Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I do however own the MONSTER AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER! Wait what? No I didn't say monster, I said superstar, what are you implying? Hahaha! Ha…ha…anyways.
Chapter 7: Shadow Upon the Waves
One Month Later
Kakashi had very few things on his mind as he watched his team from the trees. The memorized literature of his book, the wind through the trees; those sort of things were idly there, in the back of his mind. One thing that stuck out though –
"GET IT OFF ME!"
- Was that watching someone get mauled by Tora was still the greatest thing ever.
Naruto on the other hand, was not a happy camper. Flailing and struggling against the death claw known as Tora, aka the daimyo's wife's cat, Naruto eventually managed to peel the cat off his face and hold it at arm's length, where it growled at him angrily. It would remember this, and it would make him suffer.
"Alright, good work team." Kakashi said, hopping down from the tree he'd been perched in. "You guys are getting better at using those radios to know where everyone is while staying out of the target's sight."
"Yeah," Naruto muttered, glaring back at the cat with no remorse. "Because if this thing so much as catches a peek of us it bolts. Stupid cat." Cat scratch to the face. "WHY YOU!"
Sakura somehow managed to pick Tora out of Naruto's arms and cradled it. "Baka, leave the poor kitty alone!"
"It started it, I'm just finishing it!"
Kakashi watched in mild awe as the cat went from absolute savage to timid housecat as soon as she began petting it. Did she know some kind of secret technique to taming the savage beast? If she did, she definitely needed someone to learn to use it on her when her temper rose; she could be just as savage as Tora at times, though with more beating up than scratching.
Naruto crossed his arms, glaring at the cat as they made their way back. Sasuke, for his part, just amusedly watched the scene unfold. For all his skill and abilities, it was nice to know that even Naruto could still get his ass kicked by a cat. Then again, Sasuke wasn't so sure of his own abilities against it without eventually frying the damn thing.
Luckily for all of those who harbored deep seated ill will towards the creature, upon being returned to the daimyo's wife it was soon crushed between her arms and her bosom as she squeezed it in a tight hug. Naruto slowly let a smirk cross his face as she left, justice having been served.
"Alright, well…" Iruka muttered, eyeing the woman as she left. The sight of her doing that to the poor cat always made him question why they bothered giving this mission out seeing how Tora would just escape again, but then it wasn't his place to judge. "We have a few other missions left if you want. There's another house that needs retiling, and –"
"Oh no, no you don't!" Naruto shouted, forming and X with his arms. "We are not doing any more of these baby missions! We've run around doing these so much I can practically do it in my sleep!"
"Naruto!" Iruka growled, glaring at the young boy. "These missions are an important part of being a shinobi! You can't just blow them off because you don't feel like it!"
Naruto blinked, glancing to Kakashi. "Hey, we don't have to come here unless we want missions, right?"
Kakashi hummed softly, eyeing the fuming Iruka. "Well~ no. But if you want to get paid, then you do need to take missions."
"But we still pick the missions?"
"Technically."
"Then that settles it!" Naruto crossed his arms, nodding proudly. "We want a C-ranked mission!"
"N-Naruto, you don't have to be so loud about it." Sakura muttered.
In her head though was another story altogether. "Hell yeah! If we get this mission, we can show Sasuke-kun that we're ready for anything!"
Sasuke said nothing, but his eyes held a small glint of anticipation as he looked to Hiruzen. He wanted it, he was just willing to wait on Naruto to burst first, seeing how he was the most likely to break down and hate these boring D-ranked missions.
Kakashi for his part was silently proud of Naruto. He'd expected Naruto to break after much longer than this, though in all honesty he'd also thought that with his tree climbing training he'd be distracted a bit more. Apparently not as much as he'd thought. Seeing the look Hiruzen gave him, Kakashi shrugged. Far be it from him to say no when the team stated they were ready. They knew their strengths better than him after all.
"I don't see why they can't take a C-ranked mission." Kakashi said, getting a glare from Iruka. He ignored it easily. "What sort of missions do you have?"
"Ooh! Is it protecting a princess? Fighting foreign ninja?" Naruto's eyes sparkled in anticipation, eager to see what they would get.
Hiruzen looked through the pile, humming softly. "The current mission I can give you would be to protect a bridge builder named Tazuna from Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves). In fact, he's checked up every day right about –"
An old man with a rope tied around his forehead entered then knocked on the door, looking far to intoxicated for that time of the day. Looking them over, he suddenly laughed. "Are these the brave shinobi meant to guard me? Look at 'em. The short one doesn't even look like they can fight out of a paper bag!"
"Haha! That's a good one!" Naruto said, putting his hands behind his head. "Who's the short one?"
Looking from either side to Sasuke and Sakura, he paused as he noticed that they were in fact taller than him. Feeling his eye twitch, Naruto almost started yelling at the man before Negi spoke up. ~Oh, it appears he's speaking about me.~
Rather than shout, Naruto face vaulted into the floor before picking himself up. "Wait what?!"
*It's true. Despite being able to choose our own heights, Negi always picks to be the shortest of us.*
"He's odd like that."
"HE LIKES THE SMOOSH."
~I don't know what a smoosh is, but I doubt that's the reason. ~
"Uh-huh…" Naruto muttered, hopping to his feet. "Well, looks like the jokes on you, old man! Because paper bags aren't our specialty; fighting against villainous bandits are thought!"
The man paused at that, blinking in confusion. Then he scoffed and swayed back towards the exit. "You guys better protect me, is all I'm sayin…"
Hiruzen coughed, getting their attention. "You will be guarding Tazuna on his trip to Nami, and he requests that you remain there till the bridge is finished. The estimated time being around four months."
Naruto's eyes widened at that. "Four months?" He suddenly seemed to jog in place with concern. "Oh jeez, I need to get someone to watch my plant! Um," He glanced to Kakashi, grinning shakily with concern. "Kakashi-sensei?"
"You all have two hours to meet up at the gate." Kakashi said with a smile, making a shooing motion. "Go take care of your things. I'll meet you there."
