Namikaze Naruto- The Unpredictable Shinobi

Chapter 15: Zabuza and Haku

Kakashi yelled, "On the ground!" and everyone was on the ground as they narrowly escaped a huge blade that got stuck in the tree beside them. The rabbit had escaped. It had been used as substitution, just as most of Konoha shinobi used wood logs. The user of the blade and the substitution technique now stood on the long hilt of his sword. He had the hitai-ate of the mist that had been slashed- a mark of a rogue nin. His nose and mouth were covered by bandages. He was wearing a one-piece suit with no sleeves. He had fingerless gloves that extended till the elbows. Similar cloth was used as stocking that didn't cover his toes and reached the mid-calves. He collected and swung the sword with one hand and rested it on his shoulder.

"Well, well, who do we have protecting my victim of a bridge builder? Some brats and their sensei." The enemy addressed them. "Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist." Kakashi addressed back the man now identified as Zabuza. He was a shinobi who killed all his classmates back in his Academy Days when Kirigakure was known as Blood Mist. He was one of the former member of the Seven Swordsment of the Mist- the 7 bodyguards of the Mizukage, the village head. "Ah, Sharingan no Kakashi!" Zabuza recognised the grey-haired jounin who uncovered a part of his headband to reveal the Sharingan in his left eye. Here's the steam in 3. 2. 1... 'How does he have the Sharingan? It belongs to the Uchiha clan. And he is certainly not a part of it.' Sasuke thought as he fumed. 'I need to exterminate the old man, now.' Zabuza thought, and as if reading his thoughts, the genin stood protectively around Tazuna such that the 4 of them were in a diamond form with Tazuna at the back.

Naruto observed the chakra of the person who was away from the battle, but close enough to intervene if needed. If he or she wasn't helping them defeat a Nukenin, then he or she should be an accomplice of Zabuza. "Kirigakure no Jutsu" Zabuza said as he used the Jutsu that helped him in the silent killing technique he was infamous for. The water body in their surroundings only helped him. The area was covered completely in mist. It was laced with chakra that made it impossible to see him even with the Sharingan. Even Naruto had difficulty in sensing him. She could barely locate him. "The human body... 8 points to pierce through... larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart... Now, which will be my kill point?" Zabuza let out his Killer Intent (KI) that caused Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna to shiver in the anticipation of something worse than death. Sasuke took out a kunai, hoping to end this torture by taking out his own life, when Kakashi's voice stopped him. "Sasuke, I promise, I will protect my teammates. No matter what, I will not let my comrades die."

"Oh, will you now?" Zabuza's voice came from amidst them, as Naruto had sensed him just in time to block his sword that was swung to kill the genin and Tazuna in one sweep. Kakashi struck him, only to find that the opponent was a mere water clone, and found a sword go through him. The others saw that even Kakashi was a mere water clone as he had copied Zabuza's jutsu using the Sharingan. The real Hatake place a kunai at his neck. "The game's over." Zabuza scoffed, "Nice try- but I'm not that easy to fool." The last few words were heard from behind Kakashi who was kicked by the original Zabuza into the water. The water around him felt heavy, and before he realised, Zabuza created a sphere of water around Kakashi with his hand in it to infuse chakra. Kakashi berated himself for falling for the trap and urged his students to run away. Sasuke only barged in to be kicked to the ground by Zabuza. Naruto, with her clones, managed to strike and distract Zabuza enough to let his hand out of the sphere, thus, setting Kakashi free. "Good work, Naruto. Now let me finish this." Kakashi said as the two jounin began a battle on the water. Zabuza's moves were first copied by Kakashi and they cancelled each other. Soon Kakashi had Zabuza hypnotised into following his moves and knocked out Zabuza, who realised the hypnotism only too late.

As Kakashi was about to finish the Nukenin, the person who had been hiding far allowed himself to be known as he pierced a senbon needle through Zabuza's neck, killing him. He wore a mask similar to Konoha ANBU and introduced himself as a hunter nin for Kirigakure who was after Zabuza. He took the dead shinobi with him and ran into the woods. Kakashi, not having the Uchiha blood, couldn't use the Sharingan for long without fainting, and so, he fainted. Naruto had made a stretcher out of grass when Kakashi began his battle on the water. She brought it out from the woods to support Kakashi when she was questioned by Sakura about where she had found it. She lied smoothly about some travellers who kindly offered it to her and used her clones to carry Kakashi to Tazuna's house as the old man had offered his place as their temporary residence as a token of gratitude.