Hey-hey-hey! Here it is!
I really need to check out the new Naruto episodes... bummer, no time.
So, um... here ya go!
P.S. I posted the chapter last night, but didn't get the confirmation email. Impatient berk that I am I unposted, thinking that it was another error. Stupid, stupid, stupid... (bonks self on head).
Chapter 24 - Ridiculous Surprise
"I don't have time to play with you guys," Naruto complained, and he disappeared, reappearing behind the brother's backs and planting a kunai in each of their necks.
The water clones 'splooshed' out of existence. "And neither do we," the brothers chorused back. "We're on a mission that doesn't concern you or Konoha. But we must kill you for your insolence years ago." The brothers continued, pointing at Sasuke.
Naruto grinned. "Well, if you insist…" and he stepped aside, motioning for Sasuke to fight the Demon brothers.
Sasuke grinned, Sharingan meeting Shirugan, red eye to red eye.
Then Sasuke moved, moved so quickly that Naruto was surprised by the ferocity of the attack. In a split-second Sasuke was behind the Demon brothers, Kusanagi sliding out of its sheath for an iai attack.
The brother closest to the blade raised his metal gauntlet to block the blade, then grabbed it with the claws on his other hand, capturing it. "Got you," the other brother hissed as he thrust a kunai at Sasuke's head.
Sasuke groaned as yet another opponent believed that his hands were permanently attached to the handle of his katana, yet with the simple motion of releasing his grip, the sword was free of his hands. He stopped the kunai between two fingers, stealing all the strength from the charge. Simultaneously he brought his right knee into the stomach of the one holding his sword, and he doubled over. Not missing a step, Sasuke extended his leg and, in a show or strength, launched the first brother into the other who, to his credit, avoided the human missile as it crashed into a tree instead.
"Kuso!" he yelled as his previously airborn brother slumped to the ground, his head twisted at an odd angle. The remaining brother glared at Sasuke hatefully, brandishing his metal-covered hands.
Sasuke chuckled. "That was a lucky break," he said nonchalantly.
The brother became enraged. "I'LL KILL YOU!" he snarled and jumped at Sasuke-
-only to impale himself on Makai, wielded by Naruto as he grimly slipped the unfortunate shinobi from the blade, wiped it clean on his pants, and replaced it in its sheath.
"I wasn't kidding when I said we didn't have time," Naruto said lightly. "Though that was some pretty efficient fighting, Sasuke. Kind of anticlimactic though, y'know? Revenge for past crimes, yadda-yadda…" Naruto caught himself as he noticed the look in Sasuke's red eyes, as if he would explode.
"Heh-heh…" Sasuke chuckled, to Naruto's surprise. "I guess you're right. But we are shinobi; that fight lasted longer than it should have."
Sakura made a stutter. "What the hell does that mean?" she yelled, indignant at the fact that she had no idea what Sasuke was talking about. Naruto turned to her to explain, but Hinata beat him to it.
"Sakura, shinobi are killers. Konoha is probably the exception to the rule of shinobi being emotionless tools, but we should be more efficient than that. I learned that when I was mastering Jyuuken: no fight between a Hyuuga and a skilled opponent should last more than a few minutes for, while your opponent is skilled and likely a shinobi, we are still shinobi too, and that means we must fight efficiently and quickly. Dispatch your opponent with swiftness and victory will always be yours," Hinata recited. "It's one of the only things my father said to me when I was young that has stayed with me."
Naruto nodded, impressed. "Nicely said, Hinata-chan. Now c'mon, we've spent enough time here." And with that, the squad moved out.
The journey seemed longer to Naruto than last time, but that might have been because of the lack of action on the way. This time there was no Zabuza to harass them on the way.
"Naruto, when are we going to take the boat over?" Sakura asked as they walked through the forest.
"Sakura, I can't believe you of all people have forgotten our mission to Wave Country years ago," Sasuke remarked. "Remember the bridge they built to the mainland? Why wouldn't we just walk across that?"
Sakura blushed. "Oh yeah… geez, what a klutz I am…"
She trailed off as the bridge came into view. It looked the same as it did all those years ago, with one change.
"The Great Naruto Bridge," Sakura read, disbelief filling every word. Sasuke simply shook his head, wondering just when he had fallen behind his re-found friend.
Naruto stared at the sign with awe. "Impossible… Tazuna seriously named the bridge after me?" He stared at the sign some more, than shook his head. "Nah, it must be a joke or something. C'mon everyone, let's go find Tazuna."
Hinata giggled. The sign was made of ornate rock and metal, meaning that it must carry some importance. Naruto must be embarrassed that his other teammates weren't recognized somehow, she mused.
Sakura just stared at Naruto. The fact that he had matured had never been more plain. You really will be a great Hokage, Naruto, Sakura thought wistfully.
Sasuke walked alongside Naruto. "You deserve it, you know," the Uchiha said suddenly.
"What?" Naruto replied, curious. Sasuke smiled and looked to the horizon.