"Thanks Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted, turning and rushing over to Iruka. "Hey, Iruka-sensei! Can you watch my plant?!"
Sasuke and Sakura rolled their eyes at the enthusiastic boy, turning and heading out to take care of their own things. Kakashi stayed a moment longer, watching as Naruto paused for a moment before looking twice as frantic before rushing out the door.
"Kakashi this isn't wise." Iruka growled, staring at Kakashi, who just blinked at the man. "You know what I'm talking about, and you know why. So why are you risking it?"
"Because they feel they're ready of course." Kakashi pulled out his book, flipping open to the last page he'd been on. "Besides, I've been working with Naruto more than you have recently. I think you'll find that, barring experience, he's getting a better head on his shoulders than you'd think."
Iruka scowled at that, still thinking he knew better than Kakashi. Still, he had to relent and watch Kakashi go. He wasn't just trusting Kakashi, he was trusting the Hokage. And if he was willing to let Naruto roam for a bit, he had to as well.
He just hoped nothing bad happened to the boy.
Two Hours and Near Half a Dozen Goodbyes Later
At the Gate
"Lee-senpai, just you wait! I will show this mission the Flames of Youth it deserves!"
*Will you hush about the Flames of Youth? You're embarrassing me!"
"Oh, by the way, Lee said hi."
*H-hey! Don't just bring me up to him whenever you feel like it!*
~It was such a shame I couldn't find the rest of Team Eight. I hope they don't mind that I had to leave Kiba with the message…I'm just glad I thought ahead and wrote the message down. Kiba would not remember the exact wording I wanted to use.~
"Damn tiger, son of a double crossing lioness, I swear I'm gonna –"
"Didn't find it?"
"Shut your face, I was on a tight schedule!"
Laughing at Memna's lack of finding his 'sparring partner' aside, Naruto looked bored and ready as any single person could be. Sasuke and Sakura were just walking up, bags made and looking rather eager themselves. Grinning, he waved to them. "Oi! Ready to go?!"
"Yeah, just about." Sakura said, pulling her pack around again to go over everything. "I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something, but I can't remember what…"
Naruto didn't really have a witty remark, but before he could do anything he felt an odd sensation come across him as Miso suddenly spoke up; through his mouth, no less. "Hairbrush?"
Sakura glared at him, but slowly looked through and nodded. "Got it."
"Change of clothes?"
"Naruto!" Sakura glared at him, but seeing how serious he – or rather Miso – was, she slowly relented. "Check."
"Tent?"
"Check."
"Toothbrush and toothpaste?"
"Of course."
"Rope?"
Sakura paused and looked through her bag, slowly frowning more before glancing up at him. "Um, no, no rope. Why rope?"
"Oh the usual." Naruto/Miso turned to Sasuke and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. "Rope as so many uses after all."
Neither one of them was entirely certain what to make of the comment, especially when Naruto turned away and stared blinking owlishly, as though he didn't know what had happened any more than them. He hadn't explicitly implied anything, which meant that Sakura couldn't yell at him for being a pervert. However, he hadn't suggested a practical use for it either, so Sasuke wasn't sure if he actually knew anything that could be done with rope.
Deciding to fall back on option E, Sakura raised a brow at Naruto. "Oh, so you have rope then?"
Naruto pulled his pack around and dug into it, pulling out a length of rope. "Of course. I didn't just randomly ask that."
In his head though, "When this this get here!?"
*What? I thought we'd need it.*
"For WHAT?"
"PEOPLE!"
*…actually yes, for people. Good job Shoyu, you get a cookie later.*
"WAFFLES?"
"Yes, that."
"YAY!"
Naruto's grin twitched, the conversation seeming to suddenly go sideways so quickly it made his head spin. Still, Shoyu did technically have a point. Tying up bandits and the like would be an excellent use of his time, considering the fact that if he didn't he'd have to deal with them possibly getting away and robbing again. That would be rather counterproductive.
"Yo."
All three of them turned to stare at Kakashi, who was leading a drunk Tazuna along besides him. Tazuna looked them all over, his eyes somewhat vacant and distant. "Oh good, you're already here. Whelp, let's get dis show on the road."
"Sweet!" Naruto shouted, turning to the gates. Standing at the precipice of heading outside the gates, Naruto took a deep breath. "My first time outside the village. Our first time out. Alright, let's go!"
-x-
The trek to Nami began initially as a rather boring journey. According to Tazuna, the travel there would only take around a day or so, which was fine by the team. However, the man was far from the most talkative man, drunk as he was, and it meant that the journey began in silence. For all except those in Naruto's head, who kept up a running commentary of how beautiful everything was. Or, at least –
"PUDDLES!"
- mostly everything.
Naruto rolled his eyes, glaring at the puddle. Why was there a puddle there? Turning up to the sky, he idly scowled at it. Seriously, they were in Hi no Kuni (The Land of Fire) which, although it did have a rainy season, it was…wait.
He slowly counted out the months. Negi filled him in, thankfully, and so he knew that the rainy season was currently now. However it had been a while since it had rained, which meant other areas likely had more moisture there and would have a colder winter.
~Focus Naruto. Something's wrong.~
"What?" Naruto blinked, almost pausing as they continued past the puddle. "What do you mean?"
~Shoyu doesn't just say things. Haven't you noticed that?~
"Well yeah, but –"
Naruto's eyes narrowed, mind racing as he tried to think of what that meant for them. Puddle? What about it? There wasn't any reason why Shoyu should've brought it up as far as he could think.
*Wait, when did it last rain?*
Hearing something behind them, Naruto turned around with wide eyes as the puddle began rising up ominously. Before Naruto could even think of anything, it formed into two entities. They both had dark spiky hair, gas masks, dark cloaks, a clawed gauntlet on opposite hand of each other, and hiates with four marks on them; marks that were most certainly not from Konoha. Between the two of them was a spiked chain, which was currently looped around Kakashi and being pulled tighter until –
"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura shouted, eyes widening as the chain ripped through Kakashi.
