I would like to start with saying I am very sorry for taking so long to update. Finals are coming up for the semester and things are getting hectic so updates will be coming in a more sporadic fashion.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

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The next day Naruto found while he may have won the battle he had definitely lost the war. This was due in no small part to this mind shattering hangover he had, and the rocking motion of a ship at sea wasn't making any better. Takashi was sitting on the deck looking pleased with him-self, largely because he had been one of the few people to bet on Naruto during the previous night's activities. Sasuke was off still sulking because Naruto beat him at something. Meanwhile Sakura was practicing throwing to kunai at the ships mast, she was putting extra force behind them since Sasuke was denying everything you said the night before.

Flashback

Sasuke just finished his fifth drink during the competition and was looking rather unsteady. He turned to Sakura and started blathering drunkenly, "You know what Sakura-chan –hic- yur totally awesome, I'm just a tool to you as I like to mess with you." He then leaned over to Sakura and in lightly flicked her on the forehead with his index finger and then passed out into her lap.

End Flashback

Brom came over to Naruto was leaning over the side of the ship emptying his stomach for the umpteenth time that morning. Brom put a cup in Naruto's hand and said. "Drink this will help you feel better."

"Okay." Naruto said as he chugged down the drink. He began to feel much better. "What was that?"

"Mead." Brom smiled at the blonde shinobi as he fell flat on his face. After Naruto regained his feet Brom tossed him a sword and shield. "We've seen you drink like a Norse lets see if you can learn to fight like one." He turned to Kakashi, "if you don't mind of course"

"I don't mind, so feel free"

Naruto was having trouble handling the sword. "I can't let this."

"Then grow stronger." Brom retorted with a slight grin. He brought his sword out of the sheath and took a lazy swing at Naruto's head. Naruto brought up his sword just in time to stop Brom from removing everything from his headband up, but the force of the blow ripped the blade from his hand sending it sailing through the air. It landed dangerously close to Sasuke's groin. Causing the last Uchiha to faint at the thought of losing his ability to revive his clan.

Naruto walked over to retrieve his weapon. Martin and Sven were also moving in Sasuke's direction with knives drawn. Naruto looked at them and asked, "What are you guys doing?"

Giving Naruto a pair of impish grins they pointed at Sasuke. "Haircut" with all they said.

Naruto was bringing himself when he came back over to Brom to resume their training. They went through several passes and after Naruto lost their grip on his weapon for the third time he decided to change tactics. "Shadow clone jutsu." Another Naruto was standing next to the first. They charged at Brom in unison, the true Naruto coming in low with a horizontal slash at Brom's gut while the clone brought his blade down in a vicious arc that looked like it would split Brom skull and half.

Brom spun around swinging his shield to catch the Naruto slashing at his gut right in the head sending him rolling across the deck as he skewered the other on the end of his sword. That Naruto burst into a cloud of white smoke.

"What was that?" Brom asked with a raised eyebrow. "And what can you do with it?"

"It's called the shadow clone jutsu. It was developed for scouting and assassinations because when dispelled all knowledge gained by the clone is transferred to the user." Kakashi explained.

"It does!?" Naruto looked rather bewildered by this.

"You haven't noticed?"

"Naruto make 10 clones and send them at me, every time I dispel one send in another. Keep going until I tell you to stop." Brom shifted into a fighting stance.

As the spying commenced the air is thick with smoke. For the first few hours the area around Brom was a solid mass of white. As the sun began to set the smoke became less frequent. Suddenly a cry of rage was heard.

"Sasuke must've woken up." Martin said chuckling.

"Who did it! I'm gonna kill them!" Sasuke stood screaming is perfectly bald head shining in the sunset. Sven and Martin both pointed at Naruto and Sasuke lunged at him. "You son of a bitch! I'll kill you!" It took both Brom and Kakashi 10 minutes to separate them.

Later that evening after they ate dinner group sat and talked. The Norse warriors were taking bets on who would kill the most bandits over the course of the mission. Martin and Sven placed a large bet on Brom. Brom noticed Sakura was staring at him and he asked her what she wanted.

"What did you mean by that comment about the hidden villages allowing girls to fight." She asked with as much composure she could muster.

"Umm, what do you mean." Brom gave her a bewildered look while he tried to member what the hell she was talking about.

Sakura started getting annoyed. "Don't the women of your village know how to fight?"

"Of course they can fight!" Martin had a huge smile plastered across his face. Peels of laughter came from the warriors. "Good old Sven has the scars to prove it."

What happened?

"Well he's courting a shield maiden back home named Sasha, and one night about a year ago he got a little fresh with her. Show'em the scar." Sven lifted his tunic to show a massive scar tissue that started just below his heart and extended to his navel.

Sakura stared at Sven for a moment and proceeded to give him a piece of her mind. "You should've gotten worse you damn pervert!"

"What Martin failed to mention was that I was drunk off my pants when that happened, I apologized and was done being bedridden." Sven said sulkily with his eyes lowered.

"The fact he was drunk was probably what kept her from cutting his heart out." Martin slapped Sven on the back. "They really like each other, don't you lover boy."

"Shut up you bastard!" Sven grabbed a hold of a mass of Martin's hair and the two began to fight.

"What is a shield maiden?" Naruto asked ignoring the brawl.

"They are willing to train to fight. But unlike in the shinobi nations they'll go out on missions. Their job is to protect the settlement will we are off at war."

"Why don't they go on missions? Wouldn't they make it so you can take more missions?"

Brom looked at number two is if the answer was obvious. "Then who would raise the children and keep the home safe. Everyone who isn't a warrior has a job to do."

