EDIT: Ok, This is kinda important and it's been bugging me a whole lot. So much so that It's getting hard to even write without me addressing it.
The thing is when this story was on UFF it was currently up to chapter 14, I've written up to chapter 15 so far and I'm just letting the chapters eek out over the course of several days so that each chapter can get the reviews it deserves.
Well this sort of is a lead into what I need to say. back on UFF several people reviewed somewhat negatively on what I wrote in this chapter, and I agreed with them that what I wrote seems a bit contrived, the drama in this chapter being... well heavy handed and kind of stupid.
And you know what...I agree, In the coming chapters the drama I had set up here rarely shows its face, Sakura who is the recipient of said drama is a bit different over in the next couple chapters but she bounces right back fairly quickly, which Is why I'm writing this right now.
A certain PMer who reviewed my story on UFF and sent me a PM just a day or so ago and who shall also remain anonymous, pointed out this to me and asked if I was going to continue using that drama/plot element in this story since it didn't really seem relevant before
Technically speaking the drama I wrote in this chapter is relevant but...I can't really create drama in my stories very well, I've tried to make drama and it just doesn't work, sometimes I even forget things that I would start up and they get lost in the chapters like a loose end, that is mainly my fault since I am no Kenichi618, or pokemaster12, or hell even lord of the land of fire. Those guys can take shit and shine that bitch till it's platinum, and they are able to pace their stories in such a way that you feel for the characters. So let me just say this now to you mister PMer
I am not them. I suck at drama, and when I feel in the mood to add a little drama it's usually just used to drive the plot a bit. I know its heavy handed and I know it's sometimes badly done, but that's just how I write.
Hell I've tried to do a entirely drama filled story before...it failed miserably.
For instance, anyone here know of Left 4 Dead? Raise of hands? Ok, most of you? Good, then you all haven't been living under a rock for the last few years.
Well imagine this. It's a self insert story, of a really lonely hunter infected. The hunter has retained every bit of it's humanity and feels desperately alone in a city full of infected. He finds the survivors and attempts to save them from a tank, the four survivors get separated when the street they're on collapses. Zoey on one side the other three on the other. Tank comes up out of the sewers pissed off and goes for Zoey. My self insert Hunter saves Zoey and takes her back to his apartment that he uses as a base.
Now that you got the general idea, let me tell you my thought process on this. I wanted to make a story that had my Hunter becoming excited to have a person to talk to after so long and how Zoey reacted to a hunter who wasn't quite so bloodthirsty. It was going to be a love story full of drama between them.
I failed miserably...
First chapter is done, I'm like "This shit is going to be AWESOME!" I start the second chapter... by the end of that chapter and after a little bit of monologue from my Hunter character. Zoey has come up with a way to save the world by having my hunter character RAPE and IMPREGNATE WITCHES! Which, in some strange way makes them docile since the witch population is something like my self insert hunter in that they have some intelligence and humanity left in them and they only need to get laid and impregnated to make them happy again. I was going to point out why this would work by explaining the mind set of an infected. like smokers were chain smokers, Hunters were athletes witches were women with children who died during the infection etc. So knocking them up panders to the witches want to have children again, thereby calming them and allowing the slivers of humanity to come back to them.
Now I know I wrote that second chapter in a daze, but when I stepped back to reread it and I was like "WTF IS THIS SHIT BRAIN?!"
So yeah, every time I do drama I end up going back to my tried and true format. Batshit insane hilarity. So to you Mr. PMer who says I should start focusing on the drama in my stories to make them better. To you I say.
No. Because If I did...it would probably only make things worse...I'll add a bit of drama to the story as I go along, little bits here and there but I don't think I can make a pure drama story without reverting to my CloudCukooLander writing style...And to everyone else I give you this quote from a refrigerator magnet I have.
"I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it" - Badass fridge magnet
Also sorry for the really bad cliche thug accent in this chapter, I wanted him to be as thuggish as possible and that just sorta came out and again sorry that this chapter is like twice as long as most of my other chapters, shit just kinda wrote itself that way.
Oh and And lastly. Please read and review. I know alot of people say this and it must sound like a broken record to most of you but I personally like the feedback ya'll give me, it doesn't have to be much, just a "good job" or "nice story" would be fine, or in the case of those that don't like the story a "This sucks" or "I've read better" is fine. I'd appreciate a more detailed review on why it's 'good' or 'sucks' but that's up to you and I don't mind much anyway, as long as I know there's actually people on the other end reading this thing and enjoying it to some degree I'm cool with it.
Disclaimer: I Don't own Naruto. I don't make any money off this story, it's purely a work of enjoyment for myself that I post on the Internet because people apparently like this shit.
-ooo-
"speech"
'Thoughts'
"Kyubi speech"
'Kyubi thoughts'
-ooo-
Chapter 12: Of Respect and Explosions.
"Well that went better than expected..." Naruto chuckled, the black eye where Sakura had brained him throbbing mercilessly.
"Your own damn fault" Sasuke grunted having witnessed the ass kicking firsthand, he hadn't laughed that hard in years, hell Sakura had actually stopped punching Naruto to stare at the laughing Uchiha. Pushing those thoughts away the two genin made their way to the bridge to guard Tazuna, sure Zabuza wasn't much of a threat anymore but you could never count out the random thugs that Gatō could send.
"Yo Old Man." Naruto hailed him.
Tazuna turned to face the two. "Ah Naruto perfect timing, could you give me a hand here?" He pointed to a girder laying next to a pile of the things that had been singled out. "A couple of my workers chickened out and I'm a bit undermanned."
"Sure." He walked over and was about to help him pick up the piece of metal but then a thought hit him when he noticed only a few people around. "Hey Old man, how many of your workers quit?"
Tazuna sighed. "Is it that noticeable?" Naruto nodded "Over half my team quit, 10 of them in all." Tazuna ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know what I'm gonna do, sure I'm not being hunted by an A-class ninja anymore but what good is that gonna be if I cant finish this bridge?"
"Hey hey hey, No mopin old man I got this shit." Naruto brought his hands up in a familiar hands seal and where once was 1 now stood 50 Naruto clones. "So what do you need moved?" The clones all asked in unison.
Now Tazuna was expecting the blonde to help him since from the very moment he met the kid he always felt that helpful energy that he exuded in buckets, it was one of the reasons he wasn't scared of the kid despite the fear he had felt when Naruto had blown up in Inari's face. But this...this was just ridiculous, he had seen the technique before during the fight with Zabuza but using them to do manual labor? It was a ridiculous plan, but despite hearing the boys talk in stereo, just couldn't stop a smile forming on the mans face.
"I got several things you kids can do."
-ooo-
Sakura followed along behind Tsunami as they made their way to the market to buy groceries for dinner tonight, preparing themselves for the meeting with Zabuza tomorrow.
"It's so sad around here." Sakura sighed, looking around at all of the people around her, most were sleeping in wooden lean-to's or in broken down shacks.
Tsunami who had been quiet for most of the walk looked over her shoulder at the young kunoichi "It's why my father is so driven to finish the bridge, its the only thing that will break Gatō's grasp on our country."
Sakura and Tsunami walked in silence for a little bit longer as the streets started to come closer together, it was slightly intimidating how the buildings funneled like that, The number of homeless people dropped off and several unsavory looking thugs took their place.
