Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters.

'Thinking.'
"Talking."
"Kyūbi/Jutsu."

Chapter 4: Trip to Wave, Part One

Konoha's South Gate...

"Why are you even here, Ino-pig? You're just going to slow everyone else down!" Sakura yelled at her ex-best friend. The two had been arguing for the last fifteen minutes, giving their teammates and the client a throbbing headache. Team 10, Team 7 and Tazuna were all waiting for the arrival of Asuma and Kakashi, who were both half an hour late. The tardiness could be expected from Kakashi, but it was unusual for the Sarutobi.

"Actually Sakura, you would be the one to slow us down with your big forehead!"

"Pig!"

"Billboard Brow!"

"Pig!"

"Billboard Brow!"

"Pig!"

"Billboard B-!"

"Can you two please just shut up? Continue arguing after the mission if you want, but as long as I'm near you, be quiet!" it was silent after that. Chōji, about to put a crisp in his mouth, was frozen. Shikamaru sighed and looked away, believing this 'new Naruto' was too troublesome to deal with. Sasuke had an eyebrow raised. Tazuna was choosing to ignore Naruto in favour of drinking.

Ino, a hand gripping Sakura's top, was staring at the Uzumaki like she had just killed a kitten, while Sakura, with a hand holding the end of Ino's long ponytail, was just glaring at her.

"Don't you dare tell me to shut up, baka!" Sakura pulled her fist back and was about to show Naruto how she really felt about her, when a gloved hand caught her wrist.

"Now, now, my cute little Genins, save your energy for the mission," Kakashi, who was hiding in a nearby tree with Asuma, said as he appeared in a swirl of leaves behind the pinkette. 'Wow, what happened to 'I'm not going to look down on Naruto'?'

"Can we go now, Kakashi-sensei? I feel like my head is about to explode," a very irritated Jinchūriki asked the man.

"Of course! But first..." Kakashi nodded at Asuma, who pulled out a piece of paper with names written on them. "This is the formation we will walk in. As you can see, Tazuna will be in the middle with Asuma in front and me in the back. At either side of Tazuna will be Sakura and Ino, it's your job to keep your eyes on the left and right side of him and block any attack coming your way. It's unlikely that they'll attack from this angle, so you should be all right. Chōji and Naruto will be at the back, between me and Ino and Sakura. You two can take a lot of hits, so if anyone decides to come at up from behind and get past me, you can protect our rear. Sasuke and Shikamaru will be behind Asuma, near the front. Sasuke can use his keen eyesight to spot any trouble ahead, and if he does, he can alert Shikamaru who can then trap any enemies with his jutsu. Any questions?"

"Um, sensei, isn't this just a simple C-Rank escort mission?" Sakura began to fidget from nervousness.

"Don't worry, there shouldn't be any trouble along the way, right Tazuna-san?" said man just gulped and nodded, although he wouldn't meet Kakashi's eye. "See? Nothing to worry about, the protective formation is only a precaution. Let's go!"

The bridge builder, although still anxious about the trip, was feeling more positive about the mission being a success. With all these ninja, nothing could go wrong, right?

Wrong.

All of a sudden, the two puddles in front of, and behind, the group of Konoha ninja evaporated, and two men took their places. The one behind the group launched a chain from his gauntlet towards Kakashi while the other did the same to Asuma, and pulled. Instantly, the two Jōnin were torn apart.

"Kakashi-sensei! Asuma-sensei!" screamed a few of the Genin.

"Two down," the man at the back said.

"Six to go," continued the man at the front.

Sasuke pulled out a kunai and threw it towards the enemy closest to him, pinning his chain to a tree. The enemy, realising he wouldn't have time to break free, snapped the chain just in time to dodge a kick from Sasuke. He tried to stab the young Uchiha with his gauntlet's claws, but the boy pulled out another kunai and blocked it.

