WhooTimeTravel Ch.8

That damn cat was safely in Sakura's arms, but Naruto still kept an eye on it. The damn thing seemed to enjoy scratching up his face. But, hey, he'd leave it alone, and it'd leave him alone, right? Sasuke interrupted his barely feline-tolerant thought process.
"Naruto."
"Yeah?"
"How did you lure that cat into the alley for Sakura to catch it?" Sakura coughed and glared at Naruto. She knew what he'd done, but she wasn't talking about it, not even to Sasuke. Naruto grinned and shifted a few steps away from Sakura.
"Short story: I had a kage bunshin henge into a cat."
Sasuke was nonplussed. He had no idea why such a thing would work. "...Why would that-"
"A lady cat."
It wasn't often that Naruto, or anyone, really, got to see Sasuke gape. "What."
"You heard me."
Indeed Sasuke did. "Why?" However, it didn't make the answer any less surreal, in his mind.
"It worked, didn't it?"
"I mean, why did you turn into a lady cat? How or why do you even care what a cat finds sexy?" An evil grin split Naruto's face.
"Practice."
Sasuke considered that answer. He considered it for a very long time, until he came to the conclusion that while he probably did not want to know why Naruto would consider turning into a lady cat to be practice, he was just curious enough not to care. "Do I even want to know?"
"I'll just show you." Naruto's hands came up into a ram seal. "Henge!" When the smoke cleared, there was Naruko, with all her voluptuous glory for all to see. "Oiroke no Jutsu...!" Something was different from the usual, however. "-Nekomimi! Nyaa~n!" The cat-girl, on all fours, swiped at Sasuke with one hand playfully, not unlike a cat. A blonde tail could be seen curling in the air behind her, while there were two cat-ears replacing her regular ears. 'She' immediately turned her attentions upon her hapless team-mate. "Nya! Sasuke-kun!" The flirtatious sound deliberately inserted into his honorific did not go unnoticed. It was then, wrapped in the embrace of his idiot teammate, who currently had rather generously proportioned... assets that really shouldn't be there, but were pressing really not all that uncomfortably against his arm, that he heard something. It was a small sound, really, but it was unmistakable, even against the background noise of Sakura screeching at Naruto yet not actually doing anything for fear that she would drop the cat, thereby nullifying all the work done to acquire it.
It was the sound of Kakashi's laughter. Chortling would be more accurate. The red-faced avenger immediately turned his head to glare at his jounin-sensei, a small tic beginning under his eye. Kakashi looked up, and, completely innocently, spoke in his defense.
"Funny joke." He simply pointed to his book. The expression in his single visible eye did not lend credence to that assertation.
"Get off, Naruto."
"But I can't get off without you, Sasuke-kun...!" Kakashi snorted, barely holding in a laugh. Now, where did he learn that little euphemism? Naruto's teammates, however, were not as amused.
"I mean, let go of me."
"Naruto, you really should. I suspect Sakura may suffer an apoplectic attack otherwise, and if that should happen, the cat will escape." Kakashi's next question was completely innocent in nature. Really. He didn't make it sound threatening or anything. "You wouldn't want that to happen, now would you?"
Naruko and her cat-ears disappeared so quickly that it briefly sparked doubts that Naruto had even used his Oiroke no Jutsu at all. Evidence to the contrary, in the form of Sasuke's lingering embarrassment and Sakura's death glare focused on Naruto, dispelled those doubts soon enough. Team Seven entered the Hokage Tower with two of three genin inexplicably annoyed with the third.

