A.N. So far my ideas for pairings are:
Anko-Zabuza
Ino-Naruto
Haku-Naruto
Also, Zabuza may seem OOC, but really; did we get to see all that much of him in the Manga or anime?
The Rinnegan Chronicles: The Price of Wisdom
Chapter 3
The Academy
"Once more" Sarutobi said dazedly. Maru squirmed uncomfortably while Zabuza spoke, Naruto clutching his leg tightly.
"We entered the apartment and found Naruto-san here being attacked by five civilians. They broke down his door and attacked him with various weapons. Maru flew into a berserk rage and killed them all. You are not going to punish her" Zabuza's eyes hardened. "Her rage was caused by the situation and her bloodline. You don't need to know what her bloodline is-"
"But I would like to know" the Hokage said firmly. "If the bloodline is dangerous we may have to seal it away."
"When you see it, you won't even consider the possibility, but you need to keep it secret." Zabuza snapped his fingers, "Maru-chan, show him."
"Hai!" Maru closed her eyes before she murmured, "Transmigration Eye"
Hiruzen nearly leaped out of his seat when Maru opened her eyes displaying the layered circles of the Rinnegan.
"The-the-the-" Zabuza sighed at the old man. "Yes, Hokage-sama, the Rinnegan. Don't tell the council about this, or I'll have to destroy them all to keep them from trying to 'increase the population' of the bloodline."
Sarutobi winced, he knew that the council would do exactly what Zabuza claimed and he didn't approve.
"I've got an idea!" Maru said. "Tell them that this is my ability!"
She clapped her hands together and held them out, pouring a haze of yellow Psynergy into the floor. Vines grew out of the floorboards, wrapping around Maru lightly before purple flowers bloomed from the vines. Maru smiled brightly, and one of the flowers detached from the vine and landed on the Hokage's desk as the vines sank back into the floor.
"Mokuton…" The Hokage breathed, "Incredible! How did you do that?"
"Alchemy" Maru replied, "According to the Wise One; so long as one has the proper alignment and sufficient raw materials, any alchemy can be performed. Since I have the Transmigration Eye, I can have all four alignments, but I have to gather the…proper amount of ambient energy in order to gain an alignment. Unlike jutsu, which use chakra to create or destroy matter, Alchemy doesn't take any energy as long as you have the raw materials to exchange for the Transmigration."
The Hokage stared, "No chakra at all?"
"Back to the point" Zabuza said firmly, "Naruto was attacked. I don't know about you, Hokage-sama, but I won't stand for it. You find him a guardian or I'll take him with me."
"You can't-"
"Try to stop me" Zabuza snarled. "Naruto, do you want to come with Haku, Maru, and me?"
Naruto nodded wordlessly.
Sarutobi's eyes narrowed. "I have your a-rank mission; you three will stay in the village and raise Naruto. When the time comes, Zabuza, you will take a Genin Team." The Hokage tossed three headbands to Zabuza. "For now you'll all be on probation and under ANBU supervision for the next 9 months. At the end of that time, you will all officially become Shinobi of Konoha…if that is what you want."
Zabuza considered the possibility, then reached up and slashed his Kiri headband before replacing it with the Konoha one. He bowed, "Your terms are acceptable Hokage-dono."
Maru bounced on the balls of her feet, "Yay! We get to stop moving around! Hot food more than once a month!" Zabuza winced, he knew he wasn't the best cook, but she didn't have to be so blunt.
Sarutobi raised an eyebrow. "I don't want to know."
Naruto bumped into someone on the way out, spilling him onto the ground.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I – YOU!" Naruto gasped as he looked up into the eyes of one particular psychotic bitch.
"How're ya doing Naruto?" Mitarashi Anko smiled.
"Great" He flashed his own smile, "I got someone to take care of me!"
"Look after, not take care of" Zabuza grunted.
"Momochi Zabuza!"
Anko's eyes widened comically before she leaped at Zabuza, kunai in hand.
"Venus Transmigration: Mokuton!"
Vines sprang up from the floorboards and wrapped around Anko's arms and legs, preventing her from attacking. She looked at the girl standing next to Zabuza in shock.
