Of Water Clones, Plans, and Tracker Ninja
-Of Water Clones, Plans, and Tracker Ninja-
"Your finished." Kakashi said, allowing the group to relax slightly in relief.
"Ha... ALRIGHT!" Naruto cheered with a cheesy grin on his face.
The somewhat cheerful atmosphere was broken quickly by the sound of Zabuza's dark chuckles. "Finished... You really don't get it, do you? Your technique is nothing but a crass imitation. I'll never be defeated by a mere copy cat ninja like you." Zabuza mocked, his statement causes Kakashi to growl to himself.
Zabuza laughs again. "You are full of surprises though. You'd already copied my Water Clone Jutsu when you made your little speech." At his accusation, the group thought back to Kakashi's promise to them.
"I will not allow my comrades to die!"
...
"Trust me."
"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, but I'm not that easy to fool." As this was being said, another Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi. The one speaking before revealed itself to be a clone as it exploded into water.
"Hey! That ones a clone too!" Naruto called out in surprise as Amaya lightly rubbed her temple. All of these twists were starting to give her a headache.
Kakashi turned around as Zabuza swung his giant sword. Luckily the silver haired Jounin ducked just in time. The sword embedded into the ground, allowing Zabuza to use the hilt for support as he sweeps his leg out. The kick made its mark and sent Kakashi flying through the air.
"Now!" Zabuza yells as he removes the sword from the ground. He begins to run in the direction Kakashi was sent from the kick, only to stop in his tracks as he saw small spikes littering the ground. "Makibishi Spikes. Trying to slow me down. Hmph, foolish." The rogue nin then leaps into the air as Kakashi lands in the water.
"Sensei!" Amaya called out worriedly from her spot in front of Tazuna.
'I can't believe Kakashi-sensei got kicked through the air like that.' Sakura thought to herself in disbelief.
"He has great physical skill too." Sasuke mused to himself in slight awe, as he and the rest of the group observed from a safe distance.
Soon enough Kakashi resurfaces from the water. Lifting his hand, he observed the water dripping from it. 'This isn't normal water. It's dense... Heavy.'
"Ha, fool." Zabuza mocked as he appeared behind Kakashi, causing the Jounin's eyes to widen. The rogue nin then began to preform hand signs before saying, "Suirō no Jutsu!"
"No!" Kakashi exclaimed as the water around him began to form into a sphere like shape. 'Escaping out of the water... Bad mistake.' He thought to himself as he glared at the man next to him.
"This prison is made of water, but it's stronger than steel. 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 will have to be eliminated." Zabuza said before preforming another hand sign. 'Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu!'
'He's even more skilled than I thought.' Kakashi thought to himself as another clone formed in between them and the group.
At the look on the Genin's and Tazuna's face, Zabuza gives another dark chuckle. "You think wearing a headband makes you a ninja? When you hover 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 gets entered into my bingo book, then you may have earned the title ninja. But to call upstarts like you ninja, is a joke." Zabuza's clone sneers as the mist gets thicker, allowing him to vanish from sight.
'He disappeared again.' Naruto thought before letting out a shocked and pained gasp as the nin reappeared and gave him a harsh kick, knocking him back a few feet. The blond's headband coming off in the process.
Zabuza walks forward slightly, placing a foot on the headband as he says, "You're just brats."
"Naruto!" Sakura and Amaya both call out worriedly as the rest of the group stares on in surprise. The look of fear and worry on their faces causes Kakashi to sneer at their foe. "Listen!" He yells as he turns to look at the group, gaining their attention. "Get the bridge builder and run! You can't win this fight! He's using all of his power to keep me in this prison. So he can only fight 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!"
'Saa~ We can't just leave you.' Amaya thought as she observed the situation before adding, 'Any other way you look at it, the circumstances won't be favorable...'
'Run away? Not an option. That became unthinkable the moment you were caught. No matter how fast we run or how far we go, he'll track us down and wipe us out. If we try a Manji Defense Formation, he can get around it in an instant. In the end, if we're on our own, we're finished. Our only chance of survival is to rescue you.' Sasuke thought before adding aloud, "We've got to do it!" The ravenet then lets out a cry as he runs forward.
