Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Irony of it All ❯ Plan, Saved, and Training ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10: Plan, Saved, and Training

 

"Ive got a plan. First, Rayne," Naruto said.

"I'm listening..."

"I need you to distract the real Zabuza."

"How big of a distraction?" she asked.

"Five, maybe ten minutes," Naruto responded.

"Can do," she said with a smirk and running into the forest again.

"Just don't get yourself killed like you almost did last time," Sasuke called after her, smirking.

"Hey Zabuza!" Rayne yelled walking out of the forest. That probably wasn't her best idea, a small amount of blood spilled from her mouth. Zabuza turned to face you.

"Rayne, what are you doing!?" Kakashi yelled.

"Hearing this guy talk is getting on my nerves, I've finally decided to solve the problem," she said, smirking. "Hey, you wanna know something Zabuza? You're not the only one who can play with water."

Rayne closed and opened her eyes again to show that she had different eyes. They were purple but instead of a pupil, it was a crystal with one mini crystal at the top right part while another at the bottom left.

“I know it's not fully activated but it's better than nothing.” Rayne thought. She then started to go though a series of handsigns ending on tori.

“Water style: Water Falcon jutsu!” Rayne then lifted her right arm and the water from the river raised up and turned into a falcon, and landed on her arm.

“Its time to fight water with water!” Rayne smirked as she sent the falcon toward Zabuza. It screeched and flew toward Zabuza. Zabuza was now stuck, move and let Kakashi go, or stand his ground and be hit by your attack. It wrapped its wing and body around Zabuza's body. She could've sent him flying but all Naruto asked was a distraction. Besides, she had to keep her senses up just incase the clone tried to attack her.

“What do you have planned Naruto?”

"What do you guys think you're doing!? I told you to run away! This fight was over the moment I got caught!" Kakashi yelled. Rayne looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"Our mission was to protect Tazuna! Or has that slipped your mind!?" Kakashi continued on.

"And has it slipped your mind," Rayne started to speak. Kakashi looked over at her. She looked up at him. "That maybe we might also want to live?" Naruto looked back at Tazuna.

"Sir?" Tazuna's head was bowed, a shadow covered his face.

"I got myself into this, I'm not now going to say that I desire to live so much that I'd stop you," he looked up. "Fight as you must!" Sasuke smirked and looked at Kakashi.

"You hear that?" Naruto looked at the clone.

"You ready for this!?" Zabuza's clone laughed.

"You haven't learned have you?"

“W-what?” Everyone thought.

"Are you going to continue playing ninja?" the clone asked. "By the time I was your age, my hands were already stained red from blood." Rayne's eyes widened and the team stumbled back a few steps.

"The Devil, Zabuza," Kakashi said quietly, looking at Zabuza.

"Ah, so you've heard about it have you?"

“I know about it too," Rayne said, eyes clouding in thought. "Years back, the Village Hidden in the Mist was also know as Blood Mist Village. It was called so because of the final exam taken to become a ninja." Zabuza looked at her, still in the binds of her jutsu.

"You know about the graduation exam do you? How?"

"The graduation exam?" Naruto echoed.

“My mother came from Kirigakure” Rayne growled.

“Oh really, huh? I wonder, did she have to take the exams too?” Zabuza's clone laughed.

"What!? What is it!?"

"Fights to the death, with other students," Zabuza responded looking at your team. "Friends who had eaten at the same table with you, trained, and shared their dreams with you, were pinned against each other in fights to the death."

"Terrible," Sakura whispered. Kakashi started to speak.

"Ten years ago the graduation exam was forced to change."

"Change? Why?" Sakura asked.

"Besides the fact that it was totaly messed up," Rayne added, a disgusted look placed unknowingly on her face. Kakashi spoke again,

"Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who didn't even qualify for the exam, had killed over one hundred of that years candidates." The clone looked up his eyes full of bloodlust.

"Fun times." He looked at team seven with the same bloodlust look. In the blink of an eye, Zabuza's clone elbowed Sasuke in the stomach and sent him flying backwards onto the ground.

"Sasuke!" Sakura shouted. Zabuza brought his elbow down on Sasuke's stomach. A large amount of blood flew from Sasuke's mouth.

"Sasuke!" Rayne and Sakura yelled out. Rayne would have ran and helped but her justu was still binding Zabuza. What was getting worse, she was beginning to get tired from holding onto the jutsu for such a long period of time as it was.