"When we fought Haku and Zabuza, you really did carry the day," Sasuke said softly, though Naruto could hear every word. "From your opening shuriken to the distraction you made in the ice prison…" Sasuke turned and looked Naruto in the eye, red meeting red once again. "The Bridge was baptized in your blood, Naruto. It has a good name."
Naruto smiled and bowed his head. "Thanks, Sasuke," he mumbled, and if Sasuke didn't know any better he could have sworn his Sharingan caught sight of something shiny falling from Naruto's eyes.
"Naruto, me boy! What in the hells brings you back to our little village!" a boisterous voice called out. "And Sakura and Sasuke too! Damn, if it isn't good to see y'all again!"
The former members of Team 7 stared. The "little village" was in fact close in size to Konoha. Their mouths fell open as they silently compared it to the Wave Village they remembered. Buildings clustered everywhere in a somewhat organized chaos. People laughed and chattered in the streets, and merchants and customers haggled boisterously, and a smiling old man wearing a straw hat was walking up to them.
"Jeez, old man Tazuna, but you sure got this place off the ground!" Naruto shouted happily. Tazuna shot him a mock glare, still smiling.
"That's Mayor Tazuna, brat. Y'all have grown, but I'm still taller than ya! Well geez, where are my manners! My name is Mayor Tazuna, young lady," the grizzled bridge builder said as he bowed to Hinata.
Hinata returned it with a curtsy. "I am Hyuuga Hinata, Tazuna-sama. You are most gracious; my boyfriend could learn a thing or two from you," she said teasingly. Tazuna laughed.
"That he could, that he could!" Tazuna howled jovially, causing Naruto to glare and Sakura to laugh. Sasuke kept his mind focused, however.
"Tazuna-sama, it is good to see you well, but we have urgent business here in Wave. Could we go somewhere where we can speak in private?" Sasuke asked politely.
Tazuna nodded. "Come to my office. We can discuss matters there without being overheard."
As they sat at a large oak table Naruto took in the bridge builder he and Team 7 had once been hired to protect. He looked exactly the same, save for a few gray hairs around the ears. He also seemed slimmer, more muscular. Naruto approved.
"So, old man Tazuna, you seem to be keeping well," Naruto said happily. Tazuna nodded.
"Yes. The village has prospered, thanks in no small part to you three. Though I have to admit, you've been causing me some trouble." And Tazuna pointed an accusing finger at Naruto, a gleam in his eye.
"Me?" Naruto asked innocently. "Tazuna, I've done a lot of things, but I don't recall having anything to do with-"
Suddenly, the door to the office burst open and a young man hustled in, saying something over Tazuna's protests at being interrupted.
"Tazuna-sama, they won't go away! I've tried everything, but they simply won't leave! Isn't there anything you can do?" the man said, obviously flustered.
Tazuna sighed. "Yes. We're going to hand him over for now. Naruto!" he said, so authoritatively that Naruto stood to attention without realizing it. "The lot of you, come with me. This should be funny," he said as he led a confused team of ninja out to the hallway and down the stairs to where they entered the town hall.
"Naruto, this is what I'm talking about," Tazuna said gravely as he opened the door and shoved him out.
"OH KAMI-SAMA, IT'S HIM! IT'S NARUTO!" the girl closest to him screamed.
Naruto paled.
Gathered outside the town hall were women.
Hundreds of them.
It was as if the entire female population of Wave had come to the town square. Ranging in age from 7 to 77, the girls clamored and waved at him incessantly until he panicked and shoved Tazuna aside in an effort to retreat.
Tazuna shut the door behind him and led them back upstairs. When they returned to the safety of Tazuna's office, Sakura burst into laughter, while Sasuke allowed himself a quiet chuckle. Hinata was furious.
"Naruto, just what in the world did you do when you came here!" she yelled. Tazuna laughed.
"Nothing at all, Hinata-san. Please sit down and don't kill your boyfriend. Men like him are hard to come by. Naruto has become somewhat of a celebrity figure, and it's been surprisingly hard to keep the general public focused on the growth of Wave. They keep wanting Naruto to come back, and the women all seem to want to propose marriage (and Kami-sama knows what else) to him," Tazuna explained. Hinata's fury vanished like a gust of wind. A moment of silence ensued.
"Hell hath no fury…" Naruto mumbled. Then aloud, "Tazuna, I'll get straight to the point. We're searching for someone reported to be in the area. Do you know of any… extraordinary people… ninjas, even, living around here?"
"You mean jinchuuriki?" Taznua replied bluntly. Sakura gasped.
"Yeah, I know who you are looking for," Tazuna said after a while. "And I have to ask: why?"
Naruto nodded. "War's coming, Tazuna. Has a large white-haired pervert told you about Akatsuki yet?" When Tazuna nodded, Naruto went on, ignoring incredulous looks from Sakura and Hinata and an interested one from Sasuke. "Their on the move. The remaining members all have demons inside of them, and the only things keeping them from attacking… something are the remaining bijuu and the fact that they don't have full control of their powers yet."
