It's been a long time and I'm sorry for the wait, blame work, life and illness.
Here's the chapter.
Chapter 6
Trying For Change
Naruto's eyes flicked towards Sakura, she was still leaning against the tree asleep with his jacket draped over her. She'd pushed herself hard the previous night and Naruto actually had to make her stop before she hurt herself. Once he was sure Sakura was alright and would be safe he turned his attention back to Haku, sitting upright and smiling.
"I'm Naruto, what brings you here?"
"I was looking some herbs, but I found the two of you instead. What about you? Why are the two of you sleeping out here?" Haku asked.
"We were training." Naruto replied as he stretched his muscles. "I had some…things to work out and Sakura wouldn't leave me here alone. We kind of just wore ourselves out and collapsed." He flipped to his feet. "Let me help you pick those herbs."
As Haku nodded he took a few seconds to study the person in front of him. It may have been due to the fading of memories but Haku's face looked rounder then he remembered and his kimono had a different design, where originally he remembered it being pink with purple tomoe on it this one was a pale blue with cherry blossom branches on it.
"Thank you but I'm sure a shinobi of Konoha has better things to do then pick herbs."
"Huh? Oh right, the hitai-ate. It's fine, I'm happy to help." Naruto jerked a thumb towards Sakura. "Besides, she pushed herself too far last night and probably won't wake up for a while."
"Why not take her somewhere safe?"
"Cause if she wakes up and I'm carrying her she'll punch me in the head."
"…"
"I know, it's just the way things are right now."
"You have a strange relationship with your friends, don't you?"
"You have no idea." Naruto laughed, turning his head to look at Sakura his features softened. "But all my friends are precious to me, that's why I was training last night. I need to be stronger so I can protect them all." Haku's face became unreadable as Naruto spoke.
"I feel the same about my master." Haku eventually said after a minute of silence while they picked herbs. "He took me in when I had nowhere else to go. I'll do whatever I have to to help him."
"Is that what brought a guy like you out this early in the morning? Is he ill?"
"He was injured while he was working and needs some time to heal." Haku looked up from the plant life in front of him. "How did you know I was a boy? Most people think I'm a girl."
"I've been caught out in the past and learnt from it."
"That sounds like an interesting story." Haku chuckled.
"It is but not one I want to tell, it doesn't end well." Naruto said sadly, turning his attention to Haku. He caught sight of bandages underneath Haku's kimono as it hung slightly loose at the neck. Did Haku get injured at some point? Hang on, could they be? Naruto refocused his attention on Haku's face, taking in the soft features of his face, the long hair, the clothes. He reconsidered everything that he'd seen and heard from Haku so far, discounting what he thought he already knew. Son of a…Haku is a girl!
You only just figuring that out? Kurama said.
I was wrong last time and Haku just said he…she, whatever, was a guy.
Think it through, travelling with a girl can draw unwanted attention, a boy doesn't.
Yeah, I suppose that makes sense but why lie about it all the time.
It's easier to stick to the lie if you live it, you should know that.
What do you mean?
You know what I mean, you lied to yourself everyday saying that when you became Hokage everyone would respect you. Back then you knew it would never be like that but you continued to lie to yourself just so you could make it through the day.
…Fine, you've got me there.
With that said Kurama cut their connection while Naruto continued to pick herbs with Haku in silence for a while until they heard Sakura groan. Looking up they saw her stretching her arms towards the sky.
"Oww, everything hurts." She moaned as she opened her eyes, blinking as she saw Haku. "Oh, hello."
"Hello." Haku said standing up and approaching her, placing some items in her hand. "Chew these, they'll help with the pain." Sakura looked at what she held in her hand and searched her mind for the botanical knowledge she'd gained from her friendship with Ino.
"Peppermint, acanthopanax root bark and ginger. All of them are effective in helping with joint and muscle pain." Sakura looked up and smiled at Haku. "Thank you." She put a couple of peppermint leaves into her mouth and chewed on them as she took her compact mirror from her pouch and used the flat surface as a base to grind up part of the acanthopanax and ginger.