As the Zabuza clone reaches for his sword, Sasuke throws multiple shuriken before leaping into the air. Using his sword, Zabuza blocks the oncoming weapons before looking up.
"Now!" Sasuke yells as he comes down toward the nin, a kunai in his hand.
"Too easy." Zabuza sneers as he reaches out a hand and grabs the boy by the throat. He holds the ravenette in the air for a moment before he tosses him aside with ease.
"Sasuke, no!" Sakura exclaims while Amaya's eyes widen as the boy tumbles across the ground roughly.
"He got Sasuke!" Naruto exclaimed loudly in shock. Looking up at the intimidating nin, the blond began to tremble. 'So this is what a Jounin is! An elite ninja! I-I-I've got to get away! If I don't, seriously, he'll annihilate me!' The blond turns to crawl away but stops when he sees his bandaged hand, making him think back to the oath he made beforehand. He looks back up at Zabuza and then stares at the headband under his foot, reminding him of everything that has transpired since becoming a Genin. 'That's right, I'm a ninja now. Believe it! I swore an oath of pain. I won't run away!' He thought determinedly as he jumped up. Giving a war cry, he runs towards the rogue.
"Huh?! Naruto, no!" Kakashi yells, the water distorting his voice slightly.
"Aaaah! Naruto, what in the world are you doing?!" Sakura screeches as she pulled at her pink locks.
"He has a death wish!" Amaya screeched along with her compatriot as she clutched onto the pinkette.
"Fool." Zabuza grunts darkly as he kicks the blond back once again.
"What are you thinking charging at him by yourself?! Even Sasuke couldn't get to him! We're only Genin, we can't defeat a Jounin! What did you think you'd accomplish by that?" Sakura asked as they all watched the blond struggle to stand up. As he raised slightly, he revealed the headband that was grasped firmly in his hand.
'The headband? That's what he wanted?' Sakura asked herself as she stared at the blond intently.
"Saa~ Geez Naruto, I can't tell if you're really brave, or really stupid." Amaya voiced with a sigh as Tazuna grunts in agreement.
Now standing completely, Naruto's hands begin to fiddle with the headband. "Hey you. Freak with no eyebrows." He begins lowly, causing Zabuza to twitch slightly at the insult as Amaya began snickering. "Put this in your bingo book. The ninja that will become Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves..." He then pauses to put his headband on before continuing, "He never backs down. His name is Naruto Uzumaki."
'Naruto...' Sakura thought in awe.
'Ah... I thought he was all talk. This kid's got guts.' Tazuna mused to himself, observing the blond who has annoyed him since their first encounter.
"Alright, Sasuke. Listen up. Can you hear me?" Naruto asked as he wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth.
"Yeah, I hear you." Sasuke answers, glancing at the blond from the corner of his eye.
Naruto grins. "I've got a plan."
'Hmph. Now he's got a plan? This guy.' Sasuke thought to himself with a smirk before asking aloud, "So you're finally thinking about teamwork, huh?"
'W-why do I have this feeling? Naruto's so determined.' Sakura asked herself as a light flush coated her cheeks.
"Alright, ready? Let's bring this guy down." Naruto states after a moment of staring at Zabuza. The final points of his plan coming together.
"Big words for such a little man. You think your plans going to keep you in the game?" Zabuza asked rhetorically, not at all worried.
'Ah.. this isn't good.' Kakashi thought to himself as he looked from his students to the clone standing before them. Not wanting to witness an unfavorable outcome, he addressed the four again. "What are you doing? I told you to run! 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!"
"Hmph. Bridge builder?" Naruto huffed, as he turned to look at Tazuna. Hoping that the old man will allow them to stay and fight.
Looking from the trapped Jounin to the four children in front of him, a small twinge of guilt for causing this situation shot through him. "Well I... I guess this all happened because of me. Because of my desire to live. But I won't let that stand in your way now. Forget about me and do what you have to do! Go ahead and fight to save your sensei!" He conceded, causing sparks of determination to light up in the quartet's eyes.