"This is the way to the market? Seems a bit dangerous don't you think" Sakura hissed to Tsunami.
"It's not usually this bad." She admitted. "Normally its just one or two of them and there's more people walking around, I wonder why it's changed?" Concern laced her voice as the thugs around them eyed the two women with various looks of lust or greed. "Just keep going, we'll reach the market road in just a second." She whispered. Sakura nodded and the two sped up slightly, making their way to the end of the street, several of the thugs fell into place behind them prompting the two speed up a bit, they were only a dozen yards from the end of the road when a big burly man stepped out from one of the alleyways along the road.
"Well wha do we ave ere?" The Thug slurred, he was clearly intoxicated if the smell of alcohol on his breath was anything to go by. The man grinned showing off many missing teeth as he stalked a bit closer causing both women to look up at the man. He literally towered over the two ladies at about a head or two taller than Tsunami, with the muscles to back up his mass he formed an imposing wall between the thugs behind them and the safety of the main road.
"Now wha 're yah two ladies doin out ere? You coul ge urt." The man flashed a lecherous grin at the two girls who narrowed their eyes at the man, if it was one thing they despised equally it was a lecherous pervert who wouldn't think twice about raping someone.
Sakura's mind was racing as she tried to figure a way out of this mess, she glanced past the main thug and noticed that they weren't but maybe a 10 second run from the main road, a plan formed quickly in the kunoichi's mind. "Tsunami-san, when I tell you to, run for the main road and escape into the crowd, alright?" Tsunami nodded fearfully.
The two women inched closer to the main road, eyeing the thugs warily. Apparently the big thug didn't like that and scowled at them "Where da hell you tink you're goin?" he growled approaching the women.
"NOW" Sakura yelled using chakra in her legs to propel herself forward to land a chakra enhanced punch to the toughs stomach, it wasn't anything close to what Tsunade could pull off, but it got the job done as the man bent over and the waist in pain.
A blur to Sakura's right told her that Tsunami hade made a run for it.
"Don...just stan dere...afta er" The big man yelled at his cronies, gasping for a air a bit. The thugs rushed off after tsunami but Sakura was having none of that. She grabbed five shuriken from her pouch and launched them at the retreating men. With a cry of pain both men hit the ground as the razor sharp metal bit into tender flesh, two in one bandit and three in the other, all of them biting into the back of their legs or ass.
With a sigh Sakura turned back to the big man just in time to catch a meaty fist to the face. A gout of blood flew from her nose as she landed in a heap against a crate.
"You bitch, you'll pay fo dat" The man straightened back up cracking his knuckles angrily.
Sakura spat a glob of blood from her mouth. Her lip was busted and clearly her nose was broken as it bent to the side slightly. However, she fought through the tears to rise back to her feet, quickly rolling to the side to dodge the punch that broke the crate she landed against.
Grabbing a kunai during the roll, she flicked the weapon towards the thug, however unlike the other two the big one seemed to know how to fight, albeit rather poorly as he knocked the weapon out of the air with his fist. "Hehehe none a tha now ya ere." He chuckled darkly approaching the injured girl.
Sakura was still reeling from the punch when the thug landed a punch to her stomach, she could feel her bones creak under the force of that blow, whoever the bastard was he clearly had a decent grasp on brawling, coupled with his massive size the blows he threw had some weight behind them. He struck her in the jaw next, loosening several teeth.
"Yah feel like fighin now girly?" He grinned evilly, picking her up by her throat.
Sakura chocked as the meat hook of a hand cut off her air, one of her eyes was closed shut from a punch and the other was black and blue but she could see the mans face clearly and what she saw scared her more than anything, the man had a hungry look in his eyes, and a wicked smile that could peel paint if he so much as glanced at it. She knew what the man planned and at that moment she felt more scared than she had ever felt in her life, desperately she struggled against his grip but he held her hands away without much effort.
"Go ahead an squeal, ain no un gonna save yah" He breathed huskily in her ear, Sakura's one good eye widened in fear. Knowing something and hearing it firsthand sent a new shiver of horror through her body. the thug slammed her into the ground roughly, he let go of throat but kept her hands pinned to the side with one hand he began fumbling with the button of his pants.
Sakura let out a whimper as he grumbled "Shu it, I'll get to yah in a sec" He lowered his head to get a better look at why the button wasn't coming undone. That would be his undoing.
Reacting on fear and instinct Sakura began gathering chakra to her throat, molding it into water element chakra.
When the thug finally got the button undone he looked back up "Alrigh time fer some fu-" His sentence was cut off as a bullet of condensed water hit him right in the eye. With a shower of blood the man screamed out, letting go of Sakura and rearing back on his haunches. Sakura reacted quickly, adrenaline pumping wildly through her fear filled mind as she quickly got to her feet. With a roar of anger, she lanced out the most powerful kick she could in her condition right to the mans jewels.
Despite the loss of his eye, the man could only double over in agony as he felt his nuts crush under the vicious assault, as he bent forward to grab himself he caught Sakura's chakra enhanced knee right to the nose.
A sharp crack filled the air as the man hit the ground, Sakura panting and shivering over him as the adrenaline slowly left her. She looked at her hands quietly, wondering if she had just killed the man. That thought made her hands shake slightly, almost imperceptibly.
The man twitched suddenly and groaned in pain bringing Sakura back to the present as she flinched at the noise and looked around desperately for something to defend herself, there only a few feet away was the kunai the man had swatted away.
Shaking fingers closed around cold metal as she approached her assaulter staring down with a look of indifference at the helpless man...no not helpless. He was still a threat, both physically and mentally. She looked from the blade to the man several times, her breath coming in short gasps...She closed her eyes.
...
Sakura stumbled out onto the main road, walking as quickly as she could back to Tazuna's house, a bloody kunai in her hand.
-ooo-
Kakashi sat quietly reading his book with that same look of boredom he wore for everything short of a fight. It wasn't that he was actually bored, no. That was simply a way to throw people off, make people relax or not take him seriously, the Icha Icha just made that task easier. Most people would look at him funny, in a 'how dare you' kind of way, but again, it was unexpected for someone like that to be a trained assassin...and that was exactly how Kakashi preferred it, unexpected.
But that's not important, what was important, at least to the cycloptic Jonin was the shrimp on the roof who was doing his best to imitate Sasuke when he was in one of his 'moods.' Naruto's mental ass beating of Inari's views on life weren't taken too well by the boy. He had spent most of the past few days just staring out at the sea, In fact it was beginning to creep the masked man out a bit and that's saying something.
Kakashi snapped his book closed and sighed, it wouldn't do to let the boy stew over things for too much longer. So, with a determined sigh the man made his way to the roof of the house where the boy sat alone.
"You know...in my personal experience, it's not good to dwell on things like this." Inari ignored the greeting and continued to stare off into space. "Well aren't you a ray a sunshine" The jonin deadpanned, taking a seat next to the boy.
The two sat quietly just watching the sparkles out on the water, watching the seagulls fly lazily around and every so often dive bombing after a fish or some other marine animal.
"Does it ever get better?"
