Perspicacious
Chapter II: The Land of Waves
For the next two months, Team 7 did some three-dozen boring D-rank missions that, while they helped build their skills as a team, didn't really hone their skills as ninja. As a result, no one was surprised when Naruto finally broke and demanded a harder mission. Sarutobi just smirked before announcing that they'd be playing bodyguard to a bridge builder named Tazuna. Unfortunately, Tazuna had a bad habit of insulting Naruto, which meant that Sasuke kept having to protect their client from his best friend. Along the way, Sakura asked if the Land of Waves had ninja as well, resulting in Kakashi giving them a brief lesson on the ninja countries. But Tazuna scoffed at him. "Of course, Konoha doesn't teach about their greatest failure!"
"What do you mean, greatest failure?" Sakura asked.
"There used to be six hidden villages. Between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water lay the Land of Whirlpools, protected by Uzushiogakure, the Village Hidden by Whirling Tides, ruled by the Arashikage. The reason they don't exist anymore is because twenty years ago, during the Third Shinobi World War, Uzushio was attacked by a great army, and their greatest ally refused to send them aid! Uzushio lasted a month against an army five times as large as the population of the entire village, hoping and praying for relief to come from Konoha, but none came until it was too late!"
"How do you know about that?" Kakashi demanded.
"Because for as long as they lived, the Arashikage and their shinobi protected the smaller countries along the coast, like the Land of Waves. They always did so because they believed it to be the right thing to do, it was never because of what we could provide them. As such, the Uzu-nin had the respect of all us small nations along the coast."
"Why were they destroyed?" Sasuke asked, curious about the land that Naruto's family came from.
"Because despite being the smallest of the Hidden Villages, the Uzu-nin were the mightiest of all. They were all powerful, decapitating people without touching them, chakra scythes that could mow down dozens, barriers that could stop your ninja-magic in it's tracks. Their greatest clan had the largest natural reserves of chakra ever, and were highly skilled in fuinjutsu, the art of sealing. Even the least skilled member of the clan could keep fighting long after other ninja had collapsed from exhaustion and create seals that could do things thought impossible. Their greatest member though was the last Arashikage, a ninja so powerful that he was known as the God of Storms due to his unheard-of elemental prowess. That resulted in everyone, even Konoha fearing Uzushio, and that fear resulted in Uzushio's destruction. The lands of Rain, Iron and Sky attacked together, and only after a month of terrible conflict did Uzushio fell."
"What was his name, the God of Storms that is?" Sakura asked.
"The God of Storms was called Uzumaki Naruto." Team Seven all froze at that, shocked to hear the name of one of their own. "What? What's so shocking about his name?" Tazuna demanded.
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto explained.
"Hmm, maybe I underestimated you, kid. Either that, or you have one hell of a reputation to live up to."
An hour later the group was attacked by a pair of ninjas from the Land of Water, and Naruto froze while Sasuke saved his life. Knowing his best friend the way he did, Sasuke broke Naruto out of his self-loathing by insulting him. Kakashi then revealed that since Tazuna was threatened by ninja, the mission was now a B-rank mission, something that was at least theoretically outside the skill level of a genin and they should go back. However, Naruto refused. "We promised to take Tazuna back to the Land of Waves, and I refuse to back down from this mission. I won't run away again, and I won't go back on my word. That's my ninja way."
That night, Naruto stayed up while Sasuke was on watch so they could talk in private. "How did you not freeze when those guys attacked?"
Sasuke frowned at that. "You were't at home that night, remember? Iruka-sensei had taken you out for ramen, but I went straight home and found the massacre. I froze then, the first time I faced him as an enemy. You always freeze during your first fight because your fear takes control. Next time though? Next time you'll have an idea what to expect and you'll be able to push past it."
Two days later, and they arrived at the border between the lands of Fire and Wave, otherwise known as the ocean. Naruto, having never seen the ocean immediately ran into it, only to stop as soon as he felt the water touch his skin. He turned northeast and stared into the distance, almost as if he were in a trance. "What's happened to him, sensei?" Sakura asked.
