Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Naruto backed up slightly, gripping a kunai tightly in his right hand. The silence made him anxious, along with Hinata who was shaking slightly. With the three genin unaware of where Kakashi was, they had every right to be a bit worried. Naruto glanced back at Tazuna. The older man was watching the forest anxiously where Kakashi had entered but there was something else in his expression. Like he was worried about something other than Kakashi’s safety. Naruto and Kiba exchanged glances, both gripping and releasing the kunai in their hands.

A rustling from the bush caused them both to look back toward the forest. They readied their kunai, eyes narrowed in anticipation.

A clump of silver hair appeared from the bush, straightening up as they approached the group.

“Kakashi-sensei!” the three genin exclaimed, smiles spreading across their faces. Naruto and Kiba lowered their kunai, sliding them back into their holsters.

Naruto stepped forward first, a grin wider than he was known for. “So did you handle the bandits, Kakashi-sensei?”

“Bandits? There was no one there,” Kakashi looked over at Akamaru. “Is it even possible for dogs’ sense of smell to be wrong?”

“Hey! Don’t blame Akamaru!” Kiba defended, covering Akamaru’s ears and glaring at Kakashi.

Naruto grinned and scratched the back of his neck. He looked back at Hinata. She stood off to the to the side with Tazuna but had her back toward the group. She was looking down at a puddle by her feet with curiosity. Naruto frowned. Hinata did a lot of weird things but she wasn’t the type to just stare at a puddle like it was evolving before her eyes.

Wait... A puddle?

Naruto walked up beside Hinata and stared down questioningly. He didn’t notice Hinata jump back in alarm or how she stuttered nervously. All he could do was stare at the small puddle. Puddles formed from rain that had recently passed. It hadn’t rained in weeks... He knew that for a fact. Konoha’s heat would have evaporated this very puddle hours ago. It wouldn’t still be there like it had just rained moments ago.

“Naruto, what are you staring at?” Kiba asked out loudly.

“It didn’t rain at all last night, did it?” Naruto questioned, reaching down and dipping his finger into the puddle. It was cold and wet as a puddle should be, but there was something else that bugged him about it.

A hand suddenly reached out and grabbed onto Naruto’s, yanking him down roughly. He yelled out, trying to tug his hand free. The metallic hand gripped on tightly to him and refused to let go. “What the hell?!” Naruto yelled out, kicking the hand with his right foot.

With an ear-splitting bang of metal on metal, Naruto fell back and hit the ground with a heavy thud. He sat up and saw Kakashi standing in front of him, his kunai out and pressed against the metal hand. The hand stretched out from the puddle, linking to an arm, a shoulder then moved across to a neck. The head that rolled forward had shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark, lifeless eyes. As he arose from the puddle, the person maintained their position against Kakashi’s kunai. A rebreather covered the lower half of his face and the metal hand he possessed was a large, clawed gauntlet that covered his entire right hand. A chain came out of it that travelled down into the puddle as if the puddle itself was a link to another area. Which it probably was.

The wild haired man shoved Kakashi back and leapt out from the puddle. The chain attached to his gauntlet extended and pulled up another similar gauntlet. Before Naruto could get a good look at what was being pulled up, Naruto was pulled back by Kakashi to where the rest of his team were crowded.

With Kakashi’s body blocking any view of the strange man, Naruto looked up at Kakashi in question. They were in danger, weren’t they? That would explain why a fearful look had suddenly overtook Kakashi’s expression.

“Stay back,” Kakashi ordered, not focusing on the three genin.

Naruto and Kiba opened their mouth to protest but barely had time to as Kakashi turned his back on the two boys. They looked at each other, then past Kakashi. Instead of one man, there were now two, identical in appearance. They were connected by a chain. The very chain that the first one had been pulling up from the puddle. They both wore a camouflage suit with ragged black capes and their Kirigakure forehead protectors had horns projecting out of them. On a usual day, Naruto would make fun of them but he knew now wasn’t the time. They were under attack by enemy ninja. And these weren’t the usual bandits that followed you around to rob you.

At that moment, he felt a small hand grip onto his shoulder and tug him back. What was with people and pulling him everywhere? He spun around and glared at the victim. Hinata back peddled and turned away quickly to hide the blush staining her cheeks. Why wasn’t he surprised?

He turned away from Hinata and looked at Kakashi. The older jōnin stood before the two rogue ninja, his eye narrowed. “Who sent you?”

“We have no business with you! Hand over the old man and you four might get out of here alive,” the long haired one replied, dragging his gauntlet across the ground.

“You clearly don’t know who I am,” Kakashi muttered, shaking his head.

“Why are we wasting time with these fools? Let’s get the old man and take him to Gatō. Better yet, let’s kill him so we have less trouble along the way,” the other replied, his eyes moving briefly to his twin beside him.

The twins lunged at Kakashi, raising their gauntlets in unison. Before their very eyes, Naruto, Kiba, Hinata, and Tazuna watched as they passed right through Kakashi like he was made of butter. Their sensei crumbled before their eyes.

He hadn’t even tried... What the hell was that supposed to mean? They got a fake sensei not capable of standing up to foul rogues?

The twins set their eyes on the three genin and Tazuna. Their lifeless eyes gave nothing away as they took slow, tantalizing steps toward them. Naruto grabbed his kunai and glared at the enemy ninja. With their sensei down, it was up to them to protect Tazuna or risk failing their mission completely. The Sandaime had trusted them with this. If they failed; firstly, it wouldn’t look good, and secondly, it would be highly unlikely that Hiruzen would ever trust them with a C-rank mission again.

Naruto rushed at the twins, kunai drawn. He heard Hinata’s yell behind him but didn’t stop. He dived at the twins, his kunai slicing through the air. His aim wasn’t true but he threw all his weight behind it and aimed for the one twin’s arm. The one he aimed for jumped up and swung his gauntlet out. A searing pain shot across Naruto’s left hand. He didn’t pay attention to it, however, and focused on the two enemies before him.

“Hmm, stubborn kid. Why won’t you just die?” the other twin hissed as he ran a circle around Naruto.

Tight, metal chains wrapped themselves around his body and he felt the sharp tip of a metal claw graze against his spine. With each intake of breath he took, the chains grew tighter and white spots appeared in his vision.

“Let go of him!”

