The Will of Chakra

Chapter 9: Legitimacy

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto: it is the property of Kishimoto. This story will feature blood and violence, readers easily offended are forewarned. This will be a dark story, with heavy AU and character death. But even in the darkest night, light can be seen.

The Wave Arc and Extra…

-From the Notes of Naruto Uzumaki-

At the time of their founding, the Five Great Ninja Villages did not actually include Kiri. Kirigakure was created last of the great villages, and acted as a vassal to Uzushio, serving as the muscle to give Uzumaki time to prepare complex seals. A number of Kiri ninja were even small parts Uzumaki, and the First Mizukage was actually an Uzumaki. However, the second Mizukage broke the close ties between the two villages, and set out to make Kiri independent. This movement saw its culmination in the sack of Uzushio, when the Third Mizukage aided in the destruction of Uzushio. The Bloody Mist then began the persecution of the Uzumaki which executed hundreds of loyal shinobi for bearing the blood of a people that their leader had declared enemies. The dissention eventually led to a coup which elevated Yagura, the fourth Mizukage.

Soon after Yagura came under the influence of an Uchiha with the Sharingan eye and began the second blood purge in the history of the Bloody Mist. This led many of the most famous shinobi to either leaving and become missing nin, or rebelling against their leader again. The attempts to remove Yagura were unsuccessful for years because of the fractured nature of the shinobi, most of whom tried to assassinate the Jinchuriki Kage either alone or with only a small personal force.

Kiri was created as a warrior society, and it reaps in peace what it sows in war. Learn from their mistakes to better yourself.

-Wave, Tazuna's house-

"I send your souls to the gods, and pray that you will find redemption from your crimes. May your soul be free from the evils of this life, and be purified of the evils that you did in this world. As your body returns to dust your soul flies to the gods to be weighed. I pray that your soul be pure and clean of murder, clean of rape, clean of theft, clean of slander, and clean of all dishonors. For the murderers will suffer pain, the rapists decay, the thieves loss, the liars uncertainty, and the dishonorable are doomed to suffer unlearning. The earth was made by the gods, and all who defy them will suffer their wrath! I stand as their messenger, and their executioner. Find your peace as you meet your makers."

Team Gai stood silently watching the ceremony in front of them as Naruto prayed over the freshly dug graves. Neji broke the heavy silence with a stomp. "Why are you praying over their graves, they were just bandits, they don't deserve it. Shouldn't you be preparing to take out the living ones instead of praying over the dead?"

The Poltergeist fixed him with a withering glare. "You value life too lowly, Hyuuga. Even bandits are alive. They have mother and fathers, and some of them wives and children, or others who love them or rely on them. Even if it is for the greater good, lives should not be shortened lightly."

'Hypocrite, you're alive too.'

"And I choose to sacrifice it. Such is my gift to those who care for me and the world."

'You obstinate fool…'

"Allow me to tell you a story. There once was a young man who thought he could be a hero and save the day by killing all the bad guys so everyone would live happily ever after. He went out into the countryside and began killing every bandit he found. One day, as the young man was collecting everything that the bandits had stolen in order to return it, he found a picture. The picture was of a man and a wife holding their newborn. The man was a bandit whom the boy had just killed. Wracked with sorrow, he traveled to all of near-by towns and villages, searching for the man's wife and daughter. When he found the woman, he fell to his knees and begged for forgiveness. The woman smiled and said it wasn't his fault, since her husband was a bandit. She explained that he had lost his job as a guard since a ninja assassinated his charge while he was on shift. With no other options her husband joined a group of bandits to support her and her daughter. The young man took it upon himself to provide for the woman to atone for killing her husband, and the woman gave a mysterious smile before agreeing. The next day the young man came to the apartment where they lived and found that the woman had hung herself, and the infant was left alone. The young man took care of the girl as if she was his own sister, and every year visits the grave of the two who taught him the worth of all life."

A harsh silence settled over the group interrupted only by the sniffle of barely constrained tears.

"That young man has been called a hero by many, but he knows that he isn't. But he sets his face into a mask of indifference and focuses on his mission to protect lives and families while he tramples over them. But that is the path that he chose, and he will sacrifice everything he has and is to prepare the way so that someone can come and bring peace and harmony to this world." The armored figure turned away from the group. "That's enough stories for now. I have recovered enough to take on the bandits. Don't let my story get you soft, show them no mercy."

