AUTHOR'S NOTES

Here is a new story by me.

Now before you think that I'm abandoning World's Apart I wish to tell you that I'm planning to continue it along with several other story that I get in the Rush to make.

Once I get in the Zone I'll complete about 20k to 30k words of the story before heading over to the next story.

This is mainly a Godlike Naruto fic, where his power at the starting would be around the power of pain. Honestly, this was inspired by watching Seven Deadly Sins, where Meliodas is a badass character throughout. Though there won't be any elements of Seven Deadly Sins in it, nor will there be much plotline derived from it.

Hope you like it, this was eating at my mind for the past couple of months, affecting my writing speed.

Please don't forget to Read and Review.

Mission to Nami

"Team 7 reporting for duty, Hokage-sama." Hatake Kakashi, an Elite Ninja of Konoha said as he stood in front of his leader with his team beside him.

The aged leader looked at the Jōnin and his team and mentally suppressed a sigh. If all had gone well his surrogate grandson would also have become a Ninja and would probably be with the current rookie batch. But he had instead preferred to live out his life as a civilian shopkeeper. Despite the obvious hatred of the civilians towards him, he had decided to make them acknowledge him by working with them rather than becoming a Ninja like his parents. Sarutobi often felt that he had let down his successor, however, it was the respect he had for Minato that let him allow the boy to pursue his dreams instead of becoming a weapon for war like the elders wanted to make him. That brought him to his current predicament.

Inuzuka Kiba, Sakura Haruna and Sasuke Uchiha under the command of Kakashi. One of the best Jonin in the entire village. Personally, he felt that the team had the potential to rival that of his own Genin team if they only forgot their own childish egos and dreams and seriously worked towards becoming Ninjas. He was reluctant to give any of the Rookies a higher level mission because he felt that they were too immature for one. But an excellent opportunity had popped up and it allowed the rookies to gain more experience in a much more controlled environment than most had the privilege of getting.

"Jōnin Kakashi, do you think your team is ready to take a C-class mission" as soon as his words had slipped out of his mouth, he saw Kiba stand straighter while Sasuke gained an arrogant smirk on his face and Sakura simply looked at her Sensei with nervousness.

Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought for a while before nodding. "Yes, I believe they are ready Hokage sama."
The Hokage gave an imperceptible nod to Kakashi before he replied. "This is going to be a joint mission between two teams as both the clients seem to be escorted to the same place. Now we shall wait for the next team to appear before I brief you on your mission."

With a nod Team 7 headed off to the side of the room, waiting for the next team to appear for a mission. After waiting for a little over a quarter of an hour the door opened and Kurenai walked in followed by her team carrying a cat, infamous in Konoha for years as the bane of all Genins.

The aged Hokage gave a small smile at thinking how the two teams would complement each other, one was suited for power while the other was suited for subtlety.

Hinata Hyuga, Shino Aburame and Yakumo Kurama under the tutelage of Jōnin Kurenai Yuhi formed team 8. They were the team that specialized in tracking, Genjutsu, and other subtle arts. The Hokage felt as if the two teams could handle anything that was thrown at them. He watched Hinata hand over the cat to a woman who proceeded to strangle the life out of the cat.

"Kurenai, congratulations on completing the mission successfully. Do you think your team is ready for a C rank mission." He asked her.

Kurenai also nodded her head after some thought. The Hokage smiled, "This will be a joint mission between Team 7 and Team 8, you both will be escorting and protecting your clients while they perform their tasks in Nami no Kuni." Seeing both the teams nod in understanding he called out to a Chunin standing in front of another door. "Bring in the clients"

He went inside the door and soon he came out leading the two clients.

One was an old man in his late fifties or early sixties the other was a boy who appeared to be around twelve or thirteen. The two teams were shocked at seeing their clients more so the boy who appeared to be around their age.

The old man swaggered into the room while the young blond walked in confidently with a smile on his face. He gave a polite nod to the two Jōnins before his smile widened seeing the Hokage.

