Naruto: Dreaming of Sunshine

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is ~ German Proverb.

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Tazuna had a boat waiting at the coast to ferry us across to the islands that made up the Land of Waves. It was an old paddle boat and given what Tazuna had told us about the Shipping Company, I assumed this was an 'illegal' trip out.

The fact that the point we left from was covered in fog so thick you could barely see a foot in front of your face only highlighted that feeling.

"The bridge is just ahead. It isn't far now," the boatman murmured, voice barely carrying to where I sat at the front of the boat. We sliced easily through the calm waters.

"Whoa! It's huge!" Naruto said, as the bridge loomed out of the fog. From this close, it really was impressive.

I flinched. "Shh!"

"Ooops, sorry," Naruto whispered, voice hushed.

We sailed under one of the bridges that connected the smaller islands. They had large archways, clearly designed to let boats pass through. It even had a strip of lights on the ceiling. On the other side, it was almost like a different world. The fog was gone, and the sun was shinning. I blinked a bit at sudden brightness, looking around. We were in a shallow bay, surrounded by houses the edged right out over the water. There were even trees growing in the water (mangroves? There weren't that many species of tree that would tolerate salt water). I assumed we were at high tide, or close to it at the moment.

The boat parked (docked?) next to one of the houses, allowing us to disembark. There was a walkway that extended from house to house, like a veranda, that was probably used as a dock. There didn't seem to be anyone around, or even any boats moored to the posts. It was a little eerie. Maybe they were all out?

This wasn't, apparently, the town where Tazuna lived, just the safest one for us to disembark at. We still had a fair distance to walk.

And I knew it wouldn't be long now. For all that I didn't trust my 'future knowledge', I was pretty damn sure that we'd run into Zabuza. There was no way anything I could have done would have affected that, not if everything else had happened.

We walked on, the docks giving way to housing giving way to forest. I was twitchy, constantly scanning the forest with both eyes and chakra. They boys were keeping a look out and the fact that Kakashi-sensei wasn't saying anything meant that he was worried too.

Then, suddenly, they were there. Chakra in the trees that was huge and intimidating and I knew without a doubt that we Genin could not match it. We were outclassed, a thousand times over. How could no one else feel that?

"Sensei?" I whispered, apprehensively.

"Get down!"

Something huge and metal arched out of the trees, whistling through the air. I snagged Tazuna in my shadow and hurled us both to the ground, even as Naruto and Sasuke mirrored me.

It crashed into the tree, biting deep into the wood. Then, with a blur of movement almost too fast to follow, there was a man standing on it.

Zabuza Momochi.

He chuckled, the sound echoing menacingly. Intimidation tactics, part of my mind recognised dimly. That didn't stop it from working. It would have been a ridiculous opening if it hadn't been quite so terrifying.

"Well, well," Kakashi-sensei said casually, sounding neither surprised nor worried. His blasé attitude was strangely calming. "If it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rouge ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." The extra dialogue was probably for our benefit, since I didn't expect Naruto or Sasuke to recognise him. They hadn't even recognised Kakashi.

Sasuke looked like it was beginning to dawn on him just how much trouble we were in. His muscles were tensed and ready to spring into action, and his jaw was clenched shut. Naruto, on the other hand, looked like he was eager to attack. I caught his eye and signed, very slowly, primary mission objective.

Protect Tazuna. It was a reminder he needed. He looked torn, but didn't leap forward. I counted that as a win. Naruto had handled himself well in the first ambush and didn't feel the overpowering urge to prove himself, but he was probably over confident because of it. Overconfident and ignorant.

Not really a good combination.

The three of us slid into a triangle formation around Tazuna. I took the side facing the chakra signature that I assumed was Haku. If he decided to attack, I was the only one who knew he was there. Not so happily, that put me with my back to Zabuza. I could still sense him but turning your back on someone like that seemed so dumb I couldn't believe I was doing it.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan," Zabuza said in turn, voice husky and darkly amused. "Did I get that right? It's a shame, but you'll have to hand over the old man."

