Author's Note

For the past year or so, I have been having hundred's of ideas for stories. Each time I tried to work on it, I had to stop because I could never continue it for some reason. But this is a story that really caught my attention.

The pairing will stay with Naruto, Kin, no one will be added.

Some characters will be a little OP. Sasuke/Sakura/Council bashing. Naruto is not god-like or an idiot. He won't be as smart as Shikamaru but definitely better than he was.

I will not make Kin fall for Naruto straight away. I have read that happening in a few stories and was disappointed. So it will happen soon but not straight away. Possibly around chapter 10 or so if I make it that far.

Also, I will make sure that he is getting better training for his trip with Jiraiya. I found it stupid that he went away for three years and only managed to make a Giant Rasengan and a little bit of mastery with the Kyuubi's chakra. Yes, I am planning on this fic going to Shippuden as well. I just hope I keep working on this.

My other story, The Light Within the Darkness, is still under construction. I have been working on the second chapter for a while now. Unfortunately, work and life have gotten in the way a lot. I will try to keep updates to a chapter per month at the least.

If my grammar and wording are terrible then please let me know. I am using Grammarly which has been helping a lot with my punctuation and spelling.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

"Talking Mentally"

"Demon/Monster Talking,"

Story Begin

Naruto sighed as he walked down a dirt path, following his team and their client. They had left the village of Konoha on their first ever C-Rank mission and he was pretty excited about it. He was honestly hoping that, for his first C-Rank, he would guarding a princess or something as awesome as that, but instead, he and his team were escorting a drunk bridge builder by the name of Tazuna back to his home village in Wave Country. They would have made great progress if they didn't have to stop or slow down for their client.

Glancing at his team, he wondered why anyone would allow them a C-Rank mission when it was clear they weren't ready for it. He know's he was the one that shouted for a better mission, but he didn't exactly mean it. What really didn't help was his teammates, Sasuke and Sakura fully agreeing with him, which was a first. Sasuke would usually say nothing or just insult him, while Sakura would also insult him and agree with Sasuke, no matter what he does. Their sensei, Kakashi, was probably the only reason why Naruto stayed on the team, as the man was always looking out for him.

What didn't help though is that Kakashi was ordered to train Sasuke so that the Uchiha would be ready for when his Sharingan activated. It was also quite obvious that the order also meant to ignore Naruto and focus on the great Uchiha, which Kakashi was not doing. Chuckling, Naruto remembered back to all the times he was saved as a child by ANBU. One particular ANBU had gravity-defying silver hair, much like Kakashi's. He honestly felt like an idiot for not figuring out they were the same person until AFTER the Bell Test.

There were very few things he hated in this world, but the Civilian Council was one of them. Throughout his life, the Council was the one thing that made it a horror. If it wasn't for them, he might have had a chance to grow up normally.

On the day the Kyuubi was sealed, the Third Hokage announced to the Council that Naruto was the new Jinchuriki to the Kyuubi. The Clan Heads were all fine with it, knowing the difference between a sealing scroll and the object sealed within said scroll, but the Civilian side were more narrow-minded. They immediately saw baby Naruto as the Kyuubi incarnate and demanded his death. The Hokage defended him though and made a law that anyone mentioning Naruto's status would be executed on the spot. This somehow didn't stop the Civilian side to spread a rumour across the village, convincing both villagers and shinobi's that Naruto was the demon itself.

For the first fourteen years of his life, Naruto experienced nothing but pain as drunken mobs would hunt him nearly every night and beat him and torture him until he was wishing for death. They always did this, at least until he became a Genin. Now, they just glare at him with nothing but hate, with the random rock or rotten food being thrown at him. They call him names like 'monster' or 'demon'. For a long time, he had no idea why they did this, but on the day he graduated, he was told by a traitor named Mizuki. On the day of his birth, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, Kyuubi, was sealed inside of him. At that moment, Naruto finally understood. He understood why all the villagers hated him, why they tormented him for years and made his life a living hell.

The odd thing was that he didn't resent them for it. He knew that it was the fear of Kyuubi that made them blind to the truth, how they could see him as the Kyuubi and not as the jailor. If it wasn't for the handful of friends he gained over the years, he might have ended up being exactly what the villagers think of him as. A monster.

A demon.

Glancing at his team, he wondered how they would think of him if they learned that he had the Kyuubi sealed inside of him. Sasuke, if he did hate Naruto, would no doubt attack the moment he got a chance. No matter what, the Uchiha heir will always be an 'attack first, ask questions later' kind of guy. Sakura would either be on Sasuke's side or actually listen to reason for once, but the former option was probably more likely. It was near impossible to tell what the other Genin would think either, as he doesn't really know them all that well. But something was telling him that he could trust most of them.

Kakashi tensed ever so slightly, and while he hid it well, Naruto saw it easily. Immediately, he looked around to see what put Kakashi on edge and quickly saw a puddle in the middle of the road. While a puddle normally wouldn't raise any suspicion, Naruto knew it hasn't rained in over a week so it was impossible for a puddle to be there, which only meant one thing.

'Genjutsu and an obvious one at that,' thought Naruto, stepping over it. He saw that both Sasuke and Sakura were oblivious to it, making him sigh, 'Okay, obvious to most people then.'

He figured that when the fighting would start, Kakashi would disappear to see how they would do in a real life combat situation, as all Jonin do this from time to time to evaluate. While he was confident that he could put up a fight, he wasn't so sure about his teamwork with Sasuke or Sakura, especially if Sasuke would try to take charge and Sakura would do nothing.

Just as soon as he thought that a chain shot out of the 'puddle' and wrapped itself around Kakashi before ripping him to shreds. Naruto scowled as he heard Sakura scream. He actually had to cover his ears as he nearly felt them bleed, 'Could she not tell he used a Replacement Jutsu?' he thought as Kakashi's 'corpse' was actually a log. Two figures appeared from the puddle, both wearing dark clothing and an over-sized gauntlet each which were connected by a long chain.

