-AN-
The attack of the clones is coming and no one is more prepared than Naruto, maybe? It involves explosions and trickery at the least.
-Story Start-
Trying to be understanding but still ending up grumpy, a bored Naruto Uzumaki wandered the streets of Konoha. Today was like any other, training before Kakashi sensei had shown up, work on some of his basic jutsu, and then head out for a d rank mission before finishing and coming back for training. Except instead of training they were told explicitly to 'relax and take the rest of the day off' which meant very loud and clear that if their sensei caught any of them training(Naruto) they'd be in for a world of trouble. With a sigh Naruto understood that in his own way Kakashi wanted to make sure they weren't wearing themselves out. With a chuckle Naruto figured Sakura didn't have to worry about that at all, but him and Sasuke might. Shaking it off and spotting a shop full of plants, he figured he could at least get a small bag of fertilizer for his house plants while he was out. It wouldn't do to neglect his housemates after all. Walking in and taking in the heady humid smell of plants and earth, he was overcome with peace for just a moment.
"Welcome to the Yamanaka nursery, what can I help you with?" A bored voice answered from the counter, face down in a fashion magazine, Ino Yamanaka in all her pretty blonde glory was manning the counter. Naruto hadn't seen the girl since the end of the academy but hoped her usual antics weren't about to come out to play.
"Heya Ino! Where do you guys keep your fertilizer?" Deciding to get what he came for and leave quick, he made his way to the counter.
Looking up and spotting the loud troublemaker, Ino had to pause for a moment at the different look of the boy. The open black jacket and black tee wasn't a big change, but it was significant enough to give her some pause and made her give the boy a quick once over. "Uuuh, you're not gonna use it for a prank are you?" Still wary even if he seemed to be taking things a little more serious if the change of his wardrobe was an indication, she still had to make sure his usual antics didn't come back to her parent's shop.
"No no, I have some house plants that need a little love, that's all. No pranking, honest." Hoping the girl believed him as he actually hadn't had time for pranking since the end of the academy. Well except for that short time meeting Konohamaru and training him in the sexy no jutsu.
"Huh." Giving the boy another good once over, a small thought gracing her mind, she nodded and pointed off to her left. "Along the back wall in the corner, next to the indoor aloe plants."
Giving thanks and making his way between rows and rows of plants, Naruto was curious about what his former classmate had been up to. "How's training going? Learn anything awesome from your sensei?"
Realizing she should have known she wouldn't be able to get back to her magazine, Ino snorted when she thought about her sensei. "Heck no. Asuma-sensei is to laid back for that. We're training sure and he works us through drills, and don't get me started on the d-ranks, such a bore! Ugh, and I've got the laziest teammates ever!" Naruto tuned out her ranting about Shikamaru and Choji, knowing the laid back boys were probably getting nagged to death, Naruto found what he was looking for and snagged a small bag. Turning and glancing at the aloe plants, Naruto saw and read the small note attached to the base of the plant.
"Hey Ino, what's this about the aloe plant being a good chakra conductor?"
Pausing mid rant about not being able to cloud watch for hours on end, Ino had to think about what the boy was asking her. Shaking her head, "Hold on!" and moving around the counter, Ino walked around until she found Naruto kneeling next to a row of plants while delicately examining the thick leaves. Kneeling down next to him and turning the plant towards her, her dad's description came to her, "Oh yeah. Apparently this particular variety of aloe vera has a sap that conducts chakra really well. Dad says that coating twine or thinner string with the stuff lets you use it in place of actual chakra thread, and a lot less chakra taxing too."
Thinking about it Naruto had another idea for it if it could conduct chakra, "Think you could draw a seal with it?"
"Well, I don't see why not?" Not seeing where he was going with this, Ino just shrugged while the boy turned to look at her. Were his eyes always so deeply blue?
"Uh well-" Coughing and taking the small bag of fertilizer and one of the medium sized aloe plants, Naruto stood and grinned, "I've got an idea then. Might not come to anything, but never hurts to try." Turning away from the pretty jade eyed girl, Naruto started walking to the counter.
