The Poison Nin chapter 5:
Naruto woke up the next day wagging his tail after experiencing a heavenly dream about completely free ramen. His dreams were shattered the moment he opened his eyes though. He was back in reality: a reality where he had a pair of fluffy ears and fuzzy tail. What would he do if Sasuke-teme… scratch that- what if Hinata saw him? What would he do if she ran away disgusted by his new look.
He went on to stab a hole into his orange shorts. It had to be done extremely carefully since he didn't want a massive hole revealing 'you know what', in case it got ripped.
The next few weeks went by without much trouble. Kiba was reluctant to be complete friends with Naruto but it was only because he liked Hinata too. Sakura was being her usual loud and annoying fan girl self. Sometimes Naruto wished that they could just put those few minor hindrances aside and become friends. He was used to it though. People made fun of him, spat at him and cursed him in front of his face daily so this wasn't anything new.
He made his way up to the training grounds to notice that Sasuke's team was there too. He let out a loud frustrated sigh before coming in. Shikamaru was sleeping. Ino was fighting the loud Haruno and Sasuke was obviously brooding. Kiba made his way up to Naruto to ask him if they could secretly escape this new found hell hole.
"Oi Naruto, let's get out of here before my brain explodes" whimpered the Inuzuka.
"For once I agree. Want to go to Ichiraku's" asked Naruto in a whispered since he didn't want Sasuke seeing him like this.
Naruto and Kiba secretly slipped away and that was something especially coming from the two loud knuckleheads. Kiba was walking happily down the middle of a busy street after all this was the easy was to the ramen stand. Naruto was visibly tensing as the glares hit him at full force. He could clearly see the hate in their eyes. Why couldn't they just see that he wasn't the Kyuubi and just its container?
Akamaru noticed Naruto's discomfort with the mass amount of people, and decided to yip at Kiba. Kiba turned a raised eye brow at his little companion and finally got the message. The trio turned around and went to a quieter street.
"So the loud and mighty Naruto is afraid of crowds eh?" Kiba mocked.
"Thanks but you know everyone has their fears right" retorted the annoyed Naruto.
After a long and comfortable talk about what kind of rubber duckies they used in the shower, they finally reached the said ramen stand. Naruto nearly jumped on his heels after taking a whiff at the ramen. His senses were a million times stronger now and it made it smell all the more heavenly. Ayame gave Naruto a beaming smile after seeing he had brought a friend along.
After 7 bowls from Naruto and 3 from Kiba they decided they were going to train. Naruto looked happy with his tail wagging and his ears perked up. 'It's a good day to be alive' he thought as he walked to the training ground with Kiba. That's when he heard an 'eep'. Naruto turned around to be greeted by the sight of a madly blushing Hinata.
"N-Naruto-kun y-you are s-so k-kawaiii!"
Hinata then did the one thing Naruto never expected; she pounced on him. Naruto was taken into a blissful state as the girl he loved started scratching his ears.
'Kyuubi! This is your fault! I'm never going to look manly in front of Hinata-chan ever again!"
"Sorry kid but you bought this upon yourself."
'Oh well at least she likes me' thought Naruto before he gave into the pleasurable feel.
X~X
After a month of gruelling and annoying D ranked missions Naruto felt like he wanted to reconsider his position as a ninja. His previous dreams of saving a princess from an evil overlord and helping a village from bandits were shattered.
"Kurenai sensei- can we please stop doing these annoying house chores. At least Tora the cat required work!" said Naruto in a whiny voice.
They had been at it for a long time and the weights put on Naruto and Sakura were so heavy that Kiba had to do most of the work. Kiba was also feeling annoyed now. He had to train at his family taijutsu for hours on end, study and then go to sleep only to wake up to D ranked missions.
"Yeah sensei when will we be doing some real missions?" whined Kiba.
"I know you want a more interesting mission but you're all still rookie genin. You will only be getting C ranked missions after a year or so" stated Kurenai with a voice that said she wouldn't take complaining anymore.
The rest of the walk to the Hokage tower was in silence unless someone in the team was growling at a civilian for staring at Naruto. It was a mystery to Sakura and Kiba why everyone hated Naruto and when they approached the subject Naruto always looked so down.
They had reached the tower and all of them were about ready to kill themselves from hearing of their next D ranked mission. Naruto had just about had it, and he was going to yell it.
"Come on old man, can you please give us something good" Naruto whined.
"Naruto!" Kurenai yelled.
