Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Poison.
“It is with the utmost pride and my greatest honor that I name the youngest, most beautiful, and most skilled Kunoichi as Godaime Hokage!” His gravelly voice called loudly to the roaring crowd below. His liver-spotted cheeks stretched wide as he grinned at the young Kunoichi who stood behind him. He removed the odd-shaped hat from his gray hair before gently placing it upon her blonde hair and nodded. For decades, it had taken residence upon his head, only having a brief absence for the Yondaime’s short reign before returning. But as of today, it would be on her head; she was to display the hat proudly, and she would indeed! His dark eyes roved over her image, the bright orange jumpsuit under the white and red haori, her sparkling blue eyes, and her wide, stretched grin.
“Step forward and introduce yourself as their Lady Hokage,” He said, motioning to the cheering crowd. She took in a deep breath and raised her chin, walking to the edge overlooking the thousands of people who cheered loudly. Back straight and shoulders tensed, tears sprang to her eyes and slipped down quickly as the people cried and cheered. Her grin grew larger, which didn’t seem possible.
“Lady Naru,” She turned to her predecessor, who motioned to a large bowl of ramen with steam rising, next to it stood Teuchi and Ayame.
“We wish to bestow upon you this ramen pool, that will never go out! It’s the least we could do,” Teuchi said with a bow.
“COOL!!” She cheered and ran forward, jumping up and landing in the warm liquid, and took a big mouthful of broth. “This is the greatest day of my life!” She cheered, grabbing a fishcake and biting into the squishy topping.
“Naru,” She popped her head over the edge and found Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sakura bowing to her before looking up and opening their mouths.
“Beep beep beep beep beep!” She blinked as everyone began to do the same, a voice that grew louder and louder.
“What?!” She yelped as the bowl contents began to spin and drain around her. “NO!” She yelped biting the fishcake again and held on as she was sucked down the drain.
Beep beep beep beep be-beep beep beep
Her hand shot out from her covers and slapped it on top of the alarm clock that decided to so rudely pull her from the greatest dream she ever had! She groaned, blinking away the sleep sand in her eyes and peered at the alarm clock that glowed bright blue, with the time of 6:00 AM.
Why in the world had she set the alarm so early on a Wednesday? She scowled at the time and looked at the date of August 20th. She racked her sleep-muddled brain for the answer before it clicked, her eyes widened, and she gasped.
Today was Team 7’s big C-rank mission! Thanks to what she called her charming and persuasive ways, but was actually her throwing a big fit in the middle of the Hokage’s office, she did the unheard of and got her new genin team an out-of-village C-rank mission!
“OH YEAH!!!” She cheered, launching from the bed, throwing her blankets half on the floor, and racing around the room. She yanked her orange jumpsuit on, tying her hair into her signature pigtails and proudly tied her Konoha hitai-ate on her forehead.
She had a great feeling in her gut about this mission; her body was almost vibrating in excitement, for starting today, they would prove Team 7 was the best of the best! And she would prove that a certain Sasuke-teme wasn’t that great, or at least greater than her.
She tore through her apartment gathering supplies, clothes, weapons, and instant ramen. She glanced at the clock now shining 6:45 AM, she couldn’t be late, of course, she knew Kaka-sensei would be late, he was always late, but it didn’t mean she had to be. She poured the hot water on the noodles, letting them soak up as she jammed the things in her bag and grabbed the cup, slurping the noodles down as she locked up and ran through the quiet streets.
Arriving at the large gates she found their client Tazuna, who to her was nothing more than a drunk ass, leaning against the gates nursing a bottle of sake.
But if dealing with him meant it would be opening the door, she needed to get better missions and an advancement in rank, then she had to do what she had to do.
She looked to her teammate ‘Sasuke-teme’ leaning against the guard's post, glaring at the dirt. She assumed he couldn’t smile, since she had never seen one grace his handsome face in the years they had been acquainted. He wanted the world to burn, or something about wanting to kill a certain someone, as he so bluntly put it during the team introduction a month ago. And of course, glued to his side was Sakura, who was trying and failing to gain his attention. She tried and tried and every. Single. Time. he shot her down. She dealt with his cold shoulders, jabs at her strength, she was nothing but a lovestruck idiot, and he was just a cold-hearted bastard.
She took a deep breath and strode up with a grin on her face. “Morning!”
Tazuna responded with a ‘harrumph!’ and, of course, Sasuke replied with his usual ‘Hn’, and Naru wondered if it was secret language with his clan. Sakura smiled at her and returned the greeting before they fell into silence, waiting for however long it would take Kaka-sensei to arrive.
But to his team's surprise, he showed up less than five minutes late.
‘So he CAN be on time!’ Naru mused, looking at the jounin.
“Everyone ready?” He questioned, Naru cheered with a jump and walked through the gate, and looked around quickly.
“Why are you so excited, Naru?” Sakura asked.
“This is the first time I’ve been allowed to leave the village, it’s gonna be awesome!” She cheered.
“Am I really expected to put my life in this shrimp’s hands?!” Tazuna snarled. Naru’s eye twitched at his insult. She popped her head and turned slowly.
“There is no call for concern, I am an elite jounin, you’ll be fine,” Kaka-sensei said with his hands raised, trying to placate the man.
‘This guy is a complete jerk! I don’t care if he is a client!’
“Listen here you old fart! You never meet with a ninja, EVER!” Naru snarled, pointing at him. “I’m one of the top ninjas in my year, and one day I’m gonna be Hokage, so remember my name; Uzumaki Naru!” She yelled, adjusting her hitai-ate.
“HA! Hokage are the best of the best, right? I don’t see anything in you that would put you anywhere close to that title.” Naru let out a growl as he continued to berate her between his glugs of alcohol.
“I’ll be working up that level fast! Soon I’ll be Hokage, and you’ll regret not giving me some respect just like everyone else!”
“Listen here, kid,” Tazuna strolled up to her and leaned in her face. “I won’t respect you now, and I sure won’t respect you if you could become Hokage.” He brushed past her and chuckled.
“I’ll make you!” She snarled and whirled around towards him, her feet about to launch her right at the man’s back before Kakashi grabbed her jacket collar, choking her and holding her in place before he pulled her to his body.
“I’ve told you once, he’s a client and you can’t attack a client!” He scolded, she turned her head to the side, and wished more than anything this mission was over with already.
The morning passed slowly as they started their journey to the coast, where the Land of Waves was situated, a mere 100 miles from the land of Fire. The journey was mostly silent except for when Tazuna would begin to gripe about his feet, the heat, or the mission itself.
Naru didn’t understand what the big deal was, they were protecting him from robbers and highwaymen, nothing more. This mission was a stepping stone on her path, and it would propel her into greatness. She was determined to make Iruka-sensei, Kakashi-sensei, the old man, and everyone proud of her and regret their poor treatment. Her goal was to be the greatest, even better than the late Yondaime. It was her ninja way to never give up!
“Mr. Tazuna, you said you’re from the land of Waves, right?” Sakura asked suddenly, drawing Naru’s attention.
“What of it?” He snipped. Naru let out a breath, trying to prevent another explosion at the jerk!
“Kakashi-sensei, there are ninjas in the land of Waves, aren’t there?” She asked the jounin.
