Wings of the Leaf
Hello again everyone, Welcome to the 10th chapter and probably something a few of you have been waiting for, THE WAVE ARC. Things are gonna start getting real from here on out so look forward to lots of EXCITEMENT AND ACTION AND STUFF!
As always I want to thank all of you for the positive support and reviews, and for sticking with us through it all so far. I'd like to remind you all that if you have any suggestions or ideas for the story, don't hesitate to send them to me in a review or PM, I do read all of them and always appreciate the support and input, and I do discuss any ideas with my beta.
I've rambled on enough for now though so now to the reason you are all here.
ON WITH THE SHOW!
"Konoha" = Normal Speech
'Konoha' = Thoughts
"Konoha" = Bijū Speech
"Konoha" = Jutsu/Techniques
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters; I do however own my OC.
Chapter 10: Clash in the Waves
+++Later+++
+++Road to Nami no Kuni+++
Naruto was grinning at being outside of Konoha for the first time in his life. The trees outside of Konoha were so different…shorter and they seemed to be less full of life than the ones he was used to.
"The forests of Konoha were created by the Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama, with his Mokuton Kekkei Genkai." Kurenai told hi m when he voiced this observation, "They are more vibrant and resilient than regular trees. Good eyes."
Sasuke, who was nearby, snorted. "Hn."
Naruto, with ease of long practice, ignored the Uchiha, choosing instead to keep an eye on his surroundings and the locations of his teammates.
Kakashi strode near the head of the small group with Sakura and Kiba, while Tazuna meandered in the middle, with Kurenai, her team and Sasuke at the rear.
"Kakashi-sensei, what are we likely to face threat-wise on this mission?" Sakura asked.
"Bandits or mercenaries at worst." the cyclopean Jonin replied indolently, "Wild animal attacks are vastly more likely."
"Wild animals?" Sakura said nervously, eying the foliage on either side of the road uneasily.
"Wolves, bears, foxes, maybe the occasional wildcat." Kakashi listed with a bored edge to his voice, "It isn't likely. Animals can sense chakra on an instinctual level, so they wouldn't dare attack us with Kurenai and myself here unless they are either insane with hunger or mad with rabies."
"Kakashi, try not to traumatize your genin." Kurenai said dryly, "Poor Sakura looks like she's about to have a heart attack."
"Maa, maa, she does need to get used to the idea of being attacked on C-Rank or higher missions." Kakashi replied lazily, "Kiba, Akamaru, any sign of anything unusual?"
"Nope." the Inuzuka replied, "Just a lot of unfamiliar scents from this place. Right Akamaru?"
"Arf!" the ninken puppy barked in answer.
"Six brats, a pervert and one decent ninja…I'm super in trouble." Tazuna muttered before taking a gulp of sake from the gourd he held in one hand.
Later on in the day, they set up camp at a traveler's rest stop, complete with a ring of stones as a makeshift fireplace. As the genin set up the tents and foraged for wood for the fire, Kakashi and Kurenai kept an eye on Tazuna.
"So you think he's hiding something?" Kurenai asked softly.
"Almost certainly." the one-eyed jonin replied, "He's too nervous to only be worried about possible bandit attacks. No, someone more troublesome than that is on our bridge builder's mind. Keep alert tomorrow."
The ravenette nodded. Kakashi was an Elite Jonin, thus her superior officer on this mission.
+++Next Day+++
The group of ninja and one civilian meandered down the road. They could have moved faster, but the bridge builder was nursing a hangover and they had to accommodate his staggering steps.
"This is why moderation is important, old timer." Naruto said smugly to the old drunkard.
"Urgh…I have a super headache….shush it, brat!" the old man grunted sourly.
Hinata hid a giggle as Naruto chattered on, making Tazuna wince at his loud voice. She disliked alcohol and the bridge builder's habit of including the word 'super' in every sentence he spoke was more than slightly irksome as well. A bit of vengeance from Naruto was only just, in her opinion.
She turned on her Byakugan and performed a scan of the surrounding area before deactivating it. No sign of any chakra signatures within range of her Kekkei Genkai's 360 degree line of sight.
"Hinata, we aren't likely to run into any shinobi on this mission." Kurenai reminded her.
"Ano…isn't it better t-to be safe rather t-than sorry?" Hinata asked meekly.
"Very true." Kurenai conceded, "But not every mile like you have been doing. Do it every two miles or so. We don't want you using all your chakra up."
