Just as the tension between them reached critical, a burst of yoki came from the direction of the dome followed by the sound of breaking ice and a strong wind blowing away much of the mist and forcing the Jonin to shelled their eyes. When a thud sounded near them the both turned to see Haku laying on her back, turning to look where she had been fighting both Jonin froze at the sight in front of them.
A black armored figure was standing in the remains of the ice dome, with eight chains waving around in the air. Dragon Slayer grasped firmly in his clawed right hand with the tip on the ground the left hand hanging limply by his side, a single tail could be seen moving behind him. The helm that had once depicted a snarling dog had changed to a demonic fox head strongly resembling the Kyuubi, at his feet lay the needle ridden form of Hinata. A dark fluid could be seen seeping out of the joints in the armor. Naruto just stood there painting as the chains began waving faster.
Both Zabuza and kakashi turned to face this new threat. Kakashi trying to figure out how to snap Naruto back and Zabuza had a grin on his face, he had picked a good successor for Kubikiribocho. Another figure appeared by Haku gathering her up in his arm, the figure looked up over at Naruto and the two reviling a face identical to Haku's own. "You get her out of here," At this the Haku look alike gave Zabuza a nod and prepared to jump away, "Stay safe you two." With that the two vanished as a smile crossed Zabuza's face. "So even you take pride in your students, Zabuza." "What real sensei doesn't, Kakashi." At this Kakashi cringed, "Is now really the time to be discussing this?" Zabuza Smirked "We won't live forever besides that metal Kyuubi the kid turned into hasn't moved yet." Before Kakashi could respond an ear splitting roar fallowed by a stiff wind blowing away all of the mist on the bridge and surrounding area, reviling a small army of thugs led by a short man in a suit on the unfinished side of the bridge.
"Gato what the hell are you doing here!" Zabuza yelled his eyes never leaving Naruto who was still standing there turning his head from the mercenaries to the Jonin. "Why am I here Zabuza it's cause I paid good money for a simple job and you fucked up so I got these men to replace you, anyone who brings me one of their heads gets paid a triple share."
At this mercenaries let out a cheer before rushing forward, Naruto seeing this let out another roar before charging them head first. When the berserker that Naruto had become hit the first wave of Gatos men, the bridge became little more than a Blood bath. Anything that came within twenty feet of Naruto was eviscerated by Dragon Slayer or liquidized by the force of the chains, the few that made it around Naruto tried to get to his back only to fall a Kunai or a cleaver as kakashi and Zabuza made short work of them.
Sasuke and Tanzuna could only stair at the massacre in front of them in shock, Naruto the goofball of the academy till he started dating Hinata was on that much of a hair trigger, Sasuke never noticed that he could see and understand every move the three shinobi were making in extreme detail, from Kakashi's one hit kills, to Naruto and Zabuza's mass damage hits. A flicker of movement from the ice dome caught his attention; however the only thing there was a small amount of ice on the ground and Hinata… Sasuke rushed over to his still team mate, eyes searching desperately for any sign of life they landed on the needles in her neck in a position remarkably similar to the ones that had hit Zabuzas neck a week ago. With a gulp Sasuke prayed this plan actually worked.
Kakashi and Zabuza were running into a problem, first they were already tired, second Narutos attacks were becoming more sporadic, third they were running out of targets for Naruto somehow. Out of the army of thugs that Gato had arrived with at least a fourth of them were dead from Narutos attacks and another fourth were downed between Kakashi and Zabuza and another fair bit had trampled each other trying to get away from them.
Kakashi was wondering what to do, ducking under a sword swipe and plunging a kunai into the thug's diaphragm before pulling it out leaving the man to drown in his own blood, while he could keep killing these thugs with ease if he had found himself separated from Naruto and Zabuza, as they had plowed ahead killing whatever stood in their way, however he had somehow managed to keep up with the two killing whoever was left over.
CLANG!
The sudden sound stopped all movement on the bridge as everyone turned to see Dragon slayer stopped by a scimitar of equal size held by a hunched over cloaked figure, they both stood there straining against each other. "When I crawled out of that hell pit eons ago I never thought I'd see this sword again," the voice came from the cloaked man "so tell me how did you get that blade and armor fox boy, can you even stand in the shadow of the man who last used those; Gattsu, that was the man who hunted my kind to survive and left only a hand full alive out of the hordes of us apostles."
At this the man rose to his full height towering over everyone as his cloak fell back reviling a demonic looking face, black hair, bloodshot eyes, a wide flattened nose, a mouth with fangs coming out of it and a large scare running diagonally a crossed the center of his face just missing his eyes, "LET'S SEE HOW YOU FAIR AGAINST ZODD THE IMMORTAL!"
At this the man pushed his scimitar up forcing the blade lock up causing the two combatants to jump back, then with twin bellows the two charged at each other clashing blades before pulling back and starting again, sending the sound of ringing steal across the bridge as the two greatswordsmen clashed. Every strike that one of them made was ether blocked or dogged, Naruto lacked the power to force his way through the man's guard even with Zodd only using one arm and was on the defensive for the most part the chains attached to his wrists covering any opening's the man may try to use.
Naruto however barely had enough time between the strikes to attack with his sword, so he did so with his chains as Zodd tried to move around him. Some memory that he knew wasn't his was telling him were Zodd was striking and how to dodge how, how Zodd got that scare on his face, that this was not Zodds true form, and that Zodds left arm had been severed below the shoulder before Dragon slayer had plowed deep into the apostles chest at that Zodd had lost that arm before yet had reattached it. However Naruto didn't care this man was standing between him and the man that caused Hinata to die, the man that caused the town to suffer. With a roar Naruto jumped over one of Zodds swings with his sword in an overhead position to bring down on Zodds head, the apostle however stepped back causing the tip of Dragon slayer to pass just in front of his face.