Naruto felt drowsy. Everything around him was slipping in and out of focus but even through the haze, he could make out Kiba’s voice and the sound of feet slamming against the ground as they made their way to him. He lifted his head and looked up to see Kiba leap up into the air and dive down on top of one of the twins. His feet crashed onto his head, his arms straightening up above him. A patch of crème swam past and Naruto heard the clatter of metal hitting metal. He looked to his side. Hinata had slammed her kunai into the small opening of the gauntlet, holding it firmly in place.

Tazuna had moved a few steps back, keeping well away from them. Naruto kept his eyes on his two teammates. His stomach tightened into an uncomfortable knot. What could he do? Both Kiba and Hinata were risking their lives for him and all he could do was get them in trouble. 

The twins looked at each other, then both pulled their gauntlets. The chains wrapped around him tightened drastically and he choked on the air, his pupils shrinking. The world around him dissolved into a whirl of dull colour.

“Hinata... Kiba...” Naruto choked. “G-Get... away...”

“Not a chance, baka,” Kiba chuckled. He did a small jump and kicked the tip of his foot into the brother’s head, pushing him to the side. Akamaru, who had been on the ground near Tazuna, barked and rushed toward Kiba. He leapt up into the air and spun. A line of dull yellow liquid spurted out and drizzled over Naruto and the two enemy ninja. Followed by the liquid was a foul odour. One Naruto knew all too well.

Hinata coughed and staggered back. Her kunai jammed into the gauntlet, keeping it in one solid and uncomfortable position.

“Why you little bitch...” the assassin growled. He pulled on his gauntlet again, visibly wincing as the kunai pierced two layers of flesh. One last tug, and the gauntlet was freed from the chain. It slid down Naruto’s side and he let out a ragged breath. The rush of wind alerted him that it wasn’t time to relax. He looked up just in time to see the assassin run at Hinata.

“Hinata!”

Something snapped behind him. Naruto spun around and before his very eyes, Kakashi stood in front of Kiba, blocking the Inuzuka boy from the assassin’s metallic claw. “Hi.”

“Kakashi-sensei! You’re alive!” Kiba gasped.

“Hmmph! Show-off!” Naruto muttered. He ignored the three and turned back in front of him, rushing to Hinata. She had appeared stunned at first but her expression changed to one of determination and slight anger. She got into a stance and glared down the assassin as he ran at her.

Just as he rose his gauntlet to plunge it into her, it was knocked to the side, sending him flying with it. He slid to a halt across the dirt and stabbed his claws into the ground to prevent himself from moving any further. The assassin glared up Kakashi. He looked over at his twin then at Kakashi. They simultaneously rose their gauntlets and charged at him, forgetting all about the three genin. Their main priority was to get the jōnin away so they could get Tazuna. Anything other than that was a distraction.

The twins moved with alarming speed toward Kakashi, their weapons mere flashes of light.

Kakashi sprang into the air, kicked with his right foot, then twirled through a full 360 before striking out again. He tilted his body back and did a handstand, kicking his legs out again. The force of his kicks sent the two assassins up into the air. He quickly grabbed onto their gauntlets, pulling them back before shoving them forward.

His hands were a blur as they quickly assembled into hand seals. Slamming his hands to the ground, the ground shook violently. Two animals dove out from the holes formed. They landed on the ground and then Naruto was able to fully see what they were. Two dogs, one small brown one and a medium sized black and white one. Both wore a Konohagakure headband. They charged at the assassins in mid air. The brown one went first, swiping his claws across the first assassin. Then the second one went, doing the same to the second assassin. Their bodies slumped as they were shot to the side. They looked at each other as they came closer. Just before their bodies could touch solid ground, Kakashi grabbed both their heads and collided them together.

The impact alone knocked them out cold.

Kakashi straightened up and cracked his knuckles together. “Kirigakure shinobi. Gōzu and Meizu. Defectors, if my memory serves me right.”

“You know them, Kakashi-sensei?” Kiba questioned, stepping up to the jōnin.

“They’re known as the Oni Kyōdai. They are missing-nin from Kirigakure that had been causing trouble trying to assassinate the Mizukage. We’re always getting reports of their antics along the border,” Kakashi knew it was impossible to physically lift the two assassins’ bodies and place them where he wanted it, so he stuck with dragging them toward a tree. Once both were upright against the tree, he pulled out a long trail of rope and tied it around them. He tugged twice to make sure it was firmly in place. He stood up and turned to the three genin. “Speaking of these two; the way you three handled them...”

“We did good, didn’t we sensei?” Kiba asked again, grinning.

“On the contrary, I’m impressed with how you and Hinata handled the situation. You reacted quickly and made sure Tazuna was safely away from the direct brunt of the attack,” Kakashi turned to Naruto, narrowing his eye. “But Naruto... you nearly endangered the team rushing in like that. What were you thinking?”

Naruto pulled the last of the chains off from him and looked up Kakashi. He recognized the disappointment in his voice all too well. It was a common tone of voice with everyone he crossed paths with.

Instead of opening his mouth and fighting about it, Naruto shut his mouth and accepted the reprimand he was receiving. In a way, he deserved it. He had endangered both Hinata and Kiba by rushing in without thinking and the result of that was a searing pain across his hand. He winced and glanced down at his hand. His blood dripped from his fingertips and mingled with the dirt below. Why did such a small wound hurt so much?

“N-N-Naruto-kun! Y-You’re hurt!” Hinata gasped, nervously stepping to his side.

White-hot pain was spreading slowly and steadily from the wound. It was unlike anything he’d ever felt. He hissed out and dropped to the ground, clutching his wounded hand. Kakashi crouched down beside him and moved Naruto’s hand away from the wound. Kakashi examined the wound wordlessly.

“The claws attached to their gauntlets were poisoned. A fast-working poison with the soul purpose of ending its victims quickly and painfully.”

“B-But there is an a-a-antidote, right? There's always an antidote!” Hinata said in a pleading tone. Unshed tears brimmed in her pale eyes.

Kiba frowned down at the wound Naruto had acquired. The thick horizontal cut was puffing out and the skin around it was turning a dark shade of blue. The wound was already dangerously infected and the poison was spreading. Kiba didn’t need to be a doctor to know it was bad sign. They had to find an antidote soon.

He looked back at the unconscious assassins.

And those two weren’t going to be of any help any time soon.

