A/N: Hey guys! Sorry for the late chapter but since I've decided to add some characters from other franchises, I had trouble deciding whether to make Hake a female or not, the thing is, I have already a new character doing the thing I was planing for Haku but I really won't have any problem with adding Haku as a female, that's why I've decided to let that decision to you. I've made a poll that you can check on my profile, you got until Monday to vote. This will be the first decision I'll leave for you lads but there'll be some more along the road, so make sure to vote!
Also, this chapter is more about Naruto and Tsunami, for all of those who wanted to see more of them.
Anyways, without further ado, let's get to it!
"Naruto"- normal talk.
'Naruto' - thought.
"Naruto" - mental talk.
"Naruto" - Tailed Beast/Creature/Divinity mental talk.
'Naruto' - Tailed Beast/Creature/Divinity thought.
"Naruto" - Tailed Beast/Creature/Divinity speaking.
-LEARN-
Among Waves (Part 2)
"So, the Demon Brothers got their asses handed to them, huh?" A man with a deep voice said to the other occupant in the room. He had short dark and spiky hair, his face was mostly covered in bandages that only let the upper part of his face uncovered that showed his piercing dark eyes, his torso was naked except for the belt that served to carry his gigantic sword that now rested beside the sitting man and was wearing baggy pants with the stripped pattern typical of Mist with mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, he was also sporting matching leg-warmers and had a Mist forehead protector with a scratch on the plate, signalling his status as a missing-nin.
"Yes, they were easily handled, it was unexpected." A softer and melodic voice replied, this voice belonged to a masked figure standing in front of the bandaged man. The figure seemed to have long black hair that was mostly gathered in a white bun holder while two locks of the masked figure's black hair fell loose in front of the mask, the figure was wearing Mist-hunter mask that only showed the person's eyes and had Mist's symbol etched on its forehead. The youngster was wearing a standard Mist pinstriped outfit which stopped at the knees, over this, a green haori with white trimmings and around the waist a brown sash with a fringed trail wrapped around it twice, the person wore light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as the kimono and nail polish on the fingernails and toenails in matching blue green colour.
The sitting missing-nin raised his none-existent eyebrow and said, "Unexpected? How so, Haku?"
The now identified Haku replied with a soft voice, "Well, for what I could see at first, the bridge builder was accompanied by a genin team from the Leaf, led by 'Kakashi of the Sharingan'."
"Then I don't see the surprise there, Kakashi is an S-rank shinobi Haku, just like me." The bandaged man replied, not seeing the surprise in hearing that an S-rank shinobi had easily taken down two B-rank shinobi by himself.
"Yes I know, but the thing is that he wasn't the one that took the Demon Brothers down, it was two of his genin, a silver-haired boy and a black-haired boy, they handled them with ease, barely moving from their spots." Haku explained.
The sitting man hummed in response, now seeing why would that be unexpected, 'I was expecting the jōnin to be strong since the Leaf's jōnin are top quality, to have Kakashi as an opponent is already tricky, but to have two genin capable of easily taking down mid-chūnin level shinobi… this is troublesome…' The swordsman thought grimly, knowing that things will get complicated after this development, "What could you gather from those two?" He asked to his protégé.
"Well, I couldn't gather much since the fight was pretty short and one-sided, but they were fast, the black-haired one seemed to be the one with the most finesse, his movements were accurate and not wasteful in any way, he took down one of the brothers with a calculated counter attack…" Haku took a breath and then continued the explanation, "The silver-haired one didn't seemed to be subtle, he took down the other brother with pure strength, one punch to be exact. For what I could see, the silver-haired one is the most dangerous, he appears to have a great lack of care for his own safety." Haku finished while remembering the gruesome way in which that silverette genin grabbed the deathly chain to propel the Demon Brother towards him, not even fazed by his severely harmed hand.
"Hm… strong and reckless… those are the trickiest opponents…" The man replied while scratching his chin, he was going to continue his pondering but was interrupted when the door of the room in which they were currently in burst open. Soon after, three figures appeared and walked inside the room, 'Sigh…' The swordsman sighed tiredly, controlling himself to not kill these pests.
One was a tall muscular man, his torso was naked and one could see a tribal tattoo on his left shoulder, he had some bandages wrapped around his waist and had a purple robe that covered his legs. On his side there was a shorter man, his built seem slim and was wearing a purple hat that covered his shoulder length silver hair, he had a line running down the middle of both eyes and was wearing a light blue jacket. Both were standing behind a shorter man who was wearing a business suit, the midget was also wearing glasses and had an arrogant smirk on his face, "I hope you're not getting too comfortable here doing nothing, Zabuza." The short man said with an arrogant tone on his voice.
"What do you want, Gatō?" Zabuza replied with clear annoyance in his voice.
"I came to see how was my investment doing, is that damn bridge builder dead already?" The now identified Gatō said, a little irritated by Zabuza's lack of respect.
"No, but he will be." Zabuza replied dryly.
"He better, I'm paying you good money and I'm starting to feel somewhat cheated." The midget said with an arrogant smirk, action mimicked by his two bodyguards.
"Stop worrying or you'll get shorter…" Zabuza said mockingly, infuriating the tycoon. But before the midget could reply the insult, Zabuza added, "I will kill him myself."
The short man huffed in irritation but turned on his heel towards the door, leaving some words before leaving, "Don't forget, there's no money without the builder's head." And with that, he left the room with his two bodyguards in tail.
"Relax Haku." The swordsman said to his clearly angered companion, who seemed to be holding the necessity to pummel the midget to the ground.
"I'm sorry Zabuza, I just can't stand that bastard." Haku replied, finally able to calm a bit.
"Neither can I, but we're doing this for the money, nothing more…" The bandaged swordsman said before adding, "As soon as we get this job done, we won't have to deal with that midget anymore."
Haku just stood there without moving, seemingly ignoring the swordsman's words. While knowing that they indeed needed the money, the knowledge that they were aiding a tyrant did not sit well with Haku who just sighed tiredly.
"At this rate I'll get to Wave Country in one more day." A flying blue-haired beauty muttered while making her way through the clouds. Konan was still a bit troubled but strangely, the moment she left Rain, she felt slightly better, as if there were no more guilt surrounding her, that lingering guilt that's been chasing her ever since her emotions had started to rouse from within her.
"Yahiko, what would you say to us if you were still alive?…" She whispered, unable to forget her beloved friend, that goofy smile that he had whenever he was doing some mischiefs when they were young, or that fierce will that led him, Nagato and her through Rain's civil war, "You would probably spit on our faces." She answered herself with a small bittersweet chuckle.
As she continued to sail through the sky, she kept reminiscing her memories until they suddenly changed their direction towards Itachi. The stoic Uchiha that seemed to have a higher purpose, one that the amber-eyed beauty just couldn't figure out, no matter how much she ascertains into his motives, the sharingan wielder just wouldn't reveal anything more to her.
"He did said that once I find the person who those eyes belong to, he'll reveal more about him being a 'step' for his legacy." She muttered.
Since her talk with the black-haired missing-nin, she has been trying to understand what he meant when he said those words, his tone revealed a sense of pride and love when he said that he's just a step on his legacy's way to peace, it made her believe that maybe, this legacy of his would gain something from Itachi after a confrontation with the Uchiha, just what that 'something' was, is a mystery she just couldn't solve.
"The things I would do to see those eyes in person… dammit! Why am I so drawn to them!?…" She exclaimed with frustration, knowing that she was being greatly affected by the memory of said eyes, "Just how in the hell am I supposed to find the owner? There a thousands of people in the Leaf, but…" She narrowed her eyes when she seemed to realize something, "Whenever Itachi speaks of his 'legacy', he seems to show great care for this person, but, Zetsu said that he was attached to two people and only two… the surviving Uchiha who's also his younger brother…" She then started to think on what she knew about the younger Uchiha before continuing, "But, the eyes were blue… and as far as I know, all Uchiha have obsidian eyes so it can't be him… the other one was…" Her eyes then widened a little after the realization and whispered with a small glint of hope on her voice, "C-could it be!?"
With that, she concentrated more chakra into her wings and headed towards Wave Country in a hurry, unable to stop the anxious feeling in her heart and the small shiver running through her body as if she was to meet again with a lost lover.
"Whoa… so cool…" A silver-haired ramen lover whispered after looking with awe at the silhouette of the incomplete bridge.
After the confrontation with the Demon Brothers, Team 7 and Tazuna resumed their trek towards Wave Country. Naruto and Sasuke couldn't hold back their excitement, since this was their first time outside the village and knowing the situation the country they're traveling is in, they were pumped and itching for a good fight to prove themselves against enemies they can actually harm. Sakura wasn't so excited since she still believed that they might be getting in a situation that's above their current level but whenever she turned to see her teammates, she found herself infected with the same determination, she wanted to prove to herself that she was worthy of being in the legendary 'Team 7'. Kakashi was relaxed as usual but deep inside, the feeling that something big might happen on this mission just wouldn't budge.
"I know right! It is of MY design of course!" Tazuna proclaimed while pointing his thumb towards his inflated chest, not able to hold his pride over his own skill whenever he hears someone praising them.
"I wasn't expecting it to be so big." Sakura mumbled, awed by the massive structure that will serve to connect Wave Country and The Land of Fire.
"Hn." Was all Sasuke contributed to the conversation.
Turning towards his surrogate father, the silverette Uzumaki saw that Kakashi was kinda lost in his own thoughts. Confused and slightly worried, Naruto voiced his confusion, "Kaka-sensei, you okay?"
Shaking his head to the sides, the silver-haired copy ninja broke his mind from his troubling thoughts and turned to see his surrogate son, who could see that something might be bothering the experienced jōnin, "I'm alright Naruto, don't worry…" He walked towards him and ruffled his hair affectionately before adding, "I'm just thinking on how we can free this country from Gatō, that's all."
"Well! We kick his sorry ass, fou shou!" The jinchūriki replied excitedly while raising his fist.
"Shh… don't make too much noise or Gatō's men will hear us!" The man that was paddling their boat shushed them, with obvious fear in his voice at the idea of getting caught by the tycoon's thugs, seemingly forgetting that he was in the company of trained ninja.
After a few more minutes of traveling through the water, they finally reached land where the rower said, "This is as far as I go, sorry." He bowed apologetically to the ninja and their client.
"Don't worry Genzo, I can take it from here." Tazuna said to the man, understanding his resistance to travel further into Wave Country.
After saying their goodbyes and thanks to the rower, Team 7 and co. made their way into Wave, Tazuna was leading them towards the village but Team 7 could see that the surrounding thick mist covering the road was not a normal mist.
