Promises Kept

A/N: Sorry for the slightly delayed update. I’ve got no excuse other then I was lazy and decided to take a few days off. So with no more ado here you go…

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“Kakashi-sensei,” Sakura calls to the Jounin, “Those shinobi we encountered, they were Chunnin right?” she asks.

“Hai,” he answers, “And if they were just the first attack then you can be sure that from here on out any shinobi we encounter will be Jounin level or higher so be on guard.”

“I guess I shouldn’t have been so quick to ask for another mission,” Naruto chuckles trying to lighten the mood. “I mean baby sitting’s sounding pretty good right about now.”

“Don’t tell me you’re scared dobe,” Sasuke says, “What happened to the Code of the True Shinobi?”

“Never said I was scared Teme,” Naruto shoots back at the Uchiha. “I only said that taking this Mission might not have been the best idea I ever had.”

“Figures,” Sasuke snorts, “You talk a big game but fail to back it up.” Before Naruto can even reply to the accusation Sasuke draws and throws a kunai towards the bushes to their right.

Swiftly making their way through the bushes, Team Seven stares at a white rabbit that has frozen in shock, Sasuke’s kunai is buried in the trunk of a tree right between its ears. Sakura immediately scoops up the bunny and sets it down in the bushes away from the group. “There was someone there, I know it” Sasuke says, retrieving his kunai.

Naruto doesn’t say anything as his nose catches a whiff of someone else nearby. Shaking his head slowly, as if doubting Sasuke’s word, Naruto scans the surrounding area while his enhanced vision catches sight of brief movement in the tree behind them. “The Teme was right,” he tells Kyuubi.

"Hai," the demoness replies, “Be careful kit,” she warns him, "While you’re stronger then your comrades you’re not ready to take on a Jounin just yet.”

“I know,” he tells her, “I just hope Kakashi-sensei realizes it before they show up.”

‘That’s a snow rabbit… yet it is spring, what’s with its color? The snow rabbit changes color based on the amount of sunlight. White is its color during winter. This rabbit was kept in a cage for the purpose of a Substitution Jutsu. Looks like Sasuke was right and our foe barely avoided his attack,’ Kakashi thinks to himself now on heightened alert.


Up in the tree, a figure peered through the leaves at the group on the ground. ‘I see...’ a figure in the tree thinks to itself. ‘No wonder the Demon Brothers didn’t stand a chance. Konoha’s Copy Ninja...Sharingan Kakashi,’ the figure thought before they leapt into the air.

Kakashi instantly reacts, yelling “Everyone down, now!” Naruto and Sasuke both move quickly with Sasuke grabbing Tazuna and pulling him down while Naruto does the same for Sakura. A large sword spins through the air where their necks would have been and slams into a nearby tree. As Kakashi spins to face the sword, a shinobi appears standing on the handle of the giant weapon.

“Well if it isn’t Kiri’s nuke-nin Momochi Zabuza,” Kakashi exclaims, “Everybody get back. This one’s on a whole other level.” Kakashi reaches for his Hitai-ate as he continues, “Against him, it will be a little tough unless I do this…”

“You appear to be Sharingan Kakashi,” Zabuza says calmly, “Sorry but the old man is mine!”

‘Sharingan?!’ Sasuke thinks leaving both Sakura and Tazuna confused. Naruto already knows about the Sharingan thanks to Raven’s lessons about every clan in Konoha and their abilities and Kekkei Genkai or Blood Line Limits.

“Surround and protect Tazuna-san,” Kakashi tells them, “Do not enter the fight, that’s the kind of teamwork needed here.” Kakashi never once takes his focus off Zabuza. “Zabuza, first… fight me,” The Jounin raises his Hitai-ate to reveal a Sharingan in his left eye, though a scar running over the eye from top to bottom suggests that it was not the shinobi’s original eye.

“Ah, I already get to see the famous Sharingan. I’m honored,” said Zabuza as he finally turned to face the group.

“The Sharingan,” Sakura says, “What’s that?”