"It's a blood call," the answer came. However, it wasn't from Kakashi, but Sasuke. "The Uzumakis, they were very connected to the ocean, weren't they?" Tazuna nodded, confirming his suspicions. "I thought so. A blood call only happens when one of the last members of a clan feel a new connection to their home You can ignore it for a while, but eventually you will go home and you will feel the need to rebuild your clan, no matter the cost."
"How do you know that?" Sakura demanded of her friend. Fortunately, her crush had started fading after she started working with Sasuke. Now, this wasn't to say her feelings had gone away, no, they had just faded into friendship, though she still hoped that they could fall in love one day.
"Because I felt the same way after my clan was destroyed. I was lucky because I was in my home when my clan was destroyed. But all the great ninja clans know of the blood call thanks to the Warring States period." With that said, he walked up to his friend and clapped him on the shoulder, snapping Naruto out of his trance. "When you're ready, I'm going with you to Uzushio." Naruto smiled at Sasuke, and they boarded the boat that would take them to the Land of Waves.
On the boat ride, Tazuna explained why the ninja were after him and why he only paid for a C-ranked mission. Gato, a filthy-rich shipping magnate and gangster had taken control of the Land of Waves shipping, so Tazuna started building his bridge so they could break his control. Unfortunately, due to Gato's control, the Land of Waves was extremely poor, so they could only afford a C-rank fee rather than B or A. Tazuna then tried to use emotional blackmail to ensure that Team 7 stayed and finished their mission, something all of Team 7 groaned at for how transparent it was. Shortly after their arrival, the next attack began when a sword came flying at Tazuna and Kakashi identified their attacker as Momochi Zabuza, a nuke-nin from Kirigakure. However, Zabuza shocked Sasuke and Naruto by identifying their sensei as Kakashi of the Sharingan, which was supposed to be a kekkei genkai of the Uchiha clan, and Kakashi was clearly not an Uchiha.
Sakura had no idea what the Sharingan was, so Sasuke explained it. "It's a rare power that resides in the eyes of an Uchiha. The user of this doujutsu can instantly see and comprehend any genjutsu, taijutsu and ninjutsu and reflect the attack back on the attacker. They can also use it to instantly copy any jutsu they see. There's far more to it than that, but even the most basic use of the Sharingan comes at a price: it uses a large amount of chakra. That's why Uchiha have such large chakra reserves, in order to be able to use the Sharingan when they choose, while also being able to use other jutsus." Zabuza complimented Sasuke for his knowledge before saying that Kakashi was known as the man who copied 1000 techniques, the copy-nin.
Soon the battle began, and Zabuza made the mist even deeper with a suiton before disappearing. The tension, stress and Zabuza's killing intent became nearly overwhelming, but Sasuke and Naruto grabbed the other's hand and kept each other grounded, while Kakashi calmed Sakura by simply stating that he wouldn't let his comrades die. That was when Zabuza appeared between the genin and Tazuna, but Kakashi quickly eliminated him, only for him to be revealed as a water clone and the real Zabuza cut Kakashi in half, only for him to be revealed as a water clone! Then even the second Zabuza was revealed to be a water clone as the real Zabuza appeared behind Kakashi, quickly imprisoning him in water. Zabuza then created another clone to deal with Team 7, and he immediately attacked Naruto, taking his headband. That theft, combined with how quickly he defeated Sasuke enraged Naruto enough that he charged Zabuza, which resulted in Zabuza knocking him away with one hit, but Naruto didn't care, he got what he wanted. He'd retrieved the headband that he valued so much, and with the bridge builder's support, he planned to save Kakashi.
However, Kakashi and Zabuza revealed just how dangerous Zabuza was: eleven years earlier, he had slaughtered over 100 perspective ninjas in accordance with their graduation rule of win or die. While that dismayed the genin, Sasuke and Naruto weren't willing to give up, so Naruto created thirty shadow clones and swarmed Zabuza. When that failed, Naruto created another dozen clones that then split into two teams of six. The first attacked the clone, the other attacked the real Zabuza with his Fire Storm, destroying the clone and forcing the real Zabuza to remove his hand from the water prison and freeing Kakashi.