'This is a strong technique, only a jōnin from Mist could make a mist this thick…' Kakashi thought while getting his guard up and silently signalling his team to be prepared for anything, to which they nodded in affirmative.
The group continued their trek on the barely visible road leading towards the village when suddenly, Kakashi could hear the faint sound of metal cutting air, "Duck!" Team 7's leader screamed while grabbing Tazuna and forced him to plunge to the ground. Sakura and Sasuke did as they were ordered and quickly threw themselves on their stomachs, they were waiting on the sword to pass above their heads but they were surprised when they heard the sound of metal hitting metal.
"What the…" Zabuza said stunned. Sure, he wasn't expecting that to beat these brats but he never expected the silver-haired boy to draw a beautiful katana and actually parry his slash, the boy wasn't even winded after his strong swing that would no doubt cut clean had it successfully hit his target, 'T-this damn brat… I held nothing back in my swing and he didn't even flinched…' The swordsman thought, genuinely impressed with the boy.
Zabuza then jumped away and landed on a tree branch. After getting rid of all sense of surprise from his face, he returned to his threatening-self and said, "Well, what do we have here… 'Kakashi of the Sharingan'… no wonder the Demon Brothers are currently sitting on a cell in the Leaf."
Kakashi lifted himself up and after lazily dusting himself, he replied, "Mah, mah, Zabuza Momochi, aka 'The Demon of The Hidden Mist'… I'm sorry but… I'm afraid that feat belongs to my cute students." He gave the missing-nin an eye smile while gesturing his genin with his right hand.
"Hm…" Zabuza grumbled. He then rested Kubikiribōchō on his shoulder, not even struggling to hold the massive sword and then added, "I have no quarrel with you Kakashi or your team, so give me the builder and you're free to go, you know your 'cute' genin will die if you don't do as I say."
Kakashi was going to say where he could stick that giant sword of his but was interrupted when Naruto jumped in front of him and said excitedly, while jumping up and down like a kid begging for candy to his father, "Oh! Oh! Oh! T-that's… one of the 'Seven Swordsman of the Mist' yo! This is soooooo coooool!…" He then turned towards the sweatdropping figure of his surrogate father and asked, "Kaka-sensei! Kaka-sensei! Can I fight him!? Pleeeease…"
Nobody could stop their stupefied expression after seeing the silver-haired teenager asking to fight an S-rank ninja that could clearly kill him like it was something as trivial as to ask for a cone of ice cream. After some seconds, Kakashi Hatake regained his composure and with an eye smile, replied to his excited son, "Sure Naruto, go ahead, just be careful."
Naruto smirked fiercely while releasing a powerful aura that made everybody sweat a little, he then sent a quick glance towards Sasuke who nodded almost unnoticeably and turned towards Zabuza, who was now on the ground narrowing his eyes at the silverette.
"Huff, Never thought I'd see someone so eager to die, you did well when you stopped my Kubikiribōchō earlier, but you're nothing but a pest when compared to me." Zabuza taunted, hiding the uneasiness he was starting to feel after seeing the fierce gaze on the silver-haired genin.
Naruto was just standing there, holding his sword while taking a deep breath. After some seconds, crimson flames started to appear from his body, covering him in a cloak that was starting to resemble a humanoid dragon.
'Wha… w-what is… h-hapenning to Naru?…' Sakura thought while calming her rapid beating heart, she had never felt such aura coming from her goofy teammate but she was both uneasy and aroused. She could not explain it, she was uneasy because this aura felt ominous, like if she was in the presence of a commanding beast ready to devour any fool that oppose it, but she was feeling hot as well, shivers were running wild down her body, totally entranced by the amazing presence of her teammate.
'What is this kid!?...' Tazuna thought, he had heard about the feats that ninja could do but even he, a simple civilian, could tell that this silverette young man was different, whether good different or bad different, he couldn't tell.
Kakashi and Sasuke didn't even blinked, they were already used to their son/brother's power by now, so they only smirked, eager to see the fight.
Zabuza on the other hand, surprisingly for the first time in a long time, was feeling a tiny bit of fear for the boy's power, 'What the hell is this kid!?… this is no chakra… but… it feels… so oppressive…' He narrowed his eyes to the silverette who was calmly waiting for him to begin when the swordsman realized something that sent chills to his body, 'Dammit!... I have only felt this kind of presence once and… it was not good… Yagura… that means this damn brat is…' He gritted his teeth after the realization of what was he confronting hit him.
"Oooooo I'm so pumped, ya know!? Let's get this show started fool, ya fool!" Naruto said with a mad grin on his face.
"Don't think too high of yourself brat." Zabuza grumbled, controlling his minor fear down.
Zabuza was going to make the first move but was stunned when the boy suddenly disappeared from sight, nobody even saw him move, but Zabuza's heightened senses warned him that something was coming from above. Looking up, he saw Naruto dropping while holding his sword in a strange backwards grip, if Zabuza was any other ninja he would have laughed at seeing the apparently stupid grip, but he was Zabuza Momochi, one of the 'Seven Swordsman of the Mist' and after training for so many years alongside other prolific swordsman, he could tell that strange grip, was powerful.
Zabuza jumped back to avoid the slash and threw one slash of himself, but Naruto quickly recovered from the landing and parried the hit again. The two then stayed on a stalemate for some seconds when Zabuza finally proved that at the moment, his strength was superior. He managed to throw the boy back a few steps before jumping at Naruto with great speed while drawing Kubikiribōchō back, he then sent a hard slash towards Naruto who narrowly jumped to evade the deadly weapon that no doubt would have cut him in half had the slash connected.
Utilizing his heightened speed thanks to Ddraig's cloak, Naruto recovered quickly and jumped straight towards Zabuza, intending to cut him down. Zabuza saw this and brought his sword up to parry the blow but was stunned when he felt a current of electricity running through his sword.
'Damn… this brat can channel chakra into the sword… he's full of surprises…' Momochi thought while gaining an excited smirk on his face, it has been a long time since he had a good sword fight and this boy was proving to be an excellent swordsman of his own. After gaining some space from each other, Zabuza and Naruto jumped at each other again and the two soon continued their deadly yet rhythmic dance of swords.
"Wow…" Sakura whispered. She knew her teammate was good with swords but she never thought he would be that good, she knew who the bandaged man was since she studied the Bingo Book to be prepared for this kinds of situations, so she knew that Zabuza was a powerful swordsman and seeing the silver-haired Uzumaki apparently being equally skilled to the deadly swordsman, was impressive.
"Say that again…" Tazuna said while taking a sip of his sake. He was awed as well at the fierce battle but seeing this fight and remembering the last fight with the Demon Brothers, he now was starting to believe that his beloved country will be freed at last.
Kakashi and Sasuke were silent, intently watching the amazing display of swordsmanship that those two were showing, 'It still seems like it was yesterday when you needed help with tying your shoes… you've grown, my son…' Kakashi thought with immense pride. He never thought he would become so attached to the boy when he first saw him, he thought that he was doing it for the memory of his sensei but he soon realized that he loved the boy as his own, and seeing him now going toe to toe against an opponent who was still superior to him, was filling him with pride that only a father could feel.
'Damn… I seriously underestimated this brat… he won't beat me… but he still has three allies that haven't move… and one of them is Kakashi…' Zabuza thought while still sending powerful slashes towards the incredibly fast genin. He knew that in the end the boy would lose but he also knew that the silverette has already tired him up a lot, and if Kakashi decides to intervene now, he was done for.
'Damn yo… there's no doubt this fool's a demon with his sword… he's relentless…' Naruto thought while throwing another counter towards Zabuza, this time with some lighting chakra added to it. Zabuza managed to dodge but Naruto didn't allowed him time to breathe since he launched himself fiercely towards the missing-nin, throwing a fury of slashes, he smirked madly when he saw that he had finally inflicted a wound to his opponent, it was a large cut on the ex-Mist-nin's shoulder but Naruto didn't had time to enjoy his momentarily victory since Zabuza seemed to become angry and with renewed strength, threw a heavy slash that Naruto managed to stop with his sword, but the sheer force behind the hit managed to hurt his wrists due to the immense strength of the semi-naked man, 'Damn… I need to end this now or I won't be able to hold much longer…' Naruto thought with gritted teeth.
After a few evasions of his enemy's fierce slashes, Naruto managed to stop Zabuza's sword and the two got stuck on a stalemate again. The silverette then gathered the last of his fading strength and locked his gaze with his opponent's.
"You definitely impressed boy, to last this long and actually managing to land a hit on me… not many can say they've done it… at least, you'll die with your swordsman's pride intact." Zabuza said to Naruto, with a tone of voice that contained true praise and respect that only a swordsman could tell.
Smirking fiercely at Zabuza, Naruto responded, "You're not so bad yoself… hehe… actually… you're fucking good…" Naruto then smiled wider before adding, "But I'm not the one that's going to lose."
With a small chuckle, Zabuza was impressed by the silverette's willpower and guts, he could see that the boy actually believed those words he just spoke, but he replied while strengthening his push, "Don't delude yourself kid, you don't even have the strength to deliver the last blow anymore."
Instead of the frown that Zabuza was expecting to see, Naruto flashed an even fiercer smirk as he replied, "True… but who said it would be me the one that will deliver the final blow…"
"Wha…" Zabuza was confused by the genin's words but before he could inquire further, Naruto lifted his sword a little without breaking the stalemate and using the last of his strength, he pushed Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō down, using Zabuza's own strength to stab the massive sword into the ground and kept it for at least some seconds stuck there. Those seconds were enough though, because as soon as the sword stabbed the ground, Naruto disappeared in a poof of smoke and was replaced by the raven-haired genin that seized the frozen state of Zabuza to stab Mikoto's katana full of lightning chakra into Zabuza's chest, shocking the swordsman who could only scream in pain when he felt the seemingly infinite amount of electricity running through his body.
"What the!?" Sakura and Tazuna exclaimed, completely stunned after seeing that, they never saw Naruto and Sasuke talk before or during the fight, so they couldn't understand how the two of them pulled such complicated plan in motion without even planning it on the first place.
"Gigigi…" Kakashi giggled after seeing such a fantastic duo effort, he understood perfectly what just happened. While Sasuke was faster and better at countering attacks, he was still way inferior to Naruto when it comes to kenjutsu, seeing that Zabuza is an expert in the art of kenjutsu, he understood that Naruto had the best chance to tire the ex-Mist-nin enough so that he could be frozen in place for a couple seconds. Sasuke had been charging his katana with lightning during the whole fight, waiting for his brother to give the word and once Naruto forced Zabuza to stab the ground, Sasuke used substitution with Naruto and charged the lightning katana into Zabuza's chest, "These two… are impressive indeed…" He stated, with immense proud over his genin.
