Chapter 5. Land of Waves Part 1
Naru sighed as the team and Tazuna waited at the gates, once again waiting on their chronically late Sensei. They finally saw Kakashi lazily approaching the gate, and this time not 3 hours late!
"Let's head out." he said with a smile, they nodded and set out towards the Land of Waves, mostly walking in pure silence.
"Say Tazuna-san..." Sakura said looking at him.
"What is it brat?" he said with a slight sneer.
"Your country is the Land of Waves, right?" she asked.
"Yeah, what of it?" he said, she looked to Kakashi.
"Kakashi-sensei, there are ninja in that country too aren't there?" she asked.
"No, there are no ninja in the Land of Waves. But in other countries there are hidden villages each with their own different customs and cultures where ninja reside." he said.
"So, why are there ninja in other countries?" Sakura asked.
"To the people of each country, the existence of ninja means strength, military strength. In other words that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of their lands. But ninja villages are not under the control of the government … but when it comes to small islands, like the Land of Waves, it has natural protection from the sea, so they don't have a need for a ninja village." he said.
"Which ones have ninja villages?" Sakura asked blinking.
"The lands that do consist of ninja villages are the Lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind and Earth. All of them each have vast areas of land, together they are known as the Five Great Shinobi Nations." he said. "The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The land of Water has the Village Hidden in the Mist. The land of Lightning has the Village Hidden in the Clouds. The land of Wind has the Village Hidden in the Sand and the Land of Earth has the Village Hidden in the Stones." he said. "The leaders of these villages are allowed the title of Kage, which there are only five of in the Ninja World. The Five Kages are the Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage and Tsuchikage."
"So, Hokage-sama is really great!" Sakura said. 'Is that old man really that great? Pshh Yeah right.' Sakura thought.
'He is...' Naru thought with a smile.
"Hey!" Kakashi barked, Sakura stiffened. "You just doubted Hokage-sama didn't you?" he said with a strict tone, Sakura shook her head quickly, Mamoru snorted, Sakura slunk a little and Kakashi chuckled and ruffled her hair. "Well, anyways there are no ninja battles in a C-rank mission anyway, so you can relax. The most we would have to worry about is Bandits or Highwaymen." he said with a smile, she sighed.
"So we won't be running into any foreign ninja or anything like that?" Sakura asked in a sweet voice.
"Heh, not likely." Kakashi said with a chuckle.
Sasuke glanced back and saw Tazuna gulp a little, Mamoru cocked his brow as he felt the nervousness pouring off of Tazuna. 'What's he hiding?' He thought.
They continued to walk for over an hour along the path in the woods, they passed a single water puddle on the ground. Kakashi blinked a few times and sighed quietly. They all walked pass it.
Two ninja's in dark garbs rose up silently from the water puddle and pulled their arms up, chains connected and they wrapped around Kakashi, he gasped in horror, everyone turned around.
"Do it!" Gouzu said.
"Now!" Meizu said with a nod.
Kakashi cried out as they pulled the chains tighter and they cut through his body and it fell to the ground, Sakura screamed in horror, Mamoru growled, Naru gulped.
"Now it's your turn!" Meizu said. They gasped as they ran out, Mamoru growled, he focused in on one as he ran around, Naru cried out as one tackled her right off of Mamoru.
"Naru!" he growled.
Naru rolled on the ground and groaned in pain, she sat up slowly and panted hard, she focused some chakra and heard and felt the rumbling in the ground moving quickly towards her.
"Duck!" Mamoru snarled, Naru dropped down and gasped as she felt one fly over her.
Sasuke ran out and kicked the one in his neck, he coughed and skidded backwards, Naru got up slowly and panted, she heard steps and got ready, she was tackled by Mamoru, he turned and brought his large paw up smacking the Gouzu a few feet from him, he groaned in pain, Mamoru growled Naru got up slowly and panted, she felt some slight movement, she spun around and sliced her weapon and heard the tear of clothes, Mamoru turned and smirked as he saw Naru stabbing Meizu in the stomach, he growled and brought his claw up.
