Author's Note: Chapter seven is out! This probably follows the canon more closely then any other chapter but don't worry, next chapter will be all Nexy goodness. Yeah I said Nexy! So what? Let's see, we got some more politics, plot teasers, Naruto sexiness and some side romance in the end.
You Know the drill, read, review, etc.
Hope you enjoy!
Apparently I'm supposed to place disclaimer here or some thing but I think it's pretty obvious i don't own Naruto. Manga would be a lot different if I did.
Chapter 7
Fire&Ice Part 1
"Mikoto."
The Uchiha matron turned around to see her blonde lover dressed for battle. A sad smile adorned her lips. "I suppose you're also heading out then?"
He nodded. "I'm going to assume that Sasuke already told you that we're going to gone for a while?"
Nodding her head, she bit her lip and silently walked over to him. Not meeting his gaze, she brought her hands up to his chest and said," He said that it's an A-rank mission for a team that desperately needs backup. A long term mission where you'll be gone for a month or more so."
Frowning, Naruto cupped her chin with one hand and tilted her head up so that he could look her in the eyes. His frown deepened when he saw that she had unshed tears in her eyes.
However, the contact between soft onyx and hard ice was all it took for those tears to spill forth. As she stood there, soundlessly crying, he simply stood there looking down at her emotionlessly. He appeared to be searching for something in her eyes. Having, apparently, found what he was looking for, his frown retracted back into his customary stoic visage.
"Stop that," he ordered as his other hand came up and wiped away her tears with his thumb. "If I have said it once I have said it a thousand times, your crying in my presence is a personal insult."
She let out a small laugh as she moved forward, wrapping her arms around him and pressing the side of her face into his chest. After a few moments she said, "Promise me…"
"I'll come back…we both will."
Taking a step back, she looked at him in the eye and moved forward. Naruto's hands enclosed her slim waist as their lips met. After a chaste moment they pulled back and each other's gaze. Lingering for a moment they met again in a slow, searing kiss that drowned the world around them. Once more they pulled apart and Mikoto let out a sigh of discontent. His hands moving up to her shoulders, she closed her eyes in bliss as his lips brushed her forehead.
She kept her eyes close, even as she head him burst into his shunshin of a thousand black butterflies. Breathing quietly for a minute, she clutched her hands together over her heart as she opened her eyes and saw the faint trail of purple dust drift about her.
Kurenai looked at her two genin that had already assembled in front of Konoha's massive gates. Yakumo looked the same as ever, although there was the glint of determination found in her eyes whenever the team left the village. Sasuke had changed out of his traditional Uchiha yukata. He now sported an Uchiha style dark blue, long-sleeved shirt. As well as wearing lose fitting black plants. She looked around for Naruto but, couldn't find nor sense him.
'We still have five minutes before departure,' she thought as she glanced at the small watch on the inside of her of her wrist.
After a minute of waiting, a swarm of black butterflies swooped down and began to congregate on one spot. The butterflies soon took the shape of a human, which quickly revealed itself to be Naruto. As he stepped forward, Kurenai couldn't help but go wide eyed.
Sure, she had seen his incredible entrance before, but now…the apparel he was now garbed in were sure to turn more than a few heads for those well versed in history.
Completely regaled in black, Naruto had on a long-sleeved V-neck shirt and his hands were covered in thick gloves. Cargo pants adorned his legs and combat boots for foot apparel. The only skin Naruto was showing was the cream of his neck and his face. His hair, normally tied loosely and hung over his shoulder, was now freely and wildly cascading down his back. A katana was attached to each side of his hip and most striking of all, was the impressive war fan strapped onto his back.
'Uchiha indeed,' Kurenai concluded. 'If those black streaks in his hair were more dominant then he'd look like a young Madara.'
"Ready," she asked with her arms folded across her chest. He nodded in affirmation as he walked past her to stand with his teammates, who were staring at him. One in scrutiny, the other with blushing cheeks.
"Everyone ready to deploy?"
At three affirmatives she walked over to Izumo and Kotetsu who were still looking at Naruto with awe. Kurenai had to suppress a chuckle that threatened to escape her at the sight of Konoha's most well-known chuunin. "Team eight deploying to provide backup to team seven," she announced as she handed them their mission scroll. Doing a quick one over of it they handed it back to her and Izumo said, "Everything checks out. Good luck out there."
With that all four of team eight disappeared in a blur, leaving the two gate guards to their wonders.