Kakashi raised an eyebrow glancing over at the boy, whose question was barely heard even by Kakashi's sensitive ears. After a moment to see if he would ask anything else Kakashi sighed "Well..." He began, looking up at the clouds above a calm expression on his face. "Yes and no, I guess would be the correct answer to that." Inari tilted his head slightly in the Jonin's direction, eyebrows furrowed questioningly. "Yes in that over time, the pain will subside. It doesn't matter how bad it hurts, the old proverb 'time heals all wounds' is quite accurate." The Jonin sighed again "And no, that despite being healed, there will always remain a scar. How deep that scar depends on how bad the wound but know this Inari and take it from someone who has lost loved ones not just once, but multiple times. Scars, no matter how deep, are there to remind us about our mistakes" He lifted his Headband up to show the young boy the scar over his left eye, then lowered it once the boy got a good look at it. "I got that scar from an enemy ninja during the war, it was a foolish mistake on my part that ended up taking the life of one of my comrades. He was a dear friend to me and even now I dwell on his death."
Inari was about to ask something but Kakashi cut him off "Dwelling on the death of someone and paying your respects to the person who saved your life at the cost of their own is not the same as dwelling on someone's death and letting that death rule you, letting it rule the way you think, act or treat others. Hell I'm, guilty of all three at times but I still try to get past it, I don't allow it to rule me."
Inari lowered his head in thought. He however flinched slightly when Kakashi's hand landed on his head to ruffle his hair a bit.
"Facing your problems is a big part of growing up kid. Adults can be guilty of running away but its a mark of maturity when you man up and deal with things head on. Naruto is a good example, for most of his young life he cried." Inari looked up in shock, Kakashi nodded. "Yes, for the first five years of his life he was quite the crybaby, it wasn't until Naruto found himself lost in the village festival celebrating one of our villages greatest hero's that he started to change. It wasn't a gradual change I can tell you that much."
"W-what happened?" Inari asked.
Kakashi looked at him for a moment. "Well, He had hid himself in a building across the street from a reenactment of the many battles of our fourth Hokage, a man as much myth and legend as flesh and blood. Naruto watched for hours taking in everything that those performers said and did like it was scripture to him. It changed him, he decided then and there to live his life like the Fourth Hokage, to live by the will of fire and his nindo, his ninja way." You could see a small smirk under the mans mask. "And as far as I know he's never cried after that, not one time.
The two sat in a comfortable silence as they watched the ocean.
A few minutes went by when Inari stood up eyes filled with determination. "Fine then." Inari growled "If that blonde idiot can do it so can I."
Kakashi beamed at the boy, he really was quite like Naruto in some ways, all he needed was a push in the right direction.
"Hey is that mom?" Inari asked suddenly turning to point towards the road that led to town. "What's she doing home so early, it's usually two hours before she gets back."
Kakashi didn't answer, he leapt off the roof and landed in a crouch, concern on his face. Sakura wasn't with her and she was running back here. A dozen thoughts ran through his mind at that moment, none of them good.
"Help!" Tsunami screamed, when she was close enough to the Jonin.
"Tsunami-san, what happened?" He was dead serious as the woman came up to him, breathing heavily and trying to catch her breath. She quickly described what happened to the man whose one eye widened. "Get inside and lock the doors I'll be back as soon as I can." Before he took off to find his student, praying that she was alright.
it was a few minutes later when he came across Sakura, limping her way down the road, using a stick she had found as a crutch.
"SAKURA!" Kakashi yelled landing in front of the girl who upon seeing the Jonin, collapsed in his arms.
Kakashi used what little medical chakra he knew to run a scan over her body, 'Two cracked ribs, a broken nose and several contusions on the chest and face...Whoever did this is going to die, painfully." The Jonin was seething in anger, so much so he almost missed the slight whimper, looking down at Sakura he saw that she was crying.
He sat there soothing the girl by stroking her hair gently, waiting for her to calm down. When she had stopped shaking he asked gently. "What happened?" They sat like that for several minutes as Sakura cried, trying her best to tell him what happened.
Kakashi's blood boiled when she said the thug had tried to rape her but that quickly turned cold when he noticed the bloody Kunai gripped tightly in her fist, the knuckles of her hand bone white, holding onto that weapon like a lifeline. "Sakura" he asked quietly, "Did you kill him?" The way the girl froze in his grasp spoke volumes, her spine was arrow straight under his hand. "Don't worry" he soothed. "I'm here, just let it out." He ran his hand along her back as fresh tears sprang to the girls eyes. She buried her face into his chest and soaked the thin material there in seconds. It was almost ten minutes later when Kakashi realized that she had cried herself to sleep, the injuries she had sustained and exhaustion taking its toll. Slowly so as not to aggravate her wounds, he picked the girl up and brought her back to the house where he could patch her up with what little medical knowledge he had.
-ooo-
"Kakashi-sensei, we're back!" Naruto yelled loudly as the two genin and Tazuna walked in the door.
"Let the whole country know we're here next time, idiot." Sasuke scoffed.
"Shut up duck head."
"Hn..."
"Nice comeback, real original." Sasuke rolled his eyes as they sat down at the living room table. "Why's it so quiet? And where is everyone?" Naruto looked around, seeing that no one was around and the house was surprisingly quiet.
"Eh they're probably just out shopping or something." Tazuna grumbled, taking a sip from his sake bottle.
"That's hardly the case I'm afraid" A voice said from the stairs. the three turned to see Kakashi coming down the stairs.
"What do you mean by that Kakashi?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow at how tense the man seemed. The eerie feeling that filled the room set them on edge. "What happened?" He asked quietly.
Kakashi sighed, this wasn't going to go over very well with the blonde. "Sakura." Naruto tensed at his teammates name being spoken in such a broken way, like something awful had befallen her, and truth be told it did. "She was attacked earlier and was nearly raped and killed." Kakashi knew that was a bad thing to say but saying it any other way would have just pissed the blonde off more. He suddenly felt the temperature of the room plummet and watched in slight fear as the Genin's eyes turned icy. Naruto's voice at that moment seemed to match his eyes in their coldness. "Who was it?" It wasn't a question from a student to a teacher. It was a demand and the way the blonde said it sent a unconscious shiver up the jonin's spine.
"I don't know" He said honestly. "Some random thug off the streets is what she told me."
Naruto just nodded once before he stood up and walked to the door.
"Naruto where are you going?" He voiced quickly, turning the blonde from his warpath of destruction.
"What's it look like I'm doing? I have scum to find and deal with." he growled in barely controlled rage as a slight bit of Kyuubi's chakra leaked into his voice, he turned once again to walk away.
"Wait Naruto!" Kakashi yelled after him, Naruto stopped but didn't turn around this time.
"What is it Kakashi?" Naruto's voice was calm and even but the air around him was charged with negative emotions, as several cracks of chakra discharged in the air.
"You can't kill the man that attacked Sakura." Naruto spun on his heels to give Kakashi a glare that could melt steel.
"Why" He demanded.
"Because...he's...already dead"
Naruto's eyes widened, the slight red tinge to his eyes disappearing instantly and the air began to warm. "Did you...?" he asked
"No." Kakashi sighed.
A look of understanding crossed the boy's face. "Where is she?"
"Upstairs in her room" He replied quickly, "She hasn't moved since I put her there. She was a bit beat up but I dealt with most of it with the meager medical knowledge I have." A slight nod was the only confirmation the Jonin received
"Come on Sasuke." The Blonde growled.
