And the poles are closed!
Final votes are as follows:
Haku lives: 19
Haku dies: 1
Haku goes to Konoha: 15
Haku stays with Tazuna's family: 3
Zabuza heartless bastard: 5
Zabuza compassionate: 9
Zabuza lives: 13
Zabuza dies: 8
Zabuza goes to Konoha: 12
FINALLY! Someone voted for Haku to die! But it was because I made him...her...IT a girl in this story...meh.
Anyway, updates will be coming later for a while, I'm starting to have problems with my computer. The reason this one was slightly late was because I was being harassed by a virus protection website/company. They gave me a virus in my e-mail that only they could get rid of, thus making me buy their crap, but I outsmarted the bastards! My computer has a system restore program for shit like that! So I lost nothing but the virus and actually gained a few things as well.
But it appears they are very persistent, so I have to carefully check every file on my computer almost every day to make sure I got rid of the entire thing. Otherwise it will come back.
Now, here's the next chapter and the conclusion of Naruto v Nightmare!
XXXX
Naruto's eyes widened. While reading the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing he had stumbled upon a note left by the Yondaime. It said that he had renounced his clan name and would no longer be called "Namikaze Minato", he would now be known as "Kazama Arashi".
'"Namikaze'? But only the Yondaime Hokage had that surname. So that must mean..."
The voice laughed. "So, the young halfling has finally figured it out, eh? It's about time."
"Who are you?"
"Simple, I am the one who took your father's soul and sealed the Kyuubi within you. I am the Shinigami: the Death God."
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "So, the Yondaime was my father...Say, Shinigami-sama, can I...chat with my dear old dad for a minute?"
The Death God chuckled. "As entertaining that would be, I couldn't allow you to do that without taking your soul. And as I said before, you are far too Important to die. There is something you still must do for us."
"Okay, who is 'us', and what do I have to do?"
"Whoops, I've said too much already. And as for what you must do...Well, if I told you, you probably wouldn't do it. So I'll tell you when the time is right."
"And that would be...?"
"When you really don't have a choice in the matter."
"Oh joy." Naruto rolled his eyes.
"You always wanted to test your power against the strongest of opponents, right? Well, you are going to face enemies even stronger than the Soul Edge and Nightmare. Enemies that are on, or even above, Kyuubi's level. You have to prepare for that, and the first step has already been taken with you becoming a half demon."
"Oh? And what is the second step, and just how many 'steps' are there?"
"The second step is simple; you must conquer the curse of the Soul Edge. As for how many steps there are...Well, that all depends on how certain events unfold. But for now I'm going to send you back to the battlefield, what happens from there is up to you."
"Wait! What the hell is going on here?!"
"More questions? You're eventually going to be a full demon, but since you're still half human, I guess it's natural for you."
"Huh?"
"Humans ask questions and expect for someone else to answer them. Demons seek out those answers for themselves. Now go back and kick Nightmare's armored ass! And don't forget, we'll be watching."
With that a blinding light washed over Naruto.
Nightmare felt something was off, but paid it no mind and his sword continued its deadly arc.
Kyuubi clenched her eyelids shut, waiting for death, but something else happened, something almost too amazing to believe.
Nightmare's blade was stopped by another. It was a long, pitch black katana blade.
"Your fight is with me, Nightmare." Naruto forced the demon knight back and rose to his feet, completely healed. Even his armor was flawlessly reconstructed.
"N-Naruto?" Kyuubi couldn't believe what she was seeing.
Naruto looked at her over his shoulder and nodded and affirmative. "Sorry about that, I must've fallen asleep for a little bit."
Kyuubi smiled and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. "You idiot..."
Nightmare narrowed his eyes. "And here I thought you were dead."
"Glad to disappoint you." Naruto slid into his Dragon Destroyer stance.
This was when Nightmare noticed Naruto's weapon and his own. His own sword seemed to have gotten smaller and lighter.(1)
"How the hell do you have the Black Soul in this realm?!" Nightmare demanded.
Naruto shrugged. "You tell me, this is your world, I'm just going to beat you in it."
Nightmare snorted. "Well, now you may actually have a chance at doing that. You somehow summoning the Black Soul has drained me of a large chunk of my power. And you seem to be back at full strength, so now we're about even. But don't think that will save you, I will still take you soul!"
Naruto just scoffed, then disappeared from view, followed by Nightmare.
Sounds reminiscent of Naruto's fight with Zabuza could be heard throughout the decimated landscape. Flashes of metal and brief sparks indicated where the combatants met, trading blows so fast that even the most trained eyes could barely follow.
