Reunion
"..." Looking deeply at Naruto for a long time, finally Kakashi sighed and shook his head "Even though you did a stupid thing, thanks to your kunai in his leg he won't be able to move for a long time, even if he wants to go back to complete the mission, he won't be able to"
"And we can make his employer believe that he escaped, making him become another target."
"Didn't you say they were dead?"
"They are, and so is his employer."
"I understand" Nodding as he looked around, Kakashi continued "It was a very good idea what you did with your clones"
"I know" Dispelling his clones surrounding them, Naruto nodded.
"Guys, this will be useful to you, so listen to me carefully" Approaching the bewildered duo, Kakashi continued "Today you experienced what a confrontation between high-ranking ninja is like, and although Naruto ended up doing something irresponsible and stupid, he also did something I'm sure you didn't notice"
"Knowing they were together?" with confusion, Sakura asked.
"They saw me create the wall, didn't they?"
"Yes..."
"That was my shadow clone" Turning his gaze to the wall, Kakashi continued "I took advantage of the mist to hide and formed a clone, that clone helped Naruto and used it as bait."
"While hiding another clone with Naruto's clones" Nodding, Sasuke continued "A bait on top of another bait"
"Not at all" Shaking his head, Kakashi continued "For starters, I made that clone have a lot of my chakra so I could defend them, and while I would have liked to create more than one, that would increase the risk of my bait being discovered"
"But we saw it disappear twice" Strangely, Sakura commented.
"Exactly, and that's why I'm repeating that" Turning his gaze to the still self-conscious Naruto, Kakashi continued "Naruto took advantage of the attack to finish off Zabuza's clone, and then took my form to supplant me and thus place another bait... and as you saw, it worked"
Opening his eyes a little wider, Sasuke carefully reviewed the whole situation and turned his gaze to Naruto "How did you know I would come out underwater?"
"I didn't know, I just planted a bait to see what would happen" Shaking his head, Naruto sighed and walked over to the wall, then crouched down and looked at the water on the ground "Even I don't understand how it came out of the water..."
"Isn't that the same thing those two assassins did the other day?"
"But they dug a hole and hid it with water to make it look like a puddle" Shaking his head, Naruto dipped his fingers into the water and then his arm, instantly frowning at the sight of the hole "But I don't understand how Zabuza did it"
"Wasn't it similar to what you did in the test?" Stepping closer to Naruto, Sasuke asked.
"Not at all" Shaking his head, Naruto continued "I took advantage of Kakashi-sensei being gone so I could make a hole and hide inside, while Zabuza clearly didn't have the time or the opportunity"
"Water" Nodding with satisfaction as he watched them deeply analyze the fight, Kakashi continued "There are ninjas with a deep control of their element, managing to transform and use it with great skill... Zabuza is one of them, and although he used a lot of chakra for it and that's why he ended up going all out with his original body, he created a hole with his clone's water by manipulating the water, then he had to have created a clone inside and replaced himself"
"That's... possible?" Puzzled, Naruto continued "If he was so good at controlling water, why did he make so many seals?"
"He has good water control, but that doesn't mean the chakra needed to manipulate it is an easy thing to carry" Looking carefully at the trio, Kakashi continued "Never forget this... no matter how strong and experienced a ninja is, even the best can fall for little tricks if they aren't careful enough. In this case, Zabuza, who was one of the 7 legendary swordsmen of the hidden village of the mist, not only made the stupid mistake of losing his sword in the beginning of the fight, but he had the stupidity to underestimate them because they were still young and inexperienced."
"He was one of the 7 swordsmen!?" With surprise in his eyes, Sasuke asked in disbelief.
"He was" Nodding, Kakashi continued "Zabuza was the best crop of his generation, someone who not only had to be victorious in countless fights to graduate, but had to face his entire class in a fight to the death in order to earn his title... although it's not nice to admit it, I don't know if he could have really protected them if he had had his sword."
"Correction, my sword" Stowing Zabuza and Haku's forehead protectors in his backpack next to the mask, Naruto had 4 of his clones carry the sword and casually commented.
"..." Looking at the giant sword being carried, Kakashi sighed bitterly and asked "Anyone else want the sword?"
"..."
"..."
"Fine, it's your sword, but seriously, you should stop stealing things on the battlefields, it's dishonorable."
"If being dishonorable gives me a legendary sword that would help me stay alive and protect what I hold dear, so be it."
"I can't believe we defeated one of the 7 legendary swordsmen..." Ignoring Naruto's comment, Sakura muttered "And I can't believe it was that easy."
"And we didn't" Standing up, Naruto stared at Sakura and continued "Only by losing his sword, Zabuza lost at least half of his combat power that from the beginning could match or even surpass Kakashi-sensei's... after that he simply made the mistake of not retreating and returning with another weapon, since because of the defensive formation we put together, and with Kakashi-sensei protecting us all, it was simply impossible for him to manage to complete his mission"
"..."
