Disclaimer: I own nothing, everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto
Author's note: So, first part of the Wave arc. This story will follow many canon events though I plan on changing them a bit. Between the Chuunin Exams arc, I plan to add in a few more scenes focused on character development. I added in some history with Naruto and the Wave Country to make it little different and have Naruto start to confront his past a bit.
Italic: emphasis, flashbacks
Bold: dialogue for non-humans, activated jutsu
'thought'
"speech
-
Chapter 4
Journey to the Wave Country
Naruto arrived early at the village gates. He wore a plain green rain jacket and black pants with his usual armguards and shinguards. He leaned against the wall, his eye completely focused on his book. The sun had barely risen over the horizon. He thought about the Gato mission. First he'd have to track him down somewhere. Definitely tough when you've got to stay close to client and Naruto had no intention about letting Tazuna die especially when he already failed Inari and Kaiza. Scowling, he buried his nose deeper into his book.
"Kit," Kurama said in his mind. "Do you really think you can take on Gato by yourself? That man is one of the richest in the world! He'd definitely has some tough missing-nin working for him. How do you think he managed stay off the Five Great Shinobi Nations' radar for so long?!"
"No idea. Possibly he carried out some dirty work for them all, even for the Land of the Fire. As for getting rid of Gato, I've got a duty to fulfill. I'll find a way after all, no man is invincible."
"It's your funeral, though I'll probably have to bail you out sooner or later." And he went silent, ending the conversation. Figures.
Naruto touched his eyepatch. Hopefully he wouldn't have to reveal that anytime soon. The whole village would do more than just flip. It could probably escalate into full out mobs filled torches and sharp objects trying to hunt him down. Or best case scenario would be that everyone would be too confused to do anything.
Tazuna showed up fifteen minutes early from their scheduled time to leave. He wasn't very surprised to find Naruto already waiting. They didn't say a word until his two teammates and sensei showed.
"Well then," Naruto said. "Let's get going."
-
The first hour of walking was uneventful, and a little dull. Hinata and Kiba chatted about their families and (in Kiba's case) their antics while Akamaru yipped happily. Naruto was on high alert, his senses picking up a multitude of sounds and scents. He could sense chakra on a far lesser degree to a sensor. Only within a hundred meters or so like most jonin. Chakra sensing required an open mind and concentration as well as plenty of training. Chakra was energy, spiritual and physical, being a ninja for a while can get you attuned to it be able to feel it somewhat nearby.
Kurenai went on to explain how the Land of the Waves had no shinobi when Hinata asked why Tazuna hired them. She then also explained the Hidden Village system in the Five Great Shinobi Nations. Naruto, already knowing that, decided to read one of his newer edition of the Bingo book. Every Shinobi Nation had their own edition of these. However the one in Naruto's hand was not a Konohagakure edition, but Otogakure's. It was a little something he picked up from a mission a while back. Sometimes it was useful to figure out your enemy's enemy, after all an enemy of my enemy is a friend.
Not wanting to advertise what he had in his hand (as it was issued to only jonin and ANBU), hid it by placing a minor genjutsu, changing it into a plain red book. He scanned through the info on each missing-nin, committing it to memory. Then he reached a interesting new page labeled Fox. Naruto looked at the page. Wait a minute. What. The. Hell. Did he just land himself in the Bingo book?!
Name: Unknown,
Alias: Fox
Affiliation: Konohagakure
Rank: High B-rank, ANBU
Age: Unknown (12-15)
Description: Spiky blonde hair, one blue or red eye, ANBU flak jacket, metal armguards and shinguards, steel-toed boots, fingerless plated-gloves, bandaged arms and a ninjato strapped to the waist. Wears a snarling kitsune mask with black paint, dark orange stripe across the mask. Under five feet tall.
Jutsu: Kenjutsu, at least two nature transformations, Shadow Clone jutsu, adept in fuinjutsu. Possible dojutsu in left eye.
