Just to let you all why I'm not really answering that many of your reviews right now, I'd just like to tell you that my family's satellite had a part on it screw us over. I've actually been off the net since the 20th of January. I got the replacement part for it now, but unfortunately the dish is still being an idiot. So for the next little while I'm stuck using an internet café that's a good half hour drive away from my home when I want to check my e-mail or post a new chapter. I hate it how I get so many e-mails at once. If I leave my e-mail alone for more than three days I've got over 150 to look through, and at least sixty of those are from this site. (shrugs shoulders) Oh well. I can't really do much about my problem until I'm able to get a stinking tech for the dish out here (The closest one is a two hour drive away and I don't have the money at the time to pay the guy).
As for the reviewer who made comments on my grammar. I'm glad you did that. I guess it brings me back to something I've been trying to ask of people for the longest of times, ever since I started writing really. 'Would somebody please be my beta-reader??' I know that sometimes it may seem that some parts were over-wordy, this is something that another one of you reviewers pointed out to me with the last chapter, stretching out sentences longer then they need to be or just forgetting to put coma's in places. I'd just like it if someone would be willing to at least proof-read chapters for me and point out these mistakes if they see them so that I can correct them before posting.
Anyways, that's enough about that stuff. I'd just like to announce to you all that from here on out the story will really start moving. What I mean by that is that unless I feel that it is absolutely necessary, I will not be throwing out as many 'teaching' or 'description' sessions from Naruto or anyone else. I will be moving into more actual conversations, yes you will be hearing the others talk more too (gasp, OMG). Yeah, yeah, I figure that enough of you have argued that, that in the last chapter I started trying to include other people as more then just background characters.
The last thing I'd like to say before I start the chapter is that for at least this chapter, any techniques that I don't know the Japanese name of will be written in English instead.
Well, I guess that I have more to say but I'm going to save that for the end of the chapter. As what seems to be usual, please enjoy.
OoOoO
Za Kaze Shokkou: A Naruto AU Fanfiction.
Written by: Cloud1239999
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. It is as simple as that. I'm only writing this story for both my personal and the enjoyment of others. I do not intend to make any form of money off of this story. If however you do see reason to sue you will find no money within my pockets. That's right; I'm a 21 year old with no money and still living with my parents. :P
Rated: M (For Swearing, Gore, and any other mature thing that may show up including a possible future lemon ((Don't know this one for sure)). Reader Discretion is advised.)
OoOoO
Attention: This chapter is the first where the rating comes into effect. There will be death and gore (some of which will be described in detail) as well as harsh language (aka: swearing) in a scene or two.
Reader Discretion is advised. (I've so wanted to say that for a while now.)
OoOoO
Naruto and the Demon Brothers stood on the surface of the canal a distance from the bridge. All three of the combatants were breathing hard. This was the first small break in what had of been Naruto's first ferocious battle.
With eyes darting between his opponents, Naruto was busy analyzing the last few minutes of the fight and trying to come up with a strategy to rip apart the excellent teamwork that the brothers were showing so far.
Right from the beginning of the battle Gozu, and Meizu were performing an excellent tag team attack from a range of ten meters away from Naruto. Naruto was sure that if it wasn't for the fact that he was capable of moving at amazing speeds himself, then the Demon Brothers would have been constantly circling him as they alternated attacks with their chains and a few minor water jutsu thrown in as well to throw Naruto off. It seemed to Naruto that in this confrontation they were favoring weighted chains with spike on them; the two were no longer just using the one chain that connected their gauntlets the last time he saw them.
Any further thought on Naruto's part was suddenly interrupted when the weighted end of Gozu's chain flew straight at his face. Just after Naruto dodged the chain by ducking, the chain suddenly hit its distance but would just reel itself back to its owner just as fast, if not faster, than when it was originally thrown.
'I guess they're channeling chakra into their chains to do that.' No sooner than that thought crossed his mind was he forced to dodge another chain, this one thrown by Meizu, which came from his left side. Naruto dodged it by rolling to the side on top of the water's surface away from Gozu to gain some distance. Naruto was forced to immediately jump backwards into the air as soon as he got back to his feet by another attack from Gozu. Their attack pattern continued for two minutes like that as Naruto continued to dodge until he made his second mistake in the battle; the first was when he got blindsided by the brothers while he was on top of the bridge. Naruto jumped.