"Hai, Kurenai-sensei." the Hyūga Heiress agreed.
"Kurenai-sensei, my kikaichū have discovered nothing of any significance." Shino reported.
"Of any significance to them or to us?" the Jonin asked.
"Neither." the Aburame Heir replied.
Kurenai nodded. Shino was hard even for her to read thanks to his logical outlook and largely concealed face and body. She was vastly experienced in reading people's body language and facial expressions, but not with members of the Aburame Clan. She would have to have a word with his father at some point.
After stopping for lunch, the group finally draws near to the coast of Hi no Kuni, and the way to Nami no Kuni. Kakashi, leading the way, spots a puddle in the road ahead and decides to see who among the genin spots the incongruity.
As he strolls up to the puddle, two men wearing Kirigakure hitai-ate with a line drawn through the symbol appear from the puddle and wrap Kakashi in the chain that links them together and shed him into pieces.
"One down." the nuke-nin say in unison.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shrieked. The pinkette, despite her fright, draws a kunai and assumes a defensive stance in front of Tazuna.
Sasuke, on reflex, throws a kunai into the middle of the chain and into the ground, pinning the two nuke-nin down.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, spawning a dozen clones that leap into the air and start grappling with the two men, giving the rest of the genin time to recover.
Shino responds admirably, directing his kikaichū to swarm over the left-hand nuke-nin with a muttered, "Kikaichū: Shinryaku no Hadō. (Parasite Destruction Insects: Infestation Wave.)" while Hinata speeds in and uses her Jūken to immobilize the other one.
"Yo. Nicely done, all of you." Kakashi said amiably as he reappeared in a puff of smoke, his 'remains' revealing themselves to be a Genjutsu.
Kakashi just gave all the genin one of his eye-smiles and looked to Kurenai as he grabbed the two nuke-nin. "Kurenai, please ask Tazuna why he has two Chunin level nuke-nin targeting him, I'm going to have a talk with our two friends here." And with that Kakashi dragged the two nin into the forest.
Kurenai questioned Tazuna who proceeded to give his story about what was happening in Wave country, from the condition of it's people to the midget tyrant responsible, Gatō.
Kakashi had come back half way through, having gotten rid of the two Chunin as he and Kurenai were about to cancel the mission until Naruto voiced his disapproval of abandoning the country in need of their help, the rest of the genin backing him up on his views, except Sasuke who just grunted his agreement.
Reluctantly Kakashi stated the mission would continue but convened with Kurenai about requesting for more backup just in case something went wrong, and she agreed. Kakashi wrote up the request and summoned Pakkun and gave him the scroll, instructing him to take it to the Hokage immediately, with a poof the dog summon left as the group continued on their way.
+Back in Konoha+
+Hokage's Office+
Hiruzen was sifting through some more paperwork, letting out another sigh as he looked at the picture of the Fourth Hokage, silently grumbling as he wondered how the young Hokage had managed to spend so much time with his wife and still get all this paperwork done.
The sound of a summon appearing broke him from his thoughts as he saw the familiar little pug dog summon belonging to Kakashi, sitting on his desk holding a scroll in his teeth.
Hiruzen took the scroll as the dog poofed away, he then proceeded to read the contents of the scroll and sighed. 'I knew I had a bad feeling about this mission' He called one of his hidden ANBU out and sent the ninja out to retrieve some people for him.
A short while later Yugao and Sefia walked into the office, Yugao bowed a little to the Hokage along with Sefia as she spoke. "You called for us Hokage-sama?"
The old man nodded and sighed. "Yes, I need you and Sefia to head to Wave country immediately and provide backup to Teams 7 and 8, their C-rank mission just turned B-rank bordering on A and both Kakashi and Kurenai requested some back up just in case."
Yugao nodded as she turned to Sefia. "Sefia-kun, head home and pack for at least 2 weeks and meet at the gate in 30 minutes."
Sefia nodded and smiled. "Yes, Yugao-sensei."
He then leaped out the window and rushed home.
Half an hour later, Yugao and her apprentice were rushing out the gates of the village, hoping to make good time on catching up with the Teams, Yugao had told Sefia to fly above the trees using his wings as it was much faster, and her time in ANBU let her still keep up with him.
+Timeskip=a couple hours later+
+Wave Country+
The two squads of genin were now in a very bad situation, they were surrounding the client Tazuna while their jonin sensei engaged the nuke-nin Zabuza Momochi, a former jonin rank shinobi from Kirigakure no Sato and a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.
