I apologize for the delay, everyone. These updates should be a bit more regular now, and the goal is to complete them by at least the end of June, if not earlier. Fifty-something chapters to go!! :((

"Sasuke, I'm at Point B."

"Sakura, I'm at Point C."

"Kari, I'm at Point D." Silence.

"Naruto, I'm at Point A, believe it!"

"Too slow, Naruto." Kakashi-sense sighs. "Okay, Squad Seven – hmm? The target has moved. Follow it!"

I refuse to let it get away. It'll be my first time ever seeing one! Very silently, we slink around the trunks of the trees, glancing over our shoulders and around the bark.

"Over there," Naruto hisses through his earpiece to us. Nodding, I give them the signal to move on ahead – Sakura first, then Naruto, then Sasuke, and then myself, bringing up the rear.

"What's your distance from the target?" Kakashi-sensei asks us.

"Five meters," Naruto answers. "I'm ready, just give me the signal!"

"I'm ready, too," Sasuke says.

"So am I," Sakura says.

"Me, as well," I say.

"Okay... now!" We leap out of our hiding places and into the meadow, where Naruto manages to grab onto the cat from around its stomach to stop it from running away. Of course, I'd be upset, too, I've I'd been grabbed like that. It claws at his face, splitting skin.

"Naruto, be careful!"

"I-I'm trying to!" At this point, it isn't even trying to get away – it just wants revenge. Witnessing this, I have trouble deciding whether or not I like cats. This is my first one I've ever seen since leaving the mountains and it's a little violent, but they're not all like this, are they?

A little reluctantly, I reach down and pull it off of Naruto, holding it away from me in case it decides to target mine. Surprisingly, it doesn't. It even allows me to hold it to my chest. I can feel its heart beating about as quickly as my own – it makes me nervous. Meeting Akamaru, a dog, was totally different than this, but... there's a certain comfort and calm to holding this violent cat.

"Can you verify a ribbon on the right ear?" Kakashi-sensei asks.

"Affirmative," Sasuke says. "We've got a positive I.D."

"Right: Lost Pet 'Tora' captured. Mission accomplished."

Wiping the blood from his scratches away with his hands, Naruto stands up. "Can we get a better mission than this? I hate cats!"

"Oh! My poor little Tora, Mommy was worried about you, my little fuzzykins, oh, yes!"

Yeah... I can understand why the cat ran away in the first place. It hates its owner. And yes, "hate" is a very strong word. But it's the right one to use here. Being coddled and cuddled like it is, if I were in Tora's position, I'd be trying to get away, too. Poor thing.

"Stupid cat," Naruto grumbles, rubbing his head. "That things deserves to get squashed."

"No wonder it ran away," Sakura mutters, echoing my thoughts. Leaving the two to their unfortunate reunion, we walk to the center of the assignment room, awaiting our next assignment.

"Now, then—" Lord Hokage quickly skims the sheet of paper he's holding "—for Squad Seven's next mission, we have several available tasks... Babysitting the chief counsellor's three-year-old; helping his wife to do the shopping; digging up potatoes and—"

"No!" Naruto exclaims, throwing his arms up in an "X". "I wanna go on a real mission! Something challenging and exciting, not this little kid stuff! C'mon, old man!"

It'd been a little unnecessary to interrupt him like that, but at the same time, I mean... he might've given us something worthwhile. But Naruto does have a point. Chasing after cats and doing silly little tasks around the village is so boring, and a real mission really does sound like fun—

"How dare you!" I nearly jump several feet in the air at Iruka-sensei's outburst. Lord Hokage tips his hat down. "You're just a brand-new Genin with no experience! Just like everyone else, you start with simple missions that help develop your skills to improve yourself!"

"Are you serious!?" Naruto shouts back. "Babysitting is not a mission; it's just a stupid—!" If whatever he's been going to say is to point out how idiotic it'd be to assign a mission like that to Genin who need real training and not chores, I'd definitely agree with him, but because Kakashi-sensei hits him on the head, sending him crashing to the floor in pain, I won't be able to know what he'd been about to say. I don't pipe up, otherwise.

"Would you put a lid on it?" Kakashi-sensei complains, shaking his head at him. Naruto jumps up, moaning and rubbing his head again.

"Naruto! It seems you do not understand the tests you have been given," Lord Hokage says. "Listen. Many different kinds of requests come into our village every day, from babysitting to assassinations. These requests are carefully recorded, analyzed, then ranked A, B, C, or D, depending on their difficulty.

