Welcome back everyone with a new chapter of 'Naruto: Rise of an outcast'!
First of all thank you all for all the votes that are still coming! On my bio you can find the official ranking. In addition, the poll will be closed during the Chunin Exam Arc, so as to show the eventual winners.
I would also warn that many votes were not included because they have been proposed by some Guests, so I can not accept them.
WARNING: this story will contain a huge amount of gore, splatter, lemon and other things for adults, so you have been warned.
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN NARUTO nor any characters that will appear in this story (apart from the OC, those are mine).
NOTE:
"Human dialogues"
'Human thoughts / mental dialogues'
"Demonic dialogues"
'Demonic thoughts / mental dialogues'
CHAPTER 4: Waves, mist and rain
It was a day like any other in Konoha. The children laughed, the merchants joked with their clients, the birds were chirping...
"Stand still, you little shit!"
Barbaric screams echoed through the village...yes, a day like any other!
"I'm sorry but I can not do it, Senju-san." said Naruto avoiding another punch which destroyed a street lamp behind him.
"Bastard! Face the death with what little honor you have left!" screamed Tsunade with wrathful eyes. Around the two blonde, the terrain and most of the buildings had been damaged by the fury of the woman who, for the past fifteen minutes, did nothing but try to hit Naruto to kill him...or to hurt him in an inhumane way. However, this blind fury was not new. The story was now on for two weeks and Tsunade was more and more exasperated.
It was all because of Naruto and what had happened to the return from his first C-rank mission.
Flash back – The day after the return from the C-rank mission
Naruto had been summoned by the Hokage through one of his trusted ANBU. In the few words contained in the scroll, Minato explained that he wanted to talk to his son in regard to the mission completed with Team Twelve. Honestly, Naruto would have preferred to continue training but did not want to look like a child, so he went straight for the Hokage Tower.
Arriving at the tower, Naruto noticed the worried look of the secretary who welcomed all the visitors. Without thinking too much, he approached the girl and asked "Excuse me, the Hokage has summoned me urgently. Can I go to his office?"
"W-wait a minute please, I'll ask to him tight away." she said before pressing a button on the intercom placed on her desk "Hokage-sama, there's one Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze here and he said that he was summoned with urgency."
"Yes, send him to my office." said Minato through the intercom and Naruto could almost touch the agitation in his father's voice. After thanking the secretary, Naruto went to his father's office. Opening the door, he noticed that Naruto was not the only person present. Near the door, in fact, he saw Kakashi and Jiraiya, then Orochimaru besides Tsunade and her student Shizune. Almost hidden behind the Hokage, there were his sisters, and only at that moment, Naruto saw the appearance of Minato, who now showed a black eye and a big patch on the right cheek.
A shadow stepped instantly between Naruto and Minato. The boy barely had time to look up to see two purple eyes and a raised arm.
SLAP!
Naruto's metal mask flew away from his face, bouncing to the ground before stopping at the feet of Kakashi, who stared at the scene with his only eye widened in surprise.
"Are you completely crazy, Naruto?!" shouted Kushina breathing heavily "Your father was an idiot to offer it but you have even accepted! How did it come to your mind to face an A-rank swordsman alone?! You almost died during your first mission! A C-rank mission for Kami's sake! I have already chewed your father for having sent you on a mission and Anko for not having requested reinforcements but now it's your turn! How can you be so irresponsible? Your chakra system is damaged and there is a reason if you're not part of a regular team! This handicap could cost you your life! What would you have done if instead of this samurai you had found yourself facing an A-rank ninja?!"
For several seconds, no one dared say a word. The only audible sound was the ragged breathing of Kushina that seemed about to hyperventilate. After a full minute, Naruto took a few steps toward Kakashi and only stopped to pick up his mask.
'Wrath.'
'Yes boy?' asked the old man in his head while having already figured what Naruto was going to ask him.
'Please, don't stop my rage.'
Wrath sighed before drinking a sip of tea 'Very well...'
Slowly, Naruto turned to face his mother and the woman was startled to see that her son's eyes had turned completely white.
"Irresponsible?" Naruto asked with a voice cold as ice "Are you saying that I am irresponsible?! Call yourself a hypocrite would only detract from the matter! For twelve years you've never worried about me! For twelve fucking years I was left alone by all of you! Have you ever wondered why my clothes were ruined and stained with blood?! Of course not! You have never entered into my room! I bet you do not even know what it looks like!" he looked at all the others with eyes full of anger "None of you has ever noticed my absence at dinner as you never noticed to have locked me out of the house, forcing me to sleep in a park even in midwinter! While you were spending your loving family afternoons laughing and joking, I was being beaten by my peers and older people who saw me as the reincarnation of the Kyuubi or other crap invented on the spot for the sole purpose of beating me! Do you believe that they have stopped when I yelled at them that I was the son of the Hokage? Guess what? NO! On the contrary, they laughed by defining the Hokage 'a pure soul who would never abandon his son, and that if he had abandoned me it was just because I was the Kyuubi'! My dream was to become Hokage to be recognized by everyone, including you! But that dream has been shattered five years ago, when a ninja of this damn village has kidnapped me and left me to die in the Forest of the Death where I was stung by a giant scorpion which has destroyed my chakra system! All this could have been avoided if you had taught me something! Or even better, if you had just noticed me! You have abandoned me in favor of my sisters just because they have that fucking fur ball sealed inside them!"
All those present in the room were simply speechless. The anger of Naruto combined with his words had completely caught them unprepared. Even Orochimaru and the two halves of Kurama were left stunned in the face of that explosion of wrath.
"N-Naruto...you've to understand...there are three organizations which want to...!" started Jiraiya but a glare from Naruto was enough to silence him.
"Spare me your useless excuses, Jiraiya! I know that my sisters are targeted by these organizations! Nevertheless, that does not excuse you for leaving me to myself for seven years! My first seven years of life! I would never have wanted all the attention to me! I would never have asked for the impossible! I would never have dared to challenge the word of my parents if only they had acted as such! Even a simple tree-climbing exercise would have made me happy! Do you know how many people have considered me as a person? Five! Five people in the whole damn village! Hiruzen Sarutobi, Itachi Uchiha, Ayame, Teuchi and Orochimaru with the latter that has never been present in the village because of his constant trips and for that I definitely can not blame him! Speaking of his trips, you accepted that girl named Karin like she's always been with you! You've loved her from the first day and not even at that time you remembered me!" he pointed an accusing finger at Kushina, who was now crying without realizing "According to the motto of the Uzumaki clan, family comes first. Well, I really think that you've been adopted beheld how thou hast ignored me until now! Just know this, Uzumaki-san. In this room, there is no member of my family! The Hokage is not my father! Those two girls are not my sisters! The others are not my godparents or my surrogate brother or uncle and you...!" Naruto stared straight into Kushina's eyes and the woman, having sensed his future words, pleaded him with her eyes to not utter them.
Her pleas did not reach her son.
"You. Are. NOT. MY. MOTHER!" shouted the boy with his eyes blazing for a moment with hellish flames. A light seemed to go off in the eyes of Kushina and, before anyone could utter a word, Naruto turned on his heel and left the room, closing the door with enough force to bend it outwards.
End Flash-back
The next day, Naruto had received news of his mother's condition and they were quite worrying. Simply using the 'power' of the voice, Naruto had completely devastated the psyches of his mother and the woman had ended up in a coma. For the past two weeks, Kushina was admitted to the hospital and seemed to be completely alien to the outside world. She was not sleeping, eating or drinking...she was just lying on her bed staring at the sky outside the window, and her condition was getting worse day by day.
Nothing seemed to be able to make her improve. Tsunade had tried using all of her medical jutsu but were unsuccessful, Jiraiya had used some seals but even those had led to nothing. Minato and their daughters had tried to talk to her but their words were not able to reach Kushina.
As for Naruto, the boy had managed to get the hatred of the whole village, not that prior to that incident they were all polite to him, of course. Hiruzen had tried to persuade him to apologize to Kushina but there was no way to reason with him, and when the Sandaime had gone to see the spirits for advice, he found them intent to review the scene in a mirror of water, courtesy of Mizu. Even Itachi, Teuchi and Ayame had tried to talk to him, but Naruto did not want to listen to anyone. Having let himself go to anger had disturbed him and he decided to isolate himself for a whole week to calm down.