"So these are the Ninjas that are supposed to be protecting me," The old man spoke before looking at all of the Ninjas assembled there "Six brats, a cyclops, and a pretty lady got to admit I expected something more from the 'strongest village'"

The six 'brats' tensed up and Kiba was about to retort before he was cut off by the blonde who was slowly walking towards the Hokage.

"I'm sure that they are quite the capable Ninjas if Jiji thinks them to be capable of doing this, besides the 'cyclops' and 'pretty lady' as you called them, are Jōnins and could possibly take on a hundred bandits on their own without breaking much of a sweat."

He then proceeded to shock the room further as he jumped the old Hokage hugging him.

"Hello Jiji, thank you for accepting my mission request." He said softly

The aged Hokage nearly cried upon hearing this. The villager's hatred had caused Naruto to mature far more than any child his age was supposed to. Sometimes the Hokage felt that Naruto was more mature than Itachi at his age. He knew that Naruto had asked him personally for this mission and he had a very good guess as to the reason for the request.

Naruto dropped his hands and stepped back until he was standing again with Tazuna, the two teams had managed to get over their shocks and were staring at their two clients.

Tazuna, a little uncomfortable with their gazes, hesitantly cleared his throats drawing their attention to him.
"My name is Tazuna and I'm an expert bridge builder. I expect you to protect me with your life until I finish building the bridge connecting Wave and Fire." He said with a hint of pride at his profession.

The gazes turned to Naruto, who smiled at them before introducing himself.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," he ignored the two Jōnins tensing on hearing his name "and I'm the best tavern keeper in all of the Konoha. I want you to escort me to Nami no Kuni, where I plan on setting up my next tavern and protect me while I complete my work there."

The two Jōnins nodded at their clients before turning to their teams.

"Meet us at the gate at six in the morning. Pack everything you may need for a couple of weeks, a C-rank usually takes that long to complete." Kakashi said.

"You should all rest well today so that you are able to give your best for the mission tomorrow," Kurenai added, before dismissing them. The two Jōnins gave a long bow to the Hokage, nodding once to the clients before Flickering away.

Tazuna too soon left leaving Naruto in the room.

"Naruto-Kun, please take a walk with me." The Hokage said standing up.

Naruto followed the Hokage out of the tower. They walked in silence as they climbed the Hokage monument. When they reached the top, Hiruzen stopped over the head of the Fourth. He looked over the entire village. He felt disappointed that the village's hatred had turned the son of two of the most talented Shinobi's of their generation away from the path of a Ninja.

He turned to Naruto, "Do you remember what you said to me here more than 5 years ago when I asked you if you wished to be a Ninja?"

"Indeed Jiji, I said I wanted the villagers to stop hating me and acknowledge me. The best way to do that was by living with them and working with them. Becoming a Ninja would only serve to drive a wedge between me and them as I would be taking part in several jobs that civilians will find distasteful. So I decided to make them acknowledge me I would have to be a civilian myself."

"So how has your mission gone so far?"

"It was difficult at first to set up a shop, but once I managed to do that, slowly people started to come to my tavern, word spread and eventually my tavern has become quite popular, both with the civilians and the Ninjas." He said with a smile.

"Soooo" The Hokage drawled slowly, "There is no other reason why you asked me specifically for a Rookie Genin team to escort you to Nami."

Naruto blushed at being caught by the Hokage. He looked at his feet shuffling slowly before he looked up at the Hokage and said, "If I had taken up on your offer, I would have been one among them. I wanted to get to know my peers better."

The Hokage smiled softly, his guess being proven correct.

"Okay, Naruto I won't press further, but take your time to get to know them. Each of the kids on your team has their own demons to face."

Naruto nodded to his grandfather figure before heading down the Hokage monument

The next day, team 7 and 8 with the exception of Kakashi assembled in front of the gates. In a couple of minutes, Naruto too joined them carrying a huge backpack across his shoulders.

"I can't believe it, Kakashi-sensei is late today as well. He's incorrigible." Kiba ranted in frustration.

