A sea breeze swept across the water, rippling the surface. Inside Kisame Hoshigaki, similar waves of confusion were stirring.
He had completely forgotten the lines Uzumaki Akio had told him to say.
At a time like this… how am I supposed to lure Kakashi Hatake away? (⊙_⊙?)
The two sides were clearly facing off, yet the atmosphere had become strangely awkward. Only Naruto Uzumaki kept shouting at the top of his lungs, while Kisame and Zabuza Momochi completely ignored the so-called "young lord of the Land of Whirlpools."
Nearby, Tazuna frowned to himself. Did the shark-brain finally short-circuit? Aren't sharks supposed to be good with water?
"Hey! Shark-face! You eyebrowless freak! Are you even listening to me?!" Naruto yelled.
Kisame glanced at Zabuza. Zabuza replied calmly,
"I hate noisy brats."
Kisame forced a grin that could make a child cry.
"You'll be fighting him soon anyway. Want to take him out?"
Zabuza raised an eyebrow.
"Switch opponents?"
Kisame tilted his head.
"Nope."
On the other side, Kakashi had been standing on guard for quite a while. When he realized the enemy showed no sign of attacking, he finally turned his head.
"Mr. Tazuna, what should we do now?"
Tazuna blinked. He looked at the suspicious expression on Sasuke Uchiha's face and twitched slightly.
"You're the squad leader, aren't you? Why are you asking me? But… if you want my opinion, I'd say you could probably handle that Kisame guy."
"Understood." Kakashi turned back.
Even Naruto, who normally missed obvious things, felt something was off but he couldn't figure out what.
"Lord Naruto, if a fight breaks out, you'll protect me, right?" Tazuna said.
Naruto blinked.
"How would a fight even start? They're ninjas from the Land of Whirlpools…"
Clang!
The sharp clash of weapons cut him off.
Naruto turned and saw that Kakashi had somehow appeared beside Kisame in an instant. Kakashi's White Fang short blade had locked against Kisame's strange oversized sword.
"Hey! Kakashi-sensei!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kakashi and Kisame exchanged blows rapidly. With unspoken coordination, they fought farther and farther away until they vanished from sight.
Meanwhile, Zabuza strolled over with his massive executioner's blade resting on his shoulder. He stopped in front of the four of them, studying "Tazuna" from head to toe.
"Kakashi-sensei… what's going on? Why did they suddenly start fighting?" Naruto scratched his head.
Sasuke frowned.
"Something definitely isn't right…"
Sakura Haruno looked tense.
"That guy is a jōnin from the Land of Whirlpools, right? Kakashi-sensei just left us here? Typical…"
Zabuza suddenly spoke.
"You… are Tazuna? What did you do to piss off that old fossil?"
Tazuna stiffened. You jerk… I'm writing this down.
"Old fossil?"
"Lord Zabuza, you must mean that scumbag Gato!" Tazuna said quickly.
Zabuza raised an eyebrow.
"Gato…?"
Akio sensed trouble. If this kept going, the fight might never start. He needed to throw fuel on the fire, make Zabuza angry enough to attack.
"Lord Zabuza! Don't think you can act however you want just because Lady Haku has your back! Standing before you is Lord Naruto Uzumaki!"
"Lady Haku backing him?" Naruto muttered. "You mean… Sister Haku?"
"That's right, the Lady Haku who always accompanies our great elder," Tazuna added.
"Haku… backing me… doing whatever I want?" Zabuza repeated softly.
Then his figure vanished.
The next second, he appeared directly in the middle of the group. His executioner's blade came down toward Tazuna in a lightning-fast strike.
Clang!
Sasuke blocked with a kunai but slid backward several steps.
"Naruto! Focus!"
"Lord Naruto, he's trying to silence witnesses!"
Naruto finally snapped back to attention.
"Don't worry, Tazuna! I'll protect you! You eyebrowless jerk; how dare you smear Sister Haku's name?!"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A dozen Narutos, along with Sasuke, charged at Zabuza.
Tazuna let out a quiet breath.
"Finally…"
Now only Sakura stood in front of him, holding a kunai with trembling hands.
Zabuza's killing intent filled the air. Naruto and Sasuke could handle it, but Sakura was clearly struggling.
Still needs more experience…
On the other side, Zabuza's massive blade whirled like a storm, cutting down clone after clone.
"These are the brats who need training? I'll start by killing that annoying old man!"
With a sudden burst of strength, he forced Naruto and Sasuke back. Then his hands formed seals.
"Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
Thick mist rolled in, swallowing everything in a white haze.
Naruto and Sasuke instinctively moved back-to-back.
"Eyebrowless freak! Where are you?!" Naruto shouted.
Zabuza, an experienced killer, wasn't foolish enough to fall for such a childish trick. Still, he thought to himself:
The old fossil said not to go too far… but shaving off that brat's eyebrows should be fine, right?
Zabuza quietly circled behind Tazuna. He saw Tazuna move half a step around Sakura.
"Miss, I feel someone's hostile intent behind me. Mind if I stand in front of you?"
Sakura turned, alert.
"That's fine. I'll protect you!"
Zabuza frowned slightly.
This guy…
Hearing the voices, Naruto and Sasuke rushed over and formed a triangle around Tazuna.
"This mist is so annoying! Sasuke, can you blow it away?" Naruto asked loudly.
"Blow it away? Don't be naive…" Zabuza's voice echoed from somewhere in the fog, drifting through the air without a trace.
Sasuke's two-tomoe Sharingan spun as he searched the mist.
"Even the Sharingan can't see through this. Stall for time. Kakashi-sensei will deal with the other enemy soon."
"Damn it!"
Naruto angrily hurled a kunai and heard a clang.
"Got you!"
He rushed toward the sound.
"Hey, Naruto! Tch… idiot…" Sasuke hurried after him.
But suddenly Zabuza appeared behind Sakura.
She seemed to sense something and turned slowly, trembling, just as the executioner's blade came slashing down toward her.
"Ah!"
"Miss! Get out of the way!"
Slash!
Hearing the cry, Naruto and Sasuke sprinted back. As the mist began to fade, the scene came into view.
Sakura sat on the ground in shock.
"Tazuna" lay face-down, unmoving.
Zabuza's blade still dripped with red liquid.
"Tazuna! Sakura! You eyebrowless jerk!"
Akio, lying face-down, secretly chuckled.
"Tazuna is dead." Now let's have a battle where lives are on the line, Naruto. And Sakura… if 'my death' pushes you past your fear, that's good too…
A fiercer fight was about to erupt
When suddenly a line of text flashed before Akio's eyes:
"Witnessed and completely altered the main storyline of the Naruto world: Land of Waves mission. Reward: 200 Witness Points."
Akio blinked.
"The system… thinks Tazuna actually died?"
He suddenly jumped to his feet.
"Hahahahaha! This stupid system is unbelievably dumb!"
"Tazuna…?" Naruto froze mid-charge.
Akio turned his head and his laughter froze.
"Hahahaha—hic!"
With a dull thud, the real Tazuna collapsed to the ground… completely lifeless.
Akio stared.
"…He laughed himself to death?!"
Zabuza raised his blade, wiped some of the red liquid off it, and tasted it.
"…Sweet."
He sighed.
"That old bastard really set me up."