Chapter 26: land of the waves (part 3)

The next day, the three genins from team 7 were grumpy. But they could still function as a guard for Tazuna the next day. After the morning they notice that Raven left as well as his Sensei. Team 7 was glad that the crazy woman was gone, but couldn't understand why Raven didn't come back. Kakashi told his team that Anko, the name of the crazy woman. Came back in the afternoon and she took Raven with her. Where they went even he didn't know.

But then after a few days, did team 7 get used to the guard duty. So they could start training again.

Sakura was left in charge of protecting Tazuna while Naruto and Sasuke continued their training. Naruto began to catch up to Sasuke.

...

At the spots where Naruto and Sasuke were training, hidden in the trees were Raven and Anko.

"Sensei, I have to say this. But are they out of their mind?"

"Oh, how do you mean, Raven?"

"How the hell do they think it's ok to train will on a mission? And even on a mission as dangerous as this one. What the hell is that cyclops thinking?"

"Oh, I don't really think he is thinking anymore."

Raven looked at Anko with a question on his face.

"Hehe, I think when he started this mission, his team was ready for a C-mission. It was just guarding against bandits. That is what this team can handle, they could even get their first kill with ease. After that, he would have started with the training they are doing now. If only this was a C-mission. But it quickly changed in an A-mission. He tried to take up the slack, but you saw where that got him. wounded. So he's trying to bring his team up to speed quickly by training them during the mission, in the hope that the missing-nin doesn't come knocking."

"But he could just ask for back-up, couldn't he? We can't be the only ones right?"

"Well, that's his bad luck. I got a message back from Konoha asking about right that question. the answer is that were the only ones for the moment. all the other teams are on the other side in the land of fire, even in the land of wind. the closest to here are us, ANBU, and Team Guy. but he's at the border of the land of lightning. And a team of ANBU is not something he will send out easily."

"So for the moment, we are all they got."

"Yes, great right?"

"Yeah, great Sensei. Let's guard the charge together with that pink head."

"Oh come on she looks nice no."

"Your kidding right, please tell me your kidding. She has nothing going for her. She has that big forehead, a flat chest, and then almost no ass. I'm sorry but there is nothing to see on her that's nice. She's even one of those fangirls for that idiot Uchiha brat. No Sensei, If I had to choose it would be more to Ino, you, Yukino, hell I think even Hinata looks much better than her. I wouldn't be amassed that she's hiding a great body under that jumper."

Anko was smiling mischievous, "So you do look at a woman? That's great to know. I can't wait to tell Yukino that you have been looking at her body, Bhahaha..." and she flickered away in the direction of the bridge. "Sensei, get back here." He went after her.

...

After a few more days, during dinner one night, Sakura asked about a torn picture that Inari, Tazuna's grandson, had been looking at. Tazuna explains that the man in the missing portion of the picture was Kaiza, Inari's "father", whom Inari had idolized and thought of as his biological parent, though Kaiza had adopted him. One day, years prior, a flood had threatened to destroy the village, and Kaiza had single-handedly managed to close the floodgates, earning him the title of "hero" amongst the villagers. Once Gatō came to the country, however, Kaiza's heroic deeds angered Gatō, and therefore Gatō had him executed in front of the villagers, including Inari. From that day forth, the villagers lost hope, and Inari was crushed, disbelieving the possible existence of a "hero". Naruto, determined to prove to Inari that there was such a thing as a hero, rushed off to continue his training.

...

As Naruto rested in the woods one day, he encountered Haku, thought him to just be a pretty girl. The two discussed their dreams: Naruto wished to become the Kage of his village, while Haku wanted to protect the person most precious to him, explaining that, when one was protecting a precious person, one's strength reached its maximum. Naruto agreed with this statement, remembering all of the people who had protected him. With that, Haku left, though not before confusing Naruto to no end by asserting that he was a boy.

...

Training for Naruto and Sasuke continued, and eventually, the two were able to climb to the very tops of their trees, though Naruto was exhausted as a result. Seeing Naruto in this condition, a tearful Inari proclaimed that Naruto was wasting his time and that Gatō would still defeat him. Naruto replied that he will win, and sarcastically congratulated Inari for always crying, calling him a brat. As Inari sulked, Kakashi explained to Inari how Naruto had also grown up without a father, and that he also had no mother, and therefore had a sad life. Kakashi also mentioned that, despite these conditions, he'd never seen Naruto cry, and theorized that Naruto one day grew tired of crying over himself. This explanation, and the suggestion that Naruto is the only person present who knew what Inari was going through, touched Inari.

....

The next morning, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura escorted Tazuna to work at the bridge, leaving Naruto behind to rest. Upon arriving at the bridge, however, they found Tazuna's workers to have been attacked, and the area quickly became covered with a veil of mist. After a quick defeat of Zabuza's water clones at the hands of Sasuke, Zabuza and a masked Haku revealed themselves, confirming Kakashi's suspicions.

At the side of the bridge, Raven asked, "Are we helping or not?"

