Chapter 24

(Team 7, The Great Bridge) (Land of waves)

Uchiha Sasuke didn't enjoy doing anything.

Time spent doing nothing was time wasted.

He could be training, he could be studying, or reading, or learning, or watching something that would assist him in his goal, but no. He was stuck doing nothing.

He wasn't that he wasn't doing anything. It was that it felt like he was doing nothing that made him resent it. Along with a great many things, he really did hate guard duty.

If he had known how long the mission was going to be, he would've brought something to read. Tazuna's home was not equipped with a library or anything much in the way of literature, so he was momentarily lacking in the book department. It's a damn shame. Something to read would've made this a whole lot more bearable.

Itachi...

The name drifted in his head often. The name he is obsessed with, the name he can't wait to meet again.

He knows that there is a long road to walk until he could reach his brother, and it would be a bloody one, he was sure.

The destination would be the bloodiest of all, and he alone would reach it. But he couldn't walk the path by himself. Their brushes with death, as a team, had shown him he wasn't strong enough. To change that, he needed teachers, he needed teammates, and he needed people. They were necessary to help him reach his end goal.

Sasuke ran a hand through his slightly damp hair and sighed to himself. Guard duty gave him too much time to think.

The night wore on as he kept watch. The low, constant chirping of insects kept him-

"Show yourselves," he said into the trees. There was no use waiting for them to come to him. They were already there.

"You are not strong enough to make us show ourself"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He knows he is not strong enough, You don't have to rub it in the face though.

"Keep doing what you are doing, We will be going"

-------

"I hope you guys are hungry."

Tsunami walked into the room with a tray of food, a mix of leftovers from dinner and unused supplies from the kitchen which she handed to Team 7. Kakashi accepted eagerly, beginning to chow down with a quick uttering of, "Itadakimasu."

Sakura glanced down at herself, disguising her self-examination by fiddling with the hem of her dress. She really did detest her figure. She was skinny, weighed quite little, but didn't have much in the way of muscle at all. She felt... bony.

That, along with her rather prominent forehead, pink hair and other minor bodily grievances, it was no wonder she still had problems with her image. It was that image problem that had first led to the Academy issues, the dieting, the growing of her hair and lack of muscle tone. It irritated her to no end that she had only just begun to resolve them.

'Stupid Naruto', she thought, folding her arms across her torso. He was one of the things she blamed for her condition, apart from herself.

She and Naruto went on their first date a few nights ago, It was awful, he eats a lot, talks a lot, and she was envious of him to be able to eat so much.

But during that time, Naruto did tell her to eat more to focus more on her career, She can't really eat more than she made a habit of... But she can do something about her career.

As a result of her warped focus on her career, among other things, she was weak, unfit of the title of 'kunoichi'. Even Naruto was stronger than her.

She was starting to see how wrong everyone was about the supposed dead-last, but it just made her all the more insecure. Naruto was slowly disproving the notions that he was feeble and useless. The dobe, thought by everyone never amount to anything more than cannon fodder on the battlefield while the geniuses and prodigies did the real work, was not what he seemed.

But what was she doing? The answer was nothing. She stood at the back, defending the client while Naruto and Sasuke took action like a team, working together in concert to take an enormously superior foe like Zabuza by surprise and releasing Kakashi sensei from the missing-nin's clutches so he could kick the killer's ass with extreme prejudice. Their contribution, made a difference, while she just watched from the sidelines.

She didn't want that.

Sakura slipped a loose strand of pink hair behind her ear, putting her arm on the table and supporting her head in thought.

She wanted to amount to something more, to be something more. She didn't want to be weak. She didn't want to let the others do all the work while she stood and watched from a distance.

She wanted to help, or take charge, or to heal, or to deceive the enemy with illusions, or to attack from behind, or to do something, anything other than standing idly by and watching.

The question was how, because she didn't know...

'Come on, Sakura, think', she demanded herself. She had to have something, some way to contribute.

"You have good chakra control", her inner self supplied.

It seemed that emotional manifestation within her was good for something after all.

She supposed Inner Sakura had a point. According to Kakashi-sensei, her ease of learning the tree walking exercise was due to her chakra control.

On the other hand, her chakra control was good because she had very little of it in the first place. That was enough to make her frown and chew at her lip just a little. She didn't have a lot of chakra to work with, but that didn't mean she couldn't expand her reserves. Her face brightened with a small smile. She just needed to train more, and train harder.

Training, huh? It made her think of Naruto for a moment.

Perhaps it was a leftover factor of her previous date with him, but she admired his devotion to his training is real. He had kept running up that tree, shattering bark and flipping down to earth, not stopping until he had some semblance of how the technique worked, deeming his progress unacceptable and continuing until he had it down. He gave it his all, unwilling to give in when a challenge was put in front of him. She had seen the same kind of determination and resolve in Sasuke when he and Naruto stood against Zabuza. That will and tenacity flowed into every other aspect of their lives, it seemed.

