Naruto: The Weapon Master
Chapter 8: Riding the Wave
It has been several hours since Team 8 had left Konoha and were en route to meet with Kakashi and his team to assist in the C turned A rank mission. Naruto and the others were jumping through the trees when he had a sudden sense of foreboding and started to speed up his movements, which caught the attention of his sensei.
"Naruto-kun, what is the matter? Why are you speeding up all of a sudden?" asked Sakura curiously.
"I just had this feeling that Kakashi-sensei and his team have just run into more trouble," Naruto turned to Hinata "Hinata-chan, could you use your Byakugan to scout ahead?"
Hinata complied her family's Dojutsu as veins appeared around her eyes "I sense three genin level, one civilian level and two Jounin level chakra signatures. I don't recognize the second one," Kurenai thought deeply about what she said.
"It must be Kakashi and his team, along with the client. So the last one must be a missing ninja,"
"Then it's best that we hurry to provide backup" said Anko.
"Then I'm going on ahead while you girls catch up with me," Naruto took off at a higher speed with Sakura calling after him.
"Naruto wait! We don't know who we're dealing with!"
"Then we'll just have to find out when we get there!" Naruto called back as he went farther away from them with Tora holding on to his hoodie.
"Naruto-sama, I'd advise that you engage this opponent with caution. This one seems to be stronger than the ones reported before," said Chinami.
"Don't worry about it, I'm sure to be careful" thought Naruto, Kurama wasn't convinced.
"When you say things like that, it's what makes us worry the most Naruto-kun" Kurama's eyes widened at what it said before turning away, Chinami gave the fox a look as if saying 'The fox will soon come out of the bag'.
"That's the second time you've called me that, but we'll talk later after helping out the others" thought Naruto as he picked up the pace.
Kakashi wasn't expecting the situation to escalate since the encounter with the demon brothers, Gozu and Meizu. They found out about the poverty in the land of waves because of a business tyrant by the name Gato and decided to carry on with the mission after calling for backup. Along the way, he was thinking of the blond genin whom he had protected back when he was in the ANBU. He knew that the boy was the son of his sensei and had wanted to adopt him if not for the civilian council stopping him from doing so.
"If not for that damn civilian council, I would have taken care of Naruto just like Minato-sensei would have wanted," thought Kakashi.
Then they had the encounter with Zabuza Momochi, a missing ninja from Kirigakure and one of the swordsmen of the mist. He wielded a zanbatou by the name of Kubikiribocho. He was hired by Gato to kill Tazuna in order to prevent him from completing the bridge. Kakashi engaged the rogue ninja but ended up getting captured in his Water prison jutsu and Zabuza created a water clone to attack his students.
Kakashi tried to get them to run away but Sasuke pointed out that if they run away, it would make it easier for Zabuza to kill them. Sasuke and Kiba tried to fight back with Shino staying behind to defend the bridge builder, but Zabuza's clone proved to be just as powerful as the original he landed a punch on Kiba which sent him slamming into a tree and losing consciousness.
Sasuke performed a Grand Fireball jutsu to free Kakashi but it was countered by Zabuza's Water Dragon, cancelling each other out. Before Sasuke could react, the clone rushed in and delivered a punch to the gut, causing him to vomit blood and fall to his knees.
"I'm impressed that a genin like you could use a jutsu like that at your age but you're still green to the life of being a Shinobi" said Zabuza, his clone raised his sword above Sasuke, ready to bring it down on the genin. Shino was about to go and assist his fellow teammate, when he saw someone blur by him and caught a trace of yellow hair.
"Dammit, is this how my life ends? I still haven't killed my brother to avenge my clan!" Sasuke closed his eyes as the brought down the blade, expecting to be struck down by the missing ninja. Instead he heard footsteps from behind him and then a clang of metal.
"Hey Teme, are you alright?" hearing a familiar voice, Sasuke opened his eyes to look up and see a boy with yellow hair and is currently wielding a long blade which is being used to block the clone's zanbatou. "Hey, are you going to respond or has fear stolen your voice?"
Recognizing the voice, Sasuke shook himself from his stupor and glared at Naruto. "Shut up Dobe, and what are you doing here?"
"Well Jiji sent my team and I to serve as your backup, and just in time too" Naruto was still struggling to hold back the large blade when Anko and the rest of his team finally arrived.
Channeling chakra into his arms, Naruto pushed the clone's sword away before grabbing Sasuke and running back to his team "Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan, please take care of him while I cross swords with the eyebrow less guy holding the big fat sword"
"Naruto-kun wait! This isn't any average missing ninja. This is Zabuza, the demon of the mist! You can't possibly think of fighting him on your own!" Anko tried to reason with the blonde.
"I've heard about him, and that is why I want to find out how I stack up with him. Beside if I get into trouble, then you can back me up" Naruto walked towards Zabuza with Tsukiotoshi drawn from its sheath.
"What can a little brat like you do that your sensei can't?" Zabuza taunted, thinking that the boy was all talk as his clone ran in to attack.
"I think you forgot one of the most important rules of battle" Naruto raised his blade to guard against the horizontal slash from the clone which sent him skidding back a few meters, then jumped into the air spinning with his blade before diving at the clone.
It smirked behind its mask and raised his sword to block the strike, thinking it would do nothing. That smirk quickly disappeared when Naruto's blade cut right through the blade and the clone, forcing it to disappeared in a puddle of water much to everybody's surprise, especially Zabuza.
"How is that possible?! Kubikiribocho isn't a sword that one can break so easily!" the missing ninja was in denial at what he just witnessed.
"How did he do that and where did he get those swords? I've never seen him with them until the day we were recruited into teams" Sasuke looked at the display of his swordsmanship.
Naruto smirked at Zabuza as he held the blade in the Oboro stance "You forgot to never underestimate your opponent no matter what, and there is nothing that a Muramasa blade cannot cut!"
"What?! That's impossible, one cannot wield those blades without falling into madness from the curse!"
"As much as I want to keep this conversation going, I need work on getting my sensei free from your water prison. So without much further ado, Secret Arts: Arc!" Naruto swung Tsukiotoshi, releasing a spinning crescent shaped wave at Zabuza.
The missing ninja quickly leapt above the attack at the last second before sneering at the blond "Even with the sword, you're still a newbie fresh from the academy"
However Naruto smirked back at him "I wouldn't be saying if I were you, especially if I want to keep any of my body parts attached,"
Zabuza raised an invisible eyebrow, before his honed senses warned him to move his arm just in time to avoid the spinning crescent which hand come around like a boomerang freeing Kakashi in the process. Naruto created a shadow clone that quickly grabbed the Jounin and carried him back to the group.
"Thanks for the save Naruto!" said Kakashi who knelt next to Kurenai in exhaustion.
"I'm impressed with those sword techniques, but let's see if they can match up with those of the Swordsmen of the mist!" Zabuza dashed at Naruto with his zanbatou at the ready and soon, both were exchanging clashes with their blades.
"I can't believe that Naruto is able to go toe to toe with Zabuza" said Kurenai looking at the battle in surprise with Anko along with Sakura and Hinata watching on in concern.
"Damn this brat is not giving me any room to counter attack, I'd better try a different approach" thought Zabuza, he quickly jumped back and went through the handseals before calling out "Water style: Water Dragon jutsu!" a stream of water sprung from the lake, taking the shape of a dragon before launching itself at Naruto.
"Secret Arts: Kamataichi!" Naruto jumped into the while spinning like a buzzsaw, cutting the water dragon in half. "Like I said, there is nothing that Muramasa can't cut!" Naruto switched out Tsukiotoshi for Mumei no Tamanoo and dashed on the water "Try blocking this! Secret Arts: Earth Hornet!" he unleashed a series of stabs at high speed, Zabuza used the broadside of his blade to block but a few were able to bypass his guard and inflict some damage on him.
"Who was his kenjutsu master? To be able to get a swordsman of his caliber into this state takes a lot of skills," said Kakashi in wonder.
"Naruto-kun said that his master wanted him to carry on his legacy as he was the only one to know the Oboro style" said Sakura as they continued to watch on.
After clashing swords, the two fighters jumped away from each other to get some rest. Zabuza smirked at Naruto.
"If this is the limit of your power Gaki, then you're way out of your league," He may have said that, but Zabuza knew inwardly that there is more to this blond ninja than meets the eye.
Naruto was annoyed at being underestimated by the rogue ninja and was about to charge again, when the bracelet glowed and he had a vision of a man with spiky blond hair while wearing an all-black outfit. With a foxy grin, Naruto returned Mumei no Tamanoo back to its sheath much to everyone's confusion including Zabuza.
"If I'm out of my league, then it's time for me to move into the majors!" Channeling chakra to the bracelet, Naruto called out "The Final Fantasy!" there was a flash of light and when it faded, it revealed Naruto wielding a large sword almost the same size as Zabuza's but upon a closer inspection, it looked like several different swords which are combined into one. "Say hello to my big friend, its previous master called it the fusion swords and I'm sure that it would want to get acquainted with yours" Channeling chakra to strengthen his body in order to bear the weight of the sword dashed at Zabuza.
"Well let's not keep them waiting" the missing dashed in as well.
"Where did the Dobe get that sword?!" shouted Sasuke with confusion and a hint of jealousy.
"I'm afraid we can't tell you as it's an S-ranked secret, only the third Hokage or Naruto can tell you" said Kurenai.
"Naruto-kun, please be safe" whispered Hinata with worry.
Naruto wasn't finding it easy wielding the large blade in his battle against Zabuza as the latter had more experience and strength to use the zanbatou plus was inflicted with quite a lot of damage. He quickly sidestepped a vertical slash and followed up with an upward slash which connected, but Zabuza turned into a puddle of water.
"Damn, it was a water clone! Then that means.." Naruto immediately turned to the left and raised his sword to block an attack from the missing ninja.
"I'm impressed with your ability to wield a zanbatou, but you are still green Gaki" said Zabuza.
"I thought I told you not to underestimate me! Well here's a surprise!" Naruto reached for the blade above the hilt and ejected a side blade before slashing at his stomach, leaving behind a gash for blood to flow through which forced Zabuza to jump back. Naruto resumed his attack only with more ferocity and speed while channeling more chakra than before.
"Naruto-kun, you have to end this battle quickly! Your body is already strained with the chakra you flooded it with!" said Kurama with worry.
"Don't worry Kurama-san, I know what Naruto-sama is aiming for" said Chinami.
"The brat is finally tiring, now I can finish him!" Zabuza dashed forward and leapt high into the air, ready to descend with a downward slash.
"Now's my chance! Limit break!" a yellow aura radiated from Naruto, slotting the side blade back into the main sword, Naruto twirled it before positioning it behind him.
"Naruto, what are you doing!? Get out of the way or you'll be cut in half!" shouted Kurenai who was about to move in but was stopped by Kakashi "Why are you stopping me?!"
"Because I can tell from here that Naruto has a plan, if not from the aura I'm seeing, then from the fact that he is quite unpredictable in any situation" said Kakashi who had known the blonde from his days in ANBU for his pranks and ability to evade experienced ninjas in the village.
Zabuza came in with his attack and Naruto raised his sword to meet it, it was a stalemate for a few seconds until he continued his swing which sent Zabuza flying off before crashing into a tree much to everyone's surprise including the rogue ninja himself.
"Where did the brat get such strength?" thought Zabuza as he laid against the tree and watched Naruto approach him.
"I'm sure you're wondering what happened?" Receiving a nod he continued "Like the name says Limit break allows one to remove the safety restraints of his body to gain a burst of power but he can only do it when his body is in a critical condition. Now you have anything to say before I finish this up?"
Before Zabuza could say anything, he was struck in the neck by two senbon needles. Then the group saw someone jump into the clearing, the ninja was wearing a red and green battle kimono and a porcelain mask which is similar to the ones that the ANBU wear.
"I'd like to thank you for stopping him, I've been after him for quite a long time," said the mysterious ninja.
"Who are you?" asked Naruto as the Fusion swords faded away and he was about to draw out one of the Muramasa blades if Anko hadn't stopped him.
"Naruto-kun relax, this is one of the hunter-nin and by the markings on the mask, he belongs to the hidden mist village," said Anko.
"Well then, I'll be on my way now," the hunter-nin grabbed Zabuza's body and used a body flicker to disappear before them with Naruto looking suspicious at the action.
Hearing footsteps, Naruto turned to see Sakura and Hinata running towards him and began looking at his injuries.
"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" asked Hinata worriedly.
"You shouldn't have fought him alone!" scolded Sakura.
"I'm fine, but I'll be passing out due to chakra exhaustion so see you later" said Naruto before closing eyes and losing consciousness.
"We'll need to take Naruto and Kakashi somewhere to rest and recover from the battle," Kurenai turned to the bridge builder "Where is your house?"
"It's not too far from here, I'll show you the way," said Tazuna, Sakura and Hinata helped carry Naruto with Tora sitting on his head, Anko and Kurenai for Kakashi and Shino for Kiba. Sasuke was looking at Naruto intently.
"Where did he get such power? I could use a power like that to kill my brother" thought the raven haired ninja.
Later on, Tazuna had led the group to his home where they met his daughter Tsunami. They put Kakashi and Naruto in the same room while Kiba was being attended by the girls.
With Naruto, he was currently within his mindscape looking at the fox who was trying to avoid eye contact with the blond and Chinami stood at the side watching.
"Kurama, it's time to start explaining, is there something you're not telling me and why did you add the 'kun' to my name? One would only do that if they are a-"Naruto's eyes widened at the conclusion before looking at Kurama. "Kurama, are you by any chance a girl?"
Kurama nodded shyly before a flash of red light and it faded to reveal a girl standing before him, she had a deep orange hair which was tied to a ponytail, red eyes with black slits, a crimson red kimono, fox ears at the top of her head and nine tails behind her.
"Yes Naruto-kun, I'm a girl," said Kurama looking at the ground.
"She looks so beautiful" thought Naruto while blushing "But why didn't you tell me?"
"It's because I developed feelings for you, but I was scared that you would reject me since I was the one responsible for your parent's death and your mistreatment from the village" said Kurama trying to hold back tears, but was surprised when Naruto pulled her into a hug.
"You're so silly, I thought I told you that I've have forgiven you so stop beating yourself about it. It's all in the past now and I'm willing to accept your feelings" said Naruto.
Tears started to flow from the fox's eyes as she hugged him tightly while saying thank you repeatedly.
"Naruto-sama, it seems like you're fully healed now and the others are checking up on you soon" said Chinami.
"Thanks for telling me and I'll see you later" said Naruto before fading from the mindscape whit Kurama looking very happy with herself.
Naruto woke up to see Tora sleeping on his stomach and Kakashi sitting up from his futon and reading an orange book, he turned to give him an eye smile upon seeing that the blond was now awake.
"It's good to see that you're awake and well," said Kakashi happily.
"I can say the same for you Kakashi-sensei or should I say Inu" Kakashi's eyes widened in surprise.
"You knew my code name back then?" asked Kakashi.
"Like I told Anko-chan, I'll never forget those who helped me and I know who my father is and you are my god brother" said Naruto.
"I wanted to take care of you like sensei would have wanted, but those damn civilian council stopped me from doing so and I could only protect you while in being in the ANBU"
"You won't have to worry about those bigots again" Kakashi looked at Naruto with confusion "I was found out about some secret dealings between them and Danzo so you can ask about it from Jiji"
Soon after, the rest of the team came to check on them, Sasuke wanted to ask Naruto about his weapons but was earlier told by Kurenai that it was an S-class secret so he has to ask either Naruto or the third Hokage about it.
"Dobe, what was that weapon you wielded?" asked Sasuke.
"That is one of the many weapons that I can wield thanks to the bracelet and it can only be used by someone with a pure heart" said Naruto, Sasuke was inwardly angry that he wouldn't be able to get it.
Meanwhile, Kakashi was thinking deeply which caught Shino's attention.
"Sensei, what's the matter?" asked Shino.
"I'm feeling as if I've left something out and it involves that hunter-nin" said Kakashi.
"Now that you mention it, I read that hunter-nins destroy the bodies of their targets and take the head back to the village for confirmation," said Naruto.
"You're right Naruto, there is also the method of how Zabuza was killed. My experience with senbon needles shown me that where Zabuza was struck would put him in a near death state" said Anko.
"Which means that Zabuza is still alive," said Shino much to the shock of the genin except Naruto who had figured it out earlier before them.
"So what do we do sensei?" asked Sakura.
"We'll be training for the next time Zabuza shows up," said Kurenai "Judging by the damage dealt by Naruto, it would take at least a week for Zabuza to recover"
"Then we'll rest up for today and then begin training tomorrow" said Naruto.
Meanwhile, a young boy was listening in from behind the door before walking away. "Why should they even bother, they'll just get themselves killed by Gato like Dad did" He was unaware of the hope that a certain blonde would bring back to the people of the village.
Later that night, while Naruto was asleep. The bracelet started to pulse with white light before fading away, Chinami sensed this and thought "It seems like the bracelet is awakening a new power, I wonder what it is?"
Weapons/Gears
Fusion Swords = Final Fantasy: Advent Children
Hello, this is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, sorry about the delay. I had to deal with school stuff but now I'm back so have no worries about any hiatus. I sincerely apologize to those who were expecting the next chapter for my Naruto x MLP crossover in the past week as my little brother had corrupted my hard drive which led to the loss of my MLP season collection which I'm currently recovering via U-torrent. I want to add a new feature to the bracelet, so I'm up for suggestions. PM and review as always.
This is Hussbek from Ghana.
Signing out.