Sasuke had already learned the one major advantage that Swordsmen had: they had a longer reach then he did, and he had to constantly be on the defensive.
Zabuza was faster with that sword then Sasuke had anticipated judging on the size and probable weight of it. His movements were both hard to read and unexpected, and Sasuke was forced to stay back and use his longer range attacks. The problem with them was they were easy to read and anticipate where they were going. Zabuza had no trouble dodging. Kimimaro was having similar problems. He used his Teshi Sendan as much as he could while dodging attacks, he was unable to use most of his truly powerful attacks.
Zabuza actually seemed to be enjoying himself. From what Sasuke could see from the man's face, he was grinning. Sasuke had the feeling that he was playing with them a little. For one thing, he hadn't used any real jutsu yet…
Sasuke jumped up and formed an attack.
"Katon: Housenka!" He called.
A large amount of small fireballs shot out of where Sasuke's mouth was, even though it was covered by a mask.
"Suiton: Suijinheki," Zabuza said as a large barrier of water rose up in a circle around him.
The fireballs hit the shield and went out, but the kunai that had been hidden in them continued. Zabuza lifted his sword to deflect the barrage of kunai. He didn't notice Kimimaro right behind him.
"Tsubaki no Mai!" Kimimaro yelled, a sword made entirely out of bone in his hands.
Kimimaro struck out, only to meet the steel of Zabuza's sword, flipped back and landed on his feet out of range and ready to continue.
"You kids aren't half bad…" Zabuza admitted, "I'm starting to enjoy myself…"
Sasuke didn't say a thing, he just dashed forwards in a zigzag pattern. He had to get closer to him if any attack he made was going to be worth anything. So far all of their attacks were useless, and Zabuza was just going to block every attack that they made.
The sword came to his left, and Sasuke jumped backwards to avoid it. However, before he was completely out of harm's way, the sword and whipped around and grazed his arm.
How was he going to get closer to him without getting killed? His movements were just too fast.
"You kids just keep going at this rate," Zabuza continued, "The longer you keep me entertained, the longer your friends stay alive, since once I'm done with you; I'm going for the old man…"
That meant that he would kill everyone guarding him.
This was the first time that Sasuke had really been in a serious fight. All the others had been with Jiraiya, Tsunade or Shizune, none of whom would kill him, or mercenaries who he was eons ahead of. He had never really been in a situation where a mistake that he made would leave him dead, and possibly everyone else. Sasuke was the unofficial second in command of Hakumei, and, deep down, he considered himself probably one of the most powerful of the group. What if the others didn't fare any better then he was?
What was he thinking? Sasuke wouldn't allow anyone to hurt the others. Not if he had anything in his power.
'Give me strength…' Sasuke prayed, 'I have to get stronger. I refuse to lose anyone that I have gained. I don't care if I die here and now just let me have the power to help them.'
Sasuke would not see them die after everything that had happened. Hakumei had given him something that only Itachi had given him before. They had laughed with him, trained with him, fought with him, grown up with him. They were more then some ninja team, they were all but family, and the only family that Sasuke now acknowledged other than Itachi.
He would never allow anyone to hurt them.
Zabuza seemed to shift a little, and then he was right in front of Sasuke. The sword was about to come down to his left, and if he tried to dodge right, it would turn out to be a feint. Sasuke jumped backwards and pivoted off the wall to the left. Zabuza was about to swing from below, and Sasuke turned his body enough so that when the attack hit, it missed.
That was when Sasuke noticed what was happened.
He could see him.
He could see everything that Zabuza was about to do, and could see how he was doing it. Sasuke could see the chakra around him and what it was doing. Everything was so clear!
Sharingan!
"I've done it…" Sasuke muttered, elated, "I've really done it…"
Sasuke landed on his feet, Kimimaro appeared next to him.
"Did you activate it?" he asked.
"Yes," Sasuke said, not able to say anything more.
"We're not going to lose now," Kimimaro said. Sasuke could hear the satisfaction in his tone.
They were going to throw a party after this, and it was going to be bigger then anything else they had ever thrown, including their 'graduation' party.
"How did you know?" Naruto asked, slowly removing his mask, he might as well.
"I've known since the moment I saw you," Kakashi smiled, "of course, even if I hadn't, the Sharingan can see through that wonderful genjutsu you have up. You really did a good job, especially making so that the actual numbers seem a little blurry so that no one will notice that there are nine of you."
"That's weird, I don't remember seeing you before," Naruto said, ignoring the compliment.