Zodd then moved to decapitate Naruto only for him to duck as he lunged forward hopping to impale Zodd, only for him to twist around dodging the strike before slamming the back edge of his scimitar into Naruto's neck sending the armor covered boy flying down the length of the bridge, however his sword stayed right where it was next to Zodd. Zodd was looking down at the sword in his left hand, the left arm didn't match his right the skin was paler and it looked like it had been set upon by a wasting disease with how little flesh was covering the bones, a spasm passed through the hand causing him to drop the sword. Zodd grimaced before letting his hand disappear back into his cloak.
Naruto slammed into several of the thugs that had circled around his fight causing him to flip before slamming his hands into the bridge surface followed by the chains stabbing in to the bridge bringing him to a stop a short ways later glaring at Zodd as he dropped Dragon Slayer, feeling his rage grow that he couldn't move past this man Naruto began pulling up more chakra before charging back at Zodd intent to rip him limb from limb.
Zodd seeing Naruto charging brought his scimitar up to meet Naruto and kill him, only for Naruto to block with his left hand wrapped up in chain before sending a wild strike with his right hand that Zodd easily dodged. With that they fell into a pattern again with Naruto blocking with one hand and wildly attacking with the other trying to get to Zodd.
By now nearly all the thugs had either died or fled and only a few were standing around Gato watching the fight, Zabuza and Kakashi had also fallen back to observe. Sasuke was still praying he was right and Tanzuna was crying watching his bridge take damage as Naruto and Zodd ripped up the concrete around them with their movements.
The two had been exchanging blows for a while when Zodd saw a opening, twisting his sword around he slammed the pommel of his scimitar down into Naruto stunning him before kicking the boy away. Putting his feet on the ground the apostle charged after him intent to end the fight. Naruto rolled to a stop in a crouch facing Zodd, only to freeze getting ready for Zodds attack.
The jonin knew this was the deciding moment in the duel and moved to tip it in their favor, Narutos chains and claws were near the breaking point and Zodds blade was starting to show hair line cracks from the pounding it was taking.
Zabuza put his arm back hefting as much strength as he could hurled, the fully repaired, Kubikiribocho toured Naruto. Kakashi ran through a short set of hand seals before grabbing his left wrist as he prepared to move he was not losing a student.
Hearing something hit the concrete to his right Naruto glanced to find kubikiribocho sticking out of the bridge, with the hole in the blade half buried. Grabbing the sword with his right hand by the hole Naruto proceeded to use his hold on the sword like a handle as his chakra flared, before brining Zauzas sword up to block Zodds cleaving right through the scimitar before sending the half circle cut out in to the top of Zodds left shoulder. However it only stopped a small ways in.
They both stood there overcoming their shock. Zodd recovered first grabbing the offending object in his shoulder pulled it out causing his cloak to fall off, revealing a heavily muscled scar covered torso the left arm up to just a few inches below the shoulder was a skeleton. "To think that even after all these years I can still be injured, I've had Jonin fail to even scratch me. Worthy opponents do come in all shapes and sizes. At this Zodd began to laugh as his body started to shift as black fur spread on him. He was growing taller, his feet changed to hooves as two horns grew from the sides of his now cow like head a tail appeared behind him with a pair of leathery wings.
"Let's see how you fair ningen." pushing the executioners blade aside Zodd moved to smash his one good hand into Naruto only to feel pain in his back as a blue and lavender blur sped past his back leaving a trail of flame across Zodds back as a large gash appeared in his wings .
Hinata groaned as her eyes opened, she could feel pain everywhere the needles had hit 'the pain means I'm alive' she mused before pushing herself up to see her surroundings. Sasuke was standing just a head of her, farther forward she could see body parts with Kakashi and Zabuza standing in and around them; everyone she could see was watching the next group of people. Naruto using his armor was facing off against a mercenary of high skill as he had managed to disarm Naruto of his sword.
Biting her lip Hinata forced herself to her knees despite the pain in her side, feeling the pain fade Hinata shifted so she had a foot on the ground before settling to watch Naruto fight as she regained her strength. Watching Naruto exchanging blows with his one mercenary she began to worry as Naruto was pushed back into a corner in one move. Pushing herself up Hinata began to move after gaining her feet, walking up to stand closer to the fight.
Seeing the mercenary start to transform Hinata unsealed a short bladed dagger and a cutlass in her right and left hands, before activating her byakugan and charging past Sasuke and the Jonin aiming for were the wing membrane connected to the back of what now appeared to be a lesser demon. Speeding past the Jonin Hinata could imagine the look of shock in their eyes, before cringing as pain began to flare up. Gritting her teeth and pushing it down Hinata swung her daggers at Zodds wings; feeling the blades connect, Hinata smiled as she slid to a stop between the two combatants and the reaming mercenaries around Gato.
Hinata could tell she had messed something up from using chakra and moving when she did but didn't care. Turning to look over her left shoulder Hinata could see the monster staggering in pain from the twin cuts along his wings. One a foot long next to its back the other across the back and smoldering, looking at the blades in her hands out of the corner of her eye Hinata noticed that the dagger had what appeared to be salamanders crawling on it with small flames licking up from it. She smirked before turning her attention back to the fight.
Naruto had turned to see Hinata skid to a stop relived she was alive, fighting off the urge to run to her Naruto focused on the apostle in front of him, moving kubikiribocho so his left hand was on the handle with his right still were he had grabbed the hole in the blade, as Zodd finally put the flames on his back out.
Zodd wasn't doing well, his wings were injured his back was still smoldering lightly, there were four people who were ready to attack him, he had no weapon, only had use of one arm and he had a sinking feeling that all four of them could damage him; not to mention the brat in the back with those red eye's that were a pain some hundred years ago. "It appears I've over stayed my welcome," jumping up into the air Zodd landed on some overhead bridge girders, "We will meet again, be ready for me." With that Zodd jumped off the bridge causing nearly everyone to run to the side to see what happened.
