Naruto woke up at his usual time of five o' clock, refreshed and recovered from yesterday's training. He got up from his bed, rubbing his eyes a bit. Walking to the bathroom, he finished his morning rituals and almost put on his regular running clothes, before remembering that he had a C-rank mission today.
He shook his head and just put on a lower and shoes. He opened the door to his balcony and breathed the fresh, cool morning air. He shivered once as the air hit his bare upper body, but soon adjusted to it. He flipped onto the roof and began a series of stretches to simply warm his body up. 'Wouldn't want to exert too much today before the mission', he thought as he stretched every part of his body. With that being the last thought, he emptied his mind and enjoyed the silence that the village experienced in the early mornings before it began its daily chaos.
After one hour, he had sufficiently warmed up his body and decided to have breakfast before heading to the gates. Making a half ram seal, a shadow clone popped into existence, already knowing to make breakfast. It flipped his way into the apartment and into the kitchen while Naruto sat there, simply taking in the peace for a few more minutes.
'Kurama, in your ridiculously long life, have you ever taken time to breathe and admire the sunrise?'
'What brought this on, brat?' Kurama's voice was a bit laden with sleep, signifying that he was napping as usual.
Naruto shrugged, 'Just asking.'
'Despite what people tend to think about me, I don't rampage all the time, you know. Even I take time to appreciate the simply joys of nature', he grumbled.
Naruto lifted an eyebrow, 'Wow, people really don't understand you as well as they think they do.'
Kurama nodded mentally before shooing him away, 'Now go away, let the me rest in peace', he said, cutting off their conversation.
Naruto shook his head, 'He must have a passionate hobby of sleeping which he adheres to like anything.'
He flipped himself back into his apartment, walking to his bathroom to freshen up. Ten minutes later, he was eating four scrambled eggs, all the while mentally compiling a list of what he should take with him. He created a shadow clone to clean up while he got ready.
He dressed up as usual and sealed up whatever supplies he would need in a large sealing scroll which he brought from the Higurashi weapons shop. The folks over there didn't up the prices for him. He was considering selling his ideas for a modified explosive tag over there in exchange for a discount on his future purchases and a bit of secrecy. After all, he also needed those in the future.
After double checking everything, he picked up his scroll slung it around him and walked out of his apartment. He activated the trap seals which he had designed himself. While he knew no one had any reason to come to his apartment, he couldn't help but create them, just to test himself. With that, he flashed the Hiraishin seal on top of the gates of Konoha.
XXXXXXX
Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke each had different thoughts concerning this mission. Kakashi didn't lose his sleep over it, figuring this would be a normal C-rank mission. Truthfully, he didn't think his team was ready to take on a C-rank. While Naruto and Sasuke had established a sort of friendship, this would be the first time their co-ordination would be tested.
Naruto was clearly skilled. His taijutsu was between mi-chunin to high-chunin level, but Kakashi suspected Naruto had some sort of seal, probably weight or resistance, on his body to increase his overall speed and strength. Naruto hid it well, but the occasional stumble in places where there was no reason to stumble gave him the idea of speed and strength increasing seals.
Naruto already had an effective arsenal of jutsus at his disposal. Kakashi deduced that Naruto must have very high chakra control to perform the jutsus that he did. While he only witnessed them in the bell test, he saw enough to put together that Naruto had no problem in ninjutsu. He also knew that he didn't have to worry about Naruto succumbing to chakra exhaustion, considering his status as jinchuriki of the kyuubi and an Uzumaki.
Fuinjutsu was a branch of the ninja arts that not many chose to explore, considering how complex and vast it was. However, Naruto had already shown his proficiency with seals. It wasn't hard to believe that Naruto would use seals, knowing who his parents were.
Sasuke was also skilled, but outclassed by Naruto. The boy had a loner personality, but had mellowed a bit in the last two months. Kakashi knew that the credit went to Naruto, who knew exactly how to push the Uchiha's buttons and had somehow created a bond of friendship between them.
The boy's taijutsu was good, but he could only go so far without the sharingan. Kakashi didn't worry about it, knowing that once Sasuke awakened it, he would close the gap between him and Naruto.
While the sharingan was an excellent tool to use for ninjutsu, it really depended on the size of the person's chakra reserves. And he didn't even need to speak about Sasuke's proficiency in using ninja tools.
Sakura was perhaps the only problem in team seven. Her actions leaned more towards an obsessed fangirl than a kunoichi focused on her career. She would always be asking Sasuke out for dates, leading Kakashi to consider if the girl only became kunoichi to get close to Sasuke. She wasn't physically strong, did not know any useful jutsu, proficiency with ninja tools was mediocre at best and tried to make others feel bad to make herself feel better, as was the case with her and Naruto. Thankfully, Naruto seemed to be well versed in the art of ignoring Sakura.
The only good thing about her was that she had excellent chakra control and intelligence, but that was of no use to her if she couldn't find a way to apply it on the battlefield.
