Chapter 11: Real Progress

Haku was anxious. She raced from tree to tree, trying her hardest to spot Zabuza through the thick mists that not even the sun managed to shine through. She didn't want to make her presence known in case the Leaf Ninja were still around, but did it even matter if her master was dead or dying?

The thought of it was too much to bear and she caved. "Master Zabuza!" she called out with worry, "Can you hear me?!"

A moment of tense silence replied back to her. Sweat filled up the mask on her face and she could feel her head throbbing with each heartbeat in anticipation for any reply from her master.

"Stop your worrying, brat!" his voice called to her from below.

Haku chased down the spot where the voice came from, stumbling at the sight of Zabuza resting on top of a tree stump. She leaped down from the branches and to his side below, splashing up mud as she landed.

"Master Zabuza, are you hurt?" her calm and smooth voice was betrayed by the glare of worry in her eyes beaming out of the sockets of her porcelain mask.

"I'm fine," Zabuza said blankly.

Haku scanned over the man's figure. It was riddled with cuts and gashes. The deep red color of his blood had permanently stained the pure white bandages that clung haphazardly to his forearms and his neck. He hadn't yet pulled out the arrows that embedded themselves deep in his shoulder and bicep.

Most concerning of all was perhaps the state of the Executioner's Blade. Its once wide and hefty build was now reduced to something lesser. It was thin, looked easier to shatter, and had lost more than a few inches of length. The sword was in desperate need of blood to be restored to its former strength.

"You couldn't finish them?" Haku inquired.

"They were crafty. Slipped away from me before I could finish any of them," Zabuza said as he began to unravel the bandages around his neck and arms.

"Are you outmatched?" Haku scrutinized her master carefully as he wrapped the bloody rags around the Executioner's Blade with intricate care.

"Just overwhelmed," Zabuza clarified.

"Then next time we hit them with a whole battalion and –"

"No," Zabuza cut her off. "I can't get the others involved with the Leaf. I am acting totally separately from the Rebellion and its interests right now. The Leaf Ninja need to know this, otherwise we risk losing far more than just Gatō's money," he explained while he tightened the stained bandages around the blade.

"But Master Zabuza, if you keep getting hurt like this you're going to die," Haku argued fervently despite her calm voice.

Zabuza stalled to reply. Instead watching as the red from his bandages seemingly evaporated and they were once again made a fine white.

"From now on, we will fight them together," Zabuza declared as he undid the wrappings around his sword, revealing a rejuvenated and fully repaired Executioner's Blade.

"Are you sure that will be enough?"

"I'll handle Kakashi on my own," Zabuza clarified. "You just need to distract his genin brats for me. They didn't seem that impressive. One of them, the blond one, he's a bit of a trickster," Zabuza noted. "The other two were a Hyūga and an Uchiha, but their eyes weren't nearly developed enough to do much," he explained. "Your Ice Release is definitely a lot more advanced."

"Is there anything specific that I need to know about them?" Haku inquired.

"They're fresh meat. They haven't fought many real battles – I might have been their first outside of a controlled environment to be honest. You have more experience than they do. As long as you can control the pace of the fighting, you'll do just fine," Zabuza instructed her.

"Very well, Master Zabuza. I won't disappoint you," Haku assured her master and kneeled before him with respect.

"We won't be provoking the Leaf Ninja at all. I'll assign Meizu and Gōzu to watch the activity on the bridge. If it goes under construction, that's when we will step in. It's crucial that we only protect our interests, we don't want to get too proactive against the Land of Fire," Zabuza stood up and began to trek through the muddy forest.

"Of course, Master, I understand." Haku followed by his side, watching him strap his legendary sword onto his back.

"These are very intense times, Haku," Zabuza's voice became level and stern. "You need to continue to steel yourself. A shinobi is a tool, someone that endures and performs their task to completion even if it means their life. A ninja that can't endure is just a broken tool. Never forget what happens to broken tools," Zabuza warned.

Haku tried her best to ward off the feelings of concern. "Broken tools are discarded in the trash," she rattled off the response as it had been reiterated and taught to her countless times before.

Zabuza always taught her that the perfect shinobi is unattached, emotionless, and a perfect weapon to be utilized to dispose of its master's enemies. Haku had conditioned herself for years under Zabuza to become these things to the best of her abilities. For the most part, she had been successful but no matter how hard she tried, no matter how bad she wanted to, Haku could never fully detach from her master.

And how could she? Zabuza was the man who saved her. Without his protection and guidance, she would have been slaughtered with the rest of her clan. He provoked rebellion against Yagura and is the man who stands against him and his evil genocides which took her family from her. She couldn't help but be grateful to him – but to admire him. She had to know that he was safe no matter what and she was always willing to do whatever was necessary to ensure that he was protected.

Zabuza keeps telling her that she is one of the Rebellion's greatest up-and-coming prospects. That she has to work hard to hone her skill and use it to serve the Kiri Rebellion no matter the cost so that one day it can be declared free from Yagura's clutches.