"Why?" Sasuke looked at Naruto curiously.
"Because, Sakura just made her first kill..." It seemed like the most obvious thing in the world.
"...Sooo?" Was the only response.
"Sooo, what do you think she's feeling right now, huh? I felt like scum after I killed someone and I know for a fact you haven't killed anyone yet but you HAVE experienced something as traumatic, or don't you remember?" Naruto looked back at him with the same expression.
Sasuke paled slightly as suppressed memories of the massacre started creeping their way to the front of his mind. 'F-fine, let's go." he grumbled pushing past the other genin roughly, muttering to himself.
Naruto glanced over is shoulder at Kakashi who nodded slightly to him, taking that as approval he walked upstairs to join his two teammates.
The two boys stood in front of Sakura's door warily. They couldn't hear anything at all which is what was putting them on edge. Naruto was the first one to the door handle, with a twist and a push they were in the room, which they almost immediately regretted. Even to Sasuke's senses you could tell something was wrong. To Naruto's senses it was much, much worse. Sadness, regret, anger, helplessness, were just some of the few emotions he could pick up...but that wasn't all. On top of all that were tears, a small bit of vomit and sweat which assaulted his nose. All in all it looked, felt and smelled like someone had just gone through a shocking and damaging experience, which to be perfectly honest was exactly what happened.
Sakura was curled up in the corner of the room, a trashcan next to her as she stared blankly at the wall beside her, she was so out of it she didn't even realize someone had entered the room.
Naruto and Sasuke shared a glance, Naruto's was an 'I Told you' look while Sasuke's was more along the lines of 'Shut up, I get it already.' The two crept up on the girl making a bit of noise so as not to startle her too much.
Sakura tensed when she felt a hand on her shoulder, she turned slightly to stare right into Naruto's deep cerulean eyes. Without a word Sakura launched herself into Naruto, knocking the air out of him as the pinkette sobbed into his shirt.
Naruto rubbed the girls back gently, letting her cry, letting her vent all her frustrations and fears. Naruto looked over Sakura's shoulders at Sasuke who was standing there impassively, not quite sure what to do at that moment. Naruto solved that problem however with a slight glare and nod towards Sakura.
With a sigh the last Uchiha joined in the hug and tried with his limited empathy to impart some positivity to the girl.
They sat like that for the entire evening and long into the night, Kakashi had brought the three of them food and with a warm meal in their stomach the three turned in for the night. Normally he would have separated them. Boys and girls separate simply for propriety's sake but seeing the three huddled together like that. Naruto with an intense expression on his face even in sleep, Sasuke with a peaceful-for-once expression instead of his broody scowl and Sakura's small smile, which filled the Jonin with hope. Normally a first kill like what happened to Sakura was an immensely traumatic experience but seeing those expressions on each of their faces left little doubt in his mind that his team had just taken a huge step forward in their bond. It wasn't just camaraderie or a friendship of convenience, this was a bond that would prove to be much deeper than that.
...At least he hoped so...
-ooo-
Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi walked towards the bridge, bodies slightly tense due to the situation. After all, today was the planned meeting and they'd be lying if they said they weren't at least a little bit on edge.
Sakura had stayed back at the house with Tsunami and Inari, Naruto in a stroke of brilliance (at least by his canon self's standards) Left a small army of clones to guard the house and keep Sakura company, She was still a little shaken up by the attempted rape and her first kill, but after sleeping with the comfort of both her teammates next to her she was at least able to have small conversations with people.
The two Genin and one Jonin arrived at the bridge to find it covered in mist.
"Glad to see you finally showed up, we've been waiting an hour." Zabuza growled as he walked from the mist, arms crossed with a small twitch to his eyebrows, Haku following just slightly behind him.
"Naruto-kun." Haku nodded to the blonde.
"Haku-chan" he nodded back.
Zabuza looked between the two of them. "Well aren't you two a pair."
Kakashi held up his hand to get the other Jonin's attention. "Let's cut to the chase Zabuza, what is your decision? Are you joining Konoha or not?"
Zabuza turned to the man flashed an irritated glare, before that softened into a sigh. "Before I answer that I need to talk with the brat over there." He nudged his head towards the blonde in question.
Kakashi eyed the man warily a little tense at the whole situation but agreed to the mans wishes. "Go ahead Naruto."
"What is it?" He asked the taller man, which was an understatement to be honest, even with Naruto's height upgrade he still stood several heads shorter than the giant of a man.
"I'll just put this bluntly. I don't trust you kid, not you or your team." He raised a hand up to calm Naruto's teammates. "Haku however trusts you more than I find healthy in my line of work, therefore I'm willing to give you the benefit of a doubt, but-" The mist Jonin trailed off almost like he didn't want to be here...and in some ways he didn't. Mingling with people was never really his style, he was more the stabby cutty dead kind of person and that kind of behavior usually didn't make for good conversation.
Naruto stared at the hesitation curiously. "But?" he drawled out.
"But, I have one solution, Haku trusts you, I don't. The reason I don't is because I'm basically putting my life in your hands" Zabuza eyed him dangerously. "Not your teams' hands either. Fuck no. You extended the invitation, you're the one responsible for us."
"So what is this solution then?" Naruto asked.
"Simple. You validate Haku's trust in your capable care." Zabuza pointed to Haku who nodded as well, both understanding the meaning since they had discussed the idea between them for the last two days.
"Meaning...?" Naruto pressed, clearly in the dark about the whole situation.
Zabuza snorted. "You fight, what else?"
Naruto sweatdropped slightly at the sarcastic response. "Oh...ok...and how does that make you trust me?"
"Simple, That mask she wears isn't just for show, she took it off a Kiri hunter that she defeated in one of her first tastes of combat. You beat her and you can beat anything from ANBU down. That's enough power in my book to keep just about any asshole off your back and it's one of the things I can truly respect and trust, Power."
"How...shallow of you..." Naruto chuckled nervously as the man gave him a death glare.
"I said one of the things I respect and trust and doubting my sincerity is one of the things I hate." he gave the boy a look that said 'Don't piss me off anymore or I'll stab you.'
Naruto gulped slightly and nodded "S-so how are we doin this?"
"A duel nothing more, nothing less." Almost as an afterthought her spoke airily "Though this will be full contact." At Naruto's questioning look he explained "She may trust you but she trusts me more, she won't be pulling any punches so try and take this seriously...or you'll die."
Naruto nodded slightly still not too happy about how things were going. He was doing all of this so he didn't have to fight his cousin but eh, such was life. He sighed once more but suddenly Naruto grabbed his head for a moment.
"What is it Dobe?" Sasuke asked noticing his teammates strained face.
"Oh Nothing" he replied releasing his head "Just a couple of Gato's thugs at Tazuna's house, don't worry my clones took care of them." Sasuke nodded, as Naruto walked toward Haku
"Naruto, you don't have to do this." Kakashi tried to say but Naruto brushed him off.
"Yeah I do." he sighed, taking his place across from Haku near the center of the uncompleted bridge.
The two teens stared each other down, one calmly acceptant of the situation the other slightly annoyed.
"Naruto-kun, I'm sorry about all this." The young ice mistress began, her tone calm and even despite her apology.