Specialization: Assassination, espionage,
Bounty: 250 000 ryo
Wanted by: Otogakure, Iwagakure, Kumogakure
No picture
Damn that was a lot of information. Naruto thought back to all his missions. 'Well there could have been a few witnesses' he mused silently. The page was still incomplete as there were a few jutsus he rarely used in assassinations. He sighed out loud, wondering how to get rid of his infamy. Nevertheless, he was quite flattered to be an high B-rank shinobi at just twelve years old and worth a quarter million ryo.
Another hour went by before an out of the place puddle showed up by the road. Naruto instantly tensed, putting a hand gently on the hilt of his ninjato. Kurenai was also alerted as seen by her cautious gaze. Kiba and Hinata were oblivious to the danger and Tazuna didn't notice either. As they passed the bizarre puddle, two ninja with Kirigakure forehead protectors slowly emerged.
They launched their simultaneous spiked chain attack on the jonin. Before they could wrap it around her, Naruto whipped around and threw his sword nailing the chain to the ground. The two ninja gritted their teeth and released the chain connected to each other through the heavy gauntlets.
"Meizu! Get the bridge builder! I'll hold these two off!" one of them shouted.
"Kiba! Hinata! Protect Tazuna!" Kurenai ordered. The two had been standing still in shock but managed to overcome it enough to move in front of him in a protective formation. Kurenai turned to her attacker. The ninja launched a full assault using his gauntlet as his main weapon. Kurenai backed off and ran through a few hand seals.
"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!" She disappeared while tree appeared rapidly around him and coiled its roots around him, immobilizing the nin. Kurenai swiftly reappeared in the tree and smashed the butt-end of a kunai on his head, knocking him out.
Hinata froze in fear as Meizu tore straight towards them. Kiba panicked and threw a wild punch, only to be backhanded and thrown to the ground. Akamaru jumped up to him but was kicked to the ground. Meizu leaped towards her ready to bring his claw down on her. Hinata held her kunai and arms in front of her to block it. Suddenly Meizu yelled in pain and was yanked back. Naruto had stabbed him in the shoulder of his gloved hand and pulled him back with the embedded kunai.
"Are you all right, Hinata?" he asked. She nodded still trembling from the near-hit Naruto saved her from.
They all rounded up the ninja and placed next to a tree. Naruto slapped on a sealing tag on each of them after retrieving his sword he threw. Kurenai turned to Tazuna.
"You've got a lot of explaining to do." she said in a not so carefully controlled tone. "I want to know why low B-class missing-nin are after you."
Naruto looked at the two missing-nin. The Demon Brothers, he guessed. Ironically, he just passed the page about them. Tazuna lowered his head and explained how Gato and his company came over a year ago and took control of the Land of the Waves. He monopolized the whole island by taking control over the oversea trade and ruined the Wave's economy which explained why he couldn't have the mission as an A or B-rank. Naruto wasn't interested in that since he already knew the whole story. He scanned the Bingo book for any clue to which missing-nin would come next. Whoever it was, it would most likely be one tough fight.
Tazuna then explained the bridge he was building would change all that. It would connect the Land of the Waves to the mainland and they would no longer have to depend on overseas trade, effectively eliminating Gato's hold over the country.
Kurenai sighed. "That just makes this at least an A-rank mission. My team won't be able to handle this."
"But we can't leave him alone! They'll kill him! I want to continue the mission!" Kiba argued.
Kurenai opened her mouth to object, but Tazuna spoke up. "He's right. I'm the master bridge builder. If I die, the bridge will never be finished."
She sighed yet again and turned to Hinata and Naruto. Hinata poked her two fingers together, a nervous habit. "I-I don't w-want to a-abandon Tazuna and t-the W-Wave Country n-needs our h-help. I-I want t-to s-stay." she stuttered. Kurenai then looked to Naruto who was still reading.
"Well, what about you?" she asked warily. Kurenai suspected Naruto knew more than what he let on.