Only to spot a figure flying away toured land before it vanished into the fog.
"Well that was a waste." At this they turned to see Gato looking were Zodd had vanished, "oh well more money for you lot. Kill them all while there tired." At this the thugs grinned before starting to head toured the shinobi. "keep the girl and the boy in the back alive their worth something to Kumo." Having caught sight of their dojutsu's
At this Hinata stiffened in fear, before the grip on her blades tightened, as Sasuke took a step back in shock before walking forward with his fists clenched, head down hair covering his eyes. Naruto gritted his teeth before slamming the tip of Zabuzas sword into the bridge before pulling himself up as the chains began to move like tails on their own showing his aggravation. Kakashi seeing his genin doing this didn't even try to stop Sasuke as he walked by, only pulling out his orange book before moving to find something to lean on.
Zabuza however started walking toured the thugs with a grin on his face as he tore of his face wrap off, only stopping long enough to use his foot to send Dragon Slayer up so he could grab it before continuing on. One of the mercenary's in the back grabbed his buddy's shirt before the broke away from the group running back down the bridge away from the shinobi.
The mob of thugs stopped a few feet in front of Hinata and their leader moved in front of her and leaned down some, "So are you going to come quietly or do we have to hurt you." The only response was a murmur from Hinata that no one heard. At this the thug kneeled in front of her so his face was level with her head. "What was that we couldn't hear you princes." At this Hinata's head snapped up giving the man a view of an enraged face with a trail of blood down both sides of the mouth with a sold white and red eye with enlarged veins around them. "GO FUCK YOURSELF!" At this Hinata lunged bringing her right hand up sending the dagger across the man's neck sending his head flying as blood exploded from the wound covering Hinata.
The man had just enough time to realize he was flying before seeing a headless body kneeling before a blood covered girl, just before he lost conciseness he realized 'that's… my…body.'
When the head hit the ground all hell broke loose; Zabuza and Naruto barreled into the thugs making short work of them followed by Hinata and Sasuke slicing and burning down whatever appeared in their line of sight. In moments the group of thugs had been reduced to bloody pulps and burning lumps of fleash , carton for the birds that had already began circling. Gato lay among the dead, a charged corpse having been hit by a Gogaku trying to get away from Zabuza.
After the fighting stopped the four stood there looking around for anyone to attack, after a moment of nothing happening they began collapsing some in fatigue others in shock of what they did. Sasuke found himself puking as the smell of chard flesh reached his nose, the knowledge that he burned several of them to death only adding to his shock. Zabuza felt Dragon Slayer slip from his fingers as numbness began spreading through his extremities, feeling a smile grow on his face Zabuza turned to were Naruto and Hinata had collapsed. "Naruto!" seeing the boy move his head toured him the dying man continued "Take good care of my old blade, let it keep killing till it's harder than diamond then keep right on going."
At this Naruto grinned from were himself and Hinata had fallen on each other. "I'll see what I can do…" at that Naruto passed out leaving Hinata to giggle at him before losing consciousness herself. At this Zabuza closed his eyes and smiled feeling his consciousness fade for the last time.
Kakashi looked over the four before letting out a sigh. "I suppose you two will handle your sensei's body." "Hai myself and oneesan will handle it." "What will you two do after words?" "…" "You know Naruto and Hinata right?" "We've talked once." "If you two don't think of something then we may be able to pull some strings for you joining Kohona." "We will think about it." "That's all I can ask. Your skills would be appreciated." At this Kakashi felt Hakus brother leave, turning back to the genin Kakashi saw that Zabuzas body was no longer standing there.
Pushing himself up, the scarecrow made his way to Tanzuna. Finding the man hold up behind some supplies with a sharp piece of metal "Tanuna," at this the man jumped swinging wildly in the direction of Kakashis voice only to calm down seeing the leader of the team he hired, "It's over we won."
At this the bridge builder gained a look of relief, "Come on Tanzuna-san help me out with my genin." Following Kakashi around the supplies Tanzuna stopped dead seeing the carnage. "Don't worry their still alive, see if you can get Sasuke moving." Tanzuna, holding his nose, made his way over to the heaving Uchiha.
Kakashi stopped when he was standing next to his other students, letting out a sigh at the sight of Naruto and Hinata cuddled together sleeping covered in blood and surrounded by dead; he reached down and picked the both of them up in his arms, before moving them away from the dead before setting them down and going back for their weapon's. Hinatas blades were easily slipped into a pouch, Naruto's Kakashi managed to pick up, noting he would have a hard time using the swords, before moving to the nearest clear spot on the bridge and sealing them away.
At this time Tanzuna had gotten Sasuke moving and had gotten the boy over to his teammates. Kakashi moved to use a suton jutsu when he had a idea, "Sasuke how's for learning a Jutsu." At this the Uchiha looked up still a little green but eager to learn. "Activate your Sharingan, later I'll quiz you on it don't use it though." At this Sasuke nodded not trusting his voice. "Alright then." at this Kakashi started going through hand signs slowly so Sasuke could follow them "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu."
At this a water dragon rose out of the sea around the bridge before slamming down washing the body's off the sides of the bridge. Releasing the last hand seal Kakashi griped his left side of his face in pain gaining looks of concern from Tanzuna and Sasuke. "It's nothing, come on let's head back to your house Tanzuna." Picking up Naruto and Hinata Kakashi began following the two toured Tanzunas house.
When they arrived at Tanzunas house, both Sasuke and the bridge builder stopped seeing to chard spots on the ground on the path toured the house, Kakashi however kept walking paying it no mind. "Kakashi?" at this the white haired man turned to look over his shoulder with out stopping, "What it's safe for us to cross." And Kakashi was over the seal marks on the ground with Sasuke and Tanzuna following dumbly.