"Well, that makes sense," Kakashi said, nodding "You were only seven at the time, and you're sixth sense wasn't what I think it is now. When I had free time, I would keep an eye on you, but it wasn't really necessary."
Naruto didn't know what to say to that. It was just his luck to have the one team led by someone who'd recognize him.
"So, why didn't you expose me from the start?" Naruto asked, he was actually rather curious.
"Well, I didn't really have a reason to," Kakashi said, smiling, "You weren't causing any trouble. Then I had my orders sent to me, and I didn't much want to involve you. I could tell that you were fully trained ninja from the start, and I guess that you had been hired to protect Tazuna, but I decided that I would deal with you on my own. What Danzou-sama doesn't know won't help him."
"Well, I'm the only former Konoha-" Naruto began.
"Don't lie, Naruto-kun, you're not as good at it as I am at seeing through it. Your friends are mostly the kids who were kidnapped alongside you, other then a few others you've picked up. You all have done an excellent job of hiding, I really wouldn't have known if I hadn't recognized you, or rather your whiskers."
Now that made sense. Blast it, that was the one thing that Naruto couldn't seem able to hide no matter how much he tried to put a genjutsu on it. He could make himself look like another person without a problem; it was just hiding it on him…
"Well, I'm going to guess that you didn't go through all of this work just to fight me one on one without interference…" Kakashi trailed off.
Naruto tilted his head a little and decided to that Kakashi had proven himself as somewhat trustworthy by not exposing them, even if they had turned on Tazuna. Naruto had learned from Jiraiya not to get offended by most of the two faced tactics of Konoha nin right now. The ones to be angry with were Danzou and his council, not the ninja. They followed orders, and if they disobeyed, the team would attack him and continue the mission. Besides, if what Jiraiya had said was true, Kakashi was involved in something that couldn't really be considered something Danzou would approve of, he had to make sure he seemed completely loyal. Naruto wondered just how this betrayal really sat with him.
"My sensei wants me to give you something," Naruto said in a guarded tone, "He told me to deliver it personally because you were part of a certain…underground group…"
Kakashi's eye widened a little. That obviously wasn't the answer that he was expecting.
Naruto took out the scroll that Jiraiya had given him to give to Kakashi and slowly walked forwards. Kakashi walked to meet him and Naruto handed him the scroll. Kakashi opened it immediately and began to read. After reading it once, and again, Kakashi looked at Naruto.
"Thank you very much," he said, "Tell Jiraiya-sama that everything is going according to plan. We will be ready to receive him at the Chuunin Exams."
"I'll relay the message," Naruto said, wondering just what was going to happen during the Chuunin Exams. Blast, he should have intercepted the letter. Of course Kakashi wasn't going to tell him.
Kakashi was studying him again. It wasn't the cold stare that the Konoha villagers had had when they looked at him; it was more like he was surprised by something. Naruto was getting a little tired of it.
"You know who I am. I really don't care if you don't like me; I know that I probably am the living reminder of everyone you cared about that Kyuubi killed, but stop staring at me like that."
Kakashi shook his head.
"I'm not thinking about that, although for a long time, I wasn't quite sure what I thought of you. You really look a tremendous amount like my sensei. You're a lot alike too when you're acting serious, when you're joking with your friends, you're more like your mother."
Naruto wasn't really expecting that.
"Well, now that that's settled, why don't you get your friend to let down his sand dome…" Kakashi trailed off.
Naruto rolled his eyes, "We're officially on a mission, Kakashi-san, just because I went through all of this to give you that without your students, two of which I'm very suspicious of, finding something out. I still have to protect the old drunk."
"I was hoping you'd forgotten," Kakashi admitted.
Isaribi collapsed to the ground. The senbon were being purposefully thrown into places that didn't hurt, but caused her muscles to spasm and made her unable to walk or attack. Blast it, why didn't he just kill her and be done with it.
"You're an idealistic fool," she spat, "even if you keep me from aiding Zabuza-san, he'll still kill your comrades!"
"If he does, I'll kill him," the voice was flat. It wasn't a threat; it was a statement of fact.
"What can you do?" Isaribi asked, "He's stronger than you."
"I don't need to be as strong as he is. I'll find a way, and if I don't, at least I'll be with my friends…"
"You're friends would abandon you in an instant," Isaribi hissed, "It's just how people really are. Even if you don't think you would, when push came to shove you would save yourself."
Hara laughed. He actually laughed. Isaribi felt fury rise up inside of her. He didn't know anything about the world. For all his power he was just another idiot like that Haku person.