"Naru!" Mamoru barked, Naru jumped backwards avoiding Meizu's claw, he growled and went after her again.
Sakura screamed as Gouzu ran towards her and Tazuna, Sasuke skidded in front of her. Gouzu reached his claws out but instead of hitting them, he was met with a strong arm that belonged to Kakashi, he slumped and shook in pain.
"Kaka-sensei!" Sakura said with a smile, Sasuke snorted that he hadn't got his chance to show off.
Kakashi looked at his prisoner and snorted, he heard a yelp of pain and a loud thud followed by a short scream and Mamoru's roar.
He looked up to see Mamoru pulling away from the other demon brother, blood splattered on the ground leaking from the now dead man. Mamoru trotted up to Naru who had gotten kicked back by him, he nuzzled her gently she chuckled.
"I'm fine." she whispered. She pulled out her canteen and poured some of it on Mamoru's lips wiping the strong blood from him.
"Thanks." he rumbled, even for his large size and fierce power he wasn't a fighter unless he had to.
Kakashi dropped the one brother to the ground after he tied him up, he looked at Naru then sighed and turned his attention to his client.
"Alright, well that was interesting, Tazuna-san, I believe we need to talk." Kakashi said, the old man blinked quickly.
"Bout what?" he asked nervously.
"Sensei, how did you-?" Sakura asked.
"Substitution." Sasuke said and looked where Kakashi had been 'killed' at to see a log sliced up in chunks that was supposed to be Kakashi's body. He nodded.
"How did you know?" Gouzu rasped from the ground.
"A puddle? In the middle of the day, on this road, when it hasn't rained for weeks?" he said. "It was obvious." he said.
"If you knew, why did you leave the kids to handle it?" Tazuna sneered.
"I could have taken them out right then, but I would have gained no information. I needed to know if they were after us, ninja attacking ninja, or..." he said and gave him a pointed look.
"What?!" he said.
"If they were after you." he finished. "These two are rogue chunin from the Village Hidden in the Mist, known to be persistent in fights, to keep going, no matter the cost." he said. "So tell me, why are these two coming after a simple bridge builder?" he said. "When you hired us, you said we would be protecting you from highwaymen and such, not ninja's. I'm sure you have your reasons, but lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this original mission." he said.
"We're genin... we can't handle a mission that's going to be tough." Sakura said, Sasuke sent a glare to her. Maybe you can't. He thought, Naru and Mamoru came up listening.
"I'm... I'm sorry." Tazuna said. "I will explain everything, if you all will stay." he said, Kakashi looked at his team then at Naru for a few seconds longer and sighed.
"Alright." he said.
Two hours later the team with Tazuna were sailing in a small boat across the water hidden in the thick mist.
"Wow...it's so huge." Sakura said looking up at the bridge. Naru sighed sadly and shivered at the cool air. Sasuke was looking around. "This fog is so thick you can't see anything." she whispered.
"The bridge isn't far now, our destination is just ahead." the owner of the small boat said quietly.
"Alright Tazuna-san, before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something. The men who are after you, I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid I will have no choice but to end the mission when we drop you ashore." Kakashi said.
"I guess I have no choice but to- no I want to tell you. Like you said this is beyond the scope of the original mission, the one who seeks my life is a very short man, who casts a long and deadly shadow."
"Hmm? Who?" Kakashi asked.
"You know him, at least I know you've heard his name, one of the wealthiest men in the world, Gato."
"Gato? The Gato? Of Gato transport?" Kakashi said, they blinked confused. "He's a business leader, everyone knows him."
"Who is he?" Naru asked.
"Gato is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company true, but underneath the surface he uses ruthless methods to take over nations, he sells drugs and contraband, using gangs and ninja." Tazuna sighed. "It was one year ago when Gato set his sights on the Land of Waves. He used his wealth to take control of the shipping, taxing anything going in or out of the island. Anyone who tried to stand in his way, were just taken care of." he said somberly. "He controls everything about us because we're a small island, but he does fear the bridge because it will open it up for us to take control again." he said and sighed. "I am the bridge builder."
"So, you're standing in this gangster's way." Sakura said.