Opening the door Kakashi walked into the sight of Tsunami sitting on Inari who was trying to crawl to the door. Clearing his voice Kakashi got them to look up; "can we get some help?" almost immediately Tsunami was up guiding them up to their room before running off to get bandages and hot water.
Kakashi and Sasuke were sitting in a room washing the blood off the themselves, in silence, neither feeling like asking the other for help nor had wounds that required medical attention. "I still remember my first kill; it was during the last war. I remember the sound he made and the look on his face. Most of your older jonin have developed ways to cope with it, none of us have gotten used to it." This got a "hn" from the Uchiha.
"So what can you tell me about the Jutsu I showed you?" At this Sasuke turned to Kakashi with a glare "Besides useless to me as a Uchiha…" At his Kakashi slumped in defeat with a sigh, "No, as in can you use it, when you would use it, that sort of thing… I'm not teaching you another high level Jutsu until you can perform that Jutsu without your Sharingan. Now what can you tell me about the water dragon Jutsu that you learned with the sharingan" Kakashi ordered, ignoring Sasukes glare.
"I need I water source to use it, I can't take a water source with me so the jutsu is limited in use. Standing on a lake I could use it twice maybe before sinking. There was no reason for you to teach me this Jutsu as I already have the Gogaku, so why did you teach me, teaching Naruto or Hinata would have been better as Naruto has the chakra reserves and Hinata needs a heavy Jutsu."
"Not bad and you can carry a water source with you, Naruto or Hinata should be able to teach you if you ask, teach them Suiryudan in return." With this Kakashi rose to leave, having finished washing while they were talking. "I'm going to see how Hinata and Naruto are doing." At this he left leaving his student to think and finish washing himself.
Kakashi walked into the room he had set Naruto and Hinata down in silently as to not disturb Tsunamis work. Seeing Hinata resting under blankets on a futon, a few bandages could be seen on her face with the rest of her covered by the blankets. Turning to Tsunami, who was working over the bed on Naruto. Naruto had bandages over everywhere he could see, a bucket of bloody water with a bloody rag hanging out of it on the floor with a sowing basket next to Tsunami who was finishing bandaging Narutos chest. A pile of bloody armor in the corner on an old rug showed were Naruto's armor ended up.
Tsunami abruptly stood up, before pulling the blankets over Naruto, turning to see Kakashi standing there she jumped slightly in shock. "Sorry I didn't mean to scare you." "It's okay you just wanted to see how your students were doing." At his Kakashi gave a nod, "their fine for now I patched them up as needed, I thought Naruto would need a lot more than he did… does he have some way to accelerate his healing?" "I don't know the details but he may." "Ah. So how did he hide the fox tail and ears?"
At this Kakashi went stiff eyes wide in shock, his head snapping over to look at Naruto only to see bandages over were the ears would be. "I take it he didn't tell you." Kakashi turned back to Tsunami, who was looking down in shame. "No, it's that he didn't have them before now."
Naruto groaned he hated this place, all he knew was it was in his head. It looked like someone had turned a cave system into a sewer, let it flood and didn't repair it so that light shined in illuminating the place. Pipes still ran over head; he figured they represented his chakra flow. With a sigh Naruto was about to start wondering around when an idea hit him 'It's my mind can I control it."
"Were do I want to go…can I see Kyuubi?" the water in front of him rippled before showing the image of a massive gate with a equally large fox staring out of the gate. At this Naruto frowned, "Alright can I go see Kyuubi?"
At this Naruto found himself rocketing down the passages that made up his mind, laughing Naruto managed to take control of his flight knowing what turns to make to reach the fox. Naruto saw a brighter room up ahead, poring on more speed Naruto burst into the room as a streak of back and orange only to realize he was heading straight for the bars on the gate. "Shit…"
The resulting clang of Narutos head hitting the gate echoed throughout the caverns that made up his mind. Naruto found himself on his back looking up at the gate listening to two different laughs and someone chuckling, turning to look at the laughter that wasn't coming from the gate with Kyuubi. Narutos eyes landed on a small boy, about his age, rolling on some ground laughing and a giant of a man in a cloak sitting against the wall with Dragon Slayer over his shoulder wearing the armor.
"I know I made a fool of myself but come on it was my first time flying." Naruto pouted. At this Kyuubi laughed harder "and you crashed in your own head were your all but god. HaHahaHAhAhaHa."
At this a tick mark grew on Narutos forehead, "Oh shut up fur ball I'm sure you didn't do what you wanted the first time you tried using your power," at this Kyuubi quieted down muttering about torturing a mutated fish, Naruto then turned to the two sitting by the side of the room "And who the hell are you two?!"
At this the larger man in the back stood up as the boy was still laughing on the ground. "Isidro stop laughing." When Isidro didn't comply the man brought his right foot back, before kicking the boy out into the water were the boy sank. After a moment of splashing a hand grabbed the rock ledge and Isidro pulled himself back onto the ledge. After regaining his breath the boy glared up at the swordsman in front of him "That wasn't very nice Gut's." At this Gut's smirked "like I give a dam." Looking up at Naruto Guts pushed the hood of his cloak off reviling short spiky back hair, a crushed left eye and a scar covered face. "Our host is here to see us."
Naruto just stood there for a moment before snapping his fingers "So that's what that dammed message meant," Naruto then pointed a finger at them "could you have been more obscure!?"
Everyone in the mindscape just stared at the mind owner before the fox spoke up. "That's what you're yelling about two little extra meat bags snuck their way in here and you're concerned about an obscure message written before my time, pathetic." At this Naruto turned to glare at Kyuubi "And what should I be concerned about? You're caged up ass?" At this the fox let out a angry growl "News flash Kyuubi you've been in here for twelve years trying to get out if you haven't found a way to beat Shishingami's seal then I don't think you will." At this Naruto turned back to Guts and Isidro "So you're the reason I know half the things I do know with Kenjutsu and explosives right?"