Zabuza just dropped to the ground and could not move a finger, the pain of being pierced by a katana charged with lightning chakra still lingered. After some moments, Zabuza managed to regain his breath and weakly said, "Y-you… damn… b-brats… that… t-that was… i-impressive…" Zabuza said to Sasuke, giving him a smirk that tell that he recognized that he was bested by those two.
"Hn, Naruto told you but you didn't listen." Sasuke replied, he then lifted his katana and aimed the tip to Zabuza's chest but before he could plunged it into the missing-nin's heart, three senbon hit Zabuza in the neck, apparently killing him.
A masked figure appeared out of nowhere and kneeled beside Zabuza before grabbing the massive sword. The mysterious masked ninja then said, "Thank you for dealing with Zabuza, I've been chasing him for quite some time now…" The hunter ninja then grabbed the body of Zabuza and carried it on the shoulders, apparently, having no problems carrying a body twice the masked figure's own size, "I will dispose of him now, thank you and safe travels." The person gave them a curt nod and silently disappeared from sight along with Zabuza.
"Well that was umm… weird…" Naruto said while breathing hard and almost dragging his feet on the ground.
"Yeah…" Sasuke replied and then looked towards his brother before adding, "…you okay, Dobe?"
"HA! Of course foo…" Naruto was saying before abruptly collapsing head on to the ground.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed while quickly running towards her downed teammate. She kneeled beside him and gave him a quick check before letting out a relieved sigh while turning towards her team and client to say, "He's alright, just chakra depletion."
"Hn, idiot…" Sasuke mumbled while giving an air of indifference, although the rest of Team 7 knew he was worried for his brother, but hey, got a reputation to keep, ya know?
Kakashi chuckled and then turned towards his client to say, "Well, Tazuna, could you please lead us to your home, Naruto will need some days to rest."
Tazuna just nodded and gave them a smile before he asked them to follow him and the rest of the team followed behind him, with Sasuke carrying on his back the unconscious form of his brother.
After some minutes of walking through the forest, Team 7 and Tazuna finally arrived at the village. The group soon entered the village's streets and Team 7 could say they were baffled by the state the country was in.
"My god, for how long have you been living this way?" Sakura asked sadly after seeing the amount of people that were begging for coin on the streets, old people, adults, young ones and kids, dozens of them just sitting on the streets begging for coin to whoever walks by them, even the people that appeared to have money seemed miserable.
"More than we should have…" Tazuna replied solemnly, he was already used to seeing his beloved country in such poor state but it never stopped hurting, seeing his people denigrated to such extent. The only solace he had was knowing that both his daughter and grandson had a house and enough food to survive, even if the food were mere leftovers from all the food that Gatō forcibly took, they at least had that luxury.
"Don't worry Tazuna, all tyrants meet their end sooner or later, and I have a feeling that Gatō will meet his soon." Kakashi said to Tazuna, seeing that the man had developed a depressed face.
Turning around, the bridge builder gave Kakashi a small smile and with a nod, he said, "You don't how much my people have dreamt that, and after seeing what you and your team can do…" He looked towards the unconscious form of Naruto who was laying on Sasuke's back before turning at the front again and adding, "I truly believe our dream might come true."
After some more walking, the group arrived to Tazuna's house which was placed above a lake, built within a pier that connected the house to the land. There was a big mill beside the house and the house itself was two storeys tall, "Come on, my daughter must have some food already made so you can recharge your energies and place your friend to rest." Tazuna said with a smile to his companions who nodded eagerly at the idea of homemade food.
"Tsunami! Are you home!?" Tazuna asked once they entered the house.
Soon, steps could be heard from the floor above and after some seconds, a beautiful blue-haired woman appeared walking down the stairs. She seemed to be in her late twenties and was wearing a short-sleeved pink shirt with the end of the sleeves and the collar being red in colour and a long blue skirt. Despite the loose clothes, her body figure seemed to be well endowed and carried a warm and loving aura around.
"Dad! Thank god you're safe!" Tsunami said after running towards her father the moment she laid eyes on him, knowing how Gatō's men were targeting him, she couldn't help but worry.
"Haha, it's okay Tsunami! I was accompanied by great guards!" The man returned the embrace while praising the ninja that were with him.
Turning towards the group, Tsunami now realized that they had guests so after releasing the embrace with her father, she bowed and said to the Leaf team, "Thank you so much for taking care of him and bringing him home safe." She flashed them a warm smile.
"Don't worry, it's our job after all." Sakura replied while returning the smile towards the lovely single mother.
"Excuse me Tazuna?…" Kakashi said. After earning the attention of the bridge builder, he asked, "Where can we put my cute genin to rest?" He gestured towards the now snoring boy who was almost drooling on his brother's back, much to the raven-haired pseudo-avenger's despair.
"Ah right!…" Tazuna exclaimed after remembering that they had an unconscious man. He then turned towards his daughter and said, "Tsunami sweetie, can you lead the boy to a room? He made quite the effort while protecting me and he's exhausted."
Smiling back, she turned towards Sasuke and gently said, "Of course, please follow me…" Tsunami then turned towards the stairs with Sasuke on her tail and led him to a guest room with a lone bed there, "You can rest him here." She said to the blackette.
"Thanks." Sasuke replied before dropping Naruto unceremoniously to the bed and moved him so he was well placed on the comfortable mattress.
Seeing the unconscious silverette, Tsunami giggled and said, "He must have really used all of his energy to end in such state."
Huffing, Sasuke crossed his arms in front of his chest and replied with a smirk on his face, "Yeah… the Dobe has the tendency to overdo things without a care in the world."
Smiling, Tsunami added, "Mhm, he does seem to be the reckless type… gigigi…" Turning her head towards the Uchiha, she then said, "Why don't you go downstairs with your team while I go and fetch some covers for your friend? I'll go down to serve you some food once I finish."
"Yeah, thanks." The Uchiha replied with a nod before turning on his heel and heading towards the door to go downstairs and meet with the rest of Team 7.
Tsunami then went to a wardrobe and grabbed fresh sheets from the drawer, she approached the sleeping teenager and then covered him with the fresh and cool sheet. Now that she was alone, she finally noticed the silverette's face, 'Wow… he really is handsome…' She then shook her head to the sides to dismiss her thoughts and pondered while wearing a small blush on her face, 'What am I thinking?…' With that, she turned around and left the room to serve the ninjas that helped her father some food, knowing that they must be dead hungry.
"Ugh… damn brats…" A pained voice was heard inside a room, said voice belonged to Zabuza Momochi, who was currently laying down on his bed, covered with bandages and a dampened cloth on his forehead to cool down his body.
"I must admit, I really thought they were going to kill you…" A soft voice said from the corner of the room where a masked figure stood. Preparing another cloth dampened in the bowl that was filled with cold water, the young ninja then walked towards the swordsman and proceeded to remove the already hot cloth on his forehead. Placing the new cold one, the masked ninja said, "How could a mere genin be capable of go toe to toe against you… and with a sword!?"
Chuckling painfully, still feeling the effects of being electrocuted nearly to death, the ex-Mist-nin replied, "That's because those are no mere genin."
Tilting the head slightly, the youngling was confused so asked, "What do you mean?"
"Well, for starters, the black-haired one, the one that pierced my chest and electrocuted me…" Zabuza said with a little of spite, feeling his pride hurt remembering his defeat, "He's an Uchiha, that black hair and those onyx eyes can only belong to an Uchiha."
The masked youngster lifted the eyebrow and then asked, "An Uchiha? Weren't they supposed to be extinct?"
"Hehe… no… for what I know, there are two Uchiha alive… the one that carried out the massacre, Itachi Uchiha…" Zabuza said and one could hear a hint of respect hidden in his voice when he spoke Itachi's name and then continued, "And a lone survivor, that black-haired boy has all the facial traits of the Uchiha, so I have no doubt in my mind that he is that survivor."
"But I heard that all Uchiha were extremely prideful, to sit down a fight and allow someone else to fight a powerful opponent… that doesn't sound so Uchiha-like." Haku said, gathering all the knowledge about the Uchiha he/she possess.
"True… but I believe this boy is smart… I could tell he wanted to fight, but maybe he knew that the other brat was better with the sword than he is." Zabuza replied to his protégé, he also felt the behaviour strange for an Uchiha but when you're the last of a family that has been massacred, personalities are sure to change.
"And what about the silver-haired one?" Haku asked.
"Ah… he's the dangerous one… even more dangerous than Kakashi…" Zabuza replied, remembering the incredible fight the silverette gave him. Momochi could tell that he was being trained by a powerful swordsman and knowing that the teenager was a Leaf-nin, there was only one person he knew could teach that boy, Hayate Gekko, the most powerful swordsman the Leaf has.
"What!? Really!? W-why would you say that?…" Haku said, not able to hide the uneasiness in her/his voice. Kakashi Hatake was an S-rank ninja, granted, Zabuza and even Haku could defeat him since Haku was no pushover either, even Zabuza says that Haku is stronger than him, but still, the Copy-Ninja was a fearsome opponent. But hearing from his/her mentor that the silverette was more dangerous than Hatake, was troubling indeed, "I know he managed to fight on equal footing with you for most of the fight, but you were still going to win in the end." Haku added.
"Yes, but he only used his sword… as you already know, when a swordsman encounters another swordsman, if a fight is to break out, only kenjutsu is allowed, even if one of them is merciless killer, a true swordsman respects another one, using techniques not related to your sword is a grave insult to the art of swordsmanship…" Zabuza replied as he then looked towards the youngster and added, "But what I truly meant about him being more dangerous was because he is no ordinary human."
Feeling her/his shock growing slightly, Haku asked, "W-what do you mean?"
"Do you remember the aura he released? You were close to the fight so I know you could feel it, that ominous presence." Zabuza asked.
"Y-yeah…" Haku whispered, unable to stop the chill running through his/her body when the memory of the feeling that that incredibly strong but dark aura haunting the area was giving, "It felt powerful… but there was no chakra trace in it… yet… the feeling was… suffocating…" Haku added.
"Yeah, even I felt a small bit of fear…" Zabuza said, managing to earn a gasp from his protégé after hearing the confession, "The reason why he's no ordinary human, is because he is like Yagura… a jinchūriki." Zabuza ended his sentence with a serious voice.
"W-wha…" Haku could only whisper. She/he knew all too well what a jinchūriki could do, they were army killers, if angered, they could even take down an entire ninja village by themselves and now knowing what they were confronting, victory was now somewhat away from them.
"Yeah, things are now definitely more complicated and for what I know, there are only two Tailed Beasts that could possibly be under the Leaf's control, The Nine Tailed Fox and The Twelve Winged Dragon." Zabuza said with a voice that revealed a small hint of doubt in their odds.