Obviously Tsunade did not agree and had even destroyed his house just to get him out to face his punishment. In most cases, Naruto had managed to cover his tracks while the other times had been 'saved' by someone, mainly Hiruzen.
Now, Naruto was on the way to the Hokage Tower after he was summoned again by the Hokage, but the woman did not want to let him pass.
"I do not want to hurt you, Senju-san." said Naruto jumping away from another punch.
"Well too bad, you've already hurt me! Kushina is like a surrogate daughter to me and you've broken her hearth!" shouted Tsunade trying to hit him with a side kick, without success.
"Is that so? All of you can hurt me by forgetting about my existence but I can not hurt her saying the truth?" asked Naruto releasing a wire from his left hand. Before she could answer, Naruto quickly moved a finger and, using the wire just released, opened a cut on the forehead of the woman who cursed at him and put her hands on the wound. Feeling a warm liquid running down her arms, she drew back her hands and froze on the spot seeing them completely stained with blood.
"This should keep you in place for a while." said Naruto before giving to her his back "Remember this, Senju-san. If you stop won't to attack me every single day, my methods to stop you will become more and more painful. You've been warned." and with that, he walked away, reaching the tower after ten minutes. After a brief greeting to the secretary, who reserved to him a look full of hate, Naruto walked up the stairs and headed for the office of the Hokage.
Opening the door, the boy found himself in front of too many people with whom he did not want to have to do. In addition to Minato, the entire Team Seven was present and all of them were turned towards him. The Yondaime had a tired look and deep dark circles, Kakashi looked at with a mixture of anger and indifference, Kiba looked ready to jump at his throat as his sisters looked tired as Minato but in their eyes could be seen a shred of anger aimed to Naruto.
"My apologies, Hokage-sama. I did not know you were busy with another team. I'll wait in the hallway." said Naruto but Minato raised a hand to stop him.
"No Naruto, it's okay." the Hokage looked at the jonin of Team Seven "They are here for a C-rank mission and you're going with them."
'WHAT?! IS HE RETARDED?!' shouted both Greed and Envy making Naruto winch for the sudden outburst.
"Hokage-sama, although I am happy to be able to go back on a mission, I must remind you that I do not get along with most of Team Seven, if not the whole team." said Naruto without looking at the others.
"I know Naruto and I'm sorry for this but the other teams are already on a mission and will not return until two weeks. If you want to participate in the Chūnin Exams, this is the only way." explained Minato and Naruto had to refrain himself from groaning at the news.
"Very well. In that case...what is the mission?" asked the blonde walking until he was on the right of Kakashi.
"You've to escort a man from here to his home and protect him until he will finish a bridge. Tazuna-san, you may enter!" said Minato raising his voice and, after a couple of seconds, an old man with gray hair, dressed as a carpenter and a bottle of saké in his right hand.
"So these are the ninja who will defend me? A dog-boy, a couple of girls, a scarecrow and..." Tazuna stopped in mid sentence, looking at Naruto from head to toe "Well, the last one seems a good one to me."
Kiba snorted loudly hearing that but was Kakashi who spoke for the others "I can assure you that my team will be able to protect you properly, Tazuna-san."
"I hope so. My super bridge will connect the Land of Waves with the Land of Fire and therefore you have to defend me at the cost of your life!" said Tazuna with a serious look.
"All right team, meeting at the south gate in two hours. Prepare a backpack with supplies sufficient for at least two weeks." said Kakashi before shunshining away. Mito and Miwako waved at their father before walking away with Kiba and the client.
"Naruto..." called Minato while looking at his son near the door.
"Yes, Hokage-sama?"
"Be careful, okay?" said Minato whit a little smile and Naruto nodded before leaving the office and closing the new door made of metal. Despite the incident with Kushina, Minato could not hate his son. Of course, Naruto had broken her heart, but he did so after enduring for twelve years different types of abuses. In the end, Minato had no right to be angry with him.
With Naruto – Two hours later
Naruto was heading towards the south gate along with his trusty horse, when in front of him, appeared a black haired boy who watched him with a small smile. Under his mask, Naruto smiled in the same way.
"Greeting, Itachi-san. How are you?" asked the blonde stopping Kage in front of his friend.
"I'm fine, thanks. Just came back from a mission, and I have heard that you are about to leave for a C-rank mission. Land of Waves, am I right?" asked Itachi stroking the horse's muzzle.
"Yes, with Team Seven..." mumbled Naruto with annoyance in his voice.
"A tough challenge, no doubt." said Itachi with a nod "I know that you do not like, but try to resist. It's just a mission after all."
"I'll try. No promises." said Naruto with a chuckle.
"A little warning. Be careful down there. The situation is not the best due to a businessman named Gatō. His influence has done nothing but drain the country and the people are now on their last legs." said Itachi with a calm look.
"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." Naruto bowed to his friend, the only one who knew of his true skills and had not disclosed them to anyone in the name of their friendship. A few minutes later, Naruto reached the designated gate and saw that everyone else was ready to go.
"Well, now that we're all here, we can leave." said Kakashi glaring for a brief moment at Naruto before looking at his team "Be careful. It is only a C-rank mission but some bandits could attack us and you must be prepared to face them."
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei." said three Genin of his team while Naruto just picked up his book which was the same in Kakashi's hand. Without another word, the group set off toward their destination.
After the first hour of journey, passed in silence, the situation had become less tense. Miwako and Mito had started chatting with Tazuna, asking some question about his country, Kiba was walking behind them to watch the butt of both girls with a perverted smile on his face and finally Kakashi and Naruto had dedicated themselves to their reading. The Jonin of the group seemed to have forgotten the incident with Kushina, since he had asked Naruto what he thought of the progress in the plot of the book.
Everything seemed to go smoothly but, when they were already half way, Naruto saw something very unusual: a puddle of water in the middle of the road. Normally, such a thing would not attract his attention, but it did not rain for three weeks and there was a blazing sun above them. Shooting a quick look at Kakashi, he saw that the scarecrow was aware of the anomaly and the same could be said for the other three Genin. Kiba must have noticed it thanks to his nose while the two halves of Kurama must have alerted their containers. Now they had to act accurately and...
"Hey, you two! Your Genjutsu it's pretty lame! Come out and face us!"
…with discretion. That was the idea!
Having no other choice, two ninja popped out of the puddle which faded soon after. Both men were wearing a respirator over their mouths and were equipped with camouflage clothing with colors tending to brown, but one of them also had a black cloak that covered most of his body. The one with the cloak had a horn attached to his forehead protector of Kiri and an ominous gauntlet that covered his right arm from the elbow down. From the gauntlet a chain of blades was sticking out of and was connected to the gauntlet on the left hand of the other man who, unlike his partner, had two horns attached to his forehead protector.
"You are quite skilled...you managed to unveil our illusion." said the one with one horn.
"However, it will serve little purpose, because now you and that old man will die!" added the second before sprinting toward the ninja of Konoha with his partner.
'Gōzu and Meizu, two missing nin from Kiri who are called 'The Demon Brothers'. Why are they here?' thought Naruto while moving Kage in front of Tazuna in order to protect him from frontal attacks. Kiba launched himself at Gōzu, the one with the cloak, with Akamaru and tried to stop him but the enemy, even though he was a missing nin, was still a Chūnin and managed to get rid of the Genin with a well-placed kick to the head. His brother was not so fortunate since both Naruto's sisters were on him in an instant, and while Miwako used her speed to avoid Meizu's gauntlet, Mito used her accuracy to throw three kunai which pierced the right leg of their opponent, causing him to fall to the ground. Blocked by his brother due to the chain, Gōzu could not defend himself from Kakashi who, using only his right arm, managed to close the missing nin in a headlock, putting him out of the game.
After removing the gauntlets and having tied both the ninja to a tree, Kakashi turned to Tazuna, asking him why he had been targeted by two missing nin.