Tazuna nodded, apparently thinking it over. Finally, he said, "Fine. I'll tell you where you can find the demon-carrier, but don't get the idea that I have anything to do with it. It resists human contact; no one, not even I, has actually seen it. But it lives in a cave in the middle of the forest ten kilometers to the east of here. I can't tell you exactly where, but if you head in that direction it'll know you're coming and probably come out and meet you. I don't know it's story though, so please be careful," Tazuna cautioned as the shinobi stood up. "Boy, hold up a sec," he added as Naruto moved to leave, a dark look on his face.
"What?" Naruto said curtly as his team gave him his privacy. Tazuna sighed.
"Look, Naruto, I'm sorry I had to treat the jinchuuriki who lives here like that," Tazuna said bluntly. "The young ninja asked me to keep his secret one day and in fact asked me to treat him like trash to hide the truth. So I apologize," Tazuna finished.
Naruto nodded and grinned. "I understand," he said, relieved. "Thank you, Tazuna. I wish we could stay and tour the city, but time really isn't on our side," Naruto said as Tazuna led him outside to his team.
"Yeah, we'll be sure to come back and visit once this nasty business is taken care of!" Sakura said happily. "I want to see Inari-kun again!"
Tazuna nodded and shooed them away. "Now, go!" he said, laughing.
Naruto led his team through the forest in the direction Tazuna had pointed them in. When they came to a small clearing, Naruto held up his hand in the 'halt' sign and looked around at the small, convenient clearing in the trees.
These things are way too convenient, he thought. Oh well. He shrugged and began to place chakra kanji on the trees.
Hinata and Sasuke noticed this. "Naruto-kun, what are you doing?" Hinata asked curiously.
Naruto grinned cheekily. "Don't want anyone to be able to get to us yet," he said conversationally, "so I'm setting up barrier seals around the clearing with the Shirugan."
Sasuke nodded. "That ability you used on me to end our fight at Orochimaru's hideout?"
"Yeah, but I don't use it so often because of the concentration and chakra it requires. Even with my improved chakra control, I still use a ton of chakra for the writing; despite my massive reserves, I can only write a few seals at a time before I get fatigued," Naruto explained. Sasuke nodded thoughtfully.
However, as Naruto finished the last seal and prepared for the wave of tiredness, all he felt was a brief sense of emptiness which lasted about a minute or so. Then he literally felt his chakra replenishing.
"The ability of the Kyuubi!" Naruto howled. Sakura laughed.
"Naruto just figured out Kyuubi's powers," she reasoned. "Regeneration of both body and chakra, neh?" she asked for confirmation.
Naruto nodded happily, then deflated a bit. "I still can't throw seals around like one of those Western guns, though. Oh well," he shrugged again. "Now for the fun part!"
Sasuke groaned. "And this consists of?" he asked irritatingly, ignoring Hinata's humph of disapproval at his lack of faith in their future Hokage.
Naruto smiled his most fox-like grin, accented by his curiously pointed ears, which seemed to be returning.
"This," he said, and he leaned over and kissed Hinata deeply for a moment before going to the middle of the clearing and taking a deep breath.
And he flared his chakra, to the point at which nine of the biggest tails Hinata had ever seen come out of Naruto exploded into the sky and waved about menacingly.
"ROOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHHHHHHHHHH!" Naruto roared into the sky, causing Sasuke, Sakura, and Hinata to cover their ears.
After a while of waving about, Naruto withdrew his chakra into his body and exhaled the breath he had apparently been holding. He then assumed a thinking pose.
"I didn't even have to convert my chakra into demon-form," he said pensively. He whipped about suddenly, motioning the others to stand with him in the center.
"Someone's coming," he whispered. "Hinata-chan, can you see them?"
Hinata nodded, silently activating her bloodlimit. "A person with a massive amount of chakra is heading this way. They aren't gathering it or anything, so I think they're just coming to see what your little show was all about," she guessed.
Naruto nodded as the sound of someone tree-hopping grew closer, then stopped. "Whoever it is, they've had at least basic ninja training," he observed.
Then the foliage in front of them shuffled, as it might in a horror movie when the monster jumps out and scares the pants off the heroes. Then it parted, and Naruto and Sasuke almost fainted with shock. Sakura actually did faint.
"Who are you," Hinata said warily, noting her friends' reactions.
"My name is Haku," said the ninja. "It is good to see you again, Naruto-kun,Sasuke-kun."
Naruto looked at the ninja dumbly. Of all the strange things, he thought, of all the chakra and demonic powers and end-of-the-world madness, how in the hell is this happening?
Haku smiled. "It appears I have some explaining to do. Let me revive your pink-haired friend and I will tell you my story once more."
Haku passed through the barrier as if it weren't there, much to Naruto's chagrin, and touched a hand bathed in baby-blue light to Sakura's forehead. Sasuke started forward as if to stop the young shinobi, but Naruto shook his head.
Sakura opened her eyes blearily and looked at Haku's big brown ones. Haku smiled.
"Am I in Heaven?" Sakura asked groggily.
"Nope!" Haku said cheerfully.
Sakura fainted again.
Oh yeah, I went there.
Tell me what you think!
FIRST AUTHOR-READER POLL!:
Haku's Gender:
Male, or female?
Hope you enjoyed it!