Chapter Six - We Are Done Here

"Where are you off to, Naruto," Kakashi asked from the chair next to the front door.

Naruto smiled at the clone of his sensei and shrugged. "Just going on a walk. Meditate some more most likely. I'll be back for dinner, hopefully."

Kakashi nodded his head and waved his hand for the boy to get going. "Maa, maa, then don't let me keep you too long. Just flare your chakra if you ever need assistance. Be careful, though, it is close to the time."

"That's standard procedure, sensei," Naruto grinned with a wave of his hand. "See ya, sensei."

Naruto would usually be going out on patrol with Kurotsuchi but two days ago, she got a messenger hawk that told her that her target was found working in Sunagakure and that she was to head back to her village for debriefing. She left, but not without saying goodbye and it was a surprise to his teammates when she strolled up to the house and asked for him. It's not every day that a rival village's kunoichi comes asking for another.

Their reaction was even funnier when they saw the two of them kiss and embrace before she left, promising to write to him. Kakashi had stood with a wide grin and a leer in his eye that made Naruto shiver at the perverted thoughts going on in that man's head. However, it was explained that Kurotsuchi wasn't a threat to them and their mission so there was no reason to capture or kill her.

Instead, Naruto has been training his self-control of Kyuubi's chakra in and trying to balance the extreme power. More than once he almost dried out the lake and burned down the nearby forest. It was even funnier when Sakura came running back to the house trying to tell Kakashi that there was some kind of battle or disaster where he was training.

When they all went to see what she was talking about, Kakashi's pointed stare was hilarious to the blonde. It only made his teammates warier when he was asked if he was responsible and he answered honestly. Sasuke looks at him with even more envy and a small amount of respect, while Sakura looked at him with caution and fear as if he was some kind of dangerous animal.

With the transformation, you are technically an animal.

Naruto rolled his eyes, You said I looked normal.

For a Jinchuuriki, yes you were as normal as they come.

Naruto shook his head at the Biju's cackle and grumbled about mean old beasts and the reinforcement of a certain nickname.

Naruto stopped in the clearing, pulled from his musings when he caught the scent of something new in his area. It's feminine, a flowery herbal smell that is mixed with a sweet underlying scent of a human female. Considering Sakura did not smell of flowers and herbs, and that she will no longer come around this area ever since she found it last time, and Kurotsuchi smelled of earth and ash and had left for Iwagakure, he was on guard immediately.

He crept forward toward the smell, keeping his footsteps and movement as quiet as possible, and as he got closer he could hear flora being pulled. As he reached a clearing, he found a young woman with long black hair hunched over a patch and pulling some of them into a basket. She wore a pink and white kimono, her hair let down straight like a midnight waterfall, and as he got closer he noticed black painted nails.

Wait.

Holding up the rabbit hand seal, he called out, "Uzumaki Marked Fuinjutsu: Freeze."

Immediately, the woman froze in place and there was a startling noise coming from her. The blonde couldn't hold it, he began laughing out loud at the absurdity of this encounter. "Oh my Kami, no way the chances of this happening had actually come."

"Reveal yourself!"

At the familiar voice, Naruto walked around while avoiding the herb patch and crouched in front of the unmasked fake Hunter-nin. A beautiful face befitting the lithe but strong figure of the female kunoichi, hazel eyes staring back in open surprise. "Hello again, Hunter-Chan!"

The girl groaned and closed her eyes to not look at him. "I thought I would be able to avoid you. I hate my luck."

Naruto chuckled and sat down. "Really? 'Cuz I love my luck. What brings you here, Hunter-chan?"

She took a deep breath before exhaling roughly. "You know why I'm here. I am gathering medicine for my master."

"Ah, Zabuza-san. How is he recovering? Well, I hope," Naruto spoke honestly, shocking the girl. "Just because we fought doesn't make us eternal enemies or anything like that. We're just hired by two different opposing people, so there are no hard feelings about this. Unless…he rapes people like others under Gato's employ then we do have a problem."