"T-the strongest… damn… if Yagura can cause so much destruction with the Two-Tails, what could this boy do with the power of the Nine-Tails or the Twelve-Wings?" Haku deduced, now completely sure that unless they completely went all out and then some, they stood no chance against that jinchūriki.
"Yeah, we're gonna have to force him out of the fight before he can call on the Tailed Beast's chakra…" Zabuza said. He wanted to lay back and rest now but the door suddenly burst open and soon after, the midget tycoon Gatō and his two guards waltzed inside the room, earning a tired sigh from Zabuza and an annoyed glare from Haku.
"Pitiful, is this all the famed 'Demon of The Mist' can do!? Lay on his bed and lose to mere children!" Gatō said mockingly while flashing an arrogant smirk.
"What do you want now, Gatō?" Zabuza said with an annoyed voice.
Scowling at the lack of respect he believed he deserved, the tycoon replied with an irked tone, "What do you mean whit that!? I want that damned builder's head! That's what I'm paying you for! Yet, I see no freaking head anywhere!"
"Quit your yapping, he'll be dead soon enough." Zabuza said with a lazy tone, not even caring for the angry gaze the short man was sending his way.
"That's what you said before! Yet, here you are! All beaten up!... perhaps, I should let my men do it themselves?…" Gatō said before smirking evilly. Then with a nod to his guards, the two guards grinned and then jumped towards the bedridden Zabuza, intending to kill the swordsman, but before they could even reach the bed, they were suddenly disarmed and froze in their place when they felt their own swords aimed at their throats.
"What the…" The half-naked thug said. He, like his fellow guard and employer, never saw Haku move until the masked ninja was already threatening the two bodyguards.
"Move a finger and you die." Haku said with a soft but cold voice that sent shivers down the thugs' spines.
"Haku, don't waste your breath on these vermin." Zabuza ordered his protégé.
With that silent command, Haku pushed the bodyguards towards the midget and threw their swords at their feet before turning back towards his/her master's bed, still glaring angrily to the two thugs and the tycoon.
"Tsk, Just do what I paid you for before my patience fades!" Gatō tried to threat the two missing-nin while releasing a pathetic killing intent that didn't even tickled the two ninjas.
"Yeah yeah…" Zabuza just waved off the annoying mob boss. Gatō then just angrily walked out of the room with his two scowling bodyguards on his tail, leaving Zabuza and Haku alone again.
"Sigh, I don't know if I can stand that pest much longer." Haku mumbled.
"You can kill him after he pays us if you want." Zabuza replied.
"He's not worth the effort, let's just get this over with so we don't have to deal with that midget much longer." Haku replied. He/she then went back to nurse the fallen swordsman and after the anger towards the tycoon faded, Haku again pondered on their situation and the battle that is to come against the jinchūriki, not feeling confident in their odds anymore.
"Y-you can't do this!... p-please Naru, d-don't leave me!" A beautiful black-haired teenager pleaded on her knees. She had onyx eyes and was wearing a purple turtle neck top with no sleeves and dark blue shorts that showed her shapely legs, she could strike any man unconscious by her mere beauty and usual cold demeanour which earned her the title of the Leaf's 'Brunhilde', but anybody who could see her now will have the shock of their lives at seeing her in such pitiful state, she was kneeling and crying her heart out, begging a handsome silver-haired teen to stay by her side.
Naruto could not stand seeing his beloved like this, she was his world, but life was as spiteful as ever and because of outside forces they were being forced apart. He kneeled and hugged the crying girl tightly while whispering, "Th-there's nothing I c-can do, Suki… I pleaded… I begged… but those bastards never listened… if I don't go… a war between the Leaf and Whirlpool might break out…" He couldn't stop the tears falling from his eyes anymore since the pain of being separated from the only person he cared about was too much.
"But why!? Why would they do this!? Why would they allowed this to happen to their own SON!?" Suki replied back almost hysterically.
"You'll have to ask Minato and Kushina yourself, for I don't know." Naruto said, with an incredible amount of venom at the mention of his parents, even Suki flinched when he heard the hatred in her beloved's voice.
Releasing the embrace slightly, Naruto cupped Suki's cheeks and rested his forehead against hers so they could look directly into each other's eyes. He then said gently and with great amount of love in his voice, "Suki… I promise you… we will see each other again… even if I have to burn Whirlpool and the Leaf to the ground… I will keep my promise to you." With that, he kissed the raven-haired beauty deeply, a kiss that contained all the love the two have for each other, their memories, their promises and their own lives.
The two then rested against each other's forehead for some minutes after ending the kiss, not opening their eyes trying to avoid the sorrow of what could probably be, their last goodbye. Naruto then stood up and walked towards the door leading outside the house, he was about to leave when he looked above his shoulder and left some parting words to Suki, "Everything I've done, everything I do and everything I'll do… is for you Suki… never forget that, my love…" With that, he walked out of Suki's house for the last time, leaving a completely heartbroken goddess crying her heart out, completely collapsed on the floor.
"Ah!…" Naruto screamed, completely covered in sweat and breathing heavily, "What the hell was that!?…" The silverette whispered while regaining his breath, he was completely baffled after having that weird dream, "I don't even know if you could call such thing a dream… it was so damn real…" He muttered while massaging his scalp, "Yo D, do you know what that was!?" He asked mentally to the Red Dragon Emperor.
'Hm, there was a sudden increase in his power, that means she's starting to wake up… but that 'dream'… could it be?…' The dragon god thought before he answered his tenant's question, "I'm not really sure, I may have an idea about what it was, but such thing should not be possible, yet, you do tend to disregard such limit." Ddraig answered with a small hint of mirth in his divine powerful voice.
"Yo! Is not funny, ya fool! I don't even know who this 'Suki' girl is!…" Naruto replied with a little exasperation in his voice, still recovering his breath and sweating a little, "What's your guess then?" He added.
"Sorry kid, but if it is what I think, you're still not ready to know." Ddraig replied dismissively, not letting any room to discuss any further.
'Sigh…' Naruto just sighed deeply and kept himself from asking any further, he knew that Ddraig would not reveal anything to him that he believed was too early for the silverette to know, but he wasn't annoyed by the dismissal since he also knew that the mighty dragon will eventually tell him, so for the time being, he just shrugged it off, "Huh?… where am I?" He muttered after he finally realized his surroundings. He was currently in a medium sized bed inside a medium sized room, he looked at the window and could see a lake and the silhouette of a forest at the far distance, almost covered by a mist.
"You're on that bridge builder's house, you lost consciousness after your fight with that half-naked swordsman, your team carried you here." Ddraig informed his confused successor.
"Oh yeah, I remember now…" He replied. He then massaged his temples and after a long yawn, he asked, "How long was I out?"
"Mm… 2 days… you used a lot of my power and since you restricted yourself to swordsmanship, you over taxed your body since it had to disperse the unused essence because you didn't utilized any jutsu." The dragon explained.
"Gotta work on that then…" He mentally replied.
Naruto was about to step out of the bed when suddenly, he heard the door of the room he was in opening. Soon after, a beautiful blue-haired woman carrying a tray with soup and a glass of water walked in, she didn't seemed to have noticed that Naruto was already awake since she walked towards a table on the corner of the room and started to blow on the hot soup. But seeing the beautiful woman's porcelain face, Naruto's heart ached hard, 'M-Miko…' He couldn't stop thinking about the woman he loved the most since the female he was watching right now carried a strong resemblance to the deceased Uchiha matriarch, 'No… she's not Miko, you fool…' He thought while shaking his head to the sides to dismiss his depressing thoughts. He then looked back at the woman who seemed to be happily cooling the soup and thought, 'But she's still beautiful, almost as beautiful as Miko…' He then decided to make his presence known when he asked a little timidly, "Umm… hello miss…"
Said woman let out a cute yelp after being startled by the sudden voice of the other occupant in the room. She stopped what she was doing and turned around to greet the boy who has been unconscious for two days, but before she could reply, she got completely stunned after she saw his eyes. For the past two days, she and the pink-haired ninja have been taking care of the boy, more she though, since the team's jōnin has been training the other two members of the team so she's the one that spends the most with the boy, she had already accepted that she liked the young man since he was incredibly handsome and he exuded an incredible presence that made her body heat whenever she was near him but now that she got to see his eyes, she couldn't stop her gawking, they were beautiful, the deep blue of his iris that resembled the most beautiful sea she has seen and that beautiful golden slit that replaced the natural black dot that seemed to pierce into your soul and warm your body, it was haunting, beautifully so. After some seconds of silent gawking, she finally realized that she has been staring and hasn't even replied so after shaking her head to the sides, she replied timidly and with a cute blush adorning her face, "Umm s-sorry… y-you s-startled me… hihi…" She fidgeted her fingers and looked at the floor embarrassed.
'Oh… I really hope she's single because she's damn gorgeous!...' Naruto thought mischievously while inwardly smirking devilishly at seeing the woman's obvious attraction to him. He decided to play the fool and then asked while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, "Haha… yeah sorry… you must be Tazuna's daughter right?"
Recovering somehow from her original embarrassment, Tsunami smiled and replied, "Y-yes I am, m-my name is Tsunami, ni-nice to meet you." She bowed courtly while still wearing the cute blush.
Smiling back, he returned the polite action and said with a soft but manly voice, "I'm Naruto, is nice to meet you too Tsunami."
Looking back at him, she smiled widely before returning to her slight timid self and asked with worry evident in her eyes, "Umm, how are you feeling? You've been out for a while…"
Grinning back, Naruto chuckled a little and said with confidence, "I'm aight, don't worry too much Tsunami!"
"That's g-good, I h-hope you're feeling comfortable, I've umm… I-I've been tending y-your wounds… I kn-know I'm not g-good but… I h-hope it h-helped…" Tsunami said, averting her eyes from the silver-haired young man to hide her embarrassment.
Laughing wholeheartedly, Naruto stood up from the bed and decided to be a little bold so he walked towards her and after getting within arms' reach, he gently placed his left hand on her shoulder and replied, "Tsunami, don't worry, my wounds are completely healed and I feel like a new man, no doubt thanks to the care of such a beautiful and kind woman like yourself." He gave her a manly smirk while releasing some pheromones on the air.
Tsunami was dead stunned, not able to break eye contact with the young man, it's been so long since someone has said such kind and loving words to her that she almost forgot the feeling of having butterflies flying wildly inside her stomach. And seeing the honesty in his eyes when he spoke those words, she couldn't help but blush madly, "I… um… t-thank y-you… y… y-you're t-too kind…" She said, stuttering hard and looking at the side to avoid further embarrassment.