But for Haku, Zabuza was crucial to the Rebellion's effort, he was possibly even more important than the entire Kiri Civil War itself – to her, Zabuza was the Rebellion. For that he was irreplaceable and Haku wouldn't allow anyone to hurt him.

Deep down, she believed that it was this conviction that made her strong despite Zabuza's teachings.

Naruto hung upside down from a tree branch. His legs were burning with aches. The fifty-pound weight vest was fastened tightly to his torso. He knew well enough that he was pushing this exercise too far too quickly, but he wasn't very concerned. Sure, it was agony, but his muscles healed by the next day. Plus, he needed to get good enough to use the Body Flicker reliably, and he was going to do as much training as he could to manifest it into reality.

In truth, he felt obligated to push himself like this. It was the only thing he could think to do in order to ward off the stress.

The team had not done anything in nearly a week. Things between him and Sasuke were awkward. He couldn't even manage to share eye contact with the Uchiha without an overbearing tense feeling that weighed on his chest like a boulder. So they avoided each other and remained closed off from everyone else.

Naruto couldn't help but feel bad for Hinata. He knew that all three of them weren't exactly social butterflies, but it was tough leaving her alone to make conversation with Tazuna and his family. Naruto could see it in the way the Hyūga held her facial expressions – she wanted to say something to him, to mend the situation, but she didn't know how to word it.

Thinking about Kakashi only assaulted him with shameful attacks of guilt. He couldn't bring himself to face him yet. He had gone against Kakashi's instructions. Naruto was not good enough to use the Body Flicker in the middle of combat like that. Kakashi had said as much, but he still used it and almost got himself killed for doing so. Kakashi had to stick his neck out to salvage Naruto's mess, and that massive laceration on his back was a haunting reminder.

Kakashi was drained in the fighting with Zabuza and his last-minute injury needed time to heal up. The only orders that Kakashi managed to give them were to stay put, keep an eye out, and make sure Tazuna was never far away. He had been doing nothing in the meantime, merely resting as much as possible to recover. Kakashi had to be thankful for Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami. She had kept him fed and given up her bed for him to use.

Naruto pushed all these distressing issues aside when his legs finally became so sore that he could no longer maintain the exercise. He let go of his hold on the tree branch and fell to the earth. He sat in the dirt for a moment because his legs were going to buckle underneath him if he tried to stand. He rubbed at his thighs and shins thoroughly to help relax his muscles, doing so until they no longer felt inflamed at rest.

He forced himself to his feet with a labored huff and tried his best to ignore the cries of his muscles. His stance became wide and firm, and he cupped his hands together in front of his chest, using both sets of his index and middle fingers to help him focus the flow of his chakra. He shut his eyes tightly, his face scrunched up with a stern determination, and he clung to the feeling of his chakra streaming into his legs carefully and slowly with all of his attention.

He wanted to increase his chakra control with the jutsu, and had been working at it for the last week. He tried many separate approaches to prepare the jutsu in order to troubleshoot what techniques give him the most efficient use of his chakra in tandem with the most speed and distance. Because his legs weren't properly conditioned the way they needed to be, he found that slowly streaming chakra into his legs, as opposed to flooding them, helped him to better use the Body Flicker.

Finally, his legs were emboldened with the pent-up mass of chakra inside them. His eyes shot open and he carefully dropped one arm to his side, keeping the other in front of him to perform the release sign. Instantaneously, the chakra within burst outward like a flooding river let loose by a crumbling dam. Naruto held his bulging eyes open despite his natural instinct to protect them from the overbearing wind that assaulted him. The world shot by him so fast he could only make out general things within his field of view such as trees. He had quickly begun to understand that it was smarter to estimate the needed amount of chakra to dash where you wanted to go instead of relying on your eyes to catch an incoming obstacle in front of you.

One second, the storming sounds of the gales that clashed around him from his sheer haste left him unable to hear anything, and the next moment, it was the serene croaks of the forest and the subtle musings of its critters. Naruto had stopped, planting his feet on the ground as firmly as he could. The adrenaline rush was something he still hadn't managed to get accustomed to.

"Whew…" he wiped his forehead of the cold beads of sweat that flocked there and glared behind him. He studied the distance from his starting point to his current position and surmised that he must've gotten about fifteen or twenty meters. But Naruto was more relieved to see the significant reduction in white smoke that trailed behind him. The first time he had attempted the Body Flicker, he left entire clouds of white behind him, but now, that had been whittled down to a fleeting trail of wisps.

"You're making great progress," a voice commended him.

Naruto stalled in horror. The monotonous tone, Naruto knew that voice. He turned to face him and their eyes met. He quickly wiped away the nervous look from his face and feigned a smile. "It's good to see you moving around again," what little excitement could be heard in Naruto's voice was drowned under the shaky uncertainty that riddled his speech.

"I'm not exactly back to peak condition yet," Kakashi gestured to the crutches under each of his arms. Naruto frowned lightly at that. "But, maybe I won't need these tomorrow or the next day," Kakashi offered.

"That's great news," Naruto said with a faint celebratory smile.

