I don't own Naruto
Chapter 3 of Crushed!
A/N: DAMNIT! The Mizukage's hair is an reddish, orangish or auburn color and she has a blue outfit-sigh- I'll have to remake the previous chapters. =_= Thanks for the reviews, ideas, and other stuffs! ^_^ I'll upload a 'chapter' [later on] filled with spoilers or ideas of things to come, so, before I actually write it I have a chance to change some stuff so you guys like the story more.
Also blacke wolfe PM'd me a good idea for a name for Naruto, instead of changing it in the previous chapter, Mizu-chan is gonna suggest it (cause his current 'name' sucks xD).
"Say.. where are we going?" wondered the blonde teen.
"We are going to the Land of Iron, where the Meeting of the five Kages is being hosted." the brick-orange haired girl responded. Naruto chuckled and thought, 'I want to see how Gaara responds to my 'death'.'
"What's so funny?" the confused girl wondered.
"Ah, nothing. I was just thinking about an old friend." he said as he gave a slight smile.
About 10 minutes later Chojuro spoke up and said, "There's a town in about 5 miles.. I think.."
Ao confirmed the shark-toothed boy's statement, replying with, "That's right, Chojuro. We'll find an inn there and get some rest. Suppai-kun can also buy a mask and the get what else he wished to purchase." Mizukage slightly giggled when the tall eye patched man said 'Suppai-kun'. She was somewhat bored when she decided to insult Naruto's 'name'.
"Ano, blondie," this got his attention right away and she continued, "where did you come up with your name? It kinda blows.." Naruto just sighed at her statement and decided to say "Well, I didn't have much time to think, and I didn't have any other ideas."
"How about I make a name for you then?" the Mizukage questioned.
"I'd be honored, Mizu-chan." Naruto decided to put some emphasis on the 'chan'.
She blushed a bit, and turned her head so no one would see it. Mizu-chan was mumbling some random words and names to herself. "Not so easy is it?" Naruto taunted her.
"Shut up!" she howled at him and a few moments later she called out, "Mikan! How about Mikan?"
Naruto was surprised, it was a pretty good name. "That works. Arigato. My name is now Mikan.." he paused and continued, "Mikan Namikaze." he finished saying with a grin. The Mizukage thought that name somehow seemed familiar, but she just brushed it off. It was a fake name, right? It didn't matter.
They walked close to an hour and the forrested road was ending. When they got out, there was a thin road continuing left. One side was forestry, the other was a sea.
"We're almost there." Mizu-chan said in a cheerful voice.
"Where exactly are we going?" Naruto asked with curiousity.
"Why, the Land of Waves!" she said with an enormous grin.
Naruto visibly cringed and everyone's attention turned to him.
"What's wrong, Mikan-kun?" Chojuro curiously asked.
A bead of sweat went down Naruto's brow, and he responded with, "Ah, nothing."
"Don't lie.. Mikan-kun." the Mizukage ordered and finished her statement by taunting him with the kun.
"Agh, I have a bit of a history there," Naruto stated and curiously asked, "why are you so excited to get there, Mizu-chan?" She stopped, turned around, and squealed, "It may be an unnecessary stop, but they have the best hot springs ever!" Naruto sweat dropped. She was the Mizukage, but she was also a 17 year old girl. The continued walking, about a mile, until there was a bridge in site. The bridge had a huge wooden banner at the top titled The Great Naruto Bridge. Naruto's eyes widened, but no one seemed to notice. 'I don't have to watch out for Inari or Tazuna, since I saw them in Konoha, but someone might still recognize me. A mask will be my first priority.' Naruto cautiously thought. The bridge was quite long. It had cement pillars and a cement frame, but it had a dark wood covering the cement frame, it gave off an uneasy and antique vibes. It was about half of a mile long, it took them 10 minutes to walk across.
'The village has definitely grown. There's barely any poverty left here.' he happily thought. It came a long way since the mission to protect Tazuna. They walked passed the lively village, filled with many colors and shops. Finally, there was an inn in sight. The group decided to reserve three rooms. Ao and Chojuro would share and both Naruto and Mizu-chan would get separate rooms.