Naruto tried to swipe at the other enemy ninja with a kunai, but he just kept dodging and deflecting her attacks. The unknown man tried to knock her feet out from underneath her, but she jumped and aimed a kick at his chest, which he caught. He threw her into a tree and made a bee-line for Tazuna.

With Shikamaru's help, Sasuke was able to knock out his opponent, however when he turned to look at Tazuna, his eyes widened. Choji, Ino and Sakura were frozen, leaving the client open to the other enemy ninja's attack.

"What are you doing? Stop him!" he yelled, but the command fell on deaf ears. Well, mostly deaf ears. Ino, having just barely heard her crush, shook her head and jumped in front of Tazuna with a kunai in a defensive position.

Ino knew she wasn't strong like Sasuke, and therefore wouldn't be able to completely block the man's gauntlet. She knew that if his weapon reached her, it would break her guard and pierce her chest.

The Yamanaka closed her eyes and prepared for the worst, but it never came. When she opened her eyes, she expected to see the enemy, however she instead saw a head of butter blonde hair. 'Naruto?!'

The Jinchūriki was hunched over, gripping the ninja's gauntlet that was currently embedded in her lower torso. With a growl, she yanked it out and kicked the man in the chin, making him fall backwards. Instead of landing on his back, the man used his hands to spring up and land in a crouch, gauntlet at the ready.

"That's not how it happened in my head," Naruto said before grunting in pain and collapsing, however she was caught by the other blonde before she hit the ground.

"You're gonna pay for that, you little shit," the enemy said, but he froze when a swirl of leaves appeared behind him. Hatake Kakashi looked down at the ninja with disinterest, then with a quick swipe of his hand, he knocked him unconscious.

"Kakashi-sensei! Naruto's hurt!" Ino cried as she gently lay her fellow Genin down, completely forgetting the fact that she had seen him and the other Jōnin being torn apart not too long ago. The Jinchūriki's eyes were closed and sweat was beginning to build up on her forehead.

"I can see that. Asuma, do you have the medic kit?" the silver haired man looked over his shoulder. The man in question came out from the nearby bushes with a green pack in his hands.

"Of course. Ino, let me see her," Asuma knelt beside the blonde after his student walked towards the rest of her team and Team 7. The young ninja were standing a short distance away with Tazuna, and all of them (even Sasuke) were looking at Naruto's unconscious form with worry. When Asuma and Kakashi were sure the Genins were out of hearing range, they began to speak.

"Damn it, we never should have left them to fight these guys," Kakashi said. He was helping Asuma clean Naruto's wound.

"Don't blame yourself, we never could have known the Demon Brothers of the Mist would appear and not some common bandits. After Naruto is all fixed up, I'm going to have a word with our client."

"Good idea. Hey, Asuma?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed anything strange about this?"

"About what? The mission?"

"No, Naruto's injury. Look, it's not healing. With the Kyūbi's abilities, it should be starting to close up by now."

"That... is correct. Pass me one of the gauntlets," Kakashi stood up and approached the unmoving form on the ground. After he tied the man's wrist together with chakra binders, the Hatake removed the enemy's gauntlet and handed it to his friend who then inspected the ends of the pointed fingers. "Ah, damn it."

"What is it? Poison?"

"Yeah."

"But that shouldn't be a problem for the Kyūbi. What do you think is wrong?"

"This is a weird one, but if I had to guess, I'd say it attacks the victim's chakra, and because the Kyūbi is completely made out of the stuff, it cancels out its healing. If only Anko were here, she'd be able to give a better analysis, maybe even a cure."

"That settles it then, we return to Konoha."

"No..." a weak voice from below the two men said. Naruto, with her visible eyes just starting to open, attempted to raise her hand up, but she was too weak and it fell. "Don't... don't cancel the mission... because of this. I can make it."