“Sharingan…” Sasuke begins, “It is said that some have the ability in their eyes to read and defeat all types of Gen, Tai and Nin-Jutsu. The Sharingan is one of the types of pupil that gives you this power. But that’s not the only ability the Sharingan has…”

“Hehe exactly,” Zabuza chuckles interrupting Sasuke’s explanation, “That’s not all… What’s even scarier is… That you can copy your opponent’s techniques once you see them. When I was a member of Kiri’s assassin team, I possessed the usual Bingo Book, a kind of who’s who of our enemies. It included information on you and this is what is said: ‘The man who has copied over a thousand Jutsu… Copy Ninja, Kakashi.”

‘What’s going on?’ Sasuke asks himself. ‘The Sharingan is a special physical condition that only appears in a select few members of the Uchiha clan… Could he be?’

“Now, let’s end all the talking. I have to kill that old man,” Zabuza says as he glares at Tazuna. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura quickly formed a triangle putting themselves between the nuke-nin and his target. Sasuke drew his shuriken while Sakura pulled out a kunai and Naruto held his fighting knives.

Zabuza smirks and shifts his gaze to Kakashi. “But, it seems I have to kill you first Kakashi,” he says before he pulls his sword from the tree and disappears from sight, only to reappear on the nearby water. Sasuke and Sakura stare in shock while Naruto merely tightens his grip on his weapons.

Mist starts to arise as Zabuza raises one arm straight up and positioned his other hand with his extended middle and index finger in front of his mouth. “Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu,” Zabuza says, before he disappears from sight. The mist is now so thick that no one but Naruto can figure out where Zabuza is, though his lack of tracking experience is giving him some problems.

“That is it,” Naruto growls after several tense seconds of being unable to locate the nuke-nin, “Soon as we get back I’m going to ask Kiba if I can practice tracking with him and Akamaru.”

“That’s a good plan kit,” Kyuubi tells him, “But in the mean time keep your head in the fight.”

“He’s gone!!” Sakura cries out causing them all to tens up even more.

“He’ll come after me first,” Kakashi tells them, “Momochi Zabuza, as a member of the Hidden Mist, he was known as an expert in silent killing. You don’t even notice until you’re already dead.” The Jounin paused for a second before adding, “It’s not like I can use the Sharingan perfectly. You guys be ready!”

“Why don’t you just admit we’re screwed?” Naruto growls as he closes his eyes while trying to track the nuke-nin with his hearing.

Zabuza’s voice suddenly echoed through out the mist causing Naruto to grumble something about his ears ringing. “Eight Choices: liver, lungs, spine, clavical vein, neck vein, brain, kidneys and heart. Which one should I go after?”

In an attempt to dispel the Jutsu, Kakashi releases a massive amount of Killer Intent that unfortunately back fires causing his team to tremble with fear. Sasuke heard was so frightened sweat was soaking the collar of his shirt. ‘What an incredibly dangerous KI. It feels like I’ll be killed if I make a single move. This could drive a person crazy… The intensity of a Jounin… It feels like my life is being squeezed… I can’t take it… I’d almost rather die and get it over with…’ he thinks as fear permeates his entire body.


Sasuke’s terror filled thoughts are interrupted by Kakashi saying, “Sasuke, don’t worry. I’ll protect you guys even if it kills me.” Sasuke stares at Kakashi as the masked Jounin turned his head slightly, letting the Uchiha see his left eye curved upwards as he smiles and said, “I don’t let my comrades die!”

All three Genin relax slightly at their Sensei’s reassuring words that is, until Zabuza’s eerie voice echoes through the mist, “We’ll see about that.” He suddenly appears in between the Genin and Tazuna, preparing to slice all of them in half at the waist. “It’s over,” the nuke-nin declares, just before Kakashi suddenly appears and tackles Zabuza, stabbing his chest with a kunai while releasing a burst of chakra just strong enough to knock the others out of the way of the nuke-nin’s sword.

A second Zabuza suddenly appeared behind Kakashi, sword raised so he could slice Kakashi in half. “Sensei, behind you!” Naruto yells as he points at the surprise attack. Kakashi whips his head around as the Zabuza he had been fighting turned into water and falls to the ground in a puddle. Zabuza slashes Kakashi in half, only to see the Jounin also turn to water. ‘Water Clone Jutsu? No way he copied it in this mist?’ Zabuza thought in amazement.

“Don’t move,” a kunai is suddenly pressed against his neck, causing the nuke-nin to freeze, “It’s over,” Kakashi says, causing Sakura to give a small cheer that was quickly stopped as Zabuza started laughing.

