Chapter 4: The Strife

Enjoy the fic

The next morning :

The morning wasn't pleasant for everyone in Konoha, especially not for the famous Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi. He woke up with a start. The same nightmare had chosen to haunt his dreams again; Obito was blaming him for Rin's death. His shirt clung to his body due to the profuse sweat as he sat up drowsily, reaching out to his bedside table to retrieve two pills. He swallowed them down with a gulp from the glass of water placed on his bedside table to help subdue his anxiety.

After taking a few deep breaths, he recalled that he had to evaluate his genin squad today. As he looked around himself, he found himself in the bedroom of his apartment; this was unexpected, as he was used to spending most of his off-duty time at Naruto's house. However, after his announcement yesterday, he was no longer allowed to enter. Naruto was furious that he had hidden his face behind a mask for so long only to show his face during the genin team assignment. His anger was directed toward the low level of trust Kakashi had exhibited with him.

Although he spent time regularly with the blonde, they hadn't participated in sparring sessions until now. Naruto's fighting prowess was as unknown to him as Sasuke's, but one thing was confirmed during the Mizuki incident; as the Jonin of Konoha called it, they both were at a higher level than an average academy graduate.

He completed his morning routine and was ready to leave his apartment for his daily quality time at the memorial stone, as his habit persisted.

As he was about to step out of his apartment, he recalled something; Naruto and Sasuke both were known to use weapons. Kakashi also used to wield a Chokuto throughout his Anbu career, and a Tanto during his genin days. Maybe, it was time to give them some shine again, for their abilities should not be underestimated. After all, Kakashi himself was already a Jonin at their age.

With the thought in his mind, he ventured to his old storeroom. It took him twenty minutes and a search through several dust-filled boxes, but the hassle was worth it when he found the swords before him.

A silver-white Chokuto, 70 cm long blade with a red square hilt and black handle with gold diamond-shaped engravings. A blue colored sheath was also attached to the beautifully crafted white beauty. After a quick survey of any potential problems with the sword, which he didn't find, he sheathed it back and fastened it onto his right shoulder. His eyes then landed on one of the several tantos scattered across the floor; it was the same tanto that he used to wield during his Genin days before his father's death. He never used it after that day, but now he had a new team. He sheathed it and tied it around his waist.

Having acquired what he needed, he left his apartment and took the path of rooftops toward Training Ground 7.

(_-_-_X_-_-_)

Sakura entered the designated area for her team at seven o'clock; both of her teammates were already present there. Sasuke was cleaning his tantos with a white cloth, while Naruto was meditating under a tree adjacent to him. An unidentified black bundle sat beside the yellow-haired boy.

She chose to sit beside Naruto, rather than Sasuke; he already seemed scary without a katana in his hands. Even though she didn't believe the rumor spread across the village about the two guys, they still appeared quite intimidating.

As she was a civilian, she had heard many terrible things about both boys. Reportedly, one of them was said to be a cruel demon, intent on destroying the village...while the other one was a child on the brink of madness. However, after spending the last evening with them at Ichiraku, she had come to understand them somewhat...better.

Whereas, Naruto was a little too friendly, Sasuke's behavior seemed suspicious. Sasuke was the complete opposite of Naruto; he was a silent, withdrawn character with a cranky personality on the inside. He got riled up pretty quickly when Naruto poked his ribs last night, which eventually led to a bickering contest between them.

Naruto sensed Sakura's inner turmoil soon after she entered the clearing; the edges of the clearing were his limit, however, as his area of sensory perception was still developing. He heard the crunch of leaves and the rub of grass beneath her feet as she walked toward him; he opened his eyes and smiled at her in greeting.

Meanwhile, Sasuke had finished shining his tantos, the blades being 55 centimeters in length. They were dark silver in color and the handles were maroon, without any decorative hilts. He sheathed them back, not in the mood for conversation, he jumped up and took a seat on the branch above his teammates.

Kakashi entered the clearing at just that moment, or so he wanted them to believe. His eyes landed upon the three figures huddled around a single tree in the ground. Naruto and Sakura were conversing amongst themselves while Sasuke was settled up on a tree branch like a bird. He cleared his throat to gain their attention; they all turned towards him. Naruto picked up the bundle and fastened it around his back, standing up with Sakura in tow. Sasuke also jumped down from the tree to accompany his teammates.

Naruto shot a dirty glare at him for obvious reasons; still, there was a hint of worry in his eyes. He knew about Kakashi's nightmares, having comforted his elder brother on numerous occasions. The dark circles under the retired ANBU's eyes were prominent enough to signal his distress, especially without the mask that he wore.

"Good morning, my little genins. Kakashi quirked his eyebrow and smiled warmly, though the spark in his eyes was dimmer than usual. "As I mentioned to you yesterday, this is a survival test. Only one-third of the students who graduate from the Academy make it into the shinobi ranks. Your advancement to the shinobi rank will depend on your performance during this task, so I advise you to give your best."

The three of them nodded silently; there would have been questions about this new information only if the situation had been a little different. Kakashi pulled two bells out of his pocket and said, "The three of you have two hours to find these bells—one for each."

"But sensei, there are three of us; two bells mean one of us has to go back," Sakura questioned, voicing her thoughts for the first time.

Instead of replying, Kakashi just smiled and started a countdown.

"Three...Two...One," Kakashi counted on his fingers. "Go!" he shouted, jumping back to create some distance between them.

Sakura was the only one adhering to the ninja code of stealth; Naruto and Sasuke remained in their places with neutral expressions on their faces. Kakashi knew he should pay more attention to keeping them calm rather than provoking them, as it would be quite troublesome if they got agitated, especially Naruto. And, he was starting to sound like a Nara to himself.

Sasuke took the initiative and charged forward with a right swing; Kakashi avoided it nonchalantly. Sasuke took the aid of his arm to hold himself up from the ground, as the momentum of the running swing had propelled him face-first. He rotated his arms to adjust his grip and pushed a kick aimed at Kakashi's ribs. Kakashi blocked it and grabbed his legs, a swirl and throw being his next decision. Not keen on missing his beat, Naruto buckled up on Kakashi, coordinating his attacks with that of the Uchiha. Kakashi had to admit that Naruto was far more faster than an average genin, though not capable enough to trick his battle-trained eyes.

A high kick was tracked down on Kakashi, who used his forearm to block it; he was obliged to notice the amount of strength the kick carried. Kakashi attempted to grab his ankle, just like Sasuke, but ironically, his advances were intercepted by the ebony-haired boy, who followed up with a leg sweep. Kakashi pushed Naruto back to acquire some much-needed space and bounced up, dodging the sweep. However, his relief was short-lived as he sensed a punch falling towards him from beside. He couldn't remove himself quickly enough while he was still suspended in midair, so he did what he could, ducking and grabbing both of their alternatives to spin and throw them away.