“Come on Naruto...” The clone began stomping into Sasuke's stomach. Gasps of pain came from Sasuke. Rayne saw Kakashi shake from inside the water dome.

"Sasuke! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled, forming the handsign. Dozens of Naruto's appeared. Zabuza's clone smirked. “Shadow clones eh? And quite a large amount...” Sasuke slid out from underneath Zabuza's clone and got out of the way of Naruto's ambush. All the clones got in a line.

"Here I come!" all the Naruto's yelled. The clones charged at Zabuza. They all stacked forming a dome around Zabuza's clone. With a mighty force, his clone sent all of Naruto's flying back. All the clones disappeared except for the real Naruto. Naruto was still flying backwards but he was rummaging through his backpack at the same time.

"I'm not giving up! I still have this!" Naruto threw a windmill shuriken. "Sasuke!" Sasuke reached up and grabbed the weapon. When he grabbed it he smirked. He spun around. “So that's your plan? Nice thinking Naruto!” Sasuke unfolded the shuriken to make it a large four-bladed shuriken.

"Wind shuriken, windmill of shadows!" Sasuke called, holding the shuriken up.

"A shuriken won't work against me," the clone spoke. Sasuke jumped up and spun around, flinging the shuriken. Instead of going for the clone, the shuriken curved and headed straight for the real Zabuza. Rayne noticed and tightened her hold on the falcon. Zabuza's eyes widened slightly.

“Damn!” With a great deal of force, Zabuza managed to break through Rayne's falcon; the piercing water sends her flying backwards. As the shuriken neared Zabuza he caught it with his left hand. Out of nowhere another shuriken came whizzing at Zabuza. Rayne smirked,

“Another shuriken in the shadow of the other. Nice” Sakura smiled.

“This one's right on target, and he can't catch this one!” Zabuza jumped up and the shuriken whizzed underneath him. But Rayne and Sasuke just smirked. In a poof of smoke the shuriken turned into Naruto with a kunai in his hand.

"Take this!" Naruto shouted. He threw the kunai at Zabuza. There was nothing Zabuza could do. He still had one of the large shuriken in his left hand and if he dodged, Kakashi would be let free. Having no other choice, Zabuza dodged and Kakashi was set free.

Rayne smirked. “Ha! Score for Team Seven!” Zabuza turned to Naruto, his face twisted in anger and hatred. He began to spin the large shuriken rapidly. Naruto, still being in the air, was defenseless.

"Damn you kid!" Zabuza yelled. Rayne gasp and tried to move her body since she was the closest but it only jerked and she fell forward on her knees.

"No, Naruto!" Sakura yell. A hand stopped the shuriken and blood squirted everywhere. Everyone saw Kakashi, his eyes holding anger. His silver hair was strewn across his face, water dripping from
his whole body.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled relieved.

"Naruto, that was an excellent plan. You guys did well to pull it off," Kakashi said his voice surprisingly soft from the look on his face. Naruto laughed and gave a goofy grin,

"I used the shadow replication technique to hide the fact that I had actually transformed into a windmill shuriken. I left one of my replicas and the real me transformed into a windmill shuriken. Then my replica threw me, who was at this point a shuriken, to Sasuke. Sasuke noticed the shuriken was me as soon as he caught it. That's why he spun around, to take out his own shuriken and use the shadow shuriken technique." Naruto turned to Rayne and grinned,

"While all this was going on, Rayne was distracting the real Zabuza. I only needed him distracted long enough so he wouldn't notice my transformation. But I knew that alone wouldn't defeat Zabuza, my
real goal was that Zabuza would let his hold off on Kakashi's prison. It worked!" Naruto grinned wider.

Sasuke smirked, "All it was, was luck."

"Just luck!?" Tazuna shouted.

“It was just luck? As much as Naruto and Sasuke hate each other, they were able to communicate and work together without even talking.... and Rayne too! Amazing…” Sauka thought watching in awe.

Zabuza scowled. "I was only distracted...."

"No, you had to cancel the hold on the prison, you were forced to," Kakashi said from beside him. The familiar bloodlust filled the air again. "But I'll just have you know, that won't work on my twice." As Kakashi and Zabuza stared at each other, Rayne and Naruto made their way back to Sasuke and Sakura. Rayne's throat was throbbing and her lungs felt like a thousand swords stabbing her chest every time she took a breath. Zabuza pushed the four blades of the windmill shuriken into one blade against Kakashi's hand. Kakashi shoved the force off and the shuriken went flying into the
water. Kakashi and Zabuza both jumped back. Zabuza's hands made a handseal and Kakashi's sharingan came into view.

