"Before you answer that sensei, was that a Hunter-nin that killed Zabuza?" Satsuki asked Kakashi who nodded.
"Yes, that is a Hunter-nin from Kiri. Why do you ask, Satsuki?"
"Can you give me a brief explanation about Hunter-nins?" Satsuki asked. Kakashi wasn't sure about Satsuki's reasons for asking these questions she should already know, but shrugged and answered anyway.
" Sure, no harm in that. Hunter-nin Corps also known as the Corpse Processing Team is a special team within Kirigakure's Anbu, consisting of hunter-nin which are given the specific duty of hunting down missing-nin. They completely erase the person they're searching for by means of their superior assassination techniques and medical skills."
"They could be seen wearing standard armoured Anbu uniform or, in some instances a blue kimono with a striped, turtle-necked undershirt. They may also wear a mask with thin slitted eye-hole and a wavy design in place of the mouth, and their village symbol on the forehead. Their masks have human resemblances, rather than the typical animal resemblance most Anbu masks possess."
" They kill their target, taking the head as proof, and then completely dispose of the body by using various methods, such as cremation or the summoning of wild carrion crows to devour the corpse."
" This is done in order to make sure the village secrets which a ninja's body holds — such as chakra types, herbs eaten, ninjutsu, special medicine, and kekkei genkai — will not be revealed to outsiders."
" Hunter-nin are supposed to destroy the corpse at the very spot the body is lying; it is not to be moved after it is dead, and only the head is taken back to prove that the missing-nin is in fact dead."
" As a requirement, they must possess a thorough and intimate knowledge of human anatomy. Due to their reputation for utterly and completely obliterating the remains of their targets, they are code-named 'The Undertaker Squad'. " Kakashi explained to Satsuki who nodded after hearing everything.
"That Hunter-nin didn't burn Zabuza's body right on the spot though, instead she left with the body. She also used senbon to kill him and it didn't look like she was carrying any kind of heavy equipment that could decapitate a person..." Satsuki started talking.
"It's odd that a Hunter-nin would be so ill-equipped to deal with the disposing of a body, don't you think sensei? " Satsuki asked Kakashi who nodded back, proud that she was able to figure all of that out.
" You're absolutely right, Satsuki. I've been wondering about that myself. And I have a theory, most likely Zabuza is alive." Kakashi whispered, making the three Genin widen their eyes in shock.
Tazuna who was sitting nearby while drinking a bottle of beer spat it back into the bottle and started coughing violently after hearing Kakashi's words.
"Think about it, the Hunter-nin used senbon to kill Zabuza. But unless it hit's a vital organ, the probability of actually killing someone is low. It's an item used by doctors in acupuncture."
" And like I said just now, they have thorough knowledge and understanding of the human body, so putting people in momentary death states is easy as pie for them. Let's look at the facts. First, he carried away the body of the much heavier Zabuza. Second, he used a weapon that has a low probability of killing." Kakashi recounted the facts. Naruto sighed and rubbed his face.
" So he's alive then, the next question we should be asking is how long would it take for him to be back at 100%?" Naruto wondered.
" Hey hey, aren't you guys overthinking a little bit? From what I heard from you guys, they're supposed to kill missing-nin right?" Tazuna asked with concern in his voice. He was concerned that a strong opponent might return.
"One of the shinobi rules is to always prepare for the worst possible scenario. And even if Zabuza is dead, it just means that Gato is likely to hire an even stronger ninja. We need to prepare, is what I'm saying."
" But what can we do, sensei? We only managed to actually injure him because we got lucky in catching him off guard with Naruto's plan. Zabuza would definitely be expecting that when he comes back." Sakura asked Kakashi who chuckled in return.
" Well, you guys would be doing some training. Obviously this is just training for you guys to get better and even if I train you, you won't be able to best Zabuza without me." Kakashi replied. Sakura hummed.
"That's the best possible option right now. He's more injured than you and he was also put in a momentary death state so his body should take a while to recover. So yeah, we'll train until then. Just give us something we can work on and we'll be off! " Sakura looked at Kakashi determinedly.