'Saa~... He probably knows he won't live very long if we ran away now. Tch, old codger...' Amaya thought as she turned from the old man and to the rogue a few feet away. However, that didn't stop a slight smirk from pulling at her lips.
"Alright, ya hear that?" Naruto asked the two Jounin standing near the water before turning to the clone. "Yeah, believe it. You ready?"
This alone causes Zabuza to laugh again. "You really haven't learned anything, have you? Still playing your little game, pretending to be ninja. When I was your age this hand had already crushed many opponents." He said with a sneer, causing the group to stare at him bewildered.
"Zabuza. The Demon of the Mist." Kakashi mused aloud as he stared at the nin keeping him captive.
"Oh? So, I was in your book too huh?" Zabuza replied nonchalantly, sparing a small glance to the copy cat.
"Long ago in the Village Hidden in the Mist, also known as 'Blood Mist Village', before a student could become a ninja there was one final test." Kakashi mumbled, narrowing his eyes into a slight glare.
"Hmm. Do you know about the graduation exam?" Zabuza asked rhetorically, not taking his eyes off the silver haired Jounin.
"What graduation exam?" Naruto asked in confusion, earning an ominous laugh from the rogue.
"What's the big deal anyways? We had graduation exams too." The blond asked again, slightly annoyed.
"Did you have to kill the other students to pass?" Zabuza replied gruffly after he stopped laughing. Seeing as his response shocked the group, he elaborated further, "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 while your opponent still breathes. He was your friend, shared your dreams, now it's him or you."
"That's so cruel!" Sakura yelled, holding her clutched fists to her chest.
"It's sick!" Amaya snapped as her blue eyes glared fiercely at the rogue nin. The thought itself made her uneasy.
"Ten years ago, in the Village Hidden in the Mist, the graduation exam changed. One year before, a dark evil filled the school with terror." Kakashi began as he stared at the back of Zabuza's head.
"What's he saying? What evil? What kind of change, what caused the terror?" Sakura asked her teacher in slight fear.
"Without pause or hesitation, a young boy who was not even a ninja, approached the class and took down over a hundred of their students." Kakashi elaborated, not once taking his eyes off Zabuza.
Speaking of, the rogues eyes widened and lit up with a disturbing glint as he stared at the children in front of him. "It... It felt so... Good." He groaned, his response making go the Genin wide-eyed.
Suddenly, he sprints towards Sasuke, easily and quickly closing the distance. He then slams his elbow into the Uchiha's stomach, sending him to the ground. As he fell, Zabuza grinned viciously and brought his elbow down a second time, making the ravenet cough up blood as he cried out in pain.
"Sasuke!" Sakura and Amaya called out, the latter stepping forward slightly to help.
Zabuza then stood to his full height and placed his foot on the boy's stomach while twisting it continuously, chucking as Sasuke grimaces in pain. "You're nothing." He spits, pressing down harder.
"Stop right there!" Naruto yelled as he made a hand sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Soon enough, multiple clones surrounded Zabuza, causing him to stop his assault on the Uchiha for a moment.
"Ooh, Shadow Clones. And there's quite a few of them." Zabuza comments as he glances around the area, watching as the clones readied their kunai knives while saying, "Here we go!" They then go on the attack, basically creating a huge dog-pile where Zabuza was standing. A moment later, there's a loud crashing sound. Zabuza had swung his sword and sent the clones flying in different directions. Each one disappearing one by one with a poof.
"Sakura." Amaya called as she watched the clones disappear, gaining the pinkettes attention.
"Yeah?" The Haruno asked, looking towards the brunette curiously.
"We'll guard Tazuna for now, if they need help we'll assist wherever we can. Okay?" Amaya replied, not looking away from the two boys.
"Right!" Sakura replied with a determined nod.
'I'm not giving up! I've still got this!' Naruto thought as he slid back from the nin, looking through his bag. The blond then pulls out a windmill shuriken and tosses it to Sasuke with a shout. "Sasuke!"
The addressed boy leaps into the air and catches the shuriken, spinning around to face Zabuza as he thought, 'So that was your plan! Not bad, Naruto!'
