Chapter 8

Everything goes well, for the most part. Naruto, that stupid idiot, has decided that it would be a good idea to throw shuriken at anything that moves. Honestly? I am about to reach the point where I'd consider strangling him in his sleep. But he is not wrong about his "But I've sensed somebody over there!". I know who the two people following us are, after all. So, I walk over to Kakashi and whisper a quiet "There's two of them".

"Are you sure?" He whispers back and I nod. He hums and ruffles my hair. Then, suddenly, both of our eyes widened. I purred. I honest-to-God purred. This is so damn embarrassing! And that bastard dares to laugh at me!!!

"Well, aren't you a cute little kitty," he teases me. I'm not cute, damn it! Take that back! I give him the angriest glare I could muster, but that obviously doesn't work on that a-hole since he continues to giggle like a little schoolgirl. With a huff, I start to even out my disheveled hair. While I am occupied, I can hear Naruto yell something which riles up both Tazuna and Sakura. Then suddenly, both Kakashi and I feel danger approaching our group at a fast pace.

""Get down!"" The both of us shout at the same time and everybody throws themselves on the ground just barely in time before a huge sword sails past just slightly above our heads, embedding itself in a tree not far from us. I immediately look up and see a tall man with a bare upper body and bandages covering the lower half of his face standing on top of the blade, his back turned towards us. Say, is he aware that he's kinda facing the wrong way and trying to strike a pose in order to salvage the situation? Or is he doing that because he genuinely thinks it's cool? If it's the latter, let me tell you, it's not working.

"Well, well, if it isn't the missing ninja Momochi Zabuza of the Hidden Mist!" Kakashi greets our assailant. Momochi, not Mochi, gotcha. He barely even finishes his words when suddenly Naruto starts running at the swordsman, but luckily our dear teacher stops him.

"You're in the way. Stay back, you guys." Kakashi orders. Leave it to our team's number one brick-head to not be able to correctly assess the situation and develop the ridiculous notion that he had even a semblance of a chance against a fucking Jōnin.

"Why?!" Naruto yells and I internally facepalm myself. It just hurts, y'know, on a mental level.

"This man is on a completely different level compared to the other two that we've encountered before," Kakashi warns him. Then, after a short moment of contemplation, he lifts his hand and pushes up his Hitai-ate, revealing his scarred, closed left eye.

"I assume you are Kakashi of the Sharingan..." The Kiri nin says. I can see Sasuke flinch in the corner of my vision.

"I'm sorry, but I'll have to ask you to hand over that old man behind you," Zabuza demands politely. For a missing-nin, he sure has manners. Nice.

"Get into Manji-Formation and protect Tazuna. Don't involve yourselves in the fight, do you understand me!" Kakashi instructs us, and I give him an audible "Loud and clear" as I get into position. That is when he opens his eye and reveals a red orb with three tomoe surrounding his pupil in a circle. The legendary Sharingan. To think I would ever be able to witness it live and in 4k. It does look kinda ominous in a way, though. Red means scary, y'know. And with those black tomoe in there? That just screams "Villain!" no matter how you look at it. Good thing Kakashi only has one of those, and it isn't even his own.

"Well now, I didn't expect to get to see the rumored Sharingan this soon." Zabuza muses and turns towards us. "I feel honored." Oh, you should, good Sir, you should.

"Hey! Everybody has been going on and on about this Sharingan-thingy, but what is that?!" Naruto yells. God... please, somebody, gag him for me, or else I will silence him forever.

"Sharingan... It's a dōjutsu that allows its user to see through and defeat all types of tai-, gen-, and ninjutsu, among other abilities. However, the Sharingan is a dōjutsu manifesting only in those of the Uchiha Clan." Sasuke explains.

"Eh? Does that mean that Kakashi-sensei is part of your clan?" Naruto asks. Nope, he isn't. That eye is a gift from one of the main antagonists of this world. But you wouldn't know that.

"No, and that's exactly why I want to know why he has it." The ravenette declares, narrowing his eyes at our teacher.

"What the brat said about its abilities is right, but the scariest thing about the Sharingan is its ability to perfectly copy your opponent's techniques once you see them. Back then when I was still a member of the Hidden Mist's Anbu Black Ops, I saw some information about you in my Bingo Book. The man who copied over a thousand jutsu, the Copy Ninja Kakashi!"

Yes, our silver-haired cyclops is actually powerful. It's sad how my teammates need an enemy to spell it out for them to develop some respect for Kakashi.

"Let's end the talking here. I still have an old man to kill. But it seems like I will have to go through you first, Kakashi." Zabuza declares, making my teammates rush to take a protective formation in front of Tazuna. I, too, move back a bit, but I remain in a position where I would be able to react to both Kakashi's battle as well as the situation of the rest of the team. Maybe I can manage to get a sneak attack in. People do tend to overlook me far too often, after all. And although I hate to say this, but I sincerely hope that Zabuza does too. The missing-nin in question immediately begins to move and stand atop a waterbody near us where he channels a jutsu.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu." He says and heavy mist starts spreading, interfering with our vision, and he disappears. Well, fuck. Great.

