Chapter 1
It's a right hook. Duck it.
His body followed the mind's orders, avoiding the punch that threatened his temple and responding with a right uppercut. He embraced the enemy's waist, getting ready for the grapple.
Suddenly, he felt his own head being grabbed.
Watch out for the left knee.
He used his right elbow to stop it before it could do damage and quickly extended both his legs, swaying his body backwards, effectively flipping the man over him and sending him to the hard ground.
This didn't stop the enemy ninja as he quickly stood up again and rushed him with a bunch of tornado kicks in a row.
He's desperate. Tilt back to avoid the next and duck in to bring him down.
With effect, he leaned back against the air, dodging the swinging foot before rushing in, catching it as it came again after its owner spun.
As it was caught between his arm and torso, he spun to the opposite direction, using the leg and the palm he had placed against the enemy's chest as a lever as he brought him up only to send him crashing onto the hard earth.
"GAH!" The man screamed in pain as he felt at least two of his ribs crack with the impact. The blond that had caused said damage was smiling to himself as he gestured for his enemy to get up.
"Come on, get the fuck up, don't be a bitch!" He taunted.
The man looked at him with a mixture of absolute fury and pain, as if unsure wether to whimper or roar at him.
He made his decision as he stood up, limping heavily because of his now readjusted skeleton.
This is his last blow and he knows it. Avoid this one and finish this.
The man rushed him with a flying right punch that he avoided with a side-step to the left and a right knee directly to the gut.
"AH! SHIT! FUCK!" The man protested against his pain as he fell to his knees and hands, coughing out blood.
The blond attacker smirked with confidence and sadism at the same time. He readied himself as he prepared his killer combination.
The man couldn't manage to stumble to his feet, so he pulled him up by the hair, forcing him to stand up before delivering a right hook that shook his brain.
The ninja was about to fall again before a left knee stopped him and sent him up again, being followed up with a left spinning back hand and a left side kick that sent him into a tree.
The impact made him bounce off of the wood, making him stumble forward. Blood was coming out of his mouth and his unfocused eyes revealed how close he was to blacking out.
As he stumbled forward, the blond was already spinning in the air. His right shin was just barely visible for a brief moment as his leg warmers slipped up just a bit, before it collided with the man's skull, effectively sending him back against the tree and falling down, unconscious.
Uzumaki Naruto grinned to himself once again. Another anonymous Kirigakure Hunter-Nin taken out of circulation. Fifth that week, if his calculations were right.
He slapped an explosive tag onto the barely alive ninja's chest, giving off a smile. I see Yagura hasn't given up on getting us back yet.
He moved away, shrugging to himself. It wasn't like he could complain. He hadn't even needed to unsheath his Katana against this one. Either they were getting too shabby, or he was getting too strong. Either way, he was the winner.
He was wearing a pair of black shorts that went down and stopped just a bit after his knee, where his leg-warmers began, ending in his shins, where the black ninja sandals were to cover his feet. For his upper body, he wore a simple, black tank top and forearm-warmers. His whiskered face, sky-blue eyes and yellow hair were all left uncovered, just as he liked them to be. His slashed Kirigakure forehead protector was around his neck, as a collar.
As soon as he considered himself a safe distance away from his fresh "kill", he performed the half Ram seal with his right hand. An explosion went off somewhere behind him, signaling the moment when Death's Scythe was swung for the ANBU.
Naruto smirked to himself once again. I should hurry up, Zabuza-san and Haku-chan won't be pleased if I'm late.
"Yo, Naruto! You're back!" Zabuza called out to him as the boy entered their Land of Waves hideout.
From the outside, it looked like a simple, wooden shed, but inside there was a secret entrance to a natural cave that had been fully equipped with various rooms, food and weapon storages and even a shower station.
As he stepped inside, he saw that the murderer was sharpening his blade by dripping blood from a vial on it. The blade had the power to use the iron to both rebuild and sharpen itself. The more blood that was powered, the deadliest it became.
