"It wasn't that hard, if you know what to look for." Kakashi said with a shrug. "Since it hasn't rained in nearly a week, there was no way that a puddle could have lasted very long on a clear day, much less seven."
"Wait a minute!" Tazuna said, looking a bit disgruntled as he glared at Kakashi. "If you knew these ninja were going to attack us, then why did you leave it to the kids?" he asked, feeling a bit irked.
"I could have taken them out before any trouble started. But then I wouldn't have learned anything," Kakashi said as he turned a mild glare onto the man. "I wanted to know who their target was, and what they were after."
"W-What do you mean?" Tazuna asked with a stutter.
"I mean I wanted to know if they after us, ninja attacking ninja. Or if they were after you, the master bridge builder," Kakashi said as his eyes narrowed. "When you made your request to Konoha, you asked for standard protection, from bandits and highway men and the like. You never mentioned that ninja were after you. If we had known this, it would have been designated a B-rank mission or higher."
Tazuna looked down in guilt under Kakashi's withering gaze. "Our mission was to simply get you to your destination and guard you while you built your bridge. If we had known we would have been fending off attacks from ninja, we would have staffed a different squad and charged for the cost of a B-rank mission. Even if you had your reasons for doing it, lying about a mission is unacceptable. As it is, this task falls beyond the boundaries of the mission we were given."
"We should go back," Sakura said, the idea of fighting enemy ninja frightening her. "This is too much for us; we're not ready for missions like this."
Naruto looked over at Sakura with a frown. "You can go if you want, but I'm staying."
Everyone looked over at Naruto in surprise. "It doesn't matter if he lied about the mission; the fact is we've already accepted it. As Konoha ninja we can't go back on our word, not only would that be disgracing ourselves and Konoha, but it could also cause people to lose faith in our village if we run at the first sign of trouble." Naruto looked over at Tazuna, "You don't have to worry about me leaving, even if they do."
"Hn. You think you could protect him yourself?" Sasuke snorted. "Please, you would be lost without someone like me watching your back." I won't let this opportunity slip by; I will prove my strength here.
"So that mean you're in teme?" asked a grinning Naruto.
Sasuke just looked at the blond with a smirk. "Hn."
Kakashi looked between the two genin and sighed. Why was it that they only seemed to get along when it looked like a fight was brewing? "I guess that means we're continuing." Still the next enemy we run into won't be low level Chunin. It will be a Jonin like myself.
In the middle of a large forested area, there was a large fortified structure being held between two trees. Inside that structure two individuals were having an important meeting.
In a room, a tall man with bandages covering half his face lounged in a large thrown like chair. To his left was one of his subordinates, awaiting his instruction. In front of him was a rather short fat man in a business suit, with frazzled gray hair and sunglasses on his face, despite how dark it was inside.
"What!" The short suited man shouted. "You're telling me you failed! I paid a lot of money to hire your group! I thought you were supposed to be some hot shot former ninja assassins! If this is all you're capable of-"
"Quit your whining…" the tall man growled as he hefted a large zanbatou style sword up with one hand, even though it was nearly as tall as he was. Bringing it around he pointed it at the now pale businessman, "Next time I'll be going to finish them myself. And this sword, Kubikiri Houcho (Head Cleaver), will be the last thing they see."
"A-are you sure about that?" asked the now nervous man. "It seems that the target has a high level ninja guarding him, and now that the Akuma brothers have failed, they'll be on guard for another attack. It will take some extreme skill to…"
"Just who do you think you're dealing with?" The man growled, not lowering his sword as he glared at the small fat man. "I am Momoichi Zabuza, the Kirigakure No Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist)."
It was later in the day, and Team Seven along with Tazuna had found a small clearing off the road to Nami No Kuni to rest for the night. Kakashi had made his students split up and prepare the camp. Sasuke had been charged with getting lumber and starting a fire, while Sakura had been ordered to prepare the tents. Naruto was the one who had gotten them some food, catching a few fish from a nearby stream.
After dinner Kakashi looked at his students. "Since this mission is now more dangerous than we initially thought, we are going to be taking two hour watch shifts. Naruto, you're going first, Sasuke you go second, Sakura will go third and I will go last." This was a standard watch procedure, letting the students go first so they could have more sleep when they started off again.