Kakashi was not happy with how the three missions in one had gone, his team had completed it without issue but the implications of the meeting and the Kiri nin attack were a major issue. He worried that another war could potentially break out with this.
"I didn't get a look at them due to their masks, but the Kiri nin dressed as Oinin Butai and all wielded swords, at least one was proficient in Suiton no Jutsu but all six were capable of Muragakure no Jutsu." Sasuke explained, finishing the report. Naruto looked annoyed with the fact Haku had been attacked and was frowning openly with his arms crossed.
"Well this is certainly an issue," Kakashi said simply, "we can't demand recompense because no one was hurt and since they all got away we have no proof it wasn't another village or nukenin impersonating Kirigakure shinobi." he mused, not liking the situation either.
"They demanded I hand over Haku-chan before the meeting." Naruto pointed out, "I also recognized one of their katana, it was the ninja guarding the Mizu no Kuni Daimyo." the blonde declared, surprising his sensei with his suddenly observant nature.
Kimimaro nodded in agreement, "They targeted Haku-senpai and myself, if they were merely trying to frame Kirigakure no Sato with a false flag attack they chose their targets well." he explained calmly.
"Unfortunately we can't do anything about that, for now it's best to treat them with caution and hope they don't escalate to open warfare." Kakashi said apologetically, Naruto scowled but didn't argue the point further.
"They acted in front of Daimyo, three of them." Sakura spoke up, pointing that detail out.
"Mizu no Kuni doesn't rely on trade from any of those lands." Kakashi pointed out, "Unfortunately without escalating into open war there's nothing we can do, and I've requested Koyuki-hime not paint a target on herself over this."
Kimimaro was surprised to learn Tayuya hadn't caused any trouble for Karin or Isaribi, he even asked Karin if she was any trouble and learned that the foul mouthed girl had worried the aspiring iryonin by playing her flute but surprisingly hadn't used genjutsu.
After ensuring Karin and Isaribi were fine the Kaguya went to visit Tsunade for a check up, enduring being scolded by the woman for his use of his Kekkei Genkai and returning home with medication and written instructions on how much and when to take them.
A few days after returning from the missions to protect the three Daimyo the blonde jonin finally completed his Futon: Rasengan and stared at the swirling orb of air currents in his hand. Naruto wondered how powerful it truly was and tested it against a training post.
The training post was completely torn to shreds. Naruto grinned wildly, he needed two kage bunshin just to stabilize it but he'd done it, the teenage jonin was ecstatic. He created another one and decided to see what else he could do by attempting something he'd found annoyingly impossible with the standard Rasengan, he threw it at the next training post.
Haku was surprised, having been focused on attempting to replicate Renga's unique ninjutsu, and looked up in surprise to see his blonde lover laughing gleefully at his knew ranged ninjutsu. Sakura's jaw went slack as she witnessed the destructive capability of the new Rasengan.
Then Naruto, without bothering to dispel his bunshin, made an attempt at a Suiton: Rasengan and splashed himself with water so hard it did dispel both the bunshin and knocked himself flying, "Naruto-kun!" Haku called out in worry, rushing over to the dazed blonde.
"Wow, that hurt almost as much as a failed Futon: Rasengan." Naruto muttered as he picked himself up, his clothes drenched. The boy took off his jacket to wring it out as Haku sighed in relief that he was okay.
"Shouldn't you finish Suiton chakra training before trying that?" Sakura asked, a little annoyed that the blast of swirling water had been enough to drench her as well when she wasn't even standing near her teammate.
"Oh yeah." Naruto said in realization, causing both Haku and Sakura to sigh in exasperation at the reckless antics of the young jonin, "I gotta tell Sasuke, he's been wanting a spar!" the boy suddenly exclaimed, rushing off to the Uchiha compound.
"Does that knucklehead ever run out of energy?" Sakura asked rhetorically.
"Not even a little bit." Haku said, turning away to hide his blush as he thought about the other meaning of that statement.
Sasuke looked up as his blonde teammate approached his training ground, "Yo! Sasuke! I finished the Rasengan!" Naruto called out proudly with a wide grin. The Uchiha narrowed his eye in mild annoyance that he was still working on mastering Raiton chakra.
"So I take it you're finally ready for our next match?" Sasuke asked as he stood up and pulled out the vajra handle of his legendary weapon. Naruto nodded and raised his forehead protector as he took his half of the Kiba blade from his sash.
Sasuke already had his Sharingan active before the boy arrived and was a little annoyed that the blonde only had half of his legendary weapon, but could see Haku approaching from behind the blonde to watch. Naruto seemed fine with only using one of the paired swords and made the seal of confrontation at Sasuke.
The Uchiha frowned but returned the seal before using it to perform shunshin, swinging the Raijin no Ken at his teammate as he activated it. Naruto blocked with his own blade and sparks flew between them as they engaged in an electrical kenjutsu duel.
Naruto closed his right eye and the two Sharingan wielders parried each others attacks, although neither one went for debilitating strikes even a glancing blow with either weapon would be painful, having practiced with Kimimaro using ninjato the two were practically dancing around each other with their footwork until Sasuke stepped back and shot rings of lightning at Naruto with his blade.
Naruto leaped backwards and to the side to avoid the rings as he shifted the Kiba into a reverse grip so he wouldn't stab himself when he made the hand seal to create four kage bunshin. Sasuke frowned as he was suddenly outnumbered and shifted the vajra handle to his left hand before swiftly tossing a volley of shuriken with the same motion he used to withdraw them from the holster on his thigh.
All five Naruto avoided or deflected the projectiles thanks to their own Sharingan and moved to overwhelm the Uchiha they'd received the eye from with numbers. Sasuke unsheathed his ninjato as he stepped back and flowed Raiton chakra into it to avoid having his arm go numb when he was forced on the defensive.
The Uchiha realized with annoyance that since Naruto could multiply himself the blonde could logistically just overwhelm him and chose not to, Sasuke scowled as he tried to get distance to perform a ninjutsu and was immensely annoyed that his fellow youngest jonin was defeating him in what the bingo book referred to as his specialty.
Naruto himself was unaware of the growing ire of his Uchiha teammate and simply enjoyed the spar, having fun trying to get past Sasuke's defenses despite being unable to. Neither of the boys were truly fighting for keeps but the intensity of the duel still surprised Haku who watched from a safe distance and Sakura who had followed the dark haired boy to watch her teammates have their match.
Sakura reminded herself that she shouldn't feel inadequate due to her teammates abilities, frowning as she tried to focus on the fact that she was still ahead of others in her age group and even her own father was still a genin who was barely considered C rank while she had a B rank entry in a bingo book.
Sasuke was trying to remind himself that Naruto would help with Itachi but found himself increasingly annoyed as he realized he wasn't going to be able to keep up with the blonde ball of energy. Sasuke had reached the point where he could make kage bunshin too but it wouldn't help much against the Uzumaki himself who had seemingly bottomless reserves of chakra.
The idea that Naruto might actually become Hokage had become less ridiculous over time but during this duel Sasuke felt for the first time that the Uzumaki was actually overtaking him and might accomplish his dream before Sasuke realized his own ambition. The Uchiha had no idea why the idea bothered him but he struggled against the blonde who outnumbered him and struggled to surpass his own limits.
Sasuke deactivated the Raijin no Ken after parrying two different bunshin with one stroke and swiftly made a one handed seal to shunshin away from the blonde to avoid continuing the kenjutsu duel further, knowing that despite seeming evenly matched he'd been forced on the back foot completely and would run out of stamina long before Naruto ever would.
With that thought in mind the Uchiha sheathed his ninjato and swiftly ran through hand seals as he leaped backwards to avoid the five Naruto coming at him, he could still pick out the original but this gave him little comfort. Sasuke brought his right hand to his mouth and released a Gokakyu no Jutsu, taking a deep breath and running through more hand seals as the massive orb of fire hid him from view.
"Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" Naruto shouted in response, having holstered his legendary weapon as his bunshin scattered and he ran through his own hand seals. The mass of water the blonde created meeting the grand fireball and releasing an explosion of steam across the battlefield.