"Yeah," Kakashi's visible eye wandered around the forest. He placed his crutches in front of him and limped forward. "Tsunami is about to finish making us all some dinner. I decided to come all the way out here to get you myself," he revealed. "Come on, walk with me."

Naruto reeled back reluctantly. "No thanks. I'm not hungry and this jutsu won't master itself," he waved Kakashi away to go back without him.

The silver-haired man limped forward again, to the point that he was almost directly in front of Naruto. "I want to talk to you," his dry voice hardened. He nodded his head over to the trail out of the woods and back to the village. "Walk with me."

Naruto wanted to find an excuse to dodge this conversation, but something about Kakashi's stern demeanor made him think that he wasn't going to be able to avoid this. Deep down, Naruto knew it was inevitable that he'd have to face Kakashi eventually. His face softened and he sighed. "Alright, I'm coming."

Each of them trekked through the narrow trails of the forest, brushing overgrown foliage and overhanging tree limbs aside. Naruto quickly assumed a more leisurely pace, sauntering along the path's sudden twists and turns to keep from leaving Kakashi behind.

It was quiet and the subtle bristles of the leaves that danced in the wind, or the intricate calls of the surrounding fauna that foraged just beyond Naruto's gaze aimed to make the journey seem peaceful. However, the circumstances only served to make these small things magnify the heavy, anxious feeling that sat deep in Naruto's gut.

When that unsettling tension finally overcame him, he decided that he would just jump straight into the issue at hand. He pursed his lips and huffed, stuffing his hands deep into his pants pockets and looking down directly at his feet away from Kakashi.

"I'm uh… I'm sorry for breaking the rule during the fight," he started with a weak, defeated tone. "It was stupid of me and it almost got me killed. I won't make that mistake again," he swore as he finally met Kakashi's gaze.

"You did the right thing," Kakashi said, surprising Naruto. "I'd like to think that I would've done the same thing in your situation." He paused for a moment, and Naruto noticed a reminiscent glare in his eye during the reprieve. "But, it was stupid and would have gotten you killed," he clarified with a blank stare.

Naruto frowned. "I didn't mean to go out of my way to put myself in danger like that." He stared ahead with a concerned expression. "When Sasuke was up there fighting Zabuza, and I saw him unable to save himself, I felt scared," he admitted, rubbing at the back of his head in a wave of embarrassment. Then his countenance hardened and he turned to face Kakashi again. "But, I knew I had to do something about it. I dunno what I was thinking – I don't believe I was thinking at all when I did it. It was kinda like my body just sorta moved on its own."

He felt Kakashi's eye scrutinizing him. "You've overcome your fear in battle. That's great to hear," he commended. "There are still a lot of faults you're going to need to overcome before you can really act on your own accord like that." The thud of Kakashi's crutches pounding against the earth was the only discernible noise from either of them for a moment.

"What else do I need to improve on?" Naruto inquired with a curious edge to his voice.

"You possess a general instinct to keep your comrades alive and that is invaluable. That's a quality that isn't common in our line of work," Kakashi moved along to the next point of discussion. "However, that is only as valuable an asset as your ability to think things through and make sure that you can keep yourself alive as well."

Naruto's brow furrowed with a puzzled look "What do you mean?"

"Let me ask you a question," Kakashi said, to which Naruto nodded his head in acceptance. "When you saw Sasuke in danger and you dashed over to his rescue, did you at any point consider if your efforts would've actually saved him? Or when you pulled him in and used yourself like a shield, did you think about the possibility that Zabuza's attack would've just cut clean through you and killed Sasuke anyway?"

The realization set in of what Kakashi was trying to get across. A chill ran down Naruto's spine and a bead of sweat went down his cheek. 'Those bloody slashes were slicing trees in two like scissors cutting paper,' Naruto thought. 'I was never going to stop Zabuza's attack and save Sasuke.'

"Your willingness to jump in front of the attack and save your teammate is admirable, but because you didn't stop and think to process the information, you almost got yourself killed in a fruitless rescue attempt," Kakashi explained to him. "When you're in that situation next time, take a second to assess the situation and make sure you're not needlessly killing yourself in vain."

Naruto was speechless. He just kept staring in front of him wide-eyed. Then a wave of guilt washed over him and his face was blanketed with sorrow. "I'm so stupid," he berated himself with exasperation.

"I'm not just telling you this stuff to make you feel bad, Naruto," Kakashi spoke up. "You have to be aware of these things and fix them. You aren't stupid for making a rookie mistake, you become stupid when you never learn from them," he explained. "That's the difference between life and death," Kakashi finished.

Naruto was slow to reply. He felt conflicting emotions arguing within. Rushing to Sasuke's rescue was stupid, sure, but Naruto never denied that it felt natural in the moment – a no-brainer. Naruto knew Kakashi was right though. If he was going to do something so bold again, he would need to put aside that natural instinct and think things through first. He sucked in a deep breath and exhaled, noticing the sight of the village and its sprawling streets just beyond the treeline. "Thank you for saving me back then, Kakashi-sensei." His tone was soft and sincere, he knew it would be disrespectful not to let Kakashi know that he was thankful for what his sensei did to save him.

