Hello again, been a while. Let's get to moving with this chapter, shall we?
Chapter Four
Blooded
She wanted to scream. Her mouth opened, her eyes widened, and she made to let loose an ear splitting shriek as she watched the blond in front of her stumble back from the blade impacting his chest.
Her voice never came though. Her throat tightened up painfully and instead of a cry of terror all that Sakura managed to utter as her teammate and technically her boyfriend was stabbed in the chest, was a strangled gasp.
"Shit." Kakashi but out causing her to turn to him, only to see him almost casually snap the necks of the two assailants and drop them on the ground.
She wanted to scream again but she was still somehow frozen from the first stunning injury that Naruto had taken for her. That brought her attention away from the silver haired Jonin back to the blond just as he began to slowly lower himself to the ground.
The pained grimace he had brought her out of her shock and into the moment. Actually, it had her hands in motion and her brain struggling to keep up as she quickly took a basic medical kit from her supplies and dropped to her knees beside Naruto.
Before she could do anything to help him a larger hand grabbed her own and stopped her.
"Relax and take a breath, Sakura. It's going to be fine. You're okay." Kakashi said as he gently pushed past her and began laying Naruto back against the ground.
"Me?" Sakura muttered.
"You're hyperventilating, you need to calm down. Naruto, it's not too deep, but-" Kakashi began as he helped the boy open up his jacket to get a better look at the wound. Unfortunately he had to pause for a moment and turn his attention back to the civilian raised member of his team.
"Stupid." Sasuke grumbled as the three male members of the team watched Sakura stumble and collapse after hyperventilating to the point of passing out.
"Shut up Sasuke!" Naruto barked before hissing in pain as the blade wiggled slightly.
Kakashi could only sigh as he shot a glance toward the unconscious Sakura. Sasuke didn't much help matters with his derisive snort and now Naruto was starting to get worked up.
"Sasuke, why don't you go check on our bridge builder?" It was worded as a request, but Sasuke knew well enough that it was a command.
"Whatever."
Kakashi ignored the boy as he focused back onto Naruto. The blond was clearly agitated though he seemed almost less upset about the stab wound and more annoyed by Sasuke's condemnation of Sakura. He wasn't sure why. It was a little stupid that she made herself pass out. Then again, he probably could have done a better job of preparing the kids for dealing with an injured comrade.
"Gunna hurt a bit, take a breath and don't scream." Kakashi ordered, getting a simple nod from the boy lying before him.
He snatched the weapon out of Naruto with ease. It really hadn't sank in very much into the boy. Less than half an inch. His layers of clothes and the poor angle of the attack had made sure of it. Unfortunately, Kakashi was worried that the claws from the now dead mist ninja's gauntlet weren't exactly designed for deep penetration.
They only need to graze a target if they used poison.
"I need to clean this sound out, Naruto."
"Sure, it's not very deep, so it's fine. You know Sakura was just trying to help." Naruto commented.
Kakashi stopped himself from rolling his eyes. The boy was way too focused on his little fake girlfriend.
"She was in no shape to be helping with medical issues. I'm sure the next encounter will go much more smoothly for her, this whole mess will be water under the bridge in no time." Kakashi said.
The boy didn't say anything after that. Either mulling over his Sensei's rather neutral words or thinking about his injury.
"Uh, Sensei. I feel kind of bad." He said.
Okay, maybe it was neither of those things.
"Bad, like guilty about something or bad like in pain?"
"Bad like I might throw up." Naruto replied.
"So they were poisoned." Kakashi muttered, causing the boy's eyes to shoot wide open.
"Uh, relax I have it all under control, Naruto." He gave the kid his best smile at that.
"I die on our first stinking mission? From poison!" Naruto began to panic.
Kakashi quickly jabbed him in a spot on the neck that knocked him out. Panicking would just speed up whatever poison the mist ninja had used. Luckily, every person he had faced using poison in the past had kept either a vial of the stuff on their person, or if he was lucky the antidote in case of any mishap.
Time to see what these two had in their pockets.
Sasuke led the bridge builder back toward the others from where he had stumbled into a bush to relieve his stomach of it's contents. At least he hadn't passed out like Sakura though.
This entire mission was turning into a flop fast. Two teammates down and out, clearly mislabeled as a C-Rank if enemy ninja were coming for their target. He wouldn't be surprised if they were going to be booking it back to Konoha in no time at all.
He knew this team would hold him back. It was going to get Naruto killed too. The idiot.
As he approached the rest of his team though, that thought became bitter in his head. Naruto lay motionless on the ground with his wound left untreated while their sensei efficiently tore through the belongings of the enemy shinobi.
"What? How did the two kids die?" The bridge builder asked in panic.
"Mah, they aren't dead. Well at least not yet." Kakashi replied with his usual lazy tone before he suddenly stood to full height.
"Lucky day, antidote and everything."
"Antidote?" Sasuke asked.
"For the poison. Don't worry, it's all under control." Kakashi said with some cheer.
Sasuke's eyes widened at that and he jerked his head back to stare at the unconscious Naruto. He couldn't stand the decisions the other boy had been making. Letting himself be held back. Holding Sasuke himself back by doing so.
"Idiot." Sasuke grumbled ignoring the slight sagging of his teacher's shoulders.
