Okay, this took longer than expected. I had stuff to do, I was busy, yadda yadda who gives a crap. On with the show!
Previous ChapterAnko looked at her watch, and noticed that it was past midnight. "We need to get some sleep. We have our first mission tomorrow." She said. Naruto shrugged. "I'm just going to sleep out here, it's a nice night, and I like having the stars above me." He rolled his coat into a pillow and laid his head down on it, stretching out on the ground. Anko shrugged, and laid down next to him. "I think I'll join you." She rested her head on his chest, and closed her eyes, almost asleep already. Naruto smiled. "Good night, Anko."
In her half awake haze she mumbled, "Good night, Naruto-kun." Naruto just smiled and wrapped his tails around the two of them before drifting off to sleep.
Chapter Five: SchismNaruto woke up feeling extremely peaceful. He was laying in the middle of a beautiful clearing with the sun steaming over him, listening to the birds chirping in the early morning. By the position of the sun in the sky, Naruto guessed that it was about seven.
A sudden snore drew Naruto's attention to the woman draped across his chest. Somehow, she had gotten a hold of one of Naruto's tails, and was stroking it in her sleep, producing some very pleasurable sensations for Naruto. He quickly created a Kage bunshin and performed a kawarimi with it, being careful not to wake Anko. He set off into the forest, searching for something to hunt.
He came back twenty minutes later with a deer slung over his shoulder. Honestly, he had no idea what a deer of all things was doing in the Forest of Death. Forgetting that, he proceeded to skin the deer and cut it into steaks, building a small fire pit with a doton jutsu and igniting a fire in it with a thought. He set the meat on the grill he had unsealed from a small scroll, and left a Kage bunshin to watch it while he created another such fire, this time with a frying pan, and proceeded to crack several eggs he had managed to scavenge into the pan.
Anko was awoken by the smell of the food cooking, and opened her eyes to see two Naruto's each cooking over a different fire. "Breakfast?" she asked. Naruto put a finished steak on a plate he had unsealed along with some of the scrambled eggs he had cooked. Accepting the plate, Anko inhaled the scent of the food. It smelled wonderful. She dug in hungrily, finding that it tasted even better than it smelled. Despite the fact that it hadn't been seasoned other than a little salt, it was still the best steak Anko had ever had. "Oh, yeah." Anko said as she finished her food. "You'll be cooking for us on missions from now on."
Naruto chuckled and began eating his own plate of food. After he had finished, he washed of the dishes with a small suiton jutsu before sealing them away again. He dispelled the fires he had created and decided to leave the left over food there for the wildlife. By this time, it was almost eight.
Anko looked at Naruto and smirked. "You know, Naruto-kun, your chest is pretty comfortable. Best sleep of my life." Naruto laughed at that and said, "Please feel free to use me as a pillow whenever you see fit." Anko laughed and said, "I just might take you up on that. But now, we need to get our first mission." Naruto nodded put up his illusion before teleporting the two of them to the missions' office.
They arrived in the usual flash of light, startling the people working there. Naruto saw that Sarutobi was handing out missions today, and he and Anko went to greet him. "Hey old man." They both said at the same time. Sarutobi raised an eyebrow at their synchronization, but smiled and said, "Good morning, you two. I take it you are here to receive your first mission?"
Anko nodded and said, "Yep. C-rank, like we agreed on." The Hokage chuckled and said, "Don't worry Anko-chan, I haven't forgotten our agreement. A C-rank, as promised." He fished a scroll off of the cluttered table, handing it to Anko. "Tazuna-san, you may enter now." He called.
The door opened to reveal a drunk-looking man with a bottle of sake in his hand and the smell of alcohol on his breath. "These are my super bodyguards?" he asked drunkenly. "You sure they're enough?" Sarutobi nodded and said, "Yes, Tazuna-san. These two would be enough to guard you from any threat, be they bandits, or even ninja. They will be more than enough for a simple escort trip."
