Naruto is owned by Kishimoto
Opening theme: Kinnikuman Go Fight
Chapter 4: Enter the Dragon (Country)
In the Hokage's Office, four ninja stood before Tsunade, ready and awaiting orders.
Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Ninja.
Haruno Sakura, Tsunade's apprentice.
Codename: Yamato, wood-style user.
Codename: Sai, former Root operative.
They were Team 7- old and new members combined.
"Your mission is to go to the Land of Dragons and oversee our representatives' progress in the Dragon Belt Championships," Tsunade began without preamble, "Along with that, I need you to keep an eye on Naruto."
"Keep an eye…" Sakura repeated, unsure. "Why would we need to do that? If Ms. Kushina's going with Naruto, won't that be enough protection?"
"I'm not sure Naruto's the only one who needs protection…" Tsunade murmured, looking away.
Yamato got her meaning. "You're afraid the tournament might bring out the Kyuubi?" He asked.
"Among other things…" Tsunade answered. Looking directly at her troops, she said, "The Dragon Belt doesn't just attract entrants from Hidden Villages," She explained to Sakura and Sai, "Warriors both legal and illegal fight in the tournament as well."
"You mean criminals enter as well?" Sai asked, "The tournament sponsors must be very stupid to allow that."
"It's no mistake," Kakashi replied, "In order to make the contest 'more interesting' the Dragon Belt Council made a full pardon for any past crime part of the 1st place prize. And because of the criminals entering the country for the tournament, bounty hunters also appear. The entire nation is a series of sneak attacks just waiting to happen."
"Bounty hunters…" Sakura murmured, thinking about it. A light turned on in her head. "You think those guys we told you about might be there!?"
"Bounty hunters, Akatsuki…anything's possible," Tsunade said, "There's no telling what will happen in the Dragon Belt. Just keep a distant watch on Naruto- Try not to let him know you're there and why. I don't want him getting distracted."
"Yes, ma'am!"
As the four of them left the office, Kakashi looked up at the ceiling.
How nostalgic… Kakashi thought, when Tsunade called him back.
"What is it, Lady Tsunade?" Kakashi asked, poking his head.
"I'd just thought I'd warn you," Tsunade said, "But he's going to be there…be careful."
Kakashi's eye widened. What!? Him!?
Dattebayo
"Look uphead, Naruto," Kushina said, pointing. She was wearing something that looked a cross between a Chinese slip-dress and a cowgirl costume. (You know, what Rushuna from Grenadier wears) "The Land of Dragon's border is right in front of us."
The Uzumaki family had left the Hidden Leaf Village a week before, with Team Guy. But somewhere along the way the two groups had gotten separated.
Naruto did as she told and squinted. The sun was right in front of him, obscuring his vision somewhat.
"What's that," he asked, pointing ahead, "A mountain range?"
"Naw," Kushina shrugged, "That's the wall."
"Wall!?" Naruto cried, giving his mother a wild look, "You gotta be kidding me! Nobody could make a wall that big!"
"From what I hear, it took them a while," Kushina admitted. "Now, come on! We're burning daylight."
As they got closer to the wall, Naruto noticed that they were passing more and stranger looker people.
"Mama, who are these freaks?" Naruto asked, looking around. He could have sworn he saw a man in a panda costume…
"They're entrants, just like you." Kushina answered.
"All of them?" Naruto laughed. "Doesn't the Land of Dragons get normal tourists?"
"Sure, but they can't come in this way," Kushina explained, "There's only one tunnel through the Great Dragon Wall, and only entrants of the tournament can use it. Everyone else has to come in by boat."
Naruto shook his head, unable to comprehend it.
Later, after pushing and shoving their way through a crowd of warriors, nearly starting several fights, Naruto found himself signing up at a check station. However, Naruto had trouble reading the highly technical registration form, Kushina took over, allowing Naruto's mind to wander.
Man… Look at all these weirdos… Naruto thought, looking around. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that guy in the panda mask signing up. Am I up against all of them?
"Naruto? Son?" Kushina's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked over to see Kushina holding out the form to him. "We need your signature, sweetie."
Dattebayo
One short walk later, the Uzumaki family had entered Hadoken, where the Dragon Belt always took place, along with numerous other sporting competitions. Normally a relatively safe and quiet city, every six years it would become the location of hundreds of street fights. With the conflicting personalities of the dozens of fighters entering the country, it was a miracle a war hadn't broke out. Ironically, these civil disturbances were the easiest for the local police to deal with, as they would tell the fighters to "Save it for the tournament." And they always did.
"Son, I'm going to get us set up at our hotel," Kushina decided, taking all the bags, "You go explore the town, take in the local color." She handed Naruto a piece of paper. "When you're done, just come to this address. But don't stay out too late!" She warned.
And with that, Kushina left. Naruto looked at the address she had given him.
"I wonder where this place is," Naruto muttered, "Why didn't mama give me directions as well?"
