The Demon Of The Mist

• unknown location•

The black and white human venus fly trap slowly slinked upwards out of the ground. Once fully out of the ground he fell to one knee and bowed to the transparent figure that stood over him. If the man didn't have the rinnegan then itd be much harder for zetsu to figure out who it was.

" leader-sama, ive brought news regarding the nine tails." The plant like man stated.

Peins ringed eyes narrowed slightly as he stared down at his ultimate spy/scout." Speak zetsu, do not keep me waiting.." pein spoke, his voice was deep and emotionless.

"Of course." Zetsu replied, standing up to his full hight." Ive gotten word from my spies in the leaf. Naruto along with kakashi hatake, sasuke uchiha and one sakura haruno have accepted a mission to wave country." Zetsu explained.

Pein hummed." I see. Tell me zetsu, have any of your spies been able to get ahold of the jinchurikies files? Its important that we know everything about the jinchuriky before collecting them." He stated.

Zetsu huffed and crossed his arms over his chest, it reminded pein of a child seconds away from throwing a fit." I apologize pein-sama, but the third hokage had any record of the boy destroyed, as of right now he is a ghost."

"Explain." Pein ordered.

"The only thing about naruto that's on record is his name, birthday and the simple fact that hes a ninja, hell theres not even a rank listed." The plant man sighed." Ive had my spies ask around and it seems that any important files involving the jinchuriky are kept on that old hokage at all times. I do not know why but hiruzen isnt taking any chances involving naruto. Its like he knows somethings up."

"Are you saying hes aware of our organization?" Pein asked with narrowed eyes. Hed spent a lot of time making sure akatsuki stayed under the five hidden villages radar. Itd be rather upsetting if he did all that work for nothing.

"I don't know, its possible. I mean jiraya of the sannin is haled as a master spy." Zetsu shrugged." But if he is aware of us, he hasn't done anything to stop us." He added calmly.

Pein grunted in annoyance." Fine. Who do we have that's closest to wave?" He asked the humanoid plant.

Zetsu rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before snapping his fingers." I believe its itachi and kisame. I believe you have them stationed in mist country to keep watch over the three tails." Zetsu stated with a nod.

Pein nodded his head a bit." Have them head to wave and obtain the nine tails. We cannot afford to allow him to continue growing stronger, especially if we have no information on him." The man ordered.

"But leader-sama, we are not ready to seal the nine tails yet, we arent ready to seal any tailed beasts yet and the nine tails must be sealed last." Zetsu stated pointedly.

"We will just hold him prisoner until we are ready to seal him." Pein replied plainly." How old did you say he was?" He asked.

"Judging from his birthday, id say either 12 or 13." Zetsu answered.

Pein nodded." Good then hes still too young to be much of a threat." He said with a confident look in his ringed eyes.

Zetsu sweatdropped." Pein-sama, do you forget that itachi-kun was only 13 when he joined our group?" He asked dryly.

"I have not forgotten zetsu. But our target is a jinchuriky. No village- except for kumo- would be willing to give their jinchuriky enough power to rival S-ranks at such a young age." He stated calmly, confident in his own knowledge that the five hidden villages – except kumo- hated their own jinchuriky.

Zetsu had to restrain himself from sighing." Very well leader-sama, ill have itachi and kisame head over to wave and capture the jinchuriky." The plant man bowed once to the rinnegan holder before seemingly melting back into the ground and vanishing.

Pein stood there, silently staring off into the pitch black room. His eyes narrowed into slits. Yes, the time to end the era of shinobi would come soon. He just needed to be patient and soon, oh so very soon the world would know his pain..

• just outside of wave country- 1pm•

Naruto and the gang were walking down the dirt road that led in the direction of wave. Naruto was resting his hands behind his head, seemingly relaxed and unaware of his surroundings. Even if that wasn't true, his enemies didn't need to know that.

Sakura stared heatedly at the blonds back before her eyes shifted over to kakashi who was lazily reading his icha icha book. She growled before coming to a stop, she stomped her foot and pointed at the two jonin who had stopped and looked back at her.

