---
After leaving the quiet shore, the group continued their journey on foot, the oppressive silence of the fog replaced by the squelching sound of their boots on the muddy path. The Land of Waves was a place of desperate beauty, its lush greenery a stark contrast to the dilapidated, poverty-stricken houses they passed. The air was thick with the smell of salt and decay.
The three genin, their earlier bravado now tempered by the harsh reality of their mission, walked in a tight, protective formation at the front. Kakashi walked beside Tazuna and Alaric, his single visible eye constantly scanning their surroundings, his lazy demeanor completely gone, replaced by the sharp, focused alertness of a jōnin in enemy territory.
He kept glancing at Alaric, his mind a whirlwind of questions. This man, this "client," was an enigma. He possessed a knowledge of their world that was deeply unsettling, yet he acted with a casual, almost bored, detachment. 'Or maybe he just has information of Gatō specifically? We never know…'
Up ahead, Sasuke, his pride still smarting from Kakashi's earlier "show-off" display, walked with a silent, coiled intensity. He subtly increased his pace, moving up beside Naruto, a silent, unspoken challenge passing between them.
'I'm not letting Sasuke get all the glory this time, dattebayo!' Naruto thought, a familiar, competitive fire igniting in his gut.
With a sudden burst of speed, Naruto ran ahead, his bright orange jumpsuit was a beacon of recklessness. He skidded to a halt, his body dropping into a low, dramatic stance as he scanned the area. He whipped his head to the right, his eyes narrowing.
"Over there!" he yelled, and with a flick of his wrist, he sent a kunai flying into a dense thicket of bushes.
Everyone, save for Sasuke and Alaric, froze, their hands flying to their weapons.
"..."
"..."
"..."
Naruto held his dramatic pose for a moment longer, then stood up, a triumphant smirk on his face. "Hm... that was just a mouse."
Sakura's patience, already worn thin by the stress of the day, finally snapped. "NARUTO, YOU IDIOT!" she shrieked, marching up to him and pointing a trembling finger in his face. "THIS ISN'T A GAME! STOP TRYING TO BE A HERO!"
"Naruto," Kakashi's voice was a sigh of pure, unadulterated exasperation. "Those are kunai knives. They're dangerous."
"Hn."
"UGHHH!!!" Tazuna, his nerves frayed, finally exploded. "STOP TRYING TO SCARE ME, YOU SCRUMPY LITTLE DWARF!"
"Hey, is someone hiding over there?" Naruto, completely ignoring them, was already scanning the opposite side of the path. "Ah, there! Over there! Hey, hey!" He spun around and threw another kunai into a different bush.
"THAT'S ENOUGH, NARUTO!" Sakura, having reached her limit, swiftly moved behind him and delivered a sharp, decisive bonk to the back of his head.
"Ow!"
While Naruto was nursing his new lump, Kakashi, a flicker of genuine concern in his eye, walked over to the second bush. He pushed aside the leaves and twigs, revealing a small, terrified white rabbit, its fur the color of fresh snow, a kunai embedded in the dirt a hair's breadth from its trembling body.
"Naruto, look what you did!" Sakura scolded, her anger momentarily forgotten in her concern for the animal.
"Ah! A rabbit!" Naruto's own anger vanished, replaced by a wave of guilt. He rushed over, gently scooping up the trembling creature. "I'm sorry, little rabbit, I'm really sorry…"
But Kakashi wasn't looking at the rabbit. His mind was racing. A snow rabbit. Here. In the middle of summer. It was a replacement animal, a tool used in a Kawarimi no Jutsu. A sign that they were being watched by a shinobi skilled enough to use such techniques. His gaze sharpened, scanning the trees, the shadows.
He saw Alaric, who was standing off to the side, a faint, knowing smirk on his lips as he looked up at a specific, large tree branch.
Kakashi's gaze followed, and he saw him. A figure, crouched on a high branch, his form almost completely obscured by the dense foliage.
"LOOK OUT!" Kakashi's voice was a sharp, urgent roar.
A shadow passed over them, and a sound like a giant, angry hornet filled the air. A massive sword, a blade so large it looked more like a slab of sharpened steel, was spinning towards them, end over end, a whirlwind of death.
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
Instinct took over. The genin, Tazuna, even Kakashi, dropped to the ground, the massive blade passing inches above their heads with a terrifying rush of wind. But Alaric… Alaric just stood there. He didn't flinch, didn't even blink, as the spinning behemoth of a sword passed by his head with a hair's breadth of space to spare.
The sword slammed into a thick tree trunk with a deafening THUNK, the wood groaning and splintering under the impact. A man then landed silently on the sword's hilt, his back to them, a silent, imposing silhouette against the dappled sunlight.