Another unseen smirk grew across the brothers' faces as they jumped into the air after Naruto. What followed was a completely unexpected move.
Meizu threw the weighted end of the chain that he was holding at his brother. Naruto's look of surprise intensified as Gozu caught the chain and attached it to his gauntlet. With a slight flare of chakra the chain between the two gauntlets became visibly tenser and flew towards Naruto.
Naruto was quick to pull the fan from his back and parry the unexpected way of attack over his head. This however was what the Demon Brothers wanted.
Naruto looked in fear as he suddenly realized what was happening. The chain quickly looped over his head so that it was loose around Naruto a couple times. Naruto saw the slight glint that entered the brothers' eyes as they spoke in unison.
"One down."
Time seemed to slow down for Naruto as he watched the chain start to enclose on him. A thought entered his mind and Naruto suddenly gave a small smirk that made the brothers wary.
'This will have to work.' Was the thought as Naruto started to implement his idea.
Gozu and Meizu deciding not to risk their opponent escaping sped up the process of closing their chains, which would tear Naruto to ribbons. They were surprised however when for a brief second it looked like Naruto had of landed on solid ground before leaping off the air itself straight up.
The two brothers landed a second from their jump and stared up in surprise. Naruto was now forty feet above them and they became extremely wary when Naruto opened his fan for the first time since they started fighting off of the bridge.
Naruto's head was down facing his chest and his left arm was pointing straight down with his hand open as his right arm was now crossed across his chest so that the fan that arm held was over his shoulder. Naruto's legs were tucked underneath him and on the fan the brothers' could see the design of a Chinese dragon was visible from their position. The temporary stiffness in Naruto's body quickly told the brothers that something big was coming. Their thoughts were confirmed as they felt a pretty large chakra spike that was followed by the downwards swing of his fan.
"Ninpo: Kazeitachi!!"
That loud shout had Gozu and Meizu fleeing in separate directions after they dropped the chain that was connected to their gauntlets. They hoped that they would be able to continue dodging the attack until it died down. They could see as the slicing winds were tearing into the water surface around them causing parts of it to jump into the air.
The brothers didn't managed to keep from major damage but evading was made a lot harder since the disruptions in the water caused by Naruto's attack was making it harder for them to get a solid footing on the water.
A few seconds later when the attack died down the brothers quickly looked back into the sky for Naruto. It was too late for Gozu however as he looked up just a second before he was hit in the head by a mass of wind chakra and was pounded down underneath the water's surface amidst what was the sound of Gozu's neck breaking from the blunt force of the attack..
"Gozu!" Meizu shouted in worry seeing his brother get knocked below the water by something that he was unable to see.
Naruto landed a distance away from Meizu and quickly flipped through four hand seals; Naruto's fan was back on his back.
Meizu was only seeing red now since he'd of just watch his brother get killed by someone who he considered to be a little wannabe. He'd of never really believed the report from Haku on the boy's attack that killed Gado's other hired ninja in their first meeting with these teams. Now he was looking at the proof that this little greenhorn was quite capable of killing.
Gozu's corpse was now floating at the top of the water and his skin was starting to turn a pale color as the heat rapidly left his body due to the cold water. Gozu's body itself looked to be alright though as soon as you reached the neck, you could tell that his head had of been forcibly knocked backwards with enough force that the skin on the front of his neck had of ripped open. The grievous wound was steadily poring blood into the surrounding water as the heart tried to deliver more blood to the body's brain. The look on Gozu's face was one of complete shock. One could tell that it was literally the last second of his life when he realized that he was going to die.
After fuming with tears coming down his face during the time that it took Naruto to complete his hand seals Meizu became enraged and gave a battle cry as he was about to get revenge for his brother.
"I'll fucking kill you, you bastard!"
"Wind: Air Bullet!" The phrase was followed by a deep intake of breath from Naruto as he held the last seal to his mouth.
The intake of breath was followed by an identical mass of wind chakra flying at Meizu. Meizu may not have been able to see the mass of chakra but he was smart enough to get out of the attacks way by jumping to the side. Meizu didn't even try to watch where the attack would stop. His mind was now completely on evading the near-continuous barrage of chakra that was now flying towards him from Naruto.
What followed was a thirty second game of 'Cat and Mouse' as Naruto continued to launch wind bullets at Meizu who was continually dodging. Each attack would cause a small geyser of water to launch into the air from where the bullet would strike the water's surface. During the thirty seconds that the game lasted, the two had of unconsciously made their way back towards the bridge where more fighting was going on.