He had only taken this C-rank to show his team that the ninja world wasn't as easy and forgiving as it seemed. They hadn't even experienced their first kills, though that could change if they came across bandits.
Sasuke had his normal, neutral expression on his face as he walked to the gates for his mission. His thoughts, however, were anything but neutral.
Sasuke couldn't understand Uzumaki Naruto, no matter how he tried. Every time he thought he had figured Naruto out, the blonde would seemingly switch angles and leave Sasuke confused again. At first glance, he gave off the impression of a clown, but that quickly changed on the day of the graduation exam. Since then, Sasuke kept a close eye on Naruto.
On the day of the bell test, Sasuke had been outraged at the skill that was displayed by the blonde. He suspected Naruto's taijutsu was at par, if not greater than his own. But to engage in a spar with a jonin, attacking and countering all attacks with a precision and fluidity Sasuke did not possess, was enough to ignite jealousy inside Sasuke.
His ninjutsu was something Sasuke did not expect, but didn't exactly know why he was upset about it. So he didn't think much about it.
Sasuke had somewhat expected Fuinjutsu and immense chakra reserves from Naruto, having read up on the Uzumaki clan and their prowess in the art. He could accept that, but that was not the most surprising thing that happened to him.
He had thought that Naruto would hold a grudge against him for how Sasuke treated him at the academy, but instead of giving him the same treatment, Naruto had extended a hand of friendship towards him, telling him that he was willing to put aside the differences between them in order to work together.
At first, Sasuke had refused, firm on his belief that he will be only held back. But Naruto persisted, to the point that Sasuke agreed if only to get him to shut up. And it was….alright, to work with him.
Naruto invited him to occasionally have ramen with him at Ichiraku's. Sasuke had accepted every time, desperate to piece together the puzzle of Naruto. They usually talked about their training schedules; more like Sasuke wanted to know how Naruto became so strong. They talked about their childhoods, surprising Sasuke just how similar they were. Sometimes, they just complained about Sakura, with Naruto rambling and Sasuke pitching in every five minutes. And the weird thing about these meetings…..it became easier to talk to him every time.
Sasuke was now pretty sure that he did not consider Naruto as a weakling to be dismissed at the first glance, but rather as a scale to measure himself against. He respected him; he wanted to become as strong as Naruto, in hopes that he would surpass him and finally become powerful enough to kill his brother. He had accepted Naruto as a comrade…for now.
Sakura happily made her way to the gates, Sasuke being the main thought on her mind. She was sad how Sasuke always denied her a date, but kept her spirits high, just in case he decided to accept the next time. But in the past two months she had spent with her team, she was witness to some rather troubling developments.
The first was that she was forced to accept that she could not use Naruto as a step to boost her confidence anymore. He had made it very clear that he would not tolerate her picking on him anymore. That made her realize with a small amount of shame, that she had very unnecessarily picked on Naruto, who had no hand in anything that upset her.
The second was that Naruto was strong. Easily stronger than Sasuke, and she was not just talking about chakra reserves. She knew about the Uzumaki clan; Naruto was the physically capable of them all, proven when he could physically exert even more than Sasuke. He would take much longer than her and Sasuke to get tired and recover much more quickly than both of them.
The third and hardest to accept was that Naruto and Sasuke came from very similar backgrounds. She refused to believe that at first, going so far as to call him an orphan and could never match Sasuke. She was shocked though, when Sasuke came to Naruto's defense. He admonished Sakura, saying that she had gone too far. He harshly reminded her that he and Naruto shared the fact that they were orphans.
Since then, Sakura had felt tremendously guilty and had tried to act nicer towards Naruto. She wouldn't call them friends though, they were far from that.
She began to see Naruto in a new light. Though he always acted like he was indifferent, the subtle actions made it clear that he always cared for his comrades. She noticed that in the two months, Naruto and Sasuke had grown closer as friends. Sasuke too began to see Naruto in a new light. She saw that Naruto clearly knew that he was stronger than Sasuke, but he never rubbed it in the boy's face, instead he used this fact to encourage Sasuke to grow stronger.
She was, by no means, a friend to Naruto, but hoped that he would at least consider her a worthy comrade in time.
The two reached the gates exactly fifteen minutes before seven. Sakura's eyes lit up as she saw the dark haired boy.
"Sasuke-kun!" she waved enthusiastically, and like always, was disappointed when he replied with his customary "Hn."
Sasuke looked around, trying to find Naruto. 'Perhaps this mission may force Naruto to reveal what he is hiding from us', he thought. A hand fell on his shoulder and he barely caught himself from yelping. Instead, he turned his head back as calmly as he could to see Naruto's smirking face.
Sasuke tried to play it cool, but knew Naruto had already seen his moment of weakness. Before he could do anything else, Naruto chuckled and patted his shoulder, "It's ok, Sasuke. Even ANBU would be hard pressed to detect me in the middle of my pranks."
Sasuke raised an eyebrow at that, silently waiting for Naruto to elaborate, but he didn't. Naruto simply leaned against the wall, waiting for their sensei.
