A/N: Relatively short chapter, but I will make things longer next time. Either way, do read and review, would you kindly?
…
{Play: "Last Wolf Suite" by Noriyuki Asakura from "Rurouni Kenshin"}
[Somewhere in Konoha]
There was nothing but silence all around as Danzo sat at his desk, reading reports. These were all missions that he'd unofficially accepted, far away from his rival's eyes. This one just so happened to involve yet another failed attempt to steal blueprints to the vaunted Chakra Armor from Yukigakure no Sato. At the very least, the ROOT operatives that he sent there were prudent enough to hide their identities by wearing hitai-ate made it look like Konoha wasn't actively trying to steal the plans.
"You think you're so clever, don't you?" asked Dragon Lady, the rage clear in her calm voice as she stepped out of the shadows.
"Whatever do you mean?" Danzo blithely responded, not taking his attention away from his paperwork. Even though he was not facing her, he could feel that she was thumbing the hilt of her blade.
"Do you think I'm an idiot? We both know that withholding information from your king is tantamount to treason; and if I had my way, I'd have taken your Sharingan-stealing head by now."
"Says the twelve royal guards who are hiding their identities from their own king." shot back Danzo, still focused on the mission reports. "That's right, I've snuck a glance at what you look like under your mask, and I have quite a few theories on who and what the twelve of you really are. Especially you, Madame Dragon; I have pretty good idea why you detest me, and it has little to do with the safety of your king."
If she were disturbed at all by the revelation, the Dragon Lady's snort didn't show it. It was as though she didn't care that Danzo had figured out their identities. "Like that's going to help you. You should already know that we're all stronger than you, Danzo. The only reason you're still alive is because Naruto thinks you are of more use to him alive and as his advisor, than dead. You pull that bullshit on him again, and we will see to it that your treacherous ways will be rewarded accordingly."
He could only grit his teeth in his mind. As much as Danzo didn't want to admit it, but the men and women of Naruto's royal guard were all shinobi of superb skill. He also knew that his old age didn't make his odds against them any better, and so Danzo would be forced to make heavy use of his mind to even be able to keep up. The Dragon Lady alone was formidable enough to at least match up with him should they cross blades, as indicated by their sparring sessions (it was very obvious that she didn't even take him seriously). But if the rest of Naruto's Companions decided to team up on him, the result would potentially be nothing short of overkill whether or not they went all-out. "And what if I decide to tell him what I know?"
The Dragon mask obscured her features, but Danzo could practically feel that sadistic smirk on her face from behind him. "I don't think you need to know that. What you do need to know is that we will reveal our identities and our connection to our king later on. Reveal it to him against our terms, and I'm sure that the T&I department has thousands of ways to make you talk…in a lot of very humiliating ways, and after we hand them the files of all your missions."
…
{Play: "Winter Contingency" by Martin O'Donnell, from "Halo: Reach"}
[Waters of Nami no Kuni]
There was nothing but silence all around, save for an oar breaking through the surface of the water. It'd been a few hours since Team Seven and Tazuna had left the Oni Kyōdai to be picked up by Konoha ANBU teams to be interrogated and imprisoned. Now they were in a rowboat heading towards Nami no Kuni. Everyone prepared for the fight to come, especially Setsuka who took the time to sharpen her iai blade; the rhythmic sound of metal scraping against the whetstone cutting through the mist-shrouded air.
"So, now that we're safe, would you mind telling us why nuke-nin have been hired to kill you?" asked Kakashi. The question had drawn a lot of curiosity from all the students present.
Tazuna sighed in resignation. It just couldn't be helped, and he really did owe these shinobi the truth. "Ever hear of Gato?"
"Of Gato Shipping Co.?" asked Kakashi, "Who hasn't?"
"Well he's set up shop on our island." Tazuna began bitterly, "And since then, he's been turning it into a hellhole. 'There will be a lot of opportunities to make money' he said. Yeah, there were plenty of opportunities to make money, just not for us! The day he set up shop, he began to monopolize everything on the island, imposing a lot of taxes on everyone, and he's not above having his goons committing crimes in broad daylight to get that money. Extortion, kidnapping, murder; you name it, his flunkies have done it."
Kakashi nodded in understanding. "That explains why you're unable to afford a proper B-rank mission, but that still leaves one question: why you?"
