Team 7 was in the Hokage's office, about to receive a mission.

However, the Hokage spoke before Kakashi could make the request. "Kakashi, do you think your team could handle a C-Rank mission?"

Kakashi grew serious immediately. "Sasuke could give most chuunin a run for their money, and will be even stronger when he masters his lightning affinity, which he has recently started working on. The others are stronger yet, and their teamwork is certainly up to par."

"Very well. Be careful though, this C-Rank might be more than meets the eye..." Then he spoke to the chuunin on duty, Iruka. "Bring in Tazuna."

A tall, glasses-wearing grey-haired man carrying a flask which reeked of sake entered.

"I am the master bridge builder, Tazuna. I expect you all to protect me with your life." Then, he looked team seven over. "What's this? These super brats are going to be protecting me? They all seem super weak, especially the princess."

Tsuna's eyebrows started twitching.

Kakashi assured him that as a Jounin, he would be more than enough to protect the man from any bandits and ruffians.

They set off the same afternoon.

"Kakashi." Said Tsuna. "Wave has no ninja villages, right?"

"Yes, that is correct." Was the answer. 'No "sensei" again. None of the three calls me sensei - I get no respect, I tell you!'

"So there isn't much of a possibility for ninja combat, is there?" Asked Naruto.

"That is correct." Answered Kakashi, though he didn't seem completely convinced himself.

Naruto didn't blame him, especially considering the way Tazuna twitched at the mention of ninja combat.

He saw that Sasuke noticed as well, but Tsuna didn't seem to have.

But considering Tsuna was a Kage-level kunoichi, it was more likely that she had noticed but was subtle enough to hide the realization.

'Kakashi must have noticed as well...'

After some time, the team passed next to a puddle.

'It hasn't rained in a while... Hiding in Water jutsu?'

Naruto substituted himself with a clone and made sure that it was next to Tazuna, to be ready to use Shunshin to escape.

He would have preferred to use Hiraishin, but he didn't want to reveal himself yet, so Shunshin it was.

His Shunshin would be too fast for anyone but a Kage and a doujutsu user to even follow anyway. It wasn't a space-time jutsu, but it would do.

Naruto also placed a Triple False Surroundings genjutsu so that it seemed like they had never left.

Two figures emerged from the puddle, attacked, wrapped Kakashi in chains and ripped him apart - Naruto wasn't worried though, nor fooled.

By the time they "killed" him, Naruto had thrown a few kunai, pinning the chains to a tree.

The missing-nins disconnected the chain and one charged Naruto, while the other bypassed him and went for "Tazuna".

Tsuna got in front of Naruto and punched the one charging him, snapping his spine with a horrifying sound.

Sasuke knocked the other unconscious with the handle of a kunai, taking advantage of his distraction over the death of his partner.

Then Kakashi appeared, not a hair out of place. "Where is the real Tazuna-san? He has some explaining to do."

Kakashi's genjutsu detecting had gotten impressive. Though Naruto doubted he had detected the second and third layer; the first was deliberately not given much attention.

Immediately after, Naruto's clone returned, Tazuna in tow.

After some coaxing, Tazuna explained the situation in Wave, including Gatou the shipping magnate being after him and the importance of his bridge.

Kakashi didn't even bother asking his students whether they wanted to continue the mission, he just looked at them and they nodded.

"Now that this is resolved..." Kakashi turned to Tsuna. "What was with that punch? I refrained from asking you when you hit me with it, but now you killed in cold blood. Was it really your first kill?"

Tsuna smirked. "I might as well tell you. Do you know what the Fountain of Youth jutsu is?"

Kakashi looked thoughtful. "I know that it was a project of Minato-sensei's, but I don't know what exactly it was about."

"Yes, it was a project of the Yondaime. What it did was... turn a person into a newborn version of themselves."

"So you were an adult kunoichi...?"

"The best." Tsuna smiled and released her Henge.

Kakashi was staring open-mouthed.

Naruto would treasure this moment forever.

Even when Kakashi was a child, Naruto hadn't seen such an expression in his face.

It made him wonder what his reaction would be when he found out who his other student was.

Naruto had actually expected that Kakashi would confront him as well, but the shock from Tsuna's revelations might have made him forget about Naruto.

Team seven and Tazuna entered a boat which would take them to the island.

Tazuna went into details over the situation in Wave and described his daughter and grandson.

All too soon, they arrived and disembarked.

Naruto was on his toes; it was very likely that they would have Jounin after the bridge builder's head now.

Wait. What was that?

Naruto threw a couple of kunai.

A rabbit?

