4 ch 3

Chapter 3: Journey to the Land of Waves

The four ninja, plus Tazuna set out of the Leaf village for the Land of Waves, the location of their next mission. They had been walking for roughly a few hours now. During the beginning of their trip, Kakashi explained about the layout of the ninja world and that there were 5 major shinobi nations. Each of those nations had a corresponding Kage that was the leader of the ninja in that nation. However, the Wave Country was a small nation that didn't have any ninja to protect it, although ninja don't normally bother it because of its size. He also explained that it was common for ninja of different countries to encounter one another and do battle as missions between countries tended to interfere with one another.

"Don't worry though" Kakashi reassured. "This is a C-rank mission, which means we won't encounter ninja from other nations." It was at that moment that Kakshi spotted an out of place puddle in the road ahead of them.

As the group passed, two cloaked figures appeared from the puddle. They had claws surrounding their hands with a spiked chain conneting them. Before anyone knew what was happening, the cloaked ninja charged Kakashi, entangling him in their chain. As the two pulled on the chain, Kakashi was instantly ripped to shreds. The three genin stood there horrified. "Kakashi-sensei!" they shouted.

"One down" the enemy ninja said. "Two down." They suddenly appeared behind Naruto. They struck at him with their claws. Naruto was too petrified with fear to move. However, Naruto was spared when sasuke flung a shuriken and kunai at the ninja's chain, pinning it firmly into a tree. Sasuke proceed to deliver a few kicks to the face of the enemy. When they got the chance, the ninja detached their chain, bolting around Naruto and Sasuke. Their target was Tazuna.

Sakura jumped in front of the bridge builder, ready to defend them from the enemy's attack. Before they could strike, Kakashi appeared and knocked the pair to the ground, unconscious but not dead. Everyone realized then that Kakashi had used a substitution when he was attacked. "Naruto, sorry I didn't save you immediately. I didn't think you would freeze like that" Kakashi said to his student.

"Damn it. I couldn't do anything. But Sasuke, it was his first real battle, yet it didn't faze him at all. He saved me." Naruto thought to himself.

"Hey you" Sasuke said to Naruto. "You alright, scaredy cat?" Naruto was getting really pissed at Sasuke's smugness until he realized a wound on his hand.

"Naruto, save it for later" Kakashi said, picking up on the wound as well. "There claws are poisoned. We must open the wound and remove it, or you will die." Kakashi turned his attention to their client. "Tazuna, I need to talk to you. These are Kirigakaru chunin."

The two ninja finally woke to find themselves tied to a tree. "How did you read our movements like that?" one asked.

"On a sunny day like this, when it hasn't rained, there is not going to be a puddle" Kakashi explained. "If I wanted to, I could have killed you, but I needed to know who you were after. Ninja attacking ninja is something we have to deal with, but their target wasn't one of us, right Tazuna?" Everyone turned to the bridge builder. "We haven't heard that there were any ninja after you. We were only hired to protect you from thieves or gangs. This was supposed to be a C-rank mission, but it has now become a B-rank, if not an A-rank. I'm sure you have your reasons, but the mission becomes more complicated when information is left out."

"Sorry, but we aren't ready for this mission. We need to head back and get Naruto some medicine for that wound" Sakura said, a little relieved. Unfortunately for her, Naruto had to open his mouth.

Suddenly, blood splattered to the ground. Naruto had pierced his own hand with a kunai. Everyone looked on in shock. "Naruto! What are you doing?!" Sakura screamed.

"Damn it, why am I always so far behind?" Naruto asked. "I've completed many missions and even practiced justu on my own every day. I should become stronger. I won't lose to you anymore, Sasuke. With this kunai, I will protect the old man and continue this mission."

"Naruto" Kakashi said, smiling. "It's good that you're releasing the poison, but anymore and you'll die from blood loss." Kakashi helped Naruto to close the wound, but saw that it was already healing itself at an accelerated rate. He knew why…the Kyuubi. Kakashi just wrapped the hand and told Naruto that he will be alright. The Konoha ninja agreed to continue the mission, but told Tazuna that this mission was becoming at least a B-rank and that he would have to pay the village when the funds become available.

"You failed!" a rather short man shouted in a castle far away. "You were supposed to be very strong former ninja." Getting pissed off at the little man's yelling one of the ninja swung his sword, stopping just before it cut into the man's neck.

"Stop bitching. This time I'll go and kill them myself" the masked ninja said.

"Heh, are you sure? It seems as if the enemy has hired some skilled ninja" the short man said. "And with the failure of the Demon Brothers, they are aware of us now."

"Who do you think I am?" the masked ninja said, irritant. "There's a reason I'm called the Demon of the Hidden Mist, Zabuza Momochi."

A few more days of traveling passed and the group of five came to the edge of the sea where a Ferrier was waiting to take them from the Land of Fire to the Land of Waves. The boat was small and it was barely able to hold the six of them, not to mention it almost tipped a few times because of Naruto. Soon, Tazuna's fabled bridge came into view and Naruto had to admit that it was impressive as he stood up to observe, nearly tipping the boat…again.

