In order to reach the Land of Waves, one had to cross over from the mainland in a boat. This was why their client, Tazuna, was building a bridge in the first place.
The little boat they were in was rocking on the waves as they rowed through thick fog. With nine people plus the owner of the boat they had rented, it was a tight fit.
"Wow! It's huge!" Naruto exclaimed as they came to the part of Tazuna's bridge that had already been constructed.
"Quiet!" the boat owner hissed, "There's a reason I turned off the motor and am rowing by hand. If we get caught, we're all doomed."
"What? Why?" the blond asked.
"Yes, I believe it's time for you to tell us about why you're being targeted," Kakashi turned to the bridge builder as well.
Tazuna sighed, "Alright. They were sent by someone you might have already heard of. His name is Gato."
Kakashi's eyes widened, "Gato from Gato Companies?"
Tazuna nodded.
"Who's that?" Benetto asked.
"On the surface, he's just a shipping magnate but really he's a smuggler and a drug dealer. He's taken over Wave Country and the only way we'd be able to get help from the mainland and save our economy is by completing this bridge."
"That's why Gato has been sending people after you, to stop you from completing it," Kakashi concluded.
Tazuna nodded, "The whole town came together to pay for shinobi protection. But we only have so much money."
"Just enough for a C-rank?" Gaia guessed.
The bridge builder nodded wordlessly.
"Technically we should turn around and leave," Kakashi remarked, facing his fellow jonin sensei, "The last ninja we faced were chuunin rank. Gato might have stronger shinobi on his payroll. This could turn into an A-rank," he gestured to their students, "They're not ready for that."
Before Gaia could say anything, Naruto interrupted, "But we have to help them, Kaka-sensei!"
Gaia hummed thoughtfully before agreeing, "We've already made it all the way here. We'll send a message to the Hokage once we arrive at the bridge builder's home to update him on the mission parameters. He will decide whether we turn back or continue with the mission."
"Alright," Kakashi agreed, "Once we set foot on solid ground, we'll resume our original formation. We'll get a message delivered via summon."
"Uh, Kakashi-san?" Benetto asked, "How will your summons deliver a message to the mainland? Aren't they dogs?"
"Well, I'm sure one of your sensei's birds summons can handle it," Kakashi eye-smiled.
Gaia's eye twitched, "Sure."
"Ne, Gaia-sensei, what kind of birds do you summon?" Naruto asked.
"Is it eagles? Or, uh, crows?"
"... It's peacocks," Gaia admitted.
In the end, they decided to send Pakkun off with the boat they had arrived in. The pug was a lot more inconspicuous than any of Gaia's summons.
Just as before, the two sensei took point with the genin in a half-circle behind them and the bridge builder in the middle.
The formation didn't last very long, as Naruto dashed forward to be in front of the group himself.
"Naruto, what are you doing?" Shao asked, annoyed at his teammate's antics.
"Someone is following us!" he insisted, pulling out a kunai as his head whipped from one side of the path to the other.
He was about to throw his kunai in a set of bushes when Rezaa stopped him.
"I smell rabbit."
And as expected, the Hatake was right.
"Why is it white?" Sakura asked, "I thought rabbits are only white in winter?"
Kakashi's eyes widened, "Get down!"
A split second later, a gigantic sword whirled above their heads before impaling itself in a tree. Without the warning, at least some of them would surely now be a head shorter.
In a flash, a ninja with half his face covered in bindings appeared on top of the sword hilt, likely using chakra to balance on it in his ninja sandals.
"If I'm not mistaken," Kakashi said slowly, "That's Momochi Zabuza, a missing-nin from the Hidden Mist."
The ninja looked down at them, "And you must be Kakashi of the Sharingan."
"Sharingan?" Naruto asked.
Rezaa touched his teammate's arm and shook his head. This was not the time for a lesson on kekkei genkai.
"Get into a protective formation," Kakashi ordered, "I will take him."
Team Seven sprung into action while Team Four waited for a nod of their sensei before doing the same.
"When I was an Anbu of my village," Zabuza told them, "I had information on you in my bingo book. I carried it around with me everywhere I went. It said that you have copied a thousand jutsus, Copy-nin Kakashi. It will be an honour to fight you."
As he talked, mist had begun to surround them.
When he was done talking, he leapt off of the tree while simultaneously pulling the sword out of it. He landed on the river next to them and performed a short number of hand seals.
The mist thickened and the shinobi disappeared.
"Where is he?" Sakura asked.
"Momochi specializes in a silent killing technique," Kakashi told her. "He's so fast and silent that you won't notice him until you're already dead. Stay on guard."