"Sharingan..." Rayne heard Sasuke whisper from her left. Zabuza began making a long line of handseals, and Kakashi copied every one of them.

"That's incredible..." Rayne whispered to herself. The water between the two ninjas began to ripple and the air became even heavier.

"Tori!" The two jounin shouted at the same time as they made the same handsign. The water between them rose up and formed large funnels.

"Suiten Suriyuuden no Jutsu!" The two shouted. The funnels took the form of two water serpent-like dragons. The two dragons weave around each other until they finally collided. They formed huge waves. Everyone's eyes widened as a wave came towards the group. With no time to do anything, the team planted their feet strongly to the ground and guarded their face with their arms. As the wave crashed and threatened to sweep them away, they use all the energy they had left to push against the force. As the wave went by everyone were still up. The two water dragons continued to fight. They bit each other with teeth made of water. Water flew from the dragons as blood would from a human. At the same time, Zabuza attacked with his sword and Kakashi blocked with a kunai. They jumped back and ran in the circle, they were across from each other every time they took a step. Zabuza formed a handseal and his eyes widened as Kakashi copied at the same time.

"They're moving at the same time!" Tazuna said amazed. Sakura looked at Sasuke,

"What's going on Sasuke?" Sasuke didn't answer. Kakashi began to speak words that Zabuza hadn't been able to yet. Kakashi formed a handseal and spoke as Zabuza did them milliseconds after. Zabuza's eyes widened in confusion.

"You can't beat me you monkey!" Zabuza and Kakashi said at the same time. Zabuza scowled,

“I'm going to make it so you can never open that copy-cat mouth again!" Zabuza quickly began to form a sequence of complicated handseals, but Kakashi copied them with ease. Zabuza stopped in shock as Kakashi continued and finished the jutsu.

"Suiton Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Kakashi shouted. The water around him began to rise. It suddenly burst out and struck Zabuza. Everyone watched as the water concealed Kakashi and Zabuza and became a funnel that wiped out parts of land around it. The team were forced to try and hold to ground again. With having so little chakra left, Rayne used it to jump into a tree, mostly safe from the waves. Poor Naruto was being whipped around by the giant waves but he finally managed to grab onto a tree branch. The large funnel hit a tree forcing Zabuza against it. Four kunais pierced Zabuza's legs and arms. All of the genins and Tazuna looked up in the tree Zabuza was pinned to find Kakashi.

"This is the end," Kakashi said. Zabuza looked at Kakashi,

"H-how...!? Can you....see the future?"

"Yes," Kakashi said as he raised a kunai. "This is the end of the road for you." Out of nowhere two throwing needles pierced Zabuza's neck. Blood spurted out everywhere and Zabuza slumped to the ground. The team looked up at a tree left of Kakashi's. There stood a figure. The attacker chuckled. His voice was delicate but Rayne could tell it was a male's voice.

"It was true, it was his end of the road." Kakashi jumped from the tree and landed beside Zabuza. He checked for a pulse. Not finding one, he shook his head and looked up at the boy. The boy bowed his head respectively.

"Many thanks, I've been looking for a good chance to take down Zabuza for some time now," the boy spoke.

"That mask...it means you're a tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist, am I correct?" Rayne spoke jumping from the tree and walking up beside her teamates. Her voice was hoarse and it hurt to talk but she was getting interested.

"You are well informed," the boy said. Naruto stood in front of the group confused. " A hunter ninja?"

"Yes, a hunter ninja, you don't know what that is do you Naruto," Sakura spoke. "You would know if you actually would have shown up for class."

"Shut up, Sakura," Rayne spoke harshly, a slight amount of blood ran from her mouth. It hurt but you could not stand to listen to Sakura right now.

"Hunter ninjas are specially trained ninja who assassinate exiled ninja, ninja like Zabuza. They kill the ninja and take any secrets about the village from the bodies," Rayne explained almost whispering now.

"That is correct, I am a member of the pursuing ninja unit that hunt exiled ninja," the boy looked at Rayne through his mask. "But you should not be talking, you do not sound up to it." She looked at the boy strangely. Naruto ran up closer to the boy. He looked from the boy to Zabuza. Naruto pointed angrily at the boy,

"Just who the hell do you think you are!?" Everyone's eye twitched. “Did that whole explanation just fly over your head!?!?!”

"Well!?!" Naruto shouted to the boy.

