Foreword: I don't own Naruto or any other characters. All of it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Destiny Rebirth – Chapter Eleven: The Wave at its height!
Naruto narrowed his cerulean eyes as he sidestepped the blow that was aimed at carving him in half, letting Zabuza's sword crash beside him before bringing his katana up to slash at Zabuza's neck, making the man jump back, pulling his sword along with him. Hefting the massive blade, Zabuza charged forward with a roar as he swung again, Naruto parrying the assault by deflecting it to the side as he knew his katana couldn't withstand the weight of Kubikiribōchō, no matter how well forged it was.
The two shinobi continued their dance of blades — dodging, weaving, slashing, cutting, stabbing — it was like a sick parody of a ballet where one small error could mean the difference between losing an arm and losing your life, and Zabuza was clearly having an advantage due to his larger size and longer reach as compared to Naruto, who had to rely on his speed and reflexes to counter the Kiri shinobi's strikes.
The rest of Team Seven looked on in shock and awe at the dangerous display of swordplay between the two fighters, and the tension in the air was palpable. Those who hadn't witnessed Naruto's swordplay skills and were now seeing them first hand were stunned at how well versed he was in the art as he could stand his ground against one of the great Swordsman of the Mist.
Naruko was the most worried of them all and she gasped in fear when one of Zabuza's slashes almost took Naruto's head off, but the blonde boy easily ducked under it before holding his own blade in a reverse grip and came onto the man again, blade a blur of gray lightning as he brought it down against Zabuza's blade.
In the shocked silence, Kakashi was the one who broke it, "Naruko . . . when did your brother pick up on kenjutsu?"
Naruko merely kept her gaze on the battle, eyes never leaving the form of her precious person. "He told me he picked it up after the bell test, and he has been training for the past few weeks to master it."
Kakashi just nodded at her explanation and continued to watch the battle, the only thing he could think of was, 'Remarkable . . .'
Naruko remembered how surprised she had been when Naruto had approached her one night for her opinion whether he should learn kenjutsu since he had a lot of free time on his hands. He had reasoned that a shinobi must have an ace up their sleeves and must adapt to any given situation, and that was why Naruko gave him her consent and her unwavering support.
The katana Naruto was using was no ordinary katana either — it was forged with the strongest chakra conducting steel that Konoha could provide and was forged by master smiths from Tetsu no Kuni (Land of Iron), the Land of Samurai, courtesy of the Sandaime. The style of kenjutsu that Naruto was currently utilizing was his own, taking advantage of his superior speed and strength to incorporate it into his new style, which was simple as it was deadly.
Naruto hadn't given a name to it yet, and was content with calling it Naruto's Kenjutsu Style.
Naruko grinned in amusement at that particular memory.
At some point during the duel, Kakashi had pulled down his headband over his left eye to conserve his chakra as using the Sharingan was taxing on his body and mind. Sasuke was gripping his kunai tightly in his hands, knuckles white as he gritted his teeth in frustration at the thought of the blonde boy outshining him yet again by facing down an A-rank missing-nin single handedly. It pissed off the Last Uchiha to no end and he vowed to surpass Naruto in every way he can, even if it means killing him to do so . . .
Sakura just stared dumbfounded at the scene, mouth open in shock. "I-Is he always this strong?" she asked shakily, and Naruko couldn't blame her. It was not every day a thirteen year old Genin could stand up to an A-rank missing-nin, but then again, Naruto was no ordinary Genin, Naruko reminded herself.
Zabuza grunted as he caught Naruto's slash and placed them in a blade lock, grinning maniacally behind his bandages. "Very impressive boy!" he complimented, "Not only are you young, but you managed to keep up with me! Most people are already dead by this point!" he said as he cackled.
Naruto glared neutrally at Zabuza, cerulean eyes cold and calm, not even feeling a slight bit winded from the ordeal. "I thank you for the compliment, Zabuza-san, but is this really the time to be talking to your enemy?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
Zabuza laughed as he smirked. "You've got guts brat, I'll give you that much!" he sneered, "You can't win, soon you will be dead, along with your friends and that old man. So, I'll make you a deal," he jerked his head towards Tazuna who was watching with a stupefied and scared expression. "Give me the old man, and I'll let your friends live and you can join me."
Naruto faced him, expression seemingly curious. "Join you?" he parroted and Zabuza was about to speak before Naruto cut him off, "As a tool? A slave? A weapon that when you deemed it useless, you'll discard it like anything else, is that it? For what, just so you can become the Mizukage?" he asked coldly, each word making Zabuza's face paler by the minute, but the man hid it well.
'How did he know so much?' Zabuza mentally asked with narrowed eyes, 'This boy is dangerous… I'll have to get rid of him now!' He thought before slamming Kubikiribōchō into Naruto's katana and leaped away.
"I'm afraid play time is over brat, I'll have to kill you now. Thank you for the duel though, that was the most fun I've had in a long time." He said as he ran through some hand signs, causing Kakashi to move quickly in hopes of catching it in time. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu! (Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique)" he yelled as a massive torrent of water several meters in height formed in front of Zabuza, spinning violently towards where Naruto was standing, who held his blade in his right hand positioning it over his left shoulder, eyes closed in concentration.
"Naruto! Get out of the way!" Kakashi yelled as he rapidly ran through some hand signs. 'Damn it! I can't make it in time!' He thought frantically as he watched helplessly as the giant wave of water moved on relentlessly towards Naruto. It reminded him too much of when Obito sacrificed his life for him. 'No, not again . . .' he thought.
Naruto was unconcerned however. He focused his chakra into his blade as his mind imagined two surfaces grinding against each other and splitting in half. Soon the sound of raging water from Zabuza's attack was drowned out by the buzzing coming from his blade. The blue hue of Naruto's chakra coated his katana, forming a saw-like impression on the blade's edge as he poured more power into the blade as everyone watched on in shock, sensing the power behind the technique he was about to utilize after weeks of trial and error.
"Focus power into the blade . . ." Naruto muttered as he brought his blade up higher over his left shoulder, the buzzing gaining an octave as he did. "And unleash it!" he yelled as he swung his blade downwards in a diagonal slash, shouting, "Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu! (Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique)"
The energy stored within the blade was unleashed in a single, decisive moment as a massive blade of wind erupted from the tip of the blade and continued on its intended path heading straight towards Zabuza's technique. To everyone's shocked surprise, this blade of wind dissected the torrent of water in a half and continued onwards without losing its momentum towards Zabuza, who only had a split second to admire the jutsu before he jumped away to avoid getting maimed. The blade of wind continued onwards, leaving a visible imprint on the ground and slicing through several trees before dissipating, carving out a path of destruction in its wake.
