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Regular speech: "Wryyyyyy."
Thoughts: 'Wryyyyyy.'
Summon's, higher beings regular speech: "Wryyyyyy."
Summon's, higher beings thoughts: 'Wryyyyyy.'
Locations: Somewhere in the deep ocean…
Techniques: Kawarimi!
'Document, quotation'.
Italics can be used for certain kinds of emphasis or snide comments.
Bold can be used for forceful yelling/shouting/screaming.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or JJBA.
Chapter IV
With Kakashi currently struggling to break free from Zabuza's Suiro no Jutsu,
the latter's clone is toying with the genin.
"Headband is a sign of a ninja, you know that?" their opponent started his monologue. "Only when you've hovered between life and death so many times that it doesn't faze you, only then can you be considered a shinobi. When you enter my bingo book, then you may have earned the title ninja."
Activating once more his Kirigakure no Jutsu, he declared, "Kids like yourselves are no shinobi…"
'H-He vanished again!' as soon as Naruto thought that, he caught a kick from the clone in his face, the impact so strong, he was sent flying.
"…Only brats," he said with finality.
"Guys! You must get Tazuna-san and run, you can't win! He can't pursue you while I'm in his prison, nor his clone can! Run, now!" Kakashi tried to make them leave, but Sasuke had already made up his mind on what to do.
'That's of no use. Sooner or later he, or any of Gato's dogs would catch up to us, and then we will be done for,' he was ready to act. 'No, the only chance we have is to free Kakashi!'
With that, Sasuke sped off, throwing several shuriken, which the clone easily blocked with his giant sword. Using that as an advantage, the genin jumped above his opponent, rapidly performing several hand seals.
But before he could finish, a hand, formed from the mist, took him by the throat.
'Wh-What the hell? What is holding me?' Sasuke gasped for breath.
From out of the woods, a figure in a light cape jumped out, landing next to the clone.
"Tch-tch-tch. Zabuza-san, why didn't you say that you have a party going down here? You know how boring it gets under Gato's employ, it's very inconsiderate of you."
The teenager was a head shorter than Zabuza, of light complexion with a pale skin and dark hair, wearing a standard set of plain clothes of dark colours.
"Can't a man be selfish for once?" the clone answered.
"You're selfish all the time," the second deadpanned and released Sasuke from his technique's grip, throwing him onto the ground.
'This is getting out of hand, now there's two of them!' Kakashi was desperate to free himself.
"Sasuke, are you okay? What happened back there?" Naruto helped his teammate back to his feet.
"I'm okay, just a few bruises," Sasuke began to analyse the situation. "It seems that this man can control the mist, forming physical limbs with great precision. I think that attack doesn't exceed the range of 5 meters, although he may have ranged attacks."
The situation looked desperate, they were barely doing anything to defeat a clone of Zabuza, now they should worry about another of Gato's mercenaries!
"Alright, you can have them. Easier for me anyway," with that the clone popped, leaving the genin with his ally. Suddenly, the tide of the battle was in their favour.
"He released his clone!" Naruto gasped, a plan already forming in his mind. "I know what to do, Sasuke. Wait for my signal!"
"What do you think you're doing? If you get in his range, you'll be done for! Let's attack together!" he wasn't about to let Naruto sacrifice himself.
Then, the blonde turned to his teammate. "I know what I'm doing, just wait for the right moment."
'Does he want to play the bait? It may work, but he has to be very careful, and I need a steady hand,' Sasuke seemed to understand what plan did Naruto cook up. "Alright, do your thing."
'I've got to distract him from Sasuke, and the best way I can think of, is to enrage him so much, he'll blindly rush in. And at that I'm very good at,' Naruto approached his opponent.
"What is your name?" the genin asked.
"Heizu Tentsuru," he answered not in a friendly tone.
"Why do you work for Gato, Heizu?"
"Money, mostly. And an opportunity to ruin this shithole of a country" he answered with genuine spite.
Naruto was surprised by his aggressiveness.
"What did they ever do to you?" Naruto was enraged by the fact that Heizu wanted to ruin these people's lives even after all that Gato done to them already.
"It's not what they did, it's what they didn't! Seven years ago, this country left me and my family to die!"
Throughout the Hidden Mist's history there were many wars within the country between the different clans, many of which were with kekkei genkai. And because of that, they were shunned and considered dangerous warmongers, although mostly they fought to defend their territory and freedom.
