Hey guys, I know that it's been awhile since you got an update but calm down because it's here and ready to go. I am sorry for the long wait, since one of the main reasons as to why the wait was long was because I wanted to get my Playing the four Devils fic done and I had a big writers block for this story. Not to mention that I had barely anytime on the computer during my Christmas break in New Jersey, since I was constantly walking around and helping family, taking my grandfather to get eye surgery and take him to the hospital because of pneumonia (Don't worry guys he's still alive, because if it was the other way around you would have waited even longer), and I got hit by that damn blizzard that kept me stuck in the house for two days straight, so it was crazy.
But thank God I made it through the struggle.
Now first off I want to wish everyone a happy and blessed New Year and that God will keep you safe and strong through any struggle you go through.
Secondly I want to announce that the pairings of this story have changed with the main one being the harem. The harem went down from damn near 10 members to three possibly four if I change my mind. The reason for that is because I decided to start toning down on harem members as well as trying to get more fans, since I know that allot of fans hate big ass harems so from this day forth I'm only going to stick with three to six member harem stories with only one upcoming story going past that. As one of the guys that I once had beef with told me "Harems are only a male fantasy gone that can't be realistically possible."
As of now the harem will be the girls that I picked in the first chapter but the list will have been shortened.
Now let's get it on.
Ch.4 – Swordsman Clash
Several days passed after the fight between Naruto and Zabuza transpired something that gave Naruto a brief look at where he stood in terms of pure skill level. He already knew that he was stronger than most of the chunnin in the village and could go toe to toe with a few of the jounin in the village, but Zabuza literally forced him to go all out and truly test his limitations. His actually skill level in his perception was that he was mid chunnin-borderline high chunnin, and going the distance with everything in his body, low jounin.
Then add in Kyuubi's power and then he would reach high jounnin.
So in all truth, Naruto came to one final conclusion about his skill level, he sucked worse than the Uchiha. Thus was the reason why he was working hard in his training now, using nearly three hundred clones to work on three tasks that he knew he needed to have completed if he had any hope of getting another upper hand to that damn Uchiha.
'I should be stronger by now but I'm still just as weak as that duck haired bastard' Naruto thought to himself as he looked at his hand in small wonder.
"I wouldn't perceive it as that bad kit; after all you've only had about three months worth of serious training under that smoking hot purple haired nympho you call a sensei." Kyuubi said with Naruto nodding his head and he stared further into his hand.
'But that's the thing though, I had training under three strong jounin teachers and yet I was still no match for Zabuza until I used your chakra.' Naruto thought as he remembered the awesome feeling of Kyuubi's power running through his veins again and how much he loved it.
'I understand that kit, since you have been getting better at using my chakra but your main problem is that that is where you gain the most from your skills in using my chakra. You need to get another teacher that has the power level necessary to bring you up a few levels." Kyuubi said with Naruto nodding his head
'I know but who is the question.' Naruto thought as his mind went back to the fight he had with Zabuza.
(Flashback – Yesterday)
Naruto currently stood in the misty area with the grip on his swords tightening further then when the challenge he initiated with Zabuza first began. He could tell just by the sight of the situation he was in that this man was the real deal and could not be taken lightly, regardless of how confident he was in his progression over the past couple of months. He continued to gaze around at his surroundings with his hold on his swords remaining strong, before he acted quickly and hopped into the air while Zabuza's sword smashed into the ground he once stood. Naruto then front flipped his bodies' forward momentum and landed on the soles of his feet, before turning abruptly and sent out a double slash at Zabuza, who blocked with Kubikiri.
The mist missing ninja immediately pushed the blonde off him and caused the boy to land on his back before he rolled himself back to his feet, as Zabuza sent a downward slash to the ground once more. Naruto then righted himself on his feet before he quickly sheathed his swords before going through a quick set of seals before calling out "Water Release: Water Ball jutsu."
As he called out the technique, a large orb of water appeared in front of him and launched itself at Zabuza, who only laughed to himself before taking hold of his weapon and cut through the water like it was nothing.
"I applaud your ability to use elemental techniques, but a weak D-class water jutsu ain't going to do anything." He said before took a strong grasp on his sword and charged at Naruto again. The blonde silently cursed to himself before he took out Savior and charged at Zabuza with both hands on the sword and holding it in a downward slash. When Zabuza neared the boy, he hefted his sword on one hand and sent it downward to Naruto, who sent his slash and parried against Zabuza's strike. Naruto felt the man's strength over whelm him and was nearly brought down to his knees if not for the fact that he reinforced his sword and feet with chakra.