Sakura had a confused expression on her face, "Naruto, why don't you have a backpack like me and Sasuke-kun?"
Naruto replied, "Well, for one, sealing scrolls are just more practical to use. It takes time to take of your backpack, and rummage through everything to find what you need. All you need to do in a sealing scroll is unroll it, push chakra into the required seal and voila! So much quicker than backpacks, don't you think? Also, I modified this scroll to suit my needs. I trust my creation more than anything else."
"That's an interesting outlook, Naruto."
The three genin turned around to see Kakashi and their client coming. Tazuna was still drinking, but he didn't seem as drunk as he was yesterday.
Kakashi looked at Naruto, "While your logic isn't wrong, it is a bit unconventional for shinobi to use sealing scrolls instead of backpacks. However, if it works for you, I have no problem with it", he finished, shrugging in the end.
Turning towards his other two students, "Are you two ready?"
Seeing them nod, he turned to their client, "Let's go, Tazuna-san."
XXXXXXX
They had left the gates over four hours ago. Four hours of torturous silence. While Naruto appreciated silence, four hours of travelling with someone and not talking at all felt really awkward. He would talk with Tazuna, but nothing came to mind about what to talk. Talking with Kurama wasn't an option; the fox was easily snoring away.
Sakura seemed to sense the awkwardness as well, and she did not have the same problem as Naruto of finding a topic to talk about. "Um, Tazuna-san, you are from wave country right?"
Tazuna turned his head towards her, "Yeah, what about it?"
"Do you have a ninja village in that country?"
Surprisingly, it was Kakashi who answered, "Actually, wave does not have a ninja village. Each of the elemental nations has their own hidden shinobi villages. But the smaller countries don't have the resources to fund, let alone maintain their own hidden village. Budget, people, missions….there are so many resources to account for that the smaller nations can't afford. So they prefer to hire ninjas from other countries."
Naruto only paid half attention to the explanation, the other half of his attention focused on the puddle to the side of the road. It looked so out of place on the sunny day that a word automatically rang through his mind, 'Trap.'
He glanced at Kakashi-sensei, who had also seen the puzzle and figured out it's a genjutsu. He nudged Sasuke, motioning him to glance at the puddle. Sasuke raised an eyebrow for he didn't understand what Naruto was trying to imply, but it suddenly clicked after a moment. He nodded his thanks to Naruto who nodded back. They subtly re-positioned themselves in front of Tazuna.
As soon as they passed the puddle, Naruto's sense of danger buzzed loudly and he called out, "WATCH OUT!" He and Sasuke both jumped back in time, but Kakashi was apparently too slow to react.
Two ninjas jumped from the puddle and attacked Kakashi with a bladed chain, tearing him to shreds. At least that's what Sakura and Sasuke saw. Naruto's senses were fast enough to follow the kawarimi followed by a minor genjutsu.
"One down", the one on the right declared. They both then turned their attention towards the genin.
"Sakura, guard Tazuna!" Naruto shouted. He then turned his attention towards the one who was closing in on him. Holding a half ram seal, a shadow clone popped up beside him. Together, they both held kunai in their hands, reverse grip and coated with wind chakra. Due to his excellent chakra control and the chakra conducting metal of the kunai, the wind chakra got shaped like a second and a longer skin to the kunai.
Not wasting any time, both of them engaged the ninja from different sides. The ninja scoffed and tried to use his chain, but both the Narutos' easily dodged it. One of them attacked the chain while the original attacked the ninja. The ninja, whose eyes were wide after seeing the wind chakra on the kunai, was sufficiently distracted with trying to hold of the clone from cutting his chain off.
Naruto took advantage of this and executed a diagonal slash along the torso of the ninja. The wind chakra easily tore through and made a deep cut. Not enough to be fatal, but deep enough to hurt . The ninja cried out in pain and instinctively held his left hand to the cut.
The clone took full advantage of the opening and hit the back of the ninja's head with the blunt head of his kunai, rendering him unconscious.
Naruto and his clone smirked down at the fallen ninja and bumped fists, the action causing the clone to disappear. He looked over to Sasuke, who was about to clash with his opponent, a kunai and shuriken in hand. But before he could do that, a hand appeared in the ninja's path, right in front of his throat.
Needless to say, Kakashi's block easily knocked out the ninja cold. Eye smiling at his students, he said, "Good job on taking him out, Naruto. You too Sasuke, keeping the enemy away from the client. Sorry Sakura, I didn't know you would freeze up like that."
He tied up the two ninja against a tree. He missed the frustrated look on Sasuke's face, which turned into jealousy as he gazed at Naruto, who was watching Kakashi. 'He was easily able to knock out the ninja in less than half a minute! Why couldn't I do that?! I got stuck in engaging the ninja instead of trying to take him out as quickly as possible!' He clenched his fists in agitation.
Kakashi explained, "These guys are known as the demon brothers. They are rogue chunin of Kirigakure no sato. They are…somewhat dangerous."