A white rabbit, this time of the year?

Naruto pulled off a quick Kawarimi.

"Get down!" Shouted Kakashi.

Sasuke obeyed, while Tsuna had already dodged, taking Tazuna with her.

Naruto seemed to be sliced through.

The sword that did the job was embedded in the trunk of a tree.

A man in his mid-twenties landed on said sword and laughed. "So they sent the Copy Ninja Kakashi? And some brats." He looked at Naruto's corpse disdainfully... only to discover a log in its place, which caused him to growl.

Naruto's ninja insticts warned him of an incoming attack, and he used Kawarimi again.

A bolt of lightning pierced the rock he had substituted with.

Naruto had recognized the first man as Momochi Zabuza. An elite Jounin.

And this was... oh crap.

Male in his early twenties with chin-length silver hair, dark violet eyes and pointed teeth.

Houzuki Mangetsu, said to be the most talented swordsman of the Mist in several generations, holding the Kiba (Fangs) in his hands.

While Zabuza was an elite A-Class missing-nin, Mangetsu was easily S-Class.

Kakashi told his students to back off, but Tsuna reminded him of who she was and went on to face Mangetsu.

Before Kakashi could attack anyone, he was accosted by two teenage shinobi.

One of them was in his early teens and had white hair and violet eyes while the other was slightly older, had short blue hair and black bespectacled eyes.

The younger of the pair introduced himself as Houzuki Suigetsu and the other said he was Chojuro.

Sasuke pulled aside to fight a boy in a hunter-nin mask, and a clone of Naruto's took Tazuna away once again, this time casting a Quadruple False Surroundings.

Everyone else had picked an opponent, which left Naruto with Zabuza.

"Heh... this will be a piece of cake."

So Zabuza was still underestimating him. Good.

Naruto threw a few kunai at Zabuza, multiplying them with Shuriken Kage Bunshin.

Zabuza had created five Water Clones, all of which swung their swords to block the incoming kunai.

The clones engaged Naruto close up, but he punched them all to submission.

With Kakashi

Kakashi's opponents were talented, but individually not experienced enough to be a match for him.

Together however, they were just good enough to avoid being overwhelmed thanks to their impeccable teamwork.

"Hiramekarei Unleashing!" Shouted Chojuro, turning his sword into a giant hammer.

He then swung it towards Kakashi.

Kakashi substituted himself with a log.

Both of his opponents searched for him.

Suddenly a pair of hands shot out of the ground, grabbing Suigetsu.

"Chojuro!"

"On it!" Chojuro swung his weapon again.

Kakashi used Suigetsu as a shield; but he promptly turned into water.

'Of course, he is a Houzuki. How foolish of me.'

Kakashi quickly sank into the ground again, but didn't escape completely unscathed.

"I really should take you guys seriously." Said Kakashi after emerging again, breathing heavily. "Sharingan!" He shouted revealing his left eye.

He would finish them as soon as he could, then help Naruto; Kakashi just hoped that Naruto would hold Zabuza off long enough.

With Tsuna

Tsuna's opponent was extremely fast, making it hard for her underdeveloped body to keep up with.

"Raiton no Yoroi (Lightning Release Armor)."

Mangetsu unleashed lightning from both his swords towards her, and she dodged instictively.

She needn't have bothered though, she knew that such low-level lightning techniques wouldn't be enough to affect her through the Armor.

'Behind me!' Tsuna jumped just in time to avoid being skewered.

The first Mangetsu decided to take advantage of her being in mid-air and tried to zap her.

It had no effect whatsoever.

But the second one charged her and slashed at her.

Tsuna made a Water Clone, which pushed her away and toward the ground.

She got close to the first Mangetsu, temporarily deactivated Raiton no Yoroi and punched the ground, creating a crater.

Mangetsu lost his balance but managed to stabilize himself quickly, digging his swords into the earth.

Then he used a similar tactic to Tsuna's and channeled lightning through the Kiba, creating a crater of his own, keeping Tsuna from attacking him and making a makeshift smokescreen.

Tsuna remembered that there was another Mangetsu and ducked, a blade passing where her chest had been moments prior.

She punched his leg... and he went up in smoke.

So he was a Shadow Clone.

She couldn't see the remaining Mangetsu anywhere.

On the water!

"Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall technique)."

He unsheathed one of the Kiba and charged the water technique with electricity.

Tsuna ran with lightning-enhanced speed to evade.

But the mass of water split into two parts, one of which she was nailed with.

She was thrown away with great force, though far less than it would have been had it not split up.