"One down," The first one said, eyes staring at the rest of Team 7.
"Three to go." The second one said, moving forward towards the team.
Naruto froze. He felt himself lock up, his eyes widen as the reality settled in on him all too fast. He was out in the real world, he was facing not bandits, but shinobi – real shinobi. And they'd just killed Kakashi, so what could he do against them? What could –
"Okay, Naruto's out, tagging in."
"Tagging wha –"
And once again, Naruto felt himself being moved to the back of his own body, watching through his eyes as his expression changed and his body shifted.
"Come at me!" Tonkotsu shouted, digging his feet into the ground before launching himself at the pair with surprising speed, catching the two off guard.
Naruto's body seemed to feel a sudden strain at it, but Tonkotsu ignored it for the moment as he dove headfirst into the one on the left. Literally headfirst. Using his head as a battering ram, Tonkotsu knocked the air from him before hopping back to begin pummeling them.
"You brat!" The second one said, turning sharply to attack Tonkotsu. Doing so turned out to be a poor choice as Sasuke intercepted him, laying out a kick in the face. Getting him to turn his attention to him, Sasuke just smirked.
"Don't think that Naruto is the only one you need to worry about." Sasuke said with a smirk, glancing back to Sakura. "Sakura, guard the bridge builder!"
"Y-yes!" Sakura said, pulling out a kunai and held it in the defensive posture. "Tazuna-san, get behind me!"
"They came…they actually came." Tazuna said, shaking as he stared at the two shinobi.
Tonkotsu let out a roar, stepping forwards and spinning on his heel before slamming into him again. Seeing their arm rear back, he frowned. Remembering the clawed gauntlet, Tokotsu waited till the last second before stepping into the blow and jumping slightly. Rather than being shredded, he got a glancing blow to his left forearm just above his hand as he spun over his clawed arm. With a shout, Tonkotsu brought his leg down on his head.
Sasuke for his part was doing only slightly better, seeing how he'd not gotten hit. He was also a lot faster than Naruto was, and was able to dodge around and land several quick blows to them before dodging back. The weight of the clawed gauntlet only made it harder for him to his Sasuke, seeing how he wasn't able to bring it around to claw him. Idly he thought about setting them on fire, but decided against it. There was too much chance of friendly fire hitting his team.
"Screw this!" The second shinobi growled, disconnecting his chain as he ducked and dodged away from Sasuke. "I'll just kill this guy and be done with it!"
Sakura's eyes widened, flinching as she tried to hold her ground. She could do this, she – stared into the depths of the man's eyes and saw no mercy, only the promise of her death. Shaking, she barely kept herself upright. There was no way she could do this, she was going to die!
Sasuke suddenly appeared in front of them, arms spread defensively as he stared them down. "Don't worry, we've got this."
"S-Sasuke-kun?"
"Hold still you brat!"
"Bite me you masked bastard!"
Tonkotsu flipped backwards, spinning for a second before slamming a hand into the shinobi's face again. Gripping them by their facemask, he dragged himself into them feet first and launched himself away. Had he not, he'd have been clawed in half as they tried to hit him again.
"Haha, missed me!"
"You're gonna pay for –"
Before he could finish, his eyes rolled into the back of his head as Kakashi slammed his hand in the back of their neck and knocked them out. Moving faster than they could see, he grabbed the second shinobi and slammed them back and away from the rest of the team. With a quick flourish, he had them bound and tied as he moved them over to a tree.
"Well, that was interesting." Kakashi said, glancing back to his team. "Well done everyone, you did very well."
"But-but Kakashi-sensei! You were…" Sakura turned to where she'd last seen Kakashi, eyes wide as she realized that there wasn't pieces of Kakashi splattered everywhere. "A…a log?"
"Amen." Kakashi said reverently. Turning to Tazuna, he crossed his arms and walked up to him. "So, it appears that you have quite a bit to explain."
"I –" Tazuna began, pausing when he heard cursing from Naruto. With wide eyes, they all saw that Naruto had taken a kunai and dragged it down across the slash wound that he'd taken. "Wh-what?"
"What? There might've been poison in it." Tonkotsu said matter-of-factly. Slowly, his expression changed as his control waned and Naruto retook control.
Staring at his new wounds, Naruto's eyes widened. "Okay I – ow, what the hell!"
"Oh." Kakashi blinked, walking up and gripping Naruto's shoulder gently. "You probably were in shock. Here, let me bandage that real quick."
Naruto nodded, wincing as Kakashi pressed a bandage to it. Delving back into his mind, Naruto tried desperately to think of something to say beyond the one thought racing through it. "What the hell just happened?"
"What? You froze and were begging someone else to tag in. I just tagged in for you."
"That was some interesting taijutsu you used." Kakashi said softly, getting Naruto's attention. "It almost looked like something Gai would use."
"Gai-sensei? Kakashi knows Bushy Brow's-sensei?"
"Er, you…know Gai-sensei?" Naruto frowned, idly noting the name 'Bushy Brow's'. He hadn't met him yet, so he still wasn't certain just how bushy they were, and he was beginning to get curious.
"Of course. He keeps proclaiming me as his rival." Kakashi said, chuckling softly. Pausing, he glanced up at Naruto with a raised brow. "Do you know what the taijutsu style is called?"
"Huh? Uh…" Naruto cursed, asking for an assist from Tonkotsu. Getting no help form his mind clone, he shrugged helplessly. "No, I don't."
"…I see."
Kakashi straightened, turning back to Tazuna." Okay, now I think it's time you explain."
-x-
After listening to the man's plight and firmly announcing that, misranked or not, they would continue, the group carried onwards. As they did, Kakashi allowed himself to watch Naruto worriedly. He also made himself a mental note to speak with Gai later, seeing how the man was teaching his student things he didn't even know he was learning.
(1) Raiken, or Lightning Fist, required a great deal of inertia to strike with. It made use of center of gravity, and was excellent for more aerial attackers as they could still build speed for their blows over a short distance. It was also useful for people who didn't have the ability to build their speed like others might.
