After a long day of searching, Ino still didn't find anything she felt was suitable to give Sasuke as a birthday present, and every time she saw a plush, Naruto's voice would suddenly enter her head...
'A plush of Itachi with a nail through it'
"Dammit I won't buy that plush!" She yelled out of nowhere
"Huh? If you don't want to buy it, just don't buy it" Naruto said with a perplexed look
"Ah, I said that out loud, oh my goodness" Ino covered her face and flushed red
Naruto looked up
"It's getting a bit late, let's head back for the day" He said
"Yeah..." Ino sighed
"Don't get so gloomy, you have several days, let's go, I'll walk you back" Naruto patted her back and smiled
"I'm thinking, what if Sakura, who is probably training with him every day, is getting closer and closer to him as we speak" She grumbled
Naruto tapped his chin with a finger as he thought
"Ah, how about I tell you a fact about Sasuke that will make you feel better" He said
"Huh? Really? Tell me" Ino's eyes lit up
"Sasuke's hate b*ner for his brother is so intense that girls won't be able to get him excited" He said with a dead serious expression
"...on that note, I wish I didn't know" Ino's lips twitched in response to his answer
The two walked back in silence, and some of Naruto's previous words kept lingering in her head...
What words you ask?
'Dammit, I won't buy that stupid plush!' She cursed in her head, every time she tries to buy something, that sentence just keeps popping up!
Why? Is it because of how ridiculous it sounds!? She didn't know why, but it p*ssed her off real bad. Who in their right mind would buy a plush of Itachi with a nail through it as a gift!?
"Ino" Naruto said, but she was too deep in thought
"Ino" He spoke louder
"INO!" He yelled into her ears
"Ah! Huh? What?" She looked around from fright
"We're here, I called you multiple times, but you didn't respond" Naruto said
"O-Oh, yeah, thanks" She blushed, feeling embarrassed that she was so lost in thought that she couldn't even hear him.
"See you around then" He waved to her and returned home using the flying raijin.
When Ino returned, she was met with her parents, with her father staring at Naruto's parting figure, whilst her mother smiled at her...
-A few days later-
"Today, we received a C rank mission" Kakashi said
"Really!" Naruto was stunned, in the original plot, wasn't it because Naruto insisted on doing a higher rank mission that they were given a C rank one?
He was very quiet this time around, so why?
"I decided that your overall strength and team work is enough to take one on, so I'm using this as a way to test you all" He explained
He then told them the content of the mission. It was located in the land of waves, and they had to escort a bridge builder named Tazuna.
"Let's go meet the employer now" Kakashi said
"Kay"
The walk was quite awkward, as no one said anything to one another, nor did anyone try to initiate a conversation.
"You kids need to talk to each other more, communication is important in team work" Kakashi said as he flipped a page on his book.
'Jiraiya must love this guy, he reads all his books' Naruto thought to himself
When they arrived, they saw a bearded man, holding a bottle of alcohol in one hand. His gaze when he saw them was less than pleased.
"What is this! I asked for an escort, and you bring three kids?" Tazuna roared at them
Kakashi revealed his signature, friendly smile, look as he explained.
"These kids are one of the top graduates of their year, they are more than skilled enough to take on a C rank mission" He said
Tazuna, however, shifted his eyes a little at the mention of C rank, but he tried his best to fight on it. But the next moment, Naruto appeared beside him, making Kakashi panic a little, as he knew that this boy's mouth was foul when it comes to people he dislikes.
But what he did was not what they expected. He hung an arm over Tazuna's shoulder, making him crouch a little.
"Hey, let me tell you, you see that masked guy there? He's a Jonin, while we're just Genin, a group formed of Genin are usually enough to take on C ranks, and a Chunin is above Genin, a Chunin can easily take on a dozen Genin" Naruto smiled wickedly as he whispered into his ears
"And Chunins are picked out from trials that can even cost lives, yet a Jonin is above even them, with that guy here, don't you think this is actually a bargain? A Jonin on a C rank mission" Naruto whispered every sweet word that Tazuna would want to hear, and he gulped down deeply before he revealed a friendly smile towards the group.
"Hahaha, let's go" He said
"..."
The three turned to Naruto, who rubbed his nose proudly, and gave him a thumbs up...
"Good work" Kakashi said
"I hope you'll treat me to ramen when we get back" Naruto grinned
"I'll think about it" He replied
As they travelled, they realised that Naruto's social level seems to have gone up, because he was chatting up a storm with Tazuna! In fact, Tazuna seems to be enjoying his company as well, even laughing during the trip.