At this Gats and Isidro nodded, "We decided to give you some knowledge we picked up when technology was king. You've done well with what we gave you on fine tuning the stuff." At this Naruto scratched the back of his head smiling "Thanks." "Ahem if you've forgotten the demon in the room then let me remind you I'm still here."
"Alright fur ball you have our attention." "well since you can't tell what's going on to your body right now I'd figured I'd let you know," by now Naruto was skeptical something was up, "while your perfectly fine, you didn't get away unscathed so to say, you see using my power with Gut's berserker armor left some interesting side effects," by now Naruto just wanted the fox to get on with it, "You gained a Fox tail" at this the fox gained a evil grin "and ears and I expanded what can move between you and your mate." At this Narutos eyes widened in shock as his hands clenched in anger, "Oh and your waking up now."
At this Naruto felt his perception shiftbefore finding himself lying on his back in a bed with a weight on his chest.
Naruto groaned when the light hit his eyes, 'why couldn't I wake up at night.' After blinking a few times to clear his vision, Naruto looks down to see a head of blue hair lying on the covers. Pulling a hand out from the covers, Naruto moved to wake Hinata only to be stopped by a gloved hand. "I wouldn't do that Naruto," turning his head to see Kakashi sitting in the window over the bed Naruto shot him a questioning look, "She's been fretting over you since she woke up two days ago let her rest some."
At this Naruto nodded as Kakashi released his hand, "So how has everyone been doing since the fight?" "Not too bad you've been out three days so I'll fill you in, I gave Sasuke a test after the fight to use the water dragon without using the sharingan that he used to learn it, he's been doing fairly well with the endeavor; Oh when he offers to trade you a Jutsu for it teach him how to seal water, alright." Naruto gave a nod in confirmation. "You remember Haku right?" Naruto who had started playing with a strand of Hinata's hair stopped for a moment to think, "The girl from the bridge that nearly killed us?" "Actually there are two of them, twins actually, and they would like to come back to Kohona with us they showed up yesterday afternoon." "So Zabuzas dead." "Same with Gato, Tanzuna expects to finish the bridge sometime tomorrow… are you aware of your new…" at this Kakashi pointed of the side of his head, not knowing how to broach the subject.
At this Naruto let out a sigh, "Kyuubi told me about it," hearing a panicked intake of breath from his right Naruto let out another sigh "It was our first time talking I thing we spoke about a hundred words, 'I just wish it was the least of what he's done." The last part came out as a whisper but Kakashi didn't push the issue.
"SUITON: SUIRYUDAN NO JUTSU!" Sasuke calling his Jutsu was followed by a roar before a large splash was heard.
A moan came from Hinata at this, "Kakashi-sensei make Sasuke stop, Naruto-koi need's to sleep…" she mumbled out before snuggling against Naruto's chest. At this Kakashi chuckled before rolling out the window, Naruto seeing they were alone started stroking Hinata's head. "Himi wake up…" at this Hinata let out a groan before turning to see Naruto smiling at her, "Ohaio Hinata-chan."
At this Hinata blinked, a few times as her mind woke up; before smiling and lunging at Naruto wrapping her arms around his neck, snuggling her face into the crook of his neck. "I missed you Naruto." She murmured into his shoulder. Pulling his arms free Naruto putting his arms around her and began rubbing her back to comfort her. "It's ok Himi I'm still here; I'm not leaving anytime soon."
After a few minutes the two calmed down and had moved to sitting next to each other. "So what's happened since the bridge, Kakashi told me about the two Haku's and Sasukes test." At this Hinata put a finger on her chin "Not that I can think of Inari got the stick out of his ass but not much else, Why?" "Just wondering…Is anyone listening in?" At this Hinata made the ram sign, activating her Byakugan Hinata winced as pain came from her left eye however she pushed through and surveyed their surroundings for anyone listening in. "No one's listening in on us what is it?"
"First are you alright your eyes not giving you any issues?" "I'm fine part of my chakra network was damaged nothing permanent I could find, so what did you want to say."
Letting out a sigh Naruto started "When I was out I spoke to Kyuubi there were other people there the old owners of what I got from the cave, the fox told me about the new features and something else he has knowledge on seal's apparently and expanded what could move between us from what he said. If it's not a bluff we could be in trouble."
At this Hinata blinked a few times before leaning back, "You'll check it first chance you get right?" "I plan on it, next time I get a chance." "Why not now?" At this Naruto frowned "I thought you wanted to cuddle more?" At this Hinata let out a laugh, before hitting Naruto on the back of the head, while blushing. "Baka, safety first." At this Hinata rolled out of the bed giving Naruto room to move. Throwing the blankets off Naruto began pulling his shirt off, "If someone walks in on us your explaining this to them." "I know now finish up."
In the end Naruto ended up naked showing off an array of seals crossing his skin. "I still don't get how you managed to do all of his Naru." "As I said before a long time with a mirror, can you get me a mirror I don't want to unseal something before knowing if the seal was changed."
At this Hinata pulled up her sleeve reviling a seal array before unsealing a mirror and handing it to Naruto, who began going over the seal array on himself as Hinata kept watch for anyone approaching.
After a half hour Naruto let out a sigh as his fox ears drooped, before sealing the mirror and sitting down on the bed pulling his tail around to fiddle with the tip, "The fox didn't lie we can share chakra through the seal now." At this Hinata walked over sitting down next to him "How is that a bad thing? We can use each other's chakra if we start running low." At this Naruto let out a small groan "It's not quite like that, if we could just pull each other's chakra then it wouldn't be a problem however our chakras are now constantly mixing and there's no filter on the seal so you're getting some of Kyuubi's chakra because of the seal."