The girl is surprised by the venom in the boy's tone but she felt a…she doesn't know how to describe it but her heart felt light that the blonde Genin cared for such despicable acts. "Zabuza-sama would never fall so low as to do something as heinous as that! We are paid to kill, yes, but we would never do that!"

Naruto smiled a toothy grin that made the raven blush. "Good. I'm getting tired of expecting the worst of others."

The girl then felt control of her body return, and the black swirl disappeared again from her skin after retracting from its constriction. She leaned back and stared at the blonde boy as he just looked down at the ground with a faraway look. "You've seen the warehouses."

It wasn't a question and Naruto gave no indication other than an eye twitch that he heard her, but he nodded after a second of hesitation. "I've raided every single known location owned by Gato. Most are just warehouses of things he's taken, food, and possessions. The others…are disgusting dens of horrible activities."

She silently nodded, having heard Zabuza laughing when Gato had complained about losing his warehouses to a singular person. She did not feel sorry, if anything she and her master were glad they were taken out and dismantled. "I'm glad you did. It made working for the man unbearable knowing what he allowed to happen, and until we got paid there was nothing we could do."

"No offense, but he won't be paying you," Naruto said. Getting a questioning look he continued, "what I mean is that he doesn't have a good record of paying people that he owes, and even if he did the moment I find him he's a dead man."

Haku stared into his determined eyes and tilted her head in curiosity. Deciding to test the boy for her own interest, she asked, "what do you get strong for, Naruto? Is it for yourself?"

"Hm," Naruto narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion. "I guess in part I do it for myself. I do it out of my own desire to protect myself and those I love. Despite Oji-chan not telling me of my parents I can understand that people make stupid decisions out of fear for the safety of those they love, so if anything I appreciate that he would lie to the entire village to protect me no matter how horribly wrong it went. I haven't fully forgiven him yet, but he is doing his best to make it up to me. I am also getting strong to be respected and as a good role model. Oji-chan has a grandson and even though we didn't get along at first I want him to look up to me in a good light, as someone to follow and to strive to become."

Naruto noticed the small smile on Haku's face so he decided to tell her more of his desires. "Don't think that I am some saint or some shit like that, I am a shinobi and a killer and for that, I am not perfect. I desire revenge against those who desire for my clan to be snuffed out of history like the Senju and Uchiha. I desire to rebuild my clan, even if it means over the bodies of those who threaten my future, even if those people are surviving clan members. I will do whatever it takes to make sure my clan and home come back to prosperity."

Haku now looked with a small frown at what she has heard, but she understood the sentiment. Long ago, when she was first trained by Zabuza and she found the love of a father, she desires to protect him with her life and she still does. She will protect the man who trained her and raised her, and it warmed her heart because he has also said much the same over the years. So despite the aggressive nature of the younger's desires, she found herself approving it. "I can't say I completely agree with your sentiments, but I agree with your desire to protect your loved ones. I believe that one can only be truly strong when they have someone to protect, like you with your Oji-chan, and Zabuza is that one for me. I love him like the father I wish I was born from, and despite how he seems he cares a lot for me and his former village."

Naruto now was interested as well, "I thought he had tried to murder his former Mizukage?"

Haku nodded her head. "He did, but the reason he tried to was because of the new doctrines that were put into place. The Mizukage slowly saw the Kekkei Genkai clans within Kirigakure as a danger to the nation, so he started what would become the Blood Purge. Essentially, anyone who has any type of Kekkei Genkai was killed or imprisoned, but after the Second Shinobi World War Kiri had a large population of Kekkei Genkai. As such, this caused a Civil War, and while Zabuza-sama was one of the Jonin Swordsmen who were hunting Kekkei Genkai he met a woman that changed his mind. Then he found me. So he wanted a safe future for us, and he tried to kill our Mizukage."

