Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me in any way.
Warning: Might contain some OOC-ness.
ナルト
In all the centuries that Kurama had walked the Elemental Countries, he could honestly say that he hated humans, or rather what they had become.
Before he and the other Bijuus had grown to become so destructive and hateful, there was a period in time that they were looked up to by these humans, and they in turn, helped them whenever they can. However, that time was lost in the annals of history as one man tried to harness their power selfishly, a man who was for all intents and purposes their brother.
Their faith in humanity had not been completely lost though as the man's blood brother protected them. While the man was revered as a genius by everyone and respected highly, he was also feared. He was cold and rather stoic. Underneath it all however, his eyes held a gentleness that was kept back by his belief that everyone should help themselves.
In opposition, the man's brother was, to be blunt, a dunce. He was the village clown and was considered slow by everyone. Despite that though, everyone seemed to gravitate towards him. He was warm and welcoming and believed in helping everyone he could reach out to. As opposed to his brother, he openly shared his love and gentleness to everyone.
Both of them were rather close in spite of the differences of their personality. They were perfectly content with their lives and with their standings. However, one fateful day ripped apart their happy lives. Their father had decided to create the moon, and upon doing so, gave the two of them nine more siblings and one dying father.
The both of them were distraught by the state of their father, but they had two differing reactions. The man had blamed his new siblings for the fate of their father and thus avoided them out of bitterness. He dedicated his time training and became more withdrawn. And with each passing day, he acted stranger.
The brother, on the other hand, rather than hating his new siblings, did everything to make them feel welcome sensing that they were rather disoriented and afraid of the new life they were given. While doing so, he guided them to help other people and to be altruistic. Needless to say, he treated them like they were his actual siblings and them to him.
Days passed and the two brothers went further and further apart from each other with the roads they took. Finally, the day came that the two brothers hoped wouldn't come.
The day of their father's death.
Their father raised them saying that he would eventually name the successor to his Ninshu. And now, that day came.
…From there, everything slowly fell to pieces.
When their father had chosen the brother instead of the man, the man became enraged and stormed off alone with no one hearing from him for a long time.
The brother did his best to rule in his father's stead and found that he had no problems doing so. In the beginning, it seemed to all work out for him. The brother had eventually married his uncle's daughter, neither having qualms with each other. One might say that it was love at first sight.
Soon enough, the man came back, and opposed everything the brother stood for. Brothers exchanged fists time and time again and when the man found that he could not win against his brother as is, he let himself be underhanded. He attempted to bring his nine newer siblings under his rule.
Luckily, the brother caught wind of the plot and managed to fight off the man, however, he arrived too little too late as the man managed to capture one of them.
That sibling was Kurama. From thereon, things started to unravel and the rest was, as they say, history.
Kurama alongside his siblings had grown to distrust the humans as they destroyed what their father and one of their brothers had stood for. He had grown spiteful and jaded from what once had been a mischievous yet amiable soul.
In truth, he missed his father and his siblings. He knew he wouldn't be able to feel the sensation of his father's and his kind brother's chakra ever again, and yet…
Why does this brat that he was sealed into, have their chakra?
ナルト
"What is a brat like you doing with the old man's chakra?" The voice asked menacingly yet plaintively.
At the voice's question though, Naruto's fear dissipated. He visibly bristled at the voice's referral of him.
"Excuse me?!" Naruto asked indignantly, not even noticing that he was finally able to speak. "What's that supposed to mean?!" He waited for a response, but none came. If he didn't know any better, he'd say that the voice was surprised.
"It's what it's supposed to mean, brat: a short, uncultured, brazen, stupid, brat!" The voice replied mockingly and if he heard it right, amusedly.
"Why you- C'mon! Let's go! Once I see you, I'll kick your ass!" Naruto started thrashing around as if fighting an invisible enemy.
The voice laughed condescendingly. "Is that supposed to do something to me?"
"Once you stop hiding like a chicken and face me like a man, you'll get what's coming to ya!"
The voice bellowed once more, this time the laugh lasting longer. Unlike earlier, this one was devoid of sarcasm or derision. It was more of a nostalgic laugh tinged with an amused disbelief.