"I'm sorry but I've lied to you." admitted the old man while looking at the ground "My country is very poor due to a tyrant named Gatō, the president of the Gatō Company. His shady dealings have led my people to the brink of the end and only the completion of my bridge could bring a new future for my land! Of course, that damn bastard knows this and has hired some ninja to kill me. As I said, the Land of Waves is poor and I could not afford a high-ranking mission so I had to lie."
"While I am greatly sorry for what is happening in your country, I have to inform you that this mission has just become a lot more dangerous." said Kakashi looking at the client "The Demon Brothers have always been seen together with Zabuza Momochi, an A-rank missing nin and former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. If we had been informed in advance, we could have send a team of Jonin to complete the mission, receiving the required payment at a later date. Lying to the Hokage, you have endangered these four Genin, Tazuna-san."
"I know and I'm ashamed of myself for not telling you the truth! However, I ask you to help me because I'm the only hope for my country and I can not let Gatō get away with it!" shouted Tazuna bowing to the Konoha nin.
Kakashi sighed, rubbing his neck "This is something that I can not decide by myself." he then looked at his team "So, what do you want to do?"
"Let's continue with the mission! This Gatō deserves a lesson!" shouted Kiba with a grin and Akamaru barked to show its approval.
"We should help them! We can stop this if we want!" said Miwako with a fierce look and her sister nodded with a fire in her eyes.
Kakashi nodded and turned to the fourth Genin "Naruto?"
"There are already three votes to go on with the mission. With me four." said the blonde reading his book with a calm look.
"Very well, it's your lucky day, Tazuna-san! We'll help you and your country. I'll just send a scroll to the Hokage for informing him about this choice." said Kakashi with his eye-smile before summoning one of his dogs which started to run back to Konoha with the scroll in its mouth "Okay team, let's go."
"Go ahead, my horse needs a few minutes of privacy." said Naruto getting off from Kage's back and then let him go into the trees. Kakashi raised an eyebrow but said nothing and walked away along with his team and Tazuna. After a full minute, when they were far enough away, Naruto turned slightly toward the two missing nin "In a short time, an ANBU team will be here to pick you up and bring you into the prison of Konoha where you will be interrogated. Do you want to regain the freedom now without having to wait?"
The two brothers glared at each other for a moment and then Gōzu asked "Are you going to help us? Why?"
"Let's say that, unlike other people, I never leave anyone behind. If you want to regain your freedom, I will help you, but you will serve me in the future and if all goes well, even Zabuza will follow your destiny." explained Naruto without looking at them "So, do we have a deal?"
After another glare between the two man, Meizu asked "What we have to do?"
"For now, nothing. When you will be free, head to Konoha but stay outside of the walls. To the west you will find a small waterfall and a house made entirely of wood, use it as well as a shelter until I get back. You can also train yourself if you want, just try to not attract attention." said Naruto before releasing one of his wires and making some cuts in the rope used for keep them tied to the tree "Wait a few minutes, after which make a little pressure with your arms so as to break the whole rope. Until we meet again, Demon Brothers."
After a couple of seconds, Kage returned to him and Naruto made his way toward his fellows ninja.
Meizu looked at his brother "Do you think that we've made a wise choice?"
"A new master or the jail...yes, it was indeed a wise choice..." mumbled Gōzu and with that, they waited in silence a couple of minutes before snapping the robe and running toward Konoha, of course avoiding the main road.
With Naruto
The young blond man reached his companions after a few minutes and kept walking beside them, reading his book as if nothing had happened. Obviously no one was aware of his small rescue operation and the reason was quite simple: Naruto had deliberately waited before implementing his plan so as to be safe from the senses enchanted of his traveling companions.
Hiding his smirk behind the mask, Naruto continued to read until the group stopped on the seashore. After a few minutes of waiting, a boat approached the shore and Tazuna greeted the helmsman who, however, looked at Naruto with a worried look.
"Tazuna, you know that I want to help you but my boat can not transport a horse of that size. We would risk to sink along the way." said the man but Naruto wasn't worried and, after removing the travel bags from the side of Kage, let go of his horse which, without waiting, plunged into the water and began to swim.
"Problem solved." said Naruto before water-walking toward the island under the surprised looks of the other ninja.
"Naruto...you can already water-walk?" asked Kakashi with his eye widened.
"Yes, I can. Now that we are done with pointing out the obvious, can we go?" asked the blond waling next to Kage, while the others jumped on the boat and followed him. The crossing lasted a relatively short time, but in the end the five ninja and Tazuna landed on the 'coast' of the Land of Waves. After a brief goodbye to the helmsman, the group walked along a road with a large lake on their right. But the strange thing was the fog that appeared out of nowhere shortly after their arrival and Kakashi had immediately sensed something special in that fog. It was completely soaked with chakra.
"Wow, what a fog! This place should be called the Land of Fog." joked Kiba before looking at Tazuna "Hey, old man! Is this fog a normal thing in this country?"
"Well, yes...but usually it appears in the morning or evening and is never so thick..." mumbled Tazuna with a strange feeling which was screaming at him to run away from that place. Kiba did not seem to grasp the subtle warning and, on the contrary, spun around and then throw a kunai into a bush screaming "Found you!"
"Ki-baka! What the hell are you doing?! Do you want to give me a heart attack?!" shouted Miwako placing a hand on her chest. The dog-boy ignored her and walked into the bush where he found a petrified white rabbit with his kunai just a mere inch from its head.
"Hey I found our dinner!" exulted Kiba with a wide smile. A smile that vanished almost immediately "Don't call me 'Ki-baka'! My name is Kiba damn it!"
"Whatever you say. You're just a baka and a pervert! A super-pervert like Ero-Sennin!" said Miwako with a grin. Beside her, Mito just shook her head as her two teammates were able to discuss even in a situation like that. All under the confused look of Tazuna. Meanwhile, Kakashi and Naruto were watching the rabbit, thinking the exact same thing 'A rabbit with white fur is unnatural around here during this time of year, also the fur is perfectly clean and the rabbit looks well-nourished therefore it's a pet. There are two options: it escaped from its cage or...' both ninja widened their eyes coming to the same conclusion 'A substitution!'
At that precise moment, Kakashi felt a whistling in the air from the forest and, without even thinking, he shouted "Get down!" before throwing himself directly on Tazuna. Kiba and the girls followed immediately but Naruto stood on the saddle, turning toward the source of the sound: a giant cleaver that was hurtling in the air toward him. With a flick of his right wrist, Naruto released several wires from his hand and, when the blade was about to pierce him, it stopped in midair. Three inches away from his chest.
'Wires?! He blocked that giant cleaver with simple wires?!' Kakashi thought in awe, watching Naruto who, without blinking, tossed the massive sword not far from them, letting it fall in the middle of the road. While the other Genin rose from the ground, trying to understand what had just happened, a shirtless man with bandages that covered most of his face appeared from the trees and picked up the cleaver, lifting it effortlessly.
"Well I'll be damned if this is not the first time that someone is able to block my Kubikiribōchō in that way." said the man with a grin behind his bandages.
"Sorry to have ruined your surprise attack, but I'm able to block such large objects without any problem." said Naruto looking at his opponent "Since you are wielding one of the seven legendary swords and have the headband of Kiri, I can deduce that you're Zabuza Momochi, correct?"
"In flesh and blood." Zabuza bowed in a mocking way "So my name is also famous among the brats of Konoha. I should feel honored."
"I do not think that the others Genin know your name, in fact I'm pretty sure that many Chūnin do not know you." commented Naruto in a calm tone while the rest of the group was looking at him and Zabuza talking like they were old friends.
"Such a pity. I should kill you for remedy but today I'm in a good mood so I will let you go if you will leave to me the old man." said Zabuza pointing at Tazuna with his cleaver.
"I am afraid that we can not accept your offer." interjected Kakashi raising his forehead protector so as to show a red eye with three tomoe around the pupil.
"Ah, Kakashi of the Sharingan! I see you've decided to use immediately your special eye. What an honor for me to face someone like you in this forgotten land." Zabuza moved his glare from Kakashi to the Genin, letting out a little chuckle "Looks like the one with the horse is the only decent."
