Full Blast Chapter 2: Weapon of Choice, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did, Kenchi618 would rip out my still-beating heart and take the rights from me.

Chapter 2: Weapon of Choice

Tsunami had been reading a book when a knock on the door sounded through the quiet home. Her son, Inari, had been alone upstairs as he often was, leaving her to answer the door.

As she did she was greeted by the sight of her smiling father and a foursome of people, shinobi, she surmised by the trademark metal plates they wore, behind him. There was a taller man, who seemed to be in charge, along with a serious young man with black hair, a girl with pink hair and a polite smile, and a cheerful blonde girl with blue eyes and whisker markings on her face.

"Hello dear, how is everything?" her father asked cheerfully.

Tsunami blinked before realizing how long she had been standing there silently. "Oh my! I'm so sorry. Please come in, make yourselves at home," Tsunami managed blushing lightly.

The apparent leader of her father's bodyguards seemed to smile behind his mask as he spoke, "Thank you for your hospitality Miss-"

"Tsunami," she replied quickly, "dinner will be ready in half an hour."

"Thank you again, Miss Tsunami. I'm Hatake Kakashi. These three are my students; Uchiha Sasuke-,"

The black-haired boy nodded slightly.

"Haruno Sakura-,"

"Nice to meet you," the pink haired girl replied with a small wave.

"-and Uzumaki Naruto."

"We're here to help," the blonde girl said, before smiling so wide her eyes were forced shut. Her whiskers curled upward as she as well.

Tsunami found the overall effect to be adorable. She idly wondered if Naruto would purr if she petted her head.

Tsunami snapped out of her musings and bid the shinobi team inside, "Please come in. There are rooms ready upstairs for you. I can't thank you enough for protecting my father. I hope he hasn't been much trouble."

Team Seven entered the house and headed up the stairs.

"About that, dear," Tazuna spoke nervously, "we ran into a little trouble on the way here-."

Tsunami could only gasp in reply.

"But," Tazuna was quick to add on, "my super strong bodyguards took care of it." Tazuna started to get his bluster back after that comment, "You should have seen it, my dear, the jounin summoned this huge dragon made of water, and the pink girl made a giant wall of earth!"

Sakura, who hadn't quite yet reached the top of the stairs, wasn't sure whether to be grateful for the praise or annoyed at being referred to as 'pink girl'. She settled for a mixture of the two as the team entered one of the rooms meant for them.

The four made themselves comfortable in the modest room. Sakura found a seat on sleeping roll. Naruto opted to sit with one leg stretched out on the windowsill on the windowsill. Kakashi leaned against the doorframe, while Sasuke simply stood by the wall. The seemingly random arrangement left no blind spots in the room.

"So how do we want to handle this?" It was Naruto who spoke first. "Tazuna said the bridge will take at least a week to finish up. In the meantime, Gato's free to take potshots at us."

"I doubt he has anyone as skilled as Zabuza," Kakashi supplied.

"And then there's Zabuza to worry about," Sasuke interjected, "Who knows if he'll be back."

"Lets assume the worst," Kakashi said, "Say Zabuza shows up just as the bridge finishes. He won't be back any sooner with those injuries. Unless his hunter nin is one hell of a medic. If Zabuza shows back up I'll deal with him. You three," Kakashi said with a small hand gesture, "will deal with his accomplice."

"Any word on the Demon Brothers?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi shook his head, "I sent a summon to tell Konoha to pick them up. They may get away, but they were barely a threat with their weapons. I doubt they'll be a factor without them."

"That's assuming they got away," Naruto said.

"Worst case scenario, remember?" Sasuke replied casually.

"Right," Naruto waved him off, "So assuming Zabuza is fresh out of backup, we can take him on. The question is what to do about Gato, if anything."

Sakura gave Naruto a stare from her position on the floor, "You're telling me you came this far and don't want to take out Gato?"

Naruto shook her head, "No, just checking how the room feels about it."

"I'm in." Sasuke said.

"It wouldn't seem right to leave this place with Gato still causing problems," Sakura said thoughtfully.

"Killing Gato isn't part of the mission," Kakashi chided.

"Our mission is to keep Tazuna safe. Gato represents a threat to him. Killing Gato is not only falls into the bounds of the mission, it's proactive," Sasuke said, easily rationalizing something the team wanted to do anyway.

"I'll co-sign on that backward logic," Naruto said, standing back up. "We're decided then?" she asked looking directly at Kakashi.

"Sure," the cycloptic jounin replied with his signature eyes-smile. "I just wanted to make sure you knew what you were in for."

There was a long silence in the room, followed by Naruto bursting into laughter. Sakura joined her, and even Sasuke smiled slightly. Kakashi just smiled.

"Dinner's ready!" Tsunami's voice rang from downstairs.

Kakashi straightened up, "We'll discuss the specifics over dinner."

Team Seven was introduced to Tsunami's son at dinner. He was an angry boy of about thirteen, who wore a striped bucket hat over a tan shirt and green overalls. Tsunami had gently explained why after the boy had refused to speak. It seemed the boy had lost his father figure to Gato some years ago and couldn't get over that fact.

Tragic as it was, Team Seven was busy discussing how best to deal with Gato.

"It'd be too convenient to ask for him to have some grandiose mannor I could just blow to hell, wouldn't it?" Naruto asked over her rice dish.

"Language," Tsunami said sternly.

Naruto shrunk back a little at that, "Sorry."

Tsunami found herself unable to stay mad at the remorseful blonde girl. She was just too damn cute. It was actually a little maddening for the dark haired woman.

"We need more information to go on," Sakura said. "We haven't seen nearly enough of the country to get a good picture of the situation."

Kakashi sighed, Naruto, send some clones into town tomorrow. We'll see what they can dig up. In the meantime, Tsunami-san?"

The woman perked up at the mention of her name, "Yes, Hatake-san?"

Kakashi pouted behind his mask, "Please, Tsunami-san, call me Kakashi. Hatake makes me feel old.

"You are old," Sasuke said flatly.

"Anyway, Kakashi spoke a little louder than necessary, "is there anything you can tell about the situation here? The names of Gato's businesses, where his boats are, anything like that?

Tsunami thought for a moment, "I'm afraid I can't help. I don't really go into town often. Sorry, Kakashi-san, I wish I could be more helpful."

"You've done more than enough. Thank you," Kakashi said, smiling brightly to cheer the housewife up.

Sasuke folded his hands under his chin with his eyes closed. "Scum like Gato won't show up unless he thinks he has the advantage, or he's been backed into a corner."

"We can do that by cutting off his funds," Sakura added.

"We burn his boats, rob his businesses, terrorize his men, and destroy his supplies," Naruto continued.

"He will try to take back control with a show of force in a very public setting. He'll take the rest of his men to the bridge," Kakashi said.

"And that's his ass," Naruto cut in, only to receive a glare from Tsunami.

Sheesh, she was a capable, skilled, kunoichi. How did this friendly housewife intimidate her. Maybe it was the way she held her ladle like a club.

Sakura made a whipping noise at Naruto's expense.

"Oh, fu-," Naruto shut her mouth so quickly there was an audible click.

Was Tsunami pissed?

Naruto looked over at her.

Nope. In fact, she seemed pleased that Naruto actively caught herself.

Yep, it was definitely the ladle.

The next day, Kakashi led his pseudo-genin into the woods outside Tazuna's home.

"Now team," Kakashi stood in the middle of a clearing surrounded by tall trees, "I'm going to teach you to climb trees without using your hands."

He swiftly dodged a punch from Sakura, a small fireball from Sasuke, and a single thrown kunai from Naruto.

The kunai Naruto had thrown had stuck into a tree far behind Kakashi.

"It was a joke," Kakashi deadpanned.

There was a low boom as the tree started falling to the ground. The three genin and one jounin jumped away from the path of the falling lumber.

"What the hell?" Sasuke said staring at Naruto.

"Hmm," Naruto stared at the fallen tree, "I thought I used a regular explosive tag."

"What was that, then?", Sakura said as she hopped down next to Naruto.

"A modified note tag I used for Akatou. It doesn't have much range or fire, but it packs a ton of force," Naruto replied, "I call them concussive tags."

Kakashi, who had taken a grand total of two steps out of the path of the tree, idly poked a branch just a few inches from his uncovered toes. "Seems useful. That doesn't explain why you threw an explosive note at your sensei. You can get in trouble for that, you know?"

"Find me one person who would prosecute me for trying to get out of the tree walking exercise," Naruto demanded.

Kakashi just smiled, "I think my big-headed genin put the 'cute' in prosecute."

"...," Sasuke said.

"...," Sakura said.

"...," Naruto said.

"...Right, forget I said anything," Kakashi said seriously.

"Said what Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked innocently.

"Good girl."

Over the course of the week things began to go very poorly for the tyrant of Nami no Kuni.

Naruto's clones, split up into pairs and henged to look like ordinary civilians, had traveled all over the area. They looked for anything of importance and made careful inquiries around town about Gato and his forces. After three days of reconnaissance and planning Team Seven began to make their moves.