"Suiben!" Sasuke responded, using the steam to create the whip and activating Raijin no Ken as he did, channeling the lightning through the water and striking two of the bunshin down in swift succession before using the electrified water whip to hold off the other two bunshin.
Naruto performed more hand seals, "Futon:" he began and his bunshin jumped back and away from Sasuke, "Daitoppa no Jutsu!" he declared and the Uchiha deactivated Raijin no Ken as he dropped the Suiben before using kawarimi to avoid the blast, leaving a log to go flying into a training post.
Sasuke appeared behind a bunshin with shunshin and elbowed it in the back to dispel it before reactivating Raijin no Ken and rushing the final bunshin. Naruto pulled out Kiba again and leaped to assist his bunshin to send Sasuke on the defensive again only to be surprised as his bunshin was flanked by a second Sasuke, leaving the Uzumaki as the outnumbered one.
The Uchiha and his kage bunshin pushed Naruto on the defensive with their Raijin no Ken and the blonde was stunned by a glancing blow before Sasuke finally trapped Naruto with rings of lightning from the legendary blade, lifting the wincing blonde up with them before releasing him as he performed a side kick with his clone to catch the falling Uzumaki in the stomach.
Naruto coughed as he went flying back, the wind knocked out of him by the twin kicks to the gut. He rolled to his feet and reversed his grip on his weapon again to create more kage bunshin, but as the five bunshin were created with their weapons in reverse grip two were dispelled.
As the four remaining blonde jonin readjusted their grips on their weapons and tried to overwhelm the two remaining black haired jonin the Uchiha used shunshin again, scattering away from Naruto. The Uzumaki had lost track of which Sasuke was the real one and instead of chasing went into a back to back formation with his own bunshin.
Sasuke returned on either side of the formation with his legendary blade deactivated and running through hand seals. Naruto scattered with shunshin of their own and surrounded one of the Uchiha, placing their blades against his arms and legs to stop him from moving.
The Sasuke they had cornered smirked and disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing they'd chosen poorly, "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" the original Uchiha declared, releasing the bolts of flame at Naruto. All four blondes holstered their Kiba and performed hand seals of their own in response.
"Suiton: Suidan!" Naruto all shouted, responding with four blasts of water that tore through the fires and zeroed in on the Uchiha as the Uzumaki leaped aside to avoid the shuriken hidden within the Hosenka. Sasuke jumped to avoid the blasts and activated Raijin no Ken as two of Naruto surrounded him with shunshin, unsheathing his tanto and flowing Raiton chakra through it as the blonde jonin both performed hand seals.
Sasuke struck one with Raijin no Ken and dispelled the bunshin before grazing the other on the arm to dispel that bunshin as well. The Uchiha landed and dived backwards to avoid another pair of Suidan and tucked his chin towards his chest as his shoulders hit the ground, rolling backwards into a crouch in time to thrust Raijin no Ken into a Toppa enhanced Suidan.
The electrical bolt of the Uchiha's weapon destroyed the roiling bullet of wind enhanced water as he sheathed his tanto and used another one handed seal to shunshin away from a Suiryudan. Sasuke frowned again as he realized he was just on a different kind of defensive that was even more draining to his chakra than the kenjutsu duel had been, forced to use constant shunshin to avoid the pair of Suiryudan from the two Uzumaki that chased him.
Having lost track of which Naruto was the original hurt Sasuke's pride even more and he narrowed his eye, trying to figure out which one it was but was unable to even with the advanced perception of three tomoe in his dojutsu. Thinking quickly the Uchiha got behind one of them and struck the back of his leg, smirking as the blonde yelped in pain and dropped to one knee.
With one Suiryudan gone the other came at Sasuke standing over the original Naruto, the Uchiha switched Raijin no Ken to his left hand and palmed a kunai in his right, slashing out with his left and pushing more chakra into the vajra as he placed his kunai to Naruto's neck, destroying the remaining Suiryudan as it tried to force him away.
"I win this round." Sasuke declared proudly, his kunai pressed just hard enough to draw blood if Naruto moved but not enough to truly cause real harm. The blonde frowned and clearly wanted to keep going but the cut he received when he moved an inch halted him.
"Damn it, alright you got me that time." Naruto agreed grudgingly as he closed his left eye and reopened his right. Sasuke withdrew his kunai and placed it back in his holster before the blonde finished standing up, the final kage bunshin dispelling now that the match was over.
Sakura frowned as she realized the two hadn't performed the seal of reconciliation after their spar but the two didn't seem concerned as Naruto just declared that he'd win the next one and started walking off while pulling his headband back down over his left eye. Sasuke scoffed at the declaration and denied it out of hand, but neither seemed to hold any ill will over the match now that it was done.
"That was an amazing showing." Haku praised both jonin as they approached their spectators, amazed that Sasuke had managed to win. It was hard to say which one was truly better, neither had actually gone all out but both had given as much as they could without putting lethal intent behind their attacks.
"Haku-chan, let's get ramen!" Naruto said happily, having apparently worked up an appetite.
"Isaribi-san is probably making dinner, Naruto-kun." Haku pointed out, trying to discourage the blonde who deflated that he wouldn't be getting Ichiraku Ramen on the way home, "We should go see your sensei and let him know you completed the Futon: Rasengan anyway." he added.
Sakura could hardly believe that Naruto could have so much raw power and still act so childish, Sasuke was exasperated for similar reasons but reminded himself that the Uzumaki jonin could focus as long as he was in battle.
Sasuke frowned as a large crow flew into his personal training ground with a scroll tied to it's leg. It wasn't a messenger bird of Konohagakure he knew that much, and he hesitated to approach it in case it was a trap.
The young Uchiha had his Sharingan active so he steeled himself and took the scroll, his eye widening and sweat dripping down his brow as he read. When he finished the pale boy was paler than ever, shocked that the letter was from his brother. The boy rolled up the scroll and used shunshin, pushing his chakra to reach the Hokage tower as quickly as possible.
Anbu jumped to attention to surround Sasuke as he arrived in Kakashi's office with shunshin, startling Haku and Naruto, "I need Naruto." the Uchiha said bluntly and the Hokage raised an eyebrow, wondering if he should point out how that sounded.
"Sasuke-kun, I know I said a while back that Naruto-kun likes pretty boys, but he has Haku-chan." Kakashi said, hoping to calm the boy with some levity.
"Not like that!" Sasuke snapped angrily as he held up the scroll in his hands, "I know where Itachi is." he explained and eyes widened all around the room as the Anbu stepped back.
"Let me see." Kakashi demanded, suddenly serious. The young jonin frowned but grudgingly handed over the scroll and the Kage read it, "This is illegible." the man said and Sasuke realized he'd had his Sharingan active the whole time.
"Get Naruto to read it with my eye." The Uchiha informed, guessing that was probably the secret.
Kakashi handed the blonde the scroll and the other youngest jonin lifted his headband and frowned, "Itachi's handwriting sucks." Naruto said bluntly and Sasuke rolled his eye, "That aside, this is definitely a trap." the blonde pointed out after he scanned the words, "I mean come on Sasuke, you don't seriously think he'd just tell you where to find him do you?" he asked.
"That bastard wants my Sharingan to complete his own." Sasuke reminded Naruto, "I heard about how he retreated from Jiraiya in the past, he probably doesn't want to risk fighting two Sannin, he won't fight me unless I go alone." he explained.
"Then why do you need Naruto-kun?" Haku asked, confused by the explanation.
"The note is telling Sasuke to bring his eyes, plural." Naruto said quietly, realizing what was going on.
"Absolutely not." Kakashi said plainly, "Sasuke this trap isn't just for you, it's for Naruto, Itachi is a member of an organization that is after the Jinchuriki. He's obviously just trying to get you to bring him one of them." he explained.
Sasuke scowled, "We can do this!" he argued arrogantly, "We have the Mangekyo Sharingan, Naruto wields the strongest Chakra no Bakemono and can kuchiyose, plus he can teleport!" he pointed out angrily, "If it really is a trap we can see through it with these eyes and Naruto can get us out with Hiraishin! Hell he can bring Haku with kuchiyose and there's no way in hell those bastards can outnumber us if Naruto uses Hiraishin to bring back up while I hold them off!"
