Chapter 20

Naruto Uzumaki - The Greatest Prodigy

Note :- Hello everyone welcome back to the story. I hope you'll doing good and save in this pandemic.

Thank you for all response I got from you guys was something that kept motivated and that is why I'm here with the new chapter for you guys. So thank you for your messages and reviews I really appreciate that.

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( Now please enjoy the story)

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"Talking" - Normal person

"Thinking" - Normal person

"Talking" - Bijuu/Summons

"Thinking" - Bijuu/Summons

(Disclaimer :- I don't Naruto or any of its characters, this is only for entertainment purposes)

(One Month later)

When he had started his life as a shinobi, the only goal Naruto had in mind was to surpass all the previous Hokages and gain the power to bring peace to this war-torn shinobi world. He didn't want any more children to grow up without the love of parents.

It had been what Hiruzen had taught him from childhood. Itachi and Shisui had dreamed about a world with peace too. A dream that was shared by Jiraya.

But as he grew older, his ideology of peace started conflicting with theirs and he soon realised that his dream was just wishful thinking. As long as there were humans in this world, there would be conflict. That was the reality.

Some would blame the ninja system for that and rightly so, but the shinobi system was not the only cause of war. Even before the concept of shinobi, there was fighting in this world. Though one thing he had to admit was that the ninja system needed reform.

But if history was any indicator, even change would come with bloodshed. It was human nature.

Naruto had also long realised that someone like him could never preach about peace. People only cared for their own family's peace

So long as an individual was happy there would be peace, and anything more than that was just a wishful thinking. At least that's what Jiraiya had said in the very first book he wrote. The book whose hero his parents had gotten his name from.

Naruto turned to the last page of the book and looked at the picture of three young kids. Jiraya had been inspired by these kids. He'd trained them during great war.

Every time Naruto though of their story he became more and more intrigued about their views and their shared dream. But sadly, the war had taken innocent lives again.

A sudden sound of a alarm bell ringing broke him out of his thoughts, and he snapped the book closed. Looking up, he watched his genin team fall on the ground exhausted. Naruto jumped down from the tree he'd been sitting on, and approached them quietly.

"Don't tell me you guys are exhausted from that little session?" he said.

"No big deal taichou, we're just catching our breath," Choji responded, his chest heaving.

"At least tell us for how long we're going to keep on doing these drills?" Ino snorted. "We've mastered everything you've thrown our way."

"For once, I agree with her," said Shikamaru with his eyes narrowed, glaring at Naruto. "This is seriously getting on my nerves."

Naruto sighed. It was extremely troublesome to deal with their childish behaviour all the time. But he would be lying to himself if he said he hadn't grown close to them in the past month. And he had to admit that they had actually exceeded his expectations and had improved gradually from the time he first met them.

They usually spent most of the day together doing training and carrying out D-rank missions around the village, and he understood why they were upset about it. But mission assignments were out of his hands.

"Please Naruto-sensei, can't you request Hokage-sama to assign us a proper mission, pleassse?" Ino pleaded with puppy dog eyes.

"Maybe it was a mistake introducing her to Yugao," Naruto thought. He shook his head and cleared his throat before speaking. "Let's not talk about that, and continue on with our training for now."

"That's not fair," cried Ino. "You promised us."

"Well...yeah I did actually," muttered Naruto quietly while rubbing the back of his head. He had to be careful to not give them false hope. "How about I take you guys out for Ichiraku ramen after the training session?"

"Yeahh...that'll be awesome, taichou!" Choji pumped his fist in excitement.

But just then, a bird flew above them in circles, catching Naruto's attention.

"Huhh...what is that?" asked Choji.

"Don't tell me it's..." Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion. He raised his hand forward and the bird came down to land on his finger. His gaze went to the small scroll attached on its back.

He quickly took the scroll and instantly the bird flew away. Naruto read the small message written on it.

"What's in it?" Shikamaru asked.

"It's your wish come true," he responded. The three genins eyes widened and a large smile broke out on Ino's face.

"Yesss!" she squealed pumping her fist.

"Finally..." Choiji muttered.

"What a drag...but at least we're saved from the training for now."

"You and your team are summoned to the office of the Hokage for an emergency assignment." Naruto read the words again and wondered if his team was ready for whatever this emergency was.