"Man I tell you, that kid gets more and more impressive every day," said Kotetsu.
I know," exclaimed Izumo. "Did you see that shunshin? I mean I thought Itachi was all cool with his ravens but damn…"
Seven Hours Later. Borders of Fire and Wave.
All four of team eight had worked simultaneously to weave together a powerful genjutsu that would keep their identities as shinobi hidden as they boarded the passage to the island nation. Naruto quickly swept his gaze over the people working the docks and he couldn't help but notice that most of the workers seemed a little too…unruly looking to be working the docks.
He swiftly dismissed the idea that these were pirates and concluded that they were hired thugs to keep watch and detain anyone that might disrupt Gato's business.
Yes. Naruto knew what Gato was doing in Wave with the weight of his shipping empire. In fact, the tiny business man had been an annoyance to Naruto for well over two years; bordering on three. However, he was minor annoyance and one that did not warrant his personal attention. Yet, now that he had been placed into Naruto's path, Naruto was hardly one to give up an opportunity. In fact, Gato attempting to take over Wave was impressively advantageous to Naruto and his plans. There would much benefit to reap if he went about this the right way.
"So," came Yakumo's voice over his shoulder. "What can you tell me about Wave?"
Naruto had been staring out at sea while he was immersed from his thoughts, so he turned around to glance at Yakumo. Hearing her question, Sasuke and Kurenai ceased whatever conversation they were having and walked over to them. Leaning up against the railing of the ship, Naruto crossed his arms and gathered his thoughts.
"Well," he began. "It's a minor island country with no military force aside from the local feudal lord's private force. However even that is quite insignificant."
"So no shinobi," she questioned.
"None. They normally turn to us because of the proximity as well as the historical connection between the two nations. Their main source of income is commercial fishing as well as serving as the major port hub between the southern countries and the continent."
"Historical connections?"
"Yes, not many are aware of the fact but, Wave used to be part of the Fire Country."
Kurenai blinked in surprise before asking," Really? What happened to make them leave?"
Looking over to Yakumo, Naruto said," Remember how I said the Fire Daimyo of then used the threat of the soon to be formed Leaf Village to make all the local feudal lords give up their armies and vast amount of land to solidify his rule?"
At Yakumo's quick 'yup' he looked back at Kurenai and said," Well instead of swearing fealty, the feudal lord of what is now Wave offered to pay a massive tribute in return for independence."
"Must've been a lot of gold to buy off a power hungry man like a Daimyo," Sasuke snorted.
Naruto nodded. "Yes, approximately eighty-three pounds of gold, several furs of rare animals, numerous shiny things that make nobles sequel like children and two of his daughters."
"He gave his own daughters away?!"
Yakumo looked quite incredulous as well as furious and while Kurenai showed no outward sign of anger, there was quite the raging inferno in her crimson eyes.
Ignoring the female fury Naruto said, "Yes, it's a common practice in upper society. The Fire Lord took one as a concubine and gave the other to his brother, if I remember correctly."
"That's-that's…horrible! What kind of people just go around trading and handing out women like that?!"
Naruto smirked to himself, 'Well you'll be finding out in a few days Yakumo.'
Cutting the little tirade of feminine wrath short, Sasuke said, "So should we expect any form of negative reactions from the local authorities?"
"Not likely," Naruto responded by shaking his head. "We've had no official dealings with their government since the break away."
'Not for the lack of trying though,' Naruto thought irritably. About twenty years ago, it was discovered that Wave had large deposits of a Titanium alloy underneath it. The alloy is very useful in military applications but damn too expensive to craft synthetically making it an ineffectual resource. Ergo, access to a naturally formed source would exponentially change weaponry and armor rating within the Fire Country. Hence the reason they've been trying to get the country under their control. Nevertheless, before this discovery was made Wave made several trade agreements with Wind Country, who, became allied with Fire during the Third Shinobi World War.
Annexing Wave would trigger an international incident and Fire, although boasting huge strength, was still not fully recovered from the Fox's assault four-teen years ago. No, in order for them to obtain that, oh so very, useful alloy, Naruto would have to play games in the shadows.
Looking back out to sea, he gazed upon the landmass that would soon be his prize.
The door opened to reveal a shaggy haired Kiba Inuzuka. He didn't look surprised at seeing Kurenai and her team which told her that Hinata must have told him it was them using her Byakugan. "So they sent you guys, huh? Couldn't they have sent someone better," he asked arrogantly.