With Kakashi free, they saw the true potential of the Sharingan, as Kakashi first matched Zabuza movement for movement, then seemed to predict his movements. However, before Kakashi could deliver the killing blow, a pair of senbon needles struck Zabuza in the neck. As it turned out, the senbon came from a tracker ninja dedicated to stopping Zabuza. Immediately after the tracker vanished with Zabuza's body, Kakashi collapsed. "Don't worry, he's just exhausted," Sasuke stated. "He's not an Uchiha, so he can't turn off the Sharingan, and he doesn't have the chakra reserves to be able to keep it up this long. Once he gets some rest, he'll be fine." He turned to Tazuna and asked, "I assume your village has a medic of some kind?"
"Yes, my daughter is a competent medic, she'll be able to help."
Within hours, Kakashi had awoken, and realized that the tracker-nin had actually saved Zabuza, meaning that the two were working together and they would need to prepare. "However, I have a few questions to ask. First is for Sasuke: when did you develop your Sharingan? The other is for Naruto: when did you get the transplant?"
"Transplant?" Sakura asked. "What are you talking about?"
"What do you think, Sasuke?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke considered that for a moment before deciding. "I think we can trust them. Go ahead and show them." With that, Naruto deliberately blinked his eyes, and when he opened them again, instead of his usual blue eyes, they saw eyes as black as Sasuke's own. But what shocked them more were the scars around his eyes, jagged, rough things that looked like he'd been sent through a window. "The answer to both your questions is the same, and it started six years ago, on Naruto's sixth birthday."
Sakura thought for a moment. "Wasn't that the year that people decided to start celebrating the Kyuubi's attack rather than just mourn the dead?" Sasuke nodded, then continued the story.
Fugaku burst into the hospital. "Where are they?" he demanded.
"Uchiha Sasuke is in room 107," the nurse replied. "Uchiha Benjiro and Uchiha Emiko are with him. Uchiha Arisu is currently in 213, and Uzumaki Naruto is in 227. It doesn't look good for either of them, and neither are allowed visitors right now."
Fugaku nodded and went straight to Sasuke's room. As soon as his son saw him, he cried out "Where's Naruto?! I have to see him!"
Fugaku frowned, confused until he saw his son's eyes. "What happened?" he whispered.
Benjiro explained. "We were coming back from Ichiraku's when Itachi and Shisui were both called away for ANBU buisiness. That's when the mob showed up. They managed to separate us and several of them started beating on Naruto. Sasuke did his best to get to him, but Arisu still had to take a knife to protect Naruto. Shisui managed to show up shortly after and he stopped the mob even arresting some of them. But when he found Naruto, he wouldn't let any of us see him."
Fugaku nodded. That explained why Sasuke had the Sharingan now, and why he insisted on seeing Naruto. Sasuke probably feared that he had lost his best friend, and he could never forget that. "I'm going to check on Naruto and Arisu, and I'm going to do my best to get you permission to see Naruto, I promise. After that, I will be back." With that, he hugged his son before leaving him with his cousins. Once he was back at the entry desk, he asked the nurse "What is the condition of Naruto and Arisu?"
"Uchiha Arisu has been poisoned, and so far as we've been able to tell, it's from the Land of Water. Unfortunately, we don't know what the antidote is, the best we can do is try to mitigate the symptoms. Uzumaki Naruto has sustained great damage to his eyes. We can't save his sight unless he has a transplant."
"The nurses weren't able to save Arisu," Naruto said, the tears obvious in his eyes. "Before she died, she told the nurses to give me her eyes. She managed to hold on long enough for me to have the transplant and tell her that it worked. The Sharingan activated ... when she died," he finished, the tears finally falling from Arisu's eyes. "Her parents left Konoha less than a week later. They couldn't stand the sight of me, and I honestly couldn't look at them either. Losing Arisu was too fresh for us to stand each other."