(With Team Seven Evening- Four Days to Bridge Completion)

Sutedi-Te (Steady Hand), was a beautiful bar located in central Nami no Kuni. Aside from being an awful play on words, it was a clever investment made by Gato. While not the only bar in the area, Sutedi-Te had the best selection, seating and atmosphere. It also let Gato's mercenaries put their weekly pay right back into Gato's coffers.

On the outside it was a grand two-story building, far larger than the dilapidated structures around it. With strong lines and painted a bright primary blue, it was easy to find sober or drunk. Inside was a warm atmosphere with smooth mahogany floors, expensive oak tables, and a grand cherry wood bar counter. There were Mirrors placed behind expensive bottles of alcohol on the wall behind the counter. Dim lighting gave the entire area a warm feel.

It was all very posh and made specifically to let the citizens of Nami no Kuni know that were below Gato and his men.

This actually made things rather easy for Team Seven. There were no innocent bystanders to worry about.

The sturdy wooden table snapped in half as a 190 lb (86 kg) man had his head and torso bashed into for the eighth time that night. The table had fared far better than the man who had broken it

The most popular bar in Nami was a wreck. Blissfully unconscious bodies were sprawled over tables, chairs, and booths. One man had had was slumped against a pool table with an eight ball jammed in his mouth. Most of the oaken tables were overturned. The mahogany floors had deeps scars and scorch marks. And the cherry wood bar was in several pieces all around the ground floor. The expensive bottles of alcohol had been shattered over the heads of many of the bar's patrons.

Broken glass was everywhere.

Sakura dusted off her hands with an aura of satisfaction about her.

Naruto who was sitting on a heap of bodies surveyed the carnage as her clones cleared out anyone still conscious. "I think you may have may have gone a bit overboard with that guy, Sakura-chan. Some people would consider it a compliment."

Sakura put her bloodied hands on her hips as she faced her fellow kunoichi, "He was trying to cop a feel the entire time," Sakura said emphatically. "Besides, you're one to talk," Sakura said gesturing to a black and purple mess of a man still being kicked in the gut by a clone. "What did he call you? Whisker Tits?"

Naruto merely shrugged.

A good deal of Gato's standing forces had been in the bar when Team Seven literally knocked the door off its hinges. Sakura politely asked them to leave the service of Gato. When she received silence with a few low chuckles. She punched a nearby man into a table of his compatriots and asked again. That had led to the brawl that left Team Seven relatively unscathed and roughly a fifth of Gato's forces incapacitated.

It wasn't particularly difficult. The men were poorly trained, if at all. Moreover, they were up against a team with techniques and abilities particularly well suited to combat against multiple foes. Between Sasuke's Katon, Sakura's Doton, and Naruto's explosives, they barely had a chance.

Surprisingly the building had held up against the force thrown around in it.

Anyone who managed to lift themselves off the ground the next day wouldn't be in any kind of fighting shape for a good long while. Gato's forces would be stretched farther and morale would be at an all time low.

A short, barking laugh drew the attention of the two kunoichi toward the stairs.

Sasuke, who had opted to clear out the second floor, instead of staying around his clearly enraged teammates when the fighting broke out, nimbly jumped down jagged hunk of wood that used to be an impressive staircase. He was suppressing a smirk as he looked at Naruto.

"Don't you fucking dare, teme."

Sasuke let the smirk he had been hiding slip, "Oh, I won't... Whisker Tits."

"I will break you," Naruto said slowly.

On second thought, the building might not hold up much longer.

(With Sasuke and Sakura- Three Days to Bridge Completion)

Sasuke and Sakura had wandering through town discreetly giving out money and valuables take from the thugs in Sutedi-Te. They weren't doing anything overt, a shop owner may find a seemingly misplaced stack of coins on his counter as they passed by, a child might find a coin atop their shaggy head. A man with his shoulders slak may feel a strange lump in his pocket and find it to be an expensive watch. A woman, keeping her head low to avoid attention, would sometimes find valuable jewelry in the stitched pocket of her dress.

The two walked along continuing to quietly return some of the wealth of Nami no Kuni.

Bit by bit Nami was getting its country back.

It certainly helped that Gato's thugs seemed deathly afraid of the two strange teenagers wandering about.

That night, Team Seven met back up in Tazuna's humble home, again over dinner. The mood was lighter than it had been in previous days. Again, Team Seven discussed the situation over dinner.

Naruto stretched out like a cat at the dinner table. "Gato's got to be feeling the pressure at this point. One more good push outta do it."

Kakashi nodded, "A few of Gato's men made an attempt on the bridge today, they're getting restless."

Inari, who hadn't said a word to any of them during the duration of their stay, finally had enough. "Who do you think you are?" the preteen spoke lowly. "Gato's going to kill you all. None of this even matters."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the outburst.

Inari stood and slammed his hands on the table, "None of you have any idea what it's like. You can't imagine what going on here. Do you think you're heroes or something?" He leveled a hateful glare at the assembled shinobi. "There aren't any heroes."

"You should really shut up,kid," Naruto spoke calmly.

Inari's eyes snapped to Naruto, who's bangs shaded her eyes. "What do you know about it?"

"I know you've got a family here that cares about you. I also know that if Gato kills us, your grandfather's next."

Inari's eyes widened at that. He fearfully looked to where Tazuna was seated, only to receive a grave nod.

"Kid, you've got no idea what suffering is. How many times have you ever been into town? You've got a lot more than most around here." Naruto looked up at Inari calmly. "And what do you do with that? You sit here and hide from the world. Well you go ahead and hide. Go on. Because, if you won't be what this country need, then stay the hell out of the way."

Inari, tears threatening to form in his eyes, ran from the room.

Tsunami looked on after him and sighed, "He needed to hear that, I'm afraid." She looked back at the table to find a certain blond girl missing. "Where did Naruto go?"

A tree crashed somewhere outside. Oh, that's where she went.

A tree, at least fifty years old, fell to the forest floor with a resounding crash. Naruto hefted her dull gray axe onto her shoulder, where it slowly shifted back into a shield, its standard form.

She had slipped away from the house just after speaking, skulking out into the night alone.

Her shield slipped into two smaller axes. She began savagely slashing into the trunk of another tree. Sure, she could have used explosives to get the same effect, but it didn't help her take out her aggression as much as it should have. It wasn't that Naruto didn't like explosions, there were a staple of her fighting style, it just wasn't as satisfying to push a little chakra into a sealing array she made days before. Besides they'd be needed later.

That kid pissed her off to no end. He woe is me mentality was a smack to the face to Naruto, who had to take what little she had. Kakashi had certainly been a boon after graduation, but things weren't always that well off.

There had been a time when she could only rely on herself. It worked for a long while too. That was until the Genin Exam, though.

The axes stripped bark off the tree, before turning into a hammer too large for Naruto to wield properly. Damn, it felt satisfying when she connected with it, though.

Her shield, her only original project she viewed as a masterpiece, could become anything she could work the shape and mechanics out of.

She'd never admit it out loud, but her taijutsu wasn't up to snuff compared to her fuuinjutsu. To be fair none of her other skills were, but her taijutsu was the worst. She was fast as hell, but that could only get her so far. When she began work on her shield, she had needed something to make her capable of close range combat. Clones were great and all, but she never had proper training in any style of taijutsu. She couldn't stand the rigid forms of most kenjutsu styles. There wasn't enough room for improvisation.

So she decided to apply her solid henge to a weapon.

It took nearly a year to get right. Hell, she wasn't sure if it was right. There wasn't a seal master on hand in Konoha to help her out. The Hokage was always busy and his student Jiraiya was never in the village. There were a lot of seal arrays she wasn't sure were necessary, including complete maps of her chakra and nervous systems. Sakura had a hell of a time helping her with that.

If there was one thing Naruto was good at, it was sealing. Her ninjutsu, aside from Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, were all support techniques. Her genjutsu didn't even exist. Fuuinjutsu came easily for her.

It certainly helped that the Shinobi Library didn't guard the scrolls on sealing nearly as well as the three most popular ninja arts.

That being said, she had no idea where she stacked up in the ranks of fuuinjutsu users.

The hammer turned to two wicked looking pickaxes as Naruto stomped into the woods to find a rock to crack.

Maybe she'd call a few clones out to fight.

She didn't know when she fell asleep. She had avoided it for days. Had her team looked under the goggles she wore they would have seen dark rings around her eyes. She was sure Kakashi knew. He always seemed to know.

She had to sleep sometime, though, and her rampage on the innocent plant life of Nami no Kuni had taken what little energy she had left.

It was time to face down her issues, again.

The sewer looked like it always did; dark, damp, and generally unpleasant. Despite her best efforts, she had been unable to change these facts.

She trudged along down the only real 'road' the network of tunnels that made up her mind.

The massive gates that held back the Kyuubi came into view. "It seems my container has decided to grace me with her presence once more."

