Teardrop of the Wolf

Chapter 10

An uneasy feeling came over Mori as she pushed a strand of hair away from her face. Something was chewing at the inside of her gut and it felt as if a badger had taken a hold of her insides, continuously gnawing on them with its sharp teeth. The team and Tazuna were walking down a dirt path, and Mori bit the inside of her lip. Her instincts were screaming at her to do something, but she didn't know what.

They passed along side the water, and Mori's gaze snapped up. Her inner-wolf was howling and snarling furiously. Something or someone was coming. Her lip unconsciously lifted in a silent snarl, and she quickly closed her eyes, reaching inside for the wolf chakra. As quick as a sneeze, the white wolf stood in her place, ears erect and tail still. A whistling sound came from behind, and Mori's eyes widened in alarm.

"Get down!" Kakashi said, and the team and Tazuna dove to the ground.

A giant sword embedded itself into a tree, level to the Genin's heads. Mori's ears pricked when an evil laugh sounded. Her nose twitched, and her red eyes narrowed when she saw a man standing on top of it as if it was nothing. This man had bandages wrapped around his face, and the smell of blood oozed from him in waves. An orange blur raced across her vision, and her eyes widened in surprise and fear. Naruto was about to charge at the unknown man blindly!

Mori was about to lunge after the child, but Kakashi stopped him, reaching for his headband. 

Well this was interesting; he was going to use that. 

Kakashi must have known something about this man that everyone else didn't. Her lip rose over her teeth as the man's dead eyes gazed at the team and Tazuna. No way was he touching the Genin and Tazuna...even though she didn't particularly like Tazuna. He was under the team's protection, so Mori would protect him as well. The blood-smelling man disappeared with the giant sword, and reappeared on the ground in front of them. Mori stood in front of the Genin, fur bristled and limbs braced.

A deep growl vibrated from within her chest as she glared at the man, who she heard Kakashi call "Zabuza". Her lip curled inward when he laid his cold dead eyes on her red orbs.

"So, you've brought a pet with you, Kakashi?" he mused and Mori snapped her jaws at him, snarling.

"No matter. This will be over in a few minutes" he said, and made a hand sign.

Mist began to appear and swirl around the team, separating the genin from each other and their sensei. Mori's ears twitched, hearing Sasuke's frantic and panicked heartbeats close by. Kakashi calmed his student, and Mori let out a low growl. She lifted her muzzle to the air, scenting the breeze that blew across them. The Genin and Tazuna were behind her, Kakashi was to the right of her, and Zabuza was nowhere to be found.

A deep chuckle echoed through the mist beside her, and a kick to her ribs forced a yelp out of her. Her furry body flew into the water with a loud 'splash'. Pain radiated from her ribs as she surfaced, gagging and choking on the cold water.

It would likely be easier if she were human in this fight and she briefly closed her eyes, searching for the other chakra within. In a blink of an eye Mori stood on human legs, her clothes immediately soaked. An amused noise sounded behind her, and she whirled around to see Zabuza standing on top of the water behind her.

"So you can change your form" he mused.

He disappeared and Mori tensed, red eyes darting around. She couldn't smell where he went, so she was at a disadvantage. She used her chakra to stay on top of the water and glanced around, trying to spot him.

"Mori! Look out!" she heard Naruto cry out.

A burning pain in her arm caused her to cry out as her arm was forced in an unnatural way behind her back. Zabuza gripped her wrist behind her back and pulled at her arm harder, causing another cry to force itself out of her. This caused a sadistic glint to enter Zabuza's eyes as he drank in her cries of pain.

Mori gritted her teeth as fire raced up and down her arm. If he pulled her arm any more, she was sure her entire arm would be ripped off. Using her arm as leverage, he forced her onto her knees in the water.

Zabuza suddenly found himself with a kunai pressed tightly against his throat as he gripped the young woman's wrist tighter.

"This battle is over" he heard Kakashi say behind him.

"Are you alright there, Mori?" Kakashi said in a conversational tone, still keeping his eyes on Zabuza.

"I've been better" she forced out, biting her lip against the pain.

A chuckle forced itself out of Zabuza as another Zabuza put a kunai against Kakashi's throat. Before she could blink, the two kunai were thrusted deep into their intended targets and everyone's eyes widened when both were revealed to be clones.

Her arm was released, and she suppressed a groan as relief flowed through her arm. It flopped down to her side, useless and numb. Mori knew it wasn't broken, but some ligaments were definitely torn. Mori shakily stood up, holding her arm tightly to her side as she stumbled out of the water.

How could she fight properly with one arm?