Chapter 6

Someone literally reviewed that there were too many reincarnations…there's only 2. There are only 2 characters that are reincarnated at the moment and I might not even do more. I had forgotten how weird the reviews on a Naruto Fanfic could get, it's been a while since I've written for this series.

6

"Are you sure it's a smart idea to give me of all people a sword?" Yuzuki asked Hayate as she put the bokken on her back, securing it in place with a dark blue ribbon that was made from silk that hid metal plates.

"Genma asked me the same thing," He informed her and she made a face, "But I think it's the right move, you'd do good with a weapon that gives you the choice of close combat."

"Jokes on you, I might throw it at my opponent," She informed him with an impish grin.

The hit to the top of her head was worth the annoyed expression on his face. She pushed her hair back from her face and shrugged at the length. Maybe she should let go of her hatred for long hair. She knew better than that. She should wait until she became a chuunin to cut it. It would be a middle finger to the Hyuuga can, and she couldn't pass that up. Granted, she only kept it short because she had been teased mercilessly about how messy it had ended up being after brushing it.

Rat's nest had been a moniker used for her hair.

Now that she understood the way that the mind worked, and how to mess with it, she understood why she had such trouble accepting long hair on herself. She did find it annoying to keep back, even if she cut it short there would be a section that would hang over her eye. It was probably one of the weirdest family traits she had come across. She didn't even know how that worked. She didn't know if she wanted to know.

"We should meet the others at the gate," Hayate informed her.

"Right, Genma owes me some dango after this," She muttered.

"Why Genma?" He asked.

"Are you going to treat me to sweets?" She asked with a raised brow.

"No."

"There's your answer."

She was making a face at him and he couldn't help the low chuckle that left his mouth at her expression. She didn't look like a little kid anymore. She had grown serious with age and her height had grown with that mentality. She seemed to be complete as a shinobi with the bokken on her back. He could even get her to use hand knifes, maybe a tekko. Something that could cover her knuckles and help give her another type of taijutsu to use that wasn't academy or the Hyuuga style. He needed to expand her knowledge so she could continuously adapt to her situation.

She needed more information, and she was good at gathering it.

"What's with your love of sweets?" He asked her.

"I just really like dango," She shrugged, "That with some slightly sweetened matcha makes for a good snack during a break from training."

She sounded like an old woman. He gave a sigh at that and smiled as he looked at her. She stretched slightly as they walked to the gate together. He made sure that she always had a mission pack ready to go. Genma had basically forced her to continuously make sure that her weapons pouch was full, and she had a first aid pouch.

"Oh, Yuzuki," Sakura greeted from her spot against a tree.

"Sakura," Yuzuki greeted back, "Your teams a bit slow to get ready."

"We've never had a mission outside of the village," The Pinkette stated with a frown.

Yuzuki looked unimpressed by how team seven was ran. If she was right then their sensei used to be in ANBU. Why was his team so unprepared? He should know better than to treat his team as children, granted they were but still, he was going to get them killed by being ill prepared. He wasn't taking his job seriously. In her world this would have been reported by other members and he would have been demoted from being a teacher, or at the very least in trouble. His charges would've been taken away from him, and honestly she didn't think he had it in him to be a good teacher, he should've stayed in ANBU.

She bet it was because of the Uchiha and Naruto.

The member of a prestigious clan that had the sharingan like him, and the boy who held a demon in him. Oh yes, she knew all about that, the civilians of the village didn't know how to keep their mouths shut. She had gathered that it was supposed to be a secret, an S-Class secret and those that broke it tend to vanish. It was such a breach of security that it made her skin crawl.

How the hell did this place even function if the civilians didn't take an S-Class secret seriously? The Hokage basically held no power over his people. She didn't know if that was because of the council or if he was just too kind. She was starting to think it was both, he may be formidable and the strongest shinobi in the village, but he was getting soft. It was something that came with age, but even her old commander hadn't lost his edge. He had outlived even her.

Wasn't hard to do, with where that cancer had been.

"Something on your mind?" Hayate asked her.

"He was the ANBU commander right? Why isn't his team prepared?" She quietly asked.

Her volume was low enough that Sakura hadn't heard what she asked. She caught the expression that she was sending her teacher. It was a serious one that was also sprinkled with confusion and slight anger. It was like there was something that bothered her.

"You aren't one to judge," He replied.

"Yes, I am , if I had done this to a squad under my control I would have been removed from command and demoted back into a simple foot soldier," The fact that she was still talking quietly and her hands weren't glowing with chakra was a testament to his training and her obsessive control over her emotions.

