Blonde-Haired Warrior, Pink-Haired Princess
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, To-LOVE-Ru, or any other series I plan to use in this story. They belong to their respective owners, and I am making no money from this whatsoever.
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Demon Speech"
"Technique/Jutsu"
"Peke Speech"
Chapter 5: Mission Truths
Walking out of Konoha's gates, heading toward the east, was Genin Team 7, along with three other individuals. Standing at the center of the group, was the elderly Tazuna, while Kakashi stood beside him, Sakura and Sasuke stood at the front of the group, and Naruto stood at the back, Lala to his left, and Run to his right.
(Flashback)
After the allotted time had passed by, Kakashi stood waiting at the gates with Tazuna, Sakura and Sasuke, waiting for the last two people to arrive so they could leave. A moment later, they soon caught a glimpse of the third Genin of their team, along with his pink-haired fiancé. But, they were surprised to see a third person walking with them, another female being a few inches shorter than Lala, with light green hair, hot pink eyes, and wearing a light red colored blouse and a pair of jean pants that were ripped off at the knees, with shinobi style sandals on her feet.
"Naruto, would you mind explaining to me who this girl is, and why you felt the need to bring another person along to slow us down?" Kakashi questioned, while noticing Naruto was regarding him with the same cold look he always seemed to give, which always managed to infuriate the silver-haired Jounin.
"Well, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said, the sensei termed laced with plenty of contempt, "this girl, as you called her, is Lala's friend Run, and as for why she's here, she's accompanying us on this mission." He finished, while glaring at the Uchiha, who was looking Run up and down.
"No, she won't." Kakashi said. "She's not a ninja of Konoha, but you are, and since you are under my command, I'm denying you the ability to allow her to accompany us on this mission."
"Wrong, sensei." Naruto said, instantly gaining a severely angered look from Kakashi. "I've already gotten Hokage-sama's authorization, since Run has become a bit of a student under myself. So, as a way to make sure she can continue training, I requested to have her come with us, and Hokage-sama agreed with me."
"But, I can't let a distraction like her accompany us." Kakashi tried to argue, but it was more as a way to try and stick it to Naruto than actual worry for the greenette.
"You don't have a say." Naruto said, while pulling a scroll from his back pocket, and unrolling it to show Kakashi. Written on it, was indeed the order by the Sandaime Hokage allowing one Run Elise Jewelria to accompany Team 7, under the same guidelines as Lala, i.e. answering to Naruto, Lala, or herself.
Growling in anger, Kakashi whirled around, and begrudgingly told the others to head out, before taking his spot beside the client.
(Flashback End)
And so, ever since that particular conversation, Kakashi had kept his mouth shut, and was silently seething, thinking of ways to legitimately get back at Naruto for this turn of events. Sakura and Sasuke were taking occasional glances back towards the three in the back, glaring for different reasons at the trio. Sakura because she was once again on the mental warpath that this new girl was attempting to steal her 'precious Sasuke-kun' from her once she saw his greatness. Sasuke, for his part, was glaring, because he was still smarting about the councils not making Naruto and the Hokage bow to their demands, and now Naruto had this new girl, who was also quite the looker all but hanging off of him.
"Ne ne, Naruto-kun, when we get to this place, you think you can show me the rest of that style you've been teaching me?" Run asked, while giving Naruto her best puppy eye expression.
"Sure, Run-chan, I'll be happy to teach you, away from prying eyes." Naruto replied, while shifting his eyes to Kakashi and Sasuke at the last part, which confused Run for a moment, before realization kicked in, thanks mainly to Naruto warning her about his teammates.
At this point, the group had walked by something on the side of the road that was completely out of place considering their location. It was a decent sized puddle of water, one that a person would see after a rather heavy downpour, but surrounding it was dried grass and dirt. After the group had finished passing the puddle by, the small body of water suddenly replaced itself with a pair of men, both wearing hitai-ate with the symbol for Kirigakure no Sato, as well as air masks on their faces. In fact, with the small exceptions of their weapons, a large clawed gauntlet, which was on opposite arms, their hitai-ate having different ornaments attached to them, and only one of them wearing a camouflage poncho, both of them looked remarkably similar.