“Hehe… It’s over?” Zabuza asks, “You don’t get it. There’s no way you can defeat me with your monkey-like imitations. But that was impressive of you. At that time 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 not the easy…” Zabuza says as another appeared behind Kakashi again.

“That one was a fake too!” Naruto yells, annoyed he couldn’t tell the difference. Zabuza swings a sword in an attempt to cut Kakashi in half, only to miss as Kakashi drops to the ground. Zabuza doesn’t let that faze him and continues with him momentum, digging the sword blade into the ground so he can use the handle of his sword as a pivot to kick Kakashi hard in the chest. Kakashi goes flying, straight into the water. Zabuza pulls his sword out of the ground and charges forward, only to skid to a stop to avoid the caltrops Kakashi managed to drop behind him. Zabuza disappears just before Kakashi surfaces. The Jounin suddenly hears Zabuza behind him again as he says, “Heh fool, Water Prison Jutsu!” The water swirls up to trap Kakashi in a sphere of water. “You may have been trying to escape to the water, but that was a big mistake. Hehe, I now have you in my inescapable special prison.” Zabuza smirks.

“It makes things tougher if you can move you know?” Zabuza tells him as he forms a Water Clone on the shore. “Now Kakashi we can finish things later. First I’ll take care of them. The Water Clone watches the three scared Genin and just laughs at them “Hehe, look at you, wearing a Hitai-ate and acting like real ninjas… But you know what? A real ninja is someone who has survived. Numerous brushes with death. Basically once you’re good enough to be listed in my Bingo Book then you can start calling yourself a ninja. You guys should not be referred to as ninja.”

The clone moves so fast that Naruto never saw the attack coming until the clone’s foot connected with his chest knocking him back several feet as his Hitai-ate falls to the ground. “Just a brat,” the real Zabuza sneers as the clone steps on Naruto’s Hitai-ate.

“You guys Take Tazuna and run! You have no chance of beating him. As long as he’s keeping me trapped in this prison he can’t move,” Kakashi yells, “The water clone cannot go very far from his real body. Just run away now!!!”

Naruto slowly stands up, his back to everyone but Kakashi and Zabuza as he begins to dust himself off. “Forget it Kakashi-sensei,” he replies. Raven-niisan always drilled it into me that the most important weapon a True Shinobi has is teamwork. What kind of team leaves their leader in a situation like this?” The nuke-nin’s smug face turns to one of puzzlement as Naruto puts his knives away and draws his katana. Naruto suddenly charges forward locking blades with the Water Clone before kicking it between the legs. Everyone’s eyes widen at the unorthodox yet effective attack. As the clone returns to its water form, Naruto picks up his Hitai-ate before back flipping his way back over to where Sakura and Sasuke stood. Naruto reties his Hitai-ate before grinning evilly. “Hey you, eyebrow-less freak,” Naruto calls out to the nuke-nin. “Put this in your Bingo Book, the man who will one day become Hokage… Naruto Uzumaki, a True! Shinobi of Konoha.”

“Sasuke, lend me your ear, I have a plan,” Naruto exclaims.

“Hehe, you’re very sure of yourselves, but do you really think you stand a chance against me?” asks the Zabuza as he creates two more Water Clones.

“We’ll just see about that,” Naruto tells him. “What do you think Teme? A combined Grand fireball?” Sasuke only smirks as they begin performing the required seals in perfect sync. As they finish the both call out, “Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu.” The twin attacks combine, effectively tripling in power and intensity as it not only blasts through the Water Clones (instantly vaporizing them) but continues straight for Zabuza forcing him to not only release his Jutsu but also to drop under the surface of the water to avoid being incinerated.

Dropping to his knees Naruto takes large gasps of air between chuckles. “Remind me not to do that again anytime soon,” he laughs looking over at his teammates. Sasuke was also on his knees trying to regain his breath with a smirk on his face while Sakura smiles proudly at her teammates, especially Sasuke.

“Not bad kid,” Zabuza growls as he pulls himself up to his feet in the center of the lake. “Too bad you’re going to die now.”

“Think you’re forgetting about something,” Kakashi says as he stands on the water between Zabuza and the others, “Just so you know, the same Jutsu won’t work on me twice. Your move.”

