Underneath the Underneath
By: FlameXFullmetal
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto at all despite wishful thinking.
A/N: I'm back and hopefully back to a normal upload schedule. Anyway, I am glad that there weren't that many if any complaints about the last chapter. You guys are awesome! Anyway, by now, you should know the drill, reviews then story!
MGStarfire: I am sorry that you feel that way. Hopefully, you will find a more suitable story with less cliché and cringe-worthy moments.
Thor94: All in good time! :)
Hulk9970: I do try to update more regularly, unfortunately, a lot of things came up IRL in the last three and a half months so I was unable to. Hopefully, I will be back on schedule now. I don't believe that I have decided on the Uzumaki summons yet so thank you for the ideas. I am more than a little scatterbrained and have once more lost my notebook with the ideas for each chapter that I had. Thank you so much for the compliment as well it means a lot!
Arashi Uzukage: I was hoping that this Naruto would come off as more intelligent and skilled than cannon Naruto because in all honesty cannon Naruto not only got the short end of the stick but also cheated on his training. He could have been a lot better and yet he was given the bare minimum in just about everything and then he would pull sudden power-ups from nowhere just to beat his opponent. I really didn't like that. Despite that, my Naruto has worked hard to master meditation and will never have a skill just handed to him either. He will not be a god but damn near close by the end of the story.
"hello" people (bijuu in human form) speaking
'hello' people (bijuu in human form) thinking/coded hand signals
"HELLO" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity yelling
"hello" bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity talking
'hello' bijuu (full demon form)/summoning/deity thinking
hello jutsu
*************Nami's Fate and Uzu's shores*************
"To think that you would have your genin fight against two jonin level opponents, you really did snap after the Yondaime's death didn't you Kakashi?" Zabuza taunted hoping to throw the jonin off kilter. Unfortunately for him, it didn't work.
"I wouldn't have them fighting in this fight if I didn't think that they would be alright." He countered making Zabuza tilt his head. "You aren't the only one that can train jonin level shinobi in a short amount of time Zabuza. Naruto, Hinata, Kimiko deal with his apprentice and remember what I have taught you." Kakashi commanded as he engaged Zabuza in combat quickly. Nodding at their jonin the three intercepted Haku before he could reach the nuke-nin.
"Your fight is with us." Kimiko snarled at the ice wielder.
"Very well," Haku replied throwing a handful of senbon at the genin and cursing when they deflected them effortlessly. It seemed that the battle was going to be more difficult then he had thought. Gritting his teeth he steeled himself to once more take life and then dodged to the right to narrowly avoid an open palm strike. 'A Hyuga...close combat is dangerous. I will have to move to long range.' He thought.
"I don't think so!" Naruto yelled catching Haku by surprise as he knocked him back towards a waiting Hinata. Once more Haku was forced to narrowly dodge a juken strike only to run into a straight right hook to the jaw from the second kunoichi. Crashing into a tree Haku winced. That punch had felt like it had come from a kage, not a genin! Just who were these kids?
"I see so it is like that," Haku said standing and quickly forming a hand seal. Unfortunately for him, he was forced to break it in order to deflect a massive volley of kunai and shuriken. The team had no intention of allowing the mysterious nin use jutsu and they knew that they had to keep his hands separated. They could only pray that he didn't know one-handed hand seals.
"Clever tactics," Haku grunted barely blocking another punch from Kimiko once more being sent airborne. Unlike last time, however, Hinata was waiting for him and quickly rained down several strikes on his tenketsu. Landing Hinata spun and called out to her teammates.
"He swapped with a clone! In the trees to your left." Despite the short distance between them, they had little time to prevent Haku from casting his jutsu.
"Hijutsu: Makyō Hyōshō!"
"Damn it he's an ice wielder!" Kimiko growled. She hated ice wielders! She hated the cold! She was a fire element! Naruto, Minato, and Kushina all sweat dropped at the thoughts that were being shared through their link by the nine-tails.
"Kimiko any idea how to destroy this jutsu?" Naruto asked.
"Hit it hard with raiton, futon powered weapons or S-ranked Katon jutsu." she deadpanned making Hinata and Naruto sweatdrop.
"We don't have any of those."
"Yes, we do. I have the wind jutsu necessary, you two just need to supply the fire and an extra burst of wind." She whispered to her 'teammates'.
"Will this..." Naruto trailed off.
"No not at all. Although we will need to move as far away as possible after it is used." Kimiko sheepishly whispered as the trio looked at the dome.
"Not going that far. Let's hope that it is far enough." Naruto groaned. Kimiko just laughed sheepishly. In all honesty, she wasn't even sure if they could escape the blast range. However, she had seen what the Yuki were capable of in her lifetime and she had no inclination to be hit by any of their techniques when in a human body. Moving into a formation with Kimiko in the center the three prepared their jutsu.
"Kyuubitatsumakinainteirutsuisuta!"