At this Hinata's mouth opened in a 'O' before her head dropped, "So we have a problem." "Not quite however if I pull on a large enough amount of the foxes chakra he could try to take over either or both of us." At this Hinata looked at Naruto with determination, "Then we train our minds to resist him, Anko-sensei can probably set something up for us. At least it's a shot. Right." At this Naruto looked back at her with the same look "Your right he hasn't won yet cause now that fox has to fight both of us for control."
At this Hinata nodded "Now get something on before someone walks on and gets the wrong idea." At this Naruto chucked and moved to comply, "So you just don't want to hear Kakashi bringing this up for the rest of the time were genin" Hinata sighed and nodded her head. "Agreed the pervert wouldn't let us get away with anything, and I want something to eat." " Well There's always..." Hinata trailed off as a blush appeared on her face, "Yep my last meal your father would show up and kill me."
At this Hinata gave a nod pulling out of her stupor, "Yea I like you alive to." At this Naruto let out a groan before pulling on his shirt, "One of these days he won't be able to stop us," at this Naruto put his arms around her waist before whispering into her ear, "then we can have all the fun you want." At this Hinata turned and pulled him in to a kiss. "I'll hold you to that; now cover up the ears and tail if you don't want everyone to know about them."
At this Naruto made a ram seal before being covered in smoke, it cleared a moment later reviling Naruto without the fox ears and tail. With that Naruto walked to the door before opening it and holding it open for Hinata who walked through a moment later.
Walking down the stairs the two found everyone's eyes on them. Kakashi had one of his eye smiles, Tsunami had a smile on her face with Inari and Tanzuna, the two Haku's in the corner both had looks of indifference but their eyes showed a amount of admiration and fear, Sasuke had a nervous look on his face. When they reached the bottom of the steps Tsunaimi was the first to approach them "I'm surprised the two of you are up and about, there's some food in the kitchen."
With that Tsunami led them to the kitchen where she pulled out two chars at the small table there before pulling out some plates and containers of leftovers from a ice box, "It's not much put nether of you have eaten for a bit so help your selves." At this she set the plates and containers down before opening the containers reviling rice fish eggs and some pork. "Its fine Tsunami there's plenty for the two of us." Hinata said. Giving a nod Tsunami turned and walked out of the room.
"You can come out now Sasuke." Naruto said to no one; however Sasuke walked out from behind the door. "So what is the occasion." At this Sasuke took a deep breath "I've come to apologize to Hinata for what I did." "You weren't in your right mind" "That doesn't matter what I did was inexcusable," pulling out two scrolls from his tool pouch Sasuke set them down on the table before bowing to his team mates, "those are the scrolls Sensei gave me I already memorized them so you may have them…I hope that they help pay off my debt to you." with that Sasuke turned and left before they could dispute them.
After a minute of the two sitting there staring at the scrolls a growl from Naruto's stomach took them out of there stupor, Hinata let out a giggle as Naruto let out a sigh and pulled the container of rice towards him.
An hour latter they joined everyone else out in the living room. "So Naruto how are you feeling? Now that you've woken up and eaten."
"Not too bad Kakashi-sensei, still a little stiff, nothing drastic." "Good Tanzunas plans to finish the bridge tomorrow will be leaving them after the bridge is opened for use."
At this he got a nod from the two, before going back to his book.
Looking around for a pace to sit the two soon found themselves sitting by the Yuki twins. After a moment one of them spoke up, "thank you for helping with the herb's Zabuza would not have lasted as long without the knowledge you gave us." At this Naruto looked over to them "I'm glad, I don't remember much but he seemed happy at the end," At this he got a pair of sad smiles from the two, "And I'm sorry about the clothes but it was battle."
"You're team mates words stung deeper than that being forced to strip." At this they kohona genin grimaced "Sasukes a mess, he's all but a sociopath and he was feed shit on clan superiority before his brother killed all but him and fled… ever since he was handed everything on a silver platter, then one of the drugs a psychologist gave him came with some side effects. But he's still a comrade for now so he hasn't stepped over the line yet."
At this they got a nod from the siblings before the topics changed back to their lives and how they were coping with Zabuzas death.
The following morning found the shinobi standing with their gear on Tanzunas bridge were they were pulling the last of the molds on the concrete that had been poured yesterday afternoon. Much of the town had showed up looking cleaner than Naruto had last seen them.
A cheer went up from the crowd followed by a thud as Tanzuna started smacking the molds apart with a sledgehammer, the crowd kept getting louder as more of the molds came off. When the finale cheer went up Kakashi turned to his charges and motioned them to start moving. At this the shinobi started walking away from the crowd down the bridge toured the mainland.
Tanzuna was standing on the bridge he had just finished with his own hands, one of the workers had taken the sledgehammer away, letting the feeling of relief wash over him, after a moment Tanzuna turned to the crowd. "When I started this bridge I didn't plan on a name for it just get it finished so that we could get out of Gato's grasp, after Goto died, right about where you all in the back are standing, I started thinking about names for my bridge at first I settled on 'The Great Tanzuna Bridge' however my daughter talked me out of it and I settled on a new name 'The Great Naruto Bridge' after the one who made all of this possible Naruto Uzumaki the boy Zabuza Momochi called the Tetsu no Kyuubi."
At this the crowd let out a cheer, before picking up Tanzuna and his workers and carrying them back to town.
Team seven with the Yuki siblings was slowly approaching the gates of Kohona having exited the trees a few miles from the village. Naruto had the hood of his trench coat up hiding his new ears with Kubikiribocho hanging on his back. Hinata was walking with his hand in hers, on his right. Kakashi was walking in front trying to figure out the mission report, with Sasuke brooding. The two Yuki siblings were bringing up the rear putting on a brave face.