While Sakura let the herbs soothe her aching body Naruto told her what he'd been doing while waiting for her to wake up.
"How are you not aching?" Sakura asked. "You trained harder then I did, you shouldn't be able to move." Naruto shrugged.
"Good genes I suppose. Nothing keeps me down for long, couple of days for a broken arm when I was 6 is the longest I've been out of action, I think." Sakura was in the middle of pouring the ground up acanthopanax and ginger into her water canteen when she paused to stare at Naruto.
"Two days for a broken arm?"
"Yes, I've always healed fast." Naruto looked at the sky. "We should probably get back to the house now, we've been gone all night." He created a Shadow Clone which walked over and knelt down with it's back facing Sakura. "If you're sore then it'll be quicker getting back if my clone carries you. I'm going to help Haku pick a few more herbs to say thanks for giving you some. I'll catch up in a few minutes." Sakura reluctantly nodded and drank from her water canteen before putting everything back in her pouch and climbed onto the clone's back. Once Sakura was out of the clearing Naruto sat down facing Haku, his face growing serious. "I know who you are."
"Yes, you do. I introduced myself to you earlier." Haku replied.
"No, I mean I know exactly who you are. Haku Yuki of the Hyoton, tool of Zabuza Momochi the Demon of the Mist." Haku shot to her feet with senbon appearing between the fingers of her closed fists, watching Naruto closely while he continued to speak calmly. "I know you're actually a girl and I can guess why you say you're a boy but honestly you're not fooling anyone, you're too pretty. I don't want to fight you, I just want to talk to Zabuza, I have a business proposition for him."
"And why should I believe you?"
"You mean apart from the fact I'm a kid that couldn't last five minutes against Zabuza even though he's injured right now? As crazy as this sounds, I know the future." Haku raised an eyebrow sceptically. "I know but it's true, or at least partly. This conversation didn't happen in the future I know…knew, whatever. I just want to talk to Zabuza, you can tied me up, seal my chakra and keep a blade to my neck if it'll make you feel better but I'm trying to save both of your lives. Please, just let me talk to him." Naruto waited for Haku's answer when she vanished from his sight and just before blacking out he felt to pinpricks in the side of his neck.
When he came too, just like he'd suggested, he was bound in ninja wire, he couldn't call on his chakra and Haku was stood behind him with a senbon pressing against his carotid. In front of him he saw Zabuza laying in a bed, bandages covered his torso and a makeshift brace was around his neck. His gigantic sword was resting against the wall within easy reach if he needed it.
Kurama?
I'm here, the seal they're using for your chakra isn't strong enough to hold me back. Give the word and I'll burn right through it.
Let's see how this plays out before doing that. I want to try and get all of us out of here alive.
"Well, you've looked better." Naruto said as he took in his surroundings but stopped when he noticed something laying by Zabuza's side.
"I've felt better, now apparently there's a few things you want to talk about. First though I want to ask you about these." Zabuza lifted Naruto's tonfa. "Did a guy called Hyoujin make these?"
"Why do you want to know?"
"No particular reason, I just recognise the workmanship." Naruto hesitated but saw no harm in answering the question.
"…Yeah, he's got a shop in Konoha. I bought them just before coming on this mission." Zabuza let out a low chuckle as he threw the tonfa to Haku who then put them back in the holster on Naruto's back.
"Good to know he made it out of Mizu in one piece. That bastard was too tough to died that easily." Zabuza focussed his attention on Naruto, making the blonde feel like a mouse in front of a tiger. "So future boy, what's this business proposition you have for me?"
"Leave the bridge builder alone and I can get you more money then Gato's paying you."
"And how will you do that?" Zabuza asked with a raised brow.
"We work together to stop Gato destroying this country and you can take as much money as you like from the vault in Gato's office. On the condition you leave enough for the people here to get back on their feet."