"I'm constructing a bridge that would connect Hi no Kuni with Nami no Kuni," Tazuna continued. "Gato knows that at the moment, our whole economy relies on the fact that we need ships to trade with the outside world. The bridge will change all that; with an alternative method of transporting goods and supplies, it will hurt his pocket."
"Why doesn't he just destroy the bridge?" asked Sakura.
The answer she got was Tazuna's snort. "The project's just too damn big for him to do that, and we're almost a quarter of the way to finishing. Just think about it for a second; a big bridge is being built on Nami no Kuni to facilitate trade, and suddenly it's destroyed? That's just going to bring a lot of heat on him from the other Shinobi Nations when he could profit from it! With my death at this stage of the project, he can bring in his own architects and engineers."
It all made sense. With the bridge at its current stage of completion, Gato would need Tazuna dead very soon; and if he took control of the project, he could build toll booths that would charge an arm and a leg just to cross the bridge. Okay, I'll admit it; if you hadn't withheld information from me about this mission, I probably wouldn't have come, Naruto thought to himself. But don't think for a second that I'm going to let you slide for it. And to show you I mean business, I'd better think of the perfect slap on the wrist for you…
The sound of crunching broke the air as the boat had come to shore. "We're here," said the boatman. "Take care, Tazuna. We're all counting on you."
"Don't mind me, Ichiro," said Tazuna, as the boatman moved to push the boat back into the water. "You get back to safety. If we make it, I'm pretty sure you'll be hearing about it soon."
Ichiro nodded in acknowledgement to Tazuna before disappearing into the mist.
"Well, let's get going." said Kakashi, bringing everyone's attention to him. "The longer we stay here, the more likely we're going to be spotted by enemy shinobi.
…
[In the treetops, roughly an hour later]
The subtle rustle of wind breezing through leaves could be heard as the hunter stalked his prey. His scout had told him that the target would be coming straight home this way; a good choice, as the forest was very easy for outsiders to get lost in. A lot of Gato's thugs have gotten lost in these woods, but the hunter was not your ordinary thug; he was aware of the fact that the terrain was the bridge-builder's only defense from kidnap and assassination attempts. This was why he spent a lot of time familiarizing himself with the land.
After hearing the Oni Kyōdai were arrested and left to rot in Konoha's prisons, the hunter knew that he had to take this job a lot more seriously. Gato, greedy pig that he was, obviously had no tolerance for failure. Were it not for the fact that he really needed the money, he would've just killed the disgusting sewer rat and robbed him for all that he had.
As he waited patiently, his waiting had finally paid off: the bridge-builder was walking on down the dirt road, and he was not alone. Following him were two kunoichi and a shinobi, their age marking them as obvious genin. One of the kunoichi had a sword, while the other seemed to be a bookish sort. The boy on the other hand, had carried himself a with a regality that was in its early stages; like he was well on his way to gaining power. They were small fry to be sure, but even he knew not to underestimate targets; after all, he was not even a genin when he committed the atrocity that made his name legend in Kiri.
However, there was one noticeable individual that was in the group. He had a broom-haired appearance, and his Konoha hitai-ate being worn like an eyepatch over his left eye. A mask hugged the curves of his face below his nose. The flak jacket he wore, as well as the way he carried himself screamed jōnin in at least a thousand languages to the hunter. Hatake Kakashi, he thought to himself, no wonder the Oni Kyōdai failed. He will be a most worthy opponent indeed…
With that last thought on mind, the hunter vanished from his perch. It was time to say 'hello.'
…
[At the forest floor]
It was a very ominous atmosphere as Team Seven escorted their client through the woods. They all understood that this was the safest way for Tazuna to take home. The problem was that the mist also hid dangers from them, but Tazuna had already assured them that Gato's thugs were all foreigners to this land; he'd heard word that a lot of them were lost in the woods and killed by the wildlife. Add to the fact that there were very likely other shinobi in Gato's employ, and it was the same as if they were walking out in the open with targets on their backs.
The sound of a twig snapping in a bush had caught Naruto's attention, before he threw a kunai at the source of the noise. There was a loud 'thunk' as the tip of the blade dug into a tree.
"What's wrong?" asked Kakashi.