“No, not in Waves, but in other countries are hidden villages, each with their own customs and cultures, where ninja reside,” He replied.
“So, why are there ninjas in other countries?” She questioned.
“To the people of each country, the existence of ninjas means military strength; in other words, that’s how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of their lands. Ninja villages are not under the control of the government, but when it comes to small islands like Waves, it has natural protection from the sea, so they do not need a ninja village.” He completed.
“Which ones have ninja villages?” she asked. Sasuke let out an almost inaudible groan, rolling his eyes at the history lesson that was coming. Naru began to tune him out as well. This was a mission, not the academy's history time!
“Lands that consist of ninjas are the lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth. Each has vast lands, and they are known as the five great shinobi nations.”
Naru scratched her ear as Kakashi-sensei continued to talk about how great and powerful the Kage were, and while she had some doubt about the Old Man’s power, I knew the Kage were no joke!
“So we don’t have to worry about running into any strong ninja, then huh?” Sakura chirped, Kakashi-sensei chuckled, and ruffled her hair.
“Not likely,”
Sasuke twitched as he glanced at Tazuna, who had gone stiff and glanced left and right. Naru followed his eyes and scowled. He was hiding something.
Kakashi-sensei’s gasp broke the silence that followed, scraping of metal on metal made them whirl around.
The jounin was bound by shuriken chains held taut by two garbed ninja who wore gas masks over their mouths and a different country symbol on their hitai-ate.
“What the-?!” Naru began.
“Ready?”
“Do it!” Both enemies questioned and replied, yanking the chains and brutally ripping Kakashi to pieces, who fell to the ground. Sakura screamed out in horror as dust rose around their slain teacher.
“Ka- Kakashi-sensei!” Naru yelled before the air behind her shifted, and she found both enemies behind her.
“Number two,” One purred in her ear.
She turned her head slowly, gasping in fear as she made eye contact with the maddening eyes of her enemy, and could see the sinister smirk on his hidden face as he yanked his arm back with a new length of shuriken chains that whipped right at her.
‘Move! Move!!’ She ordered her body, but it simply quivered with fear. A blue and white blur that was Sasuke sprang into action. He yanked a kunai and shuriken, launching them at the chain and pinning it to the tree behind them. Both yanked at the chain, but it was pinned tight. Naru still stood frozen as ever while Sasuke landed on their gauntlets and flipped to his hands, kicking them both in the jaw, which made the taut grip of the chain and gauntlet snap, and they hit the dirt.
‘Wow!’ Naru thought.
Both enemies untangled and raced to their mission, one rounded towards Naru, making her scream in fear as his blade hand shot towards her, ready to take her down. The other shot towards Tazuna, Sakura jumped in front of him, kunai drawn, ready to fight to the death if need be.
“Get behind me, sir!” She ordered.
The enemy slammed into Naru, his clawed hand slashing down. She screamed in pain as she hit the dirt and curled into a ball. Sasuke jumped in front of Sakura, ready to take the blow.
Sasuke blinked in shock as a navy and green blur appeared, his solid arm connecting to the enemy’s neck, making him gag and slump in his grip. Under the other arm lay the other enemy. Kakashi stood tall and strong, not a scratch on his body.
“Hey there,” He replied. Sakura gasped in joy, while Sasuke scowled at the man.
‘What a show off,’ He grumbled. He was supposed to save the day, not Kakashi.
Naru let out a shaky whimper as she uncurled and looked up at the jounin and whirled to the spot to find logs chopped into pieces.
‘Kaka-sensei used substitution…’ She figured and stood up slowly, and stumbled.
“Sorry, Naru, I should have acted sooner. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, I just never took you to freeze like that,” He said, looking at her before turning to Sasuke and Sakura. “Good job, Sasuke, you too, Sakura!” He praised.
Naru’s lip quivered, and she struggled to calm her racing heart.
‘I couldn’t do a single thing… but Sasuke, who’s never been in battle either, acted like it was nothing! He didn’t even break a sweat! But still saved me!’ She thought as she looked at her rival. Nary a scratch, bruise, or stain on his person.
“Hey,” Sasuke called, pulling Naru from her mind. “You okay, scaredy-cat?” He asked with a smirk, Naru bristled before letting out a small yell.
“SASUKE!!” She snarled, stomping forward, about to give a punch to his smug face.
“Naru!” Kakashi barked, making her jump. “Enough! Their claws have poison in them. You were hit,” Naru looked down and finally noticed the cut on the top of her hand, blood slipping to the earth and staining her pants. She didn’t even feel the sting until he mentioned it to her. “We’ll have to open that wound so your blood can flow, getting the poison out of you. For now, no sudden movements,” He scolded. She hunched and blushed as she stared at the wound. “And as for you, Mr. Tazuna, we need to talk.” He said strictly. The old man jolted in shock and swallowed.
“What is it?!”
“Our attackers are chunin ninja from Kiri in the land of Water. They are known for their teamwork and determination used on their missions. They rarely fail,” Kakashi said as he tied the two to the tree. “They have been following us since Konoha.”
“How did you know?” The croaked voice of the brother sounded as he came to.
“Hmph, a puddle, on a clear day like this? When it hasn’t rained in weeks,” Kakashi stated.
“If you knew they were there, why’d you let the kids handle it?” Tazuna asked.
“I could have dispatched them right there, but I would have learned nothing. But, by playing dead, I could figure out if they were ninja attacking ninja, or…” He trailed off and looked at Tazuna.
“Or what?”
“You, they were after you.” He said. All eyes landed on Tazuna, sweat slipped down his face as he stuttered. “When you requested this mission, you said nothing of chunin ninja being after you. You requested protection from robberies and typical ambushes. Had we known this was the level, we would have staffed and charged properly,” Kakashi said, his voice holding a tone of seriousness and anger. “This is now a B-rank mission,” He concluded.
“We’re not trained for this yet, we’re only new genin, we can’t do something like this,” Sakura jumped in, trying in a nicer tone. “And I really think we need to get Naru checked out with that poison,” She said.
Kakashi turned to Naru, who jolted, her breaths came out short and fast as she stared at her teacher, tremors slid down her spine.
“I suppose so,” He drawled. “Who knows what that poison can and will do?” Kakashi gave a small eye roll that Naru caught. A quiet whimper escaped her throat as she stepped back.
Her heart hammered in her ears, and her breathing picked up subtly. She gasped as she struggled to even take a full breath.
“I suppose we have to return,” Kakashi said. Naru could feel the disappointment in his voice rolling off in waves.
Her shaky hand reached to the kunai holster on her thigh and unsnapped the pocket, pulling the sharp knife out.
She raised the blade, turning her hand over, ready to slam the blade into the wound and MAKE the poison leave. The knife slipped from her hand and clattered to the ground as her legs gave out, and she hit the ground.
Her head vibrated after it hit the hard dirt. They rushed to the girl quickly. Sakura cried out in shock as she fell to her knees beside her teammate, as Kakashi scooped her up in his arms. Her head lulled back then to the side, her face flushed and her eyes unfocused.
“Naru!” Sakura cried out, touching her leg.
“Naru! Naru! Hey! Listen to my voice! Hey! Don’t close your eyes!” Kakashi barked. Naru stared at him through blurry eyes, his voice turned to an echo and faded away. She felt herself drift away into sweet, sweet darkness.
“Naru!!” Sakura screamed as Naru’s eyes slid shut and her chest stopped rising.