Naruto opened his eyes and admired his handiwork as he nodded in satisfaction. It still needed some improving and some slight adjustments, but Naruto was confident that this new technique could become one of his more versatile techniques alongside his Kage Bunshin and the Rasengan . . .
Naruko was the first to recover from her stunned stupor as she yelled. "Sugoi, Onii-chan!"
Zabuza hefted his blade on his shoulder as he narrowed his eyes. "That attack… it broke through my water jutsu without even trying!" he muttered. The brat was already dangerous with his — if he had to guess, low-Jōnin level kenjutsu — and Zabuza had started to be wary of the blonde boy as he had never seen someone so young that held so much potential. Now after seeing one of his most powerful jutsus getting swatted away like it was nothing, Zabuza was even more worried.
Naruto swung his katana in a flourish as he pointed it at Zabuza.
"I will never die here Zabuza-san, nor will I ever die!" Naruto declared, eyes burning with determination, "Until the day I see my sister become Hokage, I will never die! Do not think me an incompetent brat that you can so easily kill and swat away, since I am not!" he stated as he charged once more, his blade nothing but a blur as he clashed with Zabuza once more, who was forced on the defensive as Naruto had channeled wind chakra into his katana, increasing its cutting power.
So Zabuza had to be careful with how he handled his sword because in one wrong move, he would only be left with half of Kubikiribōchō, which was not what he wanted.
Zabuza growled.
"Don't get cocky, brat!" he shouted in anger as he brought his cleaver down, missing the blonde boy by a hair who countered with a slash across his chest which he blocked with his sword's immense size, Naruto's wind powered katana nicking at the blade bit by bit, leaving visible incisions on it.
Naruko smiled warmly at Naruto as he spoke those words. His determination, spirit and drive were only rivalled by hers and their father. She took a breath before pulling out several kunais. She needed to help and she sure as hell would not stand on the sidelines and watch! That was just degrading if you asked her. She rushed off to join Kakashi who was waiting for an opportunity to strike, but had no such luck so far as the two duelists were moving too fast. The silver haired Jōnin turned to look at her in surprise before narrowing his eyes, allowing Naruko to see the contrasting colors of his eyes — dark colored in his right eye and the red of the three-tomoed Sharingan in his left. It was kind of cool in her opinion.
"Naruko, what are you doing here?" Kakashi asked, not keeping his eyes off the battle, in time to see Naruto nick Zabuza on the cheek, enraging the missing-nin further. "Even if you are talented, this battle is way out of your league." He said truthfully, "But apparently not for your brother . . ."
Naruko nodded as she readied her kunais, sensing that her teammates had landed beside her as well. "Don't worry Kakashi-sensei, I know what I'm doing." She replied with a small smile.
Kakashi chanced a glance at her, "What do you —" he never finished his question when Naruko suddenly rushed forward, his hands falling short of her shirt in a vain attempt to pull her back. "Naruko! Damn it!" he cursed as he too rushed after her, but not before turning to his remaining students,
"Stay with Tazuna, protect him at all costs! That's an order!" seeing his two students reluctantly nod, he ran after his wayward student.
Zabuza was pissed. His form was slightly cut in multiple places along his arms, legs and cheek. Deeper gashes were visible along his cheek which was bleeding quite profusely as well as the one at his side, where the brat had gotten a lucky hit in — no, not a lucky hit, a calculated hit that predicted his movements just enough to land that blow on him — and Zabuza couldn't help but grudgingly respect the blonde.
Never before had he seen such a prodigy in the arts of kenjutsu outside of Kiri, a young Genin at that! If the situation allowed it, Zabuza planned to take the boy away to mold him into his weapon, as it was certainly a huge boon for him to come across a boy with this much potential.
Naruto fared a little better than his adversary as they pulled away and stood facing one another, each of them studying the other for their next moves. He only received minor cuts and bruises caused by Kubikiribōchō's extended reach and the bruises were from Zabuza backhanding or smacking him with the flat end of his blade, but all in all he was fine and was ready for another round.
Naruto had been skeptical about his chances against Zabuza with just pure kenjutsu since he had only just begun to wield a sword only a few weeks ago and he wasn't sure how he would fare against an experienced practitioner in the art. Apparently fighting his own clones helped tremendously as he kept on trying to improve himself, finding holes in his stances from his clones and modifying his unique kenjutsu style and that was enough to put him on equal grounds with Zabuza, which Naruto was silently proud of himself for.
Naruto was broken out of his thoughts when Zabuza came upon him again with a roar and was about to block his downward slash with his katana when his bond with Naruko flared brilliantly, causing him to smirk before he jumped back from the blow, causing Kubikiribōchō to be lodged deep into the ground.
Zabuza struggled a bit to pull his sword free and when he did, he looked up in time to see Naruto charging at him and he swung his blade, smiling in sick delight as he cut the blonde boy in half by the waist but it faded just as quickly as it appeared when the supposedly 'dead' boy disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
'Kage Bunshin!?' Zabuza thought frantically before his danger senses warned him of another threat, forcing him to quickly leap backwards as a hailstorm of kunai emerged from the cover of smoke, coming right at him.
'Does he think some mere kunai can stop me?' Zabuza thought as he parried the kunai with the flat side of his blade, easily blocking them. He looked up once more to see more kunai coming at him, this time with paper bombs attached.
'Crap…' was all he thought as he leaped away from the veritable barrage as they exploded at where he had been standing.
Zabuza landed a few feet away as he turned to see the blonde girl from Kakashi's Genin team preparing to throw a fūma shuriken at him, 'So that's where the kunais are coming from . . . very impressive accuracy.'
As the fūma shuriken flew at him, Zabuza slammed his sword tip first into the ground before doing a handstand on its grip, easily dodging the shuriken before he noticed a second fūma shuriken in the shadow of the first one. He reacted by gripping his sword and pulling on it as an anchor to the ground, narrowly dodging the second shuriken, and he couldn't help but be impressed by the girl's skill at shurikenjutsu.
Zabuza didn't have time to congratulate himself just yet as the second fūma shuriken suddenly vanished in a puff of smoke to reveal Naruto who quickly sent a kunai at him while in midair, making his eyes widen in shock. He had been duped by the double attack, allowing Naruto to get in close when he was off guard. Still, Zabuza wasn't infamous for nothing as he pulled Kubikiribōchō free to deflect the thrown weapon, but the next few moments shocked him, no matter which angle he looked at it.