"My reflexes kicked in," said Naruto, moving in to investigate. He parted the branches of the bush, and widened his eyes in shock. There was a terrified white rabbit with a kunai right above its head. He grabbed the rabbit by the scruff of its neck, and began petting it gently in his arms. "Sorry about that, false alarm."
Kakashi sighed in exasperation at Naruto's impulsive action. I wonder, he thought to himself, at this season, a rabbit should've shed its winter coat…that means it's been kept indoors, which in turn means…
His eye had widened in realization, and just in time for him to hear something whipping in the air. "Everybody duck!"
At those two words, everybody ducked as a massive blade twirled out from nowhere with the intent of slicing their heads off. The blade dug itself into the trunk of a nearby tree, before someone landed on the hilt. His torso was bare, but he wore bandages that hid the lower half of his face, arm warmers, a pair of urban camouflage pants. As he turned around, one could see that the crest inscribed on his hitai-ate designated him as someone from Kirigakure no Sato.
"Momochi Zabuza…" Kakashi muttered to himself, upon recognizing the nuke-nin.
"Hatake Kakashi." Zabuza said, looking back down on the group of five from below his shoulder. "And his three brats. I didn't think you'd settle down and start teaching, Hatake."
"You'd be surprised."
"Heh. Oh, you'll be surprised, alright." Zabuza chuckled, before turning his attention to the rabbit in Naruto's hands. He took in a deep breath, and shouted one word at the rabbit: "TNT!"
{Play: "Burning Colosseum" from "Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, Part 2: Battle Tendency"}
At that one word, the rabbit seemed to be going through a transformation as it jittered in Naruto's hands. He managed to catch the creature just in time as it jumped up in an attempt to gnaw at his neck. This rabbit also happened to be rather strong, as it managed to knock down Naruto.
Seemingly frustrated by its failed attempt to kill him, the rabbit pounced on Setsuka, the Uchiha girl barely having enough time to move her hands up. The rabbit bit down on her forearm, and would have continued to gnaw away at her arm had Naruto not run up, pulled it off of her, and thrown it into a tree. The rabbit broke managed to shift its weight around, land with all feet on the tree, kick off, and attempt to bite into a screaming Sakura's neck until Setsuka drew her blade, smacking it in the head with the butt of her sword. "Damn it! What the hell is wrong with this rabbit?!"
Zabuza's laughter could be heard from the treetops as the rabbit wreaked havoc on Team Seven. "I've given that rabbit a taste of meat. Add a little bit of genjutsu-induced hypnosis and some training with chakra, and we have ourselves an animal assassin, slash kawarimi double." Once he was satisfied with the fact that the rest of the genin were preoccupied with trying to protect the client, Zabuza dislodged the massive sword and allowed himself to drop. His massive blade would have filleted Kakashi, were it not for the jōnin reinforcing his kunai with chakra, and fighting back.
Meanwhile, Naruto and the rest of Team Seven were having a hard time fighting off the rabbit and protecting the client. Tazuna was smart enough to get down, so as not to get in the way of the fight; that and he was afraid that the rabbit would come for him next. Naruto, frustrated by the rabbit's attempt to kill them, allowed his skin to split and crystallize over the major muscle groups in his body while exposing the muscles underneath in between each gap. The rabbit knew by instinct that Naruto was the most dangerous of the three genin, and made for the exposed muscles in his throat; only to be hit with a lucky punch that knocked it out.
"Everyone okay?" he asked, still in his armored form.
"We're fine." Sakura answered, unable to comprehend what it was that she was seeing, until she was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of metal blades clashing.
Everyone turned to see Kakashi battling with Zabuza as he parried away the latter's massive sword swings with a kunai and attempting to cut into him. The fight was fairly even with Zabuza taking advantage of his strength to keep Kakashi in the defensive, while Kakashi always sought out an opening to begin his offensive. After finding an opening to kick Zabuza in the face, Kakashi waited until his opponent was a good distance away before turning his attention to his students. "Everyone, protect Tazuna with your lives!"
"How long do you think your students will last?" taunted Zabuza, standing back up. "Sure, they managed to get past my killer rabbit, but will they survive a round against me?" As he spoke, his hands flew through hand-seals before landing in a final one. "Kirigakure no Jutsu."
Once the jutsu was complete, the mist was made even thicker. "Everyone, Manji formation!"