"Father was convinced that the attack wasn't the act of a drunken mob, but an attempt at an experiment about the Sharingan," Sasuke continued. "In order to protect Naruto, he wove a genjutsu over his face and tied it to Naruto's own chakra. Unless Naruto wishes otherwise, all anyone without a Sharingan will only see his old, natural blue eyes. You two are the first non-Uchiha to know the truth."
The next morning, Kakashi started them on chakra control by teaching them how to walk up a tree. Fortunately for the two boys, they had been working at that very thing for a few months trying to help Naruto pass the Genin exams. "I bet I make it to the top before you do, teme," Naruto challenged with a grin.
"Usual stakes? You're on, dobe!" Sasuke answered.
"What? Usual stakes? How do you have usual stakes? You two are enemies!" Sakura cried out in utter confusion.
Both boys stopped and looked at each other in confusion. "We don't act like we're enemies, do we?" Naruto asked.
"No, or at least I didn't think so. Kakashi-sensei?"
"Maa, I'm not sure to be honest. Most of your Academy sensei's thought you were enemies, all but Umino Iruka that is. So, what are the usual stakes?"
"Loser buys a meal at the winner's favorite restaurant," Sasuke explained. "The dobe always picks ramen at Ichiraku's, so I try to make things more interesting by mixing it up."
"But the teme never has anything unless it has tomatoes, so we don't go to too many different places."
"And why do you have a standing bet? How long has this been going on?" Sakura demanded.
"Because we're best friends, believe it! And the bet's been going on for about six years now." Sakura groaned at the response while watching her teammates continue trying to climb their trees.
When evening came, Sasuke decided to take a break for dinner and invited Naruto to join him, but his friend just kept climbing, saying that he'd eat later. Sasuke nodded with a grin and tossed his friend a small box he had packed earlier before heading back to the village. While there, the three of them heard what life had been like before Gato arrived, and of Kaiza, the village hero until Gato murdered him. Even worse was when Inari claimed that their training was worthless and that they didn't know what it was like to suffer. "Hn, so you think because your step-father was killed, you know how horrible the world is? Let me tell you something, you've only had a hint of how terrible the world is. My entire family was slaughtered by my big brother, from the youngest child to the most feeble elder, shinobi and civilian alike. But that's nothing compared to how Naruto's had it. He's never even known who his parents are and has been despised by our village his entire life for something outside his control. Worse, the only family he knew was mine," Sasuke growled before storming back to the forest.
Five more days passed, during which they continued practicing chakra control, first by becoming good enough to just walk up the trees, (which they successfully did on the second day,) then upside down, and finally walking on water. As before, Sakura managed each test easily, but Sasuke and Naruto weren't far behind her, now that they'd mastered the basics. On their seventh day in the Land of Waves, Naruto slept in, resulting in the rest of the team going to the bridge and Naruto being left behind. While that pissed Naruto off, it turned out to be a good thing, as he saved Tsunami and Inari from a pair of samurai assassins. Once that was done, he ran towards the bridge as quickly as he could, finding Sasuke caught in a cage made of ice. Haku immediately demanded to fight Naruto his own way, a request that Zabuza granted, even offering to not fight if Kakashi agreed to just 'watch the show.' That was when Sasuke made his move against Haku, which drew the boy's attention back to the would-be avenger. Haku moved to attack Sasuke, but Naruto also struck, attempting to destroy an ice mirror with his firewhirl, but the mirror remained undamaged, so Naruto dove inside to support his friend.
Naruto tried to attack the mirrors again with shadow clones, but Haku managed to defeat all of them before even one came close to a mirror. When Naruto tried again, Sasuke almost hit Haku, and when Naruto did it a third time, Sasuke improved again. Naruto attacked once again, and that time Sasuke just managed a hit in. "Naruto, how many more times can you do that?"
Naruto wanted to lie, but this was his friend, one of his most precious people. "One or two more times for certain. After that, I think I'm done."
"Okay, then let's do this again!" This time, Sasuke managed to burn some of Haku's clothes.