"We Ninja are also ranked by ability: 'Hokage' at the top, then Jōnin, Chūnin, and Genin at the bottom. At the highest level, we assign the missions and select Ninja who have the appropriate skill and experience. And if the mission is successful, we receive a fee that supports our village and our work.

"Since you are untried Genin, just starting down the Shinobi path, you are given D-level assignments, of course." Naturally, neither Naruto nor we are listening.

"So, since Kari bought me Tonkatsu ramen yesterday, I was thinking Miso ramen today—""Silence!" Kakashi-sensei chuckles.

"Sorry about that," he says.

Naruto groans in frustration. "You always lecture me like you're my Grandfather or something! But I'm not the little brat that used to pull pranks all the time!" Even though it was only two months ago that you painted the Hokage Monument, Naruto... "I'm a Ninja now and I want a Ninja mission!" Crossing his arms, he puffs his cheeks and turns away from the desk.

"I'm gonna hear about this later," Kakashi-sensei mutters. The entire thing's pretty funny, though. Even though what he'd said might not have been completely true, he's clearly determined on becoming a great Ninja, and a great mission will be a wonderful kick-start.

"Naruto wants us to know that he's not a brat, but a former brat," Lord Hokage tells Iruka-sensei with a chuckle. "So be it."

"Huh?" we chorus.

"Since you are so determined," he goes on, "I'm going to give you a C-ranked mission. You'll be bodyguards on a journey."

"Really!?" Naruto grins. "Yes! Who, who?! Are we guarding a princess, or some busy counsellor?"

"Don't be so impatient," he tells him. "I will bring him in now. Send in our visitor!" We all turn to the door behind us, waiting eagerly for it to open, and when it does, it isn't anything what I'd expected. I don't know about the others, but seeing a drunken old man stumbling into the room in Lord Hokage's presence doesn't exactly sound princess-like to me.

"What the...?" The man frowns in disgust at us. In turn, I wrinkle my nose at the terrible smell wafting from him. I've never smelled it before, but it makes me feel dizzy. "A bunch of snot-nosed kids?" He takes a drink from the bottle he holds. Oh, that's called alcohol, isn't it? He leans against the door. "And you, the little one with the idiotic look on his face – you really expect me to believe you're a Ninja?"

Naruto laughs. "Who's the little one with the idiotic look on his face—" As we move in closer to him, Kakashi-sensei levels out our height with his eyes. Sasuke is taller than Sakura; Sakura is slightly taller than me; and I'm taller than Naruto.

"I'll demolish you!" he shouts at the man, but before he can get more than a foot away, Kakashi-sensei grabs onto his jacket and holds him back.

"You can't demolish the client, Naruto," he reminds him. "It doesn't work that way." Taking a drink from his bottle, the man sighs.

"I'm Tazuna, a master bridge-builder," he introduces himself. "And I must return to my country. I'm building a bridge there that will change our world, and I expect you to get me there safely, even if it means giving up your life."

Backpack all packed, and I even decide to bring Makara-sensei's scrolls with me, we're ready to leave. I meet my team and Mister Tazuna by the front gates near my home. Not even taking two steps past it, Naruto starts cheering.

"What are you getting so excited about, Naruto?" Sakura asks him.

"This is the first time I ever left the village," he quickly explains. "I'm a traveller now, believe it!"

"Hey!" With his eyebrows scrunched together, Mister Tazuna looks back at us. "Am I supposed to trust this runt? He's a joke!" Kakashi-sensei laughs, just as Naruto stops hopping around.

"He's with me, and I'm a Jōnin, so you don't have to worry," he assures him. Spinning around on his heels, Naruto glares at the bridge-builder.

"Hey! Never insult a Ninja; it's a big mistake! And I'm one of the greatest Ninja ever! Someday, I'm going to be Hokage, and you'll have to look up to me! My name's Naruto Uzumaki! Remember it!"

"Hokage are powerful and wise," Mister Tazuna says pointedly. "You are puny and brainless. The day you become Hokage, I'll sprout wings and fly."

"Shut up!" Naruto shouts, raising his fist to him. "I'm willing to do anything to become Hokage, no matter what it takes! And when I do, then everyone will have to admit that I'm the top Ninja, including you!"

"You can become Hokage ten times over, but to me, you'll still be a nobody – a loser."

Naruto growls at him. "I'm gonna make you pay for that!" His attempt to rush him is thwarted by our Sensei. I sigh.

"I told you, you're supposed to protect the client, not attack him."

"Let me go! I'll show ya! That's right, I'm comin' after you!"