Taking the distraction of the group into surprise attack, the two men used the chain connecting their gauntlets together to quickly wrap around Kakashi, who had a shocked look on his face.
"Heh, one down…" The one with the poncho commented with a smug tone, while they both yanked the chain and instantly tore Kakashi to shreds.
"Five to go." The other one finished, while he turned his gaze to Naruto and his two female companions, while the first one turned to Sakura and Sasuke, who had managed to pull Tazuna toward them.
'Yes, finally a chance to show up that loser Naruto, and prove I'm the best there is.' Sasuke thought, his hand instantly reaching for a kunai. But, his attempt to seize a weapon was stopped, since he was drawn to watch in shock as Naruto vanished from his spot and appeared right beside the attacker heading toward the three in the back of the group. Using a basic backfist, Naruto smashed the attack into the unknown shinobi's face, sending him flying headfirst into a tree on the side of the road, effectively knocking him out.
"Meizu! You damn brat!" The poncho wearing shinobi yelled out, while going for an attack against Naruto. Sadly, the attack never made contact, since Naruto had simply side-stepped the first attack, and then the next few that came toward him afterwards. 'What the hell? Who is this kid? He's dodging every attack I use like it's a game!' The nin thought, even as he continued his less than effective assault. 'Well, if I can't hit him…' He thought, while directing his gaze to Run and Lala. 'I'll just go for them.'
Taking a chance to go for it, the poncho wearing shinobi rushed toward Lala and Run, fully intent on maiming one of them, and using the other as a hostage to make his escape. Going for the green-haired one first, the nin never stopped to think that this could have been a bad idea, and he never did get the chance to lament his foolishness.
Run, seeing the unknown shinobi coming toward her, suddenly felt herself remembering words Naruto had spoken to her during their first practice session.
(Flashback)
"Listen Run, I'm going out on a limb her and guessing you don't have much fighting experience." Naruto said, which was answered with a nod by the green-haired girl. "So, I'm going to give you a piece of advice that I want you to follow, no matter what you learn from anyone else after this. You must always keep a cool head in a combat situation. Never let your fear of an opponent or your confidence in winning get the better of you, not even for an instant. Because if you do, you can guarantee you won't live to see another encounter."
(Flashback End)
Managing to squash her worry about the person bearing down on her, Run quickly used one of the first moves Naruto had ever taught her. As the clawed right arm of the unknown shinobi closed in on her, she shifted herself to her right side of the attack, letting it sail harmlessly right by her. Taking the chance that had presented itself, Run used her natural flexibility to shift her body, planting a hand on the ground, and used that placement to swing her left leg upwards, smashing it into her targets unguarded right elbow. Hearing a resounding crack of the joint breaking, and the cry of pain that followed, she smirked at her accomplishment, while noticing Lala had taken this newest opportunity, and attacked as well. Her solid right jab smashed right into the poncho wearing nin's face, launching a good fifteen or so feet away, where he didn't get back up.
"Heh, not bad for amateurs." Kakashi's voice suddenly said, as said silver-haired Jounin appeared from behind another tree, without so much as a scratch, while his shredded remains went up in a poof of smoke, revealing a log that had been reduced to sawdust. "Well, I have to say, that after seeing this little attack, there can be a total of only three people in this group that attack could have been meant for. Either Lala, this new girl Run, or Tazuna. But, seeing as those two girls aren't actually that important to this mission and were added on by one of my subordinates, it's not them, leaving only Tazuna."
