Chapter 27

"This water is heavy." Kakashi thought to himself before his eyes widened and he attempted to speed away from the chakra signature behind him.

"You're done. Suirō no Jutsu. " Zabuza said as a bubble of water surrounded Kakashi with Zabuza's hand stuck in it. Kakashi looked on, horrified that he had been caught. "Now, we can finish our fight later Kakashi, time I deal with your brats. Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu." Zabuza said as he created a hand sign and the water formed into a replica of himself. "You brats, wearing those headbands and parading around like you are a ninja. Real Ninjas are those who have survived numerous brushes with death." the bunshin was fully formed by now. "Only when you can be listed in my handbook can you be called real ninjas? You are no-" Zabuza started only to have his facial muscle twitch when his bunshin was destroyed.

"Hey, Eyebrowless." Naruto said coldly, "Don't underestimate us, you might just get yourself killed." he threatened as he looked over at the real Zabuza from where he was standing after throwing his kunai.

Zabuza scoffed, "Don't try to intimidate me, kid, you can't do shit." he said as he created another clone

"Sasuke, I have a plan," Naruto said, his cold eyes never leaving the Zabuza clone.

Sasuke scoffed, "Teamwork after that display Naruto?" he questioned.

"Let's go wild!" Naruto said, a look of excitement breaking through his cold facade.

"That Naruto, I was going to tell them to run, but he makes me believe he can beat this guy." Kakashi thought as he looked at his team, "Or at least get me out of here." he thought to himself as he settled for giving Zabuza a smirk.

"Sakura takes Tazuna back a bit, we need him out of the way. Sorry Old Man." Naruto said.

Tazuna merely grinned, "That's okay. I caused this, fight to your super little heart's content." he said as he began to back up slowly with Sakura.

"You ready?" Naruto said as he turned one eye on his teammate. Sasuke grunted and both of them turned to face Zabuza's clone. They were tensed and ready for action when the clone suddenly burst out laughing. It grew uproariously until Zabuza finally spoke.

"You still trying to play little ninja? So you destroyed my other clone. Big deal, it won't happen again." the clone said with a dark tone to its voice, "When I was your age, my hands were already dyed blood with red." he said drawing some shocked looks from Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna. Naruto merely twitched as Kakashi's eyes widened.

"Devil Zabuza," he whispered.

"Ah, you have heard of it. Yes, back when Mizugakure was known as the Bloody Mist village. Our graduation exam." Zabuza started to chuckle almost dementedly. "Fighting to the death between the students only the winner becoming a genin. It was glorious! So much blood!" Zabuza raised his voice in excitement.

Sasuke and Sakura looked disgusted as Kakashi elaborated, "It was changed after a devil appeared in their midst, a boy, who had no ninja training, appeared and slaughtered the whole class. Hundreds of students massacred."

"It was so much fun!" Zabuza said as he turned his nearly demented gaze onto Sasuke and Naruto. Naruto merely stared the man down, years of glares and hidden wishes of death and pain had numbed him to such looks. Sasuke, however, was not nearly as well adjusted and his eyes widened in surprise when Zabuza suddenly appeared in front of him, sending him flying with a vicious punch. Sasuke recovered well though, he attempted to grab the clone's shoulder but the clone noticed the action and sent Sasuke flying into the ground with a nasty backhanded punch to the stomach causing Sasuke to cough blood and attempt to roll away from him.

Naruto grit his teeth and shot forward, his regular chuunin speed slower than his maximum but he figured it would surprise the clone enough for what he had in mind. It worked, the clone was surprised and Naruto's kunai almost made it to the clone's side but it was batted away by the massive Zanbato. Naruto grimaced and jumped back as he noticed Sasuke had moved away during his slight tussle with the clone, "Catch!" he yelled and tossed a folded windmill shuriken to Sasuke. Sasuke's smirk went unnoticed as he unfolded it.

The clone scoffed when Sasuke tossed the windmill shuriken at the clone, "A shuriken won't work on me." it said but was surprised when the shuriken veered from the clone and headed for the original that was standing on the water, "Good plan but that's not going to work." Zabuza said as he grabbed the shuriken from the air. His eyes widened as he noticed a second shuriken in the shadow of the first, "Kage Shuriken no Jutsu" Sasuke said as his smirk returned full force.

Zabuza looked unsteady for a moment before simply hopping over the second shuriken, "Very good plan, but still not enough to grab me brat."

"Are you sure about that?" Sasuke said as he smirked from his position. Suddenly, the second shuriken poofed into smoke before showing a grinning Naruto with a kunai in his hand, he smirked as he tossed the kunai straight at the still airborne Zabuza. Zabuza watched as the kunai approached and pulled his hand out of the water orb just as the kunai would have plunged into his arm. But, he didn't expect it to graze and cut his cheek as it passed by. Zabuza turned back to Naruto in the water, his eyes burning with hatred at being harmed by a mere brat.

He threw the windmill shuriken at the boy who was grinning like a fool at him in pure rage. The entire team watched in shock as Kakashi almost blocked the throw. Then, they watched as the windmill sped towards Naruto, whose expression turned into fear at the weapon's course. "Naruto!" Kakashi yelled out, just as the windmill splashed into the water.

