Hey guys here's the next chapter for ya! Sorry it took longer than expected but that's life. So on with the story!
1 week after arrival in wave
After arriving in wave and the agreement to train Naruto Alex, Azusa and Shiro dove right into it. Well after Naruto taught them the shadow clone technique. At their current level's Azusa could make two without exhausting herself, Shiro could make four and finally Alex could make six but even without the sheer amount that Naruto could produce the jutsu proved to be a major boon with their own training.
Yet after experimenting a bit Alex and Shiro discovered a few limitations with their new shadow clones. For one while Shiro could make a clone wielding the Boosted Gear said clone was unable to use it's Boost ability and at most can only fire off a few Dragon Shot's before running out of energy and dispelling. As for Alex his shadow clones were unable to use the Berserker armor at all as the mere strain from wearing the armor was enough to pop the clone as soon as the armor covered it. Yet even so the clones upped the trio's training immensely and was also excellent for training Naruto as well once they told him the secret to the technique that truly made it special.
The training went as such with Naruto, first he had over a dozen shadow clones learning seals with Azusa, over three dozen clones learning the tree walking and water walking, and another two dozen learning basic knowledge and survival also with Azusa who for some reason had brought a bunch of learning material with her on the mission yet wouldn't say why.
As the clones all did that the original Naruto was being personally taught by Shiro and Alex in their respective taijutsu styles. What was phenomenal to the two was that Naruto had in fact managed to combine Shiro's speed and precision with Alex's power and momentum to form his own unique style. Needless to say Naruto had improved by leaps and bounds in the short time they had been training him even with the rest of Team seven trying to but in yet Azusa managed to make some barrier seals to keep them separate.
Though the trio took one day off from training Naruto due to the whole Inari incident and meeting Haku that the three of them knew needed to happen no matter what. Sure they were changing the timeline immensely already but that didn't mean they had to change everything.
While Naruto was improving as a ninja however team 14 was not idle in their own training. Azusa continued to study seal's and work with her gloves improving her control and power output so as not to waste so much energy when using her attacks. Not only that but she had learned a few new fire and earth jutsu's just to add to her arsenal yet she was also in the process of figuring out how to cast fire jutsu's with just her gloves so she would not have to use handsign's for her fire based jutsu.
Shiro was working on his technique a bit more and was also learning how to summon Greed's Ultimate Shield to cover his whole body and was nearly there. He also had added a few more lightning jutsu to his current arsenal as well as becoming more proficient in channeling his elemental affinities through his blade.
And Alex was doing something a bit different as he was learning the Six Power's from memory of the arc they were introduced in from the One Piece anime, yet he was only learning three of the six since only three seemed to be able to be incorporated into his fighting style plus they were the only ones he could remember. Yet instead of learning some new jutsu like his teammate's he had instead focused more on training his Observation and Armament Haki as well as unlocking his Conqueror's Haki though the last one wasn't nearly as powerful as he wanted it to be as he could at most make a Chunnin flinch with his current level.
So now here they were on the day that Zabuza would attack and where shit really hit the fan. Right now the three genin of team 14 were in the forest getting some last minute training in before Alex tensed up when his Observation Haki sensed three people watching them drawing the attention of his teammates.
"What is it Alex?" asked Shiro as stood next to Alex with his hand on the handle of his sword.
"We got trouble that's what. Come on out we already know your there!" called out Alex as he glared at a certain batch of trees.
Nothing happened for a few moments before three figures leaped from the trees landing a feet away from the three genin. This is when the gennin then took stock of the intruders and immediately noticed the symbol for cloud on their headbands labeling them as Kumo shinobi.
All three were male and looked to be in their early to mid twenties with dark skin and short light hair typical to native's of lightning country yet they all wore mask's covering the bottom half's of their faces similar to kakashi's.
The one on the left was the shortest of the bunch standing five foot four with a lanky kind of build and had his headband wrapped around his arm. His attire consisted of a blue bodysuit with the white one strap vest and he seemed to have a pair of long serrated knives strapped to his thigh's while wearing black shinobi sandal's.
The Kumo shinobi on the right however was much taller at six foot two and was built like how the Raikage was with his headband on a strap the was slung across his bare chest with ANBU style pants and black shinobi sandal's. On his back sat a large cleaver blade a few inches shorter than he was.(think Darui's cleaver blade).