He was sitting by the dining table as he did so, and Naruto mimicked his actions, laying his Katana on it before sitting down.
"You've got blood on your hands and a big grin on your face. Who did you beat up?" The assassin asked him, making the blond boy chuckle while throwing him a white porcelain mask.
"Another hunter-nin. Yagura sure misses us. But they're running out of capable people. This one didn't even humor me for five minutes. I beat him senseless and cleaned it up with an explosive tag." He reported, setting his feet on the table and reclining back on the chair with his arms behind him.
Zabuza chuckled. As brutal as possible. Just like always.
"So what are you working on now, Zabuza-san?" He asked, making the other shrug as if it was no big deal.
"This businessman, Gato, wants me to kill some old bridge builder. He's going to have a Konoha Genin team accompanied with a Jounin teacher escorting him, I think. Just an easy assassination mission, really. But oh well, it pays." Zabuza replied. Naruto nodded, thinking it over.
"Want me to go along? There's no Genin team out there that can take both of us at a time." He suggested, but his leader waved him off.
"Haku's coming with me." He explained. Naruto laughed to himself. If Haku was going, there was no reason for worrying.
"Speaking of her, where is she?" The blond asked, receiving a shrug in response.
"I think she's taking a shower."
He nodded, taking a deep breath before allowing himself to relax. He needed time to rest, just like everyone else.
"Naruto-kun.." A voice came out of nowhere, interrupting the sweet silence of the dark that was his sleep.
"Hmm?" He asked, hesitant in opening his eyes.
"Please, wake up. You were having a strange dream."
He recognized the voice as Haku's and finally determined that there would be no more sleeping for him for the moment, and so, he simply sat up from the chair.
"What do you mean?" He asked, rubbing his eyes.
"I don't know, I heard you saying my name several times and thought you were having some sort of nightmare." She explained. His cheeks almost immediately grew red as he remembered just what kind of dream he had had. He quickly covered his face, trying to hide it from the girl.
"Yeah sure, that was it. Damn nightmares." He agreed. She giggled.
"Yes, I know. Anyway, I also woke you up because me and Zabuza-san are heading off to meet the team that's going to be escorting the bridge builder and scout out their abilities. We'll probably only be away for a day or two."
He took a moment to process the information before quickly nodding in response.
"Alright. Is there any mission for me to do?"
"No. But, there is something that we just received..."
"And that is?"
Haku took a deep breath and sighed, handing him a letter that had been previously opened. It was a "tradition" of the trio to read eachother's "mail". Kept them loyal and allowed for multiple perspectives on whatever it was.
""From the Seven Swordsmen"?" He read out loud, confused as to what it meant. He looked up at Haku, who just signalled for him to read everything.
To Uzumaki Naruto. We are aware that you have joined one of our members in his quest to assassinate the Mizukage and take Kirigakure. We do not agree with your common values and goals, but we are forced to admit that you have considerable skill, having erased every single bounty hunter that Yagura, our Mizukage has sent after you. So we want to make you a proposition. We ask that you meet with us in Bloodriver Bar, inside the Village itself so we can discuss further.
If you fail to show up, we will take that as a refusal, and will immediately make it our objective to hunt you down, just like Zabuza. And maybe, your little girlfriend as well. Pure as Snow, right? We'll see how pure she is after we're done with her.
He stared wide-eyed at the piece of paper, as if it had been written on it that if you decapitate someone they won't die.
"How stupid do they think I am? I mean, seriously! How did you even get this letter?" Naruto asked her. She shrugged.
"Zabuza-san says that the Seven Swordsmen have ways to contact eachother no matter what. But I also think that it's kind of silly they think you'd go into the lion's mouth just because of such a weak threat." Haku replied. Naruto was still quite confused, and quickly looked to the side, searching for Zabuza.