OoOoO
Back at Tazuna's house Kakashi was still asleep. He was dreaming of things that are a little too adult to be put safely into this story.
A minute later he was awake and slowly putting on his clothing while mumbling something about a banana, chocolate syrup, whipped cream and a beautiful pair of red headed twins who tasted good with the extra toppings.
Stepping out of his room Kakashi began to slowly trudge his way downstairs and towards the kitchen. As he was about ten feet away from the entrance Tsuname suddenly came running out of the kitchen before bumping into Kakashi. Kakashi just proceeded to walk around her and into the kitchen where what his tired mind was registering as two guys yelling at someone to stop running.
As he passed the threshold into the kitchen suddenly the yelling stopped and two thugs, they looked a little like samurai he supposed stood there with their hands on the hilt of their swords looking at him nervously.
Just as he did with Tsuname, who was now peeking back around the corner into the kitchen looking worried, he stepped between the two thugs and walked the rest of the distance across the kitchen to the bubbling liquid, a gift from the gods themselves. He poured himself a cup and took a sip, pulling down his face mask to do so while he was still facing away from everyone.
It was silent for another two minutes while Kakashi finished his coffee and he looked much more alive now. He pulled his mask back over his face and turned back around to face the three, no make that four now that Inari just poked his head from behind his mother's legs, people who were staring at him. Kakashi stood there looking around at the four people before cutting his way through the awkward silence.
"Is there something I could help you with?" The question was asked as he poured himself another cup of coffee. Everyone sweatdropped at his question.
Upon receiving no answer from anybody for thirty seconds Kakashi closed his one visible eye and shrugged. "Your loss."
No sooner then the words left his mouth then the two thugs lost something as well. That was their consciousness.
Tsunami and Inari could only stare after the cycloptic jounin as he slowly walked out the front door with his coffee in one hand and the thugs being dragged behind him by their collars. "I'm going to head towards the bridge. I might be needed there."
With that, Kakashi was gone.
OoOoO
Asuma was currently in a deadlock with Zabuza. Zabuza was trying to press his sword down on Asuma who was using his trench knives crossed in front of him to keep the blade from slicing him in half.
'Damn it, was he holding back during our first encounter?' That was the thought that went through Asuma's mind as he finally broke the deadlock by swinging his knives to the side where the force of Zabuza's pushing would cause the large sword to crash into the ground. Asuma was quick to take advantage of Zabuza's misbalance by kicking the other jounin in the stomach. The kick launched Zabuza a few feet backwards where Zabuza did a back flip to land on his feet. Zabuza was still holding his sword.
"Not bad. And I thought that I wouldn't be facing anyone challenging without the copy-nin here." Zabuza spoke as he settled his blade onto his shoulder.
In contrast to the fierce fight that they'd of just took a break from, Zabuza wasn't breathing as hard as Asuma thought he should have been. Asuma himself really needed this break. It was a lot harder than he thought it would be to hold off Zabuza's sword strikes.
"I have to wonder how much longer it will take the Demon Brothers to kill that blonde haired brat. I expected them to be back at least three minutes ago." Zabuza said this all in a controversial tone, as if he wasn't talking about the fact that his underlings were busy trying to kill a boy at least five years their minor.
Asuma had to admit to himself that he was worried about Naruto. He knew that the boy was quite strong, but the fact of the matter was that Naruto was facing off against two experienced chuunin who were well known for their skills in tag team attacks. There was also the fact that only five minutes had of passed since the start of the fight and Zabuza was confident enough to believe that despite the showing of Naruto's strength when he managed to kill that other jounin with his Grid Blade attack that the Demon Brothers would be able to take care of Naruto so quickly.
While Asuma's thoughts quickly flew through his head, he said nothing. Zabuza though managed to catch the worried glint in Asuma's eyes. Zabuza chuckled to himself before speaking up again.
"Hehehe, I take it by the look in your eye that you're unsure of your student's ability to survive." As soon as Zabuza finished his statement he noticed another glint enter Asuma's eyes. This one was of a little bit of humor as Asuma's gaze turned a little bit to his right over the edge of the bridge. Of course Asuma didn't take his eyes completely off of his opponent.
Seeing Asuma glance over the edge of the bridge Zabuza quickly expanded his senses and felt a large build up of chakra.