It wasn't all that hard for Naruto get the date right. After all, this was his first C-rank mission... and inadvertently, it then also became his first B-rank and then rapidly became his first A-rank mission.
The hard part was going to be getting the mission in the first place. For all he knew, Sandaime had simply given them the mission on a whim. His mood was going to be a big factor on whether or not he'd relent. Not to mention the sheer number of C-rank missions that Konoha had available on a day-to-day basis. The odds that Tazuna's mission would be given to them, or that it was even still available... Naruto cringed. This was one of the worst possible situations so far, simply because there was so much that could go wrong. If he did, by some miracle, get assigned to Tazuna again, then that was also a good indicator that fate or whatever was in the works.
But still, hadn't he avoided... certain events... so far? Day-to-day routine was changed as well. This was most certainly not a carbon-copy series of events that perfectly synchronised with what he remembered. Destiny, fate, pre-determination; certainly, some events seemed to be unavoidable, though that may have only been because they weren't really trying to avoid them yet. They had, in fact, been trying to cause as little impact as possible, if only so that their foreknowledge would have some use to them. This mission... What Naruto was going to try in this mission was to deliberately not stick to events as they had happened last time. Sort of. After a point. Well, some things worked out well the first time anyway, and why fix what isn't broken?
Naruto savored the sight of that cat getting smothered by Shijimi-dono. While he could understand why Tora kept running away, that didn't excuse why it behaved so well towards Sakura and neutrally towards Sasuke but took every opportunity it could to claw him up whenever he went near.
He was just lucky he healed quickly and without scars.
Sandaime cleared his throat before consulting the scroll of available D-ranks for Team Seven.
"Let's see, for Team Seven today... hm." What was suitable for a fresh genin team? "Watching over Yojyu-sama's son... A grocery run to the next town... Helping dig up-" Naruto interjected slightly less rudely than he had originally.
"Oi, Oyaji, don't you have any C-rank missions for us to do? Like an escort mission or something out of the village?" That didn't mean he was any less blunt about it. Sasuke, for his part, agreed. Surely there was a more productive and challenging use of his time than D-ranks? "I mean, we've been a genin team for weeks now, can't we do something more challenging than, what? Digging up potatoes? Come on, there must be bandits or nukenin or something we can fight!"
Kakashi blinked. Nukenin?
"Oi, oi, Naruto, don't be quite so hasty. You know how mission rankings work, right?"
"That's why I'm saying this! Genin can go on C-ranks, right? That's not too much to ask, is it!"
Sarutobi's eyes narrowed. Naruto was being far too reasonable. Perhaps he was trying to get what he was after by using an approach that would throw his opponents off-guard? That being the case, then far be it from Sarutobi to penalise such cunning. Still, maybe he could give Naruto what he wanted, while still putting him off from jumping on something because of the hype. He cast a quick glance over the C-rank scroll. It didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi, and Sarutobi nodded imperceptibly. So, Naruto wanted an "exciting" C-rank, did he? An escort mission, was it? Sarutobi had the perfect mission to demonstrate just how dull C-ranks could be as well.
"Very well, Naruto. If you feel you're ready for a C-rank mission, I don't see any reason why not. An... escort mission you wanted, was it? I think I have the perfect option."
Hesitant at first, Naruto slowly warmed up to the idea that Sarutobi had agreed. "Y-You do? Then, then, who are we escorting? A noble? A businessman?"
"Take it easy. I'll introduce him now." To the door behind them, he said, "I've found you a team. You can come in now." The door slid open. An old man in workman's garb stumbled in, a bottle in hand and a definite tinge of red to his face that suggested mild inebriation.
"What? They're a bunch of kids!" Naruto regarded the sight of Tazuna with mixed feelings. On the one hand, this was the exact mission he'd been angling for. On the other hand, there was a nagging little voice at the back of his mind that, strangely, sounded like Neji, that kept repeating, FATE FATE FATE FATE FATE.
The old man took another swig from the bottle before speaking again. "Hey, is the shortest one with the stupid face there really a ninja?"
Naruto twitched. Yep. That was definitely Tazuna.

* * *
Team Seven assembled at the Main Gate, Naruto arriving second, just after Kakashi, already there with Tazuna.
Wait, what? Kakashi was on time? Did that happen last time? Sakura arrived just behind him, and the fact that Kakashi was there first only seemed to register when she noticed Naruto staring dumbstruck at their jounin-sensei.
"Eh? Kakashi-sensei is here already...? Oh no!" She immediately started to panic, and began bowing repeatedly. "I'm late, aren't I! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was taking so long to get ready! I don't know how I could have been so absent-minded, I-!"
"S-Sakura..." She looked up to see an exasperated Kakashi trying to placate her. "You're not late. I just arrived on time for this mission."
"Eh?"
"Maybe all the black cats in the village ran off, while the old ladies' shopping trips aren't until tomorrow, sensei?" Naruto's smug grin left no room for interpretation as he recounted some of Kakashi's favorite excuses.
"That... may be so."
Oddly, Sasuke was the one who was least subtle about it when he showed up. Maybe he was just peeved at being the last to arrive. "You've been late to every single training session and misson we've ever had. You have been doing this since technically before the three of us even became genin." He smirked, "Perhaps you've finally learned the intricacies of the road of life after getting lost on it so many times?" Or maybe he was just as annoyed with his jounin-sensei's inconsistencies as the rest of them.
"...Shall we move on and get started with the mission?" Kakashi did not like the suspicious look Tazuna was giving him. Losing the client's faith in his ability before the mission even started was not a good omen.

