyalty to Ame. The young Sakura was quite possibly the best choice for someone to inherit the technique, given her aptitude for genjutsu. She handed over the scroll.

"Now, I need you to promise me that you'll take good care of this. It's my original technique, and I want you to have it. And I'm not taking 'no' as an answer." She finished with a smile, something she noticed she did surprisingly often in the Land of Waves.

The girl just looked at the dark green scroll in her hands, then back up at the elder kunoichi. After a few seconds, she bowed her head. "Thank you, Amane-sama." And she left it at that.

Giving the genin one final pat on the head, the Ame medic left the room and took to the stairs. Before leaving, she shot Sharingan Kakashi one last look. Hopefully, she won't have to heal a wound made by his jutsu ever again. Outside, she caught sight of Zabuza and Haku, giving the two a wave before turning around and heading down the road towards the bridge. She had decided to go to Kumo for a while. Having never been there before, she was sure there was plenty waiting for her on the road.

Two hours later, and Team 7 stood assembled outside of the small house at the edge of the island village. Naruto was pumped, Sakura was still eyeing her bag nervously, and Sasuke was looking bored. The good thing was that all three managed to further their chakra control, walking and battling on the surface of trees and water with ease. If there was any trace of doubt in his mind, it was gone now - Kakashi was definitely sending these kids to the chunin exams.

After waiting for a solid ten minutes for Naruto to say goodbye to the mist assassins, team 7 and their jonin hit the road, ready to go back to the Land of Fire. Turns out that the bridge was named 'The Great Naruto Bridge', something that the boy in question refused to stop talking about for the better part of the road home.

As for Zabuza and Haku, they finally had time to sort out their business. Still technically a missing nin, Zabuza couldn't just go through the Land of Fire and make his way back to his home village, and the Land of Waves lacked a port sufficiently large enough to have ships heading out further east than the Land of Crabs. Low on money, his ultimate decision was to walk to the Great Red Port in the Land of Crabs, and take a ship to the land of Sea. From there, it's just a two days' boat ride to the first of the islands surrounding the Land of Water.

It's going to be a long trip, and they'll be pausing to train at the Land of Sea, but at least there was a solid plan. It was more than they had when they arrived into the Land of Waves. Needless to say, he'll also have his hands busy gathering fresh info on the state of affairs in the homeland, as well as dealing with the inevitable attacks by bounty hunter ninja. The shovel-wielding guy who attacked Haku hasn't returned, but he's still out there.

"Alright Haku, let's go."

Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and as always, don't be afraid to spread the word!