"Say, Mister Tazuna?"

"What is it?"

"Your country is the Land of Waves, right?" Sakura asks.

"Yeah? What of it?"

"Kakashi-sensei, there are Ninja in that country, aren't there?"

"No," he says, answering Sakura's question. "There are no Ninja in the Land of Waves. But in other countries, there are hidden villages, each with their own different customs and cultures, where Ninja reside. To the people of this continent, the existence of Shinobi villages means "strength" — military strength.

"In other words, that's how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of power within neighbouring countries. The Ninja Villages aren't controlled by any government. They are independent and have equal status. Now, a small island like the Land of Waves has natural protection from the sea, so there's no need for a Ninja Village.

"The five ancient lands that possess Shinobi Villages are the lands of Fire, Water, Lighting, Wind, and Earth. They each occupy vast territories. Together, they are known as the Five Great Shinobi Nations. The Land of Fire has the Village Hidden in the Leaves; the Land of Water, the Village Hidden in the Mist; the Land of Lightning, the Village Hidden in the Clouds; the Land of Wind, the Village Hidden in the Sand; and the Land of Earth, the Village Hidden in the Stones.

"Only the leaders of these Hidden Villages are permitted the name Kage, which means "Shadow": Hokage, Mizukage, Raikage, Kazekage, Tsuchikage— these are the leaders, the Five Shadows that reign over thousands of Ninja." When he finishes, Sakura squeals.

"Then Lord Hokage's really important!" she exclaims. Naruto folds his arms.

Is the Lord Hokage really as amazing as Kakashi-sensei makes him out to be? All the times I've gone to visit him after I'd first arrived, and I've never seen him do anything aside from smoking from his pipe or filing papers or drinking tea—

"Hey!" We stop walking and freeze at the harshness of Kakashi-sensei's voice. "You all just doubted Lord Hokage, didn't you? That's what you were thinking."

"No!" we shout in unison, shaking our heads.

"Well, anyway... there are no Ninja battles in a C-ranked mission, so you can relax."

"Then we're not going to run into any foreign Ninja or anything like that?" Kakashi-sensei chuckles.

"Not likely."

A puddle that's more like a pond – that's what I step in. It soaks my entire foot, quickly seeping through my boots and into my socks. It makes my one sandal squelch whenever I walk on it. I sigh. We've already been on the move for a while, but this puddle – which strangely felt as though it might've been deeper than it proved – is just one more sign that having to walk slowly and this normally is going to make this trip more exhausting.

"Kakashi-sensei," I say, and I gesture back at it, "that puddle..."

And that's when we hear it, though it's already too late – the slippery clanking of chains moving quickly at us from behind. Two men draped in black cloaks and wearing strange headgear extend a sharp rope of tied-together shuriken that tangles up around Kakashi-sensei. Before I can even blink, it tears him into pieces!

"Kakashi-sensei!" I cry. I stagger backwards, away from Naruto, tripping over my own feet before bumping into something hard like metal. I turn around gasping, realizing it'd been one of the men.

"Now it's your turns!" they all shout. Tugging their chains back, they whip them at us. Only a single word passes through my mind – "fight" – and I pull out a kunai, ready to deflect and protect. But the chains never so much as touch us, let alone retract from the metal encasing their hands, because Sasuke's already one step ahead of them. He'd pulled out his own kunai and a shuriken that lodges the chain into the nearest tree.

"I can't get loose!" the man says. Even though we have the opportunity, it's just so difficult to move. Subconsciously, I'd grabbed onto Naruto's arm, prepared to run, but when I feel their breath on the back of my neck, I forget everything I'd had pounded into my head over the past few months. I can't bring myself to function normally after seeing our Sensei get murdered right in front of us. And somehow, Sasuke can, saving us in the process of ripping the chains from their hands and kicking them apart.

But it barely fazes them. They're on their feet and raving to go, one of them after Sakura and Mister Tazuna, and the other after me and Naruto. I force myself to get collected, my hand still holding onto my fear-struck friend's, and poise the other half of my body to intercept and strike. In the same moment that a metal-clad fist connects with my cheek, I am also pushed down by another force that moves in a blur of blue, green, and silver, and the man disappears with the other. Clutching my face, having discarded my kunai, I turn and find them, unconscious, under the arms of Kakashi-sensei—

"K-Kakashi-sensei?!"

"B-But he was—"

"Y-You're okay," I breathe, my body suddenly trembling with relief. I look back and find the spot where I thought he'd been killed littered with tree limbs, and not human limbs. A Replacement Jutsu, I think.