"Wow, its huge!" Naruto shouted out. Suddenly, he was silenced by Tazuna and the farrier.

"Why do you think we are hiding in the mist and the motor isn't running. We don't want Gato to find us." The farrier said.

"Who's Gato?" Sakura asked.

"He's a wealthy shipping merchant known across the great nations. He came to our country, promising a boom to our economy. However, after a little, it was clear that he was only taking over our economy for his own gain. He quickly took control of our shipping companies, the major source of income for us. Over time, he took over our economy using his secret drug trade and some of the ninja he employs. Through force, he now has a monopoly on all shipping traffic into and out of our country" Tazuna explained. "The only thing he has to fear, is the completion of that bridge."

"So that is why those ninja were after you" Sasuke realized. "But why did you hide the fact that ninja were after you?"

"Because of Gato, the Wave Country is poor. Even the feudal lord has no money. We can't afford an expensive B-rank mission right now." Tazuna explained.

The group got off the boat, but Kakashi had an uneasy feeling. He knew that if they attacked again, it would be by jonin-level ninja this time. Suddenly, Naruto heard something off in the bushes and tossed a few shuriken, just barely missing a poor rabbit. However, Kakashi was even more suspicious. The rabbit was a white snow rabbit, yet it was late spring. Suddenly, Kakashi knocked his team to the ground as a large sword came flying towards them.

When Kakashi looked up, he saw a man standing on the hilt of the blade, Zabuza Momochi.

"Everyone stay back. This guy's on a whole different level" Kakashi said. He lifted his headband to reveal a red eye with three black marks, a Sharingan.

"Heh, so you would be Sharingan Kakashi" Zabuza said. This shocked Sasuke that Kakashi had a Sharingan, the dojutsu of his clan. "I already get to see the famed Sharingan, I'm almost honored."

"What's the Sharingan?" Naruto asked.

"It's one of the three great dojutsu, also known as the copy wheel" Sasuke explained, as it was part of his clan. "It's said that the Sharingan gives the user the ability to defeat all types of taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. But that's not all."

"Hehe, that's right" Zabuza said. "What's even scarier is that you can copy your opponent's techniques once you see them. Kakashi, when I was a jonin for the Hidden Mist, there was a page in my bingo book about you. It said that you had copied over 1000 jutsus."

"What's going on? The Sharingan only appears in a select few members of the Uchiha clan?" Sasuke thought to himself.

Zabuza jumped off the tree and landed on water, just a few meters away. Kakashi attacked the ninja, who just turned to water, revealing it to be a water clone. Before Kakashi knew what was happening, Zabuza appeared behind him. "Suiton: Water Prison Jutsu" Zabuza called out as Kakashi became trapped in a ball of water. Zabuza then made another water clone to deal with the kids while he held Kakashi prisoner.

"Hmph. Wearing headbands and acting like ninja" the water clone said. "But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death. Basically, once you're good enough to be listed in my Bingo Book, then you can call yourself a ninja." The clone disappeared, only to reappear and kick Naruto, sending him flying and knocking his headband off.

"Take Tazuna and run! You're no match for him. His clone can't move far away, and he's stuck here keeping me prisoner" Kakashi yelled out. As the clone began to move towards Naruto, he thought he was really going to die there. He froze again, but suddenly realized the oath that he had sworn a little while ago. Naruto charged at Zabuza, only to be sent back to where Sasuke and Sakura were standing. However, he got what he wanted. Naruto was able to reclaim his forehead protector from Zabuza's clone.

"Put this in your handbook you browless freak. I'm the one who will become Hokage one day! Naruto Uzumaki" Naruto exclaimed. "Sasuke lend me your ear." Sasuke didn't like the idea of working with Naruto, but realized that he had no choice.

"Hehe" the clone laughed. "When I was your age, I had already slaughterd my entire class. That is how I got the name, the Demon of the Hidden Mist."

"The Hidden Mist graduation exam?" Kakashi asked, still trapped in water.

"Ah, so you've heard of it" Zabuza said.

"Wait, what exam?" Sakura asked.

"Hehe, fights to the death between students" Zabuza said, letting some killer intent loose. "Children raised together as friends, were pitted together until one lost their life."

"Ten years ago, the Hidden Mist changed their graduation exam as a result of one child who killed his entire class, without pause or hesitation" Kakashi said. "Zabuza." It was at that moment that Sasuke attacked the clone, only to be forced to the ground. He was starting to cough up blood.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto said, making about 30 clones of himself. They jumped at Zabuza with their kunai, only to be dispelled by one swing of his sword. As Naruto slid past Sasuke, he handed his teammate a fuma shuriken. Sasuke threw the shuriken at the real Zabuza, not the clone. However, he caught it.

"What?! Another shuriken in the shadow of the first?" Zabuza said as another shuriken sailed towards him. He couldn't catch this one. However, he jumped to dodge the second shuriken. Sasuke's attack had missed. Or did it?