"He vanished!" Naruto exclaims. Thank you, Captain Obvious, for this very much unnecessary comment.

"He'll probably come for me first..." Kakashi-sensei says.

"Who is he anyway?" Sakura asks.

"Momochi Zabuza. He is a former member of the Kiri Anbu Black Ops and known to be an expert when it comes to the Silent Killing Technique. As the name suggests, it's a killing technique that evolves around killing an opponent in an instant without being seen or heard. By the time you realize what is going on, you may already find yourself in the afterlife. I haven't yet completely mastered the use of my Sharingan, so don't let your guards down." Sensei explains and then lazily adds. "Well, if we fail, we'll only die."

"How can you be so carefree?!" Sakura complains. Why the heck wouldn't he? He's been surrounded by death for over two decades. And death isn't all that scary once you've experienced it. I know what I'm talking about. Besides, for some people death is salvation. I hope that's not the case for Kakashi, though, from what I have seen of him so far, he must be suffering mentally from whatever happened in his past, so who knows. Meanwhile, the mist grows thicker by the minute. And while I may be able to still perceive a good amount due to my heightened senses, the others' vision should be severely impaired.

"The mist is getting worse and worse!" Naruto notices, to which Tazuna explains. "The Land of Waves is surrounded by the ocean, so the mist rises here easily."

I notice Zabuza prowling around the group surrounding Tazuna like a predator would his prey.

"Eight points." He says. "The larynx, the spine, the lungs, the liver. The jugular and subclavian veins, The kidneys, and the heart. Now then, which vulnerable spot should I choose?"

The correct answer is: None of the above! Because we're all peaceful, civilized folk that can solve this situation without any bloodshed. Right? Anybody? No? Sadge. Well, at least I tried. Suddenly, a heavy pressure washes over us. Blood Thirst. I look at Naruto and the others; they are frozen in place. As expected, they can't withstand it. I, too, have a little bit of trouble, but I can still move and breathe just fine, though I'm sweating like a pig. With a sigh I walk over to my teammates and shock them slightly with my chakra, snapping them out of their frozen state.

"Thank you, Shizuya," Sakura mumbles. I nod and remain close to them.

"Oh? What do we have here? You were able to withstand my killing intent?" Zabuza's impressed voice sounds all around us. "Tell me your name."

"Shizuya," I reply wearily.

"Shizuya... So you are a silent one? No wonder I didn't notice you from the start. You'd be perfect for the Silent Killing Technique. Don't look at me like that, I can see it in your eyes, you've experienced death before, have covered your hands in another's blood. No wonder my killing intent didn't work on you, you are just like me. How interesting," the missing-nin praises me. Yeah, no thanks, buddy. Although you aren't wrong about the things you've said, I ain't nothing like you.

"Demon of the Hidden Mist, Shizuya is not even remotely comparable to you. And I would prefer it if you'd stop terrorizing my dear students. I will protect them with my life, you know. I cannot allow you to kill my comrades, after all." Kakashi growls at Zabuza, but the latter just laughs at him.

"I wonder about that." He threatens before suddenly appearing among Tazuna's group with his sword drawn. "It's over."

However, before he can make a move, I create multiple Shadow Spears from the ground to impale him, surprising the others. Unfortunately, however, instead of blood it is water that flows out of the wounds. A water clone.

"Heh, shadow manipulation? So you are a Nara?" Zabuza muses. And not only him, the rest of our team, Kakashi included, were staring at me with varying expressions.

"Do you even see me? Which part of me looks like a Nara? Besides, I've been an orphan for as long as I can remember. One would think that with those ridiculous brains of theirs, they would've found out about me a long time ago and taken me in were truly one of them," I grumble back at him, earning myself a laugh.

"Oh, I like you more and more! Ya sure don't hold back your words even when in front of an enemy. Let's see what else you can do," Zabuza says with a grin before charging right at me. Good job, me, for gaining that bastard's interest. Now what?

"Shizuya, watch out!" Naruto yells, but I am not fast enough to react and, while I do manage to avoid getting killed by his slash, his sword does still nick me with its tip and a bloody gash appears across my back. I can feel my warm blood trickle down my back and soak my clothes. But it does not really hurt, it barely even stings. Compared to what had happened on that mountain, this is nothing. However, losing this amount of blood this fast sure isn't a good sign.

"Shizuya!" both Sakura and Kakashi yell.

"You sure are something else, aren't you, little demon cat," Zabuza says with amazement. "You didn't even scream, much less flinch when my blade cut into you. Do you not feel pain?"

"Oh, no worries, I do feel pain. But I've had worse than this so... yeah, this isn't worth mentioning," I simply shrug.

"This is wonderful! I will have so much fun tearing you to shreds!" That crazy bastard laughs.

"Thanks, but no thanks," I grunt mid-dodge, but the next slash hits me, cutting deep into my shoulder and staggering me for a moment. I was still in the midst of trying to regain my balance when Zabuza kicks me in my stomach sending me flying into a group of trees where my cut open, bleeding back harshly crashes through the first tree. The impact not only knocks out whatever little air I had in my lungs but also further rips open the cuts. Needless to say, when I slam into the second tree, I hit my head and everything goes black.