Tazuna looked scared out of his wits, "If you were not skewered to pieces, why did you let your genin handle them?"
Kakashi eye smiled, "I had to test them how they would perform in the field. Besides, I had to find out who they were attacking. Us because of the grudge between our villages, or you", he finished with a serious expression.
At that moment, the ninja with one horn, the one whom Naruto had knocked out, seemed to waked up. He groaned in pain, "How…did you know….we were going to attack?"
Naruto spoke up before Kakashi could, "A puddle on a completely sunny day, added to the fact it hasn't rained in weeks. Well done, genius", he sarcastically clapped.
Sakura let out a light giggle at this. Naruto's snark was funny when it was aimed at others. Kakashi narrowed his eye at Tazuna, "We need to talk."
Tazuna adopted a nervous expression, "About wh-what?"
"It was stated in the mission scroll that you needed protection from bandits, not rogue ninjas. Especially from Kirigakure, where the ninjas complete their missions, no matter the cost. Why would they be after you?" his tone was light, but the suspicion was heavy.
"Unless they were hired specifically to take you out", Naruto added his two cents, pointing at Tazuna.
Tazuna tried to think up an excuse, but it was already too late. With a resigned sigh, he asked them, "Have you heard of a man called Gato?"
Kakashi questioned with a thoughtful frown, "Do you mean one who is among the richest men in the nations? That Gato?"
"I've heard of him", Naruto stated. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, silently asking to elaborate. "He is the owner of a shipping company. When I last read about him, he was among the top fifteen richest in the nations. Suspected for criminal activity, but no proof", he said with his arms crossed.
"The very same", Tazuna agreed. "Though now he is among the top five. He came to Wave Country a bit more than two years ago. First we didn't think anything about it, but soon he had bought up all the shipping industry of our nation. You see, Wave Country is an island so we are dependent on the shipping to get goods. But that wasn't the worst part. He used his monopoly to drain the country dry."
"The people live in poverty. Many lost their houses to Gato. Whoever protested is killed. He takes what he wants with his hired thugs, making sure nobody dares to oppose him. His shipping business covers his criminal activities. He deals with drugs, alcoholics, rare goods, even slaves. Everything and anything that brings him money. The only thing he fears is the bridge I'm building. If I finish my bridge, his monopoly will be rendered obsolete and our country will be back in business because we will be connected to the main land."
"So why didn't you just tell the truth to Hokage-sama?" Kakashi glared at him.
Tazuna threw his hands up, "I couldn't! Wave country has been sucked dry. We don't have enough money to pay for more than a C-rank mission!"
Kakashi shook his head, "While that is sad, you had no right to lie to the Hokage. This mission is now at least a B-rank, requiring a team of chunin and jonin. This is not a job my genin are suited to perform!"
Glancing at his students briefly, he said, "But as they are ninjas of Konoha, they have a say in this as much as I do now."
He then turned to his students, "What do you think we should do?"
Naruto was the first to answer, "Protocol dictates that during times like these, the assigned genin team is to immediately abandon the mission and report back to the village for reassignment."
Sasuke glared at Naruto, but before he could speak Naruto continued, "But I say we continue, Kakashi-sensei. This mission is not just about Tazuna wanting to save money. A whole country is about to lose the last shreds of its economy because of one man who wants too much."
Surprisingly, Sasuke brought up a good point, "And we can't afford to let people think that Konoha will let a country fall to such a man. I say we continue, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi looked at the two genin and then at Sakura, who still looked a bit scared. "What about you, Sakura?"
Sakura looked less scared than before, but still scared. "I-I say we g-go forward, Kakashi-sensei."
Kakashi gazed at her a moment longer. He sighed and then said, "Very well, let's go."
They missed Tazuna's sigh of utter relief.
XXXXXXX
Naruto put seals on both the brothers' foreheads, putting them to sleep. Kakashi told him the Konoha shinobi would be arriving to take them, so he should leave instructions for them on how to release the seal.
After that, the team and Tazuna continued without any further delay until they reached a coast where Tazuna had organized transport to wave country. The man greeted Tazuna and cast a wary eye on the Konoha shinobis, but kept his words to himself.
He stirred them, appearing extremely nervous despite of the dense cover from the morning fog. As soon as the bridge came into view, Kakashi let out a low whistle, "That is one impressive bridge, that is."
Naruto shook his head in wonder, "I've never seen anything as awesome as that bridge before." Sakura was gaping at the sheer size of the bridge and Sasuke was, like always, neutral faced.
Once they reached the shore, the fisherman wished Tazuna best of luck to get home safely while Tazuna thanked him for his help. Kakashi asked Tazuna, "How long is your home away from here?"
"A journey of about one hour and a half."
Kakashi nodded and motioned for his team start walking. Though he didn't know the reason why he suddenly felt a sense of foreboding. Glancing towards his team, he wasn't entirely surprised to see that only Naruto seemed to share his wariness, eyes darting around, ready to react at the slightest notice.