They were pretty much matched for speed, but Naruto was more agile and maneuverable. Nightmare, however, had a strength advantage. It came from him being a high level full demon, and his monstrous right arm. And while Nightmare's bulky armor restricted his movement, it provided better defense than Naruto's relatively light armor.
Nightmare swung his sword at Naruto's waist, but Naruto jumped over it and tried to bring his own sword down on Nightmare's head. Nightmare quickly switched sword hands and blocked Naruto's sword with his demon arm, which was even harder than his armor.
Naruto, who wasn't expecting the arm to be that hard, wasn't ready for the recoil of the blade bouncing off. He was thrown off balance for a split second, and that was all Nightmare needed to gain the upper hand. He grabbed Naruto's head with his demon arm and started to slowly crush it.
Naruto tried to strike his captor with the Black Soul, but Nightmare just grabbed the blade and ripped it from his hands.
"Very impressive, halfling, very impressive indeed. You can't tell right now, but I'm actually sweating behind this helmet. I don't know how you came back from the dead, or how you were capable of summoning a part of myself in my own world. But I do know how to remedy both problems." Nightmare cackled and applied more pressure to Naruto's already abused skull.
Naruto could feel his head slowly beginning to implode from the intense pressure. He struggled against the demonic appendage, but nothing he did worked. His clawed gauntlets did nothing to the titanium-like skin, but he had one last chance. It would be next to impossible to concentrate with his head being crushed, but it was his last hope.
Naruto slipped his right arm behind his back, but Nightmare was too busy cackling with insane glee to notice such a small movement. He blocked out the pain from his cracking skull and concentrated his chakra into his hand. He envisioned a glowing sphere with chakra swirling around inside it in all directions. He felt the sphere appear in his hand and he clutched it, struggling to keep his concentration.
Naruto suddenly chuckled and Nightmare stopped squeezing. "What exactly is so funny, halfling?"
Naruto smirked behind his cracked mask. "It seems...my father...was good for something afterall...RASENGAN!" he brought a sphere of swirling indigo chakra from behind his back and smashed it into Nightmare's arm.
"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" Nightmare wailed in pain as the ball chewed through his arm like it was made of paper.
A normal Rasengan wouldn't have done near that much damage, but this was a demonic Rasengan. The half demon chakra Naruto used to power the technique was much more potent than normal human chakra, thus making the technique much more powerful.
Foul, dark red, almost brown, blood oozed from Nightmares demonic arm. He hissed in pain and tried to flex it, but Naruto's attack bored too deep into his arm and severed the tendons, so for the time being his arm was useless for wielding a sword. This took away his biggest advantage: physical power.
'Shit, this will take awhile to heal.' Nightmare gripped his Evil Seed with his left hand. "Don't think you have me beaten yet, halfling. I'm mainly a left handed swordsman anyway. I'll just have to sacrifice a bit of power in my attacks." (2)
Naruto just snorted in response, then rushed forward and locked blades with the demonic knight.
As they each pushed for the upper hand, Nightmare glared at Naruto.
"While that technique was indeed impressive, you shouldn't have been able to do it in my world."
Naruto smirked. "How many things have I already done to you that I shouldn't be able to? Besides, the Rasengan is treated as an extension of my arm, or a super-powered punch. Just like my Air Cutter, it is a form of weaponry."
Nightmare scoffed. "So, you found a loop hole, eh? You damned foxes always were a crafty bunch, especially demonic ones. But it's no matter, I will still have your soul!"
Nightmare kicked Naruto in the stomach and he was sent flying, with the demon close behind. Naruto back flipped in mid-air, then crouched as low as he could. Not even a fourth of a second later Nightmare's Evil Seed cleaved through the air above his head. Naruto went for a sweep kick to Nightmare's legs, but the knight jumped over it and stabbed downward with his sword.
Naruto rolled out of the way before the blade pierced him and hopped to his feet. With the power Nightmare put behind that strike, his sword was stuck three feet into the ground.
Naruto noticed the sword's large purple eye staring at him, and he got an idea. He charged towards his target, sword ready to run it through.
Nightmare saw Naruto, but he knew he couldn't avoid whatever he had in store, so he put up his demonic arm at the last second to block it. But he wasn't what Naruto was going for.
The Evil Seed's eye widened and its pupil dilated as Naruto's sword got closer and closer.
Nightmare saw Naruto rushing him, but realized too late that he wasn't the target.
Naruto rammed his blade straight through the eye of the Evil Seed. The sword started to crack, allowing purple light to shine through.
"NOOOOOO!" Nightmare screamed as his sword began to crack and fall to pieces.
Naruto saw his opportunity and ripped the Black Soul free from the eye. He then lunged and swung it at the Azure Knight's neck.