"He was actually quite smart when it came to fighting" Staring at the water at his feet, Naruto continued "From the beginning he knew that the first one to eliminate should be Kakashi-sensei, since, without him, no matter how good our defense is and how strong we've become lately... he would have easily torn us apart with his bare hands."
"I didn't see him as strong..."
"Heh" Letting out a laugh, Naruto lifted up his shirt and continued "Look at this."
Looking down at Naruto's toned abs, Sakura's eyes widened as she saw a horrible bruise with a creepy mix of colors between green, black and purple, having enough size to cover his entire abdomen and even expanding towards his ribs.
"By giving me that punch, he was just playing with me because I really pissed him off, so it's very likely that he thought of giving us a painful death after finishing off Kakashi-sensei" Pulling down his shirt, Naruto continued "If he had taken us seriously, it's a matter of aiming a little higher and he would have shattered my ribs, then the pieces of bone would have pierced my lung and this would have been my last mission... I didn't even have time to react and he had already knocked me down."
Looking at Naruto's face as he begins to put on his training weights, Sakura took special notice of his complexed expression and ask with concern "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine" Nodding, Naruto sighed "I'm just exhausted, I want to get to rest."
"Are you okay you say?" watching as Naruto's arms started to turn purple, Kakashi commented "They're clearly fractured."
"I underestimated the weight and power the sword came with" Nodding as he finished putting on the weights, Naruto stood up and yawned "But it's nothing new, tomorrow I'll be fine"
"How do you plan on recovering from a fracture in one day!?"
"We're leaving?" ignoring Sakura, Naruto asked towards Kakashi.
"We're leaving..." Giving him a long look towards Naruto's expressionless face, Kakashi nodded.
Giving him a long look at the battle zone, Tazuna turned his gaze to the group walking in front of him and followed them silently.
For the next hour, the journey was calm and extremely quiet, everyone having their own thoughts keeping them occupied during the long walk.
Until suddenly, Sakura's voice interrupted the heavy atmosphere "Naruto."
"Yes?"
"Maybe you let that girl go because she was beautiful?"
Letting out an unintentional laugh despite clearly not being in the mood, Naruto stared at Sakura and noticed her suspicious look "You really don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Didn't you hear how I talked to that person?"
"I did..."
"Then why do you think I talked to her like 'she' was a man?"
"Isn't it because you're rude?"
"That girl was not a girl, but a boy."
Opening her eyes wide, Sakura exclaimed in disbelief "Impossible!"
"Why would it be impossible?"
"Her skin was smoother than mine, her long hair was straighter and softer, her voice was pleasant and her eyes were bigger with long eyelashes!" Shaking her head quickly, Sakura exclaimed "It's impossible that it was a man!"
"Well it was" Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto pointed to his neck and continued "He was very effeminate and even though his nut was small, it was still visible."
"N-no way..." Noticing that Naruto really isn't joking, Sakura's expression turned haggard as she slumped her shoulders as she muttered "A boy is more of a woman than I am..."
"We've arrived" Looking at the wooden house by the sea down the hill, Tazuna smiled broadly and continued as he advanced his pace "Come on, come on, I'll have my daughter cook you a nice dinner!"
'I guess he never thought he'd actually make it there alive' Looking old man who suddenly became energetic, Naruto turned his gaze towards the house and carefully observed the place 'It's a beautiful home...'
"Come on, Naruto" Patting the shoulder of the silent Naruto, Kakashi continued "You must be hungry"
"Mn" Nodding, Naruto resumed walking and followed the cheerful Tazuna into the house, then walking to the door and looking around with sparkling eyes 'It's so... peaceful'
"Tsunami-chan!" With a cheerful voice, Tazuna opened the door and walked in with large strides while exclaiming.
"Father!?" Coming running in from another room, Tsunami covered her mouth and looked with cloudy, reddened eyes at the man in the room, then ran to him and hugged his neck tightly as she sobbed.
"It's going to be okay sweetie" With his eyes reddening quickly, Tazuna gently stroked Tsunami's back and soothed her with a soft voice "Finally we can raise our heads with peace of mind."
"Sniff" Separating after a warm moment, Tsunami wiped her reddened eyes and looked at the people behind her father, then let go and bowed deeply to them "I appreciate you keeping my father safe, please come in, I'll pour you something to drink"
"Do you mind if I enter this?" pointing towards the giant sword outside with its clones, Naruto asked.
"That... no, go ahead" Looking at the giant sword doubtfully for a moment, finally Tsunami shook her head and smiled slightly "Are you hungry? I'll prepare something to eat."
"If it's not too much trouble" Tilting his head slightly towards Tsunami, Kakashi replied.
"Not at all, not at all" Smiling while wiping tears from her face, Tsunami lowered her gaze and frowned deeply at the sight of her father's feet, then bringing her hands to her waist and squinting at him "What did I tell you about wearing shoes in the house!?"
Walking past the woman who began to scold the old man as he loudly wailed, Naruto kicked off his sandals and walked past his clones, then carefully set the sword down by the wall and picked up his backpack.
"What are you doing?" approaching Naruto, Sakura asked.