Sasuke and I stood, standing beside Tazuna.
Naruto glared at Zabuza before charging at him.
"Naruto!" Kakashi yelled, "NO!"
Sakura screamed, worried for Naruto.
Sasuke and I stood, shocked.
Zabuza's fist collided with Naruto's forehead, I could see the blood as Naruto was knocked back.
Sakura shook her head, "What are you thinking charging at him yourself?! Even Sasuke couldn't get to him! We're only genin! He's a jonin, we can't defeat him! What did you think you'd accomplish with that?!"
Naruto pulled himself up, his headband in his hand. He wasn't attacking, he was trying to get his headband back, I heard Naruto growl, he's angry now, "Hey you, freak with no eyebrows, put this in your Bingo Book, the ninja that will become Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves one day, he never backs down! His name's Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto tied his headband back on.
I felt hope and pride for Naruto. I know I had my doubts about this team but I think I was wrong.
"Alright, Sasuke, listen up! Can you hear me?" Naruto started confidently.
"Yeah, I hear you." Sasuke is intrigued.
"I've got a plan."
"Tsk. So, you're finally thinking of teamwork, huh?"
"Alright, guys," He scanned the three of us, "Let's go wild!"
Zabuza scoffed, "Big shorts for a little man, but do you think you have a chance?"
I smiled and backed Naruto up, "We're stronger than you think, we're team 7 and we have the future Hokage with us."
Naruto shot me a big smile.
"What are you doing?!" Kakashi yelled, "I told you to run." He should know better with the group he got. "This fight was over the moment I got caught! Now take off!"
"We can do this!" Sakura shouted.
"As a team!" I back her up.
"This isn't a mission to show how brave you are!" Kakashi lectured, "It's a mission to protect Tazuna! Now! Do as I said and run!"
We all looked at Tazuna, "Bridge builder?" Naruto asked.
Tazuna was at war with himself. "Well, I guess since you're in this mess because of me, because of my selfish need to live, then, do what you need to do! Fight to save your sensei!!"
Sasuke chuckled, "You hear that?"
Naruto smiled, "Yeah, believe it! You ready?!"
Zabuza chuckled, "You really haven't learned anything, have you? Still playing your little game, pretending to be ninja. When I was your age, this hand had already crushed many opponents."
That was a kick to our confidence.
"Zabuza the Demon." Kakashi was shocked.
"So," Zabuza was amused, "I was in your book too?"
"Long ago," Kakashi explained, "in the Village Hidden in the Mist, also known as Blood Mist Village, to be a ninja there was one final test."
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Zabuza was intrigued, "You know about the graduation exam?"
"What exam?" Naruto asked.
Zabuza chuckled.
Naruto raised his brow, "What's the big deal? We had graduation tests too, you know."
Zabuza continued to laugh, "Did you have to kill the other students to pass?"
My jaw dropped, I could never...
"Imagine," Zabuza explained, "Young ninja like you, eating together, training together. And then come the final exam, it's kill or be killed. You can't stop while your opponent still breathes, he was your friend! Now, it's him or you."
I looked at Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto, I could never imagine hurting them. I could never even think about fighting them seriously.
"Ten years ago," Kakashi spoke, "In the Village Hidden in the Mist, the graduation exam changed. One year before, a dark evil had filled the school with terror."
Sakura and exchanged the same scared looks as Kakashi continued, "Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a ninja, approached the class and took down over a hundred other students."
"It felt so..." Zabuza spoke, "It felt so good!"
We were shocked... Zabuza was that boy.
Before we knew it, Zabuza was in front of Sasuke, he went to hit him but I pushed Sasuke away, he elbowed me in the stomach, knocking me back.
When I landed, he elbowed me again and I could taste blood. I heard Sakura and Sasuke shout my name.
Zabuza dug his foot into my stomach, it hurt... the pain vibrated through me.
Zabuza chuckled as he looked down at me, "You're nothing." He grabbed his sword and lifted it.
"Get off of her!" I heard Sasuke shout and I saw him slash a kunai, making Zabuza jump back.
Sasuke grabbed me and set me down beside Sakura.
Zabuza made a move toward us, "Stop right there!" Naruto shouted as he made a hand sign, "Shadow clone jutsu!"
Naruto's began to appear all around us. I was amazed, Naruto can make so many. I'm lucky if I get two.
All of the Naruto's went in for the attack, surrounding Zabuza but he knocked them away. As Naruto slid back he dug through his bag, "I'm not giving up, I've still got this!"
He threw a Demon Wind shuriken Sasuke's way. I've seen Sasuke use that in training. He's good with it.
Sasuke stood with it, "Demon Wind shuriken, windmill of shadow!"
Zabuza shook his head, "A shuriken, you'll never touch me with that."
I wouldn't be so sure, that's no ordinary shuriken.
Sasuke jumped up and threw it. It went right passed the clone and straight into Zabuza's hand, he caught it.
But as he held it, the second one appeared from the first shadow. With both of his hands occupied, he can't catch the second one.
He jumped, dodging it.
I noticed a smirk on Sasuke's face... he anticipated this... he planned for it.
The shuriken turned into... Naruto?!
"Eat this!" Naruto shouted as he threw a kunai at Zabuza.
I wanted to clap, Naruto and Sasuke, despite their differences, are a great team.
Zabuza drew his hand from Kakashi's prison to dodge the kunai, but it didn't really work. The kunai nicked his cheek.
Zabuza turned to Naruto, prepared to throw the demon wind shuriken, "I'll destroy you!"
He went to hit but Kakashi blocked it with his arm, he's free from the water prison! And he looks mad!
Sakura began to cheer for Kakashi.
Naruto came up from the water, looking pretty pleased with himself.
"Naruto," Kakashi spoke, "That was an excellent plan, you've really grown, haven't you?"
Naruto laughed, "I knew I couldn't beat him with my shadow clones! That was just to distract him! While he fought the clones, I turned into the demon wind. He didn't know what to do! Believe it!
"I used a clone to turn into a shuriken. And when I threw it to Sasuke, he knew in a second, it was me. So, he spun around so no one would see him grab his own shuriken. So, there was two! One was real and one was me! I hid in the shadow of the real shuriken and my target was the real Zabuza.
"Of course, I knew I couldn't fight Zabuza on my own. That wasn't the game plan. I just wanted to get in there and break up his water prison! I didn't know his clone would be wrecked too! That was a bonus!"
Sasuke shook his head, "Don't brag, you just lucked out!"
"The whole thing was a fluke," Tazuna yelled.
I put a hand on Sasuke's arm, "Call it whatever you want, but your guys' teamwork was flawless. And it worked."
Sasuke rolled his eyes.
Zabuza growled, "I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison jutsu.
Kakashi shook his head, "Don't flatter yourself, you weren't distracted, you were forced to let go."
The tension grew as thick as the mist.
"Your technique worked on me once, but it won't work again," Kakashi warned, "So, what's it gonna be?"
Sasuke looked to me then to Sakura, "Riku, Sakura, you know what to do."
We both nodded and stepped closer to Tazuna, protect the client.
We, as shinobi of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, will protect Tazuna.