Looking at them, Naruto could clearly see the Hidden Mist headband they both wore with scratches through them. Before anything was said, though, Sasuke shot at them with a kunai raised, intent on ending this before it barely even began. Within seconds, the closest Mist Shinobi blocked Sasuke's attack and bent the Uchiha's arm behind his back, effectively subduing him, "Stupid Genin," said the Shinobi holding the arm, "Just give us the Bridge Builder and we'll let you all live"

"Or don't," said the other Shinobi with a mad look in his eyes. He almost sounded hopeful as he spoke, "We don't mind going through a few kids just to kill the old man"

Naruto frowned at the situation. He had an idea but it wasn't going to be easy since Sasuke was in the enemies hand, "Sakura," he said looking at the terrified pinkette who shakily looked back at him, "I need you to protect Tazuna, can you do that?" She nodded, albeit hesitantly, "Good"

He took a step forward and pulled out a kunai, having a sharp look in his eyes. He could sense that Kakashi was watching from a nearby tree but put that thought to the back of his mind as it wasn't important, "So the brat want's to play" said the man that wasn't holding Sasuke.

"I recognise you both," said Naruto, making sure to watch both Shinobi's movements, "You two are Gozu and Meizu, the Demon Brothers, B-Rank Nuke-Nin"

The one that wasn't holding Sasuke, Meizu, laughed behind his mask, "I'm glad to know that there are some people that know to fear us"

Naruto smirked, "I never said I was scared," he said, making Meizu stop laughing, "In fact, I'm actually disappointed. I was hoping for a better challenge"

Gozu, holding Sasuke, scowled with a look of anger in his eyes, "You little brat! Meizu! Finish him off quickly! The sooner we get this done the sooner we get paid!"

Meizu glanced at his brother, and that was the moment Naruto struck. He seemed to have vanished from sight as he moved too quickly for anyone to see. By the time Meizu looked back to where the blond was, he already felt a tug on his gauntlet. Looking down, he saw a kunai embedded in the ground with a tag attached to it, holding down the chain. He widened his eyes, "Oh shit!" he shouted before the tag exploded, destroying the chain completely and tossing Meizu away.

Gozu, who was watching the whole thing, turned at the last moment and swung at Naruto, who was behind him with a raised kunai. Naruto jumped back in time and had to jump again as Meizu ran at him, 'Recovered faster than I thought' thought Naruto, 'He is angry, though, which means he's not focusing. I just have to time this right...'

Meizu was livid. He was angry at the fact a kid managed to get one over him. He just kept swinging his gauntlet at him, hoping to hit the boy with his clawed hand or at least swipe him with what was left of the chain. But no matter how fast he swung, the boy kept evading. Angrily, Meizu yelled, "Hold still!" Naruto seriously wanted to roll his eyes but didn't in case he got hit. Did the guy really expect him to just stop because he said so?

Naruto saw that when Meizu swung his gauntlet, the man looked as if he was straining to even lift the thing, meaning it was heavy. Getting an idea, Naruto ran close to Meizu and waited for him to swing down. Like a moth to a flame, the man couldn't resist as he threw his arm down. All Naruto did in response was step back, let the gauntlet hit the ground, and swung a kick at the man's jaw so hard that Naruto thought he heard a crack.

Meizu flew backwards and slammed into a tree, already unconscious before the impact. Gozu saw everything that happened and was shocked. He could barely see the kid move when he dodged as it looked like he was vanishing from side to side, all around Meizu. Feeling a tug on his arm, Gozu turned and didn't have time to react as Sasuke flipped over him, so that their positions were in reverse, and then held a kunai to the man's throat, "Damn it!" he shouted as he tried to struggle. He was confident that he could overpower the kid holding him, but the knife pressing to his throat made him think otherwise for now.

Sakura came running over, as Naruto walked while dragging the still unconscious Meizu by the foot, "Sasuke! That was amazing!" shouted Sakura as soon as she got close.

"Wasn't difficult," said Sasuke, acting as though he meant to get caught, "These fools just underestimated an Uchiha, which could have been fatal," he said, tugging at Gozu's arm and pressing the kunai a little harder to his throat, drawing a little blood.

Gozu scowled behind his mask, "Don't kid yourself, you little bastard. All you managed to do is catch me off guard"

This one little comment angered Sasuke. Nobody insults him and get's away with it. Without thinking he raised the kunai and plunged it down, desperately wanting to kill the man. But a steel gloved hand grabbed his arm and stopped him. Looking at who it was, he was shocked to see his Kakashi, "S-Sensei?!" screeched Sakura, thinking he was dead.

"He used a Substitution, Sakura," said Naruto as he dropped Meizu in front of his brother, "He knew what was going to happen and was ready for it"

Glancing at Kakashi's 'remains', Sakura saw that Naruto was right and that the 'body' was just shredded log, "I knew that" she said in a condescending tone, "I mean if an idiot like you figured it out now then, of course, I knew about it"

"Sakura," said Kakashi with an eye-smile.

Turning to her teacher, Sakura replied, "Yes, Kakashi-Sensei?"

"Shut up," he said with a hard look. Sakura wisely decided not to say anything.

After a minute, they managed to tie both Gozu and his brother to a tree, making sure to tie their hands in case they try to use any Jutsu. Kakashi was crouched in front of them, inspecting how injured Meizu was, "Naruto," he said, gaining the blond's attention, "Good job on beating him, but try not to break their jaw next time. We do need answers from them, after all"

Hearing this, Naruto gave a small embarrassed laugh while also rubbing the back of his head, "At least I held back" he said.

"True," muttered Kakashi, wondering how neither Sasuke nor Sakura were listening. Glancing at Gozu, he saw the man glaring at him, "You know, you could just tell us why you were after the Bridge Builder, it would save a whole lot of trouble... and by trouble I mean pain, of course." Still nothing, "Alright have it your way"

"Shouldn't you try to convince him to talk instead of going straight for the torture?" questioned Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

Kakashi shrugged, "He's stubborn. But we do have a mission to accomplish so I would rather get this done quickly" He looked at his team, "You three, I want you all to take Tazuna and continue walking. I'll deal with this"

In a half hour, Kakashi finally returned to his team, giggling as he read the little orange book he always carried around. As soon as he caught up with Naruto and the others, he stopped them and stood in front of Tazuna, book gone in his pocket and a lazy-yet-serious look in his lone eye, "You lied to us," said Kakashi.