The last Hyoton user pointed up with her right index finger, immediately giving him the message.
He stood up from the chair, gripping the piece of paper in his right hand as he headed for the hideout's exit. Haku was quick on following him.
He pushed the shed's door open, spotting Zabuza immediately.
He was right in front of the house, still tending to KubiKiriBocho. He made no sign of detecting their presence, but Naruto knew that with his perfected audition, he had probably heard them coming as soon as he rose from his chair.
"Zabuza-san, what does this mean? Either the Swordsmen are more stupid than what I thought or there's something I'm just not getting." The blond asked him, making Zabuza raise his head as he dripped one last droplet of blood onto the blade.
"Isn't it obvious? It's a recruitment message. The thing they want to discuss with you is your training with them and replacing one of them in the future. That's exactly the way I got into the organization..." He replied. Naruto's eyes almost sparkled when he heard this. To become a member of the Kirigakure Seven Swordsmen was an honor.
But yet again...
"But they want to meet specifically in the heart of Kirigakure! Isn't this an obvious trap? Yagura could get his hands on me as soon as I stepped foot inside!" Naruto contradicted. Zabuza laughed.
"Kid, if there's something that the Seven hold dear, it's their word. Psychopaths have trouble relying on each other, so, as a means to nullify that, each and everyone of them keeps their promises. There's no trap."
He was done sharpening the blade, but he still kept it in place, glancing up at the moon. Naruto moved uncomfortably.
"You don't look like you like the idea, though."
Zabuza looked up to him. He wasn't surprised. Naruto had always been quite the intuitive and observant little guy.
"It's not that i don't like it. I've trained you to become the world's best killing machine since the day I found you wandering around that forest close to Konoha, and with your natural talent, it was pretty much a sure guess that you'd be invited to the Seven. I just want you to know something before you go, though..."
He finally stood up, coming face to face with the blond boy. He had grown so much in the last ten years, and was now a strong, very capable and extremely dangerous individual. Zabuza could firmly say he was proud of his work on Naruto, as he had long since surpassed himself and was now probably at the level of seasoned Jounin.
"When you're in there, watch your back. It's not just you, there will be at least five damn psychopaths in that room who want nothing else but to spill blood. Trust nothing, not even your own shadow and you should be fine. Try to come back soon, alright?" Although he was ready to face Jounin of high level, he wasn't ready to face five of them. The Seven were no joke in battle. Zabuza himself could probably only defeat one and wound another before dying.
Naruto took a moment to think about it. It was like playing with Katon techniques. Sure, it could be fun and cool for a while, but if you aren't careful, you can also completely sear yourself.
He looked up at his mentor.
"I'll accept their offer, but I'll also stay alive. You've got my word, Zabuza-san."
The Demon eyed his disciple, a smile on his face as he messed up his hair.
"I'm sure you will. Anyway, get your stuff ready. I and Haku will leave for our assassination first thing in the morning, and you are leaving for Kirigakure as well. It should take you around two weeks to go there and come back. Make sure to hurry. When you arrive, Haku and I will probably already have your share of the cash."
Naruto nodded as he made off to prepare himself.
Bloodriver bar, huh? This place looks like the shittiest craphole I've ever had the displeasure to be inside of. Naruto thought to himself as he entered. He was still using his normal outfit, but the difference was he now wore a facial porcelain mask that was white on one side and black on the other.
It did its job of concealing his identity well enough, as most currently active shinobi of Kirigakure were drunk by midnight, which was the time by then.
The bar was simple. The walls weren't even painted as you could easily see the bricks and their color and the illumination was one miserable ceiling lamp that failed to kick the shade out of most of the place. There were a few wooden tables in front of him, a jukebox, pool table and dart game by the left and the actual bar by the right, with the bartender behind it. Metal music was blaring out from each of the black speakers that were in each of the four corners of the small place.
