Tenchu

Chapter Three - Team

"Kakashi. What a surprise," Koichi dead panned when he opened his front door to find the jounin on the doorstep. "Come one in. I've just started a pot of tea." He stepped aside to let Kakashi enter.

"Ah, thank you." Kakashi strolled inside and made himself comfortable in a chair at the table. "Koichi-sensei, it seems you've taken on another student."

Koichi set the pot of tea down on the table. He handed the jounin a cup. Kakashi held it in his hands, but didn't drink. That would mean Koichi seeing his face. It had always been a source of irritation to him that Koichi was one man he couldn't fool. The heat from the cup radiated out into his hands.

"I heard you actually passed the kid's team. He was pretty excited about it. Losing your edge, Kakashi-kun?"

"Maybe I am," Kakashi said with a chuckle. "Your little student is damn scary you know. He almost got the drop on me."

"I can imagine." A smirk flit briefly across Koichi's face. "He's a very good apprentice." Koichi hid his amusement at the way Kakashi's eyes widened when he said it.

"Your own apprentice eh? I'm honored to have him in my care." If Kakashi sounded a little facetious, Koichi ignored it. That was just the jounin's way of dealing with his surprise. "Just how many missions has he been sent on?"

"So you noticed. You always were an observant little brat, Kakashi." Koichi offered a sly smile. He took a slow sip of his tea. "But to answer your question, his first mission was four months ago. He's completely six others since then. He won't be taking anymore for now. Not only does he deserve a break, but I imagine he'll be rather busy now that he's on a team. Besides, those missions have given him all the experience he needs to have for now."

"What you're saying is that in terms of true mission experience he's leaps and bounds beyond the rest of his year mates."

"Yes." Koichi looked down at his cup. He swirled the liquid around. "Two retrieval missions and one espionage."

"How many assassinations?" Kakashi's tone was solemn.

"Four," Koichi said simply. "One of them was a hard lesson for him. He got seen. Ended up having to kill a great many guards on his way out. He doesn't make mistakes like that anymore."

"I see." And Kakashi did see. He'd been on such missions himself where a stupid error resulted in unnecessary deaths. He frowned, deep in thought. So far it seemed that the experiences had not negatively affected Naruto in any way that could cause problems. Kakashi was impressed. The kid must have a pretty tough mentality. "If you don't mind me asking, what kind of skill set does he have? His file wasn't very...complete."

"Shame on you, Kakashi, asking me to reveal a ninja's tricks," Koichi scolded. Kakashi blinked at him. Koichi couldn't help but laugh at him. "I know why you're asking. Don't be so surprised." He shook his head. "His basic skills are solid. Chakra control was a real setback for him at first, so we spent a lot of time on it until he had a solid ability. You can probably figure out most of it. His taijutsu is what we're working on next, but leave that to me. What I need you to teach him is how to work in a group. I was rather pleased when I found out you were his jounin sensei."

Kakashi nodded his head, acknowledging the compliment. "That's something I'll be happy to teach him. I'll admit I'm glad you've taken him under you're wing. I've got my hands full with the other two. One of them is a fangirl and the other is a wannabe avenger. The girl is going to take a lot of work to become respectable. As for the other, the skills are there but his mentality is all wrong. I'm a little at the loss," Kakashi confessed.

"Ah, the joys of being a jounin sensei. I've got my hands full with the kid, but if you need my help teaching your team a thing or two I can spare a little time. It's for Naruto's sake after all."

"You might regret it when I take you up on that offer," Kakashi warned in good humor.

"We'll see. I think your team might regret it more," Koichi retorted with a glint in his eyes.

Naruto was kind of fed up. It was all those D rank missions. Walking dogs? Babysitting? Weeding? It was hard to see the point. Sure he was getting paid (a little), but it was tedious. At first he'd enjoyed the break from his other missions. Now it was getting kind of old.

Though it had been pretty funny when he and Sasuke had gotten in a fight during the paint job the other day. The look on the Uchiha's face when Naruto had gotten canary yellow in his hair had been priceless. Of course, it hadn't been quite so funny when Sakura had gotten in the middle of their quarrel and got drenched. She'd beaten on them both for that, never mind that she usually treated Sasuke like glass.

