Chapter Five: Journey to Wave

~~Kirigakure one month later~~

Naruto grunted as he and one of his Abyss Clones were carrying a few planks of lumber on their shoulders, carrying it towards one of the many buildings under construction after the liberation of the Hidden Mist Village. He was the first one of his village to volunteer in rebuilding the destroyed village, despite Mei's protest to it all. Along with most of the village as well.

In the eyes of the people of the Hidden Mist, he had already done far more then they could ever repay him for. But, as Mei, the new Mizukage, had figured out he was rather stubborn when it came to helping others. So for the past month, while his village send thousands of Ryo worth of supplies to their new allies, he had stayed behind to bust his ass fixing the damage the war had caused. In that month he had grown friendly with the villagers and the shinobi, many of them asking him various questions about himself and his village. He was always happy to talk about his village, but the populace quickly figured out he didn't exactly like talking about himself. He was modest, never one to boast about himself or his abilities. Another trait that made the village see the Shi no Musuko their new beloved hero.

To the village Naruto was a true god-send, someone who came to them in their darkest hours and delivered them through the bloody mists and into a new, gleaming, rising sun in their village's future. However, despite their praise and admiration, Naruto still felt like he didn't do enough after the battle against Yaguro. The village knew that Naruto's deal with the Shinigami to seal away the Bijuu was being unable to return those who died during it's attack. And even though they understood there was nothing he could do, the guilt of seeing destroyed families burned inside Naruto's heart and mind.

As they laid down the heavy stack of lumber at the front of the building, Naruto reached for the towel around his neck and wiped the sweat he was building up away. He was currently shirtless, his thick coat and long sleeved shirt too much of a hindrance to him as he worked. He kept on his typical black ANBU pants and sandals, the necklace given to him still around his neck as he turned to head back to the stock of raw materials waiting to be distributed throughout the village's numerous construction sites. As he walked, he couldn't help but feel the eyes on him as he walked. He sighed m,entally, thinking this village would be the repeat of his own. That he would be seen as the hero, not as Naruto. However, the young boy didn't understand that the majority of the looks he got wasn't just admiration of his deeds, but admiration of his developing body.

At his age of twelve, almost at thirteen, he had a well defined frame. His stomach developed a six pack and his arms toned and showed off the muscles he had when he flexed them to move the material. Many of the women, young, old, married or single, seemed to look at the boy. He may not look it now, but in a few years he will be the best catch in all of their village.

When Naruto bent down at the stockpile to grab more lumber he was greeted by his mother sitting on the wood he was about to pick up. "Hello Naruto, working hard I see." She chuckled, seeing the eyeing women around them.

"Yeah. There is still a lot of work to do, and I don't want to waste time. So if you'd get off the wood that would be great."

She chuckled, nodding before lumping down. He was about to call for one of his Abyss Clones he created to help him, but Jin picked up the other end of the lumber and placed it against her shoulder. She smiled at him, and he in turn smiled at her. The two walked down the street, heading towards the same building he was just at. As they walked, Jin kept a snicker to her lips as she saw the eyes on her son, knowing what some of the younger girls were thinking.

"Seems like someone is mister popular with the locals."

Naruto let out a sigh as he kept leading the way. "Yeah, just like at home it seems. Why do people only see what I can do, not who I am?"

Jin chuckled, shaking her head at her naive son. "You're such a silly boy my son. Those girls aren't looking at you because of your work. They are checking out your body."

His cheeks went red, turning his head to look at his mother. "M-mom…i'm only twelve for Shinigami's sake. Why would they be looking at me like that?"

She couldn't help but laugh some more at her son's embarrassment. "Well, in two more years you will be able to start accepting engagement proposals. So they are likely thinking of how much of a charmer you'd be at that time. And if you don't like the stare, wear a shirt you fool."

Naruto turned another shade of red before turning his head back and continuing the walk. He was lost in his thoughts now, thinking about what his mother said. Two more years and he'd be legally able to marry by the laws of his village, which made him nervous. He knew he'd have to take a wife to establish his claim as the heir, otherwise the more elder of their clan that are we'd already could dispute his claim. And in the end, since he wasn't truly the blood of Jin, that claim would have little opposition. His mother had told him many times that none of their clan would do such a thing, but the thought of losing what his mother wanted always haunted him. He just hoped in the end he'd find a girl that was kind like Jin, and as caring to children as she was towards him.

