Kimiko's P. O. V:
The two Jounin stand in a standstill and my teammates appear relieved that it's over.
Until Zabuza starts laughing, saying that his technique is nothing but a crass imitation, and he'll never be defeated by a mere Copy Cat Ninja like him. Kakashi scowls but Zabuza tells him he's impressed that Kakashi had already copied his Water Clone Jutsu when he made his speech.
Kakashi had made his clone say those words in order to draw the assassin's attention, while Kakashi had hit in the mist, waiting for the Momochi to make his move.
Just then, another Zabuza appears behind Kakashi, stating he's not so easy to fool. Kakashi cuts the Zabuza in front of him, only for him to turn into water.
A second Water Clone...
The real Zabuza swings his gigantic blade for Kakashi, but the silverette ducks and the blade sails right over his head. The long, curved point Siam's into the earth and Zabuza leaps up, flipping around and gripping onto the end of the hilt. Kaiashi peers behind him just in time to see Zabuza's large foot sailing through the air right for his face. Kakashi was unable to dodge in time as the assassin's foot collided with his face, sending Kakashi rocketing through the air.
Zabuza yanks his sword out of the ground and charges for Kakashi. He stops short, however, upon seeing metal spikes scattered along the ground.
Makibashi Spikes.
Zabuza dives into the water and a moment later, Kakashi emerges from it. He feels the surface as though in puzzlement. Kakashi starts when Zabuza suddenly reappears right behind him, performing swift hand signs.
Before Kakashi could try to move out of the way, a sphere of water swirls around him, emitting from Zabuza's right hand, trapping my Guardian. It's impossible to move in a Water Prison and it's stronger than steel, despite being made of water.
Zabuza then creates a Water Clone.
Zabuza mocks Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura about wearing a headband making them ninja. That they wouldn't be called a ninja until they've hovered between life and death so many times, it doesn't faze them. When they've become so deadly, their profile has entered in his bingo book. He thinks that upstarts like Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura being ninja is a joke, and vanishes into the mist.
Zabuza kicks Naruto back and his headband goes flying off his forehead. Zabuza clamps his foot on the headband when it lands on the ground by his feet. Kakashi urges them to run with me and the bridge builder, since Zabuza is using all his power to keep Kakashi in the Water Prison, so he can only fight them with his Water Clone. But the clone can't go far from his real body. If they can get away from him, he can't follow.
I watch on in silence as Sasuke launches himself at the assassin, swinging small shuriken at him. Zabuza's Water Clone easily catches the Uchiha by his throat before throwing him back, and Sasuke lands on his back.
The Water Clone looms above a terrified Naruto. Naruto was going to run away, but freezes as pain wrack his body. He then looks down at his left, bandaged hand, wincing. Naruto gasps. As though remembering the vow he'd made several hours ago.
Naruto stands up and clenches his left hand, determination flaring in his cerulean blue eyes. My eyes jerk wide as Naruto lets out a war cry and charges Zabuza. Just when he reaches the assassin, Zabuza kicks Naruto back, causing blood to spray.
Sakura yells at him as Naruto staggers to his feet. I notice the object in his hand is his headband.
He risked his life for his headband?
Zabuza trembles with rage as Naruto addresses him as "The Freak With No Eyebrows," and tells Zabuza to put in his bingo book, the ninja that will become Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, Naruto ties his headband back on and Zabuza trembles even more with rage, Naruto adds that the ninja never backs down, and that that ninja is Naruto himself.
Naruto addresses Sasuke with a plan and swipes the blood leaking down the side of his mouth away.
Zabuza laughs at this and I tense as Kakashi urges Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura to flee as the fight was over the moment Kakashi got caught, and I'd fled the area. He again urges them to run as he reminds them the mission isn't to prove how brave they are, it's to save the bridge builder, and that they're to stay on mission.
Naruto turns questioningly to Tazuna who feels guilty about getting us into this mess, but then he urges them to do whatever it takes to save the Hatake.