Lee wiped his eyes on Neji's cloak. "But-… Can't we just knock them out or something? Do we have to kill them?"

"I already gave them another chance. They know their actions are evil, they know that I have punished others, and I warned them in person when I arrived. Three warning they have previously ignored. If they cannot learn, they must be removed."

This time it was Lee who objected. "What would that girl say if she saw you say that?"

His voice lost its rumble and seemed to come from a mile away. "Her name was Miko. She was raped and killed by group of bandits that I had warned, incapacitated, even maimed some of them. After I left them alive for the fifth time, they attacked the temple where she was staying. There were no survivors. I arrived too late because I was focused on catching a missing nin who had taken to burning villages. That was the first time I used my special seal to kill an enemy." He looked back at them, showing a single tear that had escaped his helmet and ran down his armor. He spoke with renewed conviction after a single deep breath. "Let us move."

Neji followed his team as they took off, letting his thoughts dwell once again on the armored man. "Bold words for a coward that hides behind armor and a mask. Destiny comes for us all, and those who cannot learn to accept their place and roll will be crushed by the tide. Just wait, your steel will drag you under, and I will float along the river."

-Wave, Bandit Camp-

Where there had once been a coastal plain full of trees now stood a large, unorganized, but most importantly, completely silent bandit camp. There was no sound of partying, nor fighting, not even of snoring. A Thick ocean fog had rolled in obscuring everything from sight. The shinobi cautiously picked through the camp searching with all of their senses for any sign of their enemy, but they found none.

Rather the enemy found them.

Zabuza appeared casually rubbing the blood into his blade. The Konoha ninja took up a battle formation, but were caught off guard when the Zabuza in front of them disappeared into a puddle of water, only for another to appear in the middle of their formation, holding its sword against the throat of an unmoving Naruto. Team Gai tried to intervene, but were swatted away by more copies, before the original moved his blade just under the armed teen's chin. "You're taking all of this better than expected, Mister Poltergeist. I hope you aren't trusting your armor to protect you, Kubikiri Hancho can cut through this like rice paper."

"You killed everyone here, didn't you."

"Calm, aren't you boy. Or is that just arrogance, I still don't know. That's the point of my visit here, really. Tommorrow, before the sun has finished rising, you will come to the bridge and bring the three shinobi you captured. We'll have a good old fashioned duel to see if you're really what they say. Should you refuse-" The swordsman released the teen and swiftly disappeared into the mist. "That town will meet the same fate as this village."

The Konoha shinobi, no longer threatened by the loss of their comrade, quickly defeated the water clones and made to chase after Zabuza, but were stopped by Naruto. The exception to that being Neji, who disregarded the Poltergeist's call to fall back, and instead followed his sensei's vague instruction to "Not Extinguish his youth". He charged forward, unconcerned since he followed destiny, and quickly ran into fog, and fell into darkness not much later.

-Tazuna's House-

"What! One of your team mates has gone missing? I'll call the others, we can organize-"

"Shhh, shh. Calm down honey, you need to rest. Father can gather the neighbors. You aren't in any shape to do anything but rest for at least a month." Tsunami did her best to calm her husband, who was supposed to be lying back in bed to let his shoulders recover from their near removal at the hands of Gato's thugs.

"We're sorry, but it's likely that he was taken by a missing ninja. It would be too dangerous for a civilian to try to hunt him down." Gai was once again serious, running damage control after his unrestrained volume alerted their hosts to their missing comrade.

"Non-sense. We can't rely on you for everything. I'll help take back my home with- ow, ow, ow."

"See, you're in no shape to work. Just let the ninjas take care of this, Please."

The Poltergeist walked forward and kneeled at Kaiza's bedside. "You fought for your family, country, and what you thought was right. You're already a hero that was willing to face death. I should have been there sooner, so you wouldn't have been hurt. I cannot change that now, but I can do this for you. So please, allow us to take care of this for you."

Kaiza carefully placed his hand on the teen's armored head. "You're a hero here as well. You can grow stronger so that this doesn't happen again, and wisdom will come with time, but what is truly important is your courage to do something about the criminals like him. You have a good heart. Inari could stand to learn something from you."