He had worked with her to keep her temper under control, granted she didn't have a particularly nasty one. She was a quiet anger, but she could throw a punch that was fueled with chakra when angry. She could rival the sannin if she put enough effort into it. She was going to have to if she wanted to live. He almost wanted to see her become well renown in the shinobi world, just not infamous like Orochimaru.

"Then become the leader of the village," He sighed.

"Too much work," She mumbled in annoyance.

He rolled his eyes at that. Leave it to her to be like that lazy Nara kid. He had the pleasure of meeting that kid in the first round of the chuunin exam and then one night when he had made sure Yuzuki got home safely. The two were remarkably similar in their mindsets.

Work smarter, not harder. It seemed to be something that both believed in without realizing it. A genius and someone that believed wholeheartedly in hard work, it was a very unlikely friendship that really worked well. He had watched her figure out the trigrams through hard work and dedication to learning how her chakra and chakra in general worked. Perhaps they were both geniuses in their own rights.

He was pulled from his thoughts when the rest of team seven and their client appeared. He watched as Hatake Kakashi slouched his way over to the gates. He spared a glance towards the two chuunin manning the sign in table. Kotetsu and Izumo were watching in complete boredom. How the two got stuck on desk duty, he would never know. He had a guess that it involved a purple haired T&I kunoichi.

"Let's get going!" Naruto exclaimed.

"What's got you so excited?" Yuzuki asked the blonde.

"I've never left the village before," Naruto happily replied, a small blush on his cheeks.

"Am I really going to be safe with this brat?" Their Client asked.

"You have two jonin on the team," She stated as she looked towards him with narrowed eyes, "They are able to succeed in areas where we cannot, you have nothing to worry about."

"Yamanaka-san is correct," Kakashi stated, "Please don't worry."

"Way to run your mouth," Hayate sighed at Yuzuki who simply gave a light shrug.

"One day I will take on the super elite ninja title of Hokage," Naruto informed the client, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto, remember it, Dattebayo!"

"Hokage is the villages top ninja, right?" Tazuna asked, "I doubt that someone like you could become Hokage."

"I am prepared to do anything to become Hokage!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the old man, "Once I become Hokage everyone will acknowledge me!"

"No, I won't you brat," Tazuna sighed, "Even if you did somehow become Hokage."

Yuzuki sighed and held Naruto back by his jumpsuit. She wasn't going to deal with him injuring the client. It was nice to see, and a bit annoying, that Naruto didn't change much. He still stood out like a sore thumb, and she was starting to wonder if the villagers weren't setting him up for failure by making sure he was easy to spot.

"Yuzuki," Hayate told her and she gave a nod.

She activated the byakugan to keep an eye out for any chakra heading their way. She was to make sure that no one came to attack them. She looked at each of her mission members and was a bit startled by what she saw. Naruto was like a bottomless pit with his chakra, there seemed to be a foreign chakra seeping into his from a point above his navel. She looked closer and a chill went down her spine, the red color let her know exactly what it was. She moved her focus to their surroundings, the two jonin had the amount of chakra that she expected from their rank.

She kept her eyes moving as they walked. Hayate and Kakashi had taken two spots where they would be the most effective. Kakashi in the back and Hayate in the front. She quietly sighed as she watched the other genin stare straight ahead, or in Sakura's case right at the Uchiha. Honestly, they weren't ready for a C-Rank mission. Kakashi should have kept them on D-Ranks until they understood the importance of keeping an eye on your surroundings. She looked towards the silver haired man.

Just what the hell was he thinking? Did…Did he want them to die? Or was he that stuck in the past? She couldn't tell, but all she knew was that he really should sit down with Inoichi and get some therapy. The man clearly needed it; he was holding onto some serious baggage. This is where the ninjas failed themselves. She simply shook those thoughts out of her mind, it was no use to think about something like this. It wasn't her previous life anymore; she shouldn't think about it anymore it would just make her mad.

"Tazuna-san, you're from the wave country right?" Sakura asked.

"What about it?" Tazuna answered in a gruff tone.

"Do they have ninjas in that country too?" She asked.

"No, not in the wave country," Kakashi answered from the back, "But there are some hidden villages in other countries."