"It didn't work," she told him, sarcasm in her voice. "Clearly it didn't, because Kirigakure is still in a Civil War and we are now rogue ninjas finding work to supply the Kekkei Genkai rebels. That's why we are working for someone like Gato currently, he is offering as much money as it dwarfs our last five jobs put together, which means we will bring back enough money to fund the rebel's operations for nearly half a year. So we feel pressured into this, as you are by your village to stop us."

Naruto was quiet as she finished speaking, fidgeting with her fingers without looking at him. "I understand, I really do. My clan and their village were destroyed out of fear of the Hidden Villages during the Second Shinobi War. So I do understand, even if it's secondhand, but I guess if Zabuza was willing to actually talk out a deal, there could be something beneficial for all of us."

Haku cocked her head to the side and looked up at him, her eyes knitted together.

"What I mean to say is that I am rebuilding my home island, an archipelago a few dozen or so miles off the coast of Fire Country. The only people currently there are a few retainer families loyal to my clan, and a few refugees who have moved there with the retainers. I'm saying that if Zabuza could ask the rebels if they want a place where their civilians and injured can rest until you can win the civil war in Kiri, or after, if an agreement for permanent friendship is arranged, then I would be willing."

"What do you get out of this," Haku asked cautiously.

"I do this out of kindness mostly, but there is one thing I do want in exchange," Naruto admitted lightly with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just ask that the civilians help with what my retainers need, within reason of course, and in return, you will have a place to live and food to eat. The island is already self-sustaining, with cattle and crop farms already set up from the beginning, so some work will be needed in return. I am not asking for a slave force, as I have no need for that, but a no is always on the table if you are moved there then find it not to your liking."

"How do you know we won't try to take over your island for ourselves," Haku asked the brutal question on why he would trust them so willingly.

What she got was a chuckling laughter from the blonde and a toothy grin that sent goosebumps up and down her arms. "I have pity for anyone who would try to attack my island again. The Elders won't take kindly to a second invasion attempted on their summoners."

Haku's eyes snapped to the tattoo she noticed early on in their conversation. A crest of a dragon's head with bull horns under a swirl with ten lines like a sun. I don't like the sound of that.

"Kakashi-sensei, where is Naruto?"

The masked man looked up at his lone female student and tilted his head in thought of her question before waving his hand dismissively, causing both of his students awake to clench their jaws in frustration. "It seems Naruto-kun had over-exerted himself last night and requires more rest. Sadly, even when I tried to politely wake him up, he was unresponsive and I believe it best that he rests a bit more today."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted and started walking ahead of his sensei and teammate.

Kakashi eye-smiled at the walking avenger but inside he sighed and trying not to rub his temples in irritation. Ever since Naruto slowly revealed how dangerous he actually was compared to his teammates, which only escalated with them witnessing a fraction of the power the Kyuubi can emit while Naruto is in control, the lone loyal Uchiha shinobi has been becoming drastically more broody and nearly uncontrollable. The boy hated that what he was taught by his father and civilians thereafter has been shattered beyond any type of repair and it is making him more and more aggravated.

The boy had been taught from a young age that his clan had been as powerful as the Senju clan and had founded Konohagakure. With them being the sole surviving clan since the Senju have nearly died out with the exception of Tsunade, he thought that he was royalty in terms of ninja clans and social standing. However, he did not take Naruto's claim of being from an extremely old and powerful clan seriously, and he is now witnessing the true reality of the world. Even with the blonde surviving off of minimal knowledge of his clan and their capabilities, he is more powerful than most Genin or Chunin even if he graduated at fifteen like the rest of them.

"Come, Sakura," Kakashi sighed and waved to Tsunami as she watched them leave.

However, as he walked, he gained a feeling in his stomach that he had when things were going to go terribly wrong. This feeling was a common occurrence in the Anbu, so he almost naturally fell into position to scout out the area once more, but the moment he realized that he was no longer in the special operations unit he had to stop at the end of the bridge. He realized too late that the area is covered in moderately dense fog but he can see some bodies lying on the stone surface. There was no blood that he could see, but each body had a senbon in their necks; the same style as the fake Hunter-nin.