For pre battle banter, everything was remarkably civil. You didn't need to be cruel to get things done.

"Unfortunately, I can't do that," Sensei replied. "Team, protect Tazuna and don't interfere. This guy is out of your league." His voice was heavy and serious.

I couldn't see, but by the sharp stillness of the group, I assumed Kakashi had just lifted his headband.

"The Sharingan. So I get to see it in action," Zabuza said. "This is an honour."

I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or truly meant it. I think he did, in a warped way. Maybe in a 'you're taking me seriously right from the start' way.

"What the hell?" Naruto shouted. "What's this Sharingan stuff?"

"Sharingan is a Bloodlimit. It's a dojutsu, a visual jutsu that resides in the eyes," Sasuke explained to him, voice low. "It allows the user to see and comprehend any gen, nin or taijutsu used against it and reflect it back against the attacker."

It could also predict attacks and cast genjutsu, I knew but didn't say. Now really wasn't the time for lessons on Bloodlimits.

"There's more to it than that," Zabuza added, "it can analyse an opponents techniques, then copy it to the smallest detail. In the Assassination Unit of the Hidden Mist we had a standing order to destroy you on sight, Kakashi Hatake."

The closest analogue Konoha had to the Assassination Unit would have been ANBU and that really wasn't the same because they had other functions. Konoha got no where near the volume of assassination missions that Mist did. Probably no where near the volume that other villages did either. Our PR as the 'nice' village probably saw to that.

"Your profile was in our Bingo Book," Zabuza continued. "It called you the man who copied over a thousand jutsu. Kakashi, the copy-ninja."

That surprised Sasuke and Naruto, whereas I had seen the page that Zabuza was talking about. It certainly did list some serious skills and assumed missions under Kakashi-sensei's name. Although, I wondered why Zabuza was giving us this impromptu lesson. Maybe he was bored. I can't imagine he'd get much scintillating conversation with Gatou's thugs.

"Wow," Naruto breathed, sounding highly impressed. "That's so cool."

"Enough talking," Zabuza decided finally. "I've been hired to get rid of the bridge builder, but I guess I'll have to go through you first, Kakashi."

"I'm afraid so," Kakashi-sensei said. "It wont be easy for you."

Zabuza sneered and leapt away, gaining distance. The fog roared in, obscuring both him and Kakashi-sensei from our view.

"I can't see anything!" Naruto hissed, alarmed.

"The Land of Waves is surrounded by ocean. These swirling mists are constant," Tazuna explained.

I shook my head. "This is no natural fog. It's a water release jutsu. The Hiding in the Mist Technique."

"Who was that guy?" Naruto asked, wonder in his voice.

"Zabuza Momochi. He's known as the Demon of Hidden Mist," I answered quietly, trying to track Zabuza and Sensei's chakra through the fog. It was difficult. The fog was chakra enhanced, so it was like trying to listen through static. You knew something was there, but you couldn't hear what they were saying. "He was the leader of the Mist Assassination Unit before he tried to kill the Mizukage and became a missing nin. There are rumours that he's been working with the Mist Rebellion."

"So, he's strong," Sasuke said ponderously.

"Very strong," I confirmed. "Supposedly, he's the master of the Silent Killing Technique, able to complete assassinations even when his target is under the heaviest of guards." His giant sword, Kubikiri Bocho, didn't exactly seem like it was designed for stealth and he had just challenged Kakashi-sensei to an out and out fight rather than try and work around him. He had had the advantage of secrecy and just given it up.

It didn't really make sense.

Then the mantra started.

"Eight points," Zabuza's voice rasped out of the fog, everywhere at once. The quiet, deliberate menace sent shivers down my spine. "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, sub clavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now, which will be my attack point?"

Intimidation tactics, again.

It made no sense. Why speak to us, then hide? Why set us on our guard? It was terrifying, but it would have been so much worse if he hadn't introduced himself.

Hello, my name is Zabuza Momochi and I'll be your assassin for this evening.

