Rise of the Namikaze

by s15945

Twelve years ago Uzumaki Kushina sacrificed herself in order to protect her village from the Ninetails by sealing it into the eldest of her recently born twin daughters.

4. Preparing For Battle

While Naruto was having the discussion with Hana's team Zabuza was having a meeting of his own. The allies that had followed him from Kirigakure were gathered around his bed and he said, "Haku."

"Yes, Zabuza-sama?" Haku acknowledged.

"I'm going to need you to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"I need you to go to Tanzaku-gai and contact an information broker named Mafūma. She should be down the stairs around the back of the Black Dragon Gambling Hall."

"Why?"

"Because, that Namikaze is going to be a problem."

"Namikaze? The blonde man?"

"That's right."

"If he was telling the truth, apparently he was on a mission to take down that lime green jōnin, Takeda Takeshi. So he should be headed back to Konoha right now. If that's so, then I fail to see the…"

Zabuza sighed and said, "No. He's still in Wave. There's no doubt about that."

"Why?" Zori piped in.

"Not that I need to tell you this, but those were his sisters that he was protecting. There's no way that he's going to leave them while I'm still in the area. So, like it or not, he's going to hang his mission and stick around until either we leave, we take his head, or he takes ours."

"Surely he can be bribed."

"Hah! He's not like either of you," Zabuza said, looking from Zori to Waraji. "You'd have better luck waiting for the sky to turn green."

"In any case, I doubt he's as dangerous as you're making him out to be."

"I'll warn you once, and once only. Do not go anywhere near him. There's only two shinobi alive from his generation that have emerged from a battle against him. One of which was on his own team as a genin, though if rumour is to be believed, he betrayed Konoha and fled. The other, is who I need you to contact Mafūma to hire."

"Who is that?" Haku asked.

"Ito Daichi."

"Ito Daichi? Where have I heard the name before?"

"You probably heard Takeshi say it when he was fighting against Naruto."

"You might be right. So, why do you want me to get him?"

"Like I said. other than me, he's the only one that I can trust to take him on, and I'll be having my hands full with Amayah."

"What about this other person?"

"Uchiha Itachi? I heard that he's part of Akatsuki now, and I wouldn't trust them as far as I could throw 'em. And, from what I heard while I was still in Kirigakure, Namikaze is even more dangerous when he is together with Itachi."

Zori said, "That's funny. When I was going through the fire country one time when I was a genin, I came across a battle that was ongoing between the two of them and they seemed pretty set on killing each other."

Zabuza scoffed and said, "Who cares about that."

Haku said, "If I can't arrange Itō Daichi, should I try for this Itachi person?"

"No. If you can't, just leave. But just telling him that he'll have a chance at Namikaze Naruto should be enough to convince him to come."

"Why is that?"

"I don't know why, but apparently Daichi has some kind of ongoing beef with Namikaze. Now go," Zabuza ordered.

Haku nodded and said, "Hai, Zabuza-sama," and left.

Zabuza said, "As for you pair, I want you to stake out the bridge and the old man's home."

"But, won't that…you know, make us targets for this Namikaze-person?"

"No. He's not the type to just straight up slaughter bystanders. As long as you don't do anything to pose as a threat, you'll be fine. But, by the same token, do not come here again until he's gone from this island. You understand?" Zabuza growled.

"Sure thing boss. But…what about you?"

"I've got something else to do in the meantime myself," Zabuza said as he lay down on his bed and rested his hands behind his head, a pensive look in his eyes.

XXXXX

Two days later, Haku reached Tanzaku-gai and walked down the path into it. When he reached what appeared to be a Torii Gate(it wasn't), one of the guards, that was wearing what Haku supposed was the pants from a gi and a tank top, showing his oversized muscles as if they were supposed to be intimidating, stopped him and said, "Name and reason for coming here?"

"Yuki Haku. As for my reason for coming here. I would have thought that such a thing would not be of much concern to officials."