(Same discussion as in canon, Kakashi elaborating on the nin and Tazuna's sob story)
"Tazuna-san, you do realize that thanks to this faulty information you've given us, this team is nowhere near prepared for this mission. With the inclusion of the Demon Brothers, this mission is now easily ranking at a B-Rank, and I don't think it will stay that way either." Kakashi said, while keeping his gaze on the elderly bridge builder. "As such, I'm very inclined to dissolve the mission contract and have this team turn around and head back to the village."
"But…but if you do that, I'll surely be killed, and the chance to free Wave Country will be crushed." Tazuna said in a panic, while Kakashi regarded him with a bored gaze, while the elderly man noticed the only blonde and greenette in the group were glaring at the silver-haired nin.
"That's not my concern anymore. You should have thought about that point before lying about the mission details to the village." Kakashi responded coldly, while pulling out his small orange book and flipping open to start reading again. "Alright team, we're returning to the village."
"I don't think so, Kakashi." Naruto said suddenly, instantly gaining the silver-haired Jounin's glare, which he returned with enough force to cause Kakashi to flinch back.
"Naruto, are you defying the orders of a superior shinobi." Kakashi asked dangerously, which was partially answered by the book in his hands disappearing, causing Kakashi to panic. But, his search was stopped when he saw the blonde had it in his hands, before Naruto gripped it in both hands and ripped it directly in two.
"No, I'm defying the orders of a superior moron." Naruto shot back, which caused Kakashi's glare to increase, along with gaining some KI, which was completely ignored. "I knew you didn't really compare to the reputation I had heard of, but I really didn't expect you to toss aside you own sensei's teachings so easily."
"Why you!" Kakashi shouted, while lashing out with a powerful punch to Naruto's face, only to cry out in pain since he felt like his fist had just impacted solid steel instead of flesh and bone.
"Your sensei, the Yondaime Hokage, believed heavily in helping people, regardless of the situation surrounding their meeting. For you to just so simply toss that aside; you must really have fallen from your best ability." Naruto finished coldly. "So I don't care if you and the other two head back to Konoha, I'm finishing this mission."
"I'll report this to Hokage-sama and have you arrested for this treason." Kakashi threatened, expecting Naruto to buckle instantly.
"If you can honestly sit there and believe that oji-san would punish me for continuing this mission, while you would sit back and do nothing to help a country in need, you're mentally ill." Naruto responded, causing Kakashi to become even more infuriated.
"You won't have to do it alone, Naruto-kun." Run said, while placing herself beside him, and clenching her fist in determination. "I'll help you too."
"Me too!" Lala chirped in happily, while throwing an arm around Naruto and Run each.
"I'm not sitting this one out." Sasuke suddenly said, speaking for the first time in a long time. "I won't just let this dead last orphan or those two women try and act better than me."
"If Sasuke-kun is going, I'm going too." Sakura, ever faithful fan girl chimed in.
"Hm, well…if you two are also willing, I guess we can continue on." Kakashi said, while Naruto shook his head at Kakashi's idiocy. "And I will be informing Hokage-sama of your disrespectful attitude Naruto." Kakashi finished, while taking his place beside Tazuna and motioned for Sasuke and Sakura to continue walking.
"Oh, I quiver with fear." Naruto responded, getting a sideways glare from the silver-haired Jounin, and a quiet giggle from Run.
(Time Skip, Boat ride to Wave Country)
A quiet whistle sounded from Naruto, as Team 7, Lala, Run, Tazuna and the boatman sat in the small craft that was creeping along the water as silently as possible. "That's a pretty decent piece of work." Naruto commented, while Tazuna nodded his head in appreciation to Naruto's words about his project. During the walk the group had taken after the incident with the Demon Brother's, Tazuna had spoken to Naruto and thanked him for agreeing to help his country, as well as apologizing for his earlier comment about Lala.
"Ha, it's not that impressive." Sasuke snorted out, just to try and irk Naruto.
"Oh, and what have you done with your life, Uchiha?" Naruto shot back with a small grin on his face, which succeeded in infuriating the last Uchiha of Konoha.