"Dad! I'm not the kid you had to save from drowning anymore! I've grown up!"

"You may say you've grown, but you're still a little squirt."

"Dad!" The man let out a hearty laugh, which earned him a glare from his wife. He motioned with his hand for the boy to come closer, and would have leapt off the bed to tickle his son if his wife hadn't grabbed his hand to stop him.

Naruto stood and turned to leave. He paused for a second and looked back at the father-son scene playing out in front of him. "Inari, your dad is a real Hero. Grow up to be like him." He turned back to leave and saw the two informed members of team Gai staring at him with concern in their eyes. "Every boy's first hero is his father. The lucky ones never have to change that." He walked past them and gave his last thoughts from the open doorway. "I'll be attending the prisoners. You should get some rest, tomorrow's battle will likely expand to include you as well."

As the door closed Tenten sank into her thoughts, only to be dragged out of them by Lee. "Is Poltergeist-san feeling ill, his actions seemed... hurt."

"He's fine physically… he was just remembering…"

Lee folded his hands the same way Naruto had over the graves. "I hope he gets better soon."

-Bridge, Next Morning-

Four figures waded through the early morning fog, monitored by three shadows following. The lead figure stopped where the coast met the bridge and pushed the three figured behind him forward. A metallic voice echoed over the water. "We're here, Zabuza. The next move is yours."

A body came flying through the fog, and came to rest at Naruto's feet, which was quickly revealed as a lightly smirking but badly bruised and unconscious Neji. "I've rarely been so disappointed in my life. I catch a Hyuuga, but he's absolutely powerless. He couldn't even dispel one of my water clones, or dodge an attack. I don't get what Ao saw in those eyes, but he's only good for a hostage. I spared his life on credit, if you disappoint I'll kill him and deliver his body to Kumo for a bounty. Now, fight me seriously, Poltergeist!"

Naruto calmly placed a hand over his heart, before reaching to his shoulder and channeling chakra through a seal. A brief flash of sparks from a weak lightning jutsu traveled to the joints of the armor and separated them, allowing the steel to easily slide off of his body, revealing a hooded cloak bound to his body. "I have no more time to play your games anymore, Zabuza, so I'm going to show you how I earned my title." From beneath the cloak chains began to rattle. The wind picked up and began to howl. The ground began to shake and released a thick purple mist. Zabuza quickly turned around when he heard the chains from his opposite side, but saw only an apparition of mist. When he turned back, the cloaked figure had disappeared, and the rattling of the chains was soon surrounding him. "I send your soul to the gods, and pray that you will find redemption for your crimes." Chains emerged from the ground and wrapped around his legs, coiling around his entire body and began to drag him down. "The murderers will suffer pain, the rapists decay, the thieves loss, the liars uncertainty, and the dishonorable are doomed to suffer unlearning." Skeletal hands began to tear at his flesh as the ground in front of him began to shift and rise, transforming into the face of an enormous ghoul. "I stand as their messenger, and their executioner! Find your peace as you meet your makers." The ghoul opened its mouth and ate the Demon of the Mist.

The three conscious Konoha shinobi gaped at what they saw. The famed A-rank missing-nin stood as a statue in a crater, wrapped in chains. They had heard the chains, but weren't able to see anything through the haze, and unable to draw closer as they were focusing on keeping the three Kiri shinobi from interfering.

Naruto rose unsteadily to his feet wearing the hood of his cloak low enough to hide his face. "Come, our work is not done yet. Gato has hired more mercenaries, he must be killed. "

The sound of cracking stone drew their attention. The stone trapping the shinobi sprouted cracks before shattering along with the chains. "An interesting trick, boy, trapping your opponent in a slowly escalating Genjutsu as you immobilize and suffocate them. But such an insubstantial trick won't work on a real shinobi." Kubikiri Hancho found its way into his hands. "You need to earn your rank with blood and steel."

The Poltergeist spoke without looking back at his companions. "Leave the Kiri ninja to me, take care of Gato."

Gai and Lee took off immediately, but Tenten stayed behind. She pulled out a scroll from her side, and ran a blooded finger over the seal in its center. An ornate sword appeared in a burst of light, and she bound it to her waist. "Naruto-kun, let's take him down together! It will be just like when we were kids again."

A hand landed on her shoulder. "No. Take Neji and help you team-mates."

