Chapter 10: Wave Arc 2

Time for another wonderful chapter of the best Jiongu story on this website!

I have received MANY complaints about whether I am underestimating Uzushiogakure's strength. I honestly thought that 93% seemed like a reasonable number. Just wait until I reveal the REAL numbers later in the story.

I got a lot of suggestions for what to do to replace the Search for Tsunade Arc, and I have made a decision. But I'm not going to tell anyone, that would be giving away spoilers. But I can tell you that it will be exciting.

Now then, let the party begin!

(Tazuna's House)

Kurenai sat up in her bed as she tied her headband onto her forehead, ready to work for the day. Looking around, she saw that Sakura was still asleep and that Tsunami was also out of bed and downstairs making some breakfast. The female Jounin walked downstairs and saw that Kiba was already awake along with Akamaru, with amused expression on his face.

"What's so funny?" Kurenai asked. Kiba just smiled and jerked his head to the left. Kurenai looked over and saw something that caused her to almost burst out laughing.

On the bed in the living room were a sleeping Naruto and Hinata, but that wasn't the funny part. What was funny to Kurenai was the fact that they shifted during the night and ended up in an amusing position, since neither of them would be caught dead like that.

Hinata had her head resting on Naruto's chest and had her arms wrapped around his torso like a small child when they went to sleep with their favorite teddy bear, also pinning one of his arms against his body. Naruto had one arm draped over her back protectively. Not wanting to let this cute moment go to waste and be forgotten, Kurenai took out her camera and snapped a picture of the two.

'This would make great blackmail,' Kurenai thought sinisterly.

"This is the only time I've ever seen Naruto not move in his sleep," Kiba said.

Kurenai gave him a look and asked, "Do you watch him sleep?"

Kiba shook his head and told her, "Nah, it's just that whenever me, him, Shikamaru, Choji and sometimes Shino would have a sleepover, he would always move around in his sleep. Sometimes he kicked the person next to him."

Kurenai giggled at the image in her head of a sleeping Naruto kicking Kiba in the head. She then went over to the bed and opened the blinds, letting the sunlight shine onto Naruto's closed eyes. Naruto groaned as the light shone on him and woke him up. He went to stretch his arms, only to find that one of them was pinned to his body. He opened his eyes to see something blue in his vision. As soon as his vision cleared, he saw that the 'blue thing' was Hinata's head on his chest, causing him to blush furiously.

"Help..." Naruto squeaked as he tried to squirm his way out, but Hinata just tightened her grip. He looked over and saw that Kiba and Kurenai were just standing there while holding in their laughter. Naruto poked Hinata in the side, causing her to slightly move, but nothing else happened. Seeing that her feet were bare, Naruto sent over a few threads and had them wiggle over her soles.

The results were instantaneous, Hinata began to squirm while letting out soft giggles. She began to move around, but still held on to Naruto like he was a lifeline. He was able to slip his pinned arm out and then scribbled his fingers all over Hinata's sides. The young Hyuga woke up and burst out laughing and rolled off of Naruto to try and get away from him. Naruto retracted his threads and observed Hinata as she laid down on the bed, hugging her feet close to her while letting out a few more giggles.

"Naruto-kun...you're...evil..." Hinata huffed as she tried to catch her breath. Naruto just chuckled and got off of the bed before heading to the bathroom to change. Hinata looked up and saw that Kiba and Kurenai finally let out their laughter while Akamaru barked in amusement.

"Wh-what's so f-funny?" Hinata asked, already blushing.

Kiba grinned and said, "Oh nothing, just watching you two snuggle with happy grins on your faces." Hinata shook her head in denial, but stared with wide eyes when Kurenai pulled out the picture she took.

"You seemed very happy with your situation," Kurenai said with a grin. Hinata then fainted in embarrassment, causing the two to laugh. Naruto exited the bathroom, changed into his normal attire, and looked down at the fainted Hinata before seeing the two laughing shinobi. He then grew a evil grin.

"Kurenai-sensei! Don't eat the last cinnamon bun!" Naruto yelled. Kurenai raised her eyebrow in confusion while Kiba paled and backed away from the older woman. The next thing Kurenai knew, she was flat on her back with a crazy Hinata grabbing the front of her dress with a crazed look in her eyes.

