Chapter 2
(Play Mike Tenay - Fuck Bussiness Casual 87')
Hey whats good my people? Long time no see in this crazy ass year we all know as 2020. The Pandemic may have made our lives rough but we always get through the bad. It took me a while to get this done just right as my co-author and I were very maticulous about this story. We both take this idea very seriously and hopefully we can give you guys the kick ass story you all deserve
Okay so as we all know Naruto is now stranded in the Land of Waterfall
How the French Toast did he get there? Well that will matter later but for now enjoy
(Flashback – Konoha Festival: Eight years ago)
Today was a day of celebration that took many long years of war to achieve. An era of peace between Konohagakure and Kumogakure was officially made by the Hokage and the Raikage in Iron Country. Both sides had been stuck in gridlock for a long time and peace seemed like a forgone conclusion. But the efforts of the Hokage persisted and was able to bring Kumo to an agreement. Although many lives were lost between the two sides; one infamously being the death of the Nidaime Hokage in the First Great Shinobi War and the efforts of the Yondaime Hokage in The Third Great Shinobi War that turned the tide in their favor.
All in all though, both sides had each other's blood on their hands. They felt it was time to clean it off.
The streets were full of harmonious joy and laughter from the many children playing random games or talking to their parents to the parade that filled the streets. Amongst the audience was the Sandaime Hokage standing with a three year old blonde haired boy in his arms. The young boy had bright blue eyes and whisker-like marks on his cheeks that were only filled with wonder as he witnessed all the festivities.
"Are you having fun Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konoha, said to the young boy named Naruto.
"Yeah old man, this parade is awesome dattebayo!" He exclaimed with a bright smile on his face as he looked at the patrons walking the street. Though his eyes laid on one man and for some reason, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
He was a tall, slim man with dark eyes with lines underneath them, black hair and goatee. He wore a dark grey Kumo flak jacket which had thick shoulder pads. His head was bandaged and a Kumogakureforehead protector covered his right eye. Naruto kept his eyes on the cloud shinobi for a long time. When the man locked his lone eye with his, he smiled, but it didn't reach his eye.
"Old man who is that guy?" Naruto asked, causing Hiruzen to look in the direction of the Cloud shinobi.
"That man is the Head Ninja of Kumogakure; he is here to deliver the peace treaty we agreed to sign." The elderly man said with the young boy not taking his eyes off him.
"I'm getting a weird vibe from him." Naruto said, causing the elderly man to chuckle. The child was only three years old and had never seen a person from another village before, it wasn't that uncommon for someone so young to have a small amount of mistrust towards strangers.
Hiruzen put it out of his mind for now. With this treaty soon to be in effect there would be one less enemy to worry about, it would ease his tired old bones and allow his people to rest easier at night. That was his hope at least.
(Later that Night - The Hyuuga Compound)
"Ahh...that festival was pretty cool." Naruto sighed out in enjoyment as he rubbed his full stomach.
And who could honestly blame the young blonde? The people were in high spirits, there was good food and games. The Hokage actually spent most of the day with him playing various games and enjoying the festivities. And most importantly the villagers barely gave him a second look when he walked the streets! No glares, no mutterings of him being a demon brat, honestly Naruto could get used to that.
The day would have been perfect if it wasn't from the odd feeling he got from that Head Ninja guy. Something about him just screamed that he was dangerous, up to no good, and just generally a very bad guy. But the Old Man told him not to worry about it, he was just the first shinobi he had ever seen from outside the village, and he was just nervous.
Now perhaps he was right, but Naruto could not shake the feeling from the guy. Not even Ichiraku Ramen could drown that feeling of his, and it didn't take much of their ramen to settle him down.
"Ugh, stop being silly Naruto." He chided himself with a small laugh. "It's nothing to worry about! A peace treaty is supposed to be a good thing, if the village is safe then it should be good enough for me. After all, I'm going to have to do the same thing when I become Hokage, Dattebayo!" He said in excitement as he began to daydream about the day he would wear the Hokage's hat.
That excitement soon died when he felt a terrible feeling within the village. His blue eyes widened in alarm as it got worse, much worse from that morning. It was nearing eleven at night, what could be going on?
Before he knew it the whiskered face blonde was running towards the area where he had that terrible feeling. 'This is stupid even for you, you're three years old what sort of help can you even give!?' He mentally shouted at himself, what he was doing was beyond stupid, dangerous even. So why was he running in the direction of danger?
Because he knew that was what the Hokage would do, he would run into the fires of hell for anyone, and if he wanted to be Hokage, a hero, he could not run from anyone!
He arrived in the area where whatever was causing his senses to go haywire. He ran at full speed and found himself out of breath, honestly running five minutes straight on a full stomach was not the smartest idea he had. But he couldn't find anything, was he wrong? No he couldn't have been wrong, his body was on high alert now.
