What You Don't Know Can't Hurt You

5

Hello, again, guys! I just struggled through finals with superb results, and now I'm sitting in bed with a cold, so I figured I'd go ahead and get another thing done here. Woohoo for non-existent planning and ignoring homework! You're welcome.

Also, a fair warning, while this is still in third person, we will be jumping around in the limited view, therefore getting peeks into others' minds, not just Naruto's. And it seems this arc will be only three parts. Yeah, even I'm getting a bit anxious.

A sharp intake of breath was heard from Kakashi's general direction. "The sides of the neck. Close enough to stop the pulse, but far enough from the jugular to not cause any real damage. He's a fake," Kakashi drew the implied conclusion Naruto threw out. "For now, we have to get Tazuna back home. Let's go."

A feminine figure kneeled over their liege. This 'girl' was not in fact female, though without the mask he was wearing currently, many would argue otherwise. He opened a ninja's medical kit, with the full intent of bringing the 'dead' man back to life by draining the excess blood that's surely stuck in his throat.

Bringing the knife closer to the cloth covering the man's mouth, the man sputtered, coughing up blood and catching the boy's hand.

"Zabuza," the boy said, acknowledging his consciousness.

"That's alright. I'll do it myself," he said, removing the senbon from his neck. "Damn, you're rough."

"You'll die pulling them out like that," the boy noted, reminding Zabuza of the fact that death was wholly possible.

He shrugged, pulling the second one out with just as much force. "How long are you planning on wearing that stupid mask, Haku?" There was a force behind Zabuza's words, one that would have made Haku shudder if not for the fact that he'd been dealing with the man for a few years now.

"It reminds me of the old days," he explained, grabbing the mask to remove it as obedient as ever. "Plus, it was useful for this act. If I hadn't saved you, you would definitely be dead."

Zabuza gave a short, meaningful glare. "You didn't have to go for the neck. Could've used a safer acupuncture point. Annoying as always."

"You're right!" Haku replied cheerfully.

Zabuza looked almost concerned.

"I just didn't want it to scar. The neck doesn't have much muscle, anyway. It's easier to hit. You shouldn't be able to for about a week, considering the momentary death and the wounds you received from Sharingan Kakashi and the Fox."

"I'll manage," Zabuza grunted, attempting to sit up.

"Will you be alright next time?"

"Next time, I will defeat them."

.....

"So Zabuza is still alive," Sakura clarified, sounding a bit freaked out. Sasuke himself couldn't say he didn't feel the same. It was definitely unnerving, to have two potentially strong enemies out there lying in wait, but they seemed able to take on Zabuza alone just fine.

Another fact that made him uncomfortable was that the only ones who had any effect on the enemy was their sensei and Naruto, the dead last of their academy class. Looking over to the blonde idiot, he noted the other staring into nothing, smiling grimly. Was he happy Zabuza was still alive? Odd.

Sasuke reminded himself to pay attention to the sensei. "Of course, we'll need to prepare."  A dark chuckle escaped his lips, and Sasuke shuddered to think about what hell their teacher was about to rain down on them. "You'll receive training."

"What," Naruto said, not even implying the word as a question. The blonde's eyes flicked over to their sensei's face, still blank, as if not registering what he was seeing.

"Training," Kakashi repeated. "We need to not only be able to defeat Zabuza, but that Hunter Nin as well. Momentary death will put a person into a certain conscious state of shock. That combined with his injuries obtained from the fight, and he'll need a week or two to recover."

Naruto grimaced. Sasuke noticed. "Right," Naruto said. "Fun."

Sarcastic asshole,  Thought Sasuke.

.....

"Training," Kakashi restated, probably just to spite him. Naruto sent the electric chakra space his best glare. The chakra shifted uncomfortably. He smiled. "Before that," Kakashi continued, "Let's get everything clear about chakra. Who can explain it? Naruto?"

Is he trying to expose me? Naruto thought. Fine. I can play this game. "Chakra," Naruto began, "is the energy a shinobi needs to perform a Jutsu. The energy has two parts: body and spirit. Spirit is gained through training, and body is in every cell. You could say it's a person's life force."

He could feel the other two's eyes following him. He didn't even care anymore. "That's exactly right, Naruto," Came Kakashi's praise. The dark chakra and the one that smelled of flowers radiated disbelief.

"Stop looking at me like that you two," He commented. "I'm not actually stupid."

He thought irritation best described his feelings right now. Finally getting out on the field after years of being cooped up in a classroom with a bunch of know-it-all children that had 'I'm better than you' complexes was liberating. And now he had to train. Chakra training. He was almost certain Kakashi hated him right now. In any case, he didn't think it would be too terrible if they were to find out he was smart in any way, as long as they didn't know of the two other things.

"Right then," Kakashi said, breaking the palpable tension in the air. "Chakra training. At least two of you aren't using chakra correctly. Unless you can control it properly, you will be weakened. By wasting energy, you won't have much stamina, and weakness will appear. Thus, this exercise."

"What are we going to do?" Sakura asked.

"Tree climbing," Kakashi replied. Naruto pictured a generic face saying those words with a deadpan or a devious grin, and snickered. "You'll climb trees without your hands."

Naruto's small laugh stopped when he realized this probably included him. Oh. Where was the nearest tree? He contemplated this until he listened for the crackle of the electric chakra walking up a tree.

He tuned out Kakashi's explanation, idly wondering if anyone else was going to go for that specific tree. "Go ahead, pick a tree and climb it."

The others went racing off towards a tree, Sakura making it up to a branch, Sasuke obviously using too much force.

He sent out another chakra wave and walked to the tree Kakashi was most likely in. He was currently directly under his sensei, so he felt around for the trunk, all the while hoping to god no one noticed. Finally, he placed a hand on the tree, and raised a foot against it. Okay, now he could do this.

He calmly walked to where Kakashi was, sitting beside their sensei, who seemed to be upside down. Or was that him? He hated being in trees; he couldn't tell which way was up anymore.

"Kakashi-san," he started. "Do you think we really have as long as one week? Zabuza is fairly strong," he pointed out, shoving his current irritation to the bottom of his consciousness.

"Well, we can only wait to find out. Gatou must have other fighters as well, so we must be especially careful."

"Right," Naruto said. "I can't help but feel they'll make their move sooner than we think, though."

Kakashi shifted, and the branch moved slightly, as if he'd sat down as well. Naruto must be upright then. "That's why we'll be ready."