"Naruto" Normal Speech

'Zeref' People's thoughts

"Acnologia" Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings speech

'Kurama'Summons/Gods/Monsters/Other beings thoughts

"Rasengan" Techniques/Spells/Jutsu/Terms

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Fairy Tail or any other franchise in any source of way; they belong to Masashi Kishimoto, Hiro Mashima and their respective owners

Chapter 8

Test in Wave

A few weeks later

"I'm going to kill this damn cat one of these days" grumbled an angry and annoyed Menma, whose face had a number of scratches all over it, courtesy of the furred demon that his loser brother was holding on his arms

"I have to agree with you on this one, Namikaze. This cat should pay for his deeds!" snarled Sasuki while glaring at the same cat, her hands full of scratches and cuts, courtesy of the stupid animal

"Calm down both of you. Harming the poor thing won't help you at all. I'm sure he's just scared" scolded Mito to the two glaring members of Team 7, trying to stop them from doing anything impulsive or stupid. Of course she kind of understood why they were acting like this, after all this little cat, Tora, made a number on them with his claws. The only reason she didn't get her own set of scratches was because she didn't touch the cat herself

She got the message quite clearly when he hissed at her

Meanwhile Naruto was scratching Tora's head, making the little cat purr in delight. Naruto didn't understand why everyone said that this little fellow here was a demon or something like that. Tora was quite friendly if you asked him, and he was also quite the challenge to catch

Well, except for Naruto. He just had to call Tora and the little cat would come to him for some reason that no one on his team could understand

Just behind the group of Genins were their senseis, Anko Mitarashi and Kakashi Hatake. The silver-haired Jounin was like always reading his precious book with rapt attention while Anko counted the money she had just won from her fellow sensei of Team 7. She had bet that Naruto would find the cat in record time, something that Kakashi really doubted, but she ended up winning quite a lot

Seriously, who would have known that Naruto was good with animals?

The members of Team were walking straight towards the desk in which their Hokage was sitting with a group of Chunins, with the objective of finishing their mission by delivering the cat of the Daimio's wife.

As soon as they got there a rather big woman snatched Tora from Naruto's hand and started hugging the living stuff out of him, making Menma and Sasuki both grin evilly at them, to Mito to sweat drop while understanding why the cat escaped in the first play in to Naruto to actually feel respect for the cat.

After all anyone that could endure what that woman was going to Tora should be considered a hero on his own rights

Minato couldn't contain the proud smile that appeared on his face as soon as he saw his children's team. From all the other new teams this one was right now the one with the best development. Their mission record was quite impressive for a new team, their teamwork was better than average (which was impressive itself considering the members) and their individual skill were also top notch

Since the team was formed both Kakashi and Anko had been drilling team exercise on the four Genins without rest. Naruto had no problem working with Sasuki, and he was willing to work together with his former siblings just for the sake of the team. Mito and Sasuki also worked well with the other members of the team, although Sasuki more than once ended in a heated discussion with Menma over the most simply things. Menma on the other hand, while actually willing to work with Naruto, would always make some rude comment about his older brother. Of course both Kakashi and Anko did their best to stop that kind of behavior but Menma was unwilling to change his attitude towards Naruto

Why? Just two people knew and they would never tell anyone else

Besides teamwork they also thought the team chakra control, something that every member had a different set of skills. Sasuki was the one with the less training. She was still in the tree climbing exercise. She wasn't new on that, but she had yet to truly master the exercise itself. Meanwhile both Menma and Mito were still stuck on the water walking exercise. The problem with them was that they had too much chakra, thanks to certain fox, and so they had troubles with their chakra control more than everyone else

Naruto was on another lever however. Both Kakashi and Anko found themselves with nothing to teach him since he was already going the kunai balancing exercise while water walking, something that no Genin should be able to do. Of course this brought some question to both Kakashi and Anko, jealousy to Menma, who thought his weak brother shouldn't be able to do that. Pride to Mito, who thought that her Nii-san was awesome and awe to Sasuki, who was again was impressed by how her friend true skills were

Naruto ended up just helping Sasuki with her own training, much to the delight of the young Uchiha and to the slight jealous of certain red-head.

Another thing that the team found out was their Elemental affinities. Anko has gotten hold on some chakra paper and since she was curious about the team's affinity she made everyone use them. Just to demonstrate both Kakashi and Anko had gone first, Kakashi's showing his affinity towards fire and lightning and Anko towards both fire and earth. Mito and Menma already knew theirs, but they still went on with it, although Menma did it more to boast than any other reason

Mito's affinity were water and wind, just like her mother according to Kakashi, while Sasuki, in honor to her Uchiha blood, had a strong affinity towards fire, but she also had affinity towards lightning.

With the boys Menma had actually showed three affinities, water, wind and lightning, getting a smug look and a smirk from the blonde directed at Naruto, almost as if challenging him to do better than that. Naruto though was quite peculiar. The paper cut itself in half, which meant affinity towards wind, but then both half's of the paper started to actually release some sparks, the left one blue and the right one completely black, surprising everyone there since not even Kakashi had gotten such a response to his lightning affinity

This of course confirmed Naruto's suspicion about his affinities. Lightning was no surprise, and he had a hunch that wind would be another one. The black sparks were a surprise though, but he guessed that was probably just some reaction towards his Yami no Maho (Dark Magic), something that Zeref later agreed to.

"Team 7 reporting in, Hokage-sama" spoke Kakashi, getting a nod from the blonde Hokage

"Good job as always team 7. Now, there are more D-rank mission here that you can..." started Minato, however he stopped once he saw both Kakashi and Anko move a step forward while the Genins stayed back

"Hokage-sama, we, as senseis of Team 7, request a C-rank mission" said Anko in a formal tone completely weird for her, getting a raised eyebrow from Minato, and surprised expressions from most of the Genins of the team

"Are you sure that this team is ready for that?" questioned Minato while looking at both former members of ANBUs with nothing but seriousness. This was not a decision to take lightly, after all while most C-rank mission were easy for Genin teams, sometimes the mission became harder thanks to so unpredictable variant

For example, missing-nins.

"We are, Hokage-sama" said Kakashi in the same formal tone that Anko used.

Minato kept the look for a while, but at the inside he was thinking of what mission give to this team. There was in fact a mission that would be perfect for this team. There was a slight problem though. While it was considered C-rank, it was in fact almost a B-rank, especially considering the second part of the mission.

"Very well, in that case team 7 will start their first C-rank mission tomorrow" announced the Hokage, getting two nods from the Jounin, an exited punch to the air from Menma, a smirk from Sasuki, a small proud smile from Mito and a simply nod from Naruto

"Let them in" said Minato to the Chunin on his right, getting a nod of understanding before said Chunin left. After a few moments the doors of the room opened again showing two different persons

One of them was an old grey-haired, bespectacled man with a large beard and dark wore a sleeveless v-neck shirt with an obi, pants and a pair of sandals. He also carried a towel around his neck and wore a pointed hat on his head

Just beside him was another younger man with short spiky black hair and black eyes. He had a small white rope tied around his head which was tied on the right side of his head and a small x-shaped scar on his chin. He wore a black T-shirt that had a white outline and a white pair of pants. He also had scars on his arms

"Team 7, this are the men that you will be protecting for your C-rank mission. These are Tazuna-san and Kaiza-san, from Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)" said Minato, signaling to the two man that just entered

The younger of the two, Kaiza, gave the team a polite smile and a nod, while Tazuna on the other hand actually snorted at seeing them

"This is all we get? A group of brats, a Cyclops and..." Tazuna stopped when he saw Anko, and after seeing her for ten full seconds and blinking twice his whole demeanor changes "...thinking about it, I guess this team might not be that bad"

And with that Tazuna actually got a punch on the top of his head, courtesy of Kaiza "Stop acting like a creep, old man" said Kaiza, who then directed a smile towards the team "I'm sorry for this old geezer, he just can't help himself. I think we lost him a few years ago anyway" then he smiled nervously, getting some sweat drops from the members of team 7 and a feral grin from Anko that promised punishment if Tazuna tried something

"Team 7, your mission is simple. You will escort both Tazuna-san and Kaiza-san to Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves). There you will act as their bodyguards for a time. You will leave tomorrow early, so you won't do any more missions today. Dismiss" and with that the two men and the members of team 7 started leaving the place, but before that Minato's voice sounded once again

"Kakashi, Anko you two stay, there's something I need to discus with you" this got puzzled looks from most of the team and a raised eyebrow from Naruto, but no one said anything. Both Jounins gave a nod to their Genins who left after seeing that

Now outside the members of team 7 found themselves with nothing to do. Before anyone could say anything Naruto disappeared in a Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique). He had things to pack and prepare, and he had to tell his sensei that he would be out of the village for a while

With a sad sigh at not being able to talk to her Nii-san, Mito left to her house, followed by Menma who would ask her Kaa-san to teach him that jutsu as soon as he saw her.