"Okay you idiots! Why arent you freaking out?!?" She asked heatedly." We wake up this morning to narutos joyful singing and then you-" she pointed at kakashi."- you just tell us we'll be facing an S-ranked ninja like its an everyday thing. How are you all not freaking out?" Her rant died down and she began to hyperventilate." Oh kami man, im scared. What if we die?!?" She asked them, though it sounded like she was asking herself.

"Is an S-rank really that bad?" Tazuna asked with a gulp, looking over to the silent black haired boy that had been walking next to him.

Sasuke looked up at the man and tazuna saw that even the boys usual non caring look had been replaced by a worried look oh his own. " we are genin, the lowest of the low in ninja ranking terms me and sakura would probably be considered C-ranked threats at best. S-ranks are practically gods compared to us tazuna, were talking people that are on the same level as kages..if not stronger." the boy informed the old bridge builder who had now paled drastically.

The man looked at the two jonin with wide eyes." Were gonna die arent we? Oh kami, inari and tsunami are gonna be so sad!" Tazuna ranted to himself.

Naruto sighed and ran a hand through his hair." Would ya all calm down please?" He asked with a sigh." We'll be totally fine alright? Kakashi and I have fought much stronger opponents then zabuza." He said with a confident nod, slightly remembering their battles with hidan, kakazu and orochipedo. 

That seemed to calm the two genin and civilian down." So like, you and kakashi have killed S-ranks before?" Sakura asked hopefully.

The two jonin shared a look before looking back at them. Kakashi cleared his throat and spoke."weve.. survived?" He stated lamely, and just like that, any hope sakura had was gone, stepped on and crushed like an ant beneath her foot.

"We're so gonna die.." sasuke muttered.

"Nah." Naruto spoke up, shaking his head." I promised mikoto-chan id bring you home safely. If we all died here then shed resurrect me just to kill me herself." He chuckled at the thought. Mikoto could get so emotional sometimes.

" yeah so if were done with this conversation-" the genin could hear a faint whistling sound heading towards them." I suggest you all duck." Kakashi finished calmly.

"What? Why? And whats that noise?" Sakura asked, looking around.

"Down!" Naruto roared out and three red chains burst forth from the ground behind the two genin and tazuna, wrapped around their waists and pulled them to the dirt while kakashi and he just ducked.

Sakura and sasuke who were now pinned to the ground by the weird red chain, watched a large clever like blade fly over head and impale a tree. The chains around them vanished into thin air, allowing them to get back up.

"What the hell was that?" The pinkette asked loudly as she dusted herself off.

"That was-"

"Me" came a new voice neither sasuke nor sakura had ever heard before. Everyones heads snapped over to look at the impaled sword. Standing on the handle of the overly large blade was a man.

He had spiky brown hair, untanned skin, brown eyes and had his lower face covered by white bandages. He wore a grey sleeveless shirt and had on two arm bands. Said arm bands were grey and brown camouflaged just like the mans pants and the last thing the genin noticed was the slightly tilted headband on the mans forehead. It had this symbol for the mist village on it but had a cut going through said symbol.

Sasuke spoke before he could stop himself." Who the hell are you?" The uchiha asked with narrowed eyes.

The man let out a dark chuckle that sent chills down the genins spins, tazuna was just standing there with a terrified look on his old face.

"Me? Im zabuza momochi, the demon of the mist." Sakura nor sasuke could see it, but they could tell the man was grinning behind his bandages.

The mans brown eyes travels to kakashi and naruto who had taken up positions in front of the genin and civilian." Ah, it must be my lucky day. Not only do I get to kill a bunch of wannabe ninja, but I also get to kill the famed kakashi of the sharingan." The man then frowned as he stared at naruto, noticing the boy that was no older than the genin, was wearing a jonin vest." I must apologize, I don't know you." He then laughed." Man the leaf must be just handing those vests out like candy huh?" He chuckled darkly.

"To bad we couldn't have the demon brothers here yeah?" Naruto asked with an eye smile." Then wed have all three mist demons, but sadly they have passed on." The blond shook his head in faux sadness.

Zabuza snorted." Those idiots were no where near my level brat, in fact im glad theyre dead. Two less mouths I gotta feed." He muttered out.

