I would just like to say I do not own Naruto or any of the other things I pay homage too. If you like one of my ideas please feel free to use them in your own stories, though I would appreciate a PM so I can read them.
"Speech"
'Thought'
"Demon speech"
'Demon thought'
Jutsu
Swirling Blood Chapter 17
Team seven disembarked from the small craft Tazuna had arranged to meet them on the shores of Hi no Kuni.
The trip had been eerily silent when the boatman had cut the motor upon nearing the bridge. Rowing the boat the length of the impressively massive bridge they had passed under one of the aqueducts linking the islands before making landfall at a small dock under cover of the mangrove forests.
As he disembarked as well Tazuna thanked their ride before he started his motor and sped off.
"I understand he didn't want to get caught with us, but did he have to pinpoint our location to anyone who could be waiting," Naruto snarked quietly.
Sakura nervously scanned their surroundings as they moved onto the forest path. She noticed a flash of movement and hurled a kunai at it.
A yelp sounded before the Naruto beside her turned to her saying, "Hey watch the friendly fire."
"I'm sorry Naruto, I didn't know that was you," she replied abashedly.
"Listen I know you want to prove that you are worthy of remaining on the team but make sure of your target before attacking. You're just lucky that I heal fast. What if it had been a civilian hiding from strangers on the path or a child playing in the woods?" he asked her sternly.
Hearing a rustle in the bushes off the other side of the path she turned with kunai in hand asking, "Was that you again?"
"No it wasn't," he said before moving to investigate. He looked into the bushes and a startled white rabbit jumped out and ran away.
Noticing that the coloring of the rabbit was off for the season and hearing a whooshing sound coming their way he shouted at the same time as Kakashi, "Get down."
Sasuke ducked and Kakashi tackled Tazuna to the ground. Not wanting to take a chance that she might freeze Naruto leaped to Sakura and grabbed her pulling her off her feet as he sat to the ground. She landed face first into his crotch as he sat down but he himself was to slow to lie back having his head taken off by the massive cleaver like sword flying through the air. With a poof of smoke he disappeared revealing a mortified blushing Sakura.
From the handle of the sword that had finally come to rest embedded in a tree the wielder of the blade looked at the group. He was a large man with black hair a mist hitai-ate resting on the left side of his head. His dark eyes lying below a smooth hairless brow glared at them though further expression remained unreadable due to the wraps covering the rest of his face and neck.
He wore gray scale camouflage arm wraps but no shirt having only a belt wrapped around his neck and trailing down to his striped pants. Similarly gray scale camo leg wraps and black ninja sandals completed his look.
"Ah the demon of the mist Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi said.
"And you must be Hatake Kakashi of the sharingan. I don't suppose you would just hand over the old man so I can complete my mission would you?" replied Zabuza.
"You three assume the Manji formation around Tazuna and stay out of this fight. He's on another level than you and you would only distract me," Kakashi said as he reached up and pulled his hitai-ate up.
Seeing a sharingan eye in a vertically scared eye socket Sasuke was thinking, 'So that's what Naruto was talking about. He better explain this later but now I know why he's my sensei.'
A Naruto stepped from the trees katana in hand taking up his position at the back of the triangle formation around Tazuna muttering, "Damn, the butcher of the bloody mist who killed an entire graduating class before even being accepted to the academy."
"What?" Sakura asked.
"Oh so the kid knows of our fun little graduation ceremony," Zabuza said with a dark chuckle.
"If you call pitting friends who trained, ate, and slept together against each other in a battle to the death to graduate fun. But I shouldn't be surprised since Kirigakure changed that policy after you tried to fast track yourself to genin without even entering the academy," Naruto responded.
"Well enough chit chat. If Kakashi is honoring me with the sharingan right away then I better be serious," so saying Zabuza shushined out onto the nearby lake and began to channel his chakra. The water rose up around him rapidly dispersing into a thick fog.
"Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, jugular vein, subclavian artery, kidney, heart, what should I target?" came Zabuza's voice from the mist.
"I'd go for the kidney so that even if we have a medic and the target survives he's peeing blood for a week," Naruto responding jokingly intending to help keep the team calm in the face of the KI coming from their adversary.
"Keep calm and stay wary he is a master of silent assassination but I will protect all of you," Kakashi said with a wink.
At that moment Zabuza appeared in the middle of their formation. "I'm not sure of that," he stated. He began to swing his massive blade but Kakashi appeared next to him shoving everyone clear and stabbing him in the gut.
Another Zabuza appeared behind him as the one he had stabbed dissolved into water his blade already in motion cleaving through Kakashi who also dissolved into water.
Another Kakashi appeared behind that Zabuza with a kunai to his throat. "Don't move," he said before ducking as a third Zabuza swung his blade through the space he had been standing in taking out his own water clone. The swordsman then planted his blade in the ground and used it as leverage to kick Kakashi so hard he flew into the lake.
Kakashi scattered makibishi spikes as he flew and surfaced as quickly as he could when he landed in the water but found it was too late. Zabuza arrived activating his Suiton: Suiro no jutsu.
Before the globe of water closed over his head Kakashi yelled, "Take Tazuna and run. He won't be able to catch you if he wants to hold me and you can't win against him."
As the glove finally covered Kakashi and enclosed one of Zabuza's hands the swordsman said, "I'll finish you after the others." Then bringing up his free hand he made a single handed hand sign and called out, "Suiton: Mizu Bushin no jutsu".
As the clone formed it started speaking, "So you punks think your ninja wearing your shiny new hitai-ates? Until your name is in the bingo books your just weak wannabe cannon fodder." So saying he seemed to vanish from his position before reappearing by Naruto with a kick that would have nearly taken his head off had he not poofed into smoke showing himself to yet again be a clone.