Sasuki also left, although she was a little ticked off by the fact that Naruto just left like that. Where were his manners?!

None of them knowing that their first C-rank mission would turn into nothing but a test to one of their members

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The next day

'Well... this could have gone better' thought Naruto with a sweat drop while watching the fallen forms of the three idiots that tried to attack him. He had warned them about it but they ended up doing it anyway, which ended with them getting their ass beaten by Naruto easily

Naruto had woken up early, and with everything packed he was more than ready to go to the meeting point for his first c-rank mission, which was Konoha's entrance gate, but it was still a little early, so the young blonde simply decided to walk there instead of just using the Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique).

On his way there he had actually ended up walking by the training ground he always used with Sasuki. Like always he expected the place to be empty, but he was surprised when he found four people there

Three of them were guys, probably of twelve or thirteen years of age, that Naruto had never met. His attention wasn't on them though. It was on the smaller girl that was in front of them.

Said girl was young, so Naruto had guessed she was ten years old. Said girl had dark brown hair with long parted bangs with a single lock of hair falling into her face. She also had large, white eyes which meant she was from the Hyuga clan. She was wearing a sleeveless, blue v-neck shirt, with mesh armor underneath and blue shorts and sandals.

Naruto ended up being to curious about what they were doing in a place that practically no one used, so he had gotten close to hear what they were saying, and what he heard wasn't good at all

The three boys were taunting the younger girl, saying stuff about how her eyes were weird and how her whole clan was weird and unnatural. Naruto didn't know if those boys went to the academy or not, but he knew that, just like any other clan, the Hyuga clan trained their members before they entered the Academy and their training went on even when they got in a team

So Naruto ended up actually fearing what the little girl would do to the boys once she lost her cool. Of course Naruto didn't really care about a bunch of bullies, but he was actually more worried about the girl ending traumatized because she killed three idiots with her Juken

So, wanting to defuse the situation before anything went out of control Naruto ended up revealing himself to the group. He tried to make the boys left, he honestly did.

But after a few seconds of them saying anything, one of them muttered the word 'demon', and their bad-mouthing went from the girl to him

Of course Naruto didn't even bother responding to the insults, which apparently angered the group of bullies, who were stupid enough to attack Naruto

Apparently they didn't see Naruto's forehead protector, or they were too stupid to register what it meant

In the end Naruto just defeated them after a few seconds without even breaking a sweat, shacking his head sadly and muttering about dumb civilians.

Which bring us to our current situation of Naruto looking at the young Hyuga girl, whose big white eyed were looking directly at Naruto without blinking and showing a good amount of curiosity, not knowing what to say

"Are you ok?" asked Naruto, not knowing what else to say right now. This just got a nod from the young Hyuga, which didn't really help the situation

"Hanabi Hyuga" said the young girl, her voice quite, yet firm "That's my name"

This made Naruto blink. He forgot that he hadn't really introduced himself to the girl, which she just did. "A pleasure to meet you Hanabi-san. My name's Naruto" introduced himself Naruto, deciding to not say his last name. He had been doing this for a while. After all he wasn't part of that family, so why use their last name?

As soon as he said his name Hanabi's eye widened just for a moment before she calmed herself. She had come here for a reason, and that reason was the person just in front of her

"I could have dealt with them myself" said Hanabi, but without any arrogance of anything like that. Just like she was staying an unquestionable fact, which she probably was

"I know, but there was no reason for you to dirt your hand with this scum, was it?" replied Naruto, getting another little nod of acknowledgment from Hanabi, who's eyes were still glued to Naruto's

Sadly for the young girl, since she would have liked to spent more time with the young blonde, Naruto had to leave since he still had a mission to go to, so after saying a fast goodbye, the young blonde decided to just use Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique) to get there since his mood was already ruined by the idiots he just beat.

After he left Hanabi, having nothing else to do, also started walking out of the place, completely ignoring the unconscious form of the three boys. She had come here for a reason. She had asked her Onee-sama if she knew where Naruto spent his time and the only place Hinata could think of was of this training ground, since more than once she had watched Naruto train here.

So Hanabi had come here expecting to see the blonde, but she ended up being confronted by those three idiots who had seen her enter this training ground and started talking shit about her clan. Hanabi was more than ready to make them eat their words but Naruto had appeared just before she could and had delivered punishment to them by himself

Hanabi had finger on her chin and a face that showed that she was deep in thought. Her meeting with the blonde Genin repeating itself in her mind over and over. It had been short but she at least got a little glimpse of how he was, which was better than anything

If Naruto had been able to read minds, he would have been definitely shocked by what Hanabi was just thinking; after all it was something that affected him directly but that he had no idea bout what so ever

'Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze... so you're the one I'm going to marry with... interesting"

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Meanwhile, with Zeref

While his apprentice was starting his first C-rank mission, the powerful dark mage known as Zeref was in another place completely different to where he usually trained Naruto

Of course the difference itself was just the location, since right now Zeref was not in the training room in Konoha that he used to train Naruto. No, he actually was in another training room that looked exactly the same, the only true difference being that this place had more rooms and that you could enter it from a secret passage, not just by using magic circles

Traveling by using magic circles was a complicated branch of magic. While some people might believe that it was easy since the only thing you needed were two magical circled connected in two different places, it was in fact harder than that. For example the magic circle itself was a tricky thing to craft. You had to be a master in the art since just one tiny mistake when making it could end in anyone that used the magic circle to teleport in losing a limb, or even died.

There was also the matter of distance. The bigger the distance it was between the two circles it was easier for the connecting to weak and for the circled to either stop working or to make mistakes at the time of the transportation. There was also the fact that when someone activated a magical circle it used your own magic to send you away, and the farthest the other place was the most magic it would cost the person that was transported.

It was for that reason that training room that Zeref used to train Naruto was so close to Konoha. Since Naruto's magical core was practically fresh new Zeref didn't want to strain it by making travel too hard for the young boy.

Besides it was better for now that Naruto didn't know that he had more places like that one and this one all around the continent. Zeref would tell him everything, yes, but that was in due time

Right now Zeref was standing in the middle of the room, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes focused in the three figures that were right know kneeling before him

You couldn't tell a lot about the figures since they had completely black cloaks covering their whole body. But guessing by their bodies you could tell that the middle one was definitely a man, while the two others were probably woman. Another thing to notice was that the figure in the middle had a massive sword on his back.

These were some of the people Zeref had at his disposal. During his travels around the Elemental Nations he had gathered a group of Shinobi and Kunoichi, all loyal to him and no one else. He hadn't meant to do it at the start, since the idea of having followers was never something that Zeref had wanted that much, but he ended up recruiting them simply because they could be useful.

After all he wasn't a god. He couldn't do everything and be everywhere at the same time. Whatever was coming Zeref was sure, no one could handle it alone

"You understand your mission?" asked Zeref, his calm and emotionless voice echoing everywhere. None of the three figures raised their head, they just answered with a clear "Hai!" making Zeref nod in acceptance

"Then go... And don't go easy on him. If he dies there then... He just wasn't meant to go forward" Said Zeref, receiving another confirmation from the three cloaked people who left the place as soon as their mission was given. They had to move fast. This was an important mission and they couldn't fail

Zeref stood in the middle of the room, his eyes closed and his body unmoving. He could easily sense the other individual that was hidden in the shadows here. He had called him after all

"And what about me, boss? Don't I get someone to play with?" asked a figure from the shadows, his voice full of craziness and mocking, almost making Zeref release a sigh. The dark mage was already use to dealing with this guy, but it was still annoying

Why from all people that he had killed, the Shinigami had to bring this one back to life?

"You already know your task, don't make me repeat myself" answered Zeref in the same calm voice, but the figure in the shadows could easily detect the hiding threat on it.

Who cares, though?

