Hey guys. Here's the next chapter!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Sekaioni
Two weeks passed since team placements. During that period, Naruto had made a few amends with his biological family, including accepting an apology from a badly beaten Menma who practically had 85% of the arrogance he had beaten out of him by Kushina. Apparently, an angry Uzumaki-a mother, especially-ranked in the top five most dangerous things in the world. It was a tearful sight for the mother as she saw her children all get along, even if Naruto was still slightly cold to his brother.
Missions had been terrible, seeing how they were just chores that the civilians were too lazy to do. Of all the D-rank missions, the only one considered worthy of being done by a ninja was the Tora Retrieval mission, which Sarutobi had done back in his genin days. Everyone had been horrified when they found out the cat dated back to the time of the Sandaime's childhood.
Minato returned to his position as Hokage, though Sarutobi also stayed in office. The two were often found with Minato crying as they filed paperwork. Naruto and Sarutobi briefly considered telling them to use the shadow clone jutsu, but decided that they wouldn't tell them. Minato still owed him eleven years' worth of birthday presents. The same was with Kushina. Mito counted as a gift, apparently.
Anyways, Team Twelve had the Tora Retrieval mission again. As the team hid in the forest, a voice reported, "This is Beauty, what are your positions? Over."
Another voice, male this time, responded, "This is Prince, reporting from Point A. Target in sight. Over."
A third voice-female, said, "This is Tigress, reporting from Point B. I also see the target. Over."
The last voice reported, "This is Innocence, reporting from Point C. I see the target as well. Permission to engage?"
Aki smirked and ordered, "Permission granted. Go!" Three figures dashed out and leaped at the cat. The feline jumped straight up, causing the genin to crash into each other and two of them to land in a compromising position. They got back up quickly, blushing profusely and turned around just in time to see Tora leap into Aki's waiting arms. Nagi merely got up, brushing the dust off his clothes.
As the team trudged back to the Hokage Tower, Naruto and Michiko made it a point to not look at each other, while Nagi smirked in amusement. As the team entered the room, Aki reported, "Team Twelve reporting a successful mission!"
Minato looked up from the desk and said, "Excellent!" As the file was reported, Tora was grabbed by Lady Shijimi, who crushed the cat with her large arms.
Sarutobi said, "Now then, here are some more missions. We have walking dogs, painting fences, weeding gardens, clea-"
Naruto bluntly said, "I want a C-Rank mission."
Iruka yelled, "You brat! You're fresh out of the academy! What makes you think you can handle a C-Rank mission?" He then drifted into a lecture about the ranking system. When he finished, he looked up and saw that nobody was paying attention.
Aki sighed and said, "In all respect, I feel this team is ready for a C-Rank." Iruka was about to protest, but Sarutobi raised a hand.
"You have completed the minimum requirement of D-Rank missions to apply for a C-Rank mission. I'll see what I can get you." Just as he said it, Teams Seven and Eleven walked in.
Kushina said, "Heh, we were thinking of getting a C-Rank too!" Natsumi and Menma greeted Team Twelve and their teammate, a boy named Taro Yamada, merely nodded. Team Seven was another matter.
Kakashi didn't even look at anyone, opting to read his book instead. Sasuke swaggered in, his chin held up high. Sakura scampered after Sasuke, fawning over him. And Sai was the most proper of the group, nodding to the two teams and bowing to the Sandaime and Yondaime.
Kakashi, not looking up from his book, said, "This is Team Seven, requesting another mission."
Minato replied, "Alright, we have walking dogs, painting fences, weeding gardens, clea-" He was cut off by Sasuke.
The Uchiha interrupted, "I demand a higher ranked mission! I want a mission worthy of an Uchiha!"
Sarutobi frowned and said, "Denied." Before Sasuke could complain, he added, "Your team has yet to reach the minimum number of D-Rank missions to perform a higher ranked mission. Since graduation, Team Eleven has done twenty missions, which is four missions above the minimum amount of missions required to do a C-Rank. Team Twelve has done twenty missions as well. Your team has done only ten."
Natsumi then asked, "Then can we go on a C-Rank mission?" To her delight, both Hokages agreed.
Sakura exploded, "What? Sasuke-kun doesn't get a C-Rank mission but those losers do?"
Minato twitched and said, "Fine. All three of your teams will go on this joint mission. Send in the client!"