Naruto folded the scroll. "Come on guys, we need to report to the Hokage's office," he said, and set out at a sprint toward the Hokage Tower.

"One more thing," he called over his shoulder. "Don't create a scene in front of the Hokage. Or else?

He left the words linger in the air.

"Hehrheh...of course taichou."

(Hokage Tower)

"I'm glad your squad could respond on such a short notice," said Hiruzen to the squad standing at attention.

"We await your orders Hokage-sama," Naruto said. He could sense the situation was serious from the tone of the Hokage and the expressions of the elders seated next to him.

"Maybe we should assign another squad with team 10, Hokage-sama," stated Koharu. "We don't know the gravity of the threat they will encounter on the mission."

Homura shook his head. "That won't be needed. We already have an elite jonin on the field and Naruto is also highly capable of countering any threat. They will protect the genins."

Naruto looked at his team from the corner of his eye. Their discomfort was rolling off them in waves.

The worst was Choji, and Naruto wondered if his soft nature and habit of holding back during a battle would hinder their mission. He had to be extra careful with Choji.

The Hokage once again caught his attention. "A few hours ago, Team Seven was deployed on a C rank mission to the Land of Waves. But just now we've received a letter from Kakashi asking for backup. Apparently the client has lied about the details of the mission."

"Team seven, that's forehead and Sasuke's team," Ino said, but a look from Naruto was enough to silence her.

"Do we have any sort of details regarding the mission?" asked Naruto.

"Not much, but we learned from Kakashi's letter that the Land of Waves has been taken over by a corrupt businessman named Gato, who's exploiting the island's resources and also threatening the life of the our client, who is trying to build a bridge to connect the island to the mainland."

"I see..." Naruto nodded. He didn't know anything about Gato. But if the guy was able to took control over the whole island he must have powerful resources at his disposal. "Is that all Hokage-sama?"

"One more important thing," said Homura this time. "The construction of the bridge is very important for our trade business with the Land of Waves. You must remain there with Team Seven and provide protection until the completion of bridge.

"Very well," Naruto said and bowed slightly. His team followed suit. "We will take our leave now."

Hiruzen nodded and said with a gentle smile as he looked upon the genins. "This is your first mission outside the village, so be careful out there and follow your captain's lead."

"Hai... Hokage-sama." Said the three genins together before following Naruto outside.

XxxxxxxxxX

"Finally something worthy of ninjas," shouted Ino in excitement. Choji nodded and Shikamaru only grunted.

"Stop shouting in my ears you troublesome woman," he said.

"WHAT did you call me Nara?" Ino glared at him.

"All right that's enough," said Naruto, earning a huff from Ino.

After exiting the Hokage's office they stood on the roof of the Hokage tower. Naruto once again looked at them and said, "Go and gather your supplies and meet me near the main gate in 15 minutes."

"Hai," they said in unison. But before they could move Naruto said, "And Choji, when I said supplies I didn't mean excessive amounts of food."

"Of course, taichou...," responded Choji with a chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders and sighed as he watched them go. "I hope to kami this mission go smoothly."

(After some time)

Team 10 was jumping through the forest at a fast pace, trees blurring past. Naruto led them from the front while Choji was at the back. It was around half an hour since they had left the village.

"How are we going to catch up to them? They'll be miles ahead of us." Ino said. "Why didn't they mention a meeting point while requesting for backup?"

"Their priority is to protect the client for now, they couldn't afford to stay at one place for long," Shikamaru surmised. "They must have proceeded towards the Land of Waves."

"I just hope they're alright. I'm looking forward to meeting Sasuke and Sakura, though. It feels like forever since I've seen them," said Choji as he jumped forward.

Shikamaru nodded. "They must have improved quite a bit. Sasuke was pretty strong back in the academy. I can't say much about Sakura though." He narrowed his eyes in thought before continuing. "And what was the name of that weird kid from their team? I can't remember."

"I don't remember, he just came a week before the team placement," Ino said. "He hardly had any conversation with anyone in the class."

"You guys seem pretty close to members of team seven," Naruto said.

"Well I suppose we are friends. We're from the same class, you know," said Choji.