Naruto had practiced his chakra control day and night so far as Kakashi could tell, which left little time for physical fitness save the basic stuff he might do on his own. His clones however went and did as they pleased, clearly ecstatic to have their own bodies and to be able to do as such. One of which, apparently, was training with Maito Gai.
Gai knew about Naruto's condition, about his position, and had been told by Kakashi about what he'd seen from Naruto's clones. Several Jonin had been informed, just to keep an eye on them as they roamed about. No one was going to just drop down and attack them without cause, though some did remark that one of his clones kept disappearing into the Forest of Death. But that was on him.
That would explain how Naruto might know of the techniques he'd just used, but it didn't explain how Naruto himself could have used them. At least, up until he'd told Kakashi he knew nothing about what he'd just done.
Kakashi sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He'd have to report this as soon as he could, but that didn't mean he had to like it. The knowledge that Naruto's fragments could take control of Naruto's body was frightening, startling, but perhaps even more so it was the idea that Naruto was fine.
When he'd watched, he'd narrowed his eyes and almost jumped in and stopped the battle altogether when he'd seen the shift in Naruto. Fear did not vanish in such a way, where it was swept away as though another person was stepping up into the fight. And yet, had he not done so, Naruto would have likely gotten more injured than the small wound to his hand.
It was a chilling mix between what he knew, what he thought, and what he saw. He knew there were dangers, he thought he should tell Naruto to cut back on using his clones when he could, but what he'd seen was his clone stepping in to protect not only Naruto but his team as well. Or, at least he hoped that's what they'd been doing. Attacking an enemy and protecting a friend were not always the same thing, sadly.
Waiting was a dangerous game. On one hand, he could just say 'no more' and end it. But at the same time, if he waited there were branching paths; some good, others bad, some fantastic, others dreadful. It was the way of life, and he'd lived long enough to see just how many branching paths a scenario could have. And with Naruto, what he saw worried him.
Two of them were a danger, but to whom still remained to be seen. They were fighters, violent plain and simple; the way the one who'd taken over Naruto had dove in to fight Gozu of the Demon Brothers proof of that. But at the same time they clearly were skilled enough to fight with the chunin level threat; with the advantage of surprising them by rushing a counterattack.
The other two were in the air, completely unknown to him. He'd seen them with Team 10 and 8, but neither of their sensei's had said much about them. They apparently didn't spend time spying or peaking in on their training. They just met up with them like friends would and spent time with them. The only thing he did know was that the girl apparently did not like Ino, but was quite content with the boys. This led to some conflicts, but then nothing terrible had happened so he let it slide.
Then…Shoyu. He'd spent the most time around and with the young man and was perpetually in a state of concern. The boy had wide, open eyes, always watching as he wildly shifted and at times bent over backwards to see things behind him. This had resulted in Naruto jumping around to help him at first, until Shoyu had demonstrated that he was capable of getting up on his own.
There was something off about the fractured piece of Naruto. He'd seen his eyes, seemingly crazed and empty, but with something towards their center that belied an intelligence level he couldn't place. Was he as smart as Naruto? As the two violent ones? As the one who spent time with Team 10, or 8? He didn't know. What he did know was that whenever Shoyu spoke, Naruto listened.
At first he'd been puzzled. The words had initially made no sense. Looking 'underneath the underneath' though had eventually caused him to stare at the boy in surprise. He knew things, he saw things, but his ability to communicate was like that of a five-year-old. Taking into consideration some of the others, he guessed that meant that this fractured piece hadn't been 'fed' like the others with the thoughts and ideas running through Naruto's head after a certain point. That was good. But it was also something to think on since Kakashi couldn't place Shoyu's 'malfunction.'
"You alright man? You look seasick." The rower said, smiling down at Kakashi.
Kakashi nodded to himself, eyes still staring into the distance. "I'm fine. Just thinking over who else we might come across."
Sakura apparently heard that and looked back at him, face scrunched up in concern. "Do you think there'll be anyone as strong as you Kakashi-sensei?"
"Hm?" Kakashi thought about it, remembering who the Demon Brother's had left with when they'd abandoned Kirigakure no Sato (Village Hidden in the Mists). "Possibly, but most likely only one. Don't worry, I'll protect you."
"O-of course." Sakura said, looking away sheepishly.
Kakashi eyed her with a sad smile. She had contributed to the fight by allowing the boys to fight the shinobi, but no one liked guard duty. It made them feel weak, and defenseless. Like they couldn't take care of themselves without someone to take care of them. He'd help her, but then like with Naruto he didn't want to take away her own choice. It was her decision to ask for help if she felt she needed it; his was simply to be readily available for her to ask when the time came.
-x-
Disembarking from their little rowboat, the group continued on the path to Tazuna's house through a backwards way that led them through the forest and past a number of large lakes. Now that he was no longer as drunk (for certain reasons), and had nothing to hide, he was much more of a chatterbox. He told them about his daughter and grandson who were waiting at home, likely worried sick about him since he'd left. He'd also discussed how the bridge was slowing as Gato, the evil owner of Gato Incorporated, threatened, bullied, and bribed Tazuna's fellows to not work on the bridge.
It was a disheartening story, one that Kakashi wished he could say he hadn't heard before. There were plenty of people who had done similar things to what Gato was doing. Tazuna seemed a good enough person, but then he'd also lied to them to get them to help them in the first place.
Naruto seemed the least impressed by the lie, though he was also the move vocal about how they should help them. Sasuke just seem to be following Naruto, not caring one way or another where they went. And Sakura followed Sasuke, almost like a blind puppy.
The dynamic was surprising, though he could understand it after all that had happened lately. Naruto hadn't taken charge per se, but he had been the only one to get a bell, and had a driving force to a lot of what they'd been doing. He was smart enough to ask for help, or rather he was wise enough, was the first to admit that he'd had enough, and the first to say that they shouldn't quit at what they were doing.
One might simply call it 'childishness' or impatience, but those were some qualities that could be fine-tuned to becoming traits good shinobi all strived for. Granted, he had a long way to go for that, but he was far enough ahead.