Naruto tried again, only to be brought down, nearly exhausted, and Sasuke was hit before he could try anything else. When he managed to look up, he whispered "Sasuke, your eyes …" Immediately, Sasuke knew what had happened and he started grinning as a result: his Sharingan had fully formed, which meant that he'd be able to track Haku no matter what. Unfortunately, Haku realized it as well, so he attacked Naruto rather than Sasuke. Sasuke realized what he was doing and became a human shield in order to save Naruto. "Sasuke, why?"
"You know why, dobe. We never did talk about it, but that kiss we shared, I think that's my best memory, especially since that day. If we get out of this, we really do need to do something about-" But before he could finish speaking, Sasuke collapsed. Naruto managed to catch him, which allowed him to hear Sasuke's final words. "Itachi's still out there, get him for me, would you?"
"No way, you're going to do that yourself, teme!" Naruto stated, but it was too late, Sasuke was gone.
"He found the strength he didn't realize he had. Why? Because of a certain person who was precious to him. To save that person, he rushed in knowing it was a trap. He was a true ninja, worthy of honor. Is this the first time you have seen a friend die in battle? This is part of what it means to be a ninja," Haku said, giving Sasuke respect the only way he knew how.
What Haku couldn't know was that he had doomed himself for doing it. Inside Naruto's mind, he was talking to Kurama. Can you help me avenge Sasuke?
I can, but I want to know how far you will go. How strong is your desire for vengeance?
I'm willing to do whatever it takes. Anything at all. Haku, Zabuza, Gato will all die for this!
And why them?
What does it matter to you? You hate humans, you told me that yourself!
I do, but I am also starting to care for you, kit. And I want you to be able to live with yourself afterwards. So, why them?
Haku killed Sasuke, Zabuza gave him the skills to do it, and Gato is the one who hired them. I want them all to pay!
Good. And if Gato brings his army?
Then they're dead too!
Then we have an accord, kit. Let's do this! Now, for the first time in his life, but hardly the last, Naruto and Kurama bonded, combining their strengths to become one. Haku watched as chakra started pouring out of Naruto's body, but not the normal blue chakra, no, this was orange chakra, almost resembling … a fox's fur? As the chakra grew in power, Naruto's body pushed out the senbon and instantly healed. His fingernails grew and sharpened into claws, his eyes turned blood red, the whiskers on his face grew more defined, his teeth sharpened, and his hair grew wilder. "You told me that we fight harder when we are protecting those precious to us. You're right, but we are at our strongest when we are avenging our fallen precious ones, and you just took my most precious one from me! You killed the last member of my family! You're dead!" Naruto growled out, as the chakra condensed around him and formed a tail. He charged at Haku, shattering mirror after mirror in his desire for revenge. Haku attempted to strike, but even with his incredible speed, Naruto dodged it easily, then grabbed the other ninja, and with a single punch, threw him twenty feet away and shattered what remained of the Crystal Mirror Jutsu.
Naruto was enraged, but he wanted more than just revenge, he wanted to ensure that everyone involved knew why he was doing this, so while it went against Kurama's instincts, he grabbed Sasuke's kunai and only then charged at Haku. With a single thrust, Naruto killed Haku by splitting his heart in two. "One down, two to go!" With Kurama's enhanced senses, Naruto charged straight for Zabuza, who had only just agreed with Kakashi that it was time to end their battle.
Zabuza knew Naruto was coming for him, he had lived most of his life fighting in mists like the one that now covered the bridge. He didn't need his sight to know where everyone was at all times. Besides, that strange chakra was like a beacon, it was impossible to miss by anyone who was at least a chunin. With perfect timing, he swung his sword in an attempt to cut Naruto in two. Unfortunately, his timing was perfect for human speed, not that of a jinchuuriki using the power of their bijuu, and as a result, Naruto's foot hit the tip of his sword, causing a crack to ring through the mist. "What the?!" Zabuza cried out in shock. His beloved Kubikiribocho should have gone right through Naruto's foot, but instead nothing happened! Naruto jumped off the sword as if nothing had happened, then he raised a single finger. Much to Zabuza's shock, the gesture resulted in a massive wind, one that revealed what had happened when sword and foot met: the sword had shattered into a thousand pieces, and now those pieces were all floating. Naruto gestured again, this time with his entire hand, and the pieces of the sword went flying through Zabuza before he had time to react. He was dead before he hit the ground.