They'd been along the road for a couple of hours now, and so far it had been rather quiet. His genin were enjoying the peace, though it was more likely that they just didn't think any threat would make itself known. Consequently, it fell to Kakashi to keep an eye out for trouble.
Which meant no lovely orange book to pass the time. Ah, the sacrifices a teacher must make...
A chain suddenly appeared, wrapping around Kakashi. Just as suddenly, the two chuunin wielding it appeared either side.
"First one!"
The chain pulled taut, shredding the jounin wrapped within it's coils. Before any of the genin could react, the two attackers had appeared behind their second victim, clad as he was in bright orange. Naruto didn't move. Even once they were right behind him, he seemingly didn't react at all.
"Second one." The chain rose, ready to wrap its second victim in a lethal embrace.
Sparks flew, a shuriken digging into a link and embedding into a tree. A kunai found it's target in both, further enhancing the grip the tree held on the chain. Changing their priorities, the anonymous duo moved to attack the quick-acting genin, only to find themselves held by their own weapon. Naruto's saviour landed on the gauntlets connected by this chain, quickly turning his landing into a double attack.
Team Seven's assailants were momentarily distracted by the respective foot in each of their faces, and Naruto smiled calmly.
Just as quick as they had been countered, the two nukenin separated from their chain and split up, one feinting towards their target before returning to strike at Naruto's blindspot, the other following through on his attack on the old man. Sakura responded, drawing a kunai and moving to defend Tazuna, placing herself between the client and the threat to his life. Sasuke immediately put himself in front of both of them, fully expecting to take the hit.
"Sasuke-kun, don't!"
An orange blur rebounded off the ground and intersected with the enemy's throat before that could happen. Naruto's foot, with the force of all his body mass behind it, landed squarely on target just below the larynx. The enemy made quite the surprised strangled sound, though needless to say, all parties were rather surprised, including the second enemy who was currently still moving on Naruto's current position, from which he hadn't moved an inch this entire time. His attention returned to his target long enough to watch him grin fiercely and utter a single word.
"Boom."
Then he exploded. Yeah. That was unexpected.
He stumbled backwards out of the cloud of dust kicked up by the explosion. His ears were ringing, he could barely see or stand, but he was a kiri-nin. While his heart was still beating, he could still fight.
"Y...You ba-" His curse was cut short by a blow to the neck from Kakashi.
"Oh...? Good job, you three. I didn't even have to step in." He glanced at the unconscious nukenin at his feet. "Well, at least not to any relevant extent. Naruto, Sasuke," He addressed his two male genin, "Good work neutralising the enemy. Oh, and Sakura? You can drop the genjutsu now." Sakura smiled sheepishly as she and Tazuna shimmered out of sight and then back into vision a few feet to the left.
"You saw it through it, then?"
As expected of a jounin, I guess... Not that Kakashi-sensei really gives that impression.
Kakashi, for his part, was mildly impressed by all three of them. They'd all reacted well, with Sasuke immediately capitalising on the assailants' underestimating him to catch them off-guard. Naruto then took advantage of Sasuke's attack to replace himself with a clone, while Sakura had also taken advantage of that same opportunity to use genjutsu to conceal both herself and the client. Image displacement wasn't an incredibly advanced technique, but it was still trickier than completely replacing the subject's perceptions and it spoke well of both her and her teacher that she'd learned it already.
I owe Kurenai a thank-you drink when we get back.
In short, they were all skilled in both combat techniques and at taking advantage of the enemy's lapses in concentration. Still, there was the matter of why they had the opportunity to prove themselves so early. It seemed that Tazuna was not being entirely truthful.
"Well, in any case, I'll just rope these two up for retrieval, but before that... Tazuna-san,"
The old bridgewright started. "Y-Yes?"
"I need to talk to you for a bit." He paused to let his words sink in. "Well, let me just take care of these two first."