As he closed the door behind him, every face in the bar turned to look at him. Many of them had hostility in them, while others had just mild curiosity. He didn't really care as he glanced at the bartender.
Taking a look at his mask, outfit and Katana on his back, he immediately knew what the boy was there for and pointed him to his side, where an easily disregarded wooden door was. He immediately walked among the drunken deadbeats before reaching it.
He opened the door and found a set of steps that led down to an old basement. It was dimly lit by one single torch that was placed on the wall.
Surprise, surprise, there was another door. This one was made of steel, obviously desgined to keep intruders out if the big, muscled man with a scar over his right eye who stood by it was anything to go by.
Naruto merely flashed him the letter and he unlocked the door, allowing himt o pass.
He took a step inside, having the door close behind him. He was just about to take a nice look at everything when he he saw the shadow on the ground grow, and the extreme sense of touch that he had gained from years of hard training let him actually feel the air touch his body as it shifted behind him.
Naruto jumped and rolled to the side, allowing a sword that was as thin as needle to stick into the ground where he had been standing before. Its wielder, a man with messy beige hair and a facial mask was standing on top of it.
The blond readied himself for a fight when loud laughter made him turn his head.
In the imddle of the wide, clean room sat a large, round wooden table. Around it were sitting four dangerous-looking individuals.
They were all playing what Naruto deduced to be Poker with a bunch of fake chips. From what he could tell, no one was winning. Not noticeably, at least.
Every single pair of eyes was directed at him, all giving him an evaluating look. Satisfied, one who had white hair and who seemed the leader rose from his chair, extending a friendly hand towards Naruto, who was pulling his mask aside.
Aside from his shoulder-length hair, he also had sharpened teeth, a trait that Naruto knew was common to all of the Seven. He wore a dark, sleeveless shirt, light-coloured pants and striped leg-warmers typical of his village. He carried a water bottle attached to a belt around his waist and wore bandages around his neck — another trait shared by the seven swordsmen — and the standard Kirigakure forehead protector.
"Hello, Naruto, welcome to our headquarters. I am Mangetsu Hozuki, the leader of the Seven Swordsman of Kirigakure. The guy who just tried to impale you is Kushimaru Kuriarare, and that sword is Nuibari. Don't take it personally, he pranks every rookie like this. Most aren't fast enough to avoid it, though." He said as he shook the boy's hand. Naruto turned to see Kushimaru pull Nuibari out of the concrete and wave at him. He guessed that was his way to say "hello". Naruto took this chance to take a better look at him.
Kushimaru was very thin and tall in stature. He had long, shaggy, straw-coloured blond hair and his face was concealed by a white, porcelain mask, with a green-coloured triangle on its lower half, slits for eye-holes and Kirigakure's symbol etched into the top. His attire consisted of a sleeveless black shirt, matching pants, complete with a waist-guard, and Kirigakure's striped wrist and leg-guards.
Suddenly, Mangetsu made him turn around again.
"Come on, you have to meet the whole gang. Starting with Jinin Akebino, the wielder of Kabutowari, the sword that breaks any guard." He said, pointing to a bearded man.
Jinin had a dark-coloured beard and hair which he tied into a topknot. The remainder of his face appeared to be rather angular and featured a very protuberant nose. He wore a dark-coloured poncho cloth over a standard Swordsman attire, consisting of a sleeveless dark shirt and matching pants along with a waist-guard, pin-striped arm and leg-warmers typical of his village and Kirigakure's forehead protector.
"Hey kid, welcome to the Seven." Were the only words he directed at Naruto, immediately going back to his cards.
"Next up is Ameyuri Ringo, wielder of Kiba, the twin lightning swords..."
She waved at him with an expression of...was it lust? In her eyes.
"Finally, a handsome fella joins the team." She commented.