Feeling that it would be a good idea to get a higher vantage point the young blonde began to scramble up a wooden fence. Once he managed to pop his spikey blonde head over it he found himself struck off the fence by a larger body.
"Ow!" He screamed out in pain as he fell off the fence and fell onto the unforgiving ground. Whatever hit him also fell to the ground with a loud thud. Scrambling to his feet he saw that it was a large man wearing a black suit of clothing and an obi around his waist, completed by a black mask that completely covered his face. Now if that didn't scream 'I'm a bad guy' then he didn't know what did.
"Ugh...what the?" The figure looked to see some spiky blonde-haired, blue-eyed kid wearing an orange shirt, white shorts and blue sandals. The only remarkable thing about him were three whisker marks on each of his cheeks. "I got knocked over by a brat? I'm not going to report that back home."
"Hey, who are you!?" Naruto loudly demanded as he pointed at the figure. He then looked at a black cloth sack that was moving, now a bunch of red flags were ringing in his head. "And what's with that moving sack!?"
"Be quiet boy, this is private business." The stranger blasted him with a small amount of killing intent that made him freeze up. Inwardly the man cursed, he wanted to make this quick and clean, but now he needed to leave a body behind. He couldn't afford to leave a single witness. Oh well, what was one brat in the larger picture of things?
Naruto honestly couldn't move an inch, he literally fought for every single gasp of air. Who was this guy, some sort of monster? He watched as the man reached into a kunai pouch strapped to his right leg and withdrew the black steel kunai-knife. He threw back his right arm to throw it, and the blonde saw his very short life flash in front of his terrified eyes.
But then he saw a man in a cream robe attack the figure. He was roughly nineteen years old, possessed featureless white eyes with distinct pupils and veins bulging near his temples. His brown hair that was styled into a top-knot flowed like water as he struck the attacker with his palm in the side.
The stranger in black seemed to have grimaced at the hit, but to the shock of the blonde, and horrid realization of the pale-eyed man the person he hit with a palm strike erupted in a small cloud of smoke and in his place was a broken wooden bucket.
Then, to Naruto's horror he watched as the man appeared behind the pale-eyed man, his lone eye gleaming with murderous intent before a ball of light blue lightning formed in his right hand. "Lightning Ball!" The figure growled, slamming the jutsu into his opponents back.
The teenager who was meant to save them, Naruto watched as his pale eyes bulged out in agony. His joints locked up and he bit down on his tongue with such force that he severed it! But even with all the pain and agony he went through, he turned on his heel and struck the man in black in the temple, it caused him to lose focus for just enough time for him to jerk the bag away from him and threw it towards Naruto himself.
"Rum goy!" He spat out, blood flying from his mouth as he turned to face his opponent.
Naruto caught the sack and turned to run with all the strength his small legs could give him. His mind was racing a mile a minute, everything was wrong! His young mind couldn't process the violence he just witnessed. What was so important in this sack?
As he ran down the street the blonde youth fiddled with the string holding the bag closed and what was revealed to him stopped his blood cold. It was a girl about his age, her complexion was fair, dark blue hair that was styled in a hime-cut, but most importantly she had the same featureless pale eyes of the man who was fighting off that terrible man. He looked into her eyes and saw that they had some lavender around the edges and saw the terrified tears running down her cheeks.
"Don't worry, you're going to be okay." Naruto forced a smile on his face as he continued to run. "That bad man isn't going to lay his hands on you again, I promise!"
As if karma came to bite him in the ass, Naruto saw the man in black appear before him and he felt a savage kick in his stomach. He felt his body flying through the air and impacted the ground harshly. He lost the girl in the process, her small body tumbling out of the bag to reveal a cream colored sleeping kimono.
The kidnapper growled looking at the mess of it all. This little brat nearly ruined everything! He had to not only use a jutsu to paralized that pesky Hyuuga, but also stab him in the back to be rid of him.
"No more you little brat." He hissed at the blonde troublemaker. Clutching the bloody kunai-knife he threw it at the boy, he had done this multiple times during his shinobi career, it was how he survived The Third Great Shinobi War. He watched as it sailed through the air and he waited for it to pierce through the brat's head.
Naruto, for all his years he had been alive, couldn't believe the amount of pain he was in. Sure, he got into fights with some other kids before, the emotional pain of being ignored hurt a lot, but he was never hurt like this before. Gritting his teeth he slowly stood to his feet and glared defiantly at the kidnapper. He made a promise to the girl that he wouldn't lay his hands on her again, and he always kept his promises!
So when he threw his weapon the young blonde lifted his left hand and caught it. The sharp tip pierced through the palm of his hand, and the kunai was driven through his left eye. Hot-white pain tore through his body, it hurt so much that his mind temporarily shut down to spare him from the agony.