“We're going to have to stop for the night. Rest up,” Kakashi looked up at Hinata. “Hinata; the Hyuga specialize in ointments, correct?”

“H-Hai, Kakashi-sensei!”

“Look around for any medicinal herbs that can be used to ease the pain. We don’t know what the toxin contained but there are certain herbs that can slow it down before it becomes fatal.”

Hinata was hesitant. She looked between Naruto and Kakashi, uncertain if it was a good idea to go off when they could very well be attacked again. The very weight of the situation fell on Hinata. If she didn’t help Naruto... He could very well die and she would live with the regret that she never helped him.

She nodded determinedly. “Hai!”

“W-Wait... we’re stopping? We can’t do that! We need to get the old man back to Nami no Kuni before he bursts a brain vessel!” Naruto exclaimed. He sat up and tried to swallow down the pained cry he could feel rising in his throat. He wasn’t going to be the reason the bridge builder wouldn’t get home soon. In fact, he wanted to be the main reason that he got back on time. It would be an accomplishment on his part. Keep the old man alive.

“Naruto, don't be stupid. You’re hurt. If we go on when you’re like this, you’re just gonna slow us down whining like a wounded puppy,” Kiba yelped as Akamaru bit into his ankle. “Gomen.”

All four stared at Naruto. He felt like he was holding them back because of his foolish injury. No way in hell was he going to be the reason for holding them back.

A glint of silver caught his eye. Naruto looked in its direction and spotted the kunai that had been lodged in one of the assassin’s gauntlets. The one Hinata had used. He quickly reached for it and held it tightly in his right hand. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, which would act as the sedative for what he was going to do.

He rose the kunai high above his head. He could feel the intense heat from the sun immediately spread across the metal and warm up the wraps over the handle. Before he could stop and think his decision over, he plunged the kunai into the wound.

The initial impact went by completely unnoticed in Naruto’s mind. He didn’t even feel the metal penetrate his flesh. Well, he didn’t feel it go past any skin that wasn’t already wounded. But what he did feel was the gush of blood that flooded out. He could feel the warm metal scratch against his bone.

Naruto could feel the awed stares coming from his teammates and looked up. As expected, Kiba and Hinata were gawping at him, their eyes wide with horror. Tazuna stared at him before covering his mouth to prevent himself from throwing up. Kakashi merely stared, unaffected by what his student had done. He stood up and cleared his throat. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, Naruto beat him to it, smirking as if he had accomplished something incredible.

“No matter what this world throws at me, there’s no way I’m going to let some poison stop me from accomplishing a goal I’ve set. If I ever want to become Hokage, I can’t let myself be crumbled here by something this stupid. And I won’t let myself hold anyone back because of it,” Naruto said determinedly.

Kiba and Hinata stared at Naruto before exchanging similar looks. Kiba turned back to Naruto and clapped his hands together slowly, a smirk spreading across his lips. Hinata narrowed her eyebrows at him but tried to smile encouragingly at Naruto but even she was doubting the method of removing the poison from his bloodstream.

Kakashi cleared his throat again and chuckled nervously. “Naruto... uh, that was really cool how you took the poison out and all but... uh, if you lose any more blood, you’re going to die.”

Sudden pain rushed through Naruto and he looked down at his hand. His whole hand was turning a dark blue from the loss of blood. His face paled and turned blue and his eyes widened in horror. Kakashi chuckled again and winked. “Good idea to stop the bleeding now, seriously.”

Naruto didn’t even remember his body collapse but he did remember Hinata’s terrified scream before darkness took over.

O~O

“Is he dead?”

“No, Kiba-kun.”

“I think he’s dead.”

“He’s not.”

“Are you sure he’s not dead?”

“One hundred percent.”

Naruto groaned. He felt a throbbing sensation pass through his head and a tight restraint wrapped over his left hand. Opening his eyes, Naruto blinked away the spots of light in his vision. Once his vision focused, he was able to make out his surroundings. Thick trees still covered the area, along with lush green shrubs speckled with small white flowers. The heavy aroma of flora flooded his nostrils causing him to cough into his hand. The rough material of bandages scratched against his lips and he pulled his hand away to view the blood-stained material.

“Is he a zombie?”

“Kiba!”

“W-W-What?”

Both Hinata and Kiba looked toward Naruto. Their surprise was apparent on their faces. Hinata’s cheeks flushed as she scuttled over to his side. “N-Naruto-kun! How are y-y-y-you feeling?”

Feeling? That wasn’t a tough one to answer. His brain pounded against his skull and he felt the bile rise up in his throat. All in all, he was wondering why he hadn’t thrown up sooner. But he was surprised. Why was Hinata questioning his health? And why was he the only one lying on the dirt?

Kiba chuckled and shook his head. “You look like a baboon with a tape recorder. You passed out a couple of minutes ago. Blood loss, right, Hinata? We needed to stop for the night so you wouldn’t drip blood all over the pathway and lead enemy shinobi to us.”

“A couple of minutes? How long is a couple of minutes,” Naruto questioned stubbornly as he sat up.

Kiba shrugged his shoulders and looked to Hinata. She frowned for a moment before her eyes widened. Realization, by the looks of it. “Two hours ago.”

Two? He had been out for two hours? He immediately jumped to his feet and looked around for the old man and Kakashi. Everything was coming back to him. Those brothers, the ones with the weird metallic claws. Then he remembered a tight pain around his waist and a lot of fuzziness. He was pretty sure he remembered Kakashi dying along the way but with him being “passed out”, he wasn’t entirely sure if it had been a trick of the light or him merely going insane. He would’ve gone with the latter if he hadn’t looked to his side.

Because tied to a large tree, were the two brothers he had thought were no more than a dream. Both had their heads drooped. Out cold by the look of it.

But seriously? Two hours? Even that was unacceptable for him, and his standards for what was acceptable and what wasn’t was really low.

He looked back to Hinata and Kiba. “Where’s Kakashi-sensei and the old man?”

“Tazuna’s over there,” Kiba jerked a thumb over his shoulder to where the bridge builder was. The old man was sitting by himself and staring at the two men tied to the tree. His hands were cupped together and twitching. A twitch that made Naruto uncomfortable. Kiba shrugged his shoulders at the first part of the question. “Kakashi-sensei went off a while ago. Maybe to send a messenger pigeon back to the village to tell them we were ambushed by two A-rank criminals.”