"You talkin' back to me, kid?" moving closer to Haku to try and…well, Haku didn't know exactly what the man was trying to do.

The second guard, a far thinner individual, though Haku thought that he was the one to be more concerned about, sighed and said, "Sorry, it used to be that way before some Konoha-nin thought that it would be a good idea to try and take out his target in the centre of town. Ever since, we've been taking names and reasons for coming here. But, as you said, it's not official business why you're here. It's just if you decide to cause a mess, it makes identifying the perpetrators easier for the bounty hunters."

"Oh. Then in that case, I'm here on behalf of my employer who wishes me to contact a certain…facilitator…if you will…about hiring some aid with a job that we are currently undertaking."

The guard scribbled some notes into his notebook and said, "Any weapons?"

"Why do you want to know that?"

"You know that situation I was telling you about?"

"Yes."

"There were lots of kunai flying about, as well as ninjutsu being used through weapons and all sorts of shenanigans that we's concerned of happening again."

"Alright. I use senbon."

"That's it?!" The first guard exclaimed.

"Yes. Can I go now?"

"By all means. A word of advice though…" the second guard said.

"Yes?"

"Ninjutsu and genjutsu are outlawed here. If you are caught using either your information is given to both Konoha and Iwa."

"Well, I wouldn't want that," Haku commented.

"Well, that's that. Welcome to Tanzaku-gai," the second guard said jovially as it was unusual for a shinobi to divulge that information without at least trying to get out of it somehow, but it was even rarer for them to use senbon as their only weapon.

Two hours later, Haku had been spectacularly unsuccessful in his attempts to locate the Black Dragon Gambling Hall, let alone contact this Mafūma person. He'd even resorted to going into the seediest and most shady bars and pubs that he could find, but still nothing. He was about to torture the information out of the next person he saw, but realised that night had overtaken the sky and instead found a relatively well-off establishment and acquired a room for a few nights. He failed to notice the person that had been tailing him after the ninth bar he had entered. Neither did he notice it when the tail disappeared, bits of rock-dust scattering in the wind.

When Haku came down for dinner, he ordered a miso-pork ramen and sat down at his table and set about slowly making his way through, so he was very surprised when a female ninja wearing a purple set of traditional ninja garb, that looked to be in her mid-twenties, sat down opposite him with a smile and said, "Heya stranger. Never seen you 'round 'ere before."

Haku said, "Uhh…" not sure what to say.

"So, what can I do you for?"

"Excuse me?" Haku asked, unsure what the indigo-haired woman wanted.

"I was told that you'd been looking for me."

"I don't think so."

"Ri-ight. You're looking for the Black Dragon Gambling Hall. Sorry, it kinda got destroyed in the incident that caused the changes that you ran into out the front of the city. You're just lucky that Gazuna knows me."

"Gazuna?" Haku said, even more confused than ever.

"The second guard. Fumio is a bit of a lunk, so you can mostly ignore him."

"Ah."

"So, when I heard about you from Gazuna, and one of my men told me that you were looking for the Black Dragon, I put two and two together, and decided that it would be fun to come and meet you myself."

"Fun?"

"Yeah. I don't get many people swinging by that haven't already been here multiple times, so a newcomer looking for a destroyed gambling hall, sounds interesting enough to get involved directly."

"So you're, Magumba?"

"It's Mafūma, kid. If you want to live much longer, I suggest you get it right and stop playing games," Mafūma said, her green eyes turning grey.

Haku cocked his head and said, "Your eyes…"

"What about them?"

"They just changed colour."

"So what? That always happens."

"No. It's probably coincidence," Haku said, shaking his head. He thought, 'If I tell her that she's probably from a clan of the Hidden Leaf, there's little hope that she'll arrange a fighter for us that will likely be fighting against her own family. If we can conclude our business first, then, if she's still interested, I'll send a letter when it's all over.'