As he thought, he wasn't paying attention to the smile on Jin's face. She knew he was worried about that aspect of his future. Worried that he'd fail her and their clan. However, she knew that wouldn't happen. Because she knew something that Naruto didn't, something that was going to impact his life once the countries learned of his bloodline.

Ten minutes passed as they made it to the building once again, this time asking one of his clones to go and grab his shirt to hopefully end the embarrassing stares the people around him were giving him. Once he got his shirt back on he sat down, taking a deep breath as he took the water bottle in his back pocket out and drinking the contents. With a satisfied, happy sigh he leaned back against the wood and looked up to the sky. His mother simply looked at him as he sat there, no doubt thinking of what new adventure he would be going on soon enough.

~~Mizukage Tower~~

Mei was rubbing her temples as she looked down at the dreaded enemy of every kage: paperwork. She was prepared for this aspect of the job, and as each day passed and the endless piles never seemed to be slimming down she was thinking of trying to pass this job off to Ao, or maybe even Chojuro. However, she was thankful as she reached for a file on her desk, and her annoyed scowl turned to a frown as she saw the contents on the file.

It was an update to a ninja in the bingo book, a rogue ninja that was from their village. A friend of her own before the war started. She sighed, leaning back in her chair as she thought. "Zabuza…"

"Whose Zabuza?"

Mei leaned up from her chair, looking to the window of her office to see Naruto crouching on the frame. He smiled, jumping into the office before closing the door. "Also, you should really get locks on these things. Not sure what they don't already."

The Mizukage smiled at his antics, but that smile faded as she looked back to the file. "Zabuza was my fiance before the civil war started. He was the one that inspired me to lead the resistance after his failed attempt at killing the former Mizukage. Now he is a rogue ninja in the bingo books. Marked to be killed."

Naruto looked at his new friend with a solemn look across his face, taking the file from her hands and reading it over. He wasn't a horrid criminal like some people he had seen in the bingo book. For instance, his only true crime was trying to kill the Mizukage before her, after that it was minor to lesser acts of mercenary work. He handed the file back to her, hating the frown on her face. He thought about what to say, what to do to make things better for her. That's when the idea popped into his head.

"So, you're the new Mizukage right? Meaning you're in charge of who becomes the rogue ninja of the village and such right?"

Mei nodded her head. "Yes, I am. And I'd love to take him out of that situation, but I can not unless he comes back here for me to clear his name. Otherwise the paperwork can't be filed properly."

Naruto nodded, a smile coming to his cheeks. Mei looked at him slightly confused. "What's with the smile? I fail to see anything good from this."

The boy snickered before raising his hand in the air and lowering it towards him with a thumb up. "It's simple Mei, I am going to find and bring him back! Just leave it to me okay?"

Her eyes widened at the offer, looking at him as a smile was threatening to reach her lips. "Naruto, you and your people have already done so much for me and my village. I can't ask you to do this for me."

He shook his head, bringing his hands behind his head before he spoke up. "Think nothing of it Mei, I don't like seeing you or anyone else I see as my friends upset. So I'll do this for you. If it makes things easier for you, say it's a mission you issued to my village in good faith. You can do that, right?"

Mei's lips finally gave in, showing her smile as she stood up and hugged Naruto. "Y-yeah…Yeah I can do that. Thank you, Naruto. I can't ever repay what you've done for me."

Naruto chuckled shyly, trying hard to keep his head out of her rather inviting breasts before pulling away. He truly hated when that happened when older women hugged him. He cleared his throat, looking back at her with a determined look in his eyes. "Consider the job done, Mizukage. I'll be on my way now."

Before she could speak to him about it more he had already taken off out the window, darting across the roofs and heading out of the village. She leaned against the wall as she saw him making his way to find a lead on Zabuza, the smile on her lips never faulting even as she turned back to deal with the hellish documents on her desk.