Naruto eyesmiled at the man." Here I was thinking you cared about them. After all they did help in your attempt to kill the fourth mizukage, howd that go by the way?" He asked innocently.

Suddenly everyone felt zabuza let out his KI, it was so strong that the genin began to shake, their minds filling with images of their own deaths. Tazuna had straight up passed out and was now sleeping soundly on the ground behind the genin.

"Youd do well not to bring that up kid, youd live longer that way." Zabuza growled.

'W-what is this?..' sakura thought as tears gathered in her eyes. She couldn't stop shaking as fear seemingly wrapped its arms around her and squeezed.

Sasuke wasn't fairing much better. The boy shakily lifted a kunai up to his own neck.' Must.. stop it..' he thought. Before he could take his own life, a new chakra exploded out, swallowing them up in its warm feeling. The fear they once had began to drain away.

The two opened their eyes and saw naruto standing in front of them with a calming look in his ringed eyes." Don't be afraid.. kakashi and I will protect you both with our lives." The blond stated softly and the two genin realized that it was narutos own chakra that had surrounded them. They couldn't see it but they could feel it.

"Ha!" Zabuza barked out." Don't give them false hope little leaf! Ill kill you all!" The man stood up on his blade and flashed through hand signs while kakashi lifted his head band, exposing his sharingan." Water style: hidden mist jutsu!"

Just like the name suggested, the mist around them thickened to the point that it was difficult to see even a few feet in front of them. "Naruto! Stay with the genin, ill handle things out here!" Kakashi ordered from somewhere in the mist." Oh and could you clear this mist out?" He asked afterwards.

Naruto sighed before flashing through hand signs." Wind style: great breakthrough!" Naruto shot out a large gust of wind that cleared the fog around him and the genin away but it quickly came back, this time it was thicker as well. " well that was a waist of chakra." The blond stated dryly.

An eery laugh echoed out through the mist. Neither naruto or kakashi could tell where it was coming from." Head, neck, spine, heart, lung, kidney.." the voice of zabuza called out." So many ways to kill you all. What should I choose?" He wondered out loud.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and reached up and gripped the handle of his katana.' Are you ready amaya?' He asked the sentient sword.

He heard her chuckled." Let us do battle naruto-kun. Its been far too long since ive clashed against one of the seven swords." She stated. Naruto could almost see the eager look on her face as he pulled her out of her sheath.

"I know.." zabuzas voice rang out." Ill strike.. HERE!" Narutos eyes widened as zabuza appeared behind them, standing right over the passed out tazuna. The mans giant blade was held over head but was quickly swung.

In the blink of an eye naruto was there, standing over the downed man. His blade clashed with zabuzas and sparks flew. The blonds knees almost buckled under the strength of the strike but managed to stand tall.

Zabuzas eyes narrowed as he looked at the blond who had stopped him from killing his target. He then looked at the sword in the boys hands and his eyes widened." That blade!" But it was two late.

"Now!" Naruto shouted out and a black chain erupted from the katana, shooting towards zabuzas head. The man didn't react fast enough and the chain shot straight through his forehead.  The man only grinned before he turned into a puddle of water." Shit!" Naruto growled as he readied himself once more. He tried activating his rinnegan but he quickly turned it off do to the amount of chakra he was seeing within the mist. It was truly blinding.

"Kakashi! Hes using water clones!" The blond shouted out into the mist, only to hear clanging sounds.

"I.. can see that!" Came kakashis strained reply and naruto could tell he was fending off another clone.

The blond growled. He would activate his chakra cloak but he couldn't use any of those abilities without kurama being awake and the damned fox was still sleeping like a newborn baby. He exhaled and took a calming breath. Getting annoyed or pissed off wouldn't help him here.

"Will kakashi-sensei be alright?" Sakura asked the blond. Naruto only nodded his head.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and clenched the handle of his kunai tighter." I hate just standing here, I wanna help." He wanted to fight stronger enemies to prepare himself for the day he faced itachi. He knew that going up against zabuza was suicide but his uchiha blood demanded he helped instead of sitting back like a cowered.