Chapter Text

Freeze.
Beep beep beep beep beep be-beep beep beep.
Naru gasped awake from the darkness, interrupted by the sound of her alarm clock. She held her pounding head and groaned in pain.
How did she bring her alarm clock on the mission? Why did she bring her alarm clock on the mission? She took in a deep breath of her blankets and mattress before she slid them down so she could look around.
She was in her apartment, which was dark except for the blue glow of August 20th, 6:00 AM.
She blinked twice and shot up grabbing the clock and stared at the screen smacking the side. It had to be glitching! She looked around her apartment and her shoulders dropped. Maybe it was all a dream. Or maybe she was brought home after passing out and her clock was just broken. After all it all seemed so real, the fight, the pain, the emotions. There was no way it was just a dream!
She flung the blankets off and stood up; her legs wobbled, and she grabbed the bed for support. Her eyes caught red and looked at the dried blood on her hand where a puffy and healing cut lay on the top, just like her dream.
She traced the puffy red line that was tender, her stomach suddenly churned, and liquid filled her mouth. She gagged and raced to the bathroom and threw up the foamy bile, half-chewed noodles, and broth; her mouth and nose burned as she continued to gag and heave for air.
She groaned, wiping her mouth and standing up, she inspected her eyes and face before splashing water and sighed into the towel.
If this were the day of the mission to Waves, she couldn’t be late. She numbly moved through, packing her bag like she swore she had already done! Her stomach churned as she looked at the ramen, she was skipping the meal, no way was she going to hold anything down right now.
She walked through town, arriving at the gates where Sasuke leaned against the guard post, glaring at the dirt. Sakura stood next to him. Tazuna leaned against the gate, a bottle of open sake in his hand.
“Morning, Naru, you’re almost late,” Sakura said first. She blinked and sighed.
“What happened?” She asked.
“What do you mean?” Sakura asked. “We’re waiting on Kakashi-sensei to arrive so we can begin our escort mission.”
“We already- I mean, stop messing with me!” Naru chuckled. “We already started it! And we were attacked! Don’t you remember?!”
Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who stared at her with the same utter confusion on their face.
“No,” He said. “Yesterday, we got that stupid cat, you threw a fit in the office, and the Hokage gave us this mission.” He said. “The only ‘attack’ was the cat scratched the hell out of you,” He said.
“No! I’m not crazy! We did all of this! And Kaka-sensei was only-”
“Morning,” Kakashi said, walking up.
“Sensei! Sensei! Please tell me the truth! Did you bring me home? Did you get the poison out?! This is all a prank, right?!” Naru begged, tugging at his vest, he shook his head and glanced at the others, who shrugged.
“Poison? What are you going on about, Naru? Did you have a bad dream?”
“No - sigh, I don’t know, I guess it was a dream, but my hand-” She held up her hand that had no cut, no puffiness, no sign of a wound at all. She rubbed the skin and muttered to herself.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Kakashi asked, touching her head.
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m fine, I guess I just had a weird dream, I dunno,” She said.
“Well, how about we get this mission started, huh?” He said. “Mr. Tazuna, lead the way, we’ll protect you.”
“I don’t see how three kids will protect me!” He argued.
“I’m an elite jounin, you’ll be fine,” Kakashi said, holding his hands up. Naru opened her mouth to say something, but Tazuna glared at the girl.
“What shrimp?” Naru let out a noise and sneered at the man.
“Don’t insult me jackass!” She snarled, and Kakashi grabbed her collar and pulled her against his body.
“He’s a client and we don’t attack or curse them out,” He hissed. Naru scowled at the man.
“My name is Naru, not shrimp, you old fart,” She muttered the end.
“Whatever, stupid kid,” He grumbled.
The team set out from the village gates along the path, silence filled the air aside from Tazuna, who would begin to gripe about his feet, the heat, or the mission itself.
Naru looked down and swallowed, trying to understand what was happening. Her dream was so real! How could it not of been? Right about now, Sakura would ask-
“Mr. Tazuna, you said you’re from the land of Waves, right?” Sakura asked. Naru gasped, turning to the girl behind her, walking between Kakashi and Tazuna.
“What of it?” He snipped.
“Kakashi-sensei, there are ninjas in the land of Waves, aren’t there?” She asked the jounin.
“No, not in Waves, but in other countries are hidden villages, each with their own customs and cultures, where ninja reside,” He replied.
“So, why are there ninjas in other countries?” She questioned.
“To the people of each country, the existence of ninjas means military strength; in other words, that’s how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of their lands. Ninja villages are not under the control of the government, but when it comes to small islands like Waves, it has natural protection from the sea, so they do not need a ninja village.” He completed.
“Which ones have ninja villages?” she asked. Sasuke let out an almost inaudible groan, rolling his eyes at the history lesson that was coming.
This was NOT happening! Everything, word for word, was happening! It wasn’t a prank, and if it was, they were holding to it well! She looked at Sasuke, who scowled at her.
“What dobe?” He asked.
“Doesn’t this seem repetitive?”
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about, this is the first time we’re going on this mission,” He said and stepped quicker.
“I’m going crazy, I guess.”
Kakashi-sensei’s gasp broke the silence that followed, scraping of metal on metal made them whirl around.
The jounin was bound by shuriken chains held taut by two garbed ninja who wore gas masks over their mouths and a different country symbol on their hitai-ate.
“What the-?!” Naru began.
“Ready?”
“Do it!” Both enemies questioned and replied, yanking the chains and brutally ripping Kakashi to pieces, who fell to the ground. Sakura screamed out in horror as dust rose around their slain teacher.
“Ka- Kakashi-sensei!” Naru yelled before the air behind her shifted, and she found both enemies behind her.
“Number two,” One purred in her ear.
She turned her head slowly, gasping in fear as she made eye contact with the maddening eyes of her enemy, and could see the sinister smirk on his hidden face as he yanked his arm back with a new length of shuriken chains that whipped right at her.
Time seemed to slow as she looked at the blade; it was repeating, and if it was repeating, she could do better! No freezing this time!
She dropped, avoiding the hit, a kunai and shuriken slammed into the chain, and it slammed into the tree, taut.
Sasuke landed on the top of the gauntlets and flipped onto his hands. Naru reached up, grabbing the bottom, and nodded. She hooked her feet behind their knees as Sasuke kicked their head. Both brothers fell and their heads smacked together, Sasuke and Naru jumped back and huffed.
“Nice one,” He muttered.
“You too,”
“Let’s go!” They ordered untangling from the chain and racing around, Naru yanked a blade out as one rounded to her, her eyes followed the claw that pierced her skin last time, she brought her kunai up to block as she grabbed his other gauntlet and used her body to twist it around, a sickening crack sounded as he yelled in pain.
Naru hit the dirt as he flipped to the side, his hand dropped to his side, he huffed in anger, and stalked up to her.
“Get behind me, sir!” Sakura ordered, she glanced their way, Sasuke slid in front of Sakura, ready.
Naru scrambled up and gasped as his claw was inches from her face, Kakashi’s arm appeared and slammed into his face and knocked him out before he flickered in front of Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna using his arm just like last time to knock the wind and consciousness out of the other brother.
Naru sagged and let out a breath, she touched her chest over her hammering heart. They were okay! She blinked and inspected her body for any cuts but found nothing but dirt on her jacket. Sweet! No damage taken this time! She was okay! She didn’t freeze! Kakashi would be proud of her actions too.
“Excellent job, you three, I’m proud of you,” Kakashi said.
Sakura giggled, Sasuke gave a ‘humph’, and Naru grinned at him.
“You’re proving why I passed you, keep this up, and you’ll have no issues in the future.”
Kakashi dragged both brothers to a tree and tied them with rope, ensuring their upper arms were bound tightly.
“But, on to serious issues at hand,” He said, clapping his hands. “Mr. Tazuna,” He turned and walked to the man, who shifted back and gulped.
“What is it?!” He snarled.
“Our attackers are chunin ninja from Kiri in the land of Water. They are known for their teamwork and determination used on their missions. They rarely fail,” Kakashi said, Naru listened to the jounin this time. “They have been following us since Konoha.”
“How did you know?” The croaked voice of the brother sounded as he came to.
“Hmph a -”
“A puddle,” Naru said. Kakashi arched his brow in surprise. “It hasn’t rained in weeks, and it’s super sunny out, kinda odd…”
“Exactly, nice observation,” Naru blushed and bit her lip. Sasuke frowned at the girl. How had she noticed, but he didn’t?
“If you knew they were there, why’d you let the kids handle it?” Tazuna asked.
“I could have dispatched them right there, but I would have learned nothing. But, by playing dead, I figured out if they were ninja attacking ninja, or…” He trailed off and looked at Tazuna.
“Or what?”
“You, they were after you.” He said, they all turned and looked at the man, sweat slipped down his face as he stuttered. “When you requested this mission, you said nothing of chunin ninja being after you. You requested protection from robberies and typical ambushes. Had we known this was the level, we would have staffed and charged properly,” Kakashi said in a voice that only echoed anger. “This is now a B-rank mission,” He concluded.
Naru scowled, looking at the two, and walked up, their eyes staring at her as she inspected them.
“Who are you? Why are you after Tazuna?” She asked.
“We’re not trained for this yet, we’re only new genin, we can’t do something like this,” Sakura jumped in, trying in a nicer tone.
“Uh… you see,” He swallowed and tilted his hat. “I had to lie about the mission, the land of Waves, is poor, and we couldn’t dream of affording a mission of higher caliber.”
“Why?” Kakashi asked.
“There is a terrifying man who wants me dead…”
Naru turned from the man and back to the brothers.
“Who hired you? Answer me!” She barked
“Naru!” Kakashi called. “Get away from them.”
“They will have answers! We can find out who hired them, and maybe we can continue, if it’s someone simple…” She protested.
She turned and kicked their shoe. They both looked at the girl in silence before looking at each other and giving a tiny nod.
“Okay, we’ll tell you,” They said at the same time.
Naru nodded and stepped closer to their bound bodies, Sasuke cocked his head up waiting listening to the brothers who took in a deep breath.
“It’s funny that survival and revenge require the same thing: No honor codes, no supposed higher principles to aspire to, no mercy.” One said.
“If I lived by some code, my actions would become predictable. The enemy would take advantage of this, and I’d be killed.” The other said.
“An honorable death doesn’t exist. Death is death.” They chorused together.
“NARU MOVE!!” Kakashi barked as they finished their sentence, Naru gasped whirling to her sensei who began to run towards her. She turned to the brothers who twisted their hands up revealing hissing bomb tags, she gasped shifting back but couldn’t take a step.
The sizzling paper reached the top. Naru watched the brothers expand and burst into bright white. Blazing heat enveloped her, and she screamed. Her skin exploded in pain, the smell of burning flesh invaded her nose, and a loud ringing filled her ears. The world around her turned white, and her body was thrown back, floating.
Sakura’s scream echoed with Kakashi’s yell of her name before it disappeared, and silence filled the air.
A wave of black rolled over her body and sucked her inside, she tried to thrash about but her body refused to respond. Pain enveloped her as a whole, and she let her eyes shut, praying for the pain to end.
The darkness washed the pain off her body, and she fell slumped, and it was over.