"I'm staying too." he said.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"...You've been holding out on information of the mission." Kurenai accused. Kiba and Hinata looked towards her in confusion.
"I have no idea about what you're talking about." he said smoothly.
"You knew this was an A-rank from the start, didn't you?"
Naruto snapped his book shut. "Kurenai-sensei, it would be best to have this conversation just between us and away from others. Now lets just move on, dattebayo." And he started walking down the road.
Kurenai scowled. Withholding information on a mission could be a treasonous. She was sure Naruto knew that too, yet it was such a irresponsible act. Kurenai wanted to get him to talk about everything but she knew he wouldn't comply. She shouldn't let them continue this mission, but they seemed to want to continue even if she left them behind.
-
The boat ride was quiet. Tazuna had someone take them across the chasm by boat. Hinata let her mind wander off. The confrontation between Naruto and Kurenai-sensei had been very tense. She had no idea how Naruto could've known about the mission before Tazuna could explain everything. 'Just one more mystery to him,' she thought. Right now he was reading another book, this time it was a light green one, thinner than his usual fuinjutsu books and had no title. Kurenai was brooding in a way that was almost like Sasuke, which was very scary. And Kiba was napping with Akamaru curled on his chest.
There was a dense fog that covered everything but when they got closer to the Wave Country, a massive silhouette appeared next to them.
"I-Is that t-the bridge?" Hinata asked tentatively.
"Sure is. Quite a beauty, ain't it?" Tazuna responded.
They then passed through a long tunnel and emerged into bright and sunny area. The fisherman dropped them off at a nearby pier, stating that it was as far as he could take and left. The group walked down the path to Tazuna's village. Naruto remembered this path, there was a small lake ahead wasn't there? Memories stormed through his mind, water walking training, cooling off in a hot summer day, sparring with his cousins...
Naruto shook them off. 'Not now,' he reminded himself. There was a time and place for that, but he was on a mission. He couldn't afford to become distracted when a high-level enemy missing nin could be waiting nearby. Suddenly a rustling sound came came from a nearby bush. Naruto instinctively threw a kunai at it. However it just happened to be a rabbit with snow white fur. The kunai buried itself in the ground a centimeter from its foot.
Kiba laughed. "Looks like you tried to kill a cute bunny, Naruto!"
Hinata picked up the rabbit with a concerned look, making sure it was all right before putting it down on the ground. She turned to her sensei. Kurenai had a look of concern and slight panic.
"S-Sensei? I-Is s-something wrong?" she asked quietly.
Kurenai looked around for a moment before yelling "Duck!" She grabbed Hinata and Tazuna and pulled them to the ground. Kiba and Naruto both hit the ground as a huge cleaver-like sword flew over their heads and smacked into a tree in front of them. A man then jumped down on to the massive sword.
He had dark spiky hair and his forehead protector was on the side of his head. Bandages covered the bottom half of his face and had wrist-warmers that went past his elbows. He wore no shirt and only a belt-like harness around his torso and had a tall muscular build. He had striped baggy pants and leg-warmers in the same style as his wrist-warmers.
Kurenai stared at him. She was not expecting to see this man right here. Almost every jonin knew him as the Demon of the Hidden Mist. 'This is bad,' she thought.
"So... What brings you out here Momochi Zabuza?" Naruto unexpectedly piped up.
"How do you know who I am?"
"You're a well known shinobi. You're an A-rank missing-nin and a former member of the Seven Ninja Swordsman. You wield the Kubikiribocho and are an expert in Water-style techniques as well as the Silent Killing technique in conjunction with the Hidden Mist jutsu. You are the Demon of the Mist."
Zabuza chuckled. "I was informed that this was a genin team. You certainly are no ordinary genin. I don't know about your teammates, but you've made this job much harder than I expected."