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu. Futon: Reppusho!" The techniques collided on their way towards and the last Yuki and combined almost instantly. The now massive fiery tornado raced towards one end of the dome while the trio ran to the other. As soon as the fire/wind combo collided with the ice dome a massive explosion rang out and steam, smoke and heat raced through the battlefield.
With Kakashi...
"Not using your Sharingan? Are you that sure of yourself?"
"I shouldn't need to rely on it all the time you of all people should know what over-reliance on one technique or weapon results in. It is why you are an expert in the Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu and the sairento kiringu. Outside of the mist, you rely mostly on your sword and a limited arsenal of suiton jutsu." Kakashi taunted. Zabuza narrowed his eyes and vanished into the mist.
"See what I mean? You immediately hid in the mist knowing that it won't work on me." Kakashi called out and closed his eyes. Standing perfectly still he waited using his senses of sound and smell to locate his enemy. Ducking down his leg shot to the right and caught Zabuza in the chin sending the mist nin careening backward partially in shock. Darting forward the copy-nin pressed his attack aiming blows at the kidneys and diaphragm. Coughing in pain Zabuza made a quick kawarimi and placed some space between him and the copy-nin. He had not expected Kakashi to return to the skills he had before gaining the Sharingan so quickly nor had he expected the swift assault. 'I should have. The man is a student of the late Yondaime.' Zabuza chastised himself.
"Getting tired already Zabuza?"
"Not a chance!" He snapped at the nin as he lunged forward bringing his Kubikiribocho towards the man's midsection hoping to bisect him. However, once more Kakashi proved to be a better nin without the Sharingan than he was given credit for and jumped over the attack landing another kick to the taller nin's face. Cursing Zabuza stumbled away and tried to regain his calm. It seemed almost as if the bingo book had understated his abilities and now he was paying for it.
'Could that be it? Could Konoha be manipulating the information that gets into the bingo books? No, they wouldn't do that. They are to 'noble' for that kind of trickery. Is it possible that the man had never really had his skills tested without the Sharingan since he got it? Or has it just been that he has just recently realized how over-reliant he has gotten on that accursed eye?' Zabuza mused to himself. He was suddenly weary about the fight that he was in and wondered if he could really face the copy-nin alone. 'Hurry up Haku those kids can't be that strong.'
"I think I have your strategy figured out Zabuza. You use that kid to watch all of your battles and if they go south he extracts you under the guise of a hunter-nin. Then he gives you a breakdown of your opponent's ability so when you face them next you have a near foolproof plan of attack. You have gotten lazy over the years." Kakashi summarized making the mist nin growl once more. How he had figured out the ruse so quickly he would never discover. Just as the two were about to continue their battle a massive explosion rang out and the wind blew what was left of Zabuza's mist away from the area. The rogue didn't even have to turn as he felt the air cool beside him and his companion and apprentice step out of a mirror looking worse for wear.
"Zabuza-sama my apologies, however, I do believe that we should retreat for now. Those kids may just be jonin level individually. Fighting them together is impossible for me at the moment." Haku whispered slightly ashamed of his inability to take out his opponent.
"Very well. We'll finish this next time Kakashi."
"So it seems we will Zabuza," Kakashi replied as the two left the area. Turning towards his students he sweat-dropped as he noticed that they were singed from the explosion and coming out of the tree line looking sheepish themselves.
"What happened?"
"Untested combination jutsu." They chorused making him sweat-drop as well. He had been warning them against doing that yet they did it anyway.
"Why?"
"Yuki using the Makyo Hyosho...it was either try to chakra stall him or destroy the jutsu and since we didn't have any high-level raiton or futon jutsu or an S-rank fire jutsu we improvised and used a double futon and Katon combination," Naruto replied. Kakashi just sighed and shook his head. They never stopped surprising him. Turning they headed in the direction that Asuma's team had left in hoping to catch up quickly.
With Asuma...
"Do you think that they are going to be okay Asuma-sensei?"
"If they aren't then that will just prove that Kakashi was overestimating them and the jump start in missions should be removed. Although I think that they will fine. Kakashi is a powerful jonin who was trained under the Yondaime himself you know."
"Really?!"
"Yes, Ino. He should be fine." Asuma said more to convince himself rather than his genin.
"I assure you that I am fine Asuma as are my genin," Kakashi said from beside the team making everyone including Tazuna jump in fright.
"Zabuza?"
"Retreated for now. Apparently, my genin was too much for his apprentice and he underestimated me at the start of the fight."
"Lovely."
"It's fine. Besides now that we know what they are capable of and their abilities we can more accurately counter them next time." Kakashi replied. Asuma nodded and they continued towards Tazuna's house.
The silence was somewhat unnerving to the bridge builder and to team ten. They had never been in such a tense situation before and they just wanted to finish the mission and head home. Unfortunately, the Sandaime had decided that they were going to continue it and apparently send not one but four jonin level shinobi three of which were still a genin. At seemingly long last the team arrived at Tazuna's house and the bridge builder released a sigh of relief.
"I'm home!"
