Chapter 47 Abnormal team pt 2.

Zabuza glared at the bridge builders and the ninjas among them. One more day, he needed just one more day to be at his best, and yet that half-pint demanded he fights now. His eyes found Haku, who barely recovered from chakra exhaustion. The young ice user wouldn't be able to block another attack on that scale.

Tsk. He had no choice but to kill them quickly.

"She's not there," Haku commented. Zabuza looked to him in question. "The chakra sensor isn't there," he clarified. Zabuza looked back to the bridge and was surprise to find the pink hair brat from before weren't present. The copy ninja Kakashi was still there, but they would burn that bridge when they got to it.

"Let's get this over with."

The two disappeared in a body flicker.

The Uchiha was the first to take note of them; he used his wires to create a shield around the workers in time to stop the senbons The workers gasped when they heard the clinking of metal. Looking up, they watched as Sasuke ran atop his wires to meet their assailant.

"Everyone, get back!" Kakashi exclaimed as Zabuza swung his blade down from above. His arms, better prepared than Asuma's were, groaned in protest under the weight of the blade.

"It would seem you're not very vigilant without that girl," Zabuza taunted.

"I'm just used to her taking out small fries before they reach me, is all," Kakashi fired back. The two parted as the bridge builders ran away. The sound of combat rang above, but he kept his eyes on the enemy.

"Hidden mist jutsu." At his command mist gather over the bridge concealing them. Kakashi sighed and lifted his headband to reveal his only sharingan.

Sasuke threw kunai at the mist that formed, trusting his enemy to be inside it. He wasn't disappointed as his kunais were blocked, and the masked boy ran out to meet him. He didn't get very far before Naruto's foot connected with his face. Haku fell back, off Sasuke's wire platform, and onto the bridge below.

"You okay, Sasuke?" Naruto asked, keeping his eyes on the enemy.

"I've got this. Evacuate the builders." With those parting words, Sasuke jumped down to continue his fight. Naruto frowned at the Uchiha but kept an eye on the evacuating builders. Through the mist, he witnessed Asuma and Choji moving the builders away from the fight.

"I wasn't expecting them to arrive here and now," Choji confessed as they exited the mist behind the builders.

"I'd be surprised if any of us did," Asuma said, looking back at the misty bridge. 2v1 was overkill, but he couldn't be too careless.

"Choji, stay here," Asuma commanded. "I'm going to help Kakashi."

Before the Chubby shinobi could utter a reply, Asuma ran into the fray.

Mothers are scary. It wasn't a hard conclusion to reach considering his own mother, but when a mother stood ready to fight a group of armed men? Yeah, mothers are scary. His shadow reached out at the same time Ino jumped into the fray.

Ino kicked the bandit that dared to attack a child as Shikamaru's shadow stopped the rest in place.

"What the hell is this!?" Unfamiliar with his Jutsu, the bandits panicked at their loss of movement. Ino took the moment of confusion to grab Inari and Tsunami before retreating back upstairs.

They couldn't fight and protect the civilians at the same time; they needed a plan. Sakura was out of commission, and these guys wanted Tsunami and her son. It was likely that Gato wanted them as hostages, but he couldn't guarantee their safety.

He gritted his teeth as the bandits struggled in his Jutsu.

Think. Think.

Shikamaru wasn't a fighter, neither was Ino. He thought of having them run away without him, but there could be more bandits outside.

"What a pain."

A hint of pink caught his eyes, Sakura's summoned butterfly fluttered around him, careful not to touch him.

That's right, he thought. Sakura commanded them to protect our team before leaving the village. Is that command still valid? He could work with this. He called to Ino as she ran by him with Tsunami and Inari.

"I have a plan."

Ino brought them to the room where Sakura slept. Her breath came out in pants despite the short trip. She looked around frantically. Shikamaru's jutsu wouldn't hold for long.

Eye landed on the butterflies that lined the ceiling, and she spoke.

"Hey," she called to them. "Sakura said you're supposed to protect us, right?" Ino had no idea if that was the case, but it seemed like something Sakura would do. The butterflies responded by flying down and circling her. Some landed on her hair the way they did before, and she wondered if it was the same ones.

Confidence returned to Ino as she remembered Shikamaru's plan. They couldn't have them attack the bandits. While escorting her, they didn't attack and only defended. It was possible they only attacked under Sakura's order.

