Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any other characters but my original character, nor do I own any techniques mentioned unless they were originally invented by me.
Konoha's Second Yellow Flash
Author's Note : Hey there, been a while since I got back to this, but I had my hands full starting my fifth fic, the Fate / Stay Night X Love Hina crossover, sorry. It's not a bad read if either anime's your cup of tea, so feel free to take a glance. With that, onto the questions. Yugito's age isn't exact, since the manga didn't tell us anything, but I'm guessing about 3 to 4 years older than Naruto. Since she became a missing-nin in my story before becoming a Konoha-nin, that's why I let her start with a higher rank. Naruto never had a rank and therefore will start from the bottom up, not that it'd take long for him to rise in ranks.
The next would be about would-be candidates to Yuuki's and Naruto's family. Hana's iffy, since there's not enough info on her, and Naruto and Kiba didn't start buddies, so there'd be tension, I'll have to think about it. Yugao's a possibility for Yuuki, but it'd have to be after Hayate died during the Chunnin Exam arc, since I see no reason to break them up in order to put them together until then. As for any OCs, as I've stated before, I don't intend to have either Yuuki or Naruto hit on anything that moves, so I won't make them for that reason alone.
Yugito's never been able to use wood in the manga, for the idiot who dared ask me such a thing. Her abilities were that of fire in Nibi's form. Naruto's a human being, so I won't make him turn into an animal or mark any of the girls like one. I won't have him gain a new ability for scout clones in animal form or anything either, since a simple combo or henge and Kage Bunshin can do that. Finally, for those that think my ideas are boring, as I've repeated before, I take ALL ideas into consideration, but make the calls as to which ones to go with. If you don't like it, tough, don't read. In the end it's MY story. I appreciate your help in keeping it going, but I'm not obligated to comply with your demands. Well, I think that's everything for now, coming up next's chapter 4. Enjoy and review, thanks!
Chapter 4 : Genin Exam Part 2 - Fall of an Emo, Yuuki's First Choice Revealed, Mission to Wave
Two hours after the set time of the exam, a shunshin appeared at Training Ground 7, as Naruto saw a brooding Uchiha and an irritated Sakura, who yelled in a screeching tone about why he was late. Said blonde replied with a slight smile after cringing at the pitch of her voice, "Well aniki told me that Kakashi-sensei is almost always 2 hours late to anything unless it's urgent, so both he and I woke up late to get here. Don't worry, they should be here at any minute."
True to his word, about 2 minutes later, Yuuki appeared in a shunshin, with Kakashi in tow by the scruff of his neck. After said jonin got up from being tossed onto the ground like a sack of potatoes, he began to speak, holding up two bells. After the same lame speech to deceive the three was given, two of the three future genin jumped off to contemplate their plans. Not surprisingly, Naruto simply sat down and stared at his lazy sensei.
Kakashi asked, interested in Naruto's choice of action, "Don't you want to pass Naruto?" Naruto answered with a shrug and the following words, "Sure, but I don't need to go anywhere. I already know the point behind this, and they aren't going to help me. Sasuke's too full of himself, and Sakura'll follow him like a puppy. You can mess with them while I wait. We can get started then." Kakashi shrugged at his prospective student's nonchalance, and was off to 'play' with the others, orange book in hand.
After two-thirds of Team 7 was disposed of in the same efficient manner as they were in the canon story, Kakashi stood in front out his remaining examinee and said, "That leaves just you Naruto. I hope you can do better than your teammates did."
Naruto smiled innocently and spoke, "I already have, look at your book." Kakashi did as he asked, only to find his book nearly burned down into nothing. Enraged at one of his most precious possessions destroyed, he charged at the blonde, ready to kill, only to find the target that he struck go with a 'poof.' "Kage Bunshin?" muttered a surprised mophead.
Meanwhile, Naruto already had another Kage Bunshin and himself by each of his teammates. One poked at the unconscious body of Sakura to wake her up before handing her a bell, while the other handed his other bell to Sasuke after a chakra punch to crack the ground he was buried in and grabbed him up, much to the Uchiha's annoyance. The real Naruto asked, turning to his sensei, "Ne, do we pass Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi could only nod dumbly at how he was so easily defeated by a simple diversion, as he glanced at the smug look of the older Namikaze's face, who knew how quickly his nephew would wrap things up.