Naruto, Sakura, and Setsuka stood at the ready surrounding Tazuna. Naruto was still in his crystal armor, his fists ready for action should Zabuza pop out of the mist with. Setsuka had her hand on the hilt of Tsukihime Shiranui, ready to go for his knees. Sakura on the other hand, simply had a kunai at the ready to fight off as best she could.
Tensions rose as everybody waited, hoping that Zabuza was not in the area. Their hopes were dashed as soon as they heard his voice. "Eight points." he said, his voice cutting through the mist, "Heart, lung, kidney, stomach, subclavian artery, spine, brain, jugular. Eight major kill zones on the human body…I wonder which one I'll get to first? Heh, heh, heh, heh."
As his laughter rang through the air, one could feel Zabuza's killing intent penetrating the thick mist and coming in from all directions. Setsuka tried her best to remain calm, but she soon found herself trembling in absolute terror as to how and when Zabuza would strike. She was about to dig into a pouch at the small of her back for a kunai to...
"Setsuka, calm down," said Naruto, catching her off guard with his flanging voice, "No matter what happens, I'll protect you."
Those reassuring words had done their work. Setsuka let out a calming sigh before readying her blade for action.
"Nice try boy, but you are preaching to the wrong choir!" Zabuza taunted, his voice very clear; he'd infiltrated their defensive perimeter. He swung his massive blade down on Naruto, only for Naruto to step aside just in time for the blade to dig into the ground.
"Not bad," said Naruto, recovering just in time to grab the greatsword by the hole near the tip of the blade and on the spine, "But I know of fighters who could use that sword better than you."
Zabuza was about to ask what he meant, but he noticed that the areas Naruto had touched began to crack and glow with a reddish energy, while it was also being encrusted with blue crystals that grew on the surface over the vein-like cracks on the sword. Zabuza remained speechless about the whole affair, as Naruto pulled the sword out of the ground, jabbed his opponent in the stomach with the pommel. Giving his opponent no opportunity to fight back, he looped the hilt into the area between his legs and smacked him in the balls with a single pull up. Zabuza managed to perform a Kawarimi just in time for Naruto to swipe the hilt across his face to reveal nothing but water.
As he disappeared into the mist to recover from the groin attack, Zabuza watched as his zanbatō was now encrusted in the blue crystal, and seemed to be pulsing red underneath the crystals. Even more unbelievable was that the brat he was fighting against was wielding his sword with just one hand. The massive sword was now sporting an eye that was focusing its violet iris on him from near the notch on the blade. "And this is just one swordsman's style I'm calling forth."
"Not bad, brat. I guess I took you too lightly if you were able to take my sword from me," said Zabuza, his voice once again coming from all directions, "But how good of a fighter are you really?"
Naruto held his ground, waiting for the right opportunity to fight back. "Setsuka, he's probably going to find a way to get his sword back, so keep an eye open. Sakura, you and Tazuna stay low. We need to hold him off until Kakashi-sensei shows up."
The sound of something whistling in the air had caused Naruto's reflexes to kick into action, commanding his body to turn around quickly, and grab the hilt of a kunai that was sailing into the back of his head. He then used that kunai to block three more kunai, before using the zanbatō to block and cut through another storm of kunai. He then began catching, juggling, and throwing the kunai back to their points of origin, hoping to hit Zabuza somewhere in the mist.
Setsuka kept the guard up in Naruto's blind spots, her iai blade moving smoothly and seamlessly to cut at kunai and shuriken that would have attempted to stab him. All the while, she kept her eyes open on his movements so as not to get cut or bisected. This also allowed her an opportunity to see into his fighting style; he was fighting with that massive blade like he'd been using it all his life, the same with all the kunai that he was catching and throwing back.
Eventually, the storm of blades had come to a stop and Zabuza had managed to land a kick on Naruto's armored face, knocking him back. As Naruto staggered backwards, Zabuza retrieved his sword and would have succeeded in smashing Naruto against a tree he'd backed up against with the face of his now-normal blade, had Kakashi not appeared out of nowhere to stab the man in the back. Once again, Zabuza had splashed into water before reappearing, bisecting Kakashi in one pass with his massive blade to reveal that he too was a Mizu Bunshin. All in all, the fight had become so high-paced that the two jōnin-level shinobi were only able to reveal themselves as Mizu Bunshin.