"So, those two from before were working for Gato?" Sasuke asked.
"If you knew how dangerous this was, and that he would send ninja, why did you hide that?" Kakashi asked.
"The land of Waves is a small, poor nation. We could barely afford a C-rank, anything higher, it wasn't possible." he said. "If you end this mission when you drop me ashore, I will be murdered and the bridge will never be finished, they'll kill me before I can even make it home." he said. "But don't feel bad!" he said and chuckled. "Of course my sweet little grandson will be upset, he'll cry 'Granddad! I want my granddad!' and my daughter will condemn the ninja of the Leaf Village blaming you for abandoning her father and will live her life in sorrow." he said, they groaned a little at the guilt he was pouring in the whole story.
'Nice...' Naru thought.
"Well, I guess we have no choice, we'll have to keep guarding you..." Kakashi said with a smile.
"Really?! You will?! Oh thank you so much!" Tazuna beamed. 'I win!' He thought.
"We're almost there." The boat operator stated.
They went through a tunnel and landed on the bridge, they all got off the boat and sighed.
"Okay take me home and I mean get me there in one piece!" Tazuna ordered, Naru almost scoffed. 'Jerk.' She thought.
"Right." Kakashi said. 'The next ninja they send won't be chunin, but Jonin, an elite with deadly skills.' Kakashi thought.
They walked through the path in the woods, Sakura was trying to get Sasuke to talk to her. Naru was listening carefully, there was rustle, and she reacted quickly shooting a kunai into the brush. Everyone else jumped and gasped.
A small, but terrified, Rabbit quickly hopped out of the brush.
"NARU YOU BAKA! YOU ALMOST KILLED A RABBIT! HOW COULDN'T YOU SEE THAT!?" Sakura shouted at her.
'That's a snow rabbit, their fur is only white in the winter... so they're already here.' Kakashi thought and glancing around.
A tall figure watched from the trees with a smirk. 'The copy ninja eh? Maybe this won't be boring after all.'
"EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" Kakashi yelled spinning around, Sasuke shoved Sakura down, Kakashi pushed Tazuna down and Mamoru dropped down with Naru.
A large blade flew just where their heads had been, slamming into the tree and a man landed on it and looked at them over his shoulder.
"Zabuza Momochi the Demon of the Mist." Kakashi said. "Rogue ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." he said and walked closer.
'Who is he?' Naru thought as she stood next to Mamoru.
"Well, if we will be fighting, I'm going to need this…" Kakashi muttered and pulled his hatai-ate up, revealing his left eye that was a sharingan.
"Sharingan." Zabuza chuckled. "It's too bad, but you'll have to hand over the old man." he said.
"Quick, manji formation, protect the bridge builder and stay out of this fight!" Kakashi said, they surrounded Tazuna all held kunai in their hands waiting.
"I get to see the sharingan in action, what an honor." Zabuza said chuckling.
"What the hell is it?" Naru asked.
"A rare power that resides in the eye. The user of this Doujutsu can instantly see and understand any genjutsu, ninjutsu and taijutsu, and they can reflect it back on the attacker. The Sharingan is a rare form of power, but there is much more to it." Sasuke said.
"You only scratched the surface boy, the sharingan can analyze an opponent's technique and then copy it down to the smallest detail." Zabuza said. "You were in our bingo books Kakashi, we were ordered to destroy you on sight. The man who copied over 1000 jutsu. Kakashi the Copy Ninja."
'Whoa...' Naru thought.
'The sharingan is a rare trait that only occurs in the Uchiha clan, my clan! Could he be -?!' Sasuke thought looking at him.
"Enough talking, time to finish this." Zabuza said, Kakashi stepped in front of his team and Tazuna. "So, I have to kill you first Kakashi? Alright." he said and jumped with his sword and landed on the water.
"He's standing on the water!" Sakura said.
"Hidden Mist jutsu!" Zabuza said, the mist around them thickened and he disappeared.
"Sensei!" Sakura called out scared.
"Relax! He'll come after me first." Kakashi said reassuringly.
"Who is he?" she asked.