One moment, Naruto was still in midair, flying away from Zabuza after he had thrown his kunai. The next moment, Naruto was suddenly in front of him, sword ready to slash him from kidney to shoulder. It all happened so fast that Zabuza was too stunned to think of anything else, only relying on his instincts as he flipped backwards and away from the blonde's slash, which had fortunately just grazed him but he got nicked in the end. He had greatly underestimated the boy's speed and he was sure Naruto had used shushin to close the distance that quickly, there was no other explanation.
Unknown to Zabuza, the truth was quite the opposite in fact — Naruto was the kunai. It was simple as it was reckless. No speed, just deception. He had transformed himself into a kunai and was stored in his shadow clone's pocket before being thrown at his quarry, and correctly predicting that Zabuza would just block his transformed state. All he had to do was Henge back to normal and attack, which worked to perfection if Naruto had to say so himself.
Naruko, who had been privy to the improvised plan beforehand through their mental bond, couldn't help but release the breath that she never knew she was holding. That attack scared the living daylights out of her as it was too reckless in her opinion. She wondered if Naruto got his kicks by doing reckless acts of bravery . . .
"You better get used to it," Kurama's voice sounded in her mind, "Naruto likes to think on his toes whenever a fight goes downhill, so reckless acts are the norm for someone like him. He'll be fine though, he has done this over a million times." Somehow, Naruko still couldn't find solace in the Bijū's words.
– Oi, Oi, – Naruto's said through the bond, – Don't go talking about me behind my back, even if she is my cute little sister. –
"Then stop doing reckless acts that makes her so worried you idiot!" Kurama said in a scolding tone, causing Naruko to giggle mentally when she felt Naruto mentally grimace as a wash of guilt drifted over the bond.
– Hai… sorry Naruko-chan, –
Naruko shook her head as Naruto came to stand beside her, "Don't worry, but please try not to do that again? It reminded me too much of when Sasuke almost killed you . . ." she said quietly.
Naruto winced as he sent a warm, apologetic nudge through their bond. "I will . . . I promise Naruko-chan."
Just then Kakashi appeared in front of the two, the silver-haired man eying the still recovering Zabuza with narrow eyes. "Good job Naruto, Naruko, I'll take it from here." He said as he readied his kunai, "Leave this to me."
And with that he charged forwards, leaving Naruko to tend to her brother's minor wounds.
The rest of the battle moved like a blur as Kakashi and Zabuza traded blows and jutsus, with Zabuza's attacks visibly weakening thanks to the multiple wounds inflicted upon him by Naruto. Naruto could only stare and watch as he and Naruko stood on their guard while Sasuke and Sakura protected Tazuna who had hung back at the edge of the clearing they were fighting in. Kakashi's form was a blur of motion, slicing, stabbing, whirling, kicking and punching as he fought like what the Bingo Books had said about him – a deadly shinobi.
Finally, after several grueling minutes, Kakashi and Zabuza were standing on the surface of the river, each racing through hand signs faster than the eye could perceive as they called out their respective jutsus, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu! (Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique)"
Two water dragons rose from the river and crashed into one another, creating a shower of water as the techniques cancelled each other out. Zabuza was running through another set of hand signs but he was visibly weakened due to chakra exhaustion and blood loss, but his face betrayed nothing as he glared at Kakashi.
'Damn that blonde gaki for weakening me!' He thought with irritation, 'I still can't believe a kid like him could possibly—'
"— land a hit on you?" Kakashi said as he too ran through his set of hand signs, which were the exact same as his own.
Zabuza narrowed his eyes, 'Impossible! How could he possibly be —'
"— reading your mind?" Kakashi offered.
"Shut up you damn parrot!" Zabuza shouted. He then noticed that the rate in which he was going through his hand signs suddenly slowed to a crawl as he widened his eyes in shock as he looked at Kakashi, "What?!" he didn't had the chance to continue his retort however when Kakashi finished his own hand signs and called out.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!"
A violent surge of river water rose and crashed into Zabuza, who was carried haphazardly towards the shore by the current and he was eventually slammed into a nearby tree; beaten, broken and bloody. Kakashi appeared and stood over him with a kunai in hand; ready to plunge it deep into the other man's chest.
Zabuza weakly looked up at Kakashi, "Can you see the future?" he asked, not quite believing even himself at the moment.
Kakashi nodded, "Yes — and I've foreseen… your death." He stated as he readied to kill him. Suddenly out of nowhere, two senbon needles struck Zabuza's neck and the missing-nin stiffened before he went slack.
"Yes, your death was swift I assure you . . ." a voice above Kakashi said as the man looked up to see a Kiri hunter-nin with long brown hair wearing a battle kimono standing on one of the branches of the tree, "Thank you for dealing with him — I have been hunting this man for quite some time." The hunter-nin landed in front of Zabuza as he/she bowed, "You have my gratitude."
Kakashi walked up to Zabuza and placed his fingers on the man's carotid artery, checking for pulse. He idly registered that his team and Naruto had landed behind him as he pulled back with a solemn nod, "Dead." He confirmed.
Sakura quietly stared in awe, "Hey, isn't that a hunter-nin?" she asked quietly to Sasuke who just hummed an annoyed response.
The hunter-nin put the dead Zabuza's arm over his/her shoulders as he/she spoke, "I'll be disposing of the body now," the nin turned and bowed one last time, "Thank you again for your assistance." And with that, the two forms vanished in a swirl of water, leaving behind Zabuza's pool of blood under the tree . . .
Kakashi sighed as he replaced his headband over his Sharingan eye, "Now that that's over, we should get going to . . ." he didn't finish his sentence before he started collapsing. In an instant, two of Naruto's clones were holding him up as they slung the man's limp arms over each of their shoulders, one on each. Sakura was slightly panicky as she asked what was wrong and, surprisingly it was Sasuke who answered.
"Must be from chakra exhaustion," he explained, "Non-Uchihas would naturally consume more chakra when they use the Sharingan as they are not blood Uchiha, thus increasing the strain on their bodies . . ."
Naruto nodded as he signaled to Naruko, who turned to Tazuna. "Tazuna-san, where is your home?" she asked politely. "We need some place to rest and Kakashi-sensei needs medical attention."
Tazuna was only all too happy to oblige as he nodded eagerly. "After what you guys did, I'll be more than happy to have you in our home . . ." he said happily.
Naruko smiled in gratitude as she and the rest of the small group made their way towards Tazuna's home, happy to get some well-earned rest after an exhausting day . . .
After being greeted by Tazuna's daughter — a beautiful middle aged woman with shoulder length dark blue hair named Tsunami — at the door, Naruto had his clones bring Kakashi to one of the spare rooms to let the exhausted Jōnin have his rest. In Naruto's own honest opinion, he wasn't doing too hot himself — his clothes were torn in multiple places, dried blotches of blood stains remained from his earlier cuts — he looked terrible.