Smirking widely after seeing the flustered Tsunami, he gently took his hand away from her shoulder, much to Tsunami's strange disappointment, and then walked towards the window to see outside, "I'm just telling the truth…" He added while looking at her from his shoulder. Turning back towards the window, he asked, "Where's mah team and your father?"
Getting out of her stupor, she walked towards the handsome young man and stood beside him before replying, "Well, Kakashi took your teammate Sasuke to train inside the woods and my father went to work on the bridge while being guarded by Sakura, your sensei told me to let him know when you woke up since he wanted to discuss something with you and the rest of your team."
Nodding his head, Naruto looked at the tray with the food and said while smiling warmly, "Is this for me, Tsunami?"
Blushing a bit, she brought her hands to her back and fidgeted her fingers while replying, "Y-yes… I was cooling it for you… so eat up..."
Grabbing the two chairs that were in the room, he sat on the one close to the small table and gestured Tsunami to sit on the other, she did as told and the two soon started to chat amicably, with Naruto intending to find more about the woman he has now mentally added to his targets list.
After the lovely time that Naruto and Tsunami had with each other, the silverette set out to look for his father to let him know he was awake now. He was carrying a big stupid grin on his face after hearing that Tsunami was single and after spending almost all morning speaking to her and hearing some things about herself, Naruto couldn't help but like the beautiful single mother. However, he was actually afraid that she would react poorly when he reveal to her his ambition and how he was going to achieve it since Tsunami seemed to be a more reserved woman.
After some minutes of walking into the woods, Naruto shook his head to release his mind of Tsunami after he heard the sounds of jutsus firing at the distance. Knowing that it was his father and brother, he quickened his pace and soon later, he found Sasuke on his butt panting hard while his silver-haired adoptive father was reading his ever present 'Icha Icha', "Yo!" He greeted them after getting close to his team.
Both sensei and student turned towards the familiar voice and saw Naruto walking lazily towards them, "Mah, mah, you shouldn't force yourself after all the effort you pulled with Zabuza, Naruto." Kakashi said casually to his son, but there was a small glimpse of worry in the jōnin words.
"Hn, always the masochist." Sasuke said while smirking at his rival.
Resting both hands behind his head, the silver-haired Namikaze replied, "Oi! Ya know me! Amma killer baby! And killers ain't need no rest!"
Chuckling at his son's antics, the last Hatake returned to his book but asked, "How are you feeling, son?"
Sitting next to the Uchiha, the Uzumaki laid back on the grass and closed his eyes while still resting his head on his hands before replying, "Other than that weird dream I just woke up from, I actually feel good."
Both Kakashi and Sasuke raised their eyebrow after hearing what their son/brother said, so making their confusion known, Sasuke asked, "Dream? What do you mean?"
Looking at his team for some seconds, Naruto returned his gaze towards the sky and replied, "I really don't even know if it was a dream…" Seeing that his words only confused the two other males more, he decided to explain, "Let me explain first what I saw…" He sat up and then continued, "When I umm… could 'see'… I was inside a house, it seemed like a house that belonged to a clan head or something like that, but the weird part was that… there was this… beautiful girl around my age, crying a lot… she was clearly saying my name and was on her knees begging me not to leave… I then kneeled down and said that I had done all I could to stay but…" He suddenly struggled to continue after remembering the amount of hate he felt towards his parents at that moment. He has never hated them, sure he resented them but he still understood their motives so he really never hated them, but in this dream, he despised them almost religiously, "For what I heard myself saying, Minato and Kushina had something to do with me leaving… I then kissed her and said that I loved her and then left… but the thing is… it was too real…" He added after regaining his courage before turning towards Kakashi and Sasuke who were intently listening to his words before the silverette continued, "I could feel it… the love I had for that girl who, let me tell ya, I have no idea who the fuck she is, I only heard her name, 'Suki' I said… I also could feel the… hatred… pure raw hatred towards Minato and Kushina… those feelings… they were too damn real…"
Both men were silent, not really knowing what to say since they knew that while Naruto was eccentric and usually did goofy things, he never lied or pretended to feel something he didn't, more so when it came to his parents since both knew that he never hated or disliked them in anyway, it was just the resentment of them choosing the Leaf over their son. Kakashi decided to voice his opinion after some seconds of silence when he said, "Could you move or talk when you were in this… 'dream'?"
Turning towards Team 7's leader, Naruto shook his head to the sides saying, "Nope, all I could do was watch, I mean, I was seeing it from umm… how can I say it… 'my perspective' if you know what I mean… but I could do nothing but just watch."
"Don't you recognize the girl, Dobe?" Sasuke joined the conversation when he asked.
"Nope, she seemed familiar though… wait… now that I think about it…" He stopped there not knowing if he should tell them who the girl looked like since it was sort of a taboo topic for both Sasuke and him, but knowing that Sasuke won't get mad, he finished, "She kinda looked like… a younger version of… sigh… Mikoto…"
Both Kakashi and Sasuke actually widened their eyes when they heard that, they now knew this was serious. Naruto never, never spoke about Mikoto, not out of respect for Sasuke, but because Mikoto was the woman that Naruto truly loved first and even if neither of them expressed it openly to their silverette comrade, they knew his love for the deceased matriarch never dimmed in the slightest.
Seeing that both his father and brother were frozen silent, Naruto decided to dismiss his own troubles when he tried to wave off his experience by saying, "Ah I know… hehe… I'm probably just hallucinating or going crazy with stress… hehe…"
Surprisingly though, it was Sasuke who decided to validate the strange occurrence when he said, "I don't think so, I would have think it's just you dreaming about a different life where you got to be with my mother since you did said the love you felt for this girl was too real, and knowing that you DO loved her, I might have thought that as well…" He then turned to look at his surprised best friend and added, "But not once in your life have you actually hated Minato and Kushina, if you say that you actually felt immense hatred in this dream, then… I don't think is just a hallucination."
"Sasuke's right Naruto, whatever that was, if what you say is true, then there's got to be something more, unfortunately though, I don't know how I could help you, so let's wait until we go back to the Leaf and we'll talk with the Third, alright?" Kakashi said while cupping his chin, not really knowing what to do in this strange situation.
After seeing the nod in response from his silver-haired surrogate son, Kakashi decided to tackle the next topic he wanted to talk about with Naruto, "I trust you already know that Zabuza is alive, right?" He asked.
Looking at the jōnin, Naruto nodded in yes while saying, "Yeah, I figured as much, hunter-nin are supposed to cut the head and burn the rest of the body immediately, the hunter-nin that appeared, probably put Zabuza in a near death state so we wouldn't follow."
"Mhm, which means that things will get complicated, while Gatō's men are pitiful at best, Zabuza's another thing, the only reason you two were able to beat him was because he underestimated Naruto and never expected Sasuke finishing off." He explained, he wasn't trying to undermine his genin's amazing plan, but he needed them to know that they snatched the win due to the lack of seriousness of their opponent.
Fortunately for him though, he was once again reminded of his students' maturity after seeing the two nodded in acceptance, "Yeah, we know, it was probably the only chance we had of defeating him, now that he knows us better, only you stand a chance Kaka-sensei." Sasuke said, proving the immense change of attitude he underwent after developing his brotherhood with Naruto. The old stock up Uchiha would've refuted the Copy-Nin's words extensively, but now he was more humble and learnt to never overestimate himself, as Naruto once told him, 'Even a King can be overthrown by a mere pawn, all it takes is one second, one mistake, to change the foreseen outcome', Sasuke took those words to heart and finally learnt how to never underestimate anyone.
"So, what we gon do, Pa?" Naruto asked.
"We'll train, Zabuza will take at least two weeks to recover from that shock so for the time being, one of us will accompany Tazuna to the bridge every day while the others come here to train." Kakashi said.
The two genins nodded and then stood up to continue training, now eager to fight Zabuza again and finally free Wave Country from Gatō's clutches.
"Oh Yuna, as naughty as ever… gigigi…" A perverted old man muttered while chuckling perversely. The old man was wearing a white coat over his red robe and a red hat that had the kanji for 'Fire' written on the front tip. Needless to say, this perverted old man was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.
The rest of the occupants in the room were just sweatdropping at their leader's usual pervetedness. The four ANBU guards of the Hokage never understood why he even wasted his energy in casting a genjutsu over the book to cover up what it really is about when everybody already knew what he was reading, since almost all the male population were fond of that book, plus, the blood running down the old man's nose was a pretty dead giveaway.
Everything was interrupted however, when they all heard the sound of someone tapping the window. Hiruzen turned towards the sound and saw a small pug with a blue forehead protector with the Leaf symbol etched on the metal plate. Knowing that it was one of Kakashi's dog summons, the Third stood up and walked towards the window to open it, the small dog then jumped inside and leapt to the Hokage's desk, "Ah Pakkun, hello, what is it?" The kind old timer said to the dog while lightly petting the pug's head.
"Hello Lord Third…" The dog said in a strong and deep voice that seemed to belong to another body, "I was sent by Kakashi, it appears that their mission in Wave Country has moved up to an A-rank." He added, earning narrowed eyes from the Hokage's wrinkled face and a small panic rush from a cat masked ANBU.
"Explain." The Hokage said with a stern yet gentle voice.
Nodding slightly, the small dog informed the village's leader, "According to Kakashi, the country is being enslaved by a tycoon named 'Gatō', the country is in extreme poverty and there are many disappearances from the population, women mainly."
Sighing heavily, Hiruzen replied, "Yes, I've heard about this 'Gatō' person, it is unfortunate his oppression has lasted for this long but none the less, for what I know, he's nothing but a simple mob boss, what would make Kakashi rank this mission as an A-rank if their opponents are common thugs?"
"As you said, the problem is not Gatō nor his men, the problem is one of his hired help, Zabuza Momochi." The pug replied.
The room fell into an eerie silence, Yūgao was now really starting to panic for her beloved goofball's safety but she managed to keep her emotions to herself, barely though. The old Hokage was also troubled by the news, "Zabuza Momochi, one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, chased out of Mist after a failed assassination attempt on the Fourth Mizukage, classified as an S-rank missing-nin, this is troubling indeed."
"Yes, there was also another ninja with him disguised as a hunter-nin, this hunter-nin saved Zabuza before he could be killed by Sasuke." Pakkun said.
Raising an eyebrow, Sarutobi asked further, "Sasuke? What happened?"
"Well, apparently, Zabuza ambushed Team Seven and Tazuna when they were making their way through the woods, after it was revealed that it was him, Naruto asked to fight him one on one." Pakkun replied. Hiruzen widened his eyes and Yūgao actually gasped in her hiding spot, now openly showing her worry.