"Sasuke, go into my pack that I set down over there and get out the smelling salts. We'll need to wake up our two comrades soon. Once you're all squared away I'll need to have a conversation with Tazuna." Kakashi said as he quickly set to work fixing Naruto up and making sure that he wouldn't succumb to the poison.
In a few moments both Naruto and Sakura were awake again, though the mix of poison and antidote still churning in his system had rendered Naruto into a pale sickly mess. Something that annoyed Sasuke. At least Sakura was finally proving to be useful somehow as she tended to their blond teammate. The way she coddled Naruto was a bit much but it was better than her trying to speak with him in the Uchiha's book.
Plus it gave him the opportunity to try and listen in on Kakashi's conversation with Tazuna.
"Please, you have to understand. I wouldn't have lied if I wasn't desperate. My people are being murdered daily and our own feudal lord does nothing. Gato keeps the lord's men practically locked up in the Lord's Fortress while the rest of the island is starving, being kidnapped, or worse." Tazuna pleaded.
"I am sorry about your troubles, really I am, but I can't take my genin into something that would at the very least be considered a high B-rank mission. Not to mention one of my kids is in no condition to fight and will need a couple of days to recover. We can escort you back to Konoha where Lord Third can hear your pleas. Unfortunately since you lied the first time, protocol states you will be barred from hiring Konoha shinobi for at least a few months." Kakashi replied.
"Wait!" Sasuke spoke before his brain caught up to his words getting the attention from the men as well as his teammates.
"Sasuke? What is it?" Kakashi asked, though he looked to be dreading the answer.
"We have to continue the mission. Naruto heals faster than you give him credit for he will be up and around in a day at most. We can continue the mission. We need the experience anyway and those people need help." Sasuke said, though he made sure to focus on his teammates for the last part of his little speech.
"That's not how it works, Sasuke. As your team leader I've decided it's too dangerous." Kakashi replied.
"Hold on, please! Listen to your students. Without you my people, my daughter and grandson especially, are as good as dead. I'm begging you." Tazuna jumped in, seeing an opportunity.
"No." Kakashi gruffly said before he paused as he watched Naruto struggle to stand.
Pale, sweaty, and with rings already under his eyes the boy looked incredibly determined. He shot a smile toward Kakashi but didn't say anything. He didn't need to either. Kakashi looked like he had seen a ghost or something before blowing out a long sigh.
"Fine. You will all do as I command immediately though, do you understand?"
"Yes, sensei." The two boys agreed immediately slowly and hesitantly followed by Sakura who had taken a place beside Naruto to help him stand and walk by now.
"Right then. Tazuna, carry Naruto on your back. Sasuke, Sakura, you two stay close to them and protect your downed teammate above all else. What is my motto?" Kakashi asked.
"Those that abandon the mission are trash, those that abandon a comrade are lower than trash." They chorused, getting the familiar smile from the man.
"Let's get a move on then." He commanded.
A few hours later and Team Seven plus their client were making landfall on the main island of the Land of Waves. Like Sasuke had said, Naruto was recovering much faster than even Kakashi had thought possible. It filled the Jonin with a bit of confidence in the mission once again.
He was still a bit annoyed at himself for so easily caving into his students but it was hard to really push against them when they got determined. Especially Naruto.
It just meant that Kakashi would have to be on his guard and take things more seriously than he normally did on mission.
To quote a certain clan head and his son this was all going to be a real drag.
At least he was still on track to take that next step with his team. Kakashi fully intended to handle any further shinobi issues himself. No fooling around like he had earlier. He wouldn't be letting another slip up happen.
There were plenty of thugs working for Gato though. Perfect prey for his little genin to learn how to do the dirty work of their profession. It was a bit barbaric, sure, but definitely necessary. The bastards had it coming from what Tazuna had been saying as well. That only helped to hopefully ease the kids into taking life.
He didn't want their first experiences doing such a thing to be like his and most of his fellow generation. The third shinobi war had forced them into bloody combat earlier than they should have been and it wasn't against rapists and murderers. It had been against people just like themselves.
Kakashi flicked his eyes over his students and the old bridge builder once again as they walked. The kids were looking in pretty good shape. Naruto was no longer drenched in sweat even if he was still a bit pale. He looked a bit annoyed at Tazuna moving so slowly though.
If anything the man looked the worst for wear. Red faced and puffing for breath, Naruto must have been a bit heavier than he looked. Either that or Kakashi had forgotten that there was a very big difference between a shinobi's physicality and that of a civilian. Even a strong hardworking one like the old man.
"Alright, let's take a short break here. Tazuna, have some water from my spare canteen. That liquor isn't going to make it easier on you to carry Naruto." Kakashi said, causing the man to glare at him.
He still took the canteen and sucked down a hearty amount of water though.
"We'll get moving again in a few minutes." Kakashi said only to pause as he suddenly felt a presence nearby.
A moment later and the bushes let out a startled cry of pain from a young voice as Kakashi planted a Kunai into the hidden shinobi there. A child, he couldn't be certain about them beyond that, though he did know they were indeed a shinobi, stumbled out of the bushes.