So he had asked Tsunami for the bathroom so he could wash up and get a change of clothes, which the woman accepted without doubt, seeing the state he was in while she and Naruko attended to Kakashi's wounds. A few minutes later, Naruto was in the middle of toweling his unruly blonde locks after putting a new set of clothes on after the relaxing shower when he heard the muffled voices of Team Seven inside Kakashi's room, prompting him to make a beeline to the room before he opened the door, making the occupants look up at him.
Kakashi weakly eye smiled at him from the futon. "Ah Naruto, glad you could join us," he said, "I was just about to brief you guys about the current situation . . ."
"Zabuza's still alive, I take it?" Naruto asked casually as he took a seat beside Naruko who was on Kakashi's left.
Everyone around him shot him shocked and disbelieved looks as Sakura shouted, "What do you mean he's still alive?!"
Naruto just shrugged.
"You don't kill people with senbon strikes to the neck; a kunai would do just fine." He said, "It isn't practical, and senbon can only be lethal when coated with poison or if it hits the eye or somewhere fatal. Plus, that hunter-nin was a fake." He explained. 'Besides that, Haku loathes killing people anyway . . . and it won't be any different now.' He added silently.
Sasuke grunted. "What do you mean that hunter was a fake?" he asked, albeit rather rudely as he was still pissed at not doing anything to prove himself today.
Naruto arched an eyebrow. "I ask you this Uchiha-san," he began, "What do hunter-nins do after killing their assigned targets?" he asked.
Sasuke seemed to contemplate while Sakura was deep in thought, Naruto content with letting them figure this out on their own. Kakashi was in the same boat as him since the man remained quiet throughout Naruto's deduction.
It was Naruko who answered, "They destroy the body on the spot," she said. ". . . and take the head as proof for identification purposes as even corpses could hold important village secrets."
Naruto nodded in approval as Kakashi decided to pick up where they had left off, "Exactly, but the hunter-nin just took his body and left, and it was Naruto's final input about the weapons used to kill Zabuza confirmed my suspicions that he is still alive." He said seriously, earning glum looks from his students. Kakashi sighed, "I estimate only a week before he can fully recover, judging by his injuries, so we have to use that time to get you guys stronger." He said.
Sakura looked confused. "How?" she asked, "With you being weakened as you are who can train us?"
Kakashi said nothing as he smiled, his eye crinkling into his patented U-shape, at her. "Why I am of course!" he said cheerily, making the rest of Team Seven widen their eyes in disbelief. "I may be weakened, but I still have enough energy left in me to watch over you guys. Don't count me out just yet." He explained, eye smile still in place.
Naruto just nodded, not perturbed in the slightest by the man's answer as it was the same the first time around, and the boy couldn't be happier. "Alright, I'll bite. Meet up tomorrow at seven as usual?" he asked, earning a nod from Kakashi, and Naruto smiled. "Great, I'll see you then sensei." And with that, Naruto stood and left, waving as he did leaving the rest of the room's occupants to wonder where he was going.
Naruko yawned when she also stood and rubbed her eyes, shuffling towards the door, "I'll retire as well, have a good night you guys." She said as she disappeared around the door, leaving the two Genin and one incapacitated Jōnin alone.
Naruko walked downstairs to see Tazuna sitting at the house's dining table, surprisingly not drinking as she would expect, instead he was fast asleep leaning against the chair, snoring. She also noticed that her brother wasn't around either. Curiosity getting the better of her, Naruko went to the kitchen where Tsunami was doing the dishes and the woman turned to greet the girl as she smiled.
"Hello Naruko-san," Tsunami greeted, "What can I do for you?"
Naruko shook her head with a smile, "Have you seen my brother?" she asked. "He's slightly taller than me, has blonde hair, blue eyes . . ." she added for the woman's reference, which helped as Tsunami nodded in recognition.
"Why yes, I do." Tsunami looked out the window, "He said he went out to do some training, whatever that means. Anyways, he's outside." She supplied with a smile, making Naruko thank her before heading out herself.
A few moments of wandering around trying to find her brother later — which Naruko was still kicking herself for since she can sense his chakra signature easily — Naruko found him standing on the beach outside Tazuna's house, gazing over the horizon with calm azure eyes. Naruto blinked when he noticed her and he turned his head to face her, smiling warmly as he did.
"Hey Naruko-chan," he greeted.
Naruko smiled as she stood beside him, "Hey yourself," she replied cheekily, "What are you doing out here all by yourself?"
The blonde boy shrugged as he continued to gaze at the ocean, watching the waves cascading and crashing against the shore in short, steady intervals. "I thought Tsunami-san already told you?" he responded.
Naruko rolled her eyes. "She did, but she said you were training, but your current activity proves otherwise." She said with a cheeky smile.
Naruto chuckled as he gazed at the moon's reflection on the ocean, seemingly deep in thought. A few moments passed before he spoke again, "We're not ready . . ." he suddenly announced, making Naruko jolt slightly in surprise.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Naruto ran his right hand through his spiky locks as he frowned thoughtfully. "We're not ready to face Zabuza again, not by a long shot." He stated, "We got lucky today because he underestimated us, but he won't be so foolish next time. Plus, he had that hunter-nin working for him."
Naruko nodded slowly as she processed the information as Naruto continued to speak. "I know Kakashi-sensei can take care of himself, and I know you and I can handle ourselves pretty well, it's Sasuke and Sakura I'm worried about . . ." he explained as he frowned again, "Sasuke's too hell-bent on revenge and doesn't take too kindly about others outshining him, and Sakura, though improving, is still woefully inadequate to even be part of this battle."
Naruko frowned as her brother's word rang true. Sasuke was still too prideful and Sakura was still a bit useless, not totally, but slightly above. Their team dynamics were abysmal, with Sasuke refusing to work with either her or Sakura for that matter, and it irked to blonde haired kunoichi to no end. Naruko knew she needed to knock some sense into the raven haired Uchiha before the unthinkable happens. She shivered at her brother's memories about his Sasuke flashed through her mind.
His Sasuke that betrayed Konoha for power . . .
Shaking her head to clear away the uncomfortable thoughts, Naruko breathed in deep before a determined glint made its way into her violet eyes. She'll be damned if she didn't do anything to prevent Naruto's dark future ever coming to pass. If she had to play nice with the Uchiha, so be it. But, Naruko vowed to herself, she wouldn't hesitate to break every bone in the raven head's body should he decide that power was more important than the village itself.