~~Land of Waves, Village three weeks later~~

The thunking of feet against timber echoed through the woods as Naruto made his way through the Land of Waves, heading towards the village his last lead had taken him. In truth, the more he searched for Zabuza the more he regretted offering to find him for Mei. His file didn't say what he had done justice if the locals he had encountered were telling the truth of his actions. To think the man that was engaged with Mei, a sweet be it brash woman, was throwing his lot in with someone like Gato. He didn;t have to be in the Land of Waves long to learn who the ruthless bastard that was slowly killing this land's economy was. In Naruto's eyes, this Gato needed to die a slow and painful death before being tossed into the stomach of the Shinigami itself. The fact he was strangling all independent shipping was one thing, but the fact that he hired Zabuza to kill a bridge builder to stop the bridge being made for his own interests pist him off even more. Then there was the fact that Gato's men were known for taking women from villages for their sick pleasures, many never being seen again and leaving their children and husbands alone to suffer with the knowledge that their mother and wife were never coming back.

With all this pain and suffering caused by his hands, Naruto made it a point to add Gato's death and the liberation of this land to his to do list.

Naruto landed on a tree branch as he took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down as he felt his emotions slowly infecting his judgment. For now, he needed to focus on finding Zabuza, after that he would be free to enact vengeance on behalf of the people Gato had wronged. As he sat down on the branch, he looked over to see the small river running down by the path leading to the village. He found the sight calming, just like most of the surface of the world Naruto has been seeing since leaving the caverns of Chikyugakre. As he looked at the scenery, a few figures started to emerge in the distance. When he narrowed his eyes, he could see what looked like two adult men, two girls his age, and a boy at the same age as well.

Even at this distance Naruto could smell the boozes coming from the older looking man, and the sake bottle in his hands didn't help his case either. Beside the older man was the younger man, though still older than Naruto. He had silver, spiky hair that seemed to defy gravity. He wore a face mask, with his headband of his village crossing down and covering his left eye. He wore what he could only imagine was the typical outfit for ninjas of his village. The boy his age had dark blue hair that seemed to be done up and looking like that of a duck's ass. He wore a blue shirt with a high collar, white shorts that cut off at his knees, and typical ninja sandals as blue as his shirt. Beside him was a girl with bright pink hair, a red short dress that was cit at the ends with red shorts underneath. She didn't look that interesting, though it was clear she was annoying the group with her screeching voice that even Naruto could hear from his perch.

The final girl caught Naruto off guard. She had long, beautiful red hair. Her eyes striking blue like his own. Her cheeks had three whisker marks on each one. She had a smile on her face that showed happiness, but he could see the sorrow buried underneath. She wore a bright orange, zip up hoodie that was currently unzipped. Underneath she wore a white shirt with an odd looking swirl pattern at her chest. Her pants were black, going down to her ankles where black ninja sandals acted as her footwear. In truth, Naruto felt like he knew who she was, but he knew he couldn't have. All of those ninjas wore the symbol of their village, a village he had never been to or heard of.

As he sat there eyeing the group, a low humming noise was breaking through the fog that was covering the area across the river. At first glance it seemed like the others were not able to hear the humming sound, making Naruto stand up as he started to race towards the group. He knew that sound, he heard enough shuriken and kunai flying in the air during the war. It was something heading towards the group.

~~With the group~~

Yuna groaned to herself as she, her sensei Kakashi, their escort Tezuna, and her team mate Sasuke were forced to listen to what felt like the endless praises of their last team mate, Sakura, about Sasuke for the hundredth time. The Namikaze heiress didn't understand how someone could have such a high pitched, annoying voice and have the lungs to keep it going for so long.

She truly wished she was back home right now, she could be training with uncle Jiraiya or aunt Tsunade instead of wasting her time on a stupid C Class mission with her annoying ass team mate. Sure, things got interesting at the beginning of their trip, fighting the Twin Demon Brothers of the Mist was rather neat, but they weren't a challenge for their sensei. After all, he was a former ANBU for a reason.

She sighed as she and the others listened to Sakura rant about how Sasuke was going to be the next Hokage after he avenged his clan, and then fangirling over the idea of him taking her as his wife and some other mushy bullshit that Yuna could care less about. It was because of the annoyance and the never ending screeching of Sakura that the group didn't hear what was coming.