Needless to say, it was an impressive fight, and somewhat shocking when Kakashi had revealed the transplanted Sharingan he had in his covered eye, but both himself and Kurenai were taken by surprise when Zabuza had used a clone to help him kick both Kakashi and Kurenai out into the lake they were fighting on the shores of, only for the real Zabuza to rush over and trap them both in the Water Prison Jutsu, leaving a Water clone to deal with the genin.
Naruto and Sasuke, along with Kiba had tried to fight the clone, but were all forced back like nothing to the swordsman, but just as the man was about to bring his zanbatō down on a wounded Naruto, the massive sword was stopped by another sword that seemed to have fallen from the sky, shocking not only the genin but Zabuza as well.
The clone was about to move before a flash of silver dropped from above and landed on the sword, followed by it meeting the gaze of a pair of gleaming silver eyes glaring at it before it felt a large impact to its chest, having been drop kicked backwards as everyone now got a better look at what happened.
Dropping from the sword was a boy with long snowy silver hair that some of the genin recognized and only confirmed when Naruto shouted. "Sefia!"
The boy turned and smiled at Naruto calmly. "Sorry we are late Naruto-san, don't worry though, Yugao-sensei told me to handle this and not hold back."
Sefia then turned to the water clone and noticed the real Zabuza out on the water, holding the two jonin captive as he thought quickly about what to do before he grabbed the sword next to him and rushed the clone.
Zabuza chuckled at the thought of the runt besting him, his mirth didn't last long before he saw his water clone struck down followed by the strange boy already on top of him as he was forced to dodge the genin's sword, releasing the two jonin who were quickly retrieved by two of Naruto's shadow clones and brought back to shore as Sefia and Zabuza stared each other down while standing on the waters surface.
When the jonin were back on shore, Yugao came out and smiled. "Kakashi, what happened to you two out here?"
The one-eyed jonin chuckled, a bit ashamed of himself. "Maa maa, I guess we were caught off guard, but now with your students help, we can finally end this fight"
As Kakashi got ready to head back out into the fight, Yugao quickly stopped him. "Hold it Kakashi, you and Kurenai stay back, let Sefia handle this."
Kurenai was shocked by her friends attitude. "Yugao! he is a genin, you can't expect him to win against a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist!"
Yugao smiled. "I don't expect him to kill the man, but I consider this great training for Sefia-kun. Some real world kenjutsu experience against someone like Zabuza is exactly what he needs, plus Sefia isn't easy to beat when he goes all out, just watch and you will see." The other two jonin seemed sceptical about this but turned to watch the battle with the genin.
Out on the water, Sefia and Zabuza were going at it quite fiercely, though Zabuza was more on the defensive as Sefia's style was making it hard for the mist swordsman to get any read on the kid at all, Sefia looked more like he was dancing around with the swords he was holding and summoning than actually fighting with him.
Zabuza finally attempted a horizontal strike to the silver haired boy, only to have another sword come down from above to block it, Sefia jumped and spun horizontally and grabbed the swords handle before flipping over it, another sword appearing at the tip of his shoe as it moved with it, coming down on Zabuza who just barely dodged, sans a cut that nicked his shoulder as he slid back.
"Heh, you're not bad kid, might I ask the name of the own who can manage to match me with the blade?"
Sefia stared at Zabuza, his silver eyes still locked on the man. "Sefia Shuiro."
The name made Zabuza's eyes go wide as he remembered the clan the boy was from, a small shiver going down his spine as he remembered a young woman who had practically beaten him down like a child so long ago, a woman who this boy reminded him of.
"No wonder I felt a bit of deja-vu, I've met one of your clan before years ago, that woman was one of the only sword wielders to ever make me actually afraid."
Zabuza put his sword on his back as he quickly started going through handsigns, only for Sefia to glance back at Yugao who nodded her head and held up 5 fingers, which Sefia nodded back to and looked back at Zabuza who had summoned a large dragon made of water and launched it at Sefia.
What happened next, surprised all the genin and jonin, minus Yugao. Sefia's body suddenly began giving off a glow of what looked like white lightning, accented by the faint arcs of electricity between his hair which had been forced out of its ponytail with the surge of energy. It took only a blink and it happened, The water dragon was obliterated, and Zabuza had crashed into the shoreline with a couple of cuts on his body, with Sefia standing between him and the teams, now back to normal and looking down at Zabuza.