This got him a sharp slap to the back of the head. "I apologize for his behavior Kurenai-sensei. Please, do come in."
Kurenai giggled and said, "It's no problem Hinata. How are you? Are any of you injured?"
"I am well, as are the others but, Kakashi-sensei is suffering from chakra exhaustion," said the young Hyuuga girl.
As her team maneuvered themselves into the house, Kurenai took a look at her one-time student. Hinata had grown into a beautiful young woman with curves and looks that any female would kill for and have every man turn his head. Garbed in the traditional Hyuuga battle-wear and with her long lavender hair tied in a high ponytail save for her bangs, she looked every bit the fierce kunoichi her clan produced.
Once a timid and shy girl, with Kurenai's tutelage and support, she grew into her own as fine young lady. From what Kurenai learned, Hinata's mother had also been a gentle and kind soul. Even if, she commanded just as much fear as she did love and respect in the Hyuuga household. It seemed that those traits had been passed down to her daughter. It seemed everyone liked the new Hinata that had finally come out of her shell. Everyone except Hiashi. The clan head, despite his cold and ruthless demeanor, preferred his sweet and quiet daughter. It was speculated, privately of course, that the Hyuuga head was terrified of his now fierce daughter and actually went out of his way to avoid her.
Kurenai saw that Hinata was now openly glaring at Sasuke, who was heatedly glaring in return. Kurenai sighed at this. The rivalry between the Uchiha and Hyuuga was as legendary between the one between the Uchiha and the Senju. The two sides had argued about which clan held the superior dojutsu for years. Eventually both broke off the glare. One with an 'hn, the other with an 'hmph'.
Hinata's scowl from her glare with Sasuke immediately melted into a warm smile when she saw Naruto standing off in the corner watching everyone and their movements. Walking towards him with a sway to her hips she stopped just a few feet short of him and gave a small bow with her hands clasped together. "It's good to see you Naruto-kun. I hope you've been well," she said with a seductive smile.
Kurenai had to work really hard in order to suppress her laughter as she saw the young Senju's eyes twitch. Very few people could get away with adding the kun suffix to his name without being hit with the young man's smothering aura and anger. Even she could only get away with it when they were in private.
Now that she thought on it, not only had Yugao nicknamed him but, he had allowed her to touch him. As far as she knew, almost none could get within two feet of him without being subjugated to his killing intent and possible violence. No doubt the only reason Hinata was getting away with calling him so intimately was because her position as the Hyuuga heir.
That was another thing she could never understand. Why, in the name of the Six Paths, would Hinata fall for Naruto? Sure, the boy was drop dead gorgeous but, Hinata was not one to follow such fan-girl tendencies. When Hinata had first informed her of her crush on Naruto, she became instinctively nervous. While not fair to Naruto, Kurenai didn't want anything putting Hinata in harm's way. So she went out to observe the boy for a few days. She discovered many things about him. One, he was damn near impossible to find. Two, he was ice cold to the point where she couldn't imagine any little girl having a crush on him. Three, when angered, he would release a murderous aura so thick and oppressive that civilians would drop to their knees or even fall unconscious.
The embarrassing part of the story is when ANBU had brought her in for questioning to discern her reasons for following the young boy around. It even warranted a trip to the Hokage's office. Still, she gave Naruto a fair chance when he was assigned to her and she found him to be an elegant and refined young man who was simply misunderstood. However, he was still cold as death.
"I was wondering if one of you could take me to see Kakashi," she said breaking out of her reverie.
"He's still out of it," answered Kiba who was now sitting down at the kitchen table with his arms behind his head. Kurenai smiled at him. "That's fine. I just want to check on him."
"I will take you to him then," said a voice behind her that, had it not been for years of training, nearly made her jump.
Kurenai was quite surprised to see the Aburame member of the team behind her. His hands were tucked away into his oversized jacket, his hood pulled up and shades covered his eyes. All in all, not someone Kurenai would want to meet by herself or in the dead of night. "O-Oh…Aburame-san isn't it? I didn't see you there…," she trailed off lamely. Turning around and walking away he muttered something that no one except Kiba heard who just shook his head at his friend's predicament.
Calling from behind her Naruto said," I'm going to scout the area."
"Okay, but be careful Naruto."
Naruto wove a genjutsu about himself to make himself invisible to townsfolk as he walked about and noticed the deplorable state of the country. It seemed that Gato had milked the country for all its worth. Well not all of it. At least he hoped not else, it would be a huge blow to the Fire Country in terms of potential weapons crafting.