A few minutes later, and the two Demon Bros. were tied up to a tree and awake, silently glaring at the four ninja and one civilian standing in front of them.
"These two are chuunin from Kirigakure, whose ninja are renowned for continuing to fight, no matter the cost."
"How could you predict our attack?"
"It hasn't rained for over a week, and today is bright and sunny, so there shouldn't be a puddle of water on the road. However, I will admit that it was clever of you to set up after that river. We'd just passed a bunch of water, so an unobservant person wouldn't think anything of a little more."
"Oh, so that was them? I was just thinking it was weird that there'd be a puddle on a nice day like this." Naruto nodded to himself, while his teammates just flushed ever so slightly.
I didn't even think anything of it...
"If you knew that, then why did you let your genin fight?"
"Honestly, if it was necessary, I could have killed them before they made themselves known. However, I first needed to know who their target was." Tazuna didn't even have to feign confusion. He honestly was confused. Kakshi decided to explain further. "In other words, was it someone from our group being targeted, or our client?" There were in fact three people in Team Seven who could, potentially, be the target of an assassination attempt. The name Uchiha was well-known in the world, as was the fact that Sasuke was the last still alive and loyal to Konoha. It wasn't beyond the realm of possibility that another village would seek to permanently rid Konoha of the Sharingan. Kakashi himself, as the Copycat Ninja, had evoked great wrath outside of Konoha, and in no small number of people. Most worrying would have been Naruto: If anyone outside of Konoha knew of his status as the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki and acted upon it, that would have implied a disastrous intelligence leak, and one that took precedent over a C-rank escort mission. Kakashi would have been forced to default on the mission and recall Team Seven to Konoha to report on that possibility.
However, it was their client, Tazuna, who had been targeted. The Demon Brothers had initally targeted the greatest threat in the group and then sought to quickly eliminate as many others of the ninja escort as possible. At the first sign of resistance, however, they had immediately switched target priority to Tazuna, presumably to accomplish the mission with a minimum of friendly casualties.
It seemed the old man had not been very honest with Konoha.
"Tazuna-san, we had not heard anything about you being targeted by ninja. The request was to protect you from opportunistic armed groups like bandits and thieves. Our job is just to support and protect you until you complete the bridge.
"If we had known that we would definitely be facing ninja, this mission would have been the more expensive B-rank. You may have had your reasons, but ultimately, lying about mission parameters just causes trouble for us. This wasn't part of the mission." Kakashi paused then, examining his genin. Sakura looked like she was trying to say something, but wasn't sure exactly what. Sasuke was as sullen as he always was, and Naruto... was also sullen, surprisingly.
Time to get a feel of where they are.
"Well, I think maybe this mission is out of the league of a trio of fresh genin. Maybe we should head ba-"
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's interruption sounded angry, and to be fair, he looked mighty angry, too. "This is our first mission outside Konoha, misranking or not. If you order us back to the village, to abandon Tazuna-san because of a technicality, when we're not even one day out..." He locked eyes with Kakashi and the jounin was acutely aware that Naruto was completely serious. "I'll never forgive you."
Sakura stared in awe. When did Naruto become this cool?
Kakashi did not show any reaction, matching Naruto's glare and giving the air of refusing to back down. Without looking away, he asked, "Sakura? Sasuke? Do the two of you feel the same?"
Sakura's response held no doubt in her voice. "Hai, sensei!"
Sasuke scoffed slightly, before answering just as certain. "Of course."
Kakashi made a show of accepting defeat, shoulders slumping and a great sigh escaping him. "Well, then... I guess since this doesn't really change our mission parameters, the mission is still on."
Naruto's happy smile at that moment was almost blinding.

* * *
So it was that Team Seven and their client found themselves walking through a forest on the largest island of Wave Country, en route to Tazuna's home. Kakashi was lamenting the obvious implications of having someone as rich as Gatou involved.
When they attack again, it won't be chuunin-level ninja like the Demon Brothers, but a jounin-level assassin. His shoulders slumped as he considered that he'd have to engage such an enemy alone. Team Seven did well in their first fight, but they wouldn't be anywhere near a match for a jounin.
Still, he thought, as he examined his genin students. At least they're all behaving far more cautiously than before, and they've got their guard up well enou-
His train of thought was interrupted by a sudden presence to their left. His head shifted imperceptibly in that direction, but he thought he caught Naruto doing the same. The presence was gone almost as soon as he had noticed, but he was certain he hadn't imagined it. It seemed they had a visitor... and had Naruto noticed too?
There was only a brief moment of something like respite before a new presence made itself known.
Different. Stronger.
Bloodthirsty.
"Everyone, get down!"
Just as they did, a zanbato roared overhead, spinning through the air until it sank into a tree ahead of them. The sword's owner quickly appeared, standing on it's grip.
Kakashi instantly took note of the casual stance, the calculating gaze, and the complete confidence at balancing on a sword's grip. This was a jounin, all right. The sword, too, was recognisable.
Damn it.
He moved forward, trying to separate himself from his team and present himself as the single necessary target.
"Oh, my, my! If it isn't Kirigakure's nukenin, Momochi Zabuza-kun!"