She was also slightly electrified, since the lightning traveled with much more ease in water.

Tsuna hit a tree and cracked its trunk.

Her back hurt, but she toughed it out.

It was fortunate that she had her Armor to protect her.

Mangetsu charged her and engaged her up close.

He slashed at her and she dodged, again and again.

He was getting ever closer to hitting her.

She retreated as quickly as she could, and Mangetsu pursued.

They ended up fighting on the water.

Tsuna was worried that he would trap her in a Water Prison, but that didn't appear to be his strategy.

Perhaps he wanted to tire her out by way of water walking - he must have realized that she was a control type, that she had way less Chakra than him.

She tried to get away from the water, but Mangetsu created three Water Clones between her and land seallessly.

She was starting to get tired because of her Armor and walking on water.

It was fortunate that her version of the Raiton no Yoroi was infinitely more efficient than A's, otherwise she'd already be dead of Chakra exhaustion.

Tsuna got rid of the clones quickly, but Mangetsu had created three more.

It would be a battle of attrition, which she normally would lose.

Tsuna was becoming more certain as time passed that she would have to use her seal.

With Sasuke

Sasuke's opponent tried to get him to give up, but he wouldn't; so the boy would fight him for the sake of "Zabuza-san".

Sasuke attacked the masked boy, who had identified himself as Haku, a kunai in hand.

Haku was almost as fast as Sasuke.

He sent a few Water Clones, which were promptly destroyed.

Haku was able to parry Sasuke's hits every time with his senbon; then he blocked with one hand.

Sasuke pushed, thinking that he could break the senbon if he tried hard enough.

"I have two advantages here." Said Haku calmly. "The water my clones left; and that you cannot use ninjutsu as you are. I, however..."

'What? One-handed seals?'

'Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou (Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death).'

'Think quickly!' Sasuke thought to himself. 'Got it!'

He used what he had learned from the tree climbing and water walking exercise and did what he would do to crack the trunk of a tree.

This allowed him to jump further and more quickly, thus evading all needles.

Haku was looking for Sasuke, when a salvo of shuriken came at him. He evaded them all, but Sasuke was behind him, with a kunai in each hand this time.

Haku moved away, with Sasuke in pursuit.

Sasuke slashed at him with one kunai, then threw the other almost point-blank.

Haku managed to duck under it, but he was left wide open, and Sasuke kicked him hard.

Haku slided on the ground, then got up.

"Impressive. But can you deal with this?" 'I didn't expect I would have to go this far so quickly. He is quite a bit faster than me.'

'Hijutsu: Makyou Hyoushou (Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals).'

With Naruto again

After Zabuza's Water Clones stopped Naruto's multiplied kunai and Naruto crushed them all with his fists, Zabuza was more wary of him.

He stepped onto the water and started going through hand seals.

Naruto used Shunshin to reach Zabuza's gut and slammed a Rasengan into it.

Then he jumped away before he could do fatal damage, avoiding a few globs of lava.

A red-haired woman took Zabuza away with her own Shunshin after leaving Naruto with a few parting words ("It's a pity you are so young. I'm sure you'll grow up to be gorgeous...").

Naruto didn't follow her, he wanted to make sure everyone was all right. He would check on Tsuna first.

He soon remembered that he could use the Shadow Clone and cursed.

He could have had a clone follow the red-haired woman! Oh well, too late for that now.

He made four Shadow Clones, two for Sasuke and two for Kakashi, and went to find Tsuna himself.

With Sasuke

After the other boy entered those blasted mirrors, Sasuke had been clearly outmatched.

He was bloodied and knocked down by the first attack but as time went on, he could see more clearly and avoided increasingly more of Haku's senbon.

However, he also got tired as time went on, and his only saving grace was that the other was also getting tired. In addition to that, his fireball could do nothing against the ice.

His Chakra was also being drained, and since he could see far better, he thought he might have activated the Sharingan.

It was fortunate that he had high Chakra reserves, but his physical stamina might fail him more quickly than his Chakra reserves.

Sasuke vowed to work on his stamina really hard when he had the chance - it would make a difference in Chakra reserves too, since the Uchiha had high spiritual energy always (and Sasuke suspected he, specifically, was better than even his parents and that man in that regard).

Haku started attacking from his left side mainly and, to Sasuke's horror, the senbon that got through increased again.

He wouldn't last a minute at this rate.

With Naruto's first two Shadow Clones

Both clones arrived outside the icy dome... and promptly used Doton: Rasengan (Earth Release: Spiraling Sphere) on the outside of one mirror (on opposing sides) each.