"No!" Kakashi shot back with a hard glare, "We aren't ready for that kind of battle with Akatsuki, you seem to forget they're an unknown number of S rank nukenin, even if the two of you are capable of facing off against Itachi I'm not sending you two on a suicide mission against an organization that's trying to steal all the Chakra no Bakemono!" he denied, angry with his student for even considering it.
"How much stronger do I need to get before you'll let us go?" Sasuke asked, "Do I need to defeat you?" he spat and the Anbu in the room tensed up, ready for combat should the Hokage give the order.
Kakashi sighed, "No, Sasuke, that's not it." he said sadly, "Truthfully, with that Mangekyo, you probably could beat me." he confessed, surprising both of his students, "I haven't been slacking in my training either, but I don't have the stamina of Naruto or the natural Uchiha blood you have to control this eye." he said and they knew he spoke of the Sharingan he had, "The sad truth is, I'm not S rank." he said plainly, "But neither are you, not yet."
Sasuke's scowl was murderous, "Fine." he spat, turning on his heel to go train more and storming from the Hokage tower angrily. Haku frowned, feeling bad for the boy but surprised that the Hokage had just called a jonin as young as Sasuke the stronger of the two.
Naruto was frowning for similar reasons to his lover, "Kakashi-sensei, I have Mangekyo too." he reminded the man, turning to look at his sensei curiously.
Kakashi nodded, "Honestly, you and Sasuke have gotten stronger at a ridiculous rate, it's insane." he said, "I say this truthfully Naruto-kun, I couldn't have defeated the Janin." he confessed and his blonde student's eyes widened, "They would have worn down my stamina, you have endurance and power beyond my own at this point." the man said sadly as he formed a Rasengan, surprising the Uzumaki who didn't know his sensei could perform the jutsu, "I could never complete this either, the Chidori was my failed attempt at completing it when I was younger." he informed his student.
Naruto stared in shock at the silver haired Kage, "Wait, so I-?" he began to ask.
"What you've accomplished is the completion of an S rank ninjutsu." Kakashi confirmed as he let the Rasengan fizzle out of existence, "You've definitely surpassed me when I was your age, and as much as I hate to admit it you're stronger than I am now." he added, "It's a bittersweet feeling for a sensei to be surpassed by his student so quickly." he mused with a proud smile hidden under his mask.
Naruto wasn't sure what to say to that level of praise, "So, can I be Hokage?" he asked after a moment, a little lost on what else to say.
Kakashi couldn't help but laugh, "Not yet Naruto, let me keep this hat warm for you for a little bit." he answered, "Besides changing leadership in the village too often is bad for stability and while you're powerful you're not quite ready to be Kage." he added, "I probably shouldn't have even been chosen in the first place." he added sadly, "I'm not as strong as Jiraiya-sama or Tsunade-sama, as it stands I'm probably one of the weakest Kage right now." he explained.
Naruto realized slowly that Kakashi had all but confirmed that the blonde would be Hokage when the time was right, he could barely believe it. The Uzumaki wanted to celebrate but he was too shocked by the honest praise and the fact that his sensei was saying he'd surpassed him, he remembered watching the man fight Zabuza and realized that the Janin really were a level above that.
Haku was shocked too, he knew Naruto had become powerful but it hadn't occured to him just how powerful his young lover had become. After a few moments of silence Haku smiled proudly, "I'm so happy that Naruto-kun became so strong." the boy said fondly.
"Yeah." Kakashi agreed simply, "So, Naruto-san, continue to prove you deserve this hat, don't let Sasuke-kun die for his revenge." he requested, his tone sounding more begging than like the order it should be. Naruto nodded in agreement, leaving with Haku to return home.
Sasuke trained himself to exhaustion over the next few days, pushing himself further than he had been doing recently. He completed the Raiton chakra training and remembered why Naruto was working on completing the Rasengan so he focused on altering the shape of his Chidori next.
The young jonin frowned, "Now what?" he asked sourly, looking up at Kakashi and glaring at his sensei, more annoyed at the man for refusing his request to go after Itachi than interrupting his training.
"I'm sorry I can't let you chase your revenge yet." Kakashi apologized as he pulled out a tanto, "Truthfully you've become truly powerful, I don't want you to think I'm holding you back and I'm proud of you for continuing to train so hard." he explained.
Sasuke narrowed his eye at the tanto, "Are you going to let me fight for my right to avenge my clan then?" he asked, scowling when the Hokage shook his head.
"No, and I won't pretend I understand what you went through or what you're going through, but I promise when the time comes I will let you do what you feel you need to do." Kakashi answered, surprising the one eyed Uchiha, "You may have already surpassed me honestly, you and Naruto both." he added and the lone eye of the dark haired young jonin widened in surprise, "But I still have some wisdom to guide you with and some things to pass on, although it seems you already have the right idea on what to do with the Chidori."
"What?" Sasuke asked, "You were going to tell me to alter it's shape? Did you already do this!?" he asked, clearly still annoyed.
"Nope." Kakashi answered in a cheerful tone that was completely at odds with the mood and only annoyed his student further, "Truthfully I developed the Chidori in a failed attempt to complete the Rasengan myself, I could never alter it's shape, you're already doing better than me." he explained, surprising the Uchiha, "Besides, the main reason I came here was to give you this." he added, holding up the tanto.
"A sword?" Sasuke asked, "I have enough swords, I don't need some consolation gift!" he snapped angrily, "What do you mean your failed attempt to complete the Rasengan? You gave me an incomplete jutsu?"
"Not quite, Chidori is a fine ninjutsu, not to toot my own horn, but it's almost pure Raiton chakra focused into a blade. If you can alter it's shape or channel it into other weapons all the better." Kakashi answered, explaining the situation as best he could, "As for this sword, well I don't have kids to pass it down to, and the Hatake line will probably die with me." he added.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Sasuke asked, confused by the explanation.
"This is Hakko Chakra To," Kakashi said instead of answering plainly, "it was my father's sword originally." he explained, "You may not be my son, but you are my student and I'm proud of how far you've come. I never gave you a present for graduating to chunin, and I'll have to think of something to get the other two so they don't feel left out, but consider it a graduation gift for reaching jonin and for surpassing your sensei."
Sasuke stared in shock at the weapon, "What?" he asked, unsure of what else to say.
"It channels chakra easily, and even regular chakra becomes a streak of white light when the blade is swung." Kakashi answered, putting the weapon in the boys hands, "Keep growing stronger, your clan would be proud of you and I will let you go after Itachi eventually, but I don't want you running head first into a trap." he explained before leaving his student with the blade.
Sasuke stared down at the tanto placed in his hands, stunned to have been given something that was effectively a family heirloom by his sensei. He was still angry that he wasn't allowed to chase after Itachi but returned to his training in earnest.
Sakura stared at the rock in her hands with open shock, she'd actually done it. She was sweating and exhausted but she'd finally mustered the chakra to master Doton chakra.
The pink haired girl beamed proudly at the rock until she looked up and saw Naruto practicing Suiton chakra and Haku practicing with his Hyoton. Her spirits dropped suddenly, she tried not to let it get to her but she was reminded that Naruto and Sasuke were already on two elements, in fact her blonde teammate was proficient in the use of Katon and Raiton as well so the blonde was technically on four and Sasuke had even used Suiton no Jutsu so she was completely outclassed.
Sakura wanted to live up to the B rank rating she'd received in the bingo book but it felt truly undeserved, her 'original' jutsu she'd named after herself was just throwing a bunch of explosives at her enemy. She didn't have that much chakra or stamina and she wasn't that strong, she had perfect chakra control definitely and she was smart and good with shurikenjutsu and she'd even started getting good with her kusarigama but she couldn't help but feel she didn't deserve her threat rating.
The girl couldn't help but feel she was only considered Nidaime Sannin because she was on a team with the other two, she wanted to train hard and earn her bingo book entry but she couldn't muster the energy to do so, "How am I supposed to be a B rank if this is all I can do? Just throwing around explosives?" she mused quietly to herself.