Naruto was relatively certain the Kyuubi had invented sarcasm, it used it so often.

"We both know this isn't going to go away, so let"s get on with it." Naruto plopped down into the water just outside of the reach of the Kyuubi's claws.

"Oh, you've finally come to accept that you're just like me?"

"Not even close."

"Your as fond of wanton destruction as I am."

"Stop, you're making me blush," Naruto deadpanned, trying to keep her cool.

"You certainly act savage, if this forest is any indication."

"You know, Kyuubi, it doesn't matter what you say, I still like you." Now she was just trying to get under its skin.. or tails.

"You didn't seem to have any qualms killing dozens to get what you want." The massive demon cocked its head to the side behind its cage. "That seems like something I'd do."

"That was different," Naruto countered.

"How," the great beast challenged.

"It was for them!" Naruto shouted back, previous notion of keeping calm forgotten.

Her eyes widened.

That was why. Because it was for Sakura and Sasuke, her friends, her precious people, the ones who dragged her out of her loner mentality.

It was that simple then.

Naruto smiled at one of, if not the most, powerful creatures in existence. "For my friends, I'd kill a thousand shinobi, I don't care what village they're from. They're worth it. Hell,those precious to me are worth even more." Naruto turned and began walking away from the chakra demon, purely a symbolic gesture, as she could just will herself out of her mind.

The Kyuubi said nothing. It had lost this round.

"You know," Naruto said looking over her shoulder at her prisoner, "if we didn't fight so much, you'd probably be one of those people too."

With that, Naruto faded away.

The Kyuubi snorted at the idea, it'd be far better to have control.

it idly swished its tails around in contemplation. Maybe, that was something to think on.

Maybe.

Naruto, with her back to the rough bark of a tree in the middle of the woods, had the best sleep she'd had in well over a week.

Several hours later she awoke to a clone smacking her shoulder. She glared balefully at the offending bunshin, before it dispelled, relaying the whereabouts of someone else in her little section of the woods.

The source of the disturbance came into view. It was a graceful looking young woman, about her age, in a pink kimono with a flower basket over one arm. Upon seeing Naruto, her eyes widened in surprise.

Naruto figured it was because she hadn't expected someone else to be in woods so early in the morning.

"Hello there," the girl said softly. "Are you a ninja?"

"Sure am," Naruto said, rising from her spot on the ground and stretching out her back, "from Konoha, actually. Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you."

The girl smiled at the greeting. "My name is Haku."

"Haku, eh, That's a nice name Haku-chan," Naruto said spiritedly, lifting her goggles to her forehead..

"Thank you," Haku tilted her head curiously "I thought ninja wore headbands."

Naruto realized she was referring to her hitai-ate that wrapped snugly around her neck like a choker. "Yeah, most do. However, I know a lot more ninja lose their lives to cut throats than to cracked foreheads."

Haku winced at the imagery.

"Sorry, Haku-chan," Naruto said sheepishly, "Why are you out here so early?"

"Oh," someone close to me was hurt, "The woods around here have excellent medicinal herbs."

"Well let me help," Naruto said earnestly, "It's the least I could do for grossing you out."

"Thank you, I appreciate your help," Haku said with another smile.

Haku led Naruto all around the woods, picking various plants and herbs. They talked idly about small matters. Naruto even told Haku a revised tale or two about some of her missions. Haku seemed genuinely interested in the exploits of a shinobi. Naruto guessed what seemed ordinary to a ninja must be impressive to a civilian like Haku.

Naruto noted that many of the plants Haku chose were the same as ones Sakura used. It seemed this girl knew a good deal about medicine. Some were useful for treating burns, others helped with bruises. They even found a few uncommon herbs used for a painkiller.

Mid-morning came and Haku's basket was filled to the brim.

"Again, thank you for all your assistance," Haku said with a bow, "I believe I have everything I need."

"Glad I could help," Naruto said while scratching the back of her head, seemingly uncomfortable with someone bowing to her.

Haku rose back up and gave Naruto a long look, "Before I go, I have to ask, what do you think makes a person strong."

Naruto rubbed her chin before answering, "If you had asked me that yesterday, I don't know that I would have had an answer for you. Now, I know that a person is strongest when they are protecting something that care deeply about."

Naruto voice was filled with a conviction that made Haku deeply sad. This girl was an enemy, she was in the way of Zabuza's ambition. That didn't lessen the fact that Naruto ideals lined up with her own.

Maybe she could just knock her out when the time came.

For now, she just gave Naruto a genuine smile, "I agree. someone is strongest when protecting their precious people."

Haku turned to leave.

Naruto called out, "Goodbye, Haku-chan."

Haku turned her head, "Goodbye, Naruto-san." Haku fully turned to face Naruto. "Oh, I'm a boy, by the way."

Naruto gave her a blank stare. "No you're not, not with curves like that," she said gesturing to Haku's figure. "That may have fooled someone two or three years ago, but not now."

Haku blushed, either from embarrassment for being caught or from the compliment, "Sorry, it's just something I say to keep Gato's men at bay."

Naruto smiled, "Don't worry, no one around here works for Gato."

Haku just smiled shyly.

(With Clone Team One- Late Morning- Military Harbor- Two Days to Bridge Completion)

One set of intrepid doppelgangers were laid out on the crest of the hill overlooking a medium-sized harbor. The light from the steadily rising sun would blind anyone who happened to glance at the replicated observers.

The two clones had been there since the late afternoon of the previous day, cataloging everything that came through the only harbor in the area.

"-Nine, ten. There's ten smaller boats and three of the big transports." One clone said staring through a set of binoculars.

The other clone made careful notes on a notepad. "That makes eighteen assault craft and five transports in total. We've seen them all at least twice, so unless there's a few off schedule, that should be all."

"It won't really matter come tonight," The first clone replied. "Orders are to burn all of them."

"Except one of the transports," the second corrected, "and a couple of the little ones."

Gato would be left with just enough of a navy that he felt secure attacking the bridge. Too much and he could be problematic. Too few and he'd just cut and run.

Run right into the waiting arms of a kage bunshin team loaded down with explosive notes. But, it would be better if Gato confronted them head on, however. That way the citizens of Nami would actually see the tyrant fall, and the Konoha team could claim self-defense if someone were to call them out for killing a prominent business man.

It things went well maybe the shipyard would survive for the citizens to use.

And if it didn't... Well, they'd still have a nice new bridge to use.

(With Sasuke and Sakura- Midnight- Waters Around Nami no Kuni- Two Days To Bridge Completion)

The large transport cut an inelegant path through the black water. On its sides were two small assault craft that knifed through the water far more gracefully than their whale-like counterpart.

The three vessels from Gato's navy were making no attempt to hide their presence in the still night. Rather, they lit up the titular waves of the island nation.

The transport was hauling a fresh crop of fruits and vegetables from the poor country. Gato's forces commandeered the largest freshest crops to either eat themselves, or to sell to the less fertile lands around Nami at an obscene price.

This particular boat was on its last run for Gato. The assault craft were on their last run, period.

Creeping across the water was child's play for the duo of Konoha shinobi. They didn't even have to suppress their chakra signatures. The two trailed behind the smaller craft to hide the sounds of their steps in the wakes.

While the two could go in hurling jutsu and steel, there was some reason to maintain stealth; that giant boat was built with the stolen funds of the nation. It was only fair that it was given back. At least one anyway. Three of the four others would be destroyed and the fourth would be left to tempt Gato into a last gambit.

They may have to clear some bloodstains off this one.

Sasuke kept low as he swept up toward the back of the assault craft. Two of Naruto's clones shadowed him. Gato's goons were insultingly overconfident. They barely moved the large searchlight mounted on the front of the boat. Hopping aboard the backmost portion from the side was child's play.

There was a man smoking a cigarette facing the dark water opposite from the Uchiha. He was turned just slightly so as to reveal the profile of his face, lit by the slowly burning tobacco stick. Sasuke took two long strides and jammed a kunai into the base of his spine. The man's cigarette fell from his mouth into the churning waves below.

His body followed soon after.

Intelligence gathered by Naruto's clones at the harbor indicated that each assault craft had a crew of five. That left four more for Sasuke to clear out.

The boat had a simple design. It was an open deck a small island that led below via an opening on the front.. A large floodlight was mounted to the bow. There was one man on deck, steering the vessel with an ornate wheel just in front of the island,. another sailor was manning the light. Neither of them were aware of his presence. The raven-haired teen clung to the side of the island until he could see down the stairs that led belowdecks.

It was dark below. Good.

Sasuke swiftly palmed two kunai. Without another moment of hesitation, he flung the slim knives, one after another, at the unsuspecting crewmen on deck. the first knife dug deep into the back of the boat's pilot. The pilot looked down to see a sharp metal tip jutting out of his chest, where his heart should be. The sound of his body thumping against the deck caused the other sailor to turn around. His vision was quickly filled when a kunai lodged itself into his eye. The force staggered him back against the railing. A small turn, caused by the waves crashing against a boat with no pilot, sent his rapidly cooling body into the cold water below.