"Out of all the people you had to… You really were too conscientious for your own good." The voice muttered. Naruto found himself confused as the voice didn't seem to be talking to him. Suddenly, there was a cool breeze that passed by him coupled with the sound of laughter. It was… painfully familiar.
"W-what was-" He couldn't formulate the question he wanted to ask and whatever he wanted to say died down on his throat.
"Hmmm… I'll only help you this time brat. The next time, he has to show me that he's worthy of this chakra." The voice said, but it felt like it wasn't talking to him.
Before Naruto could ask what he meant, he felt something hit his chest. It didn't hurt but it felt foreign. When nothing happened after a while, he was about to ask the voice what it had done. Suddenly, there was an unbearable pain in his eyes.
"AAAAAGGGGHHH!"
ナルト
Satsuki's mind was muddled with feelings of sorrow and despair as she stared at the downed Haku with her fists clenched tightly. Tears started to trickle down her face once more as she was reminded of the downed body of her friend behind her.
Memories of when she was a child and the two of them played together passed through her mind and soon she started sobbing. And when she noticed that even as they grew older, despite Naruto not knowing that they were each other's childhood friend, they maintained the same dynamics, she started sobbing harder:
Naruto would annoy her with his antics and she would treat him as an annoyance but before the day would end, they would talk like old friends. It was mostly him that would talk but she found that she didn't mind and was content to listen to his voice.
But now… He was gone, like her parents, the two people she looked up to as older brothers, and her clan… She had no one now. There were many things left unsaid. Her gratitude was chief among those, but she couldn't now… Why did he have to… He promised to be Hokage. He never broke a promise before, why would he start now when it really mattered?
"…why? Why did you have to take him away?" Satsuki asked desperately as tears continued to stream down her face. She felt her consciousness starting to fade and a certain kind of lightheadedness set in. There was a muffled sound of an explosion from behind her but she couldn't find it in her to care. As her eyes slowly closed and she started to fall, she thought she saw a certain blonde knucklehead wearing a gentle smile that made her heart skip a beat.
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Just as Haku thought it was all over, a burst of chakra emerged from the blonde boy. And faster than the eye can see, the blonde's silhouette flickered out from his earlier position then appeared in front of the falling Uchiha, catching her just before she fell completely.
"It's alright, you can rest now." Naruto whispered as he laid her body on the ground gently. He stood from his crouching position and faced towards Haku. "So, wanna be my sparring partner for now?" Naruto asked while his eyes were still hidden beneath his bangs. "It's been such a long time after all." He raised his head then heard a gasp emerge from Haku.
"What… is that?" Haku muttered in disbelief.
Naruto grinned as he faded from view then reappearing in front of Haku. "You know, I've always wondered what tou-san felt having this ability." Seeing that Haku was too surprised to move, he raised his hand and faced his palm towards Haku before channeling chakra to it.
Suddenly, the ice mirror Haku was in shattered and the person himself was sent hurling to the other end of the bridge. Haku hit his head and was made unconscious by the impact.
"You could hardly call that a fight." Naruto grumbled as he slowly walked towards the unconscious body. "But maaan, if I had this when I was young, I could have done sooo much more pranks!" Naruto said with a mischievous grin. Before he was about to pick up the unconscious ninja however, he quickly back-flipped to the side as a wide cleaver swiped across where he was earlier.
Naruto landed on his feet and looked at his new opponent who was regarding him with wariness.
"What are you?" Zabuza asked him as he stood protectively in front of Haku, holding his Kubikiribocho menacingly.
"How rude. What do they teach to people these days?" Naruto said with a somewhat mocking tone as he raised his hand towards Zabuza and channeled chakra to it once more. Zabuza was suddenly pulled towards the blonde with an unseen force and he was unable to fight back.
"What the-" Alarmed, Zabuza tried to swing the Kubikiribocho at the blonde when he closed in but was unable to do so. Instead, the blonde, in one swift motion, took the giant cleaver away from him and kicked him away.
"What a rather uncivilized weapon. Rather bloodthirsty don't you think?" Naruto asked as he regarded the cleaver with an appraising gaze. "It should do for now." Naruto grinned as he shouldered the cleaver.
"Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi asked incredulously as he approached Naruto from behind with a certain level of wariness. Ready to attack just in case the blonde wasn't who he was supposed to be. After all, if Zabuza was willing to disengage with him to fight with a measly genin then surely something must be amiss.
"Hmm? Naruto? Oh, you mean this guy's body?" Naruto turned to look at the silver-haired jounin, then his face scrunched up in thought. "His parents must really like ramen or something." Naruto grinned then looked back at Zabuza. "You might wanna look into the Uchiha. She has chakra exhaustion. I advise you not to tell her about her new powers. Let her find out about it on her own."
"What new powers?" Kakashi asked with an expression of disbelief on his face. It was a face one had upon seeing a myth come to life.
Naruto chuckled and shook his head. "If you don't know, then it's best to stay that way. Once you do find out though, keep it to yourself." His eyes never once left Zabuza who was just now standing up. "You know, I change my mind, let's do it the old-fashioned way." He attached the cleaver to his back with his chakra then cracked his fists. "This should be fun." Naruto propelled himself from the ground and in an instant appeared in front of Zabuza.
It was a testament to Zabuza's ability as a ninja that when he threw a punch, he managed to dodge, albeit at the last minute. Zabuza immediately countered with a kick to which Naruto immediately blocked, something a normal genin wasn't supposed to be able to do, especially with a heavy armament strapped unto his back.
"Good reflexes." Naruto complimented with a smile. He immediately grabbed unto Zabuza's leg and hurled him to the other side of the bridge. While Zabuza was still airborne, Naruto flickered on top of him a brought his leg down. A cloud of dust appeared from where Zabuza crashed.
"That lasted way shorter than I originally thought." Naruto landed in front of the crater where Zabuza was with a somewhat disappointed look. "I could have sworn I held back a lot."
Zabuza's eyes slowly opened then fixed itself on the blonde's face. To Naruto's pleasure, Zabuza's eyes held fear and respect in them. "What the hell are you?" He whispered in awe.
Naruto shrugged in response and was about to say something when he suddenly frowned and looked straight ahead. From the mist emerged a whole battalion of ruffians and hoodlums and in the middle was a short pudgy man with a sinister smirk plastered on his face.
"You're getting kicked around by a kid. Isn't that embarrassing?" The man taunted. "It was a good thing I never planned to pay you from the start. I'll have you die here."
"Gato…" Zabuza gritted his teeth and glared at the fat man as he stood up. "Brat, it doesn't look like I need to fight you anymore." Zabuza turned away from the battalion.
"So you're just going to leave?" Naruto coldly asked as he continued to stare at the army of hooligans. "And you're not even taking that kid with you?" Naruto motioned towards the unconscious Haku that was in the space between them and Gato's army, however he was closer to Gato's side than theirs.
"I won't risk my life just to save him. He's a tool to me as I was to that bastard." Zabuza spat out as he looked at the blonde again.
"Funny. I seem to recall a different scene play out earlier." Naruto scoffed. "If I'd sensed correctly, you could have killed your target earlier, yet why did you disengage Tool-san? You could have left the boy to me and let me do who knows what to him, but at least you would've completed the mission right?"
"…" Zabuza remained silent.
"But if that's how you really think," Naruto pointed to Haku's unmoving body. "Watch the boy who saw you as a father get killed. He who would willingly kill his heart for you, who would trade his life for your dreams, will die before your eyes." Naruto just continued to stare forward as Gato started to walk towards the unconscious Haku with a sword in his hand. "And thus will end the tale of him who loves you… and you who had spent his time nurturing him, caring for him." Naruto chuckled sardonically. "But let it be known that Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, was a tool, through and through."
When Naruto finished his speech, he felt a breeze pass through him, which he took as a cue to take the cleaver from his back and throw it to the running ninja. As if scripted, Zabuza caught the cleaver mid-air, just in time for him to be above Gato, and immediately brought it down, splitting the man in twain.
There was a collective gasp among Gato's thugs which only served as fuel to Naruto's ever growing grin. "See, wasn't that easy to do?"
"You talk too much brat." Zabuza said gruffly in an effort to keep his image up but knew it was in vain as he heard the blonde's laughter.