"You've never seen it then," She hissed, "You've never had someone turn their back on you when you needed them most."
Slowly she reached up and took off the bandages on her face and arms. She was satisfied at the small intake of breath that she heard from the man. Her face was surely repulsive to him. Parts of it were covered in scales, and her arms were completely covered. She could change even more into a sea creature if she wanted, but those things would never go away.
"It's disgusting isn't it!" she screamed, "I'm a monster aren't I. You're afraid and wish to kill me!"
For a moment Hara was completely silent the he seemed to find his voice.
"…Who did this to you?"
"It doesn't matter," Isaribi said bitterly, "It was done, and when my parents saw…the entire village forced me to live away from them! Do you know why? Because I'm a monster who has no soul! This is what people are like! You don't know…you don't know…"
"…no, I don't know." Hara's voice was soft, "I have no idea what you've been through. I'm sorry; for all that it's worth. I'm sorry that you have something like that forced on you. It's always the same…everywhere… people who are different are always treated like monsters."
"You don't have THIS!" Isaribi almost screamed.
"No, I don't," Hara agreed, "Mine is an easier burden. I was born with the Hyoton. When you've known nothing but something, you can't miss the life you had, but…why? Why would they do that to you?"
"To make a perfect weapon," Isaribi's legs gave out beneath her, "It…was an experiment to make ninja who could breathe underwater… I was the first experiment."
She didn't know why she was telling him this. She never spoke of her past, but the sorrow that Hara had reacted with had surprised her. She had expected disgust, horror, but not sorrow and…compassion. Maybe she just wanted to scream out her story to anyone who cared enough to listen.
"There's a legend…in the village that I was born in. Sometimes the spirits would kidnap a child and take it with them to their world. If the child reappeared…they weren't really human anymore. The man…Amachi let me go back because…I don't know… when I came back, my parents refused to come anywhere near me, because I wasn't their child anymore. I was a monster. Then, Amachi came back to me, and told me that he could make me human again. I didn't want to work with him, but…if he had done it; I thought that he could undo it. He told me that as long as I did as I was told, he would turn me into a human again, but…one night, I heard him speaking to someone, a woman with blue hair, saying that I was almost done with my usefulness and I would be killed soon.
I had trusted him. I thought that he really was remorseful for what he did to me, but all he wanted was my powers. I killed him that night and ran away. He drowned. I killed him…and I was happy about it! You see, I'm a monster! You're human. You couldn't understand. I was happy!"
"You don't sound happy now," Hara said gently, "You sound like you regret it."
"I didn't when I did it," she hissed, "I didn't regret doing it at all."
Hara was quiet for a moment, "Then that means that I'm just as much of a monster as you are. Maybe more of one…"
Isaribi was silent; her voice had caught in her throat at that statement.
"I was born in a small farm village in Water Country. My mother and father and I lived very happily on my father's small wages. It was right after one of the many civil wars between the Mizukage and the Water Daimyo, and one of the prime clans, who had the power of the Hyoton had been almost completely eliminated. The people feared that clan and felt that anyone who held that bloodline was evil. When I was eight, almost nine, I was playing in the snow, when I found that I could create ice out of nothing. I went to show my mother, not knowing what I had. My mother was a carrier of the Hyoton, which had awoken within me. My mother told me never to show anyone, but my father had seen. He murdered my mother, and turned to kill me. In rage and sorrow, I caused him to be impaled on ice. I didn't regret what I had done…and I'm not sure if I do now. To my father, my mother and I had ceased to be human the moment he saw me use the Hyoton. We were just monsters."
"Then why?" Isaribi asked, "Why are you with these people… if you've been betrayed, if they really did that…why?"
"I told you before…when we were gathering herbs together," Hara said, making Isaribi jerk a little, "they acknowledged my existence. They found out about my kekkei genkai, which had caused my own father to think I was a monster, and they accepted me."
"You're different," Isaribi said, searching for a reason for why she had been cast away by everyone who didn't want to use her, "You don't look like a monster."
"Neither do you," Hara…Haku…said, Isaribi could hear a smile in his voice.
"Then you're not looking," Isaribi said bitterly, "What kind of human has scales?"
"The kind that has been through unimaginable pain and suffering that was thrust on them when they shouldn't have had to bear it. Like I said, you've suffered in a different way then I have. You had this thrust on you, while I was born with it. Some of my friends never knew anything other than hatred from others for a very long time. It's not fair is it? It's not fair that just because we're different they hate us and call us monsters."