Sakura was observing the whole scenario from her hiding spot, if she was astounded from the show of skills from these two boys yesterday, then she was flabbergasted today. The boys were none older than her, yet their coordination was near perfect nonetheless silent, and they held themselves sturdier than an average genin. Although she didn't knew much about her sensei but according to Ino's father "Hatake Kakashi was at the top of power chain concerning Jonins, he was one of the elites, and that too, the best".

Kakashi's assumption proved correct; the blonde Uzumaki and the lone Uchiha possessed high levels of skill, even surpassing low-level Chunin. Sakura was waiting for the next move from her team when she suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder, causing her to startle slightly before turning around to face the offender. She expected Kakashi, but was surprised by the sudden appearance of her blonde teammate.

"You should help boss and Sasuke to hold down Sensei, they are doing fine but an additional set of hands would reduce the effort." A very solid Naruto told her. "You three could only dream to take down Sensei when you're together, If that's even possible".

Sakura looked across the field to see another Naruto present there, coordinating his moves with Sasuke to somehow trick the one eyed scarecrow.

"Boss?...Hey! You're a solid clone, how is that even possible?" Sakura exclaimed, pointing a finger at the shadow clone. The clone smiled and shrugged.

Naruto looked over to Sasuke, who wasn't faring any better than him; Kakashi was using the least amount of his abilities to hold them both down effortlessly. Well, Naruto wasn't keen on displaying his fighting prowess so early; Hiruzen had ordered him not to do so until it's absolutely necessary, that is, if one of his teammates or he himself is in grave danger.

Their eyes met, and Sasuke nodded; an agreement that Kakashi was someone they couldn't handle easily. They were still miles away from landing a perfect shot on the masked Jonin. Naruto shook his head and promoted the offensive.

He formed a horse seal to deactivate his resistance seals, rendering them at 1.5x drift. Meanwhile, Sasuke channeled enough chakra to activate his Sharingan, two tomoe in each eye. Kakashi pondered over revealing his tool, but decided against it; Sasuke wasn't adept at using his eyes at the speed required to overwhelm him, that much he knew from Shishui. While, Naruto did have natural speed, and the resistance seal removal would enhance it, it still wasn't a problem for the renowned Jonin.

This time, both of them charged at each other. Naruto threw a right-handed punch, which Kakashi blocked with his knee. Meanwhile, Sasuke attempted a kick; however, it was also blocked by Kakashi's free foot. Kakashi then used his legs to support him as he hovered above the ground, with one knee blocking Naruto's punch and the other leg ready to block Sasuke's attack. He then grabbed their shoulders and flipped them over, using his grip on their shoulders to throw them away.

They regained their footing at a distance from Kakashi. Naruto smiled and flung his bundle over his shoulder, while Sasuke chose to grab onto the handle of his tantos. Naruto revealed his Bo and took his stance, synchronizing with Sasuke, who had chosen to slip into Chudan no kamae, one of the stances the Uchiha clan used for second-level Kenjutsu bouts. His tantos were gripped in reverse position for better movement. With a flick of his Bo, Naruto rushed forward, while Sasuke followed his lead; Kakashi, meanwhile, had already unsheathed his blades.

Sasuke took the lead in mid-rush and charged down both of his tantos towards Kakashi's head. Kakashi raised his tanto to block Sasuke's strike, while also noting Naruto's position. Naruto, with the thought that Kakashi was busy with Sasuke, closed in on the masked Jonin. An attack to his abdomen was the instinctive offense of Naruto, as that part was clearly unguarded; Kakashi expected this attack and brought his Chokuto in front to clash with his Bo and push him back with force.

What all three of them failed to notice was that Sakura has chosen to clear the distance between them stealthily, she seized one of the Kunais from her waist and aimed it at Kakashi. Well, it was only a faux directed by Kakashi that he wasn't able to notice Sakura. As Sakura pounced to stab Kakashi, he kicked her arm away and dropped down his Chokuto on her to see others' reaction. He was pleased when Naruto suddenly appeared inbetween him and the pinkette, he grabbed Sakura by the back of her shirt and pulled her aside while countering Kakashi's strike with his Bo.

Sasuke took the advantage of Kakashi's distraction and stabbed Kakashi's right leg, he was met with his pained face, but instantly, the flesh and blood was replaced with a wooden log and splinter, hinting a substitution. Kakashi was pleased with the performance of two out of his three students in taijutsu and weapons. Clearly, Sakura was in need of a better taijutsu style and much needed encouragement.

"Very well done!" Kakashi voiced echoed in the clearing. "Now, for the Next Lesson: Ninjutsus"

"Katon: Fire Phoenix Jutsu," several small balls of fire raced toward the three students from a bush, revealing Kakashi's position.

Naruto took the lead and placed himself in the front; he formed four hand seals and yelled "Suiton: Water Shield." A tide rose out of the pond nearby and constructed a liquid shield that blocked the fireballs.

Kakashi smiled at the efficiency of his younger brother; he knew Naruto had acquired an extensive arsenal of jutsus from the Hokage, and now was a good chance to test his affinity with them.

"Raiton: Earth flash" A bolt of lighting shot from his extended palms toward Naruto incorporating the soil as a medium.

Naruto knew Suiton is a strong conductor of electricity, thus he would be fucked up if he didn't acted quickly. Following Kakashi's example, he formed a few seals quickly and inhaled a lot of air before exhaling it out with quite the force; "Futon: Breakthrough"; The wind force dissipated the electricity back to the ground.

He glanced toward Sasuke and signaled him to support; Sasuke with a grunt nodded and joined him as they both fired huge fireballs, which were twice the size of Kakashi's previous ones. However, Kakashi wasn't one to back down and slammed his palm on the ground, resulting in the eruption of a huge mud wall that stopped the huge fireball in its place.

Naruto wasn't the one to back down either, he formed hand seals and fired several fist-sized balls of water at the mud wall. That resulted in melting of the wall back to mud.

Unbeknownst to them, Sakura had once again attempted to sneak up on Kakashi. Her constant attempts to follow the first rule taught to academy students about stealth were rather transparent, for lack of a better word. Kakashi was a top-notch jonin, specializing in tracking enemies with his ninja dogs; considering his own nose had developed better senses than the Inuzuka clan. Even Sakura's soft perfume was a beacon for Kakashi, and he could pinpoint her location easily, yet he remained at his place to observe her next move. Surprisingly, she threw three shurikens coated with green liquid, which was likely a paralyzing poison, toward Kakashi. He let the shurikens hit his left leg. Sakura quickly seized the opportunity to grab the bells off his waist and throw one toward Naruto and another toward Sasuke.

Suddenly, Kakashi melted into mud, and the bells in Naruto's and Sasuke's hands also melted, indicating that the bells were as fake as Kakashi's clone.

