Am I A Demon? Or Am I A God?

About 15 minutes of walking later, they arrived at Tazuna's house and he started banging on the door "Tsunami! Open up! It's your dear old dad!" After everyone walked inside, they got to see that even the man trying to save his city, lived in a decrepit house. It wasn't a bad house, a two-story house sitting on a dock just a bit over the ocean. It's that it was barren inside, it seemed as if all had been sold except for the essentials, like the kitchen table. A beautiful lady in her mid-twenties with long dark hair and brown eyes began speaking to her father "Tou-san! I was worried since you were gone so long! What happened!?" she said with clear worry in her voice. Tazuna merely waved her off and went into the kitchen to get another bottle of sake, no doubt to calm his nerves.

Tsunami huffed for a moment before noticing the unconscious Kakashi "Oh my! Let me get a bedroll laid out, just give me a moment." It amazed the genin at the speed this woman laid out the roll, it was ninja level.

"Here, put him inside." She said. "Thank you." The clone in the front replied as they set Kakashi down and covered him with the blanket. The two clones then dispelled surprising Tsunami, who looked at the smoke where the clones had been in surprise. "Nani…?" "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" Naruto answered as he walked over and leaned on the window frame."They're just solid copies of myself."

Figuring it was some kind of ninja thing she nodded her head as Sakura sat down next to their sensei. "Are you going to be alright Kakashi-sensei?" she asked. "Yeah…" Kakashi said in a somewhat strained voice, having woken up some time in the past few minutes. "I just won't be able to move for a week or so." "What?" Sakura said in surprise. "It's because of the Sharingan," Naruto said as the others looked over at him. "It's an amazing bloodline, but because Kakashi-sensei isn't an Uchiha it puts a great deal of stress on his body, since it's not built to harness the Kekkei Genkai's full potential."

Sakura and especially Sasuke looked at him in surprise. Sakura looked from her her blond spiky haired teammate to her sensei. "The Sharingan sounds like an amazing bloodline…but if it puts that much stress on the body, I guess you have to think before using it." "Naruto." Sasuke said, getting the blonde's attention. "How do you know so much about the Sharingan?" Naruto looked over at Sasuke and just shrugged, clearly displeasing the Uchiha heir who grunted in annoyance.

The group discussed their next moves. Thinking about all that had happened. "Well, at least we defeated that strong ninja," Tazuna said with a relieved laugh. "So we should be safe."

"By the way, who was that masked kid?" asked Sakura, she had remembered reading something about a ninja who wore those masks before. "That's the mask worn by Kirigakure special hunter-ninja team's," Kakashi answered. "They're also known as body erasers. Their duty is to completely dispose of a body without a trace. A ninja's body within it has many secrets that can be revealed with a proper examination of a medical ninja. Things like ninjutsu, different chakra types, herbs and many other secrets that will reveal things about the village. For example, if I died, the secrets of the Sharingan could be revealed. If you're not careful there's the danger that the enemy will steal your jutsu."

Naruto nodded to himself, he remembered this from the show. Konoha had its own force of hunter ninjas, designed to hunt down missing ninja and kill them before they could become a problem. "That's why hunter ninja are around." The rest of the group turned towards Naruto. "In order to protect the secrets of their village, hunter ninja have the jobs of going into the world and hunting down the missing ninja of their village. They're specialists who guard their village's secrets."

"So that Zabuza has been chopped up and disposed of?" Sakura asked as she went pale. "Scary!" Naruto spoke up suddenly. "I doubt it…" "What do you mean?" asked Sakura as she looked over at Naruto. "What are you not sure about?" Naruto began. "When a hunter ninja disposes of a body, it's supposed to be on the spot. That way no one has a chance to discover the secrets they might hold before they can get rid of it. They usually cut off the head and then burn the body with a Fire jutsu, however." that ninja didn't do that, instead he left with the body. On top of that, he used senbon to kill the target."