"Calm yourself Naruto, he is not our enemy," Kakashi said walking over to Naruto.

"I don't care! Look at Zabuza, that guy was huge!!! We worked hard and could barely beat him! Then this kid, who seems no older than me, takes him out in one strike! What does that make us!?" Naruto shouted angrily. Rayne and Sasuke hadn't thought of that until now. Now both of them felt like a complete loser. They hated feeling weaker than somebody else.

"How am I suppose to accept this!?" Naruto continued to yell.

"I understand Naruto," Kakashi spoke putting a hand on Naruto's shoulder,

"But in this world, there are kids who are younger than you...and stronger than me." Rayne's eyes widened.

“Is he looking at me...” She turned to Sasuke who stood on her right, “Or is he just looking at Sasuke?” The boy disappeared and reappeared next to Zabuza. He placed one of Zabuza's arms around his shoulders and formed a handseal with his other hand.

"Your battle ends here. Excuse me but I must dispose of this corpse, for it holds many secrets." The boy bowed his head and disappeared with Zabuza.

"He's gone..." Naruto whispered to himself. Kakashi sighed as he pulled his headband over his Sharingan eye. Naruto dropped to his knees and began to punch the ground,

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!" As much as Rayne didn't want to because she was sore, she sighed and made her way to Naruto. As he lifted his fist to punch the ground again, Rayne grabbed it. Naruto looked up at her. Naruto looked down,

"We did all that...for nothing!"

"No, he was defeated," Rayne said as she pulled Naruto to his feet. But something was tugging at her.

"Our mission isn't complete yet, we still need to take Tazuna to his house," Kakashi said. Everyone moaned.

"Sorry everyone," Tazuna laughed. "But you can all rest up at my house." Rayne smiled at the thought, she was almost ready to faint.

"Alright, let's get moving!" Kakashi said. He turned around and began walking when he froze and fell to the ground.

"Kakashi-sensei!" The genins shouted

 

Kakashi's POV

 

I opened my eye, squinting as everything came into focus. I found myself looking at brown wooden... ceiling. Seconds later a woman hovered over me. The woman was young, maybe in her late twenties with black hair and black eyes.

"Are you okay?" she asked me.

"Not really. I don't think I'll be able to move for a week..." I said struggling to sit up. I grunted as a sharp pain ran through my body.

"Well you shouldn't move around for a while then," the woman said, her hands on her hip.

"You're probably right..." I said looking up at her. I sighed and laid back down.

"Sensei's awake!" I looked at the doorway. Naruto was grinning as he followed behind Sakura into the room. Rayne, Sasuke and Tazuna walked in seconds after.

 

Rayne's POV

 

I walked into the room, seeing that Naruto's outburst was true. I walked over to the foot of Kakashi's bed and sat down on my legs. I watched as Sakura sat on Kakashi's side on the other side of the bed.

"Kakashi-sensei, your Sharingan is really amazing, but it seems to put a lot of strain on your body. I'm not quite sure if it's good or bad," Sakura commented.

"I'm sorry," Kakashi said calmly.

"Sorry? For what? Kicking Zabuza's ass?" I asked.

"Language Rayne," Kakashi interjected.

"Yes, you defeated the ninja. We should be okay for a while," Tazuna said as Sasuke sat down next to me and Naruto sat on the other side of Sasuke.

"By the way, sensei, who was that strange boy in the mask?" Sakura asked putting a hand to her chin.

"That mask, it was of a pursuing ninja of a special squad from the Hidden Village of the Mist's ANBU," I explained.

"Special squad?" Sakura questioned.

"They are also known as the fire extinguishing unit. Their job is to erase any evidence of a ninja ever being alive," Kakashi said.

"Why would they want to do that?" Naruto asked.

"A ninja's body could give away the secrets of ninja techniques and chakra of the village the ninja lived in. That includes secret medicine remedies and various other things," Kakashi continued, "For example: if I were to die, the secret of my Sharingan would be examined. The worse case would be my techniques and Sharingan being stolen. So, pursuing ninja will kill exiled ninja, dispose of the body, and stop any secrets of the village they abandoned, from being revealed."

TRACKER NIN POV

I unravled a brown scroll. As it opened many utensils were revealed. I slid a pair of scissors from its spot.

"I have to cut of the cloth on his mouth and make him cough up blood first..." I said to myself kneeling in front of Zabuza's body. I neared him but gasped as my wrist was clenched. Zabuza's eyes opened wide and looked at me.