"What did you say?!" growled Kiba showing his fangs but Zabuza was not at all impressed. Kiba, as well as Mito and Miwako, took a kunai to defend themselves and, soon after, began to rain as well, making the atmosphere even more gloomy.
"See? The sky is crying for you." mocked Zabuza with his grin angering even more the heir of the Inuzuka clan.
"Sorry to disappoint you but the sky is crying just for you and your imminent death! Let's Akamaru!" shouted Kiba going on all fours and his dog barked before transforming into a perfect copy of Kiba. The two began to run at the same time, ignoring the shouts of Kakashi, and jumped on Zabuza, starting to rotate on their axis.
"Take this! Gatsūga! (Fang Passing Fang!)" yelled Kiba but, before he and his partner could hit the target, a female voice shouted "Suiton: Water Nebula! (Water Release: Water Nebula!)" and two columns of water sprang from behind Zabuza then twirled around each other and hit with incredible strength Kiba and Akamaru, throwing them behind Kakashi and the others who looked surprised at the scene.
"Shin Shin To...Juvia thinks that the dog-boy should die first as he tried to hit Zabuza-sama." said a girl with long azure blue hair walking next to Zabuza, before stopping at his side.
To say that the Konoha ninja were speechless would be an understatement. In front of them stood a girl with a snow skin complexion, midnight blue eyes and a curvaceous figure. The strangest thing, however, was her clothes that were not at all suited for a hypothetical kunoichi! The girl, in fact, was wearing a knee-high dark dress coat garnished with fur trimmings around its sleeve cuffs and neck, a dark hat with white fur at the base, a light brown belt around her waist and dark brown thigh-high boots. In the front part of the hat, a little above the fur, was visible the metal plate of a headband of Kiri. (1)
'Who the hell is that?' wondered Kakashi in while making sure that Kiba was still alive. That technique had seemed incredibly powerful and, since they were near a lake and under the rain, their situation was not the best.
"Be patient, Juvia." said Zabuza looking at the girl "Kill him now would not be reasonable. We must first complete the work for which we were hired."
'So the brothers were not the only allies of Zabuza. This is getting more complicated.' thought Naruto narrowing his eyes. Sensing to be at a disadvantage, the boy got off the horse and drew the ōdachi of Sasaki which had been tied on the right side of Kage. The former swordsman of Kiri looked at the sword with some interest, but before he could say anything, Naruto shifted his gaze toward the lake "Come out and face us with your friends, I know that you're in the water."
This time were Zabuza and Juvia to be surprised and, seconds later, a figure emerged from the water, nay more precisely, the water began to move by itself until it assumed the features of a young man with white hair, purple eyes and sharp teeth similar to that of a shark. The boy flashed a grin at Naruto and stuck a hand into the water, then raising a big greatsword, with red handle and golden parts at the base of the blade. (2)
"It looks like you've got it right, Zabuza-sensei." said the boy jumping near Zabuza and Juvia "That guy knows his stuff!"
"How the hell...a Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone)?" asked Mito looking at the white haired boy who was smirking at them.
"No, that was the Suika no Jutsu (Hydrification Technique), it's a whole-body technique whereby the user can liquefy their body at will. It is the signature technique of the Hōzuki Clan." explained Kakashi while cursing his luck. Now they were facing three ninja with water affinity and two of them were extremely skilled swordsmen, since the white haired boy had just called Zabuza 'sensei'.
"Oh? It seems that our clan is famous. Are not you happy, Juvia-nee-chan?" asked the boy looking at Juvia who simply shrugged.
"Juvia is not interested in fame, Suigetsu-nii-san. Juvia just wants to be useful to Zabuza-sama to achieve his goal." she said while Kakashi was now cursing even more his luck. The members of the Hōzuki Clan were famous for their high affinity with the water element. Not a good thing when you're facing them near a lake and under the rain.
'Those two are probably High Chūnin level or maybe Low Jonin...' thought Kakashi glaring at his opponents and then at his team 'In our current situation we can not hope to beat them with no casualties among us, we must also pay attention to Tazuna and we do not know if there are other enemies hidden somewhere. We could try to lead them away from the lake, but in the middle of this fog would be a suicide deal with them in the forest.'
"Tazuna-san, climb on my horse." ordered Naruto without looking at him.
"Wha...why?" asked the old man who was next to pee in his pants.
"Just do it. Kage is faster than a ninja so if the situation gets worse, he'll take you away from here in a few minutes." explained the blonde designing a plan in his head to deal with his enemies. The old man did not say anything and climbed into the saddle, while remaining behind the ninja.
"You have a lot of faith in that horse, kid." said Zabuza in a calm voice. He was not at all worried. Although faster than them, the horse had to swim to leave while they could easily run on the water.
"Naruto, even if your idea is good, we can not bet everything on your horse." said Kakashi "We have to fight them."
"I know. In our favor we only have the numerical advantage for now, but I doubt that is enough." admitted Naruto "We need to tire them out to have any chance of winning."
"Leave that to me!" exclaimed Miwako with a wide grin before placing her hands in a cross sign "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! (Shadow Clone Technique!)"
In a few moments, several smoke explosions appeared around them and soon, Zabuza and his allies found themselves facing about one hundred clones of Miwako. She wasted no time and shouted to her clones to attack and the chaos was total. Zabuza and Suigetsu began slicing away in all directions, eliminating as many as possible clones, while Juvia created several walls of water to block the advance of the clones behind them. Taking advantage of the distraction, Kakashi, Naruto and Kiba ran toward their opponents in an attempt to overwhelm them while Mito decided to circumvent them and Miwako created more clones to continue to keep Zabuza and his allies engaged.
Avoiding the kunai of a clone, and killing the aforementioned clone immediately after, Suigetsu noticed Naruto running towards him and then jump high with his sword ready to strike. Grinning at the more than evident attack, Suigetsu raised his sword to defend himself, but upon impact, his eyes widened in surprise in experiencing the strength of Naruto. The ground beneath his feet slightly flawed and was forced to turn his arms into water to avoid losing them altogether. Naruto did not wait and hit the opponent with a kick to the head, destroying it but soon realized not to have killed him since the entire head had turned into water after being exploded. Suigetsu immediately assumed his physical appearance and tried to hit Naruto with a side blow, using his ability to transform his right arm, making it much more muscular. The ninja of Konoha, not having time to use his wires, ducked to avoid the blow and jump away immediately, thus avoiding even a blow by Zabuza who had just kicked off Kakashi.
The copy-ninja, at that moment, was falling into the lake but Naruto managed to wrap some wires around the leg of Kakashi and dragged him to the mainland, preventing him from falling into water. Trying to hit the blonde in that unguarded moment, Zabuza was hit in turn by Mito who stabbed him in the back with a kunai but the missing nin turned completely into water.
"That was a Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone), right?!" asked/shouted Miwako and Mito near face-palmed at the question.
"Correct little girl and you are a dead kunoichi!" hissed Zabuza behind the girl before slicing her in half but her body exploded in white smoke. Surprised that it was a simple clone, Zabuza barely managed to avoid a kunai launched by the real Miwako behind him. Other clones of the blonde threw themselves against the swordsman but several water blades hit them in midair, dispelling them in white smoke. Cursing under her breath, Miwako started to avoid the many blows of Zabuza who managed to cut and bring down some trees without any trouble until he was not stopped by Kakashi who resumed his battle against the Demon of the Hidden Mist.
Not too far, Naruto jumped on the branch of a tree, avoiding the slash of a water clone of Suigetsu, and scanned the battlefield to get an idea of the current situation.
Kakashi was facing Zabuza with the support of Miwako and, judging by their appearance, all of them were slowly depleting their energies. Despite the experience, the missing nin was fighting against an equally skilled ninja plus a Jinchuuriki with monstrous stamina levels who could create dozens of clones without problems. However, the situation was slowly going to favor Zabuza who, despite the handicap, showed no signs of reducing the pace while Kakashi and Miwako were becoming visibly slower. The same could be said for Mito, who was facing the real Suigetsu, and Kiba who was trying in every way to reach Juvia but the constant attacks of the girl were holding him at a safe distance. Compared to Zabuza, his allies were not in the least tired, indeed Suigetsu seemed faster than before and the countless cuts on Mito's body were a sufficient proof.