"Friends...I don't even like that Uchiha guy." Shikamaru groaned in annoyance. "And now that you mention Sakura, I'm already getting a headache."

That earned him a giggle from Ino and Choji. Naruto just shook his head as they sprinted through the trees, before something caught his attention up ahead.

"It looks like someone's coming towards us." He motioned his team to stop when he noticed a squad of Anbu approaching them.

The first thing Naruto noticed when they reached them was two rough ninjas tied up and dragged by one of the Anbu. "Demon brother from the village hidden in the mist," the Anbu said. Just when he was about to respond, Ino beat him to it. "Hey, Yug-..."

Naruto had to place a hand on her mouth to stop her from continuing her sentence. He glared at her and hissed. "We don't use names out on missions, you know the protocol."

"Sorry..." Ino muttered, looking down in shame.

"You must be the backup squad for Kakashi's team." Another Anbu said. Naruto nodded.

Naruto then looked at the tied up ninjas. "Are they the ones who attacked Team Seven?"

"Yes... they admitted working for the businessman named Gato, who hired them to assassinate the bridge builder," the Anbu with long purple hair said.

Naruto nodded before giving a look to his team. "Anyway, we should take our leave now."

"Good luck for your mission," the purple-haired Anbu wished as they started to move. She then patted Ino's head and waved her goodbye. Bringing a smile on her down face.

With that the genin squad continued on their way.

XxxxxxxxxX

The Anbu team was also about to make a move when one of them spoke in a teasing manner. "Senpai...your boyfriend is pretty hot, when are you going to introduce us to him?"

The Anbu with a cat mask snapped her head towards her squad member with an unnoticeable glare behind the mask and responded flatly. "First concentrate on the job at hand fox."

"Of course senpai," The Anbu straightened and put up her hands in defence.

(Some hours later - unknown place)

The sound of blades slicing together could be heard in the area as the battle went on between two skilled shinobi trying to gain the upper hand over each other.

At the side stood three young genins in a triangular formation around an elderly looking man. They wore Leaf headbands on their foreheads as they watched the ongoing battle before them.

"Sasuke-kun...are you alright?" A pink haired kunoichi asked nervously, eyeing her shocked teammate, who hadn't said a word since the battle started.

It was supposed to be a simple escort mission to the Land of Waves, and their journey had started normally with no sign of any danger. But in the ninja world you can't have a sense a security on missions, even for a second.

They were on their way when suddenly they were ambushed by two rough ninjas, but with the quick thinking of her teammates, they were able to defeat them. Upon interrogation they learned the actual nature of their mission.

Their sensei was reluctant to continue the mission at first. But after listening to the client's genuine plea, they decided to help him secure his land from the tyrant businessman.

They were on their way to the client's house when they were again suddenly attacked by a Ninja wielding a sword larger than himself. He had short brown hair but no eyebrows.

He also wore the same Mist nation headband as the demon brothers that they had encountered before. His face was covered in a mask made of bandages and his torso was bare.

"Sasuke...Sasuke-kun?" Sakura pleaded. Her voice finally forced Sasuke out of his shock.

"What?" he asked, eyeing her.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Sakura." Sasuke responded with gritted teeth but kept his gaze fixed on the battle, or more specifically, the now uncovered sharingan eye of his sensei.

"This is not the time for your brooding, dickless," said another member of the squad, earning him a heated glare from both of his teammates. But he just gave them a blank look. "We have to protect Tazuna-san, don't let your guard down."

"You guys just leave and protect Tazuna!" shouted Kakashi as he ducked under the swing of the large blade, which could have chopped off his head. "I'll catch up with you later."

"We are not leaving without you sensei."

"HAHAHHAHAHA...your brats are as stupid as you Hatake," mocked the ninja through the bandages covering his mouth while flipping backwards and gaining a little distance from Kakashi. "Just hand over the old man, and I'll let you leave peacefully with your kids."

"I suppose I have to disappoint you then. The Leaf village doesn't abandon any innocents in their time of need," responded Kakashi.

"Such a pity, I was hoping to settle this quietly, without the need of blood." The rogue ninja shook his head in a move of mock disappointment. "Because of such people, I am called the demon."

"Is the famous Zabuza Momochi really showing remorse? You must be losing your touch," Kakashi said.