"I'll do it myself..." he said quietly, reaching for the bandages wrapped around his face and pulling them down.

"So, you've come back to life already," I said calmly. Zabuza sat up, resting his arms on his thighs. I put my tool away and looked at Zabuza. He turned his head showing two needles pierced in his neck.

"Geeze you're rough," he commented, pulling out the needles, small drops of blood flying out along with.

"You shouldn't be so rough with taking out those needles Zabuza," I told him. "You'll die if you do." Zabuza looked down at the ground. Without glancing up at me he spoke,

"How long are you going to wear that fake mask?" I reached up and took of my mask. Revealed was a mist headband tied around my forehead. My brown eyes looked at Zabuza and I smiled at him.

"If I hadn't of used this mask, you would have been killed," I told Zabuza.

"You didn't need to attack my neck if you were going to put me in a near-death state," Zabuza said in an annoyed tone. I smiled at Zabuza as he put the cloth back over his face.

"I couldn't help it, you would have yelled at me if I scarred your perfect body."

"Besides, it's easier to aim at the neck seeing as it has fewer muscles," I added. Zabuza tried to stand up but failed.

"You wont be able to move for a week or so," I informed Zabuza.

KAKASHI'S POV

“What is this feeling? Zabuza died, but I feel this uneasiness...I feel like I've missed something, something important…”

"Something wrong?" came Naruto's voice, wrenching me out of my thoughts. I looked at my students as I sat up in bed.

"Oh, about what I was talking about before, pursuing ninja are suppose to expose of the body right at the spot..."

"So that thought crossed your mind too?" Rayne asked. I looked at her. Her voice was rather hoarse, as if she had just gotten over a terrible sore throat. But she looked at me with much seriousness.

“Rayne and I thought something was up…” Sasuke said explaining more.

"Wait...what? What's the problem?" Sakura asked.

 

Rayne's POV

I rolled my eyes at Sakura's comment.

"Sakura, aren't you suppose to be a bright ninja?" I sighed but continued. Not that I wanted to, my throat felt like it was on fire.

"What did that boy do with Zabuza's body?"

"How should I know? He took Zabuza's body away," Sakura responded.

“Yeah and?" I asked, hoping she'd get it. “Oh my god,is she honestly really not getting the point?” I whispered quietly to myself with Sasuke sighing after he heard. “Sakura you learned this already…” I continued while she looked at me with no understanding.

"All the boy needed to do was bring back Zabuza's head to show proof he was dead," Kakashi said.

"Plus, there's the choice in weapons," I added trying to make my voice as soft as possible.

"They were long needles...tracking needles," Sasuke said looking at his other two teammates, who were still confused. "So…"

"So you get it now?" I asked glancing at the two.

"What are you guys talking about?" Tazuna said from behind my teamates and I, with Naruto and Sakura looked just as confused as he did.

"Zabuza is alive," Kakashi stated simply.

"WHAT!?!" came the shocked expressions of Tazuna, Naruto and Sakura. The woman from earlier stood next to Tazuna with wide eyes.

"What!? What do you mean!?" Naruto freaked out.

"But you confirmed yourself sensei that Zabuza was dead!" Sakura pointed out.

"That I did, but he was most likely in a near-death state. The weapon used doesn't really kill people unless it hits a critical spot. Usually it's used in medical practice," Kakashi explained.

"Pursuing ninja are experts on the human body. It would be a breeze for them to put someone in a near-death state," I added quietly.

“Maybe I should quit talking now” I rubbed my throat. Sasuke glanced at me.

"First off, that boy took Zabuza's body even though it was clearly too heavy. Second, he used a weapon not likely to kill. By looking at these two points it almost obvious, the boy wasn't trying to harm Zabuza, but help him," Kakashi explained.

"Maybe you're just thinking too much," Tazuna said trying to ease his panic.

"No, once a ninja feels something, they must prepare themselves before it is too late. It's a ninja rule," Kakashi said. I looked over slightly to see Naruto shaking. As I looked closer, Naruto's mouth was curved into a smile. I smirked.

“So, I see you're ready for another shot..”

"But sensei, how can we prepare? I mean, look at the state you're in," Sakura said. Kakashi chuckled,

"I'm going to put you guys through training." I fell back looking up at the ceiling. Sasuke gave me a weird look, which I returned, by giving him a teasing smirk/gin. He rolled his eyes and looked back to Kakashi. I spit my tongue out at him, too tired to think of any remark

"But how is training going to help us?" Sakura asked.