Heizu's family managed to escape before the Fourth Mizukage's bloody reign could take ahold of them. They snuck aboard a vessel leading to Land of Fire, where they hoped to start a new life. Unfortunately, one of his father's close friends, who helped them escape, was interrogated in suspicion of affiliating with the 'traitors' – the males of what left of the Tentsuru clan, who's only crime was having a kekkei genkai!
When they were near the Land of Waves, a warship of the Mist appeared on the horizon and was quickly catching up to them. No matter what they did, Tentsuru's ship couldn't escape from them, soon being attacked with cannon fire. The vessel quickly caught fire and started to sink. Heizu's family took one of the two lifeboats available, and tried to make their way to the near island. Because of the storm, it was very difficult to navigate a ship, let alone a boat. Luckily, Heizu's father managed to take his family to the land safe and sound.
Soon after they hit the ground, they ran to the nearest town, seeking refuge. However, being aware of the naval battle that happened before, the people were quickly gathered in the streets, awaiting the aftermath. When his family appeared, they were questioned by the locals, and after it has been revealed that they are refugees from the Mist, it was decided to outcast them, so as to avoid the repercussions that would follow with meddling in the Mist's business. Not even having enough time to dry their clothes, they hid in a small cave out of town, and not having any possibility to start a fire, they fell asleep body to body in the hopes of warming up. In the morning, Heizu was the only one who survived, his parents sacrificing their lives to save him…
The teenager's story shocked Naruto and the rest of the team. What the people of the Wave did back then to his family was as bad as killing them.
"Heizu! We didn't have a choice! The higher-ups in the council danced to the tune of the daimyo, who was paid by the Mist!" Tazuna interrupted the shinobi. "Even if we wanted to, we couldn't do anything!"
"You could've at least gave us food or supplies to start a fire! But instead, all you did was FUCKING NOTHING!" in his rage he formed a pair of long claws made of mist around his hands.
"You are at fault to everything that happened as much as the Mist, and the bloody cunts in the council! I will kill every man, woman or child on this fucking shithole of an island, and these pathetic whelps who sympathise with the likes of you! You fuc…" his tirade was ended by Naruto, who wouldn't stand by to this madness.
"Shut up, you piece of shit," he said coolly.
"What? Care to repeat yourself, you little bitch?" Heizu's temper was getting shorter by the minute, like a fuse.
"You are a pathetically weak piece of shit, that's what I'm saying! You judge every person here for crimes of a few assholes who are probably already dead!" Naruto was ready to fight, his plan almost coming to a fruition. "Your parents sacrificed their lives, only for you to drive their memory into the mud?"
It was the last straw for the pale shinobi. He quickly started to close the distance between him and Naruto. "Shut your fucking mouth, you rotting piece of shit!"
As he raised his clawed arm to strike, Naruto went to dodge, but the world seemed to freeze once more.
'T-This again! It can't be a coincidence, nor an illusion!' Naruto quickly realised the phenomenon.
'Time has stopped!' the realisation dawned on him. 'I'm the only one experiencing it, since no one seemed to notice it the first time around. That can only mean that I'm the one, who stopped time! I heard that in the animal kingdom, there are many animals with defence mechanisms, that are activated automatically when the host is in danger! It seems that I have awakened a kekkei genkai, and it acts in a similar manner!'
If it would've been any other day, Naruto would act like a silly child, but at this moment of intense stand-off, all his thoughts are devoted to saving the people of the Wave from this psychopath!
Naruto focused all of his will to move! 'If I could even twitch my finger a little…' Suddenly, he felt his hand move to his kunai holster, almost managing to grab one of his kunais.
'The duration is getting longer each time, but it seems like a second of movement in the stopped time is my current limit…'
And when time resumed its flow, Heizu was attempting to stab Naruto, but the latter managed to dodge, making an opening for a counter attack from the rest of the team.
Unexpectedly, two clones of Sasuke's burst from under the ground, both kicking Heizu in the abdomen, sending him in the air. "Hngh! These brats fooled me!" the caped shinobi realised his mistake all too late.
After that, the real Sasuke burst from the tree crown, already performing hand seals.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" the giant sphere of fire speeded towards Heizu.
"Hmph! Don't get cocky, thinking that this kind of jutsu will kill me!" as he was attempting to swipe at the fire with a mist claw, the Sasuke's clones kicked him right in to the line of fire, having already jumped before!
"Burn in hell," a one-liner soon followed.
The fireball hit the teen head-on, the explosion sending him careering into the ground, leaving a sizeable crater from the impact.