“Those two are A-ranks?” Naruto exclaimed, pointing at them.

“Apparently. That’s all Kakashi-sensei told us about them. Nothing more.”

As Naruto looked down at his hand, he noticed the pale comparison to his other hand. His wounded hand was a clammy grey while the other was the same tan complexion as the rest of his body. How much blood did he lose? He was beginning to feel woozy and a bit thirsty. Back in the academy, they were taught that if you lose too much blood, you’d need to get a blood transfusion to get the remainder back. Naruto wasn’t sure where he’d be able to get more blood at this point. They were in the middle of the forest; no where near any clinics. And he honestly didn’t trust any blood that came from packs that he was sure medics were sometimes too lazy to clean out.

Naruto shook his hand out and felt the pins and needles sensation travel through it. He winced and bit back his groan. The slight pain accompanied by the tingle of blood loss was something Naruto was not used to. Plus the downside was that he couldn’t really feel his fingers anymore.

He heard the crunching of leaves and looked up to see Tazuna walking in their direction. He stopped in front of the three genin and folded his arms over his chest. “Glad to see that we can take a break when there are dangerous bandits coming after us. Mainly me.”

“Hey Jiza, we’re the experts here. We know what’s coming our way and can handle it without you nagging about it every five seconds,” Naruto glared at Tazuna. He was already getting fed up with this man and they’d only been with him a couple of hours.

“This coming from the guy who passed out first,” Kiba mumbled, smirking at Hinata.

“You can’t let me have this for once, can you?”

Kiba shook his head and focused his attention on Tazuna. He narrowed his eyebrows at the bridge builder and as Naruto looked back at Hinata, he noticed the doubtful look in her eyes. Almost exactly the same doubt Kiba was expressing. Naruto knew exactly where the doubt was coming from. Tazuna seemed to be hiding something and his two teammates were beginning to realize that. And now that Naruto thought about it, this was above their pay grade. They had been assigned a simple C-rank and they had been attacked by A-rank shinobi that nearly killed him.

At the thought of his injured hand, Naruto cringed and clenched it loosely. He could still feel nothing.

“Maybe we should go back and tell the Hokage what happened? Someone could get seriously hurt on this mission,” Kiba suggested, looking between his two teammates.

“Or we could just leave this old guy by those two and a passing shinobi patrol unit can take him,” Naruto said, shrugging his shoulders. “It sounds reasonable and like less trouble.”

That comment earned Naruto a firm smack to the back of his head. He had expected it but seriously; it was just a suggestion. If Kiba didn’t like it, he could’ve just stayed quiet and hit him later when they carried on with their assignment.

Tazuna shook his head in disappointment. “You do whatever you feel is reasonable. I’m not your property anyway so if I get hurt it’s not like you have to do anything,” he looked up at the sky and spoke in an exaggerating manner. “But don’t feel bad about that. Of course, my sweet little mago will be upset. He’ll cry, “Oji-san, I want my oji-san!”. And then my daughter will sue and condemn Konohagakure for abandoning me in the middle of a mission, but don’t worry!”

Naruto and Kiba both glared at Tazuna. They really were beginning to despise this old man. All he ever did was complain and make them feel like dirt for how they did things.

There was the heavy thud of feet on leaves and the four people looked up as Kakashi made his presence known. His hands were stuffed into his pockets and the same bored expression was spread across his face. “What’s going on here?”

“Ask this jerk,” Naruto growled. Hinata’s head snapped up and she shook her head at Naruto in a disapproving tone.

Kakashi turned to Tazuna. “Forgive him. He doesn’t have a filter,” he then looked at his students. “Naruto, now that you’re awake, we can move on for a couple of miles before it gets dark.”

At least he wasn’t holding them back now. Two hours was enough off their time and the old geezer would make their lives miserable unless he got home earlier than intended. Once Tazuna was back in his village with whoever he considered family, they could all go back home and get a better assignment where they would not need to escort old men with an aging temper. His temper rivalled that of his age.

Naruto looked over to where the shinobi were tied. Their bags were leaned against the tree, his and everyone else’s. Though Tazuna’s was on the opposite side of the field. Far away from the shinobi.

He had every right to want to be away from the men who had just tried to kill him. But still, he was the main reason they were attacked. He could at least try and be near them for protection... or risk being attacked again without their assistance to keep him safe.

The last was likely to happen.

Kiba nodded and Akamaru barked in reply. “We are really close to the docks. If we can just get there, then maybe we’ll have Old Man Tazuna back in his village before tomorrow night.”

“Stop talking about me like I’m not here! I can hear perfectly well!” Tazuna snapped, glaring at Kiba.

“You can?”

Hinata stifled a noise and quickly coughed into her hand. She blushed furiously and turned away from the men. She made her way to her bag and hoisted it onto her back. Her two male teammates followed suite. The entire time they were busy, she kept a close eye on Naruto’s wounded hand. He was careful with pulling the strap over his hand and even winced slightly when it pressed onto his forearm. It was understandable considering how much blood he lost. And all from an injury he had sustained himself from a failed attempt to remove poison.

Before the group set off again, Kakashi checked that the Oni Kyōdai were unconscious and restrained to the tree. A group of ANBU were going to arrive and escort them to the Mizukage herself. They were originally from her country and it was her duty to deal with the rogues that defected.

The walk was then slow and boring. Naruto suddenly wished he had remained unconscious and if he had awoken, maybe fall asleep again so they’d just need to rest for the night. It was only three in the afternoon which left them with a couple of minutes to get to the docks. If Kiba’s guess was accurate, then they’d be able to be there before nightfall. Maybe sooner if Tazuna decided to speed it up.

Naruto looked back at Tazuna. The four of them moved in shifts when walking around Tazuna. At the moment, he and Hinata were in front while Kakashi and Kiba were at the back. This was a safety procedure in case of an attack but for the past couple of minutes, it was quiet.

They left the forest in a small square and headed across the valley toward the docks. The forest darkened as they moved further inland. The journey must have lasted an hour, but there was no way for Naruto to know. Firstly, he didn’t own a watch and he wasn’t going to waste ryo on one anyway. He pushed the thought to the back of his mind and focused on the walk. They broke into a clearing with a meadow. Just past the meadow lay a short stretch of forest, which ended at a river’s edge. The trees gave way to a riverbank without warning. The scene was breath taking but there was something odd about its beauty. Maybe it was the mysterious mist that had suddenly appeared.