Kakashi's crutches once again thumped against the ground. "That's why I'm here – why any team is here. Good teamwork is being able to pick up the slack that your comrades can't. No one can do this stuff alone," Kakashi's eye gleamed with unadulterated honesty. Naruto was silent, soaking in all of Kakashi's insight as he walked. "Anyways, let's hurry up, I'm starved."

"Heh. Yeah, me too."

Master and student approached the humble home of Tazuna and his family. Stepping inside, they were each introduced to a delightful myriad of smells wafting outside from Tsunami's cooking.

"Ah, Naruto, Kakashi, it's great to see you both back in time for dinner," she proclaimed with a smile. She retrieved a stack of plates and swiftly placed them along the dinner table, one for each person. "Go ahead, take a seat," she gestured to them. "Inari!" she called out.

The little boy momentarily peeked around the corner into the kitchen. "Yes?" he inquired timidly.

"Go tell your grandfather that dinner is ready. Don't forget to tell Hinata and Sasuke too, okay?"

Inari scampered off back throughout the house without a sound. By the time Kakashi managed to take a seat, Tsunami had already relieved him of his crutches and placed them out of his way against the wall. She quickly retrieved a large bowl full of white rice and placed it in the middle of the table, the fresh steam flew into the kitchen air. She then retrieved another plate that she laid at the center of the dinner table which was covered with an assortment of fried fish doused in spices that worked in tandem to create an alluring smell throughout the room.

"I apologize for the modest meals. It's hard to feed so many mouths, especially with how hard it already was to get enough food for all of us," she admitted with a slight frown.

"Ah, we're very grateful for your hospitality," Kakashi smiled through his mask.

Naruto heard the light pitter-patter of footsteps nearing the kitchen and saw Inari entering the room and gently pulling out a chair next to where Tsunami likes to sit. Tazuna then stepped in behind him and grabbed his own seat.

"The food smells great," he said after enjoying a hearty sniff of the dinner's aroma. Hinata then made her way to a spot at the table, followed closely by Sasuke.

"Go ahead and make your plates," Tsunami encouraged.

Tazuna nabbed the plate of fried fish and began plucking his pick of the lot off the dish. Naruto still wasn't comfortable with the idea of taking the food first when he was just a guest so he resigned himself to patiently waiting for his turn.

When no one else had taken the rice yet, Tsunami took it upon herself to grab it. She used a large wooden spoon to scoop out a healthy portion of steaming rice and laid it on Inari's plate before then getting her own share.

Tazuna finished with the fish, and Kakashi was sure to get his next, gesturing to Hinata to pass him the plate so he wouldn't need to stand up. Tazuna took the bowl of rice and got his portion before passing it on to the next person.

After a moment, everyone was finally situated and digging in. Naruto was pleased to finally get to eat, his training was exhausting and he had been starving all day.

"Aren't you going to get anything to eat, Sasuke?" Tsunami inquired.

Naruto looked over at Sasuke, who sat directly across from him at the table, his elbows perched on it and his hands folded together in front of his face. He appeared aloof, staring into space in deep thought and exuding a reserved presence. His plate was indeed totally clean of any signs of food.

"No thanks," the Uchiha blankly replied.

"Are you sure? You look ragged. I can tell you've been training all day," Kakashi pointed out to convince the Uchiha.

"Yeah, you should at least get some rice if you don't like fish," Tsunami said with a worried edge.

"Hmph," Sasuke mumbled, reaching for the bowl of rice and digging out a moderate scoop.

"That's all you kids seem to do," Tazuna chimed in. "Train and sleep," he clarified. "If I was that disciplined at your age I would've had the bridge rebuilt months ago."

"Oh yes, it's very impressive," Tsunami commended the team.

"No it's not," Inari mumbled under his breath such that no one could make out what he said.

"What was that, honey?" Tsunami tenderly inquired.

Inari crossed his arms over his chest and looked away with an indignant scowl. "It's not impressive, it's stupid," Inari declared somewhat reluctantly.

A faint gasp escaped Tsunami's lips. Naruto held an inquisitive stare at the boy, along with Sasuke and Hinata. "Inari, don't say such things!" Tsunami scolded her son. "It's very rude."

"They need to hear it – they need to know what happens to warriors," Inari spoke up in defiance.

Suddenly, Naruto could feel the atmosphere in the room change. It was as if a vacuum of darkness had swallowed all the light in the room and replaced it with a cold, melancholic tension that gnawed away at everyone from the shadows. He noticed the weird twitch in Tsunami's face; how it flashed from a wide-eyed look of horror to a grief-stricken frown.

"What are you on about?" Naruto beckoned, one eyebrow raised with curiosity.

Inari's face drooped down from the stern look it once had into an agonized expression. His eyes wandered and quickly became glossy. "D-Don't you know that all warriors die for nothing?" he sniveled.

"That's not true," Sasuke plainly denied the boy outright.

"Y-Yes it is," Inari declared through a quivering lip. "They train and train to get stronger, a-and they fight to protect others, but in the end they all go and die for nothing," he explained.