Zabuza and Kakashi leapt apart and rapidly formed a long string of seals, “Water Style: Water Dragon Blast Jutsu!” yelled both men as two giant water dragons formed and crashed into each other canceling themselves out with a huge splash of water into the air, revealing Kakashi and Zabuza locked in a stale mate. Kakashi was using a single kunai to block Zabuza’s sword, somehow managing to exert the same force into the little knife weapon that Zabuza did into his giant blade.

‘Strange what’s going on?’ Zabuza thinks to himself. The two fighters leapt apart and Zabuza started making gestures, only to see Kakashi mimic them. ‘My movements he’s completely…’ Zabuza begins to ponder.

“Reading them,” Kakashi finishes for him.

‘What? Did he read my mind? Damn that…’ Zabuza begins thinking

“Freaky eye is pissing me off, right?” Kakashi asks mockingly.

“All you’re doing is copying me,” Zabuza yells. “You can’t beat me you monkey bastard,” both men say in perfect sync.

“Damn you I’ll make it so you can never open that mouth again,” Zabuza roars as he rapidly makes hand seals before freezing in shock as he seems to see a mirror image of himself behind Kakashi. ‘That…That is…ME? That’s not possible! Is this one of his Genjutsus?’ The nuke-nin’s moment of confused panic allows Kakashi to finish the sequence of seals they both started.


“Water Style: Giant Waterfall Jutsu!” Kakashi yells as the three comma shaped marks of his Sharingan eye spin around.

“What? Impossible!” exclaimed Zabuza. ‘I’m the one doing the Jutsu…Yet I can’t keep up!!!’ Zabuza’s breath is driven from his body as he slams into a tree. Immediately, kunai knives hit each of his limbs pinning him to the trunk. “How, can you see the future?” he gasps as Kakashi appeared on a branch above him.

“Yeah,” Kakashi says preparing for the finishing stroke, “You’re going to die.” Suddenly, two senbo needles strike Zabuza in the neck and he falls to the ground, not moving. Everyone follows the needles path to a masked figure standing on a tree branch opposite where Kakashi was.

“Hehe, you’re right. He’s dead,” says the stranger in a strangely feminine voice. Two long braids frame the sides of their face with the rest tied up under a small cap.

Kakashi teleported to Zabuza’s side and checked for a pulse. ‘He’s dead,’ thought Kakashi as he turned his attention to the masked shinobi.

The masked shinobi bows their head. “Thank you very much. I have been searching for the opportunity to kill Zabuza for a long time.”

“That mask you’re a Kiri Hunter-nin…” Kakashi says as he eyes the stranger carefully.

“Impressive, you are correct,” the Hunter-nin replies.

“Hunter-nin?” Sakura asks.

“Yes my duty is to hunt down nuke-nins. I’m a member of Kiri’s Hunter-nin squad,” the stranger tells them.

‘From her voice and height she’s probably not much older then the others and yet she’s a Hunter-nin,’ Kakashi thinks to himself, ‘She’s not a normal kid.’

The Hunter-nin appears beside Zabuza’s corpse and prepares to take it away. “Your battle is over,” she tells them. “And now I must dispose of this body since it seems to be a body with many secrets. Farewell.”


“Now we have to get Tazuna-san back to his home,” Kakashi says pulling his Hitai-ate back down over his Sharingan eye, “Let’s go.” He starts to walk back towards his client, only to freeze and fall over on his face.

“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto yells as they all move towards the Jounin. “Sakura check on him,” he orders the medic-nin in training.

Sakura examines their teacher and sighs in relief. “He’ll be alright,” she tells the others, “He just exhausted his chakra and needs to rest for a week or two. Naruto nods as he creates to Shadow Clones to carry their weakened Sensei to Tazuna’s house.

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A/N: Damn that was long and yes I borrowed heavily from the Mangas for this one. I opted to change the part where Sasuke and Naruto freed Kakashi since I’m still not ready for Naruto to show off his real power just yet. Don’t worry it’s coming up soon enough but for now he’s playing it cool and hanging back.

The next chapter will have the training and Naruto’s meeting with Haku as well as the battle for the bridge with a few twists.

Later
~Raven~