There was a narrow bridge that went over the river that led them one step closer to their destination. Naruto stopped by the edge of the river and peered into the water. The river was shrouded in a light grey from the hue of the mist. It was eerie... and made Naruto’s skin crawl.

He stood up and turned to Kakashi. “We’re close to the docks, aren’t we?”

“Once over this bridge, it’s just a short walk there,” Kakashi answered, stuffing his hand into his pockets.

A speck of red suddenly flickered in the corner of his left eye. Naruto jerked his head toward the light. He saw them clearly, the dancing red eyes just beyond the tree line. Then he saw a lone dark shadow flee from the bushes. The gleaming red eyes focused on them and moved further back into the darkness. As if trying to escape.

There was no way he was going to let that happen.

Naruto pulled out a kunai and tossed it into the direction of the shadow. For once, his aim was on point and he heard it pin down into something solid. Kiba and Hinata jumped back in surprise and their heads snapped in the direction of where the kunai had gone.

Naruto took a deep breath and made his way quickly toward the target. He crouched down and pushed the leaves away from the bush. Peeking in, his eyes widened in surprise.

The kunai was inches away from the small brown rabbit’s head. Its ears were close to its head and its whole body trembled in fear. Its brown eyes shrunk to small dark dots that Naruto was nearly unable to see. That would explain why he had seen red eyes. The light had been reflecting off of its brown eyes but now that it was frightened, all he could see were dots filled with anxiety. He yanked the kunai out and slid it back into his holster. Gently, he lifted the animal and cradled it to his chest.

Kiba rushed up behind him and growled in annoyance. “Naruto, look what you did now!”

“Oh! I’m so sorry little rabbit! Gomen!” Naruto cried, rubbing his face against its soft fur.

A huff behind him alerted him that someone else was there that was more annoyed than Kiba was. By process of elimination, he knew it wasn’t Hinata. Her gentle nature made her almost unable to be annoyed. Kakashi was probably just watching and rolling his eye in annoyance but not commenting or making any noise. That left only the old man.

“Tsk,” Tazuna tapped his tongue against the back of his teeth and shook his head. “All this fuss over a rodent?”

Naruto glared at Tazuna and opened his mouth to comment back with something worse. Before any words could leave his mouth, he shut his mouth and looked down at the animal he held. It had long since recovered from its near death experience but was sitting upright and looking toward the dark gloom of the forest. Its ears were up straight, twitching nervously.

Naruto looked up at the forest. Now that he listened close enough, blocking out the small argument Kiba and Tazuna were having over the rodent, he could hear movement coming from beyond the trees. Someone was there... Just watching them hopefully.

“Naruto-kun, get down!” Hinata shrieked.

His head was violently shoved down and his back cracked as he was forced into an uncomfortable position. The warmth of the rabbit left his arms and a sudden cold rushed over him like he had plunged headfirst into a freezing lake. Regaining his composure, he quickly rolled to the side and got to his feet. Then he saw it. The massive blade sticking out from the tree would have decapitated him if Hinata had not yelled his name. There was a small hollow near the base of the blade. Big enough to fit the shape of any head. The leather straps wrapped around the handle were worn down and imprints of skin graphs patterned the surface.

His heart thudded in his chest. The sudden mist, the rabbit’s reaction... It all linked to this. Maybe even the brothers tied back at their first checkpoint.

A gush of wind swept over Naruto, along with a light drizzle of what he hoped was water. His eyes snapped toward the blade as a long, shadowed figure leapt on top of it. He balanced on the end of the blade, the sword not even wobbling under its weight.

Naruto’s eyes slowly roamed up to see who the intruder was. The intruder was tall and noticeably muscular with pale skin that had a clammy sheen to it. Naruto’s eyes travelled up dark pants and a sleeveless black shirt, complete with a waist-guard. Over the bottom half of his face were bandages  that hung loosely around his neck like a scarf. What really caught Naruto’s attention was the matching Kirigakure’s striped wrist and leg-warmers and even more so; the headband the intruder wore. Short, spiky black hair protruded from his head, small eyebrows and small brown eyes that held little to no emotion.

His skin crawled, a feeling he wished his body would attempt. Instead, he was frozen to where he sat.

The intruder didn’t pay any mind to him. He focused entirely on what was behind Naruto. Curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto looked back. Kakashi and the rest of his team stood there still, staring at the unknown with wide eyes. The look of surprise on Kakashi’s face was enough to cause the anxiety in Naruto’s blood to freeze over.

“It’s an honour to meet the Legendary Sharingan. You are the man copying over one thousand kinds of Ninjutsu...” the unknown spoke. His voice was deep and sent chills of fear crashing through Naruto. “Kakashi, of the Sharingan.”

Did they know each other? That was the first thought Naruto could think of before his mind went back to the fact the unknown had said it was a pleasure to meet him. That basically gave away the fact that the two had just met. And Kakashi was well-known around the village. Who was to say that he wasn’t well-known everywhere else as well?

Kakashi’s surprised expression vanished and was replaced by his usual blank demeanour. “Well... aren’t you the well-known Kirigakure traitor Zabuza?”

Zabuza? It didn’t ring any bells in Naruto’s mind and by the looks on Kiba and Hinata’s faces, they had come to the same conclusion as him.

Regardless, Zabuza bounced off of his blade and landed square on his feet. He yanked the blade out effortlessly and swung it over his shoulder as if its weight was nothing. “Save the gossiping. I’m gonna kill the old man. But first of all, I’ll kill you!”

In a sudden gush of wind, Zabuza swept past Naruto and rushed toward Kakashi. There was barely any time to comprehend what was occurring or how had Zabuza moved so quickly with such a heavy weapon lugging after him. Metal clashed against metal, punches were exchanged. Both Hinata and Kiba had moved Tazuna out of the rain of fire and away from Zabuza’s apparent attempts at executing him. Each time he pushed Kakashi far enough back, his dark eyes darted to Tazuna and his body angled in such a way that it hinted that the old man was going to be next. But before he could even twitch a finger the wrong way, Kakashi beat him to the punch.