The last shinobi was medium in height between his compatriots at five foot eight and had a more lean build to him that was defined through the tight fitting blue tank top and form fitting black pant's he wore and dark blue shinobi sandal's. His headband was on a bandanna wrapped around his head as two crossed ninjato blades sat crossed on his back.
"So your a sensor as well. Your turning out to be a bigger prize than the Raikage said you were boy." said the center cloud ninja with an impressed tone in his voice.
"Cut the pleasantry's, what are a bunch of cloud shinobi doing in Wave country is what I want to know." demanded Alex as he reached up to grip the handle of Dragon Slayer.
"All you need to know kid is that your coming with us. So why don't you save you and your friends a lot of pain and come along quietly." spoke the apparent leader of the Kumo ninja as they all reached for their weapons.
Glaring at them one last time Alex, Shiro and Azusa exchange a quick glance and a nod before going for their own weapons.
"Sorry boys but we have an appointment to keep. I would say we take a rain check on your offer but unfortunately for you there isn't gonna be a next time." grinned Shiro before he and Azusa leaped back.
After his teammates leaped back Alex crossed both his arms in front of his chest as white energy formed around his closed fists. Suddenly he swung his fist to the side and a loud boom was heard. Where Alex's fists stopped cracks had formed in the air right before a massive shockwave was sent out scattering the Kumo nin giving Team 14 enough time to make a break for the bridge as it was nearly time for the showdown with Zabuza.
The trio arrived just in time to see Naruto leap into the ice dome to save Sasuke's sorry ass. Kakashi and Yugao were tag teaming Zabuza who seemed to be holding back the two Jonin without too much difficulty. Quickly taking stock of the situation Alex and Shroturn to Azusa seeing as she was the intelligent one of the group.
"Shiro you should go and help against Zabuza since your lightning affinity may help tip the balance and Alex should go help with Haku since his vibrations could no doubt shatter Haku's mirrors." she said with a small yawn at the end.
"And what about you?" asked Alex as Azusa just smiled a little bigger.
"I'll sit back with Sakura and provide support to whoever needs it." she said simply.
Shiro and Alex looked at each-other skeptically for a moment before shrugging it off and running towards their assigned tasks while Azusa walked back to Sakura. In reality she really wanted to hang back for when the Kumo nin came back as she was sure they wouldn't give up so easily and even now were probably lying in wait to make a move when the opportunity presented itself.
Shiro had just reached the battle with Zabuza just as the missing nin had managed to find an opening and kick Kakashi away and was now bringing his blade down on Yugao who was moving her own blade up to defend herself but she wouldn't be fast enough. Rushing in Shiro quickly pushed his sensei out of the blades path with the arm not holding his sword only for said arm to take the fall as the appendage was cleaved off just above the elbow sending blood spraying everywhere.
"That was a real stupid move kid. What are you gonna do with just one arm?" mocked Zabuza but was confused when Shiro just smirked at him.
"Just this." said Shiro as his arm began to reform from the stump. Bone, muscle and skin quickly reformed themselves as in no time a fresh new arm was formed in place of his old one leaving everyone who witnessed it save for his teammates in a state of shock.
"What the fu-" began Zabuza only to have to leap back to avoid Shiro's lightning coated sword while still receiving a shallow cut across his chest.
"Round two Zabuza, ding-ding." mocked Shiro as he clashed blades with the mist nin once more while donning Greed's armor on his newly formed arm.
While this was happening Sakura was having a panic attack at witnessing Shiro losing and then re-growing his arm much to Azusa's quickly growing ire. Even her naturally kind and lazy nature was being tested by the pink banshee.
"How is that possible!? He just grew back his arm! Just what kind of freak is he!?" screeched the pinkette in disbelief only to start nervously sweating when Azusa had her gloves on with flames already formed and burning brightly. Her usual kind smile replaced with a small frown that put Sakura on edge.
"My teammates aren't freaks Haruno and I don't take kindly to those who call them as such. Now please be quiet and do your job in protecting Tazuna-san." said Azusa plainly before returning to her usual demeanor but Sakura was still in a minor state of shock at Azusa's words.
'Just who are these people!?' Sakura thought to herself as a bead of sweat traveled down the side of her face before she returned to watching the battle in front of her.
Alex for his part was now inside the ice dome back to back with Naruto. Sasuke was already down looking like a giant pincushion as Naruto had a few in him as well but not as much as he would have had thanks to the training with team 14. Alex for his part was largely unscathed thanks to using Dragon Slayer for a shield and his Observation Haki helping him in dodging the others.