The knife he had thrown at them was embedded into their right hand and normally that would be enough to disable a shinobi and force them to either surrender or make some other move. This young figure surprised Kakashi and his students by being able to rapidly use their other hand to form the seals necessary to substitute themself with a white rabbit.
"What the heck?" Naruto muttered as the suspicious, possibly mist shinobi, easily escaped.
"Stay ready." Kakashi said simply as he lifted his headband but left his eye closed. He was not taking any chances after one of his genin had already been injured on this mission.
"Who was that? Another Mist Ninja?" Sakura asked, a kunai in her hands. Kakashi was happy that she was readying for the coming fight.
"It looked like it, but I doubt they were alone." Kakashi began before both of his eyes shot wide open and he moved.
Hollering for the others to duck as he tackled the nearest two of his students down, Sasuke and Sakura, Kakashi found his sharingan staring eye to eye with another man.
"Oh, already bringing out the big guns?" The man said as he ripped his oversized sword free from the tree.
Kakashi said nothing as he stood and readied himself for combat.
"No banter? That's boring. I heard you were a bit of a talker, Kakashi the Copy-Cat."
"Depends on the situation. You get that, right? Demon of the Mist Zabuza Momochi"
"Heh, I'm flattered you know my name. You hurt my favorite tool a moment ago, Kakashi. I was going to offer you a chance to drop the bridge builder and run home with your little brats. Now I gotta take that out on you for a little bit." Zabuza said with humor.
"Team, protect one another and the bridge builder." Kakashi commanded.
"Hah, you expect them to be able to? You are at a real disadvantage Kakashi." Zabuza crowed excitedly only to freeze in place as Kakashi disappeared.
"You shouldn't talk so much." Kakashi muttered from behind the man with his sharingan spinning as he drove a kunai down toward the mist shinobi.
Zabuza was far too skilled to be killed so easily, however all traces of humor disappeared from his demeanor. Kakashi's weapon had sliced a thin line through Zabuza's bandage covered form and traced a tiny cut on his neck.
"No playing around then." Zabuza said before grinning as a thick mist began filling the area.
"Seems my tool is working just fine despite what you did." Zabuza chuckled as he slipped backward into the mist.
The man gasped suddenly as Kakashi was once again beside him and driving a kunai down into his shoulder, nearly forcing him to drop his sword. Again Zabuza managed to escape the attack, though Kakashi was even closer to landing a solid blow this time.
"You were too slow. I've already been using my sharingan from the start. I don't plan on this being a fair fight, Zabuza." Kakashi snarled toward his opponent as he traced the movements of the mist as the various people in the clearing moved slightly. It made it all too easy to track Zabuza Momochi.
"How can you even use that dojutsu here? You can't see me!"
"I don't need to see you to kill you. The Sharingan does enough for me to handle the rest." Kakashi said as he moved toward Zabuza.
Zabuza was back in the game by now though. He easily heard the approach of his enemy and launched a counterattack swinging the oversized sword down toward Kakashi as he approached. The Konoha Jonin was forced back. Even with Zabuza's injury to his shoulder he easily handled the gigantic blade in ways that Kakashi would have struggled with.
"Gonna embarrass you in front of your brats for these paper cuts."
Kakashi again said nothing as he ran through signs for a jutsu he rarely used. Sucking in a breath he let loose a blast of wind that blew away a portion of the mist and revealed himself, his team, and Zabuza between them.
"Oops." The man chuckled mockingly as Kakashi realized he had purposefully pushed him away from his team.
It was a race between the two jonin toward the genin as Zabuza happily lashed out toward the kids. As his blade impacted them they simply shimmered away though.
"What the hell?" He asked before diving out of the way of another kunai swung by Kakashi.
"Like I said. The Sharingan does enough for me to handle the rest." Kakashi snapped as he charged Zabuza.
The sword wielder almost casually swung his weapon toward the attacking Konoha shinobi. It bisected him, though the man simply burst into smoke. Zabuza could only widen his eyes in shock again as the high pitched sound of chirping birds hit his ears.
Kakashi smoothly drove a lightning clad kunai through Zabuza only for Zabuza to burst into water proving he too had used a clone decoy.
"So you are more than just a brute with a sword." Kakashi hummed thoughtfully as he turned toward the mist shinobi running through hand signs.
"Don't insult my skill." He snapped before spewing a Water bullet toward Kakashi.
Kakashi rapidly deployed a mud wall to shield himself from the attack. Sadly the jutsu was too slow in hardening to properly withstand the full might of the blast. It did weaken it considerably though allowing Kakashi to avoid any true harm from the attack.
"Now what are you going to try to do…what did you do Kakashi?" Zabuza asked as he slipped away into the mist and both shinobi quietly maneuvered around one another within the thick cover as it reclaimed the clearing once again.
"You finally noticed?" Kakashi called out through the mist.
"You set those two after us before we left the mainland. I recognized them. The Demon brothers, reported to be following the lead of the Demon of the Mist for the last two years. With so much time spent working together I would think you would recognize the effect of your comrade's own tools."
He couldn't see him, but he knew that Zabuza was staring at his small wounds in either fear or rage.
"You think that's enough to win, Copy-cat?" The voice called out again.
"I win if you have to back off, Zabuza. Then again, make another attack. I'd be happy to show off in front of my students and collect the price on your head." Kakashi answered in an unnervingly calm manner.
