Published at 10th of May 2020 6:20 pm

First C-Rank Mission (2) – Part 16

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

[Somewhere on the path towards the Land of Waves]

Kakashi strapped the two enemies they had just beaten to a tree before looking back at Tazuna.

“Those two were after you. They are Chunin of Kirigakure. Did you know that they were coming after you?” Kakashi asked Tazuna.

Tazuna started to sweat: “Uhm …”

Kakashi watched him with a stern gaze before sighing: “So you knew. You know that this totally exceeds the danger of a C-Rank mission … you did not pay enough for a higher ranked mission, so … we have no need to continue protecting you anymore, you know that, right?”

Tazuna nodded while clearly having trouble breathing under the intense gaze Kakashi was giving him.

Kakashi looked at his Genins: “What do you say? Go back or continue?”

“Why should we go back? I think we handled this nicely, shouldn’t we try to continue?” Sakura asked, in a slightly unsure voice. She didn’t want to make a decision for everyone, but she thought that was exactly what they needed to ascertain their current strengths.

Naruto nodded: “I agree. Sasuke, what about you?”

Everyone turned to look at Sasuke who instead looked at Naru: “Continue?”

Naru smiled at him: “Sure, if that’s what you want~.”

Sasuke nodded before looking back at the others: “Continue onwards then. We are already here anyway … and, like Sakura said, this should be a good way to put our training to the test, right?”

Everyone nodded, though, saying that they weren’t slightly nervous would be a lie.

Soon, they continued their path towards the Land of Waves. Tazuna was visibly calmer. He now had some trust in their strength, seeing that they had so easily beaten those two frightening foes.

“Thank you, everyone … and, I’m sorry …” Tazuna sighed.

Everyone looked at him, some had slight smiles on their faces, while others just looked at him without any apparent emotion on their faces. Everyone, however, nodded before turning back to continue their traveling.

…

[Somewhere on a small boat surrounded by mist]

“Again, I must thank you for choosing to continue protecting me …. I really wouldn’t know what my family would do without me … sigh, my 8-year-old grandson … he would cry for me and my daughter would surely hate the ninjas of Konoha for all her life! But, it wouldn’t have been your fault at all, don’t you dare worry about that! Hahaha~” Tazuna laughed his eyes hiding a mischievous glint.

He tried to guilt trip them into putting in even more effort into protecting and not just being here to test their skills.

The teens sighed, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

Kakashi obviously noticed that, he scratched his hitai-ate before sighing: “Maa … don’t worry, we will continue protecting you and your family.”

The boat passed through a tunnel before reappearing in a totally different environment than they had been going through before.

This time, the mist was totally gone, instead, a small village laid on the other side of the tunnel.

The village’s houses were built upon wooden platforms that were held afloat inside of the huge body of water through wooden pillars.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were looking around in curiosity, never really having left Konoha before.

Naru just looked at them with soft kindness in her eyes. She did not feel the same amount of curiosity that they did, she had seen many things in this but also her past life, even if her memories of that life were getting hazier every day. She actually feared that someday, they might even completely vanish.

“Please bring me home safely, okay?” Tazuna asked the group that looked around in curiosity.

“We will, don’t worry.” Kakashi said.

Soon, they continued walking.

…

“Next time, it won’t be Chunin attacking us, as that did not work. Gato, the man that is causing problems in the Land of Waves and disrupting his work, as Tazuna had said, will probably hire Jonin this time. It won’t be as easy anymore, but … we will see. With me here, those four won’t be in any true danger, I’ll make sure of that!” Kakashi silently thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Naru was thinking something similar: “The next enemies will be tougher … but, we’ll be okay. I know that we will!”

…

“A white rabbit, weird, but cute~” Naru giggled and the team stopped to look at the white rabbit that had jumped out from a bush.

While Naru was softly laughing and petting the rabbit, she was also keeping tabs on the chakra signature she had sensed in the tree crown above them.

“True, it’s weird. There shouldn’t be a snow rabbit here …” Kakashi mused to himself.