Naruto looked about and saw the misery etched onto the faces of all the citizens as they walked around the town. Small merchant stalls had the lowest quality looking goods, several shops were boarded up and restaurants were completely closed.
'Not even four years ago this town was one of the wealthiest in the world...now look at its deplorable condition.'
As he saw young children, orphans by the looks of their rags for clothes, sift through garbage a small part of him stirred. Right before he mercilessly crushed it.
Tsunami was actually quite happy to find the new company at her home. The village from where the earlier shinobi had come from had sent backup. She had become quite worried when they had showed up with their unconscious teacher and her father in row. Now they finally had more help and surely eight shinobi would be able to save this country from Gato's dirty grip. Speaking of the new arrivals, Tsunami was actually quite surprised by their appearance.
When she had come down from her shower, she found three very attractive and good looking human beings in her kitchen. The girl, Yakumo was her name. She had the features of a porcelain doll and her hair was such a thick and lush brown.
Then there was the boy. Tsunami actually had to hide her blush upon seeing him. His dark locks clashing terrifically with his pale complexion. Not to mention his hard gaze held two perfect black diamonds that shone with dignity and pride.
Their sensei was the one that had shocked her the most. She was a woman only a couple years younger than her but looked like some divine art come to life.
Cream white skin, with dark, lushes chocolate colored hair that had a beautiful wave to it. Her figure; like that of one seen in fashion magazines. Her long legs accentuating her already lavish curves and of course her eyes. Her dazzling ruby red eyes. Tsunami hadn't thought about looking good since her husband had been killed but, this woman shattered all her female pride. Not since she was a young girl did she feel jealousy over another woman's looks.
Her gaze then trailed over to the young woman who came with the first team. Hinata, as she had introduced herself. She herself was incredibly beautiful, with her regal looks and mannerisms. Looking at the four of them as they talked with their colleagues, she wondered if part of being a shinobi was to make the rest of the world jealous. That Kiba boy also had a rugged handsomeness to him and as for Shino…well she was sure underneath all those layers there was something pleasant to look at.
Kiba then angled head so that his head was in the air and took a whiff. "Hey Kurenai-sensei, Naruto's back."
This seemed to catch the others' attention. Specifically Hinata's Tsunami noticed. In fact she could see tinges of pink on the young lavender haired girl's cheeks. "Good. Maybe he found something useful out."
Tsunami had to admit, she was curious as to what the fourth member of the recent arrivals looked like. Was he as attractive as the other two? Suddenly the door was gently pried open and Tsunami had to grasp the kitchen counter to keep herself steady.
In walked the single most beautiful human she had ever seen. She stopped breathing as she was too captivated by the newcomer's appearance. His hair was the perfect shade of pale gold with streaks of jet black visible at the roots. His facial features were flawlessly angelic and soft yet honed with edges. He was tall, just an inch or two shy of the Kurenai woman herself and he had broad shoulders. His shirt fit him tightly, giving shape to an obviously chiseled chest below. The V of his shirt giving her a perfect view of his ivory colored neck and as her gaze lowered to his collarbones she went a furious red as images assaulted her mind.
Tsunami had to look away as she felt her heart pulsating within her chest as well as heared her blood feverishly running through her ears. She briefly glanced up and saw his gait. So elegant, so perfectly symmetrical. She couldn't look away from his slim waist as his hips moved in sync with his stride. How the fabric of his shirt on his back rippled with his muscles.
There was something hypnotic in his movements. Something magical. Yes that was it. Tsunami was sure that he was some dark enchanter, some sorcerer wielding ancient magic; compelling heat into her form.
"Did you find anything?"
Tsunami had to think for a moments. That was their teacher's voice. Kurenai.
"No. I am afraid not."
'Merciful Heavens! That's his voice?!'
Tsunami was now sure that this Naruto was not human. His voice held a melody in its own. It was deep but, still detained a boyish affection.
"Ah yes," said Kurenai. "Naruto, this is Tsunami. The daughter of the client whose house we're in.
Her heart stopped and her breath caught in her lungs when he turned to look at her and their eyes locked with each other.
'Beautiful…..'
His eyes, dear heavens, his eyes!
She was staring into two eternal pools of sapphire. They held no emotion yet shone with power and elegance. She could literally feel herself being pulled into those twin fields of ice and majesty. She was sure that some long hidden truths of the world were hidden away within those shimmering jewels.