"Why do you believe that?" Naruto asked.

"Because I've seen it with my own eyes," he revealed. The tears welled up in his eyes and began to slowly stream down his cheeks. "W-When Gatō and the Rebels showed up our warriors said they'd protect us. They had trained and they were strong, but it never even mattered. They all got killed. Slaughtered for nothing," his voice shook apart with cracks as he explained.

"They fought so you didn't have to, they died so you could keep living," Tazuna pointed out to his aching grandson.

"That's stupid!" Inari shouted in between his grieving sobs. "They went out there to protect us and got killed, and now we're just Gatō's puppets, most of us don't even have food to eat! It doesn't matter why they went out there to die, what happened is they got sacrificed for nothing!"

"You need to find a way to avenge them. They died so you could live. You just need to find a way to make their sacrifice for you worth it," Sasuke told the boy.

"How?!" Inari wailed. "I'm just a boy, what am I supposed to do? Avenging them won't bring them back, it won't make what happened any less stupid!"

"You'll never be able to make their sacrifice worthwhile like this," Naruto spoke up. "You need to do something about it and stop being a crybaby," he shot a cold glare at the whimpering boy who gasped in shock.

"N-Naruto?!" Hinata muttered, stunned at what he'd said.

Naruto stood up from his chair. "I'm going to train," he said bluntly as he stomped through the door with balled fists by his sides. He could make out the sounds of Inari running away behind him as he shut the door.

"Sasuke, Hinata," Kakashi called out from near the exit of the house. "Come outside with me, we need to talk."

Sasuke sighed, placed the Lightning Style scroll he was studying gently on the ground, and stood up from his spot on the floor. Entering the kitchen, he met the curious stare of the Hyūga befalling him and she shrugged her shoulders.

Kakashi stood in the doorway with his crutches under each arm, patiently waiting to go outside where the warm, orange glow of the indoor lights seeped outside and onto the wooden boards of the porch. He turned away and hopped outside where Hinata and Sasuke followed closely behind.

Knock, knock.

The light tapping at the wooden door frame captured everyone's attention. They each turned around and found Tsunami standing in the doorway, and Sasuke noticed that Inari was peeking at them from behind his mother.

"Before you all get started, Inari wanted to tell you something," she explained, looking at her son and gesturing to him to step forward.

Inari was reluctant, his face scrunched up with guilt and his eyes scanned from place to place. He stepped out from behind his mother and straddled her side. He rolled his thumbs over each other as some form of stress relief. His features softened, "I-I'm sorry f-for acting out earlier," he mumbled faintly. The boy then stared up at his mother expectantly.

Tsunami's eyes were soft when they focused on him. She just offered a small smile at Inari. He then swiftly hugged her leg, which prompted a look of surprise from her, then scurried away back into the household and away from everyone's sight.

"He's just shy," Tsunami explained. "He feels embarrassed after what happened at dinner."

"It's understandable," Kakashi pointed out.

"I hope you all can find it in your hearts to forgive him. He's just young and he's been through a lot recently," she sighed with a somber expression. "When Gatō and the Kiri Rebels showed up in our lands there was a battle between our militia and their shinobi," she explained. "Many of our able-bodied men were slaughtered in the fighting," the woman paused for a moment. "I-Including his father, my husband," she revealed between cracks in her voice.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide. Suddenly, the little boy's outburst made a lot more sense.

"I'm very sorry for your loss," Kakashi said softly. "We hold nothing against Inari, and I'm sure Naruto doesn't either," he spoke calmly but was confident in his words. "Naruto doesn't have a father or mother to speak of," he explained. "He's been a lonely and disturbed youth his entire life. Seeing Inari in pain like that, it probably reminded him of himself," the Copy Ninja pondered aloud. "In all honesty, I'm sure that what he said to Inari was nothing compared to what he's told himself."

Sasuke was suddenly receiving another side to Naruto that he hadn't heard before. 'What have you gone through?' He glanced at Hinata, who was absorbing Kakashi's information with a pensive frown.

"Of course, that doesn't excuse what he said, but I hope that you and Inari can also find it in yourselves to understand where he's coming from," Kakashi added. "I doubt he's very proud of the way he acted himself," Kakashi admitted while rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

"I see," Tsunami mouthed with a thoughtful, pitiful glare. "I hope that Naruto is alright. I know Inari will learn to let it go with time," she concluded. "I'm glad we were able to handle this so smoothly," she celebrated with a respectful bow.

"Likewise," Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Well, I'm off to bed," Tsunami yawned. "Don't stay up too late," she advised with a light smile.

"Goodnight," Kakashi said plainly.

"Sleep well, Tsunami," Hinata waved her away as she disappeared deep into the confines of the household.

A chilly breeze grazed Sasuke who had to fight off shivers. Kakashi turned away from the house and made his way to the wooden guardrail of the porch where he leaned his crutches against it.

"I wanted to talk to the both of you about what happened in that last battle," Kakashi revealed as he rested his back against the guardrail, facing toward both of his genin.