Chapter Text

Mistake.
Beep beep beep beep beep be-beep beep beep.
Naru gasped heavily as the tone pulled her back. She threw her body from her bed and hit the floor screaming in agony. She looked at her body, which was covered in blisters, her skin peeling and bleeding. She sobbed and rolled around the wood floor as her alarm continued to beep.
She rolled around before she collapsed into a fetal position, her body quivering as she sobbed and begged for it to stop. She reached her shaky hand out to the alarm that was once again shining on August 20th, 6:30 AM.
Again. It happened again!
She looked at her outstretched hand, and steam rose from her blistered skin before patches of her untouched skin crept up and began to cover the burns and blisters slowly until they faded. The pain eased, and she felt her hammering heart slow. She took in a deep breath and set her head on the cool floor.
She screamed and began to punch and kick the floor. “Dammit, dammit, dammit!!” She cried and pushed up, her body fell before she pushed up again.
Why was this happening?! She was stuck on the same day and kept dying! She would swear it was a dream, but the burning blisters that she watched magically heal told her it was very much real.
How was she healing like this? Granted, she had never been hurt to the extent of just now, but for her burns to simply disappear like magic?
‘Maybe it’s his doing…’ She touched her stomach. ‘I don’t think he’s ever healed me before… is he responsible for this? Is he letting me die and hoping to … escape?’
She looked at the clock, which changed to 6:55 AM.
‘I guess I've got to get ready… AGAIN!’
She grabbed her pack and stuffed it with supplies once again. She flinched as she bent over and felt skin that was still healing, anger filled her veins again, and she punched her wall, putting a hole in the drywall. She yelled and continued to punch it over and over again, and huffed for air.
She dressed and snatched her pack, storming to the gates.
Sakura cocked her head as she watched Naru stomp to the gates, her blue eyes blazing in anger.
“Geez, Naru, wake up on the wrong side of the bed?” She teased.
“Shut up!” She snarled. Sakura flinched and swallowed. “I didn’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed, leave me alone! Don’t talk to me!”
Naru had never spoken to her like that. Sakura opened her mouth, but nothing came out.
“What the hell's your problem, dobe?” Sasuke sneered.
“You are!” She snarled. “Don’t call me dobe, my name is Naru, and if you can’t call me that, then don’t talk to me at all!” She snarled.
“Tsk… geez is it your time-”
Naru shot forward, grabbing his shirt and yanking him forward, their noses nearly touching.
“Not. Another. Word.” She hissed.
“Get your hands off me!” He snarled.
“Or what?”
“Naru, Sasuke, stop!” Sakura said, pushing at their shoulders. “We need to just-”
“What? Get along? Play ninja? We’re not academy students anymore! This is life or death! Get your head out of the clouds, or better yet out of Sasuke’s ass and wake up!” She barked at the girl, Sakura stepped back as Naru turned her sights on her.
“Enough!” Kakashi barked, Naru jolted, and looked at the jounin. “Naru, stand down.” She blinked a few times and swallowed as she looked at Sakura, who was fighting tears, and Sasuke was scowling at her.
“I… I didn’t- I mean…” She muttered.
“Tsk…” Sasuke responded.
“Have an outburst like that again and we’ll be discussing discipline options, apologize to your teammates,” Kakashi said.
“Sorry, I don’t… I don’t understand… I mean this all has happened and I can’t handle anymore!” She said, gripping her hair.
“Are you sure your little ragtag group of children can handle this mission?” Tazuna butted in emphazing the word ‘children’. “Seems like they’re barely a team.”
“They can and will, but I’m also an elite jounin,” Kakashi said.
“If you’re so unhappy about the staffing, maybe you should go get a higher staffing,” Naru sneered. “Seeing as you’re hiding things,”
Tazuna gulped, and his shoulders stiffened. Naru squinted at him. “Insult me again and you’ll really have issues.”
“Naru,” Kakashi yanked her over and turned away from the team. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but enough is enough! He’s a client, you’ll show him respect, whether he shows you respect, you still have to, you’ll get along with your teammates or you won’t have missions anymore, am I understood?”
“Yes sir.” She forced out, staring into his single eye that bore into her. He let out a breath and turned around.
“Let’s get this started,”
Naru looked around the trees for any movement.
- “They have been following us since Konoha.” -
Naru cocked her jaw and looked around the path.
‘They didn’t attack us until we were at least 100 miles from the village…’
“Mr. Tazuna, you said you’re from the land of Waves, right?” Sakura asked.
“What of it?” He snipped.
“Kakashi-sensei, there are ninjas in the land of Waves, aren’t there?” She asked the jounin.
“No, not in Waves, but in other countries are hidden villages, each with their own customs and cultures, where ninja reside,” He replied.
“So, why are there ninjas in other countries?” She questioned.
“To the people of each country, the existence of ninjas means military strength; in other words, that’s how they protect themselves and maintain the balance of their lands. Ninja villages are not under the control of the government, but when it comes to small islands like Waves, it has natural protection from the sea, so they do not need a ninja village.” He completed.
“Which ones have ninja villages?” she asked. Sasuke let out an almost inaudible groan, rolling his eyes at the history lesson that was coming.
-“Our attackers are chunin ninja from Kiri in the land of Water. They are known for their teamwork and determination used on their missions. They rarely fail,”-
“What about chunin?” Naru asked, turning and walking backwards. “Can a chunin ninja come into other lands? Be hired by people to kill others?”
Kakashi looked at her and nodded. “Yes, they can, chunin ninja can be dispatched to do missions that involve killing a target, while it’s usually a jounin or anbu that get those kinds more often.”
“And what if they fail? Would they give up and try to kill themselves?”
“Um… not typically, usually if the ninja fails his mission, they return to their village and the Kage can inflict a punishment if they deem necessary,”
“I’m glad Hokage-sama doesn’t do that!” Sakura chirped. “That would be horrible,”
“Well, he can issue punishments, but nothing of physical harm, he can put you on leave, where you have no missions, no income, and sometimes… sometimes it can get the best of a ninja,” Kakashi sighed. “But that’s only in cases where the client is killed or the mission costs more lives,” Sakura gawked at him. “But, don’t worry, you genin don’t have to fear things like that, and especially on an escort mission like this,” He chuckled and ruffled her hair.
Naru turned back around and flexed her hands, she touched her side that was still throbbing, she wanted to check the skin worried if she moved too much during their battle with the Demon brothers she would tear her healing skin. But there was no way to check it without drawing attention, she would simply have to hope it would be okay.
Naru mentally counted the miles, and as she counted 99, she unsnapped her kunai holster, which Sasuke noticed and arched his brow. What did she know that he didn’t? Was she going to attack them? Or were they about to be attacked, and Naru could sense it? He followed suit and glanced back at Kakashi, who walked normally, his shoulders lax. His eye shifted to Sasuke, then to the ground where a lone water puddle lay. No, if Kakashi was relaxed, then it was no big deal; Naru was just anxious.
Kakashi-sensei’s gasp broke the silence that followed, scraping of metal on metal made them whirl around.
The jounin was bound by shuriken chains held taut by two garbed ninja who wore gas masks over their mouths and a different country symbol on their hitai-ate. Naru smirked and pulled out her kunai and twirled it on her fingers, and she shifted her shoulders.
“Ready?”
“Do it!” Both enemies questioned and replied, yanking the chains and brutally ripping Kakashi to pieces, who fell to the ground. Sakura screamed out in horror as dust rose around their slain teacher.
“Number two,” One purred in Naru’s ear as they appeared behind her. Sasuke pulled out his blade and watched. Naru smiled and turned her head.
“You think so?” She questioned. “You’re both dead. You didn’t kill him,” She said. “You think you can kill an elite jounin so easily?” She kicked away from them and landed next to Sasuke.
“We got-” One began and looked at the lumps to find a broken log in place. “Shit! She’s right! Find the jounin, he’s probably in the trees! I’ll get the bridge builder!” He ordered, the other brother nodded, and shot into the trees.
Metal clanged together in the distance as Kakashi sprang from the branches, and the brother followed.
“Now for you three,” The other said and flung shuriken chain from his gauntlet, Naru swallowed realizing she shouldn’t have said a word, now everything was different and she couldn’t predict their next move!
“Naru, get to Tazuna,” Sasuke ordered and rushed forward with a yell.
His kunai clashed with the gauntlet blades, and the older boy pressed down on Sasuke. “Don’t let the claws touch you! They’re poison!” Naru called.