An older man, maybe in his fifties, stumbled in. He slurred, "What? These are the ninja who're supposed to protect me? All I see is an emo, a pink-haired crossdresser, some pale kid, a cherry boy, a kid who looks like a nobody, a couple blonde girls, a tomboy, and a pretty boy." The man then continued, "And the teachers don't look much better. There's a cyclops, a tomato lady, and a princess."
Sasuke, Sakura, and Kushina, leaped at the client, intent on ripping him to shreds. They were held back by Kakashi and Minato, who reprimanded them for their behavior. Shaking off his stupor, the man said, "I am the super bridge builder Tazuna, and I expect you all to protect me with your lives."
Naruto bluntly said, "I like your hat. Gimme that." Before anyone could react, Naruto pulled the hat away from Tazuna and put it on. He then walked over to a nearby mirror and looked at his reflection. In the mirror, the Alice could see Azuma standing behind him, smiling slightly.
Speaking of Azuma, Naruto was a little surprised when he found out her age. Despite being slightly less than three and a half feet tall, Azuma was actually fourteen when she became an Alice. That probably explained why Naruto was short for a twelve-year-old.
Everyone blinked at the blonde's speed, especially Tazuna. Kushina cleared her throat and ordered, "Anyways, report at the front gate in half an hour. Now go pack your things." The genin all nodded and jumped out the window, making Sarutobi and Minato sigh before filing a form to put in a new window. Just as the paper was signed, the three jonin jumped out another window, led by Kushina. This made the two men start crying.
Tazuna suddenly cried, "Wait! That kid still has my hat!" Sarutobi then pulled out the bridge builder's hat, which he had taken from Naruto just as he jumped out the window. Happily, the old man took it and put it back on.
…
Teams Eleven and Twelve gathered at the gate with Tazuna. Team Seven, however, was nowhere to be as the deadline was about to end, Sai showed up with a medium sized backpack. After ten minutes, Sasuke showed up with one small bag. Sakura showed up not even a moment after, lugging an extremely large backpack. Thirty minutes later, Kakashi body flickered to the gate, nose buried in his book.
"Alright," said the silver-haired jonin, "let's move out." Before he could take a step, Kushina grabbed his shoulder.
"Not so fast," she said. The Uzumaki turned to the group and ordered, "Show me what you all packed." She frowned at Sasuke for only bringing weapons and refusing to pack anything else aside from extra backup weapons, forced Sakura to go home and repack after seeing the girl only brought body-care and makeup products and lots of clothes, patted Sai on the shoulder for bringing the proper items, skipped Menma and Natsumi as she already knew what they packed, nodded at Taro for doing the same as Sai, and smiled at Team Twelve for bringing a wide variety of items beneficial to the mission.
After Sakura returned with her pack filled with the proper inventory, the group moved out. As they walked towards Wave, everyone focused on their surroundings. Sakura, however, didn't do so and constantly stared at Sauke, who was looking at the ground.
Not even after ten minutes of walking, the only female of Team Seven complained, "I'm tired and sweaty. Can we take a break?"
Tazuna nearly face-planted, but Nagi and Sai moved to catch him. Natsumi wasn't as calm. Taking a deep breath, she yelled, "Seriously?! Tazuna's the oldest person here and he's not even having a change in his breathing pattern yet!" Despite Sakura's complaints, everyone ignored her and kept walking.
Soon, a puddle of water came into sight. The three jonin and teams Eleven and Twelve looked at each other, and slightly nodded. Abruptly, two masked men leapt out of the puddle and wrapped chains around the three jonin and pulled. Kakashi, Kushina, and Aki were shredded to pieces. "Three down, nine to go," they said.
Sakura screamed in terror. Taro, Sai, and Nagi dropped into defensive positions around Tazuna. Michiko dashed at one of the two men, but was forced to dodge as a fireball nearly struck her. "Watch it!" she yelled.
Sasuke scoffed and said, "Then don't get in the way of an elite warrior!"
The men tried to attack them again, but Naruto had other plans. "I like the gauntlets. Gimme those." He pulled on the chain that connected the men, sending them towards him. Before they could react, the force of the pull pulled the gauntlets off their arms and sent them head-first into a couple of trees, knocking them out.
As Naruto sealed away the gauntlets, the three jonin walked out from behind another tree. Sakura yelled, "How are you still alive? We all saw you three die!"