"But c'mon! Why can't I go and play with the kid?! Instead you send me to act as a distraction of all things! Not cool man, not cool at all!" whined the mysterious figure, getting a pointer look from Zeref, which even though it wasn't a glare, it was still scary on his own right

"Tch... fine! I'll go and play fucking decoy. I hope that those two at least give me a good challenge. I better leave now; Deidara must have his panties twisted already since I just disappeared out of a sudden. That guy should learn how to calm down, it's not like Zetsu keeps an eye on us 24/7 anyway." and with that the figure in the shadows disappeared using the magic circle that was in the back of the room, leaving Zeref truly alone this time.

The dark mage didn't dwell too much in this place though. He simply moved to one of the magic circled around and used to leave. It was what made this particular base important. It connected to all the other bases that Zeref had.

The last thoughts of Zeref before leaving were of his students. Some people might consider him evil for what he had just sent against him, but it was something that Zeref considered essential. Zeref wanted Naruto to be strong, but for that Naruto needed to face challenges that would test him to his utmost capacity.

He had confidence in his apprentice, and he knew that he would be able to past this one just like any other Zeref had sent him and that he would send in the future.

Unknown to the dark mage, he wasn't the only one preparing a test for the young blonde. No there was another being that was already planning to use his pawn in order to test Naruto

It was a certain white-haired servant of the Shinigami

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The next day

"There's my pride and joy!" said an exited and happy Tazuna while pointing at the big bridge that connected Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves) with the rest of the continent

The journey had been actually quite calm and without any complications. Normally getting to this bridge would be just a matter of one day for a Shinobi, but since the team 7 was forced to travel at civilian pace they ended up taking a whole day to get here

Of course some questions about the place itself were asked while walking, which Kaiza happily answered for everyone. When Menma asked about from who they were protecting Tazuna and Kaiza from, both men turned serious out of the sudden and they said they would explain once they reached their home.

So, besides Tazuna's tries of ogling Anko, which ended bad for the old man, the journey here went without a pinch

Right now the members of team 7, leaded by Kaiza and Tazuna, were walking though the bridge tat Tazuna had built in order to make trades with the rest of the land easier. Konoha and Nami normally treaded things with regularity, although Nami also traded with other villages, like Suna.

Naruto noticed that the bridge had some burns marks on some places and that the bridge itself looked a little shaken up. Like if some big explosion occurred here. Naruto decided to wait until later to ask about it.

After walking for a while, in which team 7 saw some people of the land, which was no surprise considering that it was early, all happily waving and greeting both Tazuna and Kaiza. Apparently the two of them were quite popular in this place, the group ended upon a simple looking two-store house.

"Tou-san, Jii-chan!" as soon as the group entered the house they were greeted by two people. One of them was a young boy, who hugged Kaiza as soon as he entered. Said boy had spiky black hair and dark-colored wore a green jumpsuit with a yellow shirt and a simple pair of sandals. He also wore a blue and white striped hat

Just behind the boy a woman in her late twenties appeared and gave Kaiza a kiss on the cheek. This woman had long blue-colored hair. She was wearing a short-sleeved pink shirt with the end of the sleeves and the collar being red in color.

After introduction were given, in which team 7 found out that the little boy was named Inari and that the woman's name was Tsunami and that they were Kaiza's son and wife and Tazuna's daughter and grandson, the members of team 7 were grouped in the house's dinner room, since apparently Tsunami was already finishing lunch.

It was a tight fit, but they managed to sit everyone around the table to eat. Kaiza was at the head of the table, with Tsunami to his right and Inari to his left. Beside Inari there was Naruto, Sasuki and Anko, while beside Tsunami there were Mito, Menma and Kakashi. Tazuna sat himself at the other extreme of the table

The meal was simple, yet really good. The meal was also filled with chatter. From Tazuna and Kakashi talking about the wonders of Icha-Icha to Inari asking Naruto about why he dyed his hair black, to which Naruto just answered "puberty"

The conversation stopped though, when Menma asked something that had been nagging him for a while

"I don't get it. We didn't find anyone on our way here and this place looks to nice to have any threat. Why do you need bodyguards, Tazuna-san, Kaiza-san?" asked Menma while scratching his head with confusion obvious on his face. This got everyone's attention to go to Kaiza who released a sigh after seeing the nod his father-in-law gave him, which meant it was now his time to tell their story

"Well you see..." and thus Kaiza started telling the story of what had happened in Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)in the recent years. He told them how he had saved Inari from drowning. How he had met Tsunami and Tazuna after that. How he and Tsunami had fallen in love with each other and had married after a while and how they lived quite happily for a while

Then he went about how the man knows as Gato, former owner of the shipping company known as Gato Transport, had come to Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)in order to put the place under his control. Kaiza told them how he and the people of Nami tried to group together in order to release their land from Gato's control, which made Gato retaliate with deadly force. It was at that moment that Kaiza said something that shocked Naruto a lot

"Gato's men were more than ready to execute me. They were even going to cut my hands just to prove everyone who idiotic was to go against him" said Kaiza in a dark tone, making Tsunami to grab his hand under the table and to Inari to show an angry expression just at the thought of Gato, but it was wiped of once Kaiza ruffled the young boys hair "But I was saved. To this day I don't know the name of the man who did it, but just before Gato's man went to cut my arms this guy with black hair and dark eyes, wearing some clothes that I have never seen and with a cold expression, appeared and killed everyone there with his bare hands"

This of course surprised everyone, but not more than Naruto, who couldn't help but to link the guy that saved Kaiza with his sensei. The general description fitted, yes, but why would his sensei do anything like this? In fact, weren't this just a few years back? He spent almost all of the last six years with his sensei, so this couldn't have been him... right?

He would have to ask once he got to Konoha again

"How did he exactly killed him, Kaiza-san?" asked an interested Anko, who wanted to know more about this mysterious savior

"I don't know... He just moved to fast for everyone to see. At one moment he was there and there at the next one he was helping me get out of my binds and everyone but Gato was dead. Some had missed limbs, some have wholes in their bodies and some just looked death but had no wounds. Then the man went to Gato killed him with a sword that appeared out of nowhere" explained Kaiza, more interested looks from the members of team 7

"I have never seen that man again, but is thanks to him that I live today and that Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves)wasn't taken under Gato's control" continued Kaiza with a grateful smile, receiving a hug from Tsunami.

"After that I decided that it was better if we had a way to connect us with the rest of the continent in case someone like Gato appeared again, so I started with the construction of the bridge you guys saw." Said Tazuna, getting the attention of everyone.

"The problem is that, lately there had been some attacks to the bridge. Some people had started using bombs in order to damage the bridge and they also started destroying people's business while everyone is asleep at night. That's why we hired protection from Konoha. To make sure nothing happened to us until the situation was fixed" explained Tazuna with a tired sigh, obviously more than tired of the situation.

After that explanation lunch continued as normal, all the members of team 7 with different thoughts on their heads. Everyone were so caught up in their thoughts that no one noticed the small nod Anko gave Kakashi after the meal ended

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Next day, in a small lake in the forest close to Nami

Sitting in a beautiful clearing, surrounded by trees and a small crystalline lake was none other than Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, apprentice of Zeref and dragon slayer of lightning

The young blonde was waken up earlier than the rest and, since his turn to watch over Tazuna's family wasn't until later, he decided to explore around the place a little bit, maybe find a spot in which he could train or meditate for a while

It was with those expectations that Naruto went to explore the forest that was close to Tazuna's house. Naruto honestly wasn't expecting to find any place magnificent or any like that, but once he got to this clearing he was definitely surprised and awed by how beautiful it was

The trees ended in a simply clearing filled with grass, with multiple types of flowers growing in certain spots. Beyond that there was a lake filled with nothing but crystalline water that made you wants to dip in and enjoy the water as much as one could

Of course Naruto stayed in this place, just relaxing and enjoying the feeling of peace and calmness that this place gave him. He didn't know why but this place just made him forget all about the problems and questions that plagued his mind

Naruto didn't drop his guard though. There was a reason for that after all

He wasn't alone

"It's beautiful, isn't" spoke a melodic and feminine voice from behind Naruto, which actually didn't surprised the young blonde at all. He had felt this person presence a few minutes back but decided to not act or anything since he couldn't feel any threatening aura from said individual

Every since Naruto had started practicing Yami no Maho (Dark Magic); he found that it was easier for him to read people. It wasn't like he could read minds or anything like that, but he could easily detect when someone meant to harm him. Of course this six sense of him didn't work if the person didn't meant to cause him bad, which made it useless against someone like Anko who just wanted to annoy him, or to surprise him by attacking him, but that in the bottom didn't meant to cause him harm.