"WHERE IS IT?!" Hinata screamed. Kurenai stared at her student with shocked eyes while Naruto rolled around laughing in the background. His laughter knocked Hinata out of her crazed state and she looked around to see that she was pinning her sensei to the floor.

"EEP!" Hinata jumped back in shock and grabbed her clothes before racing into the bathroom. Kurenai wondered if Hinata had somehow discovered the Hiraishin.

"What...was that?" Kurenai asked as she got up.

Naruto got up while still smiling and said, "Hinata-chan thinking that you were going to eat a cinnamon bun."

"The same thing happened to Naruto on the first day of the Academy," Kiba muttered, Akamaru barked in agreement. He then turned to Naruto and asked, "So what's with the thread ability? You never showed that in the Academy."

Naruto contemplated whether or not to tell Kiba about the Jiongu when he remembered that he was one of his best friends in the Academy.

"Can you keep a secret?" Naruto asked. Kiba nodded and Naruto asked Kurenai to make sure that nobody else of Team 7 was around, to which she confirmed. Naruto had already told the rest of Team 8 after two months on the job, feeling that he could trust them. Naruto then went to explain his Jiongu and what it does to Kiba and Akamaru.

Kiba whistled and said, "That's a cool ability, makes you a badass ninja. Though the whole 'make my extra hearts fight' thing creeps me out a little."

"Yeah, it was a little disturbing at first, but I got used to it," Naruto said.

"There is something that I forgot to ask about your hearts," Kurenai began, "how do you sleep with them on your back? Doesn't it bother you?"

Naruto grinned and snapped his fingers. Sneaking into the house through the front door was Fox and Titan. The two constructs then walked over to Naruto before reattaching themselves to his back underneath his coat.

"I let them out when I sleep," Naruto said, "I found out on the first night I put the heart in the mask that it can be a little uncomfortable."

"Ha! Always count on Naruto to find a way out of a problem," Kiba said. Kurenai just shook her head and went to assist Tsunami in making breakfast. Hinata walked out of the bathroom, dressed and still sporting a blush on her face.

Kiba grinned and asked, "Any reasons I'm smelling pheromones this morning?" Hinata blushed a burning red and ran into the kitchen, leaving Kiba to fall out of the chair laughing.

Later, everyone except Kakashi were in the kitchen eating breakfast. It wasn't anything special, just some steamed rice and grilled fish.

"So what are we going to do Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto asked.

The female Jounin put down her chopsticks and said, "Well, there was something that I realized last night. Zabuza is alive."

To say that the Genin were shocked would be an understatement. Sakura paled in horror, Kiba and Hinata looked worried, Akamaru whimpered and hid himself in Kiba's jacket, Naruto and Shino showed no outward emotion, and Sasuke smirked at the chance to fight a strong opponent again.

"W-why do y-you think that s-sensei?" Hinata asked.

"That Hunter ninja, he used senbon needles to take down Zabuza. Senbon are meant to incapacitate or help with acupuncture. But that Hunter struck Zabuza in an area in the neck that will put someone in a death-like state, I must have missed the pulse when I was checking him," Kurenai said.

"So he was an accomplice," Shino told her.

Kurenai nodded. "Most likely. Hunter ninjas also destroy the body right away after taking the head. Taking anything other than the head or what the Kage wants from the Nukenin is considered treason."

"So we might have to fight both of them eventually," Naruto noted.

"Yes, but Zabuza's injuries will take at least a week to heal, so we have time to train and prepare," Kurenai said, she then got up and said, "I'm going to check on Kakashi and see if he's up."

Kurenai went upstairs and entered Kakashi's room to see the Copy Cat sitting up and rubbing his normal eye.

"How are you feeling?" Kurenai asked.

Kakashi turned to her and said, "Feeling better, thought I can't feel my legs too much, might have strained them a little."

"Take it easy then," Kurenai told him. "Do you know that Zabuza's alive?"

Kakashi nodded. "I was about to say something, but I collapsed and couldn't tell you or the kids."

"I was planning on taking your team to train with mine to help them prepare for whenever Zabuza comes back," Kurenai said. Kakashi nodded and laid back down again, closing his eye to relax.