Ameyuri was relatively short in comparison with the other members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. She had long, red hair, black eyes, and together with a Kiri forehead protector, she also wore a simple cloth around her head, distinctively tied at both sides so as the ends of the material protruded upwards, while the remainder of hair was allowed to flow downwards. She wore a loose, pin-striped long-sleeved shirt with a dark obi around the waist, black pants which got much looser near the ends, resembling hakama, and striped leg-warmers.
"Don't worry, she flirts like that a lot. Then we have Jinpachi Munashi, the wielder of Shibuki, the exploding sword..."
Jinpachi had long, brown hair, a long beard which he wore in strands adorned with beads and his lips are also noticeably dark in colour. The top of his head was wrapped in bandages, and he had an eye-patch covering his left eye, sprouting from under his Kirigakure forehead protector. His right eye was violet, and he wore an extremely loose, long-sleeved pin-striped shirt and black pants, accentuated by the presence of striped leg-warmers matching his shirt.
A grunt was all the greetings that Naruto received from him.
"And finally, we have me, Mangetsu Hozuki. I am the wielder of Hiramekarei. As you may have noticed, two members are missing, one being Zabuza who ran away and the other being Fuguki Suikazan who was killed and had his sword, Samehada, stolen by Hoshigaki Kisame.
"That fucking fish piece of shit..." Kushimaru muttered as the rest simply nodded.
"As you know, we're a dangerous and well-known organization. We're some of the best fighters in the world, but we too need to assure things will keep on going. After overhearing Yagura complaining about having sacricied twenty hunter-nin on you alone, we though you would make a good successor to Zabuza if he were to die. We still need to find disciples for the rest of us, but hey, one is better than none, right?"
Naruto could feel all of their eyes tearing right through him as he looked down. He needed time to think.
"I still haven't said I'd join. I haven't forgotten the threat you made to my friend." He replied with an accusing glare.
"Oh, that wasn't us. Ringo over here was the one that made a last minute change. When we found out what she had done, the letter was way out of our reach." Kushimaru replied, making the woman blush.
"I wanted to make sure you'd come, sorry! But if you call her friend, that means she's not your girlfriend, right? Do you have a girlfriend?" She quickly apologized and interrogated. However, Naruto ignored her.
"Still, Yagura will send the whole damn Village after me if he finds out I've joined you guys." Jinin scoffed.
"We can offer protection. If he knows you're with us, all crimes you have committed will be forgiven and encouraged, just like it happened for the rest of us." He responded.
Naruto was left speechless, though still hesitant, and Mangetsu smiled and approached.
"You need time to think this over, we understand. It's hard for a psycho to trust anyone. We'll give you two months to decide, what do you say?" He suggested. Naruto was awe struck. A group of renowned killers and psychopaths being this understanding and patient? He thought to himself.
Mangetsu seemed to read his mind, and shrugged.
"Everyone needs a safe haven. Everyone needs a family that understands and cares. Even though we're all twisted, we can still be that family..."
Naruto nodded and pulled his mask back onto his face, his eyes still wide with surprise. Decidedly, he opened the iron door and was about to step outside.
"Hey, kid!" A voice called. He turned around to find Ringo looking at him.
"Catch!"
She blowed him a kiss.
Two weeks had passed since he had left the hideout, and now that he was back, he was determined to compensate for them. It was time. It was the day he would hask her out.
He opened the shed's door and ran down teh stairs, descending to the "cave".
He was about to yell their names when he found nothing. The hideout was empty.
Naruto searched each room, each division for any sign of them, but he found nothing. Nothing but a set of bloody sheets that were on Zabuza's bed, and a bottle of medicine on his nightstand.
Confused, he went back to the centre of their "home", finding a small piece of paper on the table.
He picked it up and read it.
Naruto-kun, I'm sorry we aren't here, but Zabuza-san and I are going to need more time to complete this mission. We have underestimated our opponents and had to retreat. Zabuza-san was bed-ridden for a week. I had to take care of him. That should explain the bloody sheets.