Kakashi transitioned in front of them via a Shunshin. "Congratulations, you defeated my rock clone, and your time is up," stated Kakashi. True to his word, the alarm clock went off, indicating the end of their two-hour limit.

Kakashi had half-mind to tie Sakura to the pole, but he forfeited the plan as his team had already shown teamwork; for now, Kakashi would accept that, yet it didn't mean that would remain as such for long. No, he would train them to be a tightly packed team. At least until they reached the skill levels Naruto and Sasuke displayed would determine their rankings in the future, which was certain.

Naruto and Sasuke's jutsu combinations were complementary. Their team dynamics were effective and sharp, and it was clear from their subtle signals or wordless gestures that they understood each other clearly. As for the weaknesses, Sasuke needed to extend his speed to match his Sharingan. Naruto had the least amount of holes in his style; he just needed more powerful jutsus to go with his blunt style. Sakura was in need of a total rejuvenation - a new taijutsu style that fit her, along with improvements in her diet and strategic advisory.

He will have to gather some medical scrolls to check her affinity with the singular art, and other necessary scrolls with different topics he had to re-teach her. It wouldn't take much time as she had a sharp mind and extensive theoretical knowledge, albeit clearly, she wasn't using them practically. Also, Kakashi knew that Naruto and Sasuke had restricted their full potential from emerging, that would have been a little more tiring, if nothing else. He had also noticed that Naruto's taijutsu was somewhat familiar. It was like almost like all parts of a puzzle was present and arranged, missing one or two pieces of it.

"Well, you have certainly performed adequately; it was a risky move to put three top students of the graduating year together, but you have proven that decision correct." Kakashi addressed them sheathing his blades and signaling them to do the same.

"As for the test, it wasn't about the bells. It was about the teamwork from the beginning. And, I must say you didn't disappoint me unlike the students given to me previously did, even you Sakura... who didn't have any experience with them was able to keep up to them." He shifted his gaze to the pinkette. ".. . You did great." He praised her.

"Although, you need more training, but for today, this is it. You are to attend team meetings from tomorrow onwards; we will have three and a half hours of training. Then, we will fetch some D-rank missions until evening; all of you are free after that," Kakashi explained their daily routine.

"Also, Sakura, you need to eat more to equal the amount of energy spent on training and missions; change your diet to more protein and carbohydrate-rich foods," ordered Kakashi softly.

Sakura nodded in response, with a slight blush to her cheeks. She knew she would have to upgrade her diet after taking the role of a shinobi; her diet for a thin waist was now a dream only. The session concluded, and the genins moved on to their respective homes.

(_-_-_X_-_-_)

A Week Later, on the Streets of Konoha :

Naruto was treading towards the Hokage Tower to address some inconvenience regarding his ID generation; he had submitted his Genin Registration Form a week ago and received a call from the Hokage Office today, stating that he had to retake his ID picture. What could possibly be fucking wrong with the Kabuki face paint pose? If his Godfather was allowed to use it, then so should he.

He climbed the stairs to the second floor and walked across the corridor leisurely; the last room on the left was his destination. As he entered the genealogy registration office, his eyes took in an old man looking toward him with a neutral gaze.

"Umm...I was sent here to change my profile picture, but I don't want to do it. Is there any problem with it?" asked Naruto uncertainly.

"No, why would I have any problems with your picture, boy? It was Hokage-sama who ordered me to retake it; if you want to keep it as it is, then talk to him." The man replied unconcernedly.

Naruto redirected his feet towards the Hokage Chamber. He knocked on the gate of the chamber. He would never do the mistake of barging into the chamber ever again. He still remembered the day Hiruzen taught him why he shouldn't barge into anyone's personal space. It was during the initial days of his training; he was still learning proper courtesy while approaching his seniors. He had barged into the Hokage Chamber one morning. For two consecutive days, he was punished to run across the village. With only four hours to sleep, eat, and attend nature's call. The second day was the true torture; every bone in his body attempted to compress itself, and every muscle refused to even follow his lead. He knew the punishment would be equally brutal if he did anything similar.

"Enter," replied Hiruzen.

"Heya Sensei, what's the problem with my picture on the registration form? Even Ero-Oji used similar kinds of pictures for his registration ID." said Naruto.

Hiruzen gazed at him for a moment before sighing lightly; Naruto was too much like his parents to be annoying. While he had the sharp mind and talent Minato possessed, Kushina was still there inside him. He adopted some of her habits, even unknowingly.

"That was during the times of war, Naruto. And now, no student of mine will look like an idiot to other villages. These forms are used in record-keeping, although I will make exceptions for a few of this year batch, you will not use that picture" Hiruzen said stubbornly.

"You not only have to follow in your Godfather's legacy, but you must also follow in mine," stated Hiruzen thoughtfully as he paced freely around the chamber.

Naruto sweatdropped at his mentor's reasoning and eagerness to pass down his legacy. Though, he knew Hiruzen didn't like his current position nowadays, he was too old for a job such as Hokage. Instead, he wanted to immerse himself in shaping the new generation; the academy could use his extensive knowledge wisely.

"You know Jiji, it's kind of selfish to choose someone your successor without their consent, even if I want justbthat." replied Naruto a bit smugly.

Hiruzen was about to retort when the chamber door banged open suddenly; a mistake. Naruto was already on the move, his reflexes acting on their own, as three pointed kunais were launched toward the intruder. Hiruzen let the kunais strike the intruder's clothing and hang him on the wall. No harm was done, except for the constant pestering Naruto would have to endure now.

Stuck on the wall and desperately trying to find a way out, yet completely unharmed, was Konohamaru Sarutobi.

"Hey brat, What'cha think you're doing ?" asked Naruto with a penetrating gaze.

"Put him down, Naruto," Hiruzen spoke up gently. Naruto looked back at his sensei confusedly. "He's my grandson, Konohamaru. It's his 25th failed attempt to take over my position; he thinks the Hokage post is worth all this trouble." Hiruzen muttered the last part to himself.

"Pardon me, Sensei. The intrusion was sudden, I didn't have the chance to understand anything else." Naruto apologized and pulled the kunais out, leaving Konohamaru on the ground.

"No, no, it's fine. He had to learn his lesson, anyway."

The brat was grumbling to himself and glaring at the blonde genin; however, one could see a hint of something in his eyes - curiosity.

Out of nowhere, a man wearing small circular sunglasses, dressed similarly to a Tokuetsu Jonin, entered the office frantically. The post was rather confusing and intriguing at the same time for Naruto; confusing, as he couldn't understand how a man might be a Jonin if he's only able to master one particular field of shinobi training. Intriguing, as the post could be beneficial for him. He wasn't allowed to exhibit the full extent of his abilities, but once he is allowed, he may be able to join it. "How many times do I have to tell you, honorable grandson? Please don't roam around here and there," the man fretfully said to Konohamaru, who knew him like a mother hen. He glanced at him for a second or two before continuing. "Not everyone around the village is well-behaved."