Kurenai snapped out of her slight daze. This was Momochi Zabuza, she could not get distracted, especially when he can use the Silent Killing method. "Team Eight! Manji formation!" she shouted. "Do not leave this position unless I order it!"
They all took out a kunai and stood in a battle ready stance in front of Tazuna, each facing a different direction. Hinata activated her Byakugan. Kurenai stood in front of them raising her killing intent. Zabuza jumped down from the tree, sheathed his sword on his back and stood on the lake, also emitting his killing intent. Hinata and Kiba trembled from the amount emitted, whereas Naruto wasn't effected.
Hinata felt the pressure rise. She started to sweat and her breathing constricted. Her stomach jumbled around and she felt sick. She tried to close her eyes in an attempt to block out the bloodlust, but her efforts were in vain. Suddenly Naruto placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, like after their first spar.
"Don't worry about it. We'll make it out alive, I'm going to make sure of that." Hinata nodded calming down a little, as well as Kiba who was shaking uncontrollably.
Kurenai took out a kunai as well and stared intently at Zabuza. The fight was on.
-
Zabuza had observed the team of genin. The Hyuuga kid and the Inuzuka kid had reacted exactly as he predicted. Konoha was too soft on them and they still shook a little in fear, despite the blond one reassuring them. They must be new graduates from that academy of theirs and have hardly been in a life-threatening situation. The blond kid with the eyepatch was not like them however. He gazed back at Zabuza liked a hardened veteran, concentrating on the enemy while being aware of his surroundings. The boy was probably younger than Haku but acted like another jonin.
Zabuza made a mental note to take him out fast after he dealt with the sensei. He activated his Hidden Mist jutsu and disappeared. Kurenai took a cautious step back. A fog moved in making it hard to see. Each passing second it got denser and denser so that even if Kurenai was just standing twelve meters ahead Team Eight could only see her silhouette.
"The Wave is surrounded by the ocean, so fog is very common but not as thick as this." Tazuna said.
"Eight vital points, larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Now, which one?" His voice rang out around them.
And suddenly he appeared in the middle of the manji formation, the only weak spot. "Behind us!" Hinata cried out. Before he could swing his Kubikiribocho, Naruto pushed his teammates out of the way and stabbed his kunai into Zabuza's gut. Water burst out of him.
"A water clone!" Kurenai gasped.
'The sensei let down her guard,' Zabuza observed. He leaped forward behind her bringing the Kubikiribocho in a horizontal swipe across her, but her image faded. 'Genjutsu' he realized as tree roots grew on him, restraining him.
The water clone dispersed as Kurenai stabbed a kunai through its neck. 'Another one!' She turned and sidestepped in time to avoid getting cleaved in half. Zabuza turned and threw a kick. It passed through her. Genjutsu again. He quickly dogged a barrage of kunai and shuriken and leaped back on to the lake and began to form hand seals.
"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!:" Four water clones shot out. All of them disappeared into the mist.
Kurenai backed away from the lakeside edge. Water was definitely Zabuza's territory and she had no Earth-style jutsu in her arsenal to give her an advantage. The mist thickened leaving Kurenai out of sight of her team. She swore. This is bad, it was a very bad matchup. It was hard to target the original with his clones around him. Picking the wrong one could leave her open to an attack. She wasn't likely to get out of here alive, but maybe her team could.
"Run!" she shouted out, hoping they could hear her wherever they were. "I'll hold him off long enough for you to escape!"
"No way sensei! We won't abandon you!" Kiba's voice rang out, it was close by.
"Just go! You'll never be able to defeat him!"
"B-But Kurenai-s-sensei-" Hinata's stuttered.
"Now! Take Tazuna and go!"
"Kurenai-sensei," This time it was Naruto's calm voice. "Kakashi-sensei told me that people who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. Besides, it isn't possible to escape after he's done with you. He'll catch up anyway." Kurenai gritted her teeth. Her genin were just way too stubborn!
Before she could reply, Hinata shouted. "Sensei, i-in front of y-you!".