This was the product of not only his teaching of Yami no Maho (Dark Magic), but also a side-effect of having the soul of a dragon inside the lacrima that gave him his Kaminari noMetsuryū Mahō(Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic).

It wouldn't be the only benefice Naruto would get for that though

"It is" answered Naruto in a calm and peaceful voice, looking at the figure that just walked to his side before sitting beside him, her brown eyes looking directly at the lake

This girl was quite beautiful. She had long black hair, pale skin and large, dark-brown eyes, a slender frame and she was slightly shorter than Naruto. She was wearing a pink, sleeveless kimono, with pale red edges and decorated with small plum-colored swirls that went to his ankles. Around her waist was a simple white obi tied in a bow, and she wore a pair of light brown sandals with dark straps. She also wore a dark-colored choker around her neck.

The two of them said nothing else for a while. They just sat there, admiring the natural beauty that the place offered. The silence wasn't awkward at all; it was more of a comfortable one.

Of course after a while someone had to break the ice

"You are not from around here, are you?" asked the girl in a kind and curios tone, her eyes now looking directly at Naruto, or to be more precise, Naruto's forehead protector

"Not really. I came here to Nami just because of my job" answered Naruto while touching his forehead protector "What about you? You live around here?"

The girl only shook her head at hearing Naruto's question, which apparently meant she wasn't from here "I travel a lot with a group of friends. We decided to stop here in Nami for a while to get supplies, and I came here to see if I could find some medicinal herbs, just in case we might need them. My friends can be quite the bunch when they try" the black-haired girl said with a giggle, apparently remembering something that her friends did that was funny. Naruto couldn't help but to smile a little at seeing how happy she was when she talked about her friends

"What about you?" asked the girl with curiosity present on her face "Do you have anyone special to you?"

As soon as she asked that Naruto's mind flashed to two completely different people. The first one being his sensei and father in all but blood, Zeref. The second one was his first friend, teammate and most important person in his hearth beside Zeref, Sasuki Uchiha.

"I guess... I don't have a lot of them but there are some people that I deeply care about" Naruto didn't know why he had answered something personal like that. He just found it easy to talk to this girl, which was extremely weird since he had just met her a few minutes ago

"Then you can become strong" said the girl after a while, her eyes looking directly at Naruto with nothing but understanding in them.

"What do you mean?"

"I believe that, only when you have people that you care about... that only when you have people that you want to protect with everything you have, you can become truly strong" those words really hit home with Naruto. They sounded a lot like what his sensei had told him a long time ago. About how true strength could only be found in the bonds you made with the people you called friends and family.

The young blonde found himself nodding unconsciously, his gaze going from the girl's brown eyes to the lake once again "Those are truly wise words" commented Naruto to the girl, not knowing what else to say at this point

"They are, aren't they? A really important friend of mine told them to me a long time ago, and I have kept those words in my heart ever since" said the girl, her eyes had a far away look, like she was remembering something from the past that deeply affected her.

"This friend of yours, I think I would like to met someone like him" at Naruto's words the girl released another small giggle, and Naruto wondered if there was a joke he missed or something

"Maybe you will. Sadly he is far away from here right now, helping someone that needed him" answered the girl, getting Naruto more interested in the person that was her friend.

After that little exchange the two of them stayed in a comfortable silence for a while now, both losing the track of time. Naruto didn't exactly who this girl was, be he found himself comfortable in her presence.

It got late though, and Naruto had to leave since his shift in guarding Tazuna would come soon. The black haired beauty beat him to the punch though, since before Naruto said anything she stood up, straighten her kimono and gave Naruto a warm smile

"I hope this won't be the last time we see each other" said the girl, getting another small smile from Naruto

"I hope so too... uhm..." Naruto showed a confused expression, just now understanding the fact that neither he nor the girl had said their names to each other. The black haired girl apparently caught up in his trouble, since she released another giggle before saying

"My name is Haku, nice to meet you, Shinobi-san"

"A pleasure to be your acquaintance, Haku-san. My name is Naruto"

And after that the girl was gone. Naruto's gaze actually stayed glued to her form until she was out of his sight. Naruto released a sigh before standing up, actually missing the presence of the girl, Haku, already. He didn't know if it was healthy to be so interested in a person he just met, but he couldn't help but to want to talk to her more

So when Naruto finally left the small clearing with the lake, his thoughts were of the black haired girl he had just met, and if he would see her again tomorrow

He could only hope

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One week later

A week has passed since Naruto first meeting with Haku, and things in Nami have been nothing but peaceful, except for a few incident here and there

Naruto has been coming to the same place at the same time every day for the last week, and everyday Haku would appear shortly after. The two would simply have small chat, normally just talking about random stuff and never discussing their past. Other times they would just enjoy the others presence while simply admiring the natural beauty that their gathering place offered

Their meetings ended up becoming the thing that Naruto liked the most about his stay here in Nami. Of course he disappearing every morning brought question from the rest of the team

Sasuki, Mito and Anko were especially curious about it, while Kakashi thought that Naruto deserved some free time and Menma didn't care at all. Naruto just told them that he was taking a walk through the forest, searching for a good spot for training.

Of course he didn't tell anyone about his meting with Haku. He had the feeling that nothing good would come out of that

Especially if he told it to Anko or Sasuki. He could already picture it. Anko would tease him without remorse and Sasuki would get mad for reasons he couldn't understand

He would have to ask his sensei if there was a way of understanding the female mind. Sadly that was one subject that Zeref wasn't a master of it

Beside that there hasn't being anything noteworthy happenings here in Nami. Anko and Kakashi had the job of supervising the bridge's reconstruction while Naruto, Sasuki, Mito and Menma would normally either escort Tazuna or Kaiza to wherever they went or would stay and watch over the house.

There was something that none of the Genins knew though. It was part of the second mission Minato had given to both Kakashi and Anko. Since Konoha and Nami traded goods every since the bridge was built it was important to not let it destroyed or to let someone else terrorize Nami to submission

For this Minato had tasked both Kakashi and Anko to find the leader of the group that was trying to create chaos in Nami and deal with them accordingly.

Both Tazuna and Kaiza had already been informed of this, and they were both grateful for Konoha's help. They even said that if Konoha helped them with this one Nami would always be an ally of Konoha, even if it was only for trading goods.

It was for that reason that every night, after leaving a clone to make guard around Tazuna's house, both Kakashi and Anko would go and scout the area, searching for the base of whoever was leading the attacks to the bridge. They guessed that the base wouldn't be that far from Nami itself, and they were right. Just a few days ago they had found their little camp. It was filled with thugs and low-life criminals that thought that they could control Nami like Gato had once tried.

Sadly both Jounins didn't get the chance to see the leaders face. They knew where he was. It was quite obvious considering that there tent in the camp that was obviously for the leader of the group.

From Tazuna's house to the campmate it took both Anko and Kakashi little more than two hours to go between the places. Both Jounins had left the night before, around midnight in fact, in order to deal with them by themselves. They didn't tell the Genins simply because, in their opinion, they weren't ready for this.

They had left a note saying that they had left in order to deal with some problems, and that they would be back early the next day.

Right now Naruto was walking in the deep of Nami's forest. Normally he would have already reached the spot in which he usually talked to Haku, but today was different

Someone was tailing him

He knew who she was. He had been patient and had been walking around in circled. Heck, he even stood in the same place for a while, waiting for the person that decided to follow him today to just leave. He didn't want her to know the exact location of the place that had become his favorite spot in this forest, and he was sure that she would give up after a while of him just walking around doing nothing

He was apparently wrong though.

Naruto stopped moving and just stood there, taking deep and calming breaths. If it was Sasuki he wouldn't be really mad, just a little annoyed, but why was she following around like that? He was able to work and act civil towards her, but if this were the things she was going to do, spy on him, then this time was truly doomed to fail.

"Come out of there already, Mito. You're not fooling anyone" said Naruto to no one in particular, almost like he was talking alone, but he knew she heard him, and it was proved once that the form of Mito Uzumaki-Namikaze appeared in front of him after jumping from a tree.