"Naruto, look at yourself, you can't even lift a finger without feeling pain. We can get you back to the village so you can receive proper medical care," the masked man ignored his student and turned to the rest of the Genins. "All right, listen up! Naruto's hurt, and we need to get her to some medic ninjas. Tazuna-san," the old man gulped and took a step back when the Jōnin began to advance on him. "You lied about this mission. These men are called the Demon Brothers of the Mist, Chūnin level ninja. They are above my students' current rank and therefore too dangerous. Obviously, they weren't behind this attack, so the next enemy we face is going to be stronger than them.

"Because of you, one of my students is hurt. Badly. When we get back to Konoha, you and the Hokage, who cares deeply for Naruto, are going to have a long chat," Kakashi turned around and was about to go pick up the Uzumaki, however he stopped. Said girl was slowly getting to her knees. Her whole body, still in immense pain, was shaking. "Naruto-"

"Shut up," she said. Even in her weakened state, the girl ignored her own body's needs.

"Naruto, you don't have to-"

"I said, shut up!" Kakashi's eye widened in shock when the Uzumaki stood up straight. Her eye met his, and he was able to see the pure rage she felt at both him and herself. "We're not quitting this mission because of me, you got that?"

"She's right, we can't give up just because one of us is injured."

"Sasuke, don't start-"

"Kakashi-sensei, it's your job to prepare for the future, right? And in the future, when we're on important missions for the village, we can't stop half-way through. Besides, look at her! Naruto's willing to continue."

Kakashi looked to Asuma for help, but when the Sarutobi saw the determination on all of the Genins' faces, he shrugged. Kakashi sighed and scratched his head. "Well... I suppose we can continue. But if Naruto so much as stumbles along the way, we're turning right back."

The Konoha team was back in formation like nothing had happened, however they were all feeling anxious about what was to come next. Kakashi believed that the Demon Brothers were only the first wave, and that something bigger was approaching, so now everyone was on high-alert. Her face didn't show it, but the other Genins could see how much pain Naruto was in due to her slouching posture and heavy breathing.

'Damn it, why the hell did she do that?' the Yamanaka asked herself. Her eyes had never left Naruto's form since they started walking again. 'Out of everyone here, she was the person I least expected to save me... after all, I've done nothing but shit on every attempt she made to be my friend again.'

Ino sighed and looked away from her ex-friend. When she was eight years old, Ino had met Sakura and Naruto at the entrance ceremony to the ninja academy. At first, the three didn't click, but it was Naruto that brought them together. The trio were practically glued together, and the only time they were separated was when they had to go home.

Two years later, the trio became a duo.

Flashback

"Mother! I'm home!" a young Yamanaka Ino called as she shut the front door to her house and took off her shoes. The blonde girl walked into her family's kitchen where an older women with brown haired tied up into a bun was sitting in one of the three chairs around an average-sized table. The women smiled warmly when her daughter sat across from her.

"Hello, Ino-chan," there was something about her mother's smile that made Ino frown.

"Mother? What's wrong?"

"Nothing, dear. Why do you ask?"

"You're lying to me."

The brunette chuckled. "You always have been able to tell when something was off. You're pretty much a human lie detector."

When Inoichi had first found out about Ino's talent, he was ecstatic, believing that his daughter would have a great career in the T&I department.

"Mother, please don't change the subject. What's wrong?"

The woman sighed. "How is Naruto doing?"

"Great, why?"

"Well... Ino, I want you to stop seeing her."

"Excuse me?"

"Ino, she's a bad influence. That girl has no discipline and will never amount to anything in life, and I don't want her dragging you down with her. Sakura is a wonderful girl, just play with her from now on."

"I don't understand, what brought this on? I love Naruto-chan! Sure, she plays pranks on everyone and doesn't take a lot of things seriously, but she would never hurt anyone! And don't say those things about her!"

"Ino-"

"No!" the younger female stood up with tears building up in her eyes. "Naruto and Sakura both mean the world to me! I would never betray either of them!" Ino ran out of her house and continued to run down a familiar path, unaware of her pink haired friend running towards her for the same reason.