"Wind: Great Break Through!" The loud shout was enough to stop the other battle on another part of the bridge. It was only three minutes into the battle when Haku was forced to use her Ice Mirrors to keep up with her opponents' attacks.
The shout was followed by a large gale of wind that actually knocked a small portion of the bridge into the air. Amongst the rubble flew Meizu who managed to avoid the most damaging part of the attack. Meizu had of just been carried up into the air behind the attack before falling from a height of fifteen feet above the bridge.
As Meizu fell onto the bridge he absorbed most of the impact by rolling sideways with his momentum instead of just landing flat on his back.
A few seconds later there was another gust of wind that suddenly blew upwards. This one however was just an updraft that was carrying Naruto into the air as he was crouching on his open fan.
Upon reaching the top of the updraft Naruto quickly flipped off of the fan, grabbing the edge of the fan and closing it as he fell. Naruto landed gracefully on the bridge before quickly assessing the situation.
As Naruto was assessing the situation Zabuza noticed that one person was missing.
"Meizu." Zabuza called to the said chuunin. "Where is your brother?" As Zabuza spoke a feeling of dread was forming in the pit of his stomach. Despite what others thought, Zabuza did care for his charges.
Meizu was just starting to get up from his fall, but it was Naruto who answered Zabuza.
"Dead." That bland statement caught everyone off guard. The Konoha-nin didn't know that Naruto could sound so lost.
"I didn't mean to kill him. I was just aiming my wind bullet to knock him out." Naruto was crying openly now as he shouted towards Zabuza and his sensei after whirling to face them.
"I didn't think that my attack would have snapped his neck instead of just knocking him unconscious." Naruto fell to his knees as he started to quietly sob to himself.
Everyone was in shock due to Naruto's emotional actions except for Meizu, who'd of listened to everything that Naruto said. For the first time since his brother's death he realized that the blonde boy was hurting as well, even if Naruto wasn't hurting in the same manner as Meizu himself was. Now there was just one thing that he needed to know.
"Why the fuck do you care, brat?" Meizu asked Naruto calmly as the remaining Demon Brother stood to his feet. Naruto was about to answer, but he was cut off by Meizu. "You had no connection to my brother, so why the hell do you give a fuck about his life?"
Meizu was now completely on his feet and limping towards Naruto, who now had his head down facing the ground. A second later when Meizu was ten feet away from Naruto's position, Naruto looked up and met Meizu's eyes.
"Because he mattered." Naruto's response caused Meizu to stop where he stood.
"What does that…" Meizu never got to finish his sentence as Naruto continued talking as if he wasn't finished talking in the first place, completely cutting Meizu off.
"Because I know that he matters to you." Naruto now looked away from Meizu and back to the ground. "Unlike that other ninja I wound up killing in the forest, I know that you and your brother had a strong connection. I've never had any family so I know that any family members that you do have should be cherished."
Naruto's words struck a cord in several of the ninja standing there. It was known amongst the other Konoha-gennin that Naruto was an orphan, but they didn't know that Naruto had such strong beliefs about family. The only exceptions to them were his teammates, who'd of known of Naruto's beliefs for just under a year now. It saddened the two of them to see Naruto sharing Meizu's grief though.
Everyone was paying so much attention to the conversation between Meizu and Naruto that they hadn't of noticed the one hundred chakra signatures that was gathered just behind Meizu and through some fog until a spear was suddenly protruding from the young chuunin's chest. Everyone had the immediate response of jumping away from the direction that the spear came from, gaining distance to better scan the new threat.
Meizu looked down at the spear that was protruding through his chest in disbelief. The spear that stuck out of his chest was a crudely made one though the point which had Meizu's blood dribbling down it was quite sharp. The spear was in such a position that it had of gone through his right lung. Meizu's blood was dripping off of the tip of the spear onto the ground making dripping sounds in what was otherwise complete silence that had of covered the ninja.
Meizu coughed spraying blood from his mouth onto the bridge. Meizu then turned around to look into what remained of the rapidly disappearing mist only to receive another flying spear, this one went through the chuunin's heart, killing him instantly.
An evil sounding laughter then floated through the air as a large group of mercenaries became visible where the mist just left. Asuma quickly counted that there were ninety five scruffy-looking mercenaries there along with four ninja, each wielding a spear just like the ones that killed Meizu, and a short man in a business suit who was now sneering at the ninja from the back of the group.
