Legend of the Blind Ninja

by Lucy Heart of Fairy Tail

His sight was stolen at such a young age, but that doesn't stop him from doing anything. Losing his sight awakens his true potential that no one thought was possible. Beware the blind ninja!

5. Nami no Kuni

The mission to Nami no Kuni doesn't go as simple as they thought, and Naruto learns more about himself and learns the origins of his clan.

---

Kakashi sighed as he spoke into the receiver, "This is silver, is there any visual on the target?"

"This is Cherry blossom, target has been spotted." Sakura answered

"This is…Brooder, target has been spotted." Sasuke all but growled out at the stupid codename Kakashi picked out for him.

"This is Blondie, target has been spotted." Naruto wondered if Kakashi was giving them these codenames just for fun. If that's the case then are they okay?

"Then…engage!" he ordered.

Sakura was the first to make a move and pounced on the cat grabbing it securely in her arms as Sasuke landed next to her, the pink haired girl saw the red bow on its ear, "Target captured. Confirmed to be the cat Tora." She missed the gleam in the cat's eye and as such was unprepared as it scratched her right in the face making her drop the cat. Sasuke tried to capture it before he too was scratched in the face by the mean cat before it took off into the bushes leaving the two Genin to rub their faces.

"That damn cat." Sasuke cursed.

"It ran into those bushes over there." Sakura said.

"CHA! That cat's gonna pay for scratching my face!" Inner Sakura cracked her knuckles.

"Cherry blossom, Brooder, report. Where is the target?" Kakashi questioned over the receiver.

Sasuke answered, "Target has escaped and run off into the bushes. I repeat, target has escaped and run off into the woods. Requesting to pursue the target?"

"Permission granted. Follow and capture the target Tora." Kakashi ordered.

The two Genin ran after the demonic feline that had the nerve to scratch their faces while also wondering what their other teammate was doing. Why wasn't he helping?

"What the hell is that dobe doing?" Sasuke growled.

"He better not be slacking off and making us do all the work." Sakura added.

Running for a little while more they stopped when they spotted the still form of the cat and were surprised to see why the cat stopped moving.

Naruto was currently scratching the cat underneath its chin making it purr in content at the contact while his shadow clone watched in amusement "Well so much for you being a little terror, huh?"

"Meow~" Tora said smiling in relaxation.

Sakura and Sasuke stared in utter disbelief. The demonic cat scratched their faces without hesitation yet it was docile with Naruto of all people! How is that even fair?

"Report. What's going on?" Kakashi questioned.

Sasuke slowly brought his hand up to his ear, "Naruto has captured the target. I repeat, Naruto has captured the target."

"Understood. Good work." Kakashi said.

Naruto gave his walking stick over to the clone he just created and picked the cat up slowly feeling around to make sure Tora was still in front of him. See when it comes to animals and him being blind sensing them is kinda hard because they move around a lot especially cats, so when they were given the mission to capture Tora aka "The Hell Cat," he cursed inwardly having heard horror stories from Yamato-sensei about the cat. How it runs incredibly fast and likes to scratch people's faces, so he was worried the cat would do the same to him when he and his shadow clone jumped down from the tree to cut it off, only to hear the cat "Meow" making him confused. The cat just rubbed up against his leg making him tilt his head in confusion. He thought the cat hated everybody. Slowly bending down he rubbed the cats head making it meow cutely, smiling at the acceptance he moved to scratch the cat's chin making it purr. He wondered why the cat liked him so much, but hey it made it easier to catch the cat and end the mission quickly so kill two birds with one stone.

Kakashi appeared next to his students and saw Naruto holding Tora who was completely docile and made no attempt to scratch the boy whatsoever making him blink, 'I've never seen that happen before, maybe Naruto has the ability to tame wild animals.'

Naruto walked over to them sensing they were standing in front of him with his Shadow Clone following him and smiled, "Tora captured."

"I see that, and you've got the best time out of all the rookies," Kakashi told them, "Our best time is 2 minutes."

"Hmmm, so there's a best time to capturing Tora huh? Interesting." Naruto rubbed the cats head making it purr and snuggle in his arms making Sakura and Sasuke sent glares at the cat, still pissed off it clawed at their faces.

They were hoping bad things would happen to the damn feline.

Hokage Tower

"Tora!" the Daimyo's wife yelled in happiness at seeing her cat and barreled right towards it only for the feline to hiss at her and climb on top of Naruto's head still hissing making Hiruzen smirk, Iruka to hold his mouth trying not to laugh, and Kakashi smiling in amusement. Looks like Tora prefers Naruto over his own owner.

Sasuke and Sakura still couldn't believe the cat was so attached to their blind teammate and wondered if he had some kind of special power that was controlling the damn feline.

"Tora, its me mommy! Don't you recognize me?" she asked sadly.

Tore merely hissed not wanting the woman anywhere near it making the blind sweat-drop, 'While I appreciate the affection I can't keep a cat that doesn't belong to me.' Slowly he moved his arms up towards his hand grabbing the cat gently and rubbed its head, "I appreciate the fact that you like me and all, but your owner was really worried about you and missed you a lot so can you please go home with her?" he couldn't see the cat's expression but he was sure that it was looking pretty sad that he had to go back to its owner and didn't struggle when Naruto held his arms out so she could take her cat back, "Here you are ma'am."

She took Tora from him with a smile, "Thank you so much young man, you have such a kind heart."

'You have no idea.' Iruka and Hiruzen thought.

And with that the woman bowed towards the Hokage then thanked Team 7 before she left with the hissing cat. Sasuke and Sakura didn't even feel bad for the feline hoping the woman suffocated it to death. Naruto dispelled his shadow clone as soon as it gave him his cane back.

Hiruzen coughed into his fist, "Well done Team 7, out of all the rookies you three have the best time record when it came to capturing Tora. You should feel proud about that, the cat isn't exactly very friendly as you can see."

"And yet it was friendly towards Naruto." Kakashi smiled making the blond raise an eyebrow at the comment.

"Well then," Hiruzen took out some stacks of paper, "There are some more D-rank missions for you to take. One is to take care of some pups for the Inuzuka clan…take care of some fawn for the Nara clan-"

"Excuse me Hokage-sama but we need better missions," Sasuke interrupted, "Giving us these minuscule D-rank missions won't help us improve our skills at all."

Sakura didn't voice it but she thought the same thing as Sasuke did.

Naruto felt the urge to roll his eyes.

"Sasuke, you are a Genin that just graduated from the Academy. Your not ready to take on higher missions yet." Iruka scolded the boy not pleased he would demand a higher mission.

Naruto didn't really mind the D-rank missions at all honestly, but Sasuke ever the arrogant person he is would want to take a higher mission. For some reason he was getting a bad feeling about today and wasn't sure why. Was it because of this? Anyway, he knew Sasuke would probably pester the old man for a higher mission so he decided to just get it over with. Walking over to the desk and moving around it carefully he lowered down to whisper something in the old mans ear making sure it was low enough so no one would hear what he was about to say.

The other occupants in the room watched as Naruto whispered something in the Hokage's ear making them somewhat curious. They saw the old man's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates with whatever Naruto told him and he took out a piece of paper from his desk looking it over quickly. The blonde moved back over to his team standing next to Sasuke who like his teammate Sakura and sensei Kakashi were curious to know just what the heck did he say to the old man?

"There's an escorting mission available for all of you that's C-rank," Hiruzen told them, "Your mission is to escort the client Tazuna back to Nami no Kuni. You can come in now!"

The door opened and Naruto's nose was assaulted by the smell of alcohol coming off from the man making him frown, 'He completely reeks of alcohol.'

Tazuna stared at the group, "Is this it?…hic…I was expecting capable ninja…hic, not some emo kid, skinny pink haired girl who looks like she hasn't worked out a day in her life, and some blonde haired brat who needs to use a cane to help him walk." As soon as he finished he was assaulted with killing intent coming from Iruka, Kakashi, and Hiruzen making him freeze in place without reaching fro his sake bottle.

"I assure you Tazuna-san, these three are fully capable of protecting you. I myself am a Jounin and are more than enough to help assist with the mission as are my students, Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Naruto Uzumaki. You have our word." Kakashi frowned at the man not appreciating him insulting his students, especially Naruto. Though he was right about Sasuke and Sakura.

Tazuna simply nodded his head unable to speak while also wondering where he'd heard the name "Uzumaki" from, while Sasuke and Sakura were a little shaken up by the killing intent the three men in the room were sending throughout the room. The only reason Naruto didn't feel frightened was because he felt the old man's killing intent before, and it was on the day he lost his sight. Nothing scarier than a docile old man becoming vicious with a flip of a switch.

Hiruzen sighed to calm himself down, "That's all Tazuna-san you can leave now. These three will be escorting you back home tomorrow."

The man nodded and quickly left. Smart move.

"Naruto, a word please?" Hiruzen called the boy over prompting the blond to move back over to him again. As the blonde bent down the old man whispered something in his ear and the blonde responded in kind making the old man's eyes widen and bash his head on the desk, "I-I see…so it was that simple all along…?"

"Yep." Naruto nodded confusing everyone in the room.

Hiruzen sent a wave at them, "That's all, you can leave now."

Kakashi bowed and left the office right along with is students while Iruka was curious about something, "Um, Hokage-sama?"

"What is it?" he mumbled.

"What was it that you and Naruto were whispering about?" the man wondered.

Hiruzen lifted his head from the desk, "It was about the secret."

"Secret?"

"Yes, the secret to defeat my paperwork." Hiruzen brought both hands together.

"And that is…?" Iruka blinked.

Hiruzen closed his eyes before opening them dramatically, "SHADOW CLONES!"

Iruka fell over comically.

---

Team 7 had gathered near the gate waiting for their sensei who swore he wouldn't be late and meet them at the gate along with the client Tazuna who was also waiting.

"Is your teacher always this late?" Tazuna asked.

"He is." Sakura told him.

"Hmph." Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto simply closed his eyes.

Tazuna looked over at the blonde curiously, there was just something about his last name that seemed so familiar but he couldn't put his finger on it. What was it?

"He's here." The blonde said opening his eyes.

Not long after he said that Kakashi appeared in swirl of leaves, "Yo."

"YOUR LATE!" Sakura practically screeched making Tazuna, Sasuke, Izumo, and Kotetsu cover their ears. They noticed Naruto and Kakashi hadn't covered their ears and soon found out why because both of them took earplugs out their ears causing the two Chunin to fall over comically while also thinking the same thing.

'Why didn't we think of that?' The two thought.

"Right, let's get going then shall we?" Kakashi eye smiled.

They all walked through the gate and down the road until they were further away from the gate that the couldn't see it anymore. Kakashi was hanging from the back, Sakura on Tazuna's left, Sasuke on the right, and Naruto in front. It amazed him that they can come together on missions without taking notice so easily, yet when it comes to working together outside of missions they want nothing to do with each other.