He was shirtless, his broad, muscular back covered in the straps that held the massive blade. His lower face was obscured by bandages, and a Kirigakure forehead protector was tied sideways on his head.
"Well, well," Kakashi said, his voice low and serious as he pushed himself to his feet. "If it isn't Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist."
'Here's my chance to shine, dattebayo!' Naruto thought, a nervous grin on his face as he prepared to charge.
"You're in the way. Get back," Kakashi said, his hand shooting out to block Naruto's path. "He's not like the others. He's in a whole other league." He slowly reached up, his hand resting on his own forehead protector.
"Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye," Zabuza's voice was a low, menacing rasp. "Did I get that right?"
Sasuke's eyes widened, a flicker of something… interest?… in their dark depths.
"It's too bad," Zabuza continued, his gaze fixed on Kakashi. "But you'll have to hand over the old man."
"Quick! Manji formation!" Kakashi ordered, his voice sharp. "Protect the clients. Stay out of this fight! I taught you teamwork, now it's time to use it!" He dramatically pulled up his headband, revealing a closed eye, scarred and stark against his skin. When he opened it, a crimson, three-tomoe Sharingan spun to life. "I'm ready."
"Well," Zabuza chuckled, a low, dangerous sound. "Looks like I get to see the famous Sharingan in action. This is an honor."
"Enough talking," Zabuza said, his tone turning deadly. "I need to exterminate the old man. Now."
The three genin instantly moved, forming a protective wall in front of Tazuna and Alaric, their kunai held in trembling, determined hands.
Zabuza pulled his massive blade from the tree with a grunt of effort, then vanished in a blur of motion, reappearing on the surface of a nearby river. He began to form a strange hand sign and casted his Jutsu. "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Technique!"
A thick, dense fog rolled in from the river, instantly blanketing the area, reducing visibility to near zero.
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Eight points," Zabuza's disembodied voice echoed through the mist, a chilling, clinical litany of death. "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now… which will be my kill point?"
The genin huddled closer, their hearts pounding, the oppressive fog and Zabuza's killing intent a suffocating weight. Kakashi flared his chakra, a powerful gust of wind that momentarily pushed back the mist, revealing Zabuza standing on the water.
"It's over," Zabuza grinned, and in a flicker of movement, he appeared in the center of the genin's formation.
But Kakashi was faster. He intercepted the attack, his kunai clashing against Zabuza's massive blade. But the Zabuza before him dissolved into water. A clone.
"Die!" The real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, his blade swinging in a deadly arc. But the Kakashi he struck also dissolved into water. Another clone.
"Don't move," the real Kakashi's voice came from behind Zabuza, a kunai pressed firmly against his throat. "Now it's over."
Zabuza just smirked. "Nice try… but I'm not that easy to fool." And he, too, dissolved into water.
The real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi again, his massive blade swinging horizontally with enough force to cleave a man in two. Kakashi ducked, the blade passing over his head and embedding itself in the ground. Zabuza used the sword's handle as a pivot, launching a powerful kick that sent Kakashi flying into the river.
As Kakashi surfaced, sputtering, he felt the water around him grow heavy, thick, like syrup.
"Heavy, right?" Zabuza grinned, standing on the surface of the water above him, his hands already in a new seal. "Of course. It's the Water Prison Technique!"
A sphere of dense, swirling water formed around Kakashi, trapping him completely. "Ugh!"
'My temporary escape into the water was a huge mistake,' Kakashi gritted his teeth, the water pressing in on him from all sides.
"Heh," Zabuza smirked, one hand maintaining the prison. "Now then, Kakashi, I'm going to deal with your students, then kill your clients." He formed a single hand sign, and a perfect water clone of himself rose from the river. The clone vanished.
'What!?' Naruto thought, his eyes wide with panic.
The clone reappeared directly in front of him, its leg swinging in a vicious kick aimed at his face.
"Come on," a new voice, calm and laced with a profound, almost insulting, boredom, echoed through the clearing. "You're bullying fledgling Konoha-nin?"
"HUH!?" The original Zabuza, his concentration on the water prison momentarily broken, snapped his head to the left, where the voice had come from. There was no one there.
"I'm here, though."
Zabuza spun to his right. The tall, crimson-coated man, the other client, was standing there, his arms crossed, a look of mild annoyance on his face. In his hand, appearing from nowhere, was a simple, sturdy-looking wooden bat. "What!?"
Alaric sighed.
BONK!
.
Consider buying me a coffee!
patreon.com/kulark
I'm uploading dozens of chapters ahead there!