Zabuza laughs about this and states that when he was our age, his hand had already crushed many opponents, but he adds that I had been killing since a much younger age than him, startling my group even more. Kakashi calls him The Demon.
Zabuza muses that he was in Kakashi's bingo book, too.
Kakashi then explains that, long ago, in the Village Hidden in the Mist, also known as Blood Mist Village, before a student could become a ninja, there was one final test. Zabuza seems surprised Kakashi knew of this. Naruto was confused when the Momochi starts laughing.
Zabuza then questions if they'd had to kill the other students, shocking my teammates.
Kakashi adds that, ten years ago, in the Village Hidden in the Mist, the graduation exam... changed. One year before, a dark evil had filled the school with terror. Sakura questions this and Kakashi says that without pause or hesitation, a young boy, who was not even a ninja, approached the class and took down over a hundred other students.
Zabuza says it felt so good, startling Naruto and Sasuke before he appears right before them. Zabuza first elbows Sasuke away from him, and blood flies up from his mouth when Zabuza rams his elbow into Sasuke's stomach.
Zabuza grips his sword hilt with his left hand as he clamps his foot down on Sasuke's stomach. Sasuke grunts in pain.
Naruto creates several Shadow Clones, astonishing Zabuza, and they take out kunai knives. Then, the Shadow Clones throw themselves onto the assassin. However, the Momochi swings Kubikiribocho wildly and it cuts through the army of Narutos.
As Naruto slides back along the ground, he digs around in his backpack and chucks a massive, Demon Wind Shuriken in Sasuke's direction. He spreads it open, and says lowly, holding it in front of him, "Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!"
Zabuza mocks that he can't touch him with that weapon.
However, the Uchiha leaps into the air and launches the shuriken at the Water Clone. But, just when we think it's going to hit him, the shuriken flies right past the clone and spins rapidly towards the real Zabuza.
Zabuza catches the shuriken, however, a second one spins around and flies back to the assassin, surprising him, and me.
The Shadow Shuriken technique.
As the shuriken nears Zabuza, he jumps up, bending his legs, and the weapons flies right beneath him. Zabuza reminds my teammates that a shuriken can't touch him, when the one behind him poofs into the real Naruto.
Zabuza gasps as the real Naruto throws a kunai knife straight for his face.
🗡🗡🗡
Zabuza had to jump aside in order to avoid the kunai to his face, causing his hand to leave the Water Prison.
The kunai slices right beneath Zabuza's right eye and he growls lowly as he whirls on Naruto.
Naruto was unable to get out of the water in time as Zabuza spins the shuriken rapidly around his right fingers, but he was stopped short of killing the blonde as Kakashi stands beside Zabuza, the metal plate of his fingerless glove blocking the shuriken blade, spraying blood, and Naruto splashes into the water.
Zabuza and Kakashi scowl at each other as Naruto resurfaces. Kakashi tells him it was an excellent plan and that Naruto's really grown, making him laugh sheepishly.
Then Naruto goes on to explain how his Shadow Clones were just a distraction, and while Zabuza fought the clones, Naruto turned into the Demon Wind Shuriken. Naruto used one of the clones to transform into the shuriken. When he threw it to Sasuke, it looked like a real shuriken. Naruto states that Sasuke could tell it was him in a second, so he spun around so no one could see, and pulled out his own shuriken. There were two shuriken; one was real, the other was Naruto.
Naruto had hid in the shadow of the real shuriken, and his target was the real Zabuza. Naruto knew he couldn't fight Zabuza himself; he just wanted to get in there and break up his Water Prison. He apparently didn't know his clone would be wrecked too. That was a bonus.
Sasuke and Tazuna claim it was just dumb luck and a fluke, but I knew it was their teamwork and that they didn't even need to talk about it.