"What happened next?" Hiruzen urged the small dog to continue.
"Well, Naruto fought on equal footing actually, Zabuza underestimated him and Naruto seized that, he pushed and tired Zabuza enough for Sasuke to take advantage of the frozen state Naruto left him in and charged his katana infused with lightning chakra, Zabuza couldn't move and Sasuke was about to go through the final blow when the hunter-nin appeared and put Zabuza on a near-death state to take him away, Kakashi wanted to give chase but Naruto collapsed due to chakra exhaustion, so they call it off and went straight to the bridge builder's house." He finished explaining, his words calming Yūgao down now that she knew that Naruto was okay, and she alongside the Hokage felt proud of the silverette, to be able to go toe to toe against a superior opponent and fool him to defeat him, was no small feat.
Chuckling slightly, Hiruzen said, "Only those two could pull of something like that…" Taking a smoke from his pipe, he then asked, "I take it Kakashi believes Zabuza will show up again?"
Nodding, the pug replied, "Yes, he estimates two weeks at least for Zabuza to recover fully."
"Very well, thank you Pakkun…" The Third Hokage said kindly to the dog. Soon after, the dog disappeared in a poof of smoke and Sarutobi called, "Cat."
The cat masked ANBU appeared immediately after being called and said, "Yes, Lord Hokage?"
"I want you to be ready, you'll head to Wave Country next week, you'll be support for them but do not show yourself unless you're truly needed or the mission is over." Hiruzen ordered.
"But…" She wanted to retort and say that she could go now and support them, but she was cut off when Sarutobi spoke.
"I know you're worried, Cat, but Naruto and Sasuke will become high profile targets and there's nothing we can do to stop it, they need to learn how to fight this kind of opponents, one is a jinchūriki and the other is the last Uchiha, there are countless countries that would stop at naught to get their hands on them." He finished sternly but with a kind tone as well, knowing that Yūgao was really afraid that something might happen to Naruto.
"I-I understand sir, I'll be ready when you give the word." She agreed reluctantly but also knowing that her leader was right. With that she disappeared from the room and Hiruzen went back to his orange book.
Three days have passed since Naruto woke up from his slumber and those three days have been relatively calm, no major problems have occurred except for the occasional confrontation with Gatō's men, since they foolishly believed they could kidnap Sakura, thinking that she was no threat, the 6 men that tried to caught her ended up with almost all of their bones broken and the word about a group of ninja being in the village spread quickly, putting Gatō on edge since Zabuza was still injured and his men could not match the Leaf-nin's strength.
For Naruto though, it has been fantastic, he and Tsunami have become quite close over the past days, he now knew her story and she now knew most of his, he really enjoyed her company and now Naruto finally saw Tsunami as Tsunami and not as a woman that looked like Mikoto. He knew he was being an asshole at first for wanting her just for her resemblance to Mikoto but after knowing her and spending time with her, he now knew he really wanted Tsunami for herself, he was still a bit scared of how she would react once he told her the whole truth because her attraction to him was obvious, even Tazuna had teased her about it, but he decided to left that for later since now he was enjoying a walk around the village in the company of the beautiful bluenette single mother.
"Naru calm down, I can even hear your teeth gritting." Tsunami's melodic voice said to a clearly angered Naruto.
Calming himself a bit, the silverette closed his eyes and answered, "I'm sorry Nami, it's just… pisses me off so much, ya know!?… seeing this…" He gestured the decayed village around him, with countless people begging on the streets and most of the inhabitants with clothes so wore down that they looked like rags, "I want to kick Gatō's ass so bad." He added, unconsciously releasing his powerful killing intent, making everyone around including Tsunami to cower.
"N-Naru…" Tsunami whispered, feeling her feet wobble a bit for the powerful sense of dread exuding from the silverette.
Shaking his head, Naruto realized he was scaring everyone including Tsunami and quickly apologized, "I-I'm sorry Nami… I… kinda lost it there… hehe…" He scratched his scruff sheepishly while easing his aura.
Blushing a bit at the affectionate way Naruto refers to her, she replied, "It's okay… don't worry, I'm actually very grateful that you and your team are willing to free us."
"I cannot turn a blind eye to something like this, it goes against everything I believe, I told ya about my dream, didn't I? This is just a step towards it." Naruto replied with a dreamy smirk that made Tsunami's heart jump faster.
She was going to reply but suddenly, a small frame tugged Naruto's jacket sleeve and said, "Umm, e-excuse mi-mister… do… d-do you h-ave any f-food?" A beautiful golden-haired little girl who could not be older than 5 said. She had beautiful blue eyes that seemed the same shade of blue as Naruto's, her skin was pale-white and her figure was really frail, indicating she has been malnourished for some time now, her ragged white dress was covered in dirt and her voice seemed really tired.
This scene broke both Naruto and Tsunami's heart, more so Naruto since he knew what it was like to be in those kinds of conditions. Naruto kneeled down to be face to face with the girl and said, "Sure beautiful, but, the food I have requires to be cooked, do you have a home?"
Smiling widely, no doubt really happy to have some food in her stomach, the little girl nodded and replied timidly, "Y-yes."
"Aight, can you take me and my friend there so we can make you some food?" Naruto replied while smiling warmly at the girl.
The girl nodded and timidly grabbed the silverette's hand and soon led them through the streets. After some walking, they arrived to an ally that had a set of boxes and some blankets and the girl said, "T-this is m-my home."
Naruto had to fight his anger down with all his might, he wanted to go down towards Gatō's lair and slaughter all of his men, but knowing that his anger will scare the whole village if released, he instead patted the girl's head and asked, "What is your name?"
The girl developed a cute blush on her pale cheeks for the affectionate touch and warm voice of the stranger but managed to stutter a response, "M-my na-name i-is E-Emi."
Smiling warmly at the little girl, Naruto replied "What a beautiful name Emi, my name is Naruto and this right here, is Tsunami." He gestured towards the woman standing at their side.
"Hello Emi, is nice to meet such a cutie like you." She said while affectionately cupping her cheeks, not able to stop her maternal instincts from flowing out.
The little girl smiled and seemed a little overwhelmed by the sudden affection she was receiving, but Naruto kneeled to eye level again and said with a kind voice, "Do you have anything of value here?"
Both Tsunami and Emi seemed to be confused by the question but Emi eventually replied a little sadly, "N-no…"
"Okay…" Naruto said before abruptly picking the small girl up on his arms, earning a cute yelp form the girl and a confused gaze from Tsunami, "Come on Nami." He said while boldly grabbing the older woman's hand, much to her delight.
The three walked through the village and after some minutes, they arrived to a clearing near the lake. The place wasn't too far away from Tsunami's house and the view was really gorgeous had it not be covered by that damn mist, Naruto made sure that the little girl learnt her way into the village and then set her down, he then grabbed a scroll from his pouch and after pouring some chakra into it, a big set of camping tools appeared. He then fixed his tent which was quite big, three people could easily fit there, he fixed some covers inside and left all the canned food he had there as well. After getting out of the tent, he faced the two confused ladies and said after kneeling in front of Emi, "This will be your temporal new home…" Both females widened their eyes, Emi's eyes were watering hard, not able to believe this was real, but Naruto made sure to make her see it was real, "Inside there are covers, a lamp, a jacket and canned food that can last you for almost a mon…" He couldn't continue though, since the little girl launched at him to hug him like if her life depended on it, he was surprised at first but quickly returned the hug, allowing the girl to openly cry.
Tsunami was at a loss of words, she has never seen such act of kindness before, not even from her late husband Kaiza, so she just smiled widely and cried a few tears of awe, 'He's just not making it easier for me…' She thought while watching the touching scene.
After some minutes, Emi finally calmed down and Naruto said, "Let's make something to eat, aight?" Both females nodded and Naruto fetched two cans of beans and three cans of dry meat, he then used a fire jutsu to make a bonfire, much to the amazement of the little girl since she has never seen a ninja before.
After some minutes of cooking, the trio ate while chatting amicably with the girl who couldn't get enough of their company and the food. Night was arriving though and both Naruto and Tsunami had to leave.
"D-do y-you really h-have to l-leave?" Emi whispered sadly while looking down at the ground.
Neither Naruto nor Tsunami wanted to leave the girl alone but as long as Gatō was in charge of the country, Naruto could not do much. He caressed her pale cheeks and gently said, "Yes Emi, I'm sorry, but there are things we need to do but I promise you, I will come every day to visit and I have a surprise for you, you just gotta wait three days, aight?"
The little girl smiled a little but was still scared the she won't see the two again, so said, "Y-you pro-promise?"
Naruto smiled warmly and then took a black butterfly-shaped hairpin that he always carries around from his pocket, he looked at it for some seconds while thinking, 'Is time… is time for me to let go of this pain for you… you are in a better place now and I know you'll be suffering if I keep remembering you like this… it's time to look at the front… to the future… Miko…' He looked at the girl and placed the hairpin on the little girl's blond hair and said with a melancholic voice, "This hairpin belonged to a person I loved dearly, she died a while ago and this was all I had left of her, but now, it belongs to you…" He then rested his hand on the girl's shoulder who was now sobbing slightly but Naruto knew it was out of happiness, so continued, "This represents my promise to you, okay?"
The girl jumped at him again and Naruto could feel her small head nodding against his chest, the two stayed like this for some seconds when she then jumped at Tsunami and hugged her tightly, which the older woman happily returned with some tears in her eyes, "I promise you Emi…" Tsunami whispered before looking at Naruto who was smiling while seeing them, "…things will get better."
The girl nodded and soon after, Naruto and Tsunami left. After some distance, Naruto placed a genjutsu around the area that will dispel sending a pulse of chakra to him in the event any hostile intent is detected.
Tsunami could not stop looking at Naruto, she was enamoured by him, he was kind but realistic as well, he showed her something that she has never seen before, the actual will to change the world. She has heard many people saying that they wanted to change the way the world moves but none of them had the determination to achieve it, but Naruto was different, she didn't know the extent of his power but his will alone was immense, she could see it in his eyes, the fire to make this a better world, the determination to stop at naught, and for the first time in her life, she was not afraid anymore because she now knew, the amazing young man walking beside her, was going to change the world.
Unbeknownst to them, a blue-haired beauty was watching them the whole time and like Tsunami, she was entranced by Naruto's attitude. She has only seen this kind of act once in her life and it was with her late best friend, who showed the same kindness to her when the two met in the middle of the Second Great War and offered to accompany her to try and survive by themselves.
'He… he's so much like Yahiko…' She thought with a sad smile on her porcelain face. She still didn't know if this silver-haired jinchūriki was Itachi's so called legacy since she could not see his eyes, but seeing the way he acted towards that orphan and how genuinely angry he was for the country's state, she was inclined to believe he was.