"Why do you guys even bother?" Everyone looked at the newcomer, Inari who is the son of Tsunami and the grandson of Tazuna.
Inari has spiky black hair and dark-coloured eyes. He wore a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt and a simple pair of sandals. He also wore a blue and white striped hat under the brim of which he would usually look at people.
"Oh! Inari my boy!! Where were you?!" Tazuna grinned while holding out his arms. Inari ran over to him and gave him a hug.
" Welcome back grandpa." Inari muttered before glaring at the Konoha Shinobi. Tsunami smiled at her son.
"Inari, say hello to these people. They are the ninja who protected grandpa." Tsunami requested.
"But mom, they're just going to die." Inari replied, Sakura had an offended expression on her face while Satsuki glared at the boy.
"Man, I never thought I'd see the day where someone's more emo than you, Satsuki." Naruto teased Satsuki who scowled and punched him on the arm, making Sakura giggle at Naruto's tease.
"Listen here kid, Gato ain't got shit on us! Money will only get him so far! There is no way some rich, idiotic midget ass bastard is gonna kill us! What is gonna do, bribe us to death?! When Gato tries to to get your grandpa, I'm going to beat his ass back to the age of the Sage of Six Paths!" Naruto grinned as he held out his fist at Inari.
" I'm a superhero who will one day become the Hokage! Gato is nothing against me!! Believe it!!" Naruto declared.
" What are you, stupid? There's no such thing as a hero! If you don't wanna die, you should leave this country." Inari warned before he turned around and made his way to the door.
"Inari, where are you going?" Tsunami asked her son in a worried voice.
"I'm going to look at the ocean." Inari said and left but not before slamming the door shut on his way out.
"I'm sorry about that." Tazuna apologized in a depressed voice as he looked over at the Konoha Shinobi. Naruto sighed and shook his head.
"It's fine, I've dealt with worse." Naruto looked at Satsuki and grinned at her slyly, making Satsuki punch him in the arm again.
"But that kid seriously needs to get his shit together. Anyone who has that kind of mindset will only stay in the dark forever." The blonde shook his head as he got up.
" Anyway, I think I'll be going to get some rest."
"In that case, there are a few extra rooms for you on the right if you want to take one of them." Tsunami said helpfully.
" Thanks. " Naruto smiled at her before leaving Kakashi's room and moved to one of the rooms Tsunami said was open.
As he passed by Inari's room he heard crying. Getting curious, Naruto stopped and channeled some chakra to his ear to hear what was going on inside the room.
"Father...." Naruto frowned as he heard Inari's sobbing and whispering. He sighed and shook his head as he walked away.
.
.
.
It was the next day, Naruto, Sakura and Satsuki followed Kakashi who was using crutches to walk. They arrived in front of a lake. Kakashi turned around to look at the three.
"Alright, our training starts here. You are going to be learning the technique of walking on water." Kakashi revealed while pointing at the lake. Naruto, Sakura and Satsuki looked at him seriously, waiting for an explanation that Kakashi gave the second later.
"To do this, you have to be emitting a constant stream of chakra from the bottom of your feet and use the repellent force to walk across the water's surface."
" Obviously this is much harder than the Tree Climbing Exercise because the amount of chakra that needs to be emitted changes constantly. The more you train in this technique, you will eventually reach a state where you will stand on water without even noticing it or basically even trying. But do not be deterred from my words and your failures. "
"I went through this exercise too when I was younger and I can't even count the amount of times I fell into the water before eventually getting it right." Kakashi advised them. Naruto grinned broadly at Kakashi.
" You got it, sensei!! By the time you're back to 100%, we'll be running on water like it's nothing!Believe it!! " Naruto declared. Kakashi nodded.
" I will. And before I go, I suggest you three take off your clothes except for your undergarments(obviously), you don't want to ruin your Shinobi attires now do you?"
" Huh? "
To the ground...