After instructions to begin missions, everybody was about to leave, with the exception of the pink-haired one who was about to ask her precious 'Sasuke-kun' out again, when said Uchiha stood in Naruto's way and demanded in a curt tone, "Fight me." The new genin replied with a bored look on his face, "No."
Sasuke yelled out in the same demanding manner, "You WILL fight me!" As our hero began to walk away from Sasuke, ignoring his words, said Uchiha was about to use the same set of hand seals of a fire technique he tried on Kakashi earlier when he found a kunai on his neck from behind him, Naruto speaking in a warning tone, "I said no, because we're teammates. Now stop before I arrest you for attacking a fellow shinobi."
Knowing that he wasn't going to get his way with his new teammate, Sasuke then turned to the older Namikaze and asked in the same demanding tone, "Train me." Yuuki only looked in amusement as he replied, "No. Naruto's my only apprentice, and I train who I want, when I want. Try asking again after you've gotten that stick out of your ass and given up about that avenger routine." With that said, the duo disappeared in shunshins, leaving Sasuke to seethe in anger while having to deal with the fangirl on his team.
Hokage's Office, Friday Two Weeks Later
It's been well, two weeks since Team 7 began the sorry excuses for missions of the D-Rank. Most of it isn't worth my breath, with the exception of one : Tora the cat. Thanks to his tenant and first girlfriend, Naruto gained the gift to understand animals even if they were not able to speak human. He and the cat were on good terms, as every time said feline saw him, he simply jumped into the blonde's arms, snuggling him. When asked by the genin why he always ran away, Tora told him about the overbearing owner of his, dressing him like a human newborn and nearing choking him with bear hugs. So they had an understanding : Tora would go with his team each time quietly, and he would do nothing when the cat decided to run off for slight reprieves of freedom until he was ordered to bring him back on a mission.
The team just got back from another mission to retrieve the poor cat, much to the dismay of both Naruto and Tora. As the female owner walked away with her victim, who was struggling and in tears, the group sweatdropped and Sarutobi was about to give the team another D-Ranked mission when Naruto demanded in annoyance, "Enough with the chores jiji! When are you going to give us a REAL mission?"
Iruka was about to reprimand him for his rudeness and give the lame explanations about missions and respective ranks, when Yuuki decided to get his two cents in, "He's got a point. I didn't train him to do this lame shit that a civilian can handle. They did enough to get something better already, so give them a break."
Knowing that the team was right, Sarutobi sighed and gave them the mission to Wave and began to give Team 7 the respective briefing. At the request for him to come in, Tazuna entered the room, obviously drunk, but not enough to collapse as he said rudely, "Huh? I asked for protection and this is what you give me? They're just a bunch of kids! Especially the blonde one, he looked more ready to be a target than a ninja!"
Said 'target' was fighting the urge to attack the obnoxious drunkard, when Yuuki spoke, "Don't worry. The blonde one's the strongest of the three, since I trained him myself. Mophead's a jonin too, and if all else fails, I'll protect your sake-swigging ass." Tazuna retorted at his words, demanding who the "cocky young punk" in front of him is, talking to him like that. Yuuki replied in a bored tone, "Well if the guy who can give jiji over there a run for his money in a fight isn't good enough for you, I think you should take your money elsewhere." The bridge builder paled at hearing how strong he is as the other adults nodded In agreement with his claim like the other two genin, muttered a half-hearted apology, told them that they'd better protect them and walked out.
Kakashi told the genin when and where to meet tomorrow, and Yuuki commented, "I'd better tell Ku-chan then, since our date's still on tonight." The mophead had a perverted giggle while the others looked at Yuuki in amazement, being able to ask out the arguably most beautiful kunoichi in the village.
(Flashback)
After the get-together that Yuuki suggested to the other jonin two Saturday nights ago, Yuuki offered to walk Kurenai home, much to her surprise. They were able to leave together without much resistance from Asuma, since he drank too much and passed out in the bar.