Naruto stared in awe. He briefly glanced at his two teammates who stood guard by Tazuna, kunai at the ready in case anything unexpected happened. But the sudden tug in his gut made him feel uneasy, and queezy. He couldn't describe it but he needed to find out what was bothering his gut or risk it taunting him the whole day.

Zabuza swung his sword high above his head and brought it down with a heavy crash. Kakashi looked up too late and the blade collided with his shoulder.

“Kakashi-sensei!” Hinata screamed out, taking a few steps forward.

Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke. The poofing sound of a clone jutsu echoed around them, leaving Zabuza standing by himself. His eyes widened in surprise. The cold metal of the kunai pressed against the side of his throat. He quickly looked over his shoulder.

The smug-eye smile Kakashi normally donned was in place. “You lose, Zabuza.”

Zabuza smirked and shook his head. “On the contrary....” Zabuza’s body flooded out into waves of water, flooding over Kakashi. The same surprise that had once been on Zabuza’s face was now on Kakashi’s. As if sensing the upcoming attack, Kakashi flipped back and stood away from the lake. His lone eye focused on the rippling tides. The water pushed upward into a long dome. The water manipulated itself into the form of a human body. The sight alone freaked Team #7 out, Hinata trembled and held her kunai tighter with shaking hands.

“8 points. Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now, which will be my attack points?”

Kakashi narrowed his eye. He watched Zabuza closely and slowly rose his hand up to his headband. Inch by inch, he pushed it upward. A thin dark line of unhealed tissue became more visible. Then... a bright flash of red.

Naruto stared at his sensei’s now visible eye. It was much of a shock to see the rest of Kakashi’s face, except for the lower half however, but what really caught his attention was the difference of the two eyes. They weren’t identical. His left eye, the one commonly left visible, was its dark grey that everyone knew. But the right eye, the one hidden by the Konohagakure headband, was completely different as if it were not the same. It was a bright crimson that rivalled that of blood with three black tomoes within its circular orbs.

There was a gasp beside Naruto and he looked over to Hinata. Her pale eyes were wide with surprise and he had to admit, he was weirded out by how far out her eyes could stretch. Her lips trembled and he could only make out two words. “N-No way...”

“The Sharingan. I see you finally decided to pull out your trump card. Just what I needed,” Zabuza chuckled. He swung his sword over his shoulder and rested the edge of the blade against his neck.

What was the Sharingan and why was Zabuza getting excited for it? Naruto frowned at Kakashi’s newly shown eye. It looked more like a disorder than something special. He then frowned at Hinata. Her surprise had calmed down but she still stared at Kakashi as if he had grown another head; which seemed like the only thing that would impress Naruto.

Zabuza slid the blade back into its slot on his back and straightened his back, placing his hands in front of him. Kakashi copied his movements, straightening up himself and placing his hands together. Suddenly, the two began performing hand seals that made Naruto’s eyes ache just watching them. The exact same seals, both performed at the same second without breaking a sweat. The two shinobi didn’t show their expressions. They remained neutral.

O~O

How was it possible? Zabuza had always known that the Sharingan was powerful and he knew that by battling Hatake Kakashi, he was at risk of seeing its power but this was beyond normal. Kakashi mimicked his hands’ movements without even flinching. Not once did he blink and what made matters even worse was the fact Kakashi wasn’t even looking at his hands. He stared directly at him with those disturbing eyes.

What? Is this his genjutsu? Zabuza thought, attempting to hide his frustration.

They both stopped at the last hand seal, their hands in the same position. Zabuza’s eyes widened a small fraction. Kakashi spoke up first just before Zabuza had time to. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"

“Impossible!” Zabuza yelled as a huge wave swept over him. Water from the stream swept up into a colossus wave that gushed out from the river and over the bed of land they were standing on. The sudden rush was too fast... even he couldn’t move away from it. He gagged on the water that flooded into his mouth, struggling to spit it out. It seemed the more he spat it out, the more rushed in. His body was weak against the force of the water.

His own natural element and he felt paralysed against it.

I was going to create a vortex, but he created one first! He copies my jutsu before I can even do it! I CAN’T KEEP UP! Zabuza thought angrily, forcing himself to his feet and transferring chakra to his feet. He stood upon the water, water dripping from his clothing. He glared at Kakashi. Did he read my mind? Damn! That...

“... freaky eye is really pissing me off? Right?” Kakashi finished his sentence, leaning into his hip and placing a hand on it.

Zabuza growled and reached a hand up and gripped the handle of his blade tightly. There was no way he was going to lose to this arrogant asshole. His eyes darted over to where his three students stood. They didn’t seem special. Newbie genin by the looks of it. He needed to get them out of the way so he could deal with Kakashi. Then as soon as he was out of the way, that old man would be completing his long run.

Clicking the blade out from its holster, Zabuza swung it over his shoulder and slammed it against the ground. The ground trembled and broke apart. If only that could’ve been one of their skulls.

O~O

The air was thick with tension. A tension that didn’t escape Naruto. He shivered and clenched his shaking fists. Weakness was not to be shown now when they were in the eye of the hurricane. Or maybe tornado. It wasn’t a life or death situation yet but with this shinobi, anything was possible. He needed to be on the alert.

His thoughts trailed over to Kakashi. That eye was proving to be dangerous. It was able to copy all of Zabuza’s movements. What was it? It wasn’t a normal eye, that much was certain. And it sure as hell couldn’t be Kakashi’s real eye. It didn’t match the other.

“W-Wow...” Hinata whispered. Naruto looked over at his teammate. Her shoulders had relaxed and she was watching intently. “So m-m-many hand seals, and he m-mirrored them all p-perfectly, instantly.”

“Hinata-chan, do you know what it is? What Kakashi-sensei is doing?” Naruto questioned.

She looked like she knew what was going on and if she could clear the air, then just maybe he’d be able to understand everything clearer. Like why Zabuza was suddenly so agitated.

Hinata’s head snapped up quickly and spun toward Naruto, her pale eyes wide. A blush brought life to her pale cheeks and her mouth opened and closed repeatedly as she tried to find the words to her knowledge. Instead of replying, she fought back the blush and looked back toward Kakashi and Zabuza. It was her way of saying: “Rather watch than hear it from me”.

Naruto grumbled. He turned back to Kakashi and watched with intent.

The two shinobi moved with purpose and from Zabuza’s side, a frustration he wanted to get out. You didn’t need to be a genius to understand why he was frustrated. He was getting his ass handed to him by someone he had been confident he’d be able to defeat.