Sefia was about to strike again when two senbon struck the nuke-nins neck and he dropped, Kakashi quickly rushed over and checked the body, confirming Zabuza's lack of a pulse before a hunter nin dropped out of the trees and thanked them all for weakening Zabuza, before he grabbed the body and vanished in a shunshin.
"That was…oddly fortuitous timing." Sefia remarked aloud.
"Huh?" Kiba said in confusion.
"He means that that Oinin just so happened to show up just when Sefia was about to finish Zabuza off." Kakashi dumbed it down for Kiba as he covered his Sharingan again with his hitai-ate, "Then again, it fits in with how Oinin operate. Why risk themselves when they can make others weaken their prey for them?"
Sefia frowned, but conceded the point. He went over and helped Hinata bind Naruto's injuries -a cut across the shoulder and a couple of fractured ribs. Sasuke and Kiba were relatively unharmed, with just a couple of bruises and scratches, thanks to Naruto, who had deliberately drawn the attention of Zabuza onto himself.
"Pardon me for a moment." Sefia said to the group at large before trotting to the shore of the lake and unleashing a powerful Katon jutsu over the water, making steam kick up from it.
"Why'd he do that?" Tazuna asked in bemusement.
"The jutsu Sefia-kun used causes a large amount of residual chakra to remain in his system after being used." Yugao replied, "He has to burn it off, otherwise contact with moisture will shock him even a day afterwards."
Everyone in the group, except for Naruto and Yugao were staring at Sefia in shock as he walked over to them while putting his hair back into a ponytail and wrapping it around his neck.
Some were shocked about what they had just seen Sefia do, Kakashi especially as his Sharingan was active and he couldn't even see Sefia move in that fractional moment during the attack.
Off to the side, Sasuke was giving Sefia a slight glare, he just couldn't believe someone like the Dobe's friend could be so far past himself in power; he needed to get power like that to avenge his clan.
After everyone got over the spectacle, the group made their way to Tazuna's house. Kakashi was rather glad that he had managed to avoid chakra exhaustion from overusing his Sharingan and was walking with alongside Yugao and Kurenai.
Sasuke managed to grab Kakashi's attention as the two stopped for a brief moment. "Kakashi-sensei can you see if you can find a way for me to learn whatever that technique the Shuiro just used."
Sasuke's words showed he was requesting, but his tone gave the impression he was demanding to be taught said technique.
Kakashi just gave Sasuke an eye-smile. "Hold on there Sasuke, I'll ask Yugao about it and see if it's something anyone can learn."
Kakashi caught up with the group again with Sasuke as they got close to Yugao and Kurenai. "Excuse me Yugao-san, but one of my students is rather curious about that technique Sefia-kun used against Zabuza at the end of the fight. Is it some special jutsu or can anyone learn it?"
Yugao gave Kakashi a curious look before she noticed Sasuke nearby. "Well Kakashi, I'm afraid that only Sefia can currently learn it, it's a special jutsu from his clan and only the Shuiro are physically capable of using it, anyone other than his clan would kill themselves from use of the technique."
Kakashi nodded while Sasuke had overheard the response and seethed a bit since he would more than likely never be able to learn such a powerful technique, but what Yugao had failed to mention is that the technique was not only dangerous to anyone who attempted it other than a Shuiro clan member, but it was still dangerous even to them.
The group arrived at Tazuna's house not much longer after that discussion, as everyone got ready to get settled in.
End Chapter A/N
Hey everyone, hope you liked the chapter, and we got to see some of what Sefia is potentially capable of, now before anyone goes off on me about him being OP what with beating Zabuza how he did, I would like to clarify some things about it.
My beta and I discussed this quite a lot to get it balanced, now the technique I'm sure everyone is curious about is a clan specific jutsu for the Shuiro, now while we are not revealing any specific details or the name of the techniques involved just yet, let me tell you the balances. While the technique is insanely powerful, it also has a huge drawback even for someone from the Shuiro clan, namely that if used for too long, the technique will practically destroy the user from the inside out.
At this point of time, Sefia can use the technique for a moderate time of 30 seconds, and his absolute limit is 1 minute. Now that is without serious damage, these time limits will change as time goes on due to him regularly practicing with the technique. That said, the techniques already has a name and it will be revealed in the future.
So there you have it, more to be revealed on these mysteries at a later date, but hope you all stick with us for the long haul to come.
Until next time, Have fun and enjoy everyone! ^_^