"Kid, you've got balls of steel coming here and making a claim like that. I might even give you a little bit of respect but there's no way you can hold up your end of the deal."
"I know you don't believe me, hell if it hadn't happened to me then I wouldn't believe it but it's true. I know what happens in the future, or at least what might happen. I don't know, it's hard to explain."
"How about you tell me what you called this 'meeting' for so we can all go back to doing our jobs?"
"Alright, Gato's going to betray you."
"That it?" Zabuza sighed as he rolled his eyes. "Kid, I knew that coming into this job. Gato's known for his double dealing and black market connections, hell if half the stuff I've heard about him is true then every ninja he's hired in the past has been taken out by the same trick. Still, if I didn't expect something like that to happen on every job I took then I wouldn't have even made it out of my first mission."
"Humour me."
"Fine then, enlighten me. How are you trying to save us?"
"You're planning on attacking Tazuna on the bridge as soon as you're healed. You do that and my team's there to stop you, we fight. Me and one of my teammates defeat Haku while you're fighting Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto paused for a second. "Haku died saving your life, taking an attack from Kakashi-Sensei. Your arms were disabled during the fight and not long after that Gato arrived with a ship full of thugs, he kicked Haku's corpse. I chewed you out for not reacting, Kakashi-Sensei told me to shut up but I didn't listen and kept mouthing off at you asking how you couldn't care about Haku when she'd given everything she had to help you, then you looked at me. You were crying, that image stayed with me. One of the scariest Shinobi I've ever known brought to tears by the words of a twelve year old loudmouth who thought he was more than he was." Naruto paused again to let that sink in. "You were focused on getting to Gato, you told me to give you a kunai. I threw it, you caught it in your mouth and charged the thugs, tore through them in seconds but you were turned into a human pincushion with swords and spears in the process. You did get to Gato in the end though, killed him and sent him off the end of the bridge, after that the thugs were cleared out. Kakashi-Sensei carried you to Haku's side and you died alongside her." A sad smile formed on Naruto's face. "It was snowing. The two of you made me want to be the person I grew into, you gave me my nindo. I swore on your graves to find my own ninja way, one that won't lead my down the path of death and being used as a tool . A path that was straight, true and without regrets."
Zabuza just stared at Naruto in silence for a few seconds before bursting into laughter.
"Thanks for that kid, it's been a long time since I laughed like that." Zabuza said once he got control of himself, ignoring the look of anger on Naruto's face.
"Any chance that was the night you got drunk with Mei and spent the night together?" Naruto asked calmly, the leftover laughter on Zabuza's face vanished.
"How the fuck do you know about that?" Naruto internally breathed a sigh of relief, this was a gamble he really hoped would pay off.
"First Five Kage summit after I became Hokage, there was some drinking and war stories. I told the story about meeting you, Mei'd drank more then the rest of us and told us a few stories of your younger days. Apparently both of you had trouble walking properly the following day and Mei had to wear high collars or a scarf for a while to cover the bite marks on her neck." Naruto grinned as Zabuza just glared at him. "You should really file them down before getting intimate with someone, you could really hurt them. The reason I know that is the same as how I know you're sending any money you make to the Kiri rebels, that Mei Terumi is their leader and Chōjurō wields Hiramekarei as one of the Seven Swordsmen, her second in command is a man called Ao, he's got a Byakugan in his right eye and Mei threatens to kill him at random intervals." Naruto's grin widened. "How am I doing?"
"You're not a Genin, you've got to be Anbu. Probably assigned to keep watch over the Uchiha."
"I'm a Genin and how's my pulse?" Naruto asked, leaning his head back to look up at Haku.
"He's telling the truth or at least he believes he is." Haku said to Zabuza, even though shinobi were taught to lie convincingly there would always be a slight difference in their pulse that could be detected if you knew what to look for. Naruto returned his gaze to the man in front of him.