Naruto lazily blasted another zabuza water clone away with his Almighty push before looking back at sasuke." I get it sasuke. The thrill of battle is truly addicting. But-" he ducked under the swipe of a giant clever like sword before spinning around and slicing another clone in half with amaya."- but you have to keep a level head. If you get angry you lose focus and play right into the enemies hands." He used his sword to block another clones sword before pushing the giant sword away and slicing the throat of the water clone." Villages lose a lot of good shinobi that way and id rather not tell mikoto-chan that her only remaining son got cut in half because he couldn't control his emotions." The blond spared the uchiha a glance before looking forward to keep an eye out for zabuza.

Suddenly four red chain shot out of narutos lower back. They came around him and blocked zabuzas sword from slicing him in half. The mist cleared slightly and naruto looked up at the swordsmen as his chains wrapped around the giant blade and squeezed. When the sword didn't turn into water he knew that this was the real zabuza.

"Hello." The blond greeted kindly.

Zabuza pushed down harder on the handle of his blade but it didn't budge. Those chain were as strong as ever." That blade and these chains of yours." Zabuza began." I only know one other person who had these two things. Kushina uzumaki.." he growled the name out.

Naruto tilted his head a bit." You knew my mother?" He wondered curiously, ignoring sakuras and sasukes curious looks.

"Only on the battlefield." Was the mans reply." The red death was the only person to defeat me in a straight up sword battle. You are skilled but youre nowhere near her level in swordplay." He explained calmly, despite being in the heat of battle.

"You don't need to tell me." Naruto stated as he swiped amaya towards the mans midsection, causing him to jump back while letting go of his own sword."I can only hope to be as amazing as her one day. Now enough chit chat." His chains slammed the giant swords blade into the ground, locking it in place." Your time in the living plane is almost up. I do hope inari-sama accepts you as a sacrifice." With that the blond shot forward.

"Shit!" Zabuza barely had any time to pull out a kunai to block the blonds sword that was aimed at his stomach.'fast' he thought.

"There you are." Came the cold yet lazy voice of kakashi who appeared next to him, the jonins kunai plunged towards the mans neck. Zabuzas free hand shot up and blocked the kunai. Zabuza grunted in discomfort as kakashis kunai impaled the palm of his hand."first blood, called it!"

"Damn it!" Naruto whined as he continued to push amaya up against zabuzas kunai.

"You leaf nin are annoying!" Zabuza shouted out as he began to push the two jonin back.

"Shove it." Both naruto and kakashi said at the same time. Then both jonin spun around and kicked zabuza in the chest, sending the man flying backwards into the mist.

"That was a badass moment." Naruto stated.

Kakashi nodded his head and held a fist out to the younger blond." Team awesome?" He asked hopefully.

Naruto swatted the mans fist away." And you ruined it." He grumbled.  Kakashis shoulders sagged in depression.

Suddenly the mist began to clear away and the konoha nin could see zabuza standing on the water, his brown eyes were narrowed as he glared at them.

"You've both impressed me, kakashi killed all my water clones and the little blond held me off." He chuckled darkly." So ill give you one chance to give tazuna up and ill let you guys live. I just want tazuna.." he told them calmly, though there was a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Naruto threw amaya up into the air; a chain shot out of his back, wrapped itself around the handle of the sword and sheathed the sentient sword on the boys back before vanishing." If we say no?" He wondered curiously.

"Ill get serious and kill you all." Zabuza answered simply.

Naruto and kakashi chuckled in amusement as about twenty foxes popped out of the ground around the konoha nin and began circling the group slowly, snarling at the missing nin. " do you honestly think you can kill us all?" He asked curiously." After all, whats a swordsmen without his sword?"

"Im a ninja brat, not a samurai." Zabuza replied as he flashed through handsigns." Water style: water dragon jut- what?!?"

"Water style: water dragon jutsu!" Kakashi shouted out as he copied and finished the jutsu in what was possibly record time.

The water next to zabuza rose up and formed itself into a dragon that had yellow glowing eyes. " that damned sharingan!" Zabuza yelled out. The water dragon roared at the missing nin before charging at him.