The two walked in peaceful silence until the red-eyed jonin asked, "So why did you decide to walk me home all of a sudden?" Yuuki did his trademark scratch to the side of his face and replied nervously, "Uh well, I wanted to speak to you about something, and it wasn't really something that I could ask in front of everyone."
Kurenai blushed, half-knowing and half-hoping that he was going to ask her what she's been trying to work up to nerve to do. Despite the law and popularity with women, Yuuki was actually a fairly reserved person. He didn't want to be a womanizer and was only interested in lasting relationships, so he never actually dated anyone seriously, despite his age. He coughed and began to speak nervously, "We've known each other for some time, even though I haven't been back for a while. I've always had a crush on you, believe it or not, but I never acted on it since you seemed more interested in my brother, until he got married. I didn't want to be a replacement for him, and when I came back, you seemed to be pretty friendly with Asuma. I'm not really good at this, since I haven't done this too many times before. I know you learned about that idiotic law about me marrying more than one woman, but I have to find out before I lose my chance for good. Are you dating him, and if not, would you do me the honor of being my first serious girlfriend? I'm not proposing or anything, I just want to try and see where we can go from here." With that, he opened a storage scroll and out came a batch of flowers and handed them to Kurenai.
Said kunoichi was stunned at the young man's abrupt confession, needed a few moments to snap out of her stupor before taking the flowers and replied, "O-of course Yuuki-kun. I'd love to go out with you. I'll admit that I had a crush on the Yondaime, but I had one on you too." After getting the reaction she wanted out of him as he blushed slightly, she continued. "Don't think of yourself as a replacement. You're you, and no one else. As for Asuma, we've gone out a few times, but nothing serious came of it, since he was always too nervous when we got too close. I'm not worried about you marrying more women, since you've never been the type to flirt back much, while not the brooding emo kind either. Now tell me, how did you know to pick these out?"
Yuuki smiled sheepishly as he replied, "I didn't. Inoichi's wife helped me with that. She teased the crap out of me about who the lucky girl is, but it was her or her loudmouth daughter, and I didn't want the whole village to find out before you do."
Kurenai nodded in understanding and said, "All right then Mr. Proto Flash. Pick me up for lunch tomorrow at 1?" He nodded enthusiastically in response and took her hand as he walked her home.
(Flashback Ends)
Sarutobi chuckled at the others' reaction and said, "It figures that you would end up with her after all the times my son tried. Guess the Namikaze charm runs in the family." Said man gave the old man a small glare before leaving the room in a shunshin with his nephew, who also had a small smirk at his comment.
The next morning, everybody appeared in front of the South Gate in time, even Kakashi. After a perverted giggle and a threat to burn a book of his every time he pulled one out in front him for showing up late, the jonin was only too quick to comply with Yuuki's demands. Little did he know, Yuuki's new girlfriend was the one who gave him the suggestion when he mentioned to her not knowing what to do about his 'late brooding ass.' With that, the team was off, Kakashi in front, the genin surrounding Tazuna, and Yuuki at the end.
Things were quiet until they saw a strange water puddle on the side of the road. The four shinobi exchanged a quiet nod when two shinobi suddenly attacked. One seemed to have killed Kakashi as he appeared to have been cleaved in half by the swipe of a claw. The other was about to strike Naruto, who was standing in front of Tazuna without putting up any stance to protect himself. He was about to strike the blonde in the same manner 'Kakashi' was disposed of when suddenly, he saw blown back by a slight gust of wind.
Before he snapped out of his stupor, the attacking shinobi was struck back by Naruto as Sasuke did to the other in a similar manner, slamming the two into a tree and knocked them unconscious. Only after that did Kakashi reappear to the others, much to the relief of Sakura. Said mophead turned to Naruto and asked, "Very good you two. You two handled the enemy very well for your first mission of this kind. Now I have two questions : Naruto, what was that you did to the enemy that blew him back and gave him those cuts on his skin? And Tazuna, why did you withhold information from us?"