The grinning Naruto returned as the shuriken hit the water, "Fooled ya!" he said before dispelling in a puff of smoke, and a splash of water was heard from the shore. Zabuza looked, infuriated, at the shore to see another Naruto, this one showing little emotion through his icy blue eyes as he stood over the puddle that had been his clone.

Zabuza suddenly scoffed, "Heh, I got distracted and released the jutsu." he said in an uncaring tone, though his eyes bored into Naruto's own.

"Wrong!" Kakashi almost yelled, "You were 'forced' to release the jutsu. By brats you say aren't even ninja." he said, causing his genin to swell with pride. "And I don't fall for the same trick twice," he said menacingly as the two jounin jumped apart from each other and began their seals for a jutsu.

The genin and civilian watched entranced as the two went through the same hand signs in a matter of seconds. Naruto could feel the buildup of chakra that the two were using. His eyes narrowed as he thought he felt another signature appear at the edge of his field of sensor but the huge amount of chakra being used next to him negated his perception. The two jounin finished their hand signs at almost the same time, they spoke simultaneously, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu. " they both said as dragons made of water rose from behind their respective casters and clashed in a mighty explosion of water that left the lake rippling with waves in aftershock. Those on the shore held their ground as water rushed up from the aftershock and began to billow around their feet.

When the water cleared, the genin and Tazuna watched as Zabuza and Kakashi struggled on top of the water, stuck in a stalemate between the zanbato and kunai knife. They both separated and began to mirror each other's movements perfectly. Zabuza's eyes were wide in surprise as Kakashi spoke, "Reading them." he said and Zabuza seemed unnerved. They began their mirroring dance again and not long after Kakashi spoke again, "Freaky eye is pissing me off! Right?" he questioned though he didn't seem to need an answer as Zabuza's wide eye was enough of a reply.

Zabuza's bloodshot eyes suddenly narrowed, "Heh! All your doing is copying me,-" "You can't beat me, you monkey bastard!" Kakashi finished. It seemed to strike a mark within Zabuza because he started to do hand signs much faster, his hands a blur to anyone but Kakashi. "Damn, you! I'll make it so-" "You can never open that mouth again!" Kakashi finished for him again. If anyone watched closely enough, they could see Kakashi's tomoes whirling around his pupil.

Zabuza seemed a bit more unnerved and his seals slowed slightly as Kakashi finished his own a second before Zabuza, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu. " Kakashi said calmly as Zabuza's eyes widened and he was washed away in a huge torrent of water. The next thing they saw, was Kakashi tossing kunai in the direction Zabuza had gone and hearing them tearing into his flesh as they saw him being pinned to a tree, "It's over."

Zabuza was shaking slightly as he turned a disbelieving eye up to Kakashi, who was standing on a branch, "Can you see the future?" he asked hesitantly.

Kakashi looked back at his opponent, "Yes. Your future is death." he said as he began to toss a kunai but two senbon suddenly appeared in Zabuza's neck. Kakashi looked up to see a hunter ninja dressed in a black kimono with blue trimming. The person's face was covered with a white mask with the symbol of Kirigakure on top of it. Two bangs fell in front of the mask with the rest of it tied behind the person's back. A scarf-like piece of cloth was tied as a belt around the person's waist and the person had sandals on. Since no skin could be shown, Kakashi couldn't tell what gender this person was.

"Hehe, you were right, he is dead." the person giggled behind their mask.

Naruto moved closer to the bridge builder while eyeing the person in a mask warily, he sensed this person before when he had caught the person right before Kakashi and Zabuza started to use those huge amounts of chakra. He didn't trust the hunter.

Kakashi disappeared and appeared over Zabuza's dead body, checking for a pulse. He nodded, satisfied that the ninja was dead and he turned look to at the hunter ninja. "Thank you very much for your help, I have been searching for a chance to kill Zabuza for quite some time." the ninja said in a respectful tone.

"You're a Kirigakure hunter-nin?" Kakashi asked.

"Very astute, yes I must hunt down missin nin." the person replied.

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, "From this person's height and the sound of the voice, he's not much older than Naruto but he's a hunter-nin. Impressive." Kakashi nodded as he moved over to where his team was.

"Your battle is now over and I must dispose of this body. Farewell." the Kirigakure hunter nin said before appearing near the body and vanishing in a swirl of mist.

"In this world, there are kids younger than you, that are stronger than me," Kakashi spoke to his genin team's shocked expressions. "Remember that when you start to underestimate someone younger than yourself," he said as he lowered his Hitai-ate again. "Now, let's get Tazuna-san home."

"Hahahaha! Sure, let's let you all relax at my house!" Tazuna laughed uproariously. Kakashi suddenly faceplanted onto the ground as he felt the strain taken on his body by the sharingan.

"Sensei!" Sakura yelled as she ran forward and began a diagnostic jutsu Sasuke appeared next to her in a defensive position with Naruto doing the same near Tazuna. She let out a sigh of relief moments later, "He's fine. Just exhausted, let's get him to Tazuna's place." she said and the boys nodded while grabbing their Sensei. Naruto hoisted his sensei's arm with Sasuke under the other and they began the trek to Tazuna's home.

Naruto's mind reeled at the information he had obtained, "That kid's chakra felt unique. I wonder why." he questioned as he shrugged his shoulders and began walking away from his first real battle at a jounin level.