"Hahah..." Zabuza laughed. "I hope your blade is as sharp as your tongue, Kakashi."

"Same goes for you."

Just then, thick fog started covering the area, blocking everyone's vision. "Shit..." Kakashi cursed under his breath; he couldn't use his sharingan in the fog.

Taking advantage of the fog, Zabuza disappeared with no trace of his chakra to track.

"KAKASHI SENSEI...I CAN'T SEE ANYTHING." Kakashi heard the panicked scream of Sakura and could also feel the heavy killing intent in the fog, which much be affecting his students.

"Don't worry guys, just stay together," he said calmly in the hope of calming his students while at the same time letting his chakra flow in the environment to give him some sort of idea of his enemy's position. "I won't let any one of you get hurt. So just be calm and stay focused, alright."

"H-hai..."

"I wouldn't so sure, Kakashi." Zabuza appeared behind the genins, bringing down his sword. But Kakashi got there just in time, blocking the strike with the back of his hand. With his other, he stabbed his kunai into Zabuza's abdomen.

"Shit..." He again cursed when instead of blood, water splashed in a burst from Zabuza's body. "Water clone." Kakashi once again tried to sense his enemy's chakra signature in the thick air.

"Come on show me what you can do Sharingan no Kakashi, ahaahhhah. Don't be an embarrassment in front of your students, hahahahah." Zabuza's bloodthirsty voice rang out.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Kakashi shouted out the Jutsu's name as three identical copies of him appeared beside him.

The original Zabuza stood back, his hands going through a series of signs, and shouted. "Water style - water wave jutsu." A large wave rose from the lake to destroy anything in its path.

Kakashi jumped in front of the genins, slamming his hands on the ground. "Earth style - Mud wall." A wall with multiple dog heads carved in the middle of it sprung from the ground, strong enough to withstand the force of the water.

"I can't fight him while protecting the kids," thought Kakashi desperately while breathing heavily, noticing his clone had gotten destroyed in the attack. So had Zabuza's. "Engaging with close combat would be suicidal, but I have no other option left other than that."

Kakashi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He took out a kunai, gripping it tightly with his lone sharingan glaring. "Let's settle this," he declared, vanishing from the site and appearing in front of Zabuza, who blocked his attack with his sword.

"Now we're talking," Zabuza said, blocking with his sword and engaging in a battle of strength to overpower Kakashi. "But still not enough."

They pushed back before again their blades rang together. Kakashi delivered a kick at the same moment. Zabuza blocked with his forearm but the force of Kakashi's attack threw him backwards.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Kakashi dashed forward and swing his blade. But Zabuza blocked it successfully and countered with a round kick to his stomach.

They continued to exchange blow after blow, both evenly matched. "I haven't had this much fun in such long time," Zabuza said, dodging another one of Kakashi's punches.

Kakashi was having some difficulty against the repeated and heavy strike of the sword to his kunai. But thanks to his sharingan he was able to read Zabuza's attacks and match them successfully.

It went on until he found a little opening in his defence. Capitalising on that, Kakashi leaned into Zabuza, slashing his kunai multiple times in quick succession.

Zabuza batted each strike as much as could, but despite his attempts, he received deep cuts on his arms and chest. Roaring in anger, his foot spun from the side, arching downwards towards Kakashi's face in an axe kick.

Kakashi quickly backed away with his head, dodging it by a millimetre, but couldn't block the quick swing by Zabuza, as the sword went through his body.

"KAKASHI SENSEI..." the genins eyes widened in horror as they witnessed their sensei's body cut in half.

But his body suddenly burst into water, shocking everyone. In that moment, Zabuza widened his eyes in shock at the feel of a kunai at his neck. "Don't move," Kakashi whispered, pressing the kunai a little. "It's over."

"You're quite a shinobi Kakashi, I give you that. I underestimated you. But-" His voice had a tone which put Kakashi on edge. Suddenly another Zabuza appeared behind him. "I am no fool."

Kakashi didn't have any time to react or block the kick which was strong enough to send him flying on to a small lake. Thinking quickly, he dropped some spikes on the ground to stop Zabuza's advance.

It gave him some time to catch his breath, as he was panting heavily, but he quickly felt that something was wrong. "W-what's with this water..? It's awfully heavy."

