Never Alone Part 4

Chapter IX
The Decision Is Made


“I understand if you don’t want to tell us any more than you’ve just told us but if we need to know how that will affect us we need to know.” Neji tried to be as nice about it as possible. Naruto decided that he had lived a lie to long and now that he had friends that he could trust he could share his burden with others. He told them to meet him on top of the Hokage mountain monument, after they had gotten some rest and eaten something sometime around 6:30 p.m. Naruto decided to tell as many people as he knew all about himself at the same time. He went to go tell Sasuke to meet him at the monument; he got to the Uchiha manor and found that it had been abandoned. He then went to go tell Kakashi to meet him and he wanted to ask him if he knew where Sasuke lived. He lucked out because he caught Kakashi as he was leaving a certain bookstore, and didn’t have to search for him for to long. He asked Kakashi where Sasuke lived and found out that the Uchiha lived in an apartment complex similar to Naruto’s but in a better part of the village.
Naruto went up to the door and knocked, it took a few minutes but Sasuke answered in a not to happy tone. Not wanting to be rude he asked Naruto in and showed him a seat. But Naruto just told him to meet him at the Hokage monument at 6:30 p.m., as nice as possible he left the apartment.
It had just turned noon when Naruto found that he had to come up with a way to tell his new found friends about the Kyuubi with in his body. He had six and a half hours to come up with an explanation and it wasn’t something that was easy to explain. He had never trusted anybody enough to tell them about the Kyuubi, but he had now decided that he was done being alone, he would tell them about the demon and the fact that he can talk with him.
He was going over it in his head and figured that they would either accept him or not. He went to grab something to eat and he suddenly felt like ramen, “Guess I’m really starting to like ramen, seeing as that’s pretty much all I eat.” Naruto sat at Icharaku’s ramen shop and ordered the miso soup and began a little conversation with the old man. They somehow ended up talking about the attack of Konoha by the fox demon and Naruto couldn’t help but ask if the old man had lost anyone to the demon and the old man answered with a simple no. He decided now was as good a time as any to tell a person and get an honest reaction.
“Old man, I have to ask you something?” Naruto looked at the man and the man looked at Naruto. And Naruto told him about himself, and the man just paid attention, the old man felt a little scared when Naruto told him that he carried the demon fox. But Naruto was able to explain the situation, and the man seemed very proud that someone would share something as important as that with him. He told Naruto that he wouldn’t tell a soul about his burden, but he also told Naruto that he shouldn’t expect the same reaction from others as he got from him because he has more experience about accepting others as they come.
Naruto felt proud that he had finally told someone and now that he had told someone he felt that he could tell anyone about the demon. It was just about one and he still had plenty of time. So he looked for another of his new friends, he went around Konoha looking for a green leotard. He didn’t have to look hard because, almost on cue the bushy brow boy was again in front of him in a very youthful pose. He was again asked by Lee to spar and Naruto had a few hours to kill so he agreed, he was led by Lee to a training area that closely resembled that of a man he had met many years ago. Lee wanted to test Naruto, so almost exactly when they got into position Lee went into attack mode. He stood in his taijutsu stance, and Naruto decided that from Lee’s form that he was a strong taijutsu user and that he shouldn’t underestimate him.
Naruto entered his taijutsu fox form and for a second Lee thought that Naruto had disappeared, but he then appeared behind Lee and took a swing at Lee’s head. Lee ducked and the arm flew over him, just as he was about to sweep Naruto’s feet, Lee saw a foot coming from in front of him and his reflexes told him to block Naruto’s foot. That was when it literally hit him in the head; Naruto had just delivered a Roundhouse kick to the head of the bushy browed boy. Lee was a little dizzy, but he shook it off with a shrug. Naruto was impressed because not many people who have been hit in the head can just shrug it off like Lee had just done. Naruto stood back and gave Lee some space to breath, Naruto couldn’t believe how strong Lee had been. Lee had known Naruto was behind him but like many others had fallen for the genjutsu part of the fox style. Naruto thought better of trying to beat Lee at speed and decided to fight him smarter not harder. He told Lee that he should take off the weights attached to his legs and fight him all out; Lee was a little surprised that he had been found out. But a grin crossed his face and when he was done with the weights he readied himself once again. This time Naruto was a little more cautious in his attack pattern and found that Lee had put himself in a reverse of his style to make it a defense over attack style. Lee was about to attack when he saw a dust cloud under Naruto’s feet, and that was when Lee found that Naruto was fast but not that fast and decided that he must be using genjutsu to confuse him. Lee searched the ground for another sign of Naruto’s movement and found it behind him, Lee quickly spun and kicked high and connected to Naruto’s chin and made him fly into the air, but while Naruto was in the air Lee unwrapped his arms and followed Naruto into the air. He told Naruto that he would not fail when it comes to a fight, and that he needed to prove to Naruto that he was a great ninja.