Naruto twitched, sudden flinging a kunai into the bushes off to the side. Sakura jumped, pulling out her own while Sasuke took a defensive stance, staring at Naruto. "What is it?"
"I thought I saw something." Naruto muttered, moving over slowly towards the brush. As he pushed it way, he reached in and pulled out…a white rabbit. "…oh my gosh I am sO SORRY!"
"Naruto you idiot!" Sakura shouted, eye twitching as she began putting her kunai away. "You had us all jumpy over a rabbit!"
"I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS THERE!" Naruto shouted, hugging the terrified creature and attempting to soothe it. "I WAS JUST – Kawarimi?"
The shift was sudden, catching the other two off guard, but Kakashi's eyes widened as Shoyu's stared back at him. No, not Shoyu's eyes, but rather his personality. Like the windows to the soul they were rumored to be, the personality and intent that was Shoyu seemed to shine through clear and present. Worst of all, it seemed that he understood what Kakashi himself did.
"Wh-what?" Sakura asked, taken aback by the shift in Naruto's demeanor.
"White!" Naruto/Shoyu said, proudly holding up the bunny before pulling it into another hug.
Sakura looked between Kakashi and Sasuke, both of whom were on edge and looking around. "Um, did I miss something?"
"…winter is still a few months away." Sasuke replied, a kunai drawn and ready to go.
"What?" Sakura returned her gaze to the bunny, eyes widening as realization crept over her. "Kawarimi…oh no."
"Get down!" Kakashi shouted, tackling Tazuna as Sasuke did the same for Sakura. Above them, a giant cleaver-like sword spun over them and slammed upwards into a tree. After a few seconds, a man appeared on the overly long hilt of the blade, back turned and impressively imposing stature painting an image in the minds of the genin. "Momochi Zabuza."
Zabuza turned as Kakashi spoke, revealing himself fully to them. He wore no shirt or cover for his chest save for the belt that likely held the sheath for the massive sword, had baggy pants with a striped pattern on them, along with matching wrist and leg warmers that extended up his arms. His face was covered to just below his eyes with bandages, and for some odd reason he wore his hiate to sideways rather than straight forwards; likely so that he could do tricks like this, turn, and still have people know he was from Kirigakure.
"Ah, Hatake Kakashi. It's an honor to see Konoha at least sent someone worth my time." Zabuza paused, laughing to himself. "Well, at least you are. I didn't realize that Konoha let their infants come out to play with the demons in the world."
"Everyone, stay back." Kakashi gripped his hiate, moving it upwards to reveal his scarred eye beneath it. "This guy is far above your level."
"Say that to my face, you limp noodle!" Memna shouted in Naruto's mind, though was thankfully kept away from saying so out loud by the rest of Naruto's mind. He wasn't the brightest, but he wasn't that dumb. Or, maybe he was, and Memna had just taken it all.
"Ah, the legendary Sharingan. I'm honored that you'd take me seriously right off the bat."
"I don't really have a choice in the matter." Kakashi said, opening his eye to reveal that his left eye was in fact not the same as his right. Instead of a dark eye, it was red with 3 coma-like marks that spun idly. "I have to protect my cute little students after all."
"Feh." Zabuza muttered, kicking his sword out from the tree. Moving off the tree onto one of the nearby lakes, he raised his right hand into a hand sign in front of his face, with his left arm up in the air with a similar sign. "Kirigakure no Jutsu (Hiding in the Mist Technique)."
Within a few seconds, a thick mist began rolling across the surface towards them, quickly enveloping their group within it. The three genin of Team 7 moved quickly to surround Tazuna defensively. As they did so, there was a sudden oppressive feeling that pierced even the mist into their very hearts.
"With this fighting style, I can strike from anywhere in the mist. Sight, sound, smell…all are useless against me in the mist. You won't hear me coming until you stand before the gates of hell itself." Zabuza intoned, his voice echoing throughout the mist. The genin let their gaze twitch and glance around, unable to pin him down. "Heart…lungs…throat…carotid artery…trachea, spinal column, brain. So many places where I can strike. If I hit you in any of those. You'll be dead for sure. You won't –"
"Ha! That shows what you know! You can't kill what was never thinking!"
There was a silence, and a brief sound of something…choking? Laughing? Well, Sasuke and Sakura were certainly unsure what to make of the sudden outburst from their blond companion. The killing intent was there, but it had dropped so suddenly that they had been able to finally catch their breaths; had they not, Sakura might've been rather cross with Naruto for acting like an idiot.
In Naruto's head however…
*What the hell was that?!*
"Ha! That's what you get for repressing me and not anyone else! Just because I have something stupid to say doesn't mean I don't have the option of saying it!"
~It appears it was…effective. Strange, but effective. ~
"Oh my gosh I can't breathe! That was amazing, do it again!"
Hidden in the mist, Zabuza was trying his best to hold his tongue. Part of him wanted to lash out, to boast about how he'd killed maggots bigger than him, but only experience told him to wait. Clearly this was a trap, meant to keep him talking until they thought up some way to locate him. Perhaps the girl was secretly a sensor type? That might make sense. He'd have to kill her quickly then if he didn't get the bridge builder first. Gripping his sword, he sent a Mizu Bunshin (water clone) into their midst, posed to strike.
As it landed, some of the mist disappated, revealing it for just an instant. Before it to move to far, Kakashi slammed into it, kunai driven up to the hilt. Yes, perfect! Sending a second clone down, he had it cut Kakashi in half, watching as his blood sprayed everywhere like…
Like water.
Zabuza narrowed his eyes at the display, realizing that, in the brief instant that he'd seen the clone, he'd somehow managed to copy it and take out the clone? How? That shouldn't have been possible. Growling, he leapt down behind Kakashi, catching him by surprise as the clone disappeared. Rather than killing him outright, he now wanted to let the man suffer, to see just how powerless he was.