Aside that, as I write, I tremble. Our enemies are far superior than what we expected. This Konoha-team is capable. The pace at which Zabuza-san was defeated was...intimidating, to say the least. None were so much as seriously wounded, not even the Genin, and I fear for our well-being. However, we are leaving right now to finish the job.
PS: We should be back in three days. If we aren't, we're either dead or inprisoned. In any case, we will never see each other again, and there is something I'd like you to know before that. I'd like you to know that...I love you. I always have.
Hope to see you again,
Haku.
On the end of the letter, it loooked like someone had put lipstick on and kissed it. The date on it was a week before the current day. Naruto's eyes turned into slits with fury as he crumpled it.
"So, this is the place?" The blond asked, receiving a lazy nod from the drunk old man.
Tazuna was a grey-haired, bespectacled man with a large beard and dark eyes. He wore a sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals. He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head.
They were currently in front of two graves. Both had a single, miserable tombstone, which read Yuki, Haku" and "Momochi, Zabuza" respectively. Against the first layed a Kirigakure hunter-nin mask, while against the second was leaning a broken KubiKiriBocho, which was now at a third of its normal size.
A full week of threatening to kill, bribing and beating up several of society's less reputable members in the Land of Waves had led to this, all because of that damned letter.
And now there he was, staring at the two graves of the girl he loved and the man that had acted as both a father and a teacher to him for most of his life. Both were the ones who saved him from the misery of living in Konoha, and had given him a home. And now, both were dead at his feet. Both had been killed by three Genin assholes and some Jounin fucker.
"So, who did you say were the ones who saved this village? I'd like to know them." He asked, determined to find them out and murder them in the most gruesome of ways. Tazuna shrugged.
"The brats were two dark-wearing guys, Sasuke and Sai, and this cute girl named Sakura. Their boss was a white-haired man named Kakashi." He replied.
"This girl, Sakura, what did she look like? I want to thank them for their services personally." Naruto asked, knowing that most information the drunk would give wouldn't be reliable. However, if he were to ask about the only girl, that would probably change. He'd "ask" Sakura for the rest.
"She had fair-skin, and wore her forehead protector or whatever so it would hold her hair out of her face. She liked using weapons, but honestly, she was damn useless in a fight, really. Anyway, she wore a pink blouse, I think? Maybe it was a dress, I don't know. I was drunk."
Naruto nodded, mentally registering the notes so he would be able to track the girl down later. He stepped forward, grabbing Haku's mask and putting it on, before turning and picking up KubiKiriBocho, or at least, what was left of it. He would need something to remember both if he was going to do what he was thinking of doing.
Tazuna's eyes widened at the sight of him picking it up with only his left arm, almost effortlessly, when even the strongest of the village could only barely pick it up using both his arms.
"Wow, be careful with that, boy. It might be broken, but I've seen that thing cut through a man with no issues at all." He advised. Naruto chuckled as he turned around to face him. Tazuna was so drunk he didn't even question the boy's itnerrogation and "grave-robbing".
"Don't worry, I know how to handle it." The blond replied, and suddenly, with a swift movement of the arm, he made the broken KubiKiriBocho go through the old man.
The rapid force, the sharp edge of the sword and Tazuna's surprise and lack of time to prepare for it combined made it so he was cleanly bisected in only one hit.
His face was still shocked as the legs that were no longer forced to stay still by the now separated nervous system and brain gave out and fell backwards, while the upper body fell forward, both showering the surrounding area in a spray of blood and a drop of entrails.
Naruto, who was now covered in blood drops picked up the now completely restored KubiKiriBocho and started his trip. Mental Note: Kill the Konoha Team, then join the Seven and kill the Mizukage to get control over Kirigakure, just like Zabuza wanted.
Now determined, he went forward.
Chapter 1, my friends. More will come, I promise. Any suggestions, please review or PM, and if you like it, please Follow or Favorite. I love you all! See you!