"WHY YOU-" Sasuke began while standing to his feet, only to be jerked back down to a sitting position by the boat owner, who was glaring heavily at Sasuke.
"Keep your mouth shut, brat, I'm taking way to huge a risk just being around you, and I can't let myself get caught." The boatman hissed, while Sasuke glared at him, and then Naruto.
"I think they'll be focusing more on Tazuna than you, so as long as he lives, you'll be okay." Naruto said, trying to placate the man, which worked slightly.
"Alright, we're here." Tazuna said, as the boat reached shore, and the group seven disembarked from the small boat, which quickly turned away and left from them. "My home is this way, so follow me." The elderly bridge builder continued, while motioning for the group to follow him.
After around a half-hour of walking, Naruto suddenly vanished from the group, only to reappear from one of the nearby bushes with a rabbit held in his hands.
"NARUTO-BAKA, WHY ARE YOU TORTURING THAT POOR BUNNY!" Sakura screeched, while she reached for the rabbit to pull it away from Naruto, who merely side-stepped her rush, causing the screeching pinkette to crash into ground.
"I thought I felt something back there, and when I went to check it out, I found this little guy." Naruto said, while letting Lala take the small rabbit from his hands, while she cuddled the little ball of fur to her.
"Well congratulations Naruto, you managed to stop a potentially dangerous rabbit." Kakashi remarked, his tone condescending.
"Use your eyes instead of your mouth, Kakashi. If you were an advanced Jounin, you would have noticed something was off." Naruto shot back, causing Kakashi to narrow his eyes at the blonde.
"And what does that mean?" Kakashi said hotly.
"That rabbit's fur is as white as fresh snow, but it's the middle of the summer." Naruto began, while Kakashi kept staring at him intently, like he was trying to figure out the meaning behind this. "So, what does that mean?" Naruto finished, his tone seeming like he was talking to a rather slow child.
"That means…it was kept inside by someone, probably for…damn, HIT THE DIRT!" Kakashi called out, while quickly pulling Sasuke and Tazuna to the ground, while Naruto grabbed hold of Lala and Run, and vanished from the spot. A split-second later, a large blade flew through the air, slashing through where the group had just been occupying, before continuing on its route and smashing into one of the trees about 20 feet off the ground.
"Heh, impressive reactions. I guess I should expect this from the famous Sharingan no Kakashi." A voice said which turned out to belong to the person who was now standing on the hilt of the massive sword. It was a male, standing a good six tall, with wrist warmers reaching his elbows, leg warmers reaching his knees, a pair of baggy striped pants, while his torso was completely void of any clothing, leaving his muscles on display.
"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist?" Kakashi said, his tone laced with confusion, even as Naruto reappeared in the group with Lala and Run. "Seems kind of strange to run into you here."
"Yes, well, I do get around." Zabuza returned, before grabbing the blade of his massive sword, and after pulling it free from the tree branch, drops to the ground a fair distance from the group, "But, I'm feeling a little generous, so how about you hand over the bridge builder, and I'll let you and your little brats walk away from this place?"
"Sorry, but we're under contract to protect this man, so I'll have to decline." Kakashi responded, while lifting his headband, and mentally going over the situation. 'Zabuza isn't someone I can mess around with, since his skill level is probably on par with my own. Worst case scenario, I'll use some kind of distraction and get Sasuke out of here to safety.'
"Oh, bringing out the famed Sharingan already, are we?" Zabuza quipped, while lifting his own hands to chest level, while flipping through several hand seals. "Well, if you intend to go all out, I might as well play along. Kirigakure no Jutsu(1)." As these words left his mouth, thick mist began forming around Zabuza, growing denser by the moment until it encompassed the area, and Zabuza vanished from sight.
(Fight follows canon)
"Fool! Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu(2)!" Zabuza called out, after managing to kick Kakashi backwards towards the nearby lake, and then reappearing behind him, his hands already flying through more seals. As these words were said, a large bubble of water lifted from the lake, surrounding Kakashi and effectively trapping him inside the sphere of liquid. "Heh, now with you out of the way, these brats will be easy pickings." Zabuza quipped, while using his single free hand to perform more hand seals, causing another Mizu Bunshin to appear beside him.