Kurenai smiled at him, "Your sensei is infamous for his tardiness, he never appears on time unless it is an S-class mission. I'll complete the paperwork until he gets here so that we can leave as soon as possible." Kurenai submitted some papers to the Chunins who were at the gate who went through them before nodding once to her and returned the paper back to her.

After waiting for some more time Tazuna and Kakashi strolled up to them.

"You're late" Sakura screeched, causing all those who were not used to her to cover their ears and grimace.
Kakashi merely eye-smiled at her and they set off towards Nami in a standard formation. Kiba and Hinata in the front, Sasuke, and Sakura to the right, Shino and Yakumo to the left, while the Jōnins brought out the rear.

"Yes, I'm finally out of the village," Yakumo said happily.

Naruto turned towards the girl and gave her a strange look, before asking her, "Is this the first time that you are outside the village."

"Yes, because of my-" she cut herself before continuing slowly "my clan is slightly overprotective of me as I'm the heiress and they rarely if ever, let me out of the compounds. The only reason I was able to join team 8 was because there was an odd number of graduates from the academy, instead of the usual 30."

Naruto noticed her slip but did not comment as he himself was hiding several things in his past.

"So, have you been outside the village before Naruto-san," Hinata asked him curiously.

"Yes, in order to fulfill my dream it was necessary to travel all over The Land of Fire in the last couple of years."

"Your dream, what is it?" Sasuke Uchiha asked intrigued.

"My dream is" his face became very serious "to become the best tavern-keeper in the entire Elemental Nations and set up shops in all the countries."

Many of them face-faulted upon hearing his dream. Naruto then turned towards Tazuna and asked.

"I heard that there was some problem in Nami no Kuni with its economy, has Nami recovered from it."

Tazuna began sweating as all of the Ninjas looked at him, curious themselves. He looked around for a distraction, but seeing none, was forced to continue.

"Well y-you see" he spoke slowly, as they walked crossing two puddles of water as they waited for him to answer.

"the-the eco-economy i-is still in ruins, and-" he was cut off as two figures materialized behind the two Jōnins and cut them to pieces with the chain held between them.

Now that the biggest threats are taken care off, let's kill them all." One of the brothers said before they dashed towards Tazuna and Naruto. Sasuke kicked one of the attackers in the chin with his leg as he came near them and sent him flying backward. The other attacker was momentarily stunned seeing his partner sent flying away. He almost instantly composed himself and flickered towards the bridge builder, completely ignoring Shino, Sakura, and Yakumo. He brought his claws down to tear the bridge builder apart but was surprised to find his claws blocked by a kunai held by Shino. He jumped backward to avoid a gentle fist strike from Hinata only to faint frothing from his mouth as Yakumo captured him in her Genjutsu.

Meanwhile, the other brother was finding it difficult to handle the precise strikes from Sasuke and the wild yet furious attacks from Kiba at the same time. He jumped away from Kiba as he used a Fang Over Fang on him, only to come within striking distance of the Uchiha. Sasuke wasting no time got within the Chunin's guard a with a powerful kick to his chest sent him right into the Fang over Fang of Kiba. The Chūnin was blasted right into a tree, where he slumped down unconscious.

"Sensei" Kiba turned to their remains, only to find splintered wood.

"Excellent teamwork, you handled the situation very well. I'm proud of you guys." Kakashi said with an eye-smile.

"Sensei, you were alive. Then why did you make us think you were killed?" Kiba shouted out.

"There were two reasons for that Kiba," Kurenai spoke up, "In the parameters of a C-rank mission, the maximum expected threat is from a bandit attack. Two Ninjas attacking us almost as soon as we are out of Konoha is not something that is supposed to be in a C Rank encounter. We wanted to see how you manage to handle an unexpected situation and we wanted to see the target for the Missing Nins. So Tazuna-san, would you like to explain the situation further." Kurenai said with a sweet smile that promised pain.