"Konohagakure, Amegakure, Hoshigakure, Ishigakure, Iwagakure, Kirigakure, Kumogakure, Kusagakure, Otogakure, Shimogakure, Sunagakure, Takigakure, Tankgakure, Tsukigakure, Uzushiogakure, Yugakure, Yukigaure, and Yumegakure," Yuzuki stated as she continued to look around, "These are the hidden villages that had cropped up in the years since Konoha has been around, these are in every travel book available to civilian merchants, more information is available in the shinobi library but one needs to be at a chuunin rank to read them."

"Hmm, some of those villages are no longer around," Kakashi stated his one eye in a smile in her direction.

"Uzushiogakure for sure is no longer around and one of these villages is ruled under a hereditary system so it's more like its own kingdom," She agreed.

"H-How do you know all that?" Sakura asked as she tilted her head at the Yamanaka.

"I like to read, and the civilian book does have a basic rundown of the villages," Came the short reply.

She paused as she noticed a puddle of water on the road. There hadn't been any rain in weeks, and it was swirling with chakra. She sighed and nodded to Hayate and motioned to the puddle. He gave her one in return and signed something to Kakashi. The man had been in ANBU, something him and Genma shared. Tokubetsu Jonin seemed to be ANBU members only if there was a need for them. Honorary members are what she called them.

The three seemed to move in unison to the right spots. Hayate gravitated towards the back and Kakashi stood next to him, his shoulders tense. Yuzuki took a spot next to Tazuna, her hand in her weapons pouch. Any second, she knew by how the chakra was moving their enemy would show up.

It happened faster than she had expected, even as her right foot moved and she slid into position a kunai in hand while the other was getting ready to activate the genjutsu seals in her hitai-ate. A chain came out and wrapped around Kakashi, it was fast, but he was torn into pieces right in front of her. Her eyes widened in surprise as Hayate quickly engaged the two enemies.

She tossed a kunai towards one that was charging her way. He dodged it and she activated her genjutsu focusing on him. He slammed into the ground holding onto his head. She might have over done it, but it was her job to protect the client by any means necessary.

"Sakura, Uchiha," She called out, "While he's down incapacitate him."

She got a nasty glare from the Uchiha and she narrowed her eyes at him, activating her dojutsu once again. He quickly went to do what she said at the sight of her byakugan. Even if he had unlocked his sharingan she would still out match him in skill. When the two enemy ninjas were tied up the group seemed to relax a bit.

"So, was the genjutsu Genma's idea?" She asked Hayate.

He gave her a secretive smile and she felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. Of course, he wasn't going to tell her. She hated when he did that, but she knew better than to push for answers. Everything would get answered in the end. Even if it annoyed him during the present.

"Sorry, Naruto," Kakashi said as he reappeared, "For not helping you right away, I didn't think you'd freeze like that, anyway, nice job Sasuke, Sakura."

Sakura gained a light pink dusting to her cheeks and seemed to love the praise she had gotten. Yuzuki couldn't help but make a face at that. That girl's love for praise was so weird and would most likely harm the way she learned. She couldn't help but think that Sakura didn't have the right temperament or drive to become a shinobi. Sure, with the right training she might be good, but even then the way she acted around Sasuke was enough to make her sigh. Her sensei should have given her an ultimatum either get serious with your training or stop being a shinobi.

No wonder Ino thought she was mean.

She wasn't mean, she was realistic. She made a face as Sasuke said something to Naruto to set him off. Again, another thing that deserved an ultimatum. Rivalry was good, but at this point it was going to drive the two apart and cause problems. Sasuke was rude and cold to people without a good reason. Naruto was just a loudmouth and far too energetic, give him some training to do to keep his mind and body busy and he'd become one of the best ninjas and would easily rival the sannin.

Here she was being a better sensei than Kakashi, that was sad.

"Tazuna-san," Hayate stated as he gave a slight cough, "We need to talk."

"These guys are chuunin class ninja from Kirigakure," Kakashi took over, "They train their ninja to keep fighting no matter what."

"How did you read our movements?" The only chuunin that was still conscious asked.

"On a sunny day where it hasn't rained in days, a water puddle shouldn't exist," Kakashi replied, "We also have one of the Hyuuga bloodline with us, the byakugan is able to see three hundred and sixty degrees and able to detect chakra on the minuscule level."

"Why did you let the brats fight if you knew that?" Tazuna asked Kakashi and Hayate.

"We needed to figure out who the target was," Hayate answered with ease, "Was it one of us, or you?"

"There wasn't any information for this mission that notified us that we would have to protect you from shinobi," Kakashi added, "Our mission was to simply protect you from thieves or gangs, this how now become a B-Rank mission at least."