Naruko sighed as she pulled him into a half hug as she leaned her head on his left shoulder. "What's done is done Onii-chan, we'll just have to hope that it's enough . . ." she said, making Naruto looked at her enquiringly, "We need to have faith in our teammates, faith that they will pull through this and survive and come out stronger than before . . ."
Naruto nodded with a smile, proud of his sister's wisdom at such a young age. "You're right." He took a deep breath before expelling it, grinning as he did. "Then that settles it!" he said loudly, startling the blonde beauty beside him as he continued, "I'll put my faith in my teammates as well, and hope for the best!" he exclaimed. Naruto may have become more cynical and his personality tempered into steel by the Fourth War, but he was still Uzumaki Naruto, knuckleheaded ninja of Konoha. He always had faith even in the direst of situations, because that's just how he was.
Naruko smiled at him before a question popped in her mind, "By the way, why are you out here all by yourself if it's not for training?"
Naruto brought his hand up and rubbed his chin in a thinking pose, making Naruko giggle slightly. "I was thinking of teaching that jutsu to you." He replied, emphasizing on the word 'that'.
Naruko tilted her head in confusion, "What jutsu?" she asked, inwardly excited to learn a new technique to add to her ninjutsu arsenal. Although mastering the Academy basics along with the Kage Bunshin was already good enough for her at the moment, but Naruko thought it couldn't hurt to add another jutsu to her list. Besides, she had come to love the training sessions with her brother, which was one of her favorite pastimes alongside taking a walk in the village and reading up on fūinjutsu.
Naruto smirked mysteriously. "You'll find out when we train tomorrow~" he sang out, avoiding a smack from Naruko as he laughed at her pouting expression. He had said this once too many times already, but she was so damn cute!
Naruko huffed indignantly as she pouted, "Fine . . ." she said. "This jutsu better be worth all the hype!"
Naruto laughed, "Hai, hai . . ." he replied as he led her into Tazuna's home, "You won't regret it, I promise you, and I keep my promises: Uzumaki's honor."
Naruko snorted an unladylike snort as she replied, "We're shinobi, we don't have honor." She stated as-a-matter-of-factly.
Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment before he shrugged as he grinned, "I guess not."
Naruko laughed as they reached the main door. "If it makes you feel better, I'll accept your honor as my beloved brother." She said with a warm smile.
Naruto chuckled, "Okay, okay, you've got me." He laughed, "Let's get to sleep — we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
The next day, after waking up at seven with Kakashi arriving wobbling with crutches at nine – earlier than usual, but still late – Team Seven plus Naruto were currently in the middle of a small clearing surrounding Tazuna's house, the same place as last time back in Naruto's time. The four Genin were standing in front of Kakashi, who was clutching his crutches under his arms as he eye smiled at them.
"Alright, now to begin your training." He said cheerfully, and Kakashi went on to explain chakra control exercises and why was it important to do them which Naruto simply tuned out most of them as he had been through this lecture the first time around. Naruko was also in the same boat since Naruto had already explained it to her already, and it seemed redundant to the blonde haired girl to listen to it from another person. Besides, she was too excited about the mysterious jutsu Naruto was about to teach her.
Kakashi eye smiled as he faced his students. "For today's exercise, we're going to —" he announced, pausing a moment for a dramatic effect, "— climb trees!" he finished cheerily, earning two face-faults and two amused expressions.
Sakura was the first to recover. "What do you mean sensei?" she asked, incredulity lacing her tone. Sasuke just grunted in agreement as he eyed the Jōnin, wondering silently if this was a sick joke played by the silver haired man. Naruto meanwhile hid his amused smirk by coughing slightly into his fist while Naruko simply rolled her eyes playfully at his lame attempt at masking his amusement.
Kakashi shrugged. "We're climbing trees today, but there's a small catch . . ." he paused for a moment before speaking, "you're going to climb trees without using your hands, only your feet." He explained, earning disbelieving looks from all but two of his Genin, which confused him. Did they know it already? "It's called the tree climbing exercise."
Kakashi gestured to the four trees behind him, "Each of you will climb one of each of these trees until you have completely mastered it by making it to the top. I'll demonstrate." Kakashi proceeded to walk up one of the trees before hanging upside down below one of the branches, looking at his students. "Do you get it now?" he asked, eye smiling.
Sasuke looked eager to begin while Sakura looked slightly worried as this exercise seemed to be pretty hard in her opinion. Naruko looked at her brother with a knowing smile which the boy returned, already knowing what she was thinking — you copied our sensei, reminiscing about the time when Naruto had shown her the exercise.
He only offered a weak shrug in response.
Naruto cleared his throat to get Kakashi's attention, who was still wobbly with his crutches. "Kakashi-sensei, I already know this exercise." He said, earning three stunned and surprised looks from the rest of the Konoha shinobi.
Naruko spoke up as well, "I do too, sensei."
Kakashi snapped out of his stupor and managed to compose himself before speaking, "Hmm? How did you know this exercise?" he said, as he already had a good idea where they had learned it from.
Naruto shrugged. "I knew this exercise since before starting the Academy, and I've already taught it to Naruko-chan the day after our Bell Test." He explained, causing Sasuke to slightly glare in the Uzumaki sibling's direction while Sakura looked on in jealousy.
The two blondes had already advanced far beyond their teammates, and neither of them had noticed up until now. It made Sakura feel how far behind she was as compared to her teammates who were already so far ahead in such a short time. Sasuke just silently fumed at being outshone again, and he cursed Naruto's name for what was probably the thousandth time since meeting the boy.
Kakashi shook his head. He should've have known Naruto would possess advanced skills if the Sandaime was so confident in the boy's abilities to allow independent cell status. "Alright, do you have any other exercises in mind?"
Naruto nodded. "I was planning on training with Naruko-chan here, if you'll let us." He said, indirectly asking for permission.
Kakashi, catching the well worded sentence, nodded his assent. "Alright, but stay close. We need to be ready to defend the bridge if Gatō decides to move early."
Naruto nodded as he mouthing a small thank you before gesturing for Naruko to follow him to a nearby clearing close to where Team Seven was at. Sasuke meanwhile was glaring holes into Naruto's back, his anger and jealousy at the blonde magnifying to its peak, which Kakashi noticed with small frown. Anger at being shone up yet again and of course the building resentment and jealousy for the closeness Naruko shared with him.
Kakashi frowned, 'I have to be careful when broaching the subject about Naruto to Sasuke . . .' Kakashi thought, 'His pride and ego are going to destroy him entirely if this keeps up . . .' he thought worriedly as he proceeded to train the remaining members of his Genin squad.
At the other clearing, Naruto took a moment to look around before nodding in satisfaction as he turned around to look at Naruko, who was waiting for him with an eager expression. Naruto chuckled as he pulled out a storage scroll from his pocket – the one with the advanced storage seals – and unfurled it and channeled chakra into them. The contents revealed themselves to be pails filled with . . .