Kurenai went back downstairs and took the Genin outside and into the nearby forest. She brought them to an area where there was a nearby lake and large thick trees.

"What are we doing here?" Sasuke asked, annoyed by it being an area where he couldn't practice any of his Katon jutsu.

"We're going to work on your chakra control, but first, I need to know what Kakashi's been teaching you guys," Kurenai told him.

"We've been working on teamwork exercises," Kiba told her.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"Uhh, that's it," Kiba said. Kurenai sighed and tossed a kunai to each member of Team 7 before having them face a tree.

"Since Kakashi seems to look like he doesn't know how to be a proper teacher, you guys are going to learn how to climb trees."

"But we learned how to do that in the Academy," Sakura protested. Kurenai just sent her a sideways glance and walked up to a tree before walking up the tree. The members of Team 7 stared at her in awe at the female Jounin.

"How did you do that?" Kiba asked.

"You gather chakra in the soles of your feet and use it to climb the tree. But be careful, if you use too much you'll go flying off, and using too little won't allow your feet to stick to the tree," Kurenai explained. "Use the kunai to mark your progress."

"And what are they going to do?" Kiba asked, motioning to Team 8.

"We a-already know this e-exercise, so w-we're going to l-learn the Water W-Walking Technique," Hinata said. Sasuke glared at them with jealousy, seeing that they already knew something that he didn't. Kurenai popped in a Soldier Pill and made a Kage Bunshin to watch Team 7, and then took her team to the nearby lake.

"Now then, Water Walking is the same as Tree Walking, but instead of just letting out a set amount of chakra, you have to constantly change it because of the moving water," Kurenai explained. She then focused chakra into her feet and walked onto the lake, like how Kakashi and Zabuza did when they fought.

"Hinata, I want you to use your Byakugan and tell me what you see," Kurenai said as she faced her students. Hinata nodded and activated her Byakugan before taking a close examination at Kurenai's feet as they expelled chakra.

"You're s-sending out chakra a-at stronger p-points when the wa-water shifts in o-order to keep y-your balance," Hinata said.

Kurenai nodded and said, "Very good, now I want you guys to try this, but you should remove your jackets so you don't get a cold."

Naruto nodded and took off his trenchcoat, revealing his masks to the world. He then released them and had Fox and Titan hide in the trees in case Sasuke or Sakura came by. Shino hesitated a moment before taking off his coat, revealing a black shirt with mesh armor underneath.

Hinata had the hardest time as she was VERY nervous about taking off her jacket. She was self-conscious about her appearance and was afraid about getting any negative comments. Deciding to risk it, she took off her jacket, revealing her light blue blouse underneath that hugged her body somewhat. When Hinata looked up, she saw Naruto turned away with a large blush, Shino turned away with red ears, and Kurenai staring at her with small hints of jealousy.

"I-i-is something w-wrong?" Hinata asked nervously.

"I'm just jealous," Kurenai told her, "I never had a figure that good when I was a Genin." Hinata just blushed and looked away, but on the inside...

'Naruto-kun's blushing! That means he finds me attractive!' Hinata squealed in her head, marking up her little victory.

The three Genin then started to practice. Naruto added too much chakra and was launched into the air, landing in a tree. Shino added too little and sunk into the water, only to come up later with an angry buzzing sound as his insects left his body to get away from the cold water.

"I think my insects are angry with me," Shino said.

"What tipped you off? The angry buzzing?" Naruto asked with some sarcasm.

Hinata took a step on the lake and tested her technique, once she was satisfied, she took several more steps. Eventually she was 10 feet away from the shore and sunk only to her ankles.

"Very good Hinata, looks like those Hyuga's are good for their chakra control lessons," Kurenai said. Naruto was sunk up to his chest and gave Hinata a grin that made her lose her focus, sending her into the lake with a shriek. She came back up with a gasp and practically flashed to the shore where she began to shiver, but what she didn't know was that Naruto was staring at her with a large blush since her wet shirt hugged her body more, resulting in Naruto getting a slight nosebleed. It didn't help that the heated chakra of the Kyuubi prevented the cold water he was in from knocking him out of his trance. Kurenai noticed this and lightly giggled, seeing that Naruto was attracted to Hinata.

