Disclaimer goes here.

Spee...ah you get the idea!

Miss Finnish: Actually, the damage Haku found was Naruto taking his frustration out on the surrounding environment. I just wanted to bring it up from her PoV.

Wolf In Fox's Clothing

Chapter 11: Do The Wave One More Time

For as long as he had known her, Zabuza could only describe Haku as quiet. She was never one to stand out much, except when she fought. Even though he first considered her only as a weapon and nothing more, over the years he had actualy grown somewhat fond of the ivory-skinned girl, seeing her more like a little sister. Now however, something about Haku had him scratching his head.

Ever since the day before yesterday, when she had gone out to restock her supply of herbs, he couldn't help but notice she seemed to be...blushing somewhat. He pointed it out and she claimed it was just from being outside. Both of them knew it wasn't the truth but he knew calling her out wouldn't help. And then there was the slight giggle she let out on occasion.

Laughing in any way, shape, or form was something he had never seen her done; so it came as a bit surprising when he first heard it. Something had brought about a change in Haku, however so slight.

And he wanted to learn what it was. For now, however, he had other things to deal with. Namely a man called Kakashi Hataki and his genin team. He had a job to do and they were his primary obstacle. Them plus this new Leaf Team Haku mentioned.

Tomorrow, he told himself as he crushed an apple in his hand.

Tomorrow.

"Kurenai-Sensei, have you seen Naruto?" Hinata asked, a tightly bound scroll rested in her hand. "A messenger bird from Konoha arrived shortly with a scroll addressed to him."

"He should be out back with Kakashi. He said something about wanting to check out his sword." She responded.

Of course at that particular moment, Kakashi was more concerned with picking the thing up. "KAMI! This thing's heavy!" He exclaimed, his hands shaking from just trying to keep it off the ground, "How the hell can you swing it, Naruto!?"

The blonde laughed, "It wasn't easy at first. You wouldn't believe how many times the momentum got the better of me. I'm just glad all the training Guy-Sensei gave me made it go a little faster."

The cylopiean jounin nearly dropped the sword when he heard the name, "Guy? You trained with Might Guy??"

"Yeah, Asuma introduced him to him so I'd at least be somewhat on par with the academy students that trained with their parents."

"Um, can I ask how long?"

Naruto scratched his head, "About 8 years, give or take a month."

Kakashi paled, "If he went through the kind of training I think he did..hoo-boy..."

He was quickly pulled from his thoughts by a loud commotion coming their way. The pair looked to see Hinata come up carrying the scroll with a scowling Sasuke in hot pursuit.

"I said give me that scroll, Hyuuga!" The raven-haired boy ordered.

"And I said no!" She snapped back, "Naruto, catch!" With a flick of the wrist, she hurled it to him like a kunai.

The moment he caught it, the name on it caught his eye, "From the Hokage?"

"Why the hell would he send that loser anything?!"

Naruto ignored him and opened it. inside was a letter with a smaller scroll rolled up inside.

"Naruto,

My secretary found this while sorting through some old files. I was rather surprised it even existed. Neither Minato nor Kushina even told me about it. It probably would've been prudent to wait until you returned to give it to you, but I felt it was best it be in family hands as soon as possible. Anyway, hopefully you can put it to good use.

Sarutobi."

Hinata cocked her head at the scroll, "A blood seal? Those are normally used by clans to protect their family techniques."

"Well, lets see what it says." He gave it the once-over before chuckling sheepishly, "Uh...how do I open it?"

"You have to rub some of your own blood on the seal. Although it'll only open if a family member was the one to seal it."

Without a second thought, the werewolf bit his finger and swiped the bloody digit across the seal. It faintly glowed for a moment before breaking apart and he unfurled it. Everyone watched while he mumbled something to himself, his hair turning from side to side being the only indicator he was reading it. Sasuke fumed and looked ready to snatch it away when the blonde slowly lowered it, chuckling slightly and his face twisted into a 'smoldering' grin.

"W-What is it, N..Naruto?" Hinata, fidging a bit; that grin was starting to heat her up.

"My mom's fighting style: The Lunar Fist." He replied, the grin intensifying.

After several minutes of Team 8 reading the scroll over Naruto's shoulder after learning what the scroll had and Kakashi having to prevent Sasuke from trying to snatch it...again; Naruto managed to get to a quiet area so he could study the scroll better.