As they were walking down the road Naruto noticed two chakra signatures were up ahead, but it feels like they were hidden in a form of a disguise making him wonder, 'Well its not a tree, otherwise it wouldn't be in front of us. Could be a rock or a puddle, but my guess is a puddle.' When he thought about it camouflaging as two puddles was pretty clever except for two things. One it hasn't rained in over a week, and two its painfully obvious. As soon they all walked past the puddles with Kakashi being the last to walk past the puddles the to ninja's hiding in the puddles acted. Kakashi found himself wrapped in chains and cut in half.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Sakura screamed.

"That's one." one of the ninja said and went straight for Naruto cutting the blonde in half as well only to be taken by surprise because it was a log he cut up and not the real thing, "What?!"

"Senkō (Flash)." As soon as the ninja turned around Naruto who was behind him lashed the man making a very deep cut that would soon kill him if he didn't get medical treatment. The blonde felt that his sword technique had improved since the time he used it against Kakashi during their test. Thank god he practiced some more with the technique.

"You little brat!" the other ninja was kicked in the jaw by Sasuke preventing him from getting to the blonde and as soon as the man lost balance Sasuke acted quickly to finish him off, Rat → Tiger → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger: "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)!" he sent fireballs at the ninja and watched as the flames engulfed him hearing him cry out in pain before he collapsed, his body burned and unconscious.

Naruto swing his blade to the side knowing he got blood on it and sheathed it back, "You can come out of hiding now, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi jumped down from a tree he was watching from and smiled, "Ah, good job sensing me."

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried out in relief.

"If you were there watching us the whole time why didn't you help?" Sasuke demanded.

"Well…I knew you could handle them and I was right," Kakashi looked over at the blonde, "Naruto good job in incapacitating your enemy, you too Sasuke. Sakura you got in front of the client to protect him, good job."

Naruto made no response to the praise and simply nodded.

Sasuke scoffed.

Sakura smiled.

The ninja that Naruto sliced was still breathing and spoke, "H-How did you know?"

"It hasn't rained in over a week that's how," Naruto stated the obvious, "That and I sensed there were two chakra signatures before us but they were using a jutsu to hide themselves from view I just couldn't figure out if it was either a rock or a puddle, but I guessed right with the puddle."

The ninja stared at the boy, "Y-You…your completely blind!"

Naruto made no comment.

"Wait, he's blind?!" Tenzo exclaimed.

"He is." Kakashi confirmed.

"But how is he able to…?"

"Its best not to think about it." The Jounin told him then glared, "Now then, I think its time you tell us what's really going on here Tazuna-san."

"Wh-What do you mean?" the man shivered.

"He means the real reason why you lied about the mission," Naruto said, "I can feel your emotions, nervousness and fear, but fear is the most strongest."

Tazuna stilled, 'H-He can feel other people's emotions?!'

"Not to mention that these two here are the Demon Brothers of the Mist, their Chunin. I wanted to determine who they were after, seeing as how I have quite the reputation amongst the other villages and was fully prepared to intervene if I felt my students couldn't handle it, but judging by your reaction why they started to attack it confirmed they were indeed after you." He concluded.

Tazuna gulped.

"Well?" Kakashi pressured.

"O-Okay…I'll tell you the truth," Tazuna sighed, "Nami no Kuni is on the verge of financial ruin because of that rat bastard Gato."

"Gato?" Sakura questioned.

"I know that name, he's some business man that founded the Gato company. But rumor has it that he's doing something else that know one knows about. Like selling drugs and human trafficking." Naruto remembered hearing about him from one of the foreign merchants from Iron Country. He mentioned that the samurai there had caught wind of drug smuggling connected to the man and they were dealt with. In other words killed. Smuggling drugs in a town that's known for their samurai wasn't really smart on their part at all.

"Yeah, that bastard is practically sucking the life out of us. We don't have that much money and I was only able to afford a C-rank mission to send to you." Tazuna bowed, "Please help us!"

Kakashi gave the man an impassive look, "This mission just turned into an A-rank mission. This is beyond my Genin who are fresh out of the Academy. By all means we should be heading back."

Sakura agreed. They were just fresh Genin they had no experience in dealing with ninja's like these, no that wasn't true at all. Naruto and Sasuke didn't hesitate to take them down and weren't even afraid, but she was. While protecting Tazuna her legs were shaking, she didn't think she'd be forced to fight real experienced ninja so soon.

Naruto felt the urge to sigh. He knew the bad feeling he had yesterday was a sign but he ignored it and instead thought it was just him being paranoid but it looks like he was wrong.

'Maybe next time I should listen the next time I get a bad feeling.' He thought.

"We not stopping Kakashi, we can still continue the mission." Sasuke spoke up.

Kakashi and Sakura looked over at the Uchiha in surprise while Naruto sighed getting their attention, "I think its a bad idea and we should head back, but Sasuke's right. Besides, we already took down the Demon Brothers which means they'll just send somebody else stronger to get the job done. Might as well finish what we've started." He couldn't believe he was agreeing to this in the first place but they took down two assassins and they'll just end up sending more regardless if they abort the mission or not.

Kakashi was surprised Naruto was agreeing with Sasuke. From the interactions he saw from the two the blonde tended to avoid Sasuke like the plague not wanting to be near him for too long which confused him. Sasuke on the other hand watched the blonde like a hawk wanting to see his every move as though trying to figure out some missing pieces of a puzzle he just couldn't figure out. It was no secret that the Uchiha considered the blonde his rival but the feeling wasn't mutual for Naruto, the blonde showed no interest whatsoever in being a rival for anyone and just wanted to be left alone. Maybe a team spar could help with things?

Sasuke was surprised the blonde agreed as well as Sakura, was he trying to be more social towards them now?

"Kakashi-sensei, what do you want to do?" Naruto asked.

The Jounin blinked then looked at his students, "Looks like my students have a point. We've already started the mission why not finish it?"

Tazuna had a grateful look on his face, "Thank you!"

"Don't thank me, thank my students." Kakashi told him.

Naruto wondered something, "What should we do about the Demon brothers? The one I hurt is starting to breath slowly."

Kakashi got a dark look in his eye, and went over to pick the burnt one next to him up hefting him over his shoulder and did the same for the other one before going off into the woods.

Sakura was confused then saw Naruto had his earplugs out again, "What are you doing?"

He didn't answer her and put them in his ears, he heard the man drag them into the forest and didn't need to hear this. Not yet anyway.

Sakura meanwhile got her answer when she heard a blood-curdling scream coming from the direction Kakashi dragged the two ninja. She felt frightened not wanting to know what her sensei could be doing to those two.

Sasuke felt his blood run cold when he heard them scream not having it in him to move.

Tazuna didn't even want to imagine what the man was doing to those two ninja and simply covered his ears.

Naruto opened his eyes back up but still kept his ears plugs in just in case, but secretly was too afraid to take them out not wanting to hear them scream. At some point he'll probably take a life himself but right now he didn't want to think about it.

---

Team 7 was currently taking a boat courtesy of Tazuna's friend. They had to be quiet though because they were sneaking inside Nami no Kuni without being detected.

Tazuna was sitting next the Jounin and saw that the pink haired girl and black haired boy were sitting across from them while the blonde was sitting at the end of the boat away from his teammates. What was it about this kid that bothered him so much? Was it the fact that he found out th kids was blind but could still fight? Or was it his last name? His last name…leaning closer to Kakashi he whispered in the man's ear, "Hey, that kids last name is Uzumaki, right?"

Kakashi raised a brow, "Yes…"

The man's eyes widened and looked back over to the blonde. Hair color aside, if he was truly an Uzumaki then he should be able to enter the forbidden city! Before he could think more on the subject the boat stopped and they all got out from the boat.

"Thanks old friend." Tazuna thanked.

"No problem, just take that rat bastard down for us." The boatman said rowing away.

"Let's go." Kakashi said and they all followed the Jounin staying close together especially when a fog started to settle in.

"What's with this fog?" Sakura wondered looking around.

"Not sure." Tazuna was starting to get a bad feeling.

Naruto's senses were going haywire practically screaming that something wasn't right making him grip his sword, thanks to his enhanced hearing he heard rustling in the bushes and threw a kunai in the direction where he heard it from getting everyone's attention. The blonde walked over to the noise and bent down moving his hand around trying to find what he hit and finally touched something that felt like fur and grabbed it. He rubbed the stilled animal feeling where the kunai was which was in its side, and felt around the animal a little more touching its ears feeling they were long. So it was a rabbit then. He walked back over to his team and Sakura saw the dead animal in his hand, "Naruto-baka, how could kill something so defenseless?!"

He walked right past her and towards Kakashi lifting it by its ears before him, "What color is it?"

"White."

Naruto tilted his head, "I wasn't aware rabbits fur become white in this time of season."

Kakashi eyed the rabbit carefully, "You have a point. Its normally winter season."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other, "Oi, what are you two talking about?"

"You don't see rabbits fur like this very often in the wild, meaning this little guy was kept indoors making it domestic." Kakashi explained.

Naruto's senses were going haywire again getting his attention. He then heard a whizzing sound that was coming at them fast, "GET DOWN!" the blonde went over by his teammates yanking them to the ground while Kakashi grabbed Tazuna yanking him down on the ground with him as well. It was a good thing they got down when they did because a massive blade whizzed past their heads and embedded in the tree behind them. Not soon after that a man appeared standing on the blade.

He was a tall man that had short black hair wearing no shirt, sporting gray pants, with a white mask covering half his face. Hanging on the side of his head was a headband with the Kirigakure insignia on it.

The man laughed eerily, "No wonder the Demon Brother lost. Kakashi Hatake, the Copy Ninja. I never thought I'd meet you here of all places, looks like this'll be fun."

Kakashi stood up as did his students and Tazuna, "Zabuza Momochi or should I say Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist)? So you were hired to kill Tazuna as well it seems."

Naruto's eyes widened when he heard the name of the man, "Zabuza Momochi. One of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist)." No wonder this guy's chakra felt so bloodthirsty, this person was Zabuza Momochi one of the Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist. He remembered Yamato-sensei giving him the rundown on some Missing-Nin as well as those in the Bingo Book as part of his training to prepare him for the real world. According to him Zabuza earned the title Kirigakure no Kijin (Demon of the Hidden Mist) because he practically acted like one and he can sense it very clearly. This guy is dangerous. Going up against him would be suicidal. Its better to let Kakashi handle him.

'First the C-rank mission becomes A-rank, now Zabuza Momochi shows up! This is just great!' he thought.

Zabuza grinned under his mask, "You know about me kid? Well damn, I'm honored. They teach you about me in the Academy?"

"No, personal teaching for me." Naruto told him trying to keep calm.

