Blood for the Blade's Granddaughter (Naruto X Dream SMP Fanfic)

Chapter 19

"Sensei! You're finally awake!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Ugh...don't remind me..." Kakashi muttered as he slowly sat up.

"Sensei, you really shouldn't put so much strain on your chakra like that. It'll take a while to recover." Sakura said.

"Says the genin that went head first into a slug-fest with Zabuza Momochi." Kakashi retorted.

"Hey, I lived, didn't I?" Sakura said.

"You did, and you are fortunate for that," Kakashi said. "Zabuza would've killed you had I not gotten free."

"What about that masked kid?" Sasuke asked. Right, Sakura thinks she remembers that.

"That was a hunter-nin from the Mist village," Kakashi explained. "Their job is to track down rogue shinobi and kill them, then destroy the body so the secrets it holds can never be recovered. They function similarly to the ANBU of our village."

"That person must've been strong!" Naruto commented. "They threw toothpicks at Zabuza and he went down!"

"Senbon, Naruto. They're called senbon." Sakura corrected when she heard muttering.

That's not right.

Senbon don't kill. They incapacitate but rarely kill.

Something's wrong. Ask where the body went.

"...sensei, what did the hunter-nin do with the body?" Sakura asked. "I mean, did they work on it right then or did they take it away?"

Kakashi paused, then looked towards Sakura. "Are you suggesting what I think you are?" He asked.

"I think so...cause senbon don't kill, do they?" Sakura said.

"No Sakura, they don't," Kakashi answered. "Not with the way that the hunter-nin threw them."

"Huh, but what are you saying Sensei? You checked Zabuza's pulse and said he was dead!" Naruto exclaimed.

"If senbon land in a certain spot on a victim's body, they can trigger a sort of false death," Kakashi explained. "Once they awaken, the paralysis lasts about a week. In other words, we have a week of safety for Tazuna until the inevitable rematch."

"What do we do until then, Sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Why, we train of course!" Kakashi stated.

"Why bother?" They all hear a small voice say. "Gato's just gonna kill you anyway."

The team turns to see a small black-haired child standing in the doorway with a sour look on his face.

"Inari! Is that any way to greet the shinobi that saved your grandpa?" Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami, reprimanded as the boy went to hug Tazuna.

As Naruto began to bicker with the young boy, Sakura once again heard muttering.

So pessimistic. I wonder what happened to him.

His hope was drained like everyone else's in this land.

Poor child. We made the right choice choosing to help these people.

Sakura mentally agreed with the voices. By the time Sakura zoned back into reality, Inari had stormed out of the room to go upstairs and Naruto was quietly seething. 

"Ah, anyways..." Kakashi began. "Why don't we begin our new training regiman now?"