"Kami why did I choose today of all days to let you rest," Kakashi grumbled to himself at the thought of his blonde student as he watched as two figures slowly revealed themself in the fog.

"It is good to see you again, Hatake," Zabuza greeted the man but his eyes scanned around him. "Where is the blonde kid?"

"Hm," Kakashi tilted his head in mock confusion. "I don't know what you mean. What blonde?"

Zabuza laughed deeply and held his stomach. "You know who I am talking about, Kakashi! My apprentice says they saw him in the forest and that he is doing well. So I know he is alive, all I want to know is where he is. He does not strike me as one who would miss a fight."

Naruto, Kakashi groaned as he glanced at the masked apprentice. Of course, the blonde would meet and not capture the young girl, and he knew that the blonde knew who she would be because he is not that stupid. "I sent him back to Konoha for reinforcements."

Zabuza slapped his face in frustration. "I can see I won't get a straight answer from you so that means that my apprentice will just have to amuse themself with your other students."

Before anything else could happen, there was a bright flash that blinded the entire bridge even though the origin of the light was nowhere near their location. It took a moment before it died down but almost immediately the ground had rumbled and a mile away there was an explosion.

"That's in the direction of Gato's compound," Haku said aloud to her master.

"Indeed it is, I wonder what could have caused that," Zabuza cupped his chin in thought but shrugged and grasped his sword handle over his right shoulder. "We will worry about that later, let's focus on making sure we get paid. Hopefully, that blonde shows up before we finish."

Haku nodded, but something deep down told her that he will be there soon.

Naruto opened his eyes as he suddenly felt his teammates were no longer nearby. He was in his mind trying to heal some internal wounds he had sustained from training in Kyuubi's second tail form. These wounds are minor, mostly bruising, but left untreated can permanently damage him if he enters the second tail again. He did not want to be a cripple due to carelessness so he slept in to do a bit of healing.

Sitting up, the blonde felt a few pops under his shoulder blades and his back as he stretched before he got to his feet and rolled up his temporary bed. As he slipped on his sandals to leave through the window, he heard a crash downstairs and a scream from Tsunami. He felt for any chakra but he didn't feel anything except for civilians, so that ruled out Zabuza or Haku trying anything while his team was away.

Opening the window, he crept on the roof to where the front is and silently dropped down. Two men, ronin, stood in the doorway; one held Tsunami to her knees by her hair, a manic grin on his face as he watched his partner approach Inari with his katana out. Now that won't do.

Naruto flashed forward, easily burying a kunai into the neck of the ronin that held Tsunami, before he moved forward again and slammed his shoulder into the last. The man had his katana raised to end Inari's life so he didn't trust killing the man in time so he settled with separating them. They tumbled a bit through the living room, but Naruto recovered after landing against the couch while the man bashed his head into the small end table.

Inari ran to his mom, who held him protectively while crying as the fear subsided, but the boy watched as the team shinobi rose to his feet with a small glance at them.

"Are you okay," Naruto asked before approaching the man that had yet to move.

"We are now," Tsunami whimpered while holding her son tighter. "Thank you."

"None are needed," Naruto answered before stabbing the man at the base of his skull where his spine met. "I do suggest finding somewhere else to stay until I handle Gato."

Tsunami nodded her head and got up to lead her son away but he refused to budge. Both she and Naruto looked at him to see him shaking and fighting back tears, but his face contorted into a pained expression.

"I-I'm sorry for doubting you! I'm sorry for being mean! Even after all of what I have said you still saved me!"

Naruto smiled softly and approached the boy that is now wiping his face of the tears that now continuously fell. He wiped his hand of the blood before ruffling the child's hair with affection. "It's okay, Inari, I know what loss and pain can do to a person. I will still give my life for your and your village's safety. But right now, I need to go make sure Gato doesn't do this again."

With that, Naruto left and jumped into the trees, and began running for the last and most guarded compound in Wave. It is also the main hub for all of Gato's shady dealings in this area and the blonde avoided it in favor of giving the man a headache by dismantling his various operations. But after this cowardly attack, the blonde has no hesitation about what he is about to do.