"No!" The young Hyuuga screamed, tears nearly blinding her. "Please...get up...please don't die!"
"It's no use girl, he's dead!" The kidnapper growled. His sandaled feet echoed like thunder as he stepped towards her, an evil grin forming under his masked face.
But then he felt it, foul, malicious chakra that stopped him in his tracks. He turned to see the boy he thought he killed rising up to his feet. His body was surrounded by a layer of red, wispy chakra. His canines were longer, his finger nails turned into claws, the whisker marks on his cheeks grew darker. And to his horror the kidnapper watched as Naruto raised his right hand and pulled the kunai out of his hand with a spurt of blood.
His blood then froze in complete, pants shitting terror as the boy's remaining blue eye turned into a crimson slitted eye. "He looks just like...no he can't be!"
Naruto let out a feral roar that destroyed nearby windows, damaged tiles off the roofs, and more than likely made anyone nearby need a change of pants. The blonde rushed at the kidnapper and swiped his hands at him. The man raised his arms to protect his vitals, getting deep gouges in his arms, but it wasn't anything life threatening. He threw a punch at him, but the young boy dipped under the arm and sliced through his chest. The man growled in anger and he went through several hand seals to unleash a lightning jutsu that would fry the brat.
But it was not to be, the chakra flowing through Naruto made him faster and stronger. He closed the distance between them, and swiped his right claw at the kidnapper. Blood erupted from four clean claw marks in his neck, blood erupted from his mouth and stained his mask. He backpedaled, gaze growing dark and finally he collapsed onto the ground as his life blood drained from his body.
Seeing the threat eliminated, the chakra receded and Naruto felt the pain all at once. The loss of his eye, the wound in his hand, his ribs hurting, and the shock that he killed someone. He began to hyperventilate and go into shock. Who could blame him? No three year old was mentally prepared for something like that.
He then felt a pair of arms wrap around him, blood from his wound began to stain her sleeping kimono but the girl in front of him didn't care. She gave him a smile that practically said everything was going to be okay, and somehow he believed it. Naruto broke down against her, becoming drained in every sense of the word, at least until he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Young man, please tell me the name of the person who saved my daughter;s life." He looked at the girl in concern, and then back at him,
"Naruto Uzumaki, sir dattebayo." Naruto quietly introduced himself before blissfully losing consciousness.
(Timeskip: A few hours later)
Naruto was lying asleep in his bed with a bandage wrapped over his left eye and a cast around his left arm and hand. The blonde boy rested comfortably for someone that just lost an eye, but he was just grateful to be alive. A couple other people in particular were happy that he was alive as well. Outside the boys room stood Hiashi Hyuuga and the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, looking over the medical charts that gave in detail what his injuries were.
"A cracked rib cage, almost fully healed. Broken left hand with stab wound, bones in cast. Single stab wound to the left eye; Irreparable damage, permanent blindness. This is a real problem Hiashi." Hiruzen said after just getting news that the Head Ninja held other motives beyond a peace treaty. He was exhausted from his political nightmare.
"Because of him my young cousin will now have to be laid to rest." Hiashi said several seconds later. On the outside he was calm and composed, but inwardly he was far from it. His daughter was kidnapped, and a member of his family was lying on death's door. And it all happened right under his nose, he never felt more powerless in his entire life!
"I know what it is like to lose someone Hiashi." Hiruzen said. In his long life he lost both his mother and father, and three years ago he lost his wife of thirty years. He knew exactly what the Hyuuga Clan Head was going through. "But we need to mourn later, I need to know how did Naruto end up with all these injuries on your property?"
"I do not know how he got there, what I do know is that I felt a spike of the Kyuubi's chakra and that he saved my daughter. As far as I am concerned; he's a hero to my family." Hiashi firmly said, causing the elderly Kage to visibly relax. For so long the boy had been seen as a demon by the villagers, with this he was one step closer to being seen as the hero the Yondaime wanted him to be seen as.
"Before I left Hoheto to leave him to pass peacefully with his parents next to him, he made a request. He wrote down that he wants the boy to have his eye to replace his old one." Hiashi dropped the biggest bombshell on the Hokage's head.
The entire room was silent, you could even hear a pin drop from it. So when Hiruzen slowly turned his neck towards the Hyuuga clan Head the joints in his neck popped. "You would allow an outsider to hold your family's special doujutsu?"
"I am giving the hero of my daughter a gift only I can allow." Hiashi calmly replied. He didn't show it, but there was an air of smug satisfaction on his face.