"She j-just" Anko gaped.
"Maru-chan, let her down" Zabuza said wearily, "We don't have time to pick fights."
The four of them disappeared, leaving a solitary Anko staring after them in shock.
Nine Months Later
Training Ground 7
"Again!" Zabuza barked, "You're not dodging fast enough!"
Maru smiled brightly and clapped her hands together, "Venus Transmigration: Wild Growth!"
Naruto narrowed his eyes in concentration as several dozen vines exploded from the ground and speared towards him. He began dodging, ducking, and weaving through the vines, occasionally using a kunai to hack through a thinner vine that got too close.
"Good!" Zabuza said, "Haku, your turn!"
Haku clapped her hands together in her unique hand seal. Tora hand seal with the middle fingers bent back around the index fingers.
"Makyou Hyoushou!"
Naruto paled as he began darting to and fro to avoid the veritable hail of ice sent at him from the calm girl who wasn't really trying; only launching three senbon from a mirror at a time. Naruto winced as seven needles stuck in his left leg, but he ignored them. Two minutes later, Zabuza called for them to stop.
"Taijutsu spar; Naruto against Maru, myself against Haku. Fifteen minutes, GO!"
Naruto ended up fairing rather well, as Maru was disallowed from using her Bloodline. Her superior reflexes, however, were more than Naruto could handle at that point. Meanwhile, Haku had frozen Zabuza in a block of ice from the neck down.
And it only took two minutes. Zabuza banned Haku from using her bloodline as well, resulting in a rather brutal spar that left both Haku and Zabuza fairly well bruised. Meanwhile, Naruto was using everything as his disposal; rocks, dirt, tree branches, and even the odd woodland creature to stop Maru's bewildering assault. Every time she struck out, grinning wildly, her attack would strike right around Naruto's guard. What he failed to notice was Maru hesitating for a fraction of a second, allowing his block to move into place, and then striking.
I don't want to use your new combat style yet, Maru thought to the Wise One, Still, I need to practice later with Haku-nee-chan.
After the taijutsu, Zabuza ran them through the standard genjutsu identification and deflection.
"Now, anything else today?" Zabuza asked. Maru raised her hand.
"I've got a new genjutsu, watch!" She clapped her hands together, "Venus Transmigration: Sakura (Cherry Blossom)" Two vines punctured the ground, rapidly growing Sakura flowers. Maru ran through three hand seals.
"Hebi, Tatsu, Tori! Koyatsui! (Mirror Flower Water)" The blossoms whirled around all of them, drenching the four in their perfume. Maru disappeared from their view, obscured by the blossoms. Zabuza sighed and punched right behind him, catching a shocked Maru in the gut.
"Too direct, it's totally obvious!" Maru grinned and dispersed into petals, much to Zabuza's surprise. He looked around wildly, noticing now the shimmer of water droplets intermixed with the sakura petals.
"The wind drowns out the sound of my approach, while the petals mask my scent, and the water's reflections conceal me from sight. It's not truly a genjutsu; it's closer to a ninjutsu." Maru explained as petals gathered to the ground and formed into legs, a torso, and finally a total replica of Maru. She clapped her hands together and burst out of the pink covering, the technique ending as she blew the rest of the water and flowers away.
"So, how long until aniki is ready to go to for the Genin exam?"
"A few months at least" Zabuza grunted. "By that time, you" he pointed to Naruto, "Will be high Chunin or Jounin level, and you two" he pointed to Maru and Haku, "Will be at least ANBU level. I want you two to join the Academy as well. Manipulate your scores to end up on different teams than each other and Naruto-san. We need to know the capabilities of as many Konoha Genin before the Chunin Examinations. Once the three of you make Chunin, we can start taking real missions."
"In the academy; Haku, you should focus on making yourself out to be skilled with weapons and moderately good with taijutsu. Maru, you will be a good taijutsu fighter and very skilled with genjutsu; make good use of that technique of yours. Naruto, you will work on Chakra control, but won't have any specific strength that you show. All of you will keep training here, and improving your skills for the exams. Until then, suppress your true strength."
