It started with birds.
They went quiet.
Even Naruto stopped talking.
A low fog began to snake through the trees like something alive. Thick. Cold. Too heavy for weather.
Sasuke's knuckles whitened around a kunai.
Naruto's breath hitched.
Kakashi tensed.
I felt it too.
The air shifted.
A wrongness.
Then—
> System Warning:
Life Threat Detected.
Shinobi Classification: A-Rank
Nickname: "Demon of the Hidden Mist"
---
A figure appeared on the path.
Massive blade. Bandaged face. Shirtless like he wrestled crocodiles for breakfast.
Zabuza Momochi.
"Ah," he said, eyeing us. "So they sent children again. I hate killing kids. It's messy. But I'll make it quick."
Naruto trembled.
Sasuke stepped forward.
I instinctively moved in front of both of them.
Kakashi pulled up his headband.
The Sharingan gleamed.
---
The fight was... fast.
Too fast.
Sasuke and I backed up Tazuna. Naruto tried to copy Kakashi but froze again—he didn't know what to do against someone like this.
Zabuza moved like a ghost, blade cleaving through trees like they were reeds. His killing intent was suffocating—thick and pressing, like drowning in blood.
Then he trapped Kakashi in a sphere of water.
We were on our own.
---
Sasuke panicked—but only for a second. He formed seals, launched shuriken. I followed up with a burst of speed, aiming to disrupt Zabuza's footing.
He didn't even blink.
He blocked it all, one-handed, with that massive sword.
"This isn't a game," Zabuza growled. "You're not soldiers. You're meat."
Naruto collapsed to his knees.
"I'm useless," he whispered. "I can't—"
I grabbed his collar and shook him.
"You can!"
He looked at me, wide-eyed, tears brimming.
"Do it scared," I said. "Even if your knees shake. Even if your hands won't stop. If you move now, you'll never stop moving."
Something lit up in his eyes.
---
He screamed and charged.
Zabuza laughed—until a clone struck from behind. Naruto tricked him. Sasuke jumped in, kunai flashing, slashing the water prison. I blurred into the mix, drove a palm into Zabuza's ribs, and kicked off a tree to avoid the blade swing that followed.
Kakashi broke free.
And the real fight began.
---
It ended with blood.
Zabuza fell—stabbed by hunter-nin who appeared from nowhere. They collected his body and vanished into the mist.
Naruto asked, "Are we safe now?"
Kakashi said nothing.
Then he collapsed.
---
The silence afterward was different.
Not peaceful.
Just… heavy.
We didn't laugh that night.
We didn't joke.
We just watched over our sensei, kept the fire going, and stared into the shadows.
Because now we knew:
Being a ninja wasn't just jutsu and missions.
It was death.
And we weren't just kids anymore.