They didn't even reach the beach before Solana caught up to them. In fact, the redhead flew all the way to the guarding post by the sea and when she didn't saw them anywhere, she realised that she'd probably preceded them, so she turned around and flew back, this time scanning the forest with her eyes for any sign of her team. When she noticed them not so far from the end of the forest, she dived under and landed gracefully in front of them, startling everyone beside Kakashi.

"You know, the speed has some drawbacks as well," he teased her as she transformed back into her normal clothes. "For example you become blind to your surroundings."

"Shut up, closet pervert," Solana sticked out her tounge, silencing the silver-haired man. She took back her backpack from Naruto and looked at the others who were still staring at her with questioning look on their faces. "What is it?"

"Um..." Sakura tried to answer, but for some reason she was a bit shy which didn't really make sense since she was talking to her, not Sasuke. "Are... are you okay?"

From her tone Solana could instantly tell that she was still under the effect of what she'd seen. She tried her best to smile.

"Yeah, I'm good. Sorry if I scared you back there, I haven't really expected to run into my old home during this mission, although I should have, but that's a story for another day. We should get going."

Without waiting for any reply she started walking towards the sea, not paying attention to Naruto's whispering which was probably about her. Soon her best friend ran beside her and started talking about absolute random things like what kind of ramen he wants to have at Ichiraku's when they return from the mission. To the others it must had been really strange, but to Solana it was really comforting that she could hear Naruto's cheerful voice. It always lifted up her spirit and Naruto knew exactly what she needed when she was under the weather: after all those nightmares he witnessed, he already figured it out and was eager to help her divert her thoughts.

It didn't take much time to reach the new port where several ferrymen were waiting for new customers. Tazuna greeted them as if he knew them for several years now and managed to get a boat with an engine. As they left the land behind, Solana just stared ahead of herself, watching the horizon and the seagulls which occupied the sky. She inhaled the scent of salt and fish, sometimes reaching out to put her hand among the waves, but Kakashi told her to stay still when the fog started to get denser around them - to the point where they could hardly see each other. The ferryman switched off the engine and started rowing.

"This fog's so thick," Sakura looked around. "You can't see anything."

Solana glanced around her team. Naruto was in front of her at the nose of the boat, showing them his back and staring ahead with his arms crossed. Sasuke leaned against the wall opposite of her, next to him (of course) Sakura and Tazuna, while Kakashi was sitting next to Solana and the ferryman was rowing at the back.

"The bridge isn't far now," he said. "Our destination's just ahead, the Land of Waves."

Slowly a silhouette appeared from the fog in front of them, making them all look up in awe. They were the pillars of a huge bridge, with a road at its top, looking massive and stable, but it was also clear that there was still much work to do until it was finished.

"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed. "It's huge!"

"Quiet!" the ferryman whisper-yelled as they sailed among the pillars of the bridge. "I told you, no noise! Why do you think we're travelling like this, cutting off the engine and rowing in the dense fog? So they won't see us."

Naruto put his hands on his mouth and looked at him apologeticly. Kakashi however had his eye fixed on the bridge-builder.

"Tazuna-san" he started and the man lowered his head, his eyes disappearing behind his glasses, "before we reach the shore, I want to ask you something. The man who are after you, I need to know why. If you won't tell us, I'm afraid I have to end this mission once we drop you ashore."

Tazuna was silent for the next five seconds, battling himself, but eventually he realised that he couldn't keep this from them any longer, so he started to talk.

"Like you said, this is beyond the scope of the original mission. The one who seeks my life is a very short man, who casts a very long and deadly shadow."

"A deadly shadow?" Kakashi asked back. "Who is it?"

"You know him. At least I'm sure you've heard his name before. He's one of the wealthiest men in the world. The shipping magnet, Gatō."

Solana raised her eyebrows as the name said nothing to her, but Kakashi apparently knew who they were talking about because he seemed a little taken aback.

"Gatō? Of Gatō Transport? He's a business leader, everyone knows him."

"Um, no, actually," Solana interrupted. "Who's this guy?"

"Gatō is a very powerful tycoon from a famous company, that's true," Tazuna explained. "But below the surface, with the same ruthless methods he uses to businesses and nations, he sells drugs and contraband; using gangs and ninja. It was one year ago when Gatō set his eyes on the Land of Waves. He came to our island and used his vast wealth to get total control over our transport and shipping. Anyone who tried to stand in his way simply... disappeared."

Solana gulped. The aura around Tazuna became troubled as the man was battling with many emotions at once while he also tried to suppress them, the most prominent of them being grief and sadness. How many of his friends he could've lost to feel this much pain?

"In an island nation" Tazuna continued, "a man who controls the sea controls everything. Finance, government, our very own lives. But there's one thing he fears: the bridge. When it is complete, it will join us to the land and that will break his control. I am the bridge builder."

"So that's it," Sakura nodded. "You're in control of the bridge, you're standing in this gangster's way."

"That means those guys we faced in the forest, they were working for Gatō," Sasuke stated the conclusion they all cared about.

"I don't understand." Kakashi's eye darkened, as if he wanted to pierce through the man with his gaze alone. "If you knew he was dangerous, knew he'd sent ninja to eliminate you, why did you hide that from us?"

"Because the Land of Waves is a small and poverish nation," Tazuna answered. "Even our nobles have little money. The common people who are building this bridge can't pay for an A- or a B-ranked mission. It's too expensive."

"So you lied in your request to get the ninja guards you craved and thought they won't ask questions after they encountered the first foreign shinobis who tried to assasinate you?" Solana crossed her arms. "I'm sorry, but how long did you intend to hide this little exposition from us, especially that we're supposed to protect you until you finish the bridge?"

"I hoped it wouldn't come this far; you can say that I was a little bit optimistic, considering my situation. But if you end the mission when you drop me ashore, there'll be no bridge as they assassinate me before I reach my home." He suddenly switched to a more cheerful tone, which of course was forced as hell. "But don't worry about that. Of course my sweet little grandson will be upset, he'll cry like: ʻGranddad! I want my granddad!'"

Are you fucking serious? Solana wanted to say and as she could tell, all of her teammates had the same thought.

"And my daughter will condemn the shinobi of Konoha, blaming you for abandoning her father and living her life in sorrow. Well, it's not your fault, forget it."

This was emotional manipulation at its best, but what the hell could they actually say to this? They all sighed, then Kakashi reluctantly said:

"Well, I guess we have no other choice, we'll have to keep guarding you."