"I hate whiney brats, don't you?" The short man asked rhetorically. "Maybe I should have had you killed first brat." Gato said the second sentence as he pointed to Naruto, who was the closest to the mercenary army.
Naruto wasn't paying too much attention though, as he stared at Meizu's corpse which was on its knees and being supported by the two spears through his chest.
"Feh, what kind of ninja gets emotional. All of you should just be good little tools, killing at the whim of your superiors, and then dying when we're finished with you."
Gato's words struck a cord in Naruto who was now standing to his feet even though his head hung low.
"You think that family is important brat? Well let me tell you that what you believe is a load of shit." Gato laughed obnoxiously at that. "All that matters in this world is looking out for number one." Gato pointed his thumb to emphasize his point. "People should be used like you ninja's just to further one's own position in the world."
"Too bad that older brother's body isn't here. I would love to see that idiot's corpse."
To those who were even a little sensitive to chakra, they could feel a dark force begin to press down upon them. All of the ninja on the bridge were trying to pinpoint the source of the thick energy; however, it was Hinata who realized the source first once she activated her blood limit. It scared her to see something so dark emanating from her crush.
'Kyubi!' Asuma suddenly thought in a panic as his eyes went to Naruto who was beginning to form a visible aura of chakra around him. Unlike usual though, this chakra was red in color as opposed to the blue color that Naruto usually had when he was focusing a large amount of chakra.
If Asuma or anybody were able to see Naruto's face then they would have been scared shitless. Naruto's whisker marks had of just expanded and thickened. His canine's then grew half an inch as Naruto's eyes became red slits.
It was at this time that Zabuza noticed that Asuma was staring at the blonde boy and he looked at the boy himself, instantly realizing that he was the source of the malevolent energy. Zabuza then entered a guarded position that the others assumed was to defend himself from the mercs.
OoOoO
'That bastard' Naruto thought to himself as he continued to stare at Meizu's body. 'How dare that bastard disrespect them?'
As Naruto thought that, he began to see everything in a red hue. It took him a second to realize it, but the red hue was due to a weird aura that was beginning to pore out of his skin. Along with the red energy though came a voice.
'Hahahahaha, finally it works.' Naruto was startled for a moment by the malevolent voice, but before he could question it the voice spoke again.
'Shut up and listen brat, the last thing you need right now is for your sensei to assume the worst. If you die, I die after all.'
Naruto was puzzled by the voice's comment. Naruto was about to try to speak again, but was interrupted.
'I'm only giving you this energy because I don't want to die here. I wouldn't suggest telling anyone other then the guy smoking that cancer stick about me since anyone else will think that you're insane. The last thing we need is people from your village renewing their attempts to kill us.' Naruto flinched hearing that comment.
'Now if you have anything to say, say it in your mind. I will hear you.'
Deciding to trust the voice for the moment, Naruto spoke his question in his mind.
'Who are you?'
'That is not important right now.' The voice spoke again. 'What is important though is our survival. Now what I want you to do is to let your body move naturally once you attack these weaklings. My chakra will do the work for you. Now go.' Naruto could have sworn that the voice seemed eager, but it was his imagination wasn't it. He would've continued with that thought if it wasn't for the red haze of the aura that was still coming out of his skin.
Naruto suddenly snapped back to reality. He then noticed that he was still staring through the red haze at Meizu's body. It seemed that the whole short conversation with that voice had of only taken a second, and yet it was definitely longer then that.
Naruto shoved those thoughts out of his head as he chose to do what the voice suggested.
Naruto's eyes suddenly snapped up and stared at the first mercenary. The last thing the guy saw were the deep red slits that were now in Naruto's eyes before he found his head cut off with a kunai.
"Shit." Asuma exclaimed as he saw his student jump into the mercenaries. Asuma proclamation brought most of the others out of their awe. Asuma was quick to bark out his order to the gennin. "Teams seven and nine, this is going to be too much for you. Your duty is to protect the client. I am going to help Naruto." Asuma was then quick to charge into the midst of the mercenaries with his trench knives out in order to help Naruto out.
"Haku!" Zabuza called back to the hunter-nin. "Our contract with Gato has been terminated. Right now we will aid the Konoha-nin in fighting back Gato's mercenaries. We will decide what else to do after this." With that said Zabuza charged forward and with the first swing of his sword Zabuza had of decapitated two mercenaries before he was forced to block a thrown spear.