After a few seconds the mirrors started cracking... and finally shattered - then were reformed.

Both Narutos thought the same for a moment; what should they do?

Naruto could definitely outlast his opponent's Chakra reserves, but it went against every principle of his to waste the Chakra for more Doton: Rasengan.

Both Narutos reached the same conclusion, quickly moved away from the mirrors and drew two seals each that would vaporize whatever water or ice they touched.

They finished extremely quickly, and applied every seal on the outside of one mirror.

After the four mirrors evaporated, the rest shattered -the boy must have run out of Chakra- and the clones wasted no time and attacked Haku immediately, knocking him unconscious.

They should have made those seals to begin with.

Before they had the chance to apply a Hiraishin seal or other seals on him, two clones of the same woman they had encountered earlier struck.

One put a kunai in front of an exhausted Sasuke's throat and the other grabbed Haku.

This time, he really couldn't follow.

The kunoichi relaxed when her other clone had gone far out of reach and let Sasuke go, collapsing into lava.

Fortunately, it seemed like she hadn't deemed Sasuke a significant threat; otherwise she'd have slit his throat.

...Naruto examined the rapidly cooling lava - she must have a bloodline; interesting.

With Naruto's second team of clones

Naruto's Kage Bunshin reached Kakashi, only to find him alone.

Kakashi explained that a redheaded kunoichi and a clone -or two clones of hers- took his opponents away as soon as he revealed his Sharingan.

With the original Naruto

Naruto went to where Tsuna was fighting to find her with her Yin seal released, fighting Mangetsu to a standstill.

Naruto tried to sneak behind Mangetsu but was detected at the last moment.

Not before he managed to slice into Mangetsu's shoulder with his kunai, though.

When Mangetsu saw that he was outmatched, he activated a smoke bomb and left.

"I could have beat him on my own, you know, (huff) Naruto."

"And let you waste your precious youth?" Then it hit him how much like Gai-sensei he sounded. "I mean, vitality? If you had to heal yourself using Souzou Saisei (Creation Rebirth), you would shorten this second lifespan of yours, neesama." Naruto grinned.

"How do you know about Souzou Saisei?" Asked Tsuna suspiciously.

Tazuna's home

Naruto and the others settled down in Tazuna's home after meeting his daughter Tsunami and his grandson Inari.

Naruto looked at Tsunami appreciatively - over twelve years since he had last been with a woman had passed, after all.

After dinner, Kakashi pulled him aside.

Naruto had been expecting this.

"Naruto, how did you survive so long against Zabuza? He was not an opponent someone of your caliber has a chance against."

"I guess it's time for you to find out, then." Naruto replied.

"Find out what?"

"I took advantage of that jutsu -my jutsu- like Tsunade-sama did."

"Your jutsu... Minato-sensei!" Kakashi was astonished.

"Indeed." Naruto showed off a Raiton: Rasengan. "But I'd appreciate it if you called me Naruto, Kakashi."

"Of course, sensei... I mean Naruto."

"And please pretend that you taught me Rasengan, should I show it in public."

Kakashi nodded, still dazed.

Then Naruto changed the topic. "They will be back, those missing-nin. Though after seeing firsthand how strong we are, they probably will wait until they are all at full health."

Kakashi agreed with Naruto's assessment.

Naruto continued. "I wounded Zabuza in the abdomen with a full-sized Rasengan and a momentum increase from using my modified Shunshin. So, it should take him about forty to forty-five days to fully recuperate without a full-fledged medic-nin." Naruto looked at Kakashi. "You should use that time to train Sasuke. He has the Sharingan now, but not the speed or stamina to take full advantage of it."

"Naruto, you don't have to tell me. I'm the leader of the team for a reason, aren't I?"

"Well, forgive me for not trusting your leadership." Jabbed Naruto.

Kakashi winced, remembering what happened the last time he led his team in his teacher's place.

An uncomfortable silence came over them.

Author's note: So this is Wave, with a lot more powerful ninjas thrown in for good measure.

I just couldn't see this team seven having the slightest trouble otherwise.
The Shunshin Naruto refers to is modified for use in combat, though it takes extreme reflexes to use well, or great reflexes and Sharingan (like with Shisui) or Kyuubi Mode, like canon Naruto.

Why Sasuke's stamina was running out faster than his Chakra: the way I imagine it, Spiritual and Physical energy have a multiplier each, different for each ninja; so it's not just intelligence/resolve and stamina that they depend on.

So the Uchiha have high spiritual energy because of a high multiplier; since intelligence and resolve aren't exactly hereditary, only another factor could be at fault.