"No, no it's alright Kurenai. I think it's about time your genins had some fun. We just had a new C ranked mission come in" said the Hokage with a chuckle.
Team eight were ecstatic. Sakura was the most happy. Out of her and Naruto she had the most amount of trouble with the weights and training that Gai sensei provided. She could finally take them off during the long mission.
"Ok then team eight I want to see you near the gates in 3 hours."
"Hai" responded the trio in a new found energy.
X~X
Naruto was hurriedly running home to pack up his absolute essentials. Speed was one of his fortes because of the constant running from the villagers and when he was late to the academy.
"Wow kit you need to calm down. C ranked missions isn't that exciting."
"Well you wouldn't understand since you've lived for ages but for me this a first time."
"Yeah, yeah whatever. Just don't get your panties in a knot."
Naruto packed some clothes and some instant ramen and left. If he wanted to reach the gates in time he had to hurry since he lived quite far away. His new body moved on top of the roofs with grace and his tail helped balance his weight further.
X~X
"I thought I asked for some real ninjas. What are three brats doing here?" the man named Tazuna asked.
Naruto let out a low growl before proceeding to ignore the old drunk. Sakura looked pissed and Kiba was yelling obscenities at the man. Tazuna looked at Naruto and huffed.
"What's your pet doing here?"
Naruto just about had it. Kyuubi was yelling at him to kill the man in his head and Naruto was seriously considering it.
"Hey sensei can I decapitate this old drunk?" asked Naruto in overly sweet voice.
Kurenai looked at Naruto and was about to say yes when she remembered he was the client.
"I'm sorry Naruto but he's our client. Oh, and Tazuna, our team is more than enough unless your actually worried this mission might become B or A ranked" said Kurenai in her work voice.
Tazuna let out a small gulp and decided that he wasn't going to talk any more. The rest of the journey had consisted of talking about random things and having small little fights.
"Hey kit."
'What's up Kitsune-san?'
"Do me a favour and jump on one of those puddles."
'Um… Ok, I guess…'
Naruto ran up and randomly jumped on a puddle only to be thrown backwards. A person came out of it.
"You stupid brat! What'd you do that for?" shouted the angry ninja holding his sour head.
Before Naruto could respond a chain sprang up from the other the other puddle and hooked onto Kurenai. A man came out similarly dressed and pulled on the chain. Kurenai's body had blood everywhere as the chains cut through her flesh and she died. Naruto felt like time stopped as he watched his sensei go down. She had accepted him. She had become one of his few precious people, and now she was gone. A rage grew inside Naruto. Without a second to waste Naruto took out a kunai with a string attached to it and threw it at the ninja's throat. After he confirmed it was stuck in there Naruto ran up the tree and jumped down the other side. The ninja's body was pulled up by the string attached to the Kunai, effectively hanging him.
"Bother! You will pay for that you scoundrel" yelled the other ninja.
Kiba jumped in with Akamaru after recovering from seeing a gruesome kill. Using his taijutsu he kicked the man on his temple and knocked him out.
"Good job team… though Naruto…" Kurenai said uncertainly as she jumped down from the tree behind the three genins.
"Naruto… are you all right?" asked a frightened Haruno.
Naruto just stood there with his head bowed. His fists were clenched and he was trembling.
"Naruto…" said Kurenai in a concerned voice.
All of a sudden Naruto jumped onto her and cried. Kurenai was shocked and the rest of team eight were speechless. Tazuna looked at the boy with a whole new level of respect and fear.
"D-don't you ever do that again sensei!" sobbed Naruto in relief.
X~X
"So Tazuna-san might you explain why the demon brothers attacked us. I thought this was meant to be a C classed mission but having those two just called for us to change this to a B class."
Tazuna looked guiltily at team eight as he fidgeted around trying to take his time. After about thirty seconds he was received with 4 very threatening and scary glares.
"Ok, ok I'll explain. You see I'm building a bridge from Wave country. This bridge will let our already poor country to trade with others in a less expensive manner. Though the bridge is about done the country's being monopolised by a rich man named Gato. I'm the only one who can build it… but you know if you quit this mission I'll just have to go by myself and get killed. My daughter and her son will be homeless and they will forever hate Konoha for abandoning me. Your choice"
Team eight sweat dropped at Tazuna's idea of getting a pity party. Kurenai abruptly coughed and looked at her team for their answers. Sakura gave her nod.
"Hell yeah we're going. I'm not missing out on the chance to go on a B ranked mission" said Kiba followed by a 'yip' from Akamaru.