…

“Kakashi with the Sharingan, huh.” Zabuza chuckled to himself as he looked at the Team below him.

A few seconds later, he jumped down and threw his blade at his target.

…

“Get on the ground!” Kakashi screamed.

Sasuke pulled Naru to the ground, shielding her body with his own.

Naruto and Sakura also dropped down, while Tazuna, who had been caught off-guard by the sudden scream, fell over his own feet.

This clumsy action, however, had saved him his life as he narrowly dodged the spinning sword that flew over his head.

The big sword stuck to a tree.

A mere second later, a figure stood on the sword’s handle.

“Zabuza Momochi, a missing-nin from Kiri …” Kakashi said as he looked at the man.

Zabuza wore bandages on his face, covering both his mouth and his nose. He had tied his hitai-ate to his head and he wore camouflaging-clothes on his forearms and legs.

His upper body was bare, showing off his tight and profound muscles.

“Nice~” Naru thought while looking at Zabuza’s tight six-pack on his stomach. Quickly, however, she looked way in guilt: “No, no, no. I shouldn’t look at other men … I’m Sasuke’s after all~.” Thankfully no one noticed that.

“My, you are Kakashi the copy ninja?” Zabuza chuckled evilly.

“But … it’d be nice if you could give me the old man behind you, then we wouldn’t even need to fight.” Zabuza said to Kakashi.

“Sorry, no can do.” Kakashi said, while motioning for his team to step back.

“This is my fight. You go form a protection ring around Tazuna-san.” Kakashi said, without looking away from Zabuza who was still standing on the sword’s handle.

“Sensei why-“ Naruto wanted to protest.

“I know that you are strong, and I know that you are eager to test your strength’s … but, leave this one to me, okay?” Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded before moving to protect Tazuna with his three teammates.

“For this fight, I’ll need the Sharingan.” Kakashi thought to himself while moving a hand to touch his hitai-ate.

Slowly, he pulled it aside, revealing an eye that had a scar run right through it.

As he opened his still closed eye, an eerie, red-colored pupil appeared inside of it. It held weird black symbols, three of them, in fact.

“Hoh~, to think I’d get to see your eye so early on, Kakashi of the Sharingan.” Zabuza mused.

“Sharingan?” Naruto asked.

Sasuke’s eyes widened, he clearly did not know that his sensei had his clan’s famous dojutsu in his normally always hidden eye.

He squeezed his girlfriend’s hand a little, seeking for her warmth to deal with the shock he had just gotten.

“The Sharingan is the famous eye-ability that runs through the Uchiha-clan’s lineage. Anyone that has this dojutsu can instantly see through any kind of tai-, nin, or gen-jutsu.” Sasuke explained to the group.

“What’s even more frightening, is that Sharingan-users can easily copy the techniques of others. That’s why your sensei is called the Copy Ninja of Konoha. He has copied at least a thousand jutsu’s. In my time back in Kiri, your sensei was in our bingo-book, which is where I know him from.” Zabuza added.

Slowly, their surroundings grew foggy.

Zabuza said: “But, let’s stop with the talk, just give me the old man.”

The four teens instantly moved closer to Tazuna, forming an even tighter ring of protection around him.

“Sigh, seems like I need to fight you first, Kakashi.” Zabuza said.

Zabuza kicked the tree and pulled out his sword before jumping away and landing on the body of water next to the path they were standing on.

“Ninpo: Kirigakure no Jutsu.” Zabuza said while raising one hand into the air and holding one hand close to his face. His sword was strapped to his back.

Instantly, his form was covered in fog and the fog surrounding them grew even denser.

Meanwhile, the four Genin were still slightly bewildered by the sight of Zabuza standing on water. They wanted to learn that too!

Sakura asked: “Sensei, who exactly is this Zabuza?”

“He is a former Anbu of Kirigakure, the village hidden in the mist. He is widely known due to his technique called ‘silent killing’. It’s a technique to kill someone in a way that they won’t even notice anything, as the kill will be entirely silent and so fast that you’ll only notice that you are attacked when it’s already too late to retaliate.” Kakashi explained while moving closer to the body of water.