For a few seconds neither Naruto nor Mito said anything. Naruto's eyes looking directly at Mito, while the red-headed girl couldn't match her Nii-san stare. She felt embarrassed that her Nii-san discovered her so easily, and know she was afraid that she might have pissed him off by doing following him

But she had to! What if her Nii-san ended up in troubles or something like that!? What if something happened while he was here!? What if someone attacked him!? Mito would never forgive herself if something happened to her beloved Nii-san and she wasn't there to either stop it or help him

That was the problem with this relationship. Mito wanted to protect someone that didn't need nor wanted protection

Specially if it was her who did the protection

"Why were you following me?" Naruto asked bluntly, and his question, along with his cold voice, actually made Mito flinch.

"I'm sorry, Nii-san. I just wanted to make sure you were right.I-I have been worried about you" answered Mito while looking directly at Naruto's cold eyes, although the last part was said with a downcast gaze, which made her unable to see how Naruto's eyes went from expressionless to a hard glare

Meanwhile Naruto scoffed mentally, his feelings for her former sister passing though his hearth. From everyone in that cursed family she had been the only one to show him love and care, to act like he was a real member of the family, to make him feel welcomed, loved, wanted, and not like a waste of space, of someone that would be better of death

And that what made her the worse of that family

For seven years, she was his life-line. She was the only light in the darkness that was his life. It was hard, but he could have lived without the rest of his family as long as he had her. As long as he had her dear Mito-Nee-chan by his side he knew he could have been happy

But then she turned her back on him, and became exactly like the rest of her cursed family

And that hurt more than any other training that Zeref gave him and beating that the people of Konoha could ever give him

He was used to feel unloved by the rest of his former family, but to see the only person that ever showed him love turn the cold shoulder to him and start treating him like a pest was the thing that truly broke Naruto on the inside. It was after that that he truly felt worthless. He felt like he was truly better of death. He had lost the only family he ever had.

It was for that reason that he accepted Zeref so easily.

Naruto had nothing and no one, so when someone offered him a hand; he took him as fast as he could

It was sad though, how the life of this two brothers and sister was so deeply affected by the act of certain white haired man

But such was the life of a pawn in the great game that was the war between the Gods

"Stop joking around Mito. Leave and don't do this ever again" said Naruto, his voice cold and emotionless, hiding the building anger that was inside of him. The young blonde turned around, wanting to end this little meeting with his former sister already

But it wouldn't be that easy

Mito's head moved so fast that it almost made a sound, her violet eyes looking at the back of her Nii-san with a mix of shock, disbelief and hurt. Joking? He thought she was joking? What was that supposed to mean? He thought she didn't love him? How could he believe that?! Mito knew their relationship wasn't the best, but she didn't thought it was this bad!

She had to fix it

Now

"Wait, Nii-san!" all but yelled Mito while grabbing a hold of Naruto's hand. Sadly for her as soon as she did that Naruto snatched his hand away from his grip while turning to see her, this time not hiding how angry he was.

His glare mad Mito freeze death cold

"Stop calling me that!" Naruto's voice was cold. He had gotten better at controlling his emotions since his confrontation with Minato and Kushina, so he was not going to start screaming bloody murder now, but he knew Mito would not stop nagging him if he didn't set things straight now "You don't get to call me that. You don't get to act like we're family, Mito. We stopped being that a long time ago. You made that quite clear years ago. It was you who decided to cut me from your life, not me, so you don't get to act like if everything was ok, or like nothing had happened. here's no relationship between us, the only thing that ties me to you and that family of yours if my fricking blood, and if I could I would change that in a heartbeat!" by the end of his rant Naruto was looking at Mito straight at her eyes, his gaze showing cold rage that he felt towards his former sister. In his opinion she had betrayed him, and that was something that he would never forget.

Meanwhile Mito felt that every word her Nii-san yelled at her was like a stab on her hearth. Her mind had a complete shutdown at hearing the harmful words that her Nii-san told her. How could this be? Her worst fear had become true. Her beloved Nii-san hated her. She couldn't believe it, but it was true. Mito could already feel the tears that threatened to escape her eyes.

How could she have messed up so badly? She knew that listening to the stupid Kyubi was going to come and haunt her forever, but wasn't losing the love of her Nii-san like this too much? She knew that what she had done was bad, but she did it to protect him! She did it because of someone targeted him because of her or their family she would never forgive herself for that

She didn't though things would go so bad that her Nii-san would actually say that if he could he would change his blood just to be completely free of their family. That certainly hurt Mito more than anything. She felt like so hopeless in that moment that she could truly say it was the worst day of her life

Sadly it was just beginning

Mito couldn't let this just end like this, she just couldn't! There had to be a way for her to fix this. She just needed to try. She wasn't going to just let her Nii-san walk away from her like this, from her life.

Mito was about to say something, but she was caught up by surprise when Naruto tackled her to the ground, just before a whoosh sound passed over them. Just at it did the thing that made said sound stopped cold when it hit a tree.

As soon as it happen both her and Naruto stood up, and Mito couldn't stop the gasp that escaped her mouth when she saw what made that sound

Stucked in a tree was what could be described as a gigantic sword, but that wasn't the biggest surprise though. No, the surprise was the person that was standing on the sword with his arms crossed over his chest and looking at them with a glare

This person was a tall and noticeably muscular man with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and small eyebrows. His face was being covered by bandages like a mask. His chest was bare, and he was just wearing baggy pants with the striped pattern typical of Kirigakure and mimetic wrist-warmers extending up to his elbows, with matching leg-warmers. He was also wearing a forehead protector sideways on his head, with the symbol of Kiri on it, and a slash going right through the middle of it

Of course Mito was completely surprised and confused by the appearance of this man, who was obviously a missing Nin. Mito didn't know who he was, but he looked dangerous. Even after all that was just said Mito's primary concern was the safety of Naruto, so she was just about to grab Naruto and make a run for it, since she didn't knew who her enemy was

Naruto's word beat her though

"To see someone like you here... Zabuza Momochi, Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist), one of the members of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū(Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist), I guess I must really curse my luck" Naruto's voice was dead serious while his expression was practically unreadable, but on the inside he was having a maelstrom of rage. Of course as soon as Naruto was told that he was going to a place like Nami he investigated the different missing Nin that someone could find in his Bingo book. It was another thing that Zeref had gotten and just told him to memorize, which he did, so it was no surprise that he recognized Zabuza

The sword was kind of a big clue anyway

Meanwhile Mito was now both more surprised and even more worried. Surprised that her Nii-san knew who this guy was, and dead worried that he was someone so famous. Her Kaa-san had told her stories about the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū(Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist), and they were not pretty, so meting one like this was definitely a reason to be concerned about

Zabuza actually released a nasty chuckle at hearing Naruto's revelation of his info in the bingo book, his eyes looking just at Naruto and acting like if Mito wasn't even there " It seems you're well informed, gaki. In that case you should know why I'm here" and with that both Naruto and Mito were hit by Zabuza's powerful killing intent, which was quite powerful for a Jounin

Naruto stayed calm. He had faced worst when sparring with Zeref. More than once he had faced Zeref's killing intent, as a part of training of course. He could still remember the first time Zeref used it on him. He barely lasted a few seconds before completely passing out because of the fear

Zabuza's was not bad, but Naruto wasn't going to falter just because of it

Mito wasn't managing it that good though. The young red-head was already trembling, her violet eyes were wide in fear, and she was even biting her lower lip hard, almost to the point of drawing blood. She was scared. She had never faced something like this. She had never faced someone like this. He was going to kill her

Of course Naruto noticed this, and even though he could honestly don't care, he knew he couldn't let her like this. At this point fighting was probably their only option. They could try to escape, but that would be hard, especially with Mito paralyzed in fear. Naruto was never one for emotional speeches, but he was going to have to make an exception for this one

"Mito" Naruto's voice showed nothing but determination and calm, his eyes still looking directly at Zabuza, but his call was enough for Mito to look at him "Pull yourself together or we won't be able to get out of this one." and then he did look at Mito straight at her eyes and gave her nod "If we work together we can deal with this situation. We're a team after all. I need you to be strong now, Mito" Naruto could feel the irony in all this. A few minutes ago he was telling her how there was nothing between them, and now he was telling her that he needed her

At hearing her Nii-san's words Mito's confidence raised up. She swallowed and ten released a calming breath before giving him a nod. If her Nii-san needed her then she was not going to fail him.