All Nightmare saw was a flash of metal and his eyes widened. "I-I-Impossible..." was all he said before his head slid from between his shoulders and shattered like glass when it hit the ground.
The demon's body stayed standing though. It trembled and shuddered, then the demon's vile chakra erupted from the stump of its neck. The beam shot up towards the massive eye in the sky and stuck it dead center.
The world around Naruto started to shake and collapse; it was imploding on itself. The last thing he saw was the huge eye look directly at him, bolts of lightning flying around it, then everything went black.
Naruto's eyes snapped open and he jumped to his feet. He whipped his head around, looking for any possible enemies, but saw nothing.
He sighed heavily. "I guess I won." he smirked.
"You sure did! Congratulations Kit!" Kyuubi cheered.
"Yeah, yeah, you defeated me. But I killed you first, so HAH!" Nightmare's voice rang out in Naruto's head.
Naruto's eyes widened. "What the hell?! How are you still here?!"
"You may have defeated me, and freed my soul from the Soul Edge, but my power still remains inside it, which means you wield it now. But I need to teach you how to wield it so you don't destroy the planet, or something. And before you ask; yes, I do have that much power. I'll admit I'm weaker than Kyuubi at full power, but not by much." Nightmare actually sounded kind of bored.
"So you're my new guide?"
"Yup. Now for the basics, as you know the Black Soul had the ability to take souls, but only with prolonged physical contact with the blade itself. Now that you have the power of the Soul Edge, you can take souls yourself. By that I mean you can just reach inside a being's body and rip their soul out. But you can only do it with that kind of ease with hundreds, maybe even thousands of years of practice. So you can't just start stealing souls all willy-nilly, got it?
Now, since you defeated me, the power of the Soul Edge has gone waaaaayyyy down. To recharge it you need to feed it souls. To do that you can either jam the sword into someone's body and let the blade feed on its own; you can kill a lot of people in one place, and the Soul Edge will draw the souls to itself and absorb them; or you can rip someone's soul out yourself and feed it to the Soul Edge. It's all up to you.
The Soul Edge also has the ability to change its form and appearance to suit your fighting style. And you will now have a demon form, which will probably look something like me, but you should be able to make your own modifications. The sword will also change when in your demon form, so I suggest you learn how to use a 'zabatō', as you call it." Nightmare stated.
(3)
Naruto nodded, then rose an eyebrow when a black feather floated down in front of him. He looked up and saw a raven circling above his head. It would have looked like a normal raven...if it didn't have a five foot wingspan.
Naruto held out his arm, not really knowing what else to do. The raven looked down and swooped low, coming to land on Naruto's outstretched forearm.
The bird's glowing red eyes looked beyond Naruto's mask and into his eyes. It then spoke in a low, raspy, but distinctly feminine voice.
"So, you are the new holder of the Raven Summoning Contract. Hopefully you'll live longer than the last few."
Naruto rose an eyebrow. 'Anyone in there got any ideas as to what's going on here?'
Nightmare answered. "The Soul Edge takes one trait that it deems interesting or useful from every wielder, and passes it down to the next. The last guy was pretty unremarkable, slightly above average, but nothing special at all. He was, however, the only person on the planet with the summoning contract for Ravens. No one else was dumb enough to take it, I would guess. Anyone who has had it in the past had died shortly after gaining it, so not many are even willing to get close to it, let alone pick it up and sign it.
The Ravens are a very special class of summons. They have abilities far beyond that of most others. Many people believe that the raven is a messenger of death, and a guide to the Spirit Realm. They are correct in this belief. The Death God uses these birds to collect souls, as he rarely does it himself unless he is summoned to do so, or he finds the being who has died worthy of his personal attention."
Naruto came back to the land of the living and found the raven staring at him with its eyes narrowed.
"...You have more than one soul inside of you." it looked at the sword in Naruto's other hand. "And that sword possesses hundreds of thousands, maybe even millions of souls. It is the legendary Soul Edge, is it not?"
Naruto nodded. "Yes, and I am its master."
The bird cocked its head to the side. "Don't you mean its new master?"
"No. This blade has never had a master, a true one that is. It's had many wielders, and many slaves, but never a real master. I have defeated the spirit of the Soul Edge itself, and I have gained its power. It is also how I have gained the Summoning Contract for your clan."
The raven nodded. "Well then, I'll go and tell my father and we'll make this official. My name is Kurohane, the youngest daughter of Lord Garandou, the head of the Raven Clan. Who shall I tell him is the new summoner?"
"Uzu...No...Namikaze Naruto."
The raven nodded. "Until we meet again, Namikaze." Kurohane took off into the night sky.
That was when Naruto finally noticed that the sun was no longer in the sky. "How long was I out?"
"How long were you fighting me?"