"Nice job Sasuke! That should definitely hurt," Naruto praised.
"I wouldn't be able to strike without you making such a distraction. Although it's not over yet," Sasuke was determined to put an end to it. "All we need is one quick stab, and he is done for!"
「Purple Haze」
Power - B: the limbs made of mist can cut everything less tougher than steel.
Speed - C: limbs made of mist appear instantaneously at will, but the speed of the attack depends on the user's own speed
Range - C: the user can control at the limited range of 5 meters.
Durability - C: the mist can be made to be as tough as steel, but it is very weak against more than medium strength stabbing attacks.
Precision - A: can catch a point-blank kunai.
Development Potential - C: the mist kekkei genkai can be transformed into a different type of mist, for example a poisonous fog.
'Amazing, such teamwork and quick-thinking in such dire circumstances,' Kakashi was amazed with his pupils. 'They truly are special.'
"It's not over yet, Heizu is not that easy to deal with," Zabuza said as if reading his mind. "He survived far worse than that."
Naruto and Sasuke carefully approached the crater, surrounding the cite.
"I don't know, he looks dead to me," the sight of a corpse, burnt to the crisp made Naruto's knees wobble, but his anger for Heizu was still strong.
"Throw your kunai in his head, and we'll find out for sure," said Sasuke, clutching his own kunai.
"Alright, I'll do this," although he was furious at Heizu, it took him a lot of will to throw his weapon at the corpse. Even that the nukenin was threatening innocents, Naruto himself was not a killer, and therefore didn't have much dexterity for it.
At the end, he finally managed to throw his weapon, but his intended target blew up, leaving a small cloud, and revealing a tunnel underneath.
"Oh shit!" was all that the blonde cold say before a burnt Heizu burst from the ground, greatly wounding Naruto with a slash across the chest, which sent him flying.
"Naruto! HNGH-" Sasuke couldn't utter another word before Heizu managed to wrap his hand around his throat, starting to fill the genin's lungs with his chakra-enlaced mist. The boy tried to stab him with the kunai that still was in his hand, but his opponent quickly managed to disarm him.
"I'll deal with your shitmouth friend later, if he won't die from the bleeding," Heizu growled with his burnt throat. "But you, who ruined me, my body, your death I want to savour, to see you wallowing in agony, would only be second to the deaths of every fucking dweller on this island. But you'll come first," with that he formed a claw of mist around his hand and was readying to strike through his chest.
"Sasuke! No!" Kakashi was forced to look at the death of his student, not being able to do a think about it.
"It will end now," Zabuza said, smiling.
'I-I have to stop time, now!' Naruto desperately wanted to save his friend.
"Time, stop!" the phrase that came to the boys mind activated his kekkei genkai, stopping the flow of time. The willing activation of his ability looked vastly different, like a dome of distorted light, rising from Naruto to encase all surroundings, only to come back, as if leaving the world colourless, lifeless.
And Naruto had only one goal and only one thought – to save his friend. With that, he grabbed his kunai.
"All your proclaims of revenge, all your cries of fury, your drive for false justice, was useless! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! Muda! MUDA!" with that sudden, even for Naruto himself, battlecry, he threw his kunai, aiming straight at his right temple! Being in the world of stopped time, kunai stopped right before hitting its intended target, freezing in mid-air.
"Face the justice of this World," was all that Naruto could say, before the effect of his ability has ended.
Heizu's poisonous chakra-enlaced mist made Sasuke loose consciousness, regaining it only after the battle was ended, with Kakashi successfully being freed from his prison via Sakura and Naruto's teamwork.
He suddenly jerked upwards from his bed. They were already at Tazuna's.
"K-Kakashi-sensei!" the man was lying in another bed next to him.
"Keep calm Sasuke, every one's alive and well, we won for now, get yourself some sleep," Kakashi said in a weak voice. He was recovering from an extreme case of chakra exhaustion.
"Th-that's wonderful…" was all the boy could say before he fell into slumber.
'It's great that Sasuke recovered. Back then, I thought he was done for, but Naruto…' Kakashi went back to the end of the genin's fight. 'With my eye, I could see what he did. He stopped time… And that took a lot of chakra for my eye just to be the witness of it. This ability of his, is the God's gift…' was the last thought that came to his mind before he fell to the bliss of sleep...
= = = To be continued... = = =
I'll be the roundabout
The words will make you out 'n' out
I spend the day your way
Call it morning driving through the sound and
In and out the valley...