She wondered if Orochimaru had been mocking her with the entry, she didn't know that many Doton no Jutsu and Yamato had showed her another two to practice with but she could barely manage either of them once before feeling completely drained.
Naruto had asked Haku to go to the hot springs without him after training one day, telling the older boy he'd catch up shortly. Haku hadn't seemed happy but had acquiesced without argument, glancing back at the blonde a few times as he left.
The blonde Uzumaki frowned once he was gone, wondering just what he was supposed to get Haku for his birthday, he remembered the boy had taught him a Hijutsu for his own birthday but he already shared just about every Suiton and Futon ninjutsu he copied with the boy, he'd even showed him how to do the Hyoton no Jutsu he'd copied although Haku usually left performing them in battle up to the blonde since he had more chakra to spare and the older teen creating the ice while the other attacked with it was just more efficient.
It felt cheap and lazy to just buy senbon and he doubted Haku would appreciate clothes or sake. Naruto was at a loss until he saw it, and as soon as he did he grinned. He bought what he viewed as the perfect gift and hid it before rushing to join Haku at the hot springs.
When Haku's birthday came around he felt incredibly awkward, not enjoying the reminder of the difference in age between himself and Naruto considering what they did privately. He also felt awkward receiving well wishes from the other people who lived in the house, Kin and Kimimaro had been unable to get him gifts since they were vassals as well. Tayuya was still technically a prisoner but she also didn't actually wish him well, just congratulated him on surviving another year closer to losing his faculties and becoming old. Everybody else had just given the girl an exasperated look for her morbid words.
Isaribi had gotten him clothes, even more effeminate than he usually wore, "You do remember I'm a boy, right?" Haku asked her with a raised eyebrow.
"Hey, you like dressing pretty, I'm not going to try and change that." Isaribi answered with a shrug and a smirk.
"Kin helped me pick these out." Karin said, handing him a new pair of sandals, he noticed that they wouldn't add to his height like the old ones but seemed to be a nicer quality and he didn't really like being taller than Naruto anyway.
"Close your eyes." Naruto ordered with a grin after the others had finished giving gifts and the dark haired boy obeyed, frowning when he felt his choker come loose before it was swiftly replaced.
"What?" Haku asked, opening his eyes in surprise and reaching up to his neck, noticing the surprised looks on the girls faces and the bemused expression on Kimimaro's.
"I put my Hiraishin formula on it in case you're ever disarmed." Naruto explained with a pleased look and Haku's old choker in his hand, the older teen created a mirror out of ice to check what he was now wearing and blushed brightly at the black choker with the white spiral of the Uzumaki clan emblazoned on the clasp.
Haku's blush only brightened when Tayuya started laughing.
"Naruto what the hell?" Sakura asked once she learned Haku's new choker was a gift from the blonde.
"What?" Naruto asked, raising his eyebrow and not knowing what his teammate was asking about.
"You got him a choker?" Sakura asked as she gestured to Haku, hoping the blonde would at least understand what was weird about that.
"Well yeah," Naruto answered and the girl was convinced he was oblivious, "Haku-chan always wears a choker and he's mine, so I got him a better choker." the boy explained and his pink haired teammate realized he wasn't quite as oblivious as she thought, just shameless. Haku just blushed at the possessive words the young jonin used.
"...You know what, fair enough." Sakura said after a moment of stunned silence before returning to her training.
Kakashi was surprised when Izumo burst into his office, partly because the man was supposed to be on a border patrol mission but mostly because Kotetsu wasn't with him, "We need back up!" the chunin exclaimed breathlessly.
"What happened?" Kakashi asked worriedly.
"Kotetsu is assisting Kosuke-san but they were outnumbered by Iwa genin when I left and we don't know who was leading them." Izumo explained and the Godaime Hokage's eye widened that they were being attacked by Iwagakure now, he remembered how the Daimyo meeting had apparently gone and worried that Kumogakure might get involved next.
Kakashi quickly considered who was in the village, mentally shelving the idea that Orochimaru could be forging alliances with enemies of Konoha, "Neko," he said and a cat masked Anbu revealed herself, "retrieve Sasuke-kun and inform him he's needed to protect the village, get Naruto-kun, Haku-san, and Sakura-chan from their training ground and meet Izumo-san at the gate." the Hokage ordered his men, he wanted to send more but knew those four should be able to handle anything.
Naruto and Sasuke didn't get what was going on but when an Anbu showed up with orders from the Hokage to back up the border patrol you didn't really get to argue with it. The Uchiha had strapped the tanto Kakashi had given him to his back over his left shoulder.
Sakura was worried but followed as well, she'd purchased hyorogan for herself and was glad she had them with her in case she had to fight since she'd been in the middle of training.
Haku obeyed as well, following close behind Naruto and worried about Kosuke. He remembered the man from the patrol mission that had gone wrong, the old genin was probably the only other A rank genin in existence but if he was outnumbered by an unknown amount of enemies there was no telling if he'd be okay when they got there.
When the back up arrived Kosuke was in a kenjutsu duel with an Iwa kunoichi while Kotetsu used an oddly oversized kunai to defend himself against a Kiri ninja. The kunoichi had long brown hair held up by a needle in a bun with two darkened tipped locks framing her face and wore a sleeveless black dress with bandages covering her waist and thighs. The Kiri nin was dressed in standard fatigues and flak vest with an oinin mask as he wielded a katana against Kotetsu's oversized kunai.
Shikamaru was also a part of this patrol and the jonin in charge was apparently Asuma, although the Sarutobi seemed injured and the Nara boy was struggling to hold down an enemy that greatly concerned them with his Hijutsu. The enemy he was holding was concerning because he was wearing a black cloak with red clouds.
"See! I told you it wouldn't matter if I got involved after they already called for back up!" The purple eyed grey haired man said, he had an odd three bladed scythe strapped to a cable lying on the ground and an odd spear in his left hand, his clothes were already ripped up from being cut into but he seemed fine.
The other concern was another man in a black cloak with red clouds, a tan man in a mask with green eyes that had no pupils and red sclera, he was tall and his head was almost entirely covered, the slashed symbol on his forehead protector indicated he was a nukenin of Takigakure, "Alright Hidan, you've had your fun, you deal with the patrol and I'll handle the back up, remember not to kill the Jinchuriki." he ordered his partner.
"Whatever!" Hidan responded uncaringly, struggling against the increasingly terrified Nara's Kagemane no Jutsu.
Naruto frowned at the situation, realizing that they'd somehow predicted he'd be sent as back up but was more concerned with something else, he recognized the katana of the Kiri nin. He lifted his headband with his left hand and palmed a kunai with his right before tossing it towards Kotetsu's opponent.
Sasuke glared at the tall tan man with the strange eyes and performed identical hand seals to his blonde teammate, Chidori chirping to life in their hands. The Uchiha rushed the purple eyed man whose forehead protector was around his neck and indicated he was a nukenin of Yugakure no Sato as Naruto followed his kunai with Hiraishin.
The Kiri shinobi pulled back and away from the young blonde as Haku and Izumo rushed to back him up while Sakura rushed to check on Asuma. Kosuke continued his duel with the Iwa kunoichi uninterrupted but the man was clearly tiring.
Shikamaru was tiring too, "Don't let the grey haired guy get into that symbol on the ground!" he warned as Sasuke was intercepted by the green eyed man. The Uchiha was surprised by his speed and altered the shape of his Chidori quickly, pulling up short to avoid being caught by the man and thrusting the growing blade of his jutsu through the man. Unfortunately the tall tanned man seemed unconcerned by the attack going through his chest and his right arm shot out, Sasuke narrowly dodged it by diving to the side thanks to his Sharingan.
Naruto chased after the Kiri ninja who switched with the Iwa kunoichi, Kosuke frowned and used the opportunity to pull back from the Oinin. Naruto tossed a kunai at the intercepting woman who dodged but he simply used Hiraishin to get behind her and intercept the Kiri nin by plunging the Chidori he held into the Oinin's chest.