"It's the water prison jutsu," said Zabuza from behind, surprising him. His hand formed a hand sign.

"Damn it..."

"There's no escaping now," Zabuza muttered dangerously to Kakashi, peering down on him as he finished his hand sign and shouted. "Water release - water prison jutsu."

"The water's too heavy..." Kakashi struggled as the water enveloped him. He tried to move his body inside the prison but the water weighed him down more every time he tried to move. Zabuza stood outside the prison of water with a smug grin.

Zabuza formed hand seals with one hand again, and the water in front of him began to clash before it come alive into a solid clone of Zabuza with an identical copy of his sword. The clone began moving towards the now frightened genins.

Seeing this Kakashi gritted his teeth but was unable to do anything. He yelled. "RUN NOW..." His voice was muffled and not very clear from inside the water sphere. "YOU CAN'T BEAT THIS GUY. TAKE TAZUNA AND RUN."

The genins looked scared but were paralyzed, not sure what to do. At this point they couldn't even hear Kakashi anymore. Even the old grey haired Tazuna looked uncertain about the situation.

All of sudden, Sasuke gripped his hand around the kunai tightly and lunged toward the real Zabuza. "NO SASUKE...STOP."

"I'M DONE SITTING BACK." He couldn't even get halfway when Zabuza's clone kicked him in the chest with enough force to send him rocketing back to the ground. His backward trajectory was stopped by their teammate, Sai, who helped him to stand.

"We can't take on this guy by ourselves," he said. "Our only hope is Kakashi."

"Do you have a plan then?" Sasuke gritted out as he wiped the blood from his mouth.

"I do, but for that we need to work side by side."

"Hnn..."

"That sure was...fun..." Zabuza muttered as he appeared behind them and kicked them. But they weren't shocked for long.

"Ninja Art - super beast scroll."

"Fire Style - fire ball jutsu."

They both performed their jutsu in mid air, attacking Zabuza from both sides. He flipped back to dodge Sasuke's fire attack and swung his large sword wildly to destroy the ink tigers that had sprung from Sai's scroll.

"HAHAHAHAHA..." Zabuza laughed madly. "You think you can take me on."

The real Zabuza stood back with a smug look on his face, holding Kakashi trapped. "Your little students are going to die Kakashi...how does it feel to be powerless?"

"Don't count them out just yet, they all are very capable ninjas." Kakashi glared back.

"That Uchiha kid doesn't even have his sharingan activated, while the other two don't seem interesting either. I doubt any of them even know what an actual shinobi is," he said mockingly with his bloodthirsty smile. "Would you mind if I show them, huh...Kakashi?"

But during this time Zabuza failed to notice his clone getting destroyed just as it was about to bring his sword down onto a confused and helpless Sai.

When the real Zabuza noticed, his eyes widened. Suddenly, a figure appeared out of nowhere, delivering a hard kick to his chest. It forced him to drop the jutsu holding Kakashi.

Taking advantage of that, the figure grabbed Kakashi, disappearing and appearing back to his team. Just after that, three figures landed right in front of Team Seven.

Everything moved so fast that Team Seven didn't know what actually was happening. One moment they were down and out against the clone and all of a sudden it was destroyed.

They could only look on in shock at the figures before them. Sakura screamed, "INO-PIG...WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?"

"Don't shout in my ears, woman." An annoyed looking Shikamaru cringed.

"You're still loud as ever, billboard brow," came the smug reply from Ino. "Don't worry though, we're here to save your asses."

"Are you guys alright?" asked Choji.

"So good to see you again Naruto," Kakashi spoke in between his heavy breathing. Naruto dropped him on the ground.

"Save the greetings for later Kakashi, I hope you're still good enough to fight."

"Yeahh..." Kakashi nodded, seeing Zabuza picking himself up. He didn't look happy at all.

Then Naruto glanced back to his team." No matter what, don't leave your positions. Your only objective is to protect the client," he said in a no-nonsense tone. "Understood?"

"Same goes for you also," Kakashi said to his team, mainly Sasuke who was about to reply.

Kakashi returned his attention back to Naruto after receiving a nod from the genins. "I don't have much chakra left. I'm good for only 2 high level jutsu," he whispered for Naruto to hear.