And react he did.
Without any warning, a shuriken flew into a bush on the side, courtesy of Naruto. Sasuke and Sakura jumped at that, along with Tazuna. Kakashi just narrowed his eyes, "What is it Naruto?"
Naruto walked to the bush, a kunai ready in hand. Though he was confused when he only spotted a white rabbit, scared to the bone.
Sakura scolded him, "Baka! Look what you did to the poor rabbit!"
But Kakashi and Naruto were too busy concentrating on the fact that they spotted a white rabbit. 'A snow rabbit whose fur is white? In the spring? The absence of brown fur indicates it was raised in captivity', were the thoughts going through the jonin's head. He suddenly realized its purpose.
His shout ran out a second after Naruto's danger sense kicked in. "DOWN!" Everyone dropped to the ground, just in time to avoid a giant, spinning from cutting off their heads. Naruto saw that Sasuke was able to bring Tazuna just in time.
Everyone stood up and turned towards the tree in which the sword was buried, a man standing on the handle. He had black hair and brown eyes, his slashed Kiri headband tilted upwards to the left side of his head, signifying his status as a missing nin. He wore mist stripped pants and hand warmers that extended to his biceps.
Kakashi's voice took a tone of mock surprise, "Well well, if it isn't Momochi Zabuza, rogue nin and former member of the seven swordsmen of the mist."
The now identified Zabuza raised a non-existent eyebrow, "So you have heard of me." The man's posture radiated confidence and power. "I'm going to ask you to hand over the old man to me. You do that and you get to escape with your lives."
Kakashi had a bead of sweat running down the side of his face. 'This is really bad. Zabuza is a high A-rank missing nin, bordering S-rank, which easily upgrades this B-rank to a high A-rank.'
Naruto had similar thoughts running through his head, 'Damn, our luck must be really bad if we have to face off against a swordsman of the mist. I don't stand a chance against him. But we have no choice other than to fight. Damn it !'
Naruto took out two kunai from his hip pouches, held in reverse grip and ready to engage, but Kakashi held a hand in front of him. "Everyone stay back. He is not someone you can take on. It'll be tough, even for me. Unless I use this…", he said, lifting up his hitai-ate and exposing a blood red eye with three tomoes in a circular pattern.
Zabuza gave a dark, amused chuckle, "The sharingan, this early Kakashi? I'm honored. I've read about you, back when I was in ANBU. The man who is said to have copied over a thousand jutsu, Sharingan no Kakashi."
Sasuke's head whipped around to stare at Kakashi, more specifically, at his left eye. 'How does he have the sharingan? It's supposed to be an Uchiha clan dojutsu! Did he steal one on the night of the massacre?'
Before he could think of anything else, mist slowly started to surround them. In just a few moments, the mist was so thick it was hard to see two feet in front of them.
Suddenly, an incredible amount of killing intent filled the air, causing all of them to tense up. But Naruto relaxed after a moment, having gathered his wits. This was nothing compared to what Kurama put him through. Sasuke and Sakura were another story; Sasuke was frozen in his place, while Sakura was barely keeping herself from crying. The killing intent seemed to relax and Kakashi's voice rang out, "Don't worry, Sasuke, Sakura! There is no way I will let my comrades die!" Kakashi had released his own killing intent, easing up some of the pressure.
Turning back Kakashi said, "He'll come after me first. Zabuza is a known master of the silent killing technique. Before you know it's over."
Naruto whispered back, "But sensei, aren't you at a disadvantage here? The sharingan is not meant to see through dense fogs like this. You would be needlessly wasting your chakra."
Kakashi had to admit Naruto had a point. Before he could say anything, Zabuza's voice came from all around the mist, "Eight points: Liver, lungs, spine, clavicle vein, jugular vein, brain, kidneys and heart. These places, if hit too hard or cut too deep, are a one hit kill. Where should I strike first?"
Naruto formed a single bird seal. 'Fuuton: Toppa!' (Wind style: Breakthrough) The burst of wind he expelled blew away all the fog, revealing Zabuza standing a few feet away from the group, sword in hand.
"Now it is better for you, sensei", Naruto smiled, kunai held in reverse grips. He had already released all his resistance seals.
Zabuza clicked his tongue in annoyance, 'Annoying brat, he cancelled out my jutsu. How the hell does a genin know wind manipulation anyway?!'
Naruto saw it. Zabuza was staring at him with annoyance, but before he could react, Kakashi appeared behind his back, slashing at him. Zabuza collapsed in a puddle of water.
'Mizu Bunshin, huh?' Naruto and Kakashi thought simultaneously. Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, slashing him off. A flicker of surprise was visible when Kakashi too, collapsed into water. Kakashi came up behind him, "Nice try", he mocked.
Zabuza chuckled, "So you copied my jutsu, hiding in the trees and waiting to strike. Clever."
He swung his blade towards Kakashi, who ducked under it and slashed his own kunai as a counter. However, the force behind Zabuza's blade was much more than Kakashi anticipated, and almost went down to his knees. Zabuza did not hesitate in giving a chakra enforced kick to Kakashi, who was unable to dodge in time.