"And it didn't look like he was carrying any kind of heavy equipment that would decapitate a person. It seems odd that a hunter ninja would be so ill-equipped to deal with the disposing of a body." "You're absolutely right Naruto., Kakashi said, thinking back to Naruto's words about his bloodline giving him foresight. 'This is bad' he thought. "I've been wondering about that myself. And I have a theory…"

Within the forest just a little ways from where Zabuza had fought the Konoha ninja, the hunter-ninja looked over Zabuza's body. Reaching into a pouch, the hunter took out a tool kit and unrolled it on the ground. The ninja grabbed a pair of clippers and brought them towards Zabuza. "First I'll cut off the mouth cloth and drain some of the blood." The ninja mumbled, carefully bringing the clippers to bear near Zabuza's clothed face. Just before the hunter could cut the cloth, Zabuza's hand shot up and grabbed the hunter's arm.

"I'll do it myself." Zabuza barked out through gasped breath. "Oh." The hunter said, sounding both surprised and amused. "You've already come back to life," Zabuza grunted as he grabbed the senbon in his neck and gave them a yank. "Damn, you sure are rough." He grunted as he pulled them out. "Oh! You're pretty rough yourself, pulling them out like that. You may really die if you pull them out so carelessly." The hunter said. Zabuza just gave a non-committal grunt. "How long are you going to wear that stupid mask?" he asked. "I like this mask." The fake hunter replied, "It reminds me of the old days." Despite that, the fake hunter reached up and pulled the mask off, "Plus it was useful for this act. If I hadn't saved you, you would have definitely been killed."

Zabuza glared at his partner and decided to let the fake hunter know just what he thought of the hunter's selection of pressure points. "If you were going to put me into a temporary death, you didn't have to aim for the neck you know. You could have used a safer acupuncture point," The Kiri missing ninja put the cloth back around his mouth. "You're as brutal as always." His partner merely smiled, "You're right. But we both know how you would get angry if I scarred that flawless body of yours. And the neck doesn't have much muscle; it's easier to hit the acupuncture point there."

The fake hunter examined Zabuza's vitals to see how much damage was done to him that both the fight and the temporary death state had given him. The man had a lot more wounds than usual due to who he was fighting, but the hunter determined he would live.

"You shouldn't be able to move much for about a week. But…knowing you, you'll probably be up and about sooner." Zabuza at his partner out of the corner of his eye and smirked. "You're so pure and clever, that's what I like about you…" "Of course," His partner smiled, "I'm just a kid after all." The fake hunter ninja stood up and looked around, "The mist has cleared." Looking down the fake hunter ninja asked a question, "Will you be alright, next time?" Zabuza's eyes narrowed and let out something akin growl. "Next time I will defeat the Sharingan."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ZABUZA'S ALIVE!" Sakura screeched, causing everyone to hold their ears. "Keep your voice down Sakura," Kakashi said before clearing his throat. "Think about it, the hunter ninja used senbon to kill Zabuza. But unless it hit a vital organ, the probability of actually killing someone is low. It's an item used by doctors in acupuncture. Hunter ninja have a thorough knowledge and understanding of the human body. So putting a person in a momentary death-like state would be easy. Let's look at the facts. First, he carried away the body of the much heavier Zabuza. Second, he used a weapon that has a low probability of killing."

"So basically what you're saying is that Zabuza is alive," Sasuke stated, though it almost sounded like a question. Kakashi nodded, "Yes, that is exactly what I'm saying." The announcement that Zabuza was alive seemed to have varying levels of effect on those in the room. Sasuke was smirking, thinking he would get another chance to fight a strong opponent and prove himself as an Uchiha, as well as bringing himself one step closer to Itachi.

Sakura looked around in worry, not feeling anywhere near as confident as her crush. She knew that she had no chance of helping in a fight like this.

Naruto was deep in thought. He knew that he had no chance against a man who could go toe to toe with his sensei. What's more, Kakashi had almost been defeated and whereas it not for the timely intervention of him Zed, and Sasuke and Zabuza underestimating then they would have definitely lost. "Don't you think you're overthinking this?" asked Tazuna, now worried that that really strong ninja might actually be coming back. "I mean, hunter ninja is supposed to kill a missing ninja."