Zabuza claims he was just distracted and lost his grip on the Water Prison, but Kakashi retorts, saying that he want distracted—he was forced to let go. This makes Zabuza glare as Naruto and Sasuke smirk. Kakashi tells the assassin his technique may have worked on him once, but it won't work again.
Sasuke and Sakura stand protectively in front of Tazuna, holding their arms out.
Zabuza's left eye twitches violently, and I knew he was pissed, startling Kakashi. Zabuza flips the shuriken blades closed and he presses it harder upon Kakashi's hand, making it bleed more.
Kakashi grunts as he forces the blade back. The two Jounin keep at it for several minutes, until Kakashi was finally able to throw the weapon away. They leap back and stand a few paces away from each other.
Kakashi grunts as he activated his Sharingan.
Zabuza then starts doing rapid hand signs. He chants them aloud as Kakashi lands on the water and does the same thing, just as fast.
"Ushi Saru Oo Ne E Tori Ushi Uma Tori Ne Tora Inu Tora Mee Ushi Hitsuji Me E Hitsuji Ne Genne Saru Tori Tatzu Tori Ushi Uma Hitsuji Tora Me Ne Saru Ooh E Tatzu Hitsuji Ne Ushi Hitsuji Tori Ge Ne E Tori. Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Two columns of water rise up and form into wingless dragons with amber glowing eyes. They twist around each other and bash into one another, the impact creating a wave that hits the shore, splashing Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna.
Naruto pops back out of the water as Kskashi and Zabuza clash blades, pressing against each other.
As they do, I sense someone appear on the exact same branch as me, on my left. They don't say anything as they gaze at the battling Jounin below.
"So, how much longer are you just going to stare at me... Haku?" I greet, giving the black haired male ninja wearing a Hidden Mist Tracker Ninja mask a flat look.
The ninja turns his head to me, wind tossing our hair and clothes. He then lifts a hand and grips his mask, removing it to reveal big brown eyes and long bangs, the rest of his hair piled up in a bun, and a Hidden Mist Village headband around his forehead.
Smiling at me, he says, "It's good to see you, too, Kimi-chan. Though, I must say, I'm surprised to see you with the Leaf Ninja."
Kakashi and Zabuza leap away from each other.
"It wasn't intentional," I reply as we look down at them. "I'm only here because a group of bandits chased me to the Hidden Leaf Village. We fought, I got severely injured, and passed out at the main gates. Then I wound up with these guys." I jerk my chin to my teammates below.
"I suppose if they hadn't attacked you, we wouldn't have seen each other again, Kimi-chan," Haku says.
"I guess," I mumble.
I fold my arms as we continue to watch the fight. Zabuza and Kakashi circle each other before coming to a stop. They put their two left fingers up in the air, the two fingers on their opposite hands in front of their noses, in perfect sync.
This causes Zabuza's eyes to jerk wide eyes n realisation.
Tazuna and I both realise that Kakashi isn't just following. He moves the same way at the same time.
Kakashi says he knows what Zabuza was going to do next before he knew himself, startling him. They mirror each other's hand signs, the bird.
Mirroring their hand signs, they say in unison they can't beat me with cheap tricks, I'll crush you, which infuriates Zabuza even more. An image of Zabuza manifests behind Kakashi and he calls out, "Water Style: Water Vortex Jutsu!"
The tomoe in Kakashi's Sharingan begin rapidly spinning in either direction until a huge torrent of water rises up behind the silverette. It then shoots forwards and hits a shocked Zabuza, washing him away.
Haku says to me, "I'm sorry, Kimi-chan, but I'm afraid I must go now. You should, too."
I pull away and turn to the ravenette, seeing Haku place his Anbu mask back on his face. "I guess we have to play enemies once again, huh," I mutter.
"I hope we get to meet again as friends, Kimi-chan," Haku says before disappearing in a gust of wind.
I gaze at the spot where Haku had been as Zabuza is thrown back first against a tree, then three kunai embed themselves in him, one in each arm, one in his left leg, and Kakashi appears in the tree branch above him, crouching.