Naruto didn't take his eyes off of Zabuza. Combat situations were inherently chaotic, and he couldn't trust them to remain the same as last time. That said, he was going to try the same strategy as before. It had worked, and there was no reason that his opponent would foresee it either.
"Sasuke, Sakura... You guys have noticed too, right?" Sakura didn't quite understand what he was referring to, but Sasuke nodded.
"Naruto's right, you two. This guy's much different to the two you dealt with before. Stand back, or you'll just get in the way." Zabuza raised a hairless eyebrow in response to Kakashi's confirmation. The Demon Brothers had been dispatched by genin, and not the jounin? Interesting.

Kakashi had quickly taken stock of his options. This would almost certainly come down to a fight. The question was whether or not he could allow his genin to help in the fight. While they had certainly displayed prowess beyond what he was expecting, even managing to actually 'beat' him in the bell test, in all fairness, he had not been actively trying to kill them. While the Demon Brothers had, they were still only chuunin, and had not been killed themselves. None of Team Seven had broken the mental barrier necessary in order to kill. Zabuza had, and to the point that he likely no longer had such a barrier.
Kakashi could not allow his students to fight someone like that, not yet. He would have to deal with Zabuza alone.
And if this is our enemy, he concluded, his hand moving to his hitai-ite, I can't win like this.
"I'm guessing you're Sharingan Kakashi." Zabuza drawled, "It's too bad for you, but I'll be taking the old man." Kakashi did not miss Sasuke's reaction to his teacher's epithet.
Damn it.
"You three, manji formation. Protect Tazuna-san. Do not get involved in the battle." He lifted the cloth and steel covering his friend's memento. "None of you are a match for our opponent. To not get involved in the fight... is also a form of teamwork."
I'll be using your sight again, Obito.
"I'll be fighting him."
Now he had Zabuza's attention.
"Oh? So I get to see the Sharingan I've heard so much about. What an honor." Kakashi didn't react, Obito's Sharingan locked onto his enemy. "Still, how lucky for me... I get to fight one of the scariest names in my bingo book: the man who's stolen over a thousand techniques, the Copy-ninja Hatake Kakashi."
Kakashi still didn't bother to move, though he could still sense Sasuke's stare boring into him, trying to figure out why he had something that only Uchiha should possess.
That boy's going to want answers later.
Mist slowly built up around the area, thickening to obscure visibility slightly and rendering all color to a pastel shade.
"Well, let's just cut to the matter at hand, eh? I'll be needing to kill the old man quickly." Kunai out, Team Seven quickly assumed the formation Kakashi had ordered of them around Tazuna, placing themselves between him and the threat, with Kakashi positioned in front of all four of them, still facing Zabuza. "Looks like I'll have to beat you first, huh, Kakashi?" He pulled his sword out of the tree, blurring out of sight. With the mist, even Kakashi momentarily lost sight of him. The sound of water gave him away easily enough, though.
Standing on the water's surface, Zabuza's arms were held in a seal unfamiliar to Kakashi, but instantly recognisable as a ninjutsu due to how much chakra was being infused into the water.
"Ninpou: Kirigakure no Jutsu." He disappeared from sight, the mist thickening beyond any natural level and obscuring everything nearly completely.
Kakashi moved to position himself between his students and Zabuza's last position. It was doubtful it would stop the nukenin, but it was at least reassuring to the client to have an additional physical barrier between him and brutal death.
"He'll probably try to kill me first, but..."
"Sensei, who is he?" Sakura asked.
"Momochi Zabuza. He's a former ANBU from Kirigakure, famous for his silent killing technique, executed in an instant and in absolute silence. It's completely possible that you'll be dead before you even realise it, and I can't use my Sharingan effectively in this mist. Don't let your guard down." His genin let his words sink in completely, and he could sense their anxiety. "Still, if you fail, you're only going to die."
"How carefree!" Sakura objected. Good. Annoyance was better than anxiety in this situation.