Naruto just rolled his eyes at the man; he was tired of the people with such a mentality who didn't understand his burden and judged him based on it.

"I am not going to change my picture, Sensei," said Naruto, chuckling. "Ero-Oji would be quite proud of it." And he left the chamber.

(_-_-_X_-_-_)

The entire month had been truly exhausting for Sakura. Kakashi had broken each and every bone in her body to train her, not literally but hypothetically. He had provided her with a few scrolls on a taijutsu style that used chakra strength and composition attacks for offense, while the defense consisted of short-range strength movements. What she didn't know was that she was using the initial blueprint of Tsunade's taijutsu style; she didn't have the sizable strength of Tsunade, but that wouldn't remain so in the meantime. Kakashi had also planned to teach her those skills as they required excellent chakra control, which she already possessed, as her taijutsu was incomplete without the necessary strength.

Kakashi had also begun exerting himself; he needed to be at top form to teach his three curious Tasman Devils. Naruto and Sasuke were like sponges, absorbing knowledge as fast as one could.

Significantly, Naruto has completed his jutsu combination training; moreover, Hiruzen has taught him how to admit more chakra into his clones so that they can use that chakra for ninjutsus.

Whereas Sasuke's training was focused on genjutsu and physical effort, he was also beginning to explore his primary affinity, as Kakashi had been teaching him the Lightning Style.

The three of them now held the record of most D-rank missions completed by any Genin squad ever.

Apart from all this, Naruto had to deal with Konohamaru on a regular basis; he was constantly pestered by the young Sarutobi to either play or to teach him cool jutsus. Konohamaru had more energy than an average brat, that Naruto had accumulated, after all he was also the ever-active kid. He had taken to follow Naruto around the village after the day of events in the Hokage Chamber. After a week of constant pestering and following, Naruto finally agreed to teach him a few small Jutsus, however, that was only once a week.

This went on for the next two months.

Now, after two months of training and D-rank missions, which were more of chores than anything else, the three of Kakashi's Tasmanian Devils were, for lack of a better word, bored. Sakura had completed the first two stages of her chakra infusion training; she was now able to form small craters with her fists and pick up hefty chunks of rock easily. As Kakashi could not teach her advanced medical ninjutsus due to him being unfamiliar with them, she had the basic medical training for small injuries, as most of her focus was on improving her Taijutsu, chakra infusion, and improving her chakra reserve.

Naruto was now able to fluently perform small ninjutsu combinations, and Sasuke was getting faster due to his weight training.

Presently, Team 7 was in the Hokage Tower, in the Mission Assignment Chamber. Kakashi had decided to let them have an upper tier mission, though they were capable enough to go through higher C-ranks; Kakashi was biding his time to train them as much as he could before they could set foot in the real world. However, they were ready now, all three of them; what they needed the most was experience. A simple escort mission or bandit capture would be fine, as long as they got their first kill experience and got over it as quickly as possible.

Or else, they would freeze over a kill during a mission and that wouldn't certainly go nicely for them.

Hiruzen was sitting in the middle, distributing missions to available Jonin and Chunins, with occasional intrusions of Anbu missions. Iruka was seated beside him, along with several other Chunins and Jonins. Kakashi cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention.

"Hokage-sama, I've come here to take a C-Ranked mission for my team," stated Kakashi in an official tone. The three genin perked up; Naruto and Sakura were eyeing Kakashi with star-struck eyes, while Sasuke had a pleasant smirk plastered on his face - finally, no more catching cats, painting fences, babysitting, or cleaning lawns.

"But Kakashi-san, isn't it too soon for them to take on such high-level missions?" Interrupted Iruka, concerned for his students.

Naruto and Sakura turned their eyes towards Iruka in a pleading manner; why was their sensei obstructing their first mission, they didn't need to be confined in D-rank missions.

"I don't think C-rank is too high-ranking for my genin," Kakashi asserted swiftly. "After all, they have completed the required number of missions, and have set the record for most D-rank missions completed in a week by a team. If they aren't ready, then I reckon anybody else would be." Stated Kakashi firmly; he knew his genin were capable enough to handle such missions, what with the leadership shuffle he had implemented within the teams.

In Kakashi's absence, the leadership role has been divided among the three, and Kakashi knows it will benefit them and increase their efficiency.

"I concur, Kakashi," Hiruzen interjected before the conversation shifted into a heated debate between the academy teacher and his elite Jonin. "I am assigning your team a C-rank mission. It's an escort mission to the Wave Country; you have to protect a bridge builder from bandits." Hiruzen read aloud and tapped the bell on the desk.

A Chunin peeked in, waiting for an order. "Bring in Tazuna-san; he has a team ready to escort him," ordered Hiruzen.

An old man entered the office, swaying slightly on his feet. He had gray hair and a matching goatee. He was dressed in a light brown vest on top, a black pair of pants, glasses on his face, and a worn-out straw hat on his head. The vest was worn and unkempt, while the pants appeared to have seen better days. A strong scent of alcohol surrounded him; he seemed to be a drunkard at first glance. However, Naruto could sense something hidden beneath this facade, and he was certain that the man wasn't what he appeared to be.

"I wanted top elite ninjas for me, not some snubbed-nose brats." The man slurred as he took a sip from the bottle of sake in his hand. "Look at that girl over there, she has the funniest color of hair I've ever seen; that boy with black hair looks sick, and that yellow-haired one is kind of stupid to look at."

Sakura was the only one to react to the bait; a single vein popped out on her forehead. Naruto and Sasuke eyed the man icily before diverting their gazes elsewhere.

"I suggest you to not pick on my genins, Tazuna-san. I am an elite Jonin and can deal off with lowly bandits quite easily" Kakashi addressed sincerely.

Tazuna nodded his head, but there was a slight hesitation in his movements that caught Kakashi's eye; there was something going on here that Tazuna was hesitant to ask for. Either Tazuna was not trusting of Kakashi's words or he was hiding something.

Nonetheless, he ordered his Genin to pack supplies for two weeks and meet at the village gates in two hours. The three accepted and went to their homes to pack the supplies they would need.

Naruto packed food, clothing, kunai, shuriken, and a sleeping bag inside separate sealed scrolls. Learning to seal things had been the first thing he learned from Jiraiya during their ninja arts lessons, both living and non-living.

He put the scroll containing eatable, wearables and sleeping bag inside his jacket while hung his weapons scroll on his waist. He also changed his half sleeved tee into a full one, wrapped his Bo on his back and went on to tell Anko about his mission. It was obligatory to inform her about his whereabouts, or she would turn the whole village upside-down in search for him. In past recent years, Anko has been spending her time at his house if not on duty. They were siblings in all but blood, they bickered constantly with eachother while still being protective of eachother.