"Are you well?"
Realizing that she had been staring, Tsunami went crimson in the face. "Y-yes I'm fine…Oh! Yes, I'm Tsunami. Thank you for your help," she said with a bow to quickly hide her embarrassment.
Hand held across his abdomen, Naruto gave a small bow of his own at the waist and said," Naruto. Of the Senju."
"P-pleased to meet you N-Naruto-san."
He then gave her a charming little smile that had her gripping the counter with both hands now and the other females in the room blushing furiously.
Kurenai shook her head at the sight before her. She somehow knew something like this would happen. Naruto was the single most attractive man she knew, in fact, he out classed several females within the village. Something her female pride found difficult to accept but she knew to be true.
Of course it didn't help that he was fully aware of how handsome he was and took full advantage of it. On one mission, about a month ago, her team was assigned the elimination of a rogue Kiri kunoichi that had been sighted in Fire Country. They had found her in a town and before they could formulate a plan of elimination; Naruto simply walked up to her with a disarming smile.
The rogue-nin was so red, that it made little difference when Naruto slashed her throat out even as she was captivated by his angelic appearance.
'Yeah that about sums up Naruto,' Kurenai thought. 'A heartless angel.'
Clearing her throat, she obtained everyone's attention and looked at team seven. "So what's the situation here?"
It was Kiba who answered. Scratching his head he said, "Well, it was supposed to be a routine escort mission for that guy, Tazuna, over there."
They all turned around to see an elderly man with a bottle in in his hand, clearly stumbling down the stairs. "Hic! Great…so they send a woman and more kids to help…I'm dead…"
"Father," Tsunami exclaimed indignantly.
"What? Look at th-"
Tazuna never got to finish his sentence as a kunai blurred past him, cutting his cheek, and embedding itself in the wall with a dull thud.
Kurenai whirled around to see Sasuke with an outstretched arm. "Sasuke yo-"
"You damn brat! What the hell are you thinking," Tazuna roared.
"Don't misunderstand," Sasuke said coldly, folding his arms and leaning up against the wall. "We were sent for combat support. Not babysitting. Step out of line with us and I'll make sure the next blade will be in the back of your head."
Tazuna, now bleeding from his cheek rather profusely, spluttered out," You can't do that! I'm the client!"
"Of course we can," Yakumo said cheerfully. "We're team eight. Assassination and infiltration specialists. Killing is what we do best!"
"W-what," Tazuna said while nervously glancing back and forth between the members of team eight. Team seven, on the other hand, was looking at their peers warily with a hint of admiration.
"Hand out more intel on us why don't you," Sasuke muttered.
"Oops, hehe. Sorry," Yakumo said while wearing a sheepish expression.
Kurenai couldn't help but sigh in exasperation. Assassins, as a rule, don't interact with clients. Instead, they go through a middle man or in their case, the village. Her team had no experience on how to properly handle clients.
"Continue with your briefing," Naruto said, his strong voice cutting through the tension.
Kiba looked around amusedly after Naruto had addressed him. Kurenai was glaring at Yakumo who was shamefacedly looking away and at Sasuke who was pointedly ignoring her. Shino was his usual stoic self and Hinata had returned her full attention to Naruto as soon as he spoke. Tsunami was cleaning her father's cheek from the blood of Sasuke's inflicted wound while tentatively stealing glances at Naruto. Tazuna himself was caught between glaring at Sasuke and shaking in fear.
Shrugging his shoulders, he said," Sure. Now let's see…right! We left around noon and took the south road to Wave. Moved at a snail's pace even by civilian standards because of his drunk ass."
Kiba pointed at Tazuna and shot him a look that dared him to argue but, Tazuna would rather not take any chances with team eight in the room.
"About half way there, we were ambushed by Kiri missing nin. What were they called?" He turned to Shino and asked," The Demon Brothers, right?"
Shino simply nodded in affirmation.
"Yeah so, Kakashi made it look like they managed to take him out with a simple substitution but we saw through it easily enough. Hinata and I took out one each, while Shino hung back and protected the old guy's ass. Kakashi came back, congratulated us and then interrogated the two weaklings that tried to jump us."
"And," Kurenai asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Turns out the old drunk is wanted dead by some rich asshole named Gata-"
"Gato," corrected Shino.