She jumped backwards as the giant cleaver swung through the air. Then a second cleaver swung towards her head. She ducked in time to avoid it, and twisted around to throw a kunai at the water clone. It dispersed, leaving a large puddle behind. Kurenai turned again only to find the other water clone a puddle as well. Naruto stood behind it, sheathing his sword.
"I thought you'd need a bit of help." Kurenai nodded her thanks.
"Aren't you with the others?"
"Of course I am. I wouldn't leave them to defend themselves alone against him." Kurenai eyes widened. 'Of course! A shadow clone!' she realized. "I'll take on Zabuza now. You are obviously outmatched with his water clones everywhere. We eliminate the clones then give you a clear opening for your genjutsu." And the clone dispersed.
-
Naruto knew when to begin when his clone's memories swarmed in his head. He didn't immediately attack, wanting to have Zabuza use up more of his chakra going on the offense. Of course things got a little too dangerous to sit around anymore. Now was the time to strike.
"Guys," he said. "I'm gonna go on the offense now. Watch Tazuna's back."
"What!? You're going to take him on!?" Kiba yelled rather dumbfounded. That guy was insane! If he could go toe to toe with his sensei, Naruto wouldn't have a chance. However, Naruto was different.
"Don't underestimate me, Kiba."
Naruto ran through a simple set of hand seals.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough Jutsu!"
A huge gust of wind shot out of his mouth, blowing away most of the mist. Zabuza still stood on the lake along with a few water clones by the lakeside.
"Interesting. Wind nature is rather rare, even rarer when a genin can perform it." Zabuza complemented. 'Heck, this gonna be a close fight. I wonder if I should have let Haku join in the beginning,' he thought.
Naruto threw up a t-shaped hand seal.
"Shadow Clone jutsu!"
Six identical copies popped into existence. Two stayed behind with the team while the original and the other four sped towards the lake. Hinata and Kiba gaped. The clones were solid! The normal Clone jutsu was simply an image, but these were actually him! 'Is this the jutsu he beat us with back at the forest?' Kiba wondered.
Each clone engaged one of the water clones. The original sprinted straight for Zabuza in the middle of the lake. The original Zabuza got into a defensive kenjutsu stance. The kid was fast! Zabuza tried to draw his Kubikiribocho in time, but kid drew his sword faster in a slash to his chest. He jumped back in time to avoid. The boy obviously knew his swordsmanship. The unsheathing of the sword in a strike was a basic move, but deadly nonetheless.
Zabuza countered but was dogged. Of course blocking his massive cleaver was last choice amongst almost everyone except for a few of his former colleagues in the Seven Ninja Swordsman. One of his water clones where already down, the surviving shadow clone went off to aid its brethren. Zabuza gritted his teeth, the tables had turned. He blocked another strike, the boy's style was familiar. Zabuza was sure he'd seen it before, but where?
'Concentrate' he reminded himself. The boy was not someone to take lightly. They both disengaged for a moment. Zabuza quickly threw up a few hand seals.
"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu!"
Three more clones formed. Damn, he was getting low on chakra. He had to make the next jutsu count. Two of the blonde's clones had finished up the others and were coming to support him. Zabuza began to run through the many seals for the jutsu.
Naruto recognized a bit of the sequence that Zabuza went through. It was a powerful water jutsu. He finished of the water clones and took a few steps back. His own clones appeared by his side. Naruto didn't have to tell them what to do. Zabuza finished the last seal.
"Water Style: Water Dragon jutsu!"
Four large arcs of water erupted from the lake and swirled above his head. They collided in the air, forming a powerful vortex in the air. The end of the vortex formed the head of a fierce dragon. It roared and twisted high in sky before launching itself towards the blond.