Bouncing her way back to the counter Ino held a grin on her face, "Well as long as it doesn't lead to pranks, I'm all for it." Ringing him up quickly and handing him a receipt, Ino nodded, "Thanks for the business and make sure to tell forehead that just cause she's on his team doesn't mean I've given up yet!" Love was war after all.
"Sure thing Ino-chan, and thanks again!" Giving her a carefree smile and a wave, Naruto was out the door, missing the blushing girl give him a half wave in return before the glass door closed behind him. Deciding that maybe the other blonde could be cute if he wanted, but still not close to her Sasuke-kun, she returned back to her magazine for the day.
Outside it was a carefree Naruto that was already on his way home. Sure he wasn't supposed to be training, but that didn't mean he couldn't experiment. Chakra conducting meant he could probably write seals with it and that meant more ways to make exploding notes! But, because the sap was only slightly sticky he needed a way to produce the seal fast and the same way every time. Maybe he could coat his hand with it? But then his hand would explode too, not a good idea. Thinking hard all the way home, he missed a lavender eyed Hyuuga eyeing him from around the corner. Having watched him leave the Yamanaka shop and observed the blushing Ino, there was a worrisome conclusion being made behind those eyes. Jumping as Naruto disappeared in a shunshin, she decided it would probably be best to think about things at home.
Plant in front of him on his kitchen table along with several scrolls and now 3 other clones besides himself, Naruto thought about his problem long and hard. "The sap itself is conductive, but so it sealing ink. It's not like we need it to make tags."
"True, plus the sap is sorta runny, it wouldn't hold the form for long or anything." One of the clones had made a slight incision on a leaf, allowing the sap to bubble out slightly.
"But you can only make a seal tag so big, sure wish we could pack more of em into a smaller space." Sure they could seal multiple tags or make a paper bomb with exploding tags, but that was obvious and avoidable.
"Wait!" Naruto himself snapped his fingers and pulled out one of his sealing training scrolls. "Wasn't it in this scroll that they described a way of making super massive seal matrices super small by packing the matrix within another chakra conductive paper scroll? Something about needing the chakra to stabilize the matrix for use?" Unrolling the scroll and sifting through it in order to find what he was looking for, it was another clone over his shoulder that pointed to the section they were looking for, written by one Kushina U.
"Well that's what it says. Oooooh I get it. Maybe we can seal the very exploding matrix inside the sap itself?"
"Yeah yeah, and then we could put the sap anywhere!"
Naruto himself had a wide grin on his face. "How about a mile long seal packed into a kunai or even inside a small pellet?" Yeah yeah, this was definitely going to be fun. It'd take him a long time to work on to be the size he wanted, but this was for explosions and explosions were always worth the extra work. Pulling out his tools and beginning to write, it was going to be a long night for him and a hard start early morning.
-b-
Team 7 was waiting patiently as it was coming up on their turn to receive their mission for the day. It had been another few days and while training was great, at least Naruto and Sasuke both were starting to get antsy. So when they came forward and Iruka started naming off more d rank missions, Naruto finally had enough and said as much.
"C'mon Jiji! We've been training our butts off and working these chores like no one's business! Let's have a real mission for once." Missing the nod from an agreeing Sasuke and flatly ignoring a protesting Iruka, Naruto was ready to match wills with the aging Hokage.
"Hmmm…so your team feels like they're ready for a real mission hmm…" Watching the subtle nod from Kakashi, Sarutobi sighed before pulling a scroll from the pile, "Well you're in luck today, we just so happen to have an escort mission available. C Rank, good to get your feet wet." Handing the scroll over to Kakashi the Hokage cleared his throat, "Tazuna-san, your team is here!" From a door off to the side, an elderly man sporting a grey head of hair and matching beard stumbled into the room, from the smell of alcohol no one had to guess what was in the jug he had with him.