The clones sent along with the Uchiha avenger swiftly tossed the pilot overboard and took control of the wheel and floodlight. They couldn't fake being the crew for long, but it should be enough to keep the captain of the transport from sensing anything amiss.

Sasuke crept below to find the last two sailors asleep in their bunks. They were disposed of with two quick swipes over their throats.

Maybe Naruto had a point about covering her throat.

In any case, the men's corpses left a bloody mess. It would be annoying to clean later.

Conveniently, the boat and its contents would be a burning wreck just as soon as control of the transport was wrested away from its crew.

Sasuke returned topside to see Naruto's clones henged to look like an approximation of the men they replaced. It was difficult to do a proper copy mimicry of their features.

It was dark out after all.

Sasuke got a thumbs up from the clone steering the ship. He carefully dropped back onto the water. With a deft jump he feet clung to the side of the transport.

Sakura should be finished with her boat by now.

True to Sasuke's thinking, Sakura had finished up with her boat. She was a bit more efficient than her male teammate however.

She landed on the back of the boat, clones in tow. She then turned around and sweetly asked the clones to help clear out the crew. The clones gave her a wink and a smile, respectively. Naruto's clones were always willing to please.

The three cleared out the boat in no time.

Sometimes it was better to work smart, not hard. She was sure Sasuke had only used his handy pair of kage bunshin for cleanup.

Sakura just shook her head and chuckled as she clung to the side of the transport. Sasuke would never learn.

(With Naruto- Military Harbor- Midnight- One Day To Bridge Completion)

A pair of Naruto clones one more sat on the top of hill overlooking the harbor.

This time however, they were surrounded by twenty-two of their counterparts. Even the original, herself, was among their number. She was looking over a map of the seaport below that had been carefully made by the clones from this morning.

The entire port was nestled between two hills which gently sloped north, into the water below. A road, which led to the shipyard, snaked through the valley set between the hills. The port itself was pretty simple layout. Five large, deep, flooded spaces were set for the transports, two of which were empty. About two dozen smaller spaces had been set up for the smaller craft, those were about half full.

Around the inlets for the boats were a variety of buildings for service and repair. There was one massive warehouse on the east that was used to store the goods set to be exported. To the west was a series of decently sized shacks used for housing roughly a fourth of Gato's forces. The men would go into town and force restaurants to serve them meals. They used to go to Sutedi-te, but that was obviously no longer an auction.

Naruto rolled up the map silently and stowed in the equipment pouch across her lower back. "Squad One, slip around to the shoreline, tag those boats. Leave one transport standing, don't let them get onboard. I don't want anyone slipping away. When I give the signal, light the charges."

Six kage bunshin nodded in unison, before darting out of the area.

Naruto gestured to another half-dozen. "Squad Two,control the road, no one gets in or out."

The squad sped off to their designated task.

"Squad Three, target the housing, same orders as Squad One."

Naruto looked over the remaining six clones left on the hill. "You're with me, Squad Four. When the signal goes off, we come down this hill."

Now it was time to wait. Naruto settled in as the waning crescent lit the peaceful looking compound below.

(With Sasuke and Sakura- After Midnight- Transport)

Sasuke stuck his head ever so slightly above the deck of the transport. His dark hair was near invisible in the late night. The deck of the wooden vessel was bare of both life and fixtures. The back of the boat had a simple, large, windowed pilothouse from which the captain commanded the boat.

The shinobi felt a pair of eyes on him. His gaze locked onto a figure hanging on the deck on the opposite side. Amused green eyes stared back at him.

The eyes flicked to the right toward the pilothouse. Wordlessly the two Konoha shinobi ran sideways along the vessel until they were on the sides of the pilothouse.

On an unspoken cue, the duo crashed through the windows. As glass rained down all around the cabin, the five men managing the vessel spun around in confusion. Two went down from a vicious punch from and a deep stab wound from Sakura. Sasuke had fluidly cut down the crewman who had been closest to the window. With a simple twitch of his wrist, a shuriken embedded itself into the captain's throat.

The last crewman standing switched his gaze back and forth between the two monsters that had decimated the pilothouse. In a rare moment of clarity, he tried to throw himself out of the now destroyed window.

As he cleared the frame of the window, he felt a moment of elation at his escape. Then everything went dark.

"I win," Sasuke said with a triumphant smirk..

Sakura just shook her head, "Come on, we still need to deal with the ones below deck." She walked through the door leading to the compartments below.

Sasuke shrugged and headed down after her.

The first sign something was wrong came for the crew of the transport vessel, jokingly nicknamed the Seiuchi (Walrus), when a loud boom rocked the ship.

The first mate, who was playing poker with the rest of the crew, knocked over his chair as he bolted upright, "What the hell was that?"

Another boom knocked the contents of the table to the floor. The swinging overhead light went out as well.

"You're all in one place. That's convenient."

The first mate froze. The voice had come from directly behind him.

"I'll make this quick."

In the resounding chaos that came from a dozen men groping around in the dark, Sasuke cut through them like tissue paper.

Sakura sat calmly in captain's chair of the wrecked pilothouse, watching as the four kage bunshin that had accompanied them cleared away the bodies.

The quartet had blown away the assault craft after seeing their teammates break through the glass.

The medic of Team Seven raised an eyebrow as Sasuke stalked into view, specks of blood adorning his clothes.

"Done," the dark-eyed boy called.

Sakura rose from her seat and cracked her knuckles. "Let's go get the other ones, then." She glanced over to a Naruto clone wearing the captain's hat at a jaunty angle. "You got things here?"

The clone was trying to light a pipe it had produced from somewhere, the dead captain if she had to hazard a guess. "Aye," it said with a salty accent.

Sakura sighed and headed out back into the night.

At least the rest should go faster. This was the only one they had to keep in one piece.

(With Naruto- After Midnight- Military Harbor)

At 3:37 A.M., a bank of dark clouds rolled over the harbor, leaving the facility in darkness. The weather in Nami no Kuni changed often, so this wasn't seen as particularly odd.

The clouds hanging exclusively over the harbor, however, was. By the time anyone realized this it was far too late.

At 3:38 A.M., two of the three transports and all ten assault craft stationed at the harbor erupted into flames. The housing followed seconds later.

By the time the hundred men at the harbor realized what was happening, forty of their number were dead, half that number was wounded, and the remaining forty were woefully unprepared for what was to come.

Many men had stumbled their way to the middle of the compound to escape the unstable buildings and choking smoke. They carefully rallied around the port's commander, who was barking out orders while his leg was hastily bandaged. They numbered around twenty.

Naruto and her squad of six hung back in the shadows created by the unnatural clouds overhead. She lifted a carefully crafted bow in her hands.

It had been left at Tazuna's door; a gift from a grateful, but cautious citizen. Having a weapon was a capital crime under Gato's rule. While, arrows often traveled far too slowly to be useful in the life of a ninja, However they would do quite well against the unknowingly surrounded pen.

Besides, Naruto found the irony to so rich she wasn't sure she'd want breakfast.

With a smooth draw, she notched an arrow and let it loose. It shot squarely into the healthy leg of the Harbor commander, his knee, actually. His cry of anger and pain was cut off by the detonation of the tag wrapped around the arrow.

Naruto's clones charged into the disoriented crowd of thugs. Their dull gray blades cut them down in man ran as hard as he could from the ambush. An arrow struck him in the back of the thigh, sending him tumbling to the ground. He managed to push himself to his knees with a painful grunt. Another arrow struck him in the back. He stuck his arm behind him as if to pull it out. His strength left him and he fell heavily to the ground.

Naruto surveyed the burning harbor as her clones routed the rest of Gato's forces there. That was only organized attempt to fight back she had encountered. The rest were being hunted down in twos or threes. The injured would swiftly be put out of their misery.

She headed back toward Tazuna's home. If everything went well, night would fall only once more before Nami was free.

Now though, it was time to get some shut-eye.

Sakura crossed her arms with a huff as she and Sasuke walked on the water back towards Tazuna's house. "You make it a lot less interesting when you just set the boats on fire, Sasuke."

Sasuke just rolled his eyes as the two trudged along. Sakura was just mad that he had absolutely decimated her in number of boats sunk. It wasn't his fault her ninjutsu took longer to use over open water.

Sakura stuck her hands behind her head as the two stepped onto the shore, "Think Naruto's done?"

Sasuke pointed to the suspiciously bright orange section of the sky, "I'd say so."

Tsunami eyed the sooty blonde girl standing at the front door. Her two teammates stood behind her dripping water. "Busy?"

"Sorta," Naruto said with a wide smile. "Can we come in?"

Tsunami rolled her eyes, "You, go get a shower."

Naruto thanked her and headed inside.

Tsunami pointed at the two wet genin. "You two, dry off before you come in."

Sakura and Sasuke grumbled, but accepted towels from their host.

It was late in the night, the rest of her team had gone to bed.