"Wait, what?" asked Sakura, blinking in confusion, "What has he lied about?"

"Those were the Demon Brothers, and as Naruto said to them, they were B-Rank Nuke-Nin," explained the Jonin, "That would have easily raised this mission from a C-Rank to a B-Rank, and only because there were Shinobi involved with the enemy. But that's not the problem..." he trailed off.

Sasuke rose an eyebrow while he stood there with his arms crossed, "Then what is the problem?"

"... The Demon Brothers and known to work for Zabuza Momochi, the-"

"The Demon of the Hidden Mist," said Naruto, interrupting Kakashi, who just nodded in response. Naruto looked sharply at Tazuna, making the man flinch, "Zabuza was known to be a part of the 'Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist', each member being A to S-Rank in the Bingo Book"

Sakura was now scared as she pictured a demon slaughtering people in her mind. In a stuttery voice, she asked, "Y-You said he 'was' a-apart of the group, what did you m-mean?"

Kakashi continued Naruto's explanation, "The Hidden Mist Village was infamous for a few reasons, the Seven Swordsmen being one of them. Another reason was their graduation exam. In any other village, there would be tests to determine who could be a Shinobi, as you three already know, but in the Mist, they make the entire graduation class slaughter each other" Sakura gasped at this while looking pale. Sasuke was wide-eyed, not believing a school could do this. Naruto didn't seem to react to the news, though, "The survivors would then become Shinobi as they have proved themselves"

"So Zabuza did that? Killed his class?" asked Sasuke.

"Well, yes and no" replied Kakashi, "He was a few years younger than you three, barely starting the academy, before he walked in and killed everyone, including the teachers"

"The 'graduation ceremony'," Naruto said with air quotes, "is the reason the village was nicknamed, the 'Village Hidden in the Bloody Mist'"

They stayed silent after that, before Tazuna broke the silence, "What will you do now?"

Sighing, Kakashi looked towards the sky, "Well, because of Zabuza the mission is definitely now an A-Rank, which you three shouldn't even be on now," he said, looking towards his team, "But I would like to know why you lied in the first place" he said, now looking at Tazuna. "You knew there were Nuke-Nin after you, but you just wanted protection from bandits, so why the lie?"

"Because... because..." The man tried to come up with an excuse but couldn't and sighed in defeat, "The truth is, this is all about a bridge I'm building. Have you ever heard of a man named Gato?"

"Gato? As in Gato Industries?" asked Kakashi.

"Yeah, that's him. The little bastard has taken over my village. We use to be a great village, being able to trade with any nation, but as soon as he came, he stole everything we have. Now my home is nothing more than an empty husk," said Tazuna, with his teeth clenched and his hands balled into fists, "The little bastard is extorting money from all of us, taking everything we have. About a year ago, I came up with a plan to stop him. If I could build a bridge connecting us to the Main Land, then I could break Gato's hold on us and free my village. I have built most of it but he has been sending people to either scare us or kill us. I've lost half my workforce because of him"

Everyone stayed silent. Kakashi could see that his Genin were thinking hard of their situation. It was obvious Naruto would want to continue the mission, but Sasuke and Sakura were different. Tazuna kept looking at each member, worried if they would abandon him. He himself actually wanted to go, to stop Gato terrorising innocent people. That thought alone nearly made him laugh a little, 'Naruto must be rubbing off on me, I'm wanting to help anyone in need more often than I want to'

Naruto stepped forward, "Sensei, we can't just leave the village like that. We have to help!" He then glanced at his teammates and back at Kakashi, "I refuse to abandon people in need, especially when can help them"

"... You're going to go, even if I say no, aren't you?" asked Kakashi. He then looked at Sasuke and Sakura, "And what do you two think?"

Sasuke just huffed, "If we do fight, then this will be a good chance to see how strong I am. I vote to go"

As soon as she heard that, Sakura spoke, "If Sasuke goes, then I'll follow!" Even though she tried to sound confident, you could hear how nervous and scared she was.

Kakashi sighed again, idly noticing he was sighing a lot recently. He blamed Naruto for that as he put that thought to the back of his mind, "Very well then," he said, "Tazuna, you now have your own protection detail until the bridge is complete. Afterwards, when this is all over, I will hopefully discuss with you about the payment"

"Thank you! Thank you all so much!" cried out Tazuna, literally crying as he drank some sake that he brought with him.

Naruto knew what Kakashi meant when he said 'hopefully discuss', meaning that Kakashi didn't know if Tazuna or any of his team would even survive this. A glint in the distance caught his eye, which made him look in that direction. He squinted his eyes trying to see what it was until a scent hit his nose, a scent that was easily recognised. Blood, and a lot of it. Just as he was about to shout out to his team, one of the missing shinobi from before shot out from the bushes with extreme speed, surprising Naruto as he had not expected them to be that fast. It was Meizu, the one he had knocked out, with his gauntlet outstretched and aimed right for Tazuna.

With a quick burst of speed of his own, Naruto jumped at the man and grabbed him by the claws of his gauntlet, cutting his hand in multiple places as it was very sharp. Persevering through the pain, he pushed the clawed hand up and pulled out a kunai, stabbing it into the man's chest. Sakura screamed as all of it happened, as Sasuke just watched with wide eyes. Tazuna had fallen over in shock as the man was about a metre away from him and Kakashi just watched with a sad look in his eye.

Without so much as a sound, Meizu just stood there. He glanced down at the kunai deep in his chest and then back at Naruto who looked at him with hard eyes. His vision began to darken and he could feel his life slipping. He desperately tried to order his body to move, to attack the boy, to do anything. But it refused to listen. It wasn't long until darkness clouded his sight, and he was dead, slumping to the ground.

Naruto just stood there, staring at the body for a few seconds before turning back. He noted the stares he received from his teammates, "What?" he asked.

"Y-Y-You just k-killed him!" shouted Sakura in fear. She had never seen anyone die before but just the look of a body made her want to run back home.

"If I didn't kill him, he would have killed me," stated Naruto, like it was nothing. Kakashi nodded at that, having had the situation happen to him multiple times. It was alway's kill the person or let them kill you, so the decision was easy.