"Oh, I'm very grateful!" Tazuna bowed to them as if he never expected them to actually continue the mission. Solana glared at him, feeling his hidden smugness and proud for manipulating them into protecting him, and any little sorry she felt for this man evaporated completely. In fact, she despised him more than when they left the village.

I swear if he's gonna be the reason for Naruto getting hurt once again, I will kill him myself.

"We're reaching the shore," the ferryman announced as they were getting closer to a viaduct. "Tazuna, we've been fortunate, no one has noticed us so far."

"Nice going," he nodded to him.

They went through one of the holes of the viaduct and after a minute of darkness they finally reached the end where the fog had cleared away, revealing the Land of Waves. Solana's eyes widened and she smiled just as brightly as Naruto while they were looking around to capture the sight fully. They sailed between trees which grew in the water, birds nesting among its roots, and at their right side a town built on poles towered above the water, however no people were in sight. The ferryman rowed them to a dock where they said goodbye to him and continued their journey on land.

They were following the road Tazuna told them to, which was quiet and unoccupied, and the forest around them made it perfect for another ambush like the last one. They all knew it was coming, but had no idea who would attack and when, slowly raising the suspense in them. The only thing which was good in this walk was the sunlight: the fog completely disappeared, so at least they had perfect vision on their surroundings.

Solana was walking in front of Kakashi and watched as Naruto intensely glared at Sasuke who closed up the gap to lead the way together with him. She could tell the Uchiha was just messing with Naruto, but since the blond so desperately wanted to prove himself, he rushed ahead, looked around and suddenly threw a kunai into the woods, which made everyone stop.

"Heh, it was just a mouse," Naruto announced after nothing happened.

"Mouse, yeah right!" Sakura shouted angrily. "Everyone can see through your stupid act, you're so obvious that it's embarrasing!"

"Naruto, those are kunai knives! They're dangerous!" Kakashi scolded him, while behind him Tazuna looked like he might just explode (which honestly Solana wouldn't have minded at all).

"STOP TRYING TO SCARE ME, YOU STUPID LITTLE DWARF!"

"Hey, is someone hiding over there?" Naruto looked around, totally ignoring them. "No, over there!" For a second he paused and Solana looked to the left right when Naruto threw another kunai into the bush she was staring at.

"That's it, Naruto!" Sakura rushed to him and punched him in the head.

"What? Why would you do that? Someone really is following us, I mean it'dattebayo!" he looked at her sheepishly, while holding the top of his head.

"Yeah, right! Quit lying and acting like a dumb little kid!"

"No, I felt it, too," Solana added. "Someone was there."

"You mean... him?" Kakashi looked at them questioningly as he pulled away the branches and revealed a white rabbit lying at the bottom of a tree, scared out of its mind with Naruto's kunai stuck in the trunk right above its head.

"Naruto, look what you did!" Sakura was fuming and Naruto actually looked like he was about to cry because of a rabbit.

"Ahh, a rabbit!" He ran to it, picked it up and hugged it like a plush toy. "I'm sorry, little rabbit, I'm sorry!"

"All this fuss over a rodent?" Tazuna grumbled, but Solana paid no attention to him. The feeling that someone was watching them didn't disappear, and she felt like an idiot for not noticing it sooner. She looked around uneasily, examining the branches of the trees and bushes around them, and that's when she noticed that Kakashi was also deep in his thoughts. She walked to him, away from the others.

"I don't think Naruto was screwing around," she muttered to him. "I feel like someone is following us."

Kakashi said nothing, but his eye revealed that he was listening to her. They both scanned the area, looking for anything suspicious and it was a rare occasion when Solana wanted Naruto to shut up, so she could listen for any movements nearby.

"Look out!" Kakashi shouted suddenly as a huge sword flew out from a tree's branches and headed towards Tazuna while spinning rapidly in the air. They all threw themselves to the ground, so the sword just flew over them and stuck into another tree's trunk by its blade.

By the time they looked up, a man was standing on its thin handle: he was tall and muscular with short, spiky black hair and dark brown eyes. He wore bandages like a mask over his bottom face and had his forehead protector sideways on his head; the symbol on it revealed that he was also from Kirigakure. He was shirtless, only wearing a baggy pants with striped pattern and some leg-warmers with matching wrist-warmers reaching up to his elbows. He glanced at them above his shoulder, a clear menacing aura surrounding him, sending shivers down Solana's spine.

Kakashi immediately positioned himself at the front while the rest of Team 7 lined up before Tazuna.

"Well, well," he said nonchalantly, his hands in his pockets. "If it isn't Zabuza Momochi, rogue ninja from Kirigakure?"

Naruto started running towards him, ready to fight, clearly not realising the danger levels of this man. Before Solana could reach out to him, Kakashi lifted his left hand to stop him.

"You're in the way," he murmured. "Get back."

"But why?!"

"He's not like those other ninja, he's in a whole other league. If he's our opponent, I'll need this."

He reached for the clothing of his headband which covered his left eye and that's when Solana realised what he was planning to do.

"Wait, you shouldn't, Sora said that-"

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi interrupted. "Just focus on Tazuna-san."

"Kakashi of the Sharingan," the man, Zabuza snarled, now looking at them cockily below his armpit. "Did I get that right?"

Solana saw from the corner of her eyes how Sasuke tensed beside her.

"It's too bad, huh?" Zabuza continued. "But you have to hand over the old man."

Kakashi had a staring contest with him for some seconds, but then he raised his voice as he gave them the instructions.

"Now quick, Manji formation! Protect the bridge builder and stay out of this fight! I taught you teamwork, now it's time to use it!" He adjusted his headband, and revealed his left eye, the familiar red of the Sharingan with the three black tomoe, meaning that it was fully developed and ready for the fight. "I'm ready!"

"Well, looks like I get to see the Sharingan in action," Zabuza turned around to face them, still standing on the handle. He seemed quite amused and Solana felt his excitement. "This is an honour."

"Everybody keeps saying ʻSharingan, Sharingan'! Would someone please tell me what the Sharingan is?!" Naruto demanded.

Solana opened her mouth, but Sasuke beated her to it.

"The Sharingan is a rare power that resides in the eyes. The user of this visual jutsu, or doujutsu, can instantly see and comprehend any genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu and reflect it back to the attacker. The Sharingan is a special, rare form of doujutsu. However, there is more to the Sharingan than that, a lot more."

Naruto stared at him blankly as he tried to process the information he just heared. Solana made a mental note to interpret this explanation to him once they've dealt with this Zabuza guy.