(Next Day-Bridge)

Naruto was watching Tazuna since it was his turn for the day. Kakashi was better and able to help his team, but was restricted to crutches for the time being. Naruto was sitting on a beam while keeping an eye on Tazuna and his workers, not that there were a lot of them anyway.

Tazuna was welding some metal together when one of the workers came up to him. "Yes Gichi? What is it?"

"I'm sorry Tazuna, but I can't keep doing this," Gichi said. "Gato's going to make everything worse if we keep doing this."

"Gichi! You can't do this! If you leave, then it'll take longer to finish the bridge! Do you want this country to remain poor and dying?" Tazuna asked.

Gichi shook his head and said, "I just can't keep risking my family's lives like this."

Tazuna shook his head and continued to work. "Then go, I have no need for cowards on this construction crew." Gichi sighed and walked off of the bridge. Tazuna then turned to Naruto and said, "It's been like this for while, people are starting to get scared of Gato and are leaving to try and stay out of this."

"So you need workers?" Naruto asked as he hopped off the beam and stood before the elderly man. "Then I've got you covered. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" At least a hundred copies of Naruto appeared. "Just tell them what you need done."

Tazuna stared at the large group in disbelief before he shook his head and said, "You're just the kind of person I need. Let's get to work."

(Meanwhile-In Town)

Hinata and Kiba were accompanying Tsunami through town as she went to pick up groceries. Kiba was able to stay on the tree for ten minutes and Akamaru was able to stay on for seven, allowing them to accompany Tsunami since Shino was to watch the house.

"Man, it's so depressing here," Kiba said as he looked around. Buildings were falling apart and surrounded by junk, and the people were practically wearing rags that looked like they were stitched togther.

"It's all because of Gato that the town is like this. Before he came here it was a very lively and happy place," Tsunami explained.

"I-it's so sad," Hinata whispered. She felt a tug on the back of her jacket and whirled around to see a little girl who held up her hands and gave Hinata a smile. Realizing that the girl wanted food, Hinata dug into her pockets and pulled out a few pieces of candy and handed it to the girl. The girls smile got bigger and she gave Hinata a quick hug before running off.

Tsunami smiled at the scene and said, "We need more people like you around here."

Kiba grinned and put in his two cents, "Yeah, Hinata's one of the kindest people in Konoha, and the only girl in our class with a brain."

"Why do you say that?" Tsunami asked, raising an eyebrow.

"All of the other girls have gone gaga over Sasuke, the guy with the duck hair," Kiba explained.

"Why would they do that? He doesn't seem like anyone special?" Tsunami said. Kiba couldn't help but grin and laugh, wondering how the Uchiha would take it if she said it to his face.

(Zabuza's Hideout)

The Kirigakure no Kijin was resting on his bed, the Kubikiribocho resting on the side of the bed. A small, ugly, fat man entered the room with two thugs and approached the sleeping Nukenin.

"Ha! So much for the 'Demon', you were beaten by a bunch of brats and their babysitters." Gato then went to reach for Zabuza's mouth bandages before his arm was gripped rather tightly by the fake Hunter Ninja.

"Don't touch Zabuza-sama with your filthy hands," he growled.

"Let go of my arm!" Gato yelled as he struggled to get his arm free. The two thugs then popped their swords out of their scabbards and were about to attack until the fake Hunter disappeared and reappeared with their swords at the thugs throats.

"Don't mess with me, I'm in a bad mood," he said.

"Grrr, you better kill that bridge builder or you'll never get paid!" Gato yelled as he and his goons stormed out of the hideout.

Zabuza, who was awake the whole time, turned to the Hunter and said, "You didn't have to do that, Haku."

Haku gave a small smile and said, "I know, but we need him around for a little while longer. It wouldn't be very beneficial to kill him until after we get paid."

"That's IF we get paid, he's been deducting from us for the tiniest problem," Zabuza groaned.

Haku smirked and said, "Maybe we should raid his vault and leave when least expects it."

"You, are an evil genius," Zabuza praised.