"Everyone, you have to run away from here!" Kakashi called out from inside his watery prison. "Zabuza's water clone can only go a certain distance from him, so you have to escape this area while you can!"
"Would you shut up, Kakashi!" Naruto shouted out, instantly silencing the silver-haired Jounin, while surprising Zabuza that the blonde would say such words to his own sensei. "Like always, you don't use your head. What's to stop Zabuza from coming after us once he's killed you?" Naruto said, while Kakashi momentarily had to begrudgingly agree with the blonde's words, since that was the most likely scenario to happen at this point. "Besides, there won't be much of a point to run, not once I crush Zabuza myself."
"Naruto, be realistic, you're just a Genin. You're nowhere near ready to handle someone of Zabuza's caliber!" Kakashi tried to argue, not really worrying about the blonde's safety, but by the fact that Naruto staying to fight Zabuza could put his teammates, or more specifically, Sasuke, in danger.
"Just like I shouldn't be ready to handle a ninja of your caliber?" Naruto shot back, which would have caused Kakashi's eyes to narrow, had it not been for Zabuza's loud laugh.
"Ha, oh that's too rich; you, some rookie Genin brat, think you can take on me?" Zabuza managed to say after calming down his laughter, before leveling more KI at Naruto, who didn't let himself feel intimidated in the slightest. "By the time I was your age, I had soaked these hands of mine with the blood of dozens."
"Yeah, yeah, I know all about your famous reputation." Naruto shot back coldly, surprising Zabuza. "Kiri's former method of a graduation exam, mainly the placing of students into groups of two, and having them fight to the death, was one of the first things oji-san ever taught me. But, that method was soon removed from their shinobi system, when you appeared, and even though you had no experience whatsoever, you still managed to kill all one hundred members of the academy set to graduate."
"Oh, glad to see even the young ones know of my reputation." Zabuza chuckled out, while his water clone rushed toward Naruto, as said blonde reached behind his back and grabbed hold of the short staff. As he pulled it from its sheath, Water Clone Zabuza's eyes widened in surprise when the staff actually became a full-sized Bo-staff, which swiped down faster than he thought, crashing into his skull and reducing it a puddle. "Well…I must say, for a Genin, you have some skill." Zabuza managed after mentally shaking himself from the surprise of the blonde's attack.
"You'll just find I'm full of surprises." Naruto replied, while holding the staff behind him as he regarded Zabuza with an even stare.
"Yes, I can imagine." Zabuza remarked, before he made the hand seals necessary to create another water clone, this one taking Zabuza's place, thus allowing the true Demon of the Hidden Mist to walk toward the shoreline and Naruto. "Still, are you really intending to face me head to head?"
"Only if you're foolish enough to actually stick around." Naruto returned, causing Zabuza to narrow his eyes, while an angry growl escaped his throat.
"Cocky one, aren't we?" Zabuza quipped, while drawing his Kubikiribocho from his back, only to freeze at the sudden realization that his opponent was no longer in front of him. Instincts kicking in, Zabuza whirled around to look behind him, only to gape in shock at the fact that Naruto was standing there, looking as dead serious as he had been a just a brief instant ago.
"Not cockiness, confidence." Naruto replied, while moving his Bo-staff in front of him, while Zabuza tried to get over the shock that had just hit his system.
'How…how can this upstart Genin brat move so quickly?' Zabuza mentally shouted. Taking a brief chance to glance at Kakashi, who was still trapped in his water prison, he saw the silver-haired Jounin had the same look of shock on his face at the blonde's speed. 'If Kakashi is that shell-shocked by this, then this brat must be holding back a lot more than this.'
"Well, you gonna take my advice and leave?" Naruto questioned.