“He will attack me first.” Kakashi established.

Soon, the fog deepened even further, making even Naru feel slightly annoyed, as her ability to sense chakra was partly diminished by the deep fog.

“8 vital points … which one shall I take?” Zabuza said as his eerie voice sounded in everyone’s ears.

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto started shaking, feeling Zabuza’s intense bloodlust. They were strong, yes, but … when someone talked about taking a life so easily, they were still shocked and felt naturally uneasy.

Naru grasped Naruto’s and Sasuke’s hands, causing them to calm down slightly, they were still shaking and frozen though.

Kakashi sent out a burst of chakra, dispersing some of the fog around them. They were thus able to at least see each other again.

Naru closed her eyes to sense Zabuza’s location, but just as she did so, he appeared inside of their protection circle.

She instantly let go of the two hands she had been holding and drew her sword, sending a sword strike at Zabuza.

Zabuza blocked the sword but was slightly taken aback at the little girl’s strength.

The other’s eyes widened in shock and Kakashi quickly shunshinned in front of Zabuza, stabbing him right in the stomach with his kunai. Things moved way too quickly for the other people to follow.

However, to everyone’s surprise, instead of blood, what flowed out of Zabuza’s body was water.

“A clone!” Kakashi thought.

“Behind you, Kakashi-sensei!” Sakura screamed, having spotted Zabuza appear behind Kakashi.

Kakashi instantly turned around but failed to block Zabuza’s sword strike.

“Die!” Zabuza shouted.

But, instead of drawing blood, he drew water.

Kakashi had clearly copied his water-clone technique.

Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza and held his kunai to Zabuza’s throat: “Don’t move.”

However, the Zabuza that Kakashi had “beaten”, only chuckled: “It’s not that easy …” before dispersing into water again.

Naru looked around, sending out more of her chakra to sense the enemy: “Sigh, I thought my abilities to sense chakra were good enough … but it seems like, especially against similarly advanced clones like the shadow clones, I cannot exactly determine the real one. Also … this damn fog is making it hard for me to send out chakra into it, as it is a fog created by Zabuza’s jutsu it is repelling my chakra.”

After some time, she finally sensed Zabuza’s location, but it was too late, he had already appeared behind Kakashi and cut at him with his sword.

Kakashi ducked and Zabuza sword got stuck in the ground because of his wide swing and the strength used in it.

Zabuza turned around to kick at Kakashi. He sent Kakashi flying through the air, having been unable to block or dodge his kick.

Zabuza pulled out his sword and rushed at the water that Kakashi had fallen into, only to stop just in front of it: “Metal spikes (makibishi) … hah! How funny.”

Zabuza jumped away.

Kakashi slowly emerged from within the water: “Why is this so heavy?!”

Kakashi was bewildered at the water’s weight on his clothes.

In a momentary lapse of attention on Kakashi’s side, Zabuza appeared behind him: “Hah! Idiot. Water Prison Jutsu!”

Water arose and Kakashi was soon imprisoned in a ball of water.

“Shit. It was a bad plan to flee into the water.” Kakashi thought.

“I’ll deal with you later Kakashi. I’ll kill your students first! Water Clone Jutsu!” Soon, a water clone rose and Zabuza chuckled: “Look at their faces Kakashi! They are full of fear! They aren’t even real ninja yet. Only when they are known in the bingo book and have survived countless near-death situations, can they even dare to call themselves real ninja.”

Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were shaking, which Naru noticed: “He is slightly scary, yes, but … I’ll protect them. I’m strong enough for that!”

“Protect Tazuna-san, I’ll deal with Zabuza and free sensei.” Naru said with a determined gaze.

“No! Leave me and run away! You need to protect the client!” Kakashi shouted.

Hearing Naru’s words, Naruto nodded: “No, Kakashi-sensei. Those who abandon their teammates are worse than scum, right? Naru, I trust you, we’ll protect Tazuna, you just go and do your thing.” Naruto did not know what she planned on doing, but he trusted her with all his heart. He knew that she wouldn’t be foolish when her life was on the line.