"What's coincidence?"

"Anyway," Haku said, trying to get back on point, and away from the better-avoided subject. "Zabuza-sama would like to gain the aid of Itō Daichi."

"Daichi-kun? What do you want with him?"

Haku sighed and said, "We seem to have run up against an old rival of his. One Namikaze Naruto."

"Oh! Naruto is involved!?" Mafūma exclaimed. "This, I gotta see. Where do you need him to be?"

"Hu-uh?" Haku exclaimed, now beyond confused at this woman's seeming insanity.

"What do you mean, 'Huh?' You want Daichi to go and duke it out with Naruto. That's pretty much the sum total of what you want, isn't it?"

"Well…yes. But…"

"Naruto, is the one that is responsible for the destruction of the Black Dragon. Many of the denizens of Tanzaku-gai want his head on a pike for what he and Daichi caused."

"You don't seem to be among them?"

"Well, I happen to be one of the few people in all of the Elemental Nations that is actually on good terms with them both."

"Then maybe I shouldn't…"

"Oh no. Don't get me wrong. I am the consummate professional. I don't care if they kill each other, or whatever. As long as I get paid. They are both well aware of that. As well as the fact that I am the one that tends to be contacted to arrange, said conflicts."

Haku sighed and said, "Look, as long as you get it done, we'll pay whatever you ask."

"Don't be ridiculous. Zabuza saved me a while back, so this'll make us even. Now, eat up and I'll come and get you with Daichi-kun tomorrow. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good," Haku said, glad that he would be able to get back to Zabuza's side as soon as possible.

"Great!" Mafūma said with a large smile. "We'll see you tomorrow then," and pushed herself up out of her seat. She went over to the bartender and said, "Tensō, you can put that kid's meal and stay on my tab. Alright?"

"Sure thing Mafūma, but…are you sure?"

"Yeah," Mafūma grinned. "He's hiring me to get Daichi to take out Naruto for him."

"Oh. Then you can consider it on the house in that case."

"Great," Mafūma said. "I'll see you when it's over."

"You do know the likely result coming out of this scheme of his, right?"

"Of course. But the kid needs to learn it the hard way."

"Ah. I see. Well, alright then. But seriously, even if that is the case, why take his offer?"

"Because, he said that he was acting on behalf of Zabuza. If he isn't, then you know what has to happen."

"Right. Gotcha."

Haku heard what Mafūma was saying to the bartender and frowned at his ramen as he thought, 'What happens if I'm lying? What does she mean by that? Why would I lie? And what lesson is it that I am meant to be learning? Zabuza-sama has taught me about all there is to being a shinobi. Well, I suppose no matter how much I try and think about it, I won't get anywhere. So I might as well finish my meal, then head on up.' So he did. In record time too.

XXXXX

The next day, Haku came out of the hotel at eight o'clock to find the purple clad kunoichi standing alongside a taller, black haired, tanned shinobi with dark brown eyes that was wearing a pair of maroon shinobi pants and a maroon v-neck sleeveless shirt and a pair of black shinobi sandals. He wasn't wearing a flak-vest, though Haku could see the top of a mesh-vest under his shirt. Haku said, "So, are you Daichi-san?"

Daichi grunted and said, "Yeah. You the kid that Mafūma said could get me a shot at Namikaze's head?"

"That's right. And…this would be…?" Haku prompted, looking at an orange haired shinobi, with emerald coloured eyes, that didn't look to be much older than the Namikaze girls.

The boy was wearing a light blue t-shirt and dark blue shinobi pants and blue shinobi sandals. He said, "I'm Kaesawa Hito, nice to meet ya," and grinned, holding out his hand.

Haku looked at the hand, shocked into uncertainty about what to do, having been taught (the hard way) not to touch any part of a shinobi that you'd only just met. Seeing Haku's reaction, Daichi covered his eye and sighed. He said, "Sorry. I've tried to teach him to act with even just a little bit of caution, but…well…it hasn't quite taken just yet."