"HELL NO!" Zabuza roared out, while slashing downward with his massive sword, expecting his much larger sword to slice right throw Naruto's staff and the blonde holding it.
CLANG
He was shocked when not only did the staff actually hold out against his blade, but Naruto also began to push Zabuza's assault back with seemingly no strain at all. Grunting in effort, the former Kiri nin tried adding more pressure to the blade, but he soon found that it was not working at all, since Naruto was continuing to push the offending weapon away.
"How...are you…doing this?" Zabuza asked in between grunts of effort to try and finish his attack. But, he never received an answer, since Naruto twisted his staff to the side, allowing Zabuza's massive sword to crash into the ground. Taking advantage of the enemy's temporary disorientation, Naruto capitalized on this by using a side kick, smashing his foot into Zabuza's ribs, and sending the former Kiri nin flying backwards.
Righting himself in the air, Zabuza managed to regain his footing, but was forced to drop to a knee, holding his ribs which had felt like they had just been hit by a bulldozer.
"Cough…this kid…cough…he's much better than I thought." Zabuza murmured, while trying to regain the breath that had been knocked out of him. After managing this, Zabuza got back to his feet, and returned his gaze back to Naruto, only to find the blonde shinobi missing from his last location. Feeling a sudden movement behind himself, Zabuza managed to twist his massive blade behind him, stopping the powerful swipe attack from Naruto's staff. But, what Zabuza didn't count on was the attack actually being more than he could handle, which sent the swordsman launching away.
Once again landing on his feet, Zabuza decided to not take any chances and began flying through hand seals once again. Turning his body back to Naruto, he finished his last seal and called out the name of his attack, an angered gleam in his eye.
"Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!(3)" Zabuza shouted, causing water from the lake where Kakashi's water prison was to rise up and circle around Zabuza, before rearing back and taking on the shape of a massive dragon.
"Wow!" Naruto commented, idly impressed by the size of the dragon.
"Ha! NOW TAKE THIS!" Zabuza cried out, while mentally commanding the dragon to attack Naruto, moving much faster than the blonde thought it would.
'Oh crap!' Naruto mentally said, while crossing his arms before his body, and bracing himself for impact.
"NARUTO-KUN!" Run and Lala called out when the massive dragon impacted, swallowing the area around the blonde in a watery torrent.
'Hm, I knew the loser was all talk all along.' Sasuke mentally commented, while idly wondering how long it would take to have the councils remove the now dead blonde's marriage agreement to Lala.
"HAHAHA! Kakashi, I guess your little Genin was a short act!" Zabuza called out, while continuing to laugh. But, his laughter, as well as Sasuke's thoughts on Lala, were stopped instantly, when a coughing sound was heard from another area, namely coming from the side of the Konoha group, on the opposite side of Zabuza.
"Cough…Boy, that was a little too close for comfort." Naruto commented, while lowering his arms slightly, his dampened clothes showing how close to the attack he had been before escaping.
"Well, you managed to escape that one…" Zabuza said, while mentally cursing the fact that the blonde had escaped from his water dragon without any visible injuries. "But…can you escape this!" Once again, more hand seals were formed by Zabuza. "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!(4)" Once again, water rose from the lake, this time circling Zabuza vertically instead of horizontally, and flew towards Naruto as a large wave.
"Not gonna work!" Naruto called out, while tightening his fist and launching a punch at the incoming wave.
"NARUTO-BAKA, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? THAT'S NOT GOING TOO-" Sakura's rant was cut off, since the incoming torrent of water was suddenly blown apart, as if it had been hit by an invisible blast.
"What the…what the hell did you do?" Zabuza said, his anger rising once again, since one of his more powerful techniques had seemingly blown itself apart.
"Just this." Naruto responded, as he vanished from his spot and reappeared directly in front of Zabuza. Before the Kiri missing nin could even think of moving away or even blocking, Naruto lashed out with a powerful palm strike aimed at Zabuza's chest. Stopping the blow only an inch or so from his chest, Zabuza felt like his torso had been hit with a mountain, blasting him backwards, through several dozen trees, and off into the distance. Also, as a side-effect, the sudden distance between the water clone and its creator caused the jutsu to dispel, allowing Kakashi to be free from the water prison.