Sasuke was also pale, but only a little. This was the first body he has seen since the night his family was killed, so it brought a few memories back, memories he pushed away for now, "Why are you acting like it was nothing? You took his life!"

"A lot of Shinobi, when having to kill someone, tend to shut off all emotions," said Kakashi, while looking up at the sky, "I, myself, have had to close off my heart just to kill. The reason is because, some Shinobi enjoy killing, turning themselves into monsters. I shut off my emotions, so I don't let the death effect me. Most Chunin learn to do this, and all Jonin do it"

"It's a way of protecting your own heart," said Naruto with a small smile. When Sasuke and Sakura looked at him, he said, "Gramps, or the Third Hokage, told me those words after I... after I had my first kill"

Sakura gasped, "You've killed before?" All Naruto did was give the same smile and walked away along the road. Sakura looked at Kakashi in confusion, "Sensei? What happened to him?"

"It's not my place to tell," he said, walking away to catch up to Naruto. When he did, he noted that the blond's hand was still injured, "You do know that their gauntlets were poisoned, right?"

"Poison's already out of my system," said Naruto, showing his hand. Kakashi just watched as the wound was already beginning to heal, "Kyuubi is useful for some things," he whispered quietly enough for Kakashi to hear, and no one else to listen, "So, are we just going to leave a guy tied to a tree and a body in the middle of a road?"

Kakashi gave a hum of thought, "No. I made a Shadow Clone to deal with the body. The clone will also send a message to Konoha asking to send someone to retrieve Gozu"

Naruto nodded at that, thankful that he actually wasn't going to leave a body like that. When the rest of the team and the client caught up, they all walked in silence. Sakura was now too scared to talk to Naruto, now knowing he killed before. And Sasuke didn't seem to care, but whenever he looked at Naruto, he had a small look of anger for some reason. Tazuna just kept drinking like he normally does.

"Hey, Tazuna," said Sakura as everyone sat on a boat, slowly crossing the water towards Wave Country. When the man looked at her, she asked, "What was your home like? Before Gato arrived"

Tazuna was about to drink some more sake but stopped when she asked. He wasn't expecting a question like that, "Well, it was perfect, to say the least," he said with a smile, "Our village had a few trading routes but we always had people visiting because of our attraction"

"Attraction?" repeated Naruto, thinking of party rides and the like.

"Yep. About a thousand years ago, there was a great tribe who travelled the world. They were small in numbers but each member was as powerful as a Kage," said Tazuna, "They fought in many battles, never to be defeated"

Everyone was now listening, interested in the story, "What were they called?" asked Sakura.

"They were known, as the Dragon Slayers. Each member were masters of every element you could think of; fire, lightning, poison, even light and shadow"

Sasuke snorted, but was very interested in how strong these people were, "If they were so powerful, then how come we've never heard of them"

"Because they were eventually feared for their power. The people they protected began to hunt them down, one by one," replied Tazuna, sounding angry, "Only one survived and he fled to a different country. He lied low, trying to avoid being noticed. Apparently, because all his friends died, he began to hate humans and lived in solitude. It was years before he began to build a village and let people in, and nobody know's why"

Kakashi glanced at Tazuna before going back to his book, "That village, it's yours, isn't it?"

Tazuna hesitated before nodding, "It is"

"What was the man's name? The one who survived" asked Naruto.

"Don't know. His name has been lost for centuries. We don't even know where his grave is, either"

By the time they stopped talking, they were already off the boat and walking along a dirt road through a dense forest. Each of them were just doing their own thing as they walked. Kakashi was reading his little orange book as he walked next to Tazuna, who was once again drinking from an endless supply of sake. Sasuke was quiet as he brooded like he usually does, next to Sakura as she randomly stared at Sasuke. They were both behind Tazuna and Kakashi, while Naruto was up ahead, keeping a look out for any enemies.

A noise caught his attention and he quickly threw a kunai on instinct. He flew through a bush until there was a thud. Everyone stopped to see what was happening as Naruto walked towards the bush with another kunai in hand. He was tense as he went past the bush, expecting an enemy but nearly fell over when he saw a terrified looking rabbit underneath the kunai he threw.

"Naruto!" shouted Sakura, scaring some birds that were in the trees, "Why did you do that?! It's just a rabbit!"

"Yeah," replied Naruto, staring at the rabbit, "A white rabbit"

Sasuke snorted, "Who cares what colour it is? It's not important"

"That's where you're wrong, Sasuke," said Kakashi, "The only time rabbits are white is during winter or if they're in colder climates. It's summer right now, and all rabbits are a darker colour. This means that, unless the rabbit travelled from a colder climate very quickly, this one was kept indoors for a long time"

Naruto stood, looking about with sharp eyes, "Not only that, but just a moment before my kunai landed, I felt a small spike in chakra in this area. No doubt it was from a Substitution Jutsu"

Just as Sakura was about to argue with Naruto, saying how he was probably a paranoid idiot, Kakashi twitched. He heard a noise in the distance behind them. He could easily recognise the sound as a heavy object being thrown in their direction. Without hesitating, he shouted, "Everyone, get down!" while also taking Tazuna down with him.

Sasuke dove down to the ground, just as a giant cleaver burst through the forest, smashing through trees like they weren't even there. Sakura was frozen, shocked at the sudden turn of events. Naruto was also about to dive down when he saw Sakura still standing. He also saw the giant blade going straight for her, so he acted quickly and used a Substitution Jutsu to swap places with her, just as the blade was about to hit her.

He appeared before it, with the cleaver a couple of metres away from him. Pulling out a kunai, he pumped as much chakra as he could into it, trying to reinforce it. He didn't know if the kunai would even hold up against it, but he didn't have much of a choice. He felt both blades slam into each other and had to grit his teeth as the force of impact made the bones in his arms creak. His feet were planted into the ground but the blade kept pushing him back. Even though the kunai in his hand was reinforced, he began to see cracks appear all over the knife.

