Chapter 10

Hakoda of the water tribe. Chief of the southern water tribe and father to Sokka and Katara. He didn't come alone. He came with a small fleet of warriors who looked ready to fight at any moment.

'You'll all be perfect to help me test my strength.' Sasuke thought with a slightly deranged grin as his sharingan glowed in the dark night. He watched as Hakoda cautiously got off the boat. Waiting until they all docked, he stalked closer to the group of water tribesmen.

Hakoda looked at his troops before addressing them. "Bato, scout the area for any hostiles. After that the rest of us will set up camp here for the ni-" He was interrupted as he suddenly tilted his body away, just narrowly dodging a shuriken that cut his cheek.

Bato, who had been previously addressed, was suddenly hit by a small and fast shadowy figure.

"Stay in form, he can't attack all of us at once." Hakoda ordered seeing Bato take a knee from the hit.

"Can you stand?" He asked Bato as he armed himself with a wooden spear and shield in his hands. Bato got up slowly.

"Yeah, I'm okay...Ughh.." Bato said groaning as he held his stomach in pain.

"You're clearly hurt. Stay back." Hakoda said trying to protect his friend/subordinate.

"I'm fi-" he tried to refute but was this time hit in the head by the fast shadowy figure, knocking him out cold.

"Bato! Everyone, stay together. Whatever this is can't take us all at the same time." He yelled as they all set up a circular formation around Bato's unconscious body.

'No! You're just making yourselves a much bigger target.' Sasuke thought as he hid on a treetop above them. He jumped off the tree, heading straight down for them.

"It's above us!" Hakoda shouted, alerting his men as he noticed the growing shadow below their feet. The men of the water tribe temporarily separated, leaving Sasuke to land on the bare ground as they surrounded him.

"It's a...kid?!" One of the men questioned cautiously, with his weapon still raised

"That's impossible. There has to someone else here!" Another one yelled, looking around frantically.

"I'm the one you're looking for. Come!" Sasuke replied coldly.

Seeing the form of their attacker, they were cautious but not willing to intentionally attack a child. Meanwhile, Hakoda was deep in thought.

'I don't see anyone else around. If that's true, that means that he was able to knock Bato out so easily. He's dangerous...' Hakoda mused, the only one thinking about the possibility that's this boy was indeed the culprit he claimed to be.

"Who are you?" He asked, cautiously eyeing the young boy.

"Who I am is of no concern. What are you doing here?" Sasuke replied, using this opportunity to fish for information.

"It's just like you said...it's of no concern." Hakoda returned evenly. Sasuke scowled at his response.

"I suppose there's no point in talking anymore. This ends now." He spoke as he took his time going through hand seals.

The surrounding warriors looked confused while a few cautiously eyed his movements. After a few seconds, he landed on the final seal.

"Hiding Mist Jutsu." He muttered under his breath.

'What?' Most of them thought in confusion as they strained their ears to hear his words. They paid almost no heed to his hand movement and were instead focused on what he said.

"What was that?" A water tribesman asked as he eyed the boy in confusion.

"Hey! Where'd all this mist come from?!" Another one asked with panic in his voice as they all just noticed that the surroundings were being quickly covered by mist.

The mist surrounded them all, obscuring their visions and sense of environment.

"What the hell!?"

"What's going on!?"

"We lost sight of him!"

The warriors went into various states of panic with their senses blocked. There were varying reactions ranging from the panic of the appearance of the mist to the disappearance of the boy.

'Did he do this?' Hakoda thought, still remaining calm despite the situation.

'The ability to control mist...he might be a water bender.' Hakoda's eyes slowly widened at that train of thought. Before he could act on his thought, the sounds of fist hitting flesh rang throughout the misty port.

*THUD!*

*THUD!*

*THUD!*

He heard the sound of his men's bodies hitting the floor all around him as he snapped back to reality and gripped his spear and shield tight. He tried to make out anything through the mist. All he could see that a shadow swiftly maneuvering the mist knocking down his men. His eyes could barely capture his movements before he raised shield to guard himself from a powerful hit them at sent him back a few feet.

He couldn't tell if that was a punch or a kick but he just barely blocked it.

'This strength...it's unreal!' He thought, still amazed by the power the young boy could produce. His hand felt a bit numb as he felt the vibration internally.

The mist slowly and finally died down, revealing all his men bruised and knocked out on the bare floor. He then realized two things.

The first thing was that he was the only one still standing. The second was the realization that he was the 'only one standing'...with the strange boy nowhere in sight.

He spent the next few minutes searching around for any signs that he was around. He didn't have much hope of finding him even if he was still lurking around. The boy had already shown that he couldn't be found unless he wanted to be found.

After a few minutes of him not appearing he could finally relax. He dragged the limp bodies of his warriors back unto the boats.

He sighed as he let himself fall to the ground. He was both physically and mentally tired.

'At least everyone's resting...' he thought as he relaxed his body allowing himself to slowly recover.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sasuke was deep in thought as he was on his way back to the Shen house. He intentionally took a longer route than necessary to give himself some time to think before getting there.

'The warriors of the water tribe. They weren't as strong as I anticipated them to be. Maybe it's the fact that shinobi training routine is much more demanding than theirs but...' he released a deep breath.

'...they are weak. And most of all, they are naive.'

He continued on his way back, suppressing the annoyance he felt at the lack of strength to actually pressure him.