Lee’s arm wrappings surrounded Naruto but when they finished the Naruto in front of him puffed out of existence and there was a log in his place. That was when Naruto appeared behind Lee and Naruto told Lee that he also knew the reverse Lotus and that this was the end, and Naruto grabbed Lee. He then dove with Lee in his arms toward the ground, it was less than a second and the boy hit the ground with Naruto jumping out of the way. Lee was knocked out and Naruto was worried about him so he went to him and put his hands over Lee’s body and head. Naruto’s hands began to glow a green glow and that left him just sitting there healing Lee, Lee awoke to himself being healed. He saw that it was Naruto doing the healing, and he almost got up but Naruto told him not o move because he might have a concussion. Lee waited until Naruto told him that he could stand, and he stood. Lee held his hand out to Naruto and Naruto took it with a smile, and apologized to Lee for being a little hard on him. “It’s just that the last time that was done to me I couldn’t stand for a week and I countered it out of reflex. I hope that you can forgive me, for hurting you. I was also wondering if you can meet me at the top of the Hokage Mountain monument. I will be telling my friends something about me that will either draw us closer or farther apart and I hold all the trust that you will stay one of my dearest friends.” Naruto said his goodbye to the bushy browed boy and found that he still had two hours till he would tell about his burden.
“Since when have I been a burden boy?” the voice echoed in his scull and he found as he got home that he was standing in front of the Fox. Naruto excused his choice of words and asked him if it was okay telling others about him. The fox didn’t care either way but told Naruto that in the coming time Naruto would need allies. Naruto asked what the fox meant by the remark and instead of an answer he was in front of his door and went in. Naruto went to his room and found a box containing something he’s had his whole life and has never left his side. He pulled from the box a cloak and took it into the inside of his kimono as he was leaving the apartment.



Chapter X
On Top Of Hokage Mountain

It was turning 6:55 when Naruto made his way up the mountain and he waited for his new friends to learn of his carrying the Demon fox. He reached the top and found that he had not been the first one there but the last. There stood not one, not two but nine of his friends, all teams except the team Hinata were there. He thought that he would have to tell Hinata in person and in private, he’d also need to get to know her teammates.
He greeted them all and stood near the edge of the mountain, they awaited the thing that Naruto was about to tell them. “You all know the story of the Nine Tailed Fox Demon that attacked the village twelve years ago. And most likely you’ve been told that the Fourth Hokage had destroyed the Fox and himself in the battle, but do any of you know of a child that was born in Konoha an hour before the attack. If you haven’t heard then this is the first time you will hear of it, because that child now stands before you. The Kyuubi was too powerful to destroy, so the Hokage had the demon sealed away in that child.” Naruto lifted his shirt and he had flared some demon chakra to show the seal on his abdomen, and most were shocked to hear this while Kakashi stood there wondering what had happened to the child he had been sent to retrieve.
“Not that I don’t believe you, but what proof do you have of that can verify your story?” Sasuke wanted to know if Naruto had just been lying.
Naruto pulled from his kimono the cloak of the Fourth Hokage, and that was enough to prove anything. They all came closer to Naruto and most of them asked how it affected his body and if the Kyuubi could be released. Naruto answered as truthfully as possible, “First the Kyuubi can only be released if I die and the trick is that his chakra heals me and he doesn’t really care if he’s free or not. Second it does make me stronger but it comes with a price, after an extended time of using the demon chakra I begin to lose control of my body.” Naruto had not meant to say it so soon but he had just mentioned that he speaks to the fox.