Never again

Zabuza's expression remained the same, but on the inside he was actually a little impressed in the blonde gaki. He was able to sustain his killing intent and help his teammate to do the same

This was not going to be a team fight though

"I have to admit that I'm curious. Why did you attack us, Zabuza-san?" asked Naruto calmly. The young blonde had many questions in his head. He refused to believe that this was just a coincidence. Zabuza must have come here for a specific reason. Was he targeting Tazuna and his family, so he decided to eliminate Tazuna's bodyguards first? That was probably, but it would also meant that whoever wanted Tazuna dead and Nami under their control had hired missing Nin

And that was never good, especially if one of them was someone like Zabuza Momochi

"Do I need a reason? Maybe I just like to cut little wanna be ninjas like you. You shouldn't worry about my reasons" Zabuza removed the sword from the tree with one hand, making it look like if was as light as feather, and then pointed it directly at Naruto "The thing you should worry is which limb is my sword going to cut first!"

Both Naruto and Mito were more than ready for whatever Zabuza did. They would have to fight. Expecting reinforcement was probably futile. Their senseis were gone and Menma and Sasuki had no clue of where they were. They could try to escape, but running away from someone like Zabuza was not going to be easy unless someone stayed to act as a diversion

That gave Naruto an idea. He could distract Zabuza long enough for her to search for help. Maybe Kakashi and Anko had already returned from wherever they went. Just when Naruto was about to say his plan to Mito he was silenced by Zabuza's next statement

"Haku, deal with the girl" and with that Zabuza appeared just in front of Naruto, his sword already going down in order to cut the blonde in half. Said blonde was barely able to dodge by jumping to the right, making Zabuza stand between him and Mito

Right now Naruto's mind was going a mile per second. Did he really just say Haku? But, that was impossible! There was no way that the Haku he knows, that the kind girl he had been meeting for a week was with Zabuza...right?

Naruto would have going all day thinking about that, but the current situation made him unable to do so since as soon as he dodged Zabuza's first attack the Kiri missing nin was upon him again, his Kubikiribōchō moving in an arc from right to left, ready to cut Naruto in half

The young blonde managed to avoid the attack by jumping just in time. As soon as he did that he channeled his magic into his lungs, ready to go for the offensive for once

"Rairyu no Hōkō(Lighting Dragon's Roar)" Naruto's lightning spell went directly from his mouth to Zabuza, and Naruto believed that from this distance he wouldn't be able to dodge it.

He was kind of right there. Zabuza didn't dodge the spell. He merely raised his sword and put it between the attack and him. As soon as the blue lightning beam impacted the sword, it looked like the sword was actually absorbing the spell, which of course made Naruto stop with the attack and look at Zabuza's sword, the Kubikiribōchō, in something akin to awe

'That thing just negated my spell, but how? It should be impossible' thought Naruto, noticing that the sword had no damage on it, and that Zabuza wasn't showing surprise at all about this development.

Zabuza once again dashed towards Naruto, but this time the blonde was ready to meet him. Naruto charged both his arms with his Yami no Maho (Dark Magic) and gave it just one purpose on his mind.

Just like he expected two blades like form of darkness appeared on the low side of his arm, going from his wrist to his elbow. The blades were curved, and were completely black with a purple outline.

Naruto met Zabuza's down cut with his created blades, putting his arms in front of his. The impact actually made a little crater were Naruto was standing, and like he feared Zabuza's sword actually started eating his Yami no Maho (Dark Magic), forcing Naruto to pump more magic just so that the blades wouldn't disappear, of course if he stayed too much in this state he would end up without magic, which meant he had to act fast

Which was easier said than done, considering that Zabuza was pressing his sword with all of his strength against him

Naruto overcharged his blades with magic and using his strength he managed to push Zabuza off him and create a distance between them. Just after that Naruto made five Kage Bunshins. Said clones ran directly at Zabuza, but this attack did not surprise the sword-user at all, who looked more than ready to cut every single one of them

Sadly for him as soon as the clones got close enough they actually exploded. The explosion resonated everywhere and created a curtain of smoke big enough for Naruto to use as a diversion to make a run for it. He needed to make a plan, fast. The fact that Zabuza's sword had the impossible ability to absorb magic made this fight just a lot harder that it was

He wasn't the only one meeting a hard foe though

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Meanwhile, with Mito

The young red-head had been separated from her Nii-san as soon as the fight started. When Zabuza attacked Naruto she was more than ready to help him, but she was stopped by another individual, this one with black hair tied in a bun and wearing an ANBU mask, who started throwing senbu needles at her

She was able to dodge the majority of them but she was still hit by more than a few. Luckily for her the Kyubi inside of her made this wounds heal a lot faster than normal, so she was sill more than ready for this fight

Right now Mito was standing in front of the person that attacked her who, if what Zabuza yelled was correct, was named Haku. Mito wanted to do nothing more but to run and help her Nii-san fight Zabuza, but this Haku person wasn't stopped every tried she did to run to where her Nii-san and Zabuza had ran to fight

"Suiton: Teppōdama (Water Release: Gunshot)!" yelled Mito after doing the necessary hand seals, throwing a bullet of water from her mouth directly at Haku, who jumped backwards while doing some hand seals just before the just hit her

Mito thought that she just had hit the mark, but when she saw that her jutsu had just hit a tree she tensed again, since Haku had just disappeared. Mito turned around fast as soon as she sensed something on her back, and she was right. Just behind her was a big mirror made of ice. Mito would have commented on how beautiful it was, but she was forced back when, from the mirror, multiple senbon needles were shot directly at her

Mito wasn't able to dodge, so she just used her arms to block as much as she could so that they didn't hit a vital point. It was after that that Mito saw Haku walking out of the mirror, more needles ready on her hand. The young red-head was going to move but she found herself trapped, or to be more specific her feets were trapped on ice.

'What kind of jutsu are these? I have never heard of ice jutsu!' thought Mito before using Kawarimi no jutsu (Body Replacement Technique) in order to escape her ice shackles and the needles that Haku just threw at her.

From a tree Mito created twenty Kage Bunshins. Said clones took out the katana they had in storage seal on their wrist and went directly at Haku. Mito thought that these clones were going to be a good enough distraction for her to go and find her Nii-san

Sadly for her she was proven wrong when Haku destroyed every clone in a matter of seconds, her speed making her able to do such a deed. Mito was forced to jump out of the tree she was in or else she would have been pierced by Haku's Senbon again, but as soon as she touched the ground her katana clashed with Haku's senbon, which was in her hand

While one of her hand held the senbon Haku was using against Mito's sword, the other hand was completely free, and with that one Haku started doing one-handed seals, making Mito's eyes go wide in surprise by her opponent skills

"Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō(Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)!" said Haku before multiple water needles were formed around her and Mito. Haku then jumped backwards, allowing the needles to go directly at Mito, but the young red-head managed to avoid the jutsu by jumping out of its range just before it hit her

It was becoming more obvious to Mito that she wouldn't be able to go and help her Nii-san until she defeated Haku, who was doing her best to stop Mito from leaving

She was going to have to defeat her fast then. There was no way she was going to let this person to get between her and her Nii-san safety

She wasn't going to give this bitch any mercy!

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Meanwhile, with Naruto

The young blonde was now standing with his back on a tree, doing his best to detect Zabuza.

He had thought about a way to deal with the Kiri missing Nin. He just needed to deal with his sword, but right now he was waiting for the attack that was sure to come, after all the sudden mist that had appeared everywhere was definitely not something normal, and he knew Zabuza was an expert of silence killing, so it was better to stay in guard at every time

Naruto wasn't able to dodge the attack though, since the tree that was on his back, and his whole body too, were cut in half by one clean slice of Zabuza's sword, who decided to attack from behind the tree, after all his sword could easily cut something like wood like it was butter

It wasn't that easy though, since just after his attack, Naruto's body turned into smoke, showing that it was nothing but a Kage Bunshin. Just after Zabuza realized this Naruto's spell was already travelling to hit Zabuza directly at his back.

The spell used was Naruto's Rairyū Hōtengeki(Lighting Dragon's Heavenward Halberd), and it was shot by the true Naruto, who was hiding in one of the trees. The powerful lightning spear seemed like it was going to hit Zabuza's back, but in a show of reflex Zabuza didn't even turn around, he just put his sword on his back and held his ground, letting his blade absorb the spell

"Tch, dammit" muttered Naruto in a low voice. The young blonde was just about to get out of his hiding spot since it was obvious Zabuza already knew where he was, but he was launched by force when a powerful kick hit him in the head. Naruto ended up falling into a clearing, blood going from his lower lip to his chin.