"Naruto…" Kakashi began, only to stop and begin hacking to try and get some of the water in his lungs out. "I thought I gave you an order to leave this area." Kakashi managed to get out, before the last of the water left his body, and he stood back up, while leveling his best glare at Naruto, though the effect was somewhat lost thanks to his waterlogged look. "Why did you disobey my orders?"
"Because the order you gave me was a bad one." Naruto shot back, returning Kakashi's glare with equal force. "You just saw for yourself the outcome of the battle, and you still want to reprimand me for saving your butt."
"Naruto-kun's right, Kakashi-san." Run stepped in. "Even if we had left this place like you had said, it wouldn't have taken long for that Zabuza person to finish you off and then come after us. So Naruto just cut out the middle part and ended the fight you couldn't."
"I don't need some low-class civilian telling me how to run my squad." Kakashi barked harshly at her, while lifting his hand to backhand Run, only to feel an iron grip on his wrist. Turning to the source, he saw it was none other than Naruto.
"I guess my suggestion of thinking before you act hasn't set in yet, has it?" Naruto spoke, his voice colder than ice, before he shifted his grip and soon, Kakashi found his arm twisted behind his back, close to the point of breaking off. "This 'low-class civilian', as you called her, is actually a princess on about equal standing with Lala-chan, and if you had actually managed to strike her, I would be well within my rights to kill you personally."
"You…you better let me go, you brat." Kakashi tried to threaten, while at the same time trying to get his arm free from Naruto, who only increased the grip, causing the bones to begin to crack.
"I'm giving you your last warning, Kakashi." Naruto hissed, his head down by Kakashi's ear to let the cycloptic Jounin hear his words quite clearly. "If you ever try and touch any one close to me with the intention of harming them, I will not hesitate to finish what Zabuza started, team regulations be damned."
With his piece said, Naruto pushed Kakashi forward, essentially driving the silver-haired Jounin into the ground, while he rubbed his arm to alleviate the pain his limb was feeling. A part of Kakashi wished to lash out, calling for him to injure the blonde and show just who the rightful leader of this team was. But, Kakashi realized that in his current state, he wouldn't be able to do much against the blonde, or his two female companions for that matter. So, swallowing his pride, Kakashi stood to his feet, back to Naruto, and slid his hitai-ate back down to cover his single Sharingan eye.
"Alright, we're heading out to Tazuna's house." Kakashi said, before pitching forward in a dead faint, causing Sakura to cry out that their sensei was dead.
"Sakura, he's not dead." Naruto said, silencing her screeches with his hand to her mouth. "He wasn't born with the Sharingan, so using it like he did eats away his chakra like an Akamichi at an all you can eat buffet."
"Oh, and how do you know that, Naruto-baka?" She managed to say after removing his hand from her mouth.
"Because after the team was formed, I asked Hokage-sama for some background on our sensei and he informed me of that little tidbit." Naruto shot back, causing her to flinch back at the realization that Naruto had actually done his homework. "So, since you and Sasuke didn't do a damn thing since this mission started beside screech and brood, you two can carry our sensei."
Sasuke looked like he was going to argue, but when he opened his mouth; Naruto sent a glare towards the dark haired boy way that made a shiver run right down through bones. For once in his life, Sasuke did the smart thing, and knelt down to pick up the fallen form of their sensei, Sakura following her crushes lead, but internally, Sasuke was grumbling in anger.
(Sometime later)
"Well, your sensei is resting upstairs, and thanks to you, my father can begin working on the bridge again tomorrow." A woman, appearing to be in her late 20's to early 30's, with long black hair, said, while speaking to the three ninja and two other girls in her living room.