He could tell just by his inexperience alone how this guy outclassed him in both strength and swordsmanship, yet Naruto was not going to give up as he needed to see this through to the end to know where he is. As such, he began to push the sword upward with his teeth bearing towards Zabuza while said man watched in curiosity.
'This boy seems to be very determined in trying to best me, let's see how well he can do under pressure.' He said as he let his strength slip and allowed Naruto to push upward and get in a quick slash off Zabuza's side, much to the older males surprise. Instead of bloating like he was sure the Uchiha would have done, Naruto decided to continue on the momentum and sent another slash towards Zabuza's stomach, only for his sword to be caught by the former mist shinobi's hand.
Naruto then looked up only to feel a sudden rush of wind leave his body, after Zabuza kicked him in his gut hard enough to lift him off the air a few feet before giving the boy a hard backhand that caused him to slam in to the ground again with Savior still in his hand. The others watching this stared at the blonde boy in front of them in amazement, as the boy was fighting against a jounin level ninja and was holding his own even if the fight was brief.
The gennin was carefully watching this closely while still keeping their guard around the client along. Behind them stood Kurenai and Anko, who were looking around for any signs of backup that the enemy may or may not have hidden. Zabuza then walked up to Naruto with his sword in hand, while the man looked at Naruto with calculating eyes.
"I must commend you for your efforts in besting me, as I can see that you have a lot of potential in the swordsmanship field. However, the fact is that you haven't achieved the proper level of training by a true master in the swordsmanship. Too bad, you could have been the greatest swordsman to walk the earth." Zabuza said as he brought the sword up and prepared to strike down Naruto, only for his sword to be blocked by a kunai knife courtesy of Kakashi. The silver haired shinobi then gave a big boot to Zabuza's chest and stood in front of Naruto with the back of his hand holding onto the kunai.
"Are you alright Naruto?" He asked with his eye still staying on the mist shinobi in front of him, while the blonde haired boy got back up from his downed position and spit out some blood before he brushed past Kakashi with a smirk on his face while wiping the blood of his face.
"Don't worry about me; I just needed to get a little taste of what he's got before I really start fighting." Naruto said with Kakashi looking at him with a confused expression before he spoke up.
"What do you mean Naruto? You're barely landing a hit on him and yet you still think you can win?" Kakashi asked him only for Naruto to nod his head before he looked at Zabuza now getting off the ground with a growl evident in his voice.
"You're going to pay for that cheap shot Hatake, but first I still have this brat to deal with." Zabuza said before looking at Naruto, who nodded his head before his eyes darted towards the lake behind the masked shinobi, who saw this and followed suit with chasing after Naruto towards the lake. The blonde then jumped onto the surface of the lake and stood with both swords held in a wide stance with Akatsuki held in a reserve grip and Savior held in the normal grip.
Zabuza saw this and was impressed by the boys stance, fairly certain that he saw it before but couldn't place his finger on it. But that thought was quickly taken out as Naruto then spoke up to catch Zabuza's attention.
"I need you to do me a favor." Naruto said with Zabuza raising an eyebrow at the suddenness of Naruto's request.
"What do you want kid?" Zabuza asked with Naruto's eyes darting towards his teammates, who were all watching his fight.
"I need you to distract them while I fight you; I only want you to know of my attacks for now." Naruto said with Zabuza giving off a look of confusion.
"Why would you want me to do that? I figured that you would want the attention." Zabuza said as he was now a little confused at the blonde's words.
"It's because I like to keep my abilities secret for now and I want to have Kakashi occupied or else he'll use that stupid sharingan to copy my attacks." Naruto said with Zabuza pondering on this for a moment before he shrugged his shoulders and went through a set of seals calling out.
"Water Release: Water Clone jutsu." Zabuza said as nine clones of himself appeared out of the water's surface. Zabuza then turned his gaze to the group of shinobi behind him, who each pulled out a kunai to protect themselves against the madman, who laughed to himself before he spoke "I figured that you guys would like something to occupy yourself while I deal with the brat, you're welcome." Zabuza said as he sent the clones towards the others, who immediately began to engage with the eyebrow less mans clones. Zabuza then turned his attention back to Naruto, who was smirking as he began to focus onto summoning Kyuubi's chakra.
"Kit, are you sure that you want to use this now? You don't have enough knowledge on my chakra to use this move yet." Kyuubi said with Naruto inwardly shaking his head as he continued to gather chakra
'I understand but I need to do this and see how well I can use this.' Naruto said with the fox sighing before he spoke
"Very well but remember that I warned you." He said with Naruto inwardly nodding before he felt that he contained enough chakra to use.