"You got that right, boy," the man praised him. "But you only scratched the surface. A Sharingan can analise an opponent's technique, and then copy it to the smallest detail." Suddenly the fog started to return, becoming denser and denser like when they reached the bridge, but judging from the circumstances, Solana assumed that it had something to do with the man they were facing. Maybe it was one of his jutsus? "As for you, jounin, in the Assasination Unit in Kirigakure we had a standing order to destroy you on sight. You're profile was in our Bingo book; they called you the man, who copied over a thousand jutsu. Kakashi, the Copy Ninja!"

Solana couldn't hold back the smirk as she heard Kakashi's nickname - well, one of the many. She knew he made himself quite famous across the lands during his time in the ANBU Black Ops, the secret operatives of the village serving right under the Hokage. In fact, when she first met him five years ago, he was still a Captain leading his own team, which meant that she didn't see him frequently as he always had secret missions. She only got to know him better after he quitted and became a regular jounin, but it looked like his reputation had remained.

She'd always been aware that he was skilled and a very capable shinobi. That hadn't meant that he'd become untouchable when it came to her pranks.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Naruto stared at Kakashi with sparkling eyes, and Sakura also seemed surprised. Sasuke however was deep in his thoughts and Solana would bet a bigger amount of money that he was trying to guess how Kakashi obtained his left eye.

To be honest, Solana wasn't so sure herself. Kakashi never talked about it and Sora was also in the dark.

"Enough talking," Zabuza crouched and grabbed the handle of his enormous sword between his feet. His demeanour took a complete turn-around: the cockiness disappeared and cold determination took its place. "I need to exterminate the old man. Now!"

Tazuna's eyes widened and they all rushed to his side, taking out a kunai and standing in their basic battle stance, facing all directions with the bridge builder in the middle of the circle. Solana was standing between Sakura and Sasuke, and no matter how much she wanted to see Kakashi fight, she had to focus on her own task, which was being prepared for an ambush from her side and hoping that the others got her back.

"So, I have to eliminate you first, eh, Kakashi? So be it." she heard Zabuza's growl, then she saw how easily he ripped the sword out of the trunk and disappeared.

A few moments later she heard the disruption of water, and she couldn't help but turn towards the sound. To her left there was a lake and on its surface Zabuza: he was standing on the water, his right hand in the universal sign of chakra concentration, and his left arm raised high above his head in a similar hold. The sword was hung on his back, attacked to the belt which covered his bare chest and as the water circled around him, he was building up so much chakra that Solana could almost feel it on her skin.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" he said, than the water turned into thick mist and when it dispelled, he already vanished from their sight.

Trying to trick the Sharingan? Solana thought as she watched a leaf landing on the now calm surface of the lake. Too bad. Kakashi's probably seen this technique a thousand times before.

"He vanished!" Naruto exclaimed, observing above his shoulder.

"Sensei?" Sakura asked with a little fear.

"Don't worry," Kakashi walked towards the lake and a little further from them. "He'll come after me first."

"But who is he?"

"Zabuza Momochi is the ex-leader of Kirigakure's Assasination Unit." Kakashi explained. "A master of the silent killing technique."

"Silent killing?" Solana quiestioned, since it didn't sound too promising.

"As the name suggests, it happens in an instant, without sound or warning of any kind. It's so fast that you pass from this life without realising what has happened. The Sharingan cannot fully neutralize it, so don't lower your guard."

Okay, now things are turning bad, Solana gulped and grasped on her kunai a bit tighter.

"Well, if we fail, we only lose our lives," Kakashi shrugged as if it was nothing. Typical.

"How can you say that?!" she outbursted the same time as Sakura and the fact that they were on an agreement surprised them more than that they jinxed.

"The mist is getting thicker and thicker," Naruto announced but they could all see that they started to see less and less.

"The Land of Waves is surrounded by ocean," Tazuna commented. "These mists are ever-present."

Solana could hardly make out Kakashi's silhouette anymore and a few moments later he actually disappeared, which truly scared her since he was the only one who could battle with Zabuza.

"Kakashi?" she called out for him, but no reply came. At least, not from him.

"Eight points," Zabuza said. It sounded like he was speaking right into their ears, his voice was raspy and menacing, and Solana could feel how much he enjoyed playing with them.

"What's that?" Sakura asked.

"Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart," Zabuza finished the listing, which, as Solana realised, contained internal organs which in case of a hit would mean instant death. "Now, which shall be my killing point?"

Solana could hardly contain her fear and tried to divert her thoughts by making herself pissed off that this guy was hiding in the fog like a coward instead of facing Kakashi and fighting like a shinobi (even though she knew this was a very logical thing to do, but still, she needed distraction). Suddenly she felt a huge wave of chakra washing over them and with it some of the mist - since it was also created by ninjutsu - lifted and they were able to see Kakashi again. But with the chakra also came the overwhelming intent of kill which was radiating from him, something Solana had never felt before.

No, this wasn't true. She'd faced something like this five years ago, this intense thirst for blood when those monsters had broken into her home and reduced it to nothingness. Back then she could hardly move, but now... now it was different. She wasn't the same brat anymore. She was older, wiser and stronger. She still had a long way to go, and she might had been afraid, but she wouldn't let it control her.

I will not freeze down again. Never again.

All of a sudden a new feeling emerged into the killing intent: icy fear. She snapped her head to her left where Sasuke was trembling and looked so afraid that it broke Solana's heart. He gripped his kunai tightly and slowly started to turn it towards himself.

"Sasuke!" Solana grabbed his wrist with her free hand, snapping him out of his trance. He turned his head towards her, his black eyes filled with anxiety. "Hold it together. We need your power, you can't fall apart." She smiled, trying her best to ignore her own fear. "Have faith in Kakashi. He wouldn't let anything happen to us. We will not die today!"

Sasuke stared at her without blinking, but at least his trembling stopped and the anxiety in his eyes started to disappear. Seeing this, Solana released his wrist.

"Solana's right," Kakashi declared. "I'll protect you with my life, all of you. I won't allow my comrades to die." He turned towards them and smiled under his mask, his eyes closed and his killing intent replaced with calming reassurance. "Trust me."

Solana couldn't hold back her smile. She knew Kakashi lost the people closest to him, the last one being her brother and his unwillingness to lose anyone else managed to ease her own worries and fears. She trusted him with her life.