"Don't worry about it" He waved it off. "Lets just do this thing." He turned back to Zabuza for a second. "No kid gloves right? We use everything we got?" At the nod he reached into his pocket and retrieved a single ryu coin. "Well then, let's dance." He flicked the coin into the air and stared directly into Haku's eyes.
The staring contest continued as the shiny piece of metal spun in the air.
Spinning. Not once did they blink
Spinning. Hands inching towards their respective weapons.
Spinning. The two smiled.
*Chink*
Naruto rushed forward drawing a Kunai and throwing it in one fluid motion, in response Haku threw several senbon, knocking the Kunai off target. One of the senbon flew past the metallic exchange nearly skewered Naruto in the forehead but a slight tilt of the head let the senbon fly wide only slightly nicking him on the cheek, which healed almost immediately due to his tenants meddling.
Haku ducked the first punch Naruto launched as he reached her, going into a sweep kick to try and knock the blonde off his feet. Naruto jumped to avoid the attack and lanced a foot forward which was blocked by crossed arms sending the Ice mistress flying back a few feet to land in a crouch, one hand in front of her acting as a balance as she threw more senbon his way.
Naruto hopped back from the barrage as the thin slivers of metal stuck into the concrete where he last had been, demonstrating their sharpness and the reason it was a BAD idea to get hit with one. How the hell it stuck into solid concrete was beyond him but he clearly didn't want to find out, glancing up Naruto's eye's widened as he bent backward ducking the kick aimed for his throat, flipping backwards he put some distance between the two of them.
The two were slightly out of breath from the exchange, but the grin on Naruto's face and the small smile on Haku's betrayed the fact at just how much the both of the were actually enjoying the duel.
"You got some nice moves Haku-chan." He chuckled
"As do you Naruto-kun" She giggled into the hem of her robe, the sensual laugh sending a shiver through the blondes body.
'Where the hell did that come from?' The Genin wondered. Dodging another senbon brought him back to his sense 'Fight now, sexy later.' He pulled another kunai and the two met in a clash of metal, one holding said kunai the other blocking with a single senbon, how it was doing that without bending he didn't know but chakra had to be involved.
"Well now this is an interesting place to be in Naruto-kun."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "And just what do you mean by that, we're both evenly matched?"
"Ah but you only have the use of one hand" She raised her hand in a single handsign. "While I only need one hand." She started flipping through one handed seals.
'Shit' Naruto mentally moaned, 'I hate one handed seals...oh well.' He threw a little grin at his opponent before going into one handed seals as well which made Haku's eye's widen. Now it was simply a race to see who finished their seals first.
Haku finished slightly ahead of Naruto, as she slammed a foot into a puddle of water that had formed from all the mist around them, the droplets flying through the air formed into deadly looking needles.
"Hidden jutsu: One Thousand Needles of Death!" The ice user leapt back as the slivers of water descended towards their target.
Naruto finished his last seal a moment after Haku. "Water Release: Water Encampment Wall" As he breathed out a torrent of water that surrounded him in a thick shell of liquid.
Needles met wall in a clash of water, the two jutsu of equal power fought for dominance before they simply canceled each other out, the needles dispersing into mist as the wall collapsed into a puddle at the genin's feet.
"Impressive." Haku observed as the water from the two jutsu spread out along the ground.
"Heh, one of the few B-rank jutsu I know of right now, so it better damn well be." Naruto chuckled at that before he went back into his taijutsu stance, Haku did the same. The two clashed again this time Naruto drew his ninja-to to try and get some reach on the woman who seemed to love senbon to an insane degree. 'Something tells me Haku and Tenten are going to get along great together...' Naruto chuckled to himself
Haku saw how the added foot and a half of blade was affecting her as the blondes blade nicked her arms several times during the exchange. 'I guess I have to use that jutsu after all...I just hope I don't hurt him too much' Flying through several handsigns again she slammed her hands down into a puddle of water and shouted. "Ice Release: Shattering Ice Spear."
Naruto's eyes widened as the water around him shot up, almost instantly freezing into jagged spears, and were it not for his training with Anko, particularly the exploding kunai dodging practice, he most likely would have been skewered right then and there. Thankfully he was able to dodge most of them, however one of them ripped a tear in the back of his pants revealing the bushy tail he had stuffed inside.
Watching from the sidelines, Zabuza choked out incredulously "He has a tail?"
"Yes Zabuza, he does" Kakashi replied "Though he is a bit sensitive about it so I wouldn't bring it up unless its something positive, because sometimes he even scares ME with some of the crap he does." Zabuza gave his fellow Jonin a funny look. "I'm not joking. During the Genin test he and his teammates captured and knocked me unconscious, it may have just been a test but most of the initial planning and trapwork was all Naruto, he may be a Genin but he's got the balls of a Jonin I can tell you that much."
Zabuza snorted in amusement "I knew I liked that kid for a reason, he's making it awfully tempting to just join you guys but I don't go back on things like this, it just isn't my style, plus these two are really enjoying themselves wouldn't you say?"
Kakashi nodded a little smile on his lips "Yeah, I've never seen Naruto go all out on someone and while this isn't nearly his limits, Haku-san is definitely pushing him."
Haku meanwhile was unceremoniously fangirling up a storm 'HE HAS A TAIL! So cute!' she couldn't keep the blush off her face as she noticed the furry appendage twitch slightly as the two cousins stared each other down.
Naruto on the other hand was a bit pissed off 'Those were my good shorts, dammit...oh well cat's out of the bag I guess.' He noticed the reddened cheeks of his opponent and couldn't help the grin that graced his lips. 'Apparently she has the same thing for my tail as Hinata does.'
"She has good taste then" Kyuubi nodded sagely. "You humans always forget how wonderful a tail can be, so soft and fuzzy." A little perverse giggle echoed in his mind
'Why do I get the feeling that YOU have the same thing for tails as...you know what never mind. Don't ask, don't tell.'
"Feh, you know you want some of this sweet-"
'DONT ASK, DON'T TELL' he cut the connection just to make sure he wasn't distracted anymore than he already was, he REALLY didn't want to catch one of those ice spear things in the jewels, that would be...unpleasant.
Despite what she was feeling, Haku knew she had to bring out the big guns if she was to get Zabuza to acknowledge her cousin as a competent caretaker. "I'm sorry Naruto-kun, but this is probably going to hurt...alot." Flashing through several handsigns she brought her hands together in a strange seal that Naruto had never seen before, almost immediately the air around him began to cool "Ice Release: Demonic Ice Mirrors"
A chill went up Naruto's spine as his vision became distorted. He quickly looked around and noticed the same thing all around him, it didn't cover completely but the dome of rectangle-like objects had effectively sealed him inside. looking back to Haku he could see the woman on the other side of the...ice? He could only guess. Haku walked forward and stepped inside the ice mirror seemingly becoming part of it, the clearness of the walls around him turned Opaque allowing him to see the extent of what surrounded him.
It wasn't good.
Haku's image flickered into being around him, reflected between the mirrors. "I hope you are ready for this Naruto-kun, this is my ultimate technique."