Zabuza jumped down from his blade and yanked it out of the tree hefting it over his shoulder, "I like you kid. Maybe I'll let you live and just kill the other two."

Naruto didn't even know how to respond to that.

"How do you know who he is?" Sasuke demanded.

"Personal education." The blonde answered.

Kakashi made a mental note to grill Yamato about teaching Naruto about stuff like this later, "You three stand back and protect Tazuna. This man is an A-rank Nukenin from Kirigakure said to have fled for the failed assassination of Mizukage. He's on a whole other level, I'll handle him."

"F-Failed to kill the Mizukage…?" Sakura was really scared now.

"We can handle him." Sasuke stated arrogantly.

'Like hell we can!' Naruto thought. Was he trying to get himself killed?

"Well isn't that cute," Zabuza mocked, "The little brat thinks he's a real ninja."

"Don't mock me, I'll show you the power of the Uchiha." Sasuke glared at the man.

Zabuza laughed, "You mean that worthless clan that got their asses killed by one of their own? Yeah I'm really shaking here."

Sasuke growled and clenched his fists, the only he didn't charge at him was because Naruto gripped his shoulder tightly bringing him back to reality. Once the blonde felt he was lost some of his rage he let go of his shoulder, Sasuke may be intolerable but he didn't want him to die.

Kakashi lifted his headband making Zabuza grin, "Hoh? I get to see the Sharingan so soon? I'm flattered."

'Sharingan?! But how?! He's not an Uchiha…is he?' Sasuke thought as he stared at the Jounin.

"Sharingan?" Sakura questioned.

"A dōjutsu kekkei genkai that belong to the Uchiha clan, Sakura. I'm surprised you don't know that." Naruto informed her.

She didn't even have it in her to retort because deep down she knew he was right.

Zabuza made the first move, Ox → Snake → Ram: "Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu)." A mist soon started to spread and surround them thickening quickly to the point where they couldn't see Zabuza anymore.

Naruto's sensed that the mist was filled with chakra which explains why it was so thick.

"Eight points," Zabuza's voice said eerily as though it was inhuman, "Larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart. Which one will be my point? I like them all."

Naruto felt like he was having a sensory overload with all the KI Zabuza was releasing, it was making his heart pound a little faster than normal but he was able to keep himself standing. He didn't understand why, maybe it was because he knew that if he let his guard down for even a second he could be killed and had to focus.

Sasuke was feeling the opposite of Naruto, 'W-What is this feeling?! Its so intense that its making me shake!' he slowly brought a hand up holding a kunai to his neck, 'It almost makes me want to end it right here and now so that I won't have to experience it anymore! '

He felt a hand on his wrist making him turn to the blonde who looked like he was concentrating to counteract the KI that was being sent their way. The blonde slowly brought his wrist down then let go without saying a word.

"Sasuke," Kakashi got the boys attention, "Don't worry, I'll protect you with my life." He turned to smile at him making him calm down completely.

"Is that so?" Zabuza appeared before the Genin and Tazuna about to swing his sword to cut them all in half but Kakashi rushed towards him burying a kunai in the man's side. When he pulled it out he saw that water was flowing out instead of blood.

'Mizu Bunshin?' Naruto ad Kakashi thought at the same time. The blonde didn't see it but he heard the sound of water.

"Sensei behind you!" Sakura yelled.

Before Kakashi could turn behind him he was cut in half with Zabuza's blade, "You should never expect it to be that easy, Kakashi!" his eyes widened when he realized it was a water clone, then felt a kunai point at his throat.

"You should take your own advice, Zabuza." Kakashi said.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief, 'Thank god, sensei's okay.'

'I can't see it but I can sense how the battle's going. Something tells me they were just getting warmed up, the real battle starts now.' Naruto thought.

Zabuza couldn't help but snort at the remark, "So you managed to copy my Mizu Bunshin while you made that little speech of yours in the mist, huh. Not bad."

"It's over." Kakashi said bringing the kunai closer to his neck

Zabuza chuckled darkly putting everyone on edge, "You really think I'd be beaten by a copy-cat like you?"

"Think again." Another Zabuza said from behind.

Kakashi cut the one in front of him only to reveal another water clone.

"Another clone?!" Sakura yelled.

'Her yelling really isn't helping the situation.' Naruto's eyes twitched.

Zabuza kicked the Kakashi through the air making him land into the lake, Naruto hearing this turned his head in that direction, 'They moved towards water now?'

Kakashi struggled to get up from the water, 'Why is this water so heavy? Unless-!'

Zabuza was behind him in an instant, Snake → Ram → Horse → Hare → Ram → Horse → Hare: "Suirō no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu)." Sticking his hand out a water prison appeared around Kakashi trapping him inside.

"There's no point in trying to escape, this water's stronger than steel because of how dense the jutsu makes it," Zabuza explained, "You won't be going anywhere anytime soon." He created a Mizu Bunshin that turned its sights on the Genin and Tazuna.

"Kakashi-sensei's be captured! What do we do?!" Sakura freaked out.

"Isn't is obvious? We beat him and rescue Kakashi." Sasuke took a step forward.

"That's a bad idea." Naruto told him.

"You scared?" Sasuke taunted.

"Maybe you didn't hear me earlier when I said this guy's one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist), he's considered one of the best blade-wielding shinobi just like the others. Going up against just one is suicidal, not to mention that sword of his Kubikiribōchō (Decapitating Carving Knife) isn't just for show." Naruto practically growled trying to make him see just what kind of situation their in.

"You can't take him on! Forget about me! Take Tazuna and run to safety!" Kakashi yelled.

"Heh, doesn't matter what they do. Why don't you just sit back and watch me kill your little brats, though I might take the blonde one with me as compensation." Zabuza grinned.

Naruto felt a shiver run down his spine, 'Well this is just great, one of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū (Seven Ninja Swordsman of the Mist) has taken a liking to me.'

The water clone attacked, "Hisenken (Flying Turn Slash)!" it threw the sword at the Genin and Tazuna prompting Naruto to act.

Grabbing Sasuke and pulling him back he let go of his sword, Rat → Dog → Tiger, "Mokuton: Mokujōheki (Wood Style: Domed Wall Jutsu)!" a giant wood dome large enough to protect them all appeared and stopped the blade in its path embedding it in the wood dome before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

'That was too close a call! If I had tried to block it with my sword, no I don't wanna even think about it. I need to think of a plan quick to get Kakashi-sensei out of that water prison, and I might need Sasuke's help while Sakura protects the client.' He thought.

Tazuna looked around inside the dome in amazement, "This is amazing…"

Sakura was inclined to agree but didn't say it out loud. She was just grateful that Naruto put the dome up when he did.

Sasuke remembered this jutsu, it must be a defensive one that blocks powerful jutsu's or physical attacks.

"We're gonna have to figure out a way to get Kakashi-sensei out that water prison, but we need to take that water clone down first." Naruto finally spoke having thought of a plan.

"You have something in mind?" Tazuna wondered.

Naruto stood up, "I do. It involves me and Sasuke doing most of the work though."

"Fine with me." Sasuke said.

Sakura felt a stab to the heart when he said that. Was he trying to say she was too weak to help?

"What's your plan?" Tazuna questioned.

Naruto took a deep breath, 'God I hope this works.'

"Okay, here's what I thought of…"

Meanwhile outside the wood dome Zabuza was taken by surprise while at the same time grinning like a psychotic maniac. That jutsu the the blonde kid just used was the Mokuton! There's not a person alive who doesn't know about it! The famous kekkei genkai of the Shodaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato. Hashirama Senju! He couldn't help but laugh, "You've been holding out Kakashi! One of your brats has something interesting!"

Kakashi glared at the man and was about to say something when the wood dome was brought down and Sasuke engaged the Zabuza clone going full Taijutsu on it, sending kick to its head only for it to swing the boy in the air like a rag doll but Sasuke managed to set himself right and attacked again, Rat → Tiger → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger: "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)!" he sent rapid fire balls at the clone and just when it was about to counter with a water jutsu it found itself unable to move. Looking down it saw that it was bound by wood! It looked over at Naruto.

The blonde had his hands together, "Mokuton: Mokusatsu Shibari no Jutsu (Wood Style: Silent Strangle Jutsu)."

The clone eyes widened before it was dispelled because it got hit with the fire attack sent by Sasuke.

Sasuke landed on the ground and did the same jutsu, Rat → Tiger → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger: "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)!" he sent the same fire jutsu at the real Zabuza.

Naruto was right behind him, 'This is gonna take up a lot of chakra, so I'm hoping that Kakashi-sensei is freed by then so he can take Zabuza down. I just hope I don't get too tired after I use this jutsu, I've only used it once and it wasn't how I wanted it to be but maybe it will work out this time around. Well…here goes.'

He made the hand signs, Snake → Ram → Hare → Dog → Snake: "Mokuton: Mokuryū no Jutsu (Wood Style: Wood Dragon Jutsu)!" a wooden dragon appeared from underground and headed right towards Zabuza while the fire jutsu Sasuke still had going moved around it almost in sync forcing the Nukenin to drop the water prison and use his blade to cut the dragons head off while jumping away from the fireballs sent at him by Sasuke. When the attacks stopped he stared at the Genin with his blade pointed at them.

"Not bad for a bunch of brats, but not good enough." Zabuza said.

Naruto smirked getting a confused look from the ninja, "Plan…successful."

Before Zabuza could retort to that comment he found himself kicked in his side and away from the Genin. Getting his balance back on the water where he was standing on he saw Kakashi was free and finally got what the blonde brat was talking about, "Damn brat!"

"Looks like you underestimated my Genin," Kakashi said, "Its just you and me now."

Sasuke was standing by Naruto who looked a little winded but was able to stand thanks to Tazuna and surprisingly Sakura who gave him back his can to help him stay steady, "It worked…your plan really worked…." Tazuna stared.

Naruto smiled a little, "Glad it did otherwise we'd be in real trouble right now. Good job protecting Tazuna-san, Sakura."

"Y-Yeah…" she said feeling like she didn't deserve the compliment because she didn't do anything useful.

The plan was for both Sasuke and Naruto to engage the water clone first, then when that was done they were to put Zabuza in a position where he would have no choice but to lower the water prison thus freeing Kakashi. Its scary when a plan actually works, but in this case it was godsend that it did.

Zabuza was staring at the Genin, "So I got taken off guard by two brats, no," he eyed Naruto, "That one right there is something else. Hm?" he stared at the blonde a little while longer and noticed something that took him of all people by surprise.

Kakashi gave the man a warning glare, "I suggest you stop staring at him right now because this will be your last day alive."