(Several Days Later-Tazuna's House)

It was dinner time at the bridge builders house once again. Today Tsunami had found some crab in the market for a reasonable price to go with the tuna, which Hinata politely asked to be off of her plate. The large group was eating dinner quietly when Sakura noticed something.

"I noticed that the picture on the wall's torn, does it mean anything?" she asked. The family froze when Sakura spoke and the mood instantly turned somber.

"The person in that photo was a hero," Tazuna said. Inari immediately got up and stormed up to his room.

"Inari! Tou-san! You know better than to talk about him like that in front of Inari!" Tsunami scolded.

Tazuna turned to her and said, "If he wants to deny the truth then let him, I still believe that Kaiza was a hero." Tazuna then began to explain to the Konoha ninja about Kaiza and how he helped Nami in the past. From saving Inari from drowning to helping to close the dam in the flood. He also told them about how Gato had Kaiza's arms taken off before he was executed for resisting him.

"This just makes me want to get this Gato guy even more," Naruto said as he gripped the edge of the table tightly.

"I have to agree with you there Naruto, I don't have any particular love for this country, but it would leave a bad taste in my mouth if we just left the country like this," Kakashi said.

"Why do you still try!?" Inari yelled, coming from the staircase, having not gone to his room in order to listen.

"Because we've got a job to protect your Jiji, and we don't back down from a mission," Naruto said.

"It doesn't matter! None of you will live if you fight against Gato! He's too strong to beat!" Inari yelled.

Naruto shrugged. "How can he be strong? We're ninja and he's just a little man with money." The rest of the Konoha ninja nodded in agreement, except Sasuke and Sakura, because Sasuke wouldn't be caught dead agreeing with Naruto, and because Sasuke didn't agree with him.

"Stop trying to be a hero! You don't even understand what we're going through because you all live comfortable lives! You don't understand what it means to suffer!" The room temperature dropped several degrees, stopping Inari in his tracks and causing most of the occupants to start sweating.

Everyone turned to see Naruto shaking with his hair shadowing his eyes. He then turned around and stormed out of the house, leaving most of the group to wonder what was his problem.

"That was the wrong thing to say," Kakashi said.

"What do you mean sensei?" Kiba asked.

Kakashi sighed and began, "Naruto's been alone for the first four years of his life and was kicked out of the orphanage at the age of four years old. The only people who cared for him were the Hokage, the Ichiraku family, and Tsunade-sama. Even then, he still felt alone until he met his first friend, Hinata." The young girl couldn't believe that she had such an impact on Naruto's life. "You say that Naruto doesn't understand suffering, well he goes home to an empty house every day while you still have your mother and grandfather."

"You say that I don't understand suffering? Well let me tell you something, my mother died giving birth to me, my father killed himself after being scorned by the village for failing a mission, both of my best friends died right in front of my eyes, and my sensei who I thought of as a father sacrificed himself to save the village," Kakashi told the boy. "So you tell me, do I know suffering or not?" he then walked upstairs to his room.

"My family was killed all in one night," Sasuke said as he walked off to brood.

"Most of the village avoids my clan because of our special abilities," Shino said.

"M-most of my c-clan hates m-me because I w-want to change t-tradition," Hinata whispered. Inari just said nothing and ran off into his room and slammed the door behind him.

(Next Morning)

Naruto was asleep in the clearing, having worked off his rage by throwing himself into his training. Currently, he was surrounded by trees that were either burned, slashed, impaled, or smashed.

Haku had entered the clearing with a basket while searching for some herbs to help head Zabuza. The fake Hunter found Naruto and knelt down next to him, contemplating whether or not to kill him now. Haku sighed before deciding to shake Naruto awake.

'I'm too soft,' Haku thought, watching as Naruto opened his eyes.

"Ugh...five more minutes Baa-chan..." Naruto mumbled as he rubbed his eyes. He opened them to see a pretty woman standing over him

Naruto jumped to his feet and began to introduced himself with a blush, "My name's Naruko Uzunako, I mean Naruto Uzumaki!" 'She's almost as pretty as Hinata-chan! Wait...where did that come from?'

"Nice to meet you, my name is Haku. What were you doing out here?" Haku asked.

"Nothing much, just training," Naruto answered.