"Zabuza, he is the ex-leader of the Hidden Mist Assassination group. He's a master of the silent killing technique." Kakashi informed them.
"Silent?" Naru asked.
"As it sounds, it happens instantly, without any sound or warning, you pass through this life so fast you don't even know what happened." he said. "The sharingan cannot fully stop it, so don't lower your guard." he said. "Well, if we fail, we only lose our lives." Kakashi said.
"How can you say that?!" Sakura snarled, Mamoru smirked a little and looked around carefully, Naru closed her eyes.
"Eight points." Zabuza's voice sounded, they gasped.
"What was that!?" Sakura said.
"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian arteries, kidneys, heart." he sounded again. "Now which will be my kill point?" he said, they gasped, Naru shook a little, her heart beating faster and faster.
Kakashi's chakra flared and the mist cleared a little around them, Sasuke stared at his back shaking in fear.
I feel like I can't breathe, one little breath it will draw him to you, it's suffocating! If this goes on, I'll go insane! I can't do it! He thought and turned his kunai to his stomach. I'd rather-
"Sasuke!" Kakashi barked, he jumped. "Calm down! I'll protect you all with my life, I will not allow my friends to die! Trust me." he said giving a smile over his shoulder.
"I wouldn't bet on it." Zabuza said suddenly appearing right in the middle of them all. Naru spun around with her kunai and hit him. He groaned in pain, Kakashi turned and saw Naru had stabbed Zabuza in the stomach, they gasped and stepped back. Mamoru smirked as Naru kept her eyes shut, she let her kunai go and jumped back as the Zabuza there turned to water.
"Well Kakashi, it seems that at least one of your brats isn't incompetent. Maybe I will let her live and take her with me after I kill the rest of you." Zabuza said.
"Sensei!" Sakura cried, Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and sliced, he gasped as he was cut clean in half but turned to water.
'The water clone jutsu, it can't be...' He thought and growled then blinked as Kakashi appeared behind him with a kunai at his throat.
"Now it's over." he said.
"Way to go!" Sakura cheered, Naru took in a breath and gulped, Mamoru growled.
"Really?" he chuckled, Kakashi gasped as he appeared behind him, the one in front of Kakashi turned to water.
"A clone..." Naru whispered.
Kakashi ducked as Zabuza swung his blade, it hit the ground and Zabuza flipped up and kicked Kakashi hard sending him flying through the air.
"Now!" Zabuza barked and ran after him, he skidded to a stop seeing the spikes Kakashi put down. "Spikes, trying to slow me down, foolish." he said and jumped in the air, Kakashi hit the water and came out coughing.
"Sensei!" Sakura called.
'He got kicked so easily, how strong is this guy?' Naru thought nervously.
Kakashi looked at the water and frowned. 'This water is dense… heavier than it should be...' he thought.
"Fool!" Zabuza barked, Kakashi gasped turning as Zabuza ran through signs quickly and Kakashi was lifted from the water in a ball of water, he struggled to get free but couldn't.
'Escaping in the water was a bad idea.' He thought.
"This prison is made of water, but its stronger than steel." Zabuza chuckled. "Hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi, I'll kill you later, first your little friends must be killed." he said and formed hand signs with one hand and a water clone pulled up. They gasped.
"You think wearing those headbands make you ninja? When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't faze you, then you can call yourself ninja. When you've become so deadly you're in my bingo book, then you can call yourself ninja. But to call upstarts like you ninja is joke!" he barked, the mist rolled in, Naru gasped and closed her eyes. 'I can't sense him!' She thought in a panic. All of a sudden she cried out as she was kicked in the stomach and rolled along the ground. Her hatai-ate came free and hit the ground and Zabuza stepped on it. "You're just brats!" He barked.
"Naru!" Sakura called, Mamoru growled and ran over to Naru, she sat up slowly and wiped blood from her lip.
"Listen! Get the bridge builder and run! You can't win this fight!" Kakashi yelled. "He's using all of his power to keep me in here, so he can only fight you with the water clone, but the clone can't go far from the original! If you get away from him he can't follow! Run!" he ordered.