Tazuna sweated nervously before he began to slowly explain, "The land of Wave was a prosperous fishing country, we used to trade with several neighboring countries. This all stopped when Gato came to Wave. He slowly brought out all of the shipping companies and established a Monopoly on the seas. As Wave is an island nation we depend on the seas to survive. Soon the economy began to drop as Gato began to charge exorbitant fees and taxes. The bridge I'm building is the only hope for Wave. If I can complete the bridge linking Wave and The Land of Fire, we could break the monopoly of Gato and bring Wave back to its former glory."

"It may be as you said, but this is a B rank or maybe even an A rank mission. These two teams are not ready to handle such a high ranked mission. You should have applied for a B rank or A rank mission in the mission office. We should leave you here now for violating the terms of the mission"

"The land of Waves is extremely poor, even the Daimyo is poor. We had to pool all of our resources together just to afford a C rank mission. If you abandon me now, I'll be killed by Ninjas before I even reach my home. My little grandson will grow up hating Konoha for the death of his gramps. The people of Nami would curse Konoha until their deaths." Tazuna said dramatically.

Kurenai was going to say something but Naruto interrupted her. "Why don't we make a compromise. You guys are supposed to escort me to Wave too. Why don't you send a request back to the Hokage for an A rank mission to protect the bridge builder and until they arrive you could continue to escort us to Wave."

The two Ninjas looked thoughtful for a minute but Tazuna interrupted them, "But Wave doesn't have enough money to pay for an A-Rank mission."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I'll pay for the mission."

"You will?" several voices exclaimed at the same time.

Naruto looked amused at the incredulous faces in front of him. "Of course, since Tazuna is paying for an escort for me it is only natural that I should pay for a team to protect him."

Kakashi and Kurenai looked at Naruto as if he was insane.

"I don't think you understand the situation. The cost of an A-Rank mission is 100 times that of a C rank mission like this one." Kakashi said.

"Yeah, so"

All the Ninjas plus Tazuna looked at the boy as if he had lost it. Finally, Kakashi sighed,
"Whatever, it's your money." He then summoned Pakkun and gave a scroll to the dog to give it to the Hokage. With a salute, Pakkun disappeared into a puff of smoke.

"okay, now that's settled let's be on our way." Naruto said hefting his backpack.

"Thanks, kid," Tazuna said with tears in his eyes.

Naruto smiled warmly at Tazuna, the Ninjas surrounded them again in the same formation and continued on their way to Wave. Tazuna telling them stories about Wave throughout the way.

After some time, the Ninjas managed to reach wave after crossing the sea in a boat owned by Tazuna's friend. As they walked towards Tazuna's house the mist began to grow.

"Nevermind the mist, the weather is very erratic in these parts. It can be sunny one instant and cloud over the next." Tazuna explained for the benefit of the others.

Kiba sniffed the air for a couple of seconds before throwing a Kunai into the bushes. When he went near to investigate he saw a white rabbit impaled on his Kunai.

"Kiba, you idiot, what have you done. You killed a poor rabbit."

Kakashi and Kurenai noticed the strange colouration on the Rabbit and their eyes widened simultaneously as they reached the same conclusion.

"Everybody down," they said simultaneously.

Pulling down Tazuna and Naruto with them. All the Genins dropped to the floor, just in time as a large sword came flying in the air just where they were. The sword slammed into a tree and a tall man dropped onto the sword.

"Kakashi of the Sharingan and Konoha's Genjutsu Mistress Kurenai, hand over the bridge builder and you can go."

Sasuke was shocked at hearing Kakashi's monicker but managed to keep his face blank.

"I'm afraid we cannot do that, Zabuza. We have a mission to protect the bridge builder and will complete it at all costs." Kakashi said raising his headband revealing his Sharingan.

"Oh, the Sharingan so soon. I'm flattered." Zabuza said in a mocking voice.

"Everybody, guard Tazuna and Naruto. This guy is way out of your league. Kurenai and I shall handle it."

"Oh, you will, will you?" Zabuza continued in a mocking voice "Let's see you try then."

Zabuza raised his hands in a seal thickening the mist all around them.

"be careful, Zabuza Is a master of the silent killing technique. He can kill without the victim even knowing that they are dead." Kurenai warned the team.