"It's no problem, Tsunami-san." Naruto replied, while nodding to the woman, while noticing his teammates were glaring at him. Sighing, Naruto stood up and walked toward Lala and Run, while turning his head slightly to speak over his shoulder. "I'm going to go with Lala and Run, and do some training until dark. I suggest that when our sensei wakes up, you tell him to get you two ready to face Zabuza again."
"What, Zabuza?" Tazuna sputtered, after spitting out the sake that had been in his mouth. "B-B-But I thought you creamed him!" He finished.
"No, I got him pretty good, but his energy signature moved away from the battle area." Naruto responded, while narrowing his eyes. "If I had killed him, it would have vanished, or if he had passed out, it would still be there. So, that means there must have been another person waiting to remove Zabuza if things had turned away from his favor."
"And what are we supposed to do until then?" Sasuke asked, his tone laced with distrust at the blonde's words.
"Quite frankly, I don't care what you do until then." Naruto replied, before exiting the house, Lala and Run following after him.
(With Naruto, Lala, and Run)
"Well girls, since we'll probably have to deal with Zabuza in the near future, we're going to have to up the training to be ready for him." Naruto said, before giving a small grunt and letting his power release into its visible blue aura. "So, for the next few days, we're going to try and increase your individual skills."
"Oh, like my strength?" Lala chirped in helpfully.
"Yeah, exactly, but we're also going to work on your forms." Naruto replied, causing the pinkette to nod her head in confirmation. "Also, Run, I think it's about time I teach you how to harness your power, just like I do."
"Oh, you mean Ki, right?" Run asked.
"Right. I've been training you in martial arts so far, but that was only to let you get closer to harnessing your own Ki. Now, we're going to work on bringing it out." Naruto said. "As for me, I'm going to see how long I can last in a fight against you two, using my weights and gravity system. Oh, and before I forget, Lala-chan." Naruto said, causing the pinkette of their group to nod her head at hearing him. "I need you to do me a slight favor."
(With Team 7, Next Day)
"Alright, Sakura, Sasuke, since your teammate, Naruto, has decided not to join us for this, I'm going to teach you an exercise that will radically advance your ninja careers." Kakashi said, while facing two of his students, his arms holding a pair of crutches to keep himself standing.
"What's that, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.
"Heh, how to climb a tree."
(Secluded Area)
"Oh…so this is where she is?" A voice said, while staring out at the rundown Wave Country, his beady yellow eyes taking in the forms of the people walking the streets. Seeing a random person enter an alleyway, he took the opportunity presented to him, and advanced on the unsuspecting person. After knocking the person out, he smirked viciously, before his pale green skin began to shift and morph, and before long, his appearance matched the person he had just knocked out. "Now, with this disguise, it will be a cinch to lure her out and make her follow my commands." The being said, while a sadistic smirk formed on his face. "You'll soon be mine…Lala."
And, that's it.
Yes, a little bit of a teaser there at the end, but for those of you that know the To Love-Ru series, I'm sure you might know who this last bit was about.
Translations:
(1) Kirigakure no Jutsu: Hidden Mist Technique. Known as a common technique of ninja from Water Country. Causes a thick fog to surround the area, effectively hiding the user.
(2) Suiton: Suiro no Jutsu: Water Release: Water Prison Technique. The surrounding water incases either the target or user, while becoming stronger than steel. It can not only work as a great capture method, but also works as a slight form of defense.
(3) Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu: Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique. Causes water around the user to rise up and attack the target in the shape of a large dragon with glowing yellow eyes.
(4) Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu: Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique. The user draws water to cause a massive tidal wave to strike the opponent, which causes the same damage as a natural disaster.
Also, yes, I'm having Naruto standing up to Kakashi quite a lot, but the simple fact is that Naruto disagrees with Kakashi on a lot of points, and when Naruto knows he can make a difference, he will. Truth be told, Kakashi will be in for a little surprise when he gets back to the village, so no worries there.
Alright, that will do it, until next time.