"Hai Zabuza-sama!" The three children shouted in unison.
"Now; get going!" Zabuza smirked as the three "genin" departed. He raised his voice. "I know you're back there!"
Anko was so shocked by Zabuza that she fell out of the branch. He turned, raising an eyebrow.
"Wow, that's a first. I just say that to see if someone's hiding, but this is the first time anyone's reacted." She fumed explosively.
"Why you-!" Anko was cut off as Zabuza ignored her and walked away.
"Later, I just sent my protégés to the academy." Anko blocked his path.
"Tell me everything."
"You two are enrolling in the academy?" Umino Iruka asked, "Names?"
"Tensa Maru, Iruka-sensei."
"Momochi Haku, Iruka-sensei."
Zabuza's wards, Iruka thought, huh boy
"Well," He said while writing their names in his attendance roster, "Today we're doing sparring and target practice. Head outside to the practice ground."
"Hai, Iruka-sensei"
"Who are you?" A blond girl asked rather rudely, "Stay away from my Sasuke-kun!"
"Okay…" Haku said, "Would you like us to do so in that order?"
"Ah, forget her nee-chan" Maru giggled, "Let's go for our test." Both headed off to the target field.
"Today you will be attempting to hit the targets in field 7," A shifty looking Chunin proclaimed, "There are ten targets, you must hit at least six to pass. Any volunteers to go first?"
A raven haired boy just walked up to the Chunin, Maru rather thought that his hair looked like a duck's butt, and pulled out ten of his own kunai.
Leaping into the air, Uchiha Sasuke flicked his right wrist, then his left, flinging three kunai each time, and then he threw two, and then two more. The last two kunai struck kunai 7 and 8, diverting them into targets in the blind spot of the rocks on the field. All ten kunai impacted on the inner rings of the targets.
Maru watched dispassionately; she could have easily hit all of them dead-center. But that wasn't what Zabuza-sama wanted, so Maru hit the easier four about the center, and the rest in varying degrees of patheticness. Haku had no such inhibitions, and Maru knew that she'd hit them all.
"Hold on, little girl" Mizuki said as Haku reached into her robe, "The academy will supply you with kunai."
"No thanks"
"You don't need to waste your own"
"I won't waste them"
"You are expected to use the academy's kunai to complete the assignment."
"I'll use my own weapons, thanks"
Mizuki scowled, "If you refuse, you will fail the training, no exceptions!"
"Uchiha Sasuke used his own kunai, so your statement is a moot point unless you're going to show blatant favoritism. And besides, I didn't plan on using kunai," Haku pulled out two handfuls of senbon.
She gathered chakra to her legs and leaped gracefully into the field, whirling and launching senbon left and right. When she landed, everyone stared, jaws on the ground; Haku had planted five senbon in the bulls-eye of each target.
She held her hands out and jerked them back, the strings attached to her wrists pulling the senbon from their targets and back to her.
She walked back to Maru, ignoring the amazed stares of her classmates and the furious glare of one Uchiha Sasuke. "And by the way," She said off-handedly, "Your kunai are improperly balanced."
After everyone had finished with targeting, Mizuki brought them over to the sparring grounds. Each student would spar another until one gave up or was unable to continue.
"Momochi Haku verses Haruno Sakura" Mizuki commanded.
Haku smirked, then frowned and turned to Mizuki, ignoring Sakura.
"Mizuki-sensei, what are the guidelines of the spar?"
"No lethal force, no weapons, anything else goes." Mizuki stated.
"Good" Haku backhanded Sakura, who had tried to sneak up on her, without looking back. The fan girl slumped in the dirt for a few seconds, before she jumped to her feet and charging. Haku remained impassive as she bobbed and weaved, Sakura's sloppy strikes missing by wide margins. Iruka winced as Sakura began gasping for breath while Haku looked as fresh as ever. The girl has no stamina, stupid fangirl diets.
Finally, Sakura collapsed to her knees, gasping for breath. Haku scowled and launched a side kick, pulling it half an inch from Sakura's forehead. The pink haired girl fainted, much to the instructors' disappointment.