Naruto, now dressed in a black tanktop and orange shorts, sat up on the roof, watching the quiet,dark woods.

Every stage had been completed. Gato would be furious when he found his navy in shambles. That would be the last straw. The littlest tyrant would pull together what forces he had left in order to take down the bridge.

Zabuza was still a factor, as well as his masked accomplice. She seriously doubted the elite swordsman would cut and run, especially if he thought things in Kiri were desperate.

She sighed, Kakashi could take on Zabuza, no doubt. It was his \back up she was worried about. They had next to no information on the masked shinobi. They used senbon and had some measure of speed and stealth, physical strength too, considering how they hefted up the jounin and his monstrous sword.

One way or another, things would be finished in around thirty-six hours or so.

Her musings were interrupted by the sound of quiet footsteps on the roof. She spotted Inari walking carefully across the sloped surface to sit next to her.

He looked out over the forest, looking like he wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words.

For a while, neither party spoke, simply watching over the gentle wilderness of Nami no Kuni. Eventually, Inari broke the silence. "Why? Why are you trying so hard?"

Naruto crossed her legs as she thought, "Because, someone has to. Gato has bred fear throughout this country. Spread it far enough to make the people question whether freedom is even worth the cost. If I can step in and stop that, I think I should." Naruto looked over and smiled at the bucket-hat wearing boy. "I guess what I'm trying to say is: people need heroes. Heroes inspire"

Inari looked at her with confused eyes, "What happens when heroes die?"

"That's even better," Naruto ignored Inari's startled look, "they become a symbol, something people can rally behind. When Gato killed Kaiza, he made himself a greater enemy than anyone else could have."

Inari furrowed his brow in thought, "What's so good about a symbol?"

"They aren't forgotten," Naruto said with a gentle smile. "Go to anyone in town and ask them about Kaiza. I guarantee none of them have a bad word to say about him."

Inari nodded along with her words, "He said that if you had something precious to you, you had to protect it with both arms." He lowered his head, clearly grieving over his lost father-figure.

It was Naruto's turn to nod. "He's right, and people will remember that in the back of their heads. What they need is someone to remind them of that, like what your grandpa.. It can't be me, or Sakura, or Sasuke, or Kakashi." Naruto gave Inari a sly smirk, "It could be you, you know."

Inari raised his head and looked at Naruto incredulously.

Naruto uncrossed her legs and stood up. "Think about it, alright."

Inari looked at Naruto questioningly, "Okay."

Naruto began to head back inside, only to be interrupted by Inari. "Hey," Naruto looked back over her shoulder at him. "are you a hero?" Inari asked.

"Depends who you ask," Naruto replied with a smirk.

Inari looked unsatisfied by that answer. "What if I ask you?"

Naruto blinked, "That's a very good question, Inari. Really good, actually."

Inari blushed under the praise.

"I don't think I know how to answer that. I'll get back to you on that."

Team Seven spent the last day before the predicted attack on the bridge, fixing up whatever small wounds they had picked up in their strikes against Gato's forces. The few workers, who had stayed to help, watched in wonderment as a seemingly endless supply of pretty blonde girls sped up the construction of the massive structure.

When he wasn't drinking off the clock, Tazuna was damn good at his job. He was barking out orders at his free labor while he went through dozens of blueprints for the nation-saving bridge. "You two, take that over there. You, careful with that cement!. You! Wait, you're fine, keep going."

Damn, he loved Konoha ninja.

Dinner that night was a calm affair. The charts and reports that had polluted Tsunami's table, while Team Seven planned its moves against Gato, were gone. Inari had finally come out of his long-lasting slump and was sending surreptitious glances at Naruto, who either didn't notice or didn't care. Probably the former, if her inhalation of the food before her was any indication.

Tazuna, who had been nursing a saucer of sake, looked over the gathered shinobi. "What happens now?"

Kakashi folded his book with a soft clap, "Tomorrow, Tazuna-san, you will finish the bridge."

"What about Gato or that Zabuza guy?" Tazuna asked.

"You let us deal with them," Kakashi said brightly. "Everything has gone in our favor so far."

Tazuna, like many citizen of Nami, had no idea of the full extent of the actions Team Seven had taken. "What do you mean? I know your genin have been taking off at night, but I thought they were training," Tazuna spoke, confused.

Kakashi gave him a small eye-smile, "My little students have just done a few things to goad Gato into attacking."

Tazuna's breath hitched, "You sure you can deal with him?"

"Of course Tazuna-san, Team Seven doesn't do anything halfway."

Tazuna still had a bad feeling about this.

The next day, the Team Seven along with Tazuna headed to the nearly finished bridge. Gray clouds hung heavily in the sky above. As they drew nearer to the massive structure, they noticed the distinct lack of noise. On closer examination, they found the bodies of the bridge workers- unconscious or otherwise littering the concrete.

The genin immediately snapped into a defensive formation around Tazuna when a heavy mist started to roll in. Naruto unsealed her shield and held it at the ready. Sakura pulled her elongated kunai into her waiting gloved hands. Sasuke held his hands close together, ready to start ninjutsu or block an attack.

Kakashi merely uncovered his donated eye and called out cheerfully into the dense, foggy, mist, "Ah Zabuza, I was wondering when you'd show up." Despite his friendly tone, the danger in his voice was as plain as day. "Back for another round?"

A deep voice echoed from the mist, "As much as I'd love to, I think things are going to go a little differently."

A dozen senbon flew out of the mist. Kakashi, being the elite jounin that he was, blocked them with a few deft movements of a kunai. Just as he finished, Zabuza came barreling from the side. He swung his massive sword in an attempt to end the fight early.

Kakashi easily leaned out of the way and was caught off guard, when, instead of following through on his swing, Zabuza let go of his blade sending it into the ground. Zabuza took Kakashi's moment of recovery to deliver a crushing kick that sent the jounin flying onto the unfinished bridge.

The next few words, shattered Team Seven's battle plan. "Hijutsu: Makyō Hyōshō (Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals)."

A dome of mirror like rectangular plates surrounded Kakashi, effectively cutting him off from Zabuza, his genin, and his client.

"Hatake Kakashi, I will be your opponent. You will not leave my mirrors alive." The falses hunter nin who had saved Zabuza, appeared in every one of the mirrors surrounding Kakashi. Each replica drew a handful of icy senbon and began to bombard the silver-haired shinobi from all sides.

'Damn,' Kakashi internally swore as he dodged around the sharp ice needles.

Outside the dome, Kakashi's team was having similar thoughts to their sensei. They were a touch more sever.

"Shit,shit shit," Naruto swore aloud.

After knocking away Kakashi, Zabuza had slipped back into the blanketing mist around the three genin. The wary genin kept their eyes peeled in every direction. Naruto shifted her broadshield into a smaller variation with a short sword for her other hand.

The three of them were alone. Alone against an elite jounin, who was apparently skilled enough to think he had a chance at killing his kage.

Kakashi better hurry the hell up.

Naruto pulled her goggles up to her forehead, the mist had fogged them up too much to be used. The Uzumaki female began barking orders to her fellow genin, "Sakura get your sensor up, tell us where he's at. Sasuke, cover her. Don't engage Zabuza unless he gets in close."

"Got it."

"Understood."

Sakura moved closer to Tazuna and began to close her eyes in concentration. She formed her hands into the ram seal to help her focus her technique.

Sakura had managed to awaken her sensor abilities the previous month. She could pick up distinct chakra signatures very well, especially if they were using a prolonged technique like Kirigakure no Jutsu. The problem, however, was that she was unable to move while using it.

Team Seven could find Zabuza, but they would have to defend both Sakura and the client. at once. It was a hell of a trade off, but Naruto found it worthwhile.

Sakura suddenly called out, "Seven o'clock!"

True to her statement, Zabuza, who had recovered his blade, rushed in on Sasuke's side in an attempt to bulldoze the genin and kill Tazuna.

"Katon:Goukakyuu Fire Release: Great Fireball." A torrential ball of flames leapt from Sasuke's mouth straight at the oncoming missing nin.

He twisted out of the way, avoiding the technique, but was forced to stop when three kunai landed on the ground before him. The ex mist jounin leapt back as the tags went off.

Instead of a feint in the form of an explosive note, the tags let off a small explosion with a low boom. Zabuza his bones rumble from his position.

So the blonde brat's explosives packed more punch and less fire? No he closed the distance well enough she wouldn't be able to use them without killing the client herself.

Zabuza hopped back into his mist and circled around for another attempt.

"Three o'clock," Sakura whispered to Naruto.

With a nod, Naruto launched a hail of shuriken into the mist. She heard the metal stars impact of the swordsman's blade. With a quick hand seal, Naruto set them off.

Four of the shuriken had been tagged with standard explosive notes. They went off with a bang blowing away a large section of mist.

"He moved," Sakura called. He's at six-, no eight. He's sending clones!"

Three mizu bunshin burst from the mist to assault the team from multiple direction. Sakura dropped her sensor to face her own attacker.