"Heh, we'll see." Zabuza started to make hand signs, Ox → Monkey → Hare → Rat → Boar → Bird → Ox → Horse → Bird → Rat → Tiger → Dog → Tiger → Snake → Ox → Ram → Snake → Boar → Ram → Rat → Yang Water → Monkey → Bird → Dragon → Bird → Ox → Horse → Ram → Tiger → Snake → Rat → Monkey → Hare → Boar → Dragon → Ram → Rat → Ox → Monkey → Bird → Yang Water → Rat → Boar → Bird.

Kakashi saw the hand signs and copied them, Ox → Monkey → Hare → Rat → Boar → Bird → Ox → Horse → Bird → Rat → Tiger → Dog → Tiger → Snake → Ox → Ram → Snake → Boar → Ram → Rat → Yang Water → Monkey → Bird → Dragon → Bird → Ox → Horse → Ram → Tiger → Snake → Rat → Monkey → Hare → Boar → Dragon → Ram → Rat → Ox → Monkey → Bird → Yang Water → Rat → Boar → Bird.

"Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu)!" they both yelled at the same time and two water dragons appeared with yellow eyes before attacking at the same time cancelling each other out.

"W-Wow…what a powerful jutsu!" Sakura stared.

Kakashi and Zabuza clashed with kunai and blade before Zabuza tried to use the Kirigakure no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu) again and saw Kakashi was following his every movement making him stop, 'It's as if he knows what I'm-'

"Going to do next." Kakashi cut him off making Zabuza's eyes widen.

'I-Is he reading my mind?! He's looking right at me with that-' his thoughts were cut off again.

"Freaky looking eye of his." Kakashi cut him off again almost as though he was reading his mind.

Zabuza wasted no time and tried to form some hand signs before he stopped his blood running cold when he saw a shadow of himself behind the Jounin, 'I-Is that me…is this a Genjutsu?!'

Kakashi saw the hesitation and used that time to strike, Tiger → Ox → Monkey → Rabbit → Ram → Boar → Ox → Horse → Monkey → Tiger → Dog → Tiger → Snake → Tiger → Ox → Monkey → Rabbit → Bird: "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu)!" water started to swirl around the ninja.

"What?! But how?!" Zabuza didn't have time to dwell on it long because he was swept by the giant water vortex jutsu that thrashed him like some kin of ragdoll tearing through the forest, tearing down any unfortunate trees that stood in its path. The Nukenin stood up slowly as his body was soaked to the bone.

He stared at Kakashi, "You…can you see into the future…?"

"Yes," Kakashi raised a kunai up preparing to strike the defenseless Zabuza down, "And your future…is death." Before he slit the mans throat two Senbon needles struck the man in the neck making his eyes widen before slumping over dead.

Another person made themselves known, stepping out into the clearing was a young man wearing a white mask with red markings that had the symbol for Kirigakure on it. He had black hair with some of it in a white bun with two strands loose, wearing an outfit that stopped at his knees underneath a green haori with white edges and brown sash wrapped around the waist.

"You were right," The young spoke, "He's dead now."

Sakura's legs were shaking, "W-Who's that?"

"A hunter ninja from Kirigakure no Sato." Kakashi explained walking over to Zabuza while at the same time keeping an eye on the young man. Pointing two fingers to the man's neck he felt no pulse, "He's dead."

"I've been tracking down Zabuza Momochi for a long time now and found this to be a golden opportunity. And here I was starting to think I'd never be able to complete my assignment." The young man said as he picked up the dead body of Zabuza who had his blade strapped to his back. The young man bowed his head before disappearing.

Naruto felt there was something off about the guy but didn't voice it out loud. He'd wait and see if his instincts were right on this one. His ears picked up a 'thump' sound, "I think Kakashi-sensei just passed out."

Sasuke and Sakura ran over to him while Naruto walked slowly still a little exhausted from using that Wood Dragon Jutsu from earlier, he felt Tazuna was helping him walk over to his sensei which he found strange but didn't comment on it, "Tazuna-san, can you carry our sensei for us?"

"You got it kid." Tazuna bent down and picked the man up hefting him over his shoulder to keep him steady, "My house isn't that far from here, its about a half-hour. I'll take you there."

"Thanks." Naruto thanked.

Tazuna's House

"Tsunami I'm home!" Tazuna announced as the Genin helped open the door and all walked inside the house. A young woman with black hair appeared from the kitchen, "Dad your home! Oh, do we have guests?"

"Yes, their the ninja that protected me on my way back here." Tazuna said, "This is Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and…Naruto Uzumaki."

Her eyes widened when he said the blonde boys last name and looked over at him. Sensing he was being stared at he spoke, "Is there something wrong?"

"N-No of course not! Please come inside! Oh, he doesn't look so good, dad take him upstairs!" Tsunami told her father. Just then a little boy with a white cap wearing green overalls walked downstairs.

"Mom, who are these people?" The boy eyed them.

"Oh Inari, these are the ninja's that helped your Jiji get here safely. Say hello." She smiled.

Inari glared at them, "Their just going to die anyway! They should just leave!" he ran back upstairs.

"Inari!" Tsunami yelled.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.

Sakura looked mad, 'Who does that brat think he is?!'

Naruto simply sighed, "We should get Kakashi-sensei upstairs and let him sleep."

Tazuna nodded and brought the man upstairs with the three Genin following right behind him, Sasuke opened the door to the room allowing Tazuna to bring the comatose Kakashi inside and laid him down on the futon. With his students gathered around the unconscious man.

"You guys can sleep up here with him if you want…looks like he's already asleep." The man looked over at Naruto who was slumped near the window holding onto his cane passed out sleep. The man chuckled getting a blanket out from the closet and placing it around the boy.

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Honestly how is he already asleep?"

"Because he and the other boy did most of the work and you didn't." Tazuna frowned at the girl.

She felt as though someone just drove a kunai to her chest a hearing the client bluntly tell her she didn't pull her own weight during this mission. While its true she protected Tazuna twice but that wasn't saying much about her abilities as a kunoichi, what would she do if those ninja's weren't taken down by Naruto and Sasuke at the time and one of them managed to slip past and come straight for her. What would she do? Stand there and be scared?

Sasuke agreed with what Tazuna said, he and Naruto were basically the only one pulling their own weight into the mission while all she did was look scared and ready to faint. Is she really even suitable at being a kunoichi? He didn't even know anymore.

---

The next day Kakashi woke up feeling better after getting a night's rest and wondered where his students where. He heard the door open making him look over to see who it was and saw it was Naruto who had his can in one hand and a cup of tea in the other.

"Naruto?"

"Your awake then, huh?" the blonde said walking in and making his way over to him passing him the tea, "Here, Tsunami-san made it."

Kakashi took it and took brought his mask down to drink it. It was too bad Naruto couldn't see because it would have been fun to tease him about what was underneath his mask. Having finished his tea he looked over at his student, "Where are Sasuke and Sakura?"

"Downstairs eating breakfast," Naruto told him, "When I finished mine I came up here and brought some tea for you."

"How thoughtful of you." Kakashi smiled.

"If you say so." Naruto shrugged.

The Jounin gave the blonde a serious look, "Engaging Zabuza like that was dangerous Naruto."

"Technically I didn't engage him, and besides it wasn't just me Sasuke was there helping too. The plan was to go after the clone first then try to dispel it, when that was done we were to force Zabuza's hand in freeing you from the water prison. It worked." Naruto told the Jounin casually.

Kakashi blinked, "You thought of a strategy in such a tense situation?"

"Strategy? Well I guess you can say that, but it involved me keeping calm and that wasn't exactly easy. Being blind means my senses are sharper than most and I can easily sense negative emotions in droves, like anger, hatred, jealousy, and killing intent being the worst of them all. Zabuza's killing intent was up there but being around the Old man and having felt his at full force twice I got used to feeling it, but still Zabuza's was potent enough to force Sasuke into almost taking his own life and making me just as uneasy." Naruto explained.

Kakashi sat there and stared at his student as he explained himself, 'Is he finally opening up to me?'

"Anyway, I'm not arrogant enough to think I actually stand a chance against one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. I'm surprised we even managed to trick him into freeing you from the water prison but I doubt we'd be able to do it again." Naruto said.

Kakashi didn't miss the 'do it again' part of the sentence and was about to ask when Sasuke and Sakura walked in, when they saw their sensei was awake they were relieved though Sasuke will try to deny it.

"Kakashi-sensei, your awake!" Sakura was relieved to see he was okay and sat down near the futon. Sasuke sat on the other side.

"I'm doing just fine, just needed some sleep is all." Kakashi smiled at his two students before his face became serious, "Now since your all here, I feel you should know that Zabuza is still alive."

"What?!" Sakura yelled.

Sasuke looked eager to go up against Zabuza again, and Naruto had his suspicions when he felt some chakra flow sill going on in Zabuza.

"H-How do you know?" Sakura questioned hoping he was wrong.

Kakashi looked over at Naruto, "Did you sense he was still alive even though he wasn't breathing anymore?"

Naruto nodded, "I still felt some signs of life in Zabuza even though you said he was no longer breathing. What was the weapon that Hunter-nin used?"

"Senbon."

"Yeah, he's still alive."

"What are you two talking about?" Sasuke questioned.

"My mentor told me that Senbon needles put you in a death like state if used in the right hands especially if you get hit in the neck with them." Naruto explained what Yamato-sensei said when it came to working with different weapons.

"That's right, it didn't even occur to me at the time because I was low on chakra and exhausted. Another red flag is that Hunter-nin dispose of the body by burning it, so there's nothing left. This one simply took Zabuza's body along with him as he disappeared." Kakashi stated.

The three Genin took the time to process what they were told, "How long do you think it'll take for Zabuza to come back for a rematch?"

"I'd say about a week, which means you three need to train and guard Tazuna during the week we have to prepare." Kakashi told them seriously.

Naruto didn't mind the training because he was thinking about doing some training himself while he was here. His sword skills could still need some work.

---

Zabuza opened his eyes slowly and saw the face of his partner, "Did you have to stick them in my neck, Haku?"

Haku merely chuckled, "My apologies Zabuza-sama, but I believe it was the smartest move to make in you current situation."

He closed his eyes, "You saw right?"

"Yes, the blonde one's kekkei genkai took me by surprise. I was told that no one in the village showed any signs of having it since the death of their Shodaime, so I was surprised." Haku expressed.

"Yeah. But that's not all I discovered about the brat…he's completely blind." He told the boy.

Haku's eyes widened, "Blind? But he didn't act as though he was."

"No shit. Back when I was still with the Seven Swordsmen there was a blind samurai from the Land of Iron that gave us a run for our money. There were mist ninja with us at the time, but that didn't matter to the guy. Killed every last one of them in one single sword strike, first time in my life I've been scared of someone. A blind samurai is dangerous, but a blind ninja is a beast."

"I see…so he's our biggest threat then?" Haku asked.

"Yeah, but I still like the kid." Zabuza admitted.

Haku couldn't help but smile.