Haku tossed senbon at the Iwa kunoichi as Izumo and Kotetsu rushed to assist Sasuke, Shikamaru lost his hold of Hidan and Kosuke rushed to halt him from getting into the odd symbol the Nara boy spoke of, a triangle inside a circle made of blood.
Sakura found Asuma wasn't too badly hurt, but his leg had been run through by something that had completely bypassed his clothing, she gave him a bandage so he could bind his wound and pulled out her kusarigama, moving to assist Sasuke.
The Iwa kunoichi scowled and sheathed her blade, running through hand seals that Naruto copied with the dojutsu in his left eye, "Doton: Dosekiryu!" the woman snapped, shooting a dragon made of earth and stone at Haku who encased himself with Hyogan Domu.
Suddenly they all heard something large cutting through the air fast and Kosuke ducked as a familiar sword cut off Hidan's head and the Kubikiribocho embedded itself in a tree, "Lucky me," spoke the man who appeared on it with shunshin, "here I was coming to ask if Konohagakure would be willing to hire me and find a battle I can show my stuff in." Zabuza declared, assessing the battlefield and announcing his intent so the Konoha shinobi who weren't aware of him wouldn't attack.
"That hurt you asshole!" Hidan shouted, surprising everyone, "Do you have any idea how much it hurts to get decapitated! Assholes like you who don't understand the pain of others piss me off the most!" he shouted at the Kiri nukenin angrily.
Haku was happy to see Zabuza again but was stunned that the grey haired Akatsuki member was alive, "Damn it, this guy seriously is immortal." Asuma grumbled.
"Kakuzu!" Hidan shouted at the other Akatsuki member, "Don't just stand there, stitch me up so I can kill that bastard." he yelled, Sakura wondered how he managed to shout so much without lungs.
"It's your own damn fault for letting your guard down." Kakuzu answered, the green eyed man clearly unconcerned with his colleagues plight but approaching anyway.
"If I'd gotten in the circle that 'pay check' you were drooling over would be headless too so quit being a dick and hurry up!" Hidan demanded angrily.
Naruto performed hand seals while they were arguing and Zabuza noticed out of the corner of his eye and turned to the boy in shock when he recognized the ninjutsu, "Suiton:" the blond said, getting the attention of Hidan and Kakuzu, "Daibakufu!" he shouted and created a swirling vortex of water with his chakra as Kosuke leaped back to finish dealing with the Iwa kunoichi.
Kakuzu didn't even dodge as the waterfall torrent destroyed the landscape, except where he was standing as when the water cleared the man was fine despite being drenched, "Suiton won't work on me." the tall man said plainly having grabbed the head and body of Hidan to stop the cursing man being washed away.
Zabuza was impressed with the power of the young blonde, he knew the boy had come far from that bingo book entry he'd read but hadn't expected that much raw power, "That hurt!" Hidan complained again as he was stitched back up, "Damn brat washed away my ritual too, damn it I want to kill him!" he declared, cracking his neck once it was in place.
"Don't move it so much or it'll fall off again." Kakuzu scolded, "And you know damn well we have to capture the Jinchuriki." he added.
The Iwa kunoichi was beating a retreat, Kosuke was tempted to give chase but didn't want to leave the others with the apparently immortal enemies, especially since one of them had a very dangerous jutsu. Sakura gulped fearfully, feeling particularly out of her depth since Akatsuki were apparently S rank and she didn't even feel like she deserved her B rank rating.
"Hey, didn't the boss want us to work with that Iwa bitch so we'd get more funding?" Hidan asked, gesturing after the fleeing woman.
"Who cares about that, we've got a bunch of meal tickets right here, Zabuza and Asuma both have hefty bounties, and once we extract the Kyubi we'll have the full set of the Nidaime Sannin and that gay pretty boy in the ice." Kakuzu explained, concerning the ninja surrounding them with how unconcerned the two were. Sakura felt fear to her core at the fact she was in fact considered a target and trembled.
"Suiton:" Naruto interrupted, "Suiten Hofutsu." he said plainly, surprising his teammates with how calm he was being and raising water droplets around him.
"I told you Suiton doesn't work on me, you're wasting your chakra." Kakuzu scolded as he approached the blonde.
"You can't fight me with intent to kill, I don't have that handicap." Naruto shot back coldly, "You're at a disadvantage." he growled as he leaped back to land on Haku's defensive ice jutsu and started performing more hand seals.
Kakuzu narrowed his eyes only to stop as an electrified whip of water came at him just as he began to move at the blonde, "We've also got you outnumbered!" Sasuke but in, glaring at the two colleagues of his hated elder brother.
"Hyoton:" Naruto began and Zabuza's eyes widened in shock, "Haryu Moko!" the young jonin declared and a tiger of ice formed out of Haku's ice and leaped at the pair.
Kakuzu performed three hand seals of his own and the two Sharingan both copied them, "Katon: Zukokku." he said and released a small ball of fire. Sasuke had noticed the man was using Doton chakra nagashi through his body to withstand the Suiton no Jutsu earlier so he was surprised by the sheer power of the small ball of flame that ignited into a conflaguration as it impacted with Naruto's ice tiger and melted it.
Sakura popped a hyorogan in her mouth and performed the bird hand seal, "Doton: Doryuso!" she declared, sending a cascade of spikes of rock at the two as the drug worked it's chemical magic.
Kakuzu responded with a snake hand seal and the two Sharingan again analyzed the ninjutsu he used, "Raiton: Gian." the man intoned calmly and shot a bolt of lightning out of his mouth to disrupt the ninjutsu.
"What the hell," Sasuke muttered, recognizing something odd about the way the man used chakra, "something is shifting under his skin." he said slightly louder as Zabuza retrieved his sword from the tree before using shunshin to appear by Haku and Naruto.
"Futon:" Kakuzu began as he shifted to the ram hand seal and the Uchiha felt completely outclassed, "Atsugai." the strange eyed man intoned and released a tornado-like mass at Sasuke who deactivated Raijin no Ken, dropped his Suiben, and rushed to pick up Sakura, Shikamaru, and Asuma, struggling to get them out of the blast radius that tore up the forest.
Sasuke realized that the tall man called Kakuzu was well above kage level and understood what Kakashi had been saying about S rank shinobi, "What the hell are these guys?" he wondered out loud, sweat dripping down his brow.
"We're immortal, dumbass!" Hidan declared mockingly and the Uchiha realized that statement had no amount of arrogance or conceit in it, "Kakuzu uses some unholy heathen ninjutsu to be undying but I am blessed by Jashin-sama to share in the pain of death with others!" the apparently religious fanatic preached loudly.
"Sakura, get Asuma and Shikamaru back to the village and tell them we need more back up." Sasuke ordered, trying to stop his own body from trembling but his pink haired teammate could tell he was scared too.
"No," Sakura responded, surprising the one eyed jonin, "Shikamaru-san, take Asuma-san and run, the rest of us will hold these guys off while you get back up." she ordered instead as she readied her kusarigama and stood beside Sasuke. Izumo and Kotetsu used shunshin to appear on either side of the two young ninja as Kosuke circled around to stand with the other three.
Zabuza glanced at the old man joining himself, Haku, and Naruto but made no comment. Shikamaru nodded and retreated with his sensei, "Don't let the guy with the scythe ingest your blood, he can set up some strange jutsu to cause his injuries to appear on your body if he does." he explained before rushing away.
"We're not letting that meal ticket get away." Kakuzu said rushing the retreating ninja only to be intercepted.
"Suiton: Mizuame Nabara." Izumo declared, spitting water at the ground that caught Kakuzu's feet and stuck him, slowing the man down as Kotetsu threw his oversized kunai as hard as he could and pulled a scroll from his flak vest.
Kakuzu made a snake hand seal and Sasuke recognized the Doton chakra he was forming, "Doton: Domu." the man intoned and deflected the massive blade off of his darkened arm with the sound of metal hitting a rock. The Uchiha saw his opportunity and used a one handed seal to shunshin as he activated Raijin no Ken and thrust before using shunshin again to return to Sakura's side before the stunned nukenin could retaliate.