"So what's the plan Alex-san?" asked Naruto as he deflected a few more senbon with the two kunai in his hands. He was really thankful for all that training he did with Alex and the others as it was really paying off at the moment.
"I could shatter these mirrors, the only problem is that it would probably hurt you and the duck ass in the process. But if I can get close to them then I can shatter them one at a time. When I make it can you get yourself and the dipshit out of here?" asked Alex with Naruto sending him a grin over his shoulder which was returned by Alex.
Then almost as if a signal was given Alex charged at the wall of mirrors as senbon rained down on him. With a smirk Alex's skin was covered in gleaming dark metal which the senbon harmlessly bounced off of. '
'Armament Haki for the win!' thought Alex.
Reaching the wall of ice mirrors Alex pulled back a fist that began to glow and with a small roar slammed it into said mirror shattering it upon impact.
Seeing the newly made exit Naruto quickly grabbed Sasuke and ran through the hole dodging senbon needles the entire way. With Alex now alone inside the dome he hefted Dragon Slayer over his shoulder and said with a smile, "now what are ya gonna do?"
The response he received was another hail of senbon right before with another roar Alex charged at the ice mirror's intent on shattering every last one of them.
Meanwhile hiding near the bridge were the three Kumo-nin now a little worse for wear after Alex's surprise attack. Now the three were watching with ever growing anticipation as they watched the battle on the bridge continue.
"Can you believe this! The kid just turned his skin into armor!" shouted the shortest nin.
"Forget that! That other kid just regrew his entire arm after it got cleaved off! If those two could do that then just imagine what the girl can do." retorted the largest one but both were then silenced by their leader who had a large grin on his face.
"Quiet both of you! If these kid's have bloodlines like that then we can't pass up this opportunity! After they all get worn down we'll swoop in and take them. Those three are gonna make excellent breeding stock back in Kumo giving us some great bloodlines." finished the leader as the trio continued to watch events play out.
The sound of clashing blades tore through the air as Zabuza and Shiro's blades clashed once more. Behind him Kakashi and Yugao were fighting off a good deal of the missing nins water clones.
Both Shiro and Zabuza had cuts all along their bodies but Zabuza even had random sparks of electricity coming off at certain points while Shiro was practically soaked with water. Both were staring at each other breathing a little heavily.
"Gotta say kid *huff* your better than I thought." said Zabuza with a hidden smirk that Shiro returned.
"Your not *huff* so bad yourself Zabuza. But I can't waste anymore time on you." said Shiro as he donned his Boosted Gear while his Invincible Shield vanished. He still couldn't use both Greed's and Ddraig's powers at the same time.
"BOOST x5" shouted Ddraig as Shiro felt his power increase and smirked at the stunned Zabuza who felt it as well.
Shiro then charged all his power into his sword turning the once pale blue lightning crimson before taking a low stance as if he was about to make a cut. Zabuza had just enough time to bring his blade up as Shiro disappeared in a burst of speed before appearing a few feet behind the cleaver wielding nin.
"Crimson Cross" said Shiro as almost instantly Zabuza's Executioner Blade was cut in half and a cross shaped cut sprouted on Zabuza's chest sending blood flying and setting his nerves on fire from the electricity now coursing through his system. In mere seconds Zabuza fell face down on the bridge as unconsciousness took him.
After Zabuza had fallen Shiro took a knee himself gasping for air as the fatigue from using his newest sword skill finally caught up to him. While powerful the technique took way more out of him than he thought possible so it was really only a one shot use at the moment until he got more practice with it.
"Definitely gotta work on that. Wonder how Alex is doing?" asked Shiro to himself as Yugao came to check on him while Kakashi was looking exhausted from using his implanted Sharingan eye a bit too much.
Alex meanwhile was getting very frustrated with his current opponent. While he could shatter Haku's mirrors with ease and his Haki abilities were certainly helping him avoid the ice nin's senbon he still just wasn't fast enough to catch up with her and she kept replacing the mirrors he broke.
"Damn it just hold still and let me hit you!" yelled Alex as he missed Haku as he nin flew by once again.
"You cannot beat me. Eventually you will wear out and you have no chance of hitting me with your current speed. Just give us the bridge builder and Zabuza-sama and I will leave in peace." said Haku almost sadly which only made Alex grit his teeth in anger before a grin formed on his face.