"So many ways to kill, there are 8 points on the human body that can cause instant death when struck, which to choose, such a hard decision." Zabuza's voice echoed from around the mist while he released his killing intent.

The Genin's were floored when they felt the immense killing intent. Tazuna looked as if he was about to die, Hinata and Kiba paled considerably, Sakura appeared about to faint and Sasuke slowly raised his Kunai to his neck unable to stand it any further while Kiba raised his claws. Kakashi looked back to say something to calm the nerves of his team but was taken by surprise when flames instantly burned around the group thinning the mist greatly. Kakashi looked and saw Naruto with what appeared to be a bottle of alcohol and a matchstick, several empty bottles around him. The sudden surprise of the flames bursting near them also served to shake the Genin's out of their Killing Intent induced fear.

All eyes turned to look at Naruto as he stood up calmly. He gazed questioningly back at them.

"What? Heat tends to evaporate the mist." He explained as if he was talking to a kid.

Zabuza appeared behind him swinging his sword down to bisect him but was intercepted by Kakashi, who stabbed him with a Kunai, only for Zabuza to turn into water.

"It's over," Zabuza said bisecting Kakashi from behind, only to be surprised as Kakashi too turned into water.
Zabuza was shocked at how Kakashi had managed to copy his technique, which allowed Kakashi to hold him at Kunai point.

"Now it's over," he said only for Zabuza to turn into a puddle of water and the real Zabuza kick him into the sea.

"Kakashi-sensei." Sakura cried out.

Kakashi struggled underwater but managed to surface on top of the sea, only to be caught in a prison of water.

Suiton:Water Prison Technique

Kakashi struggled to get out of prison.

"Don't bother struggling, though it is made out of water, this prison is stronger than steel." Zabuza said as he made a couple of clones, "Now stay here while my clones take care of your team and the bridge builder. The clones charged forward only to be dispelled by an attack by Kurenai.

"What the hell?" Zabuza said shocked, he had almost entirely forgot about the other Jonin.

"You are now caught in my Genjutsu" Zabuza's surprise only widened further as the world around them collapsed to reveal him still standing in the water holding the water prison, the only difference was that the prison was empty.

"Impressive talent, you have truly earned the moniker of the Genjutsu Mistress. First, you place a Genjutsu for me to ignore or reduce my awareness about you and then when you see an opportunity you trap me in an advanced Genjutsu. I'm impressed."

Kakashi stood in front of Kurenai facing Zabuza as they both went through the same hand seals. Kakashi slowly stepping onto the water as he finished.

Suiton: Water Dragon Technique

Two dragons made out of water appeared at each Jōnin's feet and clashed with each other. Before the spray from the collapsing Jutsu's had finished settling down Zabuza began the next set of hand seals for his next Technique. Only to stop in shock as Kakashi also imitated the same hand seals.

'Is he'

"Copying me?" Kakashi finished.

'Im-'

"possible"

'Is he reading'

"my mind"

Zabuza stopped his hand signs as a shade which looked like himself appeared next to Kakashi. Kakashi, however, continued with the hand signs.

Suiton: Great Exploding Wave

A giant torrent of Water slammed into Zabuza and washed him ashore where he slammed into a tree, cracking it.

'That was the technique I was going to use.' He thought.

"Can your eye see into the future?" He asked Kakashi weakly.

"Yes, I can see death in your future." He said preparing to kill Zabuza, but before he could do that, two senbon pierced into Zabuza's throat causing him to collapse on the floor.

"You were right, death was in his future." A mask wearing boy appeared on the branch of a tree wielding senbons in his hands.

"I thank you for weakening him, I'm a hunter Nin sent to kill Zabuza, but he was too strong for me to kill."

Kakashi slowly nodded to him while bending down to check his pulse. Not finding any pulse he slowly stood back up and glanced at the Hunter-nin. Who merely nodded back at him.

"How can he be a hunter Nin, he's about my age." Kiba shouted out.

Kakashi turned back to his student and said "Kiba, in the world of Ninja's you'll find some who may be even younger than you but far stronger than me. Never underestimate anyone just because of their age."