"Hahaha, kid, you really know what to say to brighten my mood" Tazuna laughed
"Was Naruto always this open?" Sakura asked
Sasuke didn't respond, but he had a similar question in mind.
When they were deep into the trip, Naruto felt that he was forgetting something...it wasn't something too important, but it was somewhat important. And just as he thought that, he noticed two puddles of water by the road side.
'Oh...right'
As they approached, Naruto took out his kunai in silence
*Swoosh*
Chains shot out from within the puddles, wrapping around Kakashi. Sasuke and Sakura's expression changed as they watched the jagged chains with blades wrap tightly around Kakashi.
"A-ARGH" Kakashi's blood curling scream was heard as the chains tore through, and all they saw was dust filling the air as Kakashi was torn to shreds.
"Ah!" Sakura, shocked by this, stepped back in fright
Two ninjas emerged from the puddles, and slammed the chains down towards them.
"Die, Tazuna!"
Naruto let out a faint sigh as he threw a kunai up at them, but instead of aiming at them, it shot past them.
"Kakashi sensei, you owe me another bowl of ramen when we get back for making me work!" He yelled as his figure vanished into a golden light.
When he appeared behind them, he raised a leg and struck one of them down into the ground.
Sasuke took advantage of this and shot a fireball from his mouth, engulfing the one Naruto just struck down from above.
The other ninja realised that he was in trouble, so he threw some kunai towards Tazuna before turning around to run.
*Swoosh*
*Ding*
Sasuke appeared and knocked the Kunai aside with his own, whilst Naruto threw another one towards the escaping ninja. He appeared behind him, and without hesitation, he pierced the man's back with it.
"Kuah" The ninja coughed out blood, and felt his entire body stiffen.
"Have a taste of paralysis poison, my personal mix" Naruto smirked as he slammed him down to the ground, rendering him completely powerless.
*Clap*
From behind, Kakashi emerged with a very pleased look
"Very good cooperation, you two" He smiled underneath his mask
"Y-You, I thought you" Tazuna stared at Kakashi in shock, he turned back to where Kakashi was ambushed, but all that's there is a pile of chopped up logs.
He was stunned, it was then that he grasped some knowledge of what a Jonin is capable of. And the performance by Naruto and Sasuke, it was beyond anything he expected.
Two kids, barely even half his height, had killed and captured a rogue ninja each.
Kakashi's attention was then drawn to Tazuna, as a frown emerged.
"Tazuna-san, I hope you can answer honestly, what is going on, those two were clearly targeting you, and their skills match that of a Chunin, this is beyond what a C rank mission should be" He said in a low voice with a hint of anger
Tazuna gulped
Facing Kakashi's gaze, he gave in and answered honestly. As it turns out, the mission he actually intended for them was to support the building of a bridge in the land of waves, which was opposed by a shipping magnate, Gato.
If the bridge is built, the people living there can travel to the mainland, which would ruin Gato's business. So now, he is being targeted by people hired by Gato, and require the assistance of Kakashi and his team.
"...by right, we should return as this mission includes too many uninformed issues, but we can't just turn away an employer when we already are this close to the destination" Kakashi sighed
In the end, they decided to complete the mission, but if any life threatening problems occur, Kakashi stated that they won't hesitate to leave.
"I'll make do with that" Tazuna replied, knowing that this is as far as he can push the request.
They soon arrived by a large river, where a boatman was stationed, waiting for them. Throughout this entire trip, Sakura has been especially down as she sat beside Kakashi in the boat.
During the previous fight, she couldn't even react properly, and practically froze when she saw Kakashi get ripped to shreds. Her eyes turned to Naruto and Sasuke, both of them reacted immediately, and even cooperating with one another to eliminate the enemies.
She felt like a burden...
"Kakashi sensei"
"Hm?"
"Why am I on this team? Compared to Naruto and Sasuke, I feel like I'm just dead weight..." She looked down and said
Kakashi closed the book in his hand and tucked it in his vest
"Sakura, every Shinobi has their own path to take, perhaps you have yet to find your own path to follow" He said
He then shifted his eyes to Sasuke and Naruto
"Sasuke, Naruto, what do you two seek as a Shinobi?" He asked
Sasuke's eyes burned with a fierce glare when a figure appeared in his mind.
"Power" He replied
Naruto was much more laid back as he leaned backwards with a casual smile
"I just want to get stronger, and start a family" He grinned
"Oh? What happened to becoming Hokage?" Kakashi was taken aback, but he quickly realised he was getting sidetracked.
"The point is, these two have an end goal in mind when they train, what is yours?" He asked Sakura
Sakura fell silent...