"Sakua, why do you question everyone on everything?” I asked from your spot on the floor. Sakura sent me a quick glare. Sakura looked back at Kakashi with a serious face.

"Even you, the Sharingan user, had a difficult time with Zabuza."

"Sakura," Kakashi began calmly. "Who was it that saved me when I had a difficult time? The four of you are growing at a rapid rate. Especially you Naruto," Kakashi complimented looking at Naruto. Naruto's head perked up.

"You've grown the most," Kakashi said smiling at Naruto.

“It does seem like he's become more reliable but...” Sakura thought. Naruto grinned and put his hands into fists.

"You know your stuff sensei. Now things are getting interesting!"

"No it's not," came a voice. My team and I all turned around and looked at the doorway. A little boy with black hair and black eyes stood there with his fists clenched. He couldn't have been any older than eight.

“Who's the kid?” I wondered to myself, “It looks like he's as old as Mitsu.”

"Who the hell are you!?" Naruto exclaimed pointing a finger at the kid.

"Naruto!" I scolded. Bad idea, a sharp pain came to my chest. I winced and placed a hand over my chest. Sasuke gave me a questionable look.

"Inari! Where have you been?" Tazuna asked holding his arms wide open.

"Grandpa!" the little boy named Inari shouted and ran over to hug Tazuna.

"Now Inari, don't be rude and say hello. These nice ninja escorted grandpa here," the woman said walking over to Inari with her hands on her hips. I assumed the woman was Inari's mother, I hadn't talked to the woman at all since we got here so I had no clue.

"Eh it's alright. Right Inari?" Tazuna said putting a hand on Inari's head. I put on an annoyed face. Inari examined your group. His eyes finally came to me and lingered there. “Uuuuhhhh....” My eyes started to shift from the uncomfortable staring. Inari finally looked away from your group and walked over to the woman.

"Mom, they're going to die." You sweatdropped. “Woah, pessimistic much?”

"It's true! There's no way they'll survive going up against Gatoh!"

"What did you say brat!?!" Naruto yelled standing up. "Listen here! I'm a super hero! I'm going to be a great ninja! One known as Hokage! I don't know who this Gatoh is but he's no match for me!"

"Hero? Are you that much of an idiot? There is no such thing as a hero," Inari said, his hat making shadows to cover his eyes.

“Such a morbid kid... but interesting in a way.” I thought. “Use to be like me when I was young…until I was saved by him.” Naruto looked dumbstruck for a moment before lunging at the kid.

"What'd you say!?!"

"Naruto!" Sakura stood up and held Naruto back.

"If you don't want to die, go home," Inari said walking to the door. I looked over at Sasuke. He stared at Inari intensely. I looked from Inari to Sasuke and back again.

"Inari, where are you going?" Tazuna asked.

"I'm going to watch the ocean," Inari said simply and left.

"I'm sorry," Tazuna said after a moment and looking at my group.

NARUTO'S POV

I walked up the wooden stairs. “Damn that kid! I'm going to teach him a thing or two!” I walked down the hall angrily until I heard the sound of whimpering. I lost my anger but it was replaced with wonder. Up ahead I saw a door so I walked up to it and peered through the crack. Inside was Inari. He was sitting on a desk that was in front of a window that looked out at the ocean.

“He's crying?”

"Dad..." I heard Inari say through his cries. I looked down.

3rd POV

 

"We will now begin your training," Kakashi said standing in front of the group. He held himself up with two wooden crutches. It had been two days since they had arrived at Tazuna's house. Squad seven stood in the forest behind Tazuna's house. Sakura stood next to Naruto, Sasuke on his right and Rayne on Sasuke's right.

"But before that, let me talk about chakra, the base for the ability of ninjas," Kakashi said. Sasuke muttered something while Naruto spoke,

"I already know about that. Catra right?" Kakashi hung his head. Rayne sweatdropped.

"It's...chakra, Naruto," She informed.

"Sakura, Rayne, if you don't mind..." Kakashi said.

“Neh…” Rayne said lazily, not really wanting to. “I forgot some of the stuff… so I'll add in what I remember” Kakashi looked at her with a blank face.

"Alright Naruto, I will explain everything so even you can understand," Sakura said. An anger mark appeared on Rayne's forehead, knowing that she only wants to impress Sasuke.