'Instead of amassing power for himself like us, he's nurturing the new generation by showing them kindness… just like Yahiko believed…' She continued her thoughts, now feeling guiltier than ever due to her actions and the way she decided to turn a blind eye when Nagato lost his way. Seeing the great impact that a simple action like giving a small orphan girl a tent, covers and food made, opened her eyes a little bit more.
'I need to see him eye to eye… I need to…' She thought with a needy look in her eyes, her interest in the jinchūriki and the things she just saw in only one day have begun to awaken a sleeping part of Konan that she thought she would never see again, the part of her that still believed in true peace.
As the days passed by, Naruto and Tsunami kept their promise to Emi, Tsunami visited the small girl the past three days while Naruto visited two since one of those days he had to guard Tazuna at the bridge. In those days, Tsunami bought her some clothes and her health seemed to be slightly better thanks to now being able to eat three times a day, but now, three days after they met the blonde little girl, it was time for Naruto to reveal the surprise.
"Yo Nami! Wanna go with me to reveal Emi's surprise!?" Naruto said excitedly to the beautiful single mother. He made sure to seize the chance they have now that Sasuke is at the bridge with Tazuna and Sakura is with Kakashi on the woods training, with them gone an Inari being his bratty-self locked in his room, they had the chance to act more friendly towards each other.
Smiling widely at the silverette, Tsunami nodded eagerly and replied, "Oh god yes! I've been dying to see what this 'surprise' is!…" She finished cleaning the dishes and went towards the stairs to scream, "Inari sweetie, I need to go to the village so I'll be back later, Naruto's with me so don't worry, okay?" She waited a few seconds for a reply but after nothing came, she just sighed sadly and turned towards Naruto to leave.
"Don't worry Nami, he'll grow up eventually." Naruto said, knowing how much Inari's whimsical attitude saddened the young mother.
"I hope so…" Tsunami replied with a warm smile, really thankful to have the support that she so greatly missed since Kaiza's death, with Naruto around, she felt stronger and more confident, "But enough with the gloominess, let's go!" She exclaimed more happily, really eager to see what Naruto had in store for their gorgeous little Emi.
Smirking, the silverette Namikaze nodded and with that, the two left the house. It didn't took them long to arrive to Emi's tent since Naruto made sure to place it near Tsunami's house in case any of Gatō's men got any funny ideas, just a few minutes of walking inside the woods that surrounded the property. Soon, they found the small blonde seating at the shore with a medium sized fishing rod that Tsunami had given her after she started teaching the little blonde how to fish, seeing this, the two smiled proudly after seeing the girl that used to be so frail now trying to get her own food.
"Hey Emi!" Tsunami happily greeted.
Hearing the melodic voice that she now knew and loved so much, Emi frantically turned towards Tsunami and Naruto who were standing beside each other and quickly dropped the rod to the ground, she jumped to her feet and quickly made her way towards the two, throwing her small arms at the pair in a bear hug, "Nami! Naru! I'm so happy to see you!" Emi exclaimed happily, tightening the hug with all the strength she could muster.
"And we're happy to see you too, Emi." Tsunami said lovingly while petting the blonde's little head affectionately.
Gently releasing the hug, Naruto kneeled down to eye level and said to the excited girl, "Now Emi, do you know what day is today?"
Tilting her head a little, confused for some minutes, Emi then widened her eyes after remembering and said with even more excitement, "Yes! Yes! You said you'd give me a s-surprise!"
Ruffling the girl's blonde locks, the silver-haired Uzumaki smirked fiercely and said, "Correct! Are you ready for your surprise?"
Nodding eagerly, the little girl exclaimed yes and Naruto laughed a little at her excitement, he couldn't blame her though, she's been an orphan since her father was killed by Gatō's man two years ago and hasn't had any gift or anything she could call her own since then. Naruto then walked towards the tent and then grabbed a scroll from his pouch, getting inside the tent, he opened the scroll and poured some chakra into it, he then walked out of the tent and seconds later, the tent and all the things inside disappeared into the scroll.
Both females were confused as to what Naruto was doing but since now both of them knew that he was full of surprises, they just shrugged it off and waited for the unveil, "Come Emi, Nami." Naruto said while extending his left hand which the little blonde quickly grabbed with her own, she then used her free hand to grab Tsunami's right hand and the trio began to walk.
They walked for some minutes, a little closer to Tsunami's house but a little deeper into the woods, Naruto then suddenly stopped and grabbed two cloths from his jacket's pocket, "Aight, let me put this on ya!" He said. The two other people just nodded eagerly and allowed Naruto to cover their eyes with the cloths and after covering them, he grabbed both ladies by their hands and led them through the woods.
It didn't took them long to arrive to the place Naruto had prepared the surprise though, just a couple of minutes more of walking. He then stopped and released the ladies' hands in order to get behind them, "Are ya girls ready?" He asked and after seeing their nod as yes, Naruto smirked and grabbed the knots of the cloths and gently pulled them to untie them and allow them to see.
When they could finally see again, both Tsunami and Emi were speechless, there, in front of their eyes, there was a beautiful small cottage. The cottage was extremely cute, the inferior part of the house was made of sturdy rock while the upper part, including the roof, was made of wood, the cottage had a window on the left side of the front beside the door, "Come on…" Naruto said after allowing them some seconds of sightseeing. He then grabbed their hands and pulled them with him, he walked into the house with them so they could see the interior.
They were stunned again after seeing the simple beauty of it, inside, there was small table in the middle of the room with three chairs, on the far side of the room, there was a stove and a sink with a few utensils kept on the upper cabinets above the stove, there was also a small chimney on the left side of the room and a small window near the kitchen area, "Come on…" He said again, pulling them towards the stairs that were behind the wall where the stove and the kitchen were. They walked through the stairs and soon they got to the second floor which was as cute as the first one, on the far side of the room, there was a medium sized bed, a small desk on the right and a wardrobe on the opposite wall to the stairs, there was also a door that led them to a medium sized bathroom, quite comfortable actually. He then took them back down stairs and sat on one of the chairs before saying, "Well Emi, what'cha think about the house?"
The little blonde tilted her head a little and said, "I th-think is r-really cute N-Naru! Whoever lives here i-is very lucky." She fidgeted her fingers while looking around.
Tsunami already had an idea of what was going on since she was quietly tearing up, 'I don't believe it… he built this house for her… god… that's not fair Naruto…' She thought, overwhelmed by the kindness Naruto was displaying and at the same time whining because Naruto was making it hard for Tsunami to resist him.
Seeing that Emi hasn't figure it out yet, Naruto reached her head and patted it affectionately while saying, "What'cha talkin 'bout Emi!? This is YOUR home now."
Said girl's eyes went wide as saucers, her little brain could not believe what was happening to her, three days ago, she was struggling to get a small piece of bread and now, this incredibly kind person was giving her a home, "W-what?…" She whispered weakly, still hoping that this was not a dream and that soon she'll wake up on the alley again.
Smiling warmly at the teary eyed girl, Naruto explained, "This is the surprise I had for ya, you see, I have a technique that allows me to create physical clones of myself, for the past three days, I had twenty clones working on building this house for ya, this is your new home Emi and no, it's not a dream." He then picked the small girl up and hugged her tightly, she couldn't stop the tears from falling anymore and cried freely.
"Thank you, I love you so much Naru…" She repeated those words over and over again, making Naruto feel a sense of happiness he's never felt before, seeing the happiness the small girl was showing made his resolve to fight for a better world and to stop at naught stronger than ever. He didn't know now, but this small gift to Emi was a big step towards a brighter future.
Tsunami was openly crying as well, she could not express how much she was touched by this incredible man. He built a house by himself just for Emi and he had asked nothing in return, not even recognition, she just touched her chest and thought while looking at Naruto hugging Emi tightly, 'How I wish you could stay here… I really wish I had a chance with you…' She couldn't stop the sadness to flow, she wanted him to stay here, she wanted this precious man to be by her side but she knew it would be incredibly selfish, he was needed, the world needed him, for he was the only one that could make such great feats as this, seem so small and easy.
After Emi calmed down, the trio helped her settle up in her new home, Naruto explained all she needed to know about the house and left a map for her that showed the way to Tsunami's house, the village and the lake so she wouldn't get lost. He had also placed the same genjutsu around the cottage so she would be safe. After helping her, Tsunami went to the small kitchen and made some food for the three, they stayed there talking amicably, giving the vibe of a happy family.
Just like three days ago, Konan was intently watching the scene from afar and just like Tsunami, she was stunned, she never thought that the jinchūriki would go and spend so much energy to build the cute blond-haired girl a new home, sure, It was small, just for her, but she knew that no one, including herself, would have done such a fantastic deed. Now more than ever, she was eager to meet him face to face but she knew she needed to be careful, for she did not know if the silverette knew of her organization's goals.
"GRR STOP IT ALREADY!…" A visibly furious 8 year old screamed in the middle of having dinner with his family and the Leaf ninja. He was getting furious at seeing everyone, including his mother and grandfather, acting so carefree, they were laughing and exchanging stories and he couldn't take it anymore, "STOP ACTING AS IF YOU HAD ANY CHANCE! YOU'RE NOT HEROES! YOU'LL JUST DIE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!" Inari added while slamming his hands against the table.
Everybody except Naruto were startled by the sudden outburst, Tazuna was kind of expecting it sooner or later but still, he was feeling a little embarrassed by his grandson's bratty attitude, "Inari please calm d…" Tsunami was saying, trying to calm her raging son and also feeling really embarrassed and sad at the black-haired kid's attitude before being rudely cut off by him.
"NO! EVEN YOU'RE ACTING AS IF EVERYTHING'S ALRIGHT! IT'S USELESS DON'T YOU SEE!? WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" He whined while pointing accusingly to the ninja.
"Kid, shut up and eat, respect the effort your mother put into making us dinner and don't talk so rudely to her, so shut it and eat." A very calm Naruto said coldly, making everyone flinch due to the authority his voice carried, although Tsunami could feel her special place heating up badly after being defended by the silverette that has captivated her so much.
Inari did lose some of his confidence after hearing such strong voice coming from the still eating Naruto, but he still wanted to show them off so he gathered enough courage to say, "S-shut u-up! Y-you don't even k-know how m-much we've s-suffered! You i-idiots k-know nothing a-about pain!…" Inari wanted to keep going and retort angrily at them, but he had to stop when suddenly, it turned really hard to breathe and for what he could see, everyone, including the ninjas except Naruto, were having the same problem.