I squashed the giggle that threatened to burst from my throat. He was getting to me.

I needed to think. There had to be some tactic, some plan I could use that would make this okay. But I couldn't. My mind, before so reliable at tossing out analysis and ideas, was spinning in circles. The hamster was off his wheel. The train of thought had been derailed. The light bulb had blown.

I had known we would face Zabuza. I had thought about it. I had planned for it. What had I… what had I…

Then the Killing Intent hit. It was pressing and heavy, blanketing and smothering; the darkness after a nightmare, the suffocation of being underwater, the vertigo of extreme heights… The eye of the predator was moving, and if you twitched, if you blinked, you would draw his attention and die.

It was the intent of two Jounin about to attack. For all their banter, they were serious. Deadly serious.

I wanted to run. To scream. To cry. To attack. Instead I did nothing, counting the frantic beats of my heart, breathing steady and shallow.

One, twothreefour…

"Sasuke!" Sensei's voice snapped out. I jerked. Shit, I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings. In trying to keep calm, I'd given myself tunnel vision. "Calm down. I'll protect you with my life. All of you." And with his words he sent a wave of Positive Intent washing over us. The near opposite of Killing Intent, it was so much harder to produce but wiped away our fear as though it had never been. I knew what it was. Dad used it sometimes and in my mind it was so heavily associated with safety that my brain didn't even have a chance to protest as all my muscles relaxed and my heart returned to a steady resting beat. The brain might have thought it was in charge, but often the body belied that. "I will not allow my comrades to die. Trust me."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Zabuza rasped, right behind me. "It's over."

My shadow lashed out without thought, grabbing and holding. To get so close to Tazuna, he had had to get close to me. My hands rotated, spinning the sharp edge of the sword until it was towards his body and pulling close. There was no thought, just action.

"Urk!" He grunted, as it stabbed in, blood gushing out. No. There was too much for it to be blood.

"A water clone!" I realised.

"Good work, Shikako," Kakashi-sensei praised. He was right by our little formation. He must have raced for us the instant Zabuza revealed himself. "Let's get rid of this fog, yeah?"

He pulsed with chakra, whipping the air around him and blowing the fog away. Being able to see again was relieving.

"A Nara, huh?" Zabuza's voice echoed. "Yeah, I've run into your clan before." He chuckled. "What a joke."

I scowled. He wasn't just using intimidation tactics, but trying to get me angry as well. Either option would cloud my thinking. The type of ninja who fought with huge swords and massive jutsu often looked down on us, but I knew better. Tactics, subtlety and misdirection nearly always trumped straight force. And that was exactly what Zabuza was trying to do. He was blending to the shadows, making us exhaust ourselves. In a small way, it was an achievement that he even registered me.

I told myself that. It didn't stop the little bubble of anger. Clan pride was always such an easy target. I could take insults to myself - they hurt but I could shake them off - but calling my family a joke?

Breathe. He's doing it on purpose. Control yourself and you control your environment. Control your environment and you control the battle. It was a pithy saying, but the meaning was true and deep.

"Stay alert," Sensei murmured. Or sensei's clone? I squinted at it. There were more chakra signals in the area then there were people. "We're only just getting started."

"No, I think we're finishing up," Zabuza rasped, appearing behind him, sword already swinging.

I was the only one not surprised when Sensei dissolved into a splash of water.

"Behind you," Kakashi-sensei announced, kunai pulled tight against Zabuza's throat.

"Hmp. So you copied my water clone," Zabuza mused. "Good. But not good enough." And then he dissolved into water. Clones behind clones. My head ached trying to see who was truly leading this fight.

Sensei reacted a fraction of a second before he would have been decapitated. There was a brief flurry of taijutsu, dragging the two of them away from us. Zabuza's fighting style was brutal and his ability to control the massive weight of Kubikiri Bocho was nothing short of astonishing, even when momentum and inertia should have dragged it from his hand. Kakashi-sensei ducked and dodged and weaved around it, but was retreating step by step, away from us and onto the water.