She would check up on him several times a day, sometimes even 4 times. There was saying that villagers knew: If you don't want to incur the wrath of snake mistress, don't dare to touch her brother. It was a common knowledge among the villagers that Naruto was protected by the merciless Kunoichi.

This was to be expected from Naruto for he had an unique ability to bring people, who knew him, to love him.

The Genins reached the village gates at the same time to see Kakashi and Tazuna were already present there, waiting for them. Kakashi noticed the lack of any solid pack on the three genins, he knew Naruto's been taught by Jiraiya to use and create sealing scrolls, still his curiosity took better of him. "Why don't I see bags on your shoulders?"

It was Sasuke who answered, "He packed our supplies in sealing scroll for better movement", he pointed toward Naruto. Kakashi accepted with a shook of his head and led them out of the village.

(_-_-_X_-_-_)

While Team 7 was immersed in their training till they drop during the previous month, other Genins of their batch were also developing and discovering new skills in themselves.

One of them was Hyuga Hinata. Hinata had changed herself completely. She wasn't the same shy and timid girl from a few years ago; she was tired of being weak and being protected. Naruto was correct in that perspective; she needed to be strong, if not only for her sister. Hanabi, she was the cutest little thing Hinata had ever seen. Hinata had sudden urges to protect her as soon as her eyes landed on the small girl. Naruto had saved her twice till now, but he wasn't one of those who would demand a price for the same deed. And, that singular personality trait of his made him truly different from others; no-one would help another without searching an advantage for themselves in it. She was mesmerized by those deep blue eyes of his; they shone equally bright every time her eyes landed on them. They reminded her of the true visage of a vast extending sea. He was a warm beacon of comfort and positivity for her.

Hizashi had taken her under his training; he was already notorious within his family for being unyielding, only Hiashi and Hizashi's wife were able to make him do anything. Though she was never weak or undeserving of her title, Hizashi was the only one who trusted her capabilities, unlike his twin. He knew Hinata wasn't weak, she was just kindhearted, like her mother, and the clan elders were persistent on making her become an ice princess. After testing her affinity, it was discovered that she had a strong affinity for Suiton, and she was incompatible with Earth Style Jyuken.

There were only a few known water users in the Hyuga clan till date; Hinata's mother being one of them. Clearly, Hinata had inherited her traits, as she was kind-hearted and had an affinity for water. Currently, there were only three members of the Hyuga clan with Suiton affinities - Hizashi, Hinata, and a side branch member, named Hisoku. Hence, Hizashi felt pride in his student, and this pride increased as time passed.

For, Hinata had developed a new Taijutsu style of her own with the help of Hizashi, instead of solid defense and strength-based attacks. Her style used swift movements, agility, endurance and speed as its base. It utilized quick maneuvers and speed strikes as offense while swiftly dodging as defense, which could be sustained due to her endurance. As an heir, she had to learn politics, history, and all other subjects from a tutor chosen by the clan elders.

By the end of her academy years, she was one of the top four students, only being surpassed by Naruto and Sasuke in physical prowess, and Sakura in knowledge.

Meanwhile, Nara Shikamaru was a lazy boy who avoided any type of physical exertion without need. Everyone knew this fact, but only a few people knew just how cunning and presumptuous the said Nara could be.

Shikamaru had two best friends as close as brothers - his tall, big-boned friend, Choji, and the yellow-haired, loud-mouthed troublemaker, Naruto. He knew something was different about Naruto, unlike the other members of their small all-boys team, he had noticed the looks Naruto received from civilians, and he didn't like it. The Nara clan was known for its laziness, sharp minds it produced, and their troublesome wives they took in. It was no secret, for his family, that Shikamaru was almost unbeatable in Shogi.

Since Naruto began displaying most of his skills and rising quickly through the ranks, Shikamaru was also interested in showing some of his skills. He could have replaced Sakura in the top four easily, if he had wanted, but that would have been quite troublesome for him. So he took his place somewhere in the middle, just below Ino, the girl who was as obnoxious as Naruto was in his first few years of the academy.

However, the playful competition took a turn into utmost respect for the blonde brat when Shikaku told him about the responsibilities Naruto has been carrying for years and will continue to do so until he dies.

The day after his graduation, Shikamaru received a call from his father asking him to come into his office. This was highly unusual, as Shikamaru was not a frequent visitor to his father's office. Shikamaru knew something was off with the blonde, but he could never have guessed the magnitude of what he would soon learn. That day, Shikamaru silently made a vow to himself to become a strong ninja and support his friend no matter what.

This was what drove him towards his training; he didn't spend his energy on ninjutsus, as that was unnecessary with his Shadow Release. Therefore, he focused more on Taijutsu, and, after much persuasion from Asuma, he eventually took up a Chokuto that could be used to infuse his Shadow Release.

(_-_-_X_-_-_)

Kakashi and his team were far away from Konoha, and one thought kept nagging at him; Tazuna was hiding something, and he was determined to find out what it was. The drunkard bridge-builder was constantly scanning his surroundings, as if they would be attacked any moment now, even though they had already left the village gates. Furthermore, he could sense someone following them, which didn't make sense given the nature of the mission. Bandits and robbers don't follow their victims; Kakashi knew this from his experiences with them. They would attack head-on, like charging into battle. Only trained ninja can hide their chakra signatures and follow a team of ninjas to set up an ambush.

Yet, Kakashi was an elite jōnin, so it wasn't that complex for him to pinpoint the levels of ninja following them; chūnin-level ninjas. He was perfectly confident that either two or one of his genin had also sensed their presence. That assumption was proven correct when Naruto threw a granola bar toward Sasuke and he threw another back, very discreetly. Kakashi relaxed and let his guard down, an invitation to the ninja. Sasuke and Naruto tensed up and put on their guards instantly for they sensed a movement nearby, but what surprised them all was that Sakura also pushed Tazuna between her teammates and took a defensive stance, forming a triangle around Tazuna.

The two hostile ninjas revealed themselves out of the bushes, smirking at the three Genin; as Kakashi had already disappeared to let them handle the two, it was as if Kakashi was never there.

The demon brothers, Gozu and Meizu, of mist were rouge shinobi's from the said country, who had defected Kirigakure after a failed assassination attempt on the Mizukage alongside the demon of the bloody mist, Momochi Zabuza. It was a well-known fact that these ninja's were no more than contract killers nowadays, these types of ninja's were also called bounty hunters.

Meizu, the younger brother, charged towards Sasuke while Gozu, the older brother, paced towards Naruto from the other side. Sakura noticed this and placed Tazuna behind her to protect him from the crossfire of the ongoing conflict.