Sasuke, upon hearing that, nodded, agreeing with what he said.

Sakura took out a kunai, also getting into a position to fight.

Naru grasped her sword tightly before letting a bit of her tailed beast aura escape her body.

A chakra cloak soon formed around her. It was entirely golden and made her stick out in the mist. The three teens around her, having noticed the change in her chakra, looked at her in worry. They had never felt such an oppressive chakra come from their teammate before.

There were two, partially formed, big fox ears on her head. They connected perfectly with her hair, making it seem like they had always been there in the first place. On her lower back a partially formed, huge tail appeared, it was even longer than her whole body’s height and slightly bigger than her waist. Its fur looked incredibly soft, making the others that had turned to look at her want to pet it. Naru’s eyes also changed to reveal vertical slits.

Naru’s chakra seemed to have changed in quality. It was entirely different than her normal chakra, it made everyone present feel slightly small and weak in comparison.

Naruto suddenly felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He quickly started to massage it, in order to ease his pain, but it did not help at all.

Naru turned around in shock, ignoring the tense and awkward situation she had just caused.

“Kurama-nii?” She called out, while walking closer to her brother, her human brother.

She quickly touched her brother’s stomach, where the seal marks were at, and pushed some of her chakra into it. She closed her eyes and reappeared in Naruto’s mindscape.

What greeted her was a low chuckle coming from a very familiar voice that she hadn’t heard in years: “Sister, you’ve achieved a part of your dream?”

Naru smiled, tears forming in the corners of her eyes: “Kurama-nii, I’ve missed you. I hope it wasn’t too boring in this seal?”

“No, it was okay. I’ve seen what happens on the outside through your new brother’s eyes. I’ve come to kind of like the boy, he treats you well and loves you quite a lot. You are happier now, right?” Kurama asked while looking at the, in comparison to his massive body, small fox girl in front of him. Naru was still in her partially formed fox-girl form, looking extremely cute in his opinion.

“I’m happy, yes … but … all these years … I’ve left you alone in here. Do you want to get out?” Naru asked, being very excited at finally seeing Kurama again. He was the one that knew everything about her, and she knew everything about him. She still felt like they were one and belonged together. At the thought, she instantly felt sad at having left her other half alone in this dark seal.

“Naru, that’s what they call you now, right? Do you like that name?” Kurama asked, noticing her changed mood.

Naru looked up at him and giggled: “Yea~!” her mood instantly turning for the better.

“You shouldn’t worry about me too much. I’m okay in here … I actually quite like the peaceful sleep I get here. You should know that I don’t actually desire to be out and about too much, right?” Kurama asked her while chuckling due to her fast-changing expressions.

“I know … I know that! But still … I’d like to see you again, in the flesh. I can’t go past this seal, that’s something that only Naruto can do, I’d need to break it open first …” Naru sighed.

“Don’t worry, little sister. I’ll be okay. Just a few seconds ago, I had been able to connect to some of your chakra outside and force a bit of the seal to open. I am able to talk to Naruto from now on … and, seeing that he is our brother, I’ll help him, okay? We will be able to meet regularly, don’t worry. Just tell him to change his mindscape’s area when you leave, okay? I’d much rather be able to run around in a forest than be confined to this small, wet room.” Kurama looked at her intently.

Naru nodded her head: “Will do!”

Kurama laughed in a deep voice. This calmed Naru, she had missed his laughter.

Kurama stretched out a claw and a small part of it passed through the metal bars.

Naru moved forward to touch her brother’s claw, gently massaging it with her hands.

“Naru, go out soon, your teammates need you right now. The enemy is too strong for them, but you can do it!” Kurama smiled at her reassuringly.

“Alright, see you soon …?” She asked, slightly unsure.

“Yes, see you soon~.” Kurama chuckled.

Naru smiled sweetly at him, before closing her eyes and mentally withdrawing her chakra out of the seal again.

When she opened her eyes on the outside, they were instantly met with several bewildered gazes.

“How long was I gone for?” She asked.