Against a Mist ninja, that was probably the last place you wanted to be.

Sensei seemed to be handling it though. He was trying to keep distance between the two of them, relying more on ninjutsu than risking another taijutsu confrontation.

Then, abruptly, he was sucked under water.

"Water Release; Water Prison!" Zabuza shouted. A mass of water swirled and rose from the lake, Kakashi-sensei trapped inside it. "Water clones don't have to be formed on the surface, you know, they can wait patiently beneath the water until the unwary walk over them." He smirked.

Once I might have wondered if Sensei had done it on purpose. Going into the water against a Mist ninja seemed like asking for trouble. Only now, looking at the horror on his face, I knew there was no chance it was part of a plan.

Shit.

Sensei, in trying to protect us and draw Zabuza away had miscalculated. He hadn't expected the Water Prison. Why should he have? True to it's name the Water Prison didn't actually harm - well, no more than being held underwater for a prolonged period of time - and actually limited the caster. It seemed a bizarre choice of jutsu to use.

Why capture sensei and not hurt him?

A clone was more than enough to deal with three Genin, without even considering Haku in the trees, but still… it seemed so odd. If he knew how much of a threat Kakashi-sensei was, if he was such a well known ninja that his death would increase Zabuza's reputation, why not go for the killing blow to get him out of the way permanently?

"This prison made of water, but it's stronger than steel. Hard to fight when you can't move." He smirked. "So much for the great Kakashi. I'll finish you off later. But first for your little friends. Water Clone Jutsu!"

A clone unfolded from the water. It strode forward. My mouth went dry; there was nothing between it and us. No sensei, no safety.

"You think wearing a headband makes you a ninja. When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't faze you, then you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly your profile is entered in my Bingo Book, then you may have earned the title ninja. But to call upstarts like you 'ninja' is a joke."

Naruto clenched his fists. Zabuza was hitting him where it hurt. He was proud of being a ninja and he'd worked hard to get there. "Ah, shut up!" Naruto shouted. "Iruka-sensei gave me this headband and he decided I was good enough to be a ninja!" He formed a cross seal with his fingers. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Fifty Naruto's charged forward, dog piling onto the water clone. Their team cohesion was a lot higher than it had been during the bell test and not a single one got in each other's way. It didn't help them, though.

"Che," Zabuza's clone said, throwing them off to explode into chakra smoke. "Shadow Clones huh? They wont help you. It'd take a thousand of you to even match me!"

There was a glint in Naruto's eye that seemed to say 'challenge accepted'.

Sensei growled. "Listen! Get the bridge builder and run. You can't win this fight!"

Sensei was talking. Underwater. I took a completely inappropriate moment to marvel at it. I knew there was a jutsu that could strip oxygen from the water to allow you to breathe, but that was just…

"Zabuza can only fight you with his water clone, but the clone can't go far from his real body! If you get away, he can't follow you. Now run!"

Sensei would probably be fine. Maybe. Zabuza didn't seem to want to kill him. But he had a partner that sensei didn't know about; Haku. Getting away wouldn't stop him.

And … sensei might not be fine.

I swallowed, that thought twisting my gut.

"Not an option," Sasuke said firmly. "That became impossible the instant you got caught. No matter how far we run, he'll track us down and wipe us out. Any defence we have… he can get around it in an instant. If we're on our own…"

I was thankful to Sasuke for making that decision. He'd assumed the position of mission leader, given us our objective and direction. I didn't have to make that decision now. I only had to follow.

"Shikako!" Sensei tried again. "Be sensible! Take the team and go!" I stared at him. Why single me out? Did he think I could make them? Did he think I was most likely to run? Did he think I could just… leave him there?

"We've got to rescue him," Sasuke said, voice low.

I drew in a breath, then let it out slowly. "Distance is no safety," I agreed. But my mind was blank. I could think of nothing.

Water, he was using water. Water was strong against fire, but weak to … lightning. And Earth.

No. Wait. Back up further. We had two objectives. Stop the clone attacking us. And free sensei. Zabuza couldn't move away from the Water Prison, so making him move would force him to release it.