"About twenty minutes."
"The world of the Soul Edge, unless I deem it otherwise, time actually passes slower in there than in the physical plane. So those twenty minutes were closer to twelve hours. This is why the few that have fought me have died before I could kill them. I may have only been toying with them for a few hours, but it had been weeks in the outside world, and their bodies died of starvation, or they were killed by other outside forces, like animals."
Kyuubi suddenly spoke up. "Kit, someone is watching you, someone very powerful."
Naruto gripped the hilt of his sword tighter and discreetly looked around. 'Can you tell where they are?'
"Not his exact location, but I do know that he is a high level demon. He is way beyond your level, so I think leaving would be the best option right now."
Naruto nodded mentally and sheathed the Soul Edge, which had taken the appearance of the Black Soul once again, then walked out of the clearing.
After he left and humanoid figure clad in a full body cloak with a hood appeared a few feet from where Naruto had stood. (4)
The figure chuckled. "The halfling is getting stronger and stronger. The Master will be pleased by this turn of events." the figure then disappeared without a trace.
(?)
The figure from the clearing appeared inside some sort of cave. It kneeled in front of a giant stone slab with massive chains and celestial runes binding it.
"Master, you will be pleased to know that the young halfling has obtained the Soul Edge, and has defeated Nightmare. He has also gained the summoning contract for the Death God's pet birds."
The stone slab suddenly pulsed crimson and the runes grew brighter. A deep, rumbling voice rang out and echoed throughout the cave. It was the voice of pure evil.
"So, the halfling has surpassed even my expectations. I didn't think he would even fight it this soon, let alone defeat Nightmare himself. Now do you see why I chose him, Shizaru?"
"Yes, Master. He is indeed very powerful for one still so young, and half human."
"What have I told you about underestimating humans? Just look at what happened to that fox bitch, Kyuubi."
"I remember, but she never was any match for you."
"No, but in a few thousand more years she would have nearly been at my level of power. In fact, my status was the only thing that would have kept her from trying to overthrow me as the Ruler of Hell."
"I see. So, what shall I do?"
"You shall do nothing but observe for the time being. Wait until he is strong enough to handle what I have in store for him. Do not wait too long though, because once he absorbs Kyuubi's power, he may be too powerful for my purposes. And most importantly; too strong to destroy."
"Yes, Master. If I may be so bold, Master, has your...condition improved?"
"Yes, these damnedable runes are weakening, and these chains can be broken once the runes are gone. Soon I will be free, but I will need time to regain my full strength. But my current power will be more than enough for that pitiful demon that had the gall to take my throne."
"I understand. What are your plans for the others?"
"They will be around. I'm making plans based on what I am told by you, after all. The pyromaniac has been itching for a fight ever since the Soul Edge reawakened, and I have instructed him to enter a tournament called the 'Chūnin Exams' under the guise of a shinobi. He will test the power of the new master of the Soul Edge. "
"I will alert The Seven, just in case something...unforeseen comes up."
"Very well. If you have no more to report, you are dismissed. But be warned, my...siblings will do everything in their power to stop my plans. And brother Death has already shown that he has sided with the others and is firmly against my cause. They may very well send their Champions after you and the others, so watch out for them."
"Yes, Master Arcarian." Shizaru sank into his shadow and disappeared.
"Soon, Namikaze...Soon you will serve me, just as your clan did before your father."
(Tazuna's Home)
Naruto walked into the door and saw that everyone was having dinner.
Sakura saw him first and pointed at him. "What the hell took you so long?!" she shouted.
Kiriko and Chigusa had similar, but more pleasant reactions to Naruto's return. They launched themselves at their new brother and hugged him fiercely.
"Nii-chama, we were worried about you! You've been gone all day!" Kiriko pouted childishly.
Chigusa giggled. "Don't tease Uzumaki-sama like that."
Naruto looked at Chigusa. "What did I say about that?"
"You said it was just for show. And as long as there are other people here, we're still putting on a show." Chigusa whispered.
Naruto nodded. "Very well. But my surname is no longer Uzumaki, I will now be known as Namikaze Naruto."
The twins nodded and let go of Naruto. "Will you be joining us for dinner?"
Naruto looked at the food on the table. He never did catch anything while he was out, and his body had been laying on the ground for nearly twelve hours, so he was starving.
"I guess I will." he took a seat between his new sisters.
Before he ate he muttered a little prayer of thanks, then picked up his chopsticks. He knew that everyone's eyes were on him, wanting to know what was under the mask.
Kiriko, Chigusa, Sasuke, Sakura, Tazuna, and Tsunami all had their eyes trained on Naruto. They all wanted to know what he really looked like, but he never took off his mask.