Looking through his glasses at the team, Tazuna scoffed, "What's this, I ask for a team and they give me brats? I'm the great Tazuna the bridge builder, don't I deserve some actual ninja?"
Chuckling and waving them all away the Hokage smiled, "I'm sure for just an escort mission these genin will be more than enough. You'll find they're full of surprises." Watching as Kakashi led a grumbling Tazuna away, Sarutobi's eyes hardened only slightly.
Outside it was an eye smiling Kakashi who turned to his team, "Go ahead and head home, pack for an extended mission and meet me at the main gate in 30." And with that, Kakashi wandered away with their client while Naruto and the others quickly split up to pack and prepare. For Naruto this involved a quick body flicker back to his home, grabbing his pack and sealing scrolls before sealing everything into a medium sized storage scroll. Idly twirling it in his hand before shoving it into an inner pocket on his new jacket he took some extra time to make a quick sandwich to scarf down. Having some time to think, he was still lamenting he hadn't had time to fix his old jacket yet, but he figured after this mission he'd finally get a new one. Orange was his favorite color after all. Taking one last look around his apartment, only pausing here and there to water his plants and say goodbye, Naruto was out the door in a flurry of leaves with only a few moments to spare.
Appearing not far from the gate with a bright grin, Kakashi and the other members of team 7 were waiting for him. A screech dying on her lips, Sakura pointed at Naruto.
"Since when do you know the shunshin?" He hadn't been using it at the training ground, and it wasn't like she paid attention to him after team missions either.
Scrubbing his head with an odd look, again a little bummed that his crush barely paid any attention to him at all, Naruto shrugged, "For a while? It's a d rank and the lady at the library was super cool about helping me find the training scroll for it." Granted it might have been so she could get him in and out of the library faster, he couldn't keep quiet for long after all.
Trying hard not to laugh at the mental image of Naruto in a library and figuring he was bluffing, Sakura scoffed and turned away, "You know, I'm sure Kakashi-sensei would be pretty bummed if you were getting training from another sensei. You shouldn't lie." There was no way the dead last knew something even her Sasuke-kun didn't after all. And since he didn't know shunshin yet, she knew their teacher hadn't thought to train them with it yet.
Feelings taking a mental slap and then some, Naruto stuffed his hands in his pockets and formed up behind everyone. Kakashi leading the charge, Naruto was only slightly looking forward to the mission at this point. On the other side of their client Sasuke was looking at him with a calculating look, but didn't say much. But beyond their slow start, team 7 started their journey to Wave, enjoying the bright blue sky and peaceful trees outside of the village proper. Naruto had never been outside of the village before outside of a few times when he was younger and had been run off from the orphanage. The road currently was nice and peaceful so far at least. Sakura wasn't paying all that much attention, mentally planning how she could somehow share a tent with her love interest, while said love interest was trying to pay attention and scan the road as per their mission while being bored out of his mind.
After about 15 minutes of walking and cresting a hill, Naruto took note of a puddle in the middle of the road. Looking up again at the clear sky and warm sun just to make sure, he again puzzled out what was niggling at the back of his mind. Kakashi sensei didn't seem bothered, then again he never seemed bothered, nose deep in his book. Sakura was a lost cause and Sasuke seemed to be doing his best to ignore the girl. And then it clicked, 'it hasn't rained in weeks.' Subtly making a clone and switching with it at the tree line just in case, Naruto figured the others had already seen through the illusion and made similar plans. In the darkness of the tree line as their group and his doppelganger finally passed the puddle, Naruto was ready to admit that maybe his prank senses were letting him down. At least until two men poofed out from the puddle, wrapping Kakashi-sensei in chains and tearing him apart. Knowing that if he could see through that lame illusion then his sensei for sure was fine, Naruto made ready to jump back into the fray if his clone failed its task.
"Look at that Gozu, their sensei was quick to put down!" The first ninja bearing a horned hitai-ate gloated.