Make him move.

Well.

What was I, a Nara or something?

Carefully, unobtrusively, I activated my shadow. Behind us were trees. They circled the clearing, right down to the water's edge. I could do this.

"We are ninja," Naruto shouted fiercely. "We wont run away!"

"What are you doing?" Kakashi-sensei shouted, frustration in his voice. "This fight was over the moment I got caught. Now take Tazuna and run! Your mission is not to prove how brave you are; it's to save the bridge builder! Stay on mission!"

Naruto flinched. "Bridge builder?" He asked, voice abnormally tentative.

Tazuna sighed, shoulders slumping over. "I guess this all happened because of me and my desire to live. But I wont let that stand in your way now. Forget about me and do what you have to do! Go and fight to save your sensei!"

Tazuna really was courageous. Defying Gatou to build a bridge to save his people and now…

Accepting the inevitable is a kind of courage too.

Although, our defeat only appeared inevitable.

"Alright," Sasuke said. The corner of his mouth lifted into a smirk. "You hear that?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah. Let's do this!"

I straightened. "I'll back you up." I couldn't tell them what I was actually doing, but I hoped they guessed.

Zabuza's clone just chuckled at our determination. "You really haven't learnt anything, have you? Still playing your little games, pretending to be ninja. When I was your age, this hand had already crushed many opponents."

"Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist…" Kakashi-sensei said.

"Heh. So I was in your book too." Zabuza sounded more resigned than proud.

"Long ago, the Village Hidden in the Mist, was also known as the Village of the Bloody Mist, " Kakashi-sensei started.

I quirked an eyebrow. Were we really going to have a history lesson in the middle of battle? Well never let it be said that I didn't appreciate proper stalling tactics. I was appreciating them a whole lot right now. I had to move my shadow deep into the forest, where it wouldn't be seen from the clearing, then circle around. The more Kakashi-sensei could stall, the better.

"Before a student could become a ninja, they had one final test…"

I shivered. I already knew this story, but his grim tones held my attention. Yes, I was glad I had been reborn in Konoha.

"You know about the graduation exam?" Zabuza asked, sounding honestly surprised. I suppose he had a right to be. That exam hadn't been held for almost twenty years.

"What? What's the big deal?" Naruto asked. "We had graduation exams too…"

"Did you have to kill the other students to pass?" Zabuza asked, seeming amused. "Imagine, young ninja like you, eating together, training together, and then comes the final exam. And then the rules changed. You couldn't stop until you killed your opponent. He was your friend, shared your dreams. Now it's either him … or you."

"But the exam changed," Kakashi-sensei continued. "One year, a boy, not even a ninja, approached the class and without pause or hesitation… took down over one hundred other students."

I couldn't help but suck in a breath. One hundred. That was… a huge number to try and wrap your head around. One hundred people.

"It felt… so good!" Zabuza's clone said, voice edging into a snarl.

Then he attacked. No warning, just an angry explosion of energy. Sasuke took the brunt of the attack, too shocked to properly react. The clone wasn't using his sword, just brutal taijutsu; kicks, knees, elbows.

He flattened Sasuke, laying him out on the ground, then stamping down on him. Sasuke gasped for air.

I abandoned my shadow for a moment, wringing my hands through a rapid set of seals. "Earth Release: Earth Spike!" I yelled, slapping my hands down on the ground. A huge pillar of sharpened earth erupted from the ground, curving around Sasuke, forcing Zabuza's clone to back off.

"You want a thousand of me?" Naruto growled. He and Sasuke didn't call each other 'friend' but they were team mates. "MASS SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" He roared.

I used the distraction that was offered. In the sea of orange, my shadow cut across the ground, slipping out of the trees and seamlessly into the water. The lake was deep, but that changed nothing.

Half my attention remained on watching Naruto and Sasuke fighting. I sent out a shadow spike toward the clone, half to make him dodge, half to convince Zabuza that I was focused on the fight. I didn't want him questioning what I was doing.