Kiba appeared unhappy with Kakashi's statement but held his peace.

"Now, if you would excuse me I'll take Zabuza's body away as it contains several secrets." He hoisted the body over his shoulders and looked around for the sword. He saw it in the blonde boy's hands.

"If you would please be so kind as to give me the sword, it is a national property of the Village Hidden in the Mist." The hunter Nin asked.

"Isn't there a rule that says finders keepers in the ninja world. So as it was Kakashi-san who fought him so hard the sword rightfully belongs to him. Don't you think so?"

"That sword is a national property of the Mist, would you be willing to start a war between the Mist and the Leaf just for a sword."

"Naruto, please just give him the sword." Kakashi said, he was almost at his limit and could not afford to fight a Hunter-nin now, let alone the threat of war.

"Relax Kakashi-san, I'm sure the Mizukage and Jiji can come to a compromise, besides this sword belongs to you now, as per the rules of Ninja conflict. So there is nothing that Mist can do lawfully to you. Besides they are in no position to wage war with other countries, what with the civil war occurring in their own nation."

The masked boy frowned at this behind his mask. He was not a hundred percent sure he could take out all of the remaining Ninjas on his own and Zabuza was seriously hurt, the deception won't last long so it was in his best interests to escape now before he could be caught, and lose all chances of escape.

He gave a small nod and disappeared with Zabuza's body. Kakashi swayed on his feet and nearly collapsed but was caught by Naruto who handed him a glass filled with some liquid. Kakashi gazed at him curiously.

"Drink a little of it, it will help you recover your energy." Kakashi took a sip of the liquid and instantly felt the energy returning to him. He slowly drank the rest of it before handing the empty glass to Naruto, who washed it with a little bit of water before placing it inside his bag.

"Naruto, why didn't you allow the Hunter-nin to take the sword, it is a national property of the Mist, after all?" Kakashi asked curiously.

Naruto didn't answer him immediately, he continued to search in his bag before he gave an exclamation of triumph and brought out a silver briefcase.

"Kakashi-san, I would like to buy the Kukiribochou from you. If you would accept it, here is the payment for it." He said handing over a suitcase to Kakashi.

AN:

Please don't forget to review.

And Poll whether Kakashi should give Kukiri or not.

Poll results are out.

Naruto will get the Kukiri now.

"Why do you want the sword, Naruto-san?" Kakashi asked him as he flicked the locks on catches on the briefcase. His eyes widened as he peered into the briefcase. The others also curious about the contents of the briefcase peered over his shoulder only to stare in awe as the briefcase was filled with precious stones of all kinds.

"My sister is a collector of all kinds of goods though she is especially fond of weapons. I wish to gift the sword to her." Naruto told Kakashi.

"But- But this is too much" Kakashi stammered out getting over his shock, "and I thought that you were an orphan."

"She is not my real sister, she is more like a sister figure. She lives with me and takes care of the tavern while I'm away from Konoha."

Kakashi thought about this for a while and finally decided to keep a closer eye on his sensei's legacy once he returned to Konoha. There were many things about the boy that he was unaware of. But what to do with the sword. None of the Jōnin-senseis were especially skilled in kenjutsu and the Jōnins who specialized in Kenjutsu preferred a lighter and smaller weapon than the giant cleaver. With a sigh, he realized that despite the sword's value no one could make much use of the blade. Finally, he decided to compromise, so that in case the Hokage disagreed with it, he could easily recover the sword.

"Okay, I'm willing to give you the sword." Naruto broke into a wide smile but his smile dimmed when Kakashi raised a hand to stop him. "But, there are a few conditions. First, you must never use the weapon to directly or indirectly harm the Leaf and secondly, you must be willing to hand over the sword whenever the Leaf has need of it or the Hokage asks you to return it."

Naruto thought about it for a couple of seconds before he nodded. It was not as if he could do anything else as the sword was won fair and square by Kakashi after defeating Zabuza.