"I wouldn't be so sure," Zabuza's chilling voice replied and before they could even blink, they felt a presense suddenly appearing between them. Solana snapped her head behind herself and saw Zabuza himself in the middle of their circle, his sword behind his back with the blade towards Tazuna. He didn't make any kind of noise, so she couldn't tell where the hell did he come from, and his huge sword made it impossible for her to reach for the bridge builder to push him out of harm's way.

"It's over!" Zabuza said, but before he could move a muscle, Kakashi already charged towards him with a kunai in his hands and stabbed him in the stomach. Solana and the rest of her team jumped behind with Sakura pulling Tazuna with herself to the ground and Naruto just falling on his face in his hurry.

Solana and Sasuke sticked close and watched as instead of blood, water was flowing from Zabuza's wound and a few moments later he turned into water and fell apart - right when another one appeared behind Kakashi.

"Sensei, behind you!" Naruto shouted, but Kakashi could only turn around before Zabuza swung his enormous sword and sliced him in two. Solana's heart fell into her stomach, but Kakashi was also made of water, because his body exploded into water, just like Zabuza's did before him and in the next second he held his kunai to Zabuza's neck.

"Don't move," he ordered, his red Sharingan glowing through the mist. "Now it's over. You're finished."

Solana tried to breathe, but her heart apparently needed some time to recover after that shock. Kakashi must've realized that Zabuza used a water clone and copied the technique so he could catch him off-guard. She never saw his Sharingan in action before - at least not the copying aspect of it -, but if the battle continues to be this rapid, she must not blink or she'll miss what's happening.

They couldn't even begin to calm down when Zabuza started chuckling. It was cold and evil and mocking, and resembled so much to his laugh that it sent shivers down Solana's spine.

"Finished?" he asked. "You really don't get it, do you? Your technique is nothing, but a crass imitation. I'll never be defeated by a mere copycat ninja like you."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes and while his face didn't show it, his anger was building inside him, especially when Zabuza chuckled again.

"You're full of surprises, though," he continued. "You already copied my Water Clone Jutsu when you made your little speech. Very skillfully executed. You made your clone say those words to draw my attention, while you hid in the mist, waiting for me to make my move. Nice try..."

Suddenly another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and that one finished the sentence.

"...but I'm not that easy to fool!"

With that, the first one dispelled into water and the real Zabuza raised his sword to strike.

"Kakashi!" Solana screamed because now she was certain that the Kakashi she saw wasn't another clone - this was further proved when instead of letting himself be hit, he dodged the blade which cut through the air and got stuck in the ground behind them. Zabuza switched hands and used the handle as a support so he could lift his leg and kick Kakashi towards the lake like a soccer ball.

Solana couldn't even move a finger before he pulled the sword out of the ground and started running towards Tazuna, but stopped immediately when he noticed the spikes before him.

"Makibishi spikes," Solana heard him mutter. "Trying to slow me down? Foolish."

He jumped high in the air just when Kakashi fell into the lake.

"Sensei!" Naruto shouted.

"He has great physical strength, too," Sasuke analysed, but Solana only cared about Kakashi, who took a lot more time to resurface then it was natural. When he finally emerged, Zabuza wasted no time: he landed behind him and formed several signs with his hands.

"Fool," he mocked Kakashi before he finished. "Water Prison Justu!"

Water lifted from the lake and formed a huge sphere with Zabuza's right hand in it and captured Kakashi who seemingly couldn't even move. It reminded Solana of Sora's water prisons, but those were held together by Sora's mind control and she could break out of them by pushing herself to the limit. But this sphere was fueled with chakra, probably to make it a lot more durable.

"This prison is made of water, but it's stronger than steel," Zabuza explained, clearly amused by the sight in front of him. "It's hard to fight when you can't move. So much for the great Kakashi. I'll finish you off later, but first, your little friends have to be eliminated."

Solana could feel Kakashi's growing fear as he watched the rouge ninja making another water clone which ascended from the lake and stepped onto the shore. He snickered again and this time his clone spoke.

"You think wearing a headband makes you a ninja. When you've hovered between life and death so many times it doesn't faze you, then you may be called a ninja. When you've become so deadly your profile has entered in my Bingo book, then you have may earned the title ʻninja'."

He formed the sign of chakra concentration once again and as he disappeared into the mist, he continued: "But to call upstarts like you ʻninja' is a joke!"

Solana gripped on her kunai but her blood ran cold when she saw Zabuza emerging from the fog and kicking Naruto in the face so hard that his headband fell off his head. The metal clinged as it landed on the ground and Zabuza stepped on it to mock them more and more, and show them how little he thought of them - which was probably justified, since compared to him, they were still nowhere.

"You're all just brats!" he snarled.

Solana couldn't care less about his opinion, just ran to Naruto's side to see if he was hurt anywhere. The blond didn't pay any attention to her; his eyes were fixated on Zabuza and he was trembling in his whole body. He never looked so scared as long as she knew him.

"Listen!" she suddenly heard Kakashi's distorted voice. "Get the bridge builder and run! You can't win this fight! He's using all his power to keep me in this prison, so he can only fight you with his water clone. But the clone can't go far from his real body. If you get away from him, he can't follow. Now run!"

Run away? Solana asked in her mind. He really wanted them to run away and leave him? She thought back the last time someone asked her to do the same thing: that time she had opposed and that had gotten her brother killed. What if this ends the same way if she doesn't listen?

No. No, this time it was different. Kakashi already got caught and if they leave, he would certainly end up dead. But if they stay, there's a big chance that Zabuza manages to kill Tazuna and with that they would fail the mission. But did this mission worth more than Kakashi's life?

She knew the answer to that. The only reason they ended up in this situation in the first place was because Tazuna lied in his request and then emotionally blackmailed them into protecting him, while fully knowing how many dangerous guys were after him. She won't let this cost Kakashi's life.

She won't lose another brother.

"No," she declared as she stood up. She felt fire lighting up in her chest, but held it back forcefully. She didn't want to reveal her trump card just yet.

"Hm?" Zabuza turned his head towards her. His gaze was chilling, but it didn't scare her anymore. She made up her mind and won't back down. "What did you say, little girl?"

"I said NO!" Solana repeated and started running towards him. She drew several kunai and shurikens and threw them at him, but he blocked them with one swing from his sword. She tried to dodge towards his blind spot to get behind his back, but he lifted his leg and kicked her hard, sending her back where she started.

"Solana, I said run!" Kakashi shouted, fear and worry evident in his voice.