Meizu increased his pace to an extreme level; however, Sasuke's Sharingan was easily able to track his movements. This was to be expected, as Sasuke had trained with the Copy Ninja for weeks, making Meizu's speed look like a sloth's movement to him. He intercepted Meizu's momentum by throwing shurikens in his path, but Meizu simply changed his direction slightly and continued running towards Sasuke. What he failed to notice were the wires connected to the shurikens surrounding him.

Meanwhile, Gozu was having a hard time dominating the blonde genin. Naruto was blocking every claw strike from his clawed gloves with a kunai, and was occasionally outclassing him to inflict physical damage. He growled and pounced on Naruto with the intention of clawing him to shreds, while Naruto was more interested in digging into the ground using the "Hiding Like A Mole Technique."

Meizu swiped at Sasuke with his four-fingered iron claw, but was stopped by the shurikens flying around him; they seemed to have wings attached to them. He pushed for another swing, but this time, Sasuke's shurikens lodged into his glove, and he lost balance. This was just what Sasuke needed. Sasuke let go of his wire and quickly formed hand seals.

"Katon: Fire shurikens jutsu" He said quietly.

The shurikens hung suspended in air and then ignited without a touch, speeding toward the masked Kirigakure ninja at great speed.

Meizu was unable to avoid all of them; being bounty hunters, they didn't benefit from his one-on-one combat skills. Several fire-laced shurikens struck him all over his body, but that piece of flesh and bones transitioned into a log in mere seconds.

Next, a series of events occurred as soon as Meizu was free of Sasuke's attention; he charged towards Tazuna. However, Sasuke was already in his way, waiting till the last moment, and then pulling a wire attached to one of the shurikens lodged into the trees. The Kiri shinobi tripped and stumbled directly in front of Sakura instead of Tazuna. Expectedly, Sakura was able to land a chakra-enhanced punch on the Kiri's rogue ninja, sending him flying back a distance and causing him to faint.

Tazuna was on the verge of peeing out of fear, and that was to be expected given the whole fight going on around him.

On the other side of the field, the scenes weren't much different. Gozu was struggling to catch up to the blonde brat, at this point of their conflict it was evident that he had mistaken and underestimated the brat. His half-mastered taijutsu, as he hadn't been able to complete it due to fleeing earlier, didn't stand a chance against Naruto's Hummingbird Style. Additionally, his claws were of no use against Naruto's Bo, with its longer reach and being one of the finest weapons forged in the Leaf Country. Naruto quickly made work of him and tied him to a tree trunk for interrogation.

Taking the hint of the end of the battle, Kakashi appeared right beside an unconscious Meizu and tied him to a tree with ninja wires. He then motioned Sasuke and Naruto to come with him, as there was a need to teach them about interrogating an enemy ninja, and this was the perfect opportunity. Oppositely, Sakura was a faint-hearted person compared to the other genins, thus she was left to guard Tazuna.

After half an hour and many gut-wrenching screams, Kakashi returned to the clearing, wiping his hands with towels. An emotionless Sasuke and a disgruntled Naruto followed him back to the place where Sakura was guarding Tazuna.

"So, when were you going to tell us about Gato and his intentions, Tazuna-san?" asked Kakashi, glancing at him suspiciously.

The colour drained from his face soon as Kakashi mentioned the name of Gato; he ducked his head hurriedly, placing his sake bottle back into his bag.

"What's it about, sensei?" asked a confused Sakura as she glanced at each member present there.

"Apparently, Tazuna-san, here, has deceived us into taking up a B-rank mission in disguise of a C-rank. He lied to us about the level of threat as he is being followed by Shinobi instead of just bandits," Kakashi explained to her, while Naruto and Sasuke threw a look at the man in question. It could have cost them their lives if they weren't not really genin level ninjas.

"So, are you gonna leave me?" Tazuna asked fearfully, his eyes meeting Kakashi's. "I have a daughter and a grandson; the whole village is under Gato's tyranny. Please help me. I promise I will pay in full once I am able to do so." Tazuna pleaded, sounding desperate. "Besides, if you leave me here, they will kill me and then kill my family," he finished bitterly.

Team 7 was perplexed; on one hand, they were angry at the man for lying about the threats upon them, while on the other, they couldn't possibly leave a whole village suffer for the deeds of one drunkard. They knew they were capable enough to handle such threats, at least up to chunin level threats. And, since Kakashi was already there, they didn't need to fear for the best of Anbu either.

"It's not about money, Tazuna-san," Kakashi said stoically. "My genin are still in training stages... I don't want to put their safety on the line, and it's clear from your actions that you're the last person I would trust."

Tazuna flinched at the last sentence and ducked his head shamefully.

"But," Kakashi began and Tazuna perked up at the word. "If they give their consent, then we can move forward, or return back." Kakashi continued suggestively. "I'm sure Hokage-sama would allow you to take an Anbu squad with you to your country."

He asked his genin, "What do the three of you suggest?"

"I want to continue," Naruto perked up, Kakashi knew it wasn't Naruto but his adrenaline speaking.

"I agree with him," Sasuke grunted, pointing toward the black-clad genin.

"Me too," Sakura said firmly; she wasn't going to come across as the weakest of the three.

Kakashi eyed them carefully before sighing lightly. "If you're confident, then we can get going," he said, turning toward the man whose face was lit up by a smile.

Thus, the expedition Nami no Kuni began at an uniform speed, in time they reached a river and saw a half-built bridge spanning it. Tazuna managed to gain the attention of a boatman and rented a boat for crossing. The journey through the river was halfway over when the fog started to dissipate somewhat, allowing them to see the bridge in all its half-completed glory.

White pillars stood tall supporting the weight of the heavy white stone slabs, cut into perfect squares, and joined together to form a path. Several red-coloured pillars could be seen adorning the bridge sides; a roof made of black stone erected upon the pillars completed the look, as impressive as it was. The Genin were awed by the skill of the bridge builder beside them; no longer did his boasts seem fake – he truly was a skilled craftsman, despite being a drunkard.

They reached the shore and paid the boatman as requested; the land still seemed safer than the fog-shrouded river.

They passed through the clayey soil of the riverbanks and moved their feet to the rocky paths of the wavy country. Periodically, they crossed the woody forest and were about to enter the village of Tazuna. Suddenly, Naruto and Sasuke sensed a movement in their peripheral vision; they threw shurikens following the movement of the creature. A moment later, a panicked rabbit sprinted out of the bushes toward them, before Kakashi could check the small animal for any traps, Sakura picked up the rabbit and cursed both boys for scaring the little cute animal. The creature was not a trap indeed, as evidenced by the lack of any incident with Sakura after picking it up.

Meanwhile, Kakashi had also sensed a chakra signature near the bushes; however, this was a white hare, which was contradictory considering it was still springtime. Before he could relay his discovery to his genin, his sense of danger quickly alerted him of an incoming threat.