"Thank you Zabuza, now I can fight you without any restraint." Naruto said as he began to glow a bright red that held a sort of atomic reaction to his body that caused his image to pulse. Naruto then sheathed Akatsuki and stood with Savior in his right hand, his face posed with seriousness while Zabuza looked on in confusion.
"What is that?" He asked with Naruto smirking.
"It's a technique of mine called Transformation Armor or for short. It increases all of my abilities by three times their normal level but its only flaw is how much consuming it does with my chakra. But I'm fairly certain that I can beat you before I would have to worry about my chakra limit." Naruto said with Zabuza laughing slightly to himself before he remained in his stance.
"Well let's see what you got." Zabuza said with Naruto nodding before charged towards the nuke-nin, the water exploding upward due to the boys speed. Zabuza's eyes widened seeing that and immediately brought up his sword to block the strike of Naruto that appeared before him. Zabuza was then surprised again when he felt the strength that was embedded to the sword by the boy's single slash, letting Zabuza know that the kid was not kidding when he said that his technique tripled his abilities.
Naruto then followed his attack by sending a left slash towards Zabuza, who jumped backwards and brought his sword back into its blocking position above his head, as the blonde once more appeared above him executing a downward slash. A large pulse came when the strike connected and Zabuza knew that he needed to do something fast or else he would lose this fight to a kid that's not even in puberty yet. Zabuza then sent a backhand towards Naruto, hitting him in square in his face and causing him to sail through the air but still gaining his composure to skid along the surface. Zabuza then went through several seals before calling out "Water Release: Water Fang", sending several spirals of water that appeared to fangs towards the boy.
Naruto cursed slightly under his breath before he sheathed his sword and went through a set of seals himself before holding his hand before his body calling out "Wind Release: Grand Vortex." Upon calling the techniques name, a large force of wind gathered in front of his hands before blasting forward, tearing through the lake and heading straight for Zabuza, before going through another set of seals and held his arms at shoulder length apart "Wind Release Barrier: Protection of the Gale."
A fierce wind soon picked up around the blonde and formed a shield to protect him from the water attack but would allow Zabuza to take the time to gather enough chakra to use his next move that should take the boy out. As soon as he saw Naruto's jutsu end it was then that he began his jutsu sequence, causing Naruto to look towards the eyebrow less man and instantly recognized that jutsu sequence.
The blonde then began his own sequence, already knowing what he wanted to use and knew that it would come in handy to determining how he would win this. Both shinobi continued their sequence until each stopped on their last one and called out "Water Release: Water Dragon jutsu"/ "Wind Release: Air Dragon jutsu. From that call a large mass of liquid began to rise from the lake in the shape of a large dragon while wind exploded forward and turned into the shape of a dragon. The dragons circled each other before they both canceled each other out, but before Zabuza could gather his thoughts, he was hit suddenly by the blonde boy and flew towards the dry ground on the side.
Zabuza soon got up from his down position and looked up to find Naruto standing before him going through some seals.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall." He called out as water formed above his head before it fell on top of Zabuza and carried him towards a tree, leaving him taking strong breathes. Naruto then fell on one knee as he felt his body reach the limit with the still in effect. He then canceled the technique and soon felt his body recover slightly from the use of the technique.
"So kit, how does it feel to use that technique in battle?" Kyuubi asked, since he could tell that the kit enjoyed using it.
'I've never felt a power like this before. I guess your chakra really is something else.' Naruto thought as he got back up to his feet and stood tall before slowly walking towards Zabuza.
"Well you better get ready for the next training session. I got the feeling that you're going to need to know this technique if you plan to survive." He said with Naruto giving off a look of confusion but quickly shook it off as he looked towards Zabuza, who was struggling to get back to his feet. He then grabbed his right hand and began to focus his chakra to the center on his hand, which began to taking on a gold like aura that spoke trouble in Zabuza's eyes.
"This hand of mine glow with an awesome power." Naruto said as held up his right arm in front of his face, the glow becoming stronger by the second "Its burning grip tells me to defeat you." Naruto said before he got bent down on both knees before launching himself towards the downed shinobi calling out "Now, here I go, Shining Finger." He yelled but before he could connect with his technique, Zabuza was quickly hit with a pair of Senbon in his neck, killing him instantly. Naruto soon stopped his forward progression and called off his technique before taking hold of his two swords, holding them in front of him to fight the new shinobi in the area. A large whirl of wind appeared before the blonde before it cleared to reveal two masked figures each wearing the mask of a hunter shinobi and bearing the Kirigakure symbol. Naruto gave a look of confusion to both of the hunters that arrived but saw that they weren't trying to attack him, causing him to lower his guard.