Yuuki answered the first question in Naruto's place, "That mophead, is the first stage of what I'd call the Wind Shield. It basically surrounds his body tightly with wind chakra, causing any attack against him to be blown back and give small cuts to any opponent that tries to touch him. It's wind because it's well, his prime elemental affinity."
Kakashi nodded and the others looked in amazement at Naruto for being able to use such an advanced technique at such a young age. Meanwhile, Sasuke was fuming about being outdone again. After that, Tazuna answered the others in the same pathetic manner, trying to guilt-trip the shinobi into continuing. Naruto replied in a slightly annoyed tone, "Quit your sob story old man. This is still nothing compared to what I went through with aniki when I was little. Bring it on, we'll finish this mission." Sasuke nodded in agreement, not wanting to be shown up, while Sakura reluctantly agreed to continue as well since she didn't want to get her teammates angry for being a coward.
After arriving at a port and a boat ride from a reluctant friend of the bridge builder, Team 7 continued to walk to Tazuna's house when a rabbit came out of the bushes. Kyuubi spoke to Naruto from inside his head, 'Naruto-kun, something's not right. The bunny's fur color is off.' Understanding her words, he warned the others when a thick mist suddenly began to set in.
A zanpakuto began to fly out from out of nowhere. Kakashi grabbed Tazuna and ducked down with the others while Yuuki just stood there nonchalantly, until the sword was close enough for him to catch exactly with one hand, much to the surprise of everyone.
From the lake, barely visible was a man who spoke, "Hatake Kakashi, no wonder the Demon Brothers lost. And it looks like one of your teammates knows how to handle a zanpakuto as well. This should be fun. Leave the old man and you may live… or not."
Kakashi replied, "Momochi Zabuza, formerly known as the Hidden Demon of the Mist. Stand back guys, he's out of your level. I'll handle him. You guys protect Tazuna." With, he pulled up his eye patch and revealed his surgically implanted Sharingan.
"Oh? The Sharingan? I'm honored." Sasuke looked surprised, wondering how somebody besides an Uchiha had it while the Namikaze duo looked bored. Shortly after that, the battle began between the two jonin, who went after each other first with Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone Technique), after the supposedly intimidating speech about silent killing. After Sasuke was about to attempt suicide from the killing intent and reassuring words from Kakashi, Zabuza was about to strike down said genin, when he was blown back by something before the Mizu Bunshin was dispelled.
Everyone looked surprised as Naruto said aloud, "Looks like the combo was a success, eh aniki?" Yuuki smirked as he said, "Yep, our Fire-Wind Shield combo worked like a charm. With Naruto's wind chakra augmenting my second stage Fire Shield, you won't even touch anybody standing in here while our chakra holds out. And believe me, we can stand here all day. Hey mophead! Quit gawking and finish off No-Brow over there already! Or does Naruto have to step in to do your job?"
Said man snapped out of his stupor at his superior's words and continued to combat Zabuza until he was captured in his Suiro no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique). Zabuza turned his head to the remainder of the group, while Yuuki looked annoyed that the mophead was tricked into the technique so easily. He ordered, "Naruto, you're up. Get mophead out of the water ball first, then finish him off however you like so we can get going. I need lunch." With everyone sweatdropping, Naruto then complied by charging out of the shield, after a cry of "Hah!" dispelled the mist with his wind chakra creating breezes enough to do so.
Surprised at the mist's disappearance and Naruto's speed, Zabuza had no choice but to let go of Kakashi and release the technique at the risk of Naruto's foot breaking his arm. With his zanpakuto still in Yuuki's possession and the inability to form hand seals quickly enough to strike back, Zabuza was losing against Naruto's quick wind-augmented taijutsu strikes as the two fought while standing on the water. The Mizu Bunshin were useless against the blonde and the rest of the group, as even without the wind, the Fire Shield was still more than enough to hold them back as they evaporated at the touch. With Naruto, even with the zanpakutos, the wind surrounding his body was sharper than the blades as they were cut down by the chakra. The young genin was about to finish Zabuza off after sending the missing-nin flying into a tree, barely conscious and bruises and cuts all over, when senbon needles appeared out of nowhere and struck the man in the neck, seemingly finishing him off.