The giant blade was about to smash it's way through the kunai before Kakashi appeared and grabbed the giant blade's handle, pulling it away from Naruto and into a nearby tree. Again, it smashed it's way through but landed in another tree, embedding itself in it. Naruto, thankful that he didn't have to push back, fell to his knees, panting. He looked up at Kakashi, "Thank you"

"No problem," replied Kakashi with an eye-smile. The eye-smile disappeared, though, when a man appeared standing on the handle of the giant blade, "I'm impressed," said the mysterious man, his voice deep and gravelly, "There aren't many people that can hold up against my Executioner's Blade, much less a little Genin"

Standing up, Naruto was about to step forward but Kakashi put his arm in the way. "Well, I'm the exception in most cases," replied Naruto.

"Zabuza Momochi," said Kakashi, "I wasn't expecting to see you so soon"

"Well, when I heard that Kakashi Hatake and his team of brat's defeat the Oni Brothers, I just had to meet you," the man said as he turned around and jumped down to the ground, "Those Oni Brothers come out of my paycheck, you know. So I lost a bit of money because of you"

Kakashi stared at Zabuza and made it look like he dropped his guard, "Maybe if you surrender, we can work something out"

Zabuza just laughed a little, which sounded dark to Naruto, as he pulled his sword out of the tree and held it with one hand like it weighed nothing, "I don't work like that. I'm more of a; kill first then get paid for it, kind of guy"

They both went silent after that, just staring at each other. Slowly, Kakashi got into a stance and said, "Naruto, I want you and the others to protect Tazuna. If anything happens to me, I want you all to take Tazuna back to his village and go back to Konoha, no excuses"

"But-" began Naruto, but Kakashi interrupted.

"No excuses"

While Naruto didn't like this, he knew not to disagree with a superior, "Fine," he said. He ran back to the others, and the three of them all stood around Tazuna, protecting him.

Once Naruto was back with the others, Kakashi sighed as he reached for his headband. Seeing this, Zabuza laughed again, "Ah, so I have the honour of fighting 'Kakashi of the Sharingan', I'm actually flattered that you reveal it before we even fight"

Opening his left eye to reveal a three-tomoe Sharingan, Kakashi stared at Zabuza as he got into a stance, holding a kunai in each hand, "Well, if I'm fighting against the 'Demon of the Hidden Mist', I can't very well hold back, now can I?"

Before anyone could say anything, Zabuza raised his left arm into the air and his right in front of his face, shouting, "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Kakashi could sense Zabuza's chakra seep out, just as a heavy fog appeared in the area, obscuring his vision greatly. His Sharingan usually could see through Genjutsu and other vision-based Jutsu, but because the mist was made from Zabuza's chakra, it was difficult to see through it.

Difficult, but not impossible.

'Now, where did you go?' thought Kakashi as he looked around the area. Nothing happened for a minute, like Zabuza just up and left. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, 'There!' he thought as Zabuza's chakra signature spiked behind him.

Gathering his chakra, he released it in a pulse, dissipating the mist around him and in the area. He looked back at his team, knowing that the spike of Zabuza's chakra came from that direction. His eye's widened when he saw Zabuza standing in the middle of the Genin, ready to strike with his Executioner's Blade raised in the air.

For a moment, Naruto was confused. He wasn't expecting the mist to suddenly disappear. He had felt a chakra signature spike, knowing that it was Zabuza's, but he wasn't good enough at sensing to pinpoint where the man was. But, thanks to his childhood growing up in the village, he had developed a sixth sense for danger, knowing where people were going to strike at him. Feeling the danger was behind him, he spun around to see Zabuza in the middle of his group with his sword raised. Acting quickly, he dropped down and swept-kicked Tazuna, Sasuke, and Sakura down so they could dodge the incoming blade. The moment the blade hit the ground, Naruto took out a kunai and thrust forward, stabbing Zabuza in the gut.

He had expected blood to come out of the wound, not water which confused him. That confusion nearly cost him as the man he had stabbed melted into a puddle of water, just as the real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi and slashed his sword. The sword cleaved it's way through Kakashi, only for Kakashi to explode into water as well, "What?!" shouted out Zabuza in surprise before he felt a kunai at his throat.

"Thanks to the Sharingan, I saw you make a Water Clone," explained Kakashi.

"And then copied it," continued Zabuza in a growl. He smirked under the bandages over his face, and said, "But I bet you didn't see this"

To Kakashi's surprise, Zabuza exploded into water and he felt a sharp kick to his back, launching him towards a clearing that had a large lake. He rolled to a stop just on the edge of the lake, 'Say what you want about Zabuza,' thought Kakashi as he tried to stand, 'The man has a strong kick'

He stood up and looked to see Zabuza running at him. The man side-swiped at him, which Kakashi jumped over and slammed a kick to his jaw. Zabuza quickly recovered and used his sword to block Kakashi's punches. They traded blow after blow, neither backing off. Sasuke was having a lot of trouble keeping up with their speed, but Naruto could see it, albeit with some difficulty.

Something happened that Naruto didn't see and whatever it was, it caused Kakashi to fly into the lake water, "Damn it," muttered Kakashi before he glanced at the water, "Wait, this water doesn't seem right. It's dense and heavy..."

Zabuza appeared above Kakashi, standing on the water and performing a lot of hand signs, "That's because the water is laced with my chakra," he said, stopping on a hand sign and slamming his right hand into the water, "Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!"

"No!" shouted Kakashi as he struggled to get out of the water. But it was too late as the water submerged him. He kept getting spun around, getting disorientated. After a few seconds, the water rose out of the lake, taking him with it until he was next to Zabuza, inside a ball of water. He could barely breathe or move.

"Good luck with escaping," began Zabuza, making sure to keep his hand in the water, "The water is stronger than steel, it will be impossible to break"

Naruto cursed from where he stood, not liking this one bit. He didn't know if Zabuza had caught Kakashi off guard, or if Kakashi had underestimated Zabuza, either way this wasn't good. He took a step forward but was stopped when he heard Kakashi shout from within his prison, which was fairly impressive seeing how the Jonin could barely breathe or move.

"Naruto! Take the others and run! You aren't ready for this kind of fight yet!" shouted Kakashi in desperation.