It wasn't enough for her to just train harder, give more of herself to their work. She had to become stronger as a person, too. She had to try and find their kind of confidence. It was a tall order.

From the corner of the eyes, Kakashi saw a shadow...

The Shadow of the Ghost... She is here

-------

Naruto stands near the lake staring on the far end, God only knows what he was thinking.

"That place sounds like a total hell hole," Naruto remarked.

Renji half-smile resurfaced. "This place needs a hero, someone like you."

!!!

"Renji..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"what the hell?"

There was no one there...

From the leaves trees, Renji watched Naruto as he turned around to leave.

"Remember my words brother, This village needs you more than you can imagine", muttered Renji as he left without notifying anyone.

-------

(The Next Morning) (On the bridge)

The group's first clue that something was off was the fact that instead of hearing the sounds of construction going on they saw all the workers lain about, bloody but otherwise alive if the shallow breathing was any indication. The second was the thick mist that managed to elevate itself forty feet in the air, covering the unfinished bridge. Reacting fast, the ninja made a box formation around Tazuna for his protection.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura shouted, feelings of fear began to seep in for just a moment, "This is…"

"Yes sakura I believe it's Zabuza's Kirigakure no Jutsu too, everyone, be on guard… they could come in from any direction." Kakashi sensei voiced his worries to the group, eyeing his surrounding wearily.

They stayed like that way for several minutes, waiting for Zabuza to make his move. The mist swirling around the life-sized statues.

Just when the tension went into its all-time high, four shadow figures appeared in the mist, one bigger than all the rest by a large margin. Exiting the mist as they closely crept towards team 7 and Tazuna until they became visible to the naked eye, unveiling them to be Zabuza and his teenage wards, Haku, who wore his blue battle robes and hunter's mask, and the Akuma twins, Gozu and Meizu.

The two opposing stared at each other for a moment, sizing each other up, determining which weak points they should go for, until the mist Jonin stepped forward, and locking eyes with Kakashi.

"Sorry, I kept you waiting Kakashi… and I still see you have those brats with you." He said off-handedly before casting a sideways glance towards the avenger-wanna-be (Sasuke). "Though, that one's still trembling." He mused.

Before anyone could blink, seven Zabuza's appeared around the group, closing off any escape they might make. The Zabuza next to Sasuke, who by now was smirking, was shocked as he saw no fear in its prey's black eye. "I'm trembling with… excitement."

The leaf Jonin gave his Genin an eye smile, "Go ahead Sasuke."

After that, seven précised cuts were made by the boy's knife and the end result was the water clones turning back in their liquid form.

"Hmm, so he saw through my water clones. The brat has grown quite a bit." Zabuza commented

But before he could continue...

Rumble... Rumble

"What is happening", Naruto asked as everyone on the bridge looked up to see the sky that was rumbling.

"What's that?", asked Meizou pointing up.

A huge molten rock came in from the clouds, tearing through the winds.

"Whatever is it, I don't like it", said Zabuza, as his fingers moved in breathtaking speed.

"Water Style: Water Severity Blade"

A Huge blade made of water slashed the air above them and slashed the boulder in half.

!!!

Only to see a little red hair boy inside of it. That is coming down fast. There is no stopping the boy's arrival now.

WWOOOOOHHHHHOOOOOOOO

The red hair boy landed above Geizou, pushing him down.

Renji was born with great body strength, his body power is so great that it might even rival that of Tsunade.

*Crack

A Hole cracked open beyond Geizou legs, as both of them were pushed into the waters below.

"W-what the hell was that?", asked Sakura

They were Just about to be over what happened, when suddenly

"Hey handsome, wanna accompany me?", asked a lady that appeared from the thin air, piggybacking Meizu.

"WHAT THE HELLLLLLLL

*Splash

Meizu was taking into the water by her...

-------

Geizou was standing opposite of Renji as they both were dropping the pearls of water droplets.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Sigh... I don't get it, why the hell do we always have to introduce and chat ourself before the fight, is it some kind of hidden agreement or something"

Geizou Chuckled, "I just wanna know the name of the Brat I am going to kill"

"Chitty Chitty chat chat"

"I just want to k---

"Chitty Chitty

"Listen Gaki Don't make me angry I just wan--

"Chat chat

"Wha--

Chat

AAGGGGGGHHHHHHH

"Water Style: Water Ball Jutsu"

Renji neatly rotated his staff on side of him and slam it down.

A wall appeared in front of him.

Although the attack was blocked, It barely affects Geizou.

As Geizou used the momentum and run towards him.