As the neared the gaits Naruto began to tense up, "Naruto-kun,' Hinata whispered feeling him start to panic, "relaxes as long as I'm here you're safe, I won't let them get to you." At this Naruto visibly relaxed, as his coat began moving from his tail wagging, causing the two girls it the group to giggle slightly.
When they stopped for the gate check Naruto had stopped wagging his tail and never let go of Hainata's hand as they showed their papers. When the guards cleared them they all went straight for the Hokaga tower, roof hopping. Walking into the tower they walked past the secretary, ignoring her asking if they had an appointment, and entered the Hokaga's office before sealing the door behind them.
Sarutobi was waiting for them and motioned for them to have a seat, "I'm glad that you contacted be beforehand on this. May I have a full briefing now, saying you're coming in with unexpected changes doesn't help me much though seeing two new faces clears some things up."
"I'm sorry but there's more." At this Kakashi motioned to Naruto who let out a sigh, "If this makes it to the council I'm going to raise hell Jiji." At this Hurizen nodded. Pushing back the hood on his cloak Naruto reviled the pair of light orange fox ears with black tips on top of his head. "This had better not be a joke." "There as real as a heart attack." Naruto shot back.
At this the old man let out a sigh, "I was afraid of that, keep them covered as best you can but you figured that didn't you." At this Hurizen got a nod. "You will need to go see your doctor about this as soon as possible, other than that you're free to go." At this Naruto nodded before pulling his hood up.
"Now what do you to need?" the Hokaga asked looking at the two Yuki siblings. "We would like to file for citizenship in Kohona." "That can be done, however there will be some difficulties since your both shinobi trained." At this Haku swallowed "We were hoping that we could join the hospital since we have some medical experience."
At this Hurizen sighed "While we do need medics you both still have questionable back grounds that will cause issues if I was to let them pass. So here's what were going to do you are going to T&I if you pass you'll go into our start up medic program from there it's up to you. Best thing I can do for you, oh and don't lie on anything it will just make it harder for you in the long run." At this both twins turned to each other before nodding "Will take it." They answered in unison.
At this the old Hokaga smiled "Well then my subordinates will take you two when were done. Is there anything else that I should be made aware of?" No one moved for a moment until Sasuke stepped forward "I would like to request a psych exam, though I have paid them back my thoughts keep returning to when I switched with Hinata to save myself I can no longer determine why and …can't tell if I would do so again."
At this the entire room was quiet, looking in shock at the Uchiha who had just swallowed a very big pride. Naruto was the first to recover slamming a fist into Sasukes face sending him flying into the wall. "So that's why you just gave us the jutsu scrolls that Kakashi gave you," Narutos voice was gravely nearing demonic sounding, "You're the reason Hinata nearly died." Naruto pulled Kubikiribocho off his back leveling at the Uchihas head, "One good reason that's all it's going to take… and Itachi will be the least of your problems."
"Naruto stand down! If it turns out Sasuke put Hinata's life at risk on purpose then I'll teach you how to seal his chakra myself. ANBU get the three of them out of here." At this two black clad figures grabbed the three for T&I and vanished. "Naruto, Hinata you two are dismissed. KaKashi did you know about this?"
"No Sir, I only thought that Sasuke was depressed from his first kills."
At this the god of shinobi turned to Naruto and Hinata with a glare. The two immediately vanished in a trail of smoke with the door slamming behind them.
Naruto and Hinata didn't stop running till they were half way across Kohona, the pair was painting hard leaning against the walls of an alley way. "I've 'Huff' never 'huff been "huff' so scarred 'huff' in my 'huff' life." Hinata could only nod in agreement not having the breath to respond.
Another few minutes and the two were walking the streets looking for some were to eat that would serve them. After a half hour they ended up at their old favorite.
Hearing the bells along the curtain's at the door Ayami turned to the new customers "Welcome to Ichirakus…HINATA, NARUTO!" at this the Naruto found himself being pulled into a hug by his all but blood sister, along with Hinata.
"You don't know how worried I was for you two; at least you're back safe…Naruto why do you have a weapon on you in the shop." Ayami asked noticing the piece across Narutos back, all while sending him a glare that promised pain.
Swallowing Naruto readied his answer, scratching the back of his head Naruto gave Ayami one of his grins "Gomenasai Ayami-chan but this sword doesn't seal up very easily I promises it won't happen again." At this Ayami gave a huff before walking back around the counter, "if this happens again I'm cutting you off."
At this Naruto let out a sigh as Hinata giggled at him. "So what will it be you two?" Ayami called from the counter, at this the two genin smiled before taking stools by the wall with Naruto leaning Kubikiribocho against the wall so that it wouldn't damage the wall. After placing their orders Naruto and Hinata began telling the father and daughter about their first C-Rank mission.
Tenten was on a mission, as a weapon's fanatic and aiming to be the weapon's mistress of Kohona, she had heard that someone brought in one of the seven swords of mist and she was dead set on finding it. Only she had no idea where to even start looking, slowing to a stop Tenten bit back the earge to scream in frustration and let out a sigh, she was a kunichi god dam it. She soon started wandering down the streets not sure how to go about the search, 'a Jonin could do however very few will take that sword unless it's as a trophy or for sale… I don't have the money for something like that,' at this Tenten's face gained a pout, 'that justs leaves chunin and genin… a group of chunin may be able take one of the seven swordsmen but who could that be…there was that genin they said kept ripping up training grounds…' at this Tenten let out another sigh at how little she knew of her fellow shinobi outside of her graduating class and a few big names. "I may as well just walk into the nearest food stall and see if its there."
At this Tenten looked around a sushi bar with no one at the counter, and what looked like a ramen place with two people sitting near the wall with a broadsword with a hole in the blade by the end… at this Tenten blinked before picking up her pace. As she approached she could make out more details of the sword it was singled edged with a strait back and the curve of the edge matched the description that she had of the executioner's blade.
