Return to The Past : Naruto Fic

11

Chapter 10 – Waves of Change Part I

Ino, Chōji and Shikamaru were walking through a misty forest with their client, Tazuna walking in between them. Asuma was bringing up the rear completing the diamond formation enclosing Tazuna in a protective formation. While the Genin and their client was lazily walking down the forest path, Asuma was jumpy looking about, fingers twitching whenever he thought he saw a shadow move.

A sudden sound caused the group to stop when Asuma threw a kunai at a bush. After a couple of moments, Ino walked towards the bush and peered in seeing a dead rabbit. Sighing in relief, Ino picked up the rabbit and walked back to the group. "False alarm. It was just a rabbit. Sensei, since you already killed it, can we take it with us? Dad once told me that rabbit stew was very tasty!"

As Ino waited for his answer, Asuma was scrutinizing the rabbit with sceptical eyes. Beside him, Shikamaru was doing the same. Both of their eyes widened in startling realization. The rabbit was white. The season was summer, where by the rabbit should have had brown fur. This one had white, ergo it was bred in captivity and probably used for a Kawarimi. As they came to this realization, they heard a faint whistling sound of something sharp cutting through the air at a fast pace.

With a pale face, Shikamaru collided with Tazuna, bringing the drunk old man to the forest floor with him. Beside him, Asuma had tacked Ino and Chōji as well just as a large zanbatō flew at waist height and collided with a tree. Getting up, the Genin took on a defensive triangular formation around Tazuna as Asuma warily stared at the famous sword.

Suddenly, in a puff of smoke, a man appeared on top of the handle of the sword. The man was wearing black shinobi pants, black sleeveless muscle shirt, blue-violet cloth forearm guards and blue-violet shinobi sandals. His lower face and neck was wrapped in bandages and he had a Kiri hitai-ate tide around his head with the plate facing left.

"Momochi Zabuza, Kirigakure no Kijin. To what do we owe this pleasure?" Asuma asked with a nonchalant expression while Shikamaru paled even further in fear, cursing and thanking Naruto at the same time for forcing him to memorize the Bingo Book. The information that he was remembering was scaring him.

"Sarutobi Asuma, son of the Sandaime Hokage. No wonder the Oni Kyōdai failed. No matter, I will kill you here and then kill the bridge builder. You, snot nosed Genin, if you wish to live, then run back to your mommies!" Zabuza said with malice as he easily hefted his sword, the legendary Kubikiribōchō onto his shoulders. "Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu!"

The mist thickened to the point where all of them could see barely a foot in front of them. A creepy chuckling filled the thick mist before intense Killing Intent flooded the clearing. The Genin started to shiver and panic while Tazuna was nearly frothing at the mouth. Asuma had developed a prominent sweat at the oppressive feeling of the killing intent but stared to releases his own to countermand Zabuza's.

"Lungs… Liver… Kidney… Clavicle Vein… Jugular Vein… Heart… Femoral Artery… Brain… Spine… so many points to choose from. Which will I go for first?" Zabuza's disembodied voice filled the clearing causing a shiver to run down the Genin and their client's spine. At the same time Asuma looked about with worry. The mist was so infused with Zabuza's chakra that his barely adequate sensory abilities were being completely overwhelmed.

"Why don't I leave it a surprise!"

Zabuza suddenly appeared inside the formation right in front of a startled Tazuna only for him to collapse in a puddle of water. Everyone turned to see Ino with her arm extended. A swirling wave of wind was flying through the point Zabuza's face was, drawing in a lot of the mist with it.