The next few spars were uneventful; Nara Shikamaru even allowed Yamanaka Ino to knock him out without putting up any fight at all. Finally…
"Tensa Maru vs. Akimichi Chouji"
Both fighters took their places, Chouji looking uncomfortable. Maru smiled brightly.
"Don't worry about hitting me, I'm pretty sturdy, Chouji-san"
Chouji gulped, "Um, okay"
Both charged forward, and Chouji fell flat on his back when Maru caught him with an ankle sweep. He jumped back up and began punching and kicking, landing several glancing blows. Maru didn't cry out in pain, instead she smiled even more. Maru tripped the chubby boy again and leaped back, running through hand seals.
"Saru, Tatsu, Hebi, Ushi," Maru disguised her Transmigration hand clap between the seals, "Hebi, Tatsu, Tori! Ninpo: Koyatsui!" Vines erupted from the ground, shedding sakura petals that caught in a small whirlwind around Maru. After they sank back into the ground, Maru clapped her hands together again, causing the petals to spread out into a whirling dome.
Chouji blinked and Maru disappeared. He looked around wildly, trying to find his opponent and saw Maru leaping at him from the side. He dodged and planted a fist in Maru's gut, only to gasp when 'Maru' dissolved into sakura petals, reappearing in the extreme edge of his peripheral vision. Again, he attacked and again she scattered into petals.
"You're going to have trouble finding me" Maru said, her voice coming from all directions. "Sight doesn't help when it's affected by my jutsu."
Chouji scowled and whirled when he heard a footstep behind him, only to hit air. He turned and gaped when he saw a pure pink Fuuma Shuriken whirling through the air at his head level. He ducked, and the thing dissolved, dropping petals on his head. This genjutsu feels so real…wait! Genjutsu!
Chouji brought his hands together, "KAI!" Immediately all of the petals and Maru vanished while Maru's real body became exposed right behind him. Her eyes widened as Chouji drove his elbow into her solar plexus. Mizuki raised his hand to declare Chouji the victor. And then, to his surprise, Maru smiled.
"Not bad, but it didn't work!" Before Chouji could react, Maru burst into flower petals again, the genjutsu returning. "My Koyatsui can't be dispelled that easily, I put too much chakra into it for that."
Maru appeared in front of Chouji, leg swinging in a kick. He ducked, only to have his legs swept out from under him while 'Maru' dissolved again. Then she appeared with a knife-hand at his throat.
Mizuki rehinged his jaw from the ground, where it had been, and proclaimed Maru the victor. Said girl clapped her hands together, "Kai!" All the petals blew out in a huge gust of wind.
She smiled and held out her hand to Chouji, who shook it, and said "Thank you for letting me test out my new technique Chouji-kun."
"N-no problem" Chouji gulped, blushing slightly.
"Uchiha Sasuke vs. Inuzuka Kiba"
Maru didn't even pay attention to the matches, she spent her time subtly growing a Sakura flower, stem and all, and then she picked it out of the ground. Then she grew another one. She gave the first to Naruto and suggested softly that he give it to a girl he liked. Then she promptly walked over to Chouji and handed the second flower to him with a bright, happy smile. Chouji blushed profusely when Maru offered to train with him, and accepted on the condition that she teach him some genjutsu.
Iruka watched with a smile as Haku and Maru easily worked their way into the class. He actually chuckled when a thoroughly uncomfortable Naruto hesitantly handed a cherry blossom to Haku and the older girl gave a genuine smile. He looked out into the field lazily, and then frowned as he noticed something rather strange.
The sakura petals from Maru's genjutsu were still there.
As Mizuki herded the class back into the academy, Iruka walked out into the sparring area and picked up one of the petals. A shiver ran through him when he felt the undeniable texture; it was real.
Walking back into the classroom, Iruka saw Haku staring dully at the board while Mizuki lectured. The girl seemed bored out of her mind. Maru, on the other hand, still had a bright smile on her face and was occasionally raising her hand and asking very thought-out questions.
"Mizuki-sensei! Don't genjutsu affect more than one sense at a time?"
