On the Back of the Turtle 7
Xander arrived in the air above a half-completed bridge and quickly took in the scene. A pink-haired girl was guarding an old man, a dark-haired boy lay motionless in a pool of water, a small, blond boy dressed in orange was fighting a young lady who wore a broken mask, and finally, a large warrior was being restrained by a small pack of dogs while a grey-haired man who wore a silver half-mask had just covered his right fist in electricity and was running at the restrained warrior.
Xander interposed himself between the two adults and was shocked to feel the lightning-coated fist actually penetrate his skin... by about a centimeter. 'Must have a magical component,' he thought as the grey-haired man drew back his fist in astonishment. The slight damage to Xander healed barely a moment later.
"What's going on here?" Xander demanded, ignoring Lobo's suggestion to insert that fist back inside its owner... sideways.
The silver-haired man replied in a language Xander didn't know, causing Xander to sigh. "Yeah, okay it was stupid to assume you spoke English."
Queen Hippolyta landed beside him carrying a sword. This doubly surprised Xander as he hadn't known she could fly and wasn't sure where she'd kept the sword. "Maybe I can help," she offered and spoke with the grey-haired man in a variety of languages until she hit upon the correct one.
"What is he?" Kakashi asked, signaling for his summons to dismiss themselves since they would do little good in a battle against someone who could ignore his Chidori technique.
"A god," Hippolyta replied easily.
"The gods don't visit. It's only men and monsters down here," Zabuza disagreed while Haku saw to his wounds.
"We aren't locals, and the goddesses worshiped by my people begged a favor of Xander, rather than demanding or commanding," she replied. "He may not call himself one, but that's merely a formality."
"And what are you?" Kakashi asked.
"Queen of an island of female warriors," Hippolyta explained. "I became Xander's servant to save my people. But enough about us! Who are you people, and what is going on here?"
"My students and myself were contracted to protect the man building this bridge while these two were tasked with killing him by a rich criminal named Gato, who is trying to take over the country."
"That's mostly accurate," Zabuza admitted. "It's a simple business transaction between our two groups, and as the land lacks a ruler they are both equally legal," he pointed out.
"Well, well. What have we here?" Gato asked as he approached at the head of a small army of thugs. Upon spotting Hippolyta standing there in just biker shorts he discarded the speech he had planned and grinned lecherously.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Raven flew as fast as she could, but her speed was nothing compared to the other two, who could break the sound barrier easily, so it took her several more minutes to reach the mainland where they were. When she arrived she found Xander sitting cross-legged in midair, an amused expression on his face, while a blood-drenched Hippolyta was glaring into submission a small army.
"Is anyone else as turned on as I am?" asked Zabuza.
"No, I have survival instincts," Kakashi opined.
"I find capable female warriors hot," Zabuza replied bluntly. "That, and ones who know how to make an impression."
"What'd I miss?" Raven asked as she landed next to Xander.
"No idea," Xander replied. "I don't speak the local language, but Hippolyta does and apparently someone said something that upset her."
"Go," Hippolyta ordered, blood dripping off her blade as she pointed at the mercenaries. With the exception of the three who fainted, they fled screaming.
"Let me fix that," Raven said before her eyes glowed red and her shadow enveloped Zabuza for a moment before pulling back, leaving him completely healed. Her shadow then rolled across Xander and returned to her.
"That was useful," said Xander cheerfully in the local language.
"Without my father eating away at my control, I can use a lot more of my power safely," Raven replied shyly.
"Thanks," Xander told her before their attention was distracted by the sound of a crying girl.
Sakura cried as she held Sasuke's body, unable to believe he'd died on their first real mission.
Raven sent her shadow to cover the pair, ignoring Naruto who tried to stop it.
"You can bring back the dead?" asked Xander calmly.
"I haven't tried," Raven stated, "but he isn't dead." Her shadow pulled back to reveal Sasuke trying to push Sakura off him. "He was just in a coma."
"Forgive me, Zabuza, but I couldn't kill him," Haku said sadly.
"Sasuke, you're alive!" Naruto exclaimed then joined Sakura in crushing the life out of him.
"I need to go wash that foul-mouthed weakling's blood off of me," Hippolyta said before diving off the end of the unfinished bridge.
"So, now what?" the old bridge builder asked nervously as his grandson approached with a torch-bearing mob.
"That depends on what Xander is here for," Kakashi admitted.
"We're here in search of a slushy machine, or failing that some fruit juice," explained Xander with enthusiasm.
"What's a slushy?" Naruto asked. Sasuke took this distraction as the opportunity he needed to extricate himself from his teammates bad touches.
"A slushy is the best drink in existence," Xander explained and went into detail about what it was and how it was made.
Zabuza and Haku exchanged meaningful glances as Xander finished explaining slushies and started explaining some of the offshoots, like slurries and freezies.