"Duck!" shouted Kakashi as he grabbed Sakura. Sasuke grabbed Tazuna and went prone, while Naruto was already on the ground.

~Swoosh...Swoosh...Swoosh~

~Thump~

A huge sword with a large handle flew over their heads, barely missing them, and embedded itself in the tree behind them. Kakashi turned around from his position to see a man standing on the handle of the heavy sword, facing them - Momochi Zabuza.

This man was one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, known as the Demon of the Bloody Mist. It was an epithet given to the man for killing his entire academy batch during his graduation test. Monstrous as such he was, Kirigakure had to change their graduation exam structure after that. He was a ruthless fighter who had attempted, but failed, to assassinate the Mizukage. Zabuza Momochi was certainly an A-rank shinobi. Suiton and Kenjutsu, similar to most of the other Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, were his specialties. And, any person with a right mind wouldn't dare to take the man lightly; he could, and if given the chance, would kill Kakashi.

Zabuza was also amassing one of the Konoha's most notorious shinobi, The Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake. Kakashi was a living legend among most of the countries in the Elemental Nations, he was known to have an arsenal of thousands of Jutsus. And, if the copy ninja lands his eyes on you during one of his killing sprees, you're officially doomed. Kakashi Hatake was an elite Jonin of Konoha and was easily a high-level A-rank shinobi.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan, quite a bounty you've got on your head, Hatake," Zabuza drawled attentively, he couldn't possibly allow himself to be distracted by the Cyclops ninja. "You know, as a member of the Mist Anbu, we were ordered to aim for your head as soon as we saw you. Since, if you were able to survive the battlefield for even ten minutes, your enemy's death was imminent." He finished quirkily, as his eyes fell upon the brats surrounding him.

"Babysitting, are we?" Zabuza mocked rhetorically.

Sasuke was stunned by the first line Zabuza spoke; his sensei had the Sharingan? Kakashi was confirmed not to be an Uchiha, that much was clear, but then how else could he have such abilities? A confrontation was needed, but not now; Sasuke would take his time and gather more information before acting.

"Demon of the Bloody Mist, Zabuza Momochi," Kakashi said as he stood up lazily, pulling Sakura with him. "I never thought I'd see you doing such lowly assassination jobs, Momochi. I still remember the scar you gave me; hope you like my return gift." Kakashi smiled at the man.

Narrowing his eyes at the man, Zabuza rubbed his shoulder lightly; yes, he favoured the return gift Hatake had given him.

"Team 7, form diamond formation and protect Tazuna. This one is beyond your capabilities. Stand down and protect our client," ordered Kakashi as he took his stance, unsheathing his chokuto and holding it in front of his face.

Zabuza jumped down from the tree, extracting his sword in the process. As soon as he landed, he started forming hand seals and soon the fog returned to the clearing. Sasuke and Naruto huddled behind Tazuna to protect him, standing around him, guarding.

Kakashi signaled his team to be attentive to their surroundings and uncovered his Sharingan, before unsheathing his tanto and grasping it in reverse grip.

Zabuza sprinted forward with an impressive speed and swung his heavy sword in a downward motion, which was skillfully blocked by Kakashi's chokuto. The heavy sword did hinder a bit of movement, even for a well-trained shinobi like Kakashi; he took the advantage of this and with a quick stride, swung his sword upward in reverse grip. Zabuza moved back to dodge the swing and returned with a kick to his face. Kakashi wasn't a jonin for nothing; he retracted his chokuto a little and stabbed Zabuza's leg with his tanto straight up. Zabuza's face was one of pure shock and agony, but that quickly vanished, and the Zabuza in front of him melted into water.

Kakashi quickly backflipped a little to create some distance between them and took his place near his genin. Zabuza suddenly appeared within the diamond formation, but as quickly as he had appeared, he was stabbed by two swords in the gut and a pointed Bo was at his jugular. This Zabuza too melted into water.

"You have trained your maggots adequately, Hatake," Zabuza's voice echoed past the fog. "They are truly capable if they were able to defeat my Water clone that easily. Pity, they won't survive the day," he chuckled evilly.

"You should focus on me more than them, Zabuza," Kakashi said, biting back his words. "One slight mistake, and your head will be rolling on the ground." Kakashi warned, appearing behind Zabuza.

Zabuza tch'ed quickly and shunshined on the lake surface, Kakashi followed him and stood infront of him, his red Sharingan eye boring holes into Zabuza.

"It's an honor to see those eyes, Hatake. But, you're on my turf now." said Zabuza.

"Suiton: Water prison Jutsu" he didn't said out loud, but did form necessary hand seals.

The water around Kakashi swirled like a whirlpool and began forming a structure that surrounded him; it soon morphed into a sphere that confined Kakashi within it, a water prison as the jutsu stated. Zabuza immediately stood beside him, and took control of the water prison for better stability. He formed one-handed hand seals and two water clones rose from the water surrounding him.

"Bring the bridge builder to me," Zabuza barked orders, and both the clones charged forward to comply with the demand of their master.

Naruto took the command of the battle from Kakashi instantly; he would act brashly sometimes, but he knew his advantages and disadvantages, which was why the other two didn't spare a moment to oppose him.

"Sasuke, take on one of them, and Sakura, help him up while also protecting Tazuna-san; I will handle the other one," Naruto ordered and pounced toward the other clone of Zabuza.

Sasuke and Sakura waited for the clone to make a move towards them, and sure enough, one did. They intercepted its movements, while Sasuke activated his Sharingan, and Sakura supplied some chakra to her arms and legs for faster movement and heavier attacks. They knew, even if it was a clone, they needed to put in extra effort from the start to be able to protect Tazuna, and each other. Sasuke quickly engaged with Zabuza's clone, while Sakura searched for loopholes to gain advantages over them. The water clones didn't have Zabuza's sword, so they were limited to small Ninjutsu techniques and hand-to-hand combat.

Naruto used these loopholes from the beginning by utilizing his speed. He had also created 10 shadow clones to overwhelm Zabuza's clone. It was true that Zabuza was an A-rank shinobi, but his clones only possessed his one-tenth chakra and even lacked his sword. After several unsuccessful attempts, Naruto realized that the clone would reform every time it was harmed; he backed away with one of his clones to plan his attack.

He eventually formed three more clones with his Bo in hand, so that the clones would have their own replicas of his Bo. He threw one of the three at Zabuza's clone, and before the clone could figure out his plan, he substituted himself with that Bo staff while holding his original one and extended it to stab Zabuza's clone right in the head, adding a little chakra to prevent it from reforming again. This substitution was only possible due to the Summoning contract that Jiraiya had placed on Naruto's Bo, which provided him with an easy bypass for substitution.