The door opened and in came Gato along with two thugs, "Well well, look at this? So this is what the famous Demon of the Mist had been reduced to?" he walked over to the bed about to touch him when Haku grabbed his wrist squeezing it tightly.

Haku glared at the man, "Keep your filthy hands off of him." Letting the man's wrist go.

Gato rubbed his swore wrist, "Just get the job done or else!" he walked out along with his two guards.

Zabuza opened his eyes, "I'll be getting rid of that fat pig soon."

"I'll be sure to help assist when that time comes." Haku said.

---

Kakashi had them outside where they were surrounded by trees, for some reason Naruto felt at peace here as soon as they came to Nami no Kuni. He couldn't explain it but the feeling was not unwelcomed.

"Okay, for training today I'm gong to teach how to tree climb." Kakashi smiled.

Naruto's lips twitched in amusement because he already knew it, but Sasuke and Sakura were confused.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei we already know how to climb trees." Sakura was confused.

Kakashi gave her an amused look, "I didn't mean with your hands." He demonstrated by going over to a tree and walking up on it with just his feet and hung upside down, "I meant like this."

Sasuke and Sakura couldn't believe it! They never learned that in the Academy!

Kakashi jumped down, "Alright, your turn to try."

The three of them got to work and started walking up the tree, Sakura and Naruto had no problems what with the blonde having done it before with Yamato but Sasuke had a hard time and fell due to poor chakra control.

"Well, it seems Naruto and Sakura have it down. Keep trying Sasuke." Kakashi said.

"You can do it, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered hoping he didn't hate her for being able to do it.

Naruto simply jumped down and walked away much to the confusion of his team, "Going somewhere Naruto?"

"Don't worry about it." Naruto said still walking away.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, try as he might he just couldn't figure out what goes on inside his head, 'How does Tenzo do it?'

Naruto had no reason to stay because he already knew how to do the tree climbing exercise anyway, so he simply went to back to Tazuna's place but he felt the man coming to him instead making him stop, "Tazuna-san?"

"There you are!" Tazuna stopped running to catch his breath, "There's a place I want to take you to."

"A place?" the blonde tilted his head in confusion.

"That's right." Tazuna said.

Earlier

"So his last name really is Uzumaki?" Tsunami asked just to be sure.

"No doubt about it, his sensei confirmed it when I asked him. He could be one of them." Tazuna told her.

"But his hair color's different."

"That doesn't matter! We finally have one of them here, if this works then tis proves their clan still lives through him." Tazuna said with determination.

Tsunami thought about it then nodded her head, "Okay, take him straight to the temple understand?"

"Got it." Tazuna nodded.

Now

Tazuna was leading Naruto towards the temple but the blonde was unaware of this and just simply followed the man without question. Naruto was curious as to where they were going though and why he only wanted just him and not his whole team but it must be something important if he only wanted him to come.

Tazuna lead the blonde towards the temple that was left by them all those years ago, believe it or not but Nami no Kuni and Uzu no Kuni were trading partners until their village was destroyed. He saw the looks of the people and gave them a nod towards the blonde making them stop what they were doing and look at the blonde with slight hope in their eyes. He was hopeful himself hoping that he wasn't wrong. They stopped at a temple that had a moon and sun symbol on it.

Naruto was feeling a pull as soon as they stopped and couldn't figure out why, "Tazuna-san, where are we?"

"We're at a temple that was created here a long time ago but it was said that only the one to inherit all of Ninshū in a past life will be able to enter and bring peace to the world." Tazuna explained.

Naruto didn't understand what that meant at all but found his body moving all on its own towards the temple, as soon as he walked through the pillars he disappeared before Tazuna making the mans eyes widen, "It worked…it worked! He's the one!"

---

Naruto felt something was different, "Tazuna-san? Tazuna-san?" he didn't hear from the old man and started to get on the defensive when a voice stopped him.

"Stay calm and walk ahead of you." The voice instructed sounding like a male.

Naruto froze when he inched for his sword, "W-Who?"

"Calm down, kit. Walk forward like the voice told you to." He heard Kurama's voice told him calmly.

Naruto was still a little skeptical but listened to Kurama and walked forward like he was told.

"Keep going straight ahead. I'll tell you when to stop."

Naruto frowned, 'What's going on? And why does this voice sound familiar as though I've heard it before?'

"Stop."

Naruto stopped walking and listened to what I was going to tell him next.

"There are stairs before you, so walk carefully."

The blonde walked slowly feeling the urge to count the steps but didn't because of his current situation. He felt that he on top of the stairs and listened to what he should do next.

"Walk forward and touch the statue before you."

Naruto walked forward moving his hand around to feel a statue that supposed to be in front of him, as soon as he touched something that felt like stone he felt pain shoot through his head causing him to cry out in pain. He felt images that didn't belong to him but someone else.

A man with two horns on his head standing before two children. One with short spikey brown hair. Another with long brown hair.

The God Tree.

Being named the inheritor of Ninshū, seeing the jealous rage of the person sitting next to him.

The death of the man that named him the inheritor of Ninshū.

A battle between the two males that nearly ended in death. A feud that's lasted through centuries.

Asura and Indra Ōtsutsuki.

Having received to much information he passed out unaware of his body glowing white.

---

Figures wearing black hoods felt a warm and strong power radiating from somewhere and knew what it meant.

"Do you feel that?"

"Yes, the prophecy has been made true. The Uzumaki we've spent years waiting for has awakened."

"Then!"

The leader nodded seriously, "Yes…we must find that Uzumaki."

---

Mindscape

Naruto felt comfortable.

He wasn't sure why though, but it felt like he was laying on something nice and warm and snuggled into it but froze when he heard it chuckle. Getting up quickly had scampered away from whatever he was laying on, "W-Who are you?!"

He heard the person chuckle again, "There's no need to be afraid Naruto. You saw my memories, so you know who I am."

The blonde blinked then relaxed but was still slightly confused, "Asura…Asura Ōtsutsuki…?"

Asura smiled, "Yep. Nice to meet you."

"L-Likewise." He stuttered.

Asura chuckled, "There's no need to be nervous around me. We are one in the same after all."

Naruto was confused until he remembered something, "A feud that's lasted through centuries…so your saying that I'm you and your me?"

Asura nodded, "That's right. The last reincarnation of me came in the form your first Hokage, Hashirama Senju."

"What?! I didn't know that!" Naruto said.

"Not most would, not even the Senju or Uzumaki clan knew why there was so much bad blood between them and the Uchiha clan, but mostly the Senju and Uchiha." Asura explained.

"So its true then…my clan really doe exist." Naruto said, "Wait, this feud that started between the Senju and Uchiha was because of you and-"

"Indra," Asura said sadly, "My older brother. He made the Uchiha clan while I created both the Senju and Uzumaki clan, though your clan mostly had red hair making you the exception because of who your father is."

Naruto didn't even know what to feel or say right now but found the will to speak, "So…the Uzumaki clan and Senju clan are related?"

"Yes, both clans became related to each other by blood because of the marriage between both Mito Uzumaki and Hashirama Senju. Both clans are my descendants, while the Uchiha's are Indra's descendants." He explained.

"No way…so I'm related to Hashirama Senju?" Naruto questioned.

"You are."

Naruto smiled having found out he was related to the First Hokage but there was something else he wanted to ask, "So your brother Indra created the Uchiha clan meaning he was the first person to have the Sharingan?"

"Technically father had the Sharingan, brother simply inherited it from him," Asura smiled, "But yes, he created the clan and I'm afraid he the clan was made to believe that power was everything instead of bonds."

"Bonds?"

"Naruto, no matter what anyone else says bonds are important." Asura smiled having remembered his friends and his family.

Naruto blinked, "Bonds…" he thought of Yamato, Hinata, Hokage-jiji, Iruka, Konohamaru, Teuchi, and Ayame. They were his bonds.

Asura smiled then frowned moving forward touching the boys face making him jump at the contact, "I saw what has happened in your life from your childhood all the way up to now. Your sight was stolen by a villager who knew no better, you were forced to live in the dark without the light but it didn't get your spirits down, you were taunted by the villagers forced to listen to their cruel words but you ignored them. They then ignored your existence but that didn't bother you at all because of the bonds you have with those around you. Your heart was in pain and though it has lessened the pain still remains. You don't see Kurama as the incarnation of evil and gained both his trust and loyalty."

Naruto was taken back, "Y-You…how do you know about Kurama?"

Asura smiled, "I know Kurama because he is my brother as well as the rest of the Bijū."

"Bijū? There are more of them out there?" Naruto questioned.

Kurama then decided to make his presence known, "That's right, I never expected to see you inside Naruto yet here you are…Asura."

Asura smiled, "Call me brother Kurama. We are family after all."

Kurama blushed and looked away.

"What?" Naruto was confused.

"My father Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki created the Bijū to prevent the Jūbi from being whole again, however he would be saddened to see them like this. Captured and used as weapons when that's not what they are. They are living beings just like the rest of us." Asura frowned.

Naruto felt the same as Asura, when he first met Kurama he was surprised but then intrigued that something so big was inside of him, "I don't see Kurama as something bad. When I first Kurama I was surprised but then kinda happy because I finally had someone to talk to after being alone for so long, Kurama tells the best stories."

Good thing Kurama's fur is orange otherwise they'd be able to see the blush that was on his face.

Asura smiled, "I know, you two have looked out for each other. You even created this beautiful landscape for him inside your mind. You are truly kind, it's a shame the people of your village can't see that."

"There are a few who do, so its fine. But I have a question, does the Mokuton originate from you?" he wondered.

"Actually yes it does, I was the first to use it, then Hashirama, and now you." Asura smiled.

"Were you able to hear the voices of the trees and did they move or grow when you were around?" Naruto questioned.

"Now that you mention it, that did happen a few times." Asura recalled.

'So it passes on from each reincarnation, meaning the Shodaime could do it to.' The blonde thought.

"Naruto, since you have Kurama sealed inside you I want to tell you about the rest of my imprisoned siblings." Asura told him.

Naruto nodded.

"There's the Ichibi-Shukaku, Nibi-Matatabi, Sanbi-Isobu, Yonbi-Son Gokū, Gobi- Kokuō, Rokubi-Saiken, Nanabi-Chōmei, and Hachibi-Gyūki." He named his siblings and tails.

"With Kurama the Kyūbi that makes all nine, but you mentioned the Jūbi. Is it dangerous?" Naruto questioned.

Asura gave him a serious look, "The Jūbi is a representation of my grandmother, Kagura Ōtsutsuki. My father became its first Jinchūriki and split its chakra into nine pieces so it would cause no further harm."

'Those nine pieces were Kurama and his siblings.' Naruto thought.

"The Jūbi's power was very dangerous, that's why father and uncle sealed it away and hoped that it would never return again." Asura said.

"Uncle?"