Zabuza deflected Kakashi’s kunai and landed near the water’s edge. His dark eyes grew cold and glared at the copy ninja. “You’re nothing but an imitation!”

“You can’t be the real thing, you bastard!” both Kakashi and Zabuza spoke up, Kakashi’s mask stretching out as he smirked.

Kakashi pulled out a kunai from his holster and ran at Zabuza, leaping up. He dove down and aimed the kunai for Zabuza’s shoulder. At the last minute, Zabuza leaned back and his body flooded out into the river.

Naruto’s eyes grew wide. A clone? Had Zabuza been a clone the entire time?

Either way, what came next surprised him more than it should have. Kakashi spun around and wiped the water that had spilled from the clone away from his face. He lifted his head and scanned the area for the enemy shinobi. But, just as he faced away, the water rose up and morphed into one of a human body. One wielding a large object.

“Kakashi-sensei! Look out!” Kiba yelled.

“You fool...” Zabuza growled, his hands were a blur as he made hand signs. A large gush pf water swept upward into a sphere and encased itself around Kakashi, trapping him without it. “Suirō no Jutsu!”

The water surrounding Kakashi let off a luminous glow, probably from the chakra streaming through it. The bottom of it lightly grazed the water, sending continuous ripples across its surface. Kakashi stared at the bubble and slammed a fist against it. His stubbornness did nothing to help him and the bubble simply repelled the blow. He flew back against it and slumped against the surprisingly dry interior.

Zabuza had one hand keeping the bubble intact and the other held his blade loosely. He eyed his work and huffed out an unimpressed breath. “You’ll never escape from here, Kakashi! I expected better from you,” his head rolled to the side as he glared at the three genin. “If I let you free, I won’t be able to fight well. I’ll kill these brats first... then deal with you!”

Naruto felt his muscles stiffen and his bones lock into one solid position. With Kakashi in that barrier, he’d be of no help to them. And Zabuza seemed serious about getting them out of the way to take out Tazuna. But if he had to maintain contact with the barrier at all times, he surely couldn’t fight them. He’d need to have two hands and be able to move freely. None of which seemed possible with the jutsu he was currently performing.

However, Naruto stood corrected. Because at that moment, out from the lake, another clone formed.

How could he forget that so easily? Of course Zabuza would’ve created a clone to do his work for him until they were taken out! But... if water clones were just like shadow clones, then that meant they could easily burst back into their original state.

But this wasn’t the time for thinking like some sort of genius. Kakashi needed help and right away. They needed to do something. He needed to do something.

“Hey, you! The no-eyebrows freak!” Naruto burst out before he could stop himself. “Put this in your bingo book... the man who will become the Hokage of Konohagakure one day... the Konoha shinobi,” Naruto tightened his headband and straightened it, the metal reflecting small glimmers of light. “Is me! Uzumaki Naruto!”

“Brat, don’t think you are a shinobi just because you’re wearing a forehead protector. Real ‘shinobi’ must have experienced life and death! I’ll teach you how to be a true ninja!” Zabuza yelled. With his free hand, he gestured with his hand at them and his clone ran at them, swinging the identical sword over his shoulder.

He swung his sword out at Naruto. He quickly jumped back, yelling out in surprise. He didn’t expect a frontal attack but this shinobi didn’t pull any punches. His clone was no exception.

Naruto jumped back three time until he was far enough away. “Stop right there! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

In a cloud of smoke, multiple shadow clones appeared around the clone of Zabuza. Each one glared at him, standing ready for any attack he might do.

Zabuza looked around him, unfazed. For a clone, he wasn’t that bothered by the idea of so many clones taking him down. In fact he didn’t even seem frightened. The clone actually looked amused: in a weird copy way. “Oh! Kage Bunshin... and there’s quite a few of them.”

Was this his version of being worried? Naruto didn’t stop to contemplate it and ordered his clones forward. Without hesitation, they all rushed forward. The clones attacked Zabuza with a constant vigour, attacking him with all they had. Zabuza wasn’t even trying. He deflected their attacks, lashing his blade out at them. His blade knocked them left and right, shoving them into each other. One by one, the clones expelled. Zabuza stabbed his blade into the ground and held onto it as he spun around it, kicking his legs out. He kicked the real Naruto back, sending him tumbling back into one of the trees behind him.

Spitting out some blood lodged in the back of his throat, Naruto sat up and wiped the trickle away from his mouth. “I’m not giving up! I’ve still got this!” Naruto summoned a Fūma Shuriken and threw it at his teammate. “Kiba!”

Kiba caught the shuriken and frowned down at it. He turned the blade over and ran his thumb across its surface. Realization suddenly came over his face. He grinned. “So that was your plan. Not bad, Naruto.”

Naruto got to his feet and summoned more clones, grinding his teeth together. He wasn’t going to cave in just yet. Kakashi needed their help and they were going to help him, no matter what it took. He ran at Zabuza, pulling a kunai out from his holster. He threw it at Zabuza, not aiming for any body part specifically. Naturally, Zabuza dodged it and glared at him.

“Let’s go wild!” Kiba huffed out an annoyed breath and threw the massive shuriken in his hand, throwing it with as much force as he could gather. The blade spun at an alarming speed. As it sliced through the air, it let off a hissing noise that made Naruto’s blood spike beneath the muscle. It sounded like metal hitting against metal.

“You really are pathetic,” Zabuza sighed.

He turned his head to the side and let the shuriken sweep pass him. Its course changed and spun in the opposite direction. Kiba growled and grinded his teeth.

“If that’s all you’ve got... then the shinobi of Konoha are doomed to failure. I’ve seen better from children barely in the Academy.”

“Then they must really be skilled!”

“What?” The real Zabuza looked behind him quickly. The Fūma shuriken that had made it past his clone burst into a cloud of smoke and from out of the smoke, the blonde haired Uzumaki grinned and pushed himself forward. His kunai drew closer to Zabuza’s arm, the one that kept Kakashi in his prison.

Zabuza’s eyes widened as time slowed for him. He watched the kunai draw closer to his arm and knew he had one of two options. Either he kept hold of the jutsu and get a kunai stabbed into his forearm, or release it and deal with the genin himself which was proving to be slightly difficult with their level of intelligence. They weren’t stupid enough to run away and leave their sensei behind. They were instead choosing to stay and fight.

