Chapter 8: Improvement and Kekkai Genkai

Disclaimer: Naruto isn't mine since Yue isn't in it.

Naruto and Sasuke entered the hut, both beaten up from training, but Naruto looked like he floored himself since Sasuke had to help him. They sat down and ate their meal in peace. When it was over, Inari stared at Naruto, who looked ready to nap right there on the table. His expression changed from boredom to anger quickly.

"What is wrong with you!" Inari yelled, "no matter how much you try, Gato can't be beaten! You'll just die! Leave this village while you have a chance!"

Everyone looked at the boy after he stopped yelling, everyone except Naruto and Yue. Yue was rubbing her ears and Naruto looked like he was thinking with his eyes closed. He suddenly opened his eyes and glared at the boy. "At least I'm trying something instead of running away like a whiny little brat and bawling myself to sleep!" Naruto snapped. Inari was shocked at this, but recovered quickly. "You don't know anything about our village, about me!" Inari yelled, "you don't know how it is!"

"You got that right," Naruto said, "I wouldn't know what it is to be a useless little brat who only cries day in, day out." Inari ran out of the room and went to the dock. Naruto sat there while Sakura yelled at him. Yue curled up in a corner to sleep while Sasuke tended to a few persistent wounds. Kakashi saw the chance to slip away and did so, but not to read his book. That would happen later.

Outside, he found the small boy glaring at the water and throwing rocks into it. Kakashi sat next to Inari and waited for him to run out of rocks.

"You know..." Kakashi said, "Naruto doesn't really hate you." Inari was shocked at that. "You and him are similar...that is why he said that."

"How?" Inari asked angrily.

"Naruto lost his father too," Kakashi said, causing Inari to lose his anger, "actually, he never met either of his parents since they died very soon after his birth, so he has been alone his whole life. He is probably tired of crying all the time... He knows how hard it is and is just trying to cheer you up in his...unique way." Inari looked at the water. "But he knows it can be better," Kakashi said, "he recently made friends and is finally being accepted." Kakashi stood up, leaving the boy to think by himself.

[Next day]

"Bye sensei, Sakura-chan, Sasuke, dad," Tsunami said.

"Make sure to take care of Naruto," Kakashi told Tsunami, "he used too much chakra yesterday and should be down till tomorrow. You guard Inari-kun and Tsunami-san while we are away, Yue." The girl nodded. The Jōnin, bridge builder and two genin left.

[Bridge]

The area was completely deserted. "What is going on?" Tazuna asked. A thick mist rolled in and Zabuza and the hunter-nin walked out of it. The Konoha ninja fell into a defensive position around Tazuna.

"I'm not too shocked to see that fake hunter-nin next to him," Sakura said. The other two nodded.

"Kakashi...I see you at least dumped one of those trash genin, but you surprise me," Zabuza said, "getting rid of such a useful tool as Kazeneko...has your mind started to rot?"

"Tool?" Sasuke asked.

"Heh heh heh," Zabuza chuckled, "all shinobi are tools to be used by greater people, whether it is higher ranked ninja or a rich man."

"Disgusting," Sakura said.

"It is somewhat true though," Kakashi said.

"Enough," Zabuza said and summoned more mist. Zabuza clones walked up and drew their swords. "Poor kid," they said as they saw the shaking Uchiha, "still scared."

Sasuke smirked and performed a rapid speed slashing attack with his kunai, destroying all the clones. "I'm not shaking in fear," Sasuke said, "it's excitement."

"Impressive," Zabuza said, "he is rather skilled. Looks like you may have a rival in speed, Haku."

"Even thought they only possess one tenth the strength," the hunter-nin stated, "cutting down six is an impressive feat." Sasuke gave one of his trademark grunts and a smirk.

Back at Tsunami's house, Naruto suddenly burst out of the room. "Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke? Sakura-chan?" he asked as he looked around. He was about to call for Yue when she and Tsunami walked out of the kitchen. "Naruto-kun?" Tsunami asked, "shouldn't you be resting?" Yue was holding a knife and a cutting board, which she had accidentally cut in two with the knife.

"AHHH! Dammit!" Naruto said as he started shrugging off his pyjamas and started getting dressed, "they left me behind...AGAIN!" He finished getting dressed and rushed out the door. "Naruto!" Yue yelled as she tossed what she was carrying behind her, then ran out to follow him. The knife fell into the sink and the cutting board pieces landed in the garbage.