"Sorry I didn't help you two out right away," he says, looking down at us. "I didn't mean for you guys to get hurt. I just didn't think you'd freeze up like that, Naruto. It was a good effort, Kari." He walks over to the others. "Good job, Sasuke – very smooth. You, too, Sakura."

My fingers fall from Naruto's wrist, and almost immediately, I'm clenching them in frustration. Something had triggered within me the moment I'd seen those cloaks – being able to have a moment to think and trace my freezing up back to a source meant realizing that I never fully recovered from that night back in the Hidden Snow. Honestly... I thought they were with the people who attacked us. I thought they were back for me. I learn that these are different cloaks, belonging to different men. And despite today's failure and shame, I'm still thankful for that.

If Kakashi-sensei had truly been defeated by them, we'd all be dead. No, I should be putting greater faith in my team. Sasuke is amazing – if he truly were afraid, I wouldn't have even guessed it. And Sakura, who'd been so nervous during the bell test we all barely passed, had been very brave. How useless am I – I got injured, and I was barely able to protect myself, let alone Naruto. Tree branches had been more useful than me.

"Hey." I turn around, along with Naruto, to find Sasuke smirking; to find him mocking our failure. "You guys aren't hurt, are ya?" And then, focusing his gaze beside me on Naruto, "Scaredy-cat." I sense Naruto tense up beside me, his face flooding with embarrassment.

As he starts walking away, Naruto shouts his name, in which Kakashi-sensei shouts his right back.

"Stand still," he orders him. "These Ninja have poison in their claws. We need to take it out of you two, quickly."

"P-Poison?" I repeat nervously. "But I-I didn't get cut, I was only hit by—"

Apparently, I'd been in denial. I could feel only the sting of the punch where I'd been struck on the lower left side of my face, and not the gash that lined my jaw. When I retract my fingers where'd I just touched, I bring back my blood with it, and at the sight, I immediately feel woozy. Or, maybe that's from the poison. This, coupled with the heat of the sun baring down on us, makes me want to vomit. I try to lower myself to the ground carefully, but I end up falling hard onto my backside, dizzied.

"You two have to open the wound and remove it," Kakashi-sensei continues. "It's in your blood, so don't move around. That spreads the poison."

So... I have to cut open my cut. Delightful. If not getting scared out of my wits today hadn't been enough, this'll most definitely do me in. I wish Makara-sensei's knack for remedies could come in handy right now, but none of the plants around me are familiar, and I already don't know much about venom and poisons... so I really don't have any choice. Snow snakes did exist up in the mountains, but they were nowhere near venomous enough like this Shinobi-made poison must be.

Bending over slightly, I rip a piece of bandage off the roll wrapped around my leg and bundle it in my hand. Pulling water out of my pack, I pour some on and press the wad against my face. It only relieves some of the pain, and then, it soaks up some of the blood.

"They're Chūnin, from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi-sensei shoves his hands into his pockets and stare down at the men, who'd he'd just finished tying up, nice and tight, to the nearest tree. "Their specialty is "relentless attack" – they keep fighting, no matter what the sacrifice."

"How did you know about our ambush?" the one to the left asks.

"The puddle Kari stepped in," he answers. "A puddle? On a clear day? When it hasn't rained in weeks?"

"In that case, why'd you leave it to the Genin to do the fighting?" Mister Tazuna asks.

"I could've taken them out quickly. But then, I'd have learned nothing. I had to know who their target was, and what they were after." Mister Tazuna raises an eyebrow.

"Hm? What are you getting at?"

"This: I wanted to know if they were after us – Ninja attacking Ninja – or, if they were after you, the master bridge-builder. When you put in your request, you asked for standard protection from robbers and highway men. You didn't say there were Ninja looking for you, hunting you down. If we knew this, it would be a B-ranked mission or higher. Our task was simply to get you to your destination and protect you while you finished building your bridge. If we knew we were fielding attacks from enemy Ninja, we would've staffed differently and charged for the cost of a B-rank mission.

"Apparently you have your reasons," he goes on. "But lying to us is not acceptable. We are now beyond the scope of this mission."

"We're Genin; this is too advanced for our level of training," Sakura tells him earnestly. "We should go back, and I really think we need to treat Naruto and Kari's wounds to get the poison out as soon as possible. Back in our village, we can take them to the doctor."

I raise my hand to touch my cheek once more. My injury is no longer a flat gash in my skin, but a raised lesion that makes the muscles beneath my skin ache.