"That just leaves the brats to clean up Meizu!" Lunging forward, the second horned ninja wasn't fully prepared for the previously frozen blonde to charge forward, attempting to tackle and hold Gozu around the waist. "Hahahaha, give it up kid, you're 100 years to early to take me down!"
Seals around his wrist glowing unnoticed to Gozu, the Naruto clone grinned, "It's been a blast! Katsu!" And then there was fire and light.
What Naruto never thought to take into account as he made several hundred feet worth of explosive seals along a scroll and wove it all into a bracelet, was that each tag could and would build upon each other as they were chained together. So while a normal exploding tag alone may take off a limb or partially singe a more experience and prepared ninja, this more exponentially powerful seal array would only feed back in on itself by a much stronger value. End result? A ten foot wide and 3 foot crater was instantly dug into the road where Gozu used to exist. Meizu was also almost immediately tossed like a rag doll into the trees, spine snapping where he was tossed first into and then through the first tree that tried to arrest his momentum. When he finally did come to a stop several dozen meters away, he would mercifully already be unconscious. Not that he had any chance of returning to ninja duties ever again between the burns, spinal damage and multiple broken bones.
Back on the street the shock-wave had been enough to toss Sakura and Sasuke both several feet while Kakashi had thought it prudent to shunshin away with Tazuna once he saw Naruto enacting his own plan. Kakashi would have to lecture Naruto on restraint in the future, but privately he was proud that the kid was taking this seriously. Though, as he walked back onto the road with their very shaken client, he still had to chuckle at the overkill.
Leaping from the trees with a grin on his face Naruto made several clones to go find the other enemy ninja. Holding a thumbs up to Kakashi he was completely proud of himself, "Alright, score one for team 7!" Cackling like a madman, he never saw the punch that tossed him into the ground.
"What the hell was that dobe! You could've killed all of us with that! Of all the stupid, ignorant, useless-" Sakura was building herself up for a long rant before Kakashi stepped in with a hand on her shoulder.
"Mah mah, first before you berate him, Naruto-kun, please explain your reasoning." To Kakashi, this was exactly the type of teachable moment they needed. All of them. He could see the look of astonishment on Sasuke's face, no longer able to hide behind a veil of being above it all. He hadn't reacted nearly as fast to the threat after all.
Picking himself up with an angry grumble, the now sour Uzumaki looked directly at his sensei, "Well, first I figured that the puddle was a fake, cause you know, it hasn't rained in weeks and any puddle should be gone in this heat. And I figured if I could figure that out, with everyone else being smarter than me then it should have been really obvious to you all. So I figured with my clones I could take out the threat while my teammates could protect the client."
Nodding and secretly still proud of the Uzumaki, Kakashi still had to lecture the boy, and advise all of them. "So do you know where you messed up?"
"Uuuuuh, I didn't expect the explosion to be that big?"
Shaking his head Kakashi motioned to his two teammates, "Did you consider at all that your teammates actually didn't notice the puddle was a trap?" Seeing the boy shake his head Kakashi continued, "Not only did you not communicate with your team about the possible threat, yes, your tactic could have ended with injury to your team and the client. Thankfully that's what I'm here for, to cover for your inexperience, and to help you learn from these mistakes." Seeing the boy lose his energy at the admonishment, Kakashi smiled internally, "Your decision making was okay up to a point, but communication is key to teamwork, keep that in mind from now on. You can't assume everyone is smarter than you and will make the same decisions as you." With that Kakashi turned to their now sweating client, "And you Tazuna, we have much to talk about." Walking a bit away from the others, Kakashi was going to find out why the demon brothers were after a bridge builder from a small country.
"Dobe, how'd you pull off that explosion in the first place?"
"Exploding tags Teme, give it a try sometime." Now really upset but determined to make up for it eventually, Naruto wasn't in the mood for Sasuke's 'I'm better than you' attitude.
"You don't have to be rude to Sasuke-kun just cause you got chewed out, baka."