"Heh, then let's amend that shall we?" Looking at the panicking force opposite to him, Naruto cracked his knuckles and gave a threatening grin. Swiftly, he engaged the goons and started punching every man in his way. "Make it more interesting why dontcha?"
The two jounins looked at each other awkwardly with an unsaid question held in their eyes. With hesitation, the two of them jumped into the fray, and with no time flat, everyone was either dead or unconscious.
ナルト
When the excitement died down, the three remaining conscious shinobi gathered together and started to commune, mainly about Naruto's sudden change in behavior.
"I'll just get straight to the point, who are you and what have you done with Naruto?" Kakashi started out threateningly. Naruto however just chuckled and shrugged.
"I haven't done anything to this kid, nothing that he didn't already have anyway." Kakashi raised an eyebrow about that.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Let's just say there was a recent catalyst that entered his system and orchestrated my untimely awakening." Naruto's smile then turned into a frown as he regarded the two jounin seriously. "However, I'll have the both of you keep quiet of this matter."
"Why?" Surprisingly, this came from Zabuza who no longer gave out a hostile aura.
"There are forces in this world that I would rather not let know of my presence." He then gazed upward with a hateful look adorning his face. "Things are going to change soon. Best be prepared." He gazed back down to the both of them.
When Naruto's gaze landed on Kakashi, a shiver ran through his spine as he recalled his earlier trepidation. Apparently, the feeling wasn't a warning of an immediate danger but rather a pending one. That did nothing to alleviate his worries.
"Do not say anything to the owner of this body either. It's not the time for him to worry of such things. When one is young, one should enjoy what life has to offer." Naruto smiled as a father would, gentle and caring. "Well this is farewell gentlemen, 'til next time." After saying that, Naruto's body unceremoniously collapsed but was caught just in time by Kakashi.
The two ninjas stared at each other and nodded, an unspoken agreement passed through them despite the both of them being at odds earlier in the day. There was a foreboding atmosphere that remained after the departure of the other 'Naruto', and it didn't sit well with either of them.
With everything said and done, Zabuza carried Haku's unconscious body and without a word of goodbye, left the vicinity.
Kakashi sighed as he stared at the enigmatic blonde in his arms. He had always thought that Naruto was peculiar, but what just happened takes the cake. It didn't sit well with him keeping a big secret just right after divulging one. Well, it couldn't be helped. He couldn't just ignore the being's orders. For one, he didn't know the being's exact strength except that it was probably higher than his. And another is, if the being's warnings were true, the only ally they have for now is the being.
He met up with Tazuna who had the most befuddled expression on his face, probably because of Sasuke being a Satsuki, Zabuza turning coats, and Naruto suddenly becoming better than his sensei. Kakashi immediately gave the man a brief summary and ordered the man to keep quiet of what had happened. Thankfully, Tazuna was understanding and didn't ask any questions. Kakashi then put up Sasuke's henge just in time as the whole village of Wave appeared armed and looking vindictive with Inari at the front.
The villagers had a mix of annoyance and relief in knowing that their trek was all for naught, but they were nonetheless grateful for the Konoha-nins.
Opting to just call it a day, Tazuna with Kakashi's team headed to Tsunami's house, when all of a sudden, Kakashi's seal started to smoke. His visible eye widened marginally and then it hardened as the meaning of the reaction came to his mind.
Yuugao was captured in enemy base, and possibly, with Sakura in tow.
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Hey guys, I'm updating waaaaaay earlier than usual. Why? Well first and foremost, a lot more people reviewed than I thought would and I was surprised they were all positive. Needless to say, it made me really happy. I won't let it get to my head though.
Another reason for the early update is because Wave arc is finally done. I can't stress enough how much I hate writing up Wave arcs. Maybe from hereon I would have an easier time to write stuff. I actually have a lot of ideas about this but we'll just have to wait and see.
So once again, I thank everyone who reviewed and those who read this and liked it. For those who didn't, I'll try to write better.
Any constructive criticisms are welcomed and if you find any spelling or grammatical mistakes or even better wording, please feel free point it out.
xxxYin-Yangxxx out.