The mist continued to thicken. Soon Team Seven could not even see their teacher through the thick white fog. Zabuza's voice rang out through the air, seemingly from all directions.
"Eight points." The genin tensed, prepared for an attack. Zabuza had something more insidious in mind. "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular artery, axillary artery, kidneys, heart. Which one should I strike?"
Enough of this, Kakashi thought. He released a quick burst of chakra to clear the fog momentarily. Zabuza's annoyance at that transferred over into bloodlust, blanketing the area and clashing with Kakashi's own, probing, killing intent, seeking an enemy. That clash did not go unnoticed. Tazuna was only barely sensitive to such things, noting only an increased sense of unease, but to the genin guarding him...
Naruto was largely unaffected. He'd dealt with far worse in his time, though there was always an inescapably unsettling quality to the killing intent of someone who apparently wanted you dead just to see you bleed.
Sakura felt sick. The oppressive feeling of being hunted, of being at the mercy of one completely prepared to kill you without hesitation...
Sasuke was worst off, sweating profusely at the palpable sense of impending murder in the air. It evoked similarities to memories he had tried to repress, too many similarities, calling forth feelings that he never wanted to experience again. If he spent an hour in this atmosphere, he'd go insane.
...Foolish little brother...
That feeling of having his life in someone else's hands...
...You are not worth killing...
No. He'd die before he felt that again. He'd kill himself before he allowed himself to feel that helpless again!
"Sasuke." Kakashi's voice sudden broke into his thoughts, staying his hand. "Don't worry. I won't let anyone in my team die." The jounin turned to smile at all three of them. It seemed to calm them enough that-
"I wonder about that..." The shock as Team Seven and their client realised that Zabuza was right in the middle of their formation, and had got there without their knowledge was visible. His arm held his blade poised. A single sweep would be enough to kill all four people around him. "It's over."
In the next instant, Kakashi had struck, his kunai buried deep into Zabuza's left flank, enough so to tear through his intestines and pierce the kidney behind them. It was a fatal wound, possibly immediately so if he had caught an artery as well. Kakashi was stoic as he felt warm liquid flow over his hands, unfazed by the sound of it beginning to pool on the ground.
That liquid, however, was much clearer than one would expect it to be.

The water clone destabilised as Zabuza emerged from the mists behind his target.
"DIE!"
The massive blade swung, tearing the jounin in half. Zabuza smirked as he watched the scattering droplets of... clear water?
Water clone technique? He couldn't have copied it in this mist...?
A kunai at his throat convinced him otherwise.
"Don't move." Kakashi stood behind him, holding that kunai. "It's over."
His genin were suitably impressed by their teacher's prowess, it seemed. All three watched the plateau with awe as Kakashi held Zabuza cold.
The mist began to clear slightly.
Zabuza scoffed. "It's over? You don't get it... Your monkey-see, monkey-do antics can't beat me. I assure you. But that was impressive."
The mist continued to thin, allowing the students a clearer view of their sensei and his captive.
"When you said you wouldn't let your students die, you'd already copied my Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu, and had your own clone speak to call my attention to it as genui-"
"Sensei! That's a water clone too!"
"Correct!" The Zabuza clone growled as it reverted to water, the original appearing behind Kakashi sooner than he would have liked, his blade already swinging to make up the distance.
"I'm not so easy to beat, Copy-ninja!"
Kakashi easily ducked the swing, Zabuza charging closer after the follow-up. Kakashi had been given ample time to prepare for his attack, though, and the two of them began fighting in close-quarters in earnest. Even so, behind his face wrapping, Zabuza spared a thought to a minor distraction.
That orange brat was able to see through my bunshin once he got a clear look at it, eh? Interesting.
The two jounin were evenly matched. Kakashi had the advantage of the Sharingan and a slight edge in speed, but as one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Zabuza had skill and not a little brutality on his side. Kakashi was fighting to cleanly incapacitate his opponent by any means necessary. Zabuza was fighting to murder him. There was also the matter of footing. Kakashi was trying to move the fight away from his genin, while Zabuza was trying to take them onto the water of the lake, where he would have another advantage.
Unfortunately, those two goals happened to be in the same direction.
It can't be helped, Kakashi mused. I can't allow this fight to stay this close to those four. I'll just have to deal with him over the water.
The two jounin continued to draw closer to the water's edge as they fought, killing intent and steel clashing in equal measure. A particularly daring strike from Kakashi later and the two of them were now clashing upon the lake, neither letting up, neither giving the other enough time to form a ninjutsu.
With his kunai locked against Zabuza's much larger blade, Kakashi was hard at work trying to implant a genjutsu using Obito's Sharingan. It was tough, getting the necessary chakra and concentration to do so in this kind of fight... Then Zabuza smirked.
He let the chakra flow to his feet stop suddenly, and slipped underwater with a splash. Kakashi nearly unintentionally followed him as he was suddenly pushing against air. He quickly recovered from his overbalance, and scanned the water beneath him.
No good. This mist of his is making it impossible to see clearly into the water. I doubt he did that just so he could run away... What is he planning? A surprise attack, maybe? No, too obviou-
Zabuza interrupted that thought when he erupted from the water behind him, his Kubikiri Houchou raised high for a surprise attack. Kakashi immediately reacted, blocking the blow by grabbing his opponents' wrists, and driving his kunai deep between Zabuza's ribs.
The Mizu Bunshin disintegrated from the blow, showering Kakashi in water.
"You fell for it." He turned enough to see Zabuza out of the corner of his eye before, "Suirou no Jutsu!"
Damn it.