"You're not the only one that can play with clones, you know?" Said Zabuza to the now standing from of Naruto, clone standing by his side, which was responsible of the kick Naruto just received. The clone of Zabuza dashed at Naruto with his sword ready to cut, but Naruto moved faster and slashed the clone's torso just when he was going to slash him with his sword, using his Rairyu no Saiga (Lighting Dragon's Crushing Fang),turning the clone into nothing but water, showing that it was created by Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone Technique)

The real Zabuza took this chance to attack Naruto too, forcing Naruto to once again create blades on his arms to met Zabuza's sword. He could have used kunais, but he didn't want to have his weapon cut in half at the middle of the fight.

Using his blades made by his magic Naruto met Zabuza's cut head on. Every cut that Zabuza did Naruto would parry, block or dodge it, while trying to cut or punch Zabuza by himself. Naruto had the advantage of speed here, but Zabuza was without a doubt a hard opponent

Things became worse when Naruto finally noticed where they were. It was the clearing in which he met Haku. Not only that but they were already fighting in the lake. Naruto cursed in his mind, letting someone like Zabuza in water? He knew he was going to pay for it

Which he did

Zabuza gave Naruto a mighty swing of his sword, stronger that any other he had gave him before. Naruto was able to block it, but the strength behind it was enough to launch him back quite a bit. As soon as he got his bearings Naruto was able to see Zabuza doing some hand seals, his sword on his back.

The young blonde would have taken the chance to attack, but it was to late already, since Zabuza had already finished his jutsu

"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)!" and with that a gigantic and powerful stream of water from the lake was launched directly at Naruto. The young blonde knew that if it hit him he was as good as death, and dodging was impossible at this distance

He had to defend himself

Naruto put his palm on the water of the lake and used his Yami no Maho (Dark Magic) to create a completely black dome around him. It was a shield. In fact it was the only truly defensive spell that Naruto knew. The dome would be as strong a Naruto's will and the amount of magic he put on the spell, so knowing that Zabuza's jutsu was not weak at all Naruto put a lot of magic on the dome

Zabuza's jutsu hit the dome like expected, and Naruto could feel his shield crumbling under the power of the jutsu, so he put even more magic on it to make sure it sustain the power of the water technique

Finally Zabuza's jutsu reached a stop, and just a second later Naruto's dome disappeared, showing a panting Naruto. Normally creating that dome wasn't that hard, but damn he overcharged it with a lot of magic just to sustain that jutsu

The young blonde wasn't given the time to rest though, since as soon as his dome went off he was met by water, or to be more precise, a dome of water, courtesy of Zabuza, who was now standing just in front of him with one hand holding the dome

"This is my Suirō no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique), so unless you know how to breath under water, you're now as good a dead" revealed a smirking Zabuza, although it was hard to tell with his bandages.

Normally a lot of people would panic in this kind of situation, but Naruto wasn't like that. He knew that every technique had a weakness, and he knew the weakness of this one. The one using it had to stay close to the water prison itself, and one of Zabuza's hands was grabbing the dome of water

A plan rapidly formed itself in Naruto's head. The young blonde started to fill all of his body with magic and as soon as he was ready he turned that magic into nothing but electricity and released it all at once.

Like he expected the dome, made of pure water, worked as an excellent conductive for his electricity, and Zabuza, who still had once hand grabbing the dome, was met with a powerful shock all over his body

Zabuza screamed in agony. The feeling of so much electricity running through his body making feel a lot of pain. The missing Nin was not able to hold the prison anymore, and was forced to release Naruto

Said blonde was not going to lose this chance. Zabuza body was twitching, and he was down to one knee. If the man had hold the dome for a few more seconds he would have been knocked out for good, but Naruto wouldn't give him a chance to recover

The young blonde rapidly charged his right arm with his Kaminari noMetsuryū Mahō(Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic). Blue sparks appeared on his arm until it was completely covered in blue lightning. Then they electricity started to gain a form. Slowly but surely what could only be described as the head of a reptile, made of nothing but blue lightning with two dots yellow dots that acted like eyes, was formed around Naruto's whole arm

"Metsuryū Ōgi: Kaminari Kokuō: Raijin No Hihakai Kiba (Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Lightning King: Raijin's Destructive Fang)!" said Naruto before dashing towards the downed Zabuza, his right arm, which had the powerful spell, ready to destroy the Jounin.

However it seemed that Zabuza still had strength in him, since before the spell hit him he unsheathed his massive butcher knife sword and swinger at Naruto. The blonde, not having other choice, met the sword head on with his spell. The mouth of the dragon-like head of lightning that Naruto had around his right arm opened, showing razor-like fangs made of lightning and then closed as soon as the sword got in his mouth

The result was a battle of wills between Zabuza and his sword and Naruto and his spell. Sparks were flying all over the place from the spot in which Naruto's spell was holding Zabuza's sword. The young blonde could already feel the absorbing ability of the Kubikiribōchō acting up, but he was not going to lose now, so Naruto kept pushing, making the fangs of the dragon-like head burry themselves more in Zabuza's sword

Then something happened. Naruto didn't know what but out of the sudden in Zabuza's sword some weird marks appeared on Zabuza's Kubikiribōchō. The marks were completely black and Naruto had no idea what they were, but apparently Zabuza did since his eyes widened in shock at seeing them

Naruto didn't know that they meant, but at this point he had no option but to keep pushing, hoping that they wouldn't affect him badly. Then out of the sudden the marks disappeared, and Naruto stopped feeling the absorbing ability of the Kubikiribōchō disappeared. He wasn't going to look at the horse mouth though, so with a might yell Naruto pressed more his spell, the powerful fangs of the dragon's head making even more damage to the sword.

And then, with one last yell the Kubikiribōchō actually broke in pieces, shocking both Zabuza and Naruto, but the blonde's surprise was short. It was his chance now and he was not going to blow it

Naruto took advantage of Zabuza's shock and put his left palm on the water surface, the dragon-like head form of lightning still on his right arm. Then out of the water four black magic circles appeared in different sports, and from each circle what could be described a black claws shouted out of them, and grabbed hold of Zabuza's arms and legs, making the Jounin unable to move

Naruto then pointed the dragon's head directly at Zabuza's torso. The distance between them was just of a few meters, so this was definitely going to hurt the Kiri missing Nin, if not outright kill him, thought Naruto

"Metsuryū Ōgi: Kaminari Kokuō: Raijin no Kyōdaina Hōkō (Secret Dragon Slayer Art: Lightning King: Raijin's Mighty Roar)!" and with that the dragon-like head opened and from it a powerful lightning beam shot out of it, going directly at Zabuza's form

The Jounin could do nothing and when the spell hit him it dragged his body, to the shore of the lake. Naruto's spell finally disappeared, and Naruto walked towards the passed out form of Zabuza.

When he got there he was able to watch the damage that his attack made. Zabuza's torso had a big burn mark that completely covers it. His pants were turned into shreds and his body was twitching wildly. It was a miracle that the man was still alive, Naruto was sure that his attack would have killed him, especially at this distance

It was surprising though, the fact that Zabuza still had a hold of the hilt of his destroyed sword.

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Just before that, with Mito

Mito was in trouble. No scratch that, Mito was in some serious shit right now. The young red-head found her trapped in a dome made of ice mirrors that her enemy, Haku, had made a while ago, and Mito had no idea how to go from this point

She had tried to escape, but every time she did, even with clones, she was met with Haku's superior speed and senbon, which was the reason Mito now looked like a porcupine.