“What a knowledgeable little girl,” He cooed and shot his other arm up, his fist connected to Sasuke’s stomach, he hunched over the fist and coughed up spit as he crashed into the dirt.
“Sasuke-kun!!” Sakura screamed.
“Shit!” He cursed and stumbled up, gasping for air. Naru ran forward and tried to block the brother, but was knocked back.
“Fire style: fireball jutsu!” Sasuke yelled running through the signs, the ball of fire roared as it tumbled towards the enemy, the flames catching his arm and leg. He cursed and fell to his knees.
“You worthless little brat!” He cursed, Sasuke jumped in the air and flipped, and Naru raced forward to help him. The brother shot up using his burned arm, ignoring the pain, and grabbed Sasuke by his throat. The boy gagged and thrashed in his grip as he squeezed his neck before he spun and flung the boy in the air, sending him crashing into Naru. Both genin cried out in pain as they lay tangled together.
“Get behind me, sir!” Sakura ordered.
Naru pushed up and watched as the enemy reached Sakura, his gauntlet thrusting into her stomach, blood splattering the dirt as she screamed in pain.
“Sakura!!” Kakashi yelled, he flipped from the brother and brought chirping lightning in his hand, grabbing the brother and shoving his hand through his stomach.
“Sakura!” Sasuke coughed and gagged as he pushed up, the brother grabbed her shoulder, pushing his claws deeper before he threw her to the dirt.
“Now you!” He hissed and swiped his claws. Tazuna gasped as the claw sliced through his neck, blood splattering.
Kakashi appeared and thrust a chirping hand of lightning through the brother’s torso, exiting through his back. Kakashi huffed for air and turned as Tazuna fell to his knees holding the wound, his skin pale as his blood stained his front, his eyes rolled up, and he collapsed to the side, the remaining blood making a puddle around him.
“Shit!” He cursed, pushing the man up, and took in the grisly sight; he was too late.
“Oh my god! What?! I- this isn’t supposed to happen!” Naru cried out.
“Sakura,” Sasuke gagged, pushing up and scrambling to the girl who lay to the side. Kakashi rushed forward as Sasuke pulled her into his arms. Her dress was ripped and now stained with the flowing blood, her face pale and bags under her eyes as she took short, rapid gasps of air. “Sakura, hang in there!” Sasuke said, holding her hand. She let out a whimper, and tears began to slip down her cheeks.
“It hurts…” She sobbed, and Sasuke gently hushed her.
Kakashi opened his pack and pulled out gauze, pressing it to the heavily bleeding wound. Naru stood behind them, she shook as tears slipped down her cheek, and she dropped the kunai in her hands. What had she done?
“What do we do?” Sasuke asked.
“We have to get her back to Konoha, let me have her,” Kakashi said and scooped the girl into his arms. “Let’s go,”
“But Tazuna-”
“Is gone, Sakura is alive but barely, we need to get her to the hospital now, move!” He ordered and began to run down the trail. Sasuke followed on his heels. Naru let out shaky breaths as she looked at the three bodies lying in their blood. She messed up, and now Sakura was dying. Would the day reset for her? Was it only when Naru died? Or could Sakura's death reset this, too, and she would understand what Naru was feeling!
Naru turned and ran after her teammates back to the village. As she arrived at the hospital, she found Sasuke, who had Sakura’s blood on his arm warmers and shirt, standing stiffly, looking at the hall doors.
“Where-”
“He took her back there, they were getting her into surgery,” He said and turned to her. “How did you know?” His voice cracked slightly.
“Know?”
“Know about the poison? About Kakashi hiding? About their attack! I saw you pop your kunai holster beforehand, you knew!” His voice broke as he yelled.
“Sasuke I-”
“If you knew something, you could have prevented Sakura from getting hurt!” He barked, and Naru stepped back as he stepped forward. “Why didn’t you move?!” His voice cut out, and he began to cough.
“I didn’t know she’d get hurt! It’s been me! Not Sakura!” Naru sobbed and wrapped her arms around her middle. “It’s supposed to be me! Not Sakura!” She dropped down and buried her face in her knees and sobbed.
The doors swung open, and Kakashi walked out, his vest and pants covered in blood, his hand still caked in the blood of the Demon brothers.
“Well?!” Sasuke asked, turning to him, his anger dropped.
“She’s in surgery, I sent a clone to get her parents, we need to tell the Hokage,” Kakashi said. “Come,”
The three walked to the Hokage tower, asking for an audience. Naru looked as Iruka’s face paled and Hiruzen’s tightened as he waited.
“We were attacked, sir, by the Demon brothers from Kiri. I went to hide and wait, but my trick was exposed too soon, they split up and pulled me from them, Sasuke fought the other, but was outmatched and was thrown into Naru. The other brother got to Sakura, he stabbed her in the stomach and knocked her down before slicing Tazuna’s throat, killing him.” He said. “I used my lightning blade to kill them both, I was too late, I apologize,” He bowed to his leader.
“How was your trick exposed?” He asked, Naru’s breath hitched, and her heartbeat quickened.
“Naru, sir, she saw through my plan and said it outloud,” Kakashi said looking at the girl then to the floor.
“Naru, how did you know?” Hiruzen asked.
“I-I knew because–because… it was an accident, I didn’t- I wasn’t thinking when I said it out loud, I thought-I don’t know what I was thinking.” She said, her shoulders dropped.
“You do know that deception is key for a ninja, had Kakashi not been exposed he could have dispatched them before anyone was hurt,” Naru flinched and began to cry.
“Where is my baby?!” Mebuki yelled rushing into the office, her eyes frantic, her husband followed. “What happened to her!?” She snarled to the jounin who swallowed.
“She was stabbed with poison claws, she’s in the hospital-”
“I knew I shouldn’t have let her be a ninja!”
“Mrs. Haruno, it was my fault…” Naru whispered, she turned her green eyes to her, and sneered.
“You! Of course, it was you! You monster!” She spat. Naru flinched. “If my baby dies because of you!!”
“Enough Mebuki! Let’s go to Sakura-chan!” Kizashi said, pulling his wife back, she sobbed and screamed as he yanked her out of the office.
Naru bent down, sobbing and shaking, and she gasped for air. “Naru,” Hiruzen called. She turned to him and stood up, holding her chin high. He was going to discipline her; she knew it, and she deserved it.
“Your reckless actions not only put your team in jeopardy, but also killed the client and failed the mission. Do you know what happens when this takes place?”
“I’m punished.”
“You are put on leave, you will not have another mission until I deem you fit. You fought for a mission and I had faith you were ready, but perhaps that’s my error of judgement.”
“Yes sir,” She said in a shaky voice.
“You should be sent back to the academy for your reckless actions, and it may still happen. For now, go home, and I will call you here once I’ve decided.” He said. Naru sniffled and nodded. Iruka blinked back tears as she walked out, her head hung low.
“Kakashi…”
“Yes sir,” He said. “Do you believe Naru is at fault?”
“I- she was brash and called out the trick, she’s a child and perhaps not ready to be a ninja just yet,” He said. Hiruzen nodded and let out a sigh.
“Go home, Sasuke, please get your neck checked out,” He said. The boy touched the tender skin and could guess he was bruised if the Hokage was mentioning it. “I’ll keep you posted about Sakura.”
Naru raced through the streets back home and slammed the door shut, and slid down the wood, screaming and bawling. What had she done? She hit her head over and over, snot ran down her nose and into her mouth.
She was a failure! She was nothing but a monster that didn’t deserve to be around the kind people like Sakura. The last thing she did was yell at the girl! The villagers were right, she was a plague; she didn’t deserve to be around them! Sasuke was hurt, Sakura was dying, and Kakashi was ashamed of her. Tazuna was dead! She wanted so badly to change her fate, and in turn made a worse path! There was no changing it-
Naru blinked in shock at that thought, change! Change! That was it! She would change it! But she needed to die, not Sakura, she needed to!
Naru stood up and walked to the bathroom, and looked at her reflection, She had to do this! She had to! Sakura couldn’t die because of her! She shed her jacket, leaving it on the ground at her feet.
Naru pulled out a kunai and held the sharp point to her chest and pressing it through her shirt, and the blade poked her skin. Her hands quaked, and she let out a shaky breath. “Come on, you coward! Do it! Move! You deserve it! Die!” She barked.
She raised the blade and plunged it into her chest, She gasped in pain as blood blossomed on her shirt and began to seep down. She pulled the blade out, letting her blood squirt. She raised it again and stabbed her stomach and gritted her teeth, shaking.
“You’ll be okay, Sakura… I promise!” She said and coughed. Her foot shifted back as her strength began to fade. She whimpered and fell backwards, her head smashed into the tile wall. She slid down and glanced up to see blood smeared on the wall leading to her spot. She was going to die, but she would die saving her friend; she could only pray it would be a do-over dying by her hand and not that of an enemy. She could only hope…
She let out a breath and welcomed death with open arms.