"This was supposed to be a simple protection and escort mission," Yuzuki sighed as she closed her eyes in thought.

"I'm sure you have your reasons," Hayate muttered, "But these genin are not ready for a mission like this."

"We're continuing the mission!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin, "We can handle it, Dattebayo!"

Hayate sighed and looked towards his student. She was surveying the area. If had to guess who was ready for this level of mission he'd say that it was her. She was disciplined and ready to test her mettle against some chuunin, but from he remembered there was a nuke-nin involved with this mission. It was what had started the stories about the new team seven, and now it was going to start stories about his student.

Good, he wanted to take the wind out of Kakashi's sails.

The way he treated his team was a tragedy waiting to happen. He had felt, multiple times in fact, that things had changed. He was starting to notice things around Konoha that he hadn't before. There was a masked figure that would watch the village. He had already given the Hokage a heads up and ANBU presence had been increased. They had seen the figure as well, but hadn't been able to apprehend it.

Something was going to happen, something he wasn't going to like. He needed his student trained up so that she would survive it. If she didn't Genma would kill him for getting his kid hurt. That man had basically taken her under his wing and saw her as the kid that he wanted. He was a flirt, but he never got that far. He would never take advantage of someone who was under the influence of alcohol.

"I have to talk to you, senseis," Tazuna informed the two jonin.

A quick conversation about what was happening, and they soon found themselves on a small gondola heading into Wave country. Hayate had set his student on meditation as the others looked around in amazement at all the fog. She had her eyes closed and her breathing was so soft he almost thought she was asleep. She brought her hands out from their connected state in her lap to tuck her hair behind her ears so it would stay out of her face. He was able to see the illusive right eye.

"What a big bridge it's huge!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Naruto, please stay quiet," Yuzuki sighed, "There's a reason why we're heading into the country like this, if we were found out it could be troublesome."

Naruto paled at that and quickly nodded his head a couple of times. Sakura sent him a glare and looked ready to hit him, the look she was pinned with from Yuzuki was enough to stop her. She wasn't going to play nice with them, they needed to understand that their behavior was unacceptable for shinobi. Naruto was easily forgiven since some of the teachers in the academy had sabotaged him.

"We'll be there soon," the man who was rowing the gondola informed them in a quiet tone, "I'll move us through the route with heavy vegetation to make it harder to be spotted."

"Thanks," Tazuna told him with a curt nod.

"Gato, huh," Yuzuki quietly muttered, "How is it one civilian could have such a monopoly on the shipping industry, and no one stood up and created a law stopping that? Politics are weird."

"A law would most likely stop this from happening again," Kakashi said in thought, "Are you looking to be a politician ninja in the future?"

"Torture and interrogation," She replied, "Don't take my griping as an interest in such things."

Hayate could ignore the look that Kakashi sent his way, he knew that some of the things she said was weird. Hell, she was aware of how it sounded to those in the village. Shikamaru and Genma were the only ones who didn't think it was weird and were immune to it. They were the only ones that didn't know that she was a reborn soul, Hayate didn't think she was weird simply because she came from a different culture and it leaked out every so often.

They went under the bridge and through a water way. The brick tunnel was lit up by the overhead lights. Yuzuki couldn't help but wonder if those ever caused a problem during typhoon season. Did…Did they ever go out? She wasn't too sure how they worked; she wasn't an electrician. She says that but she could work the machines back on the submarine she had worked in before she was stationed in Korea. Then again a computer was different compared to a light source.

"Amazing." Naruto gasped as he looked at the small town that was built upon the water.

It was a harbor town built on the water held up by wood beams and protected by the foliage around them. If they were to have a tsunami they wouldn't stand a chance. Even with the technology they had in her previous life, a tsunami had been near impossible to detect or even predict. The movements of the tectonic plates were constant, but even so guessing when a natural disaster was going to happen was almost impossible unless there were obvious signs. She was brought out of her musings when they bumped up against a small dock. They got out of the gondola and turned to face the rower.

"This is it for me, goodbye and good luck," The rower informed them before heading off.

"Thank you," Tazuna sighed as he gave a short wave he then turned towards the shinobi, "Ok, get me home safely."

"Yes, Yes," Kakashi sighed.

He expected Naruto to act up, so when the female that wasn't a part of his genin team tossed a kunai into a bush with narrowed eyes he slouched even more. He couldn't believe that she was messing around. When she stopped and brought out a white rabbit from behind a bush she tensed up. Her byakugan activated.

"Everyone get down," she barked out.