Zabuza released the jutsu and moved out his arm away from the kunai.

“Damn kids,” Zabuza growled, jumping back and stopping in front of a large tree.

Hinata looked back briefly at Tazuna. He nodded at her and she jumped forward quickly, grabbing Kakashi just before he could sink into the river. She heaved him up and wrapped one of his arms around her shoulders. Quickly moving out of the way, she got Kakashi onto dry land and tried to manage his weight against hers.

“K-K-Kakashi-sensei, are you alright?” Hinata stuttered, her hand pressed against his chest to push him back. He kept leaning forward and his eyes kept drooping.

Nodding slowly, Kakashi looked up at Hinata. His mask stretched out and she knew he was smiling at her. “Good job... you’ve... all grown up...”

“These annoying kids kept me from dealing with you,” Zabuza narrowed his eyebrows, what was left of them at least. “But I don’t make the same mistakes twice. People don’t live long enough to see that.”

Kakashi forced himself into a standing position, moving his arm to his side. Naruto and Kiba ran up beside him, standing guard in front of Tazuna. The possibility of him being attacked again were high. They couldn’t risk it.

“Don’t attempt to fight me with the same ninjutsu twice. Then, what do you want to do next?” Kakashi answered, standing up tall. He wobbled on his feet but stood his ground, refusing to topple over.

Zabuza straightened himself up and stared at Kakashi. “Can you see the future?”

“Yes, and you’re about to die.”

The surprise on Zabuza’s face changed drastically. The sound of something sharp impacting soft material hissed out and his eyes widened. His body fell to the side, lifeless. His wide eyes were still open and staring directly at them. Naruto shuddered and looked at Kakashi. However, his teacher still stood in the same position. He hadn’t moved an inch. So it wasn’t him...

Then who was it?

A shadow casted over Zabuza’s body and the five looked up at the tree. Crouched on one of the branches, a masked shinobi looked back at them. They dropped down and landed behind Zabuza. The shinobi spoke up, their voice emotionless but calm.

“You’re right, he died.”

O~O

The young shinobi stood up tall, their hands clenched at their side. He or she wore a standard Kirigakure pinstriped outfit that stopped at their knees. Over it they wore a green haori with white trimmings and around their waist was a brown sash with a fringed tail wrapped around their waist twice. On their feet were light-brown sandals with straps in the same colour as his kimono and nail polish on his fingernails and toenails in a matching blue green colour. Their black hair was gathered into a white bun holder while two locks framed their mask, bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends. Covering their face was a white mask with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth as well as the Kirigakure symbol etched in the top.

The shinobi turned their head to Kakashi and nodded. “Arigato gozaimasu. I have been waiting for the chance to eliminate Zabuza.”

“From the markings on your mask, I would say you’re a Tracker Ninja from Kirigakure,” Kakashi replied, frowning as he eyed the unknown before him.

“Hai, our mission is eliminate ‘defecting ninja’. We have been tracking Zabuza’s movements for quite some time, waiting for the right time,” the shinobi lifted one of Zabuza’s arms and draped it over he or she’s shoulders. It was really difficult to tell what gender this person was. It sounded like a boy but their frame was slender like a girl’s should be. The shinobi glanced at Zabuza’s drooping head.

Naruto narrowed his eyebrows. There was something about this person that rubbed him the wrong way. There was something about the whole situation that was off.

“Hey! Who do you think you are?!” Naruto snapped.

Both Hinata and Kiba stared at their teammate in surprise. They then exchanged glances then looked up at Kakashi. The older shinobi reached up and pulled his headband over his Sharingan. He let out an exhausted sigh. “Easy, Naruto. He’s not our enemy.”

He? How could he even be certain that this unknown was a boy? Everything about him just screamed “I’m a girl!”. Naruto stepped forward. “That’s not the point!” he pointed at the lifeless form of Zabuza. “Did you see what he did? Zabuza was huge, and powerful like some kind of monster! And this kid, who’s no bigger than me, he brought down Zabuza with one move! Like it was nothing! What does that make us? We’re just stumbling around. We don’t know anything! How can I accept that?”

Kakashi shook his head and looked down at Naruto. There was something serious lingering in his eyes. “Well, even if you don't accept it, it did happen Naruto.”

“He’s got a point there,” Kiba shrugged, grinning weakly at Hinata.

The shinobi shifted Zabuza’s weight around on his... or her shoulders before speaking up again. “Your struggle is over now. Now, I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body. They must not be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. Sumimasen.”

Kakashi nodded his head and watched as the shinobi rose their free hand into a seal, their index and middle finger pointing upward.

“Sayōnara.”

The two flickered before they disappeared. Kakashi stared at the place where they had once been before turning to a fuming Naruto. The blonde pouted and folded his arms across his chest stubbornly.

“Don’t be upset about it, Naruto. In this world, there are kids younger than you, and yet, stronger than me.”

“Yeah, whatever. As long as we don’t run into him again, I’m fine,” Naruto huffed.

Kiba raised and lowered one shoulder. “Unless we get ambushed again; I really doubt it. Besides, he’s a Tracker Ninja. They only show up when someone with a bounty is nearby.”

“I have a bounty!” Naruto snapped, spinning around and pointing a finger at himself.

“Yeah, I’m sure they really need the extra five ryo.”

Naruto and Kiba broke out into an argument, leaving Kakashi and Hinata silent. She giggled nervously and held a fist to her mouth, like she always did to smuggle her laughter. Kakashi looked up at Tazuna. The old man looked shell shocked and anxious. Either from the cold or the sudden attack, he was shivering and kept looking around him as if something or someone was going to lash out at him.

“Tazuna,” Kakashi spoke up. Tazuna’s head snapped up so quickly, Kakashi was sure he was going to have whiplash from it.

“What is it?” Tazuna growled in his usual annoyed voice. It sounded forced though, and both Kiba and Naruto picked up on it as they stopped their bickering and turned to listen in.

Kakashi put one hand into his pocket and the other he placed on his hip. He leaned to the side and looked at Tazuna with a serious expression. The three genin looked at each other then back at Kakashi, their eyes wide with wonder. When Kakashi spoke up again, they suddenly stiffened and turned to Tazuna.

“What are you hiding from us?”