Naruto kind of enjoyed spending time with his team. He'd enjoy spending it with them a lot more if not for those freakishly boring D rank missions. Hence why he was now complaining loudly to the Hokage about the whole thing.

"Come on Old Man! There has to be something better for us than all this D rank mission crap! I demand a recount!"

The population of the room blinked at him. Naruto rubbed the back of his head, not entirely sure what he just said either.

"Anyway! Come on! Give us a better mission and I'll be out of your hair for a while," he wheedled. At least Sasuke seemed to be nodding his agreement. Sakura was freaking out over how he was acting in front of the Hokage. Kakashi just looked downright pissy as he was forced to apologize for Naruto.

"Okay Naruto. If you really insist I have a C rank mission available," the Hokage informed them. Naruto beamed at him.

"Awesome! What is it?"

"The mission is to escort a bridge builder named Tazuna to Wave Country."

As Sandaime spoke a man was escorted into the room. He was definitely past his prime and probably past his alcohol tolerance as well. He hiccupped at them and waved a bottle in greeting.

"These brats are going to escort me?" he eyed them skeptically. Naruto's nose wrinkled at the sour scent that wafted off him. "They look pretty stupid," the bridge builder continued. "Especially the dumb blond."

Kakashi snagged the back of Naruto's scarf before he could launch himself at the client. The blond surged forward only to fall back on his ass. Tazuna laughed at him. Even Sasuke and Sakura were beginning to look irritated.

Kakashi just knew this was going to be one of those missions.

About two hours into the mission Kakashi realized that it wasn't just one of those missions. This mission rated on a whole knew level of unpleasant. The day was hot and dusty, not the kind of day one normally chose to travel on. Nevertheless he and his team were trudging down the road with the bridge builder in tow.

The client was one of the worst aspects of the mission. He was rude, loud, smelled of alcohol and sweat, and he seemed to go out of his way to provoke Kakashi's team. The jounin had his share of bad experiences with clients, but this ranked as one of the worst. The difficulty was all heightened by the fact that he had a genin team to baby sit.

Most irritating had turned out to be Naruto, and not for the reasons most people found the blond irritating. Naruto was being downright twitchy. Every chirping bird made the poor kid look like he was going to jump out of his skin. He didn't talk to his teammates or even whine about their client. Rather, every time someone approached him he stared at them with wide eyes.

Kakashi knew what the problem was. He'd suffered the same symptoms himself for awhile, shortly after leaving ANBU. He'd been assigned an escort mission for a young lord. The mission had left him feeling like a skittish little girl. Being on the other side of an assassination would be a new experience for Naruto.

Not that anyone was trying to kill Tazuna. Hopefully when the mission ended Naruto would get over the little quirk and see it was just a routine escort. It was about that time that Kakashi spotted the puddle on the ground.

He couldn't help but groan.

Kakashi puffed out of danger with a quick replacement jutsu. The enemy didn't seem terribly skilled, but they were definitely ninja. And they definitely had a target. So much for Naruto getting over his paranoia.

Despite everything Kakashi was pleased to observe Team 7's performance in their first real skirmish together. Sakura had taken up a defensive position in front of Tazuna. Trust her to remember the mission objective. Then again if he was being more critical he could have said she was avoiding the battle, not necessarily a bad move. At least she didn't overestimate herself.

Sasuke leapt straight into the action. He was impressive for a rookie and the kid didn't even have the sharingan yet. The flexible acrobatics he displayed in his taijutsu were perhaps a bit flashy, but were still evidence of both good training and good breeding. Sasuke was born to be a ninja. His aim was good too, Kakashi noted when Sasuke pinned the attacker's chain to a tree.

At first Kakashi had thought Naruto would jump in the fray, but the blond surprised him again. He really had to stop thinking of him as the type to jump straight into a fight. Upon seeing Sasuke had things well in hand, Naruto had taken up a guard position on the opposite side of Tazuna.