"Thank you for your assistance, I was waiting for the right moment to attack and thanks to you I have now completed my mission." Said the shorter hunter with the voice holding a female tone, which was a low alto tone.
"Yes, thank you. We have been hunting this man for quite some time and haven't figured out a way to take him out but thanks to you we did." Said the taller hunter who clearly held a male voice that was around low tenor tone.
The female hunter then bent Zabuza and quickly slung the body over her shoulders before making a one handed tora sign "Farwell." She said before both she and the one that stood beside her vanished in the wind along with the body of Zabuza. Although he should have felt elated that he had defeated such a strong opponent, Naruto felt that something wasn't right about that oinin. If he didn't know better, he'd have thought the two were in cahoots. He soon put that idea on the back burner when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching him behind.
"Naruto, what happened to Zabuza?" Kakashi asked as the group appeared beside the masked man with Naruto turning to the group.
"I'm not too sure but I think he was taken away by an accomplice." Naruto said with everyone looking confused
"What do you mean Naruto? Didn't you beat him?" Sakura asked with Naruto shaking his head
"I almost did but a hunter showed up and killed him before taking the body away, but she didn't burn the body on the spot like they were supposed to." Naruto said with the others looking towards each other but before they could say anything Naruto spoke up again "Look, lets just get the hell out of here. I'm getting seriously tired." Naruto said before he felt himself losing consciousness fast and was starting to fall forward causing everyone to yell his name and rush to his side.
(End Flashback)
After that Tazuna took the entire group to his home where they were introduced to his daughter, who instantly grew worried when she saw Naruto's unconscious body and took him to a room where he rested for the remainder of the day. During that time Kakashi and the jounin were discussing what they should do during this time while Naruto slept the rest of the day away until he awoke the following morning.
When he first awoke and noticed the location he was currently in at the time, he first went onto the defensive but soon dropped his guard when Kakashi appeared before him to have a quick chat. The one-eyed jounin then told him that everyone was currently training on the tree walking technique in the forest so that they may prepare for Zabuza's return but instructed him to stay in bed and get more rest incase his body still needed it and disappeared. Naruto raised an eyebrow when the silver haired shinobi said that but he choose to go against the man's orders and got out of bed.
He still needed to do some training and couldn't afford to miss a single day.
The blonde then met the old man's daughter and grandson named Tsunami, a pretty woman in her late twenties that was very motherly towards him even though he barely knew the person for more than three minutes. Then came the woman's little boy, who was in serious need of an attitude adjustment in more ways than one, but he decided to put that behind him as he needed to get his training underway, which was the main reason as to why he was in the forest training.
His clones were doing a great job in their progression and he knew that he would have the stuff down well enough with just a little more practice. He then got a little idea in his head and called all of his clones to attention.
"Okay guys get over here; it's time for me to do something as well." He said with each clone nodding their head in agreement as they saw Naruto pulling out his two swords and stood in the same stance as he did when he fought Zabuza. The clones soon followed suit and drew their copy of the swords Naruto carried, each one looking as identical as the last but none were close to the original.
The real Naruto stood still for a moment before shouting "Go", alerting the clones that he wished to begin the training session.
(The next morning)
Each of the gennin stood before their respective jounin instructor within the forest that bordered Tazuna's house, with each one giving off mixed reactions to the situation they were now. They were just told by Naruto a few minutes ago of what concluded of his fight with Zabuza, obviously leaving out the important details, and what the events afterward consisted of with the two hunters appearing and taking him out. The gennin were all happy when they heard that Zabuza was killed but the jounin and Naruto held different thoughts pertaining to the matter.
Kakashi then asked in what happened to Zabuza's body to which Naruto answered that the hunter shinobi took the body away.
That waved an instant red flag in the minds of the jounnin since they knew that a hunter was supposed to burn the body immediately following the death of the target. It was then that Kakashi revealed that that Zabuza wasn't dead and that those hunters were in cahoots with him.
The reactions were of pure surprise afterwards with each one having a different reaction to the situation. Sakura and Hinata got scared instantly due to seeing how strong the man looked while the boys held a different reaction with Sasuke's being the second opportunity to fight such a high level shinobi like Zabuza, since if Naruto could do it then he could do it far better.
After all, once a loser, always a loser
Naruto's thoughts on the other hand were more of excitement, as this now meant that he had a goal to reach in fighting Zabuza again. That man truly did prove that he earned his nickname of demon of the bloody mist, as the man's strength very well exceeded any of the shinobi he fought. Plus the man's swordsmen skills also exceeded his own by miles upon miles of levels with the top being unknown to him, and add in his mastery of the silent kill technique then he could very well be one of the most efficient shinobi he's ever seen.