"Zabuza, this is a win-win scenario for you. You get more money for the rebels, you'll look good in Mei's eyes, you both get out alive and by working with me Nami will owe you for helping them get out from under Gato's slimy thumb. I'll throw in a bonus piece of information, not sure if it'll help or not but Yagura is being controlled by a powerful genjutsu. There's a group of S-Rank Shinobi who want to collect the Bijuu for some sort of super weapon, one of them is behind the genjutsu. If someone can get close enough to Yagura to break him out of it then…"
"It doesn't change what's happened kid, Yagura's going to die either way. It's just a matter of whether it's death in battle or execution after a trial. Thanks for the information though, it could come in handy."
"Either way you need to guard the Sanbi, if it's in a jinchurikki or sealed away in something else."
"If we manage to take out Yagura then I probably would've been given the job of guarding it." Zabuza replied. "I have to ask though, what are you getting out of this?"
"I'll get a completed mission, my team gets out of this in one piece and most importantly I get to save the two people who made me who I am." Tense minutes passed as Zabuza and Naruto looked at each other.
"Alright kid, you've got a deal for now. To pull this off, we'd still have to fight on the bridge and make it look convincing. Anything less then that and your whole plan falls apart. If anything changes leave a message where you met Haku this morning and if this turns out to be some sort of trap, none of your team will live to see another day." Naruto smirked.
"You don't have to worry about that, I never go back on my word. There's one little thing I forgot to mention."
"Which is?"
"No-one else knows about my future stuff and they don't know I came here to make a deal." Naruto answered sheepishly.
"Ugh, kid you're insane." Zabuza groaned. "You've made a deal with a missing-nin without clearing it with your squad leader, how am I supposed to know he'll go along with your plan?"
"Have a bit of faith."
"Faith isn't worth shit when your life's on the line."
"So you don't have faith that Haku would save your life?"
"That's not faith, that's loyalty."
"But you're putting faith in the belief that she'd stay loyal to you." Naruto let out a sigh. "I'll need to get back soon otherwise Kakashi-Sensei will do one of two things, either he'll come looking for me or he'll send the back-up that came. No matter which way it is it won't help the situation, just for once have a little trust in someone other then yourself and Haku."
"…Alright, I'll give you a chance but if I don't hear from you in three days then I'll assume you've failed and the deal's off. Clear?"
"Crystal."
"One final question, as a show of trust. Who's your back-up?"
"Anko Mitarashi."
"Orochimaru's apprentice?"
"Former apprentice, if she ever gets the chance then she'd make a pair of snake skin boots out of him with a belt and accessories to match. After that she'd go to the Inuzuka kennels and walk through every piece of dog shit she could find."
With that said the last think Naruto heard was Zabuza laugh and nod to Haku as his world went black. When he came too he was back in the clearing with an ice mirror floating above him, in it he could see Haku in her full hunter garb.
"If Zabuza is hurt in any way through this deal then everyone you care for will die before your eyes and you will live with the knowledge that their blood in on your hands." The mirror shattered into pieces as clusters of senbon imbedded themselves in the ground around his neck and just below his groin, piercing the fabric of his pants.
"I'm so dead if this goes wrong." Naruto breathed out as he pulled the senbon out of his pants before making his way to Tazuna's house thinking about how he was going to get Kakashi to go with his plan. Hopefully Anko would follow Kakashi's lead and not throw a spanner in the works.
As he came into sight of the house Kakashi appeared in front of him.
"Where have you been?" The Jonin asked.
"Gaining a couple of allies but you're not going to like how I've done it."
"Allies?" Kakashi sighed. "I've put this off hoping it could wait until the Hokage could be present but now you've force my hand. Something's been different about you since the bell test, I've left it alone while I've tried to figure out what's going on myself but now I ordering you to tell me. What brought on this change?"
"It'd take too long to explain properly but for now let's just say I know things."
"Not good enough Naruto, this is a life of death situation. I'm responsible for your life along with everyone else's involved in this mission, you're going to tell me everything, now!"