'It's the rain...' guessed Naruto beheading the clone of Suigetsu with a wire 'The clothes soaked by the rain are heavy and therefore we consume more energy to move our bodies, also the temperature dropped several degrees and this is worsening the situation. Those two of the Hōzuki clan probably are not affected due to their skills while Zabuza has few clothes and he's a former ninja of Kiri, where this type of environment is quite common.'
'Naruto, I think it would be better to use THAT.' said Wrath in his mind while observing the battle with the other Sins.
'Guess you're right though it will give me a lot of discomfort...' thought Naruto before closing his eyes.
Meanwhile, Suigetsu was able to wound Mito to an arm causing her to lose the grip on her kunai, and then strike it with a heavy frontal kick that sent her into a tree. Turning to Naruto, he saw him on a branch with his eyes closed and, grinning, rushed at him with his greatsword ready to strike.
"Stay on the sidelines while your friends are fighting will not allow you to survive a little lon...!" the words died in his throat as he saw Naruto's eyes and his face became a mask of pure bewilderment and fear.
Despite the hood, the mask and the blonde fringe over the right eye, the swordsman clearly saw Naruto's eyes, whose pupils were now only two tiny dots exclusively focused on the missing nin, sending to him a sense of fear that he didn't feel for years.
What Suigetsu could not know, was that Naruto had just used one of the skills that he created by combining the gifts received by the spirits. In this case, combining the complete absence of emotions with his sealed sins and his special eyes, Naruto had created a kind of advanced version of the God-Speed Impulse, which he dubbed 'War God-Speed Impulse'. Using this ability, Naruto was able to observe all the details around him within a second and, having a clear and calm mind, could devise a plan of action that would take place immediately after that second of observation. Normally, such an action would require several seconds, since even a genius of the Nara clan was not able to conceive strategies in an instant, but Naruto had used the secret skill of the God-Speed Impulse that practically made his body react automatically to many of the things that were happening around him. So, the reason why Naruto was watching Suigetsu at that moment was only because he had just finished watching everything else and the positions of all ninja were imprinted in his mind.
At his 3 o'clock, about thirty meters. Kakashi on one knee with two crossed kunai over the head intent to block the cleaver of Zabuza who was trying to overpower his opponent using the sheer brute force.
2 o'clock, about twenty meters. Miwako slumped to the ground in a small puddle of blood with her face pressed against the ground and the arms wrapped around the belly.
12 o'clock, ten meters. Juvia, with her back towards him, intent on creating a blade of water above the right arm raised toward the sky. In front of her, Kiba and Akamaru were trying to get up after being knocked down by a wall of water.
10 o'clock, about fifteen meters. Mito crumpled against a tree with the right hand over the left shoulder where a large gash was visible.
9 o'clock, two meters. Suigetsu in midair with his broadsword raised above his head and both hands gripping the hilt.
All information had been collected and a plan was born in Naruto's mind.
The student of Scorpion vanished in a cloud of flame and smoke, surprising Suigetsu, and then reappeared behind Juvia. With incredible accuracy and speed, he used his right hand to grab her right wrist, striking her between the shoulder blades with his left fist wrapped in infernal flames, making her scream in pain.
One second.
Producing even more flames with his left hand, Naruto exploited them to hurl backwards his left arm, by stretching it toward Suigetsu and releasing at the same time his special kunai enveloped in flames which pierced the missing nin in his right shoulder, making him scream for the shock and pain.
Two seconds.
Performing a rotation of one hundred and eighty degrees, Naruto grabbed Juvia's head with his right hand and threw her at Suigetsu who had just been pulled towards Naruto using his special kunai. The impact freed Suigetsu from the kunai but threw both him and Juvia into the lake, causing him to lose the grip on his greatsword.
Three seconds.
Vanishing again, Naruto teleported under the greatsword and, having grasped with one hand, threw it like a spear, aiming at Zabuza or more precisely, at his cleaver. Darting through the rain and fog, the tip of the greatsword precisely hit the empty circle positioned almost at the tip of the cleaver of Zabuza, causing him to lose his balance and allowing Kakashi to take a leap backwards.
Four seconds.
Completely stunned by the attack, Zabuza glanced to the right and the only thing he saw in the fog was a cloud of flames and black smoke. His right arm was stretched along the body, having lost the grip on his sword, while the left was fully extended to the left due to the impact between the two weapons and that was the point where Naruto teleported himself, appearing already crouched and with the right arm bent and the fist engulfed in flames.
Five seconds.
Even before Zabuza could notice the danger, Naruto struck him with all his strength in the chest and the sound of breaking bones was heard amid the roar of the rain. The missing nin vomited a lot of blood, smearing the bandages on his face, and was thrown near the lake, impacting against a tree.
In just six seconds, Naruto was able to completely reverse the tide of the battle.
Kakashi and the others watched in pure shock the scene in front of their eyes, unable to believe what had just happened. Tazuna and Kiba were almost frightened by what Naruto had just done. Not only he had faced three high-level ninja alone, but also had overwhelmed them in a matter of seconds. Kakashi and the girls, however, were simply incredulous given that Naruto had been labeled as a 'special case' due to his damaged chakra system and now, as if it was a very simple thing, he had done something that not even all of them together were able to do.
Naruto, meanwhile, was able to stand only for a few seconds before collapsing to his knees. The negative effect of his new ability gave him a violent headache due to the information collected too quickly, and during his early experiments he had always passed out after using it.
"Kakashi...I think it is a good time to close the matter." said Naruto between his deep breaths. He did not want to kill Zabuza but was certain that a prolonged fight would have seen win the missing nin of Kiri. Recovering from his stupor, Kakashi nodded and grasped a kunai then approached Zabuza but at the last, the swordsman was hit by three senbon needles in the neck which made him fall to the ground.
"What the..." looking around to see who had thrown the needles, Kakashi spotted a figure standing on the highest branch of a nearby tree. The first thing he noticed was the hunter nin mask with the symbol of Kiri on the forehead.
"Thank you for having weakened Zabuza. I chased him for several weeks but the two members of the Hōzuki clan were a rather annoying obstacle." said the hunter nin before shunshining near the body of Zabuza, picking him up soon after "Thanks again for your help."
"Well...I guess it's fine. What about the other two?" asked Kakashi moving his forehead protector over the Sharingan.
"They are not recorded in any bingo book so there isn't a bounty over their heads." explained the hunter nin looking at the lake just when Suigetsu and Juvia jumped out of the water, landing near the cleaver of Zabuza and the greatsword of the white haired boy.
"You! Stay away from Zabuza-sama!" shouted Juvia with a cold glare while Suigetsu picked up the two swords.
"I'm sorry, but I've already killed him. Farewell." said the hunter nin with a little bow before shunshining away, leaving the two water ninja with the others. Juvia was next to follow the hunter nin, but Suigetsu placed the cleaver in front of her body, shaking his head.
"Don't do it, nee-chan. Let's retreat, we've lost." said the white haired boy before turning into water and merging with the lake, followed by a reluctant Juvia who spared a last glare at Naruto just before turning into water. With their disappearance, both the fog and the rain went away in a few seconds, leaving only a cloudy sky.
"Damn, I can't believe it...we're alive!" shouted Kiba hugging his dog who barked in response. Mito walked near her sister and saw a big cut on her belly already in the process of closing.
"I bet that Kurama is cursing at you." joked Mito with a little smile and her sister asked "How do you know?"
"Simple, she's cursing at me for this cut." explained Mito pointing at her shoulder and both of them laughed at that. After having calmed down, they turned to Kakashi who smiled at them.
"Well done team! We're all alive and the client is safe, everything went well especially thanks to you, Naruto. That was a hell of a fight." said Kakashi looking at blonde who simply shrugged.
"The hunter nin took the body of Zabuza and those two of the Hōzuki clan have his sword. It's not a perfect win for us." said Naruto before walking to his horse "Tazuna-san, your house is still far away from here?"
"No, it's just two miles away." said Tazuna pointing at the road in front of them.
"Ok team, let's proceed like before and if any of you was kind enough to catch me..." said Kakashi before fainting on the spot and falling on the ground, face first.