Now didn't that just betray the essence of Naruto's training? No doubt Naruto had realized the target was Tazuna and was thinking of what he would do if he were the assassin. In fact, if these ninja had been of better quality they would have tried just such an attack. They had instead wasted both their efforts on a frontal assault. Stupid.

Kakashi showed them exactly how stupid by knocking them out a moment later. He had identified the two by now. They were missing nin from the Mist. For supposed chuunin they were very sloppy.

"Good job, everyone." Kakashi favored his genin with a proud grin, even as he disposed of the enemy ninja. "Sasuke, your timing was excellent in deflecting the threat. Sakura, you kept a head on your shoulders and remembered to protect the client. Naruto, nice assessment of further danger."

He heard Sasuke snort. Sakura was smiling a little unsurely. It took him a moment to realize why. They thought his compliment to Naruto was a joke. He was a bit astonished. Obviously they were not taking their teammate seriously yet. Had they really not realized the meaning behind his actions?

"Oh? You think it's funny because he was facing the wrong way is it? Did it occur to either of you that while one enemy attacked from the front another could sneak up from behind? I'm a little disappointed now."

They glanced at Naruto to see him shrug and grin at them. Both of them had the grace to look ashamed. Sasuke even offered the blond a thoughtful nod. Kakashi wondered if maybe they his team would really start to see each other for what they really were soon. He could only guide them so much.

"I don't understand it," Naruto began later. "Why don't you just get rid of Gato?"

Somehow, between Naruto's whining and Tazuna's use of guilt they had decided to continue the mission. They weren't too far from Tazuna's place now. After a tense crossing in the boat, Tazuna had informed them they were almost there.

"Get rid of? And how? He has a legion of hired mercenaries to protect him, dumb brat," Tazuna took a heavy swig from his bottle at the thought. "And now he's got ninja too! It's super bad!"

"I'm just saying-" Whatever Naruto had been about to say was lost as Kakashi threw his team and their client to the ground.

A few seconds later Naruto completely forgot what he had been thinking about to stare in awe at the huge sword. He had to wonder where the enemy nin (who appeared on top of it a few seconds later) kept the thing.

"That," Naruto said with absolute authority "is a freaking huge sword."

Zabuza, previously of the Seven Swordsman and known commonly as the Demon of the Mist snapped his mouth shut. He'd been about to make a comment about Sharingan Kakashi and the demon brothers, but he just couldn't be serious following that statement. He stared at the blond kid.

"Where can I get one?" the kid asked him. He was pretty sure the boy wasn't joking.

"Brat," he flipped from the tree and pulled his sword from it. "You couldn't even lift it."

"That's not the point! I'm not gonna use it. I just wanna have one. It looks freaking awesome! Totally badass."

Zabuza was kinda starting to like this kid. "Tell ya what, after I kill the bridge builder here and demolish your teacher I'll let you know."

"Aw damn it. The first awesome ninja I run into and he's an enemy," Naruto groaned.

Kakashi shook his head and pointed to himself. "Aren't I an awesome ninja?"

His genin team pinned him with a flat stare. He could see little thought bubbles popping up above their heads with the words 'lazy', 'late', and 'lame'. Zabuza started laughing at him. That was just perfect.

"I guess, Copy Kakashi, your genin don't even know who you are. Pretty sad. You've copied over a thousand jutsu and your genin don't even know it." He hefted his sword. "Don't worry, I'm sure they'll still miss you when you die!"

A heavy mist fell over the area as Zabuza preformed one of his favorite jutsu. He chuckled to himself. By now the poor little genin would be terrified. He made sure to layer on a heavy dose of killing intent as he listed off vital parts.

He and Kakashi faced off in a small skirmish with each trying to get the upper hand using water clones. Zabuza felt distinctly that he had the advantage. At least he did until he heard Kakashi chuckle. The mist began to clear as he retreated a bit, wary of what Kakashi was so pleased about.

"I think you just made your first mistake, Zabuza," Kakashi told him.

At first everything seemed as it should. The pink girl and the scowling boy looked about ready to flee as they stood next to a nervous old man. And then as the mist cleared further he realized.

