"Sochi-kun, what are you doing?" Tsunade asked as she looked down at her small blonde.
Naruto carefully observed the tiny Katsuyu that he'd managed to summon. At roughly seven years old, he may have been the youngest person since the Warring States Period to actually succeed in performing the Ninja Art: Summoning Technique. Of course, since he wanted to emulate his mother in all things, he refused the toad summoning contract from Uncle Jiraiya whenever the old pervert came around. He'd even refused the snake summoning contract from Uncle Orochimaru; the last thing he'd ever offered the boy before he officially went rogue.
No. Naruto Senju would wait patiently for his beloved mother to offer him her own summoning contract. By that point, he'd already met Katsuyu many times and he liked her. She was cute for a slug, and damn adorable when she was in her miniscule state. When he turned seven, his patience was well rewarded as he was finally gifted with the slug summoning contract and the required hand seals to utilize the technique.
"Asking Katsuyu-chan questions." he answered, smiling at her.
Tsunade raised an amused brow at the rather affectionate honorific he gave to the great slug. "Katsuyu-chan?"
He nodded excitedly, gently scooping up the tiny white and blue slug before presenting her proudly to his mother. "I managed to get a tiny Katsuyu. Since she's tiny, she's Katsuyu-chan."
The older blonde snickered. "And is Katsuyu okay with that?"
"It's actually quite refreshing to have such a humbling honorific," the slug answered. "But I'm afraid I must be going, Naruto-kun."
And with that she poofed from existence. Still the smaller blonde beamed with pride, his smile contagious. Tsunade knelt and ruffled his hair before he tackled her into a hug.
"I love you, Kaa-chan."
No matter how many times the Sannin heard that, it made her tear up just like the first time. "I love you too, Naru-chan."
Shizune watched from a distance and smiled wistfully. Part of her wanted a child of her own, but she knew she wasn't yet old enough or strong enough for such a responsibility. So she settled for being 'Shizu-nee-chan', smiling as he master and mother figure hugged her little brother. A scream shocked the family into looking towards the village they were temporarily staying in.
Naruto, in a burst of speed, rushed past his sister with Tsunade hot on his trail. Shizune hurried after them, only to gasp as they came face to face with a group of twelve men, each armed with an axe or katana. In the middle of the circle was a small group of women, some only slightly older than Naruto, other as old as Shizune.
The smaller blonde had vanished, though the atmosphere had gotten very hot. Both kunoichi knew what it meant; hell they were in the middle of a training session when the boy inadvertently activated a part of his kekkei genkai. The resulting trip to Konohagakure and conversation with Hiruzen about a kekkei genkai that caused steam to be emitted from the skin paired with extreme strength led to the memory of when they'd first taken him from the village.
The Yondaime sealed the Five Tailed Bijuu within the boy shortly after his birth; the creature known for giving it's known jinchuriki the Fire and Water Release affinities, thus resulting in the nature transformation kekkei genkai known as the Boil Release.
So when Naruto used Tsunade's Heavenly Spear Kick on the largest of the bandits and kicked a literal hole into the man's chest, the elder blonde and her protege knew that they were going to have to up his training so that he wouldn't go around literally punching heads off, as he just demonstrated the ability to do so…
Damn it!
"Everything okay, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked as she proceeded to take the sake from her master's grasp. She swore the woman had been about to pour a drink when she froze up.
The distant look in her deep brown eyes faded as she seemed to come back from wherever -or whenever- she just was. "Yeah. Just...nostalgia."
The dark haired woman looked at her master curiously as a sad and longing smile curving her lips. Tsunade looked to the woman she'd long since seen as a daughter.
"Naru-chan is growing up too fast." she whispered. "Remember when he was punching and kicking literal holes into those bandits?"
Shizune chuckled, remembering how pale she'd been at the time. "He broke down and cried for a while afterwards. Your strength mixed with the effects of his kekkei genkai is quite the scary thing."
"Now sensei sent my baby on a C-ranked mission. I know he's been in more dangerous scenarios, but at the very least one of us were there to make sure that everything didn't go to shit." the woman sighed. "I know it's just the mother in me talking, but I can't help but be worried. The only shinobi he's fought were us, and that was just sparring."