Somewhat predictably Zabuza wasn't about to give in. Without an antidote he was less than likely to recover from the poison. So, the Demon of the Mist made his final assault. Unfortunately for Kakashi, he wasn't the target.
With the illusion he had initially placed on Zabuza for the location of the team and the client broken, Zabuza made a vicious attack against the vulnerable genin and old man.
It wasn't enough. Even as the mist parted and Zabuza brought his blade downward toward the team, Naruto and Sasuke had moved into action. Naruto took hold of the bridge builder with one hand and pushed Sakura ahead with the other.
Sasuke though ran through a series of quick hand signs and let loose a ball of fire that would have impressed his father.
Zabuza didn't seem to care.
The swordsman charged through the flames ignoring the severe burns and now burning clothes in favor of pursuing Naruto and Tazuna.
Naruto struggled to heave the bridge builder after him. The effects of his earlier poisoning weren't severe but they slowed him down and fatigued him. Even in his own poisoned state, Zabuza cleared the space between them in the blink of an eye. The boy had to act quickly and with a spin shoved Sakura further away and hurled the bridge builder after her, he however remained in the path of the blade much to the horror of his teammates who could only watch.
The blond genin tried to pull a kunai out, something futile perhaps, but doing anything was better than standing and awaiting the attack.
He watched instead as hounds burst out of the ground and latched onto Zabuza as he charged forward. He was moving fast enough that it drug the summoned creatures forward with him, but the sudden change in weight placement and the fact that there were five of the beasts attacking him forced Zabuza to the ground.
His sword sank into the ground just inches from Naruto, still held in the swordsman's hand but just out of reach of claiming a life.
"Copy cat using dogs? That's almost funny." The missing nin laughed weakly as his body began to finally succumb to the toxins used against it.
"It's over, Zabuza. You're dead." Kakashi calmly said while Naruto scurried back to rejoin Sakura and Tazuna. The silver haired Jonin slowly approached his downed opponent, dismissing his dogs and running through the hand signs for his trademark technique.
The high pitched sound like that of thousands of birds pierced the air and electricity coated Kakashi's hand. He would give his opponent the dignity of dying to the Raikiri. Few got this far against him after all and there was a certain honor along Shinobi, even if it simply meant death for a respected enemy.
"No!" A girl screamed before a flurry of ice senbon began peppering Kakashi.
It wasn't enough to stop his stroke though. Rather than an instant kill however his aim was knocked off course as one of his muscles suffered a spasm caused by the projectiles stabbing into him. The Raikiri carved a deep wound through Zabuza's side but missed his vital organs entirely.
Kakashi himself was caught off guard by the desperate girl as she seemed to materialize out of a disk of ice before him. She made no move to attack though, simply she took hold of her master and fled back as she had come.
Leaving behind one of the legendary seven swords of the Hidden Mist.
The battle was over though and if Kakashi wasn't mistaken Zabuza would bleed out in moments no matter what the girl did for him and that was ignoring the poison already taking its toll.
Too bad he wouldn't get the bounty, but perhaps there would be some reward for the blade.
"Naruto, carry the sword if you can. Let's get moving. Staying here is asking for more of Gato's hirelings to come and try their luck.
His team shifted uncomfortably. Sakura clung to Naruto clearly, having seen the boy almost die twice in such a short time was affecting her terribly. After just a moment though, they obeyed him and their little group was quickly underway.
Which was good. That girl's attack had numbed Kakashi's hands and arms. It would be a lot harder to fight even an unskilled opponent until he could regain proper feeling and control in his extremities.
As the Konoha shinobi continued on to their client's house to continue the mission, Haku stumbled and fell trying to carry her master to one of their hideouts. She knew that she couldn't take him back to Gato and his thugs. They were already antagonistic toward Zabuza and herself, but they had known if they tried anything they would find themselves in danger of a painful death.
That wouldn't be the case anymore. No matter how much she wanted to deny it. She could feel him slipping away as she stumbled and fell to the damp earth beneath the.
The kunoichi struggled to get back up. She was injured and it was incredibly difficult with Zabuza's weight, still she managed to get up to her knees before having to pause and catch her breath.
"Haku…" He murmured next to her ear as she adjusted him against her side.
"Just conserve your strength, master." She replied while trying to stand once again.
"Haku stop it." He gasped out to her.
"I can't. I refuse." She said as tears ran down her cheeks.
"It's okay. Lay me down. I want to lay down." He commanded.
She didn't move for a moment. Thoughts of defying him running through her head but she couldn't do it and slowly she lowered him to the ground before kneeling beside him. She wiped at her tears and tried to put on a brave face for him but knew she was failing.
The man stared up at her as if thinking hard about something before reaching out to cup her cheek, shocking her by the action.
"You will not seek these shinobi out for revenge. They outnumber you and will just kill you. Do you understand?" He growled at her.
"You aren't going to die!" She argued back but Zabuza ignored her outburst.
"One day you will be almost unbeatable. Only then can you do whatever you want. Seek vengeance then if you want, but not before. Do you understand?" Zabuza asked.
She shook slightly but didn't react beyond that as he continued to rub his thumb across her cheek. It was the most intimate moment that they had shared so far and she couldn't help but lean into his hand.