"Yeah him. Well anyways, this Gato guy got Wave under his thumb and he's fuckin up everything. So the old man builds a bridge and finishes it to break Gato's hold on their economy."
Team eight's gazes turn to Tazuna. "You lied to the village missions department." It was statement on Kurenai's part, not a question.
"Please," Tazuna begged. "You have to understand. Our people are dying. The people of wave need help."
Tsunami spoke in an emotion riddled voice. "Please, families are being broken up. Women are being forced into brothels. Children into slavery. Gato and his men are doing inhuman things."
"Still," Kurenai sighed. "Had you spoken the truth, the village would have easily have set up a payment plan. Now, if the Hokage or his council found out about this…well…Wave could be hit with some major fines that would only further your country in debt and ruin your credit lining with other nations."
Tazuna looked horrified at the revelation.
"Too little too late for that," Sasuke snorted.
Kurenai looked confused at first before realization hit her and she groaned.
"What?! What is it," Tazuna cried out, desperate for anything concerning his country.
"Naruto," she said as if that explained everything.
Tazuna looked over to the quiet teen, truly getting a good look at him for the first time. Tazuna had to admit he was shocked he hadn't taken notice of the striking young man earlier. However, his wonder was quickly overtaken by his frantic worry.
"What about him? What does he have anything to do with this?"
Sasuke looked at the man and sneered at him and said coldly," Naruto is a member of Konoha's shinobi council as the head of the Senju clan. Did I also mention he's the one who deals with military finance under the Hokage? That includes mission payments and fines levied for misconduct and deceit."
Tazuna looked at the young Senju as if he heralded the apocalypse. Even Tsunami looked somewhat perturbed and disturbed at this information. Rushing to his knees in front of the Senju lord, Tazuna began to beg.
"Please, please! Spare our nation. We have next to nothing left because of Gato. Don't take away any chance of recovery from us."
Everyone went quiet as the stoic shinobi stared down impassively at the man groveling beneath him with tears in his eyes. Moment after moment passed as Naruto remained silent, seemingly content with ignoring Tazuna's sobbing.
"Kiba, continue," he said without any affliction in his voice.
A shocked looking Tazuna grabbed the cloth of Naruto's pants and exclaimed, "Please!"
It was then that everyone in the room felt the temperature in the room plummet. They all shivered as goose bumps travelled up their arms. A smothering weight descended down on them and they all found it somewhat difficult to breathe. As Tazuna began coughing and choking, the weight left them.
The old man crawled backwards still gasping for air and looking up fearfully at Naruto. This time with narrowed eyes and a little force, Naruto said, "Continue."
"Right…," Kiba said tentatively. "Well, just as we were about an hour's distance away from the shore we ran into some trouble. Guess who."
They all looked at him curiously before Yakumo asked, "Who?"
"Zabuza fucking Momochi."
All of team eight visibly reacted at this news. Even Naruto was surprised at this bit of news. Not that it really mattered to him, it just meant he would have to put in a little extra effort to clean up Gato and get his hands on wave.
"You have got to be kidding me," Yakumo groaned.
"One of the swordsmen of the mist?" Kurenai couldn't believe her luck. While she may be jounin, she recognized that there were wide differences in strength in that rank. Zabuza was considered one of the most dangerous men in the bingo book and only the strongest and most experienced jounin like Kakashi and Guy stood a chance against him. Them or a squad of ANBU.
She knew her limitations. She was just a recently promoted jounin after all. And Kakashi was still out of commission. Although, she had the utmost confidence in her team. They were specialized in working together to take down targets after all.
"Uhm…excuse me."
All the shinobi turned to look at Tsunami who was all of a sudden nervous at being the center of attention. "But what exactly is a swordsman of the mist?"
Naruto sighed and decided that he would answer. "The seven ninja swordsmen of the mist are Kiri's most accomplished and dangerous shinobi after the Mizukage. Each member possesses the skills of the most elite jounin. More importantly, each member holds a unique sword with lethal capabilities. During the Third Shinobi World War, Kiri was mainly locked in hostilities with Kumo. On the island of Mokujima, in the disputed waters between Water Country and Lightning Country, a battle took place that the Mist fondly refers to as the 'Seven Swords Massacre.'"
"S-Seven Swords Massacre," asked Tsunami not liking the name one bit.
Naruto looked her dead in the eye in all seriousness, with his arms crossed. "The generation of Swordsmen that Zabuza belongs to is considered the strongest in history. These seven were given a suicidal mission of taking back that island that boasted a defense of an entire battalion. They left and all seven returned within a week. The complete battalion of over nine hundred shinobi was found massacred."