Flashback End

Contrary to her declaration, Ino and Sakura had stopped speaking to their Uzumaki friend just a month later, and a year after that, she and Sakura split as well. The two years before the Jinchūriki's graduation was hell. No matter how many times she tried, Ino and Sakura never spoke to her, and eventually, they even started to yell at her for 'trying to steal Sasuke-kun'. Yeah, like Naruto would ever like him.

Naruto's P.O.V

"Pssst, gaki [1], do you hear that rustling in the bush over there?"

'Well if you can hear it, then obviously I can too.'

I pulled out a shuriken from my pouch and threw it towards the bush. When I heard it hit something, I ran over to the bush and separated it with my arms. Just below the weapon that was embedded into a tree, was a trembling white rabbit.

'Maybe I'm just being paranoid...'

"Or maybe that's a distraction. It's spring, remember? That's a white rabbit."

'Oh sh-!'

Before I could tell everyone to get down, Asuma-sensei beat me to it. Apparently he had seen the colour of the animal as well. Immediately, Sasuke and Kakashi pulled Tazuna down with them, while Asuma grabbed Chōji and Shikamaru.

'So that leaves Ino and Sakura. Well, if we're all playing team mates, then I should- wait, hang on a minute!'

Suddenly, something pink and red appeared in front of me and pushed me down while someone else cushioned my fall, presumably because they didn't want to make my wound worse. I closed my eyes from the shock of the fall, and when I opened them, I saw Sakura on top of me, covering the back of my head with her hand, and when I turned around, I saw Ino holding onto my shoulders so I wouldn't fall off of her.

"Not that I don't appreciate the both of trying to help me, but I would like you to get off of me!" I growled at them, and almost instantly, Sakura stood up with the rest of our comrades. I rolled off of Ino and stood up, dusting off any dirt that got on me.

"Zabuza..." I heard Kakashi say. I followed his glare to a man standing on a large sword that was stuck in the same tree I threw a shuriken at. The man had bandages wrapped around his face, a slanted headband around his head, stripped trousers and arm-warmers.

"Hatake Kakashi, the Copy-Cat ninja and Sarutobi Asuma, the Sandaime Hokage's son. It must be my birthday!" Zabuza exclaimed as he jumped down.

"Naruto, Sakura, Ino, get away from the tree!" Asuma ordered. We did as he asked without any questions.

"Stuck with some brats, I see. Couldn't fight two Chūnin without getting an injury? How sad," I growled as he mocked me. Now I want to tear his stupid head off.

"All right team, Asuma and I will fight him while the rest of you form a circle around Naruto and Tazuna."

I glared at Kakashi for making everyone protect me. I know that he's right, but it's still unfair. Sasuke and I are the only good fighters here (excluding our sensei and Asuma, of course), and even though Shikamaru's decent, the rest seriously need to improve.

"Good idea, Hatake. Unfortunately for you, a small band of brats won't protect the bridge builder."

Normal P.O.V

All of a sudden, a thick mist began to surround the area, obscuring everything that was more than three feet in front of the Genins. Kakashi moved his headband further up his head so that his other eye was uncovered, and when the Genins saw the red and black eye, they gasped.

'That's impossible... he's not an Uchiha!' thought Sasuke.

"I'll explain this in detail later, but just know that a friend gave me this," the man said as he pulled out a kunai while Asuma brought out his chakra-blades.

"Eight points... the larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular vein, collarbone, kidneys and the heart. Which one will I choose?" Momochi Zabuza said from right behind them. The Genins turned around just in time to see Zabuza inside their formation, his sword raised above Tazuna's head. "I think I'll just cut his head off."

Time seemed stand still for the Uzumaki. Naruto could then hear a feminine voice inside her head. "You want this mission to succeed, don't you?" the voice definitely wasn't the Kyūbi's, because her voice is rougher, so who could it be?

'Who are you?'

"Do you, or do you not, want this mission to succeed?"

'I... I do.'

