Chapter 24
Rebel's camp
The group of nine arrived at the edge of what seemed to be a normal deserted crater, possibly the result of some suicide jutsu from the last war.
"Wait here for a moment" Kyousuke said, stepping forward
"You've upped the security" Ryuunosuke remarked.
The ANBU leader nodded before doing a long chain of hand seals, stopping on the tiger seal. "Release."
The young ninja watched in amazement as the previously deserted crater faded away to reveal a large camp. Small tents, enough to hold three, maybe four people at a time, scattered around the campsite. In the middle of the camp, stood a single tent, about three times as big as the others. The leader's, or possibly the tent for strategizing. Not far away from it, was a cluster of tents with a red cross by the entrance- the medical tent. To its left, about 20 meters away, stood a large fire pit and a dome made of earth. Judging by the smell coming out, it was the kitchen. A bit further away on the other side of the camp, close to the edge, there was another dome, but this one was bigger and looked much sturdier, as if designed to take many hits before falling.
All around, shinobi were sharpening their weapons, training, discussing battles, trading stories or eating. But no matter what they were doing, they all had one thing in common. They were tense.
"It's as if they're expecting to be attacked any moment" Fu whispered.
"They are. War does that to anyone." Nami answered. "Let's go see the leaders."
Xxx
"Halt! Identify yourselves." A guard called as they approached the camp.
"ANBU team 24. Returning from mission, codename: demon return home" Kyousuke answered, holding up a scroll.
The guard took the scroll and after reading it and preforming a quick genjutsu check let them in. "welcome back. The leaders are expecting you"
Kyousuke nodded and waved the group in. "come, it's best not to keep them waiting."
Xxxx
The group got a few curious and wary looks on their way to the leader's tent. A group of 4, 1 large man and 3 teens, all being escorted by 5 ANBU wasn't a sight you see every day after all.
Arriving at the tent, Kyousuke knocked in a quick pattern before announcing "ANBU Team 24 reporting back."
"come in" a muffled voice called.
The tent looked bigger inside than outside. In the middle stood a single table with a map laid out and multiple flags on it. Around the table stood five people. The one in the middle was a large man, even bigger than Ryuunosuke. To his left was a slightly smaller man with three broad, blue striped marks on his face, a pair of red goggles, a purple necklace and wore his headband like a bandana. Next to him was an average sized man with shoulder length white hair, a black sleeveless shirt, light purple pants and bandages around his neck. To his other sides were two old men, likely veterans of the previous war.
"Welcome back ANBU team 24. I trust the mission was a success?" the large man asked.
"Unfortunately not Ryuji-sama. He died before the meeting was scheduled. However we have brought back his three students and the Metal Dragon, Ryuunosuke Higurashi."
Ryuji sagged his shoulders. "and so close too… but where are my manners, my name is Ryuji Sakamoto. I am the current leader of the rebels. To my left are Chukichi and Mangetsu Hozuki. To my left are the elders…"
Naruto looked at the white haired man. "So this is Mangetsu Hozuki. The man Zabuza said would tell me about my family, why does he look familiar?"
Lost in his thoughts, Naruto only heard the last part of his introduction, "…it is unfortunate that our first leader Zabuza couldn't make it, but I hope that he has passed his knowledge on you, his students."
Haku stepped forward, "I am Haku, last surviving member of the Yuki clan. To my left is Naruto and my right is Fu. I trust you already know of their circumstances?" he asked.
"Yes, Zabuza did mention them last time he visited." Ryuji nodded.
"That's good, and you are mistaken, Zabuza isn't our sensei," Haku paused, observing the slight shock and worry flicker in Ryuji's eyes. "he is our father" he finished before bowing and stepping back.
"I see. My apologies." Ryuji dipped his head a bit in a sign of apology, "now, as you know, unfortunately this is war and we are short on manpower and time so I cannot chat with you much longer. I will assign a guide for you, to explain the rules, regulations, signals and answer any questions you might have. Bring me Mei Terumi" he called.
The tent flap opened and young slender girl with green eyes and waist-length auburn hair walked in. "you called, Ryuji-sama? Who are these handsomes?" she asked.