"Great...now our sensei is out of the game." said Miwako while Naruto picked him up with the help of Tazuna, placing the fainted ninja over Kage.
That evening, the whole team was sitting around a table in Tazuna's house with their client and his daughter, a very pretty young woman named Tsunami. There was also the son of Tsunami, a child called Inari, but he had run to his room after throwing angry glances at all the ninja for at least thirty minutes. After a brief explanation about the reason of his sudden fainting, Kakashi had informed the others that probably Zabuza was still alive.
"What?! How can he be still alive?!" shouted Kiba "That hunter nin has pierced his neck with three senbon!"
"I know, but senbon aren't used for kill like shuriken and kunai. Most of the ninja use them to block the movements of their opponents and, if someone has an excellent knowledge of the human body, they can be used to create a fake death by hitting some pressure points which are in the neck, for example." explained Kakashi "This leads us to think that the hunter nin is actually an accomplice of Zabuza and the other two. Probably he remained hidden for safety during the clash and his decision proved to be successful since he managed to save Zabuza."
'Whoever he was, he had to be located on a tree if I wasn't able to perceive him. The rain has instead covered his scent. Clever...' thought Naruto reading his book like usual.
"So, what do we do, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Mito while glaring at her brother with a little of annoyance in her eyes since she hated all the perverts and someone who reads a book written by Jiraiya is definitely a pervert. At least that's what Tsunade always say.
"For now, I'll train you in view of our next fight with Zabuza. I'm sure that, due to his injuries, he will not be able to fight for several days so we will have a bit of time to prepare ourselves." said Kakashi and the Genin nodded but then someone shouted "It's all useless! You can train every day but you won't be able to beat Gatō! He's too strong for you!"
Everyone except Naruto turned to Inari who had just entered the kitchen, staring again with hatred the various ninja.
"What did you say?" asked/growled Kiba narrowing his eyes.
"You heard me! None of you can defeat him! All those who oppose him will die! You should just go back to your beautiful houses where you will have no problem! None of you know what it means to suffer like us and you'll never know!"
"Inari!" shouted his mother raising from the chair where she was sitting.
"They can not help us! I bet that they have never faced a situation like this! That guy with the book must have lived in luxury and believes that nothing will happen to him!" continued Inari pointing at Naruto. Mito and Miwako winced slightly as they knew of Naruto's life and, despite he lived his first years with them, he had never been able to enjoy his life. However, Naruto seemed not to notice the child and continued reading.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" shouted Inari kicking the floor.
Naruto finally noticed Inari and turned toward him "Mh? Did you say something?"
Kiba struggled to hold back a laugh while the others looked at Naruto with mixed emotions, except Inari who seemed just angry with him. His sisters were fought between rebuke him and give him a hand, because it seemed quite rude to ignore a child. Tazuna and Tsunami did not know whether to be angry with Inari for his words or be shocked for the attitude of Naruto. While Kakashi for his part...
'He is the son that I never had! No! Bad Kakashi! Remember what he did to Kushina-sama and do not even think to adopt him! Minato-sensei would kill you!' while Kakashi was having a discussion with his inner self, Naruto stood watching for a few seconds Inari "I do not know what kind of life you have lived but know that there will always be someone who has had a worse life than you." and with that, he walked out of the house.
"Wait! Where are you going?" asked Mito with a bit of concern given that the night had already fallen.
"I go for a walk. See you tomorrow." answered Naruto without looking back before disappearing in the woods near the house.
Mito continued to watch the point where he disappeared for several seconds with a sad look. When she felt someone putting a hand on her shoulder, she turned slowly, finding herself to see the look of her sister who was equally grim.
"Are you okay?" asked Miwako and her sister just shook her head.
"I don't know...to me, Naruto is still our Naru-nii but at the same time it's like if I'm looking at a stranger." explained Mito looking at the floor "I feel this way ever since Kaa-san ended up in a coma..."
"Yeah, the same goes for me." nodded Miwako with a sad smile "Maybe it's just our fault for not remaining at his side. We could have ask Kaa-chan or Tou-san to train him with us...but we have not said or done anything..."
"To think that we also said that we would protect him, yet today he saved us." added Mito with more sadness in her voice before being hugged by her sister.
"Do not say that, we can still keep our promise and protect him, in one way or another!" said Miwako with a little smile.
"Yeah, you're right, we can still be his sisters." nodded Mito before walking toward her room with her sister. In a few minutes, everyone went to their rooms to rest, except Kakashi, still sitting at the kitchen table.
'He said that he does not want me as a surrogate brother or uncle...this means that I might have some hope as his surrogate father! No! Remember that you can not adopt him and he hates you!'
His inner self was a bitch.
With Naruto – The following morning
'Naruto...'
'I know Wrath, I can feel it. Someone is walking toward me.' Naruto reassured him, remaining seated against the tree where he had dozed off in the middle of the night. He had always liked staying in touch with the earth since the day when the spirits had donated to him his powers. Having woken up a few minutes ago, Naruto had remained half asleep to rest a bit but then he had sensed a presence get close to him. Normally he would not have paid attention but this person was silent. Too much silent.
When the person was in front of him, Naruto tensed his muscles for a possible attack but then he felt a hand on his shoulder and a sweet female voice said "Excuse me, you shouldn't sleep here. It's quite humid and you may catch a cold."
Looking up at the girl, Naruto arched an eyebrow at the sight of a young girl, a little older than him, with long black hair and a simple pink kimono as a dress. In her right hand she held a small basket with some herbs in it.
"Do not worry, I have already slept out in the past, sometimes even under the rain or snow." said Naruto slowly raising from his position.
The girl looked at him with a confused look "It is a form of training or something else?"
"No, just my parents who locked me out of the compound where I used to live." explained Naruto with a shrug while she looked at him with eyes widened in surprise.
"They locked you out...?" she repeated and, by seeing him nodding, she asked "Did...did they hated you?"
Naruto seemed to think it over while looking at the sky "I don't know. Probably they don't hate me but they have never shown a bit of love to me, so I do not know how to answer you. The same goes for my sisters." he lowered his eyes "By the way, my name is Naruto."
'Oh my! My little Naruto is growing into a man! You have already revealed something connected to your past and you have also introduced yourself to this lovely girl!' purred Lust with a little grin on her face but Naruto ignored her.
"Pleased to meet you, Naruto-san. My name is Haku, just Haku." said the girl with a little smile even if she was still sad after hearing about his parents. He was so young, maybe a couple of years younger then her, yet he had already endured a terrible pain, just like her.
"May I ask what are you doing here at this hour of the morning, Haku-san? To my knowledge, this area is not particularly safe." asked Naruto glaring at the surroundings.
"I'm looking for medicinal herbs for my friends who are sick." explained Haku picking up a herb near the base of a tree "And do not worry about my safety. On this island there are no wild animals and the mercenaries of Gatō never go out of the town."
"I see. Do you need help with that herbs?" asked Naruto and Haku nodded with a smile. The two spent a half hour in complete silence, collecting different types of herbs, until Haku did not ask "I know that maybe it's a little late to ask, but what is doing a ninja like you here?"
"I'm on a mission. I have to protect a certain person until they will conclude a certain thing." said Naruto without giving out the name of is client. As he revealed those little information, however, Naruto was thinking to something else, namely that Haku, most likely, was the hunter nin who had saved Zabuza. During the collection of herbs he had remained silent but he realized almost immediately that many of those herbs served to prepare painkillers and ointments for burns.
"You do not seem very enthusiastic about it." noted Haku looking at him.
"The mission itself does not bother me, but I was forced to join up with another team. Let's say that I am not on good terms with them." said Naruto before adding "I'd rather not talk about it."
"I apologize for having asked." Haku bowed her head before resuming on picking up herbs. Naruto watched her for a few seconds deciding what to do. It was time to see if his assumptions were well founded.
"Your friends must be really sick if you need so many herbs for them. They are lucky to have someone like you who helps them." said Naruto still looking at her but since she was giving him her back, he couldn't see the slight blush on her cheeks.
"Yes, they are really sick but I'm more than happy to be able to help them." nodded Haku "One of them is more than a friend to me, he is a special person."