Where was the blond kid? At first it didn't bother him. Then as the seconds ticked by and he still couldn't locate the kid it started to grate on his nerves.

Kakashi lunged at him. "If you think I'm going to give you the time to find him," the silver-haired jounin grinned, "you're terribly mistaken."

Zabuza spun out of the way, swinging his cleaver around as he did so. Kakashi blocked with a kunai, but was forced away as Zabuza brought his strength and the weight of the weapon to bear on him. He tried to pursue the jounin but was slowed by the caltrops Kakashi had dropped. He scowled, but his disappointment didn't last long.

The famous nin made a foolish mistake, diving into the water to escape. Zabuza couldn't wait to show him just how foolish.

"God Naruto! Would you stop fidgeting and just wear the fucking bandage!?"

...was what Kakashi woke up to. That would be Sakura shrieking. His head hurt.

"It'll be fine in a couple days!"

"Wounds like that don't heal overnight, dobe."

"Mine do, bastard. And why aren't you giving him grief Sakura-chan?"

"Put the sling back on please, Sasuke." Sakura's tone was frigid.

"It's just a fracture," came the muttered reply.

Kakashi dared ease open his eye just in time to see Sasuke get bopped on the head, gently of course. It seemed Sakura had reached her breaking point. The light hurt his head. He slid the eye shut again. Too late.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're awake," Naruto exclaimed. Kakashi swiftly held up a hand to forestall further comments.

What had happened again? Ah, right. Chakra exhaustion. He'd beaten Zabuza but at something of a cost. Sasuke had broken his arm trying to block one of Zabuza's attacks when he went after Tazuna. He bought enough time for Naruto to get the jump on Zabuza and free Kakashi from the water prison. However, that fake hunter nin had stabbed Naruto to get away when the blond called his bluff. It figured that Koichi had told Naruto all about hunter nin.

"I see you made it the rest of the way okay," Kakashi began. "Good job making it this far."

"Are you alright?" Sakura asked him. "I thought it might be chakra exhaustion and Sasuke agreed but Naruto wouldn't stop freaking out."

"Did not!" Naruto puffed his cheeks out and huffed. They ignored him.

"You're right. I overdid it a bit. I'll be fine in a week or so." He could tell they weren't reassured.

"Do we have a week? That fake hunter nin...?" Sasuke began.

"You're right. Zabuza will also be recovered when I am. Normally I would have trained you guys to prepare, but with Sasuke and Naruto injured..."

"I'll be fine in a couple days...really!"

"...just a fracture."

"Sit down, idiots. Sorry about that Kakashi-sensei."

"As I was saying, I think I need to adjust my plans." Kakashi regarded his genin with a frown. To be truthful he had hoped that he wouldn't have to walk down this path. The Hokage had agreed with Kakashi when the jounin had told him he was going to try and avoid the way the council wanted him to teach this team. He had originally been planning on neglecting everything but the basics for a while and play it off as his own laziness. In the mean time he had hoped they'd grow in different ways and ruin the council's plan.

Team Seven, like most teams, had been formed for a particular specialization. However, no team had been groomed to this specialty since before the last great shinobi war. It seemed that this time the team wasn't going to escape their fate. Even Kakashi admitted that his team was strangely suited for it.

The specialization assigned his team was assassination. ANBU was good, it was true, but they pulled from various teams and specialties to fill their ranks. A squad groomed from the beginning for assassination was a different sort of beast. And with the high tension building between countries and strange rumors floating around, the council wanted just such a beast ready before anyone even started thinking the word 'war'.

Sasuke was an all offensive type who had potential to be able to kill and or incapacitate quickly. And his eyes, if he had sharingan, were a weapon none could really match. Sakura was born to specialize in genjutsu with her precise control. She would also probably make a good medic nin. Overall, she'd fill in all the areas the others lacked for support. And somehow the council had gotten wind of Naruto's apprenticeship to Koichi which made him an automatic inclusion. Besides that, the blond had the chakra capacity for some very devastating area jutsu for those situations in which all else had failed.