This was one of the main reasons as to why he was standing before the jounnin instructors that were silently discussing the situation between each other on what exactly they should do for each individual gennin. They soon nodded towards each other before they stepped up to their respective gennin.
"Okay everyone, after a quick debriefing between each other; we have all determined the proper training that you all need: We are going to climb trees." Kakashi said with everyone murmuring to themselves before Sakura spoke up.
"But sensei, we already know how to climb trees." Sakura said with everyone nodding their heads since that was one of the first lessons that they got at the academy. Kakashi then laughed lightly to himself before he formed the tora sign and back flipped onto the tree behind him, landing and sticking perfectly onto the bark of the tree as if he had glue stuck to his foot. Instantly everyone, minus the jounin and Naruto, were surprised by the white haired jounnins amazing feat such as hanging on the bark suspended in the air.
"Sakura, I already know that you guys can climb trees but this is a far different way to do it and will further your advancement in the shinobi world ten-fold. This is an exercise called the tree walking exercise, which is where you walk on the surface of the tree without the use of your hands to help you. This exercise will not only help in strengthening you body and your chakra control, it will also give you a major push in your shinobi training." He said pulling out seven kunai and tossing them to the feet of each gennin "I want you guys to use those to mark off your progress during this training exercise. You stop as soon as you reach the top of the tree and can do the exercise without any hindrance of low chakra flow." Kakashi said with each gennin picking up the kunai before running towards the tree. Each one began to run up the tree simultaneously before each one hopped off before making their mark in the bark of the tree.
Kiba made the least progress of the bunch, as the moment his climb began it ended with him landing hard on his butt and grabbing the back of his head. Asojo came second as he progressed three steps upward before jumping off and making his mark on the tree. Hinata came next as she managed to get upwards with five steps before having to mark her progression on the tree. Sasuke exceeded just four steps ahead of Hinata before having to make his mark as some of the bark cracked under his foot and forced him to stop short. Shino made the smoothest progression of them as he managed a good fifteen steps before having to bail out fast. Everyone then looked around to check their respective teammate's progress and each one were silently laughing at Kiba's misfortune on the first try until everyone noticed that something was wrong.
Sakura was missing
"Hey, this is pretty easy." A voice called out with everyone's head whipping towards one of the tree's surprised to find the pink haired girl sitting on the branch waving the peace sign towards the group below her. They were all amazed at how high she was as well as how great her progression was on just her first try, instantly causing some of the male egos to flare due to being beaten by a girl.
"Very good job Sakura, it appears that the academy was right in describing your perfect chakra control." Kakashi said before he caught a different sight that caused everyone look on in pure shock.
They saw that Naruto was currently laying down on the tree bark with his arms behind his head, his face adjourned with boredom.
He then looked towards his sensei, who had her usual smirk, and spoke "Sensei, what do you have planned for me?" He said with Anko smirking again before she shrugged her shoulders.
"Sorry kid, you know I'd love to train you alone but Kakashi and Kure-chan insisted that I stay here and help the kiddies all progress together." She said with Naruto scoffing before his body suddenly straightened itself to be horizontal to the ground below, once again surprising everyone.
"Well that sucks; I was hoping to get a spar with you today." Naruto said with Anko nodding her head before she spoke.
"Don't worry kiddo, we'll get one soon." Anko said with Naruto nodding as he walked towards the ground with Kakashi speaking up.
"Anko, when did you teach Naruto this?" The one eyed jounin said with Anko smirking again before she shook her head.
"He already knew it when we started training, which was good as it opened up more time for training." She said as Naruto reached the grass and walked over to Anko, who ruffled his hair like a big sister would do to her little brother. "I take it you're going to go off and do your own training?" Anko asked with Naruto nodding.
"Yeah, don't wait up for me, oh and Kakashi." The blonde said as he turned his attention to the silver haired jounin "The reason Sakura did the best is because of her weak chakra reserves allowing her better control over her chakra. So the only reason she could do this is because she's the weakest one here." Naruto said as he left with the gennin all surprised by what they just saw.
Although Naruto didn't pass Sakura in the climb, he certainly proved that he didn't have to with that previous display. It was then that Sasuke gripped his fist in anger as he realized just how far behind he was if Naruto could do the exercise in that fashion without any form of effort involved in it.
'That bastard won't beat me.' Sasuke thought as he continued the exercise, causing everyone to come out of their shock and began to train.
Kakashi on the other hand was going back on what he saw the blonde boy do with the exercise, as it took him years to get that good with the exercise, thus causing him to become very curious of the blonde teen.
(Meanwhile)
In a dark location stood two figures pacing within the room with a large body laying down in a large king sized bed, appearing to be recuperating from a big fight that resulted in him being in bed rest.
