Renewal

~24~

Haku, Zabuza, Kakashi, Sakura, Sasuke and I all waited at the village gates for Naruto to show up. The sun hadn't yet risen, and Kotetsu and Izumo were both sleeping, I seriously wanted to be doing the same.

"Sorry for making you guys wait!" Naruto exclaimed once he finally got here. "Ready to go!"

"Alright team, let's get going then!" Kakashi said cheerfully.

We began walking towards the east where a boat was waiting for us, and once the village gates were out of sight Zabuza and I both cheered.

"This transformation is eating my chakra!" Zabuza complained before dispelling the jutsu and becoming his usual self.

"My wings hurt and my tail fell asleep!" I complained taking off my vest and letting my tail free.

My tail dragged on the ground behind me because it was numb. I wasn't fucking kidding when I said I couldn't feel my tail.

"We should pick up the pace." Kakashi decided as he started running.

The rest of us followed his example and started running through the forest. We continued running, only taking breaks to walk every hour or so, until we eventually reached the dock at about one o'clock in the afternoon. I hid my wings and tail again and Zabuza sort of hid at the back of our group. We looked around for the captain of the ship that would take us, before we saw a very confused boy with glasses and light blue hair pacing back and forth nervously. The boy spotted us and quickly scurried over.

"Are you guys the Konoha ninja who are meeting with the Mizukage?" The boy asked.

"Yes we are, my name is Kakashi Hatake, and this is my team." Kakashi said, pointing at Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and I.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Chojuro and It's my job to make sure you all reach Kiri safely." The boy introduced.

"Nice to meet you as well Chojuro." Kakashi replied. "We were told a boat was going to be picking us up, do you know where it is?"

"Yes, please follow me." Chojuro replied, starting to walk towards a huge sailboat.

A man waited for us in front of the huge sailboat and came to greet us.

"My name is Hashimoto, although most people simply call me Captain." The man said. "And you all must be the ninja from Konoha. Welcome aboard!"

The captain lead us onto his boat and then left to go prepare to set sail.

"I suggest you all get comfortable, it's roughly a five hour trip." Chojuro said, his eyes then finally landing on Zabuza. "It's an honour to meet you Zabuza."

Chojuro looked up at Zabuza with both a wary and amazed look.

"Judging by the sword on your back I'd say you're training to be a legendary swordsman." Zabuza said.

"I am." Chojuro replied.

"Good luck with that kid." Zabuza chuckled.

"There are no seats above deck, but Captain Hashimoto says you're all welcome to relax below deck where there is a lounge." Chojuro said. "We're going to be leaving a just a few minutes."

The boat set sail shortly after that and the trip to Kirigakure had truly begun. We had all spent the first hour of the trip above deck, but after a while we decided to go below deck.

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to do this for a while..." Kakashi mumbled, pulling out four small pieces of paper.

"What are those?" I asked.

"You'll see." He replied, handing a paper to Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and I.

"But I already-" Sasuke started.