A figure in Kiri (Water or Mist) hunter-nin attire appeared from a tree and thanked the others for finishing him off. Kakashi commented on what she appeared to be and said 'hunter-nin' was about to leave when Naruto said, "Cut the crap. No hunter-nin uses senbon needles to kill. Who are you?" After sniffing the air for a moment, he turned to Yuuki and said, "Aniki, she smells familiar."
Yuuki was surprised at hearing that and tried to sense her chakra, strangely enough recognizing it as he spoke in shock, "Haku?" Said girl looked in surprise from behind her mask as tears began to flow down her face as she asked, "Oni-chan (Big brother)?"
With only a nod as a reply, the supposed hunter-nin flung off her mask and ran into Yuuki's arms in embrace as she began to sob. The others exchanged looks of surprise and curiosity as to who this girl is and how Yuuki knew her. Yuuki first asked the girl, "How did you get here? And how did you end up working with No-Brow there as a missing-nin?"
Haku replied, trying to stop crying, "After you left me back at the bridge, you never came back. I thought you died or left me there, so when Zabuza-sama showed up, I agreed and went with him. He trained me to become a kunoichi. We needed money, and Gato had a job that paid, and here we are." With that, she struck Yuuki in the chest with her fist weakly as she asked, tears flowing again, "Why didn't you come back for me? You promised!" Yuuki had an apologetic look on his face as he replied, "I did. You see, what happened was…"
(Flashback)
Yuuki was wandering around the village, looking for his "idiotic nephew" after he ran off to find a ramen shop. As he was crossing a bridge, he came across a young girl with scruffy clothing and blots of dirt and blood on her, shivering in the cold. He took off his jacket, kneeled down before her, put it around her and asked, "What's a cute kid like you doing here all alone? Where are your parents?"
Haku replied, "They're both dead. My dad came with the villagers and killed my mom, and they were going to kill me. I snapped, and the next thing I knew, there was nothing but blood and dead bodies around me. I've been all alone since."
Sympathetic to the girl's plight as it reminded him of his nephew's horrible younger years, he made a Kage Bunshin and it wrapped his arms around her in a hug, "Not anymore you're not. Name's Yuuki by the way. What's yours?" Haku, surprised by the stranger's show of affection, told him her name and Yuuki continued, "Well Haku, it's nice to meet you. I'd take you with me, but I have to find that idiot I have for a nephew first. Him and his stomach. After that, what say you come with me and we'll get you clean and fed?" Haku was only too happy to agree, and Yuuki waved to her before he sprinted off, leaving her with his Kage Bunshin.
Haku was happy to wait while in the Kage Bunshin's warm embrace, until all of a sudden, the village's shinobi saw Yuuki and began to chase after him. Yuuki put Haku down and said, "Shit! This isn't good. Listen, they're after me, so wait here for me until either me or the real me come back OK? If I'm dispelled, the real me will know exactly what happened and come running. So don't go anywhere no matter what OK?" Haku only nodded, afraid to be alone again, but trusted the strange man who offered her affection more than anybody else. With that, the Kage Bunshin also sprinted off, with the crowd of shinobi after him.
(Flashback Ends)
"After that, my Kage Bunshin got dispelled by a lucky shot, and I came running for you since I found him." Naruto blushed in embarrassment as Yuuki pointed his finger at his nephew. Haku looked at the boy who she wanted to blame but ended up blushing at the sight of him. "By the time we got back to the bridge, you were gone. Naruto must've remembered the scent you left behind," Yuuki finished explaining.
Haku nodded in understanding and said, "I forgive you oni-chan. But what do we do now? You're protecting the bridge builder, who we're supposed to kill, and I can't disobey Zabuza-sama." Yuuki commented, "Listen Haku, think about it. If my nephew can take apart Zabuza like he did, do you think you can take him on, mophead, AND me?" Shaking her head in defeat, Yuuki continued, "Tell you what Haku. I won't kill No-Brows, since he did raise you in my place. Why don't you two come with us back to Konoha after the little mission's over? I can get you amnesty, since you're not really a kunoichi of any village to begin with. I can't promise the same for him, but I can keep him from execution, what do you say?"