"I can't stand seeing Zabuza-san like this, it's sickening." One of the figures said with a female sounding voice with a males following suit.
"I understand but we must deal with it, after all if we didn't get him out of there when we did then he could have died." Said the male voice with the female nodding her head. Their conversation was soon ended when the gruff sounding voice of Zabuza spoke out to them.
"Haku, Kimimaro, that's enough out of you two." Zabuza said as he before coughing loudly until he spoke again "There was no way I would have allowed that little brat to kill me, regardless of the situation that I was in." Zabuza said with Haku looking towards him with concern.
"But Zabuza, you must-" She started before being interrupted by a new individual entering the room.
"Well, well, well lookie here, if it isn't the great demon of the mist. I'm paying you good money to kill one measly old man yet I hear you getting your ass handed to you by some brat and his teammates." The new man Gatou said, entering the room with two thugs by his side. The man held a smug smirk as he walked up to the bed "Maybe I should take you out of your misery and kill you right now." He said as he reached towards Zabuza with his right arm, only for it to be grabbed and placed under a death grip by Haku, who gave him a dark stare through the corner of her eye, nearly making Gatou shit in his pants. The two thugs reacted quickly and drew their swords but before anything could happen, two blades appeared out of their chest, killing them instantly. The figure that killed the two thugs then slowly approached Gatou with the blades appearing to be coming out of his arms, like bones.
Gatou was now fully scared as he saw the same look in Kimimaro's eyes that caused the whole load to ruin his underwear.
"If you so much as lay a skin molecule on Zabuza, then I'm going to do more to you then breaking your arm." Haku said as she released her grip on Gatou's arm, causing him to run towards the door.
"You just take care of them or else Zabuza." Gatou said as he ran down the hallway in hopes to find a cast and a clean pair of draws.
"You didn't have to do that Haku, I had it under control." Zabuza said, holding a kunai under the sheet.
"I know you did, but we still need him until his usefulness is up." Haku said with Kimimaro nodding his head as the bone blades returned to his arms. Zabuza then took a glance at his two students before he nodded his head.
"Very well then, we'll play it your way for now."
(Later on in the night: With Naruto)
The blonde walked into a clearing that was long and wide enough for him to feel comfortable with his training, since he didn't want any witnesses following him. Although it was technically the middle of the night so it wouldn't have mattered what he was doing, but just in case he made a few clones to alert him if anyone followed behind him. He then formed the familiar cross symbol to summon a shadow clone which appeared before him instantly but something was very different with this clone as he had red eyes and long whisker like marks on his cheeks. The clone then looked around and stared at his hands for a moment before looking back up to the original.
"I was hoping you would do that, do you know what it's like cramped up in that damn cage for thirteen years?" The voice of Kyuubi said through the clone with Naruto shaking his head
"Dually noted, I'll let you out more often; anyway I thought we could get a little training in before the others try to come find me." Naruto said with the clone nodding his head before he stood within a stance that caused Naruto to do the same.
"I'm proud of the way you handled yourself when you fought Zabuza with the technique, but you also proven to me that you need far more help then I originally planned. I'm going to focus this time only towards the development of the , and once you've proven to me that you can indeed handle its power then I'll give you something that made your father's clan legendary amongst the shinobi plain." Kyuubi said with Naruto raising an eyebrow but before he could comment on that statement, the clone was already on the attack.
(The next morning)
It was a bright, sunlit morning. The birds were chirping contently as they drank the morning dew from the leaves. They took flight as a young girl with long, silky brown hair walked through the forest. She was wearing a pink flowery kimono, and her beautiful dark brown eyes were drinking in the enchanting sight of the morning forest. In her right hand was a basket that looked to be about the size of carrying flowers or herbs of some types for medical purposes, which was her goal in the first place. Many don't know this but Nami no Kuni was at one time famous for holding many variants of medical herbs that work wonders for the human body, but when the country went under siege and control by Gatou, the medical units that would make the medicine went out of business and with it one of the economies main provider was lost to them.
However, that didn't mean that the plants were gone, as they still continued to grow in large quantities even to this day. The girl knew exactly which ones she needed to pick, so with a happy smile she continued on her walk until her eyes came upon a sight that caused her to raise an eyebrow. She saw that the opening in the forest was heavily damaged by what appeared to be combat of multiple shinobi. She saw sword cuts going along the trees and some ditches in the grass on the ground with some being deeper than others. She also saw a few puddles of water around the area that drenched most of the flowers in the plain but her eyes soon turned to a figure sleeping soundly in the forest.