"I…see…Then in that case, " Haku said, extending his hand. "I'm Haku."

"Don't you have a last name?"

Haku looked at Daichi and said, "He really does have no tact, does he?"

Daichi sighed and sadly shook his head. Mafūma said, "Oh, don't worry about such things." Then she turned to Hito and said, "His last name's Yuki."

Haku's lips twitched downwards. His eye started twitching as Hito said, "Yuki? Snow? That's weird. Why not Sagegami if you're going to go by feature?"

Mafūma laughed as Daichi reached over and covered Hito's mouth as he said, "Sorry about that. He's got a bit of a mouth on him. It's almost as bad as an Uzumaki's."

"I…see," Haku said, even though he clearly didn't."

"Anyway, I think that it's probably a good time to get going now. Before my apprentice places his foot any further down his throat."

"Yes," Haku said. "I can see that that would be best," and started channelling his chakra to his feet in order to scale the wall of the inn so that they could go over the rooftops, making their journey faster.

Mafūma grabbed his collar as he jumped though, pulling him back to the ground. She demanded, "What the heck do you think you're doing, kid?"

"Why did you pull me back? It's quicker over the rooftops."

"Yes, but doing that in this town is a sure-fire way to get yourself killed."

"Killed? Why?"

"Again," Mafūma said, grabbing Daichi's ear. "It was when this idiot and Naruto crossed each other a couple of years ago." Daichi grunted in irritation and looked away.

"I…see."

Daichi said, "Trust me kid, you've got no idea," and started walking towards the entrance to Tanzaku-gai.

XXXXX

While Haku was setting out with Mafūma, Mizuko was grinning as she beheld the jutsu that her brother had taught her. She exclaimed, "See, nii-chan, I did it!"

"Yeah, congratulations," Naruto said. "All it took was for you to spend all night training."

"Yeah, well, it was important for the mission. After all, who knows when they'll be back."

"You're right," Naruto said, drawing a kunai that had an elongated handle and a spike extending to the side from the handle. It was identical to the one that Mizuko was holding in her hand. "That's why it's not enough as it is."

"It's…not enough? What do you mean?" Mizuko said. but her eyes widened as green water streamed down Naruto's kunai and she said, "Now…hold on a second nii-chan, I just…!" and desperately got her blade in front of Naruto's as he swung down on her.

Naruto said, "You've got to be able to use it too," and spun on his heel bringing the blade around onto Mizuko's other side, who just barely got the blade there in time to block it, though it was ineffective at best as Naruto's blow just struck it aside and Naruto swung downwards, stopping just before her shoulder. He said, "You've lost your arm."

"I've…but…that's not fair! You just attacked me out of nowhere!"

"Alright. Let's test that theory," Naruto said. "Get your guard up."

"My guard?"

"Your sword. Place it in front of you," Naruto said, holding his blade in the position that he was telling Mizuko about as an example.

"Okay, like this?"

"Exactly," Naruto said. "Alright. I'm going to attack again now."

"Alright," Mizuko said. "Go ahead."

Naruto ran forward and slashed down overhead on Mizuko, who brought her blade up horizontally to block it, but Naruto reduced the length of the blade, letting it pass by under the block, and then lengthened it again, stopping just before Mizuko's other shoulder. He said, "That's two arms now."

"Wait! You can change the length of the blade?"

"Of course. This is one of my more versatile jutsu after all."

"Hey! I didn't know about that! You're cheating!"

"Mizuko. There is no such thing as 'cheating' or 'unfair' in the world of shinobi. All there is, is victory or defeat when you fight against a shinobi of a greater skill level. Even then, 'victory', can be what you make of it. Now. You attack."

"Hai," Mizuko said, and ran at Naruto.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, Miwa was faring much the same as her sister, having finally completed the lightning variant of the Suiton: Heisui Bunshin that Naruto had told her about. He said, "There you go, well done, Miwa. I'd say that it's just about done now."