"Fuck!" Zabuza jumped over the water dragon as it impacted his previous location, sending a large wave of water to the shoreline. " youll have to do better than that kakashi!" He laughed loudly.

Naruto put his hands behind his back and the genin saw him complete a series of hand seals before he whispered out."fire style: areal explosion" when nothing happened the genin looked confused.

"Kakashi." Said jonin looked at naruto, his eyes widened when an almost undetectable smell hit his highly trained nose." When I tell you too, grab the genin and get as far away as possible." He ordered calmly.

"Got it." Kakashi nodded.

"Planning wont work. You cant win!" Zabuza roared out as he simply vanished from the waters surface. Sakura screamed out in shock as the man appeared right next to his blade and wrapped his hand around the handle." Now die!"

"Body flicker!" Kakashi hissed out as zabuza appeared behind them, his blade raised high in the air.

"Go kakashi!" Naruto roared out. The man in question body flickered next to the genin and picked up a shocked sakura, two shadow clones of kakashi appeared out of nowhere, grabbing sasuke and the still passed out tazuna before they jumped away from the blond and zabuza.

"They can run all they like kid, ill find them." Zabuza stated as he swung his blade down towards the blond who still had his back to him.

" that's if you live."

"What?" The man stopped mid swing as his nose picked up on the smell in the air." What is this-" he didn't finish as the blond raised his fingers and snapped, creating a small spark between his fingers.

There was a loud boom and all zabuza could see was white.

•with kakashi and the genin•

*BOOM!*

They stood there and covered their ears as Naruto and zabuza spontaneously combusted into a giant explosion. The shockwave of the blast shook the kids to their cores and woke tazuna who had pissed himself from the sudden explosion.

"NARUTO!" Sakura shouted out in both shock and fear as she just witnessed one of her close friends die right in front of her. She trued to run towards the flames but kakashi grabbed her by the shoulders and held her in place." L-let go!" She cried out.

"Sakura calm down and look!" Kakashi yelled harshly. Said girl calmed down and looked towards the flames that were now vanishing into thin air and her teary eyes widened.

Sasuke too stared in shock as they saw naruto standing in the middle of the now charred and destroyed road looking perfectly fine and unscathed." What?!? No one could survive that!" He stated as he narrowed his black eyes.

Kakashi smiled down at his genin." Naruto is the one who caused the explosion." He patted a now sniffling sakuras head." Have faith in him guys, hes not an elite jonin for nothing." He added calmly.

After calming down sakura looked around for the missing nin." Wait, wheres zabuza?" She asked.

"Disintegrated, hopefully." Sasuke chimed in as he too looked around for the enemy but didn't see him.

"There!" Sakura pointed behind naruto. The ground behind the boy broke apart as zabuza shot out of the earth, his blade posed to strike the blond down. The man wasn't in good condition either.

Zabuza had burn marks all over his body and the only good arm he had was the one holding his sword. The other arm was completely black and charred. The three konoha ninja could also see that the man was bleeding from somewhere on his head.

"Youre dead!" Zabuza roared out as he swung downwards and sliced naruto in half, right down the middle. Only for the blond to go up in smoke." Shadow clone? When?" Zabuza asked out in shock.

"I switched out with a clone right before I blew you up." Came the calm reply.

"Naruto!" Sakura cried out, feeling a wave of relief as she saw naruto appear standing in front of them with his back to them.

The blond looked over his shoulder and eye smiled at the group." Hey guys, hope I didn't make you all worry to much." He chuckled sheepishly before looking back towards zabuza.

The man was panting and was clearly exhausted. Hed been throwing his chakra around the whole fight wether it was to create more water clones or to escape death. And now he was on his last leg as he stumbled forward, using his sword as a crutch." Youre good kid, I underestimated you because of your age. That fire jutsu, what was it?" He wondered as he panted, wincing at the dull throb his entire body was letting off.

Naruto relaxed slightly." Areal explosion jutsu." Naruto answered."it lets me breath out invisible and near undetectable gas. After that all it takes is a small spark to set the gas off." He explained in a friendly tone.

