Vampire in Naruto?!

Chapter 6: New Enemy...

3rd POV

"Alright guys meet me at the clearing in 5 mins. It's my turn to train you today. " Kakashi smirked. Tsukiko gave him a gentle smile. Team 7 was getting along well. Naruto and Sasuke had formed a brotherly bond over night, and Sakura was getting along with the both of them and they were laughing.

"Alright sensei!" They chorused, yup even Sasuke.

"Today I will teach you how to walk on water. This exercise will be harder than the tree climbing exercise but I think you're ready for this." Kakashi explained.

He signaled them to try walking on water using the knowledge they'd gained from the tree walking exercise. He wasn't going to help them by giving them tips like Tsukiko did. He wanted them to figure it out for themselves.

As expected all three of them fell into the water. Sakura seemed to gleam as she thought of an idea. She hesitantly put out a step onto the water, and another, and another and soon she was walking. She had succeeded. She really has the potential. But she soon fell in as she did not have the chakra capacity to keep up with the constant flow of chakra she was putting out. But she looked determined to improve, different from the previous times where she had just seemed dejected and ready to give up. Naruto was in awe and just giving her a goofy smile. Sasuke surprised Kakashi when he asked Sakura for some advice on how she did it. They worked at it together for a few days and soon all of them could walk on water. Kakashi didn't even have to lift a finger. They were finally coming together as a team. Despite all of them having the potential to become powerful shinobis one day, they would have never been as strong alone as compared to if they had combined their powers. It would bring them to a whole new level of being. Tsukiko smiled at this new generation of kids and she thought "It's so true when they say the kids are the future, each generation better than the generation before them. I can't wait to see them grow up and become the leaders they would be."
She felt two new chakras closing in on them and couldn't help but feel excited for what's to come next.

The area soon become densely covered in mist, they couldn't see one another but they had felt the killing intent that chilled them to their bones. They froze up for a moment before remembering how to breathe. They let up a little and had their backs to each other in an instant. Kakashi was no where to be found and neither was Tsukiko. They couldn't help but think the worst. Haku soon made and appearance in his mask. And the fight begins. Naruto did what he does best, Shadow clone spam the hell out of his enemies. While Haku was dealing with the shadow clones, the team split and regrouped somewhere else to come up with a plan.

Naruto pointed out that this was a test of some sort from their senseis and they had to prove themselves by winning. Sasuke had unlocked his sharingan last night when he learnt about the truth of his brother and he's putting them to use now. But unfortunately he neither has the knowledge or experience of how to use them and with the mist, needless to say he couldn't see much. Well it could be of use later. Sakura observed Haku while he was fighting the shadow clones and noted that he was using senbons as his primary weapon and his insanely fast speed of movement. Naruto's clones were taken out in an instant. But Naruto wasn't giving up either, he kept using the jutsu to buy them some time to think. The three of them didn't have much jutsu in their repetoir and had to make do. Sakura came up with an idea to channel her chakra to her fist to help increase her power but she didn't know if it would work and she needed to be in close contact with Haku. Naruto and sasuke could distract him with their flashy techniques while she went in for the winning blow but she does not have the speed required to keep up. They did not have another other ideas and were running out of time so they'll just have to risk it.

It was a close fight, but sadly they still lost as they did not have the experience nor the training that Haku had to win the match. They all had senbons sticking out of their bodies and parts of their limbs switched off. But they realised that there were no lethal hits and reality hit them. Haku had to be so much better than them to have been able to win in a one to three fight without using lethal hits and with only some scrapes and bruises that the team had luckily got in.

Kakashi, Tsukiko and zabuza made their way down to the clearing they were at and observed their students. The team albeit having their pride hurt from losing the match to Haku, they knew that they still had a lot to learn and they were staring at Haku in slight admiration which Tsukiko thought was cute.

Naruto was hanging his head as he looked up at Tsukiko. He whispered "We really wanted to win for you sensei, to show that we really have learnt from you as well as appreciate the effort you've put into helping us..."
Tsukiko just ruffled his hair and told him that with some training he'd do better next time with a gentle smile, eyes lighting up with sincere appreciation for what he said.

Introductions were made, this time with more detail and the team had dinner with zabuza and Haku at Tazuna's house, coming up with plans to take down Gato and his cronies.

Dinner was a simple affair with joy and laughter as the two teams of different nations got to know each other better. They bonded over the food and over the stories of their hellish training sessions, making the senseis laugh, but the students not so much.

After dinner, they came up with a plan to defeat Gato. Zabuza and Haku was to continue to lead Gato into believing that they were still on his side while the kids continued to train. They'd put up a fake fight to lure Gato out of hiding and dispose of him after. Hopefully it would be as simple as it sounded.

During the week, the kids were more motivated than ever to train, even without their senseis, they would go over strategies to incorporate everyone's strengths into the fight. Sasuke sought out Kakashi for training with the Sharingan while Naruto and Sakura trained with Tsukiko, in increasing jutsu repetoir and endurance respectively.

They were more than ready to take on Gato and his cronies. Even in the event that there were any surprises or failure in the plan, they were prepared.

It would be an understatement to say that their senseis were proud of them. They were all giddy with excitement when the day came to fight Gato.

What they didn't realise was that, they were slowly beginning to thread over the line of feeling prepared to becoming arrogant. They had every right to feel like they've improved but not infallible. This would become an important factor in the battle with Gato as well as a cause for concern.

TBC...