"My...end goal?" She muttered
Kakashi looked forward, the shore was slowly coming into view through the thick fog. When the group disembarked, Tazuna offered to take them to his place to rest first.
Amidst this, Naruto turned his head to the side, and took out his kunai.
*Thud*
He threw the Kunai onto a tree, which made everyone's guard spike up, however, nothing happened after that.
"Why'd you throw the kunai?" Sasuke asked, having understood Naruto's skills, he began showing more trust in his judgements as well.
"A gut feeling" He replied
Kakashi's eyes sharpened suddenly as he pulled the kids back behind him, and an enormous blade struck down right where they originally stood.
"Get back" Kakashi said in a low voice as he lifted his headband, revealing a red pupil that made Sasuke freeze from shock.
"Sharingan" He uttered
Kakashi didn't explain, he had the kids back away from him and asked them to protect Tazuna.
Standing on a branch, a man with bandages over his mouth stood there. His gaze made everyone behind Kakashi shake uncontrollably out of fear, as if they were mere rabbits being preyed on by a lion.
The man jumped down, and grabbed his sword, lifting it up over his neck.
"Tazuna's life is to be forfeited here" He said in a low muffled voice
"You're Zabuza from the hidden mist" Kakashi recognised this man and exclaimed
Zabuza let out a faint crackle as he dashed towards Tazuna
"Hah!" The red pupil in Kakashi's eye spun, and Zabuza felt as if his mind was being drawn out, however, he quickly formed a hand seal in response.
The fog around them thickened, and Zabuza's figure faded into the mist, escaping the effect of the Sharingan.
"Sasuke" Naruto pulled Sasuke over and whispered something into his ears
Sasuke was surprised by his request, but nodded with a firm expression. Sakura watched the two converse in secret, and her heart tightened, feeling that she is being left out once more. Her confidence was slowly crumbling, but just then, Sasuke grabbed Sakura's wrist.
"Sakura" He said
"H-Huh? Y-Yesh" Sakura was so surprised that she bit her tongue when she replied
"We need you to do something, our whole plan will rely on you" He said
"Ah! What do I need to do" Her gaze quickly firmed up when she heard this
Sasuke leaned in and whispered something into her ears, making her flush red. But she did her best to maintain a serious attitude, and nodded when she heard the plan.
She jumped back and pulled Tazuna behind her
"Stay behind me," She said
"H-Huh? S-Sure" Tazuna nodded, the thick fog made him especially nervous, as he didn't know where Zabuza is.
*Swoosh*
A giant blade suddenly appeared behind him, swinging down at him.
*Clang*
Sasuke and Naruto jumped in front and both used their kunai to parry it, barely changing its trajectory so it narrowly avoided Tazuna.
From behind, Kakashi emerged and pierced Zabuza's stomach, however, something felt amiss.
*Splash*
Zabuza's body became transparent, and fell to the ground, into a puddle of water.
"A fake!"
*Whoosh*
Behind him, Zabuza appeared, and swung his blade down.
*Psht*
The blade cut Kakashi in two, however, much like the previous incident, his body too, became a puddle of water.
When this happened, a Kunai was pressed against Zabuza's neck
"It's over" Kakashi said as he made a clean cut down.
*Psht*
From the water, a second Zabuza emerged, shocking everyone present as he grabbed Kakashi and dragged him into the lake.
Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who nodded back
As for Kakashi, after he was dragged in, his body was quickly trapped by Zabuza in a water prison, whilst another water clone emerged, staring at them fiercely.
With one hand holding the water prison, he could not move himself, so he resorted to making another clone to handle the rest.
"Now" Naruto said
Sasuke shot a fireball into the water in front of them, causing water and steam to rise. Sakura took this chance and made a hand seal whilst the water covered Zabuza's view, before throwing a kunai through the water.
When the water fell, Zabuza appeared right in front of Sasuke, and raised his blade up high.
Sasuke suddenly revealed a smirk, and Zabuza quickly felt something was off. When he blinked once, Sasuke became someone else, a boy with blonde hair and whiskers on his face!
'An illusion!'
Sakura heaved out a deep breath as she formed another hand sign
Naruto, who was standing in front of Zabuza, suddenly vanished into a golden light, making his blade slam into the ground.
A shuriken zoomed towards him when he struck, so he tilted his head backwards.
"Damn brats!" He roared, but when he tilted his head back, he saw a faint shadow above him!
From above, Sasuke already formed a hand sign and shot out a fireball at him. Had it been Zabuza himself, he could easily take it on, however, as a clone, being engulfed in this flame caused him to dissipate.
Zabuza, who held the water prison, frowned when he saw his clone get destroyed by mere kids, so he used his free hand to quickly form another hand sign.