Now Solana was pissed. She won't save her own skin and leave another family member behind. She let her fire loose and she shot up, not letting the fall faze her and charged again. This time fire surrounded her, which took Zabuza by surprise and the moment her wings broke out from her back, she snapped with them to rise high in the air and try to bypass him from above. However she couldn't even reach above the trees when Zabuza jumped up and swung his sword. She heard several screams but she gathered fire to her back to form an armour of flames which protected her from the blade, but not from the force of the swing. She got knocked down and crashed into the ground so hard that she formed a little pit. She saw stars from the pain, but in the next moment something slammed into her back so hard that she spit out blood.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" she heard Zabuza's distant voice. "A little angel, huh? I thought the Angel of the Waters was the only surviving member of the Hashikaru Clan."

Solana tried to ignore the dizziness which clouded her mind and turned her head behind to see Zabuza standing on her with one leg and scanning her - especially her wings - curiously.

"You..." she croaked, ignoring the taste of blood in her mouth. "You know my sister?"

"Oh, you're Sora Hashikaru's little sister?" Zabuza actually looked excited. "What a shame. I thought you'd be a lot more powerful. I heard rumours that your sister is capable of destroying an entire country all by herself. I wonder if I get to see that if I send her sister's bloody wings to her in a box."

Solana tried to get up, but Zabuza's leg kept her down. She flattered with her wings like a trapped bird, which amused him so much that he laughed outloud. However his voice died down really fast when Sasuke suddenly charged at him, throwing kunai and shurikens to divert his attention. Solana felt the pressure on her easing, so she took a long breath and tried to stand up again, but Zabuza stepped on her with full force, to which she yelled in pain.

She saw Sasuke jumping high up with a kunai in his hands, trying to get the rouge shinobi by surprise, however Zabuza just caught him by his throat midair, choking him for a few seconds, then threw him back to the others, all while he kicked her in the stomach to the same direction. Solana collided into Sasuke and she felt his arms embracing her waist and they rolled on the ground like that, her back pressing hard against Sasuke's chest. Before they hit the ground, she retracted her wings to curl over her body, so she wouldn't break the bones in them into million pieces.

"Sasuke-kun!" she heard Sakura's scream like she was in a tunnel. When they stopped, she could hardly make out the silhouettes of the others as the whole world was dancing before her eyes. She gasped for air desperately while she unfolded her wings and tried to sit up and ground herself in the chaos.

"Thank you," she whispered, glancing at Sasuke who nodded at her slightly, then let her go.

She looked up at Zabuza again, who now was standing in front of Naruto. The blond boy was shaking like a leaf as he stared at her, his blue eyes wide from the fear. Their gazes linked and suddenly his whole aura changed drastically, as if he saw something in Solana's eyes, something he was deperately looking for. He gritted his teeth, then slowly stood up, now radiating confidence and determination and after one last glance at Solana, he clenched his fists and charged at Zabuza yelling.

"Naruto, no!" Kakashi roared, speaking from Solana's heart who couldn't find her voice to call him back.

"Aaah, Naruto!" Sakura screamed. "What in the world you're doing?!"

Naruto couldn't even hit him as Zabuza just dodged his attempt, then kicked him back in a similar way as he did with Solana before. Naruto rolled on the ground, stopping not far from them.

"What are you thinking, charging at him by yourself?!" Sakura blurted out. "Even Sasuke-kun couldn't get to him! We're only genin, we can't defeat a jounin, what did you want to accomplish by that...?"

Her voice stuck in her throat when she saw what Naruto was holding in his left hand. He struggled to his feet once again, gribbing on the metal of his headband tightly which he managed to get back. Blood poured from the corner of his mouth in a thin line, but he paid no attention to it.

"Hey you, the freak with no eyebrows," he called out Zabuza and if Solana's chest didn't hurt that much, she would've chuckled at his comment. "Put this in your Bingo book: the ninja that will become the Hokage of Konohagakure..." He took a deep breath, then put his headband back on his forehead and tied it behind. "He never backs down! His name's Naruto Uzumaki!"

Solana watched her best friend proudly. She also struggled at her feet, cleared the blood from her face and did her best to ignore the pain in her body. They all tried to get past him by themselves and failed. Now it was time for teamwork and she was more than happy to follow Naruto's lead, who once again lifted her spirit up with his determination.

"All right, guys, listen up!" Naruto said, his eyes not drifting away from Zabuza. "I've got a plan, and I need your help!"

"So now you're thinking about teamwork, huh?" Sasuke snarked, but Solana shoved a light hit on the back of his neck.

"Leave the banter for later, boys!" she rebuked them, but she couldn't hold back her smile. "Now it's time to go wild!"

"All right!" Naruto wiped the blood off his face, his grin matching Solana's. "Let's bring this guy down!"

Of course, all they earned from Zabuza was a mocking chuckle, which honestly started to go on Solana's nerves, rather than scaring her.

"Big words from such a little man. You think your plan will keep you in the game?"

"What are you doing, I told you to run!" Kakashi yelled at them desperately. "This fight was over the moment I got caught! Now take off! Your mission is not to prove how brave you are, it's to save the bridge builder! Stay! On! Mission!"

"Don't think for even a moment that I'm gonna leave you!" Solana shouted back. "It doesn't matter how much you're pissing me off on a daily basis, you're still my brother and I won't lose you on our first mission! Call me a sentimental fool, I don't give a fuck, but I'm still going to save you!"

"We can run as far as we want, without you we have no chance against him," Sasuke continued. "The only chance we have for this mission to be successful is to save you."

"Wait," Naruto said, then turned his head towards Tazuna. "Bridge builder?" he asked for his opinion.

Tazune sighed heavily.

"Well I... I guess this all happened because of me," he admitted the obvious. "Because of my desire to live. But I won't let that stand in your way now." He looked up and although he looked scared, he still put on a brave face. "Forget about me and do what you have to! Go ahead and fight to save your sensei!"

They turned back and smirked.

"All right, you hear that?" Sasuke said.

"This settles the debate," Solana added, having a little respect for the man that he was willing to risk his life so they could save their sensei.

"Yeah, you're ready'dattebayo?" Naruto finished.

Zabuza stared at them, then started laughing again, this time more freely than ever before.

"You really haven't learned anything, have you? Still playing your little game, pretending to be ninja." He lifted his right hand and looked at it to divert their attention to it. "When I was your age, this hand had already crushed many opponents."

They all gasped and took a step backwards.

"Zabuza, the Demon," Kakashi turned to the real one, narrowing his eyes.

"Oh, so I was in your book, too."

Kakashi raised his voice so they could all hear him clearly.

"Long ago Kirigakure was also known as the Village of the Bloody Mist. That time before a student could become a ninja, there was one final test."