"Kakashi-Sensei, I'm telling you it'll take too long to explain properly. Hell, I'm not even sure I can explain it properly, I don't even know what's happening to me. All I know is that during the bell test I suddenly had memories of things that hadn't happened yet." Kakashi's eyebrow raised sceptically. "I'm serious. You were in a Genin team with Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara, your Sharingan was originally Obito's and Rin died by jumping in front of your Chidori after being turned into a Jinchūriki for the Sanbi."
"You could've read that in my file, you've proved capable of sneaking into classified areas."
"Okay, something that won't be in your file. You've got a mole on the left side of your face, just under your lips. All your shinobi profiles show you wearing a mask and there's no way I could spy on you without you knowing, at least not yet." Kakashi's visible eye bore into Naruto as he thought through what the blonde had just said. "Hanare of Jōmae Village won't be in your file either, will she? Or how about something only a few people know, like who my parents are? Would that convince you? After I found out I was actually surprised that more people didn't see the connection to my dad at least. I mean I am the spitting image of the Fourth Hokage and my last name is my mom's. Kushina Uzumaki, former Jinchūriki of the Kyūbi, and Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, are my parents and they died sealing the Kyūbi in me. They passed their will and dreams on to me, they placed their faith in me to make this world a better place and I intend to do that. I'd rather do it with your help but I'll do without if I have to."
"Just who are you?" Kakashi asked after a full minute of silence.
"I'm still Naruto Uzumaki, the same unpredictable knucklehead ninja you know and love. It's just that I'm the Seventh Hokage of Konohagakure as well, or at least I will be some day."
"So not the Fifth?"
"No, I tried but apparently I wasn't ready and there's a height requirement." Naruto smirked, Kakashi let out a small chuckle before growing serious again.
"We'll deal with this when we return to the village, right now I need to know what you mean by allies."
"First, I want you to promise that you'll let me finish talking before your react."
"I'm really not going to like this am I?"
"Not in the slightest but it needed to be done."
"Why did it need to be done?"
"I…don't think I should tell you." Kakashi frowned. "It's not that I don't want to, I do, it's just…you know those movies where someone tells someone their future and makes things worse, it's kind of like that. Let's just say that I'm making some pre-emptive strikes against a future opponent without him realising."
"Very well, now who have you made an alliance with?"
"Zabuza."
"Naruto," Kakashi started but Naruto stopped him.
"Let me finish. In return for helping us stop Gato I told him he could take however much he wanted from Gato's vault as long as he left enough for the people here to recover. It's a win-win, we get a completed mission, Nami is free from Gato, Zabuza gets his payday and we all get out of this alive."
"And what exactly is the plan to stop Gato?"
"We stage a fight on the bridge, then when Gato turns up with his thugs to kill us all we take him down. Zabuza said we need to make it convincing so it's probably a good idea not to tell Sasuke or Sakura about it."
"Why?"
"Sasuke can't act, you should've seen him in the infiltration lessons at the Academy. He couldn't even pass as a kid his own age."
"And Sakura?"
"She can act but she's still fangirling a bit and would probably tell Sasuke what's happening."
"Aren't you worried they might get killed?"
"No, assign Sakura to keep guard on Tazuna and Sasuke won't be able to take on Haku."
"Haku?"
"Crap…, Haku works with Zabuza. Really fast and uses senbon to attack pressure points, doesn't like killing or at least that's the way I remember it."
"The Hunter-nin that took Zabuza away, I knew something wasn't right about that."
"Yeah, that was Haku."
"Anything else?"
"I've got three days to convince you to go along with the deal, if I haven't left a message for Zabuza before the deadline ends he's assuming the deals off and he's coming for Tazuna. What do I tell him?" Kakashi studied Naruto's face, even revealing his Sharingan to make sure it actually was Naruto.
"I'll think this over and you can give them an answer tomorrow. Don't mention your 'future knowledge' to anyone, I'll think of someway of explaining this 'alliance' to Anko if we go through with it. Until then, get back in the house and eat something."
"Yes, Kakashi-Sensei." Naruto walked past the Jonin and made his way towards Tazuna's house.