She waited until the last second to block the downward swing with her much smaller knives. Sakura own significant strength combined with the weakness of the mizu bunshin allowed her to easily hold off the overhead strike. She snaked out her arm for a balded jab into the clone's belly. It burst apart into a small surge of water.

Sasuke had surprised his combatant with a flash of his Sharingan, allowing him to predict the movements of the clone and easily sway away its horizontal swing. Sasuke fluidly threw a kunai into the chest of the water clone as he swayed back into his original position.

As Naruto blocked with her shield and quickly dispelled the bunshin with a thrust of her short sword, she realized the true purpose of Zabuza's bunshin.

Sakura had stopped using her sensor abilities.

The real Zabuza burst into their missed and swung his blade diagonally at the unsuspecting Tazuna. Naruto swiftly put herself between the two, managing a hasty block with both shield and sword.

Zabuza grinned as he pushed down harder on the defending genin, "You're not half bad kid, who are you?"

"No one of consequence," the blonde Uzumaki quipped.

Before Zabuza could break through Naruto's hasty defence, Sakura came to the rescue with a punch that would have left much more than a bruise had Zabuza not danced away at the last moment.

"Thanks," Naruto nodded to Sakura. "I've got an idea.

Kakashi nimbly leapt out of the way of another barrage of senbon. While Zabuza's accomplice was exceptionally fast inside his mirrors, he was nowhere near fast enough to come even remotely close to hitting the Konoha jounin, especially with his Sharingan active.

Unfortunately, the reverse seemed true as well. Kakashi had blasted the mirrors with a Katon technique almost immediately. It had barely any effect on the surprisingly hardy mirrors.

It seemed he'd have to get more creative.

Zabuza grinned as he heard the blonde girl separate herself from the rest of the group to face him alone. "I thought Konoha ninja valued teamwork," he mocked from his hiding spot.

"Someone's got to guard the client while I kick your ass." Naruto boasted from her spot between him and her team.

Zabuza jumped out from right next to her, in an attempt to bifurcate the arrogant brat. His blade clanged as it crashed against her overly large shield one more. "How many weapons do you carry?"

"Just the one," Naruto shot back from behind her masterwork. She went in for a kick at the Momochi's legs that was stepped away from. Taking advantage of Zabuza's footing, Naruto shot up and smacked away his sword with the flat of her hand. Her attempted follow up at Zabuza's open guard was shut down by a hard kick that sent he skidding across the ground.

She quickly brought her shield up to stop the overhead strike that would have ended her tenure as a kunoichi. She managed to form a single hand sign despite the crushing pressure from the heavy blade.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone)." Zabuza was forced to abandon his attack as a dozen clones tried to bash him with their own shields.

Naruto stood quickly and went back on the offensive with her clones at the head of the charge. Their movement was somewhat slowed by the encumberance of their tools, however.

Zabuza effortlessly cut through the clones like a meat grinder, before landing a deep cut into the shoulder of the original. Blood poured from her open wound onto the legendary blade.

Naruto grunted as she pushed off Zabuza's blade with her hand and beat a hasty retreat to her squad. Sakura began first aid on her deep wound. Her hands glowed a faint green as Sakura used in intermediate knowledge of medical techniques.

"What's the matter?" Zabuza taunted, "I thought you were going to 'kick my ass'."

The shit-eating grin from the blonde nuisance made him distinctly uncomfortable.

"Who says I didn't?"

Zabuza's heard an uncomfortable sizzling he had come to associate with the whiskered genin. His eyes flicked to Kubikiribocho.

When did she have time to-?

Oh right. He thought her slapping the sword was odd. Clever bitch.

Zabuza hurled his blade toward the genin. Anything was a weapon after all.

The blade detonated about halfway between Zabuza and the team. Naruto widened her shield as much as possible in such short notice, while her team and Tazuna crouched behind it. Team Seven avoided the hail of shrapnel from the ruined sword.

Zabuza hadn't been quite so lucky. Bereft of his sword, which he normally would have used to block such a thing, Zabuza made a hasty kawarimi. Unfortunately he caught a few metal slivers before he could use his replacement.

Zabuza winced beneath his mask as he examined his injured arm. It seems his luck had held up. The bits of metal that hit him had passed through his arm and part of his leg without cutting any arteries.

He flexed with a wince. It still hurt like hell though.

It was time to give those damnable genin a nasty surprise.

Kakashi was starting to get severely annoyed. he had found that his Raiton techniques were about as useful as his Katon ones. Actually he had seen his last attempt at Katon melt a good deal of the ice. His masked enemy had repaired it quickly.

Any progress was good progress he supposed.

On a brighter note, he had managed to distract his assailant with a particularly nasty fire technique long enough to summon Pakkun, who he had promptly sent outside the dome.

The small dog was carefully tracking the masked foe by scent. When Kakashi signalled him, Pakkun would call out which mirror contained the real Haku.

He was confident the Chidori (One-Thousand Birds) could pierce the mirrors, he just needed the hunter to hold still for a moment.

Team Seven watched as the Demon of the Bloody Mist calmly walked back onto the field. He headed toward handle of his blade, still attached to the cracked lower fourth of the broken blade.

None of the squad of three made a move to stop him. Underestimating a jounin, even one without his sword would get them killed.

"That was pretty clever," the masked man called as he picked up the handle of his beloved blade. "You were bull-headed enough to get cut up just to get rid of my sword. Bravo."

Naruto wasn't sure if that was a compliment or an insult. Ever the optimist, Naruto opted to take it as the former, "Thanks, I guess."

Zabuza just kept staring at the handle of his sword. "The thing is..." Zabuza began with an unnerving smile, "Kubikiribocho is not so easily broken."

"What are you talking about? That thing is-" Naruto paused, staring dumbfounded as the blade of Zabuza's sword began reforming. "Oh, that is such bullshit."

Before her very eyes Zabuza's sword had restored itself to pristine condition..

"How the hell did you do that?" Naruto demanded, annoyed.

Why wouldn't she be? She had put a metric ton of effort into getting rid of that damn thing, and here it was, good as new.

Zabuza chuckled, deciding to humor the doomed genin, "Kubikiribocho can restore itself with the iron collected from the blood of its victims." Zabuza eyed his repaired sword, "It seems your blood is particularly useful." Zabuza hefted the blade onto his shoulder, "Since you've given me such an enjoyable battle, I'll give you one last chance to give up the old man."

"No can do," Naruto said sternly.

"Oh well, your funeral," Zabuza chuckled as he thickened Kirigakure no Jutsu. The members of Team Seven could barely see three feet in front of their faces.

He had toyed around with these brats far too long. It was time to show them the difference between a genin and an elite jounin.

Naruto spoke to her beleaguered teammates, "New plan."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow as his Sharingan scanned the landscape around them, "Better than the old one?"

"You bet. I need you to keep him still for a couple of seconds," Naruto replied firmly.

"Easier said than done," Sakura pointed out.

"Nothing we do is ever easy," Naruto replied.

"Except for the last week," Sasuke countered.

"Fair enough," Naruto conceded.

Zabuza's voice echoed around the genin,"You should really be silent when you're being hunted."

The former Kiri ANBU crashed through the mist, knocking over Naruto like a freight train, and brought his blade to bear on Tazuna.

Before It could reach however, He found it stopped by the two unassuming blades of Sakura. Zabuza's analytical mind quickly realized the girl\was channeling Doton chakra through the small blades, actually allowing her to hold him back, if barely.

Despite popular belief, Zabuza carried more than just his legendary blade. He proved that by swiftly drawing a kunai and sending it into the neck of the bridge builder.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Then, the old man burst into smoke.

He had been a clone the entire time.

Zabuza saw red.

He moved to knock the girl away with his free arm, only to find it trapped by the Uchiha. He roared in anger as he attempted to dislodge the Uchiha. The blonde girl rose, readying a knai to stab him.

Zabuza had to abandon his blade once more to use his arm to peel off the Uchiha while he kicked the pink-haired one away. The jounin jumped back from the genin, deciding enough was enough. These three were far too quick and far too battle-ready to be genin. He was going to have to go all out to finish this.

He was going to break through their formation, retrieve his blade, and drown the genin he had come to hold mild grudging respect for.

He was going to do all those things, up until he saw the blonde girl lift his blade with a heave of effort and hold it next to her shield.

Zabuza's reaction at what was happening was distinctly similar to the one Naruto had only moments ago.

Before his very eyes, the kunoichi turned her shield into metal slag that completely enveloped Kubikiribocho. By the time she was done, his beautiful blade was enveloped in an blob of lumpy, dark metal.

Zabuza was so shocked, he barely caught the lightweight form of Haku, who had been thrown at him by Hatake Kakashi.

"Sorry, Zabuza-sama," Haku managed weakly, "I was unable to hold back Kakashi-san." Haku was still awake, but seemed exhausted.