Sasuke instantly tensed up. He knew this was coming, but he could not prepare himself to face Kakashi – not after what he did at the end of the battle. He had felt this crushing sense of guilt that welled up in his stomach every time he saw his other teammates since. The way he acted out and cost the battle, he couldn't imagine the disappointment on his father's face had he been there to bear witness to it.

He glanced at Hinata, who was keeping herself together by twiddling her fingers. Then she suddenly sighed which got a surprised eyebrow raise from Sasuke. "W-What do you want to talk about specifically, Kakashi-sensei?" she defended against meager cracks in her voice as she asked.

"For what it's worth, I think each of you performed well given the circumstances," he began. "This mission wasn't meant for the likes of genin and a single jōnin. No, I'd say that under these conditions with this Wave situation being an international affair, and having to fight Zabuza Momochi, this is now an A-rank mission."

Sasuke's dark eyes teemed with eye-widening realization. A pain-laden expression graced his face. 'I didn't just fumble our chances in any fight, I managed to bring defeat to the whole team on our first high-ranked mission!' He ground his teeth together in anger. How could he expect to achieve his ultimate goal if he can't even keep himself from ruining his own missions? This was disgraceful, it was unacceptable.

"There were some mistakes that each of you made which both of you need to be aware of. Knowing not to repeat these things will be the difference between living to fight another day and losing your life," Kakashi clarified.

Sasuke and Hinata each stiffened up and offered their undivided attention.

"Your shortcomings were the least egregious, Hinata," he started. "You shrank under the might of your comrades too easily. You played it too safe, limiting yourself to only normal arrows for offense and never trying to switch it up with your lightning affinity. You relied too heavily on Naruto and Sasuke to follow through with heavy-hitters while you pressured him with soft power. A lightning-tipped arrow would've shredded through that sword before Zabuza ever had the chance to stop it. You can't put Naruto and Sasuke in the position of always needing to tack on the big blows, that's something you need to be able to do on your own, otherwise, you're holding the team back."

The Hyūga's face slouched into a concerned frown. "I understand, Kakashi-sensei. I-It won't happen again." She leaned over into a respectful bow.

"Sasuke," Kakashi called, "Your mistakes cannot be understated. You could've gotten a teammate killed if I wasn't there. It's important to remember that I'm not always going to be here to save you and take crippling blows for you. You are not invincible in a fight. There are other ninja out there that can and will defeat you. You cannot continue to battle with these people so recklessly. You were stubborn, you pressed him despite knowing that you were out of your depth. You disobeyed my orders and he escaped handily because of it. You need to be aware of your limits. You were top-brass in the Academy but people like Zabuza were top-brass too, just with ten times your experience and power. If you continue to act out you're going to get you or your teammates killed. This scar wouldn't be here if you had kept your head on your shoulders." Kakashi gestured with his thumb at his back.

Sasuke recoiled. His face was made flustered with an embarrassed glare in his onyx eyes. He had forgotten what it was like to be told off by a superior. To be told that he performed not only badly, but that his mistakes were the cause of his defeat. He raced to defend himself. "What about you?" he beckoned with an accusing tone. "Did you make no mistakes in that fight or is Kakashi of the Sharingan just exempt from criticism?" The area was silent for a moment until Sasuke jumped in again. "And what about Naruto? Why isn't he here? Did he fight Zabuza as flawlessly as you did?" The Uchiha bared his teeth with an indignant scowl.

"No, I am not exempt from making wrong moves," Kakashi admitted with a monotonous edge. "It wasn't right of me to give you the cold shoulder when you asked about my eye. I should've known better that it would have rubbed you the wrong way and it gave way to your outburst. You might've even fought smarter if I let cooler heads prevail," he admitted. "That being said, it's still not really any of your business, but as a show of good faith, I'll tell you that it was given to me by my own teammate."

Sasuke's eyes widened and then he denounced Kakashi's story immediately. An Uchiha doesn't just give away a Sharingan. "You're lying!" Sasuke declared. "Why would an Uchiha just give you one of their eyes?" he asked rhetorically. "Your story is made up."

"It was his gift to me for making jōnin. He gave it to me as he was dying," Kakashi explained with an awkwardly placed eye-smile.

Sasuke's guard crumbled before him. He was speechless. The odd smile beneath his sensei's mask, it was shielding something from view, shielding Kakashi's genuine feelings. Sasuke could tell that Kakashi was being honest about the origins of his eye.

"Naruto isn't getting this talk because he already got it," Kakashi revealed. "He had his fair share of failures in the fight, including risking his life to try and save yours without any regard for himself." Kakashi was silent for a moment, analyzing Sasuke with his one eye. "My teammate risked his life to save me too, he wasn't as lucky to have his sensei there to save him. It could've been the same for Naruto. What would he have passed on to you while he bled out in your arms?" Kakashi poised. "You should thank him for that some time and learn to be as considerate of your teammates' wellbeing," Kakashi pretended to suggest to Sasuke but had a commanding tone pronounced underneath his words.