"Just about? What do you mean? Obviously it's finished. What more is there? I mean, look at it/me!" Miwa and the clone said at the same time, pointing at the clone."

Naruto grinned and said, "Every jutsu has a name, Miwa."

"Eh? Wouldn't it just be like, Raiton: Kage Bunshin?"

"Come off it. It's your own jutsu. You can name it whatever you want. Besides, even if it does use Kage Bunshin as a base, it is still crafted using different seals, that makes it distinct from the Kage Bunshin."

"Really?"

"Yeah. See this," Naruto asked, quickly drawing a kunai and generating a Reisui no Tsurugi, a sword with a blade made of condensed, teal-coloured, water.

"Yeah. What of it?"

"This is based on the Takigakure-ryū: Mizukiri no Yaiba. A hidden jutsu of Takigakure. It took me a whole lot of trouble, getting them to realise that it is actually a technique distinct to their own."

"I…see…" Miwa said.

"You clearly don't. but the point is that I didn't just name it Konohagakure-ryū: Mizukiri no Yaiba. I gave it a name of its own. Well, I did reference the original, but that was just because I was annoyed at what they'd just put me through."

"Alright. Then…ah!" Miwa grinned. "I've got it!"

"What is it?"

"Raiton: Raiu Bunshin."

"Thunderstorm Clone, huh? Well, I guess it fits you to a 'T'," Naruto said, tousling his sister's hair.

"HEY! Take that back!" Miwa said. Naruto just raised an amused eyebrow, as Miwa had just proved his point. Miwa doubled over, realising exactly what his eyebrow was alluding to. She sighed and said, "I guess you might have a point there, nii-chan."

"I would say something to that, but we're probably running short on time, so I'll get you started on that other jutsu that I was telling you about."

"Really?!" Miwa eagerly exclaimed.

"Yep," Naruto said, letting the water drop from his kunai."

"Okay, so, what is it?"

"It's this," Naruto said, and streamed water into his kunai and shaped it so that it had a curved 'blade' of water.

"Ehh? But…I can't use Suiton!"

Naruto sighed and said, "Yes, I know that. That is why you need to use raiton for it. Although, to be quite honest, it should be easier for you than it was for me."

"Why's that?"

"Because, this is the jutsu that mum used when she wanted to start me on nature manipulation."

"Seriously?" Miwa asked, as she would have thought that there were many other Suiton jutsu that were far easier to use."

"Yes. though even to this day I've no idea why. But, hey, that's all in the past now. But, even more than that, metal is a natural conductor for lightning chakra. That will make if far easier than this," Naruto said, changing the chakra's nature from water, to wind almost instantaneously.

Miwa blinked and said, "That's…you say that, but that was really quick!"

"Yeah, well, how long do you think that I've been doing this for?" Miwa just shook her head. Naruto sighed and said, "It's really too long, believe me." Naruto thought, 'And it's likely that I'll have to use it again by the time their mission is done.' He said, "So, are we going to get started, or what?"

Miwa grinned and said, "Hai!" as she both dispelled her clone and drew a kunai.

XXXXX

Meanwhile, Isamu was faring only slightly better than he had the first day of training. He groaned as he said, "Can I take these things off now?"

Naruto, the real one, sighed and said, "No, Isamu. I told you already, you can do that after lunch. Now, go back to the first one." Isamu groaned in irritation as he had only just reached the third, and there were ten that he had to get through.

Gamanata grinned and said, "Hey, don't worry about it kid. It may seem like Naruto's a tough taskmaster, but trust me, this is nothing like what he put himself through when he started this training."

"It's…what do you mean?"

"Heh," Naruto said. "When I did it, I trained with those seals on for six hours before taking a break."