When Yuna stepped foot on the bridge she felt her mind ring with activity.

""Get down!"

On instinct the girl replied to the voice in her head, ducking down. Not even a second later a large slab of steel called a sword ran past her head like a shuriken and embedded itself into the tree behind her. She turned to see the sword in the wood, her team getting into a protective formation around their client as they saw a man appear on the sword. The man stood tall, feet planted firmly on the blade. He wore a simple black tunic over his chest, wrappings crawling over his neck to his nose with their Kirigakure headband wrapped sideways on his forehead. He wore standard issue ANBU style black trousers with black ninja sandals.

Kakashi, the silver haired man, looked at the attacker, a look of annoyance and worry on his face as he spoke. "Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist. A Class rogue ninja. What are you doing here?"

Zabuza smirked, jumping off the sword while taking it in hand and removing it from the tree's trunk. "I have been hired to eliminate your client there, Kakashi of the Sharingan. Now, you and your little kiddies there can stay back and let me work or I can cut you down with that bridge builder."

Kakashi glared at Zabuza, lifting his headband to reveal the Sharingan in his left eye. Sasuke's eyes widened at the revelation of Kakashi's title and the eye he had hidden from the Uchiha heir. He gritted his teeth, remembering to demand answers from his sensei when this was over.

Sakura stood in front of Tezuna, the client, with a kunai in hand and prepared to defend him. Yuna on the other hand was standing beside her sensei, a kunai in her hand and prepared to attack if this went south as it seemed it was. However, before either side could make a move, a new voice spoke up.

"So your Zabuza? Damn, Mei really has a shitty taste in men."

All eyes turned to the boy that jumped down in between the two parties. Yuna looked at the boy, and something in her heart and mind clicked when she saw him. He wore a typical flak vest that was covered by a white trench coat. She could see symbols on the back of the coat, but couldn;t truly figure them out due to the mists around them and the angle he stood at. His head shaved besides the top that had long, blonde braids glowing down to his back with weird metal trinkets adorning it all.

Zabuza narrowed his eyes at the new entry into the battle brewing, his sword resting on his shoulder as he took the boy in. "And you are?"

The boy smiled, looking at him as he brought his hands into the pockets of the coat he wore. "My name is Naruto Shingami, a friend of Mei Termui. She sent me here to recover you and bring you home."

The demon's eyes widened for a moment before narrowing back. "She knows damn well I can't go back to the Mist. I am a wanted criminal there."

"No, you -were- a wanted criminal by the previous Mizukage. Now you are wanted back home to resolve your record and brought back into the forces as the Ninja Swordsman you are."

Again Zabuza widened before he looked at the boy more intently. "Who is the new Mizukage then?"

Naruto's smile got a bit brighter as he looked at the rogue ninja. "That would be one Mei Temuri. She and I won the civil war in your land. It's time to go back home, Zabuza."

AS the two talked, Kakashi was looking over the boy talking to their potential foe. He noticed the forehead protector around his head, but failed to know what that symbol was on it. Then he heard that the boy helped end the civil war in Kiri, which helped him narrow down the ideas of who this was. News traveled fast during the end of the civil war, and the information of a mysterious ninja and his village aiding Kirigakure was well known. However, information on that ninja and his village was very little. The ninja of Kirigakure were keeping that information secret, though they didn't know it was on the request of the leaders of Chikyugakure. They weren't ready to fully show themselves yet, especially after using so much of their resources in their civil war and restoration.

When the two finished talking, Zabuza had put the sword to his back, going to Naruto and shaking the hand the boy presented to him. "Thank you for making this easy, Zabuza. I know Mei will be very happy knowing you would be returning."

Zabuza blushed slightly under his wrappings, trying to hide the joy he had knowing Mei still wanted him back after what had happened. "I guess that means my record is ruined now. I hate knowing I'm abandoning this job."

Naruto smirked, a grin wicked on his face as he brought his hand out from Zabuza's grip. "Do not worry. Your mission was to kill the bridge builder, right? Well, how can you fail a mission when your employer fails to pay your fees?"