As he neared the area, he dropped into a clearing he found while scouting the area two months ago and when he sensed he was alone he cut his finger and ran a trail through the tattoo on his arm. "Uzumaki Summoning Contract: Ancient Beasts: Bazelgeuse."

With a flash of light and a new scorching temperature, the summoning smoke cleared to reveal the creature. With a bulky upper body and covered in thick, metallic-like scales with a bronze sheen, this creature is unlike anything else seen around the world. Its underside is lined with protruding scales that are orange and white from the superheated temperature they exuded. With a fifteen-foot wingspan, it is about 25 meters in size and towered over the blonde.

"Mm, I have been summoned," Bazelgeuse hummed deeply, looking down at his summoner with a fiery stare. "What do you need, guardian?"

"Destruction," the blonde answered, pointing in the direction of the compound that can be seen. "I want that place reduced to rubble with no survivors."

Bazelgeuse grinned and leaned towards his summoner, breathing a gray smoke as he did, before saying, "it will be done," and then took flight.

The explosion that resulted and subsequent minor ones that nonetheless shook the ground is what Naruto's team, Zabuza and Haku felt in their standoff, and it would be a few moments later when Naruto gained the prize he wanted.

Naruto had entered the compound, killing any survivors that were being burned alive, as he made his way for the safe room his target would be hiding in. He scouted this area plenty of times, and Gato spared no expense on expensive safety features on his personal home. The feature unique to this estate is that the moment there is any type of breach, whether done by explosive or by chakra, the room in which the short mogul did his business would be sealed tighter than a shaman's vagina.

However, Uzumaki fuinjutsu was capable of such things.

Reaching a steel door with no handle, he felt the surrounding wall to sense the same metal protecting the rest of the room's surface. Taking out a small pot of ink and a brush, the blonde went on with his meticulous work without looking away even as Bazelgeuse approached from behind. If he had looked, it would have been amusing to see the large Beast casually destroying the corridor as he approached.

The blonde finished the seal before pressing his hand to the center and channeling some chakra into it. It flashed purple before, with a muffled explosion, the steel door that is covered in seals crumbles to the ground as if a dirt wall. The blonde brushed his hands together as he entered, finding the man alone and cowering behind his desk. It seems that he was alone when he was unexpectedly locked inside.

"It's like opening a present," Naruto grinned as he slowly approached the side of the room so the short man could get a good look at Bazelgeuse from the doorway. "You messed up when you sent your two ronin after my client's family, Gato. If you hadn't, I would have watched you betraying Zabuza passively if only to turn the man to my side. You would have still died, but at least you would have lived longer, but we all choose our end and how we go so I guess I can't fault you for trying to fight to the bitter end."

"Ah, whatever you're being p-paid, I'll double it!" The short man tried to put on a confident face as he glanced at Bazelgeuse and then back at the blonde. "No, triple! Kill Zabuza and his apprentice and I will pay you to leave!"

Naruto sighed as he dropped the bottle of expensive liquor after looking at it, turning around without care that he just made a mess of the floor. His face went from a frown to a grin and he chuckled as he approached the man. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. Your death is not my revenge, anyway."

The man cowered before the world went blank when the blonde demon was at arm's length from him.

Both Kakashi and Zabuza gasped for air as they stood away from each other, each of them sporting wounds from their aggressive fight that left them both exhausted. Zabuza had already lost feeling in his left arm again from pushing himself too far in his fight even though he hasn't fully recovered yet. Kakashi can no longer use his Sharingan eye as it has drained him of his chakra to the point of nearly passing out and he is bleeding under his flak jacket from a nasty cut he got from Kubikiribocho.

"This is the fight I was looking forward to in the beginning," Zabuza chuckled breathily as he hunched forward on his sword. "Only thing more concerning than either of our deaths is the fact that the explosions have stopped for a bit now."