Haku quickly charged forward and ended the spear-throwing ninja's life by sending a senbon needle through the man's temple.
Naruto was in the center of the mercenaries, mercilessly (AN: I like that choice of words) working his way through the small horde towards Gato. Naruto was decapitating mercenary here and there, just slitting throats with his kunai, or even severing spines and breaking or severing limbs. A few seconds later Naruto broke through the back lines of the mercenaries covered in blood himself. Most of the blood was not his, but Naruto wasn't unscathed either.
Naruto stood facing Gato for a second as he caught his breath, and the mercenaries as well as Gato himself could see the boy's wounds closing right in front of their eyes.
A second later two of Gato's other hired ninja landed between Naruto and Gato holding their spears in a combat stance that Naruto wasn't able to recognize at the time.
Naruto snarled at the two ninja before he threw his hands forward, one at each of them. What came next was a surprise to the two as they saw two giant claws launch, which upon hitting them caused the two ninja to burst in flames and turn to ash in less than two seconds.
Gato at this time had have fallen on his ass upon seeing the two ninja get incinerated by Naruto. He was now stumbling backwards crawling as he stared fearfully at what was an incarnation of death as far as he was concerned.
Naruto took several steps towards Gato before stopping in front of him and leering down at the businessman with a glare filled with enough killing intent that if the man was any less healthy than he already was, then he would have had a heart attack right there. As it was the man was clutching his chest painfully since he was on the verge of having one anyways.
After a few seconds of staring down at the man Naruto sneered at him and with a deft motion drew out a kunai and dealt the deathblow by throwing the kunai as hard as he could right between the eyes. Considering that Naruto still had the red chakra flowing through him, the strength behind the throw was quite amazing since Gato was sent reeling backwards over twenty meters and over the side of the bridge.
Naruto then turned around and walked past all of the stunned mercenaries. They were shocked that this boy not only managed to fight his way through them, but also managed to kill two more chuunin ranked missing-nin and their boss. Needless to say they were very intimidated by the boy now and as he walked by them several of the mercenaries were already jumping off of the bridge to get away from him. As Naruto passed the last of them they were quick to turn and flee back to the boats they came on and get away from the bridge.
Naruto stood stopped where he was a few seconds later as his senses told him that the danger was over. At that point Naruto dropped to the ground unconscious.
OoOoO
A few days after the battle on the bridge Naruto was up and about again. It was midday and Naruto was walking through the forest. Naruto reached the same clearing where he'd of met and talked to Haku. Naruto's mind was flying from one thought with an attached emotion to another.
After a few more seconds of that he walked over to the spot in the center of the clearing where Haku had of been picking herbs for her precious person. Naruto smiled to himself as he thought of his meeting with the girl that he was so similar to. Naruto sat down where she had of been kneeling and lay on his back to relax for a little bit.
"Hello Naruto-san." Naruto cursed himself immediately for not being more alert. He sat up and was about to speak when he sensed the person behind him and lean against Naruto's back.
"How have you been?" Naruto now recognized the voice as being Haku's. Naruto tensed slightly at that realization. He took a second to gather himself before speaking.
"I'm alright." He said and was about to continue when he was interrupted.
"I'm not mad at you." Naruto was surprised at the statement and turned to look at Haku. He couldn't see her face since she was facing away from him, but Naruto could see that she was wearing the same kimono that she wore when they first met in this clearing. Naruto turned away from her as he spoke up again himself.
"You're talking about Gozu, aren't you?" Haku nodded which since their backs were together Naruto was able to feel the movement.
"I lied to you the other day when I said that Zabuza-san was the only precious person in my life. I grew to see them as brothers, but I knew that they would eventually die." Naruto heard her sniffle a bit. "I do not blame you for killing Gozu. When you cried in front of everyone on the bridge I was able to se the genuine sorrow in your eyes. So no, I don't hate you for killing Gozu."
Hearing that, Naruto couldn't help but feel slightly relieved by those words. He started to ponder on the unexpected feelings that came with Haku's explanation but his pondering was stopped when Haku spoke again.
"If you don't mind, there is something I would like to do." Naruto sat there still facing away from Haku. After a few seconds Haku decided that it was safe to continue. "In a day Zabuza-san and I will be leaving Wave Country, but I would like to be able to see you whenever possible in the future, so what I would like to do is an old Hunter-nin tracking technique that was scrapped since it had a large flaw."