"…I want to be a person again…" Isaribi muttered.
"You are human, Isaribi-chan," Haku said, appearing next to her, but ready to disappear if this was a ploy to allow her to attack him, "You've always been human."
"…but…I've"
"You've done nothing that makes you a monster. The monsters are the people who did this to you. Monsters aren't defined by how they look. They're defined by what they do. Isaribi…if you continue with Zabuza-san, you'll become a real monster."
"But…he said…that he knows someone who might be able to turn me back." Isaribi whispered.
"Who are they?" Haku asked.
Isaribi was silent. Her mind was racing. He had never given her a name. In fact, he had never talked about it again after she had agreed to join him two years ago. She had always been waiting for him to say that she had paid for her cure. What if he had been lying just like Amachi. She had allowed herself to be tricked again. Tears began to leak out of her eyes.
"I don't know if he was lying or not, but…my teacher…Tsunade-san is considered the greatest medic in the world, and…"
"Why should I trust you?" Isaribi asked.
"You have to trust someone," Haku said gently, "You have to take some kind of gamble, and I'd like to think that I'm a good bet. You don't have to answer me right away; after all, we have a long battle to sit through."
Sai was actually very impressed by the Uchiha girl. Sasuke had told them all his theory about her being a plant set up by Danzou, but he still thought of her as the Uchiha girl. Sai had known most of the people his age, and this girl wasn't one of them. Of course, she could have been one of the ones he never saw or she could have joined later. One thing, however was certain, her skill was above Genin level.
She couldn't see through the genjutsu he had placed, it was at least A-rank, but she was fighting well anyway. She was carefully launching attacks that had a broad range, but, Sai noticed, she didn't seem to care one way or another about the safety of her teammates, which was perfectly normal ROOT behavior, but also, from what Sai had read, perfectly normal Uchiha behavior.
Both Kiba and Shino were staying in one place. Kiba was trying to sniff the air, and Shino seemed to be doing something with his bugs, most likely eating away at the ink snake that he had summoned. Well, they could eat all they wanted; the chakra that had brought them to life had already been used. The only way to get rid of them was to kill them outright.
Sai moved to dodge a Goukakyuu that was going in the right direction, but had no real control. This girl wasn't as good as Sasuke. Even when Sai used his Kokuangyo, Sasuke usually was able to manage to hit him, just by judging from where his attacks were coming from.
"You're not very proficient…" Sai commented
"You talk too much," Yumi hissed throwing a kunai in the direction of his voice and narrowly missing Kiba, who felt the wind of it and cried out in surprise.
"Don't throw those things over here!" he yelled.
"Nothing is more important than the mission," Yumi stated, "including teammates."
"There is no emotion," Sai said, stating one of the fundamental laws of ROOT, "There is no self, there is only the mission. Am I right?"
"So, you understand," Yumi said, "Good, I've always wanted to go against an opponent who wasn't weak."
"I understand perfectly," Sai said, "Although…I wish I didn't."
"Hn," Yumi grunted.
She threw some more kunai, and Sai dodged again; this time she was a bit closer. She dashed towards him, but Sai didn't bother to attack her back. As long as he kept her from harming Tazuna, he didn't have to kill her.
"Why don't you kill us?" Yumi asked.
"Um, Yumi," Kiba said.
"I don't have to," Sai replied, "If a death is not necessary, I see no reason to kill."
"So, you're too weak mentally to kill us?" Yumi asked.
"Only someone who's not afraid to die themselves, should kill others," Sai said, remembering something that Tsunade had said, "and someone who's not afraid to die must come to terms with their own mortality. By doing that…it makes life something that shouldn't easily be destroyed just because you're more powerful."
"Your mercy will be your undoing," Yumi said coldly, and just for a second, Sai thought he saw…
No, that was impossible…
Sai quickly drew a succession of lion dogs and sent them on the attack. Yumi drew two kunai from her pouch and began to fight almost like they were twin swords. Her motions were fluid, careful, well practiced and had an effortless quality that only came from long familiarity with a fighting style.
Sai continued to watch and create more opponents for her. She was doing well…too well.
"I've decided something," the woman called Nisshoku was saying, "Battles are only interesting if you're involved in them…"
"I've decided something," Rasen replied, "Shippuu can sit out the next battle, or Arashi, I don't really care which."
Tazuna decided that he really wished that they would stop holding a conversation and focus on what was going on around them.
Gesshoku tensed suddenly.