"Not for the moment, we'll keep an eye out on the perimeter. Who knows maybe there more shinobi's hired this time, but when their lives are in danger, we help them."

"Ok, sensei."

...

Back at Tazuna's house, two of Gatō's thugs arrived to kidnap Inari's mother. Inari, inspired by Naruto's story, attempted to save his mother by himself. Just as he was about to be cut down by the thugs, Naruto appeared and defeated the two single-handedly. Naruto congratulated Inari for finally standing up for himself, and left to join the rest of his team.

...

Back at the bridge, Sasuke battled with Haku, and Zabuza was surprised to find that Sasuke could keep up with Haku's speed. Haku, also noticing Sasuke's capabilities, decided to use his trump card, Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, which trapped Sasuke in a cage of ice. Haku proceeded to pummel Sasuke with wave after wave of needle barrages, which were made effectively undodgeable as a result of Haku's technique. Eventually, Naruto arrived and managed a sneak attack on Haku. Just as Zabuza was about to attack Naruto, Haku asked to be the one to fight him, to which Zabuza agreed. Sasuke began to formulate a plan, thinking that it would be easier to defeat Haku with Naruto attacking from the outside. To his dismay, Naruto entered the cage of ice to see how Sasuke was doing, and he too became a prisoner of Haku's technique.

Naruto and Sasuke both attempted to destroy the ice mirrors but were unsuccessful. This turn of events led Kakashi to believe that Haku was using a Kekkei Genkai and that Naruto and Sasuke had no chance of winning. Because of this, he once again revealed his Sharingan, expressing his desire to finish the battle quickly. Zabuza explained that he had learned how to defeat the Sharingan, and disappeared into the mist. As Kakashi instructed Sakura to guard Tazuna, Zabuza struck. Zabuza, explaining that was specialty is killing people based purely on sound, attempted to finish off Tazuna, but Kakashi made himself into a human shield at the last second. Heavily injured, Kakashi resorted to using an attack that he himself had created.

Meanwhile, the fight between Haku and Naruto and Sasuke continued, with the two genin having sustained heavy wounds.

Raven wanted to intervene but Anko kept him back. She saw that the hunter-nin was not actually aiming to kill the genin. So she kept Raven back. She was more worried about the fight against Zabuza.

Sasuke, however, was starting to dodge Haku's attacks. Haku, noticing this, attempted to attack an exhausted Naruto instead, but Sasuke managed to pull Naruto out of way. A shocked Haku noticed Sasuke's eyes, and it was revealed that, as a member of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke had finally awoken his own Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan, which enabled him to see Haku's movements with ease. Haku, fearing for his success at winning the battle, goes for a finishing blow upon Naruto, but Sasuke rushes to Naruto's side to stop the attack with his own body. When Naruto awakened from his faint, he found a severely wounded Sasuke standing over him. Sasuke fell unconscious, and Haku asked Naruto whether it was the first time he had witnessed death.

Naruto, enraged by the apparent loss of Sasuke, began to emit a visible chakra, and Haku noted that it was pure evil. As the chakra poured out, Naruto's wounds began to heal, and he acquired claws, fangs, and slitted pupils. Zabuza and Kakashi both sensed this new chakra, and each initially wondered whether it belonged to the other jōnin, but Zabuza noted that the chakra was far too powerful to belong to Kakashi, and Kakashi was able to recognize it as that of the Nine-Tailed Fox. Kakashi, worried that the seal keeping the nine-tailed fox within Naruto would break soon, decided to pull out all of the stops, and drew a scroll, smeared his blood on it, and told Zabuza that they should now end the battle.

A transformed Naruto began to attack Haku, who attempted to counter with a barrage of needles, which were easily repelled by Naruto's roar. Haku attempted a physical attack, but Naruto was able to dodge it and grab the now fleeing Haku in an instant. After releasing a large amount of chakra, Naruto gave Haku a deafening punch in the face, sending him flying through a nearby mirror and destroying all the other mirrors as a result. Once Haku's body came to a stop, he rose, and Naruto charged at him so that he could give the finishing blow. As he did so, Haku's mask began to crack and break away, revealing the face of the boy whom Naruto had met in the woods. Mere inches from Haku's face, Naruto stopped his attack and returned to his normal form. Haku questioned why Naruto is sparing him, only to receive a weak punch to the face.

With the bloodstained scroll, Kakashi summoned a number of dogs to find and restrain Zabuza. Explaining that he had allowed Zabuza to injure him so that he could acquire Zabuza's scent, Kakashi proclaimed that this would finally be the end of Zabuza. With that, Kakashi gathered chakra in his hand and readied his Lightning Cutter for use on Zabuza. Meanwhile, Haku had finally managed to persuade Naruto to kill him, using Sasuke's apparent death as a reason for revenge. Naruto prepared a kunai, and charged at Haku, hoping that death would make Haku's dreams come true--but, at the last moment, Haku stopped the attack. He apologized, saying that he couldn't die yet, and disappeared.

...