He grabbed his two knuckle heads as Hayate dragged the client down. Sakura quickly ducked as well when a sword appeared in a trunk where the rabbit had been at. It was large and had a crescent divot in the middle of it to help take people's heads off. It was a monster of a weapon and one that Hayate recognized as a swordsman. Judging by the look on Yuzuki's face she recognized it as well. The Kubikiribocho, the sword that repaired itself from the blood of those it cuts down.

A monster of a weapon indeed.

"Well, well, if it isn't Kirigakure's missing-nin Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi stated as he looked at the figure that appeared on the sword.

The two genin who understood what a protection mission was quickly moved to cover the client. Sakura and Yuzuki had kunai in their hands and were aware of their surroundings and kept an eye on the missing-nin. They knew better than to take their eyes off him. With an activated byakugan the taller girl was keeping all her bases covered.

"Sasuke, Naruto, join the girls in protecting the client," Kakashi ordered as he brought a hand up to his hitai-ate and pulled it up to reveal his left eye, "Hayate and I will take care of this."

Hayate unsheathed his sword and shared a look with his fellow jonin. The two seemed to flicker from existence and Zabuza was put on the defensive. They had two different fighting styles, but were able to work together to fight their opponent with ease. A sword slash was easily blocked by another sword, but then a kunai was sent his way and he had to dodge. There was no time for monologues or questions, just fighting.

"Kakashi-sensei is amazing," Sakura said with wide eyes as Kakashi kicked at Zabuza and sent the nin flying.

"He and Shishou are Jonin," Yuzuki stated, "Tokubetsu Jonin at that, a special class all of their own."

"A-Are you able to follow their movements, Yuzuki-chan?" Naruto asked her.

"A little," She admitted with a slight frown her eyes moving side to side to follow the battle, "But their speed has increased, Shishou holds back a bit when we train, to see him go all out like this is amazing and a bit of a treat."

The battle ended within five minutes of the genin being in awe of the two jonin. Hayate had pinned Zabuza to a tree using the dance of the crescent moon jutsu. Kakashi was above the two and ready to finish the nin off with a kunai. Zabuza was looking at the two with wild eyes, it was like he couldn't believe that he had lost. It had been such a quick fight, something no one had expected.

"You…" Zabuza growled at the two men.

A pair of senbon sailed through the air and buried themselves into the side of his neck. All eyes looked around for the attacker and fell upon a short figure. Long chestnut brown hair would make it seem as though it was a girl, but the clothes said otherwise. Hayate and Kakashi narrowed their eyes in suspicion and Yuzuki slowly followed. There was something fishy going on, and she didn't like it.

She didn't die just to suffer through these shenanigans. She really didn't. She let out a quiet sigh and kept her eyes on Zabuza. The man's chakra signature had basically disappeared, but there was still something there. It was so small, but she could see a spark of chakra that was the size of a pebble.

"Thank you very much for taking care of him," The newcomer stated, "I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time."

"A hunter-nin, huh?" Hayate muttered.

"Hunter-nin?" Naruto asked as he turned to Yuzuki.

"A hunter-nin hunts down their villages missing-nins," She answered with a sigh, "Though, I never knew that they could be as young as us."

"Who the hell are you!?" Naruto shouted at the hunter-nin.

"Naruto, relax, he's on our side," She sighed as she held him back by his jumpsuit.

"How the hell is he so strong!?" He shouted once again.

"I know how you feel, but this is also the truth," Kakashi informed the blonde as he ruffled the sunny locks, "In this world, there exists kids younger than you yet stronger than me."

Naruto looked away at that and Kakashi sighed. Hayate sheathed his sword. There wasn't much that he could do. The kid had a kekkei genkai. Kakashi and he would be able to survive with ease against him, but the kids would struggle. He looked towards his student who was staring at Zabuza with narrowed eyes. The hunter-nin was fast and quickly escaped with the nuke-nin.

"That was a weird hunter-nin," Hayate informed Kakashi, "We should get Tazuna to safety."

"Right, let's get Tazuna-san home," Kakashi told the genin.

"Thanks guys!" Tazuna said with a chuckle, "You are free to stay and relax at my house for a while!"

The walk to Tazuna's house was quiet. Everyone was on edge after what had happened. Yuzuki was starting to feel drained, her stomach was churning, and she stumbled as she walked. She knew that she was getting close to chakra exhaustion. A hand on her shoulder caused her to pause and she looked up. Hayate gave her a small smile and she deactivated her byakugan.