Everyone listening went wide eyed at Naruto's tale. Kurenai remembered hearing stories about the Seven Swordsman of the Mist growing up as she was a child while the Third World War raged. Though, she had never heard of this account of them. Although she isn't surprised that Naruto knows. He tends to know things that others don't.
'I guess it comes with being a noble and all that. Still, it's quite impressive with him being an orphan and all that.'
"So what happened after you guys met Zabuza," she asked. "I doubt Kakashi got chakra exhaustion from walking here."
Hinata said, "Yes. Kakashi-sensei engaged Zabuza in a duel. He got caught in a trap where Shino and Kiba worked together to free him."
"Yeah, you should have seen us. We were totally badass. Right Shino?"
"Indeed."
"After Kakashi-sensei became free," Hinata continued. "They fought until Kakashi-sensei overwhelmed Zabuza however, before he could land a killing blow, a hunter-nin killed Zabuza using senbon needle. Sensei checked that there was no pulse and after the hunter-nin left with the body Kakashi-sensei promptly fainted."
"Hang on," Kurenai said. "He took the body with him?"
"Yes our thoughts exactly," responded Hinata. "We believe him to be an accomplice."
"Don't tell me it's another swordsman," Yakumo exclaimed worriedly.
"Doubtful," Naruto said. "The group splintered years ago and if it was another swordsman he would have easily killed a tired Kakashi."
"So an unknown enemy then," Sasuke stated thoughtfully.
"Judging by the angle and place the senbon needles struck Zabuza, I'd guess he'd need at least a week to recover," Hinata said.
Kurenai nodded. You can always trust a Hyuuga to know about pressure points and such. "Kakashi should be up and running in the same time frame so until then, we're going to alternate shifts for guarding Tazuna while he works on his bridge. And while one team guards, the other will be training and training hard. Genin aren't meant to take on Swordsmen of the Mist but looks like we have no choice."
"Why bother," a voice shouted from behind Tazuna and Tsunami.
They all turned to see a young boy, not even ten years of age by Kurenai's estimation.
"Inari," the bridge builder yelled happily. "Come give your grandpa a big hug!"
The young boy, now identified as Inari, turned towards his grandfather with a scowl but it quickly turned into a shocked expression. "Grandpa," the boy exclaimed wildly. "What happened to your face?!"
Indeed, Kurenai could see that underneath the towel now dyed red, the cut on Tazuna's cheek was an ugly shade of purple. She'd give Tsunami some antibiotic cream later on when, as well as apologize for Sasuke's actions.
"O…I…uhh…I got hurt at the construction site."
"Oh," the boy said. Completely believing his grandfather's lie despite how horrible it was.
"Inari," the boy's mother smiled. "Say hello to these nice shinobi who came to help your grandfather."
Immediately the boy's innocent expression was lost and replaced by a scowl and angry eyes. "Who cares?! They're just gonna end up dead. Gato's going to kill them all."
"Inari! How could you say such a thing?"
"What?! It's true mom! Gato's gonna kill them just like he did everyone else!"
"Hmph," Sasuke scoffed. "He may have killed off a few weaklings but it will be a cold day in hell before some common criminal kills an Uchiha."
"Shut up," Inari screamed. "You don't know anything! Who do you think you are coming here and talking about things you can't know about! I bet you never suffered in your life! You probably don't know what pain is."
For a brief moment everything was quiet after Inari's little episode and Sasuke's eyes were wide. Son enough his face twisted into a murderous rage and his chakra exploded outward, eliciting yells from the civilian family and causing the Konoha shinobi to cover their faces. Shaking in fury, the Uchiha heir stalked forward towards the child.
"Sasuke!"
Naruto's voice ripped through the room and caused Sasuke's head to turn in his direction, his face still contorted in rage. "Enough," his voice laced with iron. Sasuke's gaze snapped back to the horrified boy who was being enveloped by his equally terrified mother. His chakra receded and with a snarl he stalked out of the house.
When the door banged, announcing his departure, everyone let out a breath they had been holding. Kurenai moved to go after her student but Naruto stopped her. "Let him work this out on his own."
After a few minutes and still on the floor from Sasuke's outburst Tazuna said, "That kid seems unbalanced. Are you sure he's sane?"
Barking out a laugh, Kiba said, "None of us are."