Naruto looked at his teacher with stars in his slit eyes, ears perked up and a wagging tail. Kurenai just took his actions as a yes.
"Ok then I guess we will have to continue this mission" said Kurenai with a smile.
"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." Said the bridge builder with a smile on his face before he ruffled Naruto's hair and walked ahead.
X~X
Team eight had crossed a river with the help of one of Tazuna's friend before they made their way again. Naruto was on a high alert when he heard a sound in the bushes. Quickly he grabbed a kunai and chucked it only for a rabbit to jump out.
"Naruto you baka why did you try and kill the poor thing?" yelled Sakura before she hit him on the head.
Although it seemed weird Naruto did actually feel like killing and eating it for a second. Kurenai however had noticed something weird about the rabbit. It was summer but the rabbit still had a winter coat which meant only one thing…
"Duck!" yelled Kurenai as she pushed Sakura and Tazuna down. Naruto and Kiba knew it was coming beforehand because of their keen animal senses and had dogged.
A man had come out from a tree. His appearance was intimidating as his chest up till his face was covered in tight bandages, showing his packed and built muscle. His pants were camo and the sword he had thrown seemed to be extremely heavy.
"What do we have here, a Konoha jonin with her three cute little genins. Do you mind if I just kill the old geezer behind you?" asked the man in a teasing voice.
"Zabuza I presume" said Kurenai in a calm voice.
"I'm flattered you know me but judging from the looks of it I don't think you will hand the geezer to me will you? If you aren't going to give him I'm just going to have to take him" said Zabuza in a cold voice.
"Well you guessed right. Naruto, Kiba, Sakura! I need you to protect Tazuna for me and do not interfere!"
The three genin surrounded Tazuna with their kunai ready. Suddenly Zabuza disappeared and fog started spreading throughout the forest. Naruto's senses weren't working as well as they should have either.
"Hmm… what part should I cut out first; the liver, lungs, heart, throat, stomach, eyes or maybe I should just cut them all out. Your choice."
Naruto could see it. He could see his death happening in front of him in a million different ways. He knew it wasn't real and he stabbed himself. After the pain had brought him back to his senses he turned to see Sakura doing the same thing. Naruto shook Kiba and told him to get a hang of himself. After the three of them were able to get a hold of themselves they started to focus their eyes onto what they could see of the battle in front of them.
Kurenai had been trying her best to fight Zabuza while tricking him with her Genjutsu. It was hard for her to keep up with his moves and she ended up being caught in his jutsu. When the fog cleared up team eight were greeted by the sight of their sensei trapped in a water sphere.
"Run away. Zabuza's too strong for the three of you" yelled Kurenai.
"I'm never going to run away!" yelled Naruto as he created a whole group of Kage bunshins only for all of them to be defeated.
Before that he threw Kiba his windmill shuriken. Kiba looked at it with a smirk as he threw it at the Zabuza water clone. The clone thought it was going to hit him when the shuriken went by him and charged at the original. Zabuza jumped over it and dodged the oncoming attacks only to find out that the windmill shurikens were actually Naruto clones in henge modes. Zabuza had to force his hand out and let Kurenai escape his water prison jutsu.
"I guess we will have to be working together then Naruto" said Kurenai with a smile as he and his sensei jumped at the rouge nin.
The battle went on for a while until it got to a standstill after Zabuza was on the end of most of the hits. Kurenai was about to deal the last blow when two senbons hit his neck.
"I thank you for helping me capture this man" said a particularly feminine voice.
It came from a young girl who was wearing a hunter nin mask. Kurenai nodded but acted cautiously at the suspicious behaviour. The hunter nin took the body and left.
"So are we just going to let her take him away!" yelled Sakura angry that they just let Zabuza go like that.
Kurenai just looked wearily at her and nodded. They continued walking for another mile before they reached Tazuna's house.
"Tazuna, thank kami you're alright!" yelled his daughter Tsunami before she hugged him.
After her long and touching reunion with her father she noticed Naruto and his little fox ears which were perking up. 'Kawaii' she thought as she ran up to him and felt his fluffy tail. Naruto tensed up a bit while trying not to massacre every girl he meets. He was a shinobi for Kami's sake not some pet dog. After glaring at Tsunami he entered the small humble home.
X~X
"Ok team we are going to learn how to water walk! Naruto you look way to sick so you can sit out."