Their eye’s widened and they asked even more questions mainly Sasuke and Kakashi were left out of the loop of questions. Everyone quieted down after they had their questions answered; Lee’s was about the effect on Naruto’s taijutsu, Tenten asked dif he knew how to use a lot of weapons. Sakura asked if that was where Naruto had learned his Taijutsu, Sasuke asked if Naruto knew any forbidden techniques. Neji asked if there was a way to unseal the mark on his forehead, Ino asked where Naruto had been for the twelve years he had been gone. Shikamaru asked how smart the fox was, and if it had helped him increase his intelligence. And Choji asked how the fox ate, and last but not least was Kakashi who asked how often Naruto spoke to the fox demon.
They weren’t scared and most were excited to find out that one of their friends had a demon inside of him. Naruto had almost been overwhelmed by the questioning, but answered them all before the sun went down. They were there for more than half an hour before Naruto spoke up; “Now I must ask of you to not tell anyone about me and the demon.” they all nodded and agreed to what Naruto asked.



Chapter XI
Eat Drink And Be Merry.


Naruto then asked them if they were starving, most of them said yes and others told him that they were only a little hungry. He offered them a night filled with food and drinks; of course he meant tea and other non-alcoholic beverages. They left in a group and made their way towards the nearest restaurant and went in with a loud conversation amongst themselves. Naruto asked the proprietor to make a group of tables for him and his friends, and when he was asked if he had the money Naruto just flashed a card he had in his coin purse. Which Kakashi saw read V.I.P and the restaurants title on it; he was surprised at how Naruto had received such a costly honor. Usually he only saw lords and clan heads with a card like that. He didn’t ask about it but it was a little weird being treated to dinner by a kid.
They sat down and gave their orders, they all asked for something different and when it came to drinks the only alcohol ordered was by Kakashi. They gave them their drinks and some appetizers, and that was when Naruto stood and raised his cup of tea. They all raised their cups along with Kakashi’s cup of sake, and paid attention to what Naruto was going to say, Choji even waited to get some of the appetizers.
“I am proud to have you all as my friends, and now you all know a secret of mine, with that I trust you all with my life. Along with that I say let’s eat drink and be merry.” Naruto drank his tea and the rest followed suit. Strangely enough Choji offered Naruto the first bite of the appetizers, which scared Shikamaru and Ino. Naruto took it gratefully and ate the piece in one bite. He sat down and on his right was Sakura and on his left was Sasuke, the teams were seated together except for Neji and Tenten who were closer together than the rest of them. Mainly because they were holding hands, Lee looked through the group and found Sakura’s face; he immediately stood up and declared that he would like to take Sakura out on a date. All were shocked everyone except Kakashi who was laughing a barely audible laugh at Sakura.
Sakura glanced at Sasuke and when he didn’t even look at her, she looked at Lee and saw that she could do a lot worse. She said yes to the bushy brows and with another gasp the group finally settled down. After the seating arrangements changed to seat Sakura next to Lee, they began talking to each other and Sasuke talked with Naruto for a couple of minute asking him if there was anything that he could show him. Naruto just told him that he was currently teaching Neji and Sakura, he told Sasuke that he wouldn’t mind teaching him either.
It was about 8:30 and most of them had stopped eating half an hour ago, but the talking seemed to have been dying down and Sasuke had talked a little with Ino and she seemed really into the conversation and when Sakura had begun talking with Lee she had not even looked at Sasuke. Kakashi said he had to get ready for the next day and informed Naruto that they would have another mission; he told the others who had taken their attention away from their conversations. The other teams told Naruto that they to had missions and bid him farewell. Lee told Naruto that he would be walking Sakura home and Sasuke told Naruto that he would be walking Ino home. Choji said he was full and Shikamaru told Naruto that he’d make sure Choji got home okay. Neji and Tenten had left together and all that was left was Naruto. He paid the man with a slip of paper that he could take to the bank and withdraw the amount that the dinner came up to and that included a 30% tip for the waiters. Jiraiya had taught him to be generous to the waiters and extra generous to the waitresses. He walked home in the moon and all he could think about was Hinata, he wondered what she was doing and if she was okay. Another thing on his mind was when he would talk about the seal on Neji’s head to the Hokage. He would go before the mission so he could have more time to argue this over with the Hokage, but then he figured that it wouldn’t leave much time to talk with Hinata.