"If we took care of your lack of slushies, could you free our village from the monster destroying it?" Zabuza asked.
"Throw in breakfast and you have a deal," Xander agreed cheerfully.
"What did I miss?" Sasuke asked as Inari lifted Gato's head and presented it to the mob, who cheered loudly.
"I'll tell you later," Kakashi said after a moment's attempt and failure at coming up with a rational yet concise explanation.
"My village is under the control of a madman who has ordered the death of any family with blood gifts," Zabuza told Xander. "If you're truly a god, I beg for your assistance." He got down on one knee and lowered his head. Haku immediately mirrored his actions.
Xander could easily read the sincerity in Zabuza's voice and body language, so he knew he wasn't lying. "I have until nightfall," he said. "Where is your village?"
Zabuza's shoulders slumped in despair. "Further than a day's travel," he admitted.
"There isn't a place on this planet I can't reach within minutes," Xander told him. "However, I need to know where it is and who to target."
"Woah, anywhere?" Naruto asked only to get shushed by the others.
"I'll have to carry you and you can give me directions," Xander decided before picking up the large man, bridal style.
"That way, three days travel time," Zabuza said. He had absolutely no problem being carried if it would help. He gave a quick hand sign to Haku before they vanished with a sonic boom that knocked over everyone present.
"Where did Xander just go?" Hippolyta asked as she landed on the bridge, water dripping off her breasts as the clouds parted and bathed her in a circle of sunlight.
Kakashi cursed as Naruto covered her chest with his jacket.
"What are you doing?" Hippolyta asked in amusement.
"Your shirt got destroyed, Ma'am," Naruto said, trying to be polite. "I'm just trying to keep the perverts from perving on ya."
"We don't wear shirts in my culture," Hippolyta said, thinking of Xander's island. "I do appreciate the thought though." She pushed his jacket back into his hands.
"Dobe, respect other peoples' cultures," Sasuke ordered, giving thanks to the heavens for the photographic memory granted by the Sharingan.
Kakashi covered his own Sharingan and laid a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "As a ninja, you will be exposed to a lot of different people," he said reasonably. "It's important to respect their ways, even if they are foreign to you."
"Stop that!" Sasuke ordered as he fended off Sakura's attempts to cover his eyes with her hands.
"Okay, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto agreed.
Hippolyta looked greatly amused as she stood in the circle of sunlight on an otherwise overcast day.
Raven did not look amused, but that was through long practice dealing with Beastboy. Her empathy added another layer to the humor she could see in the situation as Sasuke's eyes kept flicking over to her every time the wind ruffled her cloak.
Tazuna cautiously approached. The battle seemed to be over, but civilians knew that sudden death was always a possibility when ninjas met. "We're having a party in the town square," he told them. "You're all invited."
"We'll be along shortly," Kakashi promised, allowing the relieved Tazuna to retreat. "So, what do we do with you?" he asked Haku.
"Zabuza-sama ordered me to obey the goddess until he returns," she said.
"I'd hardly call myself a goddess," Hippolyta said, "and where has Xander disappeared to?"
"To free a people ruled by a genocidal madman," replied Haku.
"Pretty much," Kakashi agreed.
"That should take him all of half an hour or so," Hippolyta decided. "Let's go join the party." The circle of light vanished as Hippolyta stepped out of it, clean and dry once more with her sword gleaming as if freshly polished.
Raven turned, her cloak billowing behind her but somehow concealing her chest despite that.
Sasuke mentally cursed at the lack of cooperative clothing malfunctions, before preempting Sakura by stating, "No, I do not want to go on a date with you." Sakura pouted and left, followed by Naruto who quickly asked her out only to get violently rejected.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow as Sasuke approached him, a determined look on his face. "Yes?" asked Kakashi with curiosity.
Sasuke glanced around, making sure they were alone and raising Kakashi's curiosity even further at the genin's uncharacteristic behavior. "Do you know a subtle wind technique you could teach me?"
"One that would blow open a cloak?" teased Kakashi.
"...yes," Sasuke admitted as he fought a losing battle against his blush.
Kakashi felt a tear come to his eye. He placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and smiled. "Yes, my student, I have dozens." It looked like his worry about Sasuke going down the wrong path was misplaced after all.
Kakashi reached into his jacket with great care and pulled out a small, orange book that he handed to Sasuke. "Read this while I decide what techniques I should teach you."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"You look entertained," Hippolyta said, surprising Raven. The amazon queen laughed at her reaction. "I've had centuries of experience reading people so your attempts to hide your emotions really don't work on me."
Raven nodded and allowed a smirk to form on her face. She found that she enjoyed being able to express herself. "Just discovering that I form temporary telepathic connections to those I heal, that's all."
Typing by: Ordieth