*Splash*
A figure jumped out of the water from behind him, so he hastily stopped his hand signs and swung his sword at the figure. But something was off, although he sliced it, it felt as if he sliced nothing!
His gaze turned to Sakura instantly, and realised that she was holding onto a hand sign as she focused on him with all her might.
!!!
'Another illusion!' He was stunned
He quickly looked up, and sure enough, Naruto was above, holding a Hiraishin kunai, the very same one Sakura threw after Sasuke blasted the water with a fireball jutsu.
He threw the kunai down at Zabuza, who lifted his blade to deflect it, but Sasuke took this chance and dashed at him with a massive shuriken at hand, throwing it with all his might.
After deflecting the kunai, he lowered his blade to stop the incoming shurizen, but a blinding golden light appeared in front of him, followed by the same boy who was in the air earlier.
He punched Zabuza who was caught off guard, and the Shuriken flew directly for his head.
With no choice left, he pulled his hand out of the water prison, releasing the jutsu, and freeing kakashi.
"Well done kids, I'll take it from here" Kakashi's cold voice sounded as he made a hand sign
*Bzzt*
Lightning suddenly crackled around one hand, and his Sharingan spun once more.
Zabuza tried to evade it by entering the mist, but Naruto and Sasuke would not allow that, as they blocked his path.
His world felt slow, and his body stiffened. All he could do was watch as Kakashi's figure dashed towards him.
"Chidori!" He roared
Zabuza bit down on his tongue, using the pain to stimulate himself, breaking out of the genjutsi, before shifting his body to the side ever so slightly.
Kakshi's hand struck his shoulder as a result of this movement, directly piercing his right arm and ripping it off.
"Argh!" His body flew back, landing on the ground, but his left arm still stubborndly clutched the blade.
Kakashi panted, his face was rather pale at this point.
"If you think this is enough, you are wrong!" Zabuza roared
His body stood stronge despite the severe injury, which only added to his ferocity. Seeing how this much has yet to take him down, it left the team in shock.
But at this moment, they heard something whistle through the air
*Fwee*
*Psht*
From above, two needles struck out, piercing Zabuza's neck, causing him to drop down to the ground, motionless.
Standing on a tree branch nearby, was a masked figure.
"I am a hunter-nin of the hidden mist, I am under orders to eliminate Zabuza" He spoke as he landed next to Zabuza's body.
Kakashi walked over, and placed a finger over Zabuza's neck, after a moment, he sighed
"He's dead"
The hunter-nin bent over and picked up Zabuza's body, however, before he could do much, a golden flash shone, and Naruto appeared behind him. In his hand, was a kunai, the very first Hiraishin kunai he threw on the tree.
"Die!" A red cloak enveloped Naruto in this instant, making Kakashi's heart nearly stop.
'The Kiyubi!' He uttered in his heart
The personn threw a senbon at Naruto. Most of those were swatted aside by his tail, but one made it through and pierced his arm. Despite that, he ignored the pain and punched down towards the unconscious Zabuza.
"Mrf" The hunter-nin shifted his body, taking the punch in Zabuza's place and coughed out some blood which dripped out from the bottom of the mask.
"Tch" He clicked his tongue and jumped onto the tree, making a swift escape.
Naruto wanted to give chase now, however, the needle in his arm caused a numbness to cover his body.
'Tsk, it's poisoned' Naruto dropped to the ground, unable to move, and his demon fox cloak vanished as well.
Kakashi wanted to go check, but a wave of fatigue overtook him, as he had overused the Sharingan, and even used the Chidori on top of it all, causing him to collapse.
"Naruto, Kakashi sensei!" Sakura and Sasuke quickly ran over to check on them
After confirming that Kakashi was just unconscious, and Naruto couldn't move, they felt relieved that it wasn't life threatening.
"Naruto, why did you attack?" Sakura asked
"How can there be such coincidences? A hunter-nin just happens to appear when Zabuza is about to die, that's bullsh*t" Naruto spat, he was currently being carried by Sasuke as the poison was still in effect.
"I see, so is Zabuza alive then?" Sakura asked
"Must be, otherwise, that person would not have taken the hit for him" Sasuke said calmly
The two then turned to Kakashi, who was still unconscious on Tazuna's back
"I'm guessing he also knew he was alive, but his current state didn't allow for further combat, so he wanted that person to leave quickly" Naruto knew what they were thinking from the way they looked at him, so he answered.
"Makes sense" Sasuke nodded
Tazuna brought them to his house, where they laid Kakashi and Naruto on a futon, allowing the group to finally get a proper rest.