"Oh yeah!" Kushina said, popping out of nowhere. She held out something to him. "You can't wear armor in this contest, so your forehead protector is out. Get used to wearing this."
Naruto took what was given to him. It was like his normal Leaf headband, minus the metal piece that had the Leaf symbol carved in. In place of that was a yellow spiral sewn in. After a moment, Naruto swapped forehead coverings.
"Okay, see ya!" And once again, mama was gone.
Now what do I do… Naruto thought, a little winded. Not really paying attention, he wandered aimlessly around until he came upon a street vendor.
"Hey, kid! You here for Dragon Belt?" the somewhat shifty-looking vendor asked, "Wanna buy a souvenir?"
"Um… Okay," Naruto answered, facing the vendor, "Whaddya got?"
"Here, try a Chocolate Dragon," the vendor said, holding out a wrapped bar to Naruto.
Naruto took the package and paid the vendor. Opening the wrapper, Naruto saw that the Chocolate Dragon was simply a thin slab of chocolate the size of a graham cracker with a picture of dragon shaped into the chocolate. Taking a bite, Naruto's face scrunched. It didn't taste like chocolate…
"Also comes with Dragons of the World trading card," The vendor adding, "See what kind you got."
Naruto reached inside the wrapper and sure enough, there was a card that said Dragons of the World, with an oroboros surrounding the words. Looking at the other side, he saw a picture of…Kushina!
"Ohhh, you get 'Red Queen' Kushina!" The vendor said excitedly, looking over Naruto's shoulder. "She first woman to win tournament, you know."
Mama won this thing? Naruto thought, and another thought came to him. "Why is her picture on this card?"
"Ohhh, that easy." The vendor shrugged, "Card series features past winners of Dragon Belt. Past 'Dragons' you know."
Naruto felt a rush of excitement come over him. "Which means when I win, they'll make a card for me!"
The vendor raised an eyebrow. "You entering?"
"That's right!"
"Then you should go to the Hall of Dragons," The vendor said, "Learn more about the tournament."
Naruto decided to take him up on that. As he left, the vendor called out, "Wait! Don't you want T-shirt?!"
Dattebayo
The Hall of Dragons, as Naruto discovered, was a gigantic one-room building, filled with dozens of statues and pictures of past winners of the Dragon Belt. The statues were of some of the earliest winners of the Belt, and Naruto wasn't sure which statue looked the worst. Apparently, this was due to the fact that the first Dragons had carved their likenesses from rock themselves, and were notoriously bad artists. After that, they had they visages formed by professionals. As Naruto looked around for Kushina's, he heard something.
"Hmhmhmhm…HMM-hmhmhm…"
I know that song. Naruto thought, turning around. As he tried to find the source of the humming, he came upon the picture of the previous champion. It was a rather muscular, bulky man, who was bald except for thin amount of mustache growing out under his nose. He had a nasty scowl on his face.
Man, what a scary guy. Naruto thought, reading the name under the photo.
Tetsumura Jinmaru: The Ironman
There was some background information listed as well. Apparently, Jinmaru was a monk from the Land of Earth, who had a technique that could make his body as hard as iron, hence his nickname.
…Naruto whistled. According to this, he had won all of his matches in under two minutes. And according to the diagram of the match line-up for the main tournament, one of those matches was against…Uchiha Itachi? That Uchiha Itachi?
After his initial shock, Naruto thought about it. From what he knew, Itachi used mostly genjutsu in fights, relying on the hypnotic powers of the Sharingan. Maybe this Jinmaru guy had mastered some training that made him immune to the Sharingan.
Also, there was the fact that almost all ninjutsu experts had glass jaws. It seemed like rule of the world that anyone who was a master of over ten ninjutsu seemed to be lacking in the physical department. In his fight with Neji, he had only gotten one clean punch on Neji…and that was all it took. And it was six years ago. Maybe Itachi wasn't that strong then.
"Binkusu no sake wo…"
There it was again! Looking around quickly, Naruto found the source of the singing. Standing a little ways off to the side was tall, but somewhat hunched-over man, dressed in a brown long coat and wide-brimmed hat. On the back of the coat was a red plus sign.
"Hey, mister!" Naruto called out.
Looking up, the man turned around to face Naruto. He had a face that vaguely reminded Naruto of a monkey he saw in a zoo during his training with Jiraiya.
"Hmm! Yes, what is it, what do you want? Speak quickly, I'm a busy man!" The stranger said, his eyes glinting with a manic expression.
'Psychic' Tai Wan, MD
"Um, yeah," Naruto began, a little off-balance from the doctor's rapid-fire reply, "I was wondering…where'd you hear that song?"
"That?" Wan shrugged, "Just an old song some pirates sang while they were docked in the town I lived in. They were fairly nice bunch…if you didn't get them mad." Wan seemed to be drifting down memory lane without a paddle. "I remember this one time, one of them came to my clinic, needing a shot for something…tetanus, I recall. When I stuck it in him, he nearly loped my head off because it hurt…" As Wan chuckled, he took another glance at Naruto…and stopped. He was now looking at Naruto with such intensity the young ninja had never felt before.