"What do you mean brat?"

"Simple. I am going to kill Gato."

At that the others, that he and Zabuza had seemed to forget about, decided to speak up. Tezuna was the first. "Wait, so you're not going to kill me now? And you, brat, you said you're going to kill Gato?"

Naruto turned his head, smiling at the bridge builder. "Indeed I am. I already have my Abyss Clones out searching for every possible hideout and base he and his goons have in the Land of Waves. Once I find the one he is hiding at, I'll be going to kill him. Slowly, just like how he is slowly killing the people of your land."

After Naruto finished, Zabuza answered the first part of Tezuna's question. "No, I'm not going to kill you now. The little punk brought me something more important to me than my stupid record. I'm going to go home and help fix what I should have stayed to fight for."

"Well," Tezuna started to speak up again "At Least let me treat you all to a place to stay for the night? My home is not that far away from here. If that is okay with you four?"

Tezuna turned to look at the ninja team assigned to protect him. Both Sasuke and Sakura were hesitant, while Kakashi seemed to think about it for a moment. Yuna, on the other hand, was quick to decide for her team. She needed to know more about this boy and why he felt familiar.

"Sure! We could always use more help just in case something happens or GAto sends more people."

Naruto smiled, nodding her head at the strange girl before looking at Zabuza. "Then we can wait til the bridge builder there is done with his job. Which means you should probably call out that fake hunter you have hiding over in the tree line."

Everyone's eyes widen at this revelation, even Zabuza. "How did you know she was there?"

Naruto smirked, bringing his hands behind his back as he always loved seeing the shocked faces of others. "Oh, that's thanks to my Kekkei Genkai. I am able to use special versions of chakra called Death and Spirit Chakra. The Spirit Chakra lets me feel the life of others about two kilometers around me. It's the kind of natural chakra a sage would use."

As if on que the said hunter nin fake jumped down and at Zabuza's side, taking off her mask and bowing her head to Zabuza. "I am sorry, master. I failed to keep myself concealed like you had asked."

Zabuza groaned, rolling his eyes before heading across the bridge towards the village. "It's fine, Haku. Let's go. After this is finished we're heading back home."

Haku nodded, smiling slightly as the others walked across the bridge til it was just her and Naruto left. The boy turned and smiled at the girl, liking the elegant green kimono she wore along with her ninja gear covering her legs and arms. "Haku huh? Nice to meet you, I am Naruto."

Haku blushed slightly seeing his bright smile, looking away before looking back at him. "It is nice to meet you, Naruto. So it's true? You came back to take my master back home? The war is over?"

Naruto chuckled, nodding as he started to walk across the bridge. "Yeah, that's right. Mei is eager to see him again. And I bet she's going to love knowing she has a daughter now."

Again Haku blushed, not thinking of herself as a daughter to Zabuza, but a tool. However, the thought of a family made her heart warm up a bit, slowly thawing the ice that was covering it after all this time. She looked at the boy as he was walking away, catching up to him as she couldn't help but have strange feelings in her chest for the guy beside her now.

~~Wave Village~~

It was late at night, everyone from the leaf sleeping in the cots given to them by Tezuna's daughter, Tsumi. She welcomed them into her home, all of them and made them warm meals as they watched over her father as he worked on finishing the bridge. Everyone was sleeping, everyone except one Namikaze heiress.

She snuck out not too long ago, sitting on the edge of the bridge that they were sent to protect while it was finished. She looked over the waves crashing about, the tides making a melody in the night that soothed the girl. She was so caught up in their trance she didn't feel the presence of another coming up behind her.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Yuna jumped slightly where she sat, looking back to see Naruto there now leaning over the edge she was sitting on. She stuttered a response. "W-what?"

Naruto chuckled, looking at her then to the waves. "The ocean, it's beautiful isn't it? I love how the moon reflects off of it."

She took a deep breath, collecting herself before she looked back to the water. "Yeah…yeah it is rather lovely isn't it? My village isn't around large bodies of water, so this is the first time I ever saw something like this."

The boy nodded along as she spoke. "Same here. My village is hidden in caverns deep under the earth. We don't see the outside, so the last two years have been the first in my life to see it all."