Sasuke was taken aback. He knew that Naruto had done something wild with his near-sacrifice but to hear Kakashi put it in such a way – that put things into a new perspective for him. He had felt conflicted toward Naruto since it happened. Of course, he felt thankful that Naruto stepped in like that and a part of him wanted to personally express that he felt grateful to Naruto. On the other hand, he was left wondering why Naruto would stick his neck out for him. Doing something so bold like that, Sasuke wasn't sure that he could do the same in Naruto's place. When he really thought about it, he did not like that he wasn't sure he would jump in harm's way to save a comrade. It sounds stupid; he had a goal to achieve, a clan to avenge, but despite these things that demanded his survival – that demanded him to thrive – he felt lesser for not knowing if he could shield someone else from certain death.

"I-I'll be better… I promise." He balled his fists and sighed to alleviate the rising tension that swelled in his chest.

"Fantastic news," Kakashi tried his best to sound excited. "Anyways," he hopped between the two genin on his crutches, "I'll be almost back at full strength tomorrow, meaning Tazuna will be able to go back to constructing the bridge, so you guys should get lots of sleep. Or don't. It's up to you." He made his way past the entrance and disappeared into the house.

Hinata made her way to the doorway before she paused. "Are you coming, Sasuke?"

"Huh?" he blurted out, having already been consumed in deep thought. "Oh, no. No. I'm going to stay here for a bit. Think about things." He rested against the railing of the porch and stared up at the moon.

"Don't stay up too late," Hinata warned.

"Goodnight," Sasuke waved her off.

He was left with his lonesome for a time. He maintained a distant glare with the moon, even when it was hidden beneath a layer of soft, gray clouds, he would never take his eyes off the pale light that peeked through them. He had been contemplating a lot, and even though it seemed as though he had only been outside for twenty or thirty minutes, he knew it had been closer to an hour when his eyelids started to become heavy.

He was just about to up and leave to go sleep for the night when a faint creak in the boards of the porch caught his attention.

"What are you still doing up?" Naruto asked from the top of the few steps on the porch.

Sasuke swiftly quelled a jump in his chest and turned to him. His shoulders were relaxed from exhaustion and he had his hands burrowed in his pants pockets. The pastel moonlight glistened in the coat of sweat that collected on his forehead.

"I could ask you the same," Sasuke joked. "How was your training session?"

Naruto sauntered over to the railing of the porch and rested his back and elbows against it. "It was alright," he answered as he gazed up into the stars that peeked through the clouds. All was quiet for a time – save for the faint rustle of the trees from the cool, night breeze. "How is Inari doing?" Naruto looked at Sasuke with anticipation.

"He'll live," Sasuke said blankly. "You should probably try and make it up to him tomorrow somehow," he suggested.

Naruto turned away to face the clouds again. There was a faint glint of remorse in his eyes. He was concerned. "Yeah. I'll do something to make it up to him," he said with a soft but stern flare.

Another bout of silence occupied the boys' conversation and then Naruto's lengthy sigh interrupted it. "So… did Kakashi give you the talk yet?" he wondered.

Sasuke tensed up, recalling the defining moments of that conversation with his sensei. "Yeah," he said plainly, as if trying to hide the embarrassment that was brought on from being criticized so heavily.

"Probably wasn't as bad as what he said to me." Naruto's face relaxed into a somber, disappointed expression.

"Maybe," Sasuke said, burying the feeling that he knew very well who got it the worst far from the surface.

Another wave of stillness pranced around the duo. Sasuke avoided eye contact out of guilt because of his inability to fill in the silence. He and Naruto would exchange swift glances at one another, even though it was as if they were pretending it wasn't happening. Sasuke couldn't help it, there was still a curiosity that surrounded Naruto, he had to clear that up, and if not now, then when? He heaved his own sigh this time. "Thanks for trying to save me back then," he voiced in faint tones.

Naruto's blue eyes lit up with surprise for a moment and then he relaxed again. "Yeah, of course, it's no problem." He rubbed at the back of his neck.

"I just have a question for you."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Why did you do it?"

Naruto quirked his eyebrow at Sasuke and then glared at the ground with an inquisitive air about him. "I'm not really sure, to be honest."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke's black eyes studied Naruto.

"I don't know." Naruto froze. "My body just sorta moved on its own," he revealed.

Sasuke's face stretched with disbelief. To think that it was instinctual for Naruto to do that was mind-boggling. How could someone make such a crazy decision without any thought for one's self put into it? "Well, thanks for that."

"Yeah. No problem." Naruto offered a faint smile.

"It's about time I get some sleep," Sasuke fought off a yawn as he walked to the door. "Are you coming?"

"Oh. Nah. Not yet. Gonna… think for a bit," he trailed off. "Goodnight though."

"Yeah," Sasuke offered weakly, vanishing into the dimly lit confines of the household.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The rapid, loud knocks at the door awoke Zabuza from his dazed state. He groaned and an infuriated glare graced his face. "Right when I was finally starting to fall asleep," he cursed under faint whispers.

