The Strength of the Weak {A Naruto Fanfiction}

The Strength of the Weak - Chapter 12

"You're a fool, Kakashi. Jumping in the water to hide was not a very good idea. Did you forget what my chakra nature is?" Zabuza taunts as Kakashi-sensei rises to the surface of the water for a breath of air.

"This water is different... denser than normal. Is there chakra laced into it?" Kakashi-sensei realizes in alarm, quickly trying to swim to the shore. Zabuza was faster, and managed to get behind Kakashi-sensei.

"Suiro no Jutsu!" A large bubble of water surrounded Kakashi-sensei, rendering him unable to move. With Kakashi-sensei's imprisonment, our team was left at a severe disadvantage. The rest of my team gasps in alarm, and Zabuza creates a water clone to protect the real him who was holding Kakashi-sensei trapped.

"Run, everyone! This battle was over the moment I got caught, take the bridge builder and go! His water clone can't follow you." Kakashi-sensei demands in a blind panic. I take a deep breath and remove myself from the formation protecting Tazuna.

"Kakashi-sensei... I refuse to leave you behind," I state, " You taught us teamwork, and don't think that I forget things so easily. You're a part of the team, are you not? If I were to leave you to die... I would be breaking my nindo, my ninja way. I will protect the ones I love with everything I've got! Even if it means risking my life!" From behind me, I notice that Sasuke and Naruto take stances up beside me, leaving Sakura to guard Tazuna should anything go wrong.

"Satomi-chan's right, sensei! We won't leave you behind, dattebayo!" Naruto shouts confidently with a grin. Sasuke smirks but otherwise stays silent. From under his mask, I notice Kakashi-sensei frowning. He knows that we won't leave him, even if it kills us.

"Sasuke, Satomi-chan! I have a plan!" Naruto beckons us over and whispers in our ears. My eyes widen, this plan was a death trap. Although, if we work together... It was definitely something we could pull off.

Taking a deep breath, I take my position beside my two teammates. Kakashi-sensei watches on from the water prison, a pleading look in his mismatched eyes. I look away, my resolve strengthening. Kakashi-sensei will walk away from this battle alive.

I turn my attention towards Zabuza's water clone, my eyes hardening. This plan has a very slim chance of working... but somehow we would do it. I'm sure of it. Together, Naruto, Sasuke, and I leap into action, each performing our needed tasks.

Naruto creates a load of shadow clones, while Sasuke remains on the sidelines until he is needed. I charge forward, bringing my hands together in a hand sign.

"Shunshin no Jutsu!" I call out, teleporting all around the clone faster than most could see. Zabuza's clone glances all around him to try to keep track of me, until I completely disappeared from sight. His eyes narrow as he glances all around him.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" I cry, performing my clan's signature technique from above the dangerous water clone. He glances up, only to find a fireball hurling towards him. I body flicker to the tree line, out of sight from everyone else until I'm needed.

From the side, I watch Zabuza's clone begin to move out of the fireball's trajectory, only to be held down by Naruto's shadow clones. The fireball collides with them, although he manages to escape using the substitution jutsu just before he is incinerated.

When Zabuza's clone stands up, unscathed apart from the slight singing from my fireball, Naruto's clones once again attack him mercilessly, except this time Naruto joins the fray, keeping a clone of his own behind to act as the real one.

They send a barrage of kicks and punches until Zabuza's clone is fed up, and sends most of the shadow clones flying. Naruto passes by Sasuke, who was still on the sidelines, and transforms into a shuriken while Zabuza is distracted. Sasuke then charges forward and feints throwing the shuriken at the clone, bypassing him and heading straight towards he real Zabuza.

"You're gonna have to try harder than that, kid," Zabuza taunts, catching the incoming Fuma shuriken with his free hand. Sasuke smirks, glancing at the suspicious Zabuza with confidence.

"Look closely," he provides, causing Zabuza to whip his head around to the other Fuma shuriken, which was hidden in the shadow of the other one. Without any other option, Zabuza leaps over the shuriken, coming out unscathed.

"Too bad, kid. Your plan failed," Zabuza states. Moments later, the Fuma shuriken that had passed by Zabuza puffs in smoke, revealing Naruto, who was transformed into it. With a confident smirk, Naruto launches a kunai at the hand holding Kakashi-sensei imprisoned, forcing Zabuza to release the jutsu.

Naruto drops into the water, and when he resurfaces he is faced with an angry Zabuza aiming to kill him. He swings his great sword with trained accuracy, and right when the sword was about to hit Naruto, Kakashi-sensei comes in and is able to save him by taking the hit with his gloved hand. Zabuza growls and jumps away from Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, a scowl plastered on his face.

"Ha! You totally fell for our plan, dattebayo!" Naruto cheers from the water, pumping his fist up and down in excitement. Zabuza growls at him, his eyes flashing dangerously. Zabuza knew he had been outsmarted by a few rookie genin, and he was not happy about it.

"Nice job, you three. Naruto, go back to the shore, I'll take it from here," Kakashi-sensei instructs, preparing to battle Zabuza once again. Naruto swims back to us, a smile plastered across his face, and jogs over to Tazuna.

"I can't believe you guys pulled it off!" Sakura exclaims in relief. I nod to her in acknowledgment, taking my place back in the manji formation around the bridge builder. Meanwhile, Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza battle furiously against one another.

"How can you know what moves I'm going to make, before I even make them?!" Zabuza demands lividly. Kakashi-sensei's sharingan eye spins mockingly, a glare set straight on the man in front of him.

"I can see the future... and I can also see that this is your last battle!" Kakashi-sensei shouts, performing the Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu before Zabuza has the chance to. Zabuza is swept away in the current, slamming ferociously against the trunk of a tree.

"It's over!" Kakashi-sensei declares, pulling back for the final blow. Two senbon needles fly out of the woods and straight into Zabuza's neck, causing him to collapse. A young boy wearing a Kiri mask hops out of the trees beside Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza while Kakashi-sensei was checking for Zabuza's pulse.

"Thank you for finally taking him down. I've been tracking him for a while now," the Kirigakure tracker says, pulling Zabuza's body up onto his shoulder. From beside me, Naruto's jaw drops in disbelief.

"How could he have done that! That guy is probably my age, yet he was able to take down someone as powerful as Zabuza with just one hit! I can't accept this!" Naruto exclaims. Kakashi-sensei sighs and shakes his head.

"Naruto, you will come to learn that there are people in this world that are younger than you, yet stronger than me," he says, giving us all a weary look. I glance over at Naruto, who was shaking in anger next to me, clenching and unclenching his fist repeatedly.

"Now if you excuse me, I must dispose of Zabuza's body. Farewell." The tracker ninja disappears, leaving Team 7 and Tazunza alone once again. Kakashi-sensei sighed in relief and replaced his headband to its original position.

"Well, Let's all go then. Lead the way, Tazuna," Kakashi-sensei says. After a few steps, though, Kakashi-sensei freezes, and starts to fall over. I gasp and catch him before he hits the ground, grunting from the effort of holding him up. He was heavy.

I lay him down as Team 7 surround me, and check him for any gashes or blood. I frown when there isn't any and sigh, standing back up.

"What's wrong with Kakashi-sensei?!" Sakura asks in alarm. "Don't worry, he's just exhausted and chakra deprived. All he needs is some rest. Naruto, Sasuke, I trust that you can guys can carry Kakashi-sensei back to Tazuna-san's house." I say, watching with slight amusement as Naruto and Sasuke unhappily carry Kakashi-sensei to safety.

We were all alive.

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