Gritting his teeth, he crossed his arms and blocked it. He was rewarded with promptly being sent flying over into the water. Surfacing, he instantly knew something was wrong. The water was too heavy.
"Too slow!" Zabuza said as he appeared behind Kakashi, weaving hand seals. "Suiton: Suiro no jutsu!" (Water style: Water prison jutsu). In a matter of seconds, Kakashi was trapped in a dome of water maintained by Zabuza. Though both of them didn't notice Naruto's smile, having successfully copied the jutsu.
"None of you know what it means to be a ninja. When I was your age brats, I already had blood on my hands."
Sakura asked, "What do you mean?"
Kakashi said, "He is talking about the reason he became known as the demon of the mist. Fifteen years ago, a child killed over a hundred students. A child who wasn't even a ninja."
Naruto lamely uttered, "Oh…..". However, he was quick to recover, "Well, here goes!"
Kakashi tried to stop him, "Don't, Naruto! We have lost! Take the client and run!" "Hell no sensei! We are not going without our team leader! You still owe us some real training!"
Naruto was about to use the water chain jutsu to disrupt Zabuza's control on the prison, but was forced to dodge the water clone that tried to take his head off. His heart was pumping, his adrenaline levels rising, his mind entering battle focus.
He complimented Zabuza, "Using a jutsu while maintaining another one? That's some really impressive chakra control!" He easily weaved between the slashes.
Zabuza, the clone, chuckled, "Thanks kid. You aren't too bad yourself, dodging my strikes like that."
Naruto flipped back, putting some distance between him and the clone. "Well, having a giant butcher knife like that doesn't exactly do you a favor in the department of speed, pal", he offhandedly commented.
Forming the hare sign, he thought 'Suiton: Mizurappa!' (Water style: Wild water wave) A wave of water rushed at the clone from his mouth, who jumped up to dodge. Smirking, Naruto formed the half ram to weave the water towards the clone, who couldn't dodge mid-air. He was expelled into water.
Not wasting any time, Naruto maintained the half ram and formed over twenty shadow clones, who moved to engage the real Zabuza, who scoffed and easily dealt with them with his blade one by one.
While this was happening, Naruto took the opportunity to shake Sasuke out of his stupor. Gripping his shoulders tightly, he harshly whispered, "Get your head back in the game, Sasuke! I need your help to free Kakashi-sensei!"
It seemed to do the trick as Sasuke snapped back into awareness. In a moment of acknowledging Naruto as leader, he asked, "What should we do?"
Naruto unrolled his scroll and slapped his hand onto a seal. A puff of smoke revealed a fuma shuriken, folded. Naruto rolled the scroll back and slung it. All of this happened in just ten seconds.
He handed the folded shuriken to Sasuke, who glared at him, "A simple fuma shuriken won't work, dobe." Naruto thrust it into his hands anyway, an impatient look on his face that said, Just follow my lead.
As soon as Sasuke held it, a look of realization came onto his face and he looked at Naruto with wide eyes, who smirked and winked at him. A predatory smirk of his own appeared as he prepared to follow Naruto's plan.
Zabuza had just finished off the clones when he spotted the Uchiha holding a fuma shuriken and running at him. The brat leaped impressively high and threw it at him. Zabuza was not impressed.
He simply plucked the shuriken from air as if catching a freeze bee. "Is that all you can think of, brats?" Suddenly, another shuriken appeared, hidden in the shadow of the first.
Zabuza scoffed angrily, "You are underestimating me, brats! Still not good enough!" He simply jumped over the shuriken, his other hand still maintaining the water prison.
"Got him", Sasuke murmured with a smirk as Naruto beside him disappeared into smoke. Zabuza's eyes widened as he heard a poof behind him, seeing the second shuriken turning into Naruto, who had a kunai in hand.
Naruto figured with a tiny smirk that just throwing a kunai won't do the job, so he would let loose the flying thunder god just this once. The kunai he was holding had his jutsu shiki on the handle. Just to maintain the appearance of a kawarimi, he had another kunai ready.
He threw the kunai with his formula towards Zabuza, who cursed mentally. 'I can't dodge that unless…', he released his hold from the water prison, jumping to the side.
Just as the kunai cut Zabuza, Naruto threw the normal kunai a little bit upwards beside him and vanished in a blue flash, holding the handle of the marked kunai in his left hand. Spinning mid-air once, he landed a clean, open palm thrust into Zabuza's chest, who was too stunned at the fact that Naruto appeared in front of him in an instant.
The purpose of the thrust was not to injure, but rather to mark Zabuza, so he would know where he is. Still, Zabuza skid back a few feet from Naruto, who landed on the water.
Zabuza glanced to where Naruto had thrown the kunai from. He saw the kunai buried in a rock over there. 'Was that kawarimi?... No, if it was, the brat wouldn't snatch the kunai mid-air, but would appear with the kunai. Just what was that?'