As Zabuza and Kakashi fought, Setsuka noticed that his hitai-ate was raised. Once she spotted them up close, and was shocked to notice that Kakashi's right eye was a Sharingan. To her knowledge, only Uchiha had the Sharingan; and although the scar over his eye seemed to tell the story, she wanted to hear for herself why her sensei had one. Perhaps, she could even ask him for some extra training on the Sharingan since he was obviously capable of using it; assuming of course they survived past today. But for now, she needed to help Naruto and Sakura guard the client.
Meanwhile, Zabuza and Kakashi stared each other down. The surprise beatdown Naruto had dished out on him had caused the nuke-nin to expend energy trying to recover, making Zabuza's attacks sloppier. Kakashi drew a second kunai, ducked under a swing of the greatsword, and stabbed Zabuza in the abdominals only to see that his target was yet another Mizu Bunshin as it exploded into a splash of water. Zabuza was able to find an opening in order to sucker-punch Kakashi into a pond. He was able to use his chakra control to allow him to stand on the water, but Kakashi realized too late that the water was too heavy. Before he could escape, a bubble of water had engulfed Kakashi instantly as Zabuza surfaced from the pond with one hand on the bubble.
"Let's see you get out of this now!" Zabuza taunted. He then turned his attention to the genin of Team Seven. "Now then…to do my job." As he spoke, another Mizu Bunshin had formed from the pond water, wielding its own copy of Zabuza's zanbatō. It began to stalk forward, a grin on its masked face.
"Everybody, take Tazuna and run! You're no match for a shinobi of his level!" shouted Kakashi from the bubble.
{Play: "Rage of Sparta" from "God of War III"}
"Not a chance," said Naruto, commanding his left right ulna bones to duplicate themselves. "This guy is going down one way or another." As he finished his sentence, Naruto pulled out both bones from his arms, and then commanded them to form a pair of short and heavy, single-edged blades. One of them was made of a red crystal with a violet eye peeking out from near the hilt, while the other was made of a blue crystal with a sphere near the hilt. Both short-swords were connected to his arms by the pommels with cords presumably made from his blood vessels, tendons, ligaments and even nerve and muscle fibers. The cords were then pulled out from slits in his arm under his elbows.
"Setsuka," he said, taking the opportunity the shake off the pain from making his new weapons as the Uchiha girl turned her attention to him, "How good are you with that blade?"
Setsuka had no idea where he was going with this, but decided to humor him. "I'm still learning, but suffice to say I'm good enough."
Naruto smiled. "Then follow me. We're gonna free Kakashi-sensei."
Naruto and Setsuka rushed forward, with the former in the lead. He stopped mid-way to throw both of his short blades at the Mizu Bunshin, allowing the cords attached to his arm to reel forward. The Zabuza-clone blocked both blades, but Naruto grabbed both cords, and began swinging them around. The clone was forced back as the whip-like actions of Naruto's swings kept it in the defensive; because it was focused on blocking the quick strikes, it could not fight back.
Seeing her cue, Setsuka stepped on Naruto's shoulders, and used him as a springboard to propel her forward. She timed her steps just right, occasionally ducking and jumping over the cords and the 'blades of chaos' to avoid getting tripped by Naruto as he kept the clone busy. When she got close enough, Naruto stopped his whipping, allowing the bunshin to begin its attack with a horizontal slash. Setsuka drew her blade, leaped over the zanbatō and off the face of its blade, and finished off with a single slash across the clone's throat.
They were far from done, as Naruto leaped over Setsuka with both blades in hand, cords retracted, and continuing to run towards the pond. The second he neared the water, he lashed both whips together in such a manner that the cords and the blades formed a pincer maneuver going for Zabuza's head at high speed. The only way out for him was to backstep, which was exactly what Naruto was counting on.
As soon as he let go of the bubble, Kakashi was freed. The two shinobi were a good distance from each other, each one matching ninjutsu with ninjutsu as they fought on the surface of the water. The first jutsu that was used, "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu," created a pair of water dragons that swirled around, and eventually crashed into each other. The second jutsu was used only by Kakashi, creating a tsunami that tossed Zabuza and everyone else about.