"Naruto, why-"

"Ten-chan! … Trust me to take care of this." He cast off the cloak revealing that he wore no shirt underneath; leaving his bronzed muscles revealed for the weapon girl's appreciating eyes. She thought she could even see light coming from underneath his skin, sparks seeming to fly across the myriad of small scars. "This is a test for me to pass alone. I won't hold back anymore."

He pulled out his oversized crystalline blade, and she took a moment to appreciate the beauty of the straight sword. "Fine, but you'd better give me his sword after you're done, am I clear?"

He gave a chuckle and walked past her without answering.

"Well, if it isn't one surprise after another. Not only is the Poltergeist an Uzumaki as I suspected, but he's the son of the Yellow Flash, and he's already whipped. Mei's going to be so sad that you have a girlfriend already, she was hoping to be able to bribe you with kisses and flirting."

"We've passed the point of joking, Zabuza. It's time to be serious." In less than the blink of an eye, Naruto was already in front of the elder swordsman, the point of his sword stopped at the last moment by Kubikiri Hancho. "That is, unless you plan to die here."

Tenten slung her unconscious teammate over her back and took off toward the Bridge Builder's house. The two swordsmen stood with their swords at the ready, watching the other for a sign to attack. The demon Brothers broke the stalemate by charging into an attack. They lacked weapons, so they attempted to chorale him with water bullets. Rather than moving away from the attacks, instead he showed amazing agility moving around the jutsu and quickly closing the ground between them sever a hand from each of the brothers.

Zabuza took the opportunity to send a slice aiming to cleave the boy at his waist. The strike was pulled, but the speed of the parry still caught him off guard. The swordsman of the Mist received a shallow cut the length of his chest, but his own counterattack was poised to remove the teen's outstretched arm. Naruto released the sword from his left hand and quickly drew that arm back as he caught his weapon with the other. He aimed a stab at the man's shoulder, but that was merely a distraction. His left hand grabbed the dull side of his opponent's sword with a grip that could bend iron and pulled.

Faced with the choice of losing his sword or losing his balance leaving him open, Zabuza chose the second. He wrenched the handle of his blade against the teen's grip and barely managed to throw himself out of the path of the stab, but had no time to land gracefully, leaving him face-down in the dirt with only a light cut on his shoulder. He felt the weight of a foot placed on his back and sensed the blade pointing between his shoulder blades. "You're moving in slow motion, Zabuza. Are you certain that you deserve your rank?"

"This old soldier isn't out of tricks yet, boy."

A water clone left in reserve was carelessly dispatched by the teen. "I hope you don't mind my doubt. You only earn your rank through your surprise attacks. You cannot use substitution while I'm touching you, and your water clones are far too weak."

"I still have one tool left. Show him no mercy." A huge swath of ice senbon came from the ambiguously gendered ninja who had previously been busy tending to the Demon Brothers, trusting in Zabuza to win on his own.

Naruto leapt away to avoid the attacks, after a split second of contemplation. A mass of ice mirrors rose up around the teen as he took a defensive stance. He was able to use his speed and his sword to protect himself, but he never made an attack. Running low on chakra, the ice ninja decided to make one last attack to neutralize the Uzumaki. A hail of needles seemed to come from everywhere at once, the ninja accompanying the attack to ensure its effectiveness.

"Naruto!" A scream came from beyond the fog, followed by first a sharp line of wind, then a shredding ball. The line left a huge gash in the attacking ninja's body, before the following sphere sliced deep gashes throughout the ninja's body. Tenten rushed through the hole in the fog to see Naruto crouching in front of the bloody heap that was once the ice ninja.

"What is your name?"

"Ha… Haku."

"Haku, if I were to give you one more hour to live, what would you do?"

"Prove my worth to Zabuza, and kill you."

The Poltergeist sighed and stood, before turning his blade about his arm and thrusting the handle into the ninja's chest. "Your choice is selfish, but I will give you a final wish and help Zabuza to overthrow the Mizukage. Now rest as your soul goes to the gods, your blood will remain and aid your wish." The previously unadorned handle was now topped by a palm sized crystal the same scarlet as the rest of the sword, but streaked with white. Taking note of Tenten's questioning look he gestured vaguely to the sword. "The Blood Drinker savors unique dishes. But what about you? Didn't I tell you to take care of Gato? I'm quite certain you aren't fast enough to have completed that already."