Kushina said, "We used the substitution jutsu. Now then, why didn't you take Michiko's wellbeing into consideration, Sasuke?"
The Uchiha snorted and said, "Even if she got hurt, the civilian council would let me go. After all, I'm the last Uchiha."
Aki snorted and added, "Aside from that cutie Itachi." Just as Sasuke was about to yell at her, the jonin continued. "But we need to get back to the point. Why are the Demon Brothers, Meizu and Gozu, here?"
Tazuna then went into a sorrowful explanation as to why he lied about the mission. "Well then, he isn't our problem now. Let's go back," said Kakashi.
Teams Eleven and Twelve simultaneously replied, "No." Adding in her thoughts, Kushina said, "You better stay and help or I'll destroy your porn stash, Kakashi." Needless to say, Team Seven continued the mission, much to Sakura's displeasure.
As the group traveled through the fog, a bush rustled. Naruto quickly pulled out a kunai and threw it. Pushing the plant to the side, he saw that he almost hit a snow white rabbit. The blonde freaked out and pulled the rabbit into a hug. "I'm so sorry, Usa-chan," he mumbled.
Sakura screeched, "Look what you did, idiot! You tried to kill a poor bunny! This is what happens when you try to look better than Sasuke-kun!"
Aki asked, "Why is the rabbit white? It's summer, so it should be brown, unless…" Her eyes widened as she shouted, "Get down!" Just in time, a whirling sound echoed through the clearing as a large blade shot towards the group.
As everyone dropped to the ground, Naruto merely raised his right hand. Just as the blade reached the blonde child, he grabbed its blade and stopped its path of trajectory. A figure jumped onto the handle of the sword and looked at Naruto.
"Kid, how did you do that?" asked the man. He was tall, close to Kakashi's height, give or take a few inches. The man didn't wear a shirt, showing off his muscled torso. He wore cow-skin pattern pants and had bandages covering the lower half of his face. Finally, he wore a Kiri headband that had a slash mark going through the middle.
"Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Mist," drawled Kakashi. He pulled out a kunai and readied himself as did the rest of the ninja.
"Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye and Kushina the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero, what an honor to meet you. I can see why the Demon Brothers lost."
Kushina corrected him. "Actually," she said, "it was Naru-chan who beat them. And Naru-chan, aren't you getting tired of holding that sword and Zabuza up?"
Naruto blinked and replied, "Not really, but I guess I'll let go of them." He turned to a tree and threw the blade at it. Zabuza yelped in surprise as he spun along with his sword until it slammed into a tree.
The rouge ninja got up and said, "You're pretty strong, I'll give you that. Nobody has ever thrown me and Kubikiribocho at the same time. So, what's your name?"
Naruto apathetically looked at Zabuza and replied, "My name is Naruto Sekaioni, genin of Konoha. Registration number 012607."
Zabuza chucked. He said, "Well then, I challenge you to a duel. If you impress me, I'll leave the bridge builder alone for a week. Deal?" Before anyone could react, Naruto nodded.
The blonde reached into his pouch and gripped a kunai. He manifested the kunai, turning it into a large sword. He held the blade in front of him and dropped into a basic kenjutsu stance. The two circled each other, barely blinking. Suddenly, Naruto dashed at Zabuza and swung. The man blocked with Kubikiribocho and struck back, wildly slashing.
Each attack made was parried, and the force of each blow canceled out the attacks. The three teams gaped as they saw Naruto actually hold his own against Zabuza. As the two ninja clashed, sparks flew. Naruto say his chance.
He kicked Zabuza's shin and leaped back. As the rogue ninja rubbed his leg, the blonde dashed forwards again and swung. Zabuza reared back quickly, but still got a cut on his chest. As the swordsman clutched the wound, he smirked. "Not bad," he said, "but that's not enough to beat me!" With renewed strength, he launched himself at Naruto.
The two clashed again, trying to overpower the other. Finally, Naruto reared his head back and slammed his forehead into the rogue Kiri ninja's face. Zabuza stumbled back, and before he could recover, he received a large slash across his chest. The ninja stumbled back, shocked that a genin could harm him. "That's impressive," said the ninja, "as I said, I'll leave the old man alone for now." As Zabuza turned to leave, two senbon lodged in his next. He fell to the ground, limp and unmoving. Another figure jumped into the clearing. It was a hunter ninja from Kiri. He wore the standard hunter uniform as well as a mask with a wave-like design on it. On the forehead, the Kiri village symbol was etched in.