He was near his home when he saw that there was this elderly man leaning against the wall of a restaurant and saw that he was holding a wine bottle. He went up to the man and asked him if he needed help getting home, but the man just blew him off. The man then collapsed but before he hit the ground Naruto caught him, Naruto applied some of his healing chakra into the man’s head and he woke up still a little nausea. Naruto had gotten him onto his back and was now carrying him towards the hospital, but the old man told him that he was fine and that he could just leave him at his apartment. Naruto did as he was told and left the man at an apartment complex, the old man entered his apartment but before he closed the door he gave Naruto a grumpy thanks and while Naruto felt a little proud the old man tossed out another phrase, “Keep to your own business.”
Naruto felt the last part was a little unnecessary, but he made it home a little happier, with having helped somebody. He entered and found Neji already asleep in the pullout bed. Naruto got to his room changed and almost collapsed into bed, he did not have a dream that night but he did have a talk with the Kyuubi.
“I wanted to ask if you knew how to remove a seal, like the one Neji has?” Naruto was answered by a resonating “Yes.” But Naruto then asked why the demon had never just gotten out of Naruto before. And the Demon explained that seals made with the death god cannot be broken and that the one on Naruto was one of those seals. He showed Naruto the seal removal jutsu, and told Naruto that he should ask the Hokage if he should use it because he didn’t know if it was okay to unseal someone sealed by a family member. The demon was appalled that a human would do something so barbaric to his own kin. Naruto put that on the top of his schedule for the next day, that and his mission along with a talk with Hinata.
The rest of the night was spent on a dreamless sleep, and then the alarm went off.


Chapter X11
The Morning After.

Naruto grabbed his kunai pouch after taking a quick shower, it had just turned nine and he had a mission at 12:00 a.m. and he thought he could have enough time to talk with the Hokage. He made it within ten minutes and made an appointment for 11:00 a.m. which was the only time the Hokage had open. And he thought he could go and check up on Hinata, after all it had been three days and her teams mission should have been done by now. He first went to her house and knocked on the door, but he was answered by the same guard as before. He was told that Hinata had arrived but was resting after her long mission to the village hidden in the mist. The guard told Naruto that it had been a simple escort mission and it had been the travel that had worn her out. Naruto grabbed a slip of paper and a pen he had and wrote something on the sheet. He then handed it to the guard and asked him to pass it down to Hinata when she awoke from her rest.
Naruto after checking the grounds for Hinata’s chakra signature and seeing that it was resting left to go get himself something to eat at the ramen shop. There he saw Lee eating a large bowl of ramen; he sat next to Lee and ordered himself a bowl. Lee said his hello and told Naruto that he was smitten with Sakura and that he was so happy, Naruto could see the fire in Lee’s eyes as he stood and gave his speech about the springtime of youth. Lee told Naruto about what happened the night before, he almost quieted himself to a whisper. He told Naruto that he had stayed up talking with Sakura about things and they had really connected. They ended up talking till twelve and hadn’t even noticed, except when the moon had reached its apex. He explained to Naruto that Sakura had looked beautiful in the moonlight, and Lee told Naruto that he had told Sakura that she was now one of the special people in his life.
Naruto was half done with his ramen when Lee finally spilled that when he had escorted Sakura to her home she had kissed him and he had been completely shocked. He said goodbye to her and ran home after she went into her home, Naruto had almost coughed up his ramen when he heard that Sakura had kissed Lee.
Lee finished his story and his meal; he thanked Naruto for introducing them to each other. Naruto stayed to finish his meal when he noticed that it was turning 11:00 a.m. Naruto paid and headed for the Hokage building, he was there at 10:55 and found that he was expected a little early. He entered the Hokage’s office and greeted the Third, when he was asked to sit he took his seat. He began by asking his question, “Seeing as you’re the Hokage then that means you know about the Hyuuga tradition of placing a seal upon the Branch families foreheads? What I ask is why are they allowed to do so in a civilized village like yours?” Naruto had almost sounded accusing in the question.
“You must understand that the Hyuuga’s have called Konoha their home as long as it’s been around and they are one if not the oldest clans in the village. They also hold a lot of political sway outside of the village, which also means that they can do almost anything they want to. Along with that it’s their tradition and there are something’s you just can’t change; besides only the Hyuuga head knows the sealing and unsealing ritual. I can’t just force them to unseal someone, it would undermine their whole leadership.” the Hokage tried to explain to Naruto that even if they wanted it to be done it would still be up to the head of the Hyuuga clan at the time.