"That's more than enough," Naruto responded. "I just want you to back me up."

"Well...well...well. It must be my lucky day." Zabuza began as he stood back on his feet. His mouth curved into a smile from beneath his mask. "The Devil Naruto Uzumaki."

"Zabuza Momochi..." They both maintained the hard glare, not backing down. "Member of the seven swordsmen of the mist. You sure have fallen low."

"They say you have the eyes of the devil." Zabuza mockingly said, resting the sword on his shoulder, grinning behind his mask. "'The devil and the copy-cat.' Your heads will pay me quite a handsome amount in the bounty market. Believe me, my sword is itching to cut them off from your shoulders."

Naruto remained silent.

"What is that guy talking about?" The genins thought, looking at Naruto's back in confusion. Team Seven looked more curious, not knowing him.

"I actually wanted to meet you. After all you're the man who made the mockery out of that fool of a Mizukage and his dogs."

Naruto and Kakashi both tensed at that, and Kakashi gave a small glance to the kids. This information was not something they needed to hear and he doubted Naruto himself would like to remember that event.

"How about you join me and in return I'll spare your life," Zabuza grinned at Naruto.

"You're not as impressive as I thought you would be," Naruto began with his eyes narrowed. "What? are you scared taking on Kakashi and me at the same time? Looking at you.

"I don't think I even need Kakashi against you." His tone carried arrogance, anger and no respect whatsoever. His eyes stared daggers at Zabuza.

His team looked at him in surprise. This was something they had never seen. In the time spent with him, they knew he could act serious but he was really kind with everyone around him. Never had they seen him act so arrogantly.

But what surprised them even more was that he giving off the aura of someone dangerous, totally different from the Naruto they had gotten to know. A blue colour chakra outlined his body.

"Watch what you say, kid." Zabuza gritted out in anger. "They may be your last words."

Kakashi gave a small nod to Naruto. The very next moment Naruto appeared in front of Zabuza in a flash of lightning and slammed a punch that created a shock wave down on the surface of the lake.

"Fast.." Was all they could thought looking at Naruto.

"ACK..." Zabuza barely blocked the strike just in time, using his sword as a shield. He cursed, looking at Kakashi who had snuck up behind him and landed a devastating kick to his unguarded form.

"GAAH!"

Naruto followed suit with multiple strikes in quick succession.

Zabuza tried to block as best as he could but it wasn't enough. "AAAHHH." He swung his sword in anger. Both Leaf shinobi ducked under it.

"Wow...look at them go," Ino muttered in amazement. "I've never seen anybody fight like that."

"Who is that blonde guy?" Sasuke asked, but it sounded more like a demand to which Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

"Watch your tone Uchiha, that's not how you ask anyone."

"Heyy!" Sakura spoke in her teammate's defence. "Sasuke just asked a question."

"Guys please, we shouldn't argue among each other," Choji said urgently.

They were brought out of their argument by Ino's gasp, her eyes wide in horror. As they followed her line of sight, they saw Naruto getting stabbed with a sword. But then to everyone's surprise, his body dissolved into multiple black crows.

The crows then formed back into a perfect form of Naruto. "W-what's with that guy," Ino stuttered in relief.

Naruto flipped back as Kakashi dodged another dangerous strike and came running towards his side. Once they were together they stood beside each other in difference stances.

"Surrender now Zabuza," Kakashi said. "You can't win this fight."

"Shut up copy cat. Zabuza does not surrender to anyone." With that Zabuza began to form quick hand seals before he shouted., "Water style - water vortex jutsu."

"Water style - water vortex jutsu."

At the same time as Zabuza's wave formed, another identical wave of water rose from the lake and collided against it. Zabuza's eyes widened, seeing Kakashi standing with the same hand seals as him.

"Damn you Hatake," Zabuza cursed. He again started going through different hand seals at a much faster rate than before.

But Kakashi was also going through the same hand seals at the same pace as him. "Damn you Kakashi-"

"Stop copying me." Kakashi said.

Zabuza widened his eyes in shock and gritted his teeth in anger. "What did you –"

"Say you stupid monkey." Kakashi finished, going through the hand seals.

"These are my -"

"Techniques! Water style - water shock wave." Before Zabuza could even compete. Kakashi shouted out the Jutsu's name. A massive wave rose and slammed into Zabuza.