Kurenai watched all this from the side though she was not happy with Kakashi for handing over such a precious treasure over to a civilian. She took comfort from the fact that he had included a clause to easily recover it. With a sigh, she reached into her pocket and unsealed an empty scroll. She bent down to the sword and sealed it into the scroll.

"Here take it, when you need the sword just ask any of us to unseal it from the scroll." She said handing over the scroll to Naruto.

Soon they all managed to continue their journey towards Tazuna's house. Within an hour and without any other major incidents they arrived in front of an old two story house. Tazuna went up to the door and knocked on the door thrice. The door slowly opened and they saw a young woman in her early thirties peek at them. Upon seeing Tazuna her eyes widened for a second before she threw the door open and hugged him.

"Father, I've been so worried about you. Were you successful in your task?" she asked him.

"Yes I was Tsunami, these are Konoha Ninjas who protected me from several of the Ninjas who had tried to kill me along the way. I owe my life to them." He said pointing to the Konoha entourage.

Tsunami smiled at them warmly and thanked them for saving her father. They gave her a nod before Tazuna introduced Naruto to her.

"This young man is Naruto Uzumaki, he helped me out with a situation involving the Ninjas. He is a tavern owner in Konoha, he came here to set up his own tavern." Tazuna told her.

Tsunami smiled at the boy when she heard his name, but frowned when she heard his reason for visiting Wave.

"Not to sound ungrateful or anything Naruto-san, but the economy of Wave isn't all that great at the present moment. Businesses are collapsing everywhere as no one has any money left even to pay the taxes, let alone buy goods at nearly ten times their actual cost. I don't think you would find it very profitable to start up a business here.

"None was taken, Tsunami-san. I knew about the economic situation of Wave beforehand from one of my acquaintances and I came here knowing that. My dream is to build up the largest chain of taverns in all the elemental nations having, at least, one tavern in every nation. Of course, the current situation may prove to be challenging to overcome, but I feel that the tides of change are near. Moreover, if your father's plan succeeds then we could very well be seeing the rebirth of Wave, and I would not like to miss that. You should have more faith in your father Tsunami-san"

Hearing his speech brought out a smile from Tazuna and caused Tsunami's eyes to water at the foreigner's faith in her father.

"Why do you continue to be so optimistic. You all are just like insects in front of Gato. He'll crush you like the bug you are." A voice called from behind Tsunami.

Everyone looked to see a small boy around eight years of age standing at the foot of the steps, wearing a large fishing hat on his head.

"Inari, apologize for your words this instant. These Ninjas have-" Tsunami was cut off as Inari dashed up the steps after saying his piece.

"I apologize for his behavior, but recently a man who Inari looked up to was publically executed by Gato. Since then he seems to have lost the will to oppose Gato." Tsunami said bowing to the Ninjas.

She then welcomed them into their home, where the boys were given two rooms to sleep in while the girls would stay with Tsunami. She then proceeded to prepare tea for them while they sat around the table.

"Kakashi did you notice?" Kurenai asked.

After a moment, he replied "Yeah"

"What are you two talking about?" Kiba asked.

"We think that Zabuza might not be dead at all," Kakashi replied.

"WHAT" several voices called out in surprise and fear.

"Yeah, the hunter-nin used senbons. Senbons are generally not used to cause death unless they strike precise points on the body. Using senbon however, you can place a body in a near-death state for some time, in which the body appears to have died ."

"Moreover, a Hunter-Nin usually destroys the body on the spot and does not risk someone stealing the body while transportation. The fact that the Hunter-Nin did not destroy the body leads us to believe that the Hunter-Nin was fake and was likely an accomplice of Zabuza." Kurenai explained.

"Based upon his injuries, Zabuza may take up to a week to recover. We are going to use this time to train you all so that you are able to, at least, keep up with them when they appear." Kakashi finished.
All the Genins were wide-eyed at this and several of them could be seen shaking in fear or nervousness. Amongst all of this, nobody noticed Naruto calmly sipping his tea.

Author's Note

Chapter finished at last. How was it?

Good, Bad or Terrible.

Please don't forget to review. Reviews fan my flames of YOUTH.