Turning on his heel, he slammed his foot into Kakashi's gut and sent him flying away from the group. There was a puffing sound of some technique being used, but he wasn't sticking around to see what it was. Racing after Kakashi, he skid to a halt. "Calletrops? Heh, smart, but not good enough!"
Leaping over them, he raced over and went through a series of hand signs. As Kakashi stared up at him, he smiled maliciously as the water dragged him up into sphere. "Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)!"
-x-
Panic was not the first word that would describe the shoreline. Chaos might though.
"What the hell?"
"Where the hell?"
"How in the hell?"
"Why the hell?"
"When did he…"
"Kaa-san?"
"Who the hell are you?!"
The fine person was Sakura, who was pointing at the sudden appearance of five people in the middle of Naruto's clones. They'd clearly forgotten to introduce themselves to the group, and were embarrassed to realize that the idea of forming their henge while under the cover of mist was foiled when Zabuza – being a giant dick by doing so – released the technique and revealed that their team had five new members.
"Run!" Kakashi shouted from within the watery prison, trying his best to get them to leave. "Get out of here! Take Tazuna and run!"
"What – Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura blinked, turning to look between the suddenly crowded area.
"That sounds rather illogical of you Kakashi." Negi suddenly said, placing a hand on Sakura's shoulder in an attempt to calm her.
Tonkotso stared at Zabuza, squinting as though he saw something before suddenly laughing nervously. "Yeah~ no. We cannot do that. Come on, we aren't that stupid."
"Hey, what the hell are you talking about?" Memna said, growling at Tonkotsu before he punched a fist into his hand. "Besides Kakashi, wasn't it you who said those who abandon their friends are worse than trash?"
"Um, who the hell are you?" Sakura finally asked, looking between Negi and the rest of the clones.
Naruto, or at least one of the clones, pointed to them with a big grin. "Oh, these guys? They're…" He paused, thinking quickly before his face split with a wide grin. "They're my Bunshin Sentai!"
There was a silence from the group as all five of them turned and stared at Naruto. He didn't seem upset at all, merely proud of himself. Sasuke and Sakura deadpanned at him, glancing to the five questioningly. Seeing how they were put on the spot, they slowly shrugged.
"Yeah~ that's totally what we are." Memna said, stretching himself out.
"It's like we're color coordinated and everything." Miso said, eyes twitching. She knew which manga he'd been reading, but she hadn't thought that he'd say something so…well silly sounding. Still, that could be one way to look at them; they were clones, and they were an organized team. All they really needed was that color coordination…beyond the fact that they all wore orange.
"We don't have time for introductions unfortunately." Negi said, turning back to Kakashi and Zabuza. "Right now we have something far more important to deal with." As he stared at them, his face slowly twitched, changing from an impassive expression to a manic grin. "A challenge."
-x-
On the water, Zabuza raised a brow at what was occurring on the shore. He could see the clones, and had quickly put two and two together that they were most likely shadow clones. The idea that there was a genin who had the ability and chakra to use it was quite impressive.
"Seems your village isn't filled with complete trash then." Zabuza said, glancing down at Kakashi.
Kakashi was oddly silent for a second, before he eye-smiled up at Zabuza. "What can I say? They're my cute students after all."
"…feh. Tree hugging…" Lifting his free hand, Zabuza formed trio of clones of his own and sent it to fight them. "Let's see how well they can deal with this."
"I feel sorry for them." Kakashi said. Seeing the bemused expression on Zabuza's face, Kakashi continued. "For your clones. The clones over there…well, I wouldn't look down on them. They're craftier than you give them credit for."
-x-
"Oh good, yes that's exactly what we need. A clone war, battle to the death to see who's the better clone." Miso's eye was twitching nonstop now, and she jabbed a finger at the clones. "Please tell me someone has a plan!"
"I do." Negi said, forming a hand sign. With a poof, he vanished from amongst them and returned to their heads. Or, rather, Naruto's heads. ~Alright, here's what I want you to do…~
Naruto blinked, nodding slowly before clapping his hands together. "Okay, got it! Operation 'free Kakashi-sensei' is a go! Sasuke, you're with me. Sakura, you and Tonkotsu protect Tazuna!"
"Aw man!" Tonkotsu moaned, stepping back regardless in a defensive pose with another Naruto clone to his side. "I wanted part of the action too…"
"Negi says 'next time'." Naruto said, grinning as he pointed to Miso and Memna. "You two, think you can take the clone on the right?"
Miso glanced at him, slowly smirking as she nodded. "I think I can handle that 'tall glass of water' clone."
"…ew. I did not need that mental image, thank you." Memna said, rubbing the bridge of his nose as he walked towards the clone. Pausing, he cupped his hands around his mouth. "Oi! Zabuza! I call dibs on your sword if we kill you!"
"Oi!" Tonkotsu suddenly perked up, looking rather miffed. "I wanted the sword though!"
"To bad, I called dibs!" Memna said, grinning as he rushed the water clone.
"Gutsy." The clone muttered, clashing with Memna and Miso, who had pulled a bunch of shuriken and was pelting the clone as Memna engaged in close quarters.
"Better believe it!" Memna shouted, laughing wildly as he ducked and dodged the cleaving sword, trying to get in and cut it apart with his pair of kunai.
Sasuke and Naruto
Sasuke had absolutely no idea what was going on. First there were clones, then some of the clones acted like they were their own people and somehow along the way he'd gotten roped into fighting a clone with Naruto. The rest of his clones were distracting the third, most likely so that they could all deal with it together if they could first handle the clones in front of them.
Growling, Sasuke ducked to the side as Zabuza's blade passed near his head. He didn't think that this was a good plan, but he'd allowed himself to follow the idiot and couldn't give himself the time to regret it.
He'd been seconds away from turning his kunai in on himself and killing himself. The pressure, the feeling of doom and death, the impression that Zabuza could and would kill them in any of the ways he'd mentioned. And with the oppressive feeling, more focused and intense than he'd ever imagined from his brother, he'd just wanted for it to end.
And then Naruto had spoken. It was dumb, it was stupid, it was something only Naruto might've thought of. And it had saved his life.