"Would the elders not protest this?" Hiruzen asked. It wouldn't be the first time he had to deal with them regarding their purity views, they absolutely refused outsiders to study their Kekkei Genkai, let alone have one of their eyes removed to put in the eye socket of another like Obito did with Kakashi. The fact they fought him at every turn to have Jiraiya modify their seal caused him no end of headaches.
"They seem to forget that I am the Clan Head, and what I do regarding clan matters is up to me, not them." Hiashi replied. For too long they had been undermining his every move to change the clan. For too long his clan had been divided all because someone was born second. After tonight they would not undermine him ever again.
"The surgery is going to be extensive, unlike Kakashi, Naruto is going to need the blood vessels around his new eye to be slightly modified in order to increase the blood flow." Hiruzen wasn't known as The Professor for nothing, for as long as he had been alive he picked up a thing or ten revolving around the clans that lived within his village, things that were public knowledge and things that weren't exactly on record.
"I will personally oversee the operation, Hokage-sama." Hiashi firmly said to the Sandaime Hokage. "As the Head of the Hyuuga Clan I know the workings of our dojutsu better than anyone else. I'll make sure that it's connected properly."
"It takes a lot more than just connecting the eye to blood vessels, Naruto is going to need to be taught how to use it." Hiruzen looked to the man next to him. "I assume you're going to take responsibility?"
"Hizashi will train the boy." Hiashi said, referring to his younger twin brother. "He is the strongest within the Branch Family, Naruto will flourish under him along with my nephew."
"That might ruffle a few feathers within the Main Family." Hiruzen commented.
Inwardly Hiashi was cackling at the thought of their faces when he told them his plans. "That is the point."
(Naruto's bedroom)
'I'm at the hospital again. The old man must be on the other side.' He said lightly to himself as he felt the irritation around his now empty left eye socket. He didn't feel any stitches near his wound so that was good, but he now knew that his eye was gone. His mind flashed through his memories of the moment again and again. He was locked out of the orphanage for that night and was just trying to find a quiet spot to camp out. Normally he would not risk camping out on the Hyuuga grounds but he figured given the festival that enough of them would be too tired to care.
Then he saw that man carrying that young girl in a bundle sack. He saw her kicking the bag to try to break out. What he did was remarkably stupid, but he couldn't live with himself if he looked the other way. That wasn't who he was after all.
"Best get some sleep." He said to himself before closing his remaining eye. He would deal with the loss of his left eye later when he was fully healed.
(End Flashback)
Naruto and Fu were still in bed together, but Fu was sitting on the opposite end. The young teal-haired girl bent her head to the side when she heard his tale of how he got that eyepatch. She had to say that she liked the idea of knowing a pirate. Naruto on the other hand just looked at Fu with confusion as the girl was focused on everything but him apparently.
"So tell me lucky-boy, how did you end up here?" She asked with a cute tilt of her head.
Naruto suddenly snapped back to reality from his inner thoughts. "I still don't know. All I know is that I am supposed to be in Wave Country right now." He pressed his right hand against his forehead. He still couldn't remember how he got here to save his life.
Fu tilted her head some more, and honestly Naruto thought she resembled Akamaru a little bit. "Wave Country? That's a long ways off from here, like four-hundred miles long ways from here."
"How did I make the trip here then?" He asked, completely stunned that he was literally four-hundred miles away from his last location. "Could my body have really floated all the way over here?"
Fu jumped off the bed and placed her hand on her hips. "Beats me, lucky-boy." She said before walking towards the door "Anyway go ahead and rest up some more. I'll be back soon." She said as she walked out the door and left Naruto to his own devices. He laid his head back on the pillow and pondered what was going on as his left hand went over his newly formed chest scar.
"This is too damn weird." He said as he fell back onto the pillow, his head resting comfortably around the stuffed cushion. He kept his lone eye onto the rooftop above as his mind began to trail off as he replayed what he remembered happened to him at wave.
Naruto remembered Sasuke was killed by Haku and that same feeling he had from the Hyuuga Incident returned stronger than before. He never felt anger and pure rage adrenaline rush as fierce as that one. He was blinded by bloodlust and would have killed the ice-user had she not been so adept with her Crystal Ice Mirrors. But he was able to find a strategy that allowed him to separate her from her technique.
He nearly killed her but he stopped himself. Why did he put in so much effort to stop her from dying?
And just how did he pull that off?
Naruto looked at the hand that was supposed to punch a hole through her skull yet he did not know what made him stop. Perhaps it was because he thought that she was very beautiful? Or was it because the both of them were very similar? Who knew, but it was enough to make him stop, especially when it came to her story.
(Flashback: Wave Country)
Remaining still after hearing the girl before him tell the story of what she had gone through. While Naruto felt bad for her and even was willing to say that he understood the plight she was under, he still did not, could not forgive her for taking his best friend away from him.