When the Hokage stopped Naruto butted in by saying that he knew an old unsealing jutsu and if he could try then at least he tried. The Hokage told Naruto that it would only work if the heads blood was used in the unsealing. He agreed with the Hokage that they would wait until they understood the seal better but Naruto had other plans, because the Kyuubi’s unseal didn’t need the original sealers blood.
They had finished their conversation just as the clock rang for the noon mission, so they walked to the mission assignment hall together. When they got there Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi were already waiting for the blonde and the Hokage. They all stood to receive their mission statement; they were going to get another D ranked mission when the Thirds hand moved quickly to the C rank missions. He picked out the one on top and read it aloud to team seven; they were to escort a master bridge builder to the land of waves. It was to be a week away from the village, and they were to be ready by the next hour at the gate. They were all a little bit shocked but none as much as Naruto who didn’t get surprised so easily. They were all pretty happy that they were going to be trusted a C ranked mission so early. They were excused and told that they were to meet at the gate in an hour and were expected to be prepared by then and have their business done.
Naruto found it a little sad that he would be gone from Hinata for so long and he didn’t even know if the mission might be held up. He told them he would meet the team later at the gate and left. He got home at twenty past twelve, and when he got there he found Neji playing a game with Tenten. He grabbed his equipment and sat to talk with Neji, He began to explain to Neji that he would be gone for a week and that he wanted Neji to be the one to tell Hinata that he would be back as soon as possible. Naruto told Neji that he wanted him to keep practicing, Naruto began a series of hand seals and finished with an indistinguishable one, and out of his palm rose a scroll and on it was a wax seal with a wolfs head on it. Naruto told Neji that it was a list of exercises and forms for him to learn until Naruto got back. He told Neji that along with doing the mission he would also be training Sakura as they went on their way.
Neji thanked Naruto, and Naruto left for the gate because it had just turned 12:50 p.m.



Chapter XIII
Traveling Towards Water

He got to the gate and saw that they were all again waiting for Naruto to arrive. Naruto just thought he might be catching Kakashi’s tardiness, because even Kakashi was there before Naruto. That was when Naruto turned to see another person behind him, it was the old man from last night, and he still had a wine jug in his hands.
“You again; what are you doing here you nosy brat?” the old man saw that the name calling bugged Naruto, as the blonde boy had flinched when he was called that remark.
Naruto answered by telling the old man that he was to escort a master bridge builder to the land of waves. And the old man laughed as he explained that he was the master bridge builder, Naruto just stared at the old man. The bridge builder told his name to team seven, he said it was Tazuna and that he expected to be safe even when he was being guarded by kids.
All but Kakashi felt a little put off, and it didn’t help that Naruto already felt a little tinge of danger coming from the old man. So they were off after Kakashi told them their itinerary, which consisted of only taking breaks to sleep at night. They were walking for about five hours when out of nowhere a set of Ninja jumped at Kakashi and wrapped him in their chains. The cut Kakashi to ribbons which freaked out the rest of team seven and the one they were sent to escort. As Sasuke snapped out of it he reacted and shot out a set of shuriken and a kunai, which caught the chain and stuck it to the tree behind them. They quickly released the chain and just as they were both going to go for the weakest looking one of them Naruto came out of his faux shock and three bunshin came out of nowhere and grabbed the ninja. Sasuke had thought that Naruto had been afraid but when Naruto called out Kakashi and began questioning the assassins, he began to feel even more inferior to the blonde.
They said who they were and when they were about to bite don on something Naruto put two kunai into the mouths of the ninja which stopped them from taking the cyanide that was kept in a fake tooth. Naruto asked Tazuna why a simple bridge builder would be the target of an assassin, after he had removed the fake teeth and placed a sleeping jutsu on them. Kakashi was beginning to get very impressed at how Naruto handled the situation; he then thought that the sannin had really taught the blonde, but from what his sensei had told him that Jiraiya always had to do “Research”, and would never really teach them hands on techniques. But then again one of his students had gone on to become the fourth Hokage, and Kakashi saw that Jiraiya had another student well on his way to becoming the fifth Hokage.
“Why do you think they were sent to kill you Tazuna?” Naruto had gotten straight to the point. Sakura had never seen anyone work this fast at finding information and taking down a set of ninja. She had even thought Kakashi had really died and when Naruto had called him out thought the boy had gone mad. But sure enough the man stepped out of the trees and waited for Naruto to finish up the interrogation, and pick up whatever Naruto had forgotten.
