"The first time takes everyone differently. Just remember to breathe."

He seems to be calming down on his own, though now he's a bit huffy.

Kakashi pats him a couple times, then moves on to the fallen ninja.

"And now on to these fine fellows. Chihiro! Your thoughts?"

"Missing-nin from Kirigakure, according to their forehead protectors. Their ambush tactics support this. Low chunin level abilities, likely bandits or mercenaries."

"They went for you first, but you're also the biggest threat. They weren't even looking at me until I stabbed one. They were looking at Chihiro - and Tazuna. Tazuna's also been increasingly nervous since Konoha." He pauses. "And also the trap was in our path. Either they followed us or knew where we're going, or both."

"So! Tazuna, our valued client. Anything you might have forgotten to mention when you made this arrangement with our village?"

Tazuna clears his throat roughly. It turns out that his village and indeed the rest of the Land of Waves is being strangled to death by a man called Gatou, a shipping magnate who charhes exorbitant prices to bring goods in or out of the country. The country being composed of islands, they don't have much choice but to pay. Tazuna has been constructing a bridge to break their dependence on Gatou, and Gatou has begun hiring mercenaries to kill Tazuna in order to stop it. He didn't mention any of this in Konoha because his village lacks the funds to pay for a B- or A-rank mission; they are spending everything on the bridge. That's why he was traveling, to order materials and arrange for their discreet delivery.

Too bad he decided to endanger children. (Sugira doesn't say this. Sugira is, however, glaring.)

The situation's fucked up. He'd have zero problem being part of an operation to dismantle Gatou's hold on everything, even for no pay. However, there is the matter of Naruto, who is definitely twelve, and Chihiro, who is probably twelve, and he doubts a suggestion of 'those two go back, Kakashi and Sugira help out' would fly.

Naruto is squinting at the sob story, but really wants to go on a mission and prove himself, so.

Changes in mission rank are to be reported at the earliest opportunity, and the decision to continue or abort is at the discretion of the squad leader.

Well, what the heck. It's only another two days to Wave. It'll be faster than going all the way back to Konoha.

He hates this world.

He drops Blurred Movement in favor of True Strike when next he prepares his spells for the day. It'll make him easier to hit, which is a massive disadvantage, but moving quickly, appearing to stand still even as he casts, and a mild combat-focused precog is likely to be way more useful. And his sword-slot is flexible, so if he's fighting a lot of weaker opponents he can use Blurred Movement then, or Shocking Grasp on one powerful opponent.

They take a boat to Wave early the next day. Along the way, they pass beneath the partially-constructed bridge, lurking within the fog. They make land a few hours' walk from the village. Everything is quiet and peaceful, until Kakashi spots a white rabbit in some bushes by the side of the road.

"Get down!" he shouts, pushing the others down with outstretched arms. A large dark object whizzes overhead, thunking into a tree and revealing itself to be a massive sword. A man with bandages over the lower half of his face balances atop the hilt, slowly looking over his shoulder back at the group.

He lets himself be guided, though he does stare back at the man, eyes narrowed as his mind races.

Single opponent who surprised Kakashi... Suggests someone powerful and confident.

     "Well, well," says the man. "If it isn't Kakashi of the Sharingan, Konoha's infamous Copy-Nin. Sorry, but the old man is mine."

"Everyone get back. Surround and protect Tazuna. You'll have to get through me first, Momochi Zabuza."

He's not an idiot, so will step back - keeping an eye on Naruto and Chihiro and their surroundings - and fall into formation.

He doesn't have many good options for actually stopping someone on Kakashi's level. His scrolls... Unfortunately, all of them except Mage Armor will last only two minutes at the most. Which might be plenty in a fight like this, but. And he's mostly been focusing on utility, movement, and defensive spells...

Also he wants to neither draw attention to himself by casting nor burn his Illusion of Calm spell...

He really needs to master these quieted and stilled.

Kakashi pushes his forehead protector up to reveal the blazing red eye hidden beneath it. Zabuza chuckles.

     "The famed eye so soon. I am honored." He vaults off the sword and onto the surface of the water and runs through a series of handseals. "I hope it serves you well," he says, as a heavy mist begins to blanket the area. He fades out of view.

An ominous feeling creeps in along with the mist, a sense of doom trickling down the spine like melting ice. They're going to die. It's just a question of how.

His old enemy Ur-Namush was, in fact, significantly more terrifying, even given that Sugira was immortal, already an archmage, and theoretically unkillable when he met her. She had style, and a penchant for making it personal.

This is... Crude. Probably an illusion spell or similar. (Sugira's also not really fully adjusted yet to the idea of death as more than inconvenient...)

Also Sugira has been centering his mind every morning, so.

But he notices Naruto's white face and shaking hands.

His hand tightens around his sword-hilt. He should've pushed for them to turn back.

Kakashi half turns to look at the group.

"Don't worry, I won't let my teammates die." The oppressive feeling retreats somewhat.

Naruto takes a deep breath and steadies himself a bit.

And then Zabuza is right in the middle of the group-

-but Kakashi is there and in a flash of steel Zabuza collapses into a puddle of water-

-and then Kakashi is the one who has the blade at his throat. Zabuza jerks it back-

That Kakashi also dissolves into a puddle of water to splash on the ground, and the real one come up behind to end it-

-but that was yet another clone. There's a brief, furious melee tangle.

Kakashi is punted out into the water. He attempts to climb back to the surface, but his movements are slowed, sluggish.

Zabuza appears behind him and creates a bubble of water, trapping Kakashi inside. "And now it's over. I congratulate you on copying my water clone even through the mist, but your sharingan cannot save you when you cannot move." He makes half a hand seal, and another Zabuza figure forms out of the water and begins advancing on the group.

"Take Tazuna and go!" Kakashi shouts through the water. "He can't move while he's keeping me trapped and the clone won't be able to get far away from him!"