"Don't engage them but get back Kubikiribocho if you can. Master it. I know you'll find a way to mix it with your own techniques and abilities. It's your weapon now." He continued. His eyes glazing over but his words still spilling forward and his thumb still gently stroking her cheek.
"You are not a weapon anymore. You're a kunoichi and…do me proud." He said with a weak laugh causing blood to run from between his lips and down his chin.
She couldn't say anything now. No longer trusting her voice as the thumb on her cheek moved slower and slower.
"I want you to live and be strong and healthy. I should have told you sooner. I'm sorry. I'm…" His words trailed off into a soft gurgling sound from his throat.
Haku flinched as his hand fell away and onto the soft grass beneath them. She shook like a leaf in a storm before crumpling over her bloodied master and weeping silently into his chest.
Her master, teacher, father was dead now and she was truly alone once again.
All she had were his final words to her.
Team Seven had been exhausted once they had made it to Tazuna's family home. Being welcomed warmly by Tsunami didn't really do much to comfort them especially when it was coupled with her obnoxious son.
Kakashi had dismissed his students to get some rest while he had done his best to check the area. Thankfully the bridge builder lived a small way outside of his home village and there was little risk of nosy neighbors or non-shinobi sneaking up on them.
Only then did he let himself relax at all and return his attention to the dozens of tiny pinpricks covering his upper body.
"I'm lucky she didn't make kunai or shuriken." He let out with a quiet sigh before returning to the others.
Tsunami busied herself in making her father comfortable while his students had clearly secured a bedroom for the team and posted themselves up in such a way as to better react in case an enemy tried infiltrating the house. Just as they had all been taught.
Sakura was running a softly glowing hand across Naruto to make sure he was okay again. Once she was done checking on him though she turned to look at their teacher and made her way over to him without a word.
Kakashi didn't say anything either. He simply sat on a stool and let his cute little genin get to work healing up his injuries. He nearly laughed when she gasped as the number of punctures littering his form as well as the amount of chakra he had expended.
"It's alright, Sakura. I'll be fine by the morning thanks to your help here." He comforted her.
"Right. Sorry Sensei." She mumbled back.
"No need to apologize. You all did well today. Better than the vast majority of teams when they encounter something like that. I'm proud of you." He said loud enough for all of them to hear him clearly.
"You got hurt and we couldn't do anything in that fight with the swordsman." Sasuke grunted out. Clearly he was taking his lack of involvement in the fight hard.
He wasn't the only one, Kakashi could all but feel the tension in each of his students. They weren't happy with their capabilities or their accomplishments. Maybe he was pushing them too hard. What genin could hope to survive against a Jonin of Zabuza Momochi's caliber let alone do anything against him like they had.
"Don't give me that. You all performed beyond what should ever be expected of genin. Against the likes of Zabuza Momochi it really is astounding how well you have done. You're all growing incredibly fast." Kakashi said. It was a bit stilted. He wasn't exactly comfortable with such tender words, but he meant them so it was easy enough to push through the discomfort he felt.
It seemed what he had said was the right thing after all. Each of the kids perked up a bit and smiled afterward.
He was getting good at this whole teacher thing.
"Alright, make sure you get plenty of sleep. Especially you two, Naruto and Sakura. Between your injury and you using your healing technique as much as you have, you both need rest. We have a big day tomorrow so I want you ready." Kakashi instructed before taking his own place in the room for some sleep. His ninken were on patrol now and they would alert him if something was amiss.
He could use some sleep.
The kids bedded down easily enough. They too were tired and Kakashi was thankful for the lack of arguments or complaints. He wasn't lying when he said they had a big day tomorrow.
In fact he planned a couple of big days before they would be able to really rest like this again, and after what he planned it would be tricky for the three kids to get a good night's sleep for a little while.
At least it was for him.
Kakashi hadn't been lying to his students in regards to the next day. After encountering Zabuza and more than likely killing him he wasn't willing to take any chances that Gato would end up hiring more shinobi to replace him. As it was now, the best defense was offense at its most aggressive.
A perfect lesson in proper scouting and information gathering while on mission. He took all three of his students around the island while leaving Tazuna and his family under the guard of a clone and his ninken summons. It wasn't perfect but truth be told, he was feeling especially confident now that they, or rather he, had handled Zabuza.
"Naruto, what is the count at?" He asked the blond.
"Seventy three across the whole island, not counting those two ronin that follow him around like body guards." Naruto replied easily.
"Close, but you missed the two helping that fisherman in town. They might not be as vile as their comrades but they took orders from Gato's officers all the same and will likely join their forces in a fight." Kakashi educated his student causing the boy to frown but nod in understanding.
"Sasuke, what are the best places to strike?" Kakashi asked.
"The village center, the barracks, or Gato's estate." The boy replied with a shrug.
"Yes, though I also wanted to know why. Sakura, do you know?" He asked.
She nodded before pointing toward the village, not that they could see it from where they were currently crouched in some tree branches hidden away from the island's population.