Gritting his teeth, Naruto weighed his options. He could do as Kakashi ordered and run, but what was to stop Zabuza from chasing and killing them? Or he could fight and try to free his sensei, which had a chance of death of everyone here. Both options seemed impossible, but before he could come up with any sort of plan, Sasuke walked forward and got into a stance while gaining a smirk, "This will be easy"

"Dumbass!" shouted Naruto in anger, "That guy just took out Kakashi! What makes you think you could do any better?!"

"Better than standing around and doing nothing!" shouted back Sasuke, thinking that Naruto was frozen in fear, not realising that his blond teammate was actually trying to come up with a way to save their lives, "Besides, I'm an Uchiha. I can't lose"

Naruto honestly wanted to take the Uchiha and murder him senseless at the moment. The bastard was so arrogant he was blind to danger. Then again, up until a few years ago he himself was so idiotic that he probably would have done the same. Sakura was cheering her crush on from the sidelines, not even making sure that Tazuna was safe, who looked like he could pass out at any second due to how scared he is.

So he watched as Sasuke threw dozens of kunai at Zabuza who just stood on the lake. The man slightly leant in different directions, easily avoiding all the projectiles aimed at him. As soon as he saw the Genin stop, Zabuza made a single hand sign with his free hand and said, "Water Clone Jutsu!" causing the water next to him rise and turn into a copy of him, "If throwing kunai is all you brats can do, then you don't even deserve to be called Shinobi, let alone Genin"

The clone ran at Sasuke and they fought, but Naruto could tell that the clone wasn't even trying, 'Don't have a choice now, I have to fight, especially if the dumbass going to die' thought Naruto as he ran towards the fighting pair. Once he was close enough he intercepted Sasuke, grabbing the Uchiha's fists, and throwing him back to Sakura and Tazuna.

"Why the hell did you do that?!" screeched Sakura, running over to Sasuke who was now unconscious as he had hit his head on a tree, "Sasuke was beating that guy!"

"Like hell he was!" shouted back Naruto, making sure to keep an eye on the Water Clone, "Zabuza wasn't even trying! If he was then Sasuke would be dead by now!"

Sakura scoffed as she placed Sasuke's head on her lap, "Naruto! You idiot! You don't know anything! Sasuke can beat anyone, even trash like Zabuza!"

A tic mark appeared on the real Zabuza's forehead and he was actually turning a little red in anger, "You know," began Kakashi, getting Zabuza's attention, "I won't mind if you go and kill her, she is really annoying"

"Okay, first off, the second I let you go you'll try to fight me," stated Zabuza, knowing that Kakashi had obviously lied, "Second, I am actually tempted to go slice her in half"

Now Naruto was getting angry at his teammates. Ever since they were put on a team together they did nothing but insult and belittle him constantly. Even now, when he had just saved Sasuke's life against a high-ranking missing ninja, Sakura still insults him. He shook his head, knowing that he should be focusing on the issue at hand now. Zabuza was A-S Rank Shinobi for a reason so he shouldn't underestimate him. He's fighting a clone which is weaker than the original but still pretty strong.

Zabuza was a close range fighter, which was obvious because of the sword, and it didn't seem like he had any long-range Jutsu, unless you counted the Water Clone which could follow them pretty far. He himself only had the Shadow Clone Jutsu as well as the Replacement Jutsu and the Transformation Jutsu, which were basic Jutsu that any Shinobi could spot. It didn't help how they were far enough away from the trees in the forest so that they could not use the Replacement Jutsu.

The real Zabuza wasn't moving from his spot either but instead, he was using a Clone. He was also keeping his hand in the Water Prison Jutsu, which meant that he needs to have constant contact to keep it up. The only way any of them were making out of this alive is if he can somehow manage to free Kakashi. A plan was forming in his head, but it was risky. But before he could do anything, though, he had to take care of the clone.

While he was thinking, the clone vanished and appeared behind him, readying to slash him. Quickly reacting, Naruto just managed to duck under the slash and tried to kick the clone. But he wasn't fast enough to dodge a fist to the stomach, which launched him towards the water and the real Zabuza, who kicked him away. Naruto landed in the water and floated there for a second before surprising Zabuza as he actually lifted himself above the water, "You can fight while Water Walking?"

"I've had some training," replied Naruto, unzipping his orange jacket and throwing it away as it was wet and heavy.

"So you know who I was the moment you saw me, managed to push back my Executioner's Blade while also focusing your chakra into your kunai, and now you can fight while concentrating your chakra on your feet," listed the real Zabuza before he laughed, "If I didn't know any better, brat, I would have thought you were a Chunin"

Naruto smirked as he raised his right hand to his face, "Well, I am called the most Unpredictable Ninja for a reason" The next thing Zabuza's clone knew was that at least a hundred clone's of Naruto were launching out of the water, surrounding him and each held a handful of kunai and shuriken, "NOW!" shouted Naruto, as all the clones threw their weapons.

The Zabuza Clone managed to dodge most of them as he also used his blade to deflect the rest. But a kunai that flew past him caught his attention as it had a tag attached to its handle, "Shit!" was all the clone could say as he tried to jump away. Naruto's smirk grew a little as he concentrated his chakra and aimed it at the tag, causing it to set a lite before it suddenly exploded in front of the Zabuza Clone. There were a lot more tags all around him, each being set off one after the other. It took a minute for everything to calm down, and when it did, there was no sign of Zabuza's Clone anywhere. Satisfied, he dispelled all of his own clone's.

Turning, Naruto looked to Zabuza to see his reaction and was happy to see shocked eyes staring at where the man's clone was before slowly turning to him. Just before he could say anything, though, Zabuza felt a kunai being pressed to his neck. He turned his head slightly, only to see another Naruto behind him, soaking wet, "How?" was all Zabuza managed to growl out.

"I knew you would have sensed anything coming from behind you, so I deliberately went overboard with the exploding tags to distract you," explained the Naruto behind him, as the Naruto in front of him disappeared in smoke, "Now, let my sensei go or I'll kill you"

Weighing his options, Zabuza growled out again as he somehow backed himself into a corner. He cancelled the Jutsu that held Kakashi, who in response was gasping for breath, "Good job, Naruto," said Kakashi once he got his breath back, "But I ordered you to leave if anything happened to me"

Naruto grinned sheepishly, "Yeah, well, I wasn't comfortable with leaving anyone behind"

Kakashi just rolled his eyes before looking at Zabuza, "Now then, are we going to have to kill you? Or are you going to give us some answers?"