"Then protect them," suddenly, the area around the blonde's right eye became warm, and the eye itself changed. Her pupil stayed the same, however a thick, light blue line appeared around the edges of the iris, covering at least half of the original darker blue, and multiple white dots formed another line within that light blue section. "This is your heritage, the Roiyarugādo [2]. Use it wisely, little Uzumaki."

As soon as the voice disappeared, transparent images formed in front of Naruto, however as soon as they were completely formed, they vanished and another appeared. The Uzumaki was confused. From what she could see, they seemed to be weapons of some sort, all ranging from different types. Swords, axes, bows, daggers, scythes...

Not knowing exactly what she should be doing, Naruto reached out to see if she could make the images stop, however when her hand touched one of the weapons, it become solid. The kunoichi pulled whatever weapon she grabbed towards herself and gasped. In her right hand was the most beautiful blade she had ever seen. The handle was scarlet red with a silver ribbon wrapped around it, with the last few inches of the ribbon hanging off bottom. The blade itself was shiny, like it had just been cleaned, and the colour of it was almost unnaturally white.

When she was finished admiring the craftsmanship, a scabbard the same colour as the handle appeared on her left hip with a string attaching itself to the headband tied around her waist. Time continued Zabuza brought his sword down, the small blonde blocked his strike with her new weapon.

Zabuza almost stumbled backwards. How the hell did she get in front of him so quickly? And where did she get that blade?

He took one look at her eye, and the answers were clear to him.

"You little shit, you're an Uzumaki, aren't you?" he pressed down on her more, smirking when her body began to tremble.

"Maybe. Why do you care?"

"Oh, I don't, but maybe you should have stayed on your pathetic little island," he brought his sword back up for another attack, knowing that with her injury, Naruto wasn't going to be able to stop him this time.

Before he could bring his weapon down again, Kakashi came up from behind him and stabbed his lower back with his kunai, however he just turned into water. The blonde wasn't sure what happened after that, because as soon as the enemy ninja dropped out of sight, she sank to her knees. The katana she was holding vanished, right after her eye became normal again.

'What's happening?' she thought as she felt her upper body connecting with the ground.

"Your wound reopened, and now you're fainting from blood loss."

'... Oh.'

A/N: Here's another chapter and the start of the Wave mission.

The reason that I'm rushing it a bit is because it's difficult rewriting a story. It gets boring, especially when I've already got so many ideas for the Shippuden timeline. Now you may ask me, "Well why did you rewrite this? Why didn't you just continue from where you left off?" Simply because I cringe when I reread the original version. The punctuation, the sentence structure and the dialogue make me feel embarrassed, and even though this version won't be anywhere near perfect, it will at least make me feel better about myself.

Another thing someone commented on was the random appearance of the green haired man. I don't see how it's a 'random appearance' when I mentioned that a mob of people, consisting of both civilians and ninja, were chasing Naruto. If you were confused about why I mentioned his hair colour, then maybe you think he won't appear again. Ask yourself this: Why would I state his hair colour (a very unusual hair colour) if he had no other purpose than giving Naruto her scar? ;) ;) ;)

(Psst, he's definitely making another appearance)

As you can see, I changed Naruto's new ability slightly and her eye's pattern. I'm not entirely sure whether I should call it a Dōjutsu or a Kekkei Genkai. Her eye changes and she uses it to pick her weapon, but the ability itself is to summon weapons, so the eye serves no other purpose. When I think of the Sharingan users or the Byakugan users, their abilities lie solely within their eyes, and they're called Dōjutsu. When I think of Haku, his abilities are just his jutsu (his eyes don't change), and they're called Kekkei Genkai. Is Naruto's ability a mix? Some feedback on this would be appreciated, thank you :)

[1] Gaki - means 'brat'

[2] Roiyarugādo - Naruto's ability. It means 'Royal Guard' (the reason for this will be explained in later chapters, but it has a lot to do with the Uzumaki clan and my made-up history for them)

If I got the Japanese for 'Royal Guard' wrong, then please correct me because Google translate is sometimes wrong.