"Naruto's hand and Kari's cheek could become a problem," Kakashi-sensei agrees. He sighs. "I guess we should go back to the village."

What happened next is something so sudden, so stupidly reckless, and idiotic, that it makes me scream in automatic reaction – Naruto had pulled out a kunai and stabbed it through his hand.

"Why am I so different?" he demands, gritting his teeth together as he pushes it further. "Why am I so—"

"Naruto!" shouts Sakura. "Stop that! What are you doing!?"

"I worked so hard to get here, pushing myself until it hurt! Training alone for hours, even asking Kari to help me — anything to get stronger, to reach my dream! I will never back down again and let someone else rescue me. I will never run away, and I will not lose to Sasuke.

"Upon this wound, I make this pledge, believe it! Bridge-builder, I'll complete this mission and protect you with this kunai knife!" He grins — well, as much as he can with a wound like that. Mostly, it's just ignoring the pain, and by the worried look on my face, he adds, "Don't worry, I'll be fine!"

"Naruto, uh... that was really cool how you took the poison out, and all, but if you lose any more blood, you're going to die."

I had never seen a darker colour of blue before, not even Sasuke's shirt, or even the tint in his hair. I think Naruto's going to be sick. But when he starts screaming, I know it's because he just doesn't want to die. "Good idea to stop the bleeding now. Seriously."

"No, no, no! I'm too young for it all to end like this! No! No! No!"

"Give me your hand," Kakashi-sensei says.

"No, help, no!"

"Naruto, you've got a self-abusive personality," Sakura points out dully, as though she'd expected him to do something as crazy as this. "It's called masochism!"

"U-u-uh, you guys have some really serious looks on your faces," he stammers anxiously, looking between us. "Y-you're scaring me, am I o-okay?" Reaching into his breast pocket, Kakashi-sensei pulls out his own rolls of bandages and wraps much of it around his hand.

"Uh, yeah," Kakashi-sensei says slowly. "You should be fine."

"Then... if that's the case..." Groaning, I hold out a fresh kunai in front of me. My head is starting to spin now, my eyes blurring with a tinge of darkness. "My turn."

"Wh-What are you doing?" Naruto cries.

"I... need you to get the poison out," I say, abruptly clasping a hand over my mouth – am I going to vomit?

"Why me?!"

"Just, please!" I shout brokenly. "Get it out!" He shakes his head furiously. I turn to Sakura, wobbling a little. "Sakura, please?"

"Why don't you do it?" she asks quietly, her voice having cracked and her eyes wide.

"I can't see what I'm doing, and now I can't see much at all," I say. I take a breath, hoping to slow down the passage of the poison spreading – a fast pulse will do that. But Sakura shakes her head, too. And so, I turn to Sasuke, hoping I won't have to ask our Sensei to do it for me – it's already bad enough he saw my failure from before. I can't have him fix my problem now.

"Sasuke, will you please do it?"

Without hesitation, he takes the kunai from my shaking hand and grabs my chin firmly in his grasp. A grunt of pain escapes me when he tilts my aching head, followed by a gasp when he finally shoves it through the lump. Gritting my teeth only makes the pain worse, because now I'm screaming through them, my poisoned blood dripping quickly down my face. I hear two cries of disgust from a few feet away, but just barely, because I'm much louder.

When he finishes, he hands the kunai back to me as though he'd borrowed it for a task much simpler. I spare a moment to stare at him, hoping my gaze is harsh enough to let him know what he'd just done had been overkill. Still trembling, I then wipe the blade on another bandage before everything dropped from my hands. At least the poison is out.

Kakashi-sensei, with his roll still in-hand, crouches in front of me, and is about to bandage me when he pauses, his one eye targeting my wound.

"Kakashi-sensei? W-What is it?" I ask nervously. He shakes his head, swiftly wraps the cloth around my face, and stands up.

"Nothing."

Boats – I've learned today that I don't like them at all. It doesn't help with the fact I'm still feeling some of the nausea from earlier. On the plus side of this annoying situation, we're almost there. On the downside, I can't see where "there" is.

"This fog's so thick," Sakura says. "You can't see anything." I hear a sniffing noise from the front of the boat and find it comes from Naruto.

"The bridge isn't far, now," Kaji, the rowing man, tells us softly. "Out destination is just ahead – the Land of Waves." And he's right, because through the fog, I spot silhouettes of strange contraptions and machinery that sits atop an unfinished bridge that's also come into view.

"Whoa!" Naruto exclaims. "It's huge!"