Zabuza said nothing as he glared into Kakashi's eyes. While he was highly impressed with the brat that beat his clone, it also pissed him off mightily. Using a subtle hand sign that neither Naruto or Kakashi noticed, he signalled to his subordinate hiding in the tree line to act on their contingency plan, but nothing happened. After a few seconds, Naruto finally saw his hand twitching, "Hey, what are you doing?" he questioned.

Kakashi looked and saw the twitching. He recognised it, as he had seen many Mist Shinobi use it years ago. He quickly spun around, scanning the tree line as he knew there was someone there, working with Zabuza. But he couldn't sense anyone, there were no chakra signature's whatsoever. That is until a massive pulse of chakra suddenly appeared above them. The three looked up to see dark clouds gathering. Sensing how powerful it was, Kakashi shouted, "Jump!"

Both he and Naruto jumped away into the air. Zabuza was about to do that same, away from the Konoha Shinobi obviously, but he couldn't move his legs. Looking, he saw that his feet were encased in ice, "WHAT?!" he roared as a massive bolt of lightning appeared from the sky and slammed down onto him. He screamed out as it coursed through the water and into him. He passed out quickly and fell into the water, just as the lightning stopped and the ice melted.

Kakashi and Naruto landed on the water, about to jump in after, until a man appeared where Zabuza was standing, "Well, that was interesting!" the new man said with glee. Naruto had no idea who this was, not recognising him from the Bingo Book or at least the parts he read, "Such a shame I had to give my old friend Zabuza a quick funeral"

Looking at the man, Kakashi spotted two odd looking blades on his back. Recognising them and the fact the man mentioned a 'funeral,' Kakashi realised who this was, "Raiga Kurosuki," he said, "Last I had, you were on the edge of the Land of Earth"

"Zabuza contacted me about this job and I was running out of people to give funeral's too, so I decided to help. Never thought I would give him a funeral, though," he said with such a sick grin that it made Naruto feel ill just looking at him. Raiga rested a hand on one of the hilt's of his sword, "Now, I wonder if you and your Genin would like a funeral as well"

Kakashi knew it was threat, but he had wasted too much chakra trying to escape from the Water Prison Jutsu. Naruto wasn't tired and still had a lot of chakra left, but he couldn't fight against Raiga, who was just as dangerous as Zabuza but was more insane. Neither of them would be able to beat Raiga. Keeping his eyes on Raiga, Kakashi spoke, "Naruto, we're leaving, now"

Naruto wanted to argue, but knew he shouldn't so he obeyed the order. Both he and Kakashi slowly backed away towards their team, as Raiga walked away, humming a tune you would hear during a funeral. They stayed at the shore for a minute, making sure the enemy was gone before they relaxed a little. Tazuna ran up to them, as Sakura was too busy running her hand through Sasuke's hair, who was still unconscious as well, "Are you two alright?!" asked Tazuna when he got to them, panting from the small run.

Kakashi was leaning a little on Naruto, "We'll be fine, just need a little rest is all," he said, lowering his headband to cover his Sharingan, "Is there someplace we could rest up?"

"My home isn't far," replied Tazuna, "It's a mile that way," he said, pointing.

"Thank you," said Kakashi, "Naruto, I can walk for now. I think you should go carry Sasuke as he isn't awake yet"

Naruto grumbled, not happy with having to carry the Uchiha, "Shouldn't have thrown him that hard," he muttered to himself. He walked over to Sakura, "We're leaving now," Sakura looked at Naruto before looking back down at Sasuke, "I need to carry Sasuke, Sakura"

"Fine," she said, standing up and helping to put Sasuke on Naruto's back, "But, I swear, if you hurt him or drop him in any way-"

"Yeah, yeah, you and the rest of your fangirl horde will hunt me down" replied Naruto, having heard this before. He grunted a little, not expecting Sasuke to be heavy. Weights were heavier, but this was just after a battle with Zabuza so Sasuke was heavy enough. They all walked slowly, following Tazuna as the man knew his way through the forest. Naruto picked up his pace a little, now walking next to Kakashi, "Why would Zabuza's partner attack him like that? It doesn't make sense"

Kakashi was reading his book as he walked but glanced at Naruto quickly, "I'm not sure. To be honest, I never would have thought that Zabuza would team up with Raiga of all people. Zabuza was one of the original Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and the survivors never liked any of the people that took their swords"

"Raiga isn't one of the original Swordsmen?" asked Naruto in surprise. He had only just started reading about the Seven Swordmen recently, which is how he knew about Zabuza, but the other members were still a mystery.

"No, he isn't. Most likely he killed the swordswomen, Ameyuri Ringo and took her swords for himself," said Kakashi before he looked thoughtful, "But the people that have taken a sword from the Original Seven all wanted to become a part of that group, I don't think Raiga had any desire to do so"

Naruto had a grim face, "If he just killed a teammate and acted like it was nothing then he would be willing to do anything to win, which means he's going to be extremely dangerous"

"About that, I don't think Zabuza's dead," said Kakashi, saying that like it didn't mean much. But everyone looked at Kakashi in shock, with Naruto thinking over the events that had just happened.

"But Sensei," began Sakura, "How can he still be alive? He sunk down to the bottom of the lake and the amount of electricity coursing through him was more than people get from a lighting strike"

"I don't think Zabuza was expecting that kind of attack from Raiga. I think he was expecting something from someone else, another partner"

"So you think the other partner swam down and saved him?" asked Tazuna, receiving a nod from Kakashi, "So, there's three of them then?" Another nod, which terrified Tazuna, "What the hell are we going to do then?! You and blondy just barely managed to hold up against Zabuza, but the pink head didn't do anything and the other brat got knocked out so easily!"

Sakura glared at Tazuna, wanting to seriously scream at him but Kakashi interrupted her thankfully, "Even though there are more enemies than I had anticipated, I will send a message back to Konoha asking for back-up. In the mean-time, I will be training my Genin. Judging by how strong the lightning current was, plus the fact that he was in the water which made the current stronger, Zabuza should be healed enough to fight in the next two weeks"

"But what of Raiga or the other partner attack before he's healed?" asked Naruto.