"Ryuunosuke, Naruto, Fu and Haku. This is Mei Terumi, an excellent prodigy. She is around your age and skills if what Zabuza told me was correct. I feel that you would be more comfortable with someone like her instead of an experienced adult. Mei, these are the students and adopted children of Zabuza" he said pointing to the remnants of team Zabuza, "and this is Zabuza's teammate. Show them around the camp and get them settled in would you?"
Mei nodded "follow me handsomes" she said, walking out again.
Ryuji watched as they left, the tent flap falling after Ryuunosuke left. "She is a young prodigy, and those are always welcome in war, but at the same time, the war has made her mature fast. She has many pent up emotions hidden behind a mask, and I fear that if they aren't released, she might explode, or worse. She has to learn that one cannot simply lock away their emotions, that's the only way for her to reach her full potential" he thought. "Now, where were we?"
Xxxx
"As you already know, that was the leader's tent. All planning and information goes there. It is one of the most protected places and impossible to sneak up on due to Chukichi's sensory prowess. Next we have the food hall, each person gets a certain amount of food a day. This food cannot be stored for the next day but the higher up in the ranks you are, the more food you are allowed to get." She leaned up against Naruto, "but if you do certain tasks for me, I might be willing to share my food" she whispered.
Naruto was confused, what was she implying when she said "tasks"? And why was she leaning against him?
Haku was staring at the scene in no small amount of amusement "that could have had an effect on him, if he wasn't socially stunned and about as dense as a rock"
Fu was glaring ahead with conflicted emotions. A part of her wanted to burst out laughing, but another part wanted to strangle them. That was the part that confused her. Why did she want to strangle them? What did it matter that this girl they just met was getting cuddly with Naruto? And what was that she was feeling in her chest?
Ryuunosuke looked at the peculiar scene. Naruto lost, Mei trying (and failing) to flirt, and Fu who was glaring ahead. The only other one who seemed amused was Haku. "Naruto, just got here and already got a girl huh? This is going to be interesting" he thought, hiding his smile. "Well, you guys have fun, I'll be heading over to the forge. I need to start unpacking and setting stuff up. I'm sure some extra weapons would be needed."
Fu paused a moment before sighing and moving away from the confused blond. "Alright, we've gone through most of the important structures anyways. I trust you know where the forge is?"
The blacksmith nodded, "we passed it on our way here." He said before turning and walking away.
The teens just stood there awkwardly and watched him go.
"Soooooo…." Naruto started, "Where's the training grounds? Ryuji said you were about our strength, I want to see that for myself, and what better way than a free for all spar?" he offered.
Mei's eyes lit up "Good idea! I know just the place! It's not far from here," she then bit her lip, "but my jutsu aren't meant for sparring. I don't want to accidently melt you"
Team Zabuza blinked in unison "melt?" they asked.
Mei nodded "I have the lava and boil bloodlines. With them I can turn the terrain into a lava pool that will melt anyone but me. I can also release a corrosive mist that will melt the skin right off your bones… before melting the bones themselves. The silent killing you learned from Zabuza wouldn't help you here. By the time you found me, you would be nothing but bones." She explained.
Naruto whistled "that's brutal! But with all this I assume you are a ninjutsu specialist?" he asked. Seeing Mei nod he continued, "that's perfect! I am a ninjutsu and kenjutsu specialist, Haku is a ninjutsu specialist and adapt in pressure points and medicine, Fu is mainly support. So if we had a taijutsu battle, we would all be handicapped in some way!" he explained excitedly.
"That's a good idea but…" Mei started.
"Come on? Are you scared?" Fu teased, entering the conversation. For some reason she liked the idea of being dominant over Mei.
Mei's eyes hardened, "of course not! I just thought that you might not be able to take it!"
"oh yeah?" Fu asked, butting heads with Mei.
"Yeah!" Mei replied, pushing back.
"You know what? I think we should just sit this one out and let them battle it out" Haku whispered to Naruto.
Naruto looked at Haku, "aww why?" he whined "I wanted to test my strength against hers!"
Haku shot him a look "Trust me on this"
"Fine" Naruto relented, sulking on the way to the training field.