"Be quiet!" Kaji hisses at him. "I told you – no noise! Why do you think we're travelling like this, huh? Cutting off the engine and rowing? Moving through dense fog? It's so they don't see us."

"Mister Tazuna, before we reach the pier, I want to ask you something," Kakashi-sensei says, his voice grave. "The men who are after you... I need to know why. If you don't tell us, I'm afraid we'll have to drop this mission when we get you ashore."

We all turn to him, waiting for his answer. I think that after that near-death experience, the truth is the least he could repay us with.

Mister Tazuna takes a breath. "I have no choice but to tell you," he says lowly and slowly. He then shakes his head. "No, I want you to know. Like you said, this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man, who casts a very long and deadly shadow."

"A deadly shadow?" Kakashi-sensei repeats. "Hm. Who is he?"

"You know him. I mean, I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world – the Shipping Magnate, Gatō."

"Huh? Gatō?" Kakashi-sensei says. "Of Gatō Transport? He's a business leader; everyone knows him."

"Gatō... is a very powerful tycoon from a very famous company, that's true," says Mister Tazuna. "But below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to take over businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband, using gangs and Ninja.

"It was one year ago when Gatō first set his sight on the Land of Waves. He came to our island and used his vast wealth to take total control over our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply... disappeared. In an island nation, the man who controls the sea controls everything—finance, government, our very lives. But there's one thing he fears: the bridge. When it is complete, it will join us to the land and that will break his control. I'm the bridge-builder."

"So that's it..." Sakura puts her hand on her chin. "Since you're building the bridge, you're standing in this gangster's way."

"That means the guys we fought in the forest, they were working for Gatō," Sasuke adds.

"I don't understand," Kakashi-sensei says. "If you knew he was dangerous, knew he'd send Ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?"

"Because the Land of Waves is a small, impoverished nation," he answers quietly. "Even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge, they can't pay for an A or B-ranked mission. It's too expensive. If you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there will be no bridge. They'll assassinate me... before I reach home.

"But don't feel bad about that! Of course, my sweet little grandson will be upset. He'll cry, "Granddad! I want my Granddad!" My heart sinks. "And of course, my daughter will condemn the Ninja of the Hidden Leaves, denouncing and blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow. Ah, well, it's not your fault; forget it."

"Kakashi-sensei!" I look up at him. "We can't abandon him, we just can't! It's just like with my Grandmother when I left her! Please, we have to stay and help him!" He sighs deeply, digging a finger underneath his headband to scratch his forehead.

"Well, I guess we have no other choice," he says with a slight shrug of the shoulders. "We'll have to stay and guard you."

"Oh! I'm very grateful," says Mister Tazuna. Tipping his hat, I just catch the corners of his mouth turn up. That manipulative old fart—

"So, Mister Tazuna," I say, leaning over the boat. But then I reel myself back, in case something jumps out of the water. "When we get there, I hope that that Grandson who would cry if you got killed and the daughter that would "condemn the Ninja of the Hidden Leaves" are real. I don't take lying lightly."

"I'm not lying," he snaps gruffly.

"You're not saying you never do lie, right? Is that why you tried to guilt us?" I ask. The others stare at him, waiting for an answer. But he never does, only letting out some kind of grumble.

"We're approaching the shore," Kaji announces, nodding up ahead. A kind of underpass with at least seven or eight different canals come into view. "Tazuna, we have been very fortunate. No one has noticed us so far."

"Nice going," he compliments. The underpass, if it hadn't been for the lights that hang up on the ceiling, would be dark, and the only thing guiding us is the other side, the exit, which when we reach it, isn't cloaked in fog, but bright, sunny, and warm. Seagulls are cawing and flying around, bathing in the natural light. The houses are lined up along the boardwalks that are just feet above the waterline. In the center are several trees that seem to reach all the way down to wherever the earth is. Kaji begin rowing to the right, and pulls up along the corner walkway, allowing us to file up and out.

"That's as far as I go," he tells us. "Good luck."

"Right. Thank you for taking such a risk."

"Just... be careful," he says. He then turns the motor back on and speeds away back to the canal.

"Okay," says Mister Tazuna, turning back around. "Take me to my home, and I mean get me there in one piece." Kakashi-sensei nods.

"Right."

From there, things only go downhill.

Trying to out Sasuke, Naruto had run up ahead and thrown two kunai into the bushes, almost killing a small mouse and a snow-white rabbit. Sakura scolds him for trying to act all "cool" before smacking him on the head, Kakashi-sensei reminds him that kunai are dangerous, and Mister Tazuna blasts him for scaring him half-to-death. Of course, then, it'd been our fault if he dies, but also his own for being such a lightweight. Naturally, I'm not one to talk.