'Run away?! No! Not an option!' Sasuke thought. That became impossible the moment you were caught. No matter how fast we run, or how far we go, he'll find us and kill us. If we do a Manji formation, he can get around it easily, in the end if we're going to survive- we only have one option, rescue you!' He thought.
"We've got to do it!" Sasuke yelled charging forward throwing shuriken and kunai. Zabuza snorted and deflected them with his sword, Zabuza smirked as he launched at him.
'Way too easy.' He thought and reached out, he grabbed Sasuke by his throat and threw him to the ground.
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried out, Naru panted and gulped, she bit her lip.
We've got to think of something... she thought holding Mamoru, he looked at her. "Ready?" he said, she nodded and made a series of clones, they launched out at him.
"Naru no!" Kakashi barked.
"Naru you Baka!" Sakura snarled.
Zabuza snorted as they jumped over him and sliced at the clone, he spun around knocking them all back, Naru skidded on the ground and panted. Mamoru skidded to a stop, Naru got up slowly and pulled her hatai-ate up and put it on her head again.
"You can put this in your stupid bingo book." Naru said, Mamoru smirked. "The ninja who's going to be a great ninja is Uzumaki Naru! Count on it!" she said, he snorted.
"What can a weakling like you do?" he sneered, Naru frowned. 'If I got the distance correct, I can use that jutsu and it'll take them both out...' She thought.
"What are you doing?! I told you to run!" Kakashi barked. "Your mission is to protect the bridge builder, not show how brave you are! Now take off!" he snarled.
"Bridge builder?" Naru asked.
"I guess this all happened because I wanted to live so badly..." he said and looked down, he looked up. "I won't let that stop you! Do what you have to do to save your sensei! Forget about me!" he said, Naru smirked.
"Sasuke! Come here!" she said, he ran over to her. "I got an idea." she whispered and leaned in closer blocking her lips so Zabuza couldn't tell what she was saying. Sasuke's eyes widened.
"But-"
"It'll work!" she said, he sighed and nodded. "Mamoru." she said, he nodded and got ready to pounce. "Be careful." she said, he nodded and ran forward, Zabuza smirked as Mamoru launched at him, he got ready to slice his blade, but Mamoru disappeared in a bolt of lightning, he stumbled back in shock and looked around, he heard a roar and spun around just as Mamoru appeared and sliced through him, he dropped to a puddle of water, Zabuza growled.
"Now!" Mamoru ordered and disappeared.
"Sasuke!" Naru barked, he ran forward and took in a deep breath and ran through the hand signs. Horse, Tiger, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger. Sasuke let out the air creating a large ball of fire straight towards Zabuza.
"What's that supposed to do!?" he snarled.
"Now!" he said and dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way, Naru ran forward.
"Gale palm!" Naru yelled and clapped her hands, a large gust of air shot out and hit the fire shooting it straight at Zabuza, Kakashi watched in shock.
"WHAT?!" Zabuza snarled as the now large ball of fire, empowered by the wind barreled towards him. When it reached him he cursed as he jerked his hand out of the way and jumped out of the way. The jutsu faded, Naru panted and shook a little, Sasuke walked up with a smirk.
"Nice going." he said, she smirked. Mamoru bumped her up on his back, she held on. Zabuza growled and got ready to run but stopped as he was met with a kunai to his throat and Kakashi stood there, he was soaked to the bone and his sharingan was shining bright, Zabuza gasped in fear seeing the eye.
"That was an excellent plan Naru, Sasuke!" he called.
"Stupid brats." Zabuza growled.
"Your technique worked on me once, but it won't work again." he said.
Zabuza jumped away from him, Kakashi followed him perfectly with his sharingan, Zabuza growled and began to make hand signs and Kakashi followed perfectly.
"Ushi, saru, u, ne, i, tori, ushi, uma, tori, ne, tora, nu, tora, mi, ushi, hitsuji, mi, i, hitsuji, ne, jin, saru, tori, tatsu, tori, ushi, uma, hitsuji, tora, mi, ne, saru, u, i, tatsu, hitsuji, ne, ushi, saru, tori, jin, ne, i, tori." they both said at the same time.