Putting his chopsticks aside, Naruto calmly and elegantly cleaned his mouth with a napkin before turning to lock his gaze to Inari's eyes to say with a cold and powerful low voice, "Is that so, huh?… tell me kid, have you been stabbed in the gut when you were three? Have you been forced to eat food from the trash to avoid starvation? Have you lived on the streets with nothing but your ragged clothes for at least a day? Have you been spat, insulted, punched, kicked and almost assassinated by your own village for carrying something that was forced into you? Or perhaps, have you seen your whole family being massacred by your own brother? Have you?…" He asked the now sobbing and greatly scared boy. Seeing that he didn't had the strength to even stutter, Uzumaki continued, "Then I suggest you to shut the hell up kid, because you still have a wonderful mother who takes care of you and who loves you, you still have a grandfather that gets you the things you need to live, you may know pain kid, but you know NOTHING about despair!…" He finished, unconsciously releasing more of his suffocating presence, that's when he turned to see Tsunami who was breathing heavily, this broke Naruto out of his anger and immediately cut his aura off, "I'm sorry for this Tsunami, it was uncalled of me." He apologized while standing up and walking to the door to leave but was stopped by a voice.
"N-naru, w-where are you g-going?" Sakura asked with a weak whisper, still catching her breath after her silverette teammate's show of power when angry.
"I need to cool off, don't wait for me." Naruto replied dryly and with that, he left the house.
Turning around, the pink-haired kunoichi turned towards her sensei and other teammate and said a little worriedly, "D-don't you think someone s-should go with him? H-he looked r-really pissed off." A sentiment that was shared by a worried Tsunami since she has never seen this side of Naruto before.
"Nah, when Naruto gets like this he tends to get 'destructive', you'll end up hurt if you get in his way when angry, he'll cool off so don't worry." Sasuke replied calmly, shivering a little when the memory of the time he accidently walked into a really pissed off Naruto came to his mind.
Sakura just nodded a little reluctantly but this time, Tsunami asked, "W-what he said… i-is it true?" She knew some stuff about him, like him being a jinchūriki and that Sasuke was the last Uchiha, since they have grown really close and have talked about their lives a lot, but he never said anything about the abuse he's been through, so hearing it now, was pretty painful for her.
Sighing deeply, Kakashi nodded sadly while saying, "I'm afraid so, one of the things he said didn't happened to him but the rest did, I was there to see it, and even I had to be convinced to not to take Naruto and leave the Leaf since I was getting really pissed off, but all the pain he's been through has turned him into the man he is now." He gave them an eye smile that everyone could see carried a lot of regret in it.
With that, everyone stayed silent, only the sobs of the still shocked and crying Inari could be heard in the house. Minutes later, Tsunami carried Inari to his room while the rest of the people present turned in for the day, knowing that Naruto will likely not come back for the night.
"Stupid brat…" Naruto mumbled angrily while throwing a lightning wolf to a tree, destroying it completely, "Thinking he's suffering… if it wasn't for Nami, I would have really kicked his sorry ass…" He added while throwing a hurricane of wind blades to a group of trees who shared the same fatal fate that the last tree had.
Seeing that he's successor was not cooling off at all, Ddraig decided to speak, "Calm down boy, you're losing it." The mighty god warned.
Sighing deeply, Naruto tried to calm himself but he was just getting angrier and angrier, "I know! I'm fucking trying but I fucking can't, dammit!" He then subconsciously threw a rasengan towards another group of trees but when he saw the ball of chakra on his hand, he got a little freaked out, "Wh-what the h-hell!?..." On his hand, instead of the regular blue ball of chakra, there was a pitch-black ball that was even uncomfortable to see due to the blackness it had, the ball had an eerie crimson hue around it, dancing like flames.
Shaking his hand frighteningly, the ball of black energy clashed with the ground and a very powerful explosion resulted, creating a medium size crater in the process. He was going to say something but when he noticed his hand again, he was again freaked out when he saw the strange energy still surrounding his hand, similar to how Ddraig's cloak looked whenever he releases it, "Wh-what the h-hell is this!?…" He muttered while shaking his hand, trying to get rid of the strange energy.
'Hm, it seems her awakening it's starting to affect his power, interesting…' Ddraig thought while watching the scene with great interest. He then decided to calm his freaked out container saying, "Relax brat, that's demonic power, your anger must have called on it subconsciously."
Widening his eyes, Naruto made his great confusion known when he asked the dragon, "D-demonic power!? Oi, what the hell is that!?"
Sighing tiredly, the Red Dragon Emperor replied, "Exactly that, power drawn from pure darkness itself."
Staring at his still covered hand, he got over his initial scare and said more calmly, "But why would I have this? Is it you? Or what?"
"While I do can control it since I am the god that governs it, this power does not comes from me, but it does not comes from you either." The dragon replied.
Tilting his head in confusion, he said, "Then, from whom?"
"I'm still not sure, but I'll figure it out soon." Ddraig said. He was lying though, he knew exactly where that power was coming from but he still thought that Naruto was still too emotional right now to know the truth, so he wanted to wait until the Uzumaki calmed down to tell him.
"Alright…" Naruto said while sighing. He continued to look at the demonic energy when he remembered something, "Where have I seen this before?…" He muttered as he cupped his chin and narrowed his eyes in thought. Some seconds after, it finally hit him, "Oh shit, yo! The girl that's been watching me! The ANBU that's not an ANBU! That silver-haired hottie used this when she helped mah clone with those damn six-legged bastards!" He got confused again after realizing that fact. Knowing that Ddraig probably knew best, he decided to ask, "It was the same thing, right D?"
"I don't know for sure since I wasn't there with your clone, but from your memories, it does seemed like demonic energy." Ddraig replied and after hearing his own words, he too realized something he really wish he hadn't, 'Hm, if that woman can use demonic energy that means she's a descendant of that bastard…' He thought, restraining his boiling anger after remembering someone he greatly disliked.
"I guess we won't know until I see her face to face again." The Namikaze thought. After some seconds, he finally was able to calm his anger down and soon, the demonic energy coating his hand disappeared, "It's late and I don't really want to continue destroying shit, better go back now." He muttered.
Naruto then made his way back towards Tsunami's house, he arrived after some minutes of tree hopping but before he could enter the house, he saw the figure of a beautiful blue-haired female sitting on one of the decks surrounding the house, 'Nami!? What's she doing here at this hour?...' Naruto thought after he confirmed the scent of the young single mother.
He then walked towards her and he could hear the faint sounds of sobbing, so getting worried, he hurried a little and said, "Nami…" He sat next to her and continued, "Are you okay?"
Tsunami was startled at first but when she recognized Naruto, she quickly turned to the side to avoid his gaze so he could not see her puffy eyes. After calming herself a little, she managed to say, "Y-yes Naru, I-I was just h-having trouble sleeping, that's all."
Not believing a word, Naruto gently grabbed Tsunami's chin and forced her to look at him, he then saw her puffy eyes and said gently, "You're crying Nami, tell me what's wrong."
Not able to deny it anymore, she smiled a little but still tried to avoid the question when she said, "I should be the one asking you that, you got me pretty worried when you left."
Snorting a little after seeing her clear attempt to shift focus, he replied none the less when he said, "Yeah, but I already cooled off so stop avoiding the question, what's wrong?" Naruto finished with a more commanding tone that Tsunami could not fight back anymore.
Looking down sadly, she replied with a voice that was barely a whisper, "I-it's just… after s-seeing Inari today… I… feel like such a failure as a mother…" Tears then started to form again but she continued, "Seeing him so lost in his own pain… I failed Naru… I've tried to get him out of that attitude but… I just can't do it…" She finished while hugging herself, not able to stop her tears anymore.
Getting a little angry at Inari again for seeing how much his attitude was affecting such a kind and beautiful woman, Naruto gently grabbed her shoulder and forced her to look straight at him again when he said, "Nami stop that, you didn't failed, Inari's just lost in his own selfishness, for what I can see, you've been there for him every day, it's not your fault that he's the one that's lying to himself, he's just putting up excuses to stop himself from actually doing something, I know you've done all you can to make him smile again, but when someone just don't want to face the truth, it doesn't matter how much you try, they won't open their eyes unless they want to." He cleaned her tears with his thumb while gently caressing her shoulder, giving her a small but warm smile as well.
Seeing the truth in his words and the genuine care for her in his eyes, Tsunami couldn't stop the small smile form appearing on her face when she replied, "You're right Naru… I just hope Inari opens his eyes soon so I can see him smile again…"
Caressing her cheek, the silverette said, "I'm sure he will."
The two spent some moments lost in each other's eyes, totally at peace. Tsunami broke the comfortable silence though, when she said, "Y-you know… I… I was really happy when… you scolded Inari and said such wonderful things about me." She looked down timidly while a cute blush was starting forming on her cheeks.
"Really?" Naruto replied, smirking inwardly when he realized that this might be his opportunity with her.
Nodding slightly, she looked down for some seconds before she brought her gaze up again when she said, "Yes… it made me feel… supported… protected… safe…" She then looked to the lake trying to avoid his eyes due to the embarrassment of her confession.
Naruto felt a little embarrassed as well, he never thought his words would have such an impact but seeing that Tsunami has been suffering from loneliness for some time now, he understood.
Naruto decided to make his move now so he brought his hands towards her cheeks and then suddenly, kissed her deeply. Tsunami at first went wide-eyed due to the sudden move but she soon lost herself into her own feelings and quickly brought her hands around his neck in order to deepen the kiss. They kissed for some seconds before the necessity to breathe knocked the door, they broke down the kiss and Tsunami just locked her dazed eyes to Naruto, she never felt such rush running down her body, she could even feel that her vagina was starting to drip by just this kiss, 'God…' Was all her dazed mind could gather.
Smirking devilishly after seeing her dazed expression, Naruto continued caressing her cheeks when he said with a loving voice, "Tsunami, do you want to keep feeling the same with me?"
Getting out of her daze, Tsunami said with a whisper, "Y-yes Naruto… I… I want y-you to m-make me feel like t-that… always…"
Smiling, Naruto couldn't stop feeling nervous knowing that it was time to reveal the truth to the beautiful single mother, "Before you say that, there are some things you need to know first but I need you to promise me that you'll let me finish all I have to say before you give me your answer, okay? If after what I say to you, you still want to be with me, then I promise you, I will protect you, support you and cherish you forever." He said with a serious voice.
Feeling a little confused by his words, Tsunami really wanted to be with him after such amazing kiss so she nodded none the less and with that, Naruto began to explain his ambition and how was he with her help, going to achieve it.
A/N: There ya go! Thanks for continuing reading the story, I hope you liked the chapter and don't forget to vote on the poll! See ya later, cheers!
