Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Chapter 9
After they came back to Tazuna's home, Naruto instantly went to check on Yugito just to see that Tsunami had finished bandaging all if her wounds, basically all of her body. Zabuza, who was carrying the sleeping Haku, went to their room assigned by Tazuna to rest after the recent events. Meanwhile, Kakashi was telling Tazuna about what happened on the bridge. The silver-haired Jonin told him about the battle and about how Naruto killed Gato. After hearing this news, the old bridge builder ran out of his home to inform the rest of the Village.
After making sure that his teammate was alright, Naruto also went to sleep. Since he saved Yugito back on the bridge, he was very tired, probably because of him obtaining the new powers of his Katana. When he entered his room and laid down on his Futon, he fell asleep faster than the usual.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a new surrounding. He was laying in a middle of a clearing, surrounded by tens of Sakura tree. Suddenly a mass of Sakura petals flew in a group towards the clearing. Seeing that, Naruto took a defensive Taijutsu stance, ready to defend himself or jump away. As the petals touched the ground, they started to take the form of a tall, light-skinned man with blue eyes and long, dark brown hair, which frames his face with two chest-length bangs and is tied up in the back with a white ribbon in a long ponytail which reaches his lower back. His face is covered by an ornate mask featuring golden teeth, black lips and fangs, a golden protrusion on either side and a golden headpiece shaped like three cherry blossoms. He wears a long, light purple kimono with white stripes running down the center and sleeves, which is tied at his waist with a long piece of white fabric that hangs down in two long loops in the front. He wears a red-gold pauldron on each shoulder, which is connected by a golden band with strips of red fabric hanging from it and two interweaved strips of red fabric above it. He wears red, elbow-length gauntlets and red greaves.
"Who are you? And where are we?" Naruto asked, not taking his eyes off the new man. The newcomer, on the other hand, was standing there relaxed
"My name is Senbonzakura and we are in your mind, well at least the part that I am in. The other part is where the fox lives," The now identified Senbozakura said, shocking Naruto, who after hearing the name relaxed his stance, but was still ready to defend himself if necessary.
"So you are the one that gave my Katana these new powers?" The dark-haired boy asked. The brown-haired man shook his head.
"No, I didn't give your Katana new powers. I allowed you to use my powers," He said, confusing Naruto.
"What do you mean?" He asked, making Senbonzakura sigh.
"I didn't give your Katana new powers, because I allowed you use my powers, since I am your Katana or more precisely the spirit living in your Blade," The armored-man answered, making Naruto's eyes go wide.
"Does that mean that every weapon has a spirit?" The Uchiha asked, but the older man shook his head.
"No, I am the only weapon with a spirit sealed inside of it. At least there is no other that I know about," He stated.
"How come?" The Genin of Konoha aksed.
"Long story short, I was forged very, very long ago by the greatest blacksmith in the history. After I was forged, the blacksmith went to a local mage, who made a long ritual and gave the sword powers which were never seen before. Both of them were so shocked that the sword became so powerful that the only explanation why it was so strong was that it was the contribution of the blacksmith. A week after the Katana was forged, the son of the blacksmith has been killed by a powerful man. After hearing the news that his son died, the blacksmith was so furious that he traveled over the Elemental Continent to meet a witch who supposedly was able to bring death back to life. As you may know, a normal person would like to bring the dead back to life, but the blacksmith did not. He wanted the witch to seal his son's soul to be sealed in the Katana that he could kill the man with his son's soul. During the ritual, the witch made a mistake and thus she did not seal the son in the blade but another spirit, me. After hearing that news the blacksmith was furious and tried to kill the witch because he wanted to kill the man with this blade because without the power that the Katana granted, he would not succeed. A moment before the witch died, she cast a powerful spell on the sword, connecting the sword with the man in the way that should the man kill someone, he will die as well. After the blacksmith came back he got his revenge, he died the next day, leaving the Katana alone. Soon, lots of people came and tried to get the sword for them, but none of them were able to use the powers, because since I was sealed inside the Katana, I obtained the powers of the sword, making it possible for me to stop everybody from using the powers. After so many failed to use my powers, they sold it to others and so I was traveling through the land, without a master. many years later, a certain black-haired man, named Uchiha Byakuya,"
"Wait! Do you mean my Hii-Ojisan?" Naruto asked, cutting in.
"Indeed, your great grandfather, Uchiha Byakuya bought me one day and used as his Katana. After some time, when he needed my help the most, I tested him the same I did with you and after he passed my little exam, I let him use my powers. When he left the Shinobi way of life, he gave me to your Grandfather, Uchiha Kagami, who used my on a few occasion, but beside that he wasn't too much of a Swordsman, so after his son, your father, started his Shinobi career, he did the same as his father did, he gave me as a gift to your father. It took some time for me to let him use my powers, but ultimately he was the third person to ever use the powers. Now, you are the fourth," Senbozakura stated.
"Not that I am not happy about the story or something, but couldn't you simply say that you were forged by the blacksmith and got your powers by the mage and then sold?" Naruto asked a bit confused why it took the sword spirit so long to tell the story.
"No, if I would not be sealed by the witch in this Katana, then everyone that took me into his hands could use my powers. Besides I also wanted to tell you why your father had been famous for me. 'Sasuke of the thousand blades', yeah that sounded badass," The spirit said, once again confusing his new master.
"Why thousand blades?" The young Uchiha asked, not understanding what he meant.