"You know about the graduation exam?" Zabuza questioned him.

"What graduation exam?" Naruto asked, but Zabuza only chuckled. "What's the big deal'dattebayo? We had graduation tests, too."

"Did you have to kill the other students to pass?" Zabuza retorded and Solana's blood boiled. She knew she should've become afraid, but she'd never been this angry since they encountered Zabuza. "Imagine young ninja like you, eating together, training together, and then comes the final exam. Only they change the rules: kill or be killed! You can't stop until your opponent breathes. He was your friend, shared your dreams... now it's him or you."

"That's so cruel!" Sakura whispered, her hands covering her mouth in her shock.

"Ten years ago" Kakashi continued, "the graduation exam in Kirigakure changed. One year before a dark evil filled the school with terror. Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a shinobi approached the class and took down over a hundred other students."

Solana clenched her fists and felt like she was going to puke as she felt the emotions of their opponent. He was filled with nostalgia, as if he was reminded the greatest time of his life, then addictied joy which was probably caused by the killing... could someone like him even call himself a human?

"It...," Zabuza looked up to the sky. "It felt so good!"

With that he ran forward, faster than any of them could process and elbowed Sasuke in the stomach to push him to the ground. When he landed on his back, Zabuza targeted him once again, this time punching him into the ground which caused Sasuke to cough up blood.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura screamed.

Zabuza held the boy down by his feet and reached for his sword.

"No, you won't!" Solana crossed her fingers and shouted at the same time as Naruto. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Their clones appeared with white clouds around Zabuza, surrounding him and ready to strike at any moment. But the more important achievement was that the man was now focused on them, giving Sasuke time to gather himself and step back to safety.

"Oh, shadow clones?" he looked around, almost impressed. Almost. "And there's quite few of them."

"All right, here we go!" the clones adjusted the kunai in their hands and charged. While the real Naruto blended with them, Solana stayed by Sakura's side, carefully watching the movements of all of her and Naruto's clones to find something which would reveal Naruto's plan without the need for words.

The clones jumped at Zabuza with their kunai and ended in a dogpile, the wings of her clones standing out which made this whole image look like a grotescue hedgehog. After a few moments however, all of them ended up flying back as Zabuza shook them off himself with one swing of his huge sword. As the clones started to disappear with white thuds, Solana noticed something strange: her head was suddenly filled with memories of getting squished and getting hit by the blade which one hundred percent didn't happen to her real body. Could it be... she received the memory of her clones?

She snapped out of it as she had more important things to focus on at the moment. Her attention was drawn to one of Naruto's clones who was searching in his backpack while he was sliding on the ground. He then picked out a huge folded shuriken and threw it to Sasuke, who caught it and immediately smirked. He spun around a few times and Solana managed to catch a slight movement when he - and she was certain that it happened - switched the shuriken in his hands to his own. She glanced at Naruto who grinned at her, confirming her suspicion.

"Demon Wind Shuriken!" Sasuke declared as he opened the wings of his weapon. "Windmill of Shadows!"

Solana now understood the boys' plan, which meant that she now knew how to help. When Sasuke jumped in the air to gain momentum for the throw, she flew under him and spreaded her wings all while she formed the signs of the dragon, rabbit, ox, horse, rabbit again and finally the rat.

"Ninja Art: Diamond Bullets!"

She pulled her wings back as if she was about to slap with them, but when she did, dozens of feathers shot out of them, cutting through the air and aiming for Zabuza's clone. He managed to block the ones dangerous to him with his sword (the others hit the ground like kunai), but while he was busy doing that, Sasuke threw the shuriken, perfectly aimed at the real Zabuza who was still holding Kakashi in his water prison.

When he caught it, Solana wasn't worried. She was still in the air, fluttering with her wings, but Sasuke was on the land since he already threw the other one in the previous' shadow. Now that both of Zabuza's hands were full, he couldn't catch this one, which meant two things: either it would cut down his legs or...

...or he would jump it, just like how he ended up doing it.

Everyone looked shocked and disappointed, but Sasuke, Naruto and Solana smirked. There was another layer of their plan, an ultimate move. Once the shuriken passed Zabuza, it disappeared into a white cloud and Naruto - the real Naruto - appeared in its place with a kunai in his hand.

"Eat this!" he shouted and threw it, targeting Zabuza's head to finish him off with one hit. The kunai cut through the air and the rouge ninja ultimately made the decision to save himself, which got the jutsu disrupted and Kakashi fell into the lake once again. Naruto managed to aim so perfectly that the ʻmissing' kunai hit Zabuza's water clone, which fell apart into puddles of water.

Solana's eyes widened that the kunai scratched Zabuza's face right under his eye, but this angered him more than anything they'd done before. He started spinning the shuriken in his left hand and his intentions were crystal clear. Solana slapped with her wings and flew towards Naruto to catch him before the shuriken even left Zabuza's hand. She concentrated fire to her feet and projected it out to boost her speed. She caught Naruto just before he fell into the lake and made a sharp turn left to dodge the incoming weapon.

Or at least, what she thought was incoming.

When she looked back, she saw Kakashi standing on the water, his right hand held out to stop the spinning of the shuriken and although he was bleeding as the blade cut into his skin, he looked absolutely furious and ready to demolish Zabuza right then and there. Solana sighed, held Naruto closely to her chest and flew back to the others with him.

"Naruto," Kakashi said right when Solana gently dropped the blond to the ground where his clone disappeared. "That was an excellent plan. You've really grown, haven't you?"

"Hahaha!" Naruto laughed, totally satisfied with his achievement. "I knew I couldn't beat him with my shadow clones, that was just a distraction. Solana quickly caught on as she usually does, ready to help even when she didn't know what I was planning, but I could see how along the way she figured it out; she always figures out my plans, she knows me too well!"

"Of course I do, I'm your partner in crime after all," Solana declared proudly.

"While he fought with the clones, I turned into the Demon Wind Shuriken," Naruto continued. "He didn't have a clue what hit him'dattebayo! When one of my clones threw me to Sasuke, I looked like a real shuriken. Sasuke could tell it was me in a second, so he spun around so no one could see, and pulled out his own shuriken. Now there were two shurikens: one was real and one was me! I hid in the shadow of the real shuriken and my target was the real Zabuza. Of course I knew I couldn't fight Zabuza myself, that wasn't in the game plan. I just wanted to get in there and break up his water prison. I didn't know his clone would be wrecked, too, that was a bonus'dattebayo!"