Throwing his hands up in the air as his clones came back and dumped the paralyzed body of the other demon brother at his feet. Bound and gagged, the clones all saluted before dispersing themselves. There the three genin of team 7 sat and waited, Sakura trying to stroke Sasuke's ego by saying how he would have taken both enemy ninja down without nearly killing them in the process, while Sasuke himself was looking at Naruto in a new light. Sure he had thought his training wouldn't bridge the gap between them at all, but now he could see that at least within him was a competent teammate. Not like a certain fangirl. Maybe he should start working on those chakra exercises as well.
Walking back to the group with a pale Tazuna, Kakashi was all smiles, "Okay troops, here's the deal. Tazuna apparently has lied about why he needed as escort and now we have a decision to make. Wave is currently under the heel of a greedy shipping magnate by the name of Gato, and Tazuna is building a bridge in order to get past his shipping embargo. In order to stop the bridge being built Gato has apparently hired mercenaries to kill Tazuna and prevent the bridge from being built. If these two, the Demon brothers, are involved that means this is at least an B-rank mission. So we can turn back right now, or we can continue on at our own risk.
Not even hesitating Naruto threw up a fist, "And miss the chance to kick some major ninja butt and save people? No way, I'm in!"
Nodding Sasuke agreed with Naruto, "We're ninja of the leaf, we don't get to abandon a mission once it's been given."
Sakura being of a different mind but not wanting to go against Sasuke nodded, "Yeah, there's no way any ninja are a match for us!"
Nodding with some pride Kakashi turned to Tazuna, "Welp, you heard them, we'll continue on with this mission. However, I will be making a report, and when this is over, there will be an adjustment."
"If the bridge is completed, we should be able to pay it no problem." While happy the ninja wouldn't abandon him, he wasn't sure how they would repay them when all this was over.
Kakashi took note finally of Meizu's bound and gagged form, grinning at the young Uzumaki. "Good job on the capture Naruto. Give me a moment to prepare a scroll and send up a flare." They were still close to the village, an Anbu squad should be able to perform a quick pick up. Which, after penning a quick scroll to describe Naruto's defeat and capture of the enemy ninja along with the situation they found themselves in and their intention to continue, Kakashi sent up an emergency flare that he pulled from a pocket in his jonin vest. Once that was done he performed some quick hand seals and thrust his hand at the ground,
"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" From a poof of smoke a small dog was sitting and waiting patiently for the masked ninja to give it orders. Tucking the scroll into the pug's collar, Kakashi nodded, "Anbu should be here soon, watch over this guy and give them the scroll when they get here." Moving the ninja off into the bushes and out of sight, Kakashi's summon nodded,
"Gotcha, wait and play babysitter."
Chuckling and turning to his team, Kakashi motioned for them to continue finally, "Welp, let's get going team. We have a lot of ground to cover."
"Hey hey, Kakashi sensei, can you teach us that?" Naruto was as always quick to try to learn something new.
"Maybe one day, but you have a long way to go before trying to summon anything." Sure Naruto had the chakra for it, but considering his parentage, he wasn't going to step on those toes. Just in case someone else had a plan already.
"Aw fine."
"Also, Naruto, from here on, can you create clones to follow us in the tree line? I'd rather have some warning just in case." Give the boy some practice in using the clones in different ways.
Which, considering the light shining in his eyes, Naruto hadn't even thought to use the clones as a kind of early warning system before. "Sure thing sensei!" Making his seal and disappearing in a fog bank worth of smoke, 3 dozen clones sat in the road. Without a word, all but one leapt into the trees.
Looking at the Naruto who was with them, Sasuke voiced a question, "How will we know you're the real one? Couldn't someone kill a clone and transform into you?"
Nodding Naruto figured that was true, "Well sure, but you're my team, so ask me an easy question only I would know, like what's the best flavor of ramen?"
"Uh, Naruto, you like all ramen." It was Sakura who spoke up, Sasuke not getting it right away.
"Exactly, all ramen is my favorite."