"Then that means that they need to be Jonin or Kage level at the very least to make him sweat, right?" Shizune placed a calming hand on her shoulder. "Besides, he's with his Jonin sensei and team."
"That's what I'm worried about."
"Eight points," the eerie whisper seemed to resonate throughout the entire mist filled area, threatening and promising a grisly death for all who dare continue this foolish quest. "Larynx. Spine. Lungs. Liver. Jugular. Subclavian Artery. Kidneys. Heart."
Sakura was panicking, albeit quietly. Sasuke was sweating. Naruto was unnerved, but tried his damnedest not to show it.
"Now," the gravelly whisper continued. "Which will be my kill point?"
Kakashi gathered his chakra and in a wicked burst, removed the mist from the surrounding area. Sasuke, panicking more so than even Sakura, though keeping it internal, began to reach for a kunai. He needed an escape and his own death would be the perfect escape. Unfortunately for him, Naruto chose that moment to grab his arm, though his own body was shaking.
"I won't heal a coward," the blonde snarled.
"Sasuke," Kakashi's voice cut through the tension and the venom in Naruto's voice. "Calm down. I will not let my comrades die. Trust me."
He looked over her shoulder and gave his patented eye smile, showing that he was calm and in control. Tazuna gasped.
"I wouldn't be so sure." Zabuza was crouched in between the genin and civilian, poised to attack.
Naruto reacted on pure instinct; weaving the tiger, horse, rabbit, rat, and dog hand seals. "Chakra Scalpel."
He spun on his heel and with his right hand, coated in visible chakra that looked more akin to the tip of a double edged sword, slashed Zabuza's throat. The man's head came off, but his body erupted into water, falling into a useless puddle at their feet.
"Impressive genin you have, Kakashi." Zabuza stood on the water's surface, a grin on his face. "It's been a while since anyone under the Jonin level has been able to defeat my water clones."
Kakashi lowered himself into a taijutsu stance, holding his kunai in a reverse grip. Naruto cursed mentally. Did he have anything that would be helpful? Perhaps his poison mist jutsu, but that would more than likely kill his sensei as he had yet to perfect his neurotoxin formula. Even the poisons he kept in bombs and sealing tags would affect his sensei and that was unacceptable to the Senju heir. Damn it all to Hell.
Still, from his perspective, Kakashi was keeping up with the Missing-Nin, each of them trading kill-blows with a macabre beauty. Zabuza left himself open as he went to swing his sword, and Kakashi pierced the man's heart. His sword fell from his grip and he grabbed onto Kakashi before bursting into water, more water from beneath the Jonin's feet gathering and trapping him in a sphere of water. Naruto, while worried about his sensei, decided to learn that technique as it was 'so damn cool'.
"Get Tazuna out of here!" Kakashi shouted.
Naruto's heart was pounding as he wracked his brain for a plan, Zabuza conjuring three more water clones. He began to panic, something he hadn't done since he was seven and was in the middle of an operation where his patient went into cardiac arrest. He try to get his sensei, he could try to run with his teammates, he could just leave…
Hell no, those last two weren't an option. Naruto Senju would never leave anyone under his care behind, nor did he give up.
"Don't forget that you are not alone, Naruto-san." a gentle, feminine voice spoke rather soothingly from the back of his mind. "My power is your power as you are my jinchuriki."
That made Naruto stop and take a deep breath, before letting out a laugh. All sets of eyes went to him, laughing as though he went mad. He'd all but forgotten, and while they had yet to officially meet, he'd spoken to her numerous times before. Steam erupted in geysers from his body as he threw off his haori, thickening and becoming a fog that clung to the ground. His body gained the slightest glow and chakra once again covered his hands.
"Boil Release: Unrivalled Strength." the steam continued, superheating the chilled air at an alarming rate. "Chakra Scalpel."
Pushing forward from his right foot, he launched himself at the three clones. Slash, slash, slash. Three heads that then turned to small puddles fell to the ground. In another burst of speed, he was in front of Zabuza, intent on relieving the man man of his right arm just as he had done to the Demon Brothers mere hours before. The Missing-Nin released the jutsu and dodged, his eyes wide at the blonde rushing him like a crazed demon.