Naruto walked down the forest feeling very sick after his recent dose of poison. He knew it would wear out after a while but he really didn't want to do this in a mission. He walked down to the forest to search for some plants. The land of waves was actually a place priced for the plants and herbs found in it. Naruto started picking up some poisonous leaves that would make a poison that he couldn't make back at Konoha. He noticed a crunch when he jolted up. His ears twitched as he heard someone come. He pulled out his kunai waiting to find a ninja. Straight black hair appeared from the tree and revealed a woman (? Male) who seemed slightly older than him? He relaxed.
"Are you picking up herbs too?"
"No I'm not really knowledgeable in herbs I only work with poisons."
"You must be a ninja then. I think that you should try and learn about some herbs and plants that heal. It would be useful if one of your precious people were hurt."
"I've never actually thought of it that way though I was planning on getting to that sooner or later."
"Don't you have precious people umm…?"
"Naruto, and yes I do have precious people."
"I think that when you have a precious person to protect that's what makes you strong."
Naruto smiled and nodded at the girly looking boy before vomiting near a tree. The girl looked at him with her face scrunched up. 'Is he all right' thought Haku. After Naruto had recovered from vomiting he just stood back up gave her a smile and left with his poisons. Haku thought to himself of the new intriguing blonde 'Naruto, eh… cute ears'.
X~X
"I hope you like the dinner. There isn't much here but I try my best" said Tsunami with a welcoming smile.
Naruto smiled back at this motherly figure. A small pain hit his heart as he wondered if he could ever have one. Sakura and Kiba looked at the food hungrily. They had forgotten to pack their own food during the trip, and had to eat from Naruto's seemingly endless supply of instant ramen. Naruto started eating along with everyone else when he had noticed the look from Inari. Naruto turned his attention back to the food and what he thought to be the closest thing to a family atmosphere.
"Why are you all eating with a happy look on your face when you're all going to die anyway?" said Inari.
"Inari!" yelled Tazuna.
"You come here with your smug faces but sooner or later Gato will kill you all! You don't even know what we've been through so don't but in! You're all just spoilt brats that don't even know what pain is!"
"Enough!" yelled Naruto.
"…"
Naruto had stood up; his hands clenched holding back his rage. Inari looked into his red slitted eyes with a new fear.
"You speak of true pain, yet you haven't experienced it. You can sit here wining all you want but that isn't going to change anything. Don't look down on people who risk their lives for you. Ungrateful brat!" Naruto yelled as he walked out the house.
X~X
Naruto had the same old dreams he had in the past. It was of him. Everything was as it was; no food, no shelter and no love. It was the dream that showed him his worst fears. He crawled to the edge of the murky building as the rain came pouring. When he turned around there was his two parents. Their faces were shadowed but he could see the wrinkles of disgust as they looked at him. Naruto covered back into his own shell, unable to look his parents in the eye.
"Why did we have to give birth to this monster? Why couldn't we just get a smart, normal child honey?" said the women to her husband.
"What are you talking about? That isn't our child" said the tall man.
"I guess you're right honey. That abomination of a being could never be our son."
"N-no stop! I-I'm not a-a m-monster" yelled Naruto.
Naruto could feel something calling him. He had never experienced a dream where someone was calling him.
"Kit, wake up! Kit stop dreaming and wake up! The lady who lives here is in trouble."
Naruto's eyes shot open as he ran toward the scream. He couldn't see his team anywhere, but he did notice that Tsunami was being held with a knife at her neck. Inari was crying and bravely clawing at the second man. Naruto let out a small smile at the kids new found bravery. His smile disappeared as it came before he swapped himself with Inari. Naruto grabbed the samurais arm before breaking it and quickly moving to Tsunami's help. He then replaced himself with Tsunami before he grabbed the man's arms and swung him over his shoulders.
"Hey Inari, you did well."
"Nah I was just helping" said Inari with a grin plastered on his face.
"Sorry gotta go! My team is probably getting their ass kicked without me."
Inari gave Naruto a thumb's up before Naruto grabbed his pouch and ran. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late when he reached there.
X~X
Kiba was having a trouble fighting of the fake hunter nin. Akamaru and his very elaborate and showy moves never seemed to gain a hit on the 'female'. The duo had taken a lot of hits and they seemed like they couldn't last much longer with the way they were going. Sakura was uselessly standing next to Tazuna her guard hardly up. Naruto wondered what she thought screaming out their names when they got hurt would do for them. Kurenai wasn't doing any better. She was facing most of the blows even though she hit her fair share.