"That is so sexist you people are horrible! Sakura was standing with her hands clenched into fists of rage. "I bet you still have arranged marriages!"

Brom's face darkened as he stood up and walked to the other side of the ship. Savanna and Martin stopped fighting, grim expressions on their faces. "Only nobles have arranged marriages these days." Martin stated somberly.

Then Naruto had one of his rare moments of clarity for all the pieces fell into place with an ominous and resounding click. "Isn't Brom's father a noble?"

"That's right, he's set to marry the daughter of Jarl Eufgar on her 18th birthday."

"How long does he have?" Sasuke asked.

"Just four years, he'll be 20." Sven said with all the joy of a death sentence.

"Is she pretty at least." Naruto was trying to find a silver lining to the situation.

Martin shrugged. "We don't know, Eufgar lives across the sea in our homeland so Brom has never even met the girl he's supposed to spend his life with. Hells! We don't even know if she took up the shield or not."

Sakura tilted her head to the side and confusion. "What does that mean?"

"It means we don't know if she's a shield maiden or not." Sven fumed.

"Why does that matter? Not everyone can fight, so what."

"Brom's family has been nothing but warriors for as long as anyone can remember. His bloodlines produced some of the greatest warriors are people of ever seen. If she's weak the blood will then and what she does that leave you, sons who are soft and most likely won't survive their first battle. For all we know Eufgar may be grooming her to be that way so Brom's line will be weakened." Sven muttered darkly.

Martin shook his head. "There's more to it than that and you know it Sven. Let's put it this way, could you really connect with someone who wasn't a ninja or had never been in a fight."

Sasuke nodded in understanding. "Not without a lot of effort, even then it would be strained."

"Exactly, that is why warriors tend to marry Shield maidens. They understand what it means to fight and to kill, and what it does to your mind, not to mention the Brom's part berserker."

"What does that mean, is it bad or something?" Naruto turned to look at Brom boosted by the railing.

"Berserkers are men who go crazy during a fight. Some have it worse than others, Brom is able to control it pretty well, but when they lose it stand back. Pain doesn't stop them, you can put a sword right through one and he'll just keep coming. They become strong as it bears too." Sven explained.

"What's the drawback?" Sasuke was listening intently.

"When the fighting is done all their wounds come back to them, and sometimes their hearts just can't take it and give out." Sven looked over at Brom. "They tend to die young."

Shortly after this the conversation died down. Sleep soon found the group.

Naruto awoke to the sound of shouting. He jumped up to see Brom, Sven and Martin talking to Kakashi. Soccer and Sasuke had just woken up as well. Naruto could see another ship on the horizon. He walked up to Kakashi and the others and asked what was going on.

Kakashi turned instead. "We're trying to figure out if that ship as a threat or not." Brom was looking through a small spyglass.

"May I take a look? I might be able to recognize it." Tazuna said holding out his hand. Brom past the glass to Tazuna and after looking for a few moments the expression soured. "I recognize the colors, they're Pirates."

Brom took the spyglass and started to walk towards the helm. "I'll inform the captain." When he came back two men followed him. The first was tall and lanky, Ron introduced him as the captain. The second man was bent and old. His upper body was wrapped in a piece of dirty gray cloth that covered his head like a cowl. His hands are skeletal clause with scars crisscrossing his palms. He wore a lion skin kilt with a broad leather belt. On the belt was an ornate knife that looked similar to the one on Brom's belt. Brom and the other Norse regarded the man with a sort of awe.

"Who is he?" Naruto asked Martin in a hushed tone.

"Thomen is this ships rune 's a master rune wielder."

"What are runes."

"They are Odin's gift. Those trained in their use wield great power. Watch and you'll see what I mean." Martin replied reverently.

The old man was now standing facing the direction of the pirate vessel. He whipped off the covering from his torso revealing his bare chest. A tattoo of a fearsome sea serpent coiled around his body, it had sat on his right shoulder with mouth agape showing rows of jagged fangs. Suddenly the priest took his belt knife and paled his left hand. Using the talent like fingernail of his right finger like a quill he dipped it into the wound. Chanting in a language Naruto didn't understand he scribed several symbols on the body of the serpent, the last going on the beast's head. Then the priest whipped his arm out pointing at the ship. A glob of lights sped off followed closely by the serpent which it slithered down his arm and dropped into the water leaving his chest bare.

Suddenly a flesh and blood version of the tattoo burst from the waves, its body was as thick as Brom was tall. It began to wrap itself around the pirate ship. As the beasts tightened its coils around its prey it cracking noise similar to the splintering of bone could be heard. The crew of the doomed vessel began to disappear, eaten by the massive serpent. When the ship had sunken beneath the waves the Sea monster tattoo appeared to slither back into place on the Rune priest's body.

Naruto stood transfixed by the gruesome spectacle that just played out before him. Sakura was covering her head unable to handle the destruction of so many lives in such a short span of time. Sasuke was transfixed as well, but all he saw was a source of power.

"What would it take to get him to teach me how to do that?" Sasuke asked turning to Brom.

"He won't."

"Why the hell not." Sasuke growled.

"You're not Norse." Brom said evenly.

"You're training Naruto, what's the difference?"

Brom grabbed Sasuke by the collar and pulled him so they were face-to-face. "I'm only teaching him the sword. The laws of my people forbid the teaching of runes to those without Norse blood in their veins!" He let Sasuke drop. "The only wait either of you could learn anything of runes would be if you were to take the oaths of brotherhood, but as you are there is none amongst us who accept your oath." Brom walked over to Naruto to continue sword training, leaving Sasuke to his thoughts. That afternoon the coast of the way the country could be seen.

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