Sarutobi addressed naruto and Anko and said, "Your mission is simply to escort Tazuna-san back to Nami no Kuni and protect him while he finishes building his bridge. You may leave whenever you are ready." Anko nodded and turned towards Tazuna. "When will you be ready to go?" The old man answered, "Whenever you are. The sooner we leave, the better."
Anko turned to Naruto. "Do you mind…" Naruto nodded and grabbed Anko and Tazuna by the shoulders, teleporting them away.
They reappeared just outside the gates in a flash of light. Anko, having been ready for the transportation, was less disoriented than Tazuna, who stumbled off into the bushes to empty his stomach. Anko stared around and asked, "Can't you use that to get us all the way there?" Naruto grimaced. "I would, but as you can see, civilians tend to have somewhat adverse reactions to teleportation. We'll be going on foot."
Tazuna emerged from the bushes looking slightly pale. "Yes, I think that would be best. Please, let's not do that again." The three of them then set off down the road that lead towards Nami no Kuni. Once they were a suitable distance form the gates, and Naruto was sure they were not being followed, Naruto released his illusion.
"What the hell!" Tazuna shouted. "Why did this kid just sprout tails?" Naruto looked at Tazuna and said, "It's complicated." He continued walking without a word. Tazuna continued on, shaking his head and chalking it up to weird ninja stuff.
As they made their way down the road, they passed a puddle in the middle of the road. 'Honestly, how stupid do they think we are?' Naruto thought. 'It hasn't rained in weeks.' He turned to Anko and said, "Nice weather we've been having lately, don't you think, Anko?" Seeing the puddle, Anko got the message and replied, "Yeah, it sure is."
When they passed the puddle, two figures slowly began to rise out of it. Seeing their target's backs turned, they rushed at them, hoping to catch them by surprise. However, when they reached the tallest one, hoping to take him out first, he drew his sword so fast that their eyes could not follow, and sliced their chain in half before they could wrap him in it.
The two assassins glared at naruto, and rushed at him. Naruto ducked a gauntlet slash from one of them, and stabbed him in the heart, killing him. The other howled in rage and threw himself at Naruto, attacking wildly. Naruto blocked a slash, and cut the assassin's legs out from underneath him. The man landed on the stumps of his former legs, causing him to scream in pain, and Naruto decapitated him, cutting his screams short. While this all happened, Anko and Tazuna looked on, Anko being impressed, Tazuna being sickened by the sounds of pain.
Anko raised an eyebrow and asked, " Shouldn't you have kept one alive to interrogate?" Naruto shrugged and responded, "I know who they were, and they were probably here to assassinate Tazuna, which would mean he lied about the mission." Turning to Tazuna, he asked, "Care to explain?"
Tazuna swallowed nervously and replied, "Well, you see, my about a year ago, a man named Gato came to my country, and started taking control of all trade in and out of the country. Now, he controls everything, and the people are suffering. Even the Daimyo can't do anything. But this bridge I'm working on would connect us to the mainland and save our country. But Gato doesn't want that. He likes being in control. You see, he may be a legitimate businessman on the surface, but his company is a front for all kinds of illegal activity. Drugs, smuggling, human trafficking, you name it. He makes an example of anyone who dares to speak against him, and the people are afraid for their lives. He's tried several times to sabotage my bridge, so I had to hire ninjas to fight the ones he sent after me. Please, will you help me and my country?"
As Anko was about to say something, Naruto spoke up and said, "Sure. Just pay the full amount for the correct rank of the mission when your country gets back on its feet. I'll need to send a message to the Hokage to let him know the situation, but after that, we can be on our way." Tazuna sighed in relief, and looked at Anko. She just slumped and said, "Yeah, what he said."
Naruto created a shadow clone, which disappeared in a flash of light. Anko looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "I'm sending a message to the Hokage. This way is much safer than any other form of communication, since we don't have to worry about the message being intercepted." Naruto explained. Anko grinned and said, "You're pretty smart. That's good. If you weren't already immortal, I'm sure you'd be one of the few ninja to actually retire."