The rest of my attention was focused on getting my shadow to Zabuza without attracting his attention. As long as he didn't look down… the water was reasonably clear, he would probably be able to see it on the lake bed.

But Naruto was good at keeping attention focused on him. A thousand Naruto's was a force to be reckoned with, if just for sheer number. The fact that Sasuke was hiding amongst them only made it worse.

Careful. Careful.

"Shadow Possession Complete!" I announced, then yanked both hands in tightly to my chest.

And Sensei exploded out of the Water Prison like a vengeful god.

The escalation in violence was as sudden as it was alarming. Before, Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza had been fighting minimally. They had used basic jutsu - clones and mist - mixed with taijutsu and trickery. Now, they were throwing overkill jutsu at each other. I couldn't hear what Kakashi-sensei and Zabuza were saying to each other, out there on the water, but I could see them. Zabuza looked… afraid. Sensei's shoulders were tight with anger, and more than that, worry.

He looked like someone who had escaped a horrifying mistake by the narrowest of margins and was going to ensure it never happened again.

By very final and permanent means.

I didn't really have time to watch, however much I would have wanted to. I held my Shadow Possession Jutsu through Sensei's first attack before it gave out to the stress of distance and power difference. Then I turned my attention back to the water clone that was still throwing Naruto and Sasuke about. It wouldn't do for the clone to kill us before Sensei was finished with the real one.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" I barked, sending a wall up between Sasuke and the sword attempting to kill him. He flicked me a grateful look, before vaulting over the wall and back into the fray. They weren't actually doing too badly. The fact was, when it came to thinking on the fly, Naruto could be pretty damn crafty.

My chakra was starting to run dry. I could do another earth technique. Maybe two. Jumping into the fight wouldn't help, there were already enough bodies over there. It would leave Tazuna undefended, anyway. I had my shadow and maybe a genjutsu?

I bit my lip. Did genjutsu work on clones? And if they did what would be the best one to use?

"Hah!" Naruto shouted, bursting out of the ground behind Zabuza, grabbing him in a lock. Had he? Yes, he'd tunnelled through the earth, starting in the lee behind my Earth Wall where Zabuza couldn't see. Sasuke took immediate advantage, stabbing him with a kunai straight into the ribs.

"Brats," he growled, dissolving into water.

"Hah," Naruto panted, clones puffing out of existence. "Take that, you freak."

Sasuke smirked. "Heh."

We barely had time to brace ourselves before a wave of water blasted past us, carrying Sensei and Zabuza with it. It was obvious now who was winning.

"Your future, Zabuza," Kakashi-sensei intoned. "Is death!"

Chakra spiked behind me, a signal I had almost forgotten about. Haku!

Shit. He better not be attacking.

I didn't see him move. He was fast. Very fast. Senbon whistled through the air with inhuman accuracy and Zabuza collapsed. His enormous chakra vanished so fast it felt like it disappeared. But… no, there was still the smallest, tiniest spark burning steady. If I hadn't been looking for it, I probably wouldn't have noticed it.

"Thank you," the crouching boy in the Hunter-nin mask said. "I have been tracking him for some time."

Kakashi looked over him with a lazy eye, crouching to check Zabuza's pulse. "He's dead," he said. It was an odd situation; if Haku had been willing to let him fight Zabuza, then interfering at the moment of the kill seemed suspicious.

Haku crouched and pulled Zabuza's body over his shoulders. "Farewell." He vanished.

There was a beat of silence.

"What the hell?" Naruto exploded. "Who the hell was that guy?"

"That mask marks him as one of the elite Hunter-nin from Hidden Mist," Kakashi-sensei explained, sliding his headband back down. "It's their job to hunt down missing ninja and kill them, in order to protect their village's secrets."

Naruto frowned. "That's so…"

Sensei might have smiled bitterly. I couldn't tell. "That's how life is in the ninja world. Now, we had better get back to our mission …"

He trailed off, swaying where he was standing.

Then, without fanfare, collapsed.