Finally, it's the 6th chapter y'all have been waiting for! Sorry for the wait, but I was getting my new story; Without a Home: Tale of the Red Fox running with good start, but I've also been having a lot of writters block, so sorry about that. It's coming along increadibly well, but that's if you're interested in that instead of my fanfic here. I've gotten quite a few reviews questioning (or guessing assumptions) of Naruto's dreams being from Kyuubi, but to be honest, I won't divulge it here, you'll have to read the chapter for yourself.
Also, if anyone's curious why I mention Sakura weak is that she isn't REALLY weak, only weak in comparison to Naruto himself. The reason he really hates her will be mentioned in this chapter also, so you'll have to read it. Suggestions about Haku? Let's be realistic: It's my fic, so only my imagonation will tell, so let the suspense build within yourselves. But, that doesn't mean that you're off target. (Here's a little info you might like: Haku won't die! There! I said it!!)
That's all, so on with the fic!
Disclamer; I don't own Naruto or it's characters; only the plot, the OC's and the original Jutsus.
Kyuubi Speaking
Kyuubi Thinking
Text
"Words"
Thoughts/Dreams
"Words in Mind/Dream-state"
"Jutsus/Techniques"
"Summons speaking/Demonic Naruto"
(Translation)
Like an aimless piece of driftwood, Naruto floated above the thick water's surface of Kyuubi's chamber , just a reach away from the iron barred doors of the demon's prison doors and aloof from consciousness, Kyuubi looking down on his incapacitated vessel with a wondering gaze. Kyuubi had seen the young shinobi drift into his chamber over an hour ago to the time within his vessel's mind, and it was beginning to unnerve and unsettle the beast. Surely his kit could regain consciousness while inside his mind? Guilt suddenly washed over him as he remembered the horrible nightmarish memory his kit had witnessed. Shame filled the nine tailed beast knowing the sole root of the events that had passed and he had been the sole part of the kit's suffering. There was no excuse he could offer that justified it.
The Kyuubi attempted to concentrate his senses for feeling his vessel's energy. He found very little; too little to notice unless one were to focus intently for his chakra signature. Why did the kit have so little chakra after such a brief battle with the Nukenin (Missing-Nin)? He hadn't used any taxing Jutsus, and he couldn't have fallen unconscious from injury: Only a single cut and a blow to the cheek. And even then, they had healed impossibly fast and-
Kyuubi paused, looking more closely to where his vessel was cut across his clavicle. The cloth was evidently torn, along with the armor, but the skin and bone seemed to have been untouched and all traces of injury was non-existent. That didn't make sense. Kyuubi had felt the blow himself when his kit was injured. Could it have been something else that healed his kit if his energy hadn't? Curious, Kyuubi concentrated his energy and contracted his eyes, awakening his demonic Doujutsu (Eye Technique) to look deeper in his kit to see anything he could have overlooked that may have contributed to this phenomenon.
Deeper and deeper the Kyuubi's Youkaigan (Phantom Eye) searched through the recesses of his vessel's body, from his muscles to his organs, his bones to his sinew, his nerves to finally his cells. Nothing abnormal was noticed in his vessel's physical body...But what of his Keirakukei (Chakra Coils) and his Hachimontonko no Tainaimon (Eight Celestial Gates)? Curious once more, Kyuubi looked into the system that drove and regulated the kit's chakra. What he found was astounding! It was expected, with his sealing in his vessel's body, that the Keirakukei would expand and be larger than average coils, but that wasn't what earned the demon's marvel. It was the energy itself. Normal chakra was a clear, light blue; almost white and shimmering transparent. This was vastly different.
It was a sapphire blue.
The energy was denser, more potent than normal chakra, but even more alarming was that the chakra was able to regenerate itself and damaged tissue. Naruto's cells were pulsing with the blue chakra, healing and destroying any alien microbes that entered his system and restoring marred flesh. That's why his kit had managed to heal himself without his chakra! But how could the blond have a Kekkei Genkai (Blood Limit) when no one in the kit's family had the blood limit themselves? The Kyuubi looked deeper to the Eight Inner Gates. Everything finally made sense to him once he had found them. The gates themselves were the reason for the new blood limit that awakened his kit's new skill.
Kyuubi remembered the night almost five years ago when his kit had killed those Chuunin in his blood-lust, forcively drawing the demonic chakra from the demon's recesses to become a feral juggernaut. It seems that neither knew or could have been aware of the Kyumon (Rest Gate) and Shomon (View Gate) from rupturing slightly and bleeding into the chakra coils, slowly changing the chakra into a more potent energy. The gate's rupture means the Kyuubi could change the kit's body in any manner with almost any genetic skill. He could give his vessel a blood limit himself! With these gates still bleeding reserved chakra, the Kyuubi could actually give his kit more than one ability!