Her eyes soon widened when she recognized the clothing and the way he wore his sword sheaths on his back, immediately putting herself in a prime position with many scenarios to play out in her mind.
'That's the boy that fought Zabuza three days ago; he looks so at peace asleep.' She thought to herself as she slowly began to approach him with her hand primed to choke the life out of him. As she walked step by step, each scenario played itself out in her mind with each one involving the boy's death. She knew that if she killed the boy now, it would relieve allot of stress from Zabuza but it wouldn't feel right to her as the boy was sleeping, thus making the target way to easy. As such with a heavy sigh, she bent down on one knee and went to go push his shoulders to wake him up, only to be surprised when a hand grabbed her wrist and saw that it was the blonde boy she was contemplating about killing.
"To think that I was beginning to trust the area I was in of no attempts at my life, I guess I was wrong to bring my guard down." Naruto said opening his eyes to the girl above him and causing him to slightly lose himself at how beautiful the girl was. The blonde then released his hold around the girl's wrist, causing her to snap from her composure and come back to the world of the living.
"I wasn't trying to kill you; I was merely trying to wake you up so that you wouldn't catch a cold. What would give you the impression that I would hurt you?" The girl asked with Naruto stretching his arms a bit before he spoke.
"You would be surprised how many times I thought that before I learned the answer." Naruto said before he relaxed his muscles and placed his full attention on the girl in front of him "Anyway, what's your name and what are you doing here." Naruto asked with the girl quickly answering.
"Oh I'm sorry, my name is Haku. The reason for why I'm here is because I need to collect some medical herbs for a friend of mine that got hurt along our trip here." Haku said with Naruto raising an eyebrow.
"Really? Well I'm sorry to hear that Haku, my name is Naruto by the way." Naruto said with Haku giving him a warm smile.
"It's nice to meet you. Say would you like to help me with picking these herbs? It would give me more time to prepare medicine for my friend." Haku asked trying to be as friendly as possible, since she didn't want to give off any bad vibes or alert the blonde to her true identity.
"I guess, since I don't have much to do right now." Naruto said as he crawled over to the location Haku was picking herbs from, seeing the girl already got started.
"So tell me Naruto, what were you doing out here by yourself anyway? Don't you know that it's dangerous to be out here all night?" Haku said as she picked up several herbs and placed them in the basket. She knew that she had to be very careful when it came to medicine, as placing in the wrong herb could result in accidental poisoning or could cause a disease to appear suddenly. In order to keep a low profile, Naruto simply picked the ones that he knew were good for recovery of muscle traction and healing, knowing that Zabuza had to be at a hundred percent for their fight.
"I've been in far more dangerous places then spending a night in the woods, but if you must know then I was up all night training." He said, still feeling the soreness that came from the aftereffects of Kyuubi's training. 'That damn fox can be a real sadist during our spars and I'm only supplying him with a tails worth of his chakra.' Naruto thought as he picked up two more herbs and placed them in the girl's basket.
"Oh so you're a shinobi?" Haku asked as she gave a few glances to Naruto and couldn't help but think that he was pretty cute.
"Yep, a genuine shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato." Naruto said with Haku giggling to herself.
"Really? That must be pretty interesting for someone your age. Let me ask you something, why are you training? You look pretty strong." Haku said, while not sure why she added that last bit.
"I'm training to become a great shinobi like my parents, and then I can finally gain some acknowledgement." Naruto said with Haku nodding her head.
"I see, but tell me something, is it also for someone precious to you?" She asked.
"I'm not following you exactly, what do you mean?" Naruto asked with a look of confusion.
"I mean someone that means allot to you, someone that you cherish with all your heart." Haku said, trying to explain it as clearly as she could to the blonde boy.
"Oh, well in that case no. I don't have anyone like that in my life." Naruto said with Haku frowning at that.
"I'm sorry to hear that but surely there must someone that you care about?" Haku asked, not believing that this boy could have no one that was special to him at his age. Naruto then took the time to ponder on what she explained as a precious person but once more came up empty except for a few faces appearing.
"I would probably say that I have some of those but they are all able to keep themselves safe. I would count one but he's more of my partner at arms than anything else." Naruto said with Haku nodding her head, slightly saddened at how this boy's life must have been like growing up.
"Well that's sad to hear but I'm sure that you will one day gain people that are precious to you, and only then will you know true strength. When a person has someone that they want to protect or throw their lives away for, then and only then will they truly grow stronger." She said with Naruto nodding his head. She then looked at the basket and saw that it was full, thus telling her that it was time to take her leave "Well would you look at that, it appears that I have enough to make the medicine for my friend now." Haku said with Naruto nodding his head again before he spoke up.