His thoughts were spinning furiously as he gazed at Naruto, who was now holding two kunai in reverse grip, dark blue wind chakra sharpening them into mini swords. 'He can use Fuuton and Suiton ninjutsu, has enough chakra to use the shadow clone jutsu without worry, his chakra control is good enough for him to water walk, AND he can use wind chakra to sharpen his kunai? Is he a genin for real?!'
He dashed towards Naruto, who prepared to flash step away and if necessary, defend himself. "That's enough from you, brat!" Just as he was about to stab Naruto, he was blocked by none other than Kakashi.
He had halted the sword using a reverse gripped kunai, rage swimming in his eyes. "You've got some nerve…..", the whisper was deadly enough that even Naruto shivered a bit. He was not only angry at himself for making a rookie mistake and getting himself caught, but the man had the gall to attack his genin.
"Your trick won't work twice, Zabuza", he promised the man, slowly. Without turning his gaze away, he spoke to Naruto, "Brilliant plan, Naruto. Distracting Zabuza by getting Sasuke to help you. Excellent job!" Zabuza tsked, "I lost concentration for a moment and cancelled the technique-"
"Don't give yourself too much credit. You were forced to cancel it", Kakashi's sharp voice cut it.
Naruto nodded and seeing his work was done, he put the kunai away and flash stepped back to Sasuke, who jumped a bit at his suddenness.
He observed Kakashi, who had jumped away from Zabuza and was using the power of the sharingan to its full effect. Immediately, he put his index and middle finger into the water, eyes on Kakashi's hands and senses on his chakra. He carefully sensed how chakra was being molded inside Kakashi.
After a chain of forty four hand seals, two identical water dragons appeared, taking each other out. Zabuza moved in to engage Kakashi with his blade, while Kakashi parried back. They continued this for two minutes after which Zabuza jumped back, starting a new series of hand signs. Kakashi wasted no time in copying them, and Naruto wasted no time in using his own style to copy Kakashi.
Sasuke was in a daze, seeing the power of the sharingan so close. 'Did he really copy all the hand seals?'
"My moves. He is...", Zabuza thought, before they were interrupted.
"...Reading them." Kakashi said, finishing Zabuza's thought.
"Did he read my mind? He is..."
"...Really pissing me off with that damn eye of his." Kakashi finished, for Zabuza. Continuing to copy Zabuza's hand signs.
Continuing with his hand seals with Kakashi copying Zabuza, the man yelled, "All you're doing is copying me!" "You can't beat me with those cheap circus tricks, you monkey bastard!" Kakashi yelling the same thing, continued to copy hand signs.
Zabuza came to a slight stop, seeing an image of himself behind Kakashi. "What is that, a Genjutsu?" Zabuza thought.
His slight falter cost him the victory as Kakashi finished the jutsu ahead of him, "Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu!" (Water style: Giant vortex jutsu)
Literally, a giant vortex formed around Kakashi, much larger than his body. It approached Zabuza at incredible speeds, who was unable to do anything. It slammed into him, and he was washed away like an insect under the force of the jutsu, slamming roughly into a tree and leaving him dazed.
Kakashi approached Zabuza with a kunai in hand, intent on finishing him off. Groaning in pain and bracing himself for his death, Zabuza asked him, "Can you see the future?"
Kakashi answered, "Yes…and your future….is death."
Naruto sweat dropped, 'What a corny guy!'
Just as Kakashi was about to finish the job, two senbon came out of nowhere, hitting Zabuza in the neck. The man fell to the ground with a thud.
All of them looked around to spot where the senbon came from, but Naruto pointed towards a tree, from which came a soft chuckle. A masked person was standing on a branch, "Looks like you were right."
The person had long black hair along with a slender frame. The outfit was Kirigakure pinstriped which stopped at his knees. There was a brown sash around the waist with a tail, wrapped around twice. But the most identifying thing about the person was the mask they wore. It was white with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as the Kirigakure symbol etched in the top.
The person was a hunter nin.
Naruto couldn't quite place the voice as female or male. It was…..unsettling. He would assume it as a male, though.
"I thank you for your help", he said as he jumped down. Kakashi knelt and checked Zabuza's pulse to see if the man was truly dead or not. Finding nothing, he concluded that Zabuza was dead.
"I have been hunting him for quite a while", he said. Picking up the body, he prepared to shunshin away when Naruto's voice rang out.
"Wait!" The hunter nin turned to face Naruto's narrowed eyes, "As a hunter nin, isn't it your job to dispose the bodies on the spot?"
The hunter nin saw the suspicion in the blonde's eyes and explained, "This body holds many secrets. The village would like to know them before doing that." With that, he was gone.
Kakashi pulled his headband down, "Well, that is over with…", and promptly fell face first into the ground.
Sakura rushed to him, "Kakashi-sensei!" She turned him over to see that his eye was closed.
