*Shiro's POV*
I watched as Naruto's eyes widen slightly at the new figure that came out of nowhere.
Kakashi vanished into air before appearing beside the 'dead' Zabuza.
We were all hesitant and shocked since this person just took down Zabuza easily while we were having difficulty with him this whole time.
Kakashi checked Zabuza's pulse and looked at the masked person.
"Thank you for your help. I hope you don't mind my interfering. But I wanted the satisfaction... Of putting Zabuza of his misery myself!" The masked person said with a bow.
"He sounded extremely hesitant there in his sentence." I thought.
"The mask if familiar... Correct me if I'm wrong... But aren't you a shinobi hunter from village Hidden in the Mist?" Kakashi asked.
"Well, aren't you the smart one?!" The masked person said.
"A shinobi hunter?" Sakura questioned.
I mentally facepalmed, wishing that the nine tailed fox spirit was here and stepped on her.
"I am, indeed, a member of the elite tracking until from the village Hidden in the Mist. It is our responsibility and out art to hunt down and deal with rogues and the outlaws..." The masked person answered.
I blinked, not being able to figure out if the figure was male or female which caused me to sigh in disappointment.
"What's wrong, Shiro?" I heard Naruto quietly ask me.
"I can't tell if that person's male or female... Their scent is covered in herbs and something else..." I answered.
Naruto then whirled to the person in the mask, pointing up at them.
"What's going on here?!! Who are you?!!" Naruto yelled.
"Relax, Naruto, he's not an enemy." Kakashi said as he began to get back to his full height.
My ears twitched causing me to look up and over my shoulder, realizing that it was just Kuro clinging on to my shoulder, fast asleep.
"That's not what I asked! I mean... What I mean is-- he killed Zabuza... Who wasn't exactly a pushover... But still got taken out by a guy who's only about my age! Like it was nothing! What, do we suck or something? What's up with that?!"
"Did he just presume this person's gender?! What the heck, Naruto!" I mentally cried in thought.
"Oh. Well, you have my sympathy. I can see where a thing like that would be hard to accept. But it's a fact... You'll have to live with it." Kakashi said as he pats Naruto's head.
"This probably won't be the last time we run into a kid who's both younger than you... And stronger than me."
Sasuke kept his eyes on Kakashi silently.
The masked person disappeared from the branch and appeared beside Zabuza's body.
"Your battle is over, for now... And the remains must be disposed of... Lest they give up secrets to our foes. Well then, I must be off."
The masked person and Zabuza's body disappeared away from sight.
"Wait... What did that person mean 'for now'...?" I thought, wondering what they meant.
"He's gone!" Naruto said.
Kakashi brought down his headband, covering his left eye once more.
"Now! We still have to escort Mr. Tazuna the rest of the way to his home. Let's put our best feet forward!" Kakashi said.
"Ha ha hah!! You poor kids. You must be so humiliated!! But never mind. You can lick your wounds at my house." Tazuna said.
Before anyone move, Kakashi fell face forward to the ground.
"What?! Huh...?! What's happening?!"
"Kakashi-sensei!!"
~scene change~
*3rd Person's POV*
"Are you all right, teacher?!" The woman named Tsunami asked.
"No, but I will be in about a week..." Kakashi answered.
"The Sharingan eye is an incredible power... But doesn't the strain it puts on your body make you wonder if it's worth it?!" Sakura questioned.
"This time, you took down your strongest foe yet... So we can probably relax for a while..." Tazuna said, wiping his forehead with a piece of cloth.
"I can't get my mind off that masked kid..." Sakura says.
"That mask is worn by the most elite and secret ninja from the village Hidden in the Mist... The shinobi hunters all wear them... Their unit is code named the "undertaker squad", because they dispose of corpses so thoroughly, it's as though, they never existed... Even after death, a shinobi's corpse may yield up its secrets, exposing the skills it had mastered, as well as retaining the aura of the chakras it was steeped in, in the ninja's native lands... Even gd ingredients of any drugs or medicine that body consumed become an open book. In the same way, when I die, if an enemy were to take possession of my remains, the corpse would reveal all of the anatomical idiosyncrasies unique to possessors of the Sharingan eye... In the worst case, the enemy might gain enough information to be able to duplicate and master that power. Ninja corpses tell too many tales. Basically, shinobi hunters specializing in tracking down and eliminating rogue ninja and obliterating their remains... In order to protect the secrets of their home village from the rest of the world. Silently and without a trace. That's how ninja leave the world..." Kakashi explained.
"So, Zabuza's corpse will be dismembered and destroyed? That's so creepy!!!" Sakura said.
Shiro was holding Kuro in his arms, listening to the conversation.
~somewhere else~
The masked person grabbed something from his medical pouch and turned towards Zabuza.
"First, I'll remove the wrappings around the mouth so the blood can drain out, and then..." The masked person said as he moved the clippers slowly to Zabuza's face.
Zabuza instantly woke up.
"Enough! I can do it myself..." Zabuza said, with his hand on the bandages wrapped around his face.
"Well now... Awake already?"
"You have all the finesse... Of a butcher..." Zabuza said as he pulled out one of the needles.
"Gently, please, Zabuza, sir. If you pull those out any which way, you really will kill yourself!"
"How long are you going to keep that ghoulish mask on?! Take it off!"
"Old habits die hard... And it was also useful for my monkey pantomime routine..." The masked person said as they took off the mask, showing who was behind the mask.
The person although looked feminine, was clearly a male if you look close enough.
"They'd have killed you if I hadn't intervened." The boy said.
"You needn't have targeted the vulnerable areas in the neck just to put me into a deathlike trance... Any number of other points on my body would have done! But you are such a sadistic little brat..." Zabuza says.
"Exactly!" The boy responded with a smile.
"I didn't want to mar your perfect body, Zabuza, sir. And besides, the neck is so much less muscular than the rest of the body... I can more precisely target the points... That will leave an ordinary target paralyzed and apparently dead for a full week... But of course, someone like you will recover much more quickly, right?"
"You are so innocent, so guileless... No doubt, it's why I like you." Zabuza states.
"Heh... Well, I'm only a child." The boy replied.
"Without us even noticing... The mist has lifted... Next time... Will you be alright?"
"Next time... I'll break the Sharingan illusion!"
~back with Team Seven~
*Shiro's POV*
Kakashi's eye opened, scaring Naruto and Sakura.
"Eeeek!!"
"Oh, Kakashi-sensei, are you awake?" Tsunami asked as she entered the room.
Kakashi had a hand on his face with a look of despair.