The kit's new chakra also explained why his energy was so unnoticeable. The chakra concealed itself within the very cells and laid dormant inside them, suppressed by the kit's bodily immunities fighting against it, but had been awakened as a result of the kit forcibly drawing his chakra yet again, bringing it forth from its recesses through his rage. That was also the reason his kit had fell unconscious, because his body became imbalanced due to the new chakra fighting against the kit's natural chakra for dominance in the body. That meant also that, since the energy was more powerful than regular chakra, his kit had the stamina to match a Jounin, if not greater if it were harness and controlled. He and his kit were going to be very busy training to control his new found power. Unconsciously, a sly grin cracked on his lips while his thoughts swam with possibilities to make his kit stronger than ever. But first...
I give you this gift, as a token for all you have accomplished and overcome, as well as it will serve to help you greatly in the near future. Be greatful, kit. I have only given such gifts to one other person in this world, so take pride that you have earned this above so many others.
With a rippling rumble of Kyuubi's purr that reverberated through his massive chest, Naruto stirred slightly as the demon's crimson chakra slipped through the bars of his cage and slowly engulfed Naruto's form in a misma of solid energy like molten rock, glowing with ominous power that begged to throw caution into the void. It's progress was agonizingly slow, as if something held it back to refrain it's task. When the demonic chakra had completely swallowed Naruto's body, the energy suddenly pulsed violently, forcing Naruto's back to arch painfully from the sudden powerful pulse. A gasp escaped his throat as his body changed at an alarming rate.
His canines elongated into fangs which grew to a whole inch from his lips, his whisker-scars deepened until they bled, his ears tipping slightly at the curve of the top ear, and when his eyes opened from the shock of the pain, they revealed sharp, black-slitted, crimson-red eyes of a demon. His finger-nails lengthened, hardened and sharpened into lethal cutting claws able to rip apart even the toughest hide of flesh, and his muscles convulsed and stretched with agonizing strain as the chakra continued to coarse through the blonde's body. Tendrils of new, vein-like chakra coils snaked through his limbs over his muscles throughout his body and his bones solidified into dense, steel-hard frames. When he had finished his demonic transformation, he stood himself up on unsteady legs and looked about his surroundings with lost recognition seeing the familiar barred doors of Kyuubi's cage and the fox himself.
"W-where...? K-Kyuubi? What happened?" He looked down at his hands in horror at his onyx colored claws and frantically groped his cheeks, feeling his scars that deepened into his cheeks, and touching his elongated fangs. He looked down at the surface of the flooding water and saw his feral reflection with agape astonishment. "What's happened to me?!"
The Kyuubi didn't answer him, only pushing his vessel away by the force of the water's ripple caused from his rumble, and Naruto was unable to fight it; both physically exhausted from the sudden transformation and the shock from the experience itself. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he couldn't even call out to the beast before the cavern vanished from view and the edge of his vision was darkening, growing until his vision was completely obscured and he could see nothing more.
Blinding light invaded Naruto's vision, obscuring his sight until his perception threatened to overwhelm him. His breaths were gusts of wind to his sensitive ears, and his nose felt as if it were attacking him with thousands of smells at once. Throughout all this, Naruto endured the torment, grimacing all the while until the pain dulled into nothing but a slight throb to his senses. He dared to peek through his eye-lids and sighed in relief as the light was no longer blinding, but shunned that aside remembering Zabuza was still alive and he needed to tell his team mates to prepare for his return. Feeling his muscles coiled and taught painfully, he dimly noticed the dull light leaking through the square window, meaning sunset was fast approaching. Confused as to his sensitivity to such dim light, he ignored it and slipped out of his futon, gazing for a short while at the interior of the small cottage room he was in, which he didn't recognize, and made his way out the door and down the stairs into the main room, but stopped just short of it when his new accute hearing caught word of the conversation inside.
"How can Zabuza still be alive?! You checked for yourself and confirmed he was dead!" That voice was definitely Sakura's, and she sounded more distressed than Naruto had ever heard her. After a brief chuckle at her exuberance, he listened again for anything else.
"Usually, Ryounin (Hunter-Nin) destroy bodies on the spot and just take the head to confirm their kills, but our mysterious hunter had taken Zabuza's heavy body with him completely elsewhere where Zabuza could be recovering. Add to the fact that Senbon (Needles) are not very deadly weapons unless used effectively, and hunters can place someone in a comatose state easily since they have an intimate knowledge of the human anatomy. Faking a death would be child's play to them is this regard." That had definitely been Kakashi, same voice and still very knowledgeable despite his irresponsibility. A slight shifting could be heard to the blond Genin. Kakashi was probably resting in a futon.
"What about Naruto? Aren't you going to tell him what you told us?" Naruto knew that was Sasuke, and felt grateful that his closest team mate would still consider him part of the team without reproach, where Sakura disliked him because of what he had done to her in self-defense and Kakashi was most likely assigned with the team to "handle" the Kyuubi vessel should events turn to the worst, which Naruto knew through understanding Kakashi's demeanor and attitude with him from the months past.