Meanwhile, Sasuke simply put the clone under a strong Genjutsu he had learned from Kakashi, while Sakura used her strong punch to destroy it, surprising Zabuza greatly. Konoha was known for preferring quality over quantity, and it was why they had won all three of the ninja wars. It was a well-known fact that even the combined forces of Kumo and Iwa were unable to destroy Konoha due to the higher quality and battle prowess of the shinobi Konoha nurtured.

(_-_-_X_-_-_)

These three kids were able to dispose of their clones quite easily with little effort, although they were not even half of his full power, but still he was astonished by their courage and efficiency. He was now struggling to hold Kakashi down; Kakashi was exerting allot of chakra and force to get out of his water prison. Uptill now, and the dam is almost full.

The three ninjas gathered together and quickly devised a plan to rescue their sensei from the prison. Sakura threw shuriken laced with paralyzing herbs toward Zabuza, which he dodged by jumping up into the air without taking his hand off the water bubble. This gave the other two enough time to perform their combined technique.

Naruto fired several balls of water at the mist ninja.

"Raiton: Lightning Bolt."Sasuke joined his friend and shot a lightning bolt out of his extended arm, which combined with the water bullets, making them now surrounded by bolts of electricity.

Naruto and Sasuke had strategized that the ball would make an impact with the water around Zabuza, electrifying him in the process. As for Kakashi, he was a Raiton user and could form a resistance jutsu around himself.

Zabuza knew that even if one of these balls hit him, it would electrocute his body; he did what he had to do, and leapt up, freeing Kakashi in the process. Unwillingly. As predicted by both the genins, Kakashi quickly cast a resistance jutsu around himself after he saw their combination heading toward him.

Zabuza was enraged; not only had these brats destroyed his clones like flies, but they also forced him to free Kakashi. They would pay dearly for this.

He readjusted his sword and sprinted forward to do battle with the maggots that dared to be a thorn in his venture; he was midway through when Kakashi intervened, running out of nowhere, his chokuto ready in his hand.

"You're my opponent, Zabuza. Let's see just how much of a monster you really are, hm?" Kakashi stood attentively and charged at Zabuza with his sword.

Zabuza parried his strikes and went on the offensive. Strikes and blocks were flowing fluidly between the two shinobi; Kakashi had speed, but Zabuza was strong with his long, heavy sword. Zabuza swung his sword downward to cleave him in half, but Kakashi tried to block it with his tanto. The sword, however, was too large and strong, breaking the tanto in two halves.

Kakashi backflipped and made some distance in between, he was not on the same turf as Zabuza in Kenjutsu, yet.

Zabuza boasted of his short victory, assuming Kakashi was weaker than him; he sheathed his sword and went on to use Ninjutsu, which proved to be a bloody big mistake.

Zabuza started making hand seals at an increasingly rapid pace, but what he didn't know, as he was focused on his hand seals, was that Kakashi was copying all of them with the same speed.

"Suiton: Water dragon jutsu" yelled both Kakashi and Zabuza at the same time.

Two massive dragons made of water shimmered out of the pond, emanating power through their yellow shining eyes. They collided with one another, destroying themselves and sending the force of the splashing water around the banks of the pond.

"How could you...? You're only a..." Zabuza started to ask but was cut off by Kakashi's voice.

"...copy monkey, Hatake" Kakashi completed his sentence.

Narrowing his eyes at the Jonin in front of him, Zabuza quickly pushed back the fear of defeat from his mind and formed more hand seals. As he did so, he kept his gaze fixed on Kakashi, unwavering. His heart skipped a beat when he noticed his own image reflected behind Kakashi, mimicking his hand seals.

These few moments of shock for Zabuza proved beneficial for Kakashi; he completed his hand seals and yelled "Suiton: Great Water Wave".

Huge waves of water rose around Kakashi and rushed toward Zabuza. The waves hit Zabuza with a great force, knocking him out. He somehow managed to grab onto a tree trunk and stand up on wobbly legs.

On the other side of the clearing, Naruto stood in awe; he knew his brother was a strong ninja, but this was just amazing. Kakashi had copied each jutsu of Zabuza with ease, he knew Sasuke was also capable of doing so with his sharingan, but only on a limited scale since he wasn't experienced or trained like their sensei.

Naruto's respect and awe for his brother increased greatly. He felt just a little jealous of Kakashi's Sharingan, though he didn't even realize it. Even with his Shadow Clones, it took him at least two weeks to fully understand a jutsu, but here, Kakashi had to merely reveal his Sharingan and he could cast the same jutsu as his opponent.

Meanwhile, Sasuke was also in awe of his sensei; he hadn't seen the Sharingan used like this. Unlike Naruto, he had seen the small genjutsu casted by Kakashi by simply meeting Zabuza's eyes. He was proud and a little envious of the copy ninja, as his sensei was using his clan's Dojutsu, a tool that was used like a formidable weapon by his sensei. Shishui had explicitly taught him that the Sharingan was only a tool and nothing more.

Meanwhile, Sakura felt small again; she had developed her skills by leaps and bounds through the rigorous training Kakashi had put her through, yet her teammates were stronger than she was, and now her sensei was showing his fighting prowess, conspicuously, he was a monster in that regard. The power that her sensei displayed was terrifying in its own right, as she didn't know how right she was.

"How can you defeat me? Can you look into..." again Zabuza's tired and rash voice was cut off by Kakashi.

"Can I look into your future?" asked Kakashi. "Yes, I can see your future," replied Kakashi, and then added in a decisive tone, "And your future... is death." As he spoke, three senbon projectiles struck Zabuza's neck, seemingly killing him instantly.

Kakashi looked over to the other side and saw a ninja from his genin's age wearing a mist anbu mask perched on top of a tree branch. He was holding more senbon needles in his hands, ready to fire.

"Yes...you're right. His future was death." The ninja said neutrally. "I am sorry to take your kill, but I was following him for weeks and didn't want to miss a good opportunity to end his traitorous life." The mist Anbu jumped down from the tree branch. "Now, if you don't mind, I will dispose of his body somewhere private." The hunter ninja grabbed Zabuza's body and shunshined away.

Kakashi would've asked several questions had he been able to stand up straight, but his body showed signs of Chakra exhaustion and fatigue. He covered his eyes once more; his vision becoming blurred, he realized he couldn't continue on this journey.

"Sasuke, you'll lead the team untill I wake up, Naruto is already tired" Kakashi ordered and collapsed down. Naruto quickly made two shadow clones to pick Kakashi up and carry him toward their client's home.

"How far is your home, Tazuna-san?" asked Sasuke, looking at Tazuna.

"Not much," said Tazuna. "Just a mile or two from here."

"Okay, we'll travel at shinobi speed. Naruto, make two more shadow clones to carry Tazuna-san here," Sasuke ordered.

Before Tazuna could refuse, he was being carried by Naruto's clones toward his house.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto ;all rights are reserved to Kishimoto