Everything had gone to hell for Zabuza. His weapons both literal and figurative were currently gone. The bridge builder had never been there at all. He was probably held up somewhere far away with the blonde girl's clones. When he saw Kakashi, uninjured save for a few cuts and bruises, land next to his genin, he knew he had lost. There was no way he could be the man and his genin together, while protecting Haku. Zabuza dropped Kirigakure no Jutsu.

"It seems you've bested me again, Hatake," Zabuza said rising to stand between Konoha force and his own defeated apprentice.

"It seems that way," the Konoha jounin said solemnly.

Zabuza locked eyes with the blonde, only now realizing he never learned her name, "Look after my sword would, would you?"

Naruto gave him a stiff nod.

Before either party could speak further, a large blast of water forced the Konoha team to back up.

"There he is!" a voice Zabuza never expected to hear again, "We told you we could find him."

Zabuza looked over to see Gouzu and Meizu, who were standing with someone he hadn't seen in years.

"Yeah, yeah, I heard you," a stern voice said.

"Ao?" Zabuza couldn't believe his eyes. There he was with his blue hair and eyepatch. Next to him was a boy around the age of Kakashi's students. He had short blue hair and glasses connected to ear protectors. While Zabuza didn't recognize him, he did recognize the corded handles of the blade carried on his back. This kid had Hiramekarei?

Was he already dead and seeing those he knew in life? No. Haku was still with him. He was sure that when he died, he wouldn't be going to the same place as her.

Naruto reminded them that they weren't the only ones there, "I swear this karmic backlash for something. How many of you guys are there?"

"Hello, old friend," Ao said gruffly, "looks like you could use some help."

"I wouldn't mind it," Zabuza confessed.

As Ao, the Demon Brothers and the newest member of The Seven swordsmen of the Mist stood across from the Konoha team, silence reigned.

Until there was a loud tapping coming from the bridge. "I hire the so called 'Demon of the Bloody Mist and he can't even deal with a few measly Konoha ninja. I suppose it's a good thing I wasn't ever going to pay you at all, huh?" Gato stood on the nearly finished bridge, an army measuring well over a hundred behind. All of them were wearing cocky grins and making gestures that civilian might have found threatening.

No one still on the battlefield was a civilian so that had zero effect. Gato had just walked right into the lion's den with a herd of delicious sheep.

Naruto smiled and silently took back her previous comments about karmic backlash. Thank Kami, Gato actually played into Team Seven's plan.

And now Zabuza had a handy outlet for his angry tendencies, "It seems we are no longer enemies, Kakashi."

"Looks like it," Kakashi replied brightly.

Naruto tilted the heavy chunk of metal so it was standing straight up. She then slowly drew her shield back from Zabuza's own blade, leaving Kubikiribocho unharmed. "You probably want this back," Naruto said carrying the blade over to Zabuza while she swung her shield onto her back.

"Thanks kid," Zabuza said accepting his sword back. "You know, I never got your name."

Naruto smiled as she watched Gato's forces slowly closing the distance between them and the gathered shinobi. "It's Naruto, Uzumaki Naruto."

Ao's visible eye noticeably widened at that.

Zabuza chuckled. "I should have realized."

"Say, Naruto said while sealing her shield back into her arm, "you think you can launch me into the air with that? I've got a special surprise for Gato."

Zabuza eyed her, assessing her weight, now that she stowed away her unusual weapon. "Sure, I don't see why not. Save the runt for me, would ya?"

With that Zabuza held his blade flat above the ground. It was a testament to his strength, chakra enhanced or not, that the sword barely lowered when Naruto nimbly landed on it. "Can do."

With a mighty heave, Zabuza threw the blonde Uzumaki high into the air above the battlefield.

Inari, after watching his mom be saved by two clones Naruto had left behind to defend the house, had decided enough was enough and had run through town, rallying everyone to stand up to Gato.

If Naruto thought he could be a hero, he was going to make sure he didn't disappoint her. One of the clones had led him to his grandpa, who had joined the rapidly growing host of Nami no Kuni's citizens.

The makeshift mob of villagers arrived at the bridge just in time to see the blonde girl in question fly into the air.

"Woah," one villager said, shocked.

Naruto flew through the air in an upward curve, steadily positioning herself above

Naruto waited until she felt her upward velocity begin to slow. With a flash of her hands, she launched a small barrage of kunai into the midst of Gato's forces.

The brigands hurriedly shoved against one another in an attempt to dodge the dozen or so black knives raining from the sky. Gato who had been in the back, pushed himself further from his host of forces.

Only a few were hit by the shinobi weapons. The remainder looked up, waiting for gravity to bring the blonde kunoichi into their welcoming arms.

All of a sudden things got very bright.

If a concussive note was an explosive note with more power and less range and fire, then the incendiary notes that were thrown into the midst of Gato's forces were the reverse.

Widespread fires broke out among the ranks of Gato's men. The brutes roared in agony as they attempted to put out the all consuming flames. Some of them threw themselves from the bridge in an attempt to put themselves out in the water. Unfortunately for them, the bridge was more than high enough to break their bones on impact.

Faced with the choice of burning to death or drowning, many of them froze in indecision, letting the fast burning flames make the choice for them.

By the time the flames had died down, dozens of corpses littered the once pristine bridge. Quite a few men had survived with second and third degree burns. Those that were still painfully conscious tried limping away from the carnage around them.

To the villagers of Nami no Kuni, it seemed like righteous justice.

To Gato, it was his worst fears come to life.

Completely alone, the portly tyrant began to run as far away from those damned shinobi as fast as he possibly could.

"Coming down!" a voice called from overhead.

Above him the blonde girl had somehow made copies of herself and used them to slow her descent. She landed in a crouch not ten feet in front of him.

"Now where do you think you're going, hmm?" the blonde said, standing up. "I think someone wants to have a word with you," Naruto said with a gesture to behind him.

Gato froze, too afraid to look at who he knew was behind him.

"Hello, Gato. No time for your employee?" The voice was filled with unrestrained malice.

Gato shook like a leaf as he forced himself to look behind him. "Z-zabuza! I-I was just about to speak with you."

Zabuza wasn't going to give Gato the chance to try to explain away his action, however. With a single swing, the tiny dictator had his head lopped from his shoulders. Blood squirted from the man's stump of a neck.

Damn, that was satisfying. Nothing he cut apart in the last day actually bled, with the exception of the copy of the bridge builder.

Speaking of which, Zabuza looked over at the Uzumaki kunoichi, who was walking past the corpse, carefully avoiding getting blood on her sandals.

"Bit messy, don't you think?" Naruto said to her former enemy.

In response, Zabuza jerked a thumb over his shoulder, pointing out Naruto's previous handiwork.

She had the decency to give a sheepish grin and scratch the back of her head with blush.

The two walked back to their respective comrades while the crowd of villagers broke out into a roar of cheers at seeing the source of misery in their lives removed from the world.

Zabuza eyed Ao and the new guy, "What brought you out here, Ao?"

Ao seemed to be watching the cheering crowd, strongly reminded of the situation in Kiri. He gave his friend a genuine grin, "The war's over Zabuza, Terumi Mei is the Mizukage. She wants her swordsmen back."

Zabuza was stunned. It was over. Mei was the Mizukage? Zabuza felt an enormous weight lifted from his shoulders. For years he had carried on with the belief that he was the only one who could stop the tyrannical Yagura.

It seemed his old flame proved him wrong. Zabuza chuckled to himself. She enjoyed doing that.

Zabuza smiled beneath his bandages, not a smirk, not a grin, just a smile.

Naruto gaped at Haku, who had lost her mask in the battle with Kakashi. "I feel like I should have seen this coming, somehow."

Haku was leaning on the newest member of the Kiri no Shinobigatana Shichinin Shū, Chojuro was his name. The Demon Brothers lagged behind them."I'm glad we aren't enemies anymore, Naruto-san."

"Me too," the blonde admitted, "I take it Zabuza was your precious person" Naruto said, Sakura coming to stand next to her.

"That's correct," Haku replied, still exhausted from her battle with Kakashi..

"Haku!," the rough voice of Zabuza called out, "we're leaving."

Haku looked over to see him standing next to Ao, "Where to, Zabuza-sama."

Zabuza paused for a moment, "Home."

That word seemed to reinvigorate Haku as she scrambled across to Zabuza, "Really?"

Zabuza nodded once.

The present Kiri nin prepared to leave.

Kakashi's voice stopped them, "Please pass along to Mizukage-sama that Konoha wishes her the best of luck."

Ao looked at Kakashi's gathered team, "I'll be sure to do that." He nodded to Kakashi and surprisingly, Naruto, "Hatake-san, Uzumaki,san."

With that, the Kiri shinobi swiftly vacated the area.

Kakashi covered his eye and looked back to his genin. "It seems it's time for us to go. Gato's gone, the bridge is finished...mostly, and we just learned some very valuable intel about Kiri. All in a day's work!" the masked ninja said brightly.

His genin stared at him, before Sakura poised an elegant point, "This vacation sucked, Kakashi-sensei."

"Agreed," Naruto said flatly.