"So you say I'm not fast enough huh? Well guess I'll have to use my knew technique on you then." said Alex as he dropped his Armament Haki and stated to take a few deep breaths to get ready for what he had planned while Haku looked on in curiosity wondering what Alex was up to.
Just then Alex's entire body began to vibrate much to Haku's surprise which only increased when Alex's vanished before the ice nin's eyes and reappeared just as quick. It was only then she noticed about a third of the ice mirrors had been shattered. Thankfully Haku wasn't in any of them but Alex's new speed had certainly surprised the nin.
Alex for his part was happy that his idea had actually worked. Out of the three powers he wanted to learn from the whole six powers Soru was the one he wanted to learn the most as while he had immense power he lacked in speed and the technique more than made up for it. Sadly the traditional method wouldn't work for him so he decided to make his own variant like Luffy had done only without the steaming skin. By vibrating his cells and stimulating his muscles at the same time he could perform the technique and it would only get better the more he worked on controlling his vibrations. For now though it would be enough to deal with Haku.
"Sorry Haku but now its time to see if you can keep up with me." said Alex with a smirk.
Seeking to stop Alex before he could use his technique again Haku flew from the mirror and sent a hail of senbon at Alex. Only this time instead of blocking them Alex blurred out of sight once more and directly into the path of a very surprised Haku who could do nothing to stop their momentum.
"Vibro Palm!" called Alex as he sent a vibrating open palm strike into Haku's chest. In that moment Alex couldn't help a smile that formed on his face at what he had just figured out.
'Ha! I KNEW Haku was a girl! Myth broken!' yelled Alex in his head before Haku was sent flying through the air. She was sent tumbling along the ground with her mask shattering halfway before she finally lay motionless on her back. Surprisingly enough she stopped right next to an unconscious Zabuza.
As the rest of the mirrors shattered Alex placed Dragon Slayer on his back as he walked to Shiro who was be helped up by their sensei.
"Well you look like shit." said Alex to Shiro who just sent him a small glare along with a retort.
"Even on my worst day I still look better than your fugly mug." said Shiro with a smirk at the end which was returned by Alex.
"Not to interrupt your little bromance moment but you both know that we aren't finished right?" asked Azusa as she walked up to them followed by Sakura, Tazuna and Naruto who was still carrying an unconscious Sasuke much to the blondes ever growing annoyance.
Before either teammate could respond the unforgettable voice of a certain midget made itself known.
"Well looks like Zabuza and his pet failed after all. I guess it doesn't matter since I wasn't going to pay him anyway. Mercenaries are so much cheaper anyway." said Gato as he gestured to the small bandit army around him.
Sharing a blank look Shiro and Alex looked towards Gato.
"How could we have forgotten about this clown?" asked Shiro.
"I don't know but I'm in no mood to deal with his punk ass. That and I can still sense those Kumo nin nearby so after we're done with these thugs we'll still have to deal with them. Any ideas?" replied Alex.
"I have one if you'll lend a hand Alex." said Azusa as she moved to stand in front of them with her with her X-gloves Vangola Version already alit with flames. Sure she was a close up fighter but that didn't mean she had some distance attacks.
Seeing this Alex began to go through hand signs for the justsu he had in mind.
"X-Burner!" declared Azusa loudly yet still with her usual sleepy undertone as a blast of Dying Will Flames shot forth at the stunned group of bandits while Gato was running to the back of the group as quickly as his short legs could carry him.
It was then Alex finished the hand signs and took a deep breath of air.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!" called out Alex as he released a huge gust of air from is mouth that connected with the flames making them both faster and larger by a great margin.
All the bandit's could do was scream as they were consumed by the fire. In mere seconds what was once an unfinished bridge occupied by bandits was now nothing more than a severely blackened unfinished bridge housing a very large pile of ash with a badly burnt Gato at the very far end trying desperately to get away by crawling.
"MY BRIDGE!" yelled Tazuna in despair at seeing the burn marks on his precious bridge.
"Ah you'll get over it. Right now though we got three more morons to deal with." said Alex as they all tunred to see the three roughed up Kumo nin looking at them, or more specifically at team 14.
"Here we go again." muttered Shiro as he could now stand on his own.
Everyone now prepared for the final battle on the bridge with the only thoughts going through tem 14's head being on why this had to happen to them.
Alright guys leaving it at a bit of a cliffhanger for ya. Sure the scene with gato was a bit anticlimactic but what did you expect from a bunch of bandit's? Review and/or Pm me!