"Are you a ninja?" Haku asked, setting down the basket.

Naruto grinned and said, "Yeah, I'm aiming to be one of the best there is."

"Oh? But aren't you strong already?" Haku asked, wanting to see Naruto's goals.

Then Jinchuriki shook his head and told Haku, "I need to be stronger, so that way I'll be able to help everyone who I care about."

"So you fight to protect your precious people, then that does make you strong," Haku told him. Naruto gave a confused look so Haku continued, "I believe that people can be truly strong when they are protecting a person who is precious to them."

"So do you have any precious people?" Naruto asked.

"Yes, my...father is the only person left in my life," Haku said.

"Must be nice to have him," Naruto muttered.

"What do you mean by that?" Haku asked.

"I'm just wondering how nice it might feel to have parents," Naruto said.

Haku raised an eyebrow and asked, "Don't you have parents?"

"No," Naruto shook his head, "I grew up as an orphan, nobody knows who they were, but I try not to think about since it doesn't matter anymore."

"I'm...sorry, I can't even imagine what it might feel like to not know who your parents were," Haku said.

"Like I said, it doesn't matter," Naruto said.

"Well, it was nice speaking with you, but I should get back to my father in case he starts to worry," Haku said, standing up and grabbing the basket. Haku stopped before the edge of the forest and said, "By the way, I'm a boy."

Naruto stared there with his mouth on the floor. 'It's impossible for a guy to be almost as pretty as Hinata-chan! Gah! There it is again!'

(Konoha)

Hiruzen was sitting at his desk with a black eye, courtesy of Tsunade for not telling her about what Hummingbird found right away. But considering that he got the news late at night, she only gave him a light beating. He was very lucky when Tsunade understood that she couldn't be a part of the mission, since stealth was never her strong point.

The Sandaime stared at a map of ROOT headquarters that Tenzo had made from memory. He was marking areas that seemed like good places to enter while writing down notes about the base.

"Hokage-sama, everyone's ready," Hummingbird said as he entered the room. The Hokage nodded and got up before following the ANBU member into a separate room where six other ANBU members were. They were Tenzo, Falcon, Boar, Deer, Chameleon, and Wolf. All of them are top members of the Root Surveillance Squad.

"Hokage-sama," all the ANBU members stood up to address their leader.

"Please be seated," Hiruzen ordered. The ANBU complied and the Sandaime took his place at the head of the table. He opened the files that were at his end and said, "I'm sure that you all know about the mission you're going on, but I'll repeat it in case anyone forgot."

"Our mole within ROOT has discovered that Danzo has been keeping two very important people captive in his base in the attempt to create the ultimate shinobi, and one of them is the result of that experiment, but is considered a failure due to not growing as fast as Danzo has hoped. So I need you to go into the base and break them out."

"Hokage-sama, wouldn't it be easier to just storm in and demand them like you did for me?" Tenzo asked.

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "It only worked to get you because Kakashi already knew of your existence and informed me, and because I used the argument that your abilities would be able to subdue Naruto should he ever lose control in the village. Because nobody has made official contact with them, it would be practically impossible to get Danzo to hand them over."

"What are the chances of running into any ROOT?" Wolf asked.

"Not that much, the prisoners are kept within an abandoned part of the facility where other failures are. So there isn't that much of a chance to encounter anybody," Hiruzen told them.

Deer then asked, "Are we to make it look like a breakout to avoid any suspicion?"

"If you can manage it, then do it. Any more questions?" Hiruzen asked.

Falcon then asked, "Do these two have any relation to...you-know-who?"

"That question will be answered when Tsunade gets to look at them, until then we aren't absolutely sure." The Sandaime then got up and told the group, "The mission will commence as when Hummingbird deems necessary."

Finished! Chapter is complete!

So now we're almost finished with the Wave Arc, next chapter is gonna be the last one, and our little mystery with Danzo will be revealed after the next chapter. I'm only going to show the rescue and escape, but you guys won't be getting any hints as to who's there.

So as I've said before, I've already made a decision on what to do to replace the Tsunade Arc. I think you guys will love it because a lot of exciting things will happen, though some of them might seem similar since Akatsuki have to appear in the arc.

Please Review! Ciao!