Tenten put her off hand on her hip and stared him down. "You wanted me to help those two Taijutsu powerhouses take care of a few measly bandits while you were about to get skewered. I think not. I dropped off Neji at a villager's house and rushed back to help you. Speaking of saving you, don't I get any thanks?"

The sound of clapping came before there was any chance for a response. "Congratulations, you beat Haku while he was using his ultimate technique. Unfortunately, that leaves me down a very valuable tool, so I'll need your cooperation as well, girl."

"And why should I help you? Naruto already showed that he's a better swordsman than you, and now he's working together with me, so you don't stand a chance."

"That's some impressive bravado girl, but this isn't some academy spar. While your boyfriend was busy with Haku, I've been setting up my contingency plan. I've placed exploding tags all around this clearing. Your choices are to give me your weapons and help me kill my Kage, or we can all die together." Zabuza glanced at Haku's eviscerated corpse before turning back to the pair. "Or would you prefer me to give you the sentimental backstory for that young kunoichi you just killed? She was a target for the Mizukage's purges, and I saved her from death, but not before that bastard's men had raped her. All I had to do was keep her alive and she worshipped the ground I walked on; That's how bad that bastard was. Isn't that what you do?"

Naruto walked forward with his blade pommel first. "There's no need to tell lies Zabuza, the Mizukage was already on my list of things to do. However, I don't need you alive to take care of that. Think about that before trying to threaten my friends." Zabuza moved his hands as if to form a seal. A chain sprouted out of Naruto's arm and stabbed the man through his wrist. "You had been warned. I thought you were smarter than to assume that your opponent was out of tricks." The chain was soon joined by others of its type, which wound around the man's arm before constricting to crush the appendage. "Your punishment is your prided arm, crushed for the hundreds of innocents you have crushed up to now, and your sword for the still bloodless academy that you slaughtered. A different man would have received death, but you are getting a chance to redeem yourself as an advisor to peace for whomever will become the new Mizukage."
Zabuza had his teeth grit to resist screaming in pain. "Thank you for you eternal and ever flowing generosity, O gift of the gods." The sarcasm was obvious.

"I believe my gifts speak clear enough as to my legitimacy. We'll leave soon, and you'll see with your own eyes what this god's gift can do." He grabbed his cloak slung it back over himself, picked up the dropped cleaver and tossed it to the eagerly expectant girl, and headed down to the ocean. "Tenten, I'm going to wash. Enjoy your new sword."

Tenten stood confused for a minute before racing off to guard her best friend, leaving the crippled Zabuza to tend to his wounds alone.

-Coast-

When Tenten finally found Naruto he was already naked and bathing. As much as her hormones enjoyed the view of a well-toned Naruto directly facing her, she found her eyes drawn to the large tattoo that covered his chest. There was the expanded seal that his father had placed on him, but above that was the tattoo of a spiral made of chains, wrapping around his heart, with the end of the chain burning and slowly but visibly consuming the outside of the seal. The image had her enthralled, and she didn't even notice that her sprint had wetted her thin white blouse with sweat and sea spray, and her chest was heaving.

"Ten-chan; could you please not look at me like that. You're tempting me."

Breaking herself out of her trance, and taking one last look at his whole front, she turned around and tried to catch her breath. "What does the chain spiral on your chest mean? Is it some type of countdown for you?"

Naruto reached for his boxers and pants while contemplating how to answer. "They say that the candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long." He slung the cloak over his shoulders and stepped out of the water. "The seal shows how much life I have left to live. The Uzumaki are born with strong life forces, but I've been burning far too bright. One of my gifts from the gods was healing, but such rapid regeneration shortens my life. To help with that problem Jiraiya and I worked together and made a seal that partially separates my soul from my body. It allows me to burn through my life only half as fast passively, but it also causes me to perceive the word as going twice as fast. One seal of that type is on this cloak and another is on the armor. Together they slow down the consumption of my life to that of a normal person, but they leave me to live largely separated from life."

Tenten turned back around and wrapped him in a hug, crying into his shoulder. Naruto awkwardly held her, almost wishing he hadn't told his friend the truth so she wouldn't be worried. After fifteen minutes of gently patting her on the back, Naruto was able to pull away and offer her a handkerchief to wipe her eyes. She accepted it and cleared her tears, but paused before giving it back, noticing a familiar seal stitched into the corner. "Naruto… Where did you get this?"