The old man responded by telling them the story of his country and village, and the evil man known as Gato, and the Demon that worked for him. Naruto’s interest grew when he heard the word demon but found that he meant the Demon of the Mist Momochi Zabuza. Kakashi asked if the team wanted to report the attack to the Hokage and give up on the mission after it had been entered under false pretenses. Naruto said that they should inform the Hokage about the attack but that since they were nearer the Wave Country than the Fire Country.
Sasuke had pretended not to pay attention but he had taken notes on the way Naruto had interrogated the ninja, and his quick thinking on the cyanide capsules. He found that he had been learning things from Naruto that would help him find and kill the person he needed to kill.
Kakashi did a couple of seals and summoned a dog which happened to be a tiny creature; he told the dog to take the message Kakashi had written on a small scroll. He then summoned another dog, this one much bigger and much more aggressive looking, he told it to watch over the ninja until backup came to relieve him. The dog answered Kakashi with a “Yes Sir!” which freaked out Sakura and shocked Sasuke but Naruto had also known about the dogs and had not really noticed when the dog spoke.
They were off to finish their mission and they were nearly to the ferry when they Naruto threw a shuriken at the brush. Sakura had checked it but only found a white snow rabbit which Naruto noticed but didn’t mention. Kakashi had also done a double take and Sasuke had noticed that both had spent more time looking at the rabbit than the rest of them. He wanted to know what was so special about the rabbit, but it just wasn’t registering. That was when both Naruto and Kakashi screamed for the team to get Tazuna down on the ground, they had just said that when a huge sword had flown over their heads only cutting the top most part of their hair. The sword hit a tree and got lodged in it. Then there appeared the Demon of the Mist, Momochi Zabuza; the eyebrow-less man of the Wave. Kakashi told Naruto to guard Tazuna and the rest of the team. He had decided that he would be the one to kill the missing-nin.
Naruto called out the formation and the team formed around Tazuna, who was beginning to get a little scared. The man pulled the sword out of the tree and had disappeared, but reappeared on the small lake nearby. He was on the lake using chakra to stay afloat, and Kakashi tried to be reassuring to the group which they felt wasn’t all he was saying, because you could see it in his eye and you could also see a faint smile. That’s when a mist appeared as if out of nothing and covered the grounds making it hard to see where the demon had gone. He then appeared behind Kakashi and swung his sword but he had not seen when Kakashi had become a clone, and then Kakashi was behind Zabuza with a kunai to the man’s neck. “This is where you die.” Kakashi slashed the man and he turned into water meaning he had turned into a water clone. Zabuza was back on the lake when he made more water clones appear and head for team seven. He was about to attack when Naruto came forward and saw what the demon planned, but he was ahead of him. Naruto did a single hand seal and called out his attack “Air Type Jutsu: Freezing winds” the clones being made of water quickly froze and fell to the ground shattering to a million pieces. Zabuza had seen the move and saw that he was misinformed; he had been told that he was only going up against a jounin and his three gennin subordinates. He saw that the blonde was clearly not a gennin and he had heard of Kakashi, he found he had only one choice. He was starting a few hand seals and Kakashi attacked him but was caught off guard by a clone throwing some kunai and shuriken at him. He was now floating in a sphere of water and Zabuza called out “Water Type Jutsu: Water Prison” Naruto was surprised and felt that Kakashi underestimated Zabuza’s treachery. Zabuza was making more clones and they were rising out of the water and in greater numbers. They attacked but Naruto had one up on him, five bunshins came out of the trees and began fighting the clones. Naruto pulled out his “Demon Wind Shuriken” and tossed it to Sasuke who when he caught the shuriken knew what Naruto was going to do. He threw the shuriken just as the Naruto clones beat the Zabuza clones and they disappeared into puddles. Zabuza had caught the shuriken, but he was surprised to see that there was another flying in first’s shadow. He just barely dodged it by jumping into the air, but Zabuza saw that it was a decoy when it turned into one of the blondes’ clones and threw a kunai and disappeared into a puff of smoke. Zabuza lost his concentration and released the jutsu freeing Kakashi, and catching the kunai. Kakashi was now on the water himself, and he was lifting his hitae-ate and showing for all to see why he was called the Copy Ninja of Konoha. He had the Sharingan but it was just the one eye, and the most shocked was the Uchiha.