Chapter Text

Move On.

Beep beep beep beep beep be-beep beep beep.

Naru’s eyes snapped open as she heard the beeping, that glorious beeping! She shot up, throwing the blankets off, and looked at the alarm clock. August 20th, 6:00 AM.
She did it! She made it loop! Now, Sakura wasn’t dying! Tazuna wasn’t dead! She wasn’t on leave! Sasuke wasn’t nearly choked! Kakashi wasn’t ashamed! Nothing!
She flinched as the pain in her head throbbed, and she rubbed the spot. Blood stained her fingertips. She looked down the inside of her pajamas and found a healing puncture wound over her chest and stomach that began to steam and slowly heal.

At this rate, she could be a super ninja; no matter the damage, she could heal and be okay! She would live and have a million chances to get things right! She chuckled and got up, happily packing her bag again. She could do this over and over happily if it meant her friends weren’t dying.
She practically skipped to the gates and to her relief Sasuke leaned against the guard post, Sakura stood next to him, Tazuna leaned against the gate nursing his bottle of alcohol, everything was as it should be!

She couldn’t stop herself from hugging Sakura as she greeted her. “Naru! What are you doing!?” Sakura pulled back from her and shook her head. “Why are you hugging me?”

“I’m just happy to see you! Both of you!” She threw her arm around Sasuke’s neck, making him gag and squirm away from the hug.

“Dobe!” he sneered. Naru grinned up at him.

“I think you’ve gone crazy, Naru,” Sakura chuckled.

“Why’s that?” Naru turned to Kakashi and rushed to the man hugging him, he jolted and looked at the two who shrugged. “I’m happy to see you too Naru… but it’s been less than 24 hours,” He said, patting her head.

“A lot can happen in that time!” Naru said. “Are we ready to start the mission?” She asked.

“Duh! I have to admit, this’ll be the first time out and I’m kinda excited to see a different village,” Sakura said.

‘Hopefully we’ll make it…’ Naru thought.

“Am I really supposed to trust these kids to keep me safe?” Tazuna sneered.

“Don’t you worry, sir!” Naru said, beaming at him. “We’ll keep you safe, we’re a top team, and Kaka-sensei is an elite jounin! You won’t die!” She promised. He scoffed in response but began to walk forward with them following.

‘No acting brash! Don’t alert to Kakashi’s trick! Don’t freeze when they appear! Don’t freeze when they go for Sakura! Act with Sasuke- that’s it!’ She thought.

“Sasuke,” She walked closer to the boy, and he gave a small sneer. “What say you and I work together?”

“Together on what?”

“This mission! I think we’d make a great team, your taijutsu and fire style, and quick reflexes. While I’m not the greatest, I can use weapons and I have no fear, but if we work together, no threat can stand against us.”

“You’re a weirdo.” He said. “It's nothing but robberies and highwaymen; we don’t need jutsu for them.”

“Sasuke, listen, I can’t explain how, but I know there are much bigger threats than that, and I don’t want anyone being hurt, so let’s work together. You don’t want someone like Sakura to be hurt; you like her after all.” His cheek tinted, and he glared at her.

“I do not.”

“Sure,” She drawled. “Anyways, I don’t want her hurt, and we can protect her, so let’s vow to do that, just protect our team and client, okay?”

“Okay… I guess.”

“Which ones have ninja villages?” Sakura asked.