Rolling out of his bed, he stood on his feet and yawned. He scanned the room, but could make out little detail in the darkness and the overwhelming groggy sensation was also doing him no favors.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

"I'm coming, ya damn bastard!" he yelled out with raspy frustration. Fiddling with the handle on his bedroom door, he eventually pulled it open and stepped into the hallway. Haku was standing in the doorway to her room. She was stiff as a board, and the narrow focus in her pupils told Zabuza that she was already on full alert. "Calm down, brat," Zabuza instructed.

"But Master Zabuza, what if it's about them?" she asked in a concerned whisper.

"Gōzu and Meizu don't knock that hard, it probably has nothing to do with the Leaf Ninja," Zabuza reasoned as he approached the front door at the end of the hallway. He flipped on the hallway light and then opened the door.

"My apologies for coming in the middle of the night," Gatō said with a sniveling smirk. "I couldn't help it though. I needed to hear your report on the Leaf Ninja personally." He brushed past Zabuza and made his way into the home, all the way to the living room where he turned on the light. "Hard to believe that the people in Wave live in dingy sheds like this." He grimaced with disgust. "I'm sorry I couldn't haul you up in a better place."

"Oh, it's no problem," Zabuza shrugged nonchalantly, carefully watching Gatō take a seat on the couch.

"So, tell me about what happened to those Leaf dogs," Gatō dove straight into business. "I wanna hear all the details," he declared with an eerie smirk.

Zabuza's face tensed up into a pensive expression. "They escaped," he explained blankly but softly.

Gatō's mouth relaxed with surprise. Zabuza could feel the businessman's stare even through his dark-tinted glasses. "All of them escaped?" he beckoned.

"Yes."

"Huh." Gatō stewed in his silence for a moment. "How did you let them escape?"

"I was overwhelmed by them," Zabuza admitted.

"Overwhelmed? How did four people overwhelm you? You didn't fight with any support?"

"...That's right."

"You risked my entire business here and my support for your rebellion for what?" Gatō beckoned with an annoyed edge.

"I cannot afford to give the rebellion a bad reputation in Konoha. They need to understand that I'm acting alone and outside the interests of the rebellion," Zabuza explained coolly.

"Uh huh," Gatō nodded along. "Tell me, what use are you if you don't do as I say? Do you believe I won't starve your rebels?" he beckoned, almost with a genuine curiosity on the edge of his tongue. "This is a transactional relationship. You do as I tell you and I make sure that you and your rag-tag gang of idiots still have food and weapons to fight your war," he explained. "When you aren't upholding your end of the bargain what am I supposed to do?"

"Make no mistake, I will see to it that the bridge isn't completed," Zabuza clarified to the agitated businessman.

"Yeah, I know you will, because I already paid some of your grunts to go to the carpenter's home and take care of him," Gatō revealed with a matter-of-fact tone.

Zabuza froze up. That wouldn't do at all. A bunch of Kiri Rebels showing up to kill Tazuna despite Konoha's presence was a setup for total disaster. Even Haku eyed him with a shining glint of concern.

"It's happening tomorrow morning. You're going to stay at the bridge, make sure that little shit doesn't go there in case. Your other men will go to his home, kill him and anyone who tries to get in the way of stopping them."

"But–"

"And if your boys don't do the job then I expect you to pick up where they left off. If I don't see the bridge builder's maimed body brought to me in a bag tomorrow then you can blame yourself for the food and weapons crisis your rebellion will face," he declared.

Zabuza was silent. He couldn't say no to Gatō. That would be as bad as strangling his men to death with his own hands. He felt trapped. He managed to keep his composur despite the millions of mind-numbing sirens firing off in his head and all the vulgar obscenities he felt compelled to hurl at Gatō.

"We won't disappoint you," Zabuza mouthed assuredly, accepting his tenuous position for what it was. He didn't seem to truly have a choice in the matter.

"Good. I want to see some real progress tomorrow," the crooked businessman expressed with a stern voice as he stood up from the couch. He made his way past Zabuza and out of the living room to the exit of the house. As the click of the door shutting behind him sounded off Zabuza and Haku wore similar looks of great anxiety and concern on their faces.

END

Author's Note

Here's chapter 11. I hope it finds you all well. It's more focused on development and whatnot. Very cool stuff. Anyways, onto review replies.

Review Replies

TheOrangeSpark – Nice to see you getting around to another chapter. I'm happy you enjoyed it. Also yea, Jiraiya is just too goated with the transformation jutsu and espionage and whatnot.

Kastra Pyrolux – Awesome to hear you liked the fighting and where the fic is headed. I always appreciate the support.

Alright now that I got that out of the way it's time for some rough news. Starting now, I am going to be scaling back my upload schedule from every 2 weeks to every 3 weeks. Getting through school and balancing the current release schedule just isn't conducive for me right now. I am thankful for all of you who have stuck around so far though, and I hope this isn't too great a hindrance to your overall enjoyment of the fic.

So yea, Chapter 12 "Cold and Wet" drops on January 27th, around 12-1pm EST.

Review, follow, and favorite at your leisure.

Godspeed,

Salt.