"So what is it you wish to do? I am afraid that I can no longer be of any use for Zabuza-sama." Haku asked with blood dripping from the sides of her mouth. The ice-user had nothing left to give in this fight as she felt her duty to protect Zabuza further slipping away from her grasp. This boy before her was something else, one moment he was this sweet innocent kid she found asleep in the forest and the next he was this ferocious beast ready for blood.
She then watched as he pulled out a kunai-knife with his exposed eye looking into hers but the girl only froze in surprise as she recognized it as clear as day. 'He has the sharingan as well?' She thought to herself.
"I understand everything you have been through, and in a million ways I wish that we were in different circumstances. But I cannot forgive you for killing Sasuke." He said before rushing towards her.
Unknown to him, his lone Sharingan eye with two tomes spun wildly. As he ran, his eye followed Haku's movements perfectly to a tee. But as soon as he was halfway there he heard the sound of chirping birds in the background. He then took note that once that sound went off, he could somehow see her forming a one handed seal. He then focused chakra into his eye as he mentally called out, 'Byakugan!'
The veins in his left eye bulged and the silhouettes of everyone appeared in his vision along with Haku, as he saw her chakra network flare up. Then he focused his vision squarely on her with both eyes working in unison. The image then combined to show two versions of Haku, her real self and another that was a silhouette image encased in blue chakra. He then watched as that version brought her arm up to grab his kunai while bringing up her free hand up into a one handed seal. His Byakugan then caught sight of his sensei standing with chakra surrounding his right hand. Zabuza was standing with what looked like eight dogs all holding him in place.
His eyes then widened as he realized what she was about to do thus he changed course by skidding along the ground before forming a cross seal. A shadow clone quickly appeared and charged straight for Haku while the blonde boy focused his chakra towards his legs. Without a second thought he sprint towards where his sensei was as Haku looked towards the sound of chirping birds in the distance. Her eyes then widened as she raised her right hand to block the kunai strike.
"I'm sorry Naruto-san but I cannot die just yet." She said as she formed a one handed seal with her left arm and in a flash vanished in the air. Naruto on the other hand was already timing his move as with each step he took made him constantly adjust and readjust his angle until he finally felt comfortable with his next move.
He had no idea how he did all that but it all ended with the results as well known.
(End Flashback)
"How did I pull that off?" He said to himself as he settled within his current predicament though his eye stayed focused on the rooftop for a few more minutes until his brain shut down. He was going to have to go over this some other time but for now he just wanted to sleep
But unknown to him, Fu stood with the door ajar watching over him with her kunai in hand. Her orange eyes fixated upon his form as beads of sweat lightly trickled down her brow.
It wasn't that she didn't trust him, he seemed like a nice guy, sincere with his confusion. But something about him did not add up at least in terms of his story. He survived a four-hundred trip down a river with what appeared to be a giant hole in his chest, that wasn't normal by any standard, even among the shinobi she read about in the academy during history class.
And then there was that burst of chakra. There were many things that she did not know about the world but there was one thing she did know. That she could tap into a similar potent level chakra as well and it was so strong that she felt inclined to investigate it.
'Could he be a Jinchuriki like me?' She thought as she remembered finding his body radiating with red chakra. Nothing was adding up, not until she heard a buzzing noise but was not alarmed by it.
"It's hard to tell. But that chakra did indeed come from him. His body was radiating with power similar to mine." The buzzing demonic voice said with Fu not taking her eyes off Naruto.
Of course she had every right to be suspicious, it came with the job after all. It was better safe than sorry, she would be wary until proven otherwise.
(The next day)
Naruto woke up to the sounds of knocking against his door which caused him to sit up to stretch out his limbs. Another knock came causing him to rub the sleep from his right eye. "Come in, I'm decent."
The door was opened and Fu entered along with some stranger, but seeing Fu's body language it showed that she trusted him. He was an older man who looked to be in his late forties and had short smooth brown hair that was greying all on the outside with just the top of his head still having brown hair. He wore a black Takigakure forehead protector around his forehead and his hair hung over the left and right sides of it and he also had brown sideburns. He also had small black-coloured eyes and a small brown-coloured goatee.
Attire-wise he wore a navy blue vest that had mesh wire underneath, white training tape on both his biceps, fingerless black gloves, a pair of black pants with a kunai holster on his right thigh, and black shinobi-styled sandals. His kind-looking face sort of put Naruto at ease as he sat on the chair in Fu's room next to his bedside.
"Hello young man, I am Hisen, the leader of this village and Fu's uncle. What brings you around these parts?" Hisen asked in a soothing voice.
Remembering the lessons Hiashi drilled into his head, Naruto bowed his head from his resting position. "Greetings Hisen-san, I am Naruto Uzumaki, Konoha shinobi extraordinaire, dattebayo!" He said with a thumbs up and smile. Doing such an action hurt his chest, perhaps he should take it easy until he healed completely.