"Launching an attack at the village center during the busiest time at the market would cause panic and lead to chaos letting us hit the majority of enemies while they were out in the open and unable to properly react. Unfortunately there will undoubtedly be survivors that retreat to Gato's house and the barracks and turn them into hardpoints. The barracks is a good place to hit at night due to most of them being asleep but the large number of sentries make it hard to do enough damage before the entire force awakes and outnumbers us by a huge margin. The estate is even more heavily guarded and has at least one trap built by Zabuza and his team before their defeat. I doubt it's only one though." She explained, completely causing Kakashi to grin broadly underneath his mask.
"Perfect analysis. Which one do you kids is the best option then?" Kakashi asked.
The three teens looked at one another exchanging a silent debate that Kakashi recalled sharing with his own teammates a long time ago. That killed his happy mood a little bit.
"Well they all have a negative sensei, but if we kill Gato won't the others just leave?" Naruto asked.
Kakashi sighed before shaking his head.
"Sadly that is unlikely. The usual reaction for a little army of bandits like this is for them to assault and plunder the nearest settlement. Since the nearest settlement is the village including our bridge builder friend….that's not good for business."
"So we have to take the army out too, or at least cripple it beyond the ability to harm the villagers meaningfully." Sasuke proposed.
"Exactly. Ideas?" Kakashi pushed.
The teens were silent yet again. Another wordless discussion taking place. Memory of his old team or not, it really warmed his heart to see them finally becoming a unit. Finally stepping past the limitations that had unknowingly placed on themselves when being assigned to team seven.
"Sasuke. You thinking what I am?" Naruto asked with a serious look on his face.
"Probably." Sasuke said simply before turning to Kakashi yet again.
"We have to hit all three points. They will fall back to the barracks and estate to regroup after an attack in the village so we have to hit all three anyway, but that doesn;t mean we have to hit them one at a time." Sasuke said.
"So you want to split the team up against an already numerically superior foe?" Kakashi asked for clarification.
Sasuke and Naruto hesitated then. It did seem like a bad idea.
"Wait. Will we really need to split up? What if we put traps in place on the paths back to the estate and the barracks instead. We can hit the village center then their remaining numbers will be damaged fleeing and if not routed completely at least bogged down so that we can pick them off after catching up to them as they run." Sakura chimed in.
"Then even if some do survive the attack and the traps they will have to fight past us to get to safety. If any even make it that far we weaken their advantage terribly." Naruto excitedly added while shooting Sakura a smile causing her to blush a bit.
"Good plan. We'll get started in the morning, we can set the traps before the sun rises and then my ninken can arm them as soon as we start out in the village center. We'll discuss the best places to strike from after dinner tonight. Make sure to thank Tsunami for the meal. It's more than they are paying for." Kakashi said as he stood to lead them back to the house.
He pretended to ignore the nervous air surrounding the kids as they followed him. A mixture of excitement and dread coupled with the basic professionalism ground into young genin. All shinobi went through it.
His kids had a bit of an advantage though. In a weird kind of way. They had faced shinobi already. These men they would be facing tomorrow were nothing comparatively. He supposed he had sort of done things backwards from how most genin were trained.
At least he felt pretty confident for the coming day because of it though.
The Konoha shinobi were going to kill all of the thugs that Gato had on the island. Haku had no doubt that it would be a relatively easy job for them. As far as she could tell, that silver haired bastard leading them was using it almost like a training exercise.
A part of her felt outright disgust at such a thought. Treating human life like nothing more than a teachable moment. The rest of her saw it the same way as the Copy Ninja did. Blooding the genin on weaker easier targets would help them get used to it so that they could better confront worse opponents like herself later on.
Not that she imagined these genin really needed it. They had already experienced deadly combat with enemy shinobi, herself included.
None of that really mattered to her. She took all of Zabuza's final words to heart. She didn't have an issue with the students on the team from the Hidden Leaf, but Kakashi Hatake would one day fall dead at her hands. She would make sure of it.
That day was not today though. She couldn't hope to defeat him as she was.
She had no intention of fighting him today though. Only to reclaim what was hers by inheritance. After all, she wasn't going to be Haku Yuki anymore. Haku Momochi seemed more fitting in her mind. Kubikiribocho didn't belong to the Hidden Mist anymore either. It was hers and hers alone.
She just had to steal it back once the shinobi had all started their bloodbath across the rest of the island. Rather than go right at the start of the day just as they had left though, she would slip in after their attack had begun. Take the sword. Then slip right back out. No conflict, no problem.
Eventually the four Konoha shinobi did as she wished. Leaving headed for the village with a clone of the jonin joined by his ninken heading off for the pathways to the barracks and Gato's estate. A simple plan with a high likelihood of success. Especially against the opponents that they were facing.
She continued to wait. Her patience thinned, but she was trained too well to act rashly.
It took a few hours but eventually she could distantly hear the start of a commotion in the village center. A few screams and one or two muffled explosions. They were doing their best to turn it into a panic and make their job easier.
Now she could do what she came for.
Or rather she wanted to, but before she could slip out of her hiding spot she heard another set of noises. Some far closer. The sound of a boar squealing in pain and cruel laughter from two men.
She tucked back into her hiding spot just before the two ronin that followed Gato emerged from the tree line. They had bloodied swords and were joking and laughing as they stomped across the grounds toward the little house of the Bridge Builder's family.