"Naruto." Kakashi called after him, causing him to pause and look back over his shoulder. "Everything you've done up to now, bothering me to more training for the team, trusting Killer Bee, knowing about my father, all of the reasons, half-truths and excuses it's all because of this 'future knowledge' of yours isn't it? There's something bad coming isn't there?" Naruto didn't answer, only turning his head back to face forward and continue on his way to the house. "I thought as much." Kakashi sighed, turning to follow. "The fact you won't say anything tells me if must be really bad."
You have no idea. Naruto thought as he put his hand on the door handle. "I'll explain what I can when we get back home and talk to the old man, for now I just need you to trust me." Without waiting for an answer Naruto opened the door and was immediately put into a headlock by Anko.
"Where have you been Blondie?! This is unknown territory, you don't go wandering off on your own and if you do you let your superior officers know where and for how long." Anko shouted, reaching for Naruto's arm she was about to snap it when Kakashi put a hand on her shoulder.
"Calm down Anko, there's no need to break his arm. Besides that's a Shadow Clone, the real Naruto's hiding behind Tsunami." Anko looked between the clone in her grasp and the real Naruto, who was nervously looking around Tsunami's side. Anko quickly flexed her arm and twisted it, snapping the clone's neck in an instant making Naruto pale as the memory came to him and the fact that Anko was coming towards him.
"That's enough Anko." Kakashi said more forcefully, grabbing her arm. "While Naruto has disobeyed orders, we're as much to blame as well, last night neither of us went after him when he left and although you sent Sakura after him one of us still should've followed. There's also the fact that Sakura can't be expected to be able to control someone as…unpredictable as Naruto." Kakashi turned his attention to Naruto. "Get some ration bars and eat, unless you found some wild mushrooms you haven't eaten anything for a while. Stay here and rest, we'll discuss what you do next later, I need to speak with Anko privately first." Kakashi turned to look at the other two members of his team. "Sakura and Sasuke, the two of you are to guard the house until we return." With that being said Kakashi disappeared with Anko in a shunshin.
"So what took you so long picking herbs with that girl? You didn't try anything perverted did you?" Sakura asked.
"Really, that's the first place your brain goes?" Naruto replied as he dug through his bag for his ration bars. "No, I didn't try anything perverted. Why'd you think that anyway?"
"That jutsu you create, it's disgusting and perverted."
"Okay, two things. One, there's nothing disgusting about the female body and two, that is a very effective jutsu designed to disable a male opponent. You've seen what it does to people, Iruka-Sensei and the Old Man were both helpless against it."
"It didn't do anything to Zabuza and I'm not bothered by it." Sasuke said.
"It did, it pissed him off and I've got a few ideas why you don't react to it."
"And those ideas are?"
"Well, the main two are either you're gay or you can only get it up for revenge fantasies." Sasuke's hands clenched into fists as he glared at the blonde.
"You can't say that about Sasuke!" Sakura shouted and made to hit Naruto when Tsunami interrupted.
"No fighting in my house." The dark haired woman said calmly, but the way she said it made Sakura freeze in mid-swing. "And why not ask for an outside opinion? I may not be a ninja but I'm more experienced in the way of the world then the three of you." She tapped Naruto on the shoulder and pointed towards the table, where a meal sat waiting. "I saved some food for you, so please eat."
"You are a goddess in disguise." Naruto said happily, giving Tsunami a quick hug before dashing for the table. "Ration bars taste like hell."
"You're welcome." Tsunami giggled as she moved to sit next to him. "So what's this jutsu that's causing so many problems?"
"Basically I use Henge no jutsu to look like a grown up girl version of me."
"He's forgetting to mention that she's naked." Sakura interrupted.
"Not completely, there's clouds hiding the private bits." Naruto said back.
"I think to give an informed opinion I should see this for myself." Tsunami stated drawing surprised looks from Sakura and Naruto, Sasuke had lost interest in the conversation and was keeping watch from the window.