Kakashi took stock of his options, trapped within the sphere while Zabuza gloated. "You're a pain when you're moving around freely. This should keep you out of trouble until I complete my objectives. Don't worry," He smirked, "We'll finish our fun later." Zabuza turned to the genin tightly scattered around the path leading to the lake. "Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu." The clone formed, hunched over, in front of them. It clumsily stumbled onto land, its dexterity improving as Zabuza adjusted to controlling it and maintaining the Suirou at the same time. As it straightened up, it began speaking for the original.
"The three of you wear those hitai-ite like you think you're ninja. A real ninja is someone who has experienced numerous life and death situations. When you show up in my bingo book, then you can call yourselves ninja." A half-seal was formed, the mist thickening to conceal the clone.
Naruto took a hit out of nowhere, only able to half-block the attack and sent flying back as the clone reappeared. "You're still just kids."
"So what?" Naruto pulled himself to his feet, fierce defiance plastered over his face. "Throwing around the word 'ninja' like you're the only one in the world... Don't make me laugh! If it's your bingo book, then put this in there, you no-browed asshole! The man who will become Hokage: Konoha ninja, Uzumaki Naruto!" He turned to his team, "Are you ready, guys?"
"So, you figured it out, too?" Sasuke asked.
"Of course. Even if we run now for Tazuna's sake, there's no reason he won't track us down later."
"In other words, our only chance is to somehow free Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.
"And to do that, we need to beat that no-brows bastard." Naruto grinned, "How lucky I have a plan. Sasuke. Be ready." His teammate nodded.
Zabuza chuckled. "The three of you seem quite confident. But really, do any of you actually have a chance?"
"We'll just have to see, won't we?" Naruto countered.
Zabuza cocked his head at that. "You're still pretending to be ninja. You don't get it, do you? When I was your age, my hands were already soaked in blood."
"Kishin Zabuza." Kakashi spoke up from within his prison.
Zabuza didn't spare his prisoner a glance. "So you'd heard of me." Kakashi turned to his genin, and began to exposit on the source of Zabuza's name.
"A while ago, the Village Hidden in the Mist was known as the Bloody Mist, because of a certain obstacle that existed in order to become a ninja."
This time Zabuza did spare him a look. "You know about the old graduation test."
"Graduation...? Wait, I think I know about..." Sakura began. Hadn't this been in a history text on the other villages?
Zabuza interrupted her. "A brat like you? I doubt it. The final test was students being forced to kill one another. Friends who have eaten from the same pot are paired off and forced to fight each other to the death. This was done with those who have helped one another, shared dreams and fought side-by-side for each other." Kakashi picked up the slack after Zabuza finished.
"Ten years ago, Kirigakure had to implement a reformation, because the previous year, a demon appeared that finally decided things." Zabuza had gone silent. "A young boy who had not even been granted the right to become a ninja, killed the hundred strong graduating class that year, by himself, without any hesitation." Kakashi turned back to Zabuza as he finished, and both the clone and the original confirmed the implication, the nightmarish drawl sounding in stereo.
"Yeah... That was fun..."
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto had decided to try to capitalise on his opponent's distraction.
"Oh? Kage Bunshin, is it? There's quite a few of them, too."
It seems he's skilled with its use. That must be how he was able to spot my own bunshin earlier.
"But, even something like this won't be enough to defeat me. So long as you keep pretending to be ninja-"
"So what?" Zabuza's hand rested on the hilt of his zanbato when Naruto interrupted him. "I said, so what? For everyone and everything, even you..." The clones and the original alike directed killing intent towards the nukenin. "There's always a first time."
Zabuza grinned under his facial wrapping. "That's some nice bloodlust there, kid. But can you really follow through on it?"