"Ah, yes. I haven't told you yet about the powers that I can give my wielder. Well, there are two stages of my power. The first one is called 'Shikai' which you activate by the command 'Scatter, Senbonzakura'. When you use the Shikai, the blade of the Katana dissolves into thousand tinny, but sharp blades, which reflect light in such a way that they resemble the cherry blossom petals. You can control them by moving the handle of the Katana in the direction you want them to go. There is also the second stage, which is called 'Bankai', which will activate when you drop your Katana, blade first into the ground and say 'Bankai, Senbonzakura Kageyoshi'. The Bankai is a bigger version of you Shikai, but where in Shikai you have thousand of the blades to control, in your Bankai you have about million of them, which allows you to use them on offense and defense. But before you try dropping it on the ground, you must know that before you will be able to use Bankai, you will have to spend many hours learning and mastering in the Shikai and even so it is not guaranteed that you will be able to use it, not even your father was able to do it," Senbonzakura explained.
"Was my Hii-Ojisan able to use the Bankai?" Naruto asked, curious to know if anyone of his family was able to use such a strong technique.
"Yes, he was. It took him very long, but he was able to use the Bankai. Well, I think that we have talked enough for tonight. it's time to wake up," The masked man said, confusing Naruto once again.
"But we have talked for about seven minutes tops," The Uchiha said.
"Indeed we have, but time here is much, much faster than outside. Now WAKE UP!"
Suddenly Naruto woke up in his room, back at Tazuna's house. It was early in the morning, but he could tell that everybody was already down, since Kakashi was not in his Futon anymore and he could hear voices down in the kitchen. As he stood up, he looked at his Katana and laid it on his lap.
'Was it all a dream?' He wondered.
"No, I can assure you that everything really happened," The voice of Senbonzakura said in Naruto's head, shocking the dark-haired boy.
'Wait! You can hear my thoughts and you can talk to me in my head?' The young Uchiha asked after several seconds of pause.
"Indeed I can and only you can hear me. Besides, you won't hear me if we are not in direct contact, like now," The sword spirit explained.
'Alright, I guess I will be going to get something to eat and see how everybody is doing' Naruto said to his new partner as he placed the Katana on his bed and started to dress up. A few moments later, he was in his usual attire and he walked down to the dining room, just in time to see that everyone, including Zabuza and Haku, was sitting around the table, eating breakfast.
"Good morning, everyone," Naruto said with a smile as he walked over to the table and took a place next to Yugito. "How are you feeling, Yugito-chan?" He asked.
"Well, I might not have as good healing abilities as you, but you know that they are high above average, so you don't have to worry, I am ready for another round if needed," The blond-haired girl answered, making Naruto smile once again.
"And how about you, Haku-san?" The Uchiha asked, shocking the black-haired girl, how friendly the boy was in contrast to yesterday.
"I-I am feeling w-well, Naruto-san," Haku said with a small blush, which she tried to hide, turning her face to right, shocking Zabuza that his apprentice had stuttered.
'Never and I mean never ever have I hear Haku stutter. Maybe she has some kind of crush on the brat. Well, you surely made a good choice, girl' The demon of the mist thought with a smirk under the bandages, which were covering his face as usual. As the group started to speak about various topics while eating breakfast, which was prepared by Tsunami, Naruto was having one thought on his mind.
"Zabuza-san, Haku-san, if you don't me asking, have you though what the both of you will do once you leave?" Naruto asked, shocking Zabuza slightly.
"I will go anywhere Zabuza-sama goes," Haku exclaimed, making Naruto nod and turn to Zabuza, who was deep in thoughts.
"Well, I haven't thought about it yet, but if I would have to decide now, I would say we go to the land of tea to earn more money," Zabuza answered, making Naruto nod once again.
"Do you have a reason why you collect money or do you just use it to survive?" Naruto asked.
"We use all the money we earn to survive, since there are not too many things that an A-ranked missing-nin can do," Zabuza stated.
'And what would you do if I offered you asylum in Konoha?" Naruto asked with a smirk, shocking every four of the Ninja.
"W-What d you mean by that?" Zabuza asked, hoping that if the brat had a good idea that he and Haku wouldn't need to run away again.
"I am the last Uchiha in Konoha and the council is afraid that I will leave the Village, leaving them without any Sharingan. That is the reason why the whole civilian council is on my side. Besides as the Uchiha Clan Heir, I will be able to grant you protection under my Clan's name, making you both the Uchiha Clan's members so that you won't have to worry about anything since no one will be able to do anything to you both. Besides, I am on very good terms with Hokage-sama and I could even make you both our Village Shinobi, with Haku joining our team and if everything will go good, you becoming an assistant Jonin-Sensei for us. What do you say?" Naruto asked the shell shocked Zabuza who couldn't believe that a Genin could have so much political power in the Village. The ex-Kiri Ninja looked at Kakashi, who nodded in confirmation, showing that Naruto was not kidding.
"What do you say, Haku? Do you want to join them and finally have a place to call home?" Zabuza asked. After a moment Haku nodded with a big smile on her face. "Well, brat. It seems that we are coming with you," He said.
For the next week, Tazuna and the rest of the Village have been finishing the bridge and the moment has finally come. Today they finished the bridge. Team seven together with Zabuza and Haku were standing on the bridge, saying goodbyes and such things.
"Ne, Tazuna-san, what will you call the bridge? It needs a name after all," Kakashi asked, as he read his orange book. Tazuna thought about this for a moment until he snapped his fingers, silencing everybody, who wanted to hear the name of the newly built bridge.
"We will call it 'The Great Naruto Bridge' to honor the boy that saved our Village from hundreds of Gato's thugs and killed the man himself!" The old bridge builder shouted and soon everyone followed.
"Alright, I think it's time for us to go. Hokage-sama has waited for us long enough. Later!" Kakashi said and the rest of the group soon followed him.