'Come on, he has to take it off to eat!' they all thought.
Naruto was silently figuring out a way to avoid having his face be seen. There were four too many females present, and a boy whose sexuality was...questionable at best.
Just then Inari came down the stairs and looked at everyone around the table, and they returned the look.
"Why...?" he mumbled.
Sakura rose an eyebrow. "Why what?"
Inari's eyes started tearing up, he let out a choked sob and ran back upstairs.
Inari had served as a proper distraction for Naruto, and by the time everyone heard his content sigh he was already adjusting his mask.
'DAMMIT!' they all thought.
Tsunami sighed and made a plate for her son. "I guess he'll be eating in his room tonight. If you'll excuse me." she got up from the table and went after Inari.
Naruto noticed that the boy had looked at him, or rather behind him, before he took off. He turned around and saw a picture of a tall fisherman with black hair and a scar over his right eye. He was smiling and had his right arm around Tsunami's waist, and his left was holding a beaming Inari on his shoulder. (5)
Naruto turned to Tazuna and pointed at the photo. "His father, I presume?"
Tazuna sighed heavily. "That's Kaiza. He wasn't Inari's real father, but he might as well have been. He was just a fisherman passing through when he accidently hooked Inari and saved him from drowning. After that Kaiza met my daughter and they instantly hit it off. They married a couple months after that, which was also when Gato took over. Kaiza and a few others tried to stand against him, but they were all killed by his thugs. Kaiza himself was beaten almost to death, then had his arms cut off. He was tied to a wooden cross in the center of the village, then executed as an example of what happens when you oppose Gato. Me, Tsunami, and Inari were forced to watch his execution, and after that day the boy was never the same."
Everyone had different reactions to Tazuna's story; Sakura looked sad and angry at the same time; Sasuke tried to seem uncaring, but anyone could tell that he was pissed; Chigusa and Kiriko looked like someone had just killed their puppy, and they wanted revenge; and Naruto just nodded, though he didn't really care.
Suddenly Naruto was assaulted by flashes of past memories. He saw hundreds of villagers and shinobi grinning sadistically and cheering for his death. He saw himself being stabbed and beaten while tied to a pole. Then he saw a man with jet black hair and eyes step out of the crowd. The man's eyes morphed into a complete, three-tomoe Sharingan and he flashed through handseals, then blew out a stream of fire.
Naruto shook his head violently to clear the images, which everyone noticed.
"Are you alright, Naru-...Namikaze-sama?" Kiriko asked, remembering to act like a servant at the last second.
Naruto held his head. "I'm...fine." he needed a way to take his mind off of things, and since there was nothing to kill, he needed to pull a prank. He saw Tsunami come back downstairs. "Excuse me, Tsunami-san, has Hatake-sensei eaten yet?"
Tsunami's eyes widened, then she rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. "I...uhh...kinda forgot about him..."
Everyone but Naruto facefaulted, he just leaned to the side slightly.
"I see...I'll bring his food to him."
Tsunami nodded and made a plate for the absent Jōnin, then handed it to Naruto.
Sasuke suddenly yawned loudly and rubbed his eyes. "Why am I so tried all of a sudden?" he mumbled, then shrugged and excused himself from the table.
Naruto grinned behind his mask. While everyone was looking at Inari, he had crushed some sleeping pills and sprinkled them onto Sasuke's food. He had done the same with the food he was now bringing his incapacitated sensei.
Naruto knocked on the door. "Hatake-sensei, are you awake yet?"
"Yeah, you got food?" a weak, shaky voice came from inside the room.
"Yes. Everyone else is busy, so I had to bring up your plate." Naruto walked into the room to see a pitiful looking Kakashi laying on the bed.
"Yo." the Jōnin mumbled.
Naruto handed him the plate, which the man could barely hold. This almost made Naruto reconsider playing his prank.
"Hold on." he stopped Kakashi, then dashed downstairs and came back with a TV. tray. "Here, this may help." ...almost.
Then Sasuke came in and shoved Naruto to the side. "Out of the way, Henshu(freak), I need to sleep."
Naruto glared at the Uchiha. "Shujouteki-teme(roughly, "emo bastard")." Naruto replied.
Sasuke gave a weak attempt at a hiss, but did nothing else. He dropped to his bed face first and started snoring.
Naruto looked back at Kakashi and saw that he was already done eating and was also asleep.
'Better to wait until I'm certain the pills have taken effect.' he thought before leaving.
(Later That Night)
The door to Kakashi and Sasuke's room opened slowly, revealing the silhouette our favorite masked Super Genin. Naruto looked at both his human sensei and his teammate and smirked.