That put a bit of a wrench into her plans. Then again, perhaps the two of them could distract whatever clones or summons the Konoha team had left behind to guard their client and his family.
She prepared herself to use the distraction the men would provide but hesitated as she heard the cracking of wood followed by a scream of terror as the two men broke down the door to the house.
"The Konoha shinobi have it handled." She muttered to herself. Surely they wouldn't leave their client unguarded.
She slipped up to the door and glanced around the corner to see if she had her opportunity only to frown.
The two men had clearly hurt the old bridge builder. The shallow cut across his chest wasn't life threatening but it was clear he couldn't fight them. Not even as they laughed and wrapped their filthy hands around his daughter.
"Inari, close your eyes!" The woman cried out to the little boy huddled at the back of the room.
"No, no, no. Keep watching son. Maybe you can learn something for when you're all grown up." The man holding the woman said with a laugh before running his tongue across her neck and causing her to shake.
She reacted before she had even thought about it. Two senbon. Perfectly placed.
The men simply collapsed dead on the ground. No pressure point to fake their death, no wounding blow. Simply dead.
Haku Yuki couldn't kill anyone. She was too soft perhaps. Maybe too traumatized by what had happened with her abilities as a child.
She was Haku Momochi now though and she wouldn't hesitate anymore.
"Good shot. I thought you were with them for a moment." A voice casually said to her causing her to turn and face Kakashi Hatake or perhaps a clone of him as he stood leaning against the wall beside her.
"Copy Ninja." She breathed out, ignoring the wailing inside as the family realized they were no longer in danger.
"Little Demon. Don't know your name, but I can guess your clan just from your bloodline. You come here for revenge, Yuki?" He asked with a casual tone though she wasn't fooled. He had been about to kill her until she dropped the two ronin.
"Not yet. I just came for master's sword." She replied.
He stared at her before nodding.
"It's yours. Not really my thing anyway and I don't want to lug it back to the village. Plus the Mist will want it back. I don't need that heat on my neck." He shrugged.
Haku narrowed her eyes but carefully stepped into the house looking for the blade while keeping the jonin in her sight the entire time.
"It's just inside the stairwell." He said before turning to calm down the family that was staring at the girl with panic in their eyes.
Haku carefully made her way to where he said the sword was and hefted it up.
"True to my word. Take it and go." Kakashi said.
Haku paused for a moment before turning to face him fully. The man turned to her as well, clearly prepared to fight her despite his slouching stance.
"Why? Why aren't you killing me?" She asked him.
Kakashi was silent a moment before letting out a sigh.
"You probably wouldn't get it. I see someone in you though. They lost their teacher as well and fell into a very dark place. It took a long time for them to recover but they did. It's how this world of ours works. Lots of good and strong people die. I don't want to add to the number of the dead unless I have to." He explained.
"Even though you know one day I will come back for you. I will kill you." She said with complete confidence that one day she would do just that.
"I won't lay down and take it, but when you come seeking me for that, I'll fight you. Right now though you should leave before my team returns." He suggested.
Haku stared at him for a moment. She couldn't understand why he was letting her go. Was he honest when he said he simply didn't want to kill more people if he could avoid it?
She didn't ask anything more. She turned and fled with the blade of her master.
She felt the eye of the Copy Ninja on her back as she ran long after she was out of sight of the little house.
A while before saw team seven taking their positions around the center square of the village. It had a small market and people from across the island came here to trade and sell their goods to make ends meet.
Gato's people also came. They needed to get their cut after all. Every transaction came with a tax. A heavy one. Money or goods the thugs didn't care. Their job was to take.
Most of them enjoyed it too. Some of them went farther than simply taking their taxes and it was clear that some of the worst among the group enjoyed their power over these people in the worst ways possible.
"I don't think I can sit and wait up here like this." Sakura whispered to Naruto who was concealed beside her.
Naruto grunted his agreement as they both watched one of Gato's men harass a mother and her young daughter making it clear to the woman that he had intentions to take more than just her money.
He also made it clear that her daughter would pay the price if she refused him.
"That's it. Plan or not I'm not going to sit by and watch stuff like this happen. Are you with me?" Naruto asked the others.
Sakura surprised even herself with how quickly she agreed. Sasuke nodded his head as well and Kakashi made it clear they were running this mission right now. Probably some kind of test.
She put that thought from her mind and drew the kunai from her pouch with a serious and determined expression.
"You got him, Sakura?" Naruto asked as he primedba set of explosive tags and took aim at the set of crates several of Gato's men had turned into an open air bar.
"I've got him." She said with confidence that she didn't quite feel. She wouldn't dare to let him down. Or her team.
She pushed that thought out of her head and leveled her breathing before letting her blade fly with practiced ease only Shinobi and kunoichi were truly capable of.
Her first instinct was to grimace as the kunai embedded itself into the side of the man's head and the mother and her daughter began screaming.
It was only a moment though. A half second later and she was releasing another kunai that found it's target in a confused thug's throat.
A third found a man's eye and caused him to stumble and fall off of the dock he stood on into the water below.
That was when Naruto's bomb went off and he charged out of their concealment into a group of still surprised enemies. She knew he was skilled. But seeing him easily sidestep the crude weapons of the men he was fighting as they realized their situation she saw an eerie, brutal, beauty to it as well. As if he was dancing.