Iruka blinked, most academy students didn't know the first thing about genjutsu until taught, yet here was this new girl spouting a question that even Sakura had never asked.
"Actually yes Maru-san; experienced genjutsu users can train themselves to target two or even three senses. Some of them even affect all five! Several ninja use genjutsu, but they are a minority in Konoha."
Sasuke snorted, "Ffeh, genjutsu are for the weak ones who can't fight their own battles."
Maru frowned for a moment before her smile returned full force.
"Now, the basic theory behind genjutsu includes…"
Haku sighed, if Maru wasn't perpetually cheerful, she'd be bored out of her mind too. Her eyes flitted back down to the cherry blossom that Naruto had given to her, and she smiled.
He's really an okay guy.
"Hokage-sama, you have visitors"
"Thank you, please send them in." Sarutobi sighed as he signed another piece of the never-ending monster that was known as paperwork. His four guests walked in.
"Momochi-san, what can I do for you?"
"We'd like to request either a C-Rank or B-Rank mission." Zabuza stated, "Preferably one within Konoha or the surrounding area. Naruto-san will be coming with us."
The Hokage smiled and held up a scroll. On it was printed a large C.
"Escort mission" Zabuza read, "Weapon-shop owner wishes for us to intercept his caravan that is a day away and escort it into the village?" He looked up at Sarutobi, "Seriously?"
"That's all that I can offer; Naruto-kun and your students have to be back at the academy in two days. I promise you'll have an A-Rank mission ready after break starts, deal?"
"Deal, Hokage-dono" Zabuza smiled rather ferally. "Now then; GET TO WORK!"
His students jumped before they each left in their own unique way. Haku created an ice mirror, Maru used a Sakura Sunshin, and Naruto used a Chakra Sunshin, vanishing in a burst of azure chakra flames.
"Yep, they're improving alright" Zabuza smirked before he…walked out the door, leaving the Hokage to face plant on his desk.
Konoha Forest
Weapon Caravan
"And I say we move on! There's no time to wait for an escort!" A man roared, "I don't care what any of you say, not even you; Juno. We've got a schedule to keep!"
"Jinta, stand down!" Juno commanded, but it was too late; one of the wagons had detached from the caravan and plunged onward.
It didn't get fifty feet before it was attacked. Six ninja, each wearing the headband of Kiri, descended on the caravan, killing everyone aboard. Jinta had a moment to look horrified before a slim katana stabbed through his forehead.
"Heh," One of the ninja snorted, "This is just too easy, no escort at all!" They crouched, preparing to attack, when a voice growled out: "Kirikagure no Jutsu!"
Thick mist enveloped the caravan and the ninja looked around in shock.
"Who the hell?" One ninja shouted.
"Heh heh, Eight Points: Head, Heart, Spine, Lungs, Larynx, Jugular, Subclavian Artery, Liver…"
Screams of terror rang out from the Kiri ninja.
"Oh Kami! Not him!"
"The Kirikagure no Oni!"
"Get together! He can't take us all out by himself!"
Zabuza grinned from his team's hiding place.
"Good thing I'm not alone then." He whispered to his students. "Maru; take out the two on the right, Haku; the two on the left, Naruto; take the center left ninja. I'll take their Jounin leader."
"Hai, Zabuza-sensei!"
"Kenji-sensei! I see four ninja in the mist! One looks like it might be Momochi, but the others are children."
"Perfect! Spread out and kill them, then join me in taking down Momochi! We'll claim the bounty on his head!"
All six Kiri Nin leaped away, sealing their fate.
Naruto's fight
Naruto narrowed his eyes as his opponent leaped towards him, brandishing a katana. Not wasting any time, Naruto caught the sword at the hilt, reinforcing his grip with chakra. He ankle-swept the ninja, stealing his weapon, and leaped away.
"Nice sword!" Naruto smirked, "Think I'll take it!"
The Kiri ninja snarled and charged as Naruto rolled up his sleeve, revealing a tattoo of the kanji for "Sword." Naruto threw up a burst of chakra, momentarily halting his foe, and shouted, "Fuin!"
The katana vanished into the seal, much to the Kiri ninja's rage.