A single twitch was the only warning Naruto had, with a blinding speed a dozen senbon lodged their way into the cement mere centimeters from his foot. He raised his eyebrows, 'Damn that was fast, I couldn't even keep track of it...Let's try this then.' A quick flurry of handsigns and a sharp inhale and exhale later. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" The abnormally large ball of flames ate at the mirrors in front of him, their wickedly hot tendrils powered by Naruto's massive chakra reserves. When the flames cleared the Ice had melted somewhat, but Naruto's eyes widened when the ice started reforming, it wasn't supposed to do that! He had never gotten his ice to do that before...
"Fire doesn't work on my ice no matter how hot it gets Naruto-kun." she giggled slightly at the blank look on Naruto's face. "Does my technique impress you that much Naruto-kun?"
"The hell it does, I've never been able to repair my ice abilities once they were set in motion like this, truly you are a master of your element Haku-chan." He threw her a little salute which gave the blonde haired genin the satisfaction of seeing her cheeks turn a wonderful shade of rosy red.
"Flattery won't help you Naruto-kun..."
"Perhaps not, but this might." Taking in a quick breath he flew through several seals again and exhaled, this time the flames were much hotter. "Lava Release: Molten Spray!" And unlike last time the molten chunks of lava stuck to the ice, which hissed in protest, melting much quicker.
Haku's eyes widened 'Another Bloodline!? Just how many can he use?' She adjusted the chakra flow to her mirrors to boost the strength and regeneration of them but it wasn't without effort, she had to finish this soon or else she'd run out of chakra. 'Sorry Naruto-kun but this is going to hurt for you.' A small glint of steel reflected in the mirrors as Haku let loose a barrage of pointy doom at Naruto, he cut the chakra to his technique and leapt back.
"Ahh" He cried out as several senbon still managed to strike him in his left leg. He stared down at the metal spikes lodged in the limb. They weren't hitting anywhere important but the slightly numb feeling he had told a different story. 'Dammit she nicked one of my pressure points. This isn't good, I can barely move my leg' Alarms of warning blared in his head as he leapt back, a half dozen senbon stabbing into the ground where he had been.
"Not slowing down are we Naruto-kun?" You could hear the gentle goading in her voice.
A tick mark appeared on Naruto's head 'The hell is she getting cocky for? That does it, I need an out.' He flew through several handseals and slapped the ground quickly "Earth release: Earth dome" Twin half circles of concrete rose up from the bridge slamming closed over Naruto's body stopping the barrage of senbon that he could hear slamming into the dome's side.
"That won't stop me Naruto-kun." And true to her words several Senbon broke through the dome to strike the ground next to him, the points of the needles glowing a bright green color.
'Fuck, wind chakra...' Naruto slammed his hands to the rock and pushed as much fire chakra as was acceptable into the dome, superheating it but keeping the rock solid. The next volley of senbon bounced off the sides of the dome, to the chagrin of the thrower. He breathed a sigh of relief, he could hear Haku let out a huff of annoyance as she saw her weapons fail to penetrate.
'That still doesn't fix my problem of being stuck in here, and just waiting her chakra out is such a bitch way out of the fight, outlasting an opponent is not the ninja way. Gotta strike with deception and...Oww, fuck.' He yanked his hand back as he had been unconsciously channeling more fire chakra through his hands into the stone, the rock beginning to get hot, even for him. 'I'm lucky this shit doesn't melt or shatter on me, it would suck if Haku used some ice jutsu on this thing just to blow it u...wait...ohohohohooo now there's an idea.' Naruto held out one of his hands and channeled a minuscule amount of chakra into a small point in the ground below him. Using a half tiger sign he activated the chakra in the cement floor and a small pop answered, looking down he noticed the pock mark in the cement where his chakra had blown a hole in the ground. 'Haha, success.'
"Wait...What. What the hell did you do?" Kyuubi poked in, noticing the strange flux of power from her container.
'Oh not much, just coming up with a bitchin plan to defeat Haku.'
"How so?" She questioned, a genuine interest tinting her voice.
'Well' He started 'I noticed back when the old man let me look at the Uchiha Library that there was this special Kekkei Genkai nature unique to Iwa, called Explosion Release. This Kekkei Genkai allows the user to channel their chakra into an object and or send their chakra out in an 'explosive release'.'
"Sooo what? That still doesn't mean anything as long as you're stuck inside this...Oh...You devious little bastard, how the hell did you ever figure that out? You never learned Explosion Release."
'Yep that's the plan, and honestly? I just went through several combinations of Nature chakra until it felt right, mixing it just so, then infusing it into the stone. It's not explosion release per se, more like a bastardized version until I can get the mixture of natures right, now watch and learn Kyu. Watch. And. Learn, Muahahahaha.' Placing a hand on the dome for a moment he cut all elemental chakra flow from it, canceling the fire chakra that was keeping the wind senbon from coming through and in its place he poured in an obscene amount of explosion release chakra 'Here's hoping I don't blow us all to hell' He took his palms off the stone, the very matter humming with power as he slapped the ground, once more raising a dome within the first, however this one was far, far thicker and nearly three times as dense as the first. It took alot out of him but he'd never admit to it, giving one last prayer to Kami and sending chakra to all of his senses to dampen them (a little trick he'd picked up from Anko) before lowering his head between his knees and kissing his ass goodbye, using a single handseal to activate the explosion before the world turned white...
Outside the domes and oblivious to everything was Haku, who stared intently at the rocky formation with interest...That is until the stone began to hum with barely controlled power, which then turned to outright fear, before that fear was replaced by pain, as the world turned white.
(BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM) said the giant ass explosion that probably would even impress Deidara.
Speaking of Which
-somewhere in the land of earth-
"Aaachoo" Deidara wiped his nose with his Akatsuki robes. "Someone must have made a great work of art and I missed it dammit." He held a single finger to his chin in thought. "I wonder if we can share ideas, yeah."
"We don't have time for this, whoever this person is we can find them later." The low, smooth voice of Sasori called from the shadows. "Let's go, we need to find our contact."
"Alright." Deidara nodded following behind the hunched Sasori. "But whoever it is just blasted someone straight to hell I can guarantee that, yeah."
-Back with Naruto...ground zero-
Smoke, that was all anyone could see after the brilliant flash of light and sound, then when the smoke cleared only a crater was visible, with a smoking and still sizzling Naruto sprawled out with little swirley's in his eyes. He coughed once and a ring of smoke floated lazily from his mouth.
'Remind me not to do that again, ever.' he groaned.
"..." For once the fox was speechless, she looked over the damages to the boy's body and aside from the minor burns and a few minor busted blood vessels from the shockwave he was in relatively good shape. "You are soooo fucking lucky, I can't even begin to describe it."
'Tell me about it, I think I might have packed a BIT too much juice into that' He looked around, surveying the damages. It wasn't pretty, all around him in a circle was a crater in the bridge about twice as wide as the dome was, a few places the blast had blown through the concrete and left holes in the thing. 'Tazuna is going to kill me.' He sighed.
"Just use an earth jutsu or two on it, it'll be fine." From inside Naruto Kyuubi expanded her senses trying to find where Haku was, judging by the bits and pieces of broken ice mirror she was probably outside the blast radius, in various degrees of pain. "Speaking of fine, your fine ass cousin is currently smoldering in a crater about 100 feet away next to that crane, you might want to help her."