"What a time to be asleep, forehead," she cursed the sleeping Sakura and turned back to the butterflies. "Can you hide Sakura, Inari, and Tsunami?" she asked, gesturing to the mother and child. They didn't hesitate to fly down and circle the three.

Pink dust fell from their wings and covered them, making them invisible.

"Genjutsu?" Ino gasped. So far, so good. Now all that was left was…

"Um."

The door slid close behind Ino as she ran back to Shikamaru's side. Struggling to hold the jutsu the Nara looked at her desperately.

"It worked," she assured him, and he sighed in relief, careful not to lose his hold. "What now?" she asked, taking out a kunai.

"How's your clone jutsu?" Shikamaru joked.

"Not as good as Naruto, but I can still fool a ninja for a little while," she informed him, eyeing him with suspicion.

"And your transformation?"

She understood what he planned now?

"Just leave it to me!" she declared, gearing up for a fight.

I'm counting on you, Sakura!

With one last prayer, Shikamaru released his hold on the jutsu.

"Ah!" one stumbled. "We're free!"

"Let get 'em!"

The bandits roared as they charged towards the to genins.

"What a drag."

A thick mist covered the bridge as a battle waged. Blades sparked as they clashed, none surrendering in this assault.

Zabuza blocked Asuma's blade with his own while simultaneously diverting Kakashi's lighting blade. When his sword cracked under Asuma's wind chakra, he quickly withdrew. The leaf shinobi didn't let him recover, flanking him on both sides, they relentlessly attacked.

Kakashi's lighting zapped him as he deflected it, and Asuma's wind blade sliced through his mist, leaving nowhere to hide. Stabbing his blade into the ground, he kicked Asuma away and flipped over Kakashi's head, kicking him into his companion.

Dragging his sword through the pavement, he ran at the two slashed his blade down. The leaf shinobi rolled away from his attack, flanking him once more. He gritted his teeth in frustration. Gripping his sword's handle, he swung in a circle, driving them away.

Metal bounced off his blade as shurikens flew through the mist. It wasn't aimed at him, a stray? As the shurikens did before, Haku flew at him. Zabuza caught the boy and rose his blade in time to block Sasuke's follow-up.

"Tsk," the Uchiha crushed, pushing off the large blade and over the head of a blond he didn't see coming. Naruto released a volley of punches and kicked, wild, heavy, and unpredictable. It wasn't enough to just hold his sword as a shield; what was wrong with this kid.

Regaining his composure, Haku weaved through hand seals.

"Water style, Water needles!" needles made of water aimed at Naruto, who smirked and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Fire style, Great fireball, justu."

Flames erupted from both sides and careened towards Zabuza and Haku.

Boom! The explosion blew away the mist as the air simmered. Ice mirrors cracked from the heat as Haku fell to one knee.

"Breathbreak through!" Naruto yelled, adding the finishing blow.

Whoever said the leaf shinobi were merciful were liers. Zabuza has seen the bingo books, the leaf shinobis were ruthless, and it seemed they were raising more monsters.

The strong gust of wind broke Haku's mirror and sent them flying across the bridge; Zabuza slid across the pavement before flipping to his feet with hatred in his eyes.

Pulling out kunai's tagged with paper bombs, Haku threw it at the shinobis feet before waving through hand seals.

"Kai," he muttered, and the bridge shook with a boom. The explosion blew a hole in the bridge, causing the fighting shinobis to fall to the waters below.

"We just built that!" Naruto exclaimed as they all fell onto the water.

"Now, you leaf brats," Zabuza smirked. "You're in our domain."

"Water style," Haku weaved through hand seals. "Thousand flying water needled of death!" Water slashed up as he slammed his feet down, and from those droplets, senbons formed. A thousand needles formed around the leaf shinobi as Haku leaped back.

"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled as the needles launched towards them.

There was an explosion of water as the water needles broke apart. Zabuza narrowed his eyes in irritation; that's not what happens when Haku's technique hits. Sure enough, as the water rained down, the four shinobis stood unharmed.

Chakra so thick it was visible, swirling around them like a barrier.

"Was that the Hyuga technique?" Asuma asked, dumbfounded.

As the needles closed in, Naruto positioned himself in the center of their group and released a pulse of chakra. Asuma looked at the blond with unease. He had only seen it once or twice, the Hyuga clan technique, 8 Trigrams Palm Rotation.

"Nothing so fancy," Kakashi assured him. "It's really just Naruto having an outburst of chakra. He did it unconsciously because of his lack of chakra control. Now it serves as a shield."