"Seriously?!" Isamu exclaimed. Shocked at what he was being told as he still wasn't moving as well as he had been on the first day, and he'd been struggling for even two hours at a time.

"Well yeah," Naruto said. "But I wasn't in the middle of a mission, so I didn't really need to worry about having to drop the training all at once. I'm doing it like this, because the strain that I felt on my muscles caused me to be stuck on my bed for about three hours into the next day, and I heal faster than most…well, except for Miwa that is."

"Yeah, I was actually wondering about that."

"What is it?"

"Why do your sisters heal so quickly, even before they knew the Shōsen jutsu."

"Ah. Well, we have Uzumaki blood in us."

"What's your point?"

Naruto sighed and said, "Alright, you can take a bit of a break for now, and I'll tell you a bit about our families history. Though I doubt that either Miwa or Mizuko knows much about it."

"Alright…but wouldn't that mean that they should be here for this?"

"No. Unlike you, they are learning jutsu that are unlike anything that they've come across before, so they're going to need all the time that they can get."

"Alright then."

"A long time ago, there was a village known as Uzushiogakure, consisting mainly of members of the Uzumaki clan."

"There was a clan that made up an entire village!?" Isamu exclaimed, not quite able to get his head around it.

"Yes. But that is mostly because they didn't really care who married into their clan."

"Ah. That makes sense," Isamu said, thinking of all the arguments that his sisters had put up when they were told who they were going to marry.

"I won't even begin to pretend that I understand that comment. But, over time, the village became known for three things."

"What were they?"

"Their abilities with fūinjutsu, their longer life spans…which actually caused their village to be nicknamed 'The Village of Longevity'. But that's beside the point. They were also known for their complete lack of any sort of temper or willingness to suffer fools. Something that Miwa clearly inherited in spades if her constant complaints about Bunshin jutsu are any indication."

"I'd say that Mizuko got some of that too."

"Oh? Huh, I'd always thought that she got more from our father."

"Well, compared to Miwa, I suppose that that's not far off."

"Mmm," Naruto agreed. "Anyway, that elongated life span gave birth to an increased healing factor…although, maybe it was the other way around. well, who knows. That's not really that important nowadays anyway."

"So…why have I never heard of this village before?"

"Well, the answer to that is both rather simple, and complex. I can tell you part of that answer. But not all of it I'm afraid."

"Why?"

"While Dad was busy taking care of the Kyūbi attack twelve years ago, the elder council called a meeting of the available clan heads and passed some really stupid laws that prevent me from doing so."

"I see."

Naruto sighed and said, "In any case, their abilities with fūinjutsu led them to be considered a threat to the shinobi world thanks to something the Shodai Hokage stupidly did. Not that he should have done something even more stupid that is."

"What did he do?"

Naruto sighed and said, "I wish I could answer. I really do. But I can't."

"I see," Isamu said. "In that case, thank you for telling me as much as you have."

"Now, back to the first kata."

Isamu groaned as he mumbled, "And here I was, hoping he'd forget."

"Hah, you've got better luck waiting for the sky to fall, kid," Gamanata said, unknowingly echoing something that Naruto's soon to be opponent had said.

XXXXXXX

A/N

Attacks

Naruto

Suiton: Reisui no Tsurugi: Water Release: Cold Water Sword

Based on the Takigakure-ryū: Mizukiri no Yaiba, this jutsu applies the technique used in the Shōsen jutsu to extend and condense the water into the shape of a sword

Mizuko

Suiton: Reisui no Tsurugi: Water Release: Cold Water Sword

Based on the Takigakure-ryū: Mizukiri no Yaiba, this jutsu applies the technique used in the Shōsen jutsu to extend and condense the water into the shape of a sword

Miwa

Raiton: Raiu Bunshin: Lightning Release: Thunderstorm Clone

A physical clone made of lightning that uses the Kage Bunshin as a base. Due to this anything that the clone learns before it's destroyed gets transferred back to the owner.