"One of the shinobi rules is to always prepare for the worst possible scenario." Kakashi stated. "And even if Zabuza is dead, it just means that Gato is likely to hire an even stronger ninja. Either case points to the fact that we need to prepare."

"But…what can we do?" asked Sakura, frightened of even the thought of seeing Zabuza again. This whole mission had gone from bad to worse for her, and she was starting to feel completely overwhelmed. "I mean, we're just genin, and you can barely even move!" "Hehe." Kakashi chuckled, "You guys will be doing some training." "Huh?! Training?!" Sakura said in surprise, "Sensei, what's a little training gonna do!"

"Sakura…who saved me while I was trapped in that water prison?" Kakashi asked in a slow tone, the question was rhetorical but it was obvious the point he was trying to get across. "You guys have all improved a great deal." The cyclopean Jonin looked over at Naruto and gave him an eye smile. "Naruto, you've improved the most." Naruto just nodded before saying. "Well, I have strong summons to help me."

"Obviously this is just training for you guys to get better," Kakashi continued, "Even if I train you, you won't be able to best Zabuza without me." "But sensei, if Zabuza is alive he could attack at any time!" Sakura protested. "So should we be training..." "Don't worry," Kakashi assured her. "You have to remember Zabuza was injured too. On top of that, he was put into a death-like state. His body will take a while to recover from something like that. So we'll train until then."

"Finally!" Naruto said, breaking out into a grin. "I didn't think you were ever gonna train us sensei!"

"Ma, Naruto I have trained you guys." Kakashi defended himself.

"Yeah, in teamwork exercises, and even then you continue reading that p.o.r.n of yours. or had us train in that chamber in the cryptography room" Naruto shot back. "I'm talking about training to up our individual skills."

"Teamwork is important, and that was a mission, it's different," Kakashi said with a small shrug.

"I don't deny that teamwork is important sensei, and we did get stronger from the training manuals we were given." Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "However, we both know that individual ability is just as important. If we can't even fight properly on our own merits, it won't matter if our teamwork is flawless. And you know that had Zabuza not underestimated us because we were kids, Sasuke and I would have been killed before we even had time to blink."

Kakashi conceded that point with a nod. Naruto was right, individual skills were important. However, the silver-haired jonin had wanted to pound the idea that teamwork was the most important aspect of a shinobi. "Why do you guys even bother?" Everyone turned to the source of the new voice to see a depressed looking little kid of about six to eight years of age. He had blue coveralls on over a yellow shirt and a fishing hat on his head. "Oh! Inari! Where were you!" Tazuna asked in greeting, holding out his arms as Inari ran to give him a hug. "Welcome back grandpa," Inari said, before glaring over at the Konoha ninja. "Inari, say hello to these people." Tsunami said, placing her hands on her h.i.p.s. "They're the ninja that protected grandpa."

"But mom, they're just going to die," Everyone looked surprised when Inari said that, except Naruto who was just annoyed that he now had to deal with this little shit, who calls their dad a liar after he gets crucified? Tazuna and Tsunami just sighed. "There's no way they can beat Gato."

"Man this kid's more emo than you are, Sasuke," Naruto commented, receiving an angry grunt from his Uchiha teammate. "Listen here kid, just go to bed and leave these problems to the a.d.u.l.ts.

Kakashi sweatdropped at his blond student's attitude. Inari turned around and made his way to the door, "If you don't want to die you should leave." "Inari..." Tsunami mumbled in a worried voice.

"I'm going to look at the ocean," Inari said before leaving, slamming the door shut on his way out.

"I'm sorry about that," Tazuna said in a depressed voice as he looked over at the Konoha ninja.

"Whatever..." Was all that came from Naruto.

The blond shook his head, "Anyway, I think I'll be going to get some rest." "In that case, there are a few extra rooms for you on the right if you want to take one of them, Tsunami said helpfully. Naruto gave her a smile, "Thanks." He left his team, moving to one of the rooms Tsunami had said was open. As he passed by Inari's room he heard crying. "…Tou-san." Naruto just ignored, walking to one of the open rooms again.