The mob of orange said nothing, leaping to the attack.  They landed on the jounin, trying to crush him under their combined weight as well as trying to work a multitude of kunai past his defenses. It didn't work.
"Cocky brat, aren't you!" The zanbato swung up and around, dislodging the kage bunshin swarm from the water clone's person. Those clones that didn't dispel immediately from the force of the strike went skidding along the ground, a few of them dispelling from the accumulation of friction.
One remaining, presumably the original, dug in his pack desperately. When he had what he needed, he threw it towards his teammate with a cry to get his attention.
Sasuke caught the compressed fuuma shuriken in one hand, noting the momentary burst of warmth against his fingers before the customary feeling of cold steel returned. He realised what Naruto's plan was immediately and smirked, the blades unfolding into their characteristic windmill shape.
Zabuza raised an invisible eyebrow. "Just one shuriken won't work on me."
Sasuke leapt into the air before launching the tool of death at his target. The water clone followed his movement, ready to block or destroy the attack... only to see it soar straight past him, flying towards the true Zabuza who still held Kakashi prisoner.
"Too easy."
He caught the blades by their centre handle, before a second shuriken appeared behind the first.
Kage Shuriken no Jutsu?
"Still too easy!"
He leapt over the whirling blades of death easily, letting them pass underneath harmlessly. It continued on past him, though not entirely useless. Naruto revealed himself in a puff of smoke and killing intent, and just to make sure Zabuza noticed him, he yelled out as well.
"How's this for following through?!" He hurled a kunai at the nukenin from behind. Time seemed to slow down for Zabuza as his mind went through his options, and how he could possibly counter this new attack without releasing his jounin prisoner. He briefly considered just taking the hit, but the genin was too good a shot. The knife would still have sufficient velocity to penetrate deep enough to cause a serious wound no matter where it struck him if he only tried to minimise damage without cancelling the suirou. If that happened, he might lose concentration long enough to lose his hold on the suirou and the mizu bunshin, which would leave him injured, distracted and forced to deal with a newly free Kakashi. There was only one real option.
Zabuza released the suirou as Naruto's kunai flew past his face. The knife penetrated the mizu bunshin and the water disintegrated. Zabuza spun to face the genin who had screwed with his plans so brazenly. Even now, suspended in midair as he fell towards the lake surface, he had an infuriatingly cocky expression on his face. If he moved quickly enough, he could cut him down with his own shuriken before Kakashi could recov-
The blades came to halt against a metal-backed glove. Dripping wet, Kakashi raised his head to lock eyes with Zabuza. A focused burst of killing intent rolled over Zabuza as Kakashi's Sharingan bored into him.
Naruto burst into smoke when he hit the water's surface.

Sakura and Sasuke turned to the real one on the ground beside them. They didn't even have to say it, their faces' blank expressions were enough. Naruto just grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck as he stood up.
"More importantly, shouldn't we be guarding Tazuna-san?"

Zabuza twitched slightly in annoyance. These brats were more trouble than he'd given them credit for. He'd assumed that the Demon Brothers had been sloppy when he heard they'd been beaten by just the genin, but it was looking like they'd only made the same mistake he had. He tried to laugh it off.
"I saw red for a minute there and let you go-"
"Wrong. It's not that you chose to let me go..." Kakashi cut him off. "You were forced to." The Jounin didn't break his gaze while he continued, "More importantly... The same trick won't catch me out twice." That unblinking red stare of his was unnerving. "What will you do now?"

* * *
Zabuza slammed against the tree trunk, pinned there momentarily by water pressure before the torrent subsided and drained away back into the lake. As he slumped forward, four kunai found their mark in his arms and legs, bringing a cry of pain and a sharp return to conscious thought. He turned to the Konoha jounin who had just landed upon a branch above him.
What was that? What had he done? How could he have kept up with me, not just copying, but matching my movements with perfect timing. Not even that, but even beating my timing at the end.
Could it have been...?
"How...?"
Impossible! Yet it had happened... could that be the Sharingan's true power?
"Can you see the future?"
"Yeah." Kakashi lifted a kunai. "You're going to die."
It was right then that two senbon struck Zabuza in the neck.