"It's a waste of chakra, though," Asuma muttered, staring as Naruto's necklace absorbed the chakra released into the air. "…or not."

Team seven didn't give him time to breathe as the genin's leaped into the fray.

"Ice Style, Forest for death!"

Haku slammed his feet on the water, turning it into ice spikes as tall as adult trees. The deadly points rose up to impale to two who leaped io the air.

"Your little needles are nothing!" Naruto yelled, skating down the spikes, even as more branches formed on them. Sasuke slid alongside the blond, maneuvering around the obstacles. He caught the Fuma shuriken Naruto threw and unfolded it without hesitation.

Leaping into the air, Sasuke threw the blade towards Haku. The masked boy dodged the blade easily but found himself on the defensive when a second blade appeared from the shadow of the first. He leaped back in time to notice the strings attached to the blade.

With a pull of the strings, the shurikens broke apart and were now under Sasuke's control. Haku clicked his tongue and cat-wheeled away from the first wave of blade shares. He spun in the air to dodge the follow-up, and was running as soon as he landed.

Broken blades littered his mini ice forest as he waved through his spikes, using them for cover. The assault ended as it started, with a fuma shuriken flying at him. Learning from his mistake, Haku kicked the blade into the air instead of dodging it. Seeing the lack of strings, he ran for Sasuke senbons in hand.

POOF!

Eyes wide, Haku looked back to find Naruto in place of the shuriken. The blond pulled out a scroll; Sasuke made himself scarce. In a poof of smoke, papers marked with ink rained down.

"Uzumaki, Bomb festival!" Naruto declared before there was a large BOOM.

"I can't believe he actually did it," Kakashi said, wiping away a fake tear. "Sakura will be so proud."

Asuma watched mutely as the water from the blast rained down on him. Was it better for Kakashi to be an Anbu? Sarutobi looked at his old friend with worry. At least as an Anbu, Kakashi wouldn't be able to influence the future generations. Did they make a mistake?

"Kyaa!" a feminine cry left her moth as they threw her before Gato. They also threw down the boy, though his cry was more akin to a grunt. Gato looked at his two hostages with satisfaction. Why couldn't Zabuza be so efficient?

He looked down at the Mother and son duo and stamped his cane.

"Alright!" he yelled. "Lock them up! Once Zabuza is done with his little game, we'll head out and kill him!" His men cheered and dragged the hostages away.

"Were there any difficulties?" he asked his right hand.

"No," his right hand replied. "There were some brats there, but we took care of them."

Gato nodded. It was obvious that his men could take care of mere children. Soon this nightmare would be over; when was the last time he slept soundly?

"I need you to wait at least twenty minutes after they leave before you try and wake her." The words of the nice lady echoed in Inari's mind.

"When she wakes up, she'll take you somewhere safe," Ino informed them. "Just hang on 'till then."

"What about you!" Tsunami asked with wide eyes.

"We're going to complete our mission," she stood to leave. "We'll definitely protect you."

With a smile, the blond exited the room. Not long after, a battle sounded, there was a scream, and then everything went silent. Inari began to count.

Inari now stood over the sleeping girl with a complicated expression. His mother shook her, but she wasn't responding.

"Sakura-chan, Sakura-chan," Tsunami was desperate. Those kids gave their lives to protect them, if this girl didn't get up. She shook her harder. "Please get up!"

"You said you'd protect them," Inari said above a whisper. "They're relying on you, yet your sleeping? Weren't you going to protect them with your own strength." He knelt beside her and also began to shake her. "Get up! You're strong, right? Then get up and save them!" he demanded.

Tears wielded in his eyes. They weren't dead. They weren't dead! They didn't die trying to protect him. He remembered how he dismissed them when they arrived, yet they still. Why were people always getting hurt around him?

"Please," he begged gripping, her clothes. "You have to save them."

"You're annoying."

Tsunami gasped as black marks spread over her pale skin. Sakura sat up on the futon, her pink hair falling to frame her face.

"Someone as weak as you have no right to tell me what to do," she growled.

Despite her harsh words, Inari smiled with joy; she woke up. The butterflies that hung from the ceiling descended and swirled around her, creating a light breeze. She looked up at the fluttering butterflies, and Inari froze. His eyes widened as he looked at the woman in front of him, or rather her eyes.

She glared at him with ruby red eyes.

…

Next chapter

December 20.

Night song!