"Chakra is energy that a ninja needs to utilize a technique," Sakura began in her I'm-so-much-smarter-than-you voice. "This energy comes from the body energy that is collected from every cell in the body. It also comes from spirit energy that comes from training and experience,"

"In other words, techniques come from these two energies that are squeezed out of the body and molded together," Rayne explained in a bored voice. Sakura glared at Rayne, obviously mad she was stealing her spotlight. "This process is known as making chakra, not Catra.

“And with this chakra, one is able to perform this technique by forming a handseal," Sakura finished.

"Correct. Iruka-sensei was blessed with quite bright students," Kakashi complimented. Sakura grinned. “And Rayne, I know that you remembered everything.” Rayne shrugged her shoulder.

"What's with that? You can just learn that with your body if you don't understand that hard stuff," Naruto commented.

“It's not that hard Naruto…”

"Yeah, we're able to use techniques anyway," Sasuke agreed closing his eyes.

"No, you guys aren't using your chakra completely," Kakashi said. Everyone looked at him.

"Just listen. Like Rayne and Sakura explained, molding chakra is to extract energies from both the body and the spirit, then mixing them in your body. The amount of energy is different with every technique that you use. So naturally, the way you mix the energies will be different as well. You are not able to use your chakra effectively," Kakashi said. "Even if you can mold large amounts of chakra, if you cannot control the balance, your technique will be only half effective, that is if it's effective at all. Wasting energy will become a weakness of not being able to fight for a long time."

"So..what do we do?" Naruto asked. Rayne scratched behind her head, not really listening to Kakashi's ramble on about…

“What was he talking about again… of yeah, Chakra.”

"You are going to learn to control it with your bodies. You must go through harsh training that puts your life on the line." The four genin's faces grew serious.

"So what are we going to do?" Sakura questioned.

"Climb a tree." Rayne anime-fell while the other three sweatdrop. She sat up after a second though. "CLIMB A TREE!?!"

"Oh yes, but it's not normal tree climbing," Kakashi .

“You're going to climb without using your hands," Kakashi said.

"Just watch." Kakashi preformed a handseal and dust rose around his feet. Then he started walking over to the tree on his right. He put a foot on the tree. Everyone's eyes widened. “No way!” They all watched as Kakashi walked vertically up the tree. He walked along a thick branch and looked at the group upside down.

"Gather your chakra to the soles of your feet and make it attach to the tree trunk," Kakashi explained.

"How will we become strong doing that!?" Sakura asked.

"And that leads us to the main topic. The main purpose of this training is to calculate how much chakra you need in a certain location. This can be difficult for even the most skilled ninja. The amount needed for tree climbing is quite subtle, but the most difficult area to concentrate chakra is the soles of your feet. So frankly, if you can master this, you can learn any technique." Kakashi paused, "The second purpose to this exercise is to work on molding chakra. Most of the time, ninjas mold their chakra during battle. It's more difficult to mold chakra in that situation. But, it's not like anything is going to happen if I sit and lecture all day," Kakashi said.

“Kakashi…we'll all fall asleep...except for pinky, she wants to look `smart'” Rayne thought. Kakashi threw down four kunai, one landing in front of each of you.

"Use that to mark how far up the tree you can make it. Then try and make more and more slashes about it as you climb. You guys defiantly aren't good enough to climb by walking so get a running head start. Understand?"

"This is going to be easy for me!" Naruto exclaimed holding his kunai.

Rayne preformed a handsign and closed your eyes.

“So first I need to concentrate my chakra to the soles of my feet…” In seconds she felt a surge of power come to the bottom of your feet. Everyone else followed suite.

"Alright, let's do it!" Naruto shouted. Naruto ran to the tree but only made it two steps then fell, nursing the newly formed bump on his head. Rayne sweatdropped then saw Sasuke running towards his tree next to yours. Rayne got a determined look in her eye then ran at hers at well. She ran up the tree, it was a strange feeling. At first she thought she was going to fall off but she applied more pressure. Rayne looked to her right to see Sasuke neck and neck with herself. Suddenly his foot broke the bark and he slashed at the tree and jumped down. Rayne smirked and kept running. Suddenly she heard a cracking noise as the bark beneath her broke. Rayne gritted her teeth and slashed at the tree with her kunai and jump down.

“I didn't think maintaining chakra like this was going to be this difficult...” Sasuke thought. Sasuke watched Naruto who was rolling on the ground clutching his head and Rayne who landed on the ground.

Sasuke looked up at the indent in his tree “I see, if you use too much… the tree will give out...” He then looked at Naruto rolling around. “But if you don't use enough chakra you'll simply fall like the dobe.”