The Next Day
Sasuke could feel the sunrise as he felt warmth from its rays creep onto his body. Currently he lay in the forest, with his eyes closed. Still he could feel the anger from last night's events burning inside him. It had only gotten worse after he left. He was pretty sure he burned a few acres of land in an attempt to train the fury away. The brat dared to tell him, him, that he didn't know what it meant to suffer. Implying that he lived a leisurely and peaceful life.
Sasuke seethed. After his betrayal, Sasuke was left a broken shell. Nearly insane after the trauma induced from the genjutsu cast on him. Had it not been for his mother, he'd be locked in a padded cell somewhere.
'Damn that brat and damn Naruto for interfering.'
Thoughts on his teammate brought forth even more irritation and frustrating ideas. Naruto had commanded him to calm down. That was the one thing Sasuke had always hated about the Senju/Uchiha hybrid. No matter where he went he always ended up in charge like it was his divine-right. Don't get him wrong. Naruto was his closest friend and the Senju clan head had helped through some dark times. Opened up his eyes to the real world and the reality of his situation but, sometimes, he couldn't help but feel jealous.
Naruto was considered a genius that surpassed even the Yondaime Hokage and he wielded all the respect that came with the title with ease. Even his position as Senju clan head came easy to him. He walked around Konoha and the people either bowed to him in respect or left in fear. Hell, even the Daimyo was known for calling Naruto every now and then.
Still, lying on the ground with his eyes closed, his hand suddenly shot out, grasping a thin soft wrist. "Can I help you?" Even as the words came off of his tongue, Sasuke had to keep himself from gaping, as the single most beautiful girl stood over him.
The two dark haired, fair-skinned individuals stayed like that for a few seconds, gazing into each other's eyes. After a few moments, Sasuke quickly let go of the girl's hand and a faint blush formed on both of their cheeks.
"I'm sorry," she spoke in a soft yet firm voice. "I just didn't want you to fall asleep and catch a cold out here."
"Your concern is noted," Sasuke said, reverting back to his cold tone and getting over his surprise from earlier. "What is a girl like you doing out in the forest at this time of day," he asked suspiciously.
"I'm picking herbs for my friend who is ill. There's normally no one around at this time of day," she responded.
"I see," Sasuke said sitting up. The girl kneeled down in front of him and asked," Are you a shinobi? You have a forehead protector so I'm only wondering."
Sasuke cursed himself for not talking his forehead protector off earlier and allowing to show his origins and allegiance so openly. It was one of the reasons he no longer wore clothes with his clan symbol on it outside of Konoha. Might as well announce to the other villages that he's worthy of being kidnapped.
"You're pretty perceptive for a girl who simply picks herbs," he said.
"It helps with identifying what you need withal the greenery lying about," she giggled. "Oh and I'm a boy."
"…."
Sasuke's entire world froze for a minute as his brain was forced to reboot. After a few blank blinks, he looked over skeptically.
"I am," she said rather forcibly.
In act of pure audacity that only an Uchiha could muster the will to do, Sasuke reached out and placed his palm on 'his' chest. The reaction was immediate. 'He' went bright crimson and wide eyed but aside from a twitching hand, did nothing.
"Sorry," Sasuke said with a devilish smirk. "My mistake then."
With a huff, 'he' got up and said through gritted teeth, "Seeing as how you are fine, I need to get going." As 'he' walked into the foliage, Sasuke heard a quiet angry mutter of 'pervert.'
Moments passed and eventually Sasuke let out a loud laugh.
Author's Note: Chapter seven is done and I hoped you enjoyed. I actually had fun writing his one...not so much rewriting it. Anyways that bit in the end is a bit of experimentation on my part. I always loved the juxtaposition and contrast between Sasuke and Haku. Both of them were very influential on Naruto even if Haku was there briefly. The fact that both lost everything due to the betrayal of someone they loved dearly yet each turning out so differently.
Haku being kind and gentle while Sasuke turning out hateful and bitter. One is Ice the other is Fire. The dichotomy between the two is beautiful and I always wanted to know if Kishimoto did it on purpose or it just turned out like that.
Stick around cuz I'm working on chapter 8. It's filled with action and the long awaited entrance of Mei!And if you need anything or have ideas, feel free to PM about my story.
This is CE-Nex saying Bye!
P.S After much deliberation, and I mean much, I've decided to keep Mikoto around instead of using her in a tragic way that would make all of you hate me.