"Give back my sword!" He shouted as Naruto went through hand seals at a blinding pace.
"Not likely! Suiton: Otokiri Enden! (Water Style: Silent Mist Dragon!)"
Nothing happened. Naruto's opponent laughed nastily.
"Nice try kid, you actually had me scared for a second! Sorry to disappoint you, but your jutsu's useless!"
He was so caught up in his glee that he never saw the soundless ethereal serpent hurtling towards him from behind. Naruto closed his eyes, not wanting to see the impact.
A bloodcurdling scream cut the air, mixed with the sound of teeth ripping into flesh.
One down.
Haku's Fight
Haku snarled as she back flipped into the air, dodging another wave of kunai and shuriken from her opponents.
Of all my luck, I had to get the two ranged fighters.
"Nee-chan! Switch!" Haku called, executing a Kawimari with Maru and landing in front of the other ninja. One held a nodachi, and the other was wielding a spear, perfect. Haku formed her Hyoten hand seal.
"Hyoten: Makyou Hyoushou! (Ice Style: Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors!)"
Haku watched her foes' looks of confusion and fear as the panes of chakra-reinforced ice enveloped them. She drew out her senbon and slipped into a mirror.
"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" The nodachi-wielding ninja leaped at one of the mirrors, swinging brutally. "You can't stop me!" The blade bounced off harmlessly.
A gurgling sound from behind him made Nodachi turn around. Spear had collapsed with senbon embedded in his eyes, lungs, and heart. Blood spurted from the injuries. And it took less than two seconds.
"What?!"
Zip. A senbon flew past, slicing a tendon in his arm.
Zip. Two more hit him in the ankles, taking out his Achilles tendons. He crashed to his knees.
Zip. His other arm fell useless. The nodachi skittered away.
Zip. Haku appeared in the mirror in front of him.
"Your arrogance was your downfall. From the moment you and your comrade were trapped by my mirrors, your lives were over."
"What are you?!" Nodachi blinked.
"I'm behind you" Haku said, before launching the ninja's own sword through his heart, killing him instantly.
Haku stepped out of the mirrors and let them fall.
Three down.
Maru's fight
"Transmigration Eye" Maru intoned, letting her Rinnegan activate while keeping her eyes out of sight. She placed her hands together, "Koyatsui." Flower petals burst from the ground and whirled about the combatants, blowing the immediate mist away.
"Not a chance!" Roared one of the Kiri ninja, hurling a Fuuma shuriken at Maru, cleaving her head off. As her body collapsed, both her 'corpse' and her 'head' dispersed into flower petals and reformed ten feet to the right of her previous position.
"What the hell?" the Kiri Nin gasped, "You were dead!"
"Genjutsu!" His partner shouted, "KAI!" A blast of chakra extended seven feet from the ninja, encompassing himself and his teammate. Nothing happened.
"Sakura Enden!" Flower petals gathered into a dragon head and neck and the thing flew at the Kiri Ninja.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" The waterfall crashed into the sakura Enden, water logging it and cancelling the attack. The ninja who had used it collapsed to one knee gasping for breath.
Maru frowned as she observed her foes with her Rinnegan. The man who had used the jutsu had a Mercury Alignment that was very powerful, but his partner, oddly, had a Mars Alignment that surpassed her own. Better to kill the Mars one first, she decided.
"Condemn!" A scythe made of sakura petals formed in Sakura Bunshin Maru's hands, and she swung powerfully, creating a wind disruption that scattered the two ninja; the Mars Aligned one heading right towards Maru.
"Squall!" Lightning burst from her body as Maru's Psynergy skyrocketed. She pointed one hand at each ninja and shocked them to the ground. She focused on all of Squall's remaining energy that she had been given, and shouted, "Jupiter!"
She swiped her hand at the Mars aligned ninja and he just fell apart, wind blades tearing through his flesh like swords through wet paper.
"No!" The other ninja screamed, "I'll kill you!"
Maru watched as blue Psynergy flowed into the ninja, bolstering his strength. She replaced herself with another Sakura Bunshin and concealed herself from his sight.
The ninja gasped in wonder as unbelievable power filled his veins. "Now! Now you die!"