Naruto's eye's widened as he rushed over to machine to find a clearly smoking, clearly NAKED Haku. But that wasn't what made Naruto and Kyuubi's jaw drop. What did surprise them were the large, soft breasts that splayed out from Haku's chest.
'HAKU'S A D -CUP!?' Naruto gasped. 'Where the hell did she hide them?'
"She must wrap her breasts or something, it's a common kunoichi practice if I remember correctly. Your mom was a DD and she wrapped her breasts to look more like a C-cup."
'Two things. 1. Did not want to know that. 2. ...Actually fuck 2, DID NOT WANT TO KNOW THAT!'
"You humans and your views on incest...animals in the wild mate with their family all the time, why should this be any differ-"
'LALALALANotListeningLALALALA LA' He made a show of mentally plugging his ears despite the fact that her voice was in his head.
"You do realize that if Haku has the hot's for you and if you two do get together that you'd be fucking your cousin, right? Its distant relation, sure but the fact remains she's still your family."
'...'
"And that's why you don't argue with a several millennia old, giant demon fox...also your girlfriend is still baking there, you might wasn't to do something about that."
Naruto blinked then looked back down to Haku, sure she was naked, but he could definitely see the reddened skin along her body and the tiny flecks of rock that had lodged in her skin with little trickles of blood flowing out of the wounds. Quickly thinking he condensed some water from the air and cooled the water down with his Hyōton then slowly rubbed the ice along the inflamed flesh, using what little medical jutsu he knew from teaching Sakura to heal the wounds. It wasn't much but by the time he was through her breathing had returned to normal and her skin was the pale milky color it was before, though there were still several blood spots where rock chips had gone too deeply to heal so he had wrapped them in a piece of his torn shirt. After tending to her wounds he pulled out his storage scroll which luckily had survived, along with most of his wardrobe, intact. He pulled a blanket out and laid Haku on it before wrapping her in it trying to make it as comfortable as possible. He straightened when he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.
"Well kid" Zabuza chuckled, a not so hidden smirk on his face, Kakashi and Sasuke not far behind him. "Seems like you beat Haku in a fairly impressive fight, I do love it when they go out with a bang like that." He nodded once. "I guess a deals a deal. Me an Haku are in your care, but if you go back on this little bargain of yours" His smirk changed to a scowl "Your head is mine." He would have said more but a loud tapping was heard from the beginning of the bridge.
"Well Well Well, it seems I've been betrayed. And here I thought you ninja respected the honor of your clients, I guess I was wrong, eh Zabuza" Gato tapped his cane once more as the ninja on the bridge turned to see the billionaire himself had graced them with his presence, along with the veritable army of goons standing behind him
Zabuza growled "Yeah right, you were planning to double cross me first you swine. That bastard squad of cheap liquor and bad steel behind you is proof enough of that."
Gato let loose low, dark chuckle, "Maybe so but I did put alot of effort into guaranteeing your demise, I can see you're not as tired as I'd hoped you'd be, but I paid good money to hire the very best mercenaries, still not as much as I would have paid you. You missing nin are all so very expensive to maintain after all."
Kakashi scanned the crowd of mercenaries quickly guessing their numbers and skills. "This isn't good Zabuza" he whispered to him, Naruto catching most of what he said. "He wasn't kidding, there's close to 250 of them, and at least 30 of them are Samurai, from their weapons and armor they look to be deserters from the Land of Iron, the Military there is nothing but samurai and those samurai are taught how to handle and manipulate chakra to power their blades." He glanced at the polished and well kept blades the men carried. "They are masters of kenjutsu and taught the tactics of and how to deal with shinobi, with that many of them on Gato's payroll even I would have trouble fighting them."
Gato chuckled again. "I can see you eyeing my little squad of samurai. Yes, these guys were a bit more expensive than your standard merc fare but they make up the lack of destructive quality from most ninja with a nice destructive quantity." Gato stared at each ninja in turn before his gaze finally landed on Haku, and let a creepy, disgusting grin cross his face. He turned his head to address a slightly more well dressed mercenary among the group. "Kill the men and bring me that girl." He said loudly, not really caring who heard him. "After I have a little fun with that bitch, we go to kill Tazuna." His smirk turned predatory. "Who knows, if you goons do a good enough job I may let you have some fun with the bastards daughter and the little pink haired ninja over there.
"Oh he did not just threaten to rape Haku, Tsunami, and your teammate, you're not gonna just let him say that shit, right Naruto? ...Naruto?" After a second or two of no reply, Kyuubi looked back at the mental representation of her containers emotions and gasped. The small and normally pure white orb was glowing a deep crimson red with flames licking at the air above it. 'Oh shit! He's beyond pissed...'
Outside his mindscape Naruto's eyes were shadowed by his bangs, Slowly a single thread of chakra rose around him, the deep crimson energy swirling around his body picking up bits of dirt or rock and flicking them off to the side.
Kakashi froze, as a shiver of fear went up his spine. He knew that feeling and it could only mean one thing. Kyubi.
Zabuza also felt the energy, it was oppressive, stifling even. In all his years of being a shinobi he had never felt a chakra like this, it was spreading a killing intent over the entire bridge like a mist, much like his own hidden mist jutsu but far, far more malevolent.
Sasuke stared at Naruto's back, his breath coming out in gasps. The last Uchiha fell to his knees and started sweating heavily. He couldn't breath, it felt like sitting at the bottom of the ocean, the pressure forcing you down, suffocating you...killing you. During all this he didn't even noticing his eyes flicker for a moment from the deep black which was his normal color, to a rich crimson red only interrupted by his pupil and a single tomoe. His final though before he passed out was 'Is...is this Naruto?' before all went black.
Kakashi heard Sasuke's gasp and turned back to see him just before he collapsed, catching a single glimpse of red in Saskue's eyes. 'Well that was unexpected... Can't say I'm not happy for him but this is serious, Naruto is using the Kyuubi's chakra...is the seal weakening? Is the Kyuubi breaking free?'
Gato and his thugs on the other hand were all damn near pissing themselves, in Gato's case...well the wet stain running down his leg tipped off anyone who bothered to look. Hell even the stoic Samurai had a grimace on their face, beads of sweat rolling down their forehead and their breath deepening, despite their training against such things, the killing intent focused on them was far beyond anything they had trained for.
Naruto noticed none of this, his gaze was dead set on Gato, more specifically his eyes, not once did either of them blink. Scared, fear filled eyes met red, slitted, bestial eyes. Gato knew that it was dead set on his death, he could see it, feel it, could damn near TASTE it. Naruto let out a throaty growl, a Scowl clear on his face. "Gato, I was going to be merciful and give you to the villagers to let them decide your fate, but no, not now. No one threatens the people I care about Gato, your ass is MINE!
Gato pointed one finger at the blonde and stuttered out "Wh-what are you fuckers w-waiting for, it's just one boy. Kill him!" The group of mercenaries let out a roar and charged the lone genin.
They didn't make it half way to him.
Flying through dozens of handseals at speeds even Kakashi was surprised by, the boy finished his chain of seals with hands clasped together. "Water Release: Raging Torrent!" Water from both sides of the bridge sloshed up from the ocean and swirled around Naruto for a moment before meeting the charging band of mercenaries head on, in moments they were up to the thighs in the rising brackish liquid.