"We have three options." He looked at each one of them in turn. "We can leave now and return to Konoha. We've seen Tazuna to the Wave and have no further obligation." He waved off the angry protests. "Just hear me out before you go deciding," he scolded. They weren't happy, scowling like they did, but they obeyed him.

"I can train you so that we'll be better prepared to face off against Zabuza again. The problem with this being that Sasuke will have a broken arm and Naruto and I will be recently injured. We'll be at the disadvantage." He paused to let them consider this a moment.

"What's the last option?" Sakura asked after a moment.

"I teach you how to eliminate the source of our problem so that it will no longer be worth Zabuza's while to kill Tazuna."

"Eh?"

"It's not guaranteed to work, but if we kill Gatou there will be no one to pay Zabuza," Kakashi clarified.

"Like I said earlier, get rid of Gatou!" Naruto nodded to himself, as though it was his idea all along (which it sort of was). Sakura just looked nervous, but Sasuke seemed thoughtful.

"What if he comes after us anyway, for revenge?" Sasuke put in. Naruto deflated a little at that thought.

"He might," Kakashi admitted. "But it's more likely that without a good reason to risk his life again he'll leave. The hunter nin will start breathing down his neck if he stays too long. With any luck he'll be smart about it and leave. He hasn't survived so long by being stupid." At least, Kakashi hoped not. Trying to assassinate the Mizukage was a pretty stupid thing to do in the first place after all.

"I don't know. Maybe we should just go back to Konoha. I mean, we're just genin. They can get somebody better to come protect Tazuna," Sakura suggested. Naruto scowled at her while Sasuke shot her a disgusted look. Kakashi was going to break the news to her gently but Sasuke beat him to it.

"You can't really be that naive? No one else is going to come Sakura. They can't pay. Not even the Hokage can send out ninja to protect some random bridge builder from an enemy like Zabuza without reason. You're an idiot."

"I..." There were tears welling up in the girl's eyes. Her fists clenched. She looked to Naruto for support and found he was looking away.

"I'm sorry Sakura," Kakashi said gently, "but it's true. If we leave, Tazuna will die."

"..."

"Kakashi-sensei? It's not so simple as just killing Gatou, is it?" Naruto asked, wanting to break the awful silence.

"No, Naruto, it's not. In order to be sure we also need to discover his chain of command and make sure that those who would be able to succeed him are also eliminated, in one way or another."

"Right. I guess we'll be busy then." The blond and the Uchiha looked at each other and seemed to reach an agreement.

"We'll do it," Sasuke told Kakashi. "We'll kill Gatou."

"I see." Kakashi's eye slid back over to Sakura. The girl was rubbing red-rimmed eyes, but she had stopped crying. "I won't let them just make this decision without you Sakura. If you say no, we won't do it."

"I..." she looked unsure at first and then angry. Kakashi didn't doubt that she was mad he had put the pressure on her. But there was no other choice. After a very long moment she deflated a bit. "I know it's the best choice. I know it. But I just didn't want..."

"You just didn't want to kill anyone," Naruto finished, displaying surprising insight. He laid a hand on her shoulder. "But that's what ninja do, Sakura."

Sasuke's face meanwhile, had softened a bit. "You have to decided now Sakura. Are you a ninja, or aren't you?"

Sakura raised her head to look at him.

"It's not just you," he told her. Kakashi was surprised to hear the admission from the Uchiha, but not displeased.

"We'll do this together," Naruto reassured her. Sakura closed her eyes and nodded to herself.

"I'll do it. I'll become a real ninja," she said finally. She looked Sasuke in the eye "Watch me!" Her expression was a lot fiercer than expected. Kakashi knew he was not the only one taken aback.

Sasuke offered her a nod a respect. She smiled.

"That's my Sakura-chan!"

"Well said," Kakashi agreed.

"Well then, where do we start?"

End

a/n I might go back and write fight scene between Zabuza and Kakashi later, but to be honest I found it a bit boringto rehash something that was going to play out mostly like the original version. Sorry. Hope you don't mind. I tend to skim over parts in fanfiction that are just a repeat of what happens in canon myself.