"Don't brag, you just lucked out," Sasuke poked him and Solana just shook her head affectionately.

"The whole thing was just a fluke!" Tazuna blurted out.

"Fluke my ass, it worked just how he planned out," Solana defended Naruto's honor, to which the blond sent her one of his iconic grins.

"Huh!" Zabuza spat. "I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison."

"Don't flatter yourself," Kakashi retorded immediately, still holding the blade of the shuriken. "You weren't distracted - you were forced to let go."

Zabuza's eyes snapped at Kakashi and the air around them felt cooler than before. Now it was time for the real fight.

"Your technique worked on me once, but it won't work again," Kakashi said. "So, what's it gonna be?"

Solana stepped in front, her wings being pulled in, but ready to move at any instant. She suddenly felt a hand on her back between her scapulas (between her retracted wings) which told her that they were all there to help and that she didn't have to do it alone. She glanced back at Naruto and smiled at him, but also saw that Sasuke and Sakura stood in front of Tazuna as the last line of defence.

Zabuza folded back the shuriken's blades and tried to push Kakashi's hand down and also cut out his eyes now that he was there. Kakashi however just let it come near his head and then he pushed it aside and the shuriken flew off into the mist. They jumped afar from each other and while they were still in the air, Zabuza formed the sign of the ox, but Kakashi just stared at him and suddenly a strange feeling washed over Solana. She never felt it before, but knew what it meant: the Sharingan was in use.

The two jounin landed on the water at the same time and Zabuza started making hand signs so fast that she couldn't tell them apart. Kakashi followed him with the same signs... no, he didn't just follow him, but made the exact movements Zabuza did at the same time Zabuza did. Solana didn't even dare to blink, afraid that she would miss something crucial. They ended the sequence with the sign of the bird and right after that two little whirpools started to form between them, from which two enormous dragons emerged, made from water.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" they said at the same time.

The dragons rose far above the lake, their eyes glowing yellow and started attacking each other so vehemently that they created huge waves which headed straight towards them. Solana made four clones as quickly as she could and shot out scorching flames from her hands to create a fire barrier around them. While the clones provided the fire, she concentrated on keeping the barrier in shape, therefore she felt the full force of the waves which collided into her flames. But she managed to keep the water out, even though she started sweating from the effort.

Meanwhile the dragons nullified each other out and fell apart, leaving the two only jounin who looked completely unfazed from the effects of their jutsu. In fact, the water was still falling from the sky when they were already at each other's throat, Zabuza with his sword and Kakashi with a kunai. When the waves finally stopped, Solana dropped the fire barrier and she almost collapsed, but Naruto caught her while she was panting heavily. Thankfully her clones didn't disappear just yet - she had a feeling that she would need them in the near future.

Zabuza suddenly jumped back, Kakashi quickly being on his tail. The rouge ninja put the sword back on his back while the silver-haired man put away his kunai. Zabuza started running in a circle - Kakashi followed him, just in the opposite direction, keeping equal distance from him. When he stopped, Kakashi stopped. When he raised his hands into the position of the Hidden Mist Jutsu, Kakashi did the same, mirroring him perfectly. It was like Zabuza was acting before a mirror and Solana could feel how frustrated this made him.

"He's not just following," Tazuna observed. "He moves the same way at the same time."

"That's the Sharingan for you," Solana explained as she slowly straightened back up. She tried to keep her voice down as much as possible, not wanting to give Zabuza any information about this doujutsu. "Kakashi had already seen through Zabuza's movements. The Sharingan makes it possible for him to read his body language in an unnatural speed, and so he can react to the incoming attacks faster than anyone with a normal eye. It happens so fast that it's almost like he can see into the future and since he used this ability for more than a decade, he doesn't need much time to figure out his opponent. Of course, this is a result of intense training, even more so in his case because he wasn't born with this doujutsu."

"H-How?" she heard Sakura's astonished voice. "How do you know all this? Isn't this from Sasuke-kun's clan?"

"That's a story for another day," Solana dodged the question, sensing Sasuke's discomfort. "Now hush and watch. This battle's far from over."

While she was explaining, Kakashi said something to Zabuza which triggered him even more. Their hands switched positions again and again, but Kakashi could always keep up with him, angering Zabuza beyond belief.

"Huh!" Zabuza scoffed, forming the sign of the tiger. "All you're doing is copying me, like a monkey! You can't beat me with cheap tricks! I'll crush you!" Zabuza's eyes widened when Kakashi said the exact same thing he did together with him. Solana couldn't help, but smirk as she watched how Kakashi was doing what he could do the best: going on someone's nerves.

"When I'm finished with you, you'll never open that monkey mouth again!" Zabuza sneered, staring another sequence of hand signs, but he realised too late that by the time he got to its end, Kakashi had already finished and water emerged from the lake to form a circle in front of him, creating a whirpool in the air.

"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"

The water sped up and the vortex became bigger and bigger, until it exploded right onto Zabuza's face. He was swept away by its force and the lake erupted once more, so Solana and her clones raised up the fire barrier again to shield themselves from its effects. They could only hear Zabuza's yell as he got completely wrecked by the jutsu he wanted to use, but Kakashi beated him to it.

After the waves died down and the water started to reced, Solana dispelled the barrier and watched the rouge ninja, who got drifted ashore by the vortex, barely standing by a tree and soon four kunai hit him in his arms and legs, ultimately disarming him. Seeing this, she made her clones disappear, and again, she received memories of emitting fire from her palms which she herself didn't do.

Kakashi was crouching above Zabuza on one of the tree's branches, glaring at the ninja with icy fury.

"You're finished," he declared.

"How?" Zabuza groaned, looking up to his opponent. "Can you... see into the future?"

"Yes," Kakashi answered, which made Solana snort. He was always so theatrical. "This is your last battle, ever," he raised his kunai. However, before he could move, two needles shot out from nowhere and hit Zabuza in the neck. Blood spit out from the wound and the man fell onto the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Solana snapped her head towards the direction the needles came from and spotted a figure on the nearby tree. The first thing she noticed about him was a white mask with thin, curved eye-holes and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, and the Kirigakure symbol etched in the top. He wore dark green prinstriped outfit which stopped at his knees, a green haori with white trimmings above it, light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as his haori, and around his waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped around his waist twice. His assumingly long hair was gathered in a white bun holder, while two locks of his hair fell loose framing his face, bound with metal hair cuffs at the ends.

"You were right," he chuckled. Judging by his voice, he couldn't be a lot older than them. "It was his last battle."