"So, those sleeping pills worked." he walked up next to Kakashi's bed. "You know something, sensei? Hachimo raised a good point;" he took out a kunai and a small can of hair gel, "you do need a haircut." the kunai gleamed in the moonlight coming in from the window.
After Naruto was done with Kakashi's new...hairstyle, he walked over to Sasuke. He took out a bottle of hair dye, a pair of rubber gloves, and two rubber bands.
Naruto grinned evilly behind his mask. "Now it's your turn, teme."
Everyone shivered in their sleep as sinister chuckles invaded their dreams and turned them into nightmares.
(In The Morning)
Sasuke awoke groggily at around eight-thirty in the morning. He yawned and scratched his head. If he hadn't have been so sleepy, he would have noticed that something was wrong.
The Uchiha shuffled out of his and Kakashi's room and walked into the bathroom for his morning piss. He never thought to look in the mirror and just went back to his room.
When he opened the door he saw his sensei up and reading his porn. He noticed something odd about the man and looked at his hair, then stifled his laughter.
Kakashi heard his student snickering and look up from his book. His eye nearly popped out of its socket when he saw Sasuke's new hairstyle and color. He dropped the smut and clapped both hands over his mouth, but it only made his amusement that much more obvious.
Sasuke looked at his sensei and rose an eyebrow. "What?"
Kakashi just pointed at Sasuke's head and fell off his bed, laughing openly.
Sasuke ran back into the bathroom and checked out his hair in the mirror.
Downstairs Tazuna was sipping his coffee while reading a newspaper, Tsunami was making breakfast, Inari had left earlier to spread his gloom to others, and Naruto was sitting at the table with Tazuna.
Naruto had been mentally counting down when he heard Sasuke's footsteps on the above floor.
'Three...Two...One.' just as he finished and bloodcurdling scream tore through the household and into the surrounding forest. Small animals scurried for cover and birds randomly took off into the sky.
Everyone stopped what they were doing, except for Naruto, who started to quietly laugh.
"Don't worry about that, I guess my teammate didn't like the...present I left him." Naruto chuckled.
Tazuna just eyed the creepy boy before going back to his newspaper. Tsunami gave the ceiling one last glace before going back into the kitchen.
Sakura was already awake, as were Chigusa and Kiriko. She had been chatting with the twins when they heard Sasuke's scream.
"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura hopped to her feet and rushed out the door to the girls' room.
She ran to the bathroom door and knocked on it frantically.
"What do you want?!" came Sasuke's distressed voice.
"Sasuke-kun? Are you hurt? Why did you scream?" Sakura asked.
"...Nothing's wrong...I'm...busy right now."
Sakura sighed in relief. "As long as you're okay."
"I'm fine, now go...somewhere...anywhere but where you are right now!"
A hurt look flitted across the girl's face, then she turned away from the door and walked back into the room she and the sisters had been given.
Before she went back in, Naruto arose from her shadow, but she didn't noticed and closed the door. Naruto looked at the bathroom door and shook his head.
'Prick.' he bashed the door a couple times. "If you want breakfast, move your ass." he turned and left.
"Go away, creep!" Sasuke shouted.
Naruto just scoffed and went into the room that Kakashi was occupying.
Kakashi was still giggling like a little girl, but his book was discarded on the bed, while he was on the floor holding his sides.
The Jōnin looked up at Naruto. "Hahaha!...Did you...see? It was...Sasuke, hahaha!" Kakashi had no chance of making complete sentences in his current state.
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, I saw the pixy."
Naruto's remark sent Kakashi into another bout of hysterics. He started rolling on the floor, crying and laughing at the same time.
"Can't...breathe...Hahaha!" Kakashi gasped in between laughs.
Naruto just stared. "...If you die...what do we tell Hokage-sama? We can't very well report that you died from laughter."
Kakashi's laughter died down to just a few giggles and he finally stood up. While he was on the floor Naruto had cast a high ANBU level Genjutsu on his hair, something that not even Kakashi could detect. After all, he didn't want Kakashi figuring out that he had played a prank on him too soon. The only reason he allowed Sasuke to see his new 'do was because there was no way to get that hair dye out for at least three weeks.
"So, what are we doing today? With the injuries I inflicted on Zabuza, he'll be out of commission for at least a week, maybe two. Until then, we have nothing to do." Naruto said.
Kakashi wiped a tear from his eye and snickered a bit more. "We'll be training to combat Zabuza and his lackeys."
Naruto just stared at Kakashi, then walked out of the room without a word.
Kakashi swayed on his feet after Naruto left. "Damn, I'm still feeling the effects from my fight." he sat on the bed and pulled a small scroll from one of his jacket pockets.