“Lands that consist of ninjas are the lands of Fire, Water, Lightning, Wind, and Earth. Each has vast lands, and they are known as the five great shinobi nations.”

“So we don’t have to worry about running into any strong ninja, then huh?” Sakura chirped, Kakashi-sensei chuckled, and ruffled her hair.

“Not likely,” He said and ruffled her hair as she giggled.
Naru looked at Tazuna, who was nervous. ‘Why is he hiding the true nature of this mission? Who’s after him?’
Her eyes shot to the puddle and let out a breath of air, her hand twitched to the kunai holster but she refrained from unsnapping too early. They passed the puddle like before, and right on cue, it began!

Kakashi-sensei’s gasp broke the silence, scraping of metal on metal made them whirl around.
The jounin was bound by shuriken chains held taut by two garbed ninja who wore gas masks over their mouths and a different country symbol on their hitai-ate.
Naru yanked her kunai out and waited as they cut the jounin to pieces. She bit her lip, waiting as they appeared behind her and chuckled. She flipped the blade and rammed it into one brother's side. He cursed in pain as she dropped to the ground. Sasuke launched his shuriken and kunai, catching their chains. He landed on their gauntlet and kicked their jaw. Naru pulled out two kunai and slammed them into their knees. They howled in pain and collapsed in a heap. Naru and Sasuke skidded back and bumped fists as the brothers yanked the kunai from their wounded knees.

“Now we’re really going to kill you brats!” Both brothers ran forward, crossing around the other and splitting up last minute, one heading for Naru while the other headed towards Tazuna.

“Get behind me, sir!” Sakura ordered drawing a blade and skidding in front of Tazuna.

“Get to Sakura!” Naru ordered, Sasuke shot forward, he threw his arms up as he landed in front of Sakura.

Naru turned her sights back to her opponent and drew a blade. ‘Do I let him poison me? I can drain it easily if I do…’

Kakashi appeared in front of her. He knocked the brother out with a hit to the throat and flickered in front of Sasuke, his arm connecting to the brother’s throat and knocking him out as well.

Sakura and Naru sagged in relief, Tazuna let out the breath he was holding, and Sasuke scowled at the jounin.

‘Show off…’

“Hey there,” Kakashi said nonchalantly and looked at them with pride. “You’re proving why I passed you. Keep this up, and you’ll have no issues in the future.”
Kakashi dragged both brothers to a tree and tied them with rope, ensuring their upper arms were bound tightly.

“But, on to serious issues at hand,” He said, clapping his hands. “Mr. Tazuna-”

“Sensei, wait!” Naru cried out. The jounin paused and waited. She swallowed. “Bind their hands!” He cocked his head. “Ya know how the saying goes, ‘An honorable death doesn’t exist. Death is death,’ they could follow that saying and blow themselves up, and we’d be caught in the blast.” Kakashi sighed and made quick work of binding their hands together. He turned their hands and found the easy detonatable tag at their wrist. How had Naru known that? There was no possible way she could have seen the tag in their fight.

“Sensei? Are they tied? Can we move away from them now?” She asked, and he looked at her closely before shaking his head and stepping away from them.

It seemed he had two mysteries on his hands: what Tazuna was hiding and now what Naru was hiding. She was acting strange, and he was going to get to the bottom of it, but for now, his focus was on Tazuna. The man was lying and put his kids in jeopardy, and he was furious!

“Mr. Tazuna…”

“What is it?!” He snarled.

“Our attackers are chunin ninja from Kiri in the land of Water. They are known for their teamwork and determination used on their missions. They rarely fail,” Kakashi said. Naru listened to the jounin this time. “They have been following us since Konoha.”

“How did you know?” The croaked voice of the brother sounded as he came to.

“Hmph, a -”

“A puddle,” Naru said. Kakashi arched his brow in surprise. “It hasn’t rained in weeks, and it’s super sunny out…”

“Exactly, nice observation,” Naru blushed and bit her lip.

“If you knew they were there, why’d you let the kids handle it?” Tazuna asked.

“I could have dispatched them right there, but I would have learned nothing. But, by playing dead, I figured out if they were ninja attacking ninja, or…” He trailed off and looked at Tazuna.

“Or what?”

“You, they were after you.” He said they all turned and looked at the man. Sweat slipped down his face as he stuttered. “When you requested this mission, you said nothing of chunin ninja being after you. You requested protection from robberies and typical ambushes. Had we known this was the level, we would have staffed and charged properly,” Kakashi said in a voice that only echoed anger. “This is now a B-rank mission,” He concluded.

“We’re not trained for this yet, we’re only new genin, we can’t do something like this,” Sakura jumped in, trying in a nicer tone.

“Uh… you see,” He swallowed and tilted his hat. “I had to lie about the mission; the land of Waves is poor, and we couldn’t dream of affording a mission of higher caliber.”

“Why?” Kakashi asked.

“Well, you see,” Tazuna said and scratched his head. “I’m a great bridge builder, and I’ve been around doing such things… so, people always want something from me. My last job was huge! And I got paid a lot, but it was long ago; some people might still think I have the funds.”

“That would be the reason chunin were after you?” Kakashi squinted at the man, and Naru frowned.

‘He’s lying… he started last time to say someone scary was after him… why lie now?’

“The job was in the land of Water, so they must’ve known me from there, maybe an old target?” He chuckled.

“Hm,” Kakashi said. He knew he was lying, but without proof of such, he couldn’t do anything. “Regardless, this is a dangerous mission, a B-rank at minimum. These are children and can’t-”

“Yes, we can!” Naru said. “Sensei, I know these guys were difficult, but we got this! And if it’s just old people looking for money, we can defeat them easily! I say we put it to a vote; the majority says what we do!”

“Naru, it’s not that simple-”

“Continue,” Sasuke said, raising his hand. “I mean, like she said, what could we run into next? More chunin? Robbers? We got this,” He said. “Sakura?” She blushed, looking at Sasuke before nodding.

“Yeah-yes! Yes! Let’s go,” She said.

Kakashi sighed, tipping his head back and groaning. These kids were going to be in for an awakening if they ran into anything else.
“Fine, I guess.”

“Oh, thank you! Thank you! My grandson will be so happy when I return! So will my daughter. Had you left me, I could have been killed on the way, and he’d cry his heart out.”

‘A guilt trip, really?’ They all thought.

The team continued, their guards up and ready for anything and everything. Naru glanced back the way they came. ‘We moved on, no deaths, if I’m careful, maybe it will keep going…’

Kakashi walked next to Tazuna, he glanced back at Naru, who lagged and kept glancing behind them. He slowed his stride to her own. “Naru,” Kakashi said, lowering his voice. “Do I want to know how you knew about the paper bomb?”

“N… Well, I just guessed. I mean, some villages will inflict punishments, right? Maybe instead of facing that possibility, they could try to kill themselves and their targets as a last-ditch effort, ya know?” She smiled.

“Some villages can do that.”

“The leaf does it.”

“How did you know that?”

“I heard stories, ninja that failed missions and were put on leave. Sometimes it became too much for them…right?” She asked. Kakashi blinked and took in a breath.

“Yeah, sometimes,” He said. He straightened and glanced at her head. He noticed the mark on her scalp and the dried blood in her hair. “Were you hurt?” He brushed the spot. She flinched and grabbed the area, and swallowed. “No, uh, I didn’t get a shower this morning, might be from Tora yesterday, ya know?” She smiled, Kakashi nodded, and walked forward. Naru gave a small smile and let out a breath of relief. How could she explain to him that, so far, she had relived this day four times, three of which she died by the Demon brother’s hands and one by her own.

They arrived at the coast a few hours later and looked out at the water and thin mist. “Well, now what?” Sakura asked.

“I arranged for a ride. Thankfully, we made good time,” Tazuna said.