"I can see someone," she said suddenly, "Rasen, do you see the same thing?"
It seemed that Rasen also tensed a little.
"No, they must be out of range for me still. You have a greater range then I do. What is it?"
"There's a large group of people coming," Gesshoku said, "but I don't see chakra. They must be mercenaries."
"Wonderful," Nisshoku said, sounding pleased, "It looks like we may be able to fight after all."
"We are such psychos," Rasen pointed out.
"What do you mean 'we'?" Gesshoku asked.
Sasuke knew all of the legends of the Sharingan. He had grown up on them, and even once he had left, he still read about it, in hopes that when he activated it, he could use it quickly. He knew that usually it activated at a very low state of power, only with one comma-like tomoe in each eye. The tomoe allowed him to see different things: ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. He had tried to learn as much as he could, but nothing he had read came close to what he was experiencing.
Sasuke didn't know how many tomoes had awakened, but he had a feeling that it was two. After all, he could see both his taijutsu and ninjutsu.
The Sharingan was changing the flow of the battle. Sasuke wasn't just trying to get away from his attacks, he was attacking with Kimimaro.
Zabuza seemed to agree that the battle was changing; he wasn't playing with them anymore.
"Kirigakure no Jutsu," he said as more mist began to appear and make it impossible to see around them.
Too bad the Sharingan could see right through it.
"Haka," Sasuke said, "He's going to attack from the left."
"Got it," Kimimaro said, dashing into the area Sasuke pointed out, sword drawn and ready.
There was a clash and Kimimaro's bone sword and Zabuza's sword met each other. Sasuke knew from experience just how strong and sharp Kimimaro's sword was, and just the fact that it was holding up against Zabuza was proof enough. Both of them were pushing against one another, trying to force the other to jump back and give an opening. Sasuke took out one of the many scrolls under his Haori and bit his thumb. There was a poof of smoke and a large shuriken appeared in his hands. He threw it at the exact time that Kimimaro jumped back, forcing Zabuza to dodge, and giving Sasuke time to run in for an attack.
Zabuza swung his sword, but Sasuke jumped, landing on top of it and continuing his dash towards him, kunai appearing in his hands. Zabuza let the sword go with one hand with a kunai of his own, to block Sasuke's attack. Sasuke, in a flash of inspiration, kept running and jumped over the startled ninja, turning in mid air and throwing the kunai, not at Zabuza's vitals, but at his arms.
Zabuza realized a little too late and didn't quite have the time to dodge before two kunai grazed his arms and the bone sword had managed to slice a bit of his side.
Sasuke was out of breath and his legs were threatening to give out. This was the amount of work that it took to fight a Jonin level opponent. In a way it was exhilarating and in another, Sasuke just wanted to go to bed. Kimimaro was breathing hard too. This was different than the endless training sessions with Jiraiya. Jiraiya was an opponent who they had learned to read, which made things much easier.
"You know," Sasuke said, sounding a little tired, "For our first real opponent, I think we're doing good."
"I hope so," Kimimaro muttered, "Just hitting this guy is hard."
Both of them were facing Zabuza and preparing to continue the attack.
"You know," Zabuza said, getting back into an attack position, but not quite holding the sword right because of the wounds, "I'm going to have to take you kids seriously. Consider this a compliment; I haven't really had to fight someone like this in a long time."
Sasuke looked over at Kimimaro. He was starting to look tired as well. This might turn into an endurance fight, something that neither of them were good at.
Sasuke hated to admit it, but he was the product of a careful breeding program. It produced shinobi who were light, fast, and built to complete missions quickly. He had a fairly high amount of chakra, but one thing that the Uchiha had never put much store for was endurance or strength. It was true that Sasuke had tried to build up his endurance, but the fact was he wasn't built for long fights. That was Naruto and Gaara's speciality, particularly Naruto. He had seen his friend train for almost three weeks straight. Granted Naruto had almost collapsed and died right there, but he had done it. If they got into an endurance fight, Sasuke would lose.
Kimimaro wasn't that much better off. Even though he had been cured of Tainted Blood when he was younger, it appeared to have already been doing some damage. Kimimaro would sometimes get tired if he used his kekkei genkai too much. It didn't always happen, and Sasuke prayed that it wouldn't happen this time.
Zabuza charged forwards his sword in a killing arc, but it looked like Sasuke's kunai had damaged some muscle, because the swing was slower than it should have been and slightly clumsy, allowing Sasuke and Kimimaro to dodge, barely.