"Rasengan!"

Naruto appeared in front of him with a glowing ball of chakra in his hand, slamming it into Zabuza's stomach. It sent him flying meters back into the forest.

His back collided with a tree, stopping his momentum, and he was already half unconscious. He was bleeding very heavily from multiple wounds, when suddenly a lightning coated kunai slammed into his side.

As the Leaf group come running towards him, he still tried to struggle. "I...will..."

His head hung low when out of nowhere three needles embedded themselves in the side of his neck.

The genins looked in horror as Sakura and Ino turned their heads away. The rest of the group looked shocked. Kakashi and Naruto appeared in front of the kids.

A lone figure stood on a tree branch, a few meters away. His face was covered in a mask, red swirls at the bottom of the mask and three slashes on the forehead area.

"That was a pretty good fight," the masked person said in a melodious voice. He wore a robe resembling a kimono, but underneath it, his sleeves and shirt resembled the design of other Kiri ninjas. He had long hair as well, pinned into a bun at the top of his head. From his appearance, he looked to be a young boy around 13 to 14 years of age.

"Hunter ninja? What business do you have here?" Kakashi asked not letting his guard down.

"I apologise for interfering in your mission. But Zabuza is a rogue ninja of the Mist. I can't let him fall into the hands of other villages." The masked shinobi's voice was soft. "But I thank you for defeating him. I've been tracking him for a while."

Wind picked up around him as they watched him appear beside Zabuza's fallen body. "You'll excuse me if I take care of the body." With that, he disappeared in the wind along with the dead body of Zabuza.

Kakashi let out a tired sigh as he lowered the headband over his left eye. Choji broke the silence. "Wh-what just happened?"

"Don't worry, we are safe now."

"What? You just allowed that guy to take him," Sasuke said.

"He was doing his job Sasuke. Ninja's bodies contain a lot of secrets and to protect that, hunter ninjas are tasked to track down the rogue ninjas and destroy their bodies so the secrets don't fall into the hands of any other village."

"But that guy looked so young," Shikamaru said.

"In the ninja world, age doesn't matter. There are shinobi who are younger then you, yet stronger than me," Kakashi said, glancing at Naruto for a second.

Naruto was lost in his own thoughts as he looked at the spot where the hunter ninja once was. Something wasn't right and he could feel that, but couldn't pin point what exactly.

Everything looked too easy and it didn't add up.

THUD.

"KAKASHI SENSEI..."

A sudden yell broke him out of his thoughts and he looked at Kakashi down on the ground. He quickly went to check on him. "Damn you Kakashi." He cursed his luck.

He looked at the worried faces of the genins and said calmly. "He is alright, he over-used his sharingan." The kids breathed sighs of relief. "But he needs a proper rest to recover."

Naruto looked at the client, who flinched under his gaze. "How far until we reach town?"

"The town is just around 30 minutes walk from here, you guys can rest at my place. We'll reach there quickly."

"Alright then." Naruto nodded then looked at Sasuke and Shikamaru. "You two carry Kakashi to the client's house."

"What?"

"Why me?"

"It's an order!" Naruto stated with a glare while the rest of the group was giggling in the background. He again looked at the elderly man. "Lead the way."

"Ohh...yeahh... come on this way!" The man responded nervously, leading the group of Leaf ninjas as he looked at Naruto. "I know this is your mission but I still thank you for saving my life."

"The mission is not over."

TO BE CONTINUED...

Done, I hope you've liked the chapter, to be honest with you guys this time I had no motivation while writing this chapter because the wave Arc has gotten so boring over the time that it doesn't excite me anymore.

I was confuse, if I should add this Arc or not but then I just decided to go on with it. Now I would to ask you guys if you want Zabuza and Haku to live or die ( choice is your) ;-)

Let me know in the comment box, I'll wait for some days before start working on new chapters. So let me know in the comment box I'll try to finish this Arc in the next chapter.

Also leave your reviews for this chapter also. Or if you want to ask any question or suggestions just contact me.

One more thing for you guys to know that I'm having difficulty writing fighting scenes. So if anybody wants to help me out with that please contact me. Thank you.

Discord link - /kTXhq6g (Join the me there guys,)