Kakashi used a kunai to cut his thumb and smeared the blood on the now unraveled scroll. There was a puff of smoke and a medical kit appeared in Kakashi's hands. He proceeded to patch himself up, using what he'd learned from Rin years ago. Having had one of the best medic-nins ever as a friend had many advantages.
Sasuke stepped out of the bathroom, acting like nothing had ever happened. But he was now wearing a dark blue bandana that completely covered his hair. He tucked some stray strands back under the bandana and walked downstairs, hoping that Kakashi had kept his mouth shut.
Sakura came out of her room to see her crush/obsession walking down the hallway wearing a blue bandana.
'WOW! Sasuke-kun's even cooler than before!' the girl thought with hearts in her eyes.
Chigusa and Kiriko just passed Sakura and looked at Sasuke's head. Only they noticed a couple strands of hair poking out under the bandana...Pink hair. The twins giggled and followed the boy downstairs, Sakura following closely behind. Said girl was glaring at the two women before her, she had seen Sasuke's other fangirls giggling like Chigusa and Kiriko, so she thought that they would try and steal her precious "Sasuke-kun".
'OVER MY DEAD BODY!' both Inner and Outer Sakura shouted mentally.
(One Hour Later)
After breakfast was over everyone went to do what they normally did. Tsunami cleaned the house, Inari went to go brood somewhere, and Tazuna watched TV. He didn't have to be at the bridge until around noon.
Naruto had gone with his team when Kakashi had told them they were to begin their training.
Chigusa and Kiriko had gone with Naruto, saying they had nothing better to do.
Kakashi led his team to a large clearing a mile away from the house.
"Alright, team. With the injuries Zabuza has sustained, we shouldn't have to worry about him for a week or two. So for that time I will be training you." Naruto scoffed, but Kakashi ignored it. "The first thing you will learn his how to climb trees."
Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped, as did the twins, but for completely different reasons. Sasuke and Sakura sweatdropped because the training sounded lame, the sisters did because in Kirigakure you weren't allowed to pass the academy without being able to "climb" trees.
"Excuse me, Kakashi-sensei, tree climbing? That doesn't sound like it would be very useful for a ninja." Sakura said.
Naruto sighed. "You really shouldn't have called it 'climbing' trees." he turned to the nearest tree and walked to it, then walked straight up to the top branch, then hung upside down. "its proper name is 'tree walking'." he unstuck himself and landed on the ground without a sound.
Kakashi looked at Naruto. "...Very good Naruto. Do you know how to walk on wa-" he was cutoff by Naruto.
"I fought Zabuza on top of a lake."
Kakashi sighed. "Okay...Just how many exercises do you know?"
"I know surface clinging, water walking, kunai and senbon balancing, I know two more exercises that I am not willing to tell, and I'm currently working on waterfall running."
Kakashi's jaw damn near dropped, even he had trouble with senbon balancing, and he'd only heard of people running up waterfalls.
"Okay..." he looked a Chigusa and Kiriko. "What about you two?"
Both sisters scoffed. "I was a newly instated Jōnin before everything went to hell in Kiri. And my sister here was a Chūnin. Besides, in Kiri you aren't even allowed to graduate from the academy without being able to at least walk on any solid surface." Chigusa said.
Kakashi's eye widened. "Oh...I see...I guess you can go do...whatever it is you do, Naruto."
Naruto nodded, but instead of leaving he conjured up his throne thing and sat down in it. He looked for all the world like the King of Hell. He made two other slightly smaller and less intimidating chairs for his new servants/sisters.
Kakashi sweatdropped and tossed two kunai into the ground in front of his other two students.
"The key to this exercise is to focus just the right amount of chakra into the bottom of your feet, then use it to stick to the surface. Too little chakra and you'll fall, too much and you'll blow yourself off of the tree. Use these kunai to mark your maximum height." Kakashi then sat on a stump and pulled out his porn, this earned him death glares from Sakura, Kiriko, and Chigusa.
Sasuke and Sakura picked up their kunai and both ran at their designated trees. Sasuke planted his foot into the tree, splintering the wood, and ran up the tree trunk. But he only made it about five feet before he had to jump off.
Kakashi didn't even look up from his book. "You didn't use enough chakra, Sasuke."
Sasuke growled and was about to try again, but a voice from above stopped him.
"Look, Sasuke-kun, I did it!" Sakura squealed happily while sitting on the top branch of her tree.
"Good job Sakura! You have excellent chakra control." Kakashi eye-smiled.
"That's only because her reserves are so small, she doesn't have that much to control. So the only reason she could do this is because she's weak." Naruto said, there was no way in hell he was going to let some mediocre "accomplishment" go to the girl's head.
Sakura nearly fell out of the tree. "SHUT UP, NARUTO! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?!" she screamed.