"Hamura Ōtsutsuki, he held the Byakugan." Asura said.

"Then he's Hinata-chan's ancestor!" Naruto said in total shock.

Asura nodded, "Naruto, I have a favor to ask of you."

"What is it?"

"I want you and Kurama to grow stronger together."

Naruto and Kurama blinked, "Eh…?"

The man laughed, "Well, a Jinchūriki is able to use a portion of their Bijū's chakra but I want you to have full control over Kurama's chakra for I believe in the near future you will need it."

"Is that…even possible?" Naruto looked over at Kurama.

"It is," Kurama stared at the blonde then at Asura, "I don't have a very high opinion of humans after they basically butchered father's teachings and stole Naruto's sight. But, I'll help Naruto with whatever he needs of me. I already gave him my name, that proves I trust him."

"Kurama…" Naruto stared at the fox.

Kurama grinned.

Asura smiled at their interaction, "When you feel like your ready to try and sync with each other then come back here to the temple, oh and before I forget. Since you have all of my memories stored within you now your able to use some of my abilities."

"I am?"

Asura nodded, "Your major affinity is "Wind," but being my reincarnation and me awakening within you, you now have "Yōton (Yang Release)."

"Yōton (Yang Release)?"

"Its physical energy that governs vitality able to breath life into form. I know you cant see it but you have a sun symbol for Yōton on your right palm. Being my descendant you've had the ability to use it, it just wasn't awakened until now." Asura mentioned.

"I-I see."

"You are also a Sensory type and since you and Kurama already have a bond between you two you can sense the negative emotions of others, and since you're a sensor that means you have the Kanchi no Jutsu (Sensory Jutsu)."

'Well that explains how I can sense a person's chakra despite being blind.' The blonde thought.

"Anything else?" Naruto asked.

"Hmmm, I'll tell you when you come here and train to use Kurama's chakra." Asura smiled.

Naruto and Kurama sweat-dropped, 'Your too carefree.'

"I should send you back and you should wake up now," Asura rubbed the boy's head, "I'll see you soon, Naruto."

There was a bright light that blinded everything.

---

Naruto woke up and felt like he had a headache but the pain left just as quickly, feeling around for his cane he found it was right next to him and grabbed it. Standing up slowly he wondered which way to go to leave.

"I'll give you directions Naruto." Asura smiled.

"Your still here?" Naruto said in surprise.

"Of course. I know you can get around on your own just fine but I still like to be helpful." Asura grinned.

Naruto couldn't help but smiled himself, "Tell me where to go then."

---

Naruto was finally out of the temple and sensed a crowed before him making him raise a brow, "Am I surrounded by people or is that just my imagination?" he felt a slap on the back.

"No imagination kid! Looks like I was right, you're an Uzumaki of the Uzumaki clan!" Tazuna grinned as the citizens smiled and cheered.

"So you know of the Uzumaki clan then? I didn't know that." Naruto was surprised.

"Yeah, back when they still had a village we did some trading with Uzu no Kuni and a few of the members of the Uzumaki clan gave built us this temple along with a prophecy attached to it." Tazuna explained.

"Prophecy?"

"The one who bears the will of the chosen inheritor of Ninshū will bring peace to the world." Tazuna recited.

'So it was basically designed for Asura's reincarnation which just so happens to be me.' Naruto thought.

"Looks that way." Asura said.

'I take it you didn't write this prophecy?'

"No, I wonder who did…"

'We'll think about that later, we should head back to the house. I'm getting hungry.'

"Agreed."

Naruto and Tazuna walked back to the house with the man sporting a huge smile on his face probably because he was right about Naruto being an Uzumaki. Opening the door to the house Tazuna gave Tsunami a peace sign making her smile grow and she practically dragged Naruto towards the table sitting him down and placing his food before him still smiling.

Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke were confused as to what happened. They came back to the house and Tsunami told them that her father needed to see Naruto for something important and that she couldn't tell them. Waiting at the house for about an hour the two finally walked in, Kakashi didn't know why but it felt like the aura around Naruto had changed somewhat. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Where did you two go?" Kakashi questioned.

Naruto didn't say anything at first then spoke, "Nowhere important. Just walked around and talked, that's all."

"Your not going to tell him?" Asura questioned.

'Me and Kakashi-sensei aren't that close.'

"I see."

Tsunami came into the kitchen and smiled, "So how did your training go? Are you making any progress?"

Kakashi answered, "Sakura has the tree climbing technique down, and Sasuke finally got it after a few tries," he looked over at Naruto, "I'm surprised you got it that quickly Naruto."

"That's because I already know how to do the tree climbing exercise. I've been able to do it since I was five." Naruto told him.

Sasuke clenched his teacup in anger.

"I see."

Naruto got to eating wanting to end this conversation because he could sense Sasuke's emotions and thought it be best not to speak anymore. He didn't even flinch or stop eating when he heard someone slam their hands on the table.

'Probably Inari.' The blonde thought still eating.

"Why do you all bother anyway?! Your just gonna die! Gato's strong, there's no way you can beat him!" Inari yelled.

Sasuke's patience with this kid was wearing really thin, and Sakura was frowning at him. Just what was this kids problem? Kakashi brought his book out ignoring the kid wanting to see how his students would handle the situation. Inari then turned his attention to Naruto who was still eating and glared, "And you! Just looking at you makes me sick! Why do you even bother training when you cant even see?! What can a blind person do anyway?! You have no idea what we've suffered so stop trying to be a hero already!"

Everyone tensed at what Naruto would do. But to their surprise he simply stood up grabbing his dishes and walked over to the kitchen and washed his dishes before putting them away. He then came back and grabbed his cane before turning towards Tsunami, "Thank you for the food. It was very good." He smiled.

"Y-Your welcome."

Inari was about to tell him off again but Naruto shut him up, "Your weak." The blonde stated to the boy shutting him up, "Your weak, but your grandfather and mother are strong because they've had enough of Gato's reign over this land and want it to end, that's why their fighting back. Their tired of being afraid, but your still stuck in your fear and let it control you."

Inari couldn't say anything back.

"If you don't believe in heroes that's fine, but don't try to sway other people's opinions just because your scared. We're ninja's meaning that we're not scared of some coward like Gato who hides behind strong people because he himself is weak," Naruto stated calmly, "And by the way, just because I'm blind doesn't mean I'm incapable of doing basic things, like walking, cooking, sleeping, and eating. I can still function like a normal person, still fight like a normal ninja as well, and can move around just fine as you just saw."

He's right. They still didn't understand why that worked but it was best not to ask.

"And what you've suffered? Hate to break to you kid but ninja have it far worse than you do. We lose everything before we even start to grow into adults, someone like you who wouldn't know the first thing about suffering has no right to compare himself to anyone. Everyone suffers tragedy in their life, its not just you. Someone like you knows nothing about us at all, so don't act like you know everything because you don't. If you hate the outside world so much then lock yourself in your room for all eternity and never come out and let the brave people who aren't afraid to appreciate what they have in life or stand up for themselves because they've had enough handle everything while you stay and remain a coward until the day you die." Naruto opened the door and walked out deciding to sleep outside instead of inside the house.

Inari had tears streaming down his eyes but his grandfather Tazuna showed no sympathy towards the boy because he was tired of this behavior for a long time now, "He's right Inari. Your father wasn't afraid to stand up to Gato and called him out on it, and although it got him killed in the end he still proved that there are people in the world that can stand up to people like Gato. I'm not scared of Gato and won't let him have his way with this land anymore."

Inari said nothing and simply ran upstairs still crying. Tsunami looked over at her father, "Do you think he'll take what you said to heart?"

Tazuna shrugged.

"Um, excuse me. Who are you two talking about?" Sakura questioned.

"Inari's father, he was the first person to stand up to Gato, calling him out on all his bullshit. Gato didn't appreciate that and had him publicly executed and made us all watch, including Inari." Tazuna explained.

Sakura was disgusted that Gato could do such a thing.

"Ever since then, Inari sees the world in black and white. But…his father wouldn't want him to think that its fine to just give up and let people walk all over you. I'm glad Naruto said what I've been trying to say for awhile now," Tazuna looked at Kakashi, "Now that I think about it, how did he lose his sight anyway? Was he born blind?"

Kakashi closed his eye, "No, up until he was five years old he could see just fine."

"He lost his sight at five years old?" Tsunami gasped.

"How did it happen?" Tazuna asked curiously.

Sasuke and Sakura were curious to know themselves.

Kakashi opened his eye and looked away from them, "Its best you don't know how. Not until he's ready to tell you himself."

Everyone in the room didn't pester him about it anymore knowing that it probably wasn't very pleasant to talk about.

---

Haku wandered through the woods looking for some herbs but instead he saw the blonde Zabuza talked about sleeping upright on a tree holding his cane in hand, but that's not all he saw. The blonde was surrounded by plants and two birds were perched on his each shoulder that Haku couldn't help but feel mesmerized. He walked over and simply stared at the sleeping blonde fascinated about how he was able to sleep like this and feel completely at ease.

"Can I help you with something?" Naruto spoke making Haku flinch.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." Haku apologized.

"It's fine," Naruto yawned as he opened his eyes, "I woke up as soon as I sensed I was being watched. I just wanted to see what you'd do."

Haku was staring at his eyes, 'Zabuza-sama was right. He really is blind. I didn't notice it before when I rescued Zabuza-sama but looking more closely I see that he really can't see, yet he was able to sense my presence.'

Naruto stretched his arms above his head making the two birds fly up before landing on his shoulder again as he stopped stretching, "Am I wrong or do I feel two presences on my shoulders?"

Haku chuckled, "Your not imagining it. There are two birds perched on your shoulders. They seem to feel at ease around you, as though you're the sun that shines brightly within the dark."

Naruto thought of the mark on his right palm. Asura didn't exactly explain he'd be given the ability to attract birds. He made a mental note to ask for an explanation later.

"Sun, huh?" Naruto did feel the suns rays on his face, that might have been the second bad thing about being blind. The first was never being able to see Hinata's face, the second was this. Before he went blind he loved looking up at the sky, feeling the suns rays on his face and watching the blue sky. Now all he sees is pitch black and nothing else.

"If you don't mind me asking, why were you sleeping out here all by yourself?" Haku wondered.

"I like sleeping outside," Naruto answered, "It doesn't happen often but when it does I take full advantage of it. Why are you out here?"

Haku showed him his basket, "I was looking for some herbs to help my friend. He's not feeling very well."

"I see." Naruto said.

Haku smiled, "I'm Haku. What's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Haku didn't show his surprised face openly but it was a different story inwardly. He's an Uzumaki? But his hair color's different.

"It's nice to meet you," Haku smiled, "By the way Naruto-san, do you have someone who's precious to you?"

Naruto blinked at the question but answered, "I do. Several people actually. I keep them very close to my heart because I want to protect them."

