The Legend of Konoha's Shooting Star

We're Ninja!

"W-Wow!!" Naruto exclaimed, amazed.

"Haha!" Sakura laughed in relief.

'Badass...!!' April thought with the hint of a smirk, giving their teacher a mental thumbs up.

"... Hehe," Zabuza laughed. "Hehehe... It's over?" he asked mockingly.

"!" April frowned as Kakashi furrowed his brow. A cornered enemy was laughing confidently... That was never a good sign.

"You don't get it," Zabuza told Kakashi. "There's no way you can defeat me with your monkey-like imitations.

"..."

"Heheh... But that was impressive of you," Zabuza said. "When you gave that little speech, you had already copied my water clone jutsu. You had your clone say those words to attract my attention, while the real you hid in the mist and watched me. Nice plan, but... I'm also not that easy," he stated ominously.

"!!!" Kakashi said when he realized the real Zabuza was now right behind him.

"!" April gasped as the Zabuza in front of Kakashi collapsed. "Damn!!" she cursed. Another water clone!

"That one's a fake, too!!?" Naruto shouted incredulously. Kakashi whipped his head around as Zabuza started to swing his sword. Kakashi flattened himself into a low crouch to duck the deadly attack that should have cleaved him in two. Zabuza followed through by letting the moment of his sword dig it into the ground as he let go of the handle and finished spinning himself around, placing his other hand on the end of the handle to brace himself as he sent Kakashi flying with a kick before he could fully recover.

"!!" April's eyes widened in shock as she watched their teacher sail through the air over her head, and his eyes met hers. He gave her a look. Move.

'Now!' Zabuza thought, charging forward. April dived to the side, managing to get out of his way just in time to avoid being cut down to clear his path. "!!" Zabuza skidded to an abrupt halt when he noticed the tri-pronged caltrops Kakashi had spread to slow him down. 'Makibishi...!' he thought. "Hmph, how foolish..." he remarked as Kakashi landed in the water. And to think, he almost got him with such a simple trick... too bad Kakashi picked the worse possible place to land.

"!" April gasped in realization. So, that's what he was up to...

"Sensei!!" Naruto yelled.

"Kakashi-sensei... got knocked down?' Sakura thought, stunned.

'He's also strong in taijutsu...' Sasuke thought, furrowing his brow.

'No wonder Sensei told me to move... I doubt the taijutsu techniques I know for fighting against a sword would have worked on Zabuza. He's way too strong; my eyes can barely keep up with his movements! Even Sensei just barely managed to avoid taking damage as he let himself get thrown... If I try to help now, I'll just get in the way!' April thought, clenching her fists as Zabuza flickered out of sight, concealing himself in the mist again.

"!" Kakashi was surprised to find that he was having trouble moving. 'What? This water is heavy...'

"Sensei, get out of the water!!!" April yelled, realizing something was wrong when she saw his sluggish movements and a faint shadow appeared in the mist behind him.

"!!" Kakashi said, alarmed when he realized what was happening.

"Heh, fool," Zabuza said as he quickly performed several hand seals before he could escape. 'Water Prison Jutsu!'

'Damn!!' Kakashi cursed mentally as he was suddenly enveloped in a sphere of swirling chakra-infused water. 'I thought I could use the water for cover, but it turned out to be a big mistake.'