"Water balloons?" Naruko asked incredulously as she eyed the balloons, a small frown on her face.
Naruto adopted a lecturing pose as he explained, "Yes, water balloons. They will help with the first exercise for the technique that I'm about to teach you, so please pay attention." Naruko nodded as she turned serious, listening intently to his words. "This technique is simplified into three stages: chakra rotation, power and containment." Naruto explained as Naruko nodded, slowly absorbing the new information. "Chakra rotation is what it is, which is rotating your chakra whilst maintaining control, a controlled but violent rotation."
"Next is power, where you condense your chakra to create enough force to crush solid rock. Then there's the third and final step: containment, where you combine both chakra rotation and power in a contained package. Combining those three together and you will get a devastating jutsu that can grind anything into dust . . ."
Naruto held out a palm as he let his chakra seep out, quickly compacting it into a condensed whirlwind of rotating energy, "Its name is . . ."
The first four days passed by without incident as Team Seven continued to train with their sensei. Sakura had learned the tree climbing exercise on her first try while Sasuke took the latter part of the first day to get it down, driven by the need to surpass Naruto and kill his brother. In the meantime, Naruto had his clones practice his kenjutsu along with chakra control exercises along with a few elemental ninjutsu to add to his arsenal while also coaching his sister in her own training.
Naruto was nothing short of astonished as in a few short hours, with the usage of her Kage Bunshin, Naruko had managed to complete the first stage of her training and was going for the second one, which was bursting rubber balls using her chakra instead of water balloons. The rate at which she was improving stunned the blonde haired time traveler, and he wondered if he were to receive proper training back in his time, he could've avoided the 'Dead Last' phase when he was younger.
Naruto quickly dismissed those thoughts as he reminded himself that the past was in the past, and he would look forward to the future.
The Konoha ninja were just done with the day's training and was chatting away – Sasuke still brooding while Naruto preferred to smile and nod and only answer questions when asked whilst reading up on the fūinjutsu book he had brought along – at the dining table with Tazuna's family when a somber and depressed voice broke them out of the amicable mood.
"Why do you keep fighting?" a tiny voice with barely restrained anger and frustration asked as everyone turned to a little boy of eight who spoke, "You're all going to die in the end… Gatō is too strong for anyone to beat."
Naruto frowned as he remembered this moment from his time. Inari was still the same angry and depressed young boy Naruto had met when he first came to Wave with his own team the first time around. He already had a plan on how to deal with the back haired boy, and he only needed the right opening to begin . . .
Sakura sighed as she looked sadly at the boy. The day before she had accompanied Tsunami to the village to buy some ingredients for the day's dinner, and what she saw at the village shocked and disgusted her: famine, poverty, starvation, slavery, subjugation; that was the life of the people of Wave, and when she came back and told the rest of them about it, there were varied reactions.
Kakashi simply closed his lone eye and leaned back on his chair, deep in thought as he was reminded of the last war.
Sasuke remained silent while inwardly he took pity on the inhabitants of this land, and his respect for the bridge builder rose a little as the man showed integrity when he chose to fight rather than flee.
Naruko had a sad look in her eyes although her face betrayed nothing, trying her hardest to not cry in front of everyone. Naruto just opted to place his hand on her shoulder to comfort her as best as he could, giving her a comforting squeeze.
And now, looking at the distraught boy in front of them, Team Seven couldn't help but feel pity.
"Hey now Inari, don't say that. They're all super strong ninjas that protected me!" Tazuna said in an attempt to cheer hiss grandson up.
Inari shook his head and he shot a dirty look at the shinobi, especially Naruto whose face remained impassive. "No matter how strong they think they are, they are going to lose! Gatō will easily kill them all, so what's the point in the end?!" Everyone looked at the boy with varying degrees of pity, frustration, sadness and oddly enough, understanding, "How can you still be so happy and calm when you know you're all going to die?! Don't try to be a hero, because heroes don't exist and wannabes always die in the end!"
Tsunami gasped at Inari's outburst as she spoke, "Inari!"
Sakura was about to open her mouth to reply when Naruto's calm voice echoed throughout the room.
"Do you truly believe that, Inari-kun?" said boy turned to glare the blonde boy, eyes shining with angry tears. "Did you believe everything that you just said? If so, you're spitting on your grandfather's efforts in trying to do to save this country and your future. If you truly believe that, then you are as good as dead because you had already given up all hope; a coward's way out if you ask me." The room became deathly quiet when Naruto began his speech, and Naruko recognized his tone as one of his lecturing tones.
His greatest weapon: his words. Naruto had told her she had the same talent, but Naruko was skeptical at first. But when her brother had showed her the effects of her words had instilled in Konoha's villagers, she was quite literally stunned speechless. If anything, he had told her that she was even more talented than he was, and looked forward to the times when they would have to resort to diplomacy and words to settle things – a complete one eighty from Naruto's personality when he was younger, who preferred using his fists rather than his words. [1]
Inari sniffed as he glared angrily at Naruto, his small hands clenched in fists. "What do you know about hardship?! You can't just prance in here and say everything is all right when you live in that big village of yours! You don't know what it's like to be living a hard life!"
As soon as the young boy said that, Naruto and Naruko stiffened almost simultaneously, which everyone around the table instantly noticed. Naruto's hair was shadowing his eyes while Naruko looked away, hugging herself as she tried to stem the flood of bad memories from overtaking her mind, both of hers and of her brother's. The rest of the people around the table were lost about what was going on but even they knew that the atmosphere had changed drastically. Kakashi meanwhile wore an understanding expression as he waited for the Uzumaki sibling's next actions.
Inari immediately knew that he had hit a nerve in the blonde haired boy and girl, so he wisely shut himself up. Without a word, Naruto wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulder and pulled her close, giving her comfort as he spoke.
"A hard life you say?" Inari looked up to see Naruto's cerulean eyes burning in indignation, "You don't know the first thing about a hard life. You still have your family: your mother and grandfather. And judging by that torn picture, you recently lost someone close to you."
Everyone turned their heads to look at where Naruto was gesturing and they saw a torn picture of someone who used to be there in the portrait.
They turned back to look at the Uzumaki siblings, where Naruto was still speaking while holding onto a shaking Naruko, "I know that you're angry at Gatō for ruining your life, but don't you think that you're spitting on your precious person's memory by being a whining crybaby like you? They would be ashamed, I assure you."