Naruto smiled, and went to cut the heads off of the ninja he had killed. Sealing the heads in scrolls, he handed them to Anko, saying, "Here. Gozu and Meizu, known as the Demon Brothers, B-rank missing-nin of Kirigakure. You can collect the bounties when we get back to Konoha. I'd take them myself, but I don't really need the money." Anko accepted the scrolls. "Uhh, thanks, I guess." She replied.
After several more hours of walking, they reached the boat that would be taking them to the mainland. They made their way on slowly to the island that was Nami no Kuni, rowing instead of using the boat's engine so as to not draw attention to themselves. After some time, they finally made it to shore, stepping off the boat and thanking the man who had taken them there.
After walking down the road about half an hour, their vision started to be obscured by fog. As they neared a small lake ahead, Naruto suddenly threw a kunai into the bushes. However, everybody relaxed when they saw a small white rabbit run out of the bushes. Naruto narrowed his eyes. This time of year, the rabbit's fur should have been darker. He realized what was happening before quickly turning to block a flurry of senbon from behind them. At the same time, he heard a whistling in the air.
He quickly threw himself in front of Tazuna, shoving him and Anko down, as a large zanbatou flew threw the air at them. Recognizing the blade, Naruto's eyes widened as he raised his hand and caught the sword by the handle in mid-spin. Leaning on the seven-and-a-half foot sword, Naruto yelled out into the fog, "Zabuza! Get your ass out here! And bring Haku!" He heard a faint gasp of surprise from somewhere in the trees behind him.
As two people appeared out of the mist in front of him, the taller one, a shirtless man with bandages over is mouth, asked, "Who the hell are you, and how do you know who Haku is?" Naruto laughed sinisterly and pulled back his hood, revealing his face and ears. Smiling, he said, " Hey Zabuza, Haku-chan, how's it going?"
Naruto was suddenly tackle glomped by the shorter figure called Haku. "Naruto-sensei! It's been so long!" after he got up, the man called Zabuza greeted him with a hug and a slap on the back. "Damn, kid! You got taller! Picked up a sword, too. We'll have to spar later!" Naruto laughed and said, "Definitely. It's great to see you guys!"
Anko and Tazuna just stared on, utterly confused. They had just suddenly been attacked by two random ninja, who Naruto was apparently best friends with. Anko spoke up, "Will somebody please tell me what the hell is going on here!" Naruto turned to Anko and replied, "These are my friends, Momochi Zabuza, and his adopted daughter/student, Haku. I met them a few years ago on my travels."
Anko stared in shock. "Momochi Zabuza? The Demon of the Mist? The famous A-rank missing nin? How the hell did you meet him?" Naruto explained, "Well, a few years ago, I was in Mizu no Kuni, and I saw these two being chased by hunter nin. So, I decided to help them out. After I got rid of them, Haku told me that she had a rare bloodline, Hyoton. Since she was still trying to learn how to use it, and since I can use it as well, I stuck around for a few months to help train her, and after awhile, we all became close friends. Eventually, however, they had to leave the country, and I had to go finish my business elsewhere. This is our first time seeing each other since then, though."
Anko shook her head and snorted. "I suppose by now I should stop being surprised by anything you do." Naruto chuckled and turned back to Zabuza. "So I take it you guys were the ones hired to kill Tazuna?" Tazuna paled at this. Zabuza just waved him off, saying, "Bah, screw that. That bastard Gato was never planning on paying us anyway. I could smell his treachery from a mile away." Naruto smiled and said, "Great! I was planning on killing him while we were here anyway." Everybody laughed, and they all continued down the road to Tazuna's house, chatting amongst themselves.