The genin shuffled nervously, trying to see through the mist.
"Well, if we fail we'll only die," Gaia joked.
Sakura's side-eye let him know that it was not appreciated.
The mist kept thickening until they were completely unable to see Kakashi. Rezaa took comfort in at least still being able to smell his father's familiar scent.
Without a warning, Zabuza suddenly appeared within the genin's protective formation, "It's over."
Gaia didn't hesitate before plunging his katana through the enemy's body. There was a short gurgling sound before the water clone collapsed into a puddle.
Zabuza used their distraction to swing his blade towards Kakashi, bisecting him in two. As he fell, he turned into water as well. Another water clone. Kakashi had already begun to use his sharingan.
In his surprise, the swordsman failed to notice Kakashi sneak up on him until the copy-nin already had a kunai at his throat.
"It's over," he repeated his earlier words back to him.
Zabuza chuckled, "You won't be able to beat me just by making like a monkey."
In a flash, another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, revealing the first one to be another fake.
"Another one?!" Benetto asked incredulously.
Zabuza lunged for the Hatake once more and when Kakashi ducked out of the way of the blade, he managed to kick him hard enough to send him flying into the river.
Following him, Zabuza went through another series of seals before forming a ball of water around the Leaf ninja, "Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!"
Kakashi was trapped in the sphere of water, unable to escape.
"The more you struggle, the quicker you die," Zabuza chuckled.
Kakashi's eyes met Gaia through his prison.
"Genin, fall back," Gaia ordered, "Get the bridge builder to safety."
Team Four complied, Benetto pulling Naruto with him but Rezaa and Shao remained.
"All of you," Gaia insisted, making Shao follow his comrades.
Rezaa shook his head and grabbed the Mist ninja's sword that had been stuck in the ground after Zabuza's last swing, "I won't leave behind my father:"
Gaia studied him for a moment before giving the other genin a sharp nod, "Get to it."
Shao took point as they ran off with the bridge builder in between them.
"He can't leave the jutsu behind or it'll break," Gaia quickly told the younger Hatake, "But he can still make clones."
And just like that, copies of Zabuza started to emerge from the river.
Rezaa swung the mist ninja's sword at one of the clones but he only ever learnt how to use a tanto and so missed by a long shot, the huge sword putting him off-balance.
The clone used the opportunity to kick him in the ribs, sending him flying to the side and reclaiming his sword.
Zabuza scoffed, "Little kids shouldn't play with toys."
The clone went to swing for him but Gaia blocked the strike with his own sword, bringing the mist-nin's attention back to him.
Rezaa's ribs ached but he made it to the side of the river nonetheless.
Using Zabuza's distracted to his advantage, Rezaa gathered lighting chakra in his hand. It wasn't a chidori but it was good enough.
The surprise of suddenly being electrocuted made Zabuza let go of the water prison, dropping Kakashi into the lake below.
Realizing his mistake, Zabuza gripped his sword and swung it at Kakashi again, but this time he was blocked by the metal guard on Kakashi's gloves.
The two ninjas jumped apart, landing back on the water's surface at a good distance from each other.
At this point, Zabuza's clones had disappeared and Gaia could help Rezaa back up on his feet.
Together they watched as Zabuza started forming seals with his hands and then as Kakashi started copying him.
Only, Kakashi was faster, catching up with Zabuza without a problem.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Two water dragons emerged from the river, rising up and crashing into each other.
Gaia quickly grabbed Rezaa and jumped back as the riverside was flooded.
They looked from the safety of a tree as Kakashi and Zabuza met in battle underneath the dragons.
Just then, a figure appeared on a tree beside them. A Kiri Hunter-nin.
Zabuza and Kakashi mirrored each other in similar movements to the ones Zabuza had performed earlier to hide in the mist.
Before Zabuza could complete the jutsu he had planned, however, Kakashi's chakra sprang into action, the tomoe in his sharingan whirling around.
"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"
Rezaa was incredibly glad to be up on a tree as the following flood swept Zabuza off his feet, throwing him against multiple trees that were broken underneath the shinobi's back as he was whirled around in a wild vortex.
Both Gaia and Rezaa held onto their tree for dear life before watching as Zabuza was finally thrown against a tree somewhat upright when the vortex calmed down.
Quickly, Gaia impaled the Mist ninja with a series of shuriken, pinning him to the tree.
"How?" Zabuza asked when Kakashi made his way towards him, "Are you able to see the future?"
"Yes. And I see you're going to die."
Just at that moment, a barrage of senbon needles hit Zabuza in the neck, killing him instantly.