"Yep, and I hope it works well, since you were the very reason I didn't get the chance to finish my fight with Zabuza." Naruto said suddenly with his eyes totally fixed on Haku, as she let out a small gasp of surprise.
"Wha-what do y-you mean?" She asked, while unconsciously reaching for a senbon but before she had the chance Naruto already grabbed hold of his swords handle and held it strong in his grip.
"Don't play dumb with me, I already knew that it was you the moment you spoke to me, your voice is to unique and is a perfect match with the hunter that took out Zabuza." He said with Haku slumping, surprised at how easily fooled she was by the blonde teen.
"Well now that you know, what do you plan to do? Will you capture me and take me back to your comrades?" Haku asked with Naruto simply shaking his head and sheathing his sword.
"Believe it or not, I don't wish to do either of that or even killing you for that matter. I've seen a few scenarios' play out in my mind during the conversation and one of them is something that I found the perfect solution towards, but it will involve your cooperation." Naruto said with Haku giving him a look of confusion before she spoke up.
"I'm listening." She said with Naruto sitting down before he pulled out Savior and held it before the brown haired girl.
"In Konoha, I'm currently training to not only be a shinobi but a swordsman as well, but sadly Konoha isn't thriving on sword masters. Only a handful of shinobi in Konoha know the ways of the sword and only one is a true master of the sword, and I already studied under his tutelage. However, I still wish to gain advancement in the kenjutsu arts and it just so happens that I need a new teacher in order to get said advancement, that's where Zabuza comes in." Naruto said sheathing Savior "I want Zabuza to become my new master in the kenjutsu arts, but to do that I would need for him to come back with me to Konoha to get it. This however must involve you, seeing as how you're both together and I can't leave you out either." Naruto said with Haku getting a little anxious about what he had to say.
"What are you getting at exactly?" Haku asked, since she figured what he was implying towards but she wanted to be absolutely sure that it was absolute.
"I want you and Zabuza to return to Konoha with my group and I, as Konoha is always in need of shinobi and two shinobi's of your caliber will make excellent additions to the village." Naruto said with Haku pondering on his words for a moment before she spoke up.
"How can you guarantee that we will be allowed into the village? That we won't be imprisoned and sent back to Kiri for the reward on our heads?" Haku said with Naruto shrugging his shoulders.
"I really can't but the current leader is like my Grandpa, so I can pretty much ask that you guys get something." Naruto said with Haku once more pondering on the boy's words.
"Can I have some time to think about it? After all, I'm being offered a new home by a total stranger that can't very well guarantee it." Haku said with Naruto nodding as he stood up.
"Very well then, I'll be here for another week so you have until three days to respond, since that is the time left for Zabuza to be able to walk on his own. Remember this though; if I don't speak with you guys then I'll have no choice but to take that as an option to kill you. And believe me that is something I really want to avoid." Naruto said as he placed his hands in his pockets and walked into the forest but paused when he neared the first tree and turned his head back in Haku's direction "The same offer applies to you as well since Konoha can also use a shinobi of your caliber easy." Naruto said before fully walking into the forest.
Haku gasped in surprise at that as Kimimaro walked into the open with a look of surprise on his face before standing next to Haku.
"I take it he was telling you the truth, he could have attacked us both at any moment." Kimimaro said with Haku nodding as she got up from the ground with the basket in her hand.
"Let's go tell Zabuza the news." Haku said with Kimimaro nodding as they both walked back to the hideout, all the while thinking of the strange blonde that offered them a new chance on life.
All they had to do was convince Zabuza into seeing what kinda life it could be.
AN: Done and done another pain in the ass chapter done and ready to be distributed. Originally I was planning on involving more of the wave arc in this chapter but I had to change those plans mainly because my time is all but compromised now with school and church. Yes I am serious with my faith and if you don't like it to bad, I know what God has done for me and the least I can do is act on it.
Anyway I'm rambling for no reason, I want to announce that the next chapter won't take as long but I can't guarantee that it would be sooner then you may think. For some reason I'm not loving this story like I know I want to. It's not clicking with that certain spot in my heart that makes me want to jump for joy whenever I write this, but just more of me wishing to fulfill my job. Another thing that I wish to announce is that this could very well be the very last story I update…..as a teenager, because in exactly one month and thirteen days time, my teenage years will be gone and I will have entered the beginning of adulthood.
What will change from this? Will I curse less? Will I still be immature? Will I still write with my normal swagger? Will I get three strippers for my birthday or two? Either way I'm happy as a mutha fucker to be done with my teenage life. I look forward to hitting XX and I thank God for another year of life.
Until Next Time
Peace