"It's probably chakra exhaustion, Sakura", she turned towards Naruto. He explained, "The sharingan is an Uchiha kekkei genkai. It is not meant for him and as such, consumes his charka faster. He just needs time to recover."
Tazuna spoke up, "Well in that case, let's hurry to my house where he can recover safely." Naruto nodded and created three shadow clones. One of them henged into a stretcher while the other two put the exhausted jonin on it and started walking.
Sasuke walked beside Naruto, "Hey Naruto", the said boy looked at him,"How did you know about the demon brothers before they attacked us? And what was that earlier, putting your fingers in the water?"
Naruto turned to him, confused, "Haven't I told you before that I am a sensor?"
Sasuke's eyes immediately narrowed at him, "What?!"
Naruto sighed; this will take a while.
XXXXXXX
Meanwhile, back in the village, the Sandaime was sitting in the meeting room with the shinobi council on one side and the civilian council on the other. The three elders, Homura, Koharu and Danzo stood on his right side.
A civilian spoke up, "Why have you called this meeting, Hokage-sama?"
Hiruzen did not reply to this, eyes closed and expression of deep thought. At last he spoke.
"Do you all, especially the civilian council", he glared at the mentioned council, "Know why the civilian council was established by my sensei, Nidaime-sama?"
There was no answer from both the sides, but the elders and Shikaku seemed to grasp the true purpose of the meeting from the question.
Koharu moved forward, "Hokage-sama, you can't-" She was silenced with a wave of killing intent. It made one thing very clear in everyone's heads, 'He is in a bad mood today.'
"To assist the shinobi council in times of war. Last I checked, Konoha hasn't been at war for the last fifteen years. Therefore, your entire existence is debunk." Outraged cries came from the civilian section, but killer intent from the shinobi side for interrupting the Hokage silenced them.
The Hokage glared at them, "If anyone interrupts me one more time, I will have that person executed. Understood?" He enforced that threat with killing intent. After seeing their urgent nods, he continued.
"The only reason, and I have checked the records thoroughly", he said motioning to the big pile of paperwork beside him, "That the only reason they exist is because of political mongering and bribing some members of the shinobi council." His eyes swept the entire room, intensifying the tension.
"My hands were tied after the Kyuubi's attack and the Uchiha massacre. The civilian council took advantage of this and began to take charge of more important tasks by bribing the shinobi side", he said while glaring at the two elders, who didn't even look into his eyes.
"Until they finally managed to get their hands on the shinobi academy, the most important stage of the shinobis' career. Changing the syllabus and actually lowering the standard of shinobi, the council gradually became more corrupt. Tell me if I'm wrong", he finished, practically glaring at everyone and daring them to disagree.
Danzo grit his teeth. The civilian council was easily manipulated and as such, was a form of power that he could control, not the Hokage. But it seemed Sarutobi had finally had enough of their bullshit and was going to dissolve the council. The worst about all of this: He could not lift a finger to do anything without resorting to Shisui's eye, and he would rather die than attempt something that foolish.
No one spoke in the council room, which was enough of an answer that the Hokage had hit the bullseye.
"I will hold a vote now. To dissolve the civilian council", he declared. A fat man stood up, face red and red to shout at the Hokage. He didn't even finish the first word that came out of his mouth before his head rolled on the ground, courtesy of the ANBU. They cleaned up and vanished back into the shadows.
Suddenly seeming to remember something, he turned to the elders, "Before I commence the vote, the elders will not be voting seeing that their position only allows them to advise and as such, have no say in any final decision made by the Hokage."
Koharu and Homura had a defeated posture. Heads down, shoulders sagged, an aura of dismay. Danzo simply stared ahead, not showing any emotions. Sarutobi had caught them totally unawares with this maneuver.
"All against dissolving the civilian council on basis of the charges that I have read." The entire civilian side raised their hands, but they knew that they were defeated.
"All in favor of dissolving the civilian council on basis of the charges I have read." The entire shinobi side raised their hands. Their numbers were equal to that of the civilians, but the air of smugness was unmistakable in the room.
A tie breaking vote was required of the Hokage who said, "I am in favor of this notion."
Straightening up, he declared, "The civilian council is dissolved as of today. I will appoint a shinobi committee to review all the corrupted laws they have passed related in favor of themselves. A separate division will be responsible for reviewing shinobi areas. The civilian council can leave now."
All of them slowly got up, an air of defeat around them all. They filed out of the chamber one by one. "The elders please leave, I have some important things to discuss with the shinobi clan heads."
The elders couldn't protest against this as well. Clan business was serious, and no one, even the Hokage was to interfere unless it concerned the integrity of the village.
As soon as they left the room, Hiruzen snapped his fingers. An ANBU appeared with a scroll held in his hand. He put it on the Hokage's desk and went back to his post. A signal from the Hokage caused all the ANBU to leave the room.
Hiruzen opened it, revealing it to be a storage scroll. He slapped his hand on the scroll and in a puff of smoke, a bottle of sake and the same number of cups as the shinobi council appeared. Hiruzen smirked, "Who wants drinks?"