Half an hour later, at Konoha's main gate.
Naruto showed up with a giant scroll stuffed to bursting—not with ninja tools or ration pills, but instant noodles and snacks. In his mind, the top priority for any long trip was simple: don't go hungry.
Sasuke was the opposite—just a small tool pouch on his back, leaning against the gate pillar, hands in his pockets, eyes set in an icy stare toward the road.
Sakura stood beside him, rattling off reminders about mission safety. Sasuke did not appear to be listening.
Their client, an old man named Tazuna, tapped his foot impatiently. "Hey, are you kids really shinobi? What's with the dawdling—one of you isn't even here yet."
As if on cue, Kakashi strolled up the street, eyes half-lidded, flipping through his favorite orange book.
"Sorry, sorry," he said lazily. "A black cat crossed my path on the way out, so I had to take the long route."
"Again with that lame excuse!" Naruto and Sakura shouted together. "Your shadow clone called us—we thought the real you was already ahead of us!"
Kakashi pretended not to hear, slid the book away, and swept a look over the group just as he was about to announce departure—
"...Kakashi."
The voice was gentle but made Kakashi freeze. He tucked the book into his pouch. The indolent look vanished.
Shinju stood behind them, no one knew when he had arrived.
"Shinju-sama," Kakashi said with a small bow.
"Big bro!" Naruto sprinted over, circling him with uncontained excitement. "You came to see me off? We're on a C-rank—we're finally doing a real shinobi job!"
Shinju ruffled Naruto's blond hair and drew out a brand-new forehead protector. He handed it over.
It looked like a normal Konoha headband, but the metal plate, besides the leaf crest, bore a ring of faint golden runes—woven into a tiny whirlpool pattern.
"Mother asked me to give you this," Shinju said. "She used an Uzumaki secret art of fūinjutsu (Sealing Technique) to add a small storage seal. Put some of your chakra into it in advance. In a pinch, you can draw on it as a backup source. You can borrow the Kyubi's chakra, but your own is always best."
Naruto felt the warm trace of his mother's chakra on the metal. Grinning from ear to ear, he swapped headbands on the spot. "Awesome! Thanks, big bro—and thank Mom for me!"
Shinju's gaze shifted back to Kakashi.
"Kakashi. The air in Wave is heavy. Be wary of the 'Demon' in the mist. For Naruto and Sasuke as they are now, he's a fitting opponent."
He said no more, turned, and walked away.
Kakashi stood rooted, Shinju's words echoing in his chest. The "Demon"… his mind leapt to a name—an infamous missing-nin, presumed dead on a hunter mission.
The Demon of the Hidden Mist (Kirigakure no Kijin): Zabuza.
Shinju's words were never idle. If he said the name, then Zabuza not only lived—he might well be in Wave.
Kakashi's mood shifted. This "simple C-rank escort" might in truth be a battle that merited A-rank—perhaps even S-rank should they face an elite jōnin.
He raised his guard to the highest level.
"Let's move," he said, voice now clipped and serious.
The five set out for the Land of Waves.
The first leg was quiet. Tazuna complained that shinobi walked too fast and his old bones were coming apart. Naruto chattered nonstop, amazed by every tree and bird. Sasuke kept silent but scanned the surroundings without pause. Sakura pushed herself to keep pace, breathing a little hard.
Kakashi led, looking relaxed—but his senses were wide open.
They entered a wooded path. A small puddle by the roadside caught Kakashi's eye. The weather had been clear for days; the ground was dry. A puddle here, un-evaporated? Wrong.
A prickle crawled up his spine. Without a change of expression, he didn't slow, didn't warn the students—just walked on.
The moment Team Seven's last steps passed the puddle—
A splash!
Two shadows exploded out of the water—Hidden Mist shinobi in village gear, iron claws linked by chain gleaming wickedly as they flew at the rear of the group—straight for defenseless Tazuna.
"The Demon Brothers!" Sakura shrieked as the two assassins lunged. "Gozu! Meizu!"
Naruto and Sasuke spun to intercept—but they were a beat late. The assassins were fast.
Just as the claws were about to tear into Tazuna—
A silver figure flashed between them and the old man.
Kakashi.
No one saw when he had doubled back. He caught both wrists—one in each hand—and stopped the pair cold.
"Surrender," Kakashi said, voice like ice.
The brothers exchanged a glance—and yanked. Chains snapped taut, shredding Kakashi's body into several pieces.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled.
"—No," Sasuke said, the tomoe of his Sharingan whirling. "That was Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone)!"
The real Kakashi stood behind the brothers. In the same instant he knifed both necks with a precise hand-edge. They crumpled without a cry.
The fight ended in seconds.
Kakashi bound them and faced a white-faced Tazuna. "Explain," he said flatly. "These two are Hidden Mist chūnin—assassination specialists. A C-rank escort does not draw this level of enemy."
Tazuna stared at the unconscious assassins, the last of his lies collapsing. He pulled off his hat and sighed. He told them everything: how the Land of Waves had fallen under the thumb of a greedy magnate named Gato; how he, Tazuna, was the next target; how he had lied about the job's rank because he had no money for a higher one.
"So this mission," Kakashi concluded, "may face pursuit at the jōnin level at any time. It's effectively A-rank."
By regulation, they should abort and return to Konoha to reclassify. The rule rang in his head—then Shinju's voice cut across it: For Naruto and Sasuke, he's a fitting opponent.
Shinju had tacitly permitted this.
Kakashi looked to his students. Naruto's eyes burned with eagerness—no fear in sight. Sasuke's gaze was iron-hard, the hunger to grow plain as a blade.
Decision made.
"We proceed," Kakashi said. "This will be Team Seven's first true battle. Our opponent may outclass you by far. Do you still have the will?"
"Of course!" Naruto pumped a fist. "If I don't have the guts to fight, I don't deserve to be a shinobi. That's my nindō."
Sasuke snorted softly—few words, but assent.
Sakura couldn't say she wasn't afraid; but swept up by her teammates' resolve, she nodded sharply.
Team Seven continued—not on a C-rank, but on an A-rank path.
In the fog-shrouded land ahead, a man hefting a great beheading blade—Kubikiribocho (Decapitating Carving Knife)—waited for them: the Demon in the Mist.
(End of Chapter)
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