Even Sasuke gave a nod of agreement.

In all the excitement, the villagers barely even noticed the Konoha shinobi leaving Two did, however.

Inari ran up to Naruto, "You're leaving already?"

Naruto gave him a smile, "That's right, we have to go back home."

She noticed Inari had his head down. He was sniffling. "Inari, it's alright to cry when you're happy, you know."

"I'm not crying!" he vehemently denied.

Naruto plucked his hat off his head and playfully roughed up his hair, earning her a blush she didn't notice from the young teen.

Meanwhile, Tauna had walked up to Kakashi, "I really can't thank you enough for what you've done here."

Kakashi made his signature eye-smile, "Just remember, when you need help, call Konoha." Kakashi's visible eye narrowed in a stern look, "and don't lie about the mission next time, you're damn lucky you got a team capable of taking on Gato."

Tazuna furiously nodded at the upset jounin.

"Good," and just like that, Kakashi was back to his normal cheerful demeanor.

"Let's move," Kakashi called..

Naruto nodded, giving Inari a quick hug and rejoining her team. She was glad to get away from the overly grateful looks the villagers had been giving her.

Team Seven left in a burst of speed, eager to go back home.

After a crew of villagers cleared away the gory remains of the old regime and quickly finished the new bridge, the crowd had assembled to commemorate the structure that would connect Nami no Kuni to the rest of the Elemental Countries.

"We still need a name," one villager called out.

Tazuna scratched his beard, "Yeah, something inspiring, something grand." He snapped his fingers, "I've got it, 'The Great Tazuna Bridge'."

His daughter smacked him over the back of the head for his arrogant comment.

Inari made a thoughtful face, "How about 'The Great Naruto Bridge'?"

With a cheer of agreement from the crowd, it was decided.

"The 'Great Naruto Bridge' it is then," said a quickly recovered Tazuna.

As Fast Response Team Zero sped through the trees, Naruto sneezed and nearly lost her footing. "Not a word, teme," she said sternly.

Sasuke smirked, "No problem Whisker Tits,"

Naruto quickly flung a brace of shuriken that the Uchiha heir tilted out of the way of.

Kakashi looked at Sakura, "Whisker Tits?"

"It's a long story," Sakura said with a shrug.

Omake

Forging Fast Response, The Genin Exam.

For the third time that day, Naruto had been hit harder than she ever had in her life.

She winced as her back smashed into a thick tree in Training Ground Seven. Her perspective sensei had told her, Sasuke-teme, and his cheerleader that they had until noon to take a bell from him. If they failed, they'd get sent back to the Academy.

The problem was there were two bells. That didn't worry the budding fuuinjutsu expert. Sakura was almost laughably incompetent. She'd barely be a factor. Sasuke on the other hand was a very skilled ass.

No, Naruto worried about the man himself. Kakashi had kicked the three of them around the field like they were rank amateurs. They were, but Naruto had thought herself at least a bit more capable than that.

Sure her grades were average, but that was because she spent half of her days alone studying the difficult art of sealing. She worked better on her own, anyway. At least she thought she did. She could throw around explosive tags all day and she was rather proud of her unusual speed and stealth abilities.

That didn't matter at all, as far as she could tell. The one-eyed jounin had swatted her aside like a bug. The only bright note she could find was that her fellow genin hopefuls were doing as poorly, if not worse, than herself..

She heard Sakura scream sometime earlier and had watched Sasuke get dragged up to his neck into the earth. She had taken the moment Kakashi was lecturing Sasuke to launch a surprise attack on the cycloptic jounin.

It had failed miserably. The silver-haired jounin had caught her out of the air and thrown her into the tree she now found herself slumped against without even looking at her.

Seriously, how the hell were they supposed to even land a clean hit on this Kakashi guy, let alone take a bell from him.

She looked around the clearing she had fought her perspective sensei in. Save for the furious head of Sasuke sticking out of the ground, it was utterly devoid of life.

The voice of the man in question echoed gravely throughout the trees, "You three are pitiful. You know, I'm getting awfully tired of failing every team Hokage-sama sends me. Maybe if I just kill you three, he'll stop. Guess what, if just one of you manages to get a bell, you all get to live. If not... well it wouldn't be the first time a jounin had to put down a genin team who attacked their proctor after failing the test."

Terrifying killing intent flooded the area making Naruto and Sasuke's hearts clench with fear and waking Sakura from her forced slumber.

This man was going to kill them because he was annoyed at being assigned genin teams. He would just lie to the Hokage and say they attacked them after failing his test.

Unless..Well, it was her only option. Naruto made a hand seal for a technique Kakashi shouldn't know she had. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone)."

Dozens of identical copies of herself appeared in puffs of smoke. She sent them to find Sakura and hold back Kakashi long enough to put her idea in motion.

She sprinted over to the submerged form of her possible squadmate. She looked into his furious charcoal eyes, "I don't like you and you don't like me. But I'll damned if I'm going to die out here." Her clones rapidly dug the Uchiha out down to his waist. She stuck out her hand to the brooding boy, "Partners, at least temporarily?"

Sasuke eyed her hand like it was a viper, but eventually grabbed hold . With a grunt of effort, Naruto pulled him to his feet. "Now we've got to find Saura,"

Sasuke scoffed, "That loser?"

Naruto sighed, "It doesn't matter. Look I've got a plan, but I need all of us to make it work. Now come on."

From high above in the trees, Kakashi watched them closely, "Now you're getting it." The legendary shinobi leapt off his perch to find a place to wait and enjoy his literature.

They found Sakura warily looking for them in the woods. Naruto told her the hard truth that if she didn't join up with them, she had no chance in hell of succeeding in this test. Sakura had reluctantly agreed.

Naruto had gotten a quick rundown of the skills of her temporary allies. She was pleased to hear Sakura had actually developed some level of speed in her time at the academy.

Naruto's clones located Kakashi idly standing in a clearing, reading his pornographic book. Attempts to attack him led to the entire force of clones being immediately dispelled. The three carefully watched him from the bushes. Naruto turned to the two, "I can give you two one opening, don't waste it."

The two other would-be genin nodded.

Naruto made the hand seal once more, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Another two dozen clones formed all around her.

With a battle cry, the army of one charged the elite jounin. They hurled shuriken, kunai, and even a fuuma shuriken or two.

Kakashi sighed as he began handedly destroying the clones and dodging thrown projectiles. Did Naruto really think this would make an opening for the other two? He had expected better from Minato-sensei's daughter.

Oh well, the girl had been living alone all these years.

Kakashi was cut from his musings as he stepped by one of the fallen fuuma shuriken. In a burst of smoke, Naruto appeared and clung to Kakashi's legs and torso like an octopus.

How did she hide from him? He should have easily spotted a henge like that.

"Now!" Naruto roared.

Sasuke and Sakura burst from the treeline and jumped at him from either side.

Just then, the bell rang and Naruto suddenly found herself holding onto a log.

Naruto shot up like a rocket and made sure the other two were on their feet.

They had failed. Kakashi was coming to kill them.

The three got into a rough triangle formation. If Kakashi planned to kill them, they weren't going down without a hell of a fight.

Naruto idly hoped they could take out his eye. Leaving the elite jounin blind wouldn't be a bad way to go out, not for a fresh out of the academy team of genin.

She spotted Kakashi calmly walking into the clearing, alarm clock in hand. She noticed him closely observing their formation, probably looking for a weakness. When Naruto saw his gaze lingering on Sakura, she stepped between the pink haired girl and the murderous jounin. She shot him a challenging look as if to say 'Try it'.

"None of you got a bell," Kakashi began sternly, "You know what that means?"

The former genin tensed in preparation for the move that would surely kill them all.

"You pass!" Kakashi said brightly.

The new Genin Team Seven were stunned. "The hell?" Naruto asked, still tensed for an attack.

Kakashi made some sort of strange U-shape with his eye. Naruto thought that was the man's impersonation of a smile. "The point of the test was teamwork. You didn't honestly expect to take a bell on your own did you? I'm an A-ranked ninja after all."

Naruto straightened out and sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. She had thought he expected her to take a bell from him.

Seeing their impromptu leader relax, Sasuke and Sakura did the same.

"Congratulations Team Seven," Kakashi said cheerfully, "You're all pretty quick by the way."

Naruto couldn't stop smiling at her-her team's victory. "Maybe, we oughta be some kind of special team that bails out other teams or something," she said offhandedly

She wouldn't know how much trouble she had created for herself with that comment until much later.

That's it folks. I hope you enjoyed it, because I will be back in school shortly and won't have as much time to put these together.

Thank you to all of you who viewed, followed, favorited, and reviewed.

On another note, I wanted to give fair warning that in the long term the pairing may be yuri. I haven't quite decided yet. I know for a fact, that it will not be Naruto/Sasuke.

For those of you who will stop reading because of this, I understand and respect your decision.

If you're still here, buckle up. It's going to be a fun ride.

Catch you later.

-The Interrupter.