Inari recoiled in shocked horror as indignation rose within his belly, but he was prevented from speaking as Naruto continued,
"Everyone around you is doing something to help the people of this country. Do you think you're the only one who is hurting? Look at your mom, and your grandpa; they are worried sick about you since you've become so reclusive and gloomy all the time! And you're not helping them by being a whining, spoiled brat!"
Inari's eyes burned with tears as he furiously tried to wipe them away while everyone was stunned into silence by Naruto's harsh words. The young boy was about to run back to his room when the blonde's voice stopped him cold,
"If you run from the table right now, consider yourself a coward for the rest of your life."
Sakura looked shocked as she cried, "Naruto! That was mean!" she was about to speak further when a hand on her shoulder from Kakashi forced her to reluctantly back down.
Inari stayed rooted to his spot, shoulders shaking in anger as tears fell from his eyes and hitting the floor. He was angry, angry at the blonde's attitude towards him. Angry at his stepfather for abandoning him by being killed by Gatō, but most of all, he hated himself . . .
"I know you are hurting Inari-kun, but you have to count your blessings when you got them." Naruto spoke as his voice softened. "You still have your family, which was more than me and Naruko-chan had when we were born. I lost my parents while Naruko-chan never knew hers." Horrified gasps were heard around while Inari stayed rooted to his spot, entranced by the story. "It was through sheer willpower and the guts to never give up that I managed to get the best thing that has ever happened in my life." Naruto said.
He smiled down at the girl in his arms, making her do the same as she nodded.
"Meeting my little cousin, the only family I have left."
Naruto turned to look at Inari who stood looking at them with a wide eyed expression. "That's what I'm asking of you Inari-kun. Be grateful for what you currently have, as they will not be with you forever. Cherish every moment that you share with your loved ones, because today may be your last. Live everyday like it's your last day on this earth, and you'll find true happiness." He finished with a bright grin.
Naruto stood, pulling Naruko along with him as they both headed to the door. Naruko, who was quiet throughout Naruto's speech, spoke up for the first time as she shot Inari a warm smile. "Think about what Onii-chan said, Inari-kun. He may be a knucklehead at times, but when it comes to words . . ." she looked up at his cheeky expression and chuckled, "He's a natural with them."
She turned towards Kakashi, "Sensei, we're going to go get some additional training at that clearing you found us in. We'll meet up tomorrow for breakfast!" And with that, the Uzumaki siblings disappeared in a swirl of leaves courtesy of Naruto, leaving an enraptured audience in their wake.
Inari shook his head slightly as he trudged his way towards his room, deep in thought about what he two blondes had said to him. Tazuna and Tsunami looked on sadly as the young boy headed off. The rest of the occupants decided that it was time to turn in for the night and prepare for another day of hard training.
One thing was certain on everyone's minds — they had to win, for this country's sake.
"Hey . . ." a distantly familiar voice called out, making Naruto stir in his sleep when the owner of the voice started to shake him, "Wake up, you'll catch a cold if you stay here."
Naruto fought against the lethargy of his stubborn eyelids, his body refusing to move from its comfortably spot and the warmth beside it. But he had to, a voice at the back of his head told him, he needed to —
He opened his eyes. Cerulean eyes met chocolate ones as Naruto stared into the familiar eyes of Haku, kneeling over him with a worried gaze. He idly wondered where he was when last night's events rushed back into his mind in an instant. Turning his head slightly, he was met with a mop of golden hair that belonged to his sister.
Smiling slightly as he pulled himself up, remembering to give Haku a grateful smile, Naruto carefully untangled himself from Naruko's hug as he sat up to greet the new arrival.
"Good morning, Onee-san." He greeted almost reflexively, mentally praying that this Haku was a girl, not a boy.
Haku smiled radiantly, her long dark hair falling like a curtain around her face. That's it, Naruto told himself, there was no way in Hell that the person in front of him was in any way a boy like she had said during his time – most girls would kill for Haku's looks alone.
He suppressed an involuntary shiver at the thought, but his mind absently noted that while Haku was pretty, she was nowhere near Naruko's level of beauty.
"Good morning to you as well, shinobi-san." She greeted with an incline of her head. "Why are you sleeping out here so early in the morning? In the middle of a forest clearing at that?"
Naruto had the decency to look sheepish. "Training, Onee-san." He said, "We're protecting our client from a rogue missing-nin – a powerful one at that – and we need to be ready for anything."
A lie, a bold one at that, but a lie all the same. Naruto had no doubt that he could take both her and Zabuza out if he went all out, but for the sake of appearances he needed to keep the image of an above average Genin whilst maintaining a lock on his more destructive abilities.
Only time will tell.
"Oh, that makes sense, judging by the destruction around here." Haku said, gesturing around her where multiple gaping craters had been lying innocently where Naruko had practiced her jutsu last night. "The training must be intense then, if it can do something like this."
She turned back to smile at Naruto. "My name's Haku by the way, nice to meet you shinobi-san." She offered her hand.
"Uzumaki Naruto," he said as he took her hand, shaking it firmly, "Genin of Konoha, likewise."
Haku smiled, then her gaze shifted to the sleeping form beside him, her eyes asking the unspoken question.
"Uzumaki Naruko, my sister." He supplied succinctly, "She's the one who blew open those craters last night. I'm just here to watch over her."
As if her name had been the trigger for her, said girl stirred in her sleep before she slowly sat up and stretched, letting out a jaw-breaking yawn as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Amazingly, her hair remained as silky and smooth as it did last night, and Naruto couldn't help but wonder if she had used some sort of jutsu to keep her hair from getting disheveled.
Naruko finally took notice of the new arrival talking to her brother, making her wake up almost instantly.
"Good morning Onii-chan, who's this?" she asked.
An innocent enough question, but Naruto wasn't a good reader of people for nothing. The slight tensing of her shoulders, slight twitch of her eye brows and fingers – barely noticeable to a normal person, but Naruto was anything but normal – she was on alert, ready to react if Haku turned out to be a threat.
"Oh, Naruko-chan meet Haku-san. Haku-san, my sister Naruko-chan." He said, gesturing back and forth between the two girls. "Haku-san was out here gathering herbs when she saw us and woke me up to keep us from the cold."
Haku looked at him with a surprised visage. "How do you know I was gathering herbs?"
I'm from the future, he mentally said but not saying it out loud, as he opted for, "I saw your basket behind you filled with herbs, that's why I knew."
Haku nodded. A comfortable silence ensued after that with none of the three saying anything as Haku continued to gather her herbs. It may have looked like that, but unknown to Haku, the Uzumakis were having their own private conversation.