Kakashi jumped down, landed next to Zabuza and pressed his fingers to his artery by his neck. He waited at least ten seconds, then checked in another spot, but eventually he came to the conclusion that he was dead. After this, he looked up to the boy, who bowed politely.

"Thank you," he said. "I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time, waiting for this chance, to finally take him down."

"By your mask, I assume that you're a tracker ninja from Kirigakure."

"Impressive," the boy straightened up. "You're well informed."

"A tracker?!" Naruto exclaimed and jumped into his battle stance.

"Naruto, you don't even know what that is. You missed the lesson on it as usual," Sakura told him off with her usual sniffy voice. "Tracker shinobis have a special role, try coming to class sometimes. When a rouge ninja brakes away from his village, he carries all kinds of secrets with him, secrets of his people. Trackers are specially trained to hunt down those ninja and eliminate them. That way the secrets of their people remain secrets."

"That's correct," the tracker nodded. "I'm a member of the elite tracking unit of Kirigakure. It was my duty to stop Zabuza."

Solana glanced at the dead body. Zabuza's eyes were wide open with no light in them. Was this seriously the end for this fight? Kakashi pushed himself to the limit with the use of his Sharingan (because she could see how much he was fighting with the exhaustion) and just when he was about to finish him off, a boy who's not so much older than them jumps in and does the work with two needles?

Naruto suddenly rushed out from behind straight to the foreigner and looked at him angrily, grunting his teeth together. He turned his head towards the dead Zabuza, then back to the boy, then back to Zabuza, then back to the boy again. He wasn't just angry, he was frustrated, felt defeated and he seemingly wanted to take this out on the tracker.

"What is this?" he bursted out and pointed at the boy. "Who do you think you are'dattebayo?!" He was panting heavily and when he got no answer, he became more and more furious. "Did you hear me?!"

"Easy, Naruto," Kakashi stood up. "He's not our enemy."

"That's not the point!" he argued as he faced Kakashi, who started walking towards him casually, his hands in his pockets once again. "Did you see what he did, just like that? Zabuza was huge and powerful like some kind of monster and this kid, who's no bigger than me brought down Zabuza with one move, like it was nothing! I mean... what is that make us? We're just fumbling around, we don't know anything! How can I accept that?!"

Solana looked down as she finally saw Naruto's point and he was right. This boy was already a tracker ninja, a member of the ANBU Black Ops in his country. The concept wasn't foreign for her, Sora was already on the verge of being named as a jounin when she was at her age, Amari was already fighting in a war far more greater than him and...

She shook her head to snap the image of him out of her mind. She didn't want to think about that traitor ever again, no matter what he could accomplish in such a short amount of time.

Kakashi reached Naruto and looked down at his panting form.

"Well, even if you don't accept it, still, it did happen, Naruto," he stated bluntly, but then he put his hand on the blond's head. "In this world there are kids who are younger than you, and yet stronger than me. You know someone like this, don't you? Someone who can merely be considered as an adult, yet possesses so much power that she already made herself a name across the lands?"

Naruto glanced back at Solana and at that moment they both thought of the same person. However she also saw Sasuke by the corner of her eyes and she was certain that in his mind another person's image appeared - someone who abused this power in the worst way possible.

The boy, who was watching their interaction silently, now held out his arm and the wind intensified around him to the point that he disappeared in it, just to reappear alongside Zabuza. He picked up the body which was a lot heavier than him, then looked at them once more.

"Your struggle is over now," he said. "I must deal with the remains. There are may secrets in this body that must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands. Please, excuse me. Farewell." With this, the wind picked up around them with a screeching sound and they both disappeared.

"He disappeared!" Naruto ran to their now empty places, ignoring Kakashi's comment to let go of the matter. He fell to his knees and started punching the ground in front of him with no intention of stopping soon. "What are we doing here'dattebayo?! We're nothing! I can't believe it'tebayo! Damn it, damn it, damn it...!"

Solana had enough. She could hardly bare the sight of an upset Naruto, but the one who was on the verge of giving up everything after what he'd been through, was unacceptable for her. She preceded Kakashi, who already covered his Sharingan with the clothing of his headband and was on his way to stop him, got to her best friend's side and caught his arm.

"Stop it!" she ordered harshly to get his attention. "Yes, you might not be on the same level as them, but that doesn't mean that you can never reach it! You just need a little more time and a little more training, but you can get there and even further if you never give up! You only lose if you lose your faith in yourself, but as long as you keep moving forward, there's no obstacle which can stop you! Find your own way, your own path and then you will unlock the strength you already have, deeply hidden inside of you!"

Naruto stared at her and the tears in her face which he had no idea what caused, but Solana only cared about the fact that he got the message she had gotten years before, when she had faced with the same hopelessness and the expectaions she could have never met. She let go of his hand and stood up, staring at him demandingly while she transformed back into her original outfit, asking him to stand up as well and continue the road they started together. Naruto eventually rose up and nodded, indicating that he understood and won't wither once again.

She cleared her face before she faced Kakashi, who sent her a knowing look, then turned back towards Tazuna, Sakura and Sasuke.

"Well, we haven't completed our mission yet," he said nonchalantly. "We still have to get the bridge builder to his bridge."

"Hehe, sorry I caused all this trouble for you," he laughed nervously. "But you can rest at my house when we get to the village."

"All right, let's get a move on!" Kakashi ordered and started walking. However he didn't even get to make three steps before he halted and collapsed.

"Kakashi!" Solana jumped towards him, but couldn't caught him in time and he facepalmed the ground. "I knew it! I knew this would happen, you stubborn oaf, but did you listen to me? No!"

"What? What happened?" Sakura asked worried as she rushed to their side with the others.

"Kakashi is stupid, that's what happened," Solana grunted as she took his injured hand into her palms and started healing his cut. "Like I told you, he wasn't born with the Sharingan, therefore its usage, which normally requires a lot of chakra, takes an even bigger toll on him than on an Uchiha. The more intensely he uses it, the more it knocks him out, which he is perfectly aware of, but still ignores." She finished the treatment on his hand and placed her right hand at his head. "Yeah, he's out cold. He won't wake up for several hours, but there's a chance that he won't come around before tomorrow. We have to drag his sorry ass to the village."

With that she picked up Kakashi's limp body on his back and started dragging him towards the village, not letting anyone take him away from her, even though he was a lot heavier than her. She knew this would be perfect blackmail material and she wouldn't miss out a chance like this to have Kakashi be in her dept.

No matter how hard it was for her, once she decided it, she would carry on to the end.