"Huh?" Zabuza asks as his focus returns to the ravenet.
Sasuke opens up the shuriken, revealing its four long sharp blades. "Demon Wind Shuriken! Windmill of Shadows!" He yells as he holds it up.
"A shuriken? You'll never touch me with that." Zabuza informs cockily, keeping one hand on the hilt of his sword.
The Uchiha doesn't reply, he only leaps back into the air while spinning the shuriken. He then throws the shuriken towards the clone who only looks on in surprise as it curves around him and heads to the real Zabuza.
"So, you passed the clone and aimed for my real body. Smart. But not smart enough." Zabuza said as he simply reaches out and catches the shuriken. He then looks up to find another coming straight at him. "A second shuriken in the shadow of the first! The Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"
'The second shuriken is right on target! And he can't catch this one!' Sakura thought to herself proudly. However, her spirits were suddenly crushed when the nin jumped over the oncoming weapon.
"I told you, a shuriken can't touch me!" Zabuza repeated as he landed.
'He dodged it!' Sakura thought in disbelief.
Amaya glanced at the Uchiha, the sudden smirk on his face confusing her slightly. Turning her head, she soon realized why he was so smug. The shuriken made a loud popping sound with a poof of smoke and revealed to be Naruto. The sight made the girl laugh lightly.
"What?!" Zabuza asked, shocked at the sudden appearance of the blond behind him.
"Eat this!" Naruto exclaimed as he threw his own kunai knife towards Zabuza.
Seeing how the kunai was headed straight for him, and the fact that both of his hands were unusable at the time. Zabuza had to act fast. Jerking his arm away from the water prison, he jumped back slightly but not before receiving a cut under his eye. Due to his lost concentration, both the water prison and the water clone were dispersed. Zabuza turned to face the blond, his glare deadly enough to kill the boy ten times over if it were possible. The rogue then began to spin the shuriken in his hand as he spat, "I'll destroy you!"
As Zabuza went to attack, it was blocked unexpectedly by a drenched Kakashi, who used the guards on his gloves to stop the blades. As this happened Naruto fell into the water.
Sakura let out a small gasp. "Kakashi-sensei!"
"Naruto, that was an excellent plan. You've really grown, haven't you?" Kakashi asked as the blond laughed gleefully.
"I knew I couldn't beat him with my shadow clones, that was just to distract him! While he fought the clones, I turned into the Demon Wind Shuriken! He didn't know what to do! Believe it!" Naruto began cheerfully before elaborating, "I used one of the clones to transform into the shuriken. When I threw it to Sasuke, it looked like a real shuriken. Sasuke could tell it was me in a second, he spun around so no one could see and pulled out his own shuriken! Now there were two shuriken, 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!" The blond laughs again before adding offhandedly, "That was a bonus! Believe it!"
"Don't brag. You just lucked out." Sasuke rebuffs with a slight smirk.
"THE WHOLE THING WAS JUST A FLUKE!" Tazuna yelled, enraged at the blond's luck.
Amaya laughed at the elder's expression. "Mah, mah, let's just be happy it worked, ne?"
'You could call it a fluke, but their teamwork was flawless. They knew what to do without even talking about it. Most of the time they act like they hate each other, and yet, they're a perfect team.' Sakura mused to herself.
Zabuza scoffed lightly. "I got distracted and lost my grip on the water prison."
"Don't flatter yourself. You weren't distracted. You were forced to let go." Kakashi rebuked, staring up at the nin through his soaked tresses. "Your technique worked on me once. It won't work again." He informed after a moment or two before adding, "So, what's it gonna be?"
"Sakura, Amaya, you know what to do." Sasuke said as he looked at the two girls. They both nod in affirmation, and the three move to stand defensively in front of Tazuna.
Zabuza huffs out a laugh and folds the windmill shuriken before pressing it down harder on Kakashi's hand, causing the latter to grunt slightly. Kakashi then swipes the blade away, sending the weapon off in a random direction. The two Jounin then leap back and Zabuza begins to perform a hand sign while making eye contact with Kakashi. 'The Sharingan..' He muses to himself as he looks at the gleaming red orb.