One of Naruto's clones reached into the original's weapon pouch and brought out a small red storage scroll. He unsealed the first storage section and out popped a much bigger blue scroll. The other clone caught it and opened it to reveal a one complicated seal. The formula was spread out across the paper and in the middle of it had only a empty circle. The kanji for water was written once at the bottom and top, the gravity formula on the sides. The two clones spread it out in front of the original. Naruto had a fairly calm expression on his face. He went through five hand seals and placed it on the back of the complex seal and raised up as if to use it to shield himself from the oncoming dragon of water.
"Sealing Arts: Water Release Jutsu Seal!"
The dragon smashed into the scroll. It was immediately absorbed as the seal glowed. It sucked in every drop of water like a black hole. Zabuza's eyes widened. No one had ever been able to stop such a jutsu like that. However it had its toll. The blond was panting heavily as he stashed it away and his shadow clones immediately dispelled in a poof of smoke.
Zabuza stumbled, trying to stop himself keeling over in exhaustion. That last bit really got to him but he still had enough to pull out a few more weaker jutsu. He attempted to charge at the blond only to find that his feet were trapped. Tree roots grew over him and Kurenai appeared behind him.
"Nice job Naruto. Looks like this is the end for you, Zabuza." she said as she prepared to stab him through the neck.
Suddenly, two senbon shot through the air and pierced Zabuza's neck. He immediately froze up and went limb. Kurenai released her genjutsu and the Demon of the Mist fell forward and landed face down in the water. A boy dressed in a blue robe and long black hair tied back into a bun with long black bangs framing his appeared on a nearby tree. On his face was a slitted white mask of the hunter-nin of Kirigakure.
"You're right, it was the end for him." he said. His voice was that of a boy not much older than her genin team. By the lakeside, the others stared in shock. Zabuza was dead, just like that.
"Hunter-nin-san. I assume you are here for Zabuza." Kurenai said.
"Indeed. I've been tracking him for a while. Thanks to you that I've finally been able to kill him. He is a formidable missing-nin." The hunter-nin picked up Zabuza's body and they walked back to the shore.
"Hey! Who are you with the mask?" Kiba asked blatantly.
"He's a hunter-nin. They are a division within the Kirigakure ANBU that track down missing-nin and destroy their bodies so their secrets stay safe and hidden. It is dangerous to have a bloodline or special ability fall into enemy hands, that is why the hunter-nin exist." Kurenai replied.
"Oh. Well I've got a good nose for tracking. A hunter-nin would be a good choice to become after I'm good enough."
"The hunter-nin corps are an exclusive part of Kirigakure. Its only our ANBU that does stuff like that."
"Excuse me," the hunter-nin said, "But I must get going." And off he went zipping through the trees. 'Strange,' Kurenai thought. 'Aren't they supposed to immediately destroy the body?' Kurenai shook her head. 'Lets not worry about that now. We're all pretty exhausted, I don't think Naruto or I will be able to handle another fight so easily.'
Naruto panted as stumbled a bit. His seal really sucked up his chakra like always, but he got a handy jutsu in the end. Kiba came over and wrapped his arm around his shoulder, supporting him. He grinned at Naruto.
"Damn. That was awesome Naruto! You got to show me that sometime so I can kick some ass too!" Naruto gave a small tired smile. Kiba was alot like his old self. Hinata also smiled, relieved that nobody got seriously hurt.
"My village is nearby. It won't take long to get there." Tazuna said.
"Might as well get going then." Kurenai replied.
Chapter 4 is done! I was hoping to throw in Hinata and Kiba a little more into the fight, but it didn't seem to fit in quite as well. Next one or two chapters are definitely going to be peaceful up until the battle of the bridge. I added in Naruto's old verbal tic just to say he's still Naruto. I decided to throw in an original sealing jutsu. Its not very explored upon in the canon. So, 'til next time.
Sealing Arts: Water Release Jutsu: A-rank sealing technique. User must activate the seal through a few hand signs to function. The seal captures and absorb the water jutsu and stores for later use. The user can then reactivate the seal and use the stored jutsu later on. Cannot capture any other elemental jutsu.