"He? Must be your boyfriend." hazarded Naruto ignoring the fake cries of Lust about the loss of a possible girlfriend.
Haku giggled for a few seconds "No, he's not my boyfriend. To me he is like a father. He saved my life when I was younger and has given me a purpose."
"A father uh?"
Haku nodded whit a little smile on her lips.
"So you should call yourself Momochi Haku, am I correct?" asked Naruto with a voice cold as ice, freezing her on the spot "Do not worry, I will not attack you as long as you do not you attack me and, since you have seen my fight with Zabuza and the others, you know that it is better not to take me lightly."
Haku turned slowly, while clutching a senbon made of ice in her right hand, and looked at him from head to toe "Why aren't you attacking me? I'm your enemy..."
"You have not attacked me while I was sitting on the ground against the tree when you found me, I also wanted to thank you." said Naruto with a calm voice confusing her.
"Thanking me? For what?"
"For saving Zabuza. My original plan didn't involve his death." explained Naruto "I've already saved the Demon Brothers and they have sworn to serve me in the future."
Haku narrowed her eyes "What do you want from Zabuza-sama?"
"For now? Nothing. I just don't want to kill him, his allies and that means that I don't want to kill you too."
"Why? There must be a reason!" shouted Haku before regaining her blank face "Do you want to hire us?"
"No, I want to offer to all of you a safe place where you can start over." said Naruto before removing his mask and hood, making her blush again "Years ago, someone saved my life and gave me the means to survive and become stronger. Normally, I should not worry about people like you missing nin, but it would be a lack of respect for those who helped me and it's thanks to them that I realized what are my goals." he looked at the sky just as the sun filtered through some clouds, illuminating the clearing where they were "I'll become stronger and stronger in order to prove to some people that I can go on even without them and on my way I will help whomever I can, without leaving anyone behind. That's why I want to 'save' Zabuza, you and the others. If you'll fight us again, you'll die."
Haku stared at him speechless. The moment she saw him for the first time she realized that he was not a boy like all the others. Not only he did not want to kill his hypothetical enemies but he also wanted to help them thus to do not have to deal with more.
"I won't lie to you. I've already killed someone and probably I'll kill again, especially those who don't deserve to be saved." said Naruto thinking at his first victim, Sasaki Kojirou. A few days after his first C-rank mission, Naruto had thought at his fight with Sasaki and the fact that, perhaps, he could have avoided to kill him but instead he had simply followed orders like a perfect puppet. Naruto had fasted for three days because of the unpleasant feeling in his stomach.
"Why are you telling me this?" asked Haku with mixed emotions "You could simply ignore us...Zabuza-sama has almost killed your teammates!"
"I know but you said that he's like a father to you and I think that losing a parent it's a pain too great to bear, so I want to help." said Naruto before walking away with the mask again over his face "Think about it. If you want to accept my offer, let a senbon stuck in the tree where you found me. If I will not see any senbon...hope to not be the one who will face me." and with that he vanished in a cloud of flames and smoke, leaving a stunned Haku in the clearing.
'I need to talk with Zabuza-sama.'
With Naruto
'Are you sure about this, Naruto?' asked Pride after some minutes of silence.
'Yes, Pride. I want to help them if I can.'
'I'm not talking about that. Will you be able to fight and kill that girl? I have not perceived negative emotions coming from you while you were talking to her. It means that, basically, you do not see it as an enemy.'
'You know that I don't have any emotion, right?' asked Naruto while walking toward the bridge of Tazuna.
'Stop fooling around and answer me!' shouted Pride with a little of annoyance in his voice 'What will you do if you have to deal with her?'
'I'll think about it when the time will come.' said Naruto before closing the mental link.
Two weeks later
During those two weeks, nothing had happened and Naruto had a bad feeling about it. Kakashi had continued to train his team while the various Genin took turns to protect Tazuna on the bridge during the day. Every morning Naruto walked away from the others to get to the tree where he and Haku had met but he had never found a senbon in the cortex and that said a lot about what would have happened. Tazuna had told them that, in the space of a week, they would have finished the bridge and this meant that Zabuza and his allies would attack in that time frame.
'Perhaps they have simply decided to leave.' thought Naruto walking toward the house of Tazuna after having checked the designed tree, where he didn't found anything. Again.
His thoughts were interrupted by the presence of two people a little further ahead, intent on reaching his same destination. Observing them for good, he saw that they were two of the many rōnin hired by Gatō and both of them had a katana on their waist.
"May I ask where are you going?"
The two samurai turned at him, looking a bit surprised but then a wide grin appeared on their faces.
"One of them remained here?" asked the first looking at his friend who shrugged.
"Never mind, we will kill him and then we will think to the family of that old man!" said the second before running toward Naruto.
Only to be literally torn to pieces after a few steps.
The first rōnin widened his eyes in pure horror but, before he could scream, several wires twined around his throat.
"Now, the two of us will make a beautiful game. It's called 'Answer or Die' and it's my favorite game." hissed Naruto with a cold glare "Why are you here?"
"W-we...were o-ordered to kidnap...the family of...of the old man in order to blackmail him...!" said the samurai trying to breath with the wires still around his throat.
"Why kidnapping them now?"
"B-because...today Zabuza will...a-attack the bridge in...order to kill...T-Tazuna..."
Naruto widened his eyes 'And today Kakashi asked to everyone to go to the bridge in order to help with the work.'
"Last question. What are the intentions of Gatō? His REAL intentions."
"He plans...t-to betray...Zabuza at the e-end of the...fight. He will reach...the u-unfinished part of...t-the bridge with...his mercenaries and will a-attack all t-the ninja who...will be weak after...f-fighting among themselves." explained the man before being beheaded by the wires. The real name of the game was 'Answer AND Die'.
Naruto was too far from Tazuna's house to take his horse and his teleportation allowed him to travel only for short distances but he could not waste his energies since the bridge was made of reinforced concrete and therefore he could not recover the energy from the earth. So he did the only thing possible.
He began to run toward the bridge, hoping not to be too late.
With Kakashi and the others
Despite the bad situation in which he found himself, Kakashi was rather optimistic.
After reaching the bridge along with his team excluded Naruto, who had gone out before them, Kakashi had immediately noticed the rain clouds and, not even after ten minutes, a dense fog had descended on the bridge, followed closely by the rain. Zabuza and his allies had arrived.
But this time, they too would have had a nice surprise given that, with their arrival, had appeared also a female ANBU with long purple hair. Kakashi had been contacted by 'Neko', AKA Yugao Uzuki, during the second week and the ANBU had explained that she had remained hidden for several days so as to be used as reinforcement.
So now Kakashi was facing Zabuza in a duel to the death, while Yugao kept at bay Suigetsu. Not far away, Kiba was facing again Juvia who did not seem in good shape but was still able to face the Inuzuka and his dog. Lastly, Haku had decided to face the two sisters, closing them almost immediately inside a dome made of ice mirrors.
The Yondaime's daughters were at the center of the dome with several senbon protruding from different parts of their body. On the other hand, Haku had a cut on her mask as well as on her battle kimono since, despite her speed, the girls were able to intercept her thanks to their senses enchanted by Kurama.
"Mito-nee...we must do something. Even with the chakra of Kurama we can't fight with these senbon and she wont' give us the time for remove them." said Miwako while looking at Haku who was inside one of her ice mirrors.
"I know but we have to try. She probably can not last long and for sure we have more chakra than her." guessed Mito before raising from the ground.
"It looks like you're the mind between you two. I'm sorry, but I'll have to get rid of you first." said Haku with three senbon needles in each hand. After a couple of seconds, she dashed from a mirror to another, hurling several senbon.
'Shit! I can not lose here! I must defeat her in order to help the others!' thought Miwako gritting her teeth through the pain "Mito-nee! Cover me!"
"Wha...don't! Stop!" shouted Mito looking at her sister while she was running toward an 'empty' mirror.
'The mirror is empty! I will destroy it with the jutsu that Tou-san taught me!' Miwako's hopes were shattered as soon as Haku appeared in the mirror in front of her.