"Who would've thought there'd be a werewolf taijutsu." He chuckled as he read through the style's overview. Somewhat similar to Strong Fist, the Lunar Fist style involved powerhouse strikes. However, it called for the user to put their whole body into the hit to take advantage of the werewolf strength and speed. A little chakra could be thrown in as well to amplify the strike.

"Are you going to incorperate it into what you know of the Strong Fist so far?" Kyuubi asked.

"Nah..that's Lee's style. He's been working on it a lot harder and longer than I have. Doesn't seem fair if I try to mix and match." With that, he summoned up a clone and had it hold the scroll so he could reference it, "Okay, first stance.." He mumbled, crackling his knuckles.

"I can't believe that guy.." Kiba muttered to himself as he and Shino zipped up their coats, "Practicing halfway through the night..that's just damn crazy."

"True. Although this IS Naruto Uzumaki you're talking about." The Bug-user replied, remembering when the Jounins came in late last night, dragging a wore out blonde between them. It was decided to just let him sleep while the others went to guard Tazuna and his workers on the bridge. Tsunami promised she'd let him know once he woke up.

Hinata glanced back at the room he was sleeping in as they all headed out. She had volunteered to keep him company but all of them would be needed in case Zabuza had learned about them and brought help himself.

"Ok, let's get going." Kurenai said, flanking the bridge builder between her and Kakashi as they brought up the rear behind the genins.

A half hour later, Naruto shot up in bed, "Man..guess I overdid it.."

"Ya think??" Kyuubi responded dryly, "You wore yourself out to the point that the others decided to just let you sleep."

"What!? For crying out out loud! Why the hell didn't some one wake me up?!" Cursing to himself, he scrambled to get dressed.

"NO! Run, Inari!!" Naruto's ears perked up at the cry coming from outside. Bolting to a window he saw a pair of grungy-looking swordsmen holding their blades at Tsunami's throat. One looked like he was ready to slaughter for the sheer fun of it. And he was staring at Inari like his nect victim.

"Leave my mother alone, you slimebags!" The boy said defiantly, doing his best to hold his ground against the two thugs. "I'm not going to run..Gato..Gato's nothing but a bully!"

"Just one slash, come on.." the man said, fingering his blade..

"You make one move towards my son and I'll bit my tongue off and choke on my blood, I swear it!"

"Gato said he needed a bargaining chip, you idiot! Just grab the brat and you can kill them both afterwards!"

Watching those two immediately brought back memories of the man that tried to kidnap Hinata, making Naruto snarl as he began to climb out the window.

"Kit, you know if it comes down to it, you'll have to..."

"I know...I'd have to kill sooner or later. Just wish it was later." He said before taking a flying leap off the edge of the room.

"That's it! I can't take it anymore! I gotta kill one of them!" The first thug snapped, raising his sword at Tsunami, "Don't worry, This'll be.." He was cut off when he was driven into the ground from Naruto landing on him. There was a sickening crunch as his ribs snapped under the impact and the blonde's weight.

"Where'd the hell did you come from?!" The other yelled, watching his partner cough up blood before going limp.

"You should be more worried about what I'll be doing to you if you don't back off." Naruto growled, drawing his own blade and pointing it at him. Before he could react, Naruto bolted forward and brought the flat of his sword down hard on the man's head, crumpling him instantly.

"Mom!" The boy rushed over to be sure she was ok while Naruto tied up the man. He sighed when he checked the other's pulse; the man was dead from the rib shards piercing his lungs and heart. Try as he might, the young boy couldn't keep from breaking into tears.

"Hey, Inari." Naruto piped up, "I think your dad would've been proud of you."

Despite his tears, Inari was able to smile, "Thanks, Naruto.."

The blonde gave a quick nod before making his way to the bridge, "If those two were sent by that teme, Gato, then.."

A feral grin appeared on both the Kyuubi's face, "Wanna bet we're gonna get our chance to meet this Zabuza character?"

Naruto's face darkened as he sped up, "Something tells me things are gonna get real ugly, real fast."

I know I meant for this chapter to be the brdge fight, but given how long it took me to get this part how I wanted it, I have a feeling a few of you were getting a lil antsy.

So, next chapter, I PROMISE is the fight. Plus the Konoha nins see how 'beastly' Naruto can get.

Next time: The Demon of the Mist vs. The Werewolf of Konoha.