Hidan moved to assist as Kotetsu withdrew a large conch shell mace, but the grey haired immortal was intercepted by Zabuza who swung Kubikiribocho. Hidan was struck in the side and left arm but used his scythe to block the attack from going any deeper and taking his left arm off entirely before responding with a furious assault.
Naruto made a pair of kage bunshin as Haku pulled out his half of Kiba and moved to assist Zabuza, flanking the immortal and making one handed hand seals, "Sensatsu Suisho!" the dark haired boy declared, pulling water from Naruto's surrounding Suiten Hofutsu without resistance from his lovers chakra and piercing the purple eyed man in the back.
Kotetsu rushed Kakuzu only for the man to launch both of his arms, grabbing Izumo and Kotetsu by the necks. Sasuke quickly unsheathed the Hakko Chakra To and flowed his Raiton chakra into it, the tanto turning the electricity white as the boy carved at the odd black strands connecting the arm choking Izumo to Kakuzu.
The tall man dragged Kotetsu in and choke slammed him into the syrup at his feet, seemingly unbothered by losing an arm as the black threads writhed from where his left arm had been disconnected. Izumo tore the arm from his neck and tossed it aside as Sasuke deactivated Raijin no Ken so he could shunshin with his right hand and swung the Hakko Chakra To horizontally, carving open the neck of his opponent before using shunshin to pull back and avoid the retaliating black threads.
Naruto formed a Futon: Rasengan, "Zabuza, get back!" he warned and threw it at Hidan. The shirtless Kiri nukenin leaped back and the purple eyed man turned to meet the spiraling orb of air currents head on only for Kakuzu to surprisingly intercept it.
When the dust settled Kakuzu was fine but his cloak had been destroyed, as had his mask and whatever clothes he'd been wearing on his torso, revealing the long brown haired man was muscular but covered with stiches, including around his mouth, "Don't let that attack hit you Hidan, it'd probably destroy your muscles and make you a useless lump of flesh." he scolded.
"Who the hell asked you!?" Hidan groused, annoyed with the scolding from his colleague and clearly uncaring. Naruto scowled since the tanned and stitched up nukenin had revealed his intentions and withstood his attack using Doton chakra.
Kosuke watched, he'd been waiting for an opening but the old genin realized he was out of his depth with this fight and the best he could do was stay on guard and help defend anyone who got caught off guard by one of the two enemy ninja, truthfully he was glad Zabuza had arrived, the man had a scary reputation but was apparently here to help for some reason.
Sakura and Sasuke moved to help Zabuza, Naruto, and Haku surround the two Akatsuki members. The pink haired chunin determined to help her teammates and the dark haired jonin viewing the two S rank nukenin as a stepping stone to proving he could defeat Itachi, after all if he could kill an immortal then Itachi shouldn't be much harder.
Izumo checked on Kotetsu, relieved his colleague was still breathing but the man was out of the fight after a blow like that. He hoped back up would be arriving soon.
"Naruto, you take on the patchwork mess, I'll duel the other immortal." Sasuke ordered as his Sharingan shifted into his Mangekyo Sharingan, "Don't worry, he won't get my blood." he assured.
"Aren't you brats being a little too conceited in front of your elders?" Kakuzu asked as his back opened up and a pair of masks rose up out of his back behind him, supported by the black threads that seemed to make up the insides of the green eyed man.
Naruto formed a pair of Rasengan and his bunshin stabilized them before they took off his leg weights and his own left eye morphed to become the same Mangekyo Sharingan Sasuke was using, "Like hell!" the blonde young jonin shouted before charging the Taki nukenin.
Both masks that came out of Kakuzu turned on the boy and one fired a Zukokku while the other formed an Atsugai, the blast of fire exploded against the Suiten Hofutsu still in the air before the Atsugai enhanced the flames and turned the water defense into steam. Naruto rushed through the steam and Hidan moved to intercept but was himself intercept by Sasuke who blocked his scythe with Raijin no Ken.
Kakuzu wanted to turn on the young Uchiha but needed to use Domu to harden his body against Naruto's attack, "Rasenrengan!" the boy declared, slamming both spiraling chakra orbs into the stitched up torso of his opponent. The tanned man considered it a good thing he didn't have organs to scramble but was still pushed back as Zabuza got behind him with shunshin and sheared his masks away from his body with a carving slice from Kubikiribocho.
Sakura pulled back and put her kusarigama away, starting to prepare kunai and kibaku fuda, knowing her skills with her chain weapon wouldn't be much help but refusing to be useless. Kosuke moved to defend the girl in case either nukenin turned on her.
Sasuke was annoyed but unsurprised that his immortal opponent was unaffected by the electricty running down his scythe and into his body with each parry the Uchiha performed, the grey haired man was uncaring of being electrified but when his muscles contracted and gave Sasuke the opening to carve his right hand off with a swing of his new tanto the man complained loudly.
Haku rushed to assist Zabuza and Naruto, creating a large shuriken out of ice with his Hyoton, not as transparent as the attacks Renga could use but still thin, sharp, and hard. Surprisingly the masks stood up, able to operate independantly of Kakuzu and turned on Haku as he tossed the ice weapon at the tall stitched up man.
Naruto's bunshin appeared next to their creator with Hiraishin and the three pulled out their own legendary blades to try carving the immortal man up with the lightning blades. Kakuzu scowled and pulled back, dodging the three copies of half of Kiba and using his Domu to keep his skin hard so he could block Kubikiribocho.
Hidan grabbed the cable of his scythe with his left hand and swung it as he leaped away from Sasuke, the Uchiha diving under the scythe before rolling to his feet and deactivating Raijin no Ken. The dark haired boy focused his Chakra and the black flames of Amaterasu engulfed the immortal man who screamed in shock and pain as the black flames appeared on his chest before spreading, coating his entire upper body and burning away the flesh of the man.
Haku swiftly dropped his own legendary blade and made another Hyogan Domu, sweating as the combination of Zukokku and Atsugai engulfed his defense in an immense firestorm that made him feel the heat even through layers of chakra infused ice.
Naruto noticed the attack against Haku and growled, flaring his own chakra into his left eye and engulfing the stitched man in black flames as well. Surprisingly the man didn't scream and instead where the flames touched tore from his flesh, falling to the ground and revealing more writhing black tendrils under Kakuzu's chest as he dived to his arm and reattached it to his body, the threads reconnecting.
Sakura was scared of the monster of a man but started tossing kunai after kunai with little pink cloths strapped to them. Kakuzu raised an eyebrow at the girl as the kunai clashed uselessly against his Doton enhanced skin and scattered cherry blossoms around him.
The man realized too late there were small kibaku fuda mixed in with the cherry blossoms as the Haruno girl pulled out a kunai with a larger kibaku fuda tied to the back of it, "Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu!" the pink haired chunin declared as she tossed it at Kakuzu's feet, engulfing the immortal in an explosion as his two masks turned on the girl.
Sasuke scowled as Hidan pulled his scythe into left hand, "This hurts you little heathen brat!" the immortal screamed, voice distorted by the flames burning away at him. The Uchiha was surprised the man wasn't already ash and presumed the immortality the man had must have given him some impressive flame resistance, maybe even a healing factor with how slowly he was burning in the black fires of Amaterasu. He popped a hyorogan, sensing this fight would take longer than anticipated.
"Suiton: Suijinheki!" Kosuke declared, using what was left of the surrounding water from the natural disaster level Suiton no Jutsu of the Uzumaki to form a defensive barrier between the enroaching inferno from Kakuzu's masks.
Sakura quickly formed her own hand seals, "Doton: Doryuheki!" she declared, raising a wall of hardening mud behind the Suijinheki as the Atsugai enhanced Zukokku turned the water wall into steam and was barely stopped by her own wall thanks to most of the momentum being halted by Kosuke's defensive ninjutsu.