"That leaves only Gato!" And sure enough, Gato appeared on the bridge with an army intent on saving as much money as possible on this job. Naturally, with the enhanced senses that Kurama granted him, Naruto knew the moment he arrived. He also knew that Gato would essentially be a coward, which meant in order for him to have his revenge, Naruto would need to ensure he couldn't escape, and that's where Kurama's memories of her previous jinchuuriki came into play. His hands started moving to create a jutsu that only an Uzumaki could produce. "Hiden: Whirlwind Barrier!" With that, a strong wind started blowing around the bridge, first dissipating the mist so that all could see each other, then concentrating around the battlefield. One of Gato's thugs was a little curious as he had never seen this jutsu before, so he went right up to where the wind was blowing, only to be thrown back by the force of the wind. "None of you are going anywhere!" Naruto growled out before starting another sequence of signs."Hiden: Lightning Barrage!" With that, a thousand small blasts of lightning started flying from his hands and all of Gato's thugs were hit multiple times. Gato shook in fear, watching his men fell to the ground as their hearts stopped beating. Between the boy's inhuman appearance and the instant death of his goons, Gato knew he was done and immediately tried to run, only to be thrown back when he hit the wind barrier. Unfortunately for him, Naruto was there, waiting for him. "You're going to die as you lived, Gato: heartless!" Naruto proclaimed. With that, he took Sasuke's kunai and kept his word by cutting out Gato's heart.
Then, something happened that surprised even Kurama. "Sasuke's alive!" Sakura cried out. Naruto turned in shock and found that, impossible as it seemed, Sasuke was standing up on his own power. Kurama, can you-?
I can, kit, for you, no matter how much I despise Uchiha. With that, Naruto raced to Sasuke. "Sakura, help me pull out the senbon, quickly!"
"What are you talking about?! He could bleed to death if we do that!" Sakura warned. But when Naruto turned to face her head on and she saw his eyes, Sakura did as he asked, out of fear if nothing else.
"What's going on? What happened to you?" Sasuke asked weakly.
"Later. Right now, you need to lay down." Once Sasuke had done that, Naruto did one more set of signs. "Hiden: River of Life!" With that, Sasuke was surrounded by a bubble of water, and to everyone's surprise, his wounds started healing and soon, it was as if nothing had happened. Naruto then released the jutsu, and Kurama faded back into the seal. "Sorry, but I don't know that jutsu very well, so I don't know if it's a good idea for you to be standing."
"Doesn't matter to me, I just want to know how you learned it."
"It's a long story, believe it."
"Hn, sounds like we all have a lot to talk about on the way home," Kakashi said. "Come on, let's go." They turned back, shocked to see the entire village up in arms, Inari leading them, all prepared to defend their village and their hope. Even if they weren't needed, it proved that the village now had the strength of spirit to stand up and defend themselves if needed. Team Seven stayed just long enough for the bridge to be finished. They intended to name it after Naruto, but he insisted that they call it the Great Uzumaki Bridge, in honor of his whole clan and what they stood for.
A/N: Okay, on Naruto's ability to turn off the Sharingan, I do have an explanation. As I understand the Sharingan, the Uchiha eyes are usually implanted after the Sharingan has been awoken in the first place, but if it matures after implantation, then the user can downgrade it. For example, Kakashi's Sharingan had already matured into Mangekyo by the time he became Team 7's sensei, yet he normally uses the basic Sharingan. So, my interpretation is this: when a non-Uchiha receives their eyes, they can downgrade the eyes to how they were when they received the eyes. Since Naruto is the one who first awakened the Sharingan, he can shut it off. Also, in my story, all shinobi experience the kind of chakra that can create a Sharingan, but one needs to have Uchiha eyes in order for the chakra to create the Sharingan.