Haku replied, "I think that's reasonable, but I can't make the decision without Zabuza-sama. Can you wait until he wakes up?" Yuuki nodded In agreement, and the others could only agree as they headed to Tazuna's house, with Zabuza's zanpakuto still in Yuuki's hand over his shoulder, and the missing-nin's unconscious body on his other.
The rest of the mission was fairly uneventful, but I'll give you the short version of it. After the group arrived at Tazuna's house, Tsunami welcomed them and put the unconscious Zabuza in bed in one of the guest bedrooms, once she was done gawking at Yuuki with a cough from her father. Naruto and Sasuke left with Tazuna each morning to protect him at the bridge, while Sakura was assigned to Tsunami when she went out anywhere.
When Inari threw his fit, Naruto reacted in the same manner as the canon story and stormed out to think, with Kyuubi comforting him. With a modified technique of Inoichi's, Yuuki showed everybody else a glimpse of Naruto's childhood, getting various reactions from the group. Inari cried in shame and ran into his room, with Tsunami running after him after a bow of apology to Yuuki. Tazuna was surprised at the horrible childhood Naruto had, while Kakashi and Sakura had looks of sympathy and shame on their faces, for not being there for him when he was younger in any means, shape or form. Haku was surprised at how alike they were. Zabuza was equally sympathetic, understanding the similarities of painful childhoods between the two (meaning Naruto and Haku). Sasuke walked out of the house with a thoughtful look on his face, and Yuuki followed after him.
Just outside the house, Sasuke was staring into space, contemplating if he was right to follow the path he decided on, now that he saw Naruto's past and how he took it all in stride. Yuuki put his hand on the Uchiha's shoulders and said, "I have a pretty good idea of what's on your mind. Now you know why he won't fight you and I won't train you. When the time comes and you decide to turn away from the path of an avenger, I just may consider training you. Until then." With that, Yuuki returned to the house, leaving Sasuke to his thoughts.
Not much happened until the day Gato decided to attack the bridge. That morning, Yuuki demanded that Tsunami and her son come with them, in case that Gato decided to use them as hostages and the bridge was nearly complete. When the group arrived to see the workers beaten or killed by mercenaries, he turned to Zabuza and said, "Why don't you have fun with them and lard ball on the other end of the bridge. He probably won't pay you now, so you may as well get the frustration out of your system. Oh and uh, bring me his checkbook if you don't mind, so try not to make his kill too messy." Needing no more prodding, the next sights in front of them weren't meant for those weak of heart and Zabuza brutally murdered the opposing side.
When said Demon returned bloody and checkbook in hand, Yuuki took a quick glance and handed it to Tazuna before saying, "He won't be using it where he went. Use what's in there to get this country back on its feet, after giving us A-rank pay of course."
On the day the bridge was completed, the whole village was out to see their rescuers from Gato's tyranny off. Inari was bawling his eyes out while saying goodbye to Naruto, when Yuuki cut in and said, "Stop crying gaki, you're coming with us." The others looked at him in confusion until Tsunami wrapped her arms around Yuuki's waist and put her head on his shoulder. Haku elbowed her oni-chan slightly and asked in a teasing tone, "Looks like you snagged Tsunami-san when you thought we weren't looking, eh oni-chan?" The couple blushed at her words until Zabuza quipped, "Like you're one to talk Haku. Your eyes have been all over the blonde gaki since you met him and you were ogling each other the whole time during dinner. Looks like you're the one with a crush. So much for a choice about going to Konoha." At that, the younger couple blushed, while Kyuubi inwardly chuckled at how well a job her boyfriend was doing at reviving his clan. Tazuna said to the group that he would join them as soon as he finished up what little paperwork there was to the construction. With that, the group was off.
A villager next to Tazuna asked him, "So Tazuna-san, what're you going to call the bridge?" Said man replied, sober for once, "I think I'll call it the Great Naruto Bridge, for the young boy who showed enough strength and heart to change the hearts of the villagers and even Inari."