"We'll meet up in 3 hours and go to the hot springs them. Ao, Chojuro, you can get some supplies for our trip." the Mizukage ordered, she paused and continued, "Mikan, you can go get your mask and whatever else you need. I'll walk around and sight-see." "Hai." the three shinobi said in unison and went separate ways. 'Although Mikan seems to be a decent and loyal person, I need to find out more about him; he may be a threat.' the brick haired girl thought and decided to follow him. The blonde teen found a nice little shop that sold ninja accessories. 'My clothes are really dirty and torn up.. I'll buy some kunai, too.' he thought. He walked in and asked the shopkeeper for a mask, gear, and a selection of clothes. "Sir, are there any specifications for the clothes you would like?" the shopkeeper asked.
"Would you happen to have black pants, a black undershirt, and a black - preferably with some orange or red - jacket?" the boy answered him with a question.
"I'll see what I have, sir." the older man said with a smile on his face, he barely ever received customers in his ninja supply store. A few minutes later, he came out with a few selections of clothes, a dark black mask, and some kunai. "Do any of these suits fit your tastes?" the man asked. Naruto had glanced over the four suits the owner had offered him and chose out the third one. It had a black pants, similar to the ones Naruto wore but darker, and there was an equally dark mask. The jacket, however, slightly differed. It had a somewhat lighter color to it and had a fiery orange-red going down the center in a 3 inch line. The sleeves also held this blazing color, starting from two inches above the elbow and turning black one inch before the tip of the sleeve. Naruto payed the man and he also offered, "Would you also like to take a break at my ramen café?"
About to exit the door, Naruto turned his head towards the owner, pasted on a huge grin, and asked, "Did you say ramen?" The old man had an equally big grin and told him it was next door.
Naruto followed the instructions and ordered five large bowls. 'It's not as good as Ichiraku's, but it'll suffice.' he thought while he was ravenously eating. Once he ate, he payed the waiter and checked the time. It was four o'clock in the afternoon. 'I have two hours before I have to meet Mizu-chan and the others.' he reminded himself.
Naruto had a special place he wanted to visit while was here. That boy did teach him something special. The blonde walked up to the cliff at the edge of town and bowed down to the two chiseled blocks of marble on the ground. "Konnichiha, Haku. How have you been these past three years? I realize now that you're the only one beside Gaara that truly understood me. So much has happened these past three years. I wonder how you're doing..Have you met up with Zabuza?" he talked to the stone that was apparently Haku's grave. The Mizukage had been behind him, in the heavily forrested area. She 'overheard' what he said to the memorial.
"You can come out, Mizu-chan. Kages aren't meant to hide." Naruto called without turning his head.
"You knew Zabuza and Haku?" The curious Mizukage asked him.
"Yes, I had a mission here. That was when I met them. At that time, we were enemies." Naruto confessed.
"In Kiri, we heard that a team with three children and the copy-cat ninja had fought with them and even managed to make Zabuza into a hero." the Mizukage said and continued, "Was that your team?"
"Yes. Haku had died protecting Zabuza from my sensei's attack. Zabuza wanted a chance at redemption and had killed his employer, Gato, and his hired assassins." Naruto explained.
"Did you know them?" the blonde suddenly asked.
"I did. Zabuza and Haku were like my brothers." the Kage said with a slightly sad tone that didn't bear any ill will.
Neither talked for a few minutes.
"We better get back, we need to 'meet' up in about thirty minutes." he sighed and got up from the small log he had sat on while he visited Haku and Zabuza. "Would you like to join me, Mizu-chan?" the blonde curiously asked her while his cheeks got a bit red. She had a slight blush from the offer and graciously accepted. While they walked back, they seldom spoke. Despite not talking, it was a nice walk.
'I wish to learn more about this boy..Plus he's kind of cute.' Mizu-chan thought while blushing.
End of chapter 3! How was it? Review!
I know 1500 words isn't that much, so sorry. _
I made a twitter for this, if anyone has questions. Here's the link:
twitter . com / essay3794
I might make a forum thing [isn't that an option on the main thing on FF?] for the story if I get a bit farther. I probably won't update again till Friday. No promises, though. -hides from people-