He threw his hand forward and a dragon made of pure water burst from the ground and tore apart the Sakura Bunshin. His face changed from confident to angry.
"You've awakened your alignment to the power of Mercury; it fills your body with the power of water. As long as water exists around you, you can use water techniques without chakra." Maru appeared with her back to him. "It's a pity I have to kill you."
"Don't mock me!" The Kiri ninja shouted, launching another water dragon at Maru's back.
She half turned, catching the dragon with one hand.
"As strong you are with your power, I am far stronger!" Maru finally tossed her hair back, revealing her eyes.
The ninja gasped and his dragon collapsed. Maru sighed sadly and walked towards him…and right past him, leaving the ninja to stand in disbelief. She crouched and drew her hands diagonally across her body.
"Watery Grave…" Maru said, tears slowly leaking down her cheeks.
All the water from the Kiri-nin's dragons coalesced into a 20-foot sphere around the ninja. Maru began clenching her hands, and the sphere contracted as well, the pressure increasing rapidly.
"…Bloody Tomb." Maru brought her hands together and the sphere contracted by another five feet. The Kiri ninja imploded, blood staining and mingling with the water.
Maru collapsed, crying. The water crashed to the ground, along with the mangled corpse. As she wept, Maru felt two pokes at her shoulders. She looked, only to cry even harder. Only now did she understand the other ninja's alignment.
Two Mars Djinn perched on her shoulders, warbling unhappily. Maru sighed and placed a hand on each of them, allowing them to rest in her body. Finally, her vision became perfectly clear, each living thing's composition easily visible in terms of each alignment.
"Now your Rinnegan is complete" The Wise One said, using Maru's voice, "I have nothing left to teach you, the rest I leave to you. I will sleep again until I am needed."
"Thanks," Maru sighed, turning her mind inward. Immediately she became aware of discord within one of the Mars Djinn. Cannon, as it was known, had realized that Maru was not its destined holder and thus, it would not fight for her. Maru gently assured Cannon that she would deliver it to the proper owner.
Five down.
Zabuza smirked as he dispelled the mist, reveling in the Mist Jounin's shock and horror. Two of his team were impaled with senbon and their own weapons.
The others could barely be identified as humans anymore.
One was totally torn apart, as though a dragon had devoured him. Another was little more than diced meat. The third was crushed, totally crushed in on itself.
"Sorry, but your team was no match for mine." Zabuza sneered, decapitating the Jounin with a flick of his wrist.
He turned to his team. "Let's finish the mission and get our pay."
Maru, Haku, and Naruto were disposing of the bodies when two Konoha Jounin showed up.
Chapter 3 END
A.N. First blood for the three. Now to clear some stuff up:
1. Zabuza is not the heartless bastard that he is in the Anime and Manga, instead he acts like that on missions and when he needs to scare people off.
2. Naruto is eleven at this point while Maru is fifteen and Haku is sixteen.
3. Maru can use Alchemy without speaking if she uses her Rinnegan, otherwise she has to name the element and spell.
4. Naruto is NOT Cannon's rightful owner, nor is Haku or Zabuza
5. Djinn list:
Maru:
Squall – Jupiter – Rank B Offensive – Maru's primary combat Djinn, refines her control of lightning
Fizz – Mercury – Rank C Medical – heals minor and moderate injuries
Granite – Venus – Rank C Barrier – blocks taijutsu and low to mid level earth ninjutsu
Flash – Mars – Rank S Barrier – weak against water jutsu, almost impenetrable to other elements
[Cannon] – Mars – Rank A Offensive – Unleashes a powerful blast of flame
Haku:
Sleet – Mercury – Rank C Offensive – Drenches opponents with super cooled water
Spritz – Mercury – Rank A Medical – Heals a wider range of injuries than Fizz
Zabuza:
Fog – Mercury – Rank C Supplemental – Allows Zabuza to keep up his Kirikagure no Jutsu indefinitely
Fever – Mars – Rank B Offensive – Rapidly raises the target's body temperature, causing disorientation
And that's all for now!
Ja ne
~Dusk Ado~