"Tomorrow you three will be going with Tazuna and guarding him at the bridge along with one of my clones. This is so that I can heal and take over guarding the next day, in case they decide to attack Tazuna. Once that happens, I will be leaving a clone behind to teach you three"

As they were talking, houses appeared in the distance, which made the group pick up their pace a little, "Welcome, to my home!" announced Tazuna with a sad smile, as everyone could see how sad a dreary the place was. No matter where you looked there were run-down houses, bottles of alcohol all over the road, "My house is just this way"

They followed him in silence, with Naruto at the back. He could see many children hiding behind other people or around the corner staring at his team. He could see how frail and small they were, reminding him of when he was young and living on the streets of Konoha. Desperately trying to block the memory, he looked away from the people, but he could hear their cries and feel how desperate they were. It pained him to just ignore them but he couldn't do anything.

'I promise you,' thought Naruto, clenching his fist tightly, 'I will stop Zabuza, Raiga, and whoever else is working for Gato, and put an end to their plans. I will free you all from Gato's control!'

As he made that silent promise, the group had arrived at Tazuna's home. The man opened the door and shouted, "Tsunami! Your father's back!"

Almost immediately, you could hear a set of footsteps descend from the top of the house. A woman quickly walked to the door and had a happy face as she gazed at her Tazuna, "Father! I wasn't expecting you for another day or two!"

"Well, we hit a few problems along the way but we still made it in time"

The woman, Tsunami, turned her gaze onto the Shinobi. He looked turned from happy to nervous, "And who are these people, Father?"

"These are the Shinobi from Konoha that are protecting me," explained the old drunk, "This is Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke," he said, pointing to each person respectively.

Tsunami bowed her head towards them, "I thank you for protecting my Father"

Kakashi had an eye-smile has he rubbed the back of his head, bashfully, "It was no problem, ma'am. We wanted to help anyway!" Naruto nudged him a little, indicating towards Sasuke, "Oh, I forgot about him," muttered Kakashi before he turned to Tsunami, "Would it be too much trouble to ask if we could come in and rest? One of us is unconscious and I need to sit down"

Finally noticing Naruto and the boy on his back, and wondering how she didn't notice them when her father introduced them, Tsunami gasped a little, "Oh! Please come in!"

It was now night time and most were now asleep. Kakashi was asleep, along with Sakura, while Sasuke was just brooding as he threw kunai in Tazuna's backyard. Naruto was just sitting on the roof, staring up at the star's above. He didn't know why, but he had an odd feeling about the coming events. Like something was going to happen.

Elsewhere, in a secret hideout, Zabuza lay unconscious on a bed. Above him was a young boy wearing a mask and Raiga, who was quietly humming to himself, "Oh, it truly looks as though he is dead," said the deranged man, tempted to give Zabuza a real funeral.

"I still do not agree with your method's," spoke the young boy, "My senbon would have been enough to incapacitate Lord Zabuza, there was no need for you to reveal yourself or even hurt Lord Zabuza the way you did"

"But I put on a good show, didn't I?" asked Raiga ina rhetorical way. He noticed that Zabuza was twitching a little and he grinned, "Ah, he's waking up"

Opening his eyes, Zabuza immediately saw that he was in his hideout. He could also see that his Executioner's Blade was next to him as well. His eyes landed on the young boy next to him and, before he knew it, his hand shout out and grabbed the boy by the throat, "Why the hell did you trap me like that?!" he shouted angrily. He was ignoring the pain that was coursing through his arm, "Well?! Tell me Haku!"

Haku was struggling to breathe as Zabuza's grip tightened, "R-Raiga! H-He forced me t-to!" he choked out. Right now, his feet were off the floor, showing that Zabuza was lifting him by his neck.

Zabuza waited a few seconds, glancing at Raiga, before letting Haku go, who was gasping and coughing, "Never do that again, understood?" Even though he asked a simple question, Haku could easily hear the threat behind the words, making him nod in understanding, "Get out. I need to talk to this prick" Bowing his head, Haku quickly left the room, leaving the two swordsmen to talk. Sitting up, Zabuza glared at Raiga, not liking the man, while Raiga just stared back with a deranged smile, "What the hell are you doing here, Raiga?"

"Hmm?" Raiga hummed, "I just came because I missed you!" Zabuza's glare intensified, "I came here because I was bored and this looked like a lot of fun. I saw the people here, they looked like they could use some funerals!"

Zabuza just growled, "You're just as insane as ever. Whatever, as long as you don't get in my way you can do whatever you want"

"Oh, why thank you, Lord Zabuza," said Raiga with heavy sarcasm. He didn't flinch or even lose his smile as the Executioner's Blade was thrown and stabbed into the wall right next to him.

"And if you ever attack me like that again! I will show you why I am the 'Demon of the Mist'!" roared Zabuza, still pissed at what happened. Raiga just laughed as he left, leaving Zabuza behind, 'What the hell are you up to, Raiga?' thought Zabuza, making sure to keep an eye on the psychotic man.

Chapter End

Author's Note

This entire chapter is exactly 10,000 words! Not including the Author's Note, of course.

Well, I hope this first chapter was good. I obviously changed a few things and you could see that Naruto was more serious. Honestly didn't mean for him to be like that but I'm not making him a bumbling idiot.

I'm sure you can guess what Naruto's power is going to be. I chose it because I haven't seen any stories about Naruto getting this particular ability. And if there is a story that does, I haven't seen it. I only read Naruto/Romance stories. The one's where he's paired with someone. Don't know why, probably because I'm jealous and alone while Naruto can get any girl in all the stories! T-T

Anyway, I'll try and work on the next chapter. If you have any idea's for this story please let me know in a review or just PM me. Also, PM me if you have questions, please.

Please review what you feel this chapter and story is worth, or don't review as the choice is up to you. Criticism is welcome. As I said before, my punctuation is working with Grammarly so blame that if it's still terrible.

Thank you all for reading and I shall see you in the next chapter!