"Naruto had actually warned me that this Ryounin was taking Zabuza to recover elsewhere before he had collapsed due to exhaustion. I hadn't been able to persue them because I was too drained of energy. I suspect Naruto already knows. At least Naruto wore his armor underneath his clothes; otherwise Naruto wouldn't be able to use his right arm right now." Perplexed at Kakashi's statement, Naruto touched where Zabuza had cut him and became alarmed when he found neither any wound or discomfort there. Could it have been Kyuubi? "Never mind that for now. We know that Zabuza is still alive and will come back to attack again, but it will take a while for him to recover from his brief death-like state and heal his broken ribs; curtesy of our favorite blond dealing the unseen blow, so we'll have to do some training to prepare for the Nukenin (Missing-Nin) tomorrow when Uzumaki wakes up."
"What happened to him when the Demon Brothers had attempted their ambush?" Naruto instantly paled from Sasuke's sudden question, and started to pray to Kami that Kakashi would keep him from hearing any mention about the Kyuubi. Oblivious to his team mate listening, Sasuke continued his questioning. "He became so blood-thirsty and feral, and his eyes were primal and red. It were as if he had changed into a beast. How is he so physically strong, anyhow? He turned that thick tree into splinters with a single punch! And he was able to subdue you when we first became Team 7 easily. He was only average in class ranking, but his strength and skill obviously beyond a normal Genin's skills. Do you know of anything about him, Kakashi?"
Naruto held his breath nervously as he heard Kakashi remain silent to contemplate how to address the questions thrown to him again and again. After a few minutes, Kakashi answered. "I can't answer all your questions because simply, I'm not really sure. His feral attributes might be the result of a blood limit he possesses, and his strength the result of years of tough training he undertook to make himself stronger. You're right about his skills being above normal, but I never really paid much attention to his grades. Anyone is capable of being a great shinobi, and maybe he held himself back to avoide gaining any attention. You should ask Naruto himself when he wakes up tomorrow and when you three train while I handle guarding Tazuna. I should be able to handle protecting him after a few days of rest. Until then, go get some rest, we have a big day tomorrow."
Deciding it was best to take Kakashi's word and hearing no further questions passed, Naruto silently crept back to the room upstairs and went to sleep in his futon.
Yuuhi Kurenai was an enigmatic woman who was always quick to finalize certain judgments of others when she had scarce personal knowledge or experience with them, and was often cold to some around her when she was often seen as only an object of desire for the majority of the male population in Konoha. But then again, she could only blame herself for making herself as appealing as any kunoichi (Female Shinobi) could be and not look like a prostitute. Long brown curly hair, full lips, perfect skin tone, hypnotizing red eyes with a face of a geisha and body full of curves beneath a form-fitting top-rob of wrappings and fish-net cloth articles that revealed generous portions of skin to the average observer, but in fact meant to allow her full mobility in combat. She had been of Jounin rank for a year at best, still considered "wet behind the ears" in contrast to her comrade piers, thus was often thought of as inexperienced in regards to the demands of being a skillful Jounin, but any who doubt her skills were quickly proven wrong after a display of her skill in Genjutsu (Illusionary Arts).
And here she was today, watching her Genin team train together in Field 14 among many training logs surrounded by trees. Kurenai noticed with obvious interest as the youngest female of Team 8 blushing more so than normal on an hourly basis, which was almost comical were it not for it distracting her in their sparring sessions and making her falter in combat and pursuit, which in turn earned the young girl feeling mortified afterward. This had continued since three days ago and it seemed to be getting worse. One way or another, she intended to find out what was...driving Hinata's mind to wander. Hinata was currently sparring against Shino while Kiba and Akamaru were training in their paired coordination together when Kurenai whistled a signal to Hinata and Shino to call a halt and gestured Hinata to come over to the red-eyed Jounin. Hinata did, but she certainly took her time while she tried to hide a new blush from covering her face, but her efforts were futile since her face was practically glowing red once she had gotten to her sensei.
Kurenai cleared her throat to make Hinata look at her directly. "I've been noticing that you have seemed...distracted as of late." Hinata squeaked in embarrassment and instinctively curled her hands around her face to hide her blush, but it hadn't worked, and Kurenai pressed on, "While it's not my business to know the private life of my students under normal circumstances, your recent behavior has lead me to do otherwise since your...bouts of blushing have been keeping you from focusing on your tasks and duties. Unless you would prefer not joining your team in missions, I suggest you tell what it is that has been distracting you so much."
Hinata nervously poked her fingers and twiddled her thumbs together out of habited distress but relented knowing that she couldn't keep it a secret forever, and she trusted her sensei to keep what she told her a secret from her family. After gaining some courage at this conclusion, she spoke. "A-ano, Kurenai-sensei...um, that is, well, it happened about three days ago w-when I was d-dreaming..."
Thirty minutes