Xxxxx
"You ready to lose, green horn?" Mei taunted once they reached the training field.
"No, are you, fat ass?" Fu shot back.
Mei was instantly enraged. She was not fat! She just had a large behind! There was nothing she could have done about it! "oh it's on!" she shouted, dashing forward with a punch.
"Too slow" Fu said, dodging to the side.
Mei gritted her teeth and used the same fist for a backhand strike. Fu raised an arm and blocked it before retaliating with own strike.
Mei took a leap backwards and took a calming breath before taking a stance and engaging again.
"She's not bad" Naruto remarked from the sidelines.
"yes, not bad" Haku answered.
Back at the fight, Fu and Mei were still exchanging blows. "not bad fat ass" Fu grinned, "but I win this round". Mei barely had time to register the words before she was swept off her feet and landed on her back. She was about to get up but Fu straddled her and placed a kunai by her neck. "game over".
Mei sighed and dropped her head back to the ground. "So you did, not would you kindly get off? Unless you enjoying that position?"
Fu blushed and quickly got off "hey! I'm not like you!" she cried, covering her chest.
Mei stood up, well that was a nice exercise, now we better get showered. I'll show you your tents and after that take a bath. Dinner is at 7:30-8:30. You will be assigned duties tomorrow"
"right" team Zabuza replied as they walked off in the direction of the tents.
AN: I'm sorry for the late update, and skipping last week's. Mei's younger personality needed a lot of thought. I don't think it was ever shown in canon. Anyways, unfortunately I got more bad news, well not that bad. The update times will change to a chapter every two weeks. School is piling work on like crazy. Also, we are moving into filler chapters, so if there are any filler you would like to see, just drop the name of the arc and I'll see if I can fit it in. Planned fillers are: Shion arc and I might have a couple non-canon arcs.
I'm sorry I had to make the changes and to be honest, I didn't want to, or make the excuse.
For the powers, I have read and taken a look at all of them. Some are quite good and I'm sure that with some time I can make it work. Now my suggestion: what do you think of the idea of Naruto having slight control over vectors (like in Elfen Lied for those who've watched) due to it? I won't explain the full details in case it goes though, but it will be very similar, just not to the same degree of control and destruction.
The answers for the ANBU naming challenge.
Kyousuke Kousaka- oreimo
Nami- one piece
Teru Mikami- death note
Yuuto Kiba- high school dxd
Kimihito Kurusu- monster musume
Reviews:
Hikari Nova: there's the answers, now you know them :D
BlackDragonShinigami: sorry for late update, the answers are up there.
AndiDuel: LOL I wrote this chapter and came back to read the reviews again and I found that I happened to write it almost exactly like you asked.
Thor94: hmm, maybe for longer times, but not permanently, I'm not smart enough for that xD. And yes Orochimaru knew, how? Well you'll find out later… much later.
Zeus501: DAMMIT! (goes to personal secret lab to find an even more addictive catnip). And yes, they will discover that Naruto is the thought to be dead son of the fourth Hokage, but that's only close to around when the 4th shinobi war begins.
Jacklvmage12: haha, same here. Nami is from one piece and Kyousuke is from Oreimo (that was pretty hard, it is completely different category from the others). Everything else was correct. I will try to type out more, but its upcoming fillers so you never know. As for the Amaterasu, I was looking for something a little different than that of canon. We know Itachi can use it, and from what I have seen most users have different techniques with the Susanoo being the only same one. So I was thinking Naruto would have the same. So no Tsukuyomi, Amaterasu and that. But I will reveal a secret to you. The Mangekyo will only be awakened near or at the end of the civil war because of someone dying (no surprise here) to save him.
NoaTheYaoiVampire: that's a great idea! Though I'm pretty sure there was a mangekyo jutsu that rewind time (and I'm not talking about Izanami). I will take your idea into deeper consideration and see how I can modify it to suit the story. Both the ideas sound awesome though.
BrotherCaptainSheperd: Ironically that is similar to how the blue sharingan was originally planned. Of course that idea was basically ditched because it was half-assed and gave him no power up and is no different than the red other than color.