Anko turned to Zabuza and asked, "So, why'd you leave Kiri, anyway?" Zabuza answered, "Failed coup against the Yondaime Mizukage. That bastard is a total sociopath. Well, was, anyway." Anko quirked an eyebrow. "Was?" Zabuza chuckled. "Yeah, was, until Naruto ripped him a new one. You should have seen the kid. That poor bastard Yagura never stood a chance. Naruto didn't kill him, though. Nah, from what I saw, he just grabbed the bastard by the head, and they both went into some kind of trance. Naruto said he was speaking to the demon inside Yagura. Not many knew this, but Yagura was the jinchurriki of the Sanbi. Of course Naruto, being the Kyuubi and whatnot, is the Sanbi's superior, so it had no choice but to obey him. He did some sort of merging, like what happened to Naruto when he fused with Kyuubi. Now Yagura is he new Sanbi, and Naruto's subordinate. Last I heard of him, he was in Makai trying to master his new abilities and repent for his crimes against humanity. It was one hell of a thing to see. Of course, Naruto was hailed as a hero by the entire country. I think they erected a statue in his honor in Kiri. They offered him the position of Mizukage, but he turned it down, saying that he had business to take care of in other countries." Zabuza said all of this casually, as if he was talking about the weather.
Anko however, was desperately trying to process all she had learned. Seeing the flabbergasted look on her face, Naruto snorted. This seemed to snap Anko out of her daze, and she said, "I was wrong. There is so much you can do to surprise me. The Hero of Mizu no Kuni is someone the whole world talks about, and nobody outside the country knows who he is. I can't believe you were offered the Mizukage position at like, what? Age twelve? Shit." Naruto and Zabuza laughed at her reaction.
Tazuna, however, had been staring at Naruto for the past several minutes with his eyes wide and his jaw hanging wide open. "You…you're…the…Kyuubi?" he asked weakly. Naruto just turned to him and said, "Count the tails, bub." Tazuna's eyes rolled back in his head and he fainted on the spot. Naruto stepped back from him. "I'm not carrying him." He said. Zabuza shook his head. "Me either." "Definitely not me." Anko said. They all turned to stare at Haku. "What?" she said. "Don't look at me." They just kept staring.
Luckily, Tazuna chose that moment to wake up. He opened his eyes blearily, mumbling, "What the hell just happened? I could have sworn I saw…" he trailed off as he saw Naruto standing above him with a huge grin on his face, poking him in the stomach with a long red tail. "Hey, old geezer, you ready to go? Oh hey, guys, Tazuna fainted again!"
Chuckling to himself, Naruto woke Tazuna with a small suiton jutsu to the face. Tazuna awoke, sputtering and wide-eyed. Naruto stood in front of him and offered a hand to help him up. "Don't feel bad, Tazuna-san. That's pretty much how everybody reacts." Tazuna just nodded shakily and continued walking in the direction of his home.
ElsewhereInside a large building in the middle of a forest, A very short balding man with sunglasses was sitting at a desk, counting his money while humming a merry tune. This man's name was Gato.
The reason that Gato was in such a good mood, was that two ninja he had hired were about to take care of a very prominent thorn in his side. For several months, the bridge builder Tazuna and his workers had been attempting to build a bridge to the mainland, in hopes of breaking Gato's control. But Gato didn't want that, so he hired the ninja to take care of him. Yes, Gato was n a very good mood.
As he finished counting the last of his money, Gato felt the room grow slightly colder. Knowing what was about to come, Gato swallowed nervously. Meeting with his new associates always made him agitated.
As the lights in his office began to flicker, the room's shadows began to condense and pool in three spots in front of his desk. Finally, the room went dark. As the lights went out, three figures appeared from the shadows in front of Gato's desk.
They were tall, two men and a woman, and their clothing seemed to be made of the shadows themselves. The only light in the room came from the eerie glow their bodies seemed to give off. The middle figure opened his mouth to speak, revealing sharp, pointed teeth. He had a dry, raspy voice, like fallen leaves rustling in the breeze.
"The ones you hired were not as reliable as they seemed, Gato-san. They have not only failed in the task you set them to, but have joined forces against you. We are very…disappointed in you." Gato's eyes widened. Disappointing these people was not something Gato wanted to do. "I apologize, Shimura-sama. I will hire others to elim-"
Gato was cut off by a glare from the figure known as Shimura. "You have already proven your incompetence in this matter, Gato-san. We will take care of these vermin with our own warriors. Be glad we have an interest in your affairs, or we would have disposed of you already. Do not fail us again."