"What a disgusting display," a voice said coldly cutting through the mist.
Naruto turned around when Gaara appeared through the sand. Gaara had long ago learned how to turn into sand in order to spy and to travel quickly. He had turned into sand in order to attack Kakashi if he had proved himself to be untrustworthy.
Kakashi didn't look surprised at the sudden appearance; he had probably guessed he was there.
"There are a group of people who've turned up. One of them looks like Gato," Gaara told him, "What do you want to do?"
"Release the dome," Kakashi said suddenly, "I still have a mission to complete involving Gato. Thanks to his timely appearance, I and my team don't have to bother Tazuna-san any more."
Naruto looked over at Gaara, and both reached an unspoken agreement.
"If you attack Tazuna-san, I will kill you," Gaara said softly.
Kakashi looked like he believed him.
As Naruto replaced his mask, Kakashi smiled at him.
"I'll see you at the Exam Naruto-kun," he said.
What?
The dome began to disintegrate around them, giving Naruto a good look at what was going on.
Sai's genjutsu was still in perfect effect. That wasn't much of a surprise since Sai was probably the best at performing genjutsu other than Sakura, and that was one of Sai's best techniques. He really did live up to the name of Shin'en no Sai. The dome of mirrors showed that Haku was also perfectly fine. The only one of them who could escape that jutsu without a problem was Gaara. Sasuke and Kimimaro were both starting to look a little worse for wear, and Sasuke was bleeding. The battle between those two had stopped though, and Zabuza was staring at something that Naruto noticed for the first time.
At the opposite side of the bridge, a large group of rough, dangerous looking men had congregated. They were holding swords and clubs, but they didn't look like they were well trained. Naruto recognized mercenaries when he saw them, and cheap ones at that.
There were almost always ninja mercenaries running around. Half of them were mission nin, but there were those whose ancestors had survived the fall of various villages, and had not engulfed themselves into another village the way most families did.
Naruto knew for a fact that the Nara family was the remainder of a large and powerful family from a village known as Kage. Talk about unoriginal.
The fact that this guy had not hired ninja showed one of two things, either he was cheap, or he was stupid. Possibly both. No common mercenary could go up against an academy student, let along a real ninja. Mercenaries were meant to be the grunts in an army. They hadn't been trained to kill from the moment that they could walk the way that most ninja had been.
The man was short and fat looking. He had dark glasses on and a very unpleasant smirk. Something told Naruto that this was Gato. He looked over at Zabuza and his smirk widened.
"You call yourself the Demon of the Mist?" he sneered, "Maybe a baby demon, but you can't even win against a group of stray ninja that this old man dug up."
Zabuza turned to face him, and Naruto didn't have to be an expert at reading people to see that he wasn't happy.
"You know, I never was going to pay you," Gato was gloating, "I was just going to poison you once you'd done the job, but you know something, I like this better. Ninja are so ridiculously expensive."
Naruto noticed that Kakashi had vanished, and that the darkness around the Genin seemed to be dispersing, but whether it was the fact that Sai was finally starting to get tired or that Kakashi was doing something, he couldn't tell.
"Hakumei," Zabuza said loudly, "our disagreement is officially dissolved. I have no more interest or need for the old man. Do what you want to my assistant, but I want his head."
The dome of mirrors around where Haku was began to recede, so Haku was listening.
Zabuza didn't seem remotely interested in his assistant, he was dashing towards Gato with his sword raised, but he never had the chance to hit.
Kakashi appeared behind Gato, throwing a barrage of exploding tags at Zabuza, who didn't have time to dodge. He was winded and a little slow from his battle. He should have avoided the attack easily, but as it was, he avoided the tags themselves but the explosion sent him flying off of the bridge. There was a splash and Naruto didn't see anything more of Zabuza. He had a faint impression of something on the other side of the bridge jumping off, but shook it off.
Hakumei had all formed a barrier around Tazuna, waiting to see just what would happen and ready to attack.
Gato turned to face Kakashi with a smirk and probably a promise to reward him for his help, but anything he was going to say was forgotten by Kakashi's words.
"I'm here on an assignment, Gato. I was hired by Wantanabe-san to assassinate you. The conditions were that you must know who had killed you and that your head be brought to the client," Kakashi's voice was completely emotionless.
"No, wait, I'll pay-"
Whatever Gato was going to say was never finished. He was dead before he could complete the sentence and before the mercenaries had time to react. One moment Kakashi was standing behind Gato, the next he was in fount of his team with Gato's head.