"I know that my chakra reserves are larger than everyone it this clearing combined. I know that you come from a family that has no shinobi it its ranks, which is why your chakra levels are so low. I know that you have never truly trained. I know that you rely on your book-smarts to get you through, and even then you aren't as smart as many. And I know that you will be a liability to this team in the future if you don't get your act together. And liabilities are to be...dealt with." Naruto said coldly.
Sakura was on the verge of tears now. She knew it was all true, but she just didn't want to accept it.
Kakashi snapped his book shut and glared at Naruto. "Naruto, that's enough! You have gone too far this time!"
Naruto glared at Kakashi. "Stuff it, Hatake. You should be the one telling her this, so I'm doing your job for you. I just don't sugarcoat anything...ever. I'm only telling her what she needs to hear, but doesn't want to."
"No, you're not! You're just wearing down her confidence! I wonder why though, maybe to build yours up?" Kakashi smirked.
Naruto snorted. "Why would I need to build my confidence up? I'm stronger than all of you by far, so my confidence doesn't need any boosting."
Kakashi narrowed his eye. "Then maybe it needs a reduction."
"And who's going to do that? You? The 'great' Kakashi Hatake, the one-eyed wonder? You could barely even beat my clones, so what makes you think you can beat me now?" Naruto rose from his chair. "But if you want to try it, come on. I'll let you experience what I did six years ago! I'll make you feel my pain! Ninja Art: Flame of Zarathos!" Naruto launched a huge white fireball at the injured Jōnin.
Everyone in the clearing watch in shock and horror as the burning sphere came closer and closer to Kakashi.
Naruto's eyes widened behind his mask as he came to his senses. He waved his hand and the fireball jerked to the left and exploded, destroying at least twenty trees and whatever else was in them. Naruto waved his hand again and the fires extinguished themselves.
"You are seriously trying my patience, Hatake. You want me to stop putting Haruno-san down? Then do your job and teach her something."
Kakashi narrowed his eye. "You're her teammate, so you should be helping me in training anyway."
"My training would kill her." Naruto turned to leave. "I will take my leave now. If I stay any longer, one of you will die." with that the masked Genin left the clearing, his servants in tow.
XXXX
And Chapter ten is done!
I would reveal Kakashi and Sasuke's new hairstyles, but I thought of something that would make the whole situation a lot funnier.
In the last chapter I missed a few girls, so here they are:
Yugito - Definite consideration.
Kin - Maybe?
Ino - Never.
Sakura - I'd sooner send Naruto to Hell.
Ayame - Maybe, but I'll have to make her learn to defend herself.
Rin - I have plans other plans for her, so no go there.
Shizune - Pretty much has the same role as Tsunade, except she's the good big sister.
Konan(the previously unnamed female member of Akatsuki) - I just found out about her name in the most recent manga, her profile wasn't there when my friend hacked in. This led me to believe that she is either an already existing character and already had a profile under a different name, or she wasn't even a character at the time and has only been recently created by Masashi Kishimoto.
Male Characters Turned Female - Hell to the no! I'm only doing that with Haku because IT looked, sounded, dressed and acted like a girl.
Nibi no Nekotama The Two-Tailed Cat Demon - The demon that resides within Yugito Nii. If her vessel is in the harem, then of course the cat herself gets in on the action! But only IF.
Tsunami - No, mainly because of Inari. And the fact that she, like Ayame, is a civilian with no proper training at all.
Tsume Inuzuka - Kiba's mom...I think not. How would you feel if your new stepfather was only a couple months older than you?
Sakura's Mom - I haven't even seen her before, and once again no profile from the hacking. Besides, from what happened to Naruto in the past, if he even lays eyes on her he'll go berserk.
Yoshino Nara - Shikamaru's mother, same thing as Tsume, and she's married to boot!
Koyuki Kazahana(A.K.A. Yukie Fujikaze) - Daughter of the Daimyo of the land of Snow. She's commonly referred to as "Princess Yukie/Yuki" in most fanfiction in which she appears. She is a maybe for the same reason as Ayame.
There may be someone I missed, but I'm tired right now, so I don't really care.
(1) Nightmare's blade is now the one he has in Soul Calibur 3, the "Incomplete" version.
(2) I know that's not the real name of that sword, but it has a nice ring to it, so I used it.
(3) The way the votes were going, I thought I would have to make Zabuza a heartless bastard. But then he would have no real reason to live and go to Konoha. So I decided to give Naruto a use for him. But the votes turned out different, but the idea stayed.
(4) Think Organization XIII, but completely black.
(5) I forgot what he looked like other than what's written here, so it may not be accurate at all.
It's sleep time for me now, so until the next chapter...
Jason Out!