But in Naruto's defense, he'd been right when he'd said someone's following us, because there'd been someone following us. Shoving Mister Tazuna to the ground, I just barely avoid us being beheaded by a large sword, which becomes lodged into the tree up ahead of us. And then, the person of who it belongs to appears, standing tall, right on the hilt.

"Well, well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi," says Kakashi-sensei, walking up to him. "The rogue Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

He's a rogue Ninja? I think; I recall what I'd once learned from Iruka-sensei. That means he must've done something terrible and had to go into hiding!

There's something about him, something that makes my spine rattle. The cold, dead look he has in his eyes, I know he's not one to feel remorse after killing someone. Grey skin, almost as though he'd been dead a long time. He's not wearing a shirt, though he has pants, and arm and leg warmers, as well as a mask like Kakashi-sensei's that covers much of his face. I don't like this. I don't like this at all.

I really, truly hoped it would be smooth sailing once we'd gotten off Kaji's boat, but when have I ever been so fortunate?

Sensing movement from behind me, I stick out my arm, barring Naruto's path. He lets out a small noise of indignation at me. I know he wants to prove himself. I know he needs to show us and Mister Tazuna that he's not weak or useless – I do, too! But now isn't the time. This man is a lot stronger than we'd possibly ever guess. I can just tell by looking at him.

"Wait, Naruto," I whisper, glancing back at him. "There's no way either of us are as strong as him."

"But Kari—""Listen to her, Naruto," Kakashi-sensei interrupts. "She's right. He's not like those other Ninja. He's not in your league." It looks like since my arrival, my judgment's gotten better, at least. "If he's our opponent—" he reaches up and grabs onto the headband that covers his one eye "—I'll need this. This could be treacherous."

"Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye – did I get that right?" Zabuza says.

"Wait, the Sharingan?" Isn't that that thing Makara-sensei used that night?! Kakashi-sensei has it, too?!

"It's too bad, 'uh, that you'll have to hand over the old man?"

"Now, quick!" Kakashi-sensei shouts. "Manji formation! Protect the bridge-builder and stay out of this fight."

"Huh?"

"I taught you teamwork, so now it's time to use it." When he lifts his headband away, up onto his forehead, my hands instinctively shoot up to cover up my gasp of shock. It's the exact same eye – red with the three black commas inside of it.

"Looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action," Zabuza muses. "This is an honor."

"Everyone keeps saying "Sharingan, Sharingan"!" Naruto says quickly. "Would someone please tell me what Sharingan is?" I nod, wanting to hear an explanation of the strange eye power I'd witnessed that night.

"The Sharingan..." We look over at Sasuke, who's staring hard at the ground. "A rare power. It resides in the eyes. The user of this visual Jutsu – or Dōjutsu – can instantly comprehend any Genjutsu, Taijutsu, or Ninjutsu and can reflect the attack back on the user. The Sharingan is a special, rare form of Dōjutsu. However... there is more to the Sharingan than that. A lot more."

"You got it right, boy, but you only scratched the surface," Zabuza says, staring down at him. "The Sharingan can analyze an opponent's technique, and then copy it to the smallest detail." For a second, I'd thought I'd been seeing things. Another thick fog, slightly denser than the one we'd rowed through on our way here, suddenly blocks our vision of each other.

"As for you, Jōnin," he goes on. When I realize I can't see him as well as I'd been able to before, I begin to panic, and break out into a cold sweat. "In the Assassination Unit of the Hidden Mist, we have a standing order to destroy you on sight. Your profile was in our Bingo Book. It called you "The Man Who Copied Over a Thousand Jutsu"—Kakashi, the Copy Ninja."

Copy Ninja? I've... heard that title before. She'd mentioned it in casual passing – a man famous for mastering any technique in mere seconds. Now that I know about everything outside of just Taijutsu, I realize this means things like Ninjutsu and Genjutsu. The Copy Ninja is... our Sensei... Kakashi Hatake!

"Wow, that's so cool!" Naruto exclaims, grinning. Zabuza, who'd still been standing up on his sword, crouches down on it.

"Enough talking," he says. "I need to exterminate the old man now."

Without having to be told a second time, we rush over to Mister Tazuna's side, prepared to protect him with all our strength: Naruto on his left, Sakura on his right, Sasuke in front of him, and me taking up the rear. Kakashi-sensei stands in front of us, ready to take the brunt of Zabuza's attacks. "So, I'll have to eliminate you first, eh, Kakashi? So be it."