"Kai!" he said, calmly dispersing what was left of Sai's jutsu.
Kiba looked around frantically, trying to get his barrings. Shino seemed completely indifferent, only once looking over to Hakumei and bowing his head, apparently acknowledging defeat. Yumi stood calmly, a kunai in both hands, looking like she was prepared to continue or retreat, depending on Kakashi's orders.
"Hey, you!" one of the mercenaries called, his brain finally back in circulation, "You killed our meal ticket!"
"Forget him, let's loot the village," Another, calmer voice said, "Fighting ninja is for idiots."
"You're right!" someone else yelled pointing at Hakumei, "let's loot and kill these guys, they're not real ninja!"
"Number one rule for being a cliché hero," a young voice said, "always arrive late; it adds to the drama!"
Naruto turned to see Inari along with what looked like all of Wave standing at the base of the bridge. With him were nine Bunshin in the forms of himself, Sasuke, Sai, Neji, Sakura, Gaara, Kimimaro, Hinata, and Haku. Naruto mentally patted himself on the back. No one would think that they were Hakumei now. Unless they were Kakashi.
"You're not wanted on this island!" one of the men who Naruto recognized as a former bridge worker yelled.
"And what are you going to do about it?" a mercenary asked mockingly, "You guys don't have any real weapons."
"But they do have us," Gaara said softly as sand began to snake around the feet of the mercenaries, "Leave. Now. Or you will regret it."
"Your deaths are unnecessary," Hinata said in just as soft a voice, "but if you insist, we will kill you."
The mercenaries wavered. For some reason, the masked figures disturbed them slightly. There was something about them that said that they were all trained killers, who would have no objections to attacking if they made the wrong move.
"Oh, come on," Neji muttered, "Let's just kill them and be done with it. I didn't get a chance to fight anyway, this ought to be interesting.
"Gesshoku, Nisshoku, Rasen," Naruto said, "Looks like you get to see battle after all. Don't damage the bridge."
"Hai," three voices chorused.
This time, the mercenaries had had enough; they ran, only to have the three in hot pursuit.
"That ought to keep them busy," Naruto sighed, "and keep the complaints down."
"Now all we have to deal with is the other problem," Sasuke said.
"What other problems?" Kimimaro asked, then noticed the Genin, "Ah, those problems."
Kiba looked like he was both ready and willing to try to take all six present members on single handedly.
"Alright, let's crush them!" Kiba said, already getting ready to make a dash for Naruto.
"Kiba, stand down," Kakashi said calmly, "the mission is over, Gato's head has been recovered."
"But," Kiba looked shocked, "what about them!"
"We have no more need to fight them. They were hired to protect Tazuna-san, and we are no longer going to threaten him. The mission is complete. We are returning to Konoha."
"Excellent," Yumi said, "This place's filth was beginning to make me ill."
Shino said nothing.
Without a word of farewell, the three Konoha nin vanished, but before they had left, Naruto had seen Kakashi look back at them and at Tazuna.
There was sorrow in his eyes.
Just for a second, Naruto wondered just how awful it would be to have to follow orders that were against everything he stood for. To have to pretend that you were loyal to someone who secretly you wished only the most painful of deaths. It was impossible for him to hate Kakashi. After all, what would he have done in that situation?
Naruto turned to Tazuna and looked around for Tsunami's face. She was already wading through the crowd to get closer to them. When she had reached the forefront, she took a while to collect herself.
"I don't know if I or anyone in Wave will ever be able to thank you enough," she said softly.
"Don't thank us," Haku said, "The Konoha nin killed Gato."
"Yes, but you made sure that my father was safe, you got rid of the mercenaries, and according to Taiki-kun here, you made sure that no one attacked the house," Tsunami said, patting a Bunshin who was looking rather pleased with the situation. She took out an envelope and smiled a little, "This is the money that you asked for, but I don't think that it will ever cover our gratitude. You've done so much for Wave, even before this…"
Naruto took the envelope, and felt a weight in his heart. He had planned on just disappearing, but it didn't look like it was possible.
"What happened to Zabuza?" someone asked.
"He was knocked over the bridge during the fight, and his assistant went after him," Haku supplied.
"So he's still alive?" Inari asked, sounding frightened.
"Possibly," Haku said, "but I doubt it."
Naruto knew from the slight lift in Haku's voice that he was lying. Zabuza had survived and he was covering up for him.
Why?
Naruto bowed to Tsunami politely, "It was an honor to help such good people. Unfortunately, the time has come for us to leave."