Haku smiled, "Do you have a dream?"

Dream? Does he have such a thing? He thought about it for a while before answering, "My dream…is to become someone that protects his loved ones."

Haku stood up with a smile on his face, "Then…don't let go of that dream." He walked away from the blonde.

"Wait."

Haku stopped, "Hm?"

"You…you're a boy aren't you?" he deadpanned.

Haku couldn't stop his fit of laughter. So he did notice.

---

Haku stepped in Zabuza's room and saw the man was sitting up on the bed, "You went to see the kid, huh?"

"Yes I did, he's very interesting."

Zabuza smirked, "Told ya."

"He figured out I was a boy and not a girl even though he couldn't see, also…he's an Uzumaki." Haku said seriously.

Zabuza gave Haku his own serious look, "You sure about that?"

"He said his full name. Naruto Uzumaki, the hair color may be different, but I can sense he is definitely an Uzumaki." Haku confirmed.

Zabuza closed his eyes, "Once we've taken out Gato we'll take the kid with us. His village is too weak to go up against them."

"Indeed."

---

Naruto was currently guarding Tazuna and using his Shadow Clone to help with the construction of the bridge. Ever since the whole temple fiasco and proving that he was indeed an Uzumaki the whole town saw the blonde as a beacon of hope that they longed for. The workers worked their buts off to help and make sure the bridge was finished.

Sasuke and Sakura also took turns in guarding Tazuna and his family, while doing that their thoughts were focused on their blind teammate and how they truly knew nothing about him at all, or how he became blind in the first place. Naruto didn't try to bond with them in the first place that's true but still…weren't they a team?

Before they knew it a week had past and that meant Zabuza would be here soon along with his accomplice.

Sakura was charged with protecting Tazuna, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto were charged with taking the offensive. Kakashi will fight Zabuza, while Sasuke and Naruto fight the man's accomplice. All of them were currently at the bridge waiting for the confrontation, Naruto had a feeling that Gato would try to target Tazuna's family so he had two Shadow Clones guarding the house, one inside to protect Tsunami and Inari while the other one stayed outside the house to guard it.

A mist soon came into view covering the bridge but not completely, two figures appeared from the mist and everyone was on guard. Kakashi had his Sharingan active while the Genin got ready to do their assigned jobs.

Zabuza hefted his sword Kubikiribōchō over his shoulder, "Yo Kakashi, ready for round two?"

"It won't go as last time." Kakashi told him.

Zabuza looked over at Haku who looked at him giving the boy a silent order, "Remember. Try and see if you can persuade the blonde to come with us, if not paralyze him and we'll take off."

"Understood." Haku nodded.

Kakashi didn't miss the exchange and suddenly got a bad feeling. He remembered that Zabuza had taken an interest in the blonde and didn't like it at all.

Naruto eyed the boy with Zabuza and sure enough it was the same hunter-nin from before. So Kakashi was right, the guy was really working for Zabuza after all. He had a feeling he knew the boy too.

"Be careful Naruto." Asura warned.

'I know.'

"Deal with the Uchiha brat and Uzumaki kid." Zabuza ordered Haku who nodded.

Kakashi's blood ran cold, "How do you know about Naruto?!"

"Heh, did you morons really think you could hide the kid forever? Sooner or later someone was bound to find out about him." Zabuza pointed his blade and the Jounin, "Let's make a wager, Kakashi. I've lost interest in the bridge builder, if you lose against me the Uzumaki kid comes with me. Even your no match for them. They've probably already sensed him since he's an Uzumaki."

"Them?" Kakashi questioned.

Sasuke and Sakura wondered what was so special about the name 'Uzumaki?' and why was Zabuza so interested in taking Naruto with him?

Haku wasted no time in attacking throwing Senbon needles at the two Naruto felt them coming and yanked Sasuke away so he wouldn't get hit while making sure he didn't get hit himself.

They landed a little further away from everyone else, "Don't let your guard down with him. He'd dangerous." The blonde warned putting his sword down getting ready to use his ninjutsu instead. Using Kenjutsu would have no effect on a battle like this one.

'Let's see how this plays out.'

"Hmph, take your own advice." Sasuke said.

Haku appeared from the mist, "You…are an Uchiha. I see so there was still one left in the world, and you are the last Uzumaki."

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "I didn't think anyone knew about us anymore, but I guess some do."

"Oi, what are you two talking about?" Sasuke demanded.

"It doesn't concern you, I suggest you forfeit Uchiha, while I suggest you come with us peacefully Uzumaki-san." Haku asked politely.

Naruto got in position, "Sorry, it sounds tempting but Konoha has its perks."

"As if I'd forfeit. Come." Sasuke got into position.

"I see…your choice is unfortunate," Haku made a hand sign, "Hijutsu: Makyō Hyōshō (Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals)." About twenty ice crystal mirrors appeared all around them and Haku disappeared into one.

Naruto smelled ice everywhere all round them and decided to take a guess, "I smell ice…is this Hyōton (Ice Release)?"

"What?" Sasuke looked at him.

"This is a kekkei genkai used only by the Yuki clan," Naruto remembered hearing about them from Yamato when they talked about different kekkei genkai's and what clan's held them, and the Yuki clan held Ice Release, "So your part of the Yuki clan."

"Correct, Uzumaki-san. I am the last of my clan just like you two, in my old village Kirigakure the Mizukage ordered the bloodline purge of all bloodlines. No one was spared, man woman, child. They were killed, I survived because my mother hid and settles down before giving birth to me. Once I awakened to my bloodline my father found out and gathered a mob to kill me and my mother. However, my bloodline killed him and the mob that were trying to kill me and I fled. That's when I met Zabuza-sama and vowed to stay by his side." Haku explained.

"I see." Naruto said sadly.

"Stop talking and fight." Sasuke said impatiently.

"Is he always like this?" Asura frowned at the boy.

"Damn Uchiha." Kurama growled.

"Very well." a senbon needle was launched from behind Sasuke striking him in the leg making him feel pain in his leg.

"Naruto, use my sensory jutsu! It should help you in battle! I know you have your enhance senses but this is a formidable opponent!" Asura told him.

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated, "Kanchi no Jutsu (Sensory Jutsu)." Closing his eyes he concentrated where Haku might strike from next, after about 2 minutes his eyes snapped open as he heard Haku call out his attack.

"Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō (Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)." A thousand long needles appeared from each crystal mirror coming at Naruto and Sasuke quickly.

Naruto acted quickly, Rat → Dog → Tiger, "Mokuton: Mokujōheki (Wood Style: Domed Wall Jutsu)!" a wood dome covered both Naruto and Sasuke covering them as a thousand needles attacked the wood dome instead of them. When the assault finally stopped Haku saw that the needles were stuck in the dome but it didn't break at all.

"Impressive." Haku complimented.

Naruto breathed a sigh of relief, "This defense is really useful."

"No kidding." Sasuke agreed, "How did you know he was going to use a jutsu like that?"

"I didn't. I just sensed he was going to use a really big one like the ice mirror technique." Naruto stated he put the wood dome down and Sasuke took that time to attack.

Rat → Tiger → Dog → Ox → Rabbit → Tiger: "Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu (Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu)!" Sasuke sent his trademark fireball jutsu at the ice pillars in front of him hoping that it would at least melt one of the ice pillars but it didn't, "What?!"

"So their resistant to Fire release techniques then, huh?" Naruto observed.

Haku sent more senbon needles at them prompting them both to dodge out of the way, the hunter-nin observed them, "I see, you are now both able to read and sense my movements."

Naruto looked over at Sasuke and saw it. The Uchiha had finally awakened his Sharingan, "Looks like you have your Sharingan active now."

Sasuke smirked, finally his Sharingan was awakened. Now he can follow Haku's movements as well as copy any jutsu Naruto might use.

Haku sent more senbon needles at the two, both of them just barely getting out of the way, Sasuke was able to because of his Sharingan and Naruto because he could sense the attacks coming.

Sasuke was starting to get used to Haku's movements and made to use another fireball jutsu, Snake → Ram → Monkey → Boar → Horse → Tiger: "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)!" Sasuke sent a giant fireball at the mirror's hoping to end the fight then and there. The Uchiha watched as the flames dispersed and to his surprise the ice still hadn't melted.

"What?!" Sasuke couldn't believe it was still there and he had used up a lot of chakra when using the Fireball Jutsu.

"I'm sorry…but I'm afraid you've lost," Haku said from behind the Uchiha heir making him freeze in place, "Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishō (Secret Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)." Using the same technique as before he sent a thousand senbon needles at the Uchiha heir, the needles piercing his body as he cried out in pain and soon feel backwards unmoving.

Haku stopped his jutsu and looked over at Naruto, "I did not wish to kill your friend, but he left me with no choice."

"It's fine, besides you didn't exactly kill Sasuke anyway. You missed hitting anything vital on purpose, didn't you?" Naruto said calmly.

Haku's eyes widened from beneath the mask.

Naruto wasted no time in attacking, Rat → Rabbit → Dog: "Fūton: Shinkūgyoku (Wind Style: Vacuum Bullets)!" taking a deep breath he exhaled several small blasts of wind chakra at the ice mirrors before him. Haku escaped to different mirrors but it proved to be futile as it hit wherever he was trying avoid and got him in the arm.

'He managed to shatter 3 mirrors and injure me as I was moving through them! Is this the power of the Uzumaki clan?' Haku thought holding his arm.

Naruto smirked inwardly, Yamato had brought a scroll to him saying that it had a list of wind techniques he had obtained from a long time when he left a certain organization not liking their methods. Before he made the decision to leave, he snuck into the office of the person he didn't agree with and stole their scroll of wind jutsu taking it with him as he left. The person he stole the scroll from…was none other than Danzo Shimura. Yamato told him that the man was dangerous and not to go near him at all. Warning received. If Yamato said the guy was dangerous to be around then he'd listen to him.

'I need to end this now though, because I'm getting a bad feeling all of a sudden,' Naruto thought making hand signs, Tiger → Ox → Dog → Rabbit → Snake: "Fūton: Daitoppa (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough)!" sending a stream of wind from his mouth he watched as the rest of the ice mirror's shattered and Haku flew away from the blonde, his mask cracking and falling off his face.

When he opened his eyes he saw the blonde was giving him a concerned look then smiled, "You know…I had a feeling it was you I was fighting."

Haku couldn't help but smile at the blonde, "How did you know?"

"I sensed your chakra signature," Naruto told him honestly, "When we first met, I sensed you had strong chakra and knew that you were no pushover. And now here you again fighting me and my teammate."

Haku smiled closing his eyes, "Your right…your friend is still alive."

"Yeah I kinda figured." Naruto smiled back helping Haku up, "Can you go get my sword for me? We need to get to Zabuza and Kakashi-sensei quickly, I'm getting a bad feeling."