The young red-head was truly tired. She had a lot of wounds all around her body, which of course hurt like hell. But she couldn't give up. Her Nii-san might still be in need for her help! She needed to end this

Now

Mito ended up using the last thing she ever wanted to depend on. The thing that made her so famous in her village. The thing that had, in her opinion, ruined her relationship with her Nii-san

The Kyubi

In an explosion of crimson Mito's body was now covered in red demonic chakra, courtesy of the Kyubi that was inside of her. Mito never had any real trouble in using his chakra. Menma neither, but she just didn't like it. She didn't want to depend on the fox to do anything. She wanted to be more than just a Jinchuriki

But right now her Nii-san's life was on the line, so she would do anything in her power to break free and help him

With the extra power that Mito gained it was easy to break the mirrors. Not even Haku's speed helped her escape the young red-head's fury. Mito, after breaking more than a few of her mirrors, was able to land a strong punch on her face, making Haku lose her ANBU mask and for the rest of the ice mirrors to disappear completely

So right now it was once again a staring contest between a red-eyes Mito and a mask less Haku. Mito's face showing anger and determination while Haku's expression stayed calm

Then, out of nowhere both girls heard a powerful roar, coming from the place Haku knew Zabuza was fighting Naruto. Mito didn't knew what had happened, but Haku's next words definitely surprised her even more than the roar

"It looks like our fight must be put to and end now, Mito-san. I just hope we never met again" and with those words Haku disappeared in a Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique), letting a gaping Mito, who couldn't understand why her opponent had just left

Mito shocks her head to get rid of her thoughts. This was not the time thing about that, she had to find her Nii-san! Not knowing where he was, Mito decided to go to the place from where the roar had originated just before.

She just hoped her Nii-san was ok

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With Naruto

The tired form of the blonde apprentice of Zeref was right now thinking of what to do with Zabuza. On one part he could just kill him and be done with it, but he could also capture him. The reason for his attack was still unknown, so to capture and interrogate him was definitely a good choice

Naruto wasn't able to reach a decision though, since just a few moments after he started thinking a figure appeared just beside Zabuza. Someone that Naruto easily recognized even though she had new attire

"So it was really you... Haku" muttered Naruto, looking at the eyes of a person he considered a friend. Haku on turn just looked directly at Naruto, sadness obvious on the face of the two ninjas

"It was all an act then?! You just wanted to get information from me? Or were you planning to kill me when I had guard low?! Answer me, Haku!" yelled Naruto, the feeling of betrayal he had turning into rage. How could she? No, it was his fault, how could he have trusted someone so easily? Someone he just met a week ago for Kami's sake!

Then why did it hurt so much? She wasn't Sasuki or Zeref, so why was he so hurt by this?

Dammit

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun" said Haku with a sad smile. She wanted to tell him everything. She didn't like the look he was giving her. That look of betrayal. It might just have been a week but it was still special for Haku. She felt that Naruto was someone that could understand her, but now? He probably hated her

And why shouldn't he?

Not knowing what else to do Haku put a hand on Zabuza's barely alive body and left in Sunshin no Jutsu (Body Flicker Technique), not wanting to see someone that had become special to her with that expression.

Naruto wasn't able to stop her, not did he have the strength to do so anyway, so in the end it was just the blond standing there, still looking at the spot in which Haku was, and he would have stayed here for even more of a while if he wasn't taken back by a yelled "Nii-san!" and a tight hug, coming from none other than a relieved Mito

Mito had just arrived, and of course the first thing she saw was her Nii-san, so like a woman possessed she just ran directly towards him and engulfed him in a tight hug, her head on his chest since he was taller than him

It was at that moment that Mito felt the well toned body of her Nii-san. The young red-head actually blushed a little bit for the thoughts that appeared on her mind out of the sudden. This was hardly the time for that! Her Nii-san might be hurt; she had to check him on now!

Sadly for her Naruto just grabbed her shoulders and broke the hug rather forcibly. Mito was about to ask what is it but she was silenced by the cold glare Naruto was giving her. The young blonde was now definitely not in the mood for this crap from his former sister

Naruto just turned around and started walking. He was tired, angry and his body hurt like hell. He just wanted to rest right now, and forget the fact that someone he considered a friend was helping someone that tried to kill him

"Nii-san wait!" yelled Mito while trying to reach her brother, but she was stopped by his voice

"Don't, Mito" Naruto didn't even turn to address her, and his voice was as cold as tundra "I told you already to not call me that, we're not brother and sister, we're not family and we're only a team because your father couldn't understand that neither. Get that on your tick head and stop wasting my time" and with that Naruto just left walking, never turning around

Never noticing how his words finally made Mito burst into tears

And of course, never noticing her sobbing form that stayed there, the words of the person she loved the most breaking her hearth in a million of pieces

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Meanwhile, in Tazuna's bridge

"Dammit!" yelled an angry Menma, his fist smacking the ground hard

The bridge itself looked definitely worst that when they got here. Multiple scorch marks, cuts and formations of crystal were lying around the place

Both Menma and Sasuki were there. One was punching the ground, angry at himself for losing a fight, while the other one was just looking at the result of their fight against the woman that attacked them, her new Sharingan displayed proudly

The two of them were attacked while they were escorting Tazuna to his bridge. As soon as they got there a woman made her presence known and without saying anything she just started attacking them

They managed to get all the workers and Tazuna himself out of harm before starting to fight the woman seriously, but they weren't able to do shit against her

They tried, they truly did. Menma had even used the Kyubi's chakra and Sasuki was using her Sharingan, which was unlocked at the middle of the fight, but they still weren't able to defeat the woman, in fact she dominated the fight completely

She could have even kill them more than once, but she didn't, almost like she was playing with them

That of course didn't set well with neither of them, but they couldn't do much. Their senseis were gone and their teammates were lost too, so they just fought until for some reason the woman just decided to leave, of course leaving more than one question on the mind of both Genins

Sasuki's Sharingan were just looking directly at the result of most of that woman's jutsu. A shard of pink crystal that was on her hand. She didn't even got the woman's name, but she knew something new now

Shōton(Crystal Release)was a bitch to fight against

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Meanwhile, on a camp miles away from Nami

The place that once was the camp of the criminals that wanted to take Nami for themselves was now nothing short of a war zone. Everything was destroyed and dead bodies were everywhere. Some where complete while others were nothing but ashes now

On the middle of the place were three people, two on one side and another one in the other. The duo was someone that everyone in Konoha knew, Kakashi Hatake and Anko Mitarashi

Both of them were panting hard. Kakashi had his Sharingan out and was glaring at the third individual while Anko was on her knees, a nasty burn present on her leg and was also glaring at the third person, who acted like the glares he was receiving were nothing

This third person had long and spiky blond hair that reaches down to his lower back. He had a psychotic grin on his face as he showed his teeth. His red pupils consisted of several concentric circles, which further enhance his crazed appearance. He was wearing a yellow and dark blue skirt-like armor with a red waist ribbon, and on his torso he was wearing a sleeveless jacket that was completely black with red clouds, but both the sleeves and the borders of the jacket looked like they were ripped off.

Just after Kakashi and Anko ended their mission they were suddenly attacked by this third individual without mercy. They had tried to fight him off but even though they were two of Konoha's top Jounin, this guy was still able to defeat the two of them without sustaining that much of damage

It didn't help either that he was able to actually eat every Katon (Fire Release) jutsu that they used. This guy was the definition of monster. His speed was definitely at least Kage level, he was immune to fire, and he was able to create a destructive black fire that more than once almost killed them

And he did defeat them without even breaking a sweat. But right now they were in a stalemate. The crazy guy stopped attacking them as soon as a weird clay bird appeared on his shoulder.

The man cursed loudly about stupid people ruining his fun and about weak swordsman being defeated so fast to the bird, before giving the two Jounin a wide and crazy grin and then the bird flew towards them and exploded with a flash half the way

When the smoke disappeared and they were able to open their eyes the man was no more. He just disappeared like he was never there to begin with, but neither Anko nor Kakashi would forget any time soon the individual that defeated them so easily, or the last words he said, which just made his identity even more clearer. They had already a good guess of who he was, but it was now official

"I hope next time you will be able to give me a proper challenge, or you two will die by the flames of a god"

He was the S-rank criminal known as Zancrow, the Hinokami (Fire God)

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And that was the Wave arc (if you can still call it like that). The biggest purpose of this fic was to show that Zeref is not alone and that he has not been losing his time neither, and to present both Haku and Zancrow, characters that will be really important for future arcs

I really don't think that writing fights is something I'm good at, but I hope that this one wasn't so bad.

Once again this chapter ended up becoming larger that I thought it would be, but oh well, next one is definitely going to be shorter, and will probably come out sooner

Just so you know, the only ones that are secured in the harem are FemSasuke (Sasuki), Haku, Fu and Mito. Beside that who knows? someone else might be while it also possible that I would just stay with four girls, it will depend if I manage to make the harem act real enough with this many girls

Once again thanks to everyone that fav, followed or reviewed this fic. And of course special thanks to Daxter2234 for helping me in some stuff with this cap.

Next Chapter: We see the start of the journey, not of Naruto, but of Zeref