"Greetings Naruto-san, I wish I could greet you much more fondly, but you are a foreign shinobi in my country. And I have to treat you as an enemy until I am sure that you mean no harm." He said.
"I wish I could convince you that I am no enemy. I was in Wave Country and then...I'm now here after falling off a bridge. If it helps, I am a shinobi of Konohagakure, and our villages are supposed to be allies. I won't betray or reveal any secrets so long as I am here." Naruto replied with a tired smile. It was honestly all he had to offer, if that wasn't enough then he honestly didn't know what he would do.
Fu stared at him for a good minute until she perked up and looked at her uncle. "I believe him uncle Hisen."
Hisen gave her an odd look. "Really, you honestly trust him?"
"Nope! I don't trust him for a second but I think he has a cute butt." She said with a thumbs up and a very wide smile.
Hisen could only look at his niece with a dumbfounded expression, it caused her to laugh. And Naruto could only feel odd that someone commented on his ass of all things.
(One week later)
It took another week of healing and rest, but Naruto found himself out of the bed he was forced to lie in. Kyuubi sure took his sweet time healing him, but apparently coming back from the dead could be taxing even on a gigantic nine-tailed entity. He was sure that the beast was still sealed within him, the seal on his stomach was still there and intact.
For the whiskered blonde, he didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Ever since he learned about it, he wanted him gone, but now that he was without his team or village he was glad he still had a connection to his village besides the Byakugan eye.
Standing near the cabin Fu lived in, Naruto now wore a dark blue vest with mesh wire underneath, black pants and sandals. His leather eyepatch was still covering his left eye and he was testing his reflexes by shadow boxing, his taped up arms making 'whooshing' noises as he punched the air..
"Ugh, I lost a step." Naruto grumbled to himself after the small exercise left him winded, perhaps he wasn't exactly up to snuff just yet. His lungs were burning from exertion, he would take it easy for now.
"But you look well trained lucky-boy." Fu said with a wide smile on her face as she sauntered over to him. "I expected that out of you, but you're still a prisoner here, you know?"
"Does that mean I'm not allowed to train? I'm a shinobi and until I can move again I need to train." His eyebrow twitched from her nickname, apparently he was stuck with it.
"I would be a hypocrite if I told you not to train, after all I do it on a daily basis." Fu moved herself across from him and looked over his form. "Uncle Hisen didn't say anything about not training. But I am going to overlook your training, and pummel you into the ground as my training partner!"
"Oi! No one is going to use Naruto Uzumaki as a training dummy!" Naruto barked with a tick mark forming on his forehead.
"Oh but that is what I'm going to do Lucky-boy." Fu smiled before getting into a fighting stance. "I got to warn you though, don't underestimate me because I'm a- Whoa!"
Fu barely had time to duck to the right when Naruto closed the distance between them in less than a few seconds and nearly popped her in the mouth. She then caught a palm strike that would have hit her solar plexus, raised her right knee to block a strike that would have hit her right in the groin. She then applied chakra to the bottom of her feet, deliberately using too much to blast away from the blonde until she landed ten feet away from him.
"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" She yelled at him.
"If you were going to tell me not to take it easy on you because you're a girl, then you're sorely mistaken. I don't care if you're a boy or a girl, if we're going to fight then I'm going to hit you where it hurts!" Naruto said before sliding into a stance that resembled the Gentle Fist yet was clearly different. His right hand was tucked into his side with his fist closed, legs spread apart to keep balance and his left arm half extended and the back of his palm facing her.
Fu couldn't help but inwardly giggle as she got into her own fighting stance, her knuckles cracking as she formed her hands into fists. 'This is going to be sooo much fun!'
"I agree, my little larva." A demonic buzzing voice in her head agreed.
Naruto looked at his sparring partner with his lone blue eye. He wasn't happy about this situation, but he couldn't do anything about it for now. He was more or less a prisoner of Takigakure, but he wasn't going to let it get him down. 'So what if I'm their captive, I'll still get home. But until then I'll do whatever I can to not only earn their trust, but learn a thing or two.'
A quiet demonic voice in his head only scoffed out in annoyance. Naruto then transferred chakra into his left eye that caused the veins to appear.
"Byakugan." He whispered to himself. Within his vision showed the girls chakra network that was highly erratic and powerful. Without waiting the blonde took off with his speed surprising Fu as he appeared in front of her executing a jumping sky kick.
"Leaf Hurricane!" He shouted as she ducked under the kick while feeling the air flow of the kick but soon blocked a punch from his right fist that held far more strength then she was ready for and it caused her to skid along the ground lightly. Naruto then followed it up with a left palm to her right shoulder, the chakra infused strike causing Fu to fall into the ground back first.