Gato hurriedly nodded. "Yes, Shimura-sama. I swear, I will not disappoint you again. But, what will you have me do now?" Shimura answered, "Be at the bridge in one week. That should give you enough time to recuperate from your injuries." Gato paled. "I-injuries, Shimura-sama?" he questioned.
Shimura laughed, a sound that made Gato want to vomit. "You must pay the price for failure, Gato-san. Please, hold out your arm. Gato looked at him fearfully. Shimura said more forcefully, "Your arm, you pathetic sniveling coward! Hold out your arm!"
Gato shakily extended the appendage, and before he could even think of retracting it, a flash of silver came down and separated Gato's hand from his wrist. He fell to the ground, clutching his stump while sobbing and retching from he pain. Looking at the wound, Gato saw that it was cauterized, so he wouldn't bleed out.
Shimura looked down at Gato in disgust while wiping the blood off his blade. "Get up, you weakling." Gato slowly climbed to a standing position, cradling his stump and shaking in pain. "W-what d-do you wish of m-me, Shimura-sama?" Gato stammered. "You will not leave this building until it is time for you to go to the bridge. You will tell no one of our meeting, or how you received your injuries." Gato nodded quickly.
Shimura smiled in approval. "Good. We will be watching, Gato-san." And their forms seemed to expand outward, dissolving into shadows. The lights flickered, before coming back on. Gato went to his desk, and sagged in his chair.
Back with Naruto's groupAfter walking a while longer, the group of ninja came to a decent-sized two story house. Knocking on the front door, it opened to reveal a young woman with long dark hair. When she saw Tazuna, the woman breathed a sigh of relief and opened the door for them. "Please come in. My name is Tsunami; I'm Tazuna's daughter. Thank you so much for getting him here safely." The group of ninjas filed into the house, Tsunami's eyes widening as she saw Zabuza's giant sword.
The house was small, but comfortable. They entered into a small living room with several chairs spread around the room. Once they had all taken a seat, Tsunami left to get them all tea. Anko spoke up, "So, how are we gonna kill this Gato bastard?"
Naruto thought for a moment and answered, "We wait. I say we continue guarding Tazuna while he works on the bridge, and eventually Gato will have to send someone after us." Zabuza nodded. "We have no idea what Gato's next move will be. It makes sense to force him to take the initiative."
Anko raised an eyebrow at Zabuza's agreement. "I would have expected a more direct approach from someone known as the Demon of the Bloody Mist. Zabuza shrugged. Haku replied, "A side effect of sparring with Naruto is learning to plan things out." Anko just nodded knowingly.
As Tsunami arrived with their tea, she finally seemed to notice Naruto's strange features. "Excuse me, err, Naruto, was it? May I ask why you have such…animalistic features?" she asked politely. Naruto was about to answer, but Tazuna interjected from his seat on a couch, "He's the Kyuubi, sweetheart. Don't question it, just go with the flow." Tsunami looked at Naruto with wide eyes. He just waved and smiled.
After Tsunami left the room again, Tazuna spoke up, "So, I'll just be working on the bridge like normal, while you guys wait for Gato to send someone after me?" Everybody nodded. "Yeah, that about sums it up." Zabuza said. Tazuna shrugged. "Eh, what the hell. Sounds like a plan." He took a swig of his bottle of sake.
Naruto turned to Zabuza and Haku. "Hey, we've still got a few hours of daylight left. What do you say we go see how much stronger you guys have gotten?" Zabuza grinned. "I thought you'd never ask." The three of them left the house to find a sparring area while an interested Anko and Tazuna followed them to see the spar. Unbeknownst to them, however, they were followed by a child wearing overalls and a bucket hat.
Once they were a suitable distance away from the house, Naruto stopped in the middle of a semi-open patch of forest with a stream running through it. He took off his coat and sword, and set them aside. "Okay," he said, "Haku first. I want to see how you've progressed with your Hyoton. To make it fair, I will only be defending. Zabuza, if you would referee." Zabuza stood in between the two fighters, his arm held in the air. "On the count of three, okay? One…two…three…begin!" he yelled as he brought his arm down in a chopping motion and quickly got out of the way.