Zabuza lunged at the mask using Futon no Jutsu and swung Kubikiribocho at it, carving away some more threads as the thing dodged and Zabuza wondered just what the hell kind of monster Kakuzu was that these things were inside him. Naruto and Haku rushed the Katon using mask and both used Sensatsu Suisho to pierce it all over with water needles, surprising the former mentor of the dark haired boy that the blonde had been taught that Hijutsu.
"You little brats." Kakuzu growled as the smoke cleared, revealing Sakura's explosive attack had barely any effect although more patches of skin were torn away revealing more writhing black threads, "I've never captured the heart of someone with a Kekkei Genkai Seishitsu Henka before." he mused, glaring at Haku, "I'll replace the Katon one later, your Hyoton will be useful." he declared, rushing the dark haired boy.
Naruto started forming a Rasengan and Haku stabilized it while one of the kage bunshin of the blonde used Hiraishin to arrive and add Futon chakra as the other moved to intercept Kakuzu. Two more masks rose up from the back of the tanned rag doll of a man and one shot a bolt of lightning at the bunshin as the other unleashed a Suiryudan.
Zabuzu made hand seals as he jumped towards the steam left behind by the Zukokku colliding with the Suijinheki and poured his chakra into it, intercepting the Suiryudan of Kakuzu's mask with his own. Naruto made the seal of confrontation and teleported to one of the kunai he'd thrown earlier as Kakuzu ran over it before plunging his Futon Rasengan into the stomach of his enemy, sending the man flying back.
The Futon mask unleashed another Atsugai that struck Zabuza in the back as Kakuzu went flying back, the wielder of Kubikiribocho cried out in pain as the powerful winds knocked him to the ground with his back red and raw from the attack. Kosuke had noticed the Katon mask was done for and rushed to stab the Futon mask, which moved to dodge but was wrapped up by Sakura's kusarigama, the girl straining and sticking to the ground with chakra to hold it in place long enough for the old man to stab the mask and halt it's movements permanently as the threads went limp.
Sasuke continued his duel with the immortal who was slowly becoming a flaming skeleton, tears of blood oozed from the Uchiha's tear ducts as he felt his energy fading even after taking a hyorogan. Hidan continued the furious assault on the boy who was forced on the defensive.
Seeing no other option Sasuke focused his chakra, "Kaimon, open!" he declared, opening the first of his Hachimon and ducking under a scythe swing to sweep the legs of his immortal opponent with a sudden burst of strength and speed before swinging the Hakko Chakra To cut off the right hand of his falling opponent and carving the legs with a second swing. Sasuke stood and sheathed the tanto, deactivating the Raijin no Ken as he did and quickly running through hand seals before the combination of hyorogan and Hachimon could catch up to him.
"Chidori Eiso!" Sasuke named his attack as he formed Kakashi's assassination ninjutsu into a spear that thrust through his black flames and pierced Hidan's skull. The Uchiha panted and his eye returned to it's natural black color, he wanted to help with Kakuzu but fell to his knees in front of the burning immortal, baffled that the nearly skeletal man could still writhe around.
Kakuzu wanted to rush Kosuke and take the old man and pink haired young girl for destroying another of his masks but rushed the kneeling Uchiha instead as he sent his Suiton and Raiton masks to deal with the others. Sasuke's eye widened as the man launched an arcing kick at his head, unable to react in time.
Naruto appeared between the two with Hiraishin, using the kunai Sasuke still carried in his equipment pouch as the anchor point and caught the vicious kick against his left arm and shoulder, wincing under the weight of it as he stuck to the ground with chakra. The blonde jonin performed one handed hand seals and grabbed Kakuzu by the leg as water formed around them.
"Sensatsu Suisho!" Naruto declared, the water becoming a hail of senbon that peppered the rag doll of a man. Kakuzu glared, unaffected by the attack and tore his leg from the grip of his young opponent before performing the snake hand seal.
"Doton: Domu." Kakuzu said simply as what was left of his skin darkened and he threw a swift left straight at Naruto. The Uzumaki raised his guard but the fist crashed through it and impacted against his right cheek, the only reason Naruto didn't go flying was because he'd braced his feet to stick to the ground with chakra.
Learning his lesson Naruto ducked under the following right hook and delivered an uppercut to the chin with his own left hand, wincing as it felt like he'd just punched a mountain. The blonde refused to give an inch as he engaged his opponent in taijutsu, not wanting to let the man get to Sasuke.
Haku retrieved both of the blades of Kiba and used them to block the Gian that the Raiton mask aimed at Zabuza's downed form, the boy had long ago realized what the intention of his mentor had been when he 'discarded' him and didn't want to lose the man again. He loved Naruto but he was still fond of the man who had practically raised him, just not in the same way and he had to trust the blonde to handle the true body of their monstrous opponent.
Kosuke and Sakura struggled to pin down the Suiton mask, the young girl using Doton chakra nagashi through her kusarigami to give it the weight and sturdiness to act as a spinning shield against the onslaught of Suiton no Jutsu. The old genin she was helping was running low on stamina and struggling to land a solid blow, he didn't have the chakra for any further ninjutsu but he refused to let himself slip and let the young pink haired chunin die while he lived.
Haku saw Naruto engaging their monstrous opponent in taijutsu and took a risk, dropping the Kiba and creating a lense of ice to attempt to block the next Gian, shoving the wounded Zabuza back with his foot before the bolt of lightning struck. The Futon chakra that made up his Hyoton allowed the folded ice lense to withstand the Gian and he threw it at the Raiton mask, but another Gian slid past the ice disk as it flew and struck Haku in the abdomen just as the bladed ice sheared through the mask.
Naruto noticed Haku falling to his knees and gave his rage his chakra, roaring hatefully at Kakuzu as red chakra poured out of him, the eclipses of the Mangekyo Sharingan in his left eye becoming serrated as his pupils turned to slits and his right eye turned as red as the Sharingan. The chakra of the kitsune formed a yoko no koromo around the blonde with three tails of chakra as the boy started forcing the Doton enhanced body of his opponent back.
The Suiton mask turned on the kneeling Haku who clutched at his stomach wound and gasped in pain, unleashing a Suiryudan at the boy. Zabuza pulled himself to his feet and placed himself between the boy and the attack as he planted Kubikiribocho into the ground between the attack and himself. The blast of water shaped as a dragon crashed against the wide blade and drenched the two injured shinobi of Mizu no Kuni, but Zabuza held firm and took the brunt of the attack with his sword acting as a shield.
Sakura saw the opportunity and wrapped up the Suiton mask with her kusarigama, allowing Kosuke to lunge in and plunge his blade into the mask before it could turn on the girl. Sakura quickly rushed to check on Haku, frowning at the injury but assessing that the boy would live if he could be taken to iryonin quickly.
Kakuzu was surprised to be pushed onto the defensive by the enraged Jinchuriki and even more surprised that Hidan had been disabled by the young Uchiha, but most surprised that his spare hearts had been destroyed by the others. The rag doll man found himself having to discard bits of himself as they caught fire, black flames igniting on his body under the glare of the blonde. He pulled back as the enraged boy started forming another Futon: Rasengan, the yoko koromo stabilizing it in his hand, but the man found his feet caught and turned to glance at Izumo who had used another Mizuame Nabara to stop his retreat.
Naruto plunged the Futon: Rasengan into Kakuzu with a roar, the demonic chakra he was using giving the spiraling air currents a much darker color and enhancing the size slightly. Kakuzu's eyes widened as the boy kept pouring chakra into the jutsu and it grew to engulf him, shredding his threads and what was left of his form.
The Jinchuriki panted, making a few of the older ninja nervous as he grit his teeth, clearly still angry. Finally the back up arrived, Kakashi himself following Shikamaru and leading Shizune, Yamato, and Gai to the scene, all of them stunned by what they saw and concerned about Naruto's current state.
The Uzumaki swivelled his head to look over at Haku and Sakura shivered, his malevolent chakra was still in the air. However the blonde closed his right eye and breathed heavily as the yoko no koromo withdrew into his body just as Yamato prepared to try and contain him with Mokuton when Naruto noticed Haku was still breathing.
