Several weeks later, Naruto woke to the now familiar sensation of Hinata cuddled up to him and wrapped in his arms. Not being used to camping outdoors, and lacking any sort of supplies, Hinata had been miserable the first night out of the village. Naruto had suggested that they sleep cuddled up together, and Hinata had agreed, a blush on her face. As an added bonus, Naruto noticed that his presence helped beat back the loneliness and regret that would fill Hinata at times.
Still the cold had been a deciding factor in heading south, that, and the lack of ninja in the area. So the pair traveled to the Land of Waves, and were expecting to reach a village today. With that in mind, Naruto gently eased his way out of Hinata's grasp and set off into the woods. He wandered over to a stream they had found last night and followed it until it reached a deep pool. He waited patiently at it's edge, forming a tail of chakra behind him. He spotted a fish, and his tail lashed forward like a bolt of lightning, impaling it. Within an hour, he had a half-dozen fish caught for breakfast, and he could see the smoke where Hinata had restarted their fire.
"We should make some disguises," Hinata said, after they finished eating breakfast.
"Yeah? Why?" Naruto asked, puzzled.
"Well, we went through all that effort to fake our deaths. But if we're seen in foreign towns the village will learn that we're still alive eventually," Hinata explained. "So I've been working on a disguise. Well specifically, it's a transformation jutsu."
"That sounds pretty cool, lets see it," Naruto said, smiling. Hinata smiled back and nodded. She made some hand signs and disappeared in a puff of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Hinata's white eyes were now crimson, her black hair was now a snow white, and most importantly, she had a pair of fox ears on her head, and had sprouted a fox tail.
"How is it?" Hinata asked shyly, radiating a mixture of embarrassment and worry.
"You look adorable Hinata!" Naruto said, sweeping her up in a hug. Hinata eeped in surprise, but relaxed. "What should I do for a disguise?"
"Well," Hinata nervously poked her fingers together. "Um, maybe just keep your chakra skin out? That certainly works. Unless, of course, it's too much effort."
"Nah, it's not a problem at all," Naruto said. As easy as breathing, his chakra flowed out of him forming a vaguely fox-like silhouette around his body, a single fox like tail showing up. "I'll keep it limited to one tail," he said, his face barely visible underneath the flowing blue chakra.
"We should use fake names as well," Hinata suggested.
"Nah," Naruto said, shaking his head. "I want people to know my name. And I know I'll mess up and call you by your real name eventually anyways. So let's just stick with our real names. It's not like the name Naruto or Hinata will matter at all to these people."
"But if rumor that Hinata and Naruto were found together alive makes it back to the village, they'll come after us," Hinata protested.
"I suppose. But let's keep them simple at least, okay?" Naruto said, scratching a cheek.
"Okay. Ummm," Hinata trailed off.
"How about Hina and Naru?" Naruto suggested, brightly. Hinata gave him a look, as she radiated disbelief. "Okay, fine, it's not a good idea," Naruto muttered, pouting slightly.
"How about you go by Tai and I go by Tsu?" Hinata suggested.
"Sure, why not?" Naruto said, shrugging. "Let's get going, I want to see my first town that isn't a ninja village!"
"Right, lets go!" Hinata said, a small grin of excitement escaping her.
/*/
"Wow, this place is a dump," Naruto said, looking around at the town. The buildings were run down, and instead of a proper road, the town had a mud path that was torn up from all the people and carts traveling through. As they watched, a particularly run down looking cart got stuck in a rut, and the man driving it began to curse as he tried to push himself out.
"It could be better," Hinata agreed. "I wonder why things are like this?"
"Yeah, these people are miserable," Naruto said. "Except for those guys. They seem to be in a good mood," he added, pointing to a group of ruffians swaggering down the street. They carried crude clubs and swords as they walked, occasionally jeering at some villager scurrying away. "Let's go ask them what's going on," he added.
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Hinata asked, nervously.
"No, but I'm doing it anyways," Naruto said, leaping down from the building he was perched on. He landed in the mud with a splat, sending it flying anywhere, and splattering the ruffians.
Hey, I guess there is an added bonus to my disguise. I didn't get any mud on me, Naruto thought, as he let the ruffian's outrage pour over him.
"Do you know who you're messing with? Who the hell do you think you are?" One of the thugs yelled, though Naruto could sense his fear beneath his bravado.
"Me?" Naruto asked, pointing a thumb to himself, "I'm the great demon fox, Na-Tai," Naruto said, catching his name at the last second.
"Na-Tai?" A thug asked.
"I dunno, I never heard of him. Sounds foreign," his friend replied. "I bet he isn't a demon at all, just some punk with a flashy technique. I'm not scared at all!"
"Yes you are," Naruto said, amused. "I can taste your fear," he added, walking forward. A thug with a club swung it at him, and Naruto caught it in his hand. "Now, that's not very nice," he said, mildly as he crushed the club. He shook the splinters out of his hand, and slung an arm around the thug that attacked him. "Come on, I'm not asking for much. Just some directions around town, what sights there are to see, things like that," he said cheerfully.
"I ain't sayin nothin," the thug said, flailing ineffectually.
"You are being weirdly stubborn about this," Naruto informed the man. He sighed as he felt the wave of aggression and anger spike in the other thugs. They rushed him, yelling incoherently with their weapons raised. Naruto leaned back, solidifying his chakra tail before using it to give him a boost, allowing him to neatly back flip over the charging thugs.
"Get him," they shouted, turning around and charging again.
"You've got to be kidding me," Naruto said, frowning.
/*/
"So what have we learned today?" Naruto asked cheerfully, sitting atop a poorly made roof as he looked down at the collapsed and muddy thugs.
"You can't get away with this," a thug said, groggily. "We're Gato's boys. You'll regret this."
"Okay then. Clearly you haven't learned anything. But I learned that some people truly are as stupid as they look," Naruto said, shaking his head in disbelief. He jumped down to the muddy street. "Seriously, how is asking for directions grounds for a fight? Especially since I'm obviously much stronger than you." A prickle of worry, fear, and anger caught his attention and Naruto turned his head to the side to see a young women in a muddy dress approaching him.
"Umm, Mr. Fox demon," the women said, nervously. "Are you going to kill them?"
"Nah. They just tried to fight me. The beating they just got is good enough for that," Naruto said, shrugging.
"You should," she said viciously, suddenly releasing a spike of rage."They deserve it."
"Why?"
"They are Gato's men. They push us around, steal whatever they want, and they-they took my baby sister!" she yelled.
"That's awful. Is that why this town is so crappy?" Naruto asked, looking around.
"Yes. Gato takes all of our money and forces us to work for him for nothing. And if we try and fight back, he has those thugs make an example of someone," the women said, trembling in rage.
"Wow...that's really crappy," Naruto said, at a loss for words. The woman looked up at him.
"But you fought them. You could kill them all," the women said, a spark of hope mixing with her rage.
"Yeaaah, that's not going to happen," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. "I don't like killing as a general rule."
"So you'll just leave us to suffer?" the women said, radiating despair.
"Ehhh," Naruto shrugged. "It's not that I want to, but what can I do? Sure, I can slaughter those idiots, but that Gato guy will just hire more. Or hire ninja instead. So I really don't think violence will solve anything here."
"That's not entirely true," Hinata said, emerging from her hiding spot and joining Naruto in the muddy street, her feet standing on top of the mud, keeping her clothing pristine. "If someone were to kill Gato, that might solve the problem they find themselves in."
"Hin-Tsu, are you suggesting that I kill this Gato guy?" Naruto asked, disappointed.
"No," Hinata said, shaking her head. "This is a job for ninja. Situations like this one is exactly why ninja exist in the first place."
"Do you really think anyone in this village could afford to hire a ninja?" The woman asked, bitterly.
"Perhaps we should talk about this in another location?" Hinata suggested. "There are too many people watching for comfort," she added, glancing meaningfully at Naruto. He nodded, and looked expectantly at the unnamed woman.
/*/
"Amelia, who and what are these people?" An old man with wispy white hair asked. "And why have you brought them to me?"
"This is Na-Tai and Hin-Tsu. They are...umm, I don't actually know what they are. But they beat up a bunch of Gato's men when they tried messing with them," the woman, Amelia, said.
"We're demons. And really, we're trying to decide if we want to help you and how we would do so," Naruto said, cheerfully.
"My name is Yan. You say you are demon? Do you mean like the demon brothers, Gozu and Meizu?" Yan asked, peering blearily at Naruto.
"Demon brothers? Ooh, who are they?" Naruto asked, excitedly.
"They are a pair of ninja from the Hidden Mist. They work as Gato's goons, assassinating anyone who would challenge his rule," Yan explained.
"Why do they work for him?" Hinata asked.
"Same reasons ninjas work for anyone. Money," Yan said, with a snort.
"Does anyone actually like Gato?" Naruto asked suddenly, his eyes closed. "No, don't bother telling me," he said, interrupting them before they began to speak. "Your hate is pretty obvious already. I'll go around town and check for myself."
"What does he mean?" Yan asked Hinata.
"As a demon, Na-Tai can peer into the hearts of man," Hinata explained, standing up and following Naruto out the door. "We'll be back soon," she called as she walked. The pair raced around the town, jumping from roof to roof as they explored. Eventually they ended up outside of a gigantic mansion.
"Still nothing," Naruto said, frustrated.
"I'm surprised you care so much Naruto," Hinata said, using her Byakugan to scan the house. "Why are you so determined to find someone who likes this man?"
"I don't know," Naruto sighed. "I guess I just feel bad for him, you know? It's not easy to be hated by so many people."
"Don't be ridiculous kit," Kuruma chimed in. "You are thinking he's just like you, but this Gato human deserves to be hated. He's driven these people into poverty and is ruling them as a tyrant. Of course they are going to hate him. He is reaping the result of his actions."
"We've got incoming," Hinata said, pointing at a pair of hidden ninja who leaped out of their hiding spots at her words.
"Your sensei must be so disappointed in you, girl," the first ninja said, "a properly trained ninja wouldn't reveal they had detected us so blatantly."
"It's a good thing we aren't ninja than," Naruto said, crossing his arms.
"And if we were ninja and we still detected you so easily, what would that say about you?" Hinata said, shrugging elegantly.
"Wow, that was enough to set you off huh?" Naruto said, as their rage swept over him. He quickly wrapped his chakra tail around Hinata and moved her behind him as the two ninja attacked, throwing out spiked chains. He flared his chakra, as the chains wrapped around him. The chains grinded against his shields, trying to tear through it to no effect. One of the ninja made a few quick hand signs, causing his chain to ignite. The chain glowed white as flames ran up the metal before exploding against Naruto's chakra. To no effect. The other ninja tried to pull Naruto off his feet, but Naruto just gripped the ground with his chakra and refused to move.
"Done? My turn," Naruto said, cheerfully. He flexed the chakra the chains had wrapped around, letting it swell until the chains shattered. A clawed arm of chakra shot forward and grabbed the ninja on his right. In a large arc, Naruto lifted the ninja overhead and slammed him into his companion. He kept the two trapped beneath his chakra until he felt them fill with despair and defeat.
"You'll pay for this. Our boss is the Demon Swordsman of the Mist. You don't stand a chance against him," one of the ninja said, his defiance flaring up a bit as Naruto released them.
"A demon? Is he a demon like me?" Naruto asked, excitedly.
"What?" the downed ninja said, surprised.
"I'm a demon. What do you think all this chakra is? Some kind of ninjutsu?" Naruto snorted, waving his chakra tail around.
"This human wouldn't know a demon if you bit his nose off," Kuruma interjected. "I bet this 'Demon Swordsman of the Mist' is just some butcher of a ninja made famous for slaughtering a bunch of humans."
"So why do you call him a demon?" Naruto asked the flabbergasted ninjas.
"He killed his entire graduating class as a genin," one of the ninja said to the triumphant 'I told you so' from Kuruma.
"How disgusting," Hinata said, stepping around Naruto. "And you look up to him for that?"
"We look up to him because he's the strongest ninja in the Hidden Mist, and he'll be Mizukage someday," one of the ninja said.
"Cool. Well that has nothing to do with us, and hopefully we'll never meet him," Naruto said, shrugging. "If he's not a demon, than I really don't have any interest in him." Hinata nodded, and then crouched by each of the ninja. She put her hands over their faces and knocked them out with a pulse of chakra.
"Let's return to Yan and decide what to do next," Hinata suggested, standing back up. Naruto nodded and the pair dashed off.
/*/
"So, will you help us?" Amelia asked, eagerly.
"I dunno," Naruto said, shrugging. "You were right that nobody likes Gato. And we beat up his bodyguards without any trouble. But I don't really know what I could do to help."
"You could kill Gato and free us from his oppression," Amelia said, fiercely.
"I don't really want to kill anyone though," Naruto pointed out. "I mean, I might if I get in a really serious fight or if someone hurts Hin-Tsu, but otherwise, why would I?"
"Because you're a demon?" Amelia suggested, radiating confusion.
"Just because Na-Tai is a demon doesn't mean he likes killing people," Hinata snapped, glaring at Amelia.
"Yeah!" Naruto said.
"Okay, okay. We're sorry," Yan apologized. "Is there anything we can do to convince you to help?" he asked, radiating despair with just a tinge of hope.
"Maybe. I don't know. I want to help, but I want to get something out of it as well," Naruto said, scratching his head.
"Well what do you want?" Yan asked.
"I'm not sure," Naruto said, closing his eyes. Any ideas? he asked Kuruma.
"What are they even going to pay you with? If they had anything of value they would use that to hire ninja instead," Kuruma rumbled, his eyes closed. "We should just leave and head to someplace that doesn't look and smell like a latrine."
"It'd be nice if we didn't have to walk," Naruto murmured, talking out loud.
"Something to travel with? You mean like a boat?" Yan asked.
"I've never been on a boat before," Hinata said, getting excited.
"Same," Naruto said, getting excited his ownself. "I'll help you for a boat-"
"Careful kit. This old man is wily. Don't let him scam you, and don't let him trick you into doing anything you will regret. Remember, you are a demon, not some ninja who'll kill for a handful of coins," Kuruma interrupted.
"But not just an average boat. I want a really good boat, that Hin-Tsu and I can pilot ourselves. And I won't kill anyone either. If I'm going to help you with Gato, I'm going to do it my way," Naruto added, quickly.
"Supplies too. Enough for a long journey, so a couple of months worth at the very least," Hinata chimed in, catching on. Yan and Amelia frowned.
"A boat would be possible," Yan said, scratching his neck. "We can still fish, but someone would be giving up their livelihood for your boat." Naruto looked at him carefully. Yan was radiating relief and a hint of eagerness.
"What livelihood? The one Gato has pretty much stomped out of all of you?" Naruto asked, rhetorically. "Be realistic. Either you can give me the best boat you've got, or you can somehow find the money to hire ninja to kill Gato for you. But he can just offer way more money than you can."
"Don't act like we're trying to sell you fish!" Amelia shouted, her frustration boiling over. "We're bargaining for our lives here. Are you happy about that? Are you happy that you get to extort us for whatever you want? Cause you're right! We can't offer as much as Gato so you can take pretty much whatever you want!"
"Don't think you're the only one who has suffered," Hinata snapped back. "Or that we're somehow the bad guys for wanting compensation for risking our lives. If you don't want to pay, don't. Save up and hire some ninja to kill Gato, or do it yourselves. We can just move on."
"How can demons like yourselves possibly understand what we're going through?" Amelia yelled, her fists clenched.
"When Hin-Tsu said I can see into the hearts of man she meant I can literally feel all of your emotions. I feel your frustration as if it were my own. Just like I can feel Yan's hope and relief. He knows what I'm asking for is a good deal, he's just trying to barter for a better one," Naruto said, standing perfectly still and staring intently at Amelia
"I can see every beat of your heart, and the flow of your chakra. At a glance, I know you inside and out. I know you broke your ankle sometime in your past, I know that you've got tapeworms, and I know exactly how many fleas are crawling through your hair," Hinata said, mimicking Naruto's stance. Naruto felt a their fear and awe and smiled brightly.
"So we can keep bartering if you like, but we already know you're going to agree with giving us a boat," Naruto said.
"Okay, okay, we get it. But how do we know that you won't just betray us? You said you wouldn't kill Gato after all," Yan said, holding up his hands.
"Just don't give us the boat until we've helped you," Naruto shrugged. "As for what we're going to do, well let's talk about that. Why can't you guys do anything about Gato?"
"Because he's hired thugs and ninja to protect him and oppress us," Amelia said, her frustration flaring up again.
"Right. But none of them like him. So why do they listen to him?" Naruto asked.
"Because he's paying them obviously," Amelia said, crossing her arms.
"Are you sure? Cause if that's it, than why don't they just take all his money for themselves?" Naruto asked.
"Because the ninja would stop them. And the thugs would stop the ninja if they decided to betray Gato," Yan explained.
"Hold on a second, how would those thugs be able to stop the ninja? Cheap weapons and bravado isn't going to do anything to ninja, not even the weaklings we beat up earlier," Hinata said, radiating disbelief.
"You shouldn't underestimate numbers. Enough thugs can wear down even the greatest of ninja," Yan said, gravely. "Also, if they did betray Gato, the thugs would at least tell everyone what happened. No one would hire those ninja again."
"That makes more sense," Naruto said, nodding. "Okay, so that's why they listen to Gato. Then the answer is pretty easy."
"Kill Gato!" Amelia said, eagerly.
"No. I don't want to kill anyone, and that might not work anyway. I mean, all that money would still be there, and I don't know if it'd be the ninja, the thugs, or some third person who would take it all if Gato died. But there's no guarantee that they'd be any better than Gato is. It'd be hard for them to be worse than Gato, but better?" Naruto said. "Nah, my plan is simple. If the problem is that Gato has too much money, then I'll just steal all the money!"
"We're going to need a pretty big bag to carry all of that stuff," Hinata said, rubbing her chin. "And what will we do about the furniture and other big objects?"
"I dunno. Destroy it maybe?" Naruto suggested.
"That would be pretty noisy. I'd rather not have to fight the ninja if we can avoid it," Hinata said, frowning.
"Hmm, maybe as a parting gesture? Set the building on fire or something. That'd distract any pursuers as well," Naruto said.
"And then the thugs will loot the town," Yan predicted, bitterly.
"Loot the town of what?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Anything. Everything. They might just burn it down and slaughter the remaining townsfolk," Yan said.
"But why though?" Naruto asked.
"Because they're scum," Amelia spat.
"Gato is squeezing the life out of this town, but he is trying to make money. But without him signing their paychecks, the thugs will move on. But they'll try and get every last bit of money or satisfaction out of this town first," Yan explained.
"Well you'll just have to fight them off then," Hinata said.
"If we could do that, then we wouldn't need your help in the first place," Amelia snapped.
"No, you need us to make sure the ninja don't bother you anymore," Hinata said, her face passive even as she got annoyed at Amelia. "And they won't loot the town, there simply isn't enough money here for that. The ordinary thugs you can be handled by anyone willing to fight."
"But if it makes you feel better, we'll beat up a bunch of them on the way out," Naruto said, sympathetically. "That way, they'll be hurting too badly to cause too much trouble for the town."
"When do you plan on doing this?" Yan asked, frowning.
"I dunno. Sooner the better I guess. No offense, but I don't really want to hang around in such a miserable place. And I mean that in the most literal way possible. So you should go get that boat ready, cause we're going to need it right away," Naruto rambled.
"So..." Amelia said, expectantly.
"We'll do it tonight," Hinata said, firmly.
/*/
That night they were looking over the mansion. Naruto had declined to keep his chakra cloak up, but Hinata was still in her fox hybrid disguise. They were both carrying burlap sacks and Hinata had her Byakugan on.
"There's about seventeen normal people, either thugs or servants. Gato is sleeping in a bed, alone, and I don't see any ninja. There's several traps in his vault, but they shouldn't be a problem for us." Hinata reported.
"This should be pretty easy then. We could just brute force it, but I want to get as much stuff as possible. So let's sneak to the vault, empty it, go wake up Gato, set the building on fire, beat up the guards slash get everyone outside, and then run into town, get on the boat, and sail off into the distance," Naruto said.
And so they did. Sneaking into the mansion was easy. Avoiding the thugs and servants, even easier. The traps guarding the vault might've been a danger to the average chunin, but not to Hinata who could see every detail of every trap with her Byakugan. Then they gave Gato a rude awakening, throwing him out of bed, and then out of the house. They fought the guards, and in the chaos, set the building on fire. They threw everyone out and headed off into town, their burlap sacks bulging with the night's work.
"Well that was easy," Naruto commented as they walked towards the town.
"Mmm," Hinata hummed, her eyes aching. She smiled as she glanced over at Naruto, only to see him stiffen. Suddenly he tackled her, covering her with his body as a rain of senbon needles were launched at them. The needles harmlessly bounced off of Naruto's chakra, but a couple slipped past Naruto, piercing Hinata's foot.
"Hinata, are you okay?" Naruto yelled, visibly scanning Hinata's body.
"Hin-Tsu, remember?" Hinata said, trying to hide the pain with a smile. Judging by Naruto's growl, she didn't succeed.
"You shouldn't have done that," Naruto growled to the ninja that attacked them. They wore a mask and had long black hair. Staying silent they launched a barrage of senbon against Naruto which were just an ineffective as the first barrage. Without hesitation, Naruto shot his chakra arms forward, landing a nasty gash down the ninja's side. They sent another series of senbon at Naruto as he attacked, but Naruto's training payed off, and his defenses didn't falter for an instant.
" Ice Wall Jutsu!" the ninja cried, forming a barrier of ice to intercept Naruto's next attack. Hinata activated her Byakugan and gasped.
"Naruto to your left!" She yelled, desperately. A ninja appeared, swinging a giant cleaver of a sword. Naruto turned, and blocked, crossing both arms in an x as his chakra tails did the same. The sword impacted the chakra, and flung Naruto back. Naruto stared at the deep cut in his arm, hissing in pain as the cut steamed as it regenerated.
"Water Prison Jutsu," the ninja said, fingers flying through the hand seals. A sphere of water formed around Naruto, and stopped when it hit his chakra. Naruto stared at the water surrounding him, perplexed.
"So did you mean to do that or-" Naruto began, only to be interrupted by the other ninja releasing some sort of ice jutsu, freezing the ball of water solid. Hinata didn't hesitate, filling her injured foot full of chakra in order to compensate for the injury, and launched herself forward. She ignored the ninja, knowing that if she couldn't free Naruto she wouldn't have much of a chance against them. Instead she went straight for Naruto, her Byakugan seeking out microscopic weaknesses in the ice. Each slap of her palms sent a pulse of chakra down through the ice, expanding each crack and micro-fracture further.
"Girl, I don't know what you think you're doing, but there is no way you'll break Haku's ice with such weak strikes," the male ninja said, walking forward, his sword at his side. "Now if you'll surrender peacefully, I'll give you both to Gato alive. He'll torture you, but that'll give you a chance to escape at least."
"You should never underestimate a demon," Hinata said, turning around. She gave a satisfied smile as she saw Naruto gather his chakra together into a single claw. "Such a weak technique won't work on us."
On cue, Naruto smashed through the ice, sending the claw of chakra straight for the male ninja. Surprised, the ninja blocked the attack with his blade, only to find it yanked out of his grasp when Naruto pulled the claw back towards him. At the same time, the other ninja launched a barrage of senbon at Hinata, but she deflected them all away with a blast of chakra from her hands.
"There we go," Naruto said, smirking as he brandished the blade. "Not so confident now that I've got your giant sword thingy huh?"
"I'm the demon swordsman of the Mist, Zabuza. And I'm not going to let a pair of kids mock me," Zabuza said, glaring. "Hidden in the Mist Jutsu." A cloud of mist enveloped the area.
"Really? Mist?" Naruto asked, yawning. Hinata tugged at his sleeve and silently pointed to where Zabuza was slowly summoning water clones. Naruto nodded, and launched an all out attack, holding onto the sword with a chakra tail and launching it towards Zabuza at high speeds.
"Sir, look out!" Haku yelled, moving in front of the blade. Startled by the sudden burst of love and desperation coming from Haku, Naruto lost control of the blade. The blade that would've went straight into Haku's chest, instead jerked down and to the right, impaling Haku through his hip. There was a blink of killing intent from Zabuza which was all the warning Naruto got before he was hit by a massive dragon made of water.
"Naruto!" Hinata cried, rushing towards Zabuza who hadn't let up his murderous assault. He tore his blade out of Naruto's chakra and was using it to carve into Naruto again and again. "Eight Trigrams; Thirty Two Palms!" She screamed in rage as she charged. "Two palms!" Zabuza let the first two strikes through, and gasped as he felt the chakra points close. "Four palms!" He shifted to block her attacks, but just took the blows on his arm instead. "Eight palms!" Unable to use chakra with his free hand, he stomped on the senbon in Hinata's foot, driving it deeper and breaking her ankle. "Sixteen palms!" Hinata ignored the pain, too focused on bringing Zabuza down to pay attention to the agony in her foot, or Zabuza raising his sword to strike off her head. "Thirty two palms!" Only to find the blade caught by a growling Naruto whose blue chakra was being overtaken by red. The final blows thudded into him and Zabuza sagged, only to be sent flying from a massive uppercut from Naruto. Naruto stalked forward, his eyes red, and whisker marks making deep lines in his face.
"Naruto, stop," Hinata said, collapsing from the pain in her foot.
"He hurt you," Naruto growled, looking back at Hinata. "You are in so much pain. You felt so much fear and rage. And nobody is allowed to do that to you."
Hinata smiled and focused on the love and joy she felt at his words. "We're better than him," she said, beckoning him to come over to her. "And we've beaten him. He can't fight back anymore. We don't need to kill him, and he can't hurt me anymore."
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right," Naruto said, taking a deep breath and heading over to Hinata and giving her a big hug. The red chakra slowly faded and let his normal blue chakra take back over. "I guess you lost to a couple of kits after all!" he yelled to Zabuza.
"Heh, I guess so," Zabuza chuckled, a little bit of blood trickling out of his mouth. "Your demon shtick had me fooled. I wasn't expecting that cheesy fox disguise to be hiding a Hyuuga. And you must be the jinchuuriki of the Leaf. Your chakra is a lot like the current Mizukage's."
"Oh. Oh dear," Hinata said, going pale.
/*/
"Wow, you two really are idiots," Zabuza laughed. The pair had panicked when they realized that Zabuza had figured out who they were, and had grabbed him and Haku along with their hard earned spoils from Gato's home. Now they were sitting on the deck of their new boat, while the villagers formed a mob and started driving out Gato's goons.
"Give us a break. The only reason this is a problem is because we don't want to kill you," Naruto groaned, wrapping bandages around Haku's wounds, who had been radiating relief ever since the fight ended.
"That's what makes you an idiot," Zabuza said. "If I'm a threat, you should finish me off while I'm at your mercy. Just because you spared me doesn't mean I won't sell the information that there is a jinchuuriki and a Hyuuga roaming around together without the Leaf's protection or knowledge."
"Why?" Naruto asked, cocking his head.
"Because I need money, idiot. Do you think I was working for a scumbag like Gato because it was fun?" Zabuza asked, sarcastically.
"I was wondering about that," Naruto admitted. "But what do you need that much money for?"
"To hire ninja," Haku said, radiating an odd combination of sympathy, eagerness, and pride.
"For what?" Hinata asked, her curiosity rising.
"The current Mizukage needs to die. He's been ordering the genocide of entire clans of people. Pretty much anyone who has a kekki genkai is liable to be slaughtered at his orders. That's what happened to Haku's parents," Zabuza said, nodding towards Haku. "So I want to overthrow him, but I need resources in order for it to work. Thus Gato. Slimy as he may be, he pays well."
"So that's why Haku is so devoted to you," Naruto mused rubbing his chin. "And hmm, you know, I might be able to help you out. See, we just earned-"
"Stole," Zabuza interrupted.
"Earned!" Naruto said, firmly. "A bunch of money. More than we could use, really. So why don't we give some to you?"
"And in exchange we don't blab about you? Fat chance," Zabuza snorted. "We aren't going to just take some bribe and play nice."
"Why not? You were working for Gato after all. You can't have that many scruples if that is the case. And don't tell me you couldn't have just killed his men and taken the money for yourself. We didn't have any trouble robbing him blind, you wouldn't have had any either," Hinata asked.
"Because I need my reputation to remain intact," Zabuza explained. "I'm trying to start a revolution. People aren't going to follow me if I have a reputation for backstabbing my clients."
"So why don't we hire you then?" Hinata asked.
"I told you-"
"Not to keep our secret," Hinata said, quickly. "But to protect the Land of Waves. Someone needs to keep the peace now that we've removed Gato."
"Yeah. Don't let some other power-hungry tyrant take over and make sure those bandits don't start raiding everywhere. Protect as many people as you can, and guide them into building a better nation," Naruto added.
"And how does that help you?" Zabuza asked, sneering.
"It'll keep you contained to the Land of Waves. This land is poor, they won't hire ninjas. Not unless they really really need to," Hinata said. "And if you're doing your job, then they won't need to. So if you are stuck in the Land of Waves, you aren't going to be able to tell anyone about us."
"Come on, it's a good deal for both of us," Naruto said, sensing Zabuza's hesitation. "Haku likes the idea too." Zabuza glanced at Haku who faintly blushed.
"It would be good practice for when you become the new Mizukage," Haku said, faintly.
"I suppose it would," Zabuza said, rubbing his chin. "Alright then brats, you have yourselves a deal."
Naruto cheered, and shook Zabuza's hand. Later the pair cast off, and waved goodbye to Haku who saw them off.
"So where to next?" Hinata asked, resting her head against Naruto, her illusion finally dispelled.
"Dunno. Whatever is across the sea I guess," Naruto said, beaming a brilliant smile at Hinata as he steered them out towards the open sea.
Author's Notes: I can't believe it's been almost a year since I updated this one. I don't really have much of an excuse for that. This chapter just drained a lot of motivation out of me to write. You can probably find the places that I decided were boring and cut them down to something much smaller.
As for the chapter itself? Well it's basically a version of the Land of Waves Arc. Slight differences as they head to a different town, and they do it sooner then they go there in canon.
They do beat Zabuza pretty handily, but that's a combo of a few things. First, Naruto and Hinata are much stronger than their canon counterparts at this time. Naruto has gotten a weird form of training from Kuruma that has made him basically immune to anything less than an A-ranked Jutsu, and Hinata's interactions with Naruto lead to more extensive training/punishment. Second, the pair of them are a bad match up for him and Haku. Haku is basically useless against them, as he can't get past Naruto's chakra, and Hinata can deflect his senbon. Similarly, Zabuza's mist techniques just serve to hide what Naruto and Hinata are doing from him. They can see through it just fine. Third, they caught Zabuza by surprise. Naruto's technique is basically unique, and Hinata had her disguise, so he wasn't prepared to suddenly be facing the Gentle Fist.
Speaking of, Hinata's disguise. I was really hesitant to put this in, but figured it was actually appropriate for Hinata in this story. She's more than a little obsessed with Naruto and openly wants to be a demon like him. So she disguises herself as what is basically her 'OC'. But using the Gentle Fist is a pretty big clue on who she is, and Naruto being a multi-tailed fox demon isn't exactly being subtle either.