Water bubbled up and formed into two water dragons, they smashed into each other and Kakashi blocked Zabuza's blade, locking them both in a still battle, Kakashi growled as he blocked the large sword.
'Something isn't right!' Zabuza thought. 'The sharingan can comprehend and replicate the enemies jutsu... however, both jutsu occurred at the same time. Could he-?' He thought.
Both jumped away from each other, a masked figure stepped on a tree watching the fight carefully.
Both jounin ran around, Kakashi mimicked him perfectly, they stood across from each other, Zabuza made a sign and Kakashi followed, Zabuza held his hand up and Kakashi did as well, Zabuza gasped in shock.
"He's not just copying him, he's moving the same way at the same time." Tazuna said, they waited watching the fight.
"How's he doing that Sasuke?" Sakura asked.
'My movements, its... it's as if he knows what I'm-'
"Going to do next?" Kakashi said, Zabuza growled.
'Is he reading my mind as well!? He looks at me with that eye...'
"It makes you furious doesn't it?" Kakashi said.
"All you're doing is copying me like a monkey!"
"You can't beat me with cheap tricks! I'll crush you!" both said, Zabuza growled, the vein in his forehead pulsed.
"When I'm finished with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again!" Zabuza said and began to make some hand signs which Kakashi copied, Zabuza blinked in shock as he watched a clone of himself appear behind Kakashi.
"Water style: giant vortex jutsu!" Kakashi called.
"What?!" Zabuza said, water shot out and tossed him around. 'Impossible! I was about to create a vortex but he made it first!' He thought, the team cried out as they were pushed back by the tossing water.
Zabuza slammed into a tree and slumped, he cried out as kunai became embedded in his arm's and leg's, Kakashi jumped on a branch and looked at him.
"It's over." he said.
"How? C – can you see into the future?" he asked.
"Yes, this is your last battle." he said and held a kunai up. "Ever!" he said.
Suddenly two senbon launched out and struck Zabuza in the neck. He grunted and slumped to the ground. Kakashi gasped and turned to see the masked figure standing in a tree.
"You're right, this was his last battle." he said, Kakashi jumped down and checked Zabuza's pulse but it was gone.
"Dead…" he said. The team came up watching the confrontation confused. "By your mask, you must be a hunter ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi said.
"You're well informed." he said. "I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time and waiting for the perfect time to take down." he said.
"A hunter ninja..." Naru started to say.
"Don't you know anything?!" Sakura snarled.
"I wasn't asking!" Naru barked back, she blushed a little and looked down. "I know! They are ninja who go after rogues to take them out to make sure their village secrets are kept secrets." she said.
"You're well informed." he said. "I am a member of the elite tracking unit of the Hidden Mist, it was my duty to kill Zabuza." he said.
'By his voice, he couldn't be any older than Naru...' Kakashi thought. 'He's no ordinary kid, but what is he?' He thought.
"What gives you the right?" Naru asked.
"Easy Naru." Kakashi said.
"No! We just fought with all of our might and he takes him down like it was nothing!" she said. "All we were doing was fumbling around." she said, Sasuke glared at the dirt completely agreeing with Naru.
"You must accept it, there are kids that are younger then both of you, even stronger than Me." he said and ruffled her hair a little. She grumbled.
"Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains." he said jumping down. "There are many secrets that can't fall into the wrong hands, please excuse Me." he said and lifted Zabuza's body on to his back and disappeared, Mamoru glared.
'Something's not right...' he thought.
"He's gone?" Sasuke said then growled, Sakura looked down, and Naru sighed.
"As ninja, the things we face are never easy, so save your anger for the next fight, we still haven't completed our mission, we still have to get the bridge builder to his house." he said.
"Sorry for all the trouble I caused!" Tazuna chuckled rubbing his head. "But you can rest up at my house!" he said.
"Alright! Let's get moving!" Kakashi said and fixed his hatai-ate over his eye again, Naru and Mamoru walked next to him, he grunted and tipped forward, Naru gasped as she heard the thump.
"Sensei!" Sakura called, they ran up to the man, but he was completely unconscious.
"Sensei?" Naru asked.