"Youre good zabuza, really good." Naruto continued." You even caught me off guard a few times there." He chuckled." But you made the mistake of underestimating me do to my age and that cost you this fight." He brought out a kunai and pointed it at the half dead man." Now are you ready to die?" The blond asked.

Zabuza lifted the great sword and rested it on his good shoulder." I don't plan on dying anytime soon brat." He stated fiercely. He made to charge but then felt three pricks in his neck before his vision went black and his limp body fell face first into the ground.

Kakashis sharingan eye narrowed as he saw the three senbon sticking out of the mans neck. He instinctively brought his kunai up and stayed ready for any attacks.

Narutos hand went up to amayas handle and he gripped it tightly as he watched a masked figure jump out of the tree line and stand next to the downed swordsmen.

"No need to attack." Came the feminine voice." Im a hunter ninja from the mist village. Ive been tracking zabuza down for a rather long time and I must thank you for giving me the opportunity I needed to kill him once and for all." The hunter nin stated with a thankful nod.

The genin watched as both jonin relaxed." Whats a hunter nin?" Sakura asked, voicing the same question sasuke was wondering.

Kakashi eye smiled at his student." A hunter nin hunts down a villages missing ninja and either brings them back to the village as prisoners or kills them." He explained. Sakura just nodded in understanding.

Sasuke had different thoughts though." So if I became a hunter nin I could hunt him down?" He muttered out mostly to himself but kakashi and naruto heard him.

"Yup." The blond nodded before looking back at the mist ninja. He couldn't say why but something about this masked ninja made him feel suspicious." So since we basically did all the work, can I keep his sword?" He asked hopefully.

The hunter nin picked up the sword while grabbing the back of zabuzas shirt." I apologize but mizukage-sama wishes to have the blade back. Youll have to take it up with him." He or she- naruto couldn't tell- replied." Now I must go, thanks again and have a good one." And then both hunter nin and zabuza vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Both naruto and kakashi finally relaxed, kakashi fell onto his butt and closed his sharingan eye before bringing his headband down to cover it." Im so glad we don't have to fight anymore. My chakras drained." He stated with a relieved sigh.

"What happened and when did I fall asleep?" Tazuna asked, speaking up for the first time in what felt like forever. He had snuck off to change his pants and was back, looking more awake and alert.

Naruto chuckled at the man." Oh you so fucking owe us for this mission tazuna." He told the man as he summoned a rather large fox. He helped kakashi onto the foxes back before looking at tazuna with an eye smile." After this missions done, im gonna be happy to not see your face for the rest of my life." Tazuna chuckled sheepishly.

"Naruto! Be nice!" Sakura ordered, pointing at the blond who was now laying on his own fox.

"Ma ma, just lead us to your stupid house tazuna. Me and kakashi are tired so its up to the genin to watch over you. My foxes will follow you." The boy waved sakura off as he laid his head against the foxes back.

"U-uh right right. This way!" The bridge builder began to walk ahead of them." Its not too far away now, just a another mile or two." He stated, motioning over his shoulder to get them to follow him. 

"Inari-sama above." Naruto groaned." I wonder what hime-chans doing?"

• konoha•

Hinata who was struggling to keep her balance on top of the waters surface suddenly sneezed and fell into the cold waters of the hyuga pond. She bolted out of the water and onto the shore, shivering as the cold water jolted her system.

She suddenly heard laughing and turned to see hinabi sitting on the ground, pointing at her and laughing her head off.

"Come on big sis!" The academy student stated before pointing down at the scroll she had in her hands." Aniki said that you have to focus in order to stay on the water. He wrote here that its vital to master water walking before moving on to-"

She was cut off by hinata."-to elemental manipulation. Yes hinabi-sensei-" she teased the younger hyuga." I know what naruto-kun said and im trying to focus but its hard." She stated.

"Don't worry, youll get it in no time!" Hinabi stated confidently." You are my sister after all." She added smugly.

Hinata sighed and gave the girl an amused smile." What a dork." She muttered as she went back to the water.

"I heard that!" Hinabi shouted after her older sister.

"You where supposed too!"