Seeing the kids begin to actually make plans and feed off one another, Kakashi decided not to chime in just yet. It had taken a little bit, but it seemed they were starting to take things a little more seriously as a team. Even Sakura was starting to use her head a bit, even if it took some coaxing.
The rest of the afternoon was the team traversing the countryside making plans and keeping an eye on the road. Though no bandits or enemy ninja made any appearances, they all were on alert as they came closer to the land of Wave. From the water border where they met a waiting boatman who nervously took them from the mainland across the fog covered water. They finally made landfall in Wave itself as evening approached with no issues. Looking pointedly at Naruto who gave a thumbs up, Kakashi motioned the team forward, moving quietly through the foggy forest.
And it was moving through the mists that a nervous Sakura jumped at a rustling bush, launching a kunai into the cover. Everyone looking at her and waiting, she wordlessly went to investigate, coming back with a snow white bunny.
Laughing nervously Sakura tried to console the terrified animal, "Guess I'm a little jumpy."
Sasuke however was looking at it more closely, "Wait, it's still summer, no rabbit should be snow white like that."
Hearing something large cutting through the air, Kakashi was already pulling Tazuna to the ground, "Everyone down!"
Hitting the dirt, each of the genin had different thoughts as a sword just as tall as probably Kakashi himself flew overhead, burying itself into the trunk of a tree behind them. Silently landing on its edge, a foreign ninja stood watching them all. "Heh, no wonder the demon brothers failed, up against the famous copy cat ninja himself." Bandages over his mouth and bare chested, the mist ninja was glaring down at the Konoha ninja. "Though it looks like the mighty have fallen quite far, they got you babysitting brats now?"
"Defend the client and don't get involved, this opponent is way out of your league." Only moving once the three genin encircled Tazuna, Kakashi turned his full attention to his enemy, "Demon of the bloody mists, Zabuza. What rock did you crawl out from?"
Making a single sign, a thick mist began to roll in, "You'll regret not retreating when you could." The mist now so thick their visibility was barely a foot, and Zabuza's voice echoed from all directions, "I'll introduce you to my silent killing technique. Will it be your hearts? Neck, spine, liver? So many instant kill strikes, so little time…"
All three younger members of team seven were doing their best to watch and protect their charge, while Kakashi had his senses on high alert for when Zabuza would make his appearance. Shifting his head back and forth, a subtle movement in the mist had him turning and lunging with all the speed he had.
Somehow appearing among them, the mist cleared enough that the genin could see Zabuza winding up for a killing strike. "Too bad kiddies! Time to die!" Being kicked in the side and tossed away onto the nearby lake's surface before he could strike, he was set upon by Kakashi. Laughing and defending himself, the lack of concentration allowing the mist to clear, Zabuza taunted Kakashi, "How does it feel, to once be so feared to have to be a glorified babysitting now?"
"You'd be surprised, one day those kids are gonna surpass both of us." Dodging the oversized blade and connecting with a palm strike, he frowned as the sensation was all wrong. "Wait, water? It's heavy." Not being fast enough to pull off a substitution, Kakashi was engulfed in Zabuza's water prison.
Willing to gloat now that his biggest threat was captured, Zabuza laughed, "Hahahaha, how weak you've become. This is the fabled S-class ninja, maybe Konoha needs to rethink its rankings."
Watching their sensei come under fire, Naruto frowned before coming up with a rough but quick plan. "Sasuke, we're gonna save sensei." Pulling out a fuma shuriken in a poof of smoke, Naruto relayed his quick plan.
"Alright dobe, let's see if this works then. Sakura, watch Tazuna!"
"What are you doing, run, you can't fight him!" Kakashi tried to impress on the kids to take the client and run. He might be able to fight his way out without the kids to worry about.
Sasuke and Naruto are run forward together while Zabuza makes a dozen water clones, it is Naruto who counters with his own, "There's no way we'd leave you behind sensei!"