"Er…, okay." Naruto stood up and took a few steps away from the table. "Oiroke no Jutsu." A puff of smoke hid Naruto from view and when it cleared it showed Naruto standing there in his naked female form with the censoring clouds but he wasn't posing as he usually did.
"You make a very beautiful girl Naruto." Tsunami said as she stood and walked around Naruto, inspecting his/her body. "Long legs, firm rear, perky and bouncy breasts, flawless skin and silky hair. You should be very proud of this body, I can see why it can disable any man you might fight. I'm actually quite jealous, I'd kill to have a body like this."
"Can I change back now?" Naruto asked, feeling self-conscious for the first time while using Oiroke no Jutsu.
"Of course, and it's best to eat your food while it's still hot." Tsunami replied. "Now, I can see where you're coming from Sakura but isn't it part of being a ninja to use whatever works to win?" Sakura slowly nodded while Naruto's focus was fully on the food in front of him. "Then I can't understand your problem with Naruto's jutsu, it's effectively the same as how Anko is using her looks to her advantage. I'm sure if Naruto made a jutsu of a naked older version of himself then it would have a similar effect on woman as his female one does on men."
"I, I suppose you're right." Sakura admitted. "But it's still weird."
"There's no denying that." Tsunami agreed with a laugh. "A twelve year old boy suddenly turning into a naked teenage girl isn't something you see every day. It lead to an interesting question though, how does Naruto know what a naked woman looks like?"
A shiver ran down Naruto's spine as he felt two pairs of eyes burning a hole in the back on his head, turning round with grains of rice stuck around his mouth he saw Sakura and Tsunami glaring at him.
"What am I being blamed for now?" He asked.
"How do you know what a naked woman looks like, Naruto?" Tsunami asked in reply.
"Because I live on my own the Old Man gave me the 'talk'." A shudder ran through his body. "There's some things you don't want to hear an old man talk about, not to mention the outdates pictures he used. Some of those women were hairier then his ape summons." Naruto swallowed thickly as he fought the urge to vomit. "Iruka-Sensei explained things better after the sex-ed class in the Academy. I might've been staring into space and rocking during the class, I really can't remember much from then. I just remember Iruka explaining things when it was just the two of us in the room."
"Yeah, thinking back you did look really pale that day. Everyone thought you were sick and wouldn't sit near you." Sakura said.
"Wouldn't have been the first time no-one wanted to sit near me." Naruto muttered as he returned to his food, he knew that Tsunami had heard him because he could feel her eyes on him and the pity she felt for him. He could sense the question she wanted to ask but he wasn't in the mood to answer it, instead he finished his meal then washed and dried his plate. "I'm going outside." He held up a hand when he saw Sakura about to protest. "I won't go far, just need to get some air." After saying that he walked out of the door and climbed to the roof. An hour later Kakashi and Anko appeared next to him, Naruto instinctively leapt to his feet and drew his tonfa as he spun to face them.
"Damn, I owe you twenty." Anko said, her tone halfway between annoyance and approval as she took a couple of notes from her pocket and put them in Kakashi's hand. "Kid might actually be telling the truth, accounting for the slower body that was an experienced shinobi's reaction. I knew there was something up with you Blondie, never would've guessed something like this though."
"Why'd you tell Anko the truth?" Naruto asked Kakashi.
"We're in a dangerous situation, now's not the time to lie. You can trust Anko just as much as you can trust me." Kakashi replied, Naruto spent a second staring at the Jonin before nodding.
"Fine, now what are you two doing sneaking up on me like that?"
"Just a little test." Anko grinned as Naruto glared at her.
"I thought I told you to rest." Kakashi replied.
"I am, your orders were to, and I quote, 'Stay here and rest.' You didn't specify that I had to stay in the house and rest." Naruto slid his tonfa back into their holsters. "Besides I needed to get some fresh air and it doesn't take much energy to keep watch. I take it you've made a decision?"
"We have, you can tell Zabuza we have an agreement. We'll finish this mission in three day time until then we're all going to be training, just in case Zabuza decides to turn against us."