Haku knew the boy couldn't see him nod so he simply took the blonde hand much to his surprise and helped lead him to his sword, "Uh…Haku?"

"I lost. So its only fair I help you as I do with Zabuza-sama." Haku smiled.

The blonde sighed, "Fine."

---

Kakashi and Zabuza were still fighting each other, with the silver haired Jounin using a kunai to fight against Zabuza's sword.

"Why are you after Naruto?" Kakashi demanded.

"Hmph, I'm no after kid. Didn't you hear me? They want the kids and will kill anyone who gets in their way," Zabuza stated, "If the kid comes with me we'll be on the move and they won't be able to find him."

"Naruto's safer in Konoha." Kakashi glared.

"You really think so?" Zabuza challenged, "I highly doubt even your Hokage can stand up to them."

"Who are they?" Kakashi wanted answers.

"Dunno," Zabuza shrugged, "They don't exactly announce their names out loud y'know."

Before Kakashi could attack and demand more answers they were interrupted by the voce of the last person they never expected to see, "Heh, you cant even kill a ninja despite being one yourself? Pathetic Zabuza."

Gato appeared along with various thugs behind him who were smirking like a bunch of creeps.

Zabuza snarled, "Gato…just what the hell do you think your doing?"

Gato smirked, "Missing-nin are very expensive, so I decided to cut you off…permanently."

Zabuza looked over at Kakashi, "What do you want to do?"

Kakashi still wanted answers from the man, but decided to put it off in favor of paying attention to the current situation, "It would seem we need to deal with him."

"Heh, fine by me." Zabuza grinned.

"Please allow me to assist you Zabuza-sama." Haku appeared next to the man as Naruto appeared next to Kakashi.

Zabuza grinned at Haku, "So you lost, huh? That's a first."

Haku smiled, "Yes, though I did enjoy myself."

"I can tell."

Kakashi looked over at Naruto and saw he was okay but wondered about Sasuke, "Sasuke's fine. He has a lot senbon needles stabbed into him but he'll live. Haku didn't hit anything vital. He's over by Sakura and Tazuna."

Kakashi was surprised the boy would go easy on Sasuke and Naruto at all, but was grateful nonetheless, "Good."

Gato smirked "Should you really be talking to yourselves right now? You realize you stand no chance against these men, right?"

Naruto made the clone seal, "Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu)." Multiple Naruto clones appeared all around Gato and his thugs making their jaws drop to the floor.

Kakashi was impressed Naruto could make this many clones. His chakra reserves are just impressive, "Well…this will take a lot out of me but I'll help out as well." Kakashi made multiple shadow clones himself.

Zabuza grinned and ran towards them at blinding speeds that no one could comprehend he passed by all the thugs heading straight for Gato not letting the man get any chance to escape. Gato could do nothing but stand there in horror as Zabuza was already in front of him and swing his sword down. The business mans head was sent flying through the air before it fell in the water below, Zabuza grabbed the body and tossed it in the water as well, "Hmph, trash."

"O-Oi!" one of the thugs yelled.

"You just killed out meal ticket!" the thug something hit his forehead and saw it was an arrow with a rubber tip on it and looked up seeing all of the citizens of Nami no Kuni glaring at them with Inari leading the citizens.

"We've had enough you guys terrorizing our town! Get out of here or you'll have to deal with us!" Inari got ready to use another arrow, and the citizens got ready to use their weapons in retaliation.

The thugs looked at the citizens then at the ninja's behind them, then at Zabuza. Turning towards each other they all took off leaving the town permanently not wanting to stay another minute.

Naruto sighed feeling they ran away and sent his clones away one by one instead of all at once, because summoning that many clones and dispelling them all at the same time would not be fun. Kakashi did the exact same thing.

Sakura was hovering over Sasuke worriedly and saw him twitch before opening his eyes, "Sasuke-kun!" she smiled in relief.

Sasuke felt pain all around him but wanted to know, "What happened?"

"I don't know, I couldn't see the battle because of the mist." Sakura told him honestly, "But your amazing Sasuke-kun! You defeated the mist ninja in the mask, right?"

Sasuke looked away, "No…the one who defeated him was Naruto. Not me."

Sakura thought he was joking at first thinking there's no way Naruto would be able defeat a strong ninja like that but the look on Sasuke's face told her otherwise making her look over at the blonde who was talking to Inari showing a small smile at the boy. She wondered just strong he really was.

---

"Do you really have to go?" Inari almost had tears in his eyes.

"Yeah we do," Naruto said, "It's been fun but we really need to get going, thanks for everything."

"That's my line kid." Tazuna smiled.

"Take care of yourselves on your way home okay?" Tsunami smiled.

"We will." Kakashi said, "Let's go."

They all walked away from Nami no Kuni taking Zabuza and Haku with them. The two mist ninja decided to go to Konoha with the group which confused them, but Naruto didn't seem to mind at all and Kakashi saw this as a n opportunity to get some answers from Zabuza anyway.

Tazuna smiled at the group, 'That boy…he managed to help Inari, and restore his faith again. We will forever be in debt to them.'

It was then that the citizens decided to name the bridge after their hero. The bridge would be named…

The Great Naruto Bridge.

Konohagakure

To say Izumo and Kotetsu were surprised to see Zabuza Momochi was n understatement, but a smile from Kakashi and a sigh from Naruto told them that it was okay, but they had to wonder how they managed to convince Zabuza of all people to come to Konoha?

Zabuza and Haku walked with Team 7 on their way to the Hokage Tower and saw that some people in the village were sending happy smile at the blonde but they could tell their were foreigners because the more local villagers were either ignoring him or muttering spiteful words in his direction but the blonde had a bored look on his face making Zabuza snicker at the dumbass villagers. Pathetic.

The group headed towards the tower and walked up the stairs heading towards the office and saw a man walking with a cane, his right eye covered in white bandages, as was his right arm walk past them. Naruto felt Kakashi's emotions started turning negative as soon as the man past by him and was slightly curious. Even though he couldn't see the person, he could feel multiple chakra signatures that felt eerily familiar. He felt the person give him a cold glance prompting the blonde to give him a side glance making the man bend over in pain gripping his arm and tried to grip his right eye too but he couldn't do both. He fell to his knees in pain and two people in white hoods came to get the man and disappeared confusing the group.

"What the hell was that all about?" Zabuza raised a brow.

Haku was also curious.

Naruto knew that as soon as he turned his attention to the person he felt raging emotions coming off from his right eye and right arm that felt way too familiar to be a coincidence, 'Asura, what just happened? I could have sworn I felt something similar to the…'

"Sharingan. Your not imagining it Naruto, the man that just past us has Sharingan's on his right arm, and one implanted in his right eye." Asura frowned.

'What?! But how where did he-' his eyes widened, 'The Uchiha Massacre! He took them off from the dead bodies! Sick bastard!'

"So it would seem." Asura said.

'But why did he convulse in pain though?' Naruto wondered.

"Because you've awakened my soul within you. Indra's Ninshū responds to mine instantly if it senses I'm near, and the Sharingan have an impulse reaction to respond to me maliciously because of Indra." Asura explained.

'So that's why he was in pain.'

"You should ask your mentor Yamato about that man. I feel cold and malicious intent coming off of him." Asura didn't like what he was feeling from the man. Just what has happened for the human race to become like this?

'I plan to, don't worry.' Naruto said.

---

Naruto sighed as he watered his plants with the help of his clones. The Hokage wasn't very happy when he found out about how their simple C-rank mission became A-rank, not to mention that the ninja's hired to kill the bridge builder was standing right before him along with his apprentice but a good word from Naruto made the old man deflate a little. He did place Zabuza on probation for about a week and Haku was promoted to Chunin and was asked to go see Ishida-sensei at the hospital seeing as how the boy has excellent medical skills. With that done, The Hokage dismissed Sasuke and Sakura only asking that Kakashi and Naruto stay behind to discuss something important to them.

Zabuza told the old man about Haku's kekkei genkai and the old man promised the man that he would keep it a secret just like he's ben keeping Naruto's Mokuton a secret from the council. The former mist ninja was grateful for this and bowed to the old man, he then told the Hokage bluntly that he will help train Naruto with his Kenjutsu skills much to Kakashi and Hiruzen's surprise even Naruto, but Haku smiled.

Ultimately the decision rested with Naruto. The blonde aid he'd be honored to be taught by the man and told him that his skills with the sword are still novice based and needed some guidance. Zabuza said when he got through with him his skills wont be novice for long making Hiruzen and Kakashi sweat-drop, they did not need another Zabuza especially in Naruto.

Now here Naruto was watering his plants trying to clam his nerves down after his little run in with that person with multiple Sharingan's earlier. For some reason he thought of this Danzo guy Yamato-sensei told him about on time, and wondered if that person might've been Danzo Shimura. If he was then he needed to tell Yamato-sensei what he felt from him.

As if hearing his thoughts the door opened and in came Yamato, he had a spare key to the apartment and would sometimes enter to take care of the plants while Naruto was either training or out on a mission.

"Naruto! I heard your mission went from C-rank to A-rank and that Zabuza Momochi is here! Is that true?!" Yamato asked frantically.

Naruto couldn't help but sigh, "Calm down, Yamato-sensei. You'll give yourself high blood pressure is you don't."

Yamato couldn't help but fall down anime style, "Naruto!"

"Yes, our C-rank became A-rank. The client Tazuna lied to us but everything worked out in the end and we completed our mission, and yes Zabuza-sensei is here because he wants to help me improve my Kenjutsu skills." Naruto said calmly.

"I see…wait, what?!" Yamato exclaimed.

Naruto sighed, "Since you're here there's something I want to ask you."

"What is it?"

"Danzo Shimura." Naruto said.

Yamato's face grew serious, "Naruto, has Danzo tried to do anything to you?"

"No, but when we were walking to the Hokage's office I felt the cold stare of someone with a familiar chakra signature and looked over at the person giving them my full attention. As soon as I turned my head to the person he made a sound as though he was in pain, then I sensed two presences that didn't feel like ANBU at all that took the person away," Naruto frowned, "Yamato-sensei…I think I ran into Danzo Shimura."

"What?!" Yamato yelled.

"I felt the cold gaze, is he known for doing that?" Naruto wondered.

Yamato frowned, "Yes he is. I know you cant see what he looks like but I'll give you a physical description. His right eye and arm are bandaged up."

The blonde narrowed his eyes, 'Yeah, I ran into the Danzo Shimura alright.'

"He's not injured. In fact he's fooling everyone." Naruto told him.

"What do you mean?"

Naruto closed his eyes then opened them, "I mean that he has multiple Sharingan's on his right arm and a one implanted in his right eye."

Yamato's eyes widened then his face turned serious, "Naruto…tell me everything."

---

Next Time: Chūnin Exams.