Now, Sasuke wasn't one for 'life debts' or anything like that, but thus far Naruto had successfully helped him through several things; he'd helped him become a genin, he'd gotten the Hokage to give them a C-ranked mission, he'd been the driving force to allow them to remain on the mission, and now he'd saved his life. From himself, yes, but still.
"Dodge!" Naruto shouted, tackling Sasuke out of the way of another swing. Sasuke's eye twitched. Okay, two times. "Come on man, focus! We just need to cut him so he becomes water and we're good!"
"And just how do you think we should do that then?" Sasuke snapped in irritation. Not knowing the plan or being able to catch on was getting to him, and they were not in a good position either.
Naruto's eyes glazed over, slowly bringing a grin to his face. "We're going to set him on fire."
Sasuke blinked, slowly catching on a bit. "Okay, how?"
"Keep up with me." Naruto turned and dashed towards Zabuza, propelling himself forwards much faster than Sasuke had ever seen him move.
Flipping up onto his feet, Sasuke began his own assault with shuriken, somewhat like Miso and Memna were off to the side. The only difference was, that Sasuke had a fireball awaiting this clone when he felt he had an opening.
For his part, the water clone wasn't incredibly stupid. Slow, seemingly not as strong as the original had been, but more than enough to take on Naruto, it simply wasn't able to catch Naruto as he twisted about and tried with all his might to get even one hit off on the clone.
Watching carefully, Sasuke's eye slowly narrowed. This was about more than just seeing Zabuza, he had to see Naruto, begin to predict where he'd go so that he could avoid roasting him in the crossfire. Gritting his teeth, he ran through the needed hand seals.
"Katon! Goukakyuu no jutsu (Fire release! Grand Fireball Technique)!"
The fireball flew forwards in almost slow motion, catching the clone off guard. For a second he was certain he'd caught him. Then, moving faster than his fireball could reach him, the clone blocked it with the giant sword, kneeling so as to not be burnt by the flames as they parted around him. Sasuke cursed, readying another fireball as –
Hearing a sudden hiss, Sasuke froze and stared as the fire dissipated. Behind the clone, in ironically the head down, arms straight out posture of the Sennen Goroshi, Naruto stood with a kunai between his fingers where he'd clearly stabbed the clone. Peaking up over his arms, he smirked. "Never let an enemy get behind you, right Sasuke?"
Realizing that the fireball hadn't been meant as the actual attack, but the diversion, Sasuke relaxed. That had been more clever than he first realized. "Hn."
"NO!"
The word caught them off guard and forced the pair to turn. As they caught sight of the commotion, they froze as a new wave of killing intent washed over the clearing.
-x-
Memna and Miso
Memna enjoyed this a bit too much. Despite the ducking and dodging needed he instead preferred to clash with the water clone, eyes wide with glee as he felt the oppressive strength of his opponent, the crushing weight of his blade, and saw the desire to kill him in his eyes. Memna didn't care about that though; he just wanted the thrill.
The thrill was something deep within, a blood boiling sensation where your heart begins beating and you push into yourself for more strength than you can possibly use otherwise. It had been something he'd learnt fighting the tigers – or tiger, he wasn't sure if it had been more than one of the same – and something that he'd begun implementing in how he fought.
Granted, he did it with purpose. The tiger had defended its home, its territory. He wasn't going to use the word 'friends' for the newly named Bunshin Sentai, though that did apply somewhat to Naruto's view of Sasuke and Sakura. No, they weren't friends; they were family. Born of the same chakra, and pieces of the same mind. And in his mind, while a normal demon wouldn't care for those bonds, he would; he'd gone without them for so long his envy and his greed demanded it.
So, with a roar, he threw himself into the heat of battle. He could feel the vague sensation of Miso's shuriken and kunai flying by to strike at the water clone, but he paid them no mind. They were Zabuza's distraction, not his. Yet, despite the harsh blows he struck out with, it appeared Zabuza was most certainly not a pushover.
"Why. Won't. You. Just. Die?!" Memna raged, jumping over another blow and kicking down against it with a chakra filled blow. Despite his intentions, it did little to drive it off course. However, as he'd used chakra in it, he found himself instead sticking to the blade and winding up over Zabuza's shoulder. "…okay, not expected."
Zabuza twitched, turning his blade towards the ground. "Get off!"
Memna grinned, already hopping off as he drew his blades back. "Sure thing! Just let me –"
Before he finished, there was a lurching sensation and he was suddenly crouched in front of Zabuza rather than over him. Not wasting an opportunity, as Zabuza's blade went up and cleaved the air where he'd been, he rammed his blades into Zabuza's gut, grinning as the clone fell apart. Looking up though, his eyes widened in horror as he saw what he'd missed.
Miso, who'd paid better attention, had realized that Zabuza's back swing was just as dangerous as any other kenjutsu technique he had. Unlike Memna, she didn't have her kunai a she'd spent most of her time throwing them as a distraction for Memna. So when Memna had foolishly jumped off, she'd rushed in where Memna had wound up and replaced him with herself.
That meant that rather than him, she'd taken the blow and had been cleaved in two.
She disappeared of course, in a puff of smoke that signified the end of the technique, but the sight just a moment before would likely haunt him. Gripping his blades, his eyes narrowed at the final clone. "You…you…"
"NO!"
Memna froze, horrified by the voice as he turned and saw its course. With the sound of shredding fabric, he felt the weight of a killing intent just shy of Zabuza's own and found himself falling to his knees. Not for the weight of it, but for the image that stood in the air before him.
-x-
Shoyu
People should know better than to forget about Shoyu. However, he did not come across as bright, or intelligent until you understood what he meant. His mind was scattered with details and information; things like one might believe that they didn't need.
For example, one would never precisely need to know the exact eye color of a teammate, but Shoyu knew it. One did not need to know that there was a slight difference between how much chakra was used to replace oneself depending on the kind of log used (amen), but Shoyu knew it, and knew how much. One didn't need to know exactly how to tell apart oneself from the midst of one's own clones…and sadly, Shoyu did not know how to do that himself.