– It's her isn't it? – Naruko asked through their bond, – The fake hunter-nin? –
She felt her brother mentally nodding. – Right on the dot, Naruko-chan. That's her alright, the last Hyōton (Ice release) user in the world. –
– Hyōton? – She retorted, and Naruto could feel her awe and excitement flood through their bond –The ones that can control ice as their main element? –
– The one and the same. – He paused for moment before replying. – You know come to think of it, she was the one who inspired me to make my nindō and my ideals. –
Naruko gave the mental equivalent of a start, – Really? –
– Yeah. – He concurred, – You'll see why, in right about . . . now. –
"Naruto-san, Naruko-san." Haku spoke up, drawing the two blondes' attention, "Why do you fight?"
Naruto's lips curved a little upwards as Naruko understood what her brother had meant.
"Is it for fame, glory or monetary gain?" the older girl continued, "Or is it that you fight . . . for someone precious that you hold close to your heart?"
Naruko suppressed a gasp when she connected the girl's words with her brother's ideals – to protect his precious people. She finally understood where he had gotten his unwavering desire to strive for his ideal of protecting the ones close to him, even if it meant killing him. She turned to look at Naruto, who in turn closed his eyes with a calm smile, leaving her to listen to Haku's next words.
"I believe that a person becomes truly strong when they are fighting for the people they cherish and hold close to their hearts." Haku said, "When one fights for their precious people, they can do things that they never could've imagined, cross boundaries or surpass their limits to become stronger for their precious people. If one fights for their precious people, they can achieve incredible things."
Naruko smiled as she spoke, "I can understand that Haku-san, I really do. And you're absolutely right." She looked at Naruto with a warm smile, "When you fight for the people you love and cherish, you will become truly strong. This bodes true for me as I've become stronger in my efforts to protect my brother, as he protects me. I want to become strong, so that I can stand side by side with him, as his equal and partner, and tell myself that it's my turn to protect him now."
"Yes . . . that is truly a remarkable goal that you've set for yourself." Haku praised as Naruto looked on with a warm smile, deeply moved by Naruko's heartfelt words. "You will become strong indeed."
He had been an idiot. Too long had he been alone that he had forgotten to put his trust into his sister. To trust her to walk his dangerous path with him, side by side, as his equal and partner. Naruto mentally chided himself once more. The more he relied on himself, the more mistakes that he will eventually made along the road and create an even disastrous future than the one he had left.
Her words had woken him up. He will never make that mistake again.
"Well, I have to get going," Haku announced. She stood and dusted her pink kimono before picking up her basket. "It has been nice knowing you, Naruto-san, Naruko-san. I hope we will meet again someday. Oh, by the way — I'm a boy."
Naruko spluttered as she yelled indignantly, "I call bull on that!"
Haku only laughed in response while Naruto just palmed his face. He was already feeling another migraine coming along and it was not going away anytime soon.
And with that, she walked off through the path she had come, leaving the two Uzumakis alone. After a moment of silence, Naruto sighed as he ran his hands through his hair and across his face. He took a whiff of his clothes and grimaced. He really needed a shower after last night's excursion.
"Come on Naruko-chan." Naruto called. "Let's get breakfast and a quick shower in while we're at it. I already left a note in her basket saying that we knew who she was the moment we saw her, and the next time we meet will be on the battlefield."
Naruko sighed as she gave him a wry grin. "Huh, that's funny. Because I slipped my own note in her kimono before she got too far from me." She giggled. "Seems we both like to mess with our enemies."
Naruto laughed. "Well, what can I say? Great minds think alike, and we're two of a kind."
Naruko snorted.
"Seeing as we're the same person but with different genders."
"Now, when you put it that way, it sounds creepy and weird." Naruto deadpanned, before he smirked. "And who are you to talk —"
Naruto leaned closer to her ear. "— narcissist." he whispered teasingly, earning a massive blush from the girl as she smacked him.
He laughed as he defended himself form her onslaught. Soon her assault ended, she pouted and grumbled something about handsome twins from another dimension and his teasing. Naruto continued to laugh as they made their way back to Tazuna's home, preparing for another day of intense training. He had to admit – he too was a narcissist. He couldn't help but see the utter absurdity of it all.
Of all the people he had to have an infatuation for, it had to be his gender bended self from another reality.
He really was unpredictable, was he?
And we are done people! Phew! Better give myself a pat on the back for the longest chapter that I have ever written on this story. Over 10k words, give or take. (Excluding this author's note: they don't count.)
[1] Well it's true! If I remember right, Naruto is a kinesthetic learner, who learns by doing and demonstrations rather than theory and boring lectures. He always would dive headfirst into the fight, negotiating with his fists first and his words in between or after he beats the people he wanted to help to a bloody pulp.
Take Obito and Neji for example — they are slightly out of their minds when they had fought Naruto, but who knows. *chuckles*
Anyways, I have been watching a new anime recently — well, technically it's an old one but it's still new to me. Let me tell you, Fate/stay night, the Fate route and the UBW route were awesome! God! I love the fights and the animations and the real in depth character development and the Nasuverse in general. TYPE-MOON really outdid themselves when Nasu decided to unravel F/SN.
Anyhow, enough with me rambling about F/SN. Say . . . maybe I'll write my own story of F/SN in the near future. Who knows? I'm already a HUGE fan of James D. Fawkes, an author on this site. Check out his stories of F/SN listed below. Tell me what you think on my idea of writing a new story on F/SN.
Fate Revenant Sword — A time travel fic where Shirō was sent back to the beginning of the Grail Wars by the corrupted Grail and was forced to fight through it once more, all the while trying to change things for the better. Avalon Shipping pairing (Shirō X Saber)
Miracle of Zero: Kingdom of the Forsaken — crossover between F/SN and Familiar of Zero, where we see FRS True Ending Shirō gets summoned by our favorite tsun-tsun Louise in an all-out battle royale between Heroic Spirit Void Familiars! Shit is about to do down! Pairing still a secret but the author has dropped clues throughout the chapters, so keep an eye out! I already know . . . heh.
Okay then, please leave a review and tell me what you felt about this fic. Good? Bad? Anything, just lay it on meh! My body is ready! Oh, and don't worry about the lack of romance, like kissing and intimacy, because it's still early in the story as some of you had already pointed out to me. Please stay with me, and be patient.
Oh, I am also looking for input on line breaking. Do you guys prefer the single lines of some form of artistic motifs?
Here's what I had in mind —
~ D ~ R ~
— 0.O.0.O.0 —
(Credit goes to James D. Fawkes — Need to ask him for permission. :P)
What do you guys think? Should I change this or should I just stick with the single line breaks?
Be awesome guys!
Slightly lengthened Zabuza VS Team Seven fight.
This is HEIROFROHAN signing off,
PEACE!