She nearly missed her next target because she was staring.
"Sakura stop eyeballing your boyfriend and focus." Sasuke bit out harshly causing her to frown at him before following the advice. He had a point as much as she was unhappy about it.
Within moments collectively the team had slaughtered nearly two dozen of Gato's men. The opening move of the plan was going off without a hitch.
Sasuke joined Naruto in melee as he wove between enemy combatants and struck at their vulnerable points before they could properly defend themselves.
Sakura followed after them. The goal was to get the enemy to flee after all and the sight of three children carving their friends apart was more than likely to do just that.
The melee fighting was different from picking off targets from a range. Somehow both harder and easier for her. In the academy and again with Kakashi her training has emphasized melee combat in practice. She had a rhythm and natural ease that her training gave her, but having their hot blood splatter across her as she drove a blade through their flesh felt terrible to her.
At first.
Slowly it changed. The high of battle as her adrenaline pumped and she enjoyed the feeling of victory over men as much as four times her size swept over her and she couldn't stop the bloody grin that she shared with Naruto and Sasuke as they fought on.
This was what it meant to be a kunoichi. At least she felt this is what it meant as she rode her first battle high through.
It didn't dull her actions at all. If anything she felt more aware than usual. To the point that when Naruto had briefly lost focus while encountering a more skilled opponent she slew the two attempting to slip up behind him for a kill.
By the time the thugs finally broke and ran more than forty men had been killed by the three teens and Sakura had been no slouch in the fight.
Now they just had to follow after them and finish them off.
Not until after her boyfriend gave her a slightly bloody kiss on the cheek for watching hai back though.
Kakashi rejoined his students as they pursued and harassed the remnants of Gato's forces. He dismissed the clone that had been with the kids before now and was quite pleased with their effectiveness in battle. He would need to remind them with a harsh training session that they were still mere genin once they were back in Konoha though.
No room for swelled heads in this team.
He really was pleased though. They were doing an excellent job of remaining in control even if he could see the effects of combat taking their toll on each of them.
The strangest being Sakura who was reacted completely opposite to how she had when they first encountered enemy Shinobi. The grin with a tinge of blood thirst to it said more than enough.
That was fine. Sick as it was an eerie sense of pleasure from combat and victory was felt by every shinobi he just had to make sure it didn't go to far for her.
With how things were going on this mission so far though, he probably could leave that to Naruto.
Whatever manipulation the girl had once been planning was already a failure. If the way her eyes followed the blond was any indication.
After an hour of nonstop running, the few survivors of Gato's men made it out of the woods. The team followed those headed for the barracks first. There were some better weapons as well as bows and arrows kept under lock and key there that the thugs likely hoped to put to use.
It wouldn't matter of course.
The team stopped a shorr ways away from the barracks. As large as the building was, only around fifteen men had escaped into it. Another handful, less than ten had fled to Gato and whatever guards he still had at the estate.
"Shit those bows are going to be annoying if they aim for the doors and windows while we try to get inside." Naruto cursed.
"Mah, teachable moment." Kakashi said before turning to face his students.
"Shinobi have their own honor. You all know that. However, we aren't stupid. It's not worth trying to take over the building if our goal is just to kill the men inside. What does that mean we should do?" He asked.
He almost grinned as Sasuke and Naruto shared a look and stepped forward together. Combining a powerful blast of wind and the veritable inferno of their jutsu created a firestorm that engulfed the entirety of the building without risking any of team seven trying to capture it.
"We won't burn the estate down. It used to be the property of this country's daimyo so we need to clear Gato and his people out. Trust me it will be easier than you think." Kakashi said as he led the kids back through the woods to the sizable mansion.
Just as he said it was easier. The cowardly tyrant had taken what money he could carry and what men he had left and was making a break for a private dock he had on the island.
Like in the village center Kakashi stood by and let his students do the work. Perks of being sensei usually meant less actual work for him.
Now all that was left was to return the body of Gato to the people of the land of Waves and hang out until the bridge was done.
He did wonder if there would be a decent party after all this though. His kids deserved some praise and a good time as a reward.
Sakura and Naruto broke apart to catch their breath after another dance. She'd forgotten how many they'd had so far. The sun had gone down hours ago but between the bit of liquor their sensei had let them enjoy and the festivities among the islanders it felt like no time had passed at all. As if she was blissfully trapped in a moment of joy.
That was what it was too. Actual joy as Naruto pulled her back into another dance as the impromptu band changed tunes to something slower and more romantic.
Leaning against him as they swayed to the music guilt chewed up her heart beneath the actual excitement dancing with her boyfriend gave her.
That was a problem though wasn't it. This wasn't according to plan at all.
Especially as she and Naruto shared a kiss while they danced the night away alongside a dozen other couples from the Land of Waves.
She would have been tearing herself up about how Ino would react, but for the moment her mind was completely here in the moment with her boyfriend.
Well that is that. I hope you enjoyed, obviously some issues in Sakura;s plan are immediately apparent. If there even is a plan anymore. I also have to admit I took what was essentially a brief hiatus in the middle of writing this chapter and I feel like it kind of shows. If it feels a little disjointed between the first and second parts that would be why.
Anyway
Till Next Time.