Stopping in front of the ramen bar Tenten took a deep breath before closing her eyes and pushing past the flaps, "Sumimasen(excuse me) but is that…" Tenten had opened her eyes and was staring at the person in front of her in disbelief.
"Chu-chan?" "Naru!" at this Naruto found a bat being swung at his head, grabbing Kubikiribocho from the wall Naruto brought the sword up stopping the weapon with a 'thunk' before pushing both weapons up. "Will you stop that!? You looked like a mouse and we were three for kami's sake!" At this both were hit over the head with a ladle "URUSAI, Now sit down and explain why you attacked otouto." At this Tenten was in a seat next to Hinata before Ayami could blink and the bat and the cleaver where against the wall.
"Now then how do you know Naruto?" at this Tenten swallowed 'civilens can be scary' "We were friends at the orphanage together, he would always call me mouse-chan and I'd try to make him stop, we haven't see each other since he disappeared about six years ago." Ayami nodded at this before turning to Naruto "What is it with you and girls that beat you up Naru?" At this Naruto pointed to Hinata "She only hits me when I'm being a smartass."
At this Hinata sat up a little with a smug grin.
"At least he's not a dumbass anymore." Tenten shot at them. Causing Hinata to deflate and Naruto to put his head on the table, "One time, one time I fell for that." At this Tenten laughed "And screaming out that you pranked someone, you'd show up after one of your pranks and yell you did it." At this Ayami and Hinata started laughing "I stopped doing that when it became detrimental to my health thank you very much." Naruto shot back.
After a few more jabs at each other everyone settled down, "So Naruto how did you get Kubikiribocho your sensei give it to you?" At this Naruto smirked "I won it; off of Zabuza Momochi the demon of the mist." At this Tenten and Ayamis jaws dropped leaving them looking like fish.
Tenten found her voice first "There's no way you beat Zabuza Momochi he's a elite jonin of mist." "Actually he was an elite jonin of mist; I believe I was credited with his kill." At this Tenten and Ayami looked ready to faint, while Naruto and Hinata looked a little down.
Seeing this Tenten decided to change the subject, "So can I see Kubikiribocho?" "Not in the shop," Ayami cut in holding her ladle again, "This not one of your weapon stores this is Ichirakus ramen and we don't need you scaring away costumers."
At this Naruto let out a chuckle "I know Ayami-chan, Tenten can see it after we finish lunch. How does that sound?" At this Tenten fought back the urge to scream before nodding her head, with a look of bliss on her face.
"So Tenten how have you been since the orphanage? By your hitai-ate you're a kunichi now." At this Tenten beamed "Yep graduated last year on team nine with Rock Lee and Hyuuga Neji under Mito Guy…" at this tenten's shoulders drooped "God is that man insane." "Wait is it him and Lee that run around yelling about youth and crazy challenges." At this Tenten let out another groan "…I'll take that as a yes, and from what I know of Neji your left out a lot." This gained another groan from Tenten and one from Hinata.
At this Tenten looked over to the younger girl with a questioning look, "Alright why are you complaining about my teammate it's not like…Oh" Half way through her sentence Hinata had turned her head so Tenten could see her eyes. "Neji is a pain at home but I thought he would at least be nice to his team mates." Hinata groaned "Why is Neji such an ass."
At this Naruto piped up "My theory is that the elders did something to him causing him to get a poll up his ass." "And why do you think that Naruto?" Tenten asked him. At this Naruto shrugged "Haishi-san is nice enough normally he's strict horribly strict but I don't think it would be to the point of doing that to Neji, now the elders I haven't met but from what I've heard they are that strict."
At this Tenten nodded as the conversation turned to calmer subjects of missions they had done and how they were training. Tenten stating she was still looking to be the weapons mistress of Kohona and could hit any target with a Kunai. Naruto and Hinata going over their own skills leaving Tenten slaked jawed at how far they said they could push their sensei.
"And I thought Neji and Lee we strong they could give any chunin a run for their money but you two giving a elite Jonin a run…" "Anko-Sensei trained us like our lives depended on it so we improved fast to survive." Hinata said "Yea she knows how to push you to breaking then get more out without needing to rest for a few days." At this Hinata nodded at Naruto's description of Anko's training.
"So when did you two graduate?" "This year, Anko started training us in the academy why?" At this Tenten shook her head, "Nothing it's just I thought I saw you at a earlier graduation test." At this Hinata answered before Naruto could speak "He did fail the test three times but at least twice he was failed when he could have passed." "Hey you never passed the test either Hinata." At this Hinatas shoulders dropped as she let out a sigh, "That was because we were set up." at this Naruto gave one of his grins "You still failed with me though." At this Tenten looked in shock "If you both failed how did you pass?" she asked reaching for her kunai pouch. "We were set up and Hokaga-jiji knew of it and graduated us." Nodding Tenten relaxed before moving back to how they were doing with their lives currently.
An hour later and the three were walking out of Ichirakus with their weapons saying goodbye to Ayami, planning to head off to find an empty training ground for a spar.
Kakuzu stared in shock at the one armed cow like monster in front of him; that had just smashed his partner, only two of his hearts were left in tacked and for all of this they had barely done more than scratch this monster. Fire didn't scorch it, water and wind only pushed him back, earth did little to slow him down, his lightning heart had been taken out first followed by wind and fire, his water heart was lying under a tree to revive him after the demon left if it came to it. kazuko didn't know where it came from or what it was, he just knew he was going to kill it when he got away.
Hardening his skin Kakuzu got into his taijutsu stance getting ready to fight as much as he could before being 'killed'. Only for the monster to stop just out of range, grinning the towering minator spoke "Kakuzu of water fall, I'm in need of your assistance for a new arm."
AN
Calling this chapter done,