Zabuza huffed and leaned one arm on his knee to hold himself up, keeping his eye on the missing-nin but he had to admit he was concerned as well. In the beginning, he had no time to sense to see if Naruto was alright before engaging in the fight and now he is too tired to even try such a thing no matter how concerned he is. He can only hope that his student is alright and will arrive soon to help them.

Kakashi chuckled as he leaned his head forward, getting a confused glance from the man. "Don't mind me, just feeling horrible that I'm thinking about how much I could use my student's help right now."

Zabuza chuckled before coughing violently. "Your student sure is something. And to think I had hope about your Uchiha being just as good."

Sure enough, both men looked to see Sasuke on his knees fighting to stay in the fight against Haku. He is outmatched in speed and experience, and he had been unable to make a single dent into any of the ice mirrors that prevented his escape. Haku had grown bored of him since the beginning, disappointed that the blonde was not there to fight, and had since only attacked the raven-haired teen when he tried to fight her. So long as he stayed down, she did not hurt him. But he was stubborn like the rest of his family. Except for his older sister and cousin Shisui.

"You guys couldn't wait an hour before tearing into each other!"

Everyone turned to see the blonde arrive down the path to the bridge, an amused smile on his lips which only grew into an open laugh when he saw Sasuke's predicament. "Ahaha! Since when did we get a porcupine!"

Ignoring the indignant shout from the Uchiha male, he looked at Zabuza before pulling out a bag from one of his seals and tossing it toward the man. The moment it landed, money poured from the opening and glistened on the wet stone ground. "There's the amount Gato promised you, and then some. The rest were given back to the village."

The man stared at the coins and picked one up that landed near his feet and looked it over for any traps or any possibility it may be fake. It wasn't. He looked back at the blonde. "How did you get this?"

Naruto grinned and brought his fingers to his lips before letting out a sharp whistle. "Bazelgeuse!"

A roar shouted before the heat could be felt by everyone and shortly after a creature unseen by anyone landed near the blonde. Tied to his back is Gato, sweating and screaming despite the gag in his mouth. He is sweating profusely from the heat Bazelgeuse produces and to those who can barely see him it almost looks like a pig in human clothing squirming as if it is about to be put to the slaughter.

Naruto patted Bazelgeuse on one of the scales under his body as he untied Gato from the Beast, pulling him forward and tossing him to the ground. "I already told Haku what I planned to do, and I did it when this bastard sent two of his ronin after Tazuna's family." He saw the anger for Gato in Tazuna's eyes get washed over with concern for his family and he raised his hand to calm the man. "They are safe, I killed them both before any true harm could come to them. Tsunami is scared, though, so I had her find somewhere to stay until everything is over."

The man visibly relaxed and began thanking Naruto for everything.

"Don't worry 'bout it, old man," Naruto flashed a grin before turning back to Zabuza and Haku. "I don't know if Haku had shared what I said with you, but there was an offer on the table if you wish to hear me out."

The man glanced when he saw the ice mirrors fall to the ground and saw her walking toward him. He sighed and nodded his head, "alright. You have my attention, brat."

Naruto grinned even more, his eyes glinting dangerously in the mist. "Excellent."

It has been revealed the type of Ancient Beasts that the Uzumaki clan have had control of and protected for thousands of years. If you do not know where I am going with this, the summons are the monsters from Monster Hunter. That was the idea from the start of the story so it wasn't something I just thought of halfway through a chapter or something and it's to accentuate that the shinobi countries do not know a lot about the rest of the world they live in.

biginferno: I always reply the best I can to every review I get even if it's a nasty one. I don't really remember that Pakura lookalike but I shall look into it and see but we have a bit of way to go.

NinjaFang1331: Thank you

atengawchok: I don't know how Ino will fit into this dynamic but idk. Thank you for enjoying nonetheless :D

Shiroi Fenikkusu: Thank you, I posted the chapter early mostly because it was pretty short and dealt more with the aftermath for Naruto. It'll help him develop as a shinobi and a leader.