The hunter ninja said, "Thank you for stalling Zabuza for me. I have been hunting him for many days. I will dispose of him now." With that, the hunter ninja body flickered away with Zabuza's body.
Naruto dropped to one knee as he panted heavily. Aki and Kushina ran over, concerned for his health. The two women checked him for injuries, and upon finding none, sighed in relief. Getting back up, Aki ordered, "Michiko! You'll support Naruto until we get to Tazuna's house!" The girl blushed, but did what she was told and picked Naruto up and slung his arm over her shoulder.
Kushina turned and said, "Tazuna, where's your house?" Tazuna merely pointed in a direction and started walking. The group followed after him, with everyone discreetly glancing at Naruto. Michiko, however, couldn't even keep a straight face as she carried the blonde. Nagi, Aki, Kushina, and Natsumi smiled at the scene. Menma and Sasuke, though, scowled albeit for different reasons. Menma was jealous that Naruto was being helped by a cute girl. Sasuke was angry that the so-called loser had such strength.
They were greeted by a young woman when they arrived at Tazuna's house. "Oh!" she exclaimed when she saw the group. "Father, you're back!" She ushered the bridge builder and the ninjas inside, where she promptly brought them into the kitchen for food. A young boy was already there, sitting at the table. As they walked in, the woman said, "My name is Tsunami. Thank you for protecting my father."
He glared at the group and asked, "Who're they?"
Tsunami said, "Inari, these are the ninja who are protecting your grandfather."
Inari scoffed and said, "They should just leave. Nobody can beat Gato."
He then ran out of the room and to his bedroom. Tsunami sighed and said, "I'm sorry. Inari's been like that for a while. Ever since Gato took over, he stopped being such a bright boy." She gave the ninjas an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Kakashi, "but we really need to rest a lot tonight."
Kushina said, "That's right. Kids, when Zabuza was defeated, what did you notice?"
Michiko answered, "A hunter ninja threw two senbon needles into Zabuza's neck. It's weird though… Aren't hunter ninjas supposed to destroy the body on the spot?" Her eyes widened in realization as everyone else came to the same answer.
"That's right," Kushina said, "Zabuza is still alive. And that hunter ninja is his acquaintance." Tazuna paled when he realized that the intimidating ninja was still alive. "However," she added, "we have about a week until he recovers. So during that time, we'll be training you to get stronger."
Half an hour later, it was time for everyone to go to sleep. The problem was, nobody could agree on who slept in what room. Finally, Nagi suggested, "How about each team gets their own room? After all, there are three rooms for us to use." Seeing the logic, the jonin agreed, albeit with reluctance from Kakashi.
Team Twelve stared at the bed, and then looked at each other. It didn't help that they had already changed into their sleepwear. Aki wore a baggy shirt and shorts, Nagi wore a shirt and pair of pants (both made of silk), Michiko wore just her undergarments and an oversized shirt, and Naruto wore an oversized shirt over his underwear.
Naruto asked, "So should we all just try to fit onto the bed?"
Michiko shrugged and said, "Might as well." Aki and Nagi nodded, not seeing any other solutions that would let everyone have a good night's sleep. In the end, Aki slept on the bed with Nagi and Michiko on both sides. Naruto was lying on top of her. To ensure maximum safety, they all had their arms wrapped around each other.
Kushina silently checked on the team, and faintly smiled at the scene. However, her chest ached slightly with sadness, knowing that their family could have been like that if Naruto hadn't been left in the village. "Good night, Naru-chan," whispered the jonin as she silently went back to the room her team was sleeping in. Lying down next to Natsumi, who was drooling slightly out of the corner of her mouth, Kushina closed her eyes and prepared for the next day.
And the third chapter is done! If you're going to ask why Menma is all better now, never underestimate an Uzumaki, because they can do anything, especially if they're an angry parent. Anyways, that why Menma is good now. He'll still have his moments, though.
Also, materialization creates an object, while manifestation enhances an existing object to make something stronger. Just so you don't get confused by the two when they're mentioned.
Please review, tell me what you think, constructive criticism appreciated, but no flames. Onishin Tsukitenshi, signing out.