Zabuza then begins to make multiple hand signs, which Kakashi copies instantly. "Suiton: Suiryūdon no Jutsu!" The two say at the same time, shortly followed by two large water dragons appearing from the water. The two dragons twist and wrap around each other causing massive waves to form and splash onto the shore towards the group. Naruto, who's still in the water is dragged under continuously.
'Wow... So many hand signs and he mirrored them all perfectly. Instantly.' Sasuke thought as he watched the fight in slight awe.
'What are they doing? Is that Ninjutsu?' Sakura asked herself curiously.
The two dragons dispersed to reveal the two Jounin with their weapons clashing. Zabuza stared at Kakashi suspiciously. 'Something isn't right. The Sharingan can comprehend and replicate an enemy's technique. However, both jutsu occurred simultaneously. Could it be...?' Zabuza thought to himself before both men, once again, jumped away from each other. They then began to run in a complete circle before stopping and preforming a new sign. By that point, everyone including Zabuza, realized that Kakashi wasn't just copying everything perfectly.
"He's not just following, he moves the same way at the same time." Tazuna mumbled to Amaya, who nodded in agreement.
"How's he doing that? How, Sasuke?" Sakura asked as she looked at the ravenet. Only to go unanswered as he focuses solely on the fight at hand.
'My movements... It's as if... It's as if he knows what I'm--' Kakashi suddenly cuts Zabuza's thoughts off by finishing the sentence, "--Going to do next?"
'What? Is he reading my mind as well?... He looks at me with that eye...' Zabuza thought once again as his gaze zeroed in on the red orb.
"It makes you furious, doesn't it?" Kakashi asked as they both preformed the same hand sign once again.
"All you're doing is copying me. Like a monkey." Zabuza rebuked before adding, "You can't beat me with cheap tricks I'll crush you!" This time however, Kakashi said it with him word for word.
Zabuza stares behind the silver haired Jounin and sees a shadow appear. 'What is that?!' He asked himself with unease. Suddenly the shadow changes to a mirror image of himself. 'It's me! But how?! Is it his illusion jutsu?!'
Before Zabuza can comprehend what happened, Kakashi performed the jutsu. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"
"What?!" The rogue nin exclaimed as a giant blast of water comes straight at him. "Impossible!" He yells before he is swept away by the current. 'I was just about to create a vortex! He created one first!' Zabuza raged to himself in disbelief.
As the jutsu continued to destroy almost anything in its way, Zabuza tried to swim against the current. 'He copies my jutsu's before I could even do it! I can't keep up!'
The sudden blast of the water causes the group to shield themselves as they tried to maintain even footing. Naruto on the other hand, due to still being in the water, is also swept away in the current but grabs ahold of a branch near the bank. This continues until the water finally begins to reseed, allowing them all a chance to relax slightly.
Zabuza is pushed up against a nearby tree, which Kakashi uses to his advantage as he throws multiple kunai, which embed in the rogue's arms and legs. "You're finished." Kakashi states with finality as he lands on a branch above the nin.
"How?! Can you see into the future?" Zabuza asked gruffly as he craned his neck to look back at the silver haired man.
"Yes. And this is your last battle. Ever." Kakashi answers, pulling out another kunai. However, before he could attack, two senbon needles suddenly fly through the air and stab Zabuza in the neck. As he falls, the group look up to another tree adjacent to the one Kakashi was in and see a mysterious ninja wearing a mask.
"You were right. It was his last battle." The ninja concedes as he casually stood up on the branch.
Kakashi studied him for a moment longer before jumping down from his perch. He crouched next to Zabuza's body and felt for a pulse. "No vital signs." He murmured with a small sigh before looking back up to the ninja.
The boy stands and bows in response as he began to speak. "Thank you. I've been tracking Zabuza for a long time. Waiting for this chance to finally bring him down."
"By your mask, I see that you're a Tracker Ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi said as he took notice of the villages symbol engraved on the mask.