"I guess you will have to add me to that bingo book of yours then," said another Naruto as he stepped from the woods. "You can call me Uzumaki Naruto the Bloody Legion."
With this statement made he brought his hands up into a single hand sign and called out, "Taiju Kagebushin no jutsu." The Zabuza clone was now surrounded by well over thirty clones who charged him.
The water clone struck out with his massive sword dispelling six clones with a single sweep of his blade but the rest got in close and placed a hand on him calling out, "Chiton: Junketsu" He managed one more partial swing of his blade dispelling another four clones before falling apart into a puddle of blood.
With the water cone taken care of the rest of the shadow clones disappeared into obscuring smoke that dissipated leaving a single Naruto on the field. He reached into his pack and tossed a demon wind shuriken to Sasuke saying, "I'm sure you know what you can do with that since your accuracy has always been a bit better than me for these things at range and I don't want to go through Kakashi-sensei's makibishi."
"Yeah I know what you're saying. Fuma shuriken kage fusha," Sasuke said as he snapped the blade open and spun to build up momentum to his throw.
"Hm, well your brats are at least smart enough to attack me before I can produce more clones," Zabuza commented as Sasuke released the throwing blade into the air aimed strait at Zabuza. "But this isn't going to be enough to hurt me…" He was saying as he snatched the shuriken from the air only to see another hidden in the shadow of the first with the Kage shuriken no jutsu.
As he leaps over this one he growled out, "Nice try kiddies."
Then there was a poof from behind him where the shuriken had gone instead of the splash of it hitting the lake he had expected. He turned his head just in time to see a kunai in flight from another Naruto now hitting the water where the shuriken had been. Seeing it aimed at his face he pulled himself closer to the water prison dodging the kunai.
"Damn, I had hoped that would work because this is going to take one large ass amount of chakra. Chiton: Junketsu," The Naruto in the lake said. The water around him began to turn murky and the dark stain spread at a rapid pace. Soon all the water was tinted pink and slowly turning more red by the moment.
Zabuza cursed as even the water prison started to change until finally the entire lake and the water Zabuza grabbed his blade and drew it looking warily around for his jonin opponent while saying, "Nice trick kid you made almost the entire lake useless for jutsu."
Suddenly the surface that he had previously had no trouble standing upon gave way and he fell into the liquid. "Not so useless to me as you can see," Naruto stated.
"Good think all Kiri ninja can swim," Zabuza replied as he dove below the surface out of sight.
Kakashi surfaced near the shore looked around and then poofed into smoke before another surfaced. "Good job neutralizing his water jutsu Naruto. Now where is he?" he asked.
"He dove below the surface when I disrupted his water walking. I think he knows about the underwater spring that feeds the lake though as he is moving towards it. I don't have the chakra left to prevent him from accessing it for his jutsu," Naruto quickly informed Kakashi as he also returned to the shore.
"I see do you have enough chakra to do anything?" Kakashi asked.
"I could draw off the extra infused into the blood in the lake for maybe one jutsu," came the blood covered blonde's response.
"Okay hold off till I give the order," Kakashi replied.
Then rising from the lake of blood was Zabuza riding on a dragon made of water. "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu," He called out causing the water dragon to charge at the team.
Kakashi countered with, "Doton: Doryuheki." This caused a stone wall carved with the faces of several dogs to rise up between the group and Zabuza protecting them from his attack. He then jumped on top of the wall in order to see his opponent who leaps from his perch on the water dragon bringing his massive sword down on Kakashi only to split a log and the wall all the way to the ground.
Turning to see Kakashi to his right he pulled his blade free and the two began circling each other moving step for step exactly the same. Then flashing through numerous hand signs the two used the water that had been brought to the surface and scattered about the area by Zabuza's jutsu to perform, "Suiton: Suiryudan no jutsu."
Two dragons of water formed and charged at each other. Their clash shattered both jutsu showering the area in water. Before they had even finished though the two jonin were again moving exchanging taijutsu and weapons attacks still moving in perfect lockstep.
'Does he…' Zabuza began to think before the thought was interrupted by Kakashi saying, "Know all my jutsu?"
'What? Is he…' "Reading my mind?" Kakashi said once again completing Zabuza's thought.
With a growl Zabuza began saying, "Ha, I'll show you…" before Kakashi joined him speaking word for word, "No copycat stands a chance against me."
They then both began signing again before Zabuza stopped as he noticed what appeared an apparition of himself standing behind Kakashi who together with the silver haired jonin finished his jutsu first calling out, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu"
The jutsu formed a tremendous vortex of water which washed into Zabuza driving him back until he slammed into a tree with bone crushing force. Tazuna and the genin sheltered behind the wall to prevent being washed away in the aftermath.
A nearly drowned Zabuza lay propped against the tree looking at his opponent with fear before he asked, "Do you see the future or something?"
"Yes. I see you are going to die," Kakashi responded as he moved towards the beaten man with his kunai in hand. He stopped and turned taking a defensive stance as two senbon needles pierced Zabuza's neck.
"It seems your prediction came true," said a quiet voice coming from a masked nin standing in a nearby tree.
AN: Well there is my next chapter. I'm sorry that I am sometimes slow about getting chapters out. I have had this chapter for a while but it just didn't seem right so I have been tinkering with it till I had it the way I wanted it. Anyway hope you enjoyed and reviews are appreciated.
I'm sorry I'm just going to be lazy about the jutsu as just about everyone who would be reading Naruto fan fics should be aware from the description of what happens what jutsu is used if not having already read it many times in other fics or this fic for my originals.