"You're finished," He says, the water from his Jutsu dying down.
Zabuza demands as he raises his head up to him, "How?! Can you see into the future?!"
Holding up a kunai, Kakashi responds, "Yes. This is your last battle! Ever!"
However, before Kakashi could land the final blow, two senbon needles fly through the air and strike Zabuza's neck, causing blood to spray upward as he collapses, eyes wide.
I glance at Haku ahead of me as Kakashi whips his head to him, the Yuki member laughing. "You're right; it was his last battle."
Naruto climbs out of the water, finally, and flares from Zabuza to Haku.
Kakashi leaps down from his tree and kneels by Zabuza. He touches two fingers to the side of Zabuza's bandaged neck to feel for a pulse, while the others watch on in tense silence. He sighs with satisfaction, "No vital signs."
Haku says gratefully as he bows his head, "Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time, waiting for this chance to finally take him down."
I flicker down beside Kakashi, surprising him and the others. I put a hand on my hip as I gaze at Zabuza's prostrate form, then flick my violet eyes up at Haku. "Nice to see you again." I see the others staring at us in shock and add, "We met in a tree."
Kakashi states after gazing at me, looking at the Tracker Ninja, "From your mask, I see that you're a Tracker Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."
"Impressive. You're well informed," Haku says, looking back at Kakashi.
Naruto appears in front of his teammates as he gasps, "A Tracker!"
"Naruto! You don't even know what that is," Says Sakura. "You missed the lesson on it, as usual. Tracker Ninja have a special role. Try coming to class sometime! When a rogue ninja breaks away from his village, he carries all kinds of secrets with him. Secrets of his people. Trackers are especially trained to hunt down these ninja and eliminate them. That way, the secrets of their people remain secrets."
Haku states, "That's correct. In a member of the elite tracking unit in the Village Hidden in the Mist. It was my duty to stop Zabuza."
Naruto runs forwards and scowls at Haku, looking from Zabuza then back at the ravenette. "What is this?! Who do you think you are?!" Naruto breathes heavily, but Haku doesn't say anything. "Did you hear me?!"
Kakashi says as he straightens up and puts his hands in his pockets, and we turn to the blonde, "Easy Naruto. He's not our enemy."
"Huh? That's not the point! Did you see what he did?! Just like that?!" Naruto demands. "Zabuza was huge, and powerful, like some kind of monster. Not even Kimi-chan was able to beat him on her own!" Kakashi starts walking towards Naruto. "And this kid, who's no bigger than me, he brought down Zabuza with one move, like it was nothing! I mean, what does that make us?! We're just fumbling around. We don't know anything! How can I accept that?!"
Naruto looks up when Kakashi stops before him, saying, "Well, even if you don't accept it, still, it did happen, Naruto." Kakashi adds as he places his hand on Naruto's head, "In this world, there are kids younger than you, and yet stronger than me."
Haku then teleports with wind to Zabuza's body and places an arm around his shoulders before straightening up, despite Zabuza's massive weight. Haku tells us, "Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body. They must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands. Please excuse me. Farewell."
Haku then puts his hand in a hand sign and vanishes with a wisp of wind.
"He disappeared!" Naruto gasps as Kakashi sighs and tugs his headband back down. Naruto runs up beside me and kicks the ground.
Kakashi tells him, "He's gone, Naruto. Let it go."
Naruto growls in frustration as he punches the ground repeatedly, "What are we doing here?! We're nothing! I can't believe it!"
"Naruto," Sakura murmurs as I gaze blankly down at him.
He keeps punching the ground until Kakashi comes up to us and grabs Naruto's left arm, halting him. The Hatake tells Naruto, "As ninja, the things we encounter are never easy. Save your anger for the next enemy." He lets go of Naruto who leans on his hands as he breathes heavily. Kakashi flicks his gaze to me as I stare at the spot Haku had vanished with Zabuza. "As for you, Kimiko, I have some questions for you." I tense at this but don't look back at the Hatake, as everyone else looks at me. "Your clan was massacred six years ago and there were reports that there were no survivors. How did you manage to survive? Who are you, really? And how do you have Crystal Release?"