She turned to look at him, curious now as he spoke of his village. "Your village?"

He smiled, moving to sit beside her as he looked over the restless waves. "Yeah, Chikyugakre. The Village Hidden in the Earth. It's actually not far off from the coast of Fire Country."

"Really? I am surprised I never heard of it before. My father and uncle made sure I learned about all the hidden villages."

Naruto sighed, leaning back as he looked into the sky. "We haven't been active in the outside world since our founding. It wasn't till I was tasked with ending the civil war were we prepared to enter the world stage."

She perked up at this, eyeing him as he looked into space. "Your kage sent you to end the civil war? Why?"

He shook his head, turning to her and smiling. "No, we currently don't have a kage. The Clan Heads run the village as a council until we find someone worthy for the title."

"Then who sent you to fight in that bloody mist?"

He took a deep breath, the smile never leaving his face. "The patron of our village, Lord Shinigami."

At the mention of those words he could sense Yuna's vibe turn from friendly to angry. He kept his eyes on her smile, dying out as he saw her get upset. "What, did I say something wrong?"

She looked at him, sighing before taking a deep breath. "My family and I don't see the Shinigami very well. He…he is the reason I do not have my twin brother with me in this world."

Naruto raised an eyebrow, his look telling her to keep telling him. She sighed, nodding slowly before speaking again. "It happened when the Kyuubi, the nine tailed fox, attacked our village. He was so strong, so powerful…no one could stop him. So in order to stop him, my father was prepared to seal his power into me and my brother. We were newborns, pure souls that could handle the duty of being it's containers. But in order to do this seal, he had to summon the Shinigami."

She spat out the Shinigami's name, taking a deep breath as she felt her anger slowly rising. Before she could speak, Naruto chimed in. "He used the Reaper Death Seal, didn't he?"

Yuna nodded, looking at him with a somber smile. "It worked, he was able to seal the Kyubbiu away. But it wasn't for both his children. He sealed the entire Kyuubi into me." She reached for her stomach, her fingers gently touched where the seal was underneath her clothes. "And instead of taking the life of my father, the Shinigami had decided to take my brother instead…"

When she turned to look at Naruto, she would see him looking down to the water again. She felt bad for killing that smile on his face. But when she saw that he seemed more hurt than anything she got worried. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have told you something sad like that. I am-"

"I don't think he is dead, Yuna…"

She looked at him, confused and but offended a stranger like him would say something against everything she was told of that night. Before she could speak, he continued. "I was not born from Hidden Earth Village. In fact, thirteen years ago I was given to the people by Lord Shinigami himself…how old are you, Yuna?"

She wasn't following his line of thinking, but answered anyway. "Thirteen years ago. Why?"

He sighed, looking at her with tears in his eyes. "Yuna…Thirteen years ago I was taken from your village by the Shinigami. Thirteen years ago, I was given to my village by the Shinigami…"

It took a second for it to finally click into her head, but by the time she turned to look at him again after being lost in her thoughts he was gone. She looked around, trying to find him but when she got up and looked he was gone. She went to the house, accidentally waking everyone up as she called for Naruto's name.

When Kakashi, Tezuna. Tsumi, and Zabuza came downstairs. They found Yuna on the couch cringing into her legs, cuddling into herself as she didn't bother to even look at them. Kakashi came to her, sitting beside her while the others were put on edge. The rest of the people, being Sakura, Sasuke, Haku, and Tsumi's son Inari, came down to see the girl crying on the couch. Sakura came to sit beside Yuna, the two not exactly close, but she did care for the heiress.

"Yuna…Yuna, what's wrong? What happened?"

Before Yuna could answer Haku spoke up, looking around when she noticed they were short one blonde haired boy. "Where is Naruto?"

Yuna took a deep breath, trying to control her breathing enough to speak up. "N-Naruto…Kakashi sensei, he is…he is…"

Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder, worry now on his face for the strange boy that helped them on their mission. "What is it Yuna? What happened to Naruto!?"

SHe cried into her legs again, but her voice was loud enough to shock all of those around her. "I…I think he is my brother!"