Tazuna said nothing, his hands curled up into fists as he stared at the ground. Slowly his fists uncurled.
It was obvious he had lost hope.
Sure he had put our lives at risk and I wanted to turn right back and return to the village but that look in his eyes...
He had to have done this for a good reason right?
"It's our first C-rank mission, or I guess you could call it a B-rank mission; we can't just leave halfway, then all that we fought for to get this mission would have been for nothing," I said unable to abandoned him when he obviously needed help.
"Yeah! We can't give up now!" Naruto added.
"It's way too dangerous, Hinoka!" Sakura exclaimed fear in her eyes, "Naruto, who knows what would have happened if Kakashi-sensei didn't appear just in time."
Naruto stiffened remembering what had happened.
"But it didn't happen, and we were all aware of the dangers of this job," I replied.
Sakura avoided my gaze, unable to deny it.
"Yeah!" Naruto exclaimed, getting energized again.
"Come on, Kakashi-sensei!" we both said at the same time, pressuring him even more.
Kakashi-sensei let out a sigh as he replied, "Fine, we'll continue the mission, but if I deduce it's too dangerous, we'll head back immediately."
Naruto and I grinned as we immediately agreed.
As Sasuke, Tazuna, Naruto, Kakashi-Sensei, Sakura, and I were on a boat, making our way to the Land of Waves, Kakashi-Sensei was questioning the old man, Tazuna, about who was after him.
Tazuna hesitated before replying, "A terrifying man is after my life."
"Terrifying man?" Kakashi-sensei asked.
"You must have all heard the name Gato."
"You mean Gato of Gato Company, one of the richest people in the world?"
"Yes, he is the one, after the third ninja war. Gato set his eyes on the Land of Waves and now controls the shipping magnate in the village, by which he can control the entire village. His only fear is the completion of the bridge."
Sakura chipped into the conversation, beginning to piece it all together as she asked, "So that's why they want to assassinate you."
"Don't worry, you don't have to protect me. After we exit the boat, I will die. My 8-year-old grandson will hate Konoha ninjas, and my daughter-in-law will hate you ninjas all her life, but you don't need to worry about it," Tazuna replied.
'Who would have guessed he's pretty good at emotional blackmail,' I thought to myself, rolling my eyes at his performance was really worth risking our life for?
Kakashi reluctantly agreed to continue the mission, and as we traveled, we finally reached the Land of Waves.
Just as got off the boat and started walking in the forest, Naruto suddenly threw a kunai, narrowly missing a white rabbit.
I looked at the rabbit, wondering why there was a white rabbit here in summer when suddenly, I sensed someone's chakra presence near a tree. As I looked at the tree, I saw a giant sword flying towards us.
We all ducked to avoid the sword, and it got stuck in a tree. Then, a man with a mask on his face appeared and stood on top of it.
Naruto was about to rush forward when I stopped, "You can't just charge into everything, you idiot!" I exclaimed, he was far beyond our level.
Kakashi-Sensei actually looked slightly worried as he said, "The rogue ninja of the Village Hidden in the Mist, Zabuza. Him being our opponent means..."
As we all looked at Kakashi-Sensei, he started to raise his headband, revealing a Sharingan.
The man with the mask, Zabuza, spoke up as he said, "What's more frightening is that such an eye can assess an opponent's techniques and copy them. Ninja Art, Hidden Mist Jutsu."
As Zabuza disappeared behind the mist, Kakashi gave us our orders, "He'll probably come to erase me first... All you need to do is to guard Tazuna."
Kakashi-Sensei walked forward, did a hand sign, and the mist was suddenly blown away. Then, there was an intense thirst for blood.
I froze up for a second before regaining my composure. I turned to the others, who were frozen in fear. Suddenly, Zabuza jumped in the middle of us. Kakashi-Sensei followed him and stabbed him with a kunai, revealing that it was actually a water clone when Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi-Sensei.
"Sensei! Behind you!" Naruto exclaimed.
"Die!" Zabuza screamed out as he slashed Kakashi-Sensei with his sword, revealing him to be a water clone, "The water clone jutsu!"
Kakashi-Sensei appeared behind Zabuza and pointed a kunai to his throat as he said, "Don't move. It's over."
"But... I'm not a fool." Saying that, the Zabuza in front of Kakashi-Sensei disappeared.
Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi-Sensei and swung his sword at him, but he managed to dodge it. Without hesitation, he launched his next attack and kicked Kakashi-Sensei into the water.
Soon after Kakashi-Sensei emerged from the water.
He struggled to move, "W-what's with this water...? It's awfully heavy."
"It's the Water Prison Jutsu!" Zabuza replied as Kakashi-Sensei was trapped in a water bubble.
"Darn it!"
Zabuza created a shadow clone, and it attacked Naruto. Then, Sasuke charged towards the clone, only to be thrown.
(When I say Zabuza now I mean the clone.)
Zabuza continued to attack Naruto, and he lost his headband in the process.
He stood there trembling with fear before suddenly stabbing his hand with a kunai. He removed it, and wrapped his hand with a bandage.
Before charging towards the clone, only to be kicked back. But as he stood up, he had his headband in his hand.
Naruto began to put his headband on, "Zabuza, you better write my name on your bingo book because I'm the person who will become the Hokage. I am Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in Leaves!" He exclaimed, Just as Tazuna was about to kick Naruto, he suddenly stopped.
"Where did he go?"
"Hey Zabuza, am I so weak that you decided to ignore me?" I asked standing next to a tree with Naruto by my side.
I turned to Naruto with a smile before saying, "Just concentrate on healing first, Naruto."
I knew it was foolish to charge in, if I wasn't careful I might find myself in a position where I might have to ask her for help. So, I stayed next to Naruto and was thinking of a plan when Zabuza punched Sasuke and started brutally beating him up.
"That's getting really annoying!"
I turned to Sasuke, who was in my arms, with a smile as I asked, "You okay, Sasuke?" I had acted without thinking.
"Hinoka?" he mumbled staring at me taken aback.
"Don't stress yourself too much; just rest. I'll take care of the rest from here."
I placed Sasuke on the ground and was about to leave, when he grabbed my hand, "Hinoka, don't overdo it. And don't underestimate him-"
"I know, I know I'll control my anger, I won't over do it and I'll do just enough to make him release Kakashi-sensei," I replied shooting him a reassuring smile before turning back to Zabuza.