Kakashi looked into Zabuza’s eyes and told him that it was over. Zabuza tried to do the “Water Type Jutsu: Dragon Water Missile” but Kakashi kept up with the seals he was doing and when he tried to see if Kakashi was copying every move he found out he was. Zabuza was thinking to himself that maybe Kakashi could see the future, when Kakashi told Zabuza that he could see the future and told him that “He sees’ death in the demons future.” and that was when both of the ninja’s jutsu’s came to life and attacked each other but Kakashi’s was more powerful and destroyed the demon’s dragon. The jutsu flooded the area and Zabuza hit the tree where his cleaver had been only moments ago. Kakashi was on him with a kunai to the throat before Zabuza bounced back off the tree. That was when three senbon needles flew and hit Zabuza in the neck, he went down really hard.
The ninja who had thrown the needles came out of the brush, he said he was a hunter-nin and was sent to kill or retrieve Zabuza. Kakashi felt something was off about the hunter-nin but he let the ninja take Zabuza and it was to late when he realized what the hunter-nin actually was. Naruto called Kakashi on it after he too realized what had happened but they decided not to tell the others about it but to keep extra watch and that was when Kakashi collapsed and Naruto saw that the sharingan had sapped almost all of his chakra.
They picked Kakashi up and carried him the rest of the way to the ferry and they had to make their way into the country in a smaller boat because of the danger. Tazuna told them that since they had kept the mission even though they didn’t have to and since they saved his life they could stay at his home while Kakashi recovered. Kakashi asked Naruto to train Sasuke and Sakura on chakra control while he was out of it, mainly he told Naruto to get them to climb trees without using their hands. Naruto had done some training with chakra control and found that it had been one of his harder things to learn. Since his chakra system consisted of his own and the demon’s, and the mixing of which was difficult to master.
While they recovered for the day Naruto informed his team what they would be doing while Kakashi was out. They were a little confused as to what to do and Naruto wasn’t to surprised when Sakura had done it without much effort, but Sasuke kept putting to much chakra into it and would push himself off the tree. Naruto showed them that it could help in a lot of situations and would come in handy once mastered. Sasuke felt even more inferior, seeing that he was the only one not able to make it all the way to the top. Sasuke finally gave up and asked Sakura how she did it, and after a minutes explanation he made it in less than a minute to the top. And they were ready for the next attack on them, as they finished up they went back to Tazuna’s house and rested. They had introduced themselves to Tazuna’s daughter and his grandson, who apparently happened to be a very annoying child. But as they were told the story of the child’s adopted father figure who had been killed by Gato’s men. Tazuna explained that the only way to release Gato’s grip on the country was to finish the bridge. But “Accidents” had claimed some of the workers and threats had been made to Tazuna’s daughter and grandson. Naruto felt bad for having been mean to the boy but the child needed to know that the only way to get anything done was to stop crying and do something about it. They boy had cried but Naruto could see that it had gotten into the kids thick scull.
Naruto decided that they would escort Tazuna to the building site and inspect it for any anomalies. They told him that Kakashi would be fully recovered in the next three days, but they would be glad to escort Tazuna back and forth until they were sure that he would be fine, meaning until they killed Zabuza who would come after Tazuna until he killed him. Naruto found that it was hard to get anyone to help with the building and so he asked Tazuna to teach him how to build and set cement. After two days of teaching Naruto, Tazuna felt that he had a good pair of hands to help him with the bridge. On the last day before Kakashi would fully recover, Naruto asked Tazuna to follow him with both Sakura and Sasuke in tow. They made it there in one piece and Naruto told Tazuna to close his eyes, as the old man did so he heard Naruto yell “A Thousand Shadow Clones”. And when Tazuna was told to open his eyes Naruto had to catch him as he had nearly fallen after seeing that he had a thousand workers building his bridge and doing a damn good job at it. It had been near sundown when the bridge had nearly been done but Tazuna told Naruto to call it a night and told him that he as the best worker he had never hired. They returned to Kakashi in the dining room eating some rice and drinking some tea, he had woken up and had fully recovered as it seemed he was reading from his little book. They would help finish the bridge and would leave as soon as it was finished, so he told them to get plenty of rest and eat to get as much energy as possible for the day ahead.