Naruto adds, "And why did he call you Princess?!"
"........... because I am the Princess of my clan, the Sumire clan," I answer after a long pause.
Kakashi says with a confused frown, "But I thought the Princesses died six years ago, with the rest of the clan?"
"The one that died was my younger twin sister, Touka. I survived because....." I trail off as the horrible memories threaten to invade my mind, feeling my violet orbs grow distant.
After a moment of silence, I squeeze my eyes briefly shut and shake my head to myself to clear it. "It doesn't matter. In any case, I should've died that day with my sister. Maybe if I'd had been paying more attention or was stronger, I could've protected her and my parents, and things would've been different." Kakashi, Sakura and Naruto give me sympathetic expressions. Sasuke's black orbs soften in understanding, but only for a second before they grow hard again. "And I have Crystal Release because my Kekkei Genkai allows me to copy other Kekkei Genkai."
Sasuke understands better than the others because he too has lost his whole clan. That's something we can relate to.
"I was hoping Kakashi wouldn't have caught on too soon, but I guess I should've expected him to." I look back at Kakashi with a blank look, seeing the stunned looks on my teammate's faces. "You're just too smart for your own good, Kakashi. As for why Zabuza called me "Princess....." it's because I'm the princess of my clan, the eldest of twins by two minutes. But I haven't really been able to trust anyone or let anyone in since the day my clan died."
There's a moment of silence as my group processes my words. Kakashi asks, "I still want you to be with us, Kimiko." Kakashi sends me a closed eye smile as his right eye forms a u.
I stare at him in surprise before a slight smile tugs at my lips. "Okay," I murmur.
Kakashi nods
Kakashi says with a smile at me as he turns to the others, "We haven't completed our mission, yet. We still have to get the bridge builder to his bridge."
Tazuna chuckles as he tilts his hat up, "Sorry I caused a this trouble for ya! But, are, you can rest at my house when we get to the village."
Kakashi calls to us as Naruto gets to his feet and I turn around, still with that flat look, "Alright! Let's get a move on!"
Kakashi didn't even take a few steps before his body goes rigid, foot hovering above the ground, and then he collapses, hitting the ground face first.
Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Tazuna gasp worriedly while my violet eyes jerk wide.
My teammates run up to him and Sakura stammers, "Wh-What happened?!" I walk over to gaze down at the silver haired Jounin.
"Kakashi Sensei!" Naruto gasps, but we get no response from him. "Kakashi Sensei...!"
I kneel beside Kakashi and summon the green aura around my left hand. I place it on his forehead under his headband and examine his injuries.
"Wow. I didn't know you had Medical Ninjutsu, Kimiko," Sakura breathes.
"I don't know that much about it. I'm just checking his wounds."
"Well, Kimi-chan?!" Naruto prompts.
"Is he gonna be okay?" Asks Sakura frantically.
"He's just unconscious from depleted chakra." I remove my hand as the glow fades. "Kakashi will be fine after some rest." I say to the boys, "Naruto, Sasuke, carry Kakashi Sensei to Tazuna's house."
Sasuke wants to know with an annoyed look at my commanding tone, as I turn away, "Why do we have to do it?"
Naruto complains, "Yeah. Why can't you and Sakura-chan carry him?"
"Because it's hard work. Besides, I doubt you would make us ladies do all the heavy lifting, right?"
"Yeah! Kimiko is right!" Sakura agrees, nodding her head.
"Fiiinnee! We'll do it since you're so lazy," Naruto grumbles.
"Good," I say as I cross my arms and nod my head in approval, smirking. Naruto and Sasuke glare at me.
Naruto and Sasuke take each of Kakashi's arms and begin to carry the unconscious Jounin to Tazuna's house.