They watched the mist, a figure emerged from it revealing a man in a small motor boat, he had a hard set face as he landed on the sand.
“Tazuna, you’re lucky I was about to head back,” He said. Tazuna nodded.

“Kaji, Thanks for waiting,” He said. The team climbed on the small boat, Tazuna paused to the operator, whispering in his ear before climbing on, he let out a ‘tsk’ as a response and kicked the motor back on and headed to sea.

As they grew closer, he stopped cutting the engine and pulling out a long oar, setting it in place, and began to use it instead, which didn’t escape Kakashi’s attention.
‘We’re in way over our heads…’ He looked at his three kids and sighed. ‘This isn’t going to end well…’
The mist grew thicker and rose high, enshrouding them, and the lack of motor made their arrival invisible. They watched as large pillars appeared in the fog, revealing the makings of a giant bridge.

“Whoa! It’s huge!!” Naru said.

“Shut up!” Kaji snapped. “We can’t be seen or heard, it’s why I cut the motor, if G- if we’re heard… just shut up,” Naru sneered and turned away from him.

“Mr. Tazuna,” Kakashi said low, the man looked at him. “If you lied and it gets one of them killed, you’ll have to fear me,” Kakashi warned. The man gulped and nodded.

The small boat slipped through the bridge tunnels, landing on the other side, which had less fog. They stopped at the dock and climbed off the boat. Kaji watched with a sneer. “I hope you can stick to what you’re doing, Tazuna.”

“What’s that about?” Sakura asked as he sped off with the motor going.

“Um, he knows about the money,” Tazuna lied and swallowed. Kakashi stared at him before moving past.

“Let’s get you home, safe.” He stated. Tazuna nodded, and they went ahead, Tazuna leading the way to his home.

‘If my hunch is correct, the next threat will be jounin, not chunin,’ Kakashi mused to himself. He left his stance relaxed to not worry the kids, but his eye darted all around, waiting for the slightest sign of trouble.

A quiet rustle in the bush made Naru jump, her hands snatched a shuriken out and launched it into the bush making them yelp in surprise and freeze. The wind whistled and nothing else moved, Naru cringed realizing the wind moved the bush.

“YOU LITTLE SHRIMP! YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A HEART ATTACK!!” Tazuna yelled at him.

“Please, don’t play with your weapons like that,” Kakashi said.

“Naru, you can be so stupid!” Sakura said, and Sasuke nodded in agreement.

“I thought I heard someone!” She defended and rubbed her neck.
Kakashi jerked his head to the left, sensing the presence now watching them. Naru noticed and flung a kunai that hit the tree in the bushes. “Naru!!” Sakura snarled and punched her shoulder. Naru grumbled, rubbing the spot.

“I thought someone was there!”

“You’re such a liar!”

“Not uh! Even sensei-” He walked to the bushes and sighed as he saw a white snow rabbit catatonic, the kunai between its white ears. Sakura slipped up and gasped before whirling to Naru.

“You’re such a jerk! You almost hit a rabbit!”

“What?! I didn’t know! I’m so sorry!!” Naru cried out, hugging the animal.

‘It’s a snow rabbit, and a pet at that, using a rabbit as a distraction…’ Kakashi thought. ‘This is it…’

A figure in the trees watched the group and eyed Kakashi. ‘A group of low-level brats, but their leader… the copy ninja, Kakashi Hatake of the sharingan…’ He deduced and sprang from his spot.

“EVERYONE TAKE COVER!!” Kakashi ordered, a large blade spun through the air and slammed into the tree above Naru who let the rabbit hop away, she flipped over and let out a shaky breath as a muscular man jumped on the blade and glared down at them.

“Well, well, if it isn’t Zabuza Momochi, rogue jounin from Kiri. Were the demon brothers with you?” Kakashi asked.

“I’m after the builder, let him go and I may let you live,” Zabuza said.

“NO WAY!” Naru stood up and stepped forward. Kakashi snatched her bag and pulled her back.

“This is my opponent. You three stay back,” He said and dropped his bag. “This one is on a whole other level, and it will be a tough fight.” He pulled his slanted hitai-ate up, revealing his hidden eye that had a vertical scar through it.

“Kakashi of the sharingan, I’m honored.”

“What is the sharingan?” Naru asked.

“Ninjas that have the sharingan have mastered a form of ocular ninjutsu. It enables them to penetrate and see through illusions and to reflect the power of the jutsu back on the caster.” Sasuke said. “But that’s not all.”

“Heh, heh, exactly. There is indeed more. The sharpness of the eye can discern and then duplicate their opponents' greatest skill,” Zabuza said. “When I was an assassin for Kiri, I had a bingo book that had the what’s what of our enemies, and it had quite the write-up about you,” He taunted. “It mentioned your impressive record, the man who copied over a thousand jutsu, Kakashi the copy ninja,” He said.

‘Is Kakashi-sensei really that good?’ Sakura wondered.

Sasuke glared at Kakashi and scowled. ‘The sharingan is only to be present in members of the Uchiha clan. Could he be…’ He wondered.

“Well, enough talk. I’m on a tight schedule here. I’m here to kill the old man.”

“He doesn’t have the money anymore. Why kill him?” Naru asked.

“Money? HA!” Zabuza said. “Was that what you came up with?” He asked. Tazuna gulped and shifted back. “I’ll tell you, he lied to you, too much of a coward to face fate and too much of a coward to tell the truth,” He said. “He has someone who wants his head and hired us to do it,” Zabuza said. “You probably know him, Gato of marine transportation.” Kakashi blinked, recognizing the name, and turned to Tazuna. “Tell them, Tazuna, I’ll allow it.”

“Gato arrived a year ago here. He came under the guise of a business venture, and then the violence began. In no time at all, he took over our entire marine transportation, and we were under his thumb. Gato now has hold of all the transportation, the lifeblood of the island. The only thing he has to fear is what’s already underway, the bridge. If we can connect the bridge to the mainland, he’ll lose his grip on us; we’ll be free.”

“So, since you’re the bridge builder, you’re in his way.” He nodded and bit back a sob.

“And the Demon brothers were hired by Gato, too,” Sasuke said.

“Exactly, I’m sorry I lied,” He said.

“How sweet, but it’s time to move on,” Zabuza said. He pulled his blade from the tree and flickered to the water, and focused.

“Over there!” Sakura called.

“Manji formation now!” Kakashi ordered, and they jumped into the form and drew their kunai out. Zabuza chuckled and focused his chakra.

“Hidden Mist Jutsu,” He said. Mist filled the air, and Zabuza faded from sight. They gasped and glanced around, but couldn’t make out much.

“He’s gone!”

“Eight points.” His chilling voice filled the air, and the team stiffened. “Throat, spine, lungs, liver, subclavian arteries, kidney, heart… which one will be my kill point?!” He taunted, they gasped, sweat slipped down their faces as they stood perfectly still.

Kakashi focused chakra that cleared the area around them. Sasuke gulped a dry lump, and his heart pounded in his chest.
‘I can’t move. If I move, draw his attention in the slightest, he’ll kill me, I… I can’t! I’d rather die than feel this!’

“Sasuke!” Kakashi called, and he blinked at the jounin. “Even if he gets to me, he won’t get to you. I’ll never let my friends die.” He gave a grin that made his eyes shut for a second. Sasuke’s tension released, and he gave a small nod.

“Wanna bet?” Zabuza appeared between the group to their horror. “Now!” He snarled.

Naru moved on her own and threw her blade up, which snapped to the large cleaver in his hands. He scoffed and shifted slightly. Naru threw her body back, throwing Tazuna back himself, the blade catching Naru’s right hip and slicing her open to her shoulder. She screamed as she sailed through the air, her blood arching. ‘Shit! Not again!’ She thought. Everything went dark before she hit the ground.