The Turning Point

The Rouge Ninja: Zabuza Momochi

"WHAT? KAKASHI-SENSEI YOU CAN'T EXPECT A GREAT NINJA LIKE ME TO BOARD A BROKEN DOWN BOAT LIKE THAT!"

"Naruto this is the only boat available to take us across. It's a short trip so just put up with it"

"What the hell were you expecting Dobe? A cruise ship?"

"You know for a Hokage wanna be you're very full of yourself"

"GAHH! SHUT UP OLD MAN!"

Sakura sighed; once again Naruto was causing a fight to break out between the male members of her squad and the bridge builder. Standing at the very edge of the pier she could barely see a few meters in front of her, a fog had descended upon the water making navigation next to impossible. The boat they were to travel in looked as though it could fall to pieces at any second.

"DON'T TELL ME TO SHUT UP YOU RUNT!"

"STOP CALLING ME THAT! YOU'RE LUCKY SENSEI MADE ME PROMISE NOT TO DEMOLISH YOU!"

"OH YEAH LIKE YOU COULD LAY A SCRATCH ON ME. THE ONE WITH THE ATTITUDE STANDS A BETTER CHANCE THAN YOU!"

"ARGGHHH! WILL EVERYONE STOP COMPARING ME TO SASUKE! HE'S NOT EVEN THAT GREAT!"

As Naruto continued to get more worked up he began flailing his fists around trying to get close enough to hit Tazuna. Unfortunately it was not he who was on the receiving end.

"Oh no Sakura-chan watch out!" Naruto yelled in warning but it was too late. His fist connected with Sakura's shoulder causing her to topple forward. Desperately groping the air the blonde boy tried to stop his pink haired teammate from falling in.

A huge splash, some mumbled curse words and two seconds later Naruto emerged coughing and spluttering. Sasuke smirked at Naruto, he had seized Sakura's wrist a second before she fell and pushed Naruto into the water for good measure.

"SASUKE-TEME!" Naruto yelled, shaking the water out of his hair.

Kakashi sighed and reached into the water to help his student out. Sakura looked at the raven haired boy and smiled "Thank you for not letting me fall. You can let go of my wrist now" she said quietly.

Slightly embarrassed Sasuke snatched his hand away.

"Whatever, just stop getting yourself into trouble" Sasuke muttered. Sakura's grateful smile was replaced with a hurt look which quickly turned into a fiery anger.

"CHA! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? UCHIHA FRICKEN SASUKE OR NOT WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS LECTURING US! IT WAS NARUTO'S STUPID FAULT WE ALMOST FELL ANYWAY!" Inner Sakura roared.

"Are you getting me to the Land of Waves anytime this year?" Tazuna asked impatiently watching while Kakashi heaved Naruto onto land.

Stuffing his hands in his pockets Sasuke glared at the ground and walked off in the direction of the boat followed by a dripping wet Naruto and a steaming mad Sakura.

"I guess that means yes" Kakashi said in an upbeat voice following his students. Tazuna silently questioned the sanity of the silver haired man.

As Sakura predicted the fog was thick and visibility was next to nothing as the boat moved out onto the open ocean. The motor was cut off and one of the villagers steered the boat with a stick making the trip twice as slow. Naruto position himself up the front of the small boat and kept a look out. Sakura fixed the bottom of the boat with an intense glare and Sasuke tried his best to ignore everyone.

"The bridge isn't far now, our destination is just ahead, the Land of Waves" Tazuna said.

Peering through the fog Sakura could make out a huge construction site and presumed that to be the location of the bridge.