Letting Naruto take the clones Sasuke leapt and inhaled deeply. Preparing his chakra before exhaling his signature technique, the fireball was tinged on white at the edges. Just behind it traveled a hastily thrown fuma shuriken. It took but a moment for the Uchiha scion to land on the lake's edge, watching the plan unfold. Zabuza was forced to build a hasty barrier in the form of a water wall in order to block the Gokakyu no jutsu the steam nearly hid the shuriken just behind it. Bringing his faithful sword around to block it, Zabuza was not prepared for the blonde that transformed in place of the fold-able weapon. Reaching forward and grabbing Zabuza's arm, the single exploding seal on the back of the clones hand began to glow.
"Teach you to underestimate us asshole! Katsu!" Having to choose between holding Kakashi and losing an arm or retreating, Zabuza decided retreat was the better option. Dropping the water prison and performing a hasty substitution, Zabuza was more than a little irritated as the clone was still standing there giving him the finger. "Teach you to underestimate the greatest prankster alive!"
Ruffling the brave blonde who was shakily standing on the lake's water, he walked forward, "It's all me from here on, watch your sensei work for a bit." Moving his headband to expose his Sharingan eye, Kakashi was now deathly serious.
"You're gonna fight me and protect those kids, don't make me laugh!" Performing hand seals in quick succession Zabuza called out his technique, missing Kakashi copying him, "Suiton: Suiryudon no jutsu!" Twin techniques rose from the lake, intertwining before canceling each other other. "Hah, think you're clever, think your cheap tricks can keep up with an original do you?"
Kakashi however wasn't a jounin for nothing, for every technique he had ever copied he had made sure to master each and every one. Knowing Zabuza was going to run another water dragon, it was child's play to start sealing before him and finish the technique a few seconds ahead of him, "Perhaps, you should practice a bit more." Launching his own attack, it was Zabuza who was launched across the lake's surface and blasted into the trunk of a tree. Recovering his donated eye and exhausted, Kakashi moved to finish off his opponent. This was pre-empted however, by several senbon sinking into Zabuza's neck.
Appearing like a whisper, a masked Kiri ninja appeared next to the Demon of the bloody mists. Bowing politely to the team of Konoha nin, the androgynous figure stood up, "Thank you for the assist, I've been hunting this fugitive for some time. It will be good to return him to our village."
Sighing and standing back, knowing he couldn't fight anymore, Kakashi nodded, "It would have been nice to have an assist earlier, hunter-san."
With a shrug, the apparent hunter kneeled and grabbed hold of Zabuza's body, performing a body flicker and disappearing with the corpse. Once they were gone, it was a tired Kakashi who turned back to the team, "Well, gotta say, that was exciting." That was as far as he got before he fell face first into the water.
"Ah, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto ran to pick their sensei up to prevent him from drowning. Several clones coming from their hiding places in order to help.
A shaking Tazuna and Sakura came forward, the older man wiping his brow, "You lot really are the real deal. C'mon, my home isn't far, we can rest up for the night."
Sakura was quick to check over their sensei, his large body dwarfing Naruto almost completely. Looking him over and checking his eye by opening a closed eyelid, and checking his breathing, Sakura eventually sighed and nodded, "Looks like chakra exhaustion. Sensei should be fine after some rest."
Nodding Naruto motioned to Sasuke who moved to the head of the group, "Well, lead the way Tazuna-san, we'll get you home. While Sasuke wouldn't admit to taking orders from Naruto, ever, at the moment even he could admit that the blonde was trustworthy. And maybe they were wrong about him being the dead last after all. So with some new found respect in his heart, Sasuke walked next to Tazuna as he led them to his home and a happy daughter who was more than happy to take them all in after seeing her father safe and sound at home. The night came to an end with team seven all in one piece, though each with different thoughts on their minds about just what this mission had come out to so far.
-AN
And cut. The wave arc is here and in full swing. Naruto gets the show off a bit and Sasuke starts to re-evaluate one of his teammates that he previously thought was far beneath him. How will this affect his mental from here on? Only time will tell.