Naruto jumped in with right in time to block what was meant to be a fatal shot to Kiba. Haku made another ice senbon hesitantly. She didn't want to hurt Naruto after her meeting with him yesterday. Naruto however was just having the opposite thoughts. 'I need to get her back for making Kiba look like this. Naruto glanced at Kiba and Akamaru with a concerned look. Kiba nodded to Naruto signifying that he would go on. As if an unspoken conversation between the trio, Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru jumped from all sides.
Haku was having enough. He was meant to be long range fighter and their team work was closing in on him. 'Guess it's time for that jutsu'.
"Demonic Mirroring ice crystals" yelled Haku as he did the hand seals in blinding speed.
Suddenly Naruto and Kiba were trapped in a dome of ice mirrors. They could see Haku from every mirror and no matter how much force they used to try and break the glass, it wouldn't work. They were getting bombarded with ice senbons. Before Naruto could do anything the senbons came straight at a point which would kill him. He shut his eyes closed waiting for the inevitable.
Nothing…
Naruto slowly opened his eyes to see Kiba lying on the floor with a senbons through his neck.
"W-why did you save me."
"Dobe. We're friends."
Naruto felt rage boil up his spine. Disgust, hate, revulsion all grew towards the masked hunter. His precious person was killed. Rage took over his mind as he felt the Kyuubi lend him his power.
Rage…
Naruto charged at the mirrors and broke it. Haku was desperately trying to get away. He faced all of the ravaged blonde's attacks. It was all for nought as Naruto held him up from his sleeve.
Crack…
"H-Haku…"
"Kill me Naruto. I am a useless weapon to Zabuza-sama now. End my existence" the boy said as he succumbed to his fate.
Naruto looked at the female… man that he had come to respect in the forest. He knew he had to honour Haku by compelling to his last wishes. He felt his features soften as he brought out his claws to end his life. Haku's eyes darted to her master one last time before tugging out of Naruto's grip.
In the blink of an eye she was by Zabuza's side as he took the hit for him. Kurenai's knife cut through his stomach. The world seemed to pause and freeze for a second as he fell to the ground. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise at the act of love he had just witnessed. It was in moments like these that he wondered where he was going in life. Why was Kiba killed instead of him? Naruto clenched his chest and wondered why it wasn't him. He looked at the barely concealed pain drawn onto Zabuza's face. The pain went as quickly as it came. Suddenly there was clapping. Angry eyes glared at the direction where someone dared to make light of a shinobi's sacrifice.
"Well, well. Isn't this just the most amusing show" said a fat man as he stood by many guards.
"Gato" grunted Zabuza.
"I have no use for you now Zabuza. I was going to wait before you were killed but I couldn't miss out on the show" laughed the fat man.
"I will make you pray that you hadn't said that" said Zabuza as he walked to the crowd of thugs.
Kurenai stepped forward with her guard but Zabuza blocked her with his sword.
"Don't. This is my fight" said Zabuza shooting killing intent towards the crowd of thugs.
They all shook in fear as they tried to put up a front. Kurenai stepped back and Naruto just stared blankly at where Kiba was laying. His heart broke as he saw the limp body. Kiba was his friend and his precious person.
Zabuza glanced at the body of his dead partner. Hardening his heart he charged at the crowd. Swing after swing he chopped down bodies. He felt no pleasure in killing any of them. He just felt the pain of having his only loved person being taken from him. Cuts and weapons were stabbed into him for every one of his kills. He quickly swung his sword at the last thug. Gato moved back in fear as he saw his future killer.
"b-but how?" he whimpered.
"Because you disgraced Haku's death" he spat.
His sword swung in a quick motion and cut Gato's head clean of his neck. A smile graced Zabuza's face as he fell to the ground. Kurenai and the rest of team seven ran to his side. Zabuza looked into Kurenai's eyes.
"Lay me next to Haku. I want to die next to him" whispered the dying man.
Kurenai picked him up and laid him next to his dead partner. Zabuza took of his bandaged mask, and let a lone tear fall down his face. His hands thudded to the ground as he drew his last breath.
Snow started falling signalling the end of their sad saga.
Curry llama here! Sorry for the long wait. I had what you call a writer's block and only recently decided to update on this fan fiction. I'm terribly sorry for the long wait and I'll try and update more often. I made this chapter extra-long just to make up for it. Please review. I like constructive criticism which means you will tell me what I did wrong or right instead of just saying you didn't like it. I want to make Naruto a badass ninja in the future so you'll just have to wait and see the character development. But wait did Kiba really die… who knows he might have cause I didn't say he woke up. Ha ha. Sorry I was just messing with you there… but seriously.
Llama out!