Naruto's scowl never left as he flashed through several more handseals, slapping his hands onto the river of water that had formed on the bridge. "Ice Release: Frozen Wave" The water flash froze, the lucky ones were caught in the ice around their waist, the unlucky ones were those that hadn't been hit with the water yet as they caught the rapidly freezing liquid coming towards them, the leading wave forming deadly spears.
Several cries rang out, as blood stained the ice...
Funnily enough Gato had survived the attack, both the initial wave and the freezing of said wave and was backed up against a wall staring at the bloodied corpses of the back line of his men, as the rest of the living ones struggled in waist deep ice.
Then as if to signify their last moments on this earth the sound of Naruto's Ninja-to sliding from it's sheath was heard, Naruto held the blade in front of his face the the edge glowing a eerie green, "Wind Release: Wind Cutter!" He cried and with a single swipe of his sword Naruto released an immense blade of wind.
The results were...messy.
Zabuza watched the attack tear into the helpless fools that dared to attack Naruto. "Hey Kakashi?"
"Yeah Zabuza?"
"Did I ever mention that I liked that Kid?"
"Yes Zabuza, several times already."
"Good, because he's just been upgraded to 'don't fuck with.' status"
"..." Kakashi stared blankly at the man who had this look of utter joy at the way the kid just destroyed his enemies, that and a decent amount of respect for him protecting the honor of his adopted daughter, though the hardheaded man would never admit it. Kakashi just shook his head and looked back at the destruction, just in time to see Naruto picking up the little leech that had caused this country so much trouble.
"W-w-wait, Please don't kill me" Gato begged miserably, holding his hands up in front of him trying to appease to the demon of anger and vengeance that had manifested itself in the young blonde boy holding him several feet off the ground. "If it's money you want I'll give you whatever you want. Land? Women? Power? I'll give you all of it, just please spare me."
The perpetual scowl on Naruto's face deepened "I don't want your dirty money Gato, or your crooked land holdings, or the whores you've broken to satisfy your own twisted needs and as you can see I have all the power I need to kill you." Naruto raised a hand preparing to end the wretched mans life and free the people of Wave but something stopped him, it was Zabuza's hand.
"Remember I need the information this prick has if I'm going to be joining Konoha, that was the whole point of me following this asshole from the beginning."
Naruto nodded and lowered the man.
Gato let out a sigh of relief, glad that his feet were touching the ground, only for that sigh to turn into a gurgle as he quickly changed hands. From Naruto's grasp on the collar of his business suit to Zabuza's iron clad grip on his neck.
"Now about that information Gato..." Zabuza prodded menacingly.
"I-It's at my head-headquarters, M-my office, t-t-top right drawer, far right s-side." Zabuza dropped the short man and rushed off to grab the documents he wanted not even bothering to look back .
Gato sighed again, tensing just to get ready incase he became someone else's ragdoll for that evening. He looked up into the hate filled eyes of Naruto, shivering slightly as they changed from blue to red and back again, from what? He could only guess.
Naruto growled a deep throaty growl. "Well Gato, what do we do with you now?"
"P-please, I'll give all the money I've taken and more back to Wave, j-just please don't hurt me."
Gato ACTUALLY got on his knees and bowed to the blonde who could only look on in disgust at the man, but in a show of restraint he humored him. "IF and I DO mean IF, you tell me where you keep your money, I will promise you that neither I nor my associates will harm you."
"It's in a safe at my headquarters here, its right next to the filing cabinet that Zabuza is most likely looking through right now. Combination is 5871"
Naruto nodded. "Very well Gato, You kept your end of the bargain, I shall keep mine, neither I nor my associates will harm you in any way."
Gato kept his head bowed, a dark, evil grin spread across his face 'That's right, take my bribe you son of a bitch. I don't need the money from this hell hole, I built my company from nothing, this is only a minor setback.' He was imagining all the things he'd do to the blonde when he finally got his resources back together from this fuckup when he felt his knees and hands leave the ground. Looking up he saw the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen in his life. The glowing red eyes of the boy who'd promised to spare his life and his grinning, fanged mouth crooked in a wicked smirk.
"B-b-but y-y-you s-said." He started, only to be turned around to face the large gathering of people behind him, the citizens of wave it seemed had developed a backbone while his army was getting torn apart. Gato paled drastically.
"I said I and my associates, that means me, my team, Zabuza and Haku-chan, I didn't say anything about the people of wave."
Gato let out a whimper then a scream as he was tossed towards the angry citizens of Wave, he landed in a heap leaving bits of skin on the concrete of the bridge.
"He's all yours." Naruto waved at the civilians and their shocked faces at having their tyrant delivered to them in a nice, bloody basket. Naruto turned away from them as Gato's screams grew, the people of wave it seemed, neither forgot nor forgave his treatment of them and they would make sure he felt every agonizing second of it.
-4 days later-
With the help Of Naruto, Kakashi and Zabuza's clones the bridge was built in record time, a few earth jutsu's here a, fire jutsu there and many of the jobs requiring dozens of man hours took minutes.
Now the Konoha team, Haku, Zabuza and the entire population of Wave was standing on the bridge waiting for Tazuna to christen the new bridge in a ceremony due to their hero's, their saviors.
"We can't thank you enough." Tazuna smiled, dressed in a moderate business suit and tie, at least trying to be well dressed for the occasion. He reached out a hand to the young man in front of him, with his help, the country of Wave would prosper and with it the lives of everyone who's hope had been restored by the young blonde.
Naruto grinned and shook the offered hand. "Don't you worry about it old man, just call any time you need me to bust some heads, I'll come runnin."
"Hehehe, I don't think we'll need someone like that for quite some time me boy."
The blonde laughed. "Well, whatever the future holds I guess. if you're ever in the neighborhood, stop by and pay me a visit, I'll do the same."
The kids grin was infectious as most of the people around him along with Tazuna, Tsunami and Inari shared the simple smile.
The people of Wave waved good bye as the five ninja made their way across the bridge, back to the Land of Fire and Konoha.
"Hey Gramps?"
"Yeah Inari?" Tazuna turned to the young boy who was staring after the ninja still thinking on what Naruto, or at least his clone had told him, when he had tried to save his mother from Gato's goons.
"Have you got a name for the bridge yet?" he turned his gaze to the older man questioningly.
"Can't say that I have, why? Do you have a name for it?"
Inari smiled. "How about The Hero's Bridge?"
Tazuna couldn't help but laugh. "That's a wonderful name Inari" He turned to watch the Ninja, who were nothing but specks by now. "A bridge on which a Hero once stood. Yes, that is a great name for the place which Naruto Uzumaki became our hero."
-ooo-
ANNND DONE!
Ok guys that's all, next chapter is the return home, since they finished the bridge early this time there's going to be some 'filler' before the start of the chunin exam arc, that's not gonna be long but it will have alot of stuff that will probably affect the future chapters, only time will tell.
Lava Release: Molten Spray
Rank-C
Description: A parallel to the 'Great fireball technique' only with Lava Release. The flames are much hotter but behaves in mostly the same way as the great fireball.
Water Release: Raging Torrent
Rank-C
Uses ambient water to create a wave of water to send towards your opponent. A similar but weaker version of 'Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique.'