Haku jumped back a ways while performing hand seals. She yelled out, "Dragon Claw: Hyoton!" Two mini-cyclones rose up out of the stream, forming around Haku's hands and freezing, turning Haku's arms from the elbow down into wicked dragon claws.
Naruto raised his eyebrows. "Getting right to the good stuff, eh Haku-chan?" he quipped. "Fine, I'll let you get a free hit in." He stood still in the middle of the clearing, arms held out at his sides. Haku gave a fierce battle cry before rushing at Naruto, plunging her arm directly into his solar plexus, her arm entering his body to her elbow.
Anko gasped in horror, afraid that her new teammate had just been killed. She was confused, however, by the sound of laughter. It was coming from Naruto. "Damn, Haku-chan! You've really been practicing! Unfortunately, that will be the only hit you land on me." He grabbed Haku's wrist, pulling her claw/arm out of his body. Anko watched, entranced as the wound healed as the claw was leaving his chest. By the time the arm was all the way out, there was no mark on Naruto to indicate that he had been so much a scratched, save for a hole in his shirt, which Anko noted was beginning to close as well.
Naruto, still holding Haku by the wrist, tuned and threw her away from him forcibly, ending with her drenched in the stream. Angry, she performed more hand seals, her earlier jutsu fading, and yelled out, "Hyoton: Hail Storm!" She lifted her arms, and dozens of small spheres of water, each about the size of a golf ball, lifted up out of the stream and froze solid. With a grunt of effort, Haku sent the icy projectiles raining down on Naruto in waves. Naruto nimbly danced in between the projectiles, a feat of dexterity and agility that Anko would not have believed possible had she not seen it herself.
As the projectiles stopped coming, and Naruto stopped moving, Haku sent one last ball directly at Naruto's face. When it was about a foot from his face, it was consumed in a sudden burst of fire, leaving nothing but steam behind. Haku smirked. As Naruto had been dodging her attack, she had been performing a lengthy string of hand seals. She finished the final one, calling out, "Hyoton: Demonic Tundra!" A large wall of water rose out of the stream, before turning to snow and blowing towards Naruto very quickly. Naruto shielded his face from the onslaught.
When he uncovered his face, the entire clearing was blanketed in snow, and there was snow falling from the sky. Naruto whistled in appreciation. "Damn. You actually got that one down. Let's test it out, shall we?" As Naruto attempted to move, several large spike of ice shot towards him quickly. As he dodged them, more came after him. That was the secret of this jutsu. It forced the enemy to either hold completely still, of focus on dodging ice spikes. Whenever someone was caught in the jutsu, they would be fine as long as they didn't move. However, the slightest movement was detected in the snow, ice spikes would soot out at the source of the disturbance. It was a jutsu of Naruto's creation, which he had left on a scroll for Haku to train with. Apparently, she had been training. In fact, all of the jutsu Haku had used so far were created by Naruto.
Growing tired of the constant dodging, Naruto stopped, melting the snow around him with a swirl of fire. "That's enough for now, Haku-chan." He called out. The jutsu faded, turning the snow into water, and Haku came out from behind a tree, panting slightly. "Good, I'm starting to get low on chakra. So, how'd I do?" Naruto gave her a thumbs up. "Great. I can tell you've been working hard. Now, Zabuza's turn!" Zabuza jumped forward, hopping from foot to foot in anticipation. "Alright, Naruto, grab that sword and let's rock!" Naruto shook his head. "Sorry, Zabuza. I'm afraid my sword would cut right through yours. However, I do have an idea."
He gathered his chakra, and without hand seals, called out the name of his jutsu. "Dragon Style: Kinzokuton!" Naruto plunged his arms into the ground, and when he pulled them out, his arms were covered in metal, his fingers transformed into foot long claws.He grinned wickedly. "This should just about do it." Zabuza matched Naruto's grin, and the two of them got into their own fighting stances.