KAKASHI'S POV

I looked at Sasuke's and Naruto's tree. Naruto didn't even have a dent in his while Sasuke ran up a few feet in the air. “So… you see the difference between Sasuke and Naruto in a nutshell.” I looked at Rayne's tree, she had gotten much higher than Naruto... even a little higher than Sasuke. I looked down at Rayne, she was glaring at the tree.

"I hate you, you stupid tree… you're not going to beat me!” Rayne yelled at the tree. I sweatdropped.

"This is easier than I thought!"

3rd POV

Everyone looked over at the sound of Sakura's voice.

"Sakura!!" Naruto exclaimed. Sakura was on a high branch. Sakura smiled spitting her tongue out. She giggled.

"Well would you look at that. Our female ninja Sakura seems to be best at chakra controlling," Kakashi said.

"Wow Sakura! That's my girl!" Naruto exclaimed although he was thinking,

“Though the thought does tick me off…” Sasuke cursed quietly and looked away while Rayne crossed her arms and glared at her tree. Sakura's smiled broke.

“Aw, I thought I could impress Sasuke but only Naruto cared…why does this happen to me?”

"Your knowledge is good but I am truly impressed with your chakra control and stamina," Kakashi complimented Sakura. "It looks like Sakura's closest to be Hokage right now." Naruto got an extremely pissed off look on his face.

"And I guess the Uchiha clan isn't as great as it's told to be," Kakashi continued. Sasuke scowled and glared.

“And the Kouseki clan doesn't look to promising either.” Rayne twitched and glared at Kakashi.

“KAKASHI-SENSEI!!” Sakura shouted, Inner Sakura: “Sasuke will hate me for sure!”

Rayne, Sasuke and Naruto glared at one other, challenging the other two.

"Alright, first I'm going to pass up Sasuke-teme! Then I'm going to beat Ray-nee-chan!" Naruto said. Rayne smirked. "You think so eh?" The three of them looked at their own trees with determination. No one noticed the little boy with black hair and black eyes watching from behind a large tree.

ZABUZA'S POV

I laid in bed, Haku sitting in a chair next to me. I heard the door creak open and in came a short guy in a suite followed by two ninjas. The man was no other than the man that hired me, Gatoh.

"Even you were defeated and you came back here? Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist must really suck. You call yourself a demon when you were also defeated? You make me laugh," Gatoh said. I said nothing but stared up at the ceiling. I watched from the corner of my eye as Haku stood up. The ninja guarding the short man drew their swords.

"Hold up," Gatoh said. He walked closer to my bed. "Don't be so quiet. Why don't you say something?" His hand reached towards my face. I would have killed him right there and then, that is, if I could move. I saw Haku's hand move though and it grabbed Gatoh's wrist.

"Don't touch Zabuza," Haku said menacingly. Haku's grip got tighter and with a sickening crunch, I assumed Gatoh's wrist was broken. The two ninjas unsheathed their swords and brought them down on Haku. Haku stopped the two swords. The two swords were thrown away as Haku stood by me. Gatoh backed off, obviously scared.

"One more chance! If you fail, you're dead!" Gatoh said and his goons and him left.

"Haku, you didn't have to do that," I said, gripping the kunai I had all along.

"I'm aware. But we can't kill Gatoh yet. He would cause too much commotion, we'll be chased yet again," Haku said. My eyes narrowed,

"I suppose you're right." I closed my eyes

Rayne's POV

 

I glared at my tree. So far I hadn't made it close to the top yet. Then again I was trying to hold back. As soon as I would start breathing heavier and heavier the pain in my chest would get more and more painful. Right now it was a dull throb. I looked over at Sasuke's tree. He was pretty much at the same height as me were. Then I looked over at Naruto's. I sweatdropped, he hadn't improved much from his first try. I got a questioning look on my face as I watched Naruto stand up and walk over to Sakura. I saw Sasuke had seen this two. All I heard was murmuring as Sakura and Naruto exchanged words. I looked back at my tree. I got fire in my eyes and smirked, ran at it again.

“I'm defiantly going to do this!”

neh… well I'm like, putting a whole bunch of episodes in the same chapter `cause this

 

part is kinda boring… `cause it's just the training, well some romance with Sasuke and Rayne, rayne learning telling Kakashi about sharingan and so I'm gonna try to put it all in 2 chapters and start the battle on the bridge soon `cause that's when Sasuke `dies', Rayne… well can't tell you that and some other stuff happens.