Pulling his sword from the tree, he runs off the land and onto... the water?

"H-how is he doing that?" Raising two fingers to his lips with one hand and doing the same with the other, he points it into the air, and very quickly does a cyclone of water twist and turn around his body. Then...

"He vanished," Naruto whispers, eyes wide with shock. Kakashi-sensei steps near the water's edge.

"He'll come after me, first," he says, cutting off my protests.

"But... who is he?" Sakura asks him.

"Zabuza Momochi: the ex-leader of the Hidden Mist Assassination Unit," he answers, looking around. "He's a master at the Silent Killing Technique."

"S-Silent?" Naruto repeats.

"The name suggests it happens in an instant, without sound or warning of any kind. It's so fast you pass on from this life without even knowing what happened. The Sharingan cannot fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard. If we fail, we only lose our lives."

"Only?" I repeat, furious.

"How can you say that?" Sakura asks him, just as angrily. He doesn't answer, and instead squints harder through the fog, with his one normal eye and his other Sharingan eye.

"The mist is getting thicker and thicker!" Naruto says nervously, squinting around nervously.

"The Land of Waves is surround by ocean," Mister Tazuna explains. "The swirling mists are ever present."

"Sensei!" I look over my shoulder and see what Sakura's cry suggests. Kakashi-sensei is gone, swallowed by the mist. In all actuality, I doubt it really swallowed him; it's just barring him from our view.

"Eight points." Sakura and I gasp.

"What was that?" we ask in unison.

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart..." I begin to shiver, as though Zabuza had been standing right behind me, breathing down my neck. "Now... which shall be my kill point?"

A forced gust of wind billows past us, nearly knocking me off my feet. Then, it's gone as soon as it comes, taking the mist with it and leaving just wisps of murky air behind. I cough it out before it can consume me, but I can already feel it crawling beneath my skin.

But it isn't the effects of the mist making me feel this way. It's the bloodlust coming off of that Zabuza man that makes me feel such terror. It traps a scream in my throat, forbidding me from either swallowing it down or letting it out. From what I can see from the corner of my eyes – which truly isn't much – the others are experiencing this same sensation, though for some reason, Sasuke seems worse off.

If he hadn't been so stiff and rooted, he'd probably be shaking as badly as myself. This battle's potential outcome has me terrified.

What if Kakashi-sensei's beaten?

What if he... dies?

What if Zabuza Momochi comes after us?

What if he kills Naruto?

Sasuke?

Sakura?

He'll kill me, too!

And then he'll take out Mister Tazuna! There won't be anybody left to protect him! He won't be able to build the bridge and save the Land of Waves. I-I... I don't want to be killed by this man. I don't want any of us to be killed by this man. I don't want to die at all! B-But, I just...

"Sasuke! Kari! Calm down," Kakashi-sensei calls through the mist. I jump, my teeth biting down onto my lower lip so hard I'd momentarily feared I'd rip it off. "I'll protect you two with my life – all of you. I will not allow my comrades to die!" And then, he appears to us, smiling over his shoulder in our direction. "Trust me."

"I wouldn't be so sure." In the second it takes for me to assume who it'd been to say what they'd just said, all I can do is pull out a weapon. "It's over." But it isn't over – Kakashi-sensei has already pulled Zabuza away before he can so much as swing his sword. It's more like pushed, though, seeing as a kunai is driven through his stomach, but what pours out of it isn't blood, but water. It doesn't make sense until a second Zabuza appears behind Kakashi-sensei.

It's a Water Clone! I realize.

"Kakashi-sensei, watch out!!"

"Sensei, behind you!"

The first Zabuza collapses, splashing us as it cascades across the ground, and the second raises its sword, swinging it through the air horizontally. "Die!"

When Kakashi-sensei explodes into a large, uncontainable mass of water, I know what he'd done, even without knowing exactly how. Zabuza had told us the Sharingan can copy any technique to the smallest detail, and that means Kakashi-sensei must've known exactly what his tactics are and mirrored them right back at him. Personally, I still don't get the mechanics of it. I'm so confused that I begin feeling lightheaded again from trying to sort everything out. But this isn't the time for heavy thought processes. We have to protect Mister Tazuna!

"Don't move," he says, pointing a kunai directly at Zabuza Momochi's neck. "Now it's over."

But, once again, it isn't over — not by a long shot.

Updated April 26th, 2021 | 6,964 words