"Impressive. You're well informed." The boy replied, now standing to his full height. His response causes Naruto to jump into action. The blond moves quickly in front of his teammates and Tazuna as he glared at the 'enemy'. "A Tracker!"
"Naruto, you don't even know what that is." Sakura rebuffed sassily from behind the blond." Her statement causing Amaya to snicker into her hand. "You missed the lesson on it, as usual... Tracker Ninja have a special role. Try coming to class sometime." She added before continuing quickly. "When a rogue ninja breaks away from his village, he carries all kinds of secrets with him. The secrets of his people. Trackers are specially trained to hunt down these ninja and eliminate them. That way, the secrets of their people remain secrets."
"That's correct. I'm a member of the elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. It was my duty to stop Zabuza." The ninja cut in informatively, earning the groups attention once more.
'From his size and voice, he must be the same age as Naruto. Yet he's an elite assassin?' Kakashi mused to himself as he took in the ninja before adding, 'He's no ordinary kid. But what is he?'
Naruto runs over to the base of the tree and looks between Zabuza's body and the boy above him. Soon enough, anger and frustration begin to fill his entire body. "What is this?! Who do you think you are?!" He screams, pointing at the nin. "Did you hear me?" He's asks once again.
"Easy, Naruto. He's not our enemy." Kakashi interrupts calmly, watching the boy fume in anger.
"Huh? That's not the point! Did you see what he 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 does that make us? We're just fumbling around! We don't know anything! How can I accept that?!" At the blond's proclamation, Amaya felt herself deflate slightly but agreed silently with her other teammates.
"Well... Even if you don't accept it still, it did happen, Naruto." Kakashi replied, walking over to place a hand on the boy's head. "In this world, there are kids younger than you and yet... stronger than me." The Jounin added solemnly.
As the two spoke, the Tracker Nin moved from his spot in the tree and next to Zabuza's body. Lifting the dead rogue, he placed the body on his shoulder before addressing the group once more. "Your struggle is over for now. I must deal with the remains. There are many secrets in this body, they must not be allowed to get into the wrong hands. Please excuse me. Farewell." The nin nods to the group once more before making a hand sign, disappearing into a whirlwind of leaves.
"He disappeared!" Sakura exclaimed as the group stared at the place the nin was last seen.
Kakashi sighs and pulls his headband back down over his eye as Naruto ran towards the spot. "He's gone, Naruto. Let it go." He calls tiredly, watching along with the group as the blond drops to his knees and begins to punch the ground angrily.
"What are we doing here?! We're nothing! I can't believe it!" The blond yells furiously, smashing both fists harshly into the dirt.
Kakashi walks forward and grabs the boys drawn fist, gaining his attention. "As ninja, the things we encounter are never easy. Save your anger, for the next enemy." He then let's go, allowing Naruto to slouch over slightly. He then turns to the rest as he says, "We haven't completed our mission yet. We still have to get the bridge builder to his bridge."
As the Jounin says this, a grinning Tazuna lifts his hat up slightly while giving a laugh. "Sorry I caused all of this trouble for ya! But you can rest at my house when we get to the village."
"Alright, let's get a move on." Kakashi then tuns to walk away. However, he doesn't make it very far as he stops suddenly and falls to the ground unconscious. The groups eyes widened as they run forward towards the Jounin.
"W-what happened?!" Sakura asked as they stood around the man's body.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed in shock.
"Is he dead?" Amaya asked as she tapped the man lightly with the toe of her shoe. Looking around the group, she took in their ashen white faces and wide eyes. Giving a sigh she crouched next to the Jounin and looked at his face while feeling for a pulse. "Saa~... He's just exhausted. It's probably because of the Sharingan, ne?" She trailed off, looking up at the Uchiha for confirmation. When he gave a nod, she began tugging the man up. "Welp, let's get going. Two of you grab his feet and somebody grab his other arm."
As the three done as told, Tazuna offered to help but the Minamoto shooed him away saying, "We don't want you to break a hip old man." She then turned her head and mumbled something about the elderly and their brittle bones.
Having heard her both times, Tazuna barked out a retort before showing them the way to his home.