-------

"WHERE ARE YOU COME OUT..!!"

Being wet all over Meizou was standing on the ground.

The girl on his back was gone the moment they fell to the ground below the bridge.

*Crack*Crack

!!!

The World began to crack, like a mirror

*Tap*Tap

From the cracks of the mirror, Meizu saw a reflection moving figure of Lady Leisourly walking forward, her hand-carried a single sword

KAI

Meizu was very shocked when the hell did he get captured in an illusion as he immediately broke the Genjutsu.

Suddenly the cracking sky cracked even more and eventually breaks.

!!!

In front of Meizu, the Lady was standing with cold eyes, with murder reflecting in it.

She raised her sword to slash it down. Her eyes were cold and her face never ever showed a single sign of any expression.

"DO NOT GET COCKY", Meizu yell and stab the Kunai to the mysterious Lady's heart, he was faster.

But--- the Lady's body began to dissolve and disappeared in the thin air.

*Crack*Crack

The entire world began to crack Just like a mirror yet again.

!!!

"Have you ever killed a person?", asked the mysterious Lady's voice.

"What? Who are you", asked Meizu.

"Usually, our bones are protecting our vital organs. The cranium for the brain, and the ribs for the lungs and hearts. Then in order to kill someone in one go, where do you have to aim? It's the neck. The blood pumped by the heart and sent to the brain is gushing out through here. Completely"

Meizu was scared and he jumped back---

KAI

*Crack*Crack

The Sky cracked open, as Meizu was still standing on the field all alone.

"WHERE ARE YOUUUUU"

"I am here", came a creepy voice Just blowing on his ears.

!!!

Meizu took a few steps back and turned back.

No one was there...

"The moon has awoken with the sleep of the sun, the light has been broken; your nightmare has begun."

!!!

The creeping voice began singing, always blowing on his ears.

He jumped back, slashing with his claws left and right.

"COME OUT COOOMEEEEEE OUUUUUUTTTTTTT"

She came from the thin air right in front of him

*Boo

Meizu took a few steps back and fell on his butt.

There is no one out there.

Huff*Huff

He looked up to see Zabuza fighting Kakashi.

"SAAVE MMEEEE, ZABUZA SAVE MEEEEE"

Zabuza looked down, towards him, and suddenly smiled.

!!!!

His neck twisted and the world became twisted alongside Zabuza.

*Crack *Crack

The world began to crack yet again like a mirage that impossible to break.

"How does it feel to not exist in this world?"

"COOOMMMMEEE FOOOORRRWWWAAARRRDDD YOU COWARD

*Crack

The World broke open...

And he was lying in his own pool of blood...

'When the hell did I get killed', mentally asked Meizu who didn't even manage to see his killer face.

"Who... are... you", he asked in his last breath.

"I am the Ghost of Konoha, Sparrow of the Leaf", came the voice near him.

He only managed to see her face with great difficulty before she swings her sword and Meizu's neck and body are separated.

-------

Renji was standing behind his earth wall when from the side came Geizou.

Geizou threw a Kunai.

Renji merely stood there. As Kunai broke the moment it touched Renji.

!!!

Geizou was shocked but he didn't let go, as he threw a chain towards Renji who kept standing there.

Renji was bound in a chain.

Geizou grin as he rushed forward to kill this boy.

Renji grin.

"Formation of heaven and earth Conversion"

!!!

The seal on Geizou body shined, and the seal on Renji's body shined as well.

And suddenly...

Geizou was bound in Chains.

And Renji was running towards him with a staff in his hand.

!!!

'What the hell happened', Geizou was shocked

Renji spin while rotating his spear over his head.

His muscle tightens, the blood in his body Just pumped.

And he hit Geizou Chest.

BBBOOOOOMMM

Phhhuuuuuu

Geizou threw a mouth spray of Blood, and slid back with great speed, with god knows how many broken bones.

But Renji wasn't done as he side-flipped.

"Fuinjutsu Art: Magnifesto"

As he slammed his staff that is increasing with Great Speed down to the earth directly on the body of Geizou.

BBBBBOOOOOOMMMMMM

The Destruction brought by the humungous staff and his great strength was so great that he destroyed the entire land they were standing.

From this moment onwards, there was no land blow the Great Bridge as it all went down to the earth.

Shintaro sensei who Just managed to Defeat Meizu stumbled, as her mouth twitched and she protected the base of the bridge with her chakra and immediately Jumped into the air.

-------

"Sensei, Shouldn't we help them?", asked Renji who was standing far away from them.

"Kakashi and his boys can handle himself, Let's Just continue our Journey, To the Lands Of Uzushio. The Home of the worlds Greatest Seal Masters that ever lived"

[Even though I am Late in this chapter, This Chapter is 3 Chapters Long, So I am Equal]

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