Determined to not be pushed around by some blonde brat, Zabuza began to fight back, swinging his massive blade with seasoned ease. Naruto dodged easily, the speed granted to him by his kekkei genkai allowed him to move in for a counter attack and back off before he was cleaved in two. Zabuza swung his blade in a horizontal sweep. Naruto jumped over it and delivered a staggering kick that was blocked by the man's free hand. He twisted, cracking his jaw with a powerful uppercut that send the rogue sailing a few feet away.
"Are you okay, Kakashi-sensei?" he asked as the steam stopped erupting from his flesh.
The Jonin nodded. "You fought well, Naruto, but now it's time to-"
He didn't finish. The blonde was gone, Sakura standing in his place as the massive sword was shoved through his chest, bursting from his back in an explosion of blood.
Ino couldn't help but wonder where her fellow blonde was. Lately, he'd been avoiding her, so she never had the chance to ask him to teach her some new things; being a mind walker would only get her so far, especially at her current level. Not that Asuma-sensei wasn't a good teacher, he was great. But he focused more on their training as a group; as the new generation Ino-Shika-Cho combination, it was necessary for Choji, Shikamaru, and herself to be flawless. Truthfully, it got irritating at times.
Even still, aside from working on tree walking, D-ranked missions and combination attacks, it was boring and Ino didn't feel like she was making any progress. How was she supposed to get Sasuke-kun's attention if she wasn't stronger than that damned Forehead-girl? Perhaps she should go on a different diet? She looked out of the window of the flower shop to see Tsunade and Shizune. Shizune looked frazzled, while Tsunade laughed at her. Moving hurriedly from behind the counter, she shot out of the store in order to catch up to them.
"Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san."
The two women turned to see Ino, one of the girls that Naruto brought to the hospital their first day back in Konoha.
"Ino?" Tsunade made a habit of remembering the names of any female that stood too close to her Sochi, as it seemed to happen far more than she liked. "What's wrong?"
She shook her head. "Nothing's wrong. I was just wondering if either of you knew where Naruto was."
Tsunade narrowed her eyes dangerously at the girl. "Why?"
She began shaking under the intense scrutiny of the elder blonde. "I-I, uh, wanted to see if he wanted to train with me."
Shizune giggled, despite looking like something was feverishly working on her very last shred of patience. She knew how protective her master could get of Naruto when it came to girls his own age, among other things.
"He went out on a mission," Shizune informed the blue eyed girl, saving her from the intense and frankly frightening stare of the Senju matriarch. "He and his team left earlier today, don't worry though, he'll be back soon."
Tsunade looked to her apprentice incredulously. Like she was helping this young girl garner her son's attention, which wasn't the case, of course. The rational part of her brain told her that she was being irrational, as per usual when it came to her son. That rational part however, would soon be drowned out by some delicious dango and sake. A sudden wave of nausea hit Tsunade and she stumbled before regaining her footing. Both Ino and Shizune stared at her curiously.
Something was wrong.
Naruto coughed, globs of blood shot from his mouth to the ground. Zabuza felt his eyes widen. Sasuke was on the floor, as was Tazuna, both staring at the pierced blonde before them. Kakashi felt his blonde run cold, and Sakura felt tears running down her face. That was supposed to be her.
"Why?" she whispered, her voice suddenly hoarse.
"T-Third Clause," the blonde choked out to no one in particular, as he delivered a punch that split the blade embedded in his chest in two. "No medic-nin shall ever die until they are the last of their platoon."
Crimson and blue chakra swirled mightily around the blonde as he removed the portion of the sword from his chest and threw it to the ground. The diamond seal on his forehead glowed strangely before it faded, leaving black markings of his face.
"Ninja Art: Creation Rebirth." he grabbed Zabuza by the throat and slammed him to the ground before them. His haired shadowed his eyes as he picked the Missing-Nin up and slammed him again, before throwing him in a crumpled heap at Kakashi's feet.
Slowly and shakily, the man stood, much to Sakura's panic. In a yellow flash, the taller of the Jonin was sent flying. He crashed into a tree just as two senbon pierced his neck. A shinobi wearing the mask of a Kirigakure Hunter-Nin came and picked up the stilled body of Zabuza before they wordlessly vanished.
"What the hell," was all Sasuke could manage as the blonde started to fall.
Kakashi appeared crouched in front of him, allowing the Senju heir to fall onto his back. "Tazuna, which way is it to your house?"