"He won't."
"How do you know that?" Anko asked.
"I just do, I could see it in his eyes. He doesn't want to kill Tazuna anymore then he wants to kill me or the others." Naruto focussed on Kakashi. "Remember what he said, 'women and children are spared.' He's only doing this job cause he needs the money."
"And why does he need money?"
"To help the Kiri rebels." Kakashi and Anko shared a look. "Yeah, I know about the civil war and stuff related to it. I probably know more about it then the two of you. I'll go leave a message for him now so he knows the deal's on but we don't double cross him, once this is finished we all go our separate ways. Alive."
"Future opponent?" Kakashi asked, Naruto just nodded in reply.
"You should tell us everything." Anko said, stopping Naruto as he turned to leave.
"Not going to happen." Naruto replied.
"Now listen here you little brat…" Anko started before Kakashi stepped in front of her. "Out of my way Kakashi, give me five minutes alone with him and I'll have him telling us everything he knows."
"If you tried my furry friend would come out to play and you really don't want that." Naruto said calmly. "I have told you something about your personal future though."
"What are you talking about?"
"Just think back to when we were talking in the tree." Anko paused as she replayed the conversation.
"No." She whispered.
"Yes." Naruto grinned and henged into Anko's futureself. "This is what you'll look like in the future."
"You're wrong. I'd never let myself get like that."
"You become a teacher at the Academy too." Naruto added as he dispelled the transformation.
"Like hell, I'd teach a bunch of brats, I'd die first."
"Well, you don't, so deal with it." As Anko stood there stunned, Naruto turned and jumped off the roof. Kakashi's eye followed him as the blonde ran into the trees before flicking his gaze to look at Anko, who was staring blankly into space while hugging her curves.
"They say knowledge is power and if that's true then Naruto just might be the most powerful person in the world right now." He muttered before starting to wonder what his futureself might be like.
The days that followed saw Team 7 being trained harder then they had before but with Anko and Sakura knowing some Iryō Ninjutsu they could recover quickly. Sakura had asked about why their training had been pushed to a higher level but the only answer she got back was Anko saying she had a feeling shit was about to hit the fan. Kakashi would help at times but Anko had insisted that she could handle the team's training and that he should focus on getting himself back into shape.
Naruto was once again abusing his Shadow Clones to optimize the amount of training he could get and while it wouldn't work for his actual strength or speed, it would increase his skill and experience levels. He was close to completing the Rasengan, he could feel it but he just couldn't get the shell to full stablise, it was only a matter of time though and the thought of having the Rasengan again brought a smile to his face.
Naruto created a small army of Shadow Clones and had them all hidden around and inside Tazuna's house before leaving to go to the bridge. He wasn't going to risk anything happening to Tsunami or Inari and if anything did happen the memory transfer from the clones would alert him and he could send more to help if needed. He'd not seen or heard from Haku or Zabuza since talking to them face to face, all he knew was that they'd gotten his message as he'd gone back a few hours later to check and found the note missing. Naruto just hoped that they stuck to their deal, that's not to say he didn't have faith in them but there was always a risk that they'd change their mind.
So now he found himself on the bridge and a thick mist starting to blanket the area, he helped Sasuke and Sakura clear the builders as Kakashi and Anko stayed close to Tazuna. As the last of the builders left the bridge Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke formed a line in front of Tazuna as Kakashi and Anko stepped forward.
"You've got one last chance." Zabuza said, while still hidden in the mist. "Hand over the bridge builder or all of you die."
"You've got one last chance." Naruto shouted back. "Leave or…" Naruto's words died in his throat as he felt steel pressed against his neck.
"Or what?" Zabuza whispered in his ear, having appeared behind him. "That loud mouth of yours just got you killed." Time seemed to freeze as all anyone could do was watch as Kubikiribōchō sliced across Naruto's throat.
That's it for now.
Let me know what you think.
Until Next Time
Basic Trainer