The second shuriken disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing that Naruto had been transformed into the shuriken. Before landing in the water, Naruto threw a kunai at the Mist jonin, it was aimed for the back of his neck and he wasn't going to be able to dodge this one. Zabuza did the only thing he could. He jumped back, releasing Kakashi from his prison. "Great plan you two" he said to Naruto and Sasuke.

"Heh, I just got distracted and released the jutsu" Zabuza said, trying not to admit he had been bested by a couple of brats.

"No, they forced you to move" Kakashi stated. It was now Zabuza versus Kakashi. The two ninja jumped away from each other. Zabuza flipped through a series of hand seals as Kakashi copied the seals exactly at the same time. "Sution: Water Dragon Jutsu!" the both said at the same time. Two water dragons rose up out of the water and began to do battle with one another. In the end, it was a draw.

Zabuza was shocked that Kakashi was following him so close and so exact. "My movements, is he…" Zabuza was interrupted.

"Reading them?" Kakashi finished.

Kakashi flipped through a few more seal, shocking Zabuza. "Suiton: Water Vortex!" Kakashi called out as a blast of water sent Zabuza crashing back into a tree.

"How?" Zabuza said, weakly. "Can you see the future?"

"Yeah" Kakashi responded. "You're going to die." Just as he said that, two senbon came sailing out of nowhere and nailed Zabuza in the neck, killing him. Out of surprise, Kakashi looked up to see a Mist ninja wearing an ANBU mask. To everyone's surprise, the ninja was a kid, no older than Naruto.

"Thank you very much. I have been searching for the opportunity to kill this criminal" the mysterious ninja said.

"That mask, you must be a Kiri hunter ninja" Kakashi stated. The ninja agreed.

"What the hell?! Who are you?" Naruto said as the hunter ninja caught his attention.

"Back down Naruto" Kakashi ordered. "He's not our enemy."

"It's not that. He killed Zabuza, our enemy, that easily. Who the hell is he?" Naruto blurted.

"Naruto, in this world there are kids younger than you, but stronger than me. Just accept that fact." Kakashi stated. With that, the hunter ninja took Zabuza's body and disappeared. For Kakashi, something still wasn't right and it wasn't his lack of energy as he collapsed to the ground.

The three genin and Tazuna then proceeded to carry their lazy sensei's body towards Tazuna's house.

Back near the site of the battle, the Mist ninja was preparing to do something with Zabuza's body. He pulled out a pair of scissors to cut the bandages off Zabuza.

"That's alright. I'll do it myself" Zabuza said, waking up from his 'death'. "Damn, you sure are rough." Zabuza pulled the senbon out of his neck.

"You shouldn't be rough yourself, or else you will die from pulling them out" the masked ninja said.

"How long are you going to wear that mask, Haku?" Zabuza asked.

"It reminds me of the old days. Plus it is useful in situations like this" Haku said, removing his mask. His face was rather young and looked rather feminine, although he was a boy. "You shouldn't move for about a week, while you heal."

"Hmph, you are so pure and clever. That's what I like about you" Zabuza said.

"That's because I'm just a kid." Haku smiled.

Kakashi woke up, feeling something was wrong and scaring Naruto and Sakura so much that they nearly choked on the food they were eating. "What's wrong Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Hunter ninjas usually dispose of the body on sight. How did the hunter ninja dispose of Zabuza?" Kakashi aksed.

"I don't know, he just took the body and disappeared" Sakura said, her words not reassuring Kakashi. Sasuke also realized what Kakashi was thinking. There was no way simple needles could kill Zabuza like that. He was still alive.

"What the hell do you mean?!" Naruto shouted out. "You even said he was dead!"

"I did, but that was most likely a momentary death" Kakashi explained. "He knew about the body's structure thoroughly, and he used a weapon with a low chance to kill. He was there to save Zabuza, not kill him. There is no assurance that Zabuza is alive or dead, but I say we have a week's time before Gato rallies another, stronger opponent or Zabuza returns. You guys will need training. Over the next week, we will try to make you strong before Gato returns."

"What's a little training going to do?" Sakura said, taking Naruto's place as the loudmouth on the team.

"Sakura, who saved me back there?" Kakashi said. "You guys are growing rapidly, especially you Naruto."

"So we will train until then! Sounds like fun!" Naruto shouted, reclaiming his title as team loudmouth from Sakura.

"That's no fun" a little boy said, appearing in the room.

"Oh, Inari. You're here" Tazuna said. "This is Inari, my grandson. Inari, say hello to everyone. They are ninja who protected me."

The boy turned to his mom and grandpa. "Mom, they are going to die" the little boy said. "There is no way that they can win against Gato."

"What the hell are you talking about you little brat!" Naruto said, only to be held back by Sakura. "Listen kid, one day I'm going to become an incredible ninja and Hokage. I don't know who this Gato guy is, but I'm not going to lose against him."

"What are you, stupid?" Inari responded, sending Naruto into an even greater rage. "If you don't want to die, leave." With that Inari left. Tazuna apologized for his grandson's behavior and explained to everyone how his father was killed by some of Gato's thugs.

Naruto had followed the boy, who was in his room crying, but he decided to leave the kid alone.