"I'm sorry." said Haku before throwing a dozen of senbon at the blonde who just stood there, unable to dodge the attack. Or so she thought, before being dragged to the side by her waist. Looking down, she was surprised to see a chain made of chakra wrapped around her waist. Following the chain, her eyes widened more and more until she saw the figure of her sister on her knees with various needles stuck in her chest.
"You stupid..." coughed Mito with a little smile "Next time warn me before doing an idiocy like that..." said that, she slumped back on the ground coughing a lot of blood.
"MITO-NEE!" screamed Miwako before rushing at the side of her sister "I'm sorry! It's all my fault! Everything was my fault! Now I'll pull out these needles, try to resist!"
"It's...too late..." panted Mito "Probably I have...a punctured lung..."
"Wha...d-don't joke like that! Kurama will heal you! She can do it! Right Kurama?!"
'I don't know, kit. For now, remove those senbon.' said the half of Kurama inside her 'Maybe my other half can still save her.' and the girl did as requested, but she saw Mito's face becoming paler and paler.
"We-well...in the end...I was able...to save...one of m-my...siblings..." said Mito looking at her sister with tired eyes "Neh...Miwako-nee...can you...d-do me a...favor...p-please?"
"Don't talk! You need to rest while Kurama is healing you!" shouted Miwako while Haku walked behind them with a sad look behind her mask.
"Tell Naruto...t-that I'm...sorry. I've been...a...a...a terrible...s-sister to him..." panted Mito surprising the fake hunter nin.
'They are Naruto's sisters?' she asked to herself while Mito started to close her eyes.
"Mito-nee! Don't close your eyes! Can you hear me?! Don't close your eyes!" Miwako was now crying without control while shaking her sister in an attempt to keep her awake "Please, don't leave me! I don't want to lose you too!"
Mito smiled one last time before closing her eyes as the rain washed away the blood from her clothes, spreading it around them.
"Mito-nee..."
"I'm sorry. I did not want to go that far." said Haku looking at the body of Mito.
"You killed her..." hissed Miwako with an edge in her voice which didn't went unnoticed by the fake hunter nin. Inside of the blonde, Kurama was worrying visibly. Although she had become a friend of Miwako, the girl was able to control only her tailless form and if she was filled with rage she could no longer control herself.
'Kit! Calm down! If you let yourself go, you'll lose the control!'
"My Mito-nee...you killed her!" shouted Miwako with red chakra spinning around her before turning toward Haku, looking at the missing nin with red demonic eyes "I...I...I WILL KILL YOU!"
Even before Haku could react, a violent explosion of chakra knocked her against a mirror. Shaking her head due to the blow, she slowly raised her eyes and her body was pervaded by a primordial terror at seeing a big tail of red chakra swaying slowly behind the body of Miwako, now covered with a coat of chakra which took the form of a fox.
"What...are you?"
Miwako's answer was a chakra hand which tightened around the throat of Haku and began to strangle her, but after a few moments, the Jinchuuriki spun on herself and used Haku's body to destroy an ice mirror. Because of the hand of chakra tight around her throat, Haku was unable to scream in pain and it did not change when she was used to destroy other mirrors until Miwako lifted her up to the ceiling of the dome and then smashed the Hyōton user in the ground, in front to her. The long limb of chakra retreated, returning to cover the physical limb of Miwako, who turned slightly towards the body of her sister and the anger inside of her grew over and over. Just when Haku was raising again, despite several broken bones, Miwako whirled toward her and gave off a demonic roar that swept away all the remaining mirrors, throwing backward Haku and dissipating the fog on the bridge.
All the others ninja stopped fighting, watching in horror and fear the new appearance of Miwako who roared again, damaging the ground beneath her.
'That's the chakra of the Kyuubi...but why is she using...' only then Kakashi noticed the motionless body of Mito on the ground, in a puddle of blood that was being washed away by the heavy rain.
'A Jinchuuriki?'thought Zabuza looking at the red chakra and its form around the body of Miwako 'Wait...Konoha has only one Bijuu...' and with that thought, the fear came back to grab his heart 'The Kyuubi...'
Clutching the hilt of his cleaver, Zabuza turned to his allies "We must withdraw! That girl has the Kyuubi sealed inside of her!"
"Zabu...za...sa...ma..."
Paling instantly, Zabuza turned to the source of the voice, identifying Haku on the ground with the mask shattered to pieces and part of her face covered in blood.
"Haku..."
"Are you still alive?" growled Miwako looking at the form of Haku who was trying to move. Determined to eliminate her altogether, Miwako started walking toward her, releasing a disproportionate amount of KI.
Among all those present, the first to recover from the shock was Juvia who used a large amount of water to hurl Kiba to Yugao, forcing her to move away from Suigetsu. After that, she went through several hand-seals screaming "Do not you dare touch Haku-chan! Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Dragon Projectile Technique)"
In a few moments, all the water around her formed a huge dragon with yellow eyes made entirely of water. The huge creature roared ferociously before launching itself on Miwako who turned toward the enemy's technique and, as before, unleashed a violent explosion with a simple roar. The shock wave blew away the dragon and continued until hitting Juvia who was thrown into the air over the railing of the bridge with a scream of pain.
"Juvia-nee-chan!" Suigetsu tried to run towards her but fell to his knees because of a wound in the leg, courtesy of Yugao that had struck him with her katana soaked with chakra. However Juvia did not end in the sea due to some wires that wrapped around her body before pulling the girl on the bridge, making her end up in the arms of a ninja dressed all in black.
Juvia slowly opened her eyes and, despite the blurred vision through the fault of blow, she could see a black mask and blue eyes, with one of them lightly covered by a fringe of blond hair.
"Y-you...?"
The gaze of her savior wandered the bridge until it dwelt on the form of Haku and Miwako who glared at him with her red eyes.
"So we came to this..." mumbled the blonde while placing Juvia on the ground "When you can stand, take Haku and go away. I'll cover you."
"What? B-but why...?" asked Juvia with widened eyes while the others ninja where looking at him as well.
"It doesn't matter, do as I say." said the boy before disappearing in a cloud of fire and smoke, reappearing a second later in front of Miwako, looking at her whit white eyes.
"First and last warning, Miwako. Stop now or I'll stop you in the hard way."
She looked at him slightly confused "Naru-nii..." but then the anger came back to grip her mind and, showing her fangs, she growled "Get out of my way!"
Naruto was silent for a moment, closing his eyes and pondering the words of his sister. When the only sound was that of the pouring rain, his white eyes opened wide again, but this time a hellish fire burned in them.
"So be it!"
TO BE CONTINUED IN CHAPTER 5: A BEAST UNLEASHED
(1) Juvia from Fairy Tail (Juvia's outfit in X791);
(2) The Buster Sword from Final Fantasy VII;
Aaaaaaaaaaaand STOP! End of the fourth chapter!
So, what do you think? Was it good or was it shit? For now this is the longest chapter that I have written for this story, and I do not know when I can write a chapter equally long. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the little touches that I did during the chapter such as Suigetsu's sword or the fact that he and Juvia are brother and sister! I would also like to know what you think of the 'verbal confrontation' that took place between Naruto and his family after his return from his C-rank mission!
In the next chapter we will see the conclusion of this mission as the third mission which serves to Naruto! Also I am modifying the previous chapters so as to insert the proper titles to the various chapters! Just to not always call them 'Chapter X, Chapter Y, etc...'
See you around and have a good day!
P.S: Vote for Juvia and for a better world!
HAREM SURVEY'S RULES:
1) Via review OR Private Message, each one of you will be able to vote three girls, specifying the order! The first girl will earn three points, the second two and the third only one point. Example: 'Miwako, Kurenai, Anko.' means that Miwako will gain three points, Kurenai two and Anko one. In doing so, I will create a ranking that I'll make available on my profile and at each chapter.
2) The anonymous readers (Guest, etc...) can not vote, sorry!
3) Girls that are NOT selectable: Sakura, Hinata, Tenten, Ino, Temari, Lust, Chikyuu, Mizu and Kuuki!
4) If were to appear girls from other universes, you can also vote for them. I remind you that you can suggest characters from other universes but only with a solid explanation behind.