Naruto's curiosity was peaked upon hearing that Haku knew a technique that Hunter-nin used to use. "Please continue."
"The technique was supposed to make it so that the Hunter-nin would be able to sense the person they were hunting if they were within a fifteen mile radius of each other. The part of the technique that was flawed and caused the Hunter-nin to scrap it was when they realized that the technique worked both ways. Both people would be able to sense each other when they were within fifteen miles of each other." Naruto nodded seeing where that technique would quickly become a turn off for ninja. After a few more seconds of thought Naruto realized exactly what Haku was proposing.
"So you want to use this technique so that we'll be able to find each other easier if it became necessary." Naruto felt the motions of another nod against his back so he started thinking.
After a few minutes Naruto smiled to himself and stood up. Haku was surprised by the motion and nearly fell onto her back before catching herself. She then stood up and looked at Naruto, who was already staring into her eyes.
After a few seconds of silence Naruto spoke up as a grin came to his face. "What are you waiting for? Tell me what needs to be done."
As Naruto spoke Haku couldn't help but let a grateful smile cross her face. She then went into an explanation of how the technique was done.
After the two were finished and the technique was done they prepared to part their separate ways.
Haku smiled as she felt the bond created by the technique setting in. She then smiled before doing something that surprised both Naruto and herself. She quickly leaned over and kissed Naruto on the cheek.
As they both started blushing Haku quickly said her farewell and left the clearing before the words she spoke to Naruto could settle in.
When Naruto realized through the new bond that Haku was moving away from his position at a high speed, Naruto found himself staring in the direction that Haku had of left for a few minutes before Naruto left the clearing heading back towards Tazuna's house where Naruto didn't know that the two teams were preparing to leave.
As he left the clearing Naruto decided that he wouldn't tell anyone of his meeting with Haku.
OoOoO
"Ah Naruto, I'm glad to see that you're back." Naruto looked across the yard from where he'd of just entered and saw Asuma standing there with a smile on his face. "You should go and start packing Naruto. The Hokage has sent a messenger-nin to us with a note asking us leave right away."
"What? Why?" Naruto asked with a confused look on his face. "Aren't we needed to stay here in order to protect the old man until his bridge is complete?"
Asuma's smile never left his face as Naruto asked those questions. "No Naruto. I already sent a report to my father about what happened at the bridge and he has decided that only one team needs to stay for the remainder of the time since Gatou has been dealt with."
"Oh." Naruto asked as a look of sorrow flashed across his face before Naruto covered it with a grin. "So are we going onto another super cool mission already then?"
Asuma outright laughed at Naruto's newest question. He'd of seen Naruto's sorrow but he knew that Naruto was dealing with it the best way he knew how. So Asuma continued talking.
"I don't know if you'll think its cool, but we do have another mission to go on."
As they were talking Naruto had of crossed the yard and was now standing in front of Asuma.
"Are we saving another country from an ugly oppressor?" That question was asked with such a straight face that Asuma couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Naruto smirked, seeing Asuma's response to his question before he interrupted his sensei with another question.
"So what are we going to be doing then?"
After the extra few seconds that it took Asuma to get over his laughter Asuma stood up straight again and took a serious air that Naruto didn't miss.
"The Hokage left towards Sunagakure for a diplomatic meeting with the Kazekage a day ago. We are to leave here and travel quickly to the town of Oshiwa (I made that name up.) where we will meet up with him and his small escort of Chuunin. There we will join the escort and accompany Hokage-sama to Sunagakure where you and your teammates will be expected to enjoy a day's break where permission has been granted for the three of you to enjoy a day of shopping and tourism." Asuma smirked as he knew that Naruto picked up on the hint that was dropped in there exclusively for him.
'So, the old man wants me to do some shopping where I won't be thrown out of shops or overcharged. That's sweet.'
Naruto gave a soft, almost sad smile as he thought about that. Naruto then looked around quickly and when he saw that nobody was around he quickly stepped forward and gave Asuma a hug around the waist.
"Thanks sensei" was the words spoken by Naruto as he then disengaged himself from his sensei before running inside to quickly pack his things.
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Two hours later Team Nine stood on a boat at a dock. Gathered around them were Team Seven and many other people who were there to see the team off.