"Kid…what's your name?" Wan asked, a strange (That is, stranger) expression on his face.
"Uh, Naruto." The one being asked replied cautiously. He began to think about evasive maneuvers.
"Son of a gun…" Wan whispered, grinning wildly. He gripped Naruto's shoulders and crowed, "Son of a gun!"
"Hey, leggo!" Naruto yelled. He wanted to shake himself free, but couldn't. For some reason he couldn't move his body…
"Man, you've really grown!" Wan laughed, "And it's only been what, sixteen years? Looks like things are working out after all!"
"Hey, do I know you?!" Naruto cried, really getting freaked out. Why couldn't he move!?
"I doubt it!" Wan replied, "You were just a baby when I delivered you!"
"Huh?"
Off to the side, a mysterious pair of eyes watched two with great bloodlust.
There you are…!
Dattebayo
Later, Naruto and Wan were having lunch at an outdoor café. Following the scene at the museum, Wan had explained that he was an old friend of his parents, and offered to buy him a meal. Naruto was now filling him in on what had happened after his birth- doing his best to excluding any references to the Nine-tailed Fox.
"That's awful, kid," Wan commented when Naruto described his childhood. "I told Minato that saving a Hidden Village was a mistake, but he went and did it anyway."
Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. "He saved hundreds of innocent lives!" He cried. The Fourth Hokage was one of the greatest heroes in history- And Wan was saying his great deed was a bad thing?!
"You don't hold it against him?" Wan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No!" Naruto said, firmly. Then, a little more softly, he said, "I mean, I used to…a little. But if he hadn't, the village would have been destroyed. And he died, saving it. How can I hate someone who died while I lived?"
Wan smiled softly. "I'm glad that growing up in a Hidden Village hasn't crushed the kindness in your heart. Most guys with your history would be driven to a murderous vengeance-induced killing spree."
"Don't I know it." Naruto replied. It still disturbed him how he close he came to ending up like Gaara used to be- a hateful, killing machine. A thought occurred to him. "Why did they hate me? I'm not the Fox."
"That's not the point. It's that the creature that wrecked their home was alive, in some form, and there was nothing they could do about it," Wan explained, "Ninja, I've noticed, are very vengeful. If they can't kill someone in reaction to some slight, they get cranky."
It was at that moment that a shuriken- dripping with some purple substance- came flying out from a pair of bushes on the other side of the street. Just before it hit Wan's neck, it froze in mid-air.
"Now, where did this come from?" Wan asked sarcastically. With an almost lazy wave of his hand, a young man, in ninja uniform, burst out from the bushes, tumbling toward Naruto and Wan, moved by some invisible force.
"What's going on?!" Naruto whispered, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Oh, the usual," Wan shrugged, "I'm being blamed for some catastrophe. But which one, I wouldn't know."
"Yes you would!" The ninja yelled, angrily, "It's because of you that Ishiwaka the butcher wiped out my comrades! If you hadn't helped him…"
"What's this about a butcher?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Ishiwaka…" Wan looked thoughtful, "Ah! I remember him! Found him in a river, mauled beyond belief. Would've died if I hadn't helped him."
"He should have died!" the assassin roared, "He was a missing-nin, a renegade ninja, a mass-murderer…and you helped him!"
Wan shrugged. "What do you want? I'm a doctor. I help the ill and injured get back on their feet- But I cannot tell them where to go. If you have anything to blame for what happened to your fellows, blame the system that made Ishiwaka."
Suddenly, the assassin's hidden weapons- and his clothes- were ripped from his body.
"I'll be taking these," Wan said, folding the blades in the rags, "If you hold too many poisoned weapons, you'll get sick. I've seen it happen." Turning to Naruto, he said, "Well, it was nice meeting you, Naruto, but I'd better be going. I have to dispose of these things properly. Good luck in the tournament!"
"But…" Naruto wanted ask Wan more, wanted to keep talking. He wanted to know something…but what?
"I'll catch up with your mom later, don't worry about it!" Wan waved, walking off.
Soon, Wan was out of sight. Naruto looked at the disgraced assassin, now clad in his tighty-whities.
"Your bill, sir." A waiter said, handing Naruto a piece of paper.
Then it hit him. Wan never paid for their meal, and Naruto still didn't know where the hotel was!
--
(A/N: Whew! This chapter went longer than it needed to! I admit, I really had no idea where to go with this one. I just wanted to get Naruto into the Dragon Country and for him to meet Tai Wan (That's a pun…if you don't get it, nevermind.). And in case you didn't notice, a lot of the Land of Dragon's is based on China…veeery loosely based. Also, one Lord Martiya asked if any One Piece characters will be appearing…and the answer is YES! And he's already been seen… Next time, the Dragon Belt opening ceremony!)