“Not longer than a few seconds.” Naruto said, having felt his sister’s warm, familiar chakra inside of him communicate with something.

Naruto’s eyes widened as he heard a deep voice inside of his head: “Kit. Make sure to treat her well. Otherwise …! *chuckle* Don’t worry. I know that you love her. I’m Kurama, and just like you, I’m her brother too.”

Naru turned around to face Zabuza’s clone. Instantly, she appeared beside it and cut it apart with a speed that Zabuza could not block or dodge. He was barely even able to see her sword move, but even so, he was powerless to stop it.

The clone dispersed into water.

Naru turned around to look at the real Zabuza, whose eyes had widened in shock.

“What?!” He screamed, having never expected one of the little child-students that Kakashi had to be so strong.

Naru disappeared again, moving at a speed not visible to the naked eye, and reappeared behind the real Zabuza.

She slashed at his back, her hit connecting, forcing him to let go of the water prison and jump away. Blood flew down his back and his wound burned, like it was actually on fire.

Kakashi panted on the ground as he was released from the prison and fell down.

He looked at his student in surprise: “What is going on? This can’t be the Kyuubi’s chakra. No, this is something else. Something even stronger! This aura that emanates from her entire being, it makes even me feel weak.”

Zabuza landed on the ground. Naru and Zabuza looked at each other, one with no apparent emotion on her face, the other with eyes full of fear.

Zabuza knew that he was no match for her. He sensed her chakra pool. It was endless. Endless! (Or so it seemed.)

Meanwhile, he was nearly at the end of his rope. Using so many jutsu and keeping up that prison for such a long time had sapped away at his chakra reserves.

He knew, he wouldn’t survive this fight. But he still steeled himself. He needed to.

Once again, he grabbed his big sword on his back and his body moved into a fighting stance.

Naru also readied herself, placing her feet onto the ground, in a way that would allow her to instantly start sprinting at him, if she so needed to.

However, instead of them rushing at each other, senbon (needles) flew out from a nearby treetop.

They hit Zabuza on his neck, making him fall to the ground.

His chakra slowly vanished, making it truly seem like he had died instantly.

Kakashi appeared beside Zabuza, checking his pulse, looking for signs of life.

“He’s dead.” Kakashi said, making everyone widen their eyes.

Naru nodded, also not having found any signs of life. His chakra flow had stopped, so she could not sense any chakra inside of him.

“Thank you.” A figure standing on the treetop where the senbon had flown out from said in a soft voice.

“I’ve waited for a long time, looking for a chance to kill Zabuza.” The figure continued.

“Judging from your mask, you are an Oi-nin, right?” Kakashi asked.

“That’s right, you are well informed.” The figure said.

“Oi-nin are ninja that hunt missing-nin to stop them from leaking any secrets about their village.” Naruto said to Tazuna who seemed bewildered.

“Judging from his voice and height, he seems to be as old as Naruto.” Kakashi thought while looking at the Oi-nin standing on the tree branch.

Kakashi shrugged and moved towards his team, leaving the supposed Oi-nin to his work.

The Oi-nin appeared beside Zabuza and said: “Again, thank you for your help. I’ll go take care of this corpse now, so, if you’ll excuse me.”

The Oi-nin then disappeared in a burst of wind that shook up some leaves from the ground.

“He’s gone.” Naruto observed, feeling slightly unsatisfied at not having been able to do much.

“It’s okay, kit. You’ll get stronger.” Kurama said, calming Naruto down.

“I know.” Naruto sighed while closing his eyes.

Just as Naruto was talking with Kurama, Sakura was heard shouting: “Kakashi-sensei!”

Naruto opened his eyes, looking towards Kakashi … only to see him passed out on the floor.

“Sigh, he overworked himself.” Naru said.

She withdrew her tailed beast aura and her form returned to normal, as if nothing had ever changed.

Sasuke walked towards her and held out his hand: “Let’s go? We need to deal with Sensei’s injuries at Tazuna-san’s place.”

Naru took his hand and nodded, feeling slightly grateful that he did not ask about what she had shown them yet.

She would, however, tell them soon.

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