There was a moment of silence in the clearing, before the two rushed across the clearing at each other, meeting in the middle. Zabuza slashed upward at Naruto, hoping to split him from crotch to cranium. Naruto swept the cleaver away with one hand, while swiping at Zabuza with his other claw. He scored several cuts across Zabuza's chest, but the swordsman just shook it off. He brought his cleaver back around, sending slice after slice at Naruto, who dodged or parried all his strikes, while occasionally attacking back.
After a few minutes they broke apart, studying each other intently. Zabuza smirked. "Not bad, kid. What do you say we finish this with one last attack?" Naruto nodded. "Sounds good to me." The two launched at each other once more, faster than ever. Zabuza jumped, launching himself high into the air. As he came down, he brought his cleaver above his head, intending to chop Naruto in half. Naruto braced himself for the impact, and when he met Zabuza's ferocious swing; it created a cloud of dust, obscuring the two combatants from sight. The spectators watched with bated breath to see who had come out on top, and they watched closely as the dust began to clear.
After a moment, the dust was gone, revealing Naruto, holding Zabuza at bay with one hand, his other clawed hand at Zabuza's throat. The spectators cheered at the spectacular match they had witnessed, and the two fighters relaxed, shaking hands with each other. "Great match, kid. I can't believe you blocked that last attack, though. That was truly insane." Zabuza said. Naruto grinned, and the two of them began to walk back toward where the onlookers were observing the fight.
They walked back to where Anko and Tazuna were waiting, and they all began to walk back to the house. At this time, darkness had long since fallen. The group was thinking it was about time to head to sleep, when they heard a high scream that cut off suddenly. An ominous orange glow could be seen off in the distance. The group rushed back to the house as fast as they all could. They emerged from the forest, with the house in sight, and what they saw shocked them.
The house was in ruins; it's burning wood creating an eerie blow in the nighttime air. The upper floor looked like it had been blown apart, and the parts of the house that were intact had deep scratch marks along the wood, as if made by some kind of animal. Haku hurriedly put out the fires as best she could with a suiton jutsu, and Naruto extinguished anything left.
They rushed to the ruins of the house, Tazuna shouting for his daughter and grandchild. He desperately searched the ruins of the house for any sign of his family. Suddenly, they heard a small voice from outside the house. They hurried back outside, and quickly located the source of the cries for help.
Under a pile of rubble, Naruto found Tazuna's grandson Inari, curled up in ball clutching a bleeding wound in his side and barely conscious. "Inari!" Tazuna shouted worriedly. "What happened here? Where is your mother?" Inari looked at him with terrified eyes. "They took her! The monsters came and took her away!"
Naruto quickly placed his hands over Inari's wound, a deep gash in his side, and his hands glowed forest green. Inari was quickly healed, and fell asleep. Naruto handed him to Tazuna. Looking around, he saw strange tracks in the dirt that led off into the forest. He shouted, "Anko, come with me! Haku, Zabuza, stay behind and protect Tazuna!" He and Anko rushed off into the forest, following the tracks.
Aaaaand done! It took forever to finish this, mostly cause I had to rewrite it after I lost the entire chapter. Anyway, updates will be more scattered from now on, but I'll try to do at least one per week.
Here's a list of the original jutsu I used:
Dragon Style: Hyoton/Kinzokuton
The Dragon Style jutsu are a set of jutsu invented by Naruto that transform a person's hands and upper arms into that of a dragon. The effects are different for each element. For example, in the Hyoton version, ice will spread from the point of contact with the claws.
Hyoton: Hail Storm
One of the first Hyoton jutsu that Naruto taught Haku, this attack causes many golf ball-sized spheres to rise up out of the water, freeze, and rain down on the opponent. Good for keeping an enemy busy.
Hyoton: Demonic Tundra
Covers the battlefield in a layer of semi-sentient snow, which detects movement and attacks in the direction of the disturbance. If an enemy stays still when the jutsu is put into effect, the snow will not attack them. However, this leaves them open to further attack from the user. The snow does not register the user's movement, allowing them to move freely around the battlefield.
Well, that's all for now. Please take the time to review. I feel like this was my best chapter yet, and I want to know what people thought of it.
Don't Fear The Reaper,
Kumo no Shinigami