"Father!" A feminine voice called out. As a woman rounded the corner she took in the sight of all of the ninja but primarily the children.
"These are the ninja that Konoha assigned to my protection! One team, to protect me and the other to deal with Gato, isn't that great?"
"Hardly, they are just gonna die."
"Why is that runt?" Kimiko growled at the moping brat.
"You're no match for Gato!"
"So he can breathe fire, walk on water, hold lightening and summon an army?" Naruto questioned innocently making Inari sweatdrop.
"Well, he does have an army of bandits," Inari replied stubbornly.
"Come outside with me, kid. You need to see something." Naruto whispered guiding Inari out of the house making Tazuna twitch.
"He won't hurt him, however, if you want to know exactly what Gato is up against you are more than welcome to follow him," Kakashi reassured both the grandfather and mother. Nodding they did so and looked on in confusion as Naruto stopped in a clearing a good distance from the house.
"So how many bandits do you think Gato has right now?"
"How should I know?!"
"Guess a number but make it reasonable."
"Um...two hundred and fifty." Inari estimated. Naruto gave a cheeky grin and made his favorite hand seal.
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" A puff of smoke later and the clearing was completely overrun by the blonde. Inari's mouth dropped as Naruto looked him in the eye.
"What you see before you are five hundred clones of myself. Each one of them capable of fighting just like I can. Kimiko over there, my teammate, can make just as many as I can. Hinata and Kakashi-sensei are also capable of using this jutsu just not to the extent that I can. So do you still think that Gato has the advantage in number?" Numbly shaking his head, Inari could only stare in shock. He had no idea that ninja could do such things. Naruto dismissed the clones and knelt beside the awe-struck boy.
"Gato wants you to feel depressed and feel as if there is nothing that you can do to change your situation but the truth is that you can. Your grandfather is doing just that. The question is will you do what Gato wants or will you have the courage to make your own fate and write your own story?" He said walking back towards the house.
"Kakashi-sensei I am going to put some security seals and traps around the house for the kid's protection."
"Make it fast I want to try and scout out Gato's place to get a better idea of what he has forces wise and if we will have to eliminate all of them for Nami's safety or if killing just Gato will make them disperse."
"Hai Kakashi-sensei." Pausing looking out at the ocean Naruto tilted his head. "Tazuna what is that island just on the horizon over there?" Tazuna tilted his head and looked in the indicated direction a look of realization passing over his features.
"That would most likely be the distant land of Uzushiogakure. You're lucky normally you can't see it from Nami due to the fog that is almost always present here. A rare occurrence indeed."
"I see," Naruto whispered aloud. Shaking his head Naruto sped towards the house dead set on finishing his task so they could progress with the mission. The sooner they eliminated Gato the sooner that he could go to his homeland.
The security seals and traps took maybe three minutes for Naruto and several shadow clones to erect and in another five minutes team, eleven was standing outside of Gato's mansion observing silently.
"Zabuza isn't in the complex meaning that he has another building elsewhere. I only sense bandits although Hinata will have to confirm. It seems easy enough with several hundred shadow clones." Naruto whispered making Kakashi nod at Hinata. A quick scan of the building later and Hinata confirmed Naruto's deduction.
"So he only hired Zabuza and that Yuki to deal with this. Hopefully, he won't hire any more. Though it seems that we should be able to carry out our mission tonight."
"Sounds good to me." Kimiko purred. She had been dying to make a scene of complete chaos for a while and while bandits were no challenge they were going to be fun to slaughter.
"You are getting bloodthirsty Kimiko." Naruto teased making the vixen cuff the back of his head. Sticking his tongue out at the fox childishly he crossed his arms and pouted. Hinata and Kakashi, on the other hand, were desperately trying not to laugh at the scene.
"Very well then we attack tonight." Kakashi decided.
"I want to deal with the distraction," Kimiko said with finality. Nodding in exasperation Kakashi looked over at the other two genins. They would be following him into the building itself. Kakashi had no intention of doing the assassination. That job was for the genin. No, he would only be evaluating them. He would have liked for Kimiko to have come but something told him that assassination wasn't something that she would be interested in. Nor would she do it if there was a chance for utter chaos and destruction.
"Get some rest. After this, we will take a day to process the mission after which we will head to Uzu alright?"
"Hai." The three genin chorused. By sunrise tomorrow Nami would no longer be oppressed by Gato.
***************T.B.C***********
A/N: This seemed like a good place to stop. Even though it is slightly shorter than I would have liked I felt that it was a good cut off point. Next chapter is Uzushiogakure! If anyone would like me to start placing the jutsu that are used throughout the chapter at the end let me know as I am keeping track of them. There is one that will be placed here though and it will be explained as well. Anyway until next time! Ja ne!
Kyuubitatsumakinainteirutsuisuta - Nine-tails twister – A futon jutsu specific to Kyuubi and the jinchuriki of the nine tails. It was used only once and only in the manga when Naruto and Pein were fighting. The full effectiveness of the jutsu, as well as destructive power, are unknown as Pein nullified the technique.