Team Nine stood at the back of the boat as it sailed back to the mainland waving at the people who gathered to see them off. None of them waved as enthusiastically as Naruto though. To him this was Naruto's first taste of what it was like to be admired and appreciated by people for things that he'd of done. Naruto knew that he didn't save the country alone and that they were showing equal appreciation for his teammates and sensei, but this being Naruto's first time in a situation like this Naruto wasn't thinking about that. As his team headed inside of the boat to rest for the hour trip on the boat Naruto stayed at the back of the boat watching the gathered people disappear as the boat grew further away.
OoOoO
A blonde girl of fifteen years woke up with a start. She sat there holding her face for a few seconds before wiping sweat from her forehead. She sat there thinking about the dream; no, it was more of a nightmare that she'd of just had.
She remembered watching a battle on a bridge where after a little while a part of the bridge blew up with the body of what she recognized as a Kiri missing-nin flying up in the air. The body was quickly followed by a blonde haired boy with the most intense blue eyes she'd of ever seen who wound up crying and shouting about something but she couldn't hear anything except for the wind blowing by her ears.
After a minute of the boy crying she saw the man who was blown through the bridge get impaled by a spear and after a few minor things she watched as the boy grew an aura of red energy. The was the point where the dream truly seemed to turn into a nightmare as she watched the boy dive headlong into the group of mercenaries and a few ninja that was there and the boy was literally tearing them apart.
A few more minutes passed where at the end of the time the mercenaries were fleeing, she saw the boy standing back where he'd of been. She watched the empty look in his eyes and couldn't help but feel a little bit of pity. It was at that point when she saw the boy starting to fall over that she woke up.
She thought over the weird dream that was filled with people that she didn't even know until a realization hits her.
'That boy's chakra was similar to Gaara's.' The thought scared her even more then what she dreamed, but she couldn't help but wonder if that dream was something that really happened.
Looking over at her clock she saw that it was only a half hour to sunrise, so she decided to get up now and think more upon the dream later.
What she didn't even think about was if there was a reason for her to have a dream like that. Little did she know that she would have a part in the life of the blonde boy.
As she got out of bed and stretched unconsciously showing off her naked and well-developed figure to no one Temari put on a house coat and grabbed her ninja garb before heading to the shower down the hall.
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Several feet above where Temari awoke another set of eyes shoot open. This person's eyes didn't shoot open because of a dream or a nightmare though. This person's eyes shot open from feeling what to him was an unusual chakra, or what was left of it, wash over him from the south.
Gaara turned his head and stared towards the horizon to the south before he heard a voice in his head speak up.
'The Kyuubi is coming.'
Gaara's eyebrows nit in temporary confusion as he closed his eyes and thought about that statement until he remembered one of the few times that the Shukaku had of talked to him seriously. The conversation was about the other tailed demons which Shukaku seriously warned Gaara to stay away from no matter what.
Gaara knew that out of all of the tailed demons, the Kyuubi was the only one that Shukaku respected. That made Gaara curious about the being and he promised himself to look into that being if he ever had the chance.
Gaara opened his eyes again and took another look to the south before closing his eyes again and turning around to resume his meditation.
OoOoO
End Chapter.
OoOoO
End AN: There we go! I've had writers block for the last while. I just couldn't figure out how to write the end of the battle and the meeting between Haku and Naruto afterwards. I guess it didn't help either that I was caught up on playing 'Yugioh GX: Spirit Caller' on my Nintendo DS either.
Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I know that it isn't as long as the last chapter, but in all actuality I never expected this chapter to be as long as it turned out to be.
Now for those of you who send reviews, I would like to hear your opinions on how I did with my first ever long fight scene. It would be greatly appreciated, and along with those comments I also wouldn't mind hearing your suggestions on how I could improve future fight scenes.
Lastly, I know that the last scene with Temari was unnecessary for the flow of the story, but I wanted to write that in there. I've decided to make more to the character of Temari then what I see in most fics. It won't happen right away with the next chapter, but eventually Temari will be seeing a lot more scene-time and character development then you see in the Anime/Manga. I like Temari's character a lot and enjoy writing about her. There are a few other girls that I like as well and will be writing about as well.
That's all I have to say for now and I will tell you all now that I'm finally past the last point in the story that I was unsure of how to deal with for quite a while so chapters will hopefully be coming out sooner, though I can't say for sure since I just got a new job and will be discussing my work schedule with my new boss within the next few days.
Adios for now. Cloud1239999 signing off.