Team Seven found enough sense throughout the flood to get to high ground, with Naruto helping Sakura get Tazuna to safety on the treetops. Setsuka followed closely by, knowing that she needed to take care of herself now that the client was safe.
When the tsunami had died down, Zabuza was washed up against a tree before he was finally lowered to the ground. After a few seconds of coughing the water out of his lungs, he found himself screaming in pain as a pair of kunai pierced his shoulders. "You're finished, Zabuza." said Kakashi, stalking towards him with another kunai. "Any last words?"
Zabuza gnashed his teeth in pain as he glared up at Kakashi. "Yeah, two in fact: Fuck you!"
Before he could cut the man down, a pair of senbon had embedded themselves in Zabuza's neck. Kakashi looked around, and found himself looking at a Hunter-Nin from Kirigakure. There were no features on the operative's mask, save for a swirl of red, and the Kirigakure crest on the forehead. She also had the unconscious 'white rabbit of death' in her arms. "I thank you for dealing with Zabuza for me." she said, reaching down to heft Zabuza up over her shoulder. "I'd been tailing him for a while now."
"It's an honor." said Kakashi.
"With that, I'll take my leave." Without another word, the Hunter-Nin leaped off into the wilderness. As he watched the operative disappear into the darkness, Kakashi had an odd feeling about the situation at hand; he just couldn't put a finger on what. However, all thoughts were cut short as soon as he blacked out.
"Kakashi-sensei!"
…
{Play: "Decapre" by Hideyuki Fukasawa, from "Ultra Street Fighter IV"}
[Elsewhere in the woods]
The Hunter-nin leaped through the forest with Zabuza and the rabbit in tow. She needed to move quickly, but without exasperating the wounds that the man suffered. By her estimates, the rabbit would be fine, but it would take at least a week for him to recover. She also had a list of herbs she needed to procure to speed up the healing process for Zabuza.
As she thought back on the shinobi team that defeat her charges. The pinkette was practically useless, but Hatake Kakashi was indeed a worthy opponent for Zabuza, and seemed to be capable of matching him move for move. The black-haired girl with the sword had a lot of potential; combine that with her speed, and she was a very deadly adversary. Her train of thought had eventually gone to the boy that created weapons from his body, and made her wonder if he had any association with the now-dead Kaguya clan.
Regardless, she had a man to heal, and a long story to tell. Fortunately, Gato would be smart enough to stay away…there was no doubt in her mind that Zabuza would be in a very bad mood today.
…
A/N: If anyone is wondering why Naruto is fighting like Berserker Lancelot, that's because Soul Calibur and Soul Edge grant him a style not unlike "Knight of Honor: A Knight does not die with Empty Hands" where he can steal weapons and use them like an extension of his body. You'll see how far it can be taken later on.
…
Vocabulary:
Ulna─your forearm bone, the one that makes up your elbow
…
Styles used:
Kubikiribocho─a bit of medieval longsword fighting, and a bit of Nightmare
Chained Blades─Kratos of Sparta
…
Original Jutsu:
Ō no Yoroi: Meiyo("王の鎧:名誉")─In Ō no Yoroi, Naruto creates a suit of armor from his integumentary system (his skin and hair) using Soul Calibur, which grants him a natural suit of armor. With the "Meiyo" form, Naruto focuses more on stealing weapons, and using his memories to use them more effectively. It could be an iron street lamp, or even something as mundane as a fork; he just needs to recognize it as a weapon for this jutsu to work.
…
Cameos/References
Zabuza's white rabbit─from "Monty Python and the Holy Grail." Honestly, why hasn't anyone thought to do this with that rabbit? In real life, rabbits are plenty vicious…once I heard of rabbits in NY that have been eating chicken wings.
Naruto's armored form─pretty much inspired by Reiner Braun's Armored Titan form, and Berserker's armor from "Fate/Zero"
Naruto's use of Kubikiribocho─the medieval European technique of 'half-swording'. This is normally done with longswords against knights that are in armor, and requires the practitioner to hold the sword by the blade (swords were dull back then). Techniques include aiming your sword with one hand to stab your enemy in the chinks of his armor, grabbing the sword by the blade and using the guard as a hammer, and even hitting them across the face with the hilt.
TNT─Both an AC/DC reference, and in reference to the fact that "that rabbit is dynamite."