"I kept it from when Hime gave it to me." He started running without waiting for his companion. "It was the only thing I kept from my time in Konoha." The girl sprinted to catch up with him and tried to return the piece of cloth, but he pushed her hand back. "Give it back to Hime, the memories are enough." He stopped to pick up and re-equip himself with his armor. Once his face had been covered, he turned to her again, and after an awkward silence of almost a minute he finally spoke. "I'll be leaving for Mist in under an hour to take care of the Mizukage, but I'm going to be in Konoha for the Chunin exams. You are my best friend, and one of the few that truly know me. As your friend, I ask you not to hurt yourself for me. It would likely be best for you to put me out of your mind entirely until I finish my work. Your worrying won't do you any good, and you have a duty first and foremost to Konoha. I can't ask you and won't let you surrender everything you have. By the time you wake up I should be gone; Goodnight."

Only once Naruto had finished speaking did Tenten realize that she had been caught in a genjutsu. She tried to rouse herself out of her induced lethargy, but slumped forward into sleep before she could muster her chakra. She slipped into a pleasant dream, imagining in her sleep a life free from the pressures forced upon her by the Hyuuga where she could go out with all of her friends without needing a guard, where she faced no disapproving stares for her choice of style, and where she could choose who to marry on her own terms.

She woke in a start to the sound of shouting beneath her. It took only a second to recognize the voices as the Exuberant Duo, letting her turn her attention to her own situation. She had been laid out on a mat in a guest room in the bridge builder's house. Next to her was another futon where a certain Hyuuga was supposed to be lying, but he had rolled over and looked like he was trying to cuddle her. Tossing his arm off, Tenten rose and prepared to report the events at the bridge when she finally noticed the sword. Zabuza's zanbato was wrapped in strips of cloth with a pink yukata draped over the top as if it were a bow. A note attached to handle cleared any doubt that it was from Naruto. She read the note and near instantly disregarded the request to forget him. "You can't seriously expect a kunoichi to give up so easily after all you've done. Naruto, you're going to get your just reward, whether you want it or not."

-Naruto, ship headed to Mist-

'That was incredibly biased. The girl had not killed the swordsman, but you gave her the sword. Have you decided that it is your right to determine the inheritance of heirlooms?'

"Zabuza agreed that it was better she have it than it go to someone unworthy. She did defeat his apprentice's ultimate attack, and I couldn't allow him to go unpunished, nor allow himself to kill all of us. It was the best course of action. Besides, she'll have need of it soon, I feel. I may not be able to set aside my affection, but with this I can hold myself in check from instinctively racing to protect her, since I know she'll have a way to defend herself on par with almost anything she could come across."

'You are free to take her with you, if that is what you wish. Alternatively, you may ask her to wait and are free to retire and join her in whatever life you wish once you have found the Hero.'

"Both my life and my duty are too much to ask her to take up. I am only doing what is best for her."

"Kid, eyes up. We're reaching the rendezvous point soon and need to be ready for ambushes. Since you're so adamant that I take up peace, the enemies are your responsibility."

"You'll be at peace with pacifism by the end of this destructive week. For now, enjoy the show."

'Don't lie; seeing your childhood friend has you off balance. You don't need to lie to the world. For everything you attempt, remember that you are still a mortal."

Chapter 9 done! Far faster than last time, eh? There's a battle scene, get to show off some of Naruto's power that he's been building, and deepen the emotional conflict. Concerning the Wave arc, I hope it's at the very least distinct. Far too often the changes are so minor and the event so long that it bogs down and makes you lose all joy.

For those who may cry foul that Tenten was able to kill Haku, she wasn't actually aiming to hit him with the line of wind, but rather pored her chakra into making an AoE attack. And most people in Naruto die from only slightly greater wounds (with no healing) than it would take to kill a normal human, the difficulty is usually in hitting your enemies. Compare this to DBZ where it is far too possible to be unable to kill an enemy until your attack has gathered galaxy destroying amounts of energy. What is cool about Naruto is that combat is more focused on strategy than power.

Also, Thanks again to Lilly Vampire for the Beta.