So rather than just find where the original was the way any other clone would, Shoyu had spent the majority of the fight wandering between clones as he ducked and dodged his way through the battle, staring each clone in the face scrutinizing confusion. "Kaa-san?"
"Shoyu? What are – get out of here!" the clone shouted, grabbing Shoyu and throwing him to the side as the third of Zabuza's clones slammed down near where he'd just been.
He didn't mind. Kaa-san knew what was best. Getting to his feet, he looked at the next clone. "Kaa-san?"
"Shoyu be careful! This guy – whoa!" Diving at Shoyu, the clone tackled him out of the way of another sideswipe of Zabuza's enormous sword.
Whining softly, Shoyu glanced around. While the clone helped him to his knees, Shoyu let his eyes dart around wildly. No. No. No. Where was kaa-san? This wasn't right. Kaa-san had made the clones, so kaa-san was here, right?
"Shoyu!"
Shoyu paused and glanced back out towards the water, blinking as Kakashi stared at him worriedly. Kakashi? Worried about him? The man had always looked at him funny, like he thought he was broken. Now he had such kind eyes. Such kind…mismatched…weird eyes.
"Don't worry." Kakashi said, smiling as confidently as he could. Which wasn't very, seeing how tired and sickly he was beginning to look. "Everything will be just fine."
No. That wasn't right. Why would he say that? Why would he lie to him? To comfort him, a clone. That wasn't how he thought of Kakashi, the nosy, perverted uncle who helped keep kaa-san. "Ero-occhan?"
"Trust me Shoyu. Everything will be okay." He looked Shoyu in the eyes, and as they locked eyes Shoyu's own widened.
He knew the eyes of his team. He knew them probably better than they knew themselves. Those were not Kakashi's eyes.
"NO!"
With a pull on his jackets sleeves, he tore them to shreds with a swift motion. His eyes locked onto the clone and he wished murder upon him. He conjured up the depths of hell and despair and he unleashed it from every pore in his body. His presence, he person, himself.
Above him, similar to the image of a demon that had seemed to form in the mist when Zabuza had released his own killing intent, an image began to form. Unlike Zabuza's which looked like a standard oni, his was…different. Hovering above him, it looked like an entity wearing an Anbu's mask, the next disjointed and elongated as it twitched violently with each breath he took. There were no eyes to be seen in that face; just the emptiness and darkness within that he because of how broken he was, he literally could not explain why it existed.
However, he was alive, he was not empty, and his reason for existence was currently trapped by the man before him.
With a roar of absolute outrage, he rushed the clone, not hearing the yelps of the other clones as he used them to propel himself onwards. They had once thrown him to the side to protect him, and now he did the same to protect them. From himself, and from his rage.
The water clone did its best to fend him off, but found out quite quickly that just because he was in a berserk fury that he should not be trifled with. When Zabuza attempted to bring his cleaver down on him, he reached up with chakra encased hands and slammed it to the side. On the backswing Zabuza's clone used he ducked beneath it before forcing himself upright and using his other hand to shove it upwards. The sudden changes of direction put a strain on both his body and Zabuza's clones.
The difference was that Shoyu didn't care.
With a snarl he leapt upon the clone and began slamming his fist against Zabuza's face. He felt something slam into him and knock him off, likely Zabuza's punch, and rolled immediately to his feet before leaping again.
As Zabuza attempted another attack, he found himself suddenly mobbed by the Naruto clones. They'd kept their distance before, trying not to get dispelled to quickly, but for Shoyu they shared their creators feeling; protect him, at all cost. Even if that meant throwing themselves to their demise to allow him to berserk safely, they'd do so.
One of the smart ones tossed a kunai at Shoyu before Zabuza's clone threw them off, dispelling them and forcing them in all directions. It was too late though, as Shoyu reached his target and tore into him, not satisfied with one strike as he slammed the kunai into his form again and again until the clone's body finally burst and fell apart around his fingers.
"Kaa-san!" Shoyu shouted, turning towards the Zabuza on the lake.
"Sasuke now!"
"Demon windmill shuriken!"
Sasuke leapt into the air, propelled by a clone's assistance, and threw a large folded shuriken at the Zabuza on the lake. The first one he caught all to easily, laughing mockingly as he did so. The second one was less amusing as it raced towards him. With nowhere to go, he smirked and leapt upwards.
Before he could realize his mistake, the shuriken exploded in a puff of smoke right in front of him, and Kakashi appeared with his fist buried in Zabuza's gut as he threw him away from the water prison. And, with a groan of relief, the Kakashi within fell into the water amid a burst of smoke, revealing tired and wet, but victorious Naruto.
AN: Whaaaaaaaat? Naruto how'd you get in there? Hm? Answers later action now? Well if you say so.
So, there are some obvious changes from canon, but the Wave Arc has begun and WOW I am so glad this didn't take too long to get to because I was really looking forward to certain parts of that fight. One of which will solve an issue that the Bunshin Sentai have been having, but that'll be shown…either next chapter or the one after that.
Also, anyone against Bunshin Sentai as the name for Naruto's "clone team" comment below so I can have that as a reference.
Plus, more mysteries revolving the clones, most importantly the one who literally cannot tell you why he is the way he is; Shoyu. And let me just say, berserker Shoyu was so much fun; very short to write, but then that's okay seeing how I was able to give you a scope of how different his skills are compared to the others (i.e. Memna couldn't move the sword, but Shoyu did…twice).
So, the poll for "new or not new" for the Chunin Exams in the polls! Let's check it out.
New/Not New: 2/0
Not a whole lot of votes there, but then it was just posted and it's not exactly like pairings. However! If you want to be heard, make sure you voice it! I want to hear my readers opinions because you are all amazing people and I want to make sure that I continue to post good stuff. Plus, the Chunin Exams won't change certain things, but the new path will allow for…other options to be explored.
What do I mean? Well we have to finish Wave first, so tune in next time for Naruto: Fractured!