Before anyone could say anything, Sasuke spoke up.
"Those ninja know that we're here, and they will report our presence to their superiors. If we don't leave now, there'll be trouble for all of you when they come to collect us. Our presence is a danger to you. Villages dislike large, organized groups of ninja running around free, so it's best for all of us if we leave."
Inari turned to the Naruto Bunshin, "does that mean you're leaving too, Taiki-niisan?"
The Bunshin laughed a little, putting one hand behind his head, "Yeah, we work for them, and well…"
Inari looked like he was getting ready to cry, and he put his head down.
"Hey," the Bunshin said, "don't be too sad, I'll see you again. Hakumei's jobs take us all over the place, so we'll see each other again one day. Who knows, maybe we'll be back sooner than you, or I, think.
Inari looked a little happier at that statement. Further conversation was interrupted by the return of Neji, Hinata, and Sakura.
"Are they gone?" Sai asked.
"They're probably halfway to Lightning Country at the rate they were going," Neji said, he sounded rather pleased with himself.
Inari sniffed a little bit and looked up at Hakumei, tears were still in his eyes, but he was controlling himself.
"Thank you, ninja-sans," he said softly, he sniffed again, "make sure you send Taiki-niisan and the others back here soon."
Sakura leaned forwards, and Naruto heard her whisper to him, "Don't worry, we'll be back one day, oh, and no matter what Masaru says, real men can cry, you don't have to be a rock all the time."
She straightened and they all looked at the faces of the people around them. They were grateful, and…happy looking. Something about them had changed. They didn't have a hangdog, defeated air about them anymore. There was something in them that looked like they were ready to fight again. That weren't really cowards; they had just had to be shown that they did have a chance to win against seemingly more powerful enemies.
Naruto was sure that Inari's father would have been happy.
"Everyone…Sayonara,"
All of them, including the Bunshin, disappeared in smoke.
Inari looked over at his grandfather, "They were really great ninja weren't they?"
Tazuna nodded and looked around at the bridge, "For all the fighting and struggle that went into building this thing, it needs a good name."
"How about…the Great Hakumei Bridge?" Inari suggested.
Tazuna grinned and there were some cheers and claps in the crowd.
"I like it. With a name like that, this bridge will last forever and be a lasting sign to never give up in the face of adversity…"
Omake: Birthday
It was five fifty-nine on the morning of October the tenth, and Tsunade's sleep was interrupted with a scream.
"YOU STARTED TOO EARLY!"
Tsunade groaned and rolled over, putting her pillow over her head. These crazy kids and their insane ways of celebrating birthdays were not something that she was going to think about at this hour. Unfortunately, her wish was not granted.
Naruto dashed past her room, loudly, with what sounded like everyone else in hot pursuit.
"Don't worry, Naruto," Sasuke called out, "It won't hurt too long!"
A kunai came flying out of nowhere and hit Naruto. With a poof, the Bunshin vanished.
They all stopped.
"That cheater," Kimimaro muttered, "he was ready for us. He's hiding somewhere…"
"Come out, come out wherever you are, Naruto-kun," Hinata chanted in a sing song voice.
Tsunade heard the group split into different fractions, some heading outside, all of them with one plan in mind: to beat Shippuu no Naruto to within an inch of his life.
It was almost six when they finally caught up with him. Naruto had created roughly two hundred Bunshin and he had been hiding in the one place that they would look last: Jiraiya's library. Since Naruto was immune to Jiraiya's books, he had nothing to worry about, also, he had a habit of picking out things to read that were sappy but nothing else. At five minutes to six, all the doors to the room flew open and Naruto found himself surrounded. He was pinned by one of Sai's snakes and watched in horror as they advanced on him.
Somewhere in the house, a bell chimed six times.
Eight attacks that were about to hit Naruto were cancelled, and Naruto was suddenly being carried by Gaara's sand and surrounded by an honor guard of his friends, who were singing 'for he's a jolly good fellow.'
"Happy Birthday!" Kimimaro cried.
Naruto sighed in relief. This was the most insane tradition ever made.
He was going to have to get them all good on their birthdays.
A/N::
Shippuu no Naruto-Taiki
Arashi no Sasuke-Masaru
Sabaku no Gaara-Shinta
Rasen no Neji-Haru
Nisshoku no Sakura-Emi
Gesshoku no Hinata-Rei
Hara no Haku-Ryou
Shin'en no Sai-Hideaki
Haka no Kimimaro-Yuuma