Once the chakra of the biju was contained the Jinchuriki's left eye returned to a three tomoe Sharingan before closing entirely and the blonde fell to his knees, "Heal Haku-chan." he ordered, opening his once again blue right eye to direct the words at Shizune who leaped to obey without considering that she was taking orders from someone much younger than her.
"Well shit." Jiraiya's voice said, "I guess I got home late." the man said as he looked over the battlefield from a nearby tree branch.
Kakashi was glad to see the man in case more of the Akatsuki were around, "Hey, Kakashi." Sasuke called out as the boy forced himself to his feet, pulling his ninjato off his back still sheathed to use the scabbard to support himself, "How's that for S rank?" he asked, gesturing to the still burning Hidan, who was somehow still growling muffled profanity through the flames burning away at his throat.
Shizune glanced worriedly at Zabuza who was leaning against the blade of his sword, the Kubikiribocho still planted in the ground, "Zabuza-san came to help us." Sakura explained, defending the man so Shizune would hurry up and heal Haku. The woman wasn't sure she trusted the nukenin but he seemed hurt so she quickly tended the young dark haired boy.
Jiraiya jumped down and sealed the black flames into a scroll, "How the hell is this guy even alive?" he asked, shocked by the charred man who should be a corpse by all rights.
"I'm fucking immortal." Hidan answered with a raspy, choking voice, surprising the Sennin further.
"He's not bluffing, I put a Chidori through his skull." Sasuke confirmed as Kakashi and Yamato moved to check on Naruto, the Mokuton user supporting the exhausted blonde while Kakashi moved to support his other student.
Izumo moved to help Kotetsu to his feet as Kosuke approached the Hokage, "Well I must say Hokage-sama, your students are something else entirely." the old genin praised, "That one Naruto-kun killed before you arrived was supposed to be immortal too, but I believe his body should be completely destroyed by now." he added.
Jiraiya sealed Hidan in a scroll for transport, figuring they could get information out of him back at the village, "I was worried Akatsuki would attack if I didn't take Naruto out of the village." he said, feeling vindicated that such a thing had happened, "I didn't think they'd do it with assistance from an actual village." he added, glancing around at the dead Iwa shinobi around him.
"Kirigakure was involved too." Naruto spoke up, "There should be two of their corpses, I put a Chidori in one myself." he said, clearly still mad at whichever one that was.
Gai approached Zabuza, "So what exactly are you doing here?" he asked, curious and suspicious of the nukenin.
"I heard about some old friends getting bingo book entries and figured I'd come congratulate them." Zabuza answered with surprising levity in his tone, "Seriously though, I found out Kiri attacked you guys and decided to come offer my services and information." he finished in a much more serious tone.
Kakashi realized he must have heard about Kiri attacking Haku during the Daimyo protection mission, "Bring him to the village and provide him medical treatment." the Hokage ordered, surprising his subordinates besdes his own team and Jiraiya, the lack of surprise from the Sannin was a surprise in itself.
On return to the village Sasuke and Naruto were both hospitalized with chakra exhaustion and Sakura was ordered to bed rest so she shared a hospital room with her team. At the demands of Naruto, Haku and Zabuza were given beds in their room too.
Tsunade was annoyed that the Kubikiribocho was in the room too but Kakashi hadn't ordered the man disarmed, "What the hell were you thinking!?" she scolded Naruto, "Why didn't you use Hiraishin to get everyone out of there!?" she asked angrily.
Naruto crossed his arms, "To hell with running away, we killed a pair of S rank ninja!" he shot back, "Besides I didn't get a chance, and if I gave those jerks an opening to get the chance someone might have died! I'm not apologizing for standing my ground and winning my fight y'know!" he shouted, surprisingly energetic for someone who was supposed to be suffering chakra exhaustion.
Jiraiya and Kakashi returned from dropping off Hidan with Ibiki in time to hear the argument, "Unfortunately I have to side with the brat." the Sennin spoke up, surprising his blonde colleague, "It's a miracle they pulled through at all, but from what the Nara kid reported retreating would probably have spelled the death of Asuma Sarutobi." he explained. Tsunade frowned but didn't scold the younger blonde any further, although she was annoyed at how smug he looked as a result.
"Can I kill Itachi now?" Sasuke asked, earning a glare from Tsunade and a bemused look from Jiraiya.
"Sasuke you barely survived the battle as it was and you need time to recover." Kakashi said bluntly, causing the one eyed young jonin to scowl in annoyance.
"What the hell have you been feeding these kids?" Zabuza asked, baffled by how much stronger they'd all gotten, even the pink haired girl who hadn't been able to do anything but stand around back in Nami no Kuni had proven useful in that battle.
"Ramen!" Naruto answered cheerfully with a grin, but from the looks he received Zabuza was pretty sure that was just what the blonde wanted to eat in general.
"I was feeding him a lot of ninja udon for a while." Haku mused, causing Zabuza to raise an eyebrow.
"The diets of my adorable students aside," Kakashi began, "why exactly are you here, Zabuza-san?" he asked, already having some suspicions.
"I found out Kirigakure went after Haku while he was helping protect some Daimyo." Zabuza answered, confirming the suspicions of the silver haired Kage, "So I figured I'd come and help out, and I'm glad I got here when I did." he explained.
Kakashi nodded in agreement, "Honestly from the sounds of it we're lucky you did." he said gratefully, honestly glad the man had arrived, "So are you looking to reform the Shinobigatana in Konoha or something?" he asked.
Zabuza scoffed, "No chance, I actually was hoping to trade information and assistance for assistance in turn." he explained.
Jiraiya raised an eyebrow, "What information?" he asked.
"Akatsuki is in control of Kirigakure no Sato, the Yondaime Mizukage has been under the control of someone with a Sharingan for years." Zabuza answered, causing Sasuke to sit up suddenly and wince, clutching his head and falling back to his bed in pain.
Jiraiya was surprised by that as well, "The Yondaime Mizukage is a Jinchuriki." he said and Zabuza just nodded, wondering what that had to do with anything, "Do you know what Akatsuki are after?" he asked and Zabuza shook his head, the man having assumed they were just power hungry nukenin, "Jinchuriki." the Sennin answered.
Zabuza blinked owlishly, "Ah, that explains a lot." he said simply, "So, uh, I help against Kiri and in exchange I get a chance to take my village back?" he asked.
"What?" Naruto asked, confused, "You want to be Mizukage?" he asked and Zabuza nodded, "Damn it I want to be Hokage first!" he declared, annoyed.
"Later," Kakashi placated the blonde, surprising the other two Nidaime Sannin, the two Sannin, and Zabuza with the promise, "for now we could actually use Zabuza's help." he agreed, "Naruto isn't going to let you take Haku back though, the two have been attached almost literally at the hip for a while." he added.
Zabuza raised a nonexistent eyebrow and glanced at Haku, "I love Naruto-kun." the boy said honestly without a hint of shame and the other nonexistent eyebrow on the Kiri nukenin's forehead joined the first, "I do still want you to accomplish your dreams, Zabuza-san, but I will stay with Naruto-kun." the boy told his former mentor plainly.
"Damn, Naruto isn't even embarrassed by that declaration." Jiraiya pointed out, "What the hell have you two been up to?" he asked slyly and Tsunade remembered that was actually the old perverts fault and clipped him over the ear.
"Whatever." Zabuza decided with a shake of his head, "Point is, Yagura is under the control of someone in the Akatsuki, I'm certain of that much. I saw that eye myself when I tried to kill him before I became a nukenin." he explained, "Since leaving Haku to you guys, I made contact with other rebels, if Konohagakure helps us take our village back then we'll have a lasting alliance against the Akatsuki, who have apparently made allies with Iwagakure no Sato as well."
"Alright, deal." Naruto said as if that was his decision to make and Tsunade clipped him over the ear too, "What the hell Obaachan!?" he groused.
Kakashi sighed, "You still aren't Hokage, Naruto." he reminded, "But I'll agree to the deal." he said with a nod to Zabuza.
Tsunade sighed, "Anyway, I need to go give check ups, that Lee kid keeps pushing himself and his bones still haven't actually fully recovered from that injury he had when I first arrived." she said as she left the room.