She found Naruto running across the forest floor, seeming to head for Tazuna's bridge. Yue followed him in the trees. "Naruto!" Yue yelled, "slow down! Even with the K- I mean your stamina, you need to take it easy!" Naruto didn't seem to listen. She was about to yell again when she noticed she was about to hit a tree. She slammed into it on all fours and stuck for a moment, but chakra burst from her hands and feet, blasting apart the bark as she was catapulted backwards. 'Damn! After lecturing them on chakra control!' she thought as she flew backwards, unable to stop herself or change which way she was facing. She looked back and saw a tree coming at her. "Damn," she cursed again as she slammed into the tree and was knocked unconscious. 'It never helps to be as skinny and light as a rake...' were her last thoughts as she fell to the forest floor, sitting against the tree she had slammed into.

Naruto hadn't noticed his petite teammate following him or her knocking herself out, but he did hear the bushes shake and a strange noise make it to his ears. He drew a kunai and cautiously approached the source of the noise.

Back on the bridge, Sakura stayed with Tazuna. Sasuke was next to Kakashi. Both were ready to fight their respective targets.

"I guess its time to end this," Kakashi said as he went to right his headband.

"Sharingan again?" Zabuza asked, "is that all you can do?"

Before Kakashi could move the headband, Zabuza flashed out of the mist and struck at Kakashi with a Mist village assassination kunai, but Kakashi put his right hand in the way and the knife pierced it instead. He glared furiously at the assassin.

"You know," Zabuza said, "I had my partner here, Haku, watch the entire battle last time. Not only is he strong, but he's very smart. He only needs to see a jutsu once and then he can come up with a way to beat it."

"Really?" Kakashi asked, then lifted his headband to reveal he had uncovered the sharingan.

"The sharingan isn't something you should be showing off again and again," Zabuza said as he closed his eyes, freed his weapon, and faded into the mist. Kakashi's eyes searched around for a sign of attack. "That is useless," Zabuza said, "since the sharingan, like all dōjutsu, allows you to see chakra, I used more chakra than normal to make this mist. There is too much chakra for you to see me."

'He's right,' Kakashi thought. He got a kunai ready anyways. "How do you expect to defeat the sharingan with mist?"

"Simple," the assassin said from the mist, "the sharingan is nothing more than reading and genjutsu based dōjutsu. If you can't see me, then it can't copy my jutsu. If I can't see you, then genjutsu won't work."

"But how will you attack?" Kakashi asked, marvelling at the plan.

"You forget Kakashi," Zabuza said, "I am an expert in silent killing. I can track you by sound." As if to prove it, Zabuza appeared from nowhere and sliced Kakashi's chest with his sword. He then faded away again.

"You seem to forget as well," Kakashi said, "I was in ANBU too. Sharingan alone wasn't what let me survive all my battles."

A small distance away in the fog, Haku and Sasuke faced each other. The Uchiha had been drawn out by the hunter-nin threatening his client. Sasuke threw some shuriken Haku deflected them with his needles, then noticed Sasuke had used them as a distraction so he could draw closer. Sasuke swung his kunai at Haku, who blocked it, then moved his head as Sasuke threw the kunai at short range, thought it still scratched his mask. Haku shoved him away, and jumped back. He heard the shuriken coming at him and kept dodging back as three shuriken forced him back. A fourth slammed into the bridge railing and caught his attention. He only noticed it was a feint when the heir punched him in the chest, thought he caught the hand afterwards.

The two stared at each other as they were deadlocked. "I think it is time to finish this," Haku said. "How so?" Sasuke asked, "the way I see it, I'm winning." Haku chuckled, "I have two advantages. First, the water on the floor. Second, I have tied up one of your hands." The fake hunter then performed a number of seals with one hand. 'W-what?' Sasuke thought, 'one handed seals?' The water started to glow with chakra and what appeared to be mirrors of ice rose up from the ground to surround the two. "Makyō Hyōshō," Haku said as he released Sasuke and jumped back and into a mirror. All the mirrors showed Haku holding his needles.

"Bunshin?" Sasuke asked.

Light bounced off a mirror and Sasuke was engulfed in what felt like a storm of pointed blades. When they let up, he almost fell over. 'That wasn't a bunshin. What the hell was it?' the heir thought.

Kakashi and Zabuza got a brief view of the ice mirrors, then the mist engulfed the two young ninja again.

"What was that?" Kakashi asked.

"You should know Kakashi, since you possess one in that eye of yours," Zabuza said.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Kekkai Genkai," Zabuza stated.

"Kekkai Genkai? What is that?" Sakura asked, never hearing of them before.

"It is a jutsu passed on through the blood," Kakashi said, "a jutsu that is literally written in one's DNA. Superior ninja through selective breeding. The Sharingan is one of them, though it can't copy other Kekkai Genkai."

"Jutsu written in...blood," Sakura whispered. The thought of such a thing was fearsome.

"I sure do have a useful tool, don't I Kakashi?" Zabuza asked from the mist, "unlike the trash that follows you around."

"My students aren't trash," Kakashi said, "Sasuke also possesses one of those bloodlines."

"That dark haired brat?" Zabuza asked.

"He is the last of the Uchiha," Kakashi said, "he is also the top rookie and a prodigy."

"A survivor from that tragic clan..." Zabuza said, "he still won't win and that doesn't help you at all."

Kakashi smiled. "Sakura is the brightest of all the genin graduates from this year. Yue, as you know, is one of the greatest of Konoha's sword bearing ninja and she even has eyes comparable to my own sharingan when it comes to reading an opponent's movements." His smile grew wider. "Then there is Naruto..."

"What about that blonde idiot?" Zabuza asked, getting bored of this.

"He is the #1 loudest, #1 most unpredictable ninja in all of Konoha," Kakashi said, "if not the world."

Back at Tsunami's house, Gato's samurai guards had captured her as insurance in case Zabuza proved to be ineffective. She was tied up and sitting on the floor when her brat broke in. "What are you doing?" the boy yelled. "Tch," the one with the hat turned to face the kid and started thinking. "Gato said we only needed one hostage..." the other said. Both snickered as they drew their swords and walked up to the kid.

"STOP IT!"

They turned to the captive woman as she glared at them. "If you harm him in any way," she threatened, "I will bite my tongue and kill myself." Inari looked at his mother with tears in his eyes, scared both were going to die. "Maybe bodies will be better," the hat wearing one said as he and his partner rushed up and cut Inari down.

"NOOOOOOOOO!" Tsunami screamed, then fainted.

The samurai knew something was off. They enjoyed cutting things up so much that they could tell when their blades bit flesh and when they didn't. A dull clonk and three pieces of wood falling to the ground proved their thoughts right. 'Kawarimi?' they thought. A moment later, both were beaten down by a couple Naruto clones. Naruto cancelled his jutsu and freed Tsunami, then tied up the two samurai. He looked at their swords and remembered Yue's broken sword. He then decided against it, remembering what they had used the swords for. 'Yue would never want swords like these ones,' he thought as he kicked the blades into the river to rust.

He noticed Inari staring at him, tears streaming down his face. "What?" Naruto asked. "Your going to make fun of me again," Inari said as he furiously wiped at the tears, "you'll call me a crybaby again."

"Why would I make fun of happy tears?" Naruto asked with his 'I don't get it' look, which broke into a sunny smile, "it's okay to cry if you're happy."

Inari wiped his tears away and nodded. "Think you can handle this?" Naruto asked. "Yeah!" Inari cheered. Naruto turned away and started to head in the direction he had come from, but Inari stopped him. "Naruto...the bridge is that way," Inari said as he pointed off to Naruto's right. Naruto smiled, "thanks." He started to go, "it is tough bein' a hero."

"Yeah!" Inari yelled as the ninja ran off. Inari then went back to his place to get ready. It was time to actually do something.

A/N~

Can't think of anything to say.

9 tailed reaper: No, Yue has fairly large chakra reserves, but something is wrong with her and it is affecting her chakra coils and stamina. Everything concerning Yue, her past and her problems will be explained during what I call the 'time skip filler,' which normally featured how Kakashi got his sharingan from Obito.

The misconception of a chakra control exercise is that it directly increases the level of a shinobi's reserves. In reality, it increases stamina, which is one of the two energies a ninja mixes to create chakra, and focus. The other half is spiritual energy, which can be increased through strength of conviction, focus and faith in the shinobi's own abilities. (Well, I'm guessing that its all that) Either way, Sakura's reserves are low due to her pitiful stamina, which she increases drastically during the time skip.

In Two Demons, Sakura will start boosting her reserves before the time skip, making her a bit stronger in Part II.

Sky Zephyrus: Check the Naruko/Ino section. M rating, romance. It's the only one there. I feel sorry for the poor guy who reviewed already...

As to why their aren't any changes from canon is that Yue has had very little impact yet, unless you count that poor tree she just hit. Like I said, the true deviation begins around the Forest of Death.