She grimaced on the ground as Naruto returned to his stance but had to take a noticeable pause to catch his breath. Already he was out of it and it was barely five seconds into the spar. This became evident when the mint haired girl was back on her feet and delivering multiple strikes.
To her shock though, Naruto was not completely out of it as he skillfully dodged and blocked her strikes but as he prepared a counter strike was shocked when his left palm was blocked and his feet were knocked over, causing the boy to land on his back now. But this time the girl followed up with ground strikes though Naruto blocked the strike, pushed his body off the ground slightly with his free arm.
This instantly threw Fu off balance and it made her take a step back. Naruto then with ease transitioned to his left hand and foot on the ground, then placing all his power into his right foot as it connected with the girls chin.
The force of the kick sent her high within the air, though she was shocked when Naruto appeared behind her. Bandages then found themselves wrapped around until it became a cocoon with just her head sticking out.
Naruto then grabbed the bundle and spun before calling out "Primary Lotus!" slamming her into the ground with a cloud of smoke appearing while he jumped back and returned to his stance.
"You did good Lucky-boy but you lose." Fu said with Naruto suddenly surprised when her arms wrapped around his waist then she heaved him into the air while releasing her hold. Naruto managed to place the momentum to his feet as he made his legs counterbalance the toss, landing hard before jumping back in to engage with Fu.
Both warriors held a back and forth trade of blows and exchanges yet neither side was willing to quit at least until Naruto's body gave out and he would collapse right on the battlefield.
Fu grew instantly concerned as she rushed to his side and brought him back to her house.
(Timeskip: One month later – Wave country)
A Lot can change in a month as the impact of Team Seven's efforts were still being felt throughout the land as the people of wave began to embrace their new found freedom. When the first week after the death of Gato passed and many hangovers from the countless hours spent celebrating, Tazuna finally returned to the bridge that had been severely damaged by Gato's bombs.
Evidently the dead tyrant planted far more bombs then the ones that went off. He likely hoped that they would be his insurance policy if all the mercenaries were unable to subdue the shinobi. It took the entirety of Team Seven three days to completely inspect, disarm and safely remove every bomb Gato planted along with all of them still grieving the death of their teammate. Thankfully though they still took the next part of the mission seriously in making sure that Tazuna built that bridge.
After the bombs were removed Tazuna would spend another week assessing the damage dealt by the explosives. Sad to say the damage was excessive. Holes littered the floor, tile was destroyed, ugly black blast marks, chunks of bridge missing. While not beyond repair, he would no doubt have to start over at a certain spot and salvage what he could.
So with the help of the shinobi including Zabuza, as a "Sorry for trying to kill you" favor, he was able to remove the partial damaged section. Unfortunately, that meant he would have to lose one third of the work already completed. Fortunately though he was not all that concerned with it as the entire town lent a hand to help out. Two solid weeks worth of hard work later on from all the men that risked everything on a harness while they installed pillars, from all the women that operated machinery they never used before and all the children eagerly helping where they could, Tazuna was able to see his dream become reality. The bridge was not only repaired but completed with all of his workers putting in around the clock shifts to see the project done.
He would have loved to give them all the credit but it was the shinobi that he was the most thankful for. Kakashi assisted him in the leadership reigns by instructing workers to complete tasks while assisting the elderly man for the bigger headaches such as faulty wiring and extending the bridge. Zabuza took the grueling job of mapping out where the pillars would be placed on the bottom of the ocean. The waters were not an issue for Zabuza as his high affinity for water, he could hold his breath for a very long time; which was apparently a regulation to become a shinobi of Kirigakure. Thanks to that man's efforts alone, they were able to finish putting in the 'feet' of the bridge that would secure the pillars.
His daughter Tsunami made a humongous difference with the wives of that helped with keeping everyone present fed, while Sakura helped tend any wounds that the workers gained and Haku helped keep them hydrated. The young boy Sasuke though provided the pivotal use of his fire ninjutsu as he called it to help heat the beams they were trying to fuse into the bridge or properly place into a vital spot. The young man was mostly silent throughout his work but a few of the guys managed to break down his defenses enough to talk to him. The elderly male remained supportive of the young man knowing the loss he just endured not that long ago.
The time went by fast and the work was endless but in the end, the bridge that would open Wave Country to more trading and shipping routes, courtesy of Gato, would no doubt bring in a new era of prosperity for his village and reign in different ways of revenue.
Tazuna then wondered what to name the bridge until one night came when Team Seven walked him and his family back home. The blonde kid's absence was felt by all those that knew of him. His grandson told him that Naruto single handedly defeated two mercenaries Gato sent to kidnap them. That young man brought his grandsons smile back and he could think of no better name.
"The Great Naruto Bridge." Tazuna said with the name etched onto the banner above the entry
"I have to say I love the name." Sakura said after having time to reflect on how she treated Naruto while he was alive and came to greatly regret it. She really did miss hearing his loud voice over exaggerate things so that she could keep her cool. She was also taking into account that because she was not on either Naruto or Sasuke's level of talent. Naruto wound up dead and Sasuke was nearly killed.
She needed to take her training more seriously. Naruto would still be here if she did.
"I think he would be jumping around like an idiot if he knew." Sasuke said with a smirk on his face that Sakura recognized as Naruto's. It made her smile fall slightly as he already changed drastically from Naruto's death. Haku only had a sad smile on her face as the image of Naruto dying in her place plagued her mind relentlessly. She kept hoping that this was all fake and that Naruto did not die for her yet she knew the truth.
The lightning from Kakashi's technique left a permanent scar on her left arm, a marking that would forever haunt her. But she was ready to finally live for herself and learn to become her own person.
She and Zabuza had a very long, mostly loud conversation on Zabuza's part, conversation on what their futures would be. Zabuza wanted to head west and maybe join the Snow shinobi ranks since he heard their military numbers were low and the pay was very handsome. Haku argued that he can do that if he wishes but she wanted to go to Konoha and learn to be a shinobi. Zabuza spent a good thirty minutes going through a profanity laden rant as to why he hated Konoha and how he was wanted for killing a dozen of their shinobi.
Haku merely responded, "A young man from there died for me. I have to honor that." And from there Zabuza spent a week in silence before he finally made up his mind.
Speaking of Zabuza, he stood beside the masked jounin who could not take his eye away from the sign. "I hate to admit it, but I liked that runt." He said which broke Kakashi from his trance slightly as his right hand trembled a bit before placing it in his pocket.
"He was the number one unpredictable knuckleheaded shinobi I had ever seen. He reminded me a lot of an old friend of mine." He said though for a brief second Naruto's corpse appeared in front of him. He shut his lone eye for a moment and opened it back up to find everything back to normal. "So what will you do? Haku informed me that she wanted to join our ranks. What will you do?"
"I hate you tree huggers, but my days as the Demon of the Mist are clearly over." He said as he turned to Kakashi. "Haku wanted me to stay here and atone for my misdeeds, but I do not think I could hide from it either or avoid my past coming here."
Looking at the old man, Tazuna standing with his arm around his grandson's shoulders. "I almost took this away from these people. I do not think I could face them. So I'm going to join your merry band of dipshits to keep myself and Haku safe."
"The Hokage will likely place you under probation but you will have a bed to sleep on for a while." Kakashi said with his usual eye-smile.
"A bed huh? Been a while since I had a place to sleep regularly." Zabuza said as the rest of the kids gathered together. Though Kakashi soon found his vision turning dark and all he could see was Narutos corpse on the bridge floor. His right hand shook unconsciously as he grabbed his wrist with his left hand.
'Naruto...' Kakashi as he shook his head and his vision returned to normal. He needed to see somebody about this
"You ready to finally have a place to call home?" She asked Haku in a very delighted fashion that made the ice-user smile somewhat. The two managed to create a friendship over the small window of time they were together and were able to find some common ground.
Haku and her became sparring partners for the last two weeks with each resulting in the same. She got beaten into the ground time and time again. Sakura came to respect Haku's skill very well as the girl was above and beyond her level in many ways. It was clear why Naruto and Sasuke had such a hard time fighting her.
But the girl was also a good teacher as little by little she was able to land a few more blows, dodge a few punches and make key counters. She was still far below Haku's level but she was at least improving bit by bit.
"I think I am ready to call Konoha my home." Haku said as she looked to where the village was located. In almost no time she would arrive at a new chapter in her life, a better chapter where she wouldn't need to run anymore.
Looking to a hill overlooking the village Haku barely made out the modest gravemarker that signified Naruto Uzumaki's resting place. Even if his body was lost to nature, he would at least have a place where people could pay their respects.
She softly smiled and turned her head away towards the group that was beginning to depart. "Until we meet again, Naruto Uzumaki."
(Play Brock Berrigan - Moonshine)
AN: Ok now thats a new chapter for yall so hopefully you all enjoyed it. The next chapter will feature Team Seven returning to Konoha with their lives forever changed. Sasuke will have to learn life without his best friend, Sakura now holds the desire to grow stronger, Haku and Zabuza are prepared to enter probation for their past misdeeds. But Kakashi will be taking the brunt of the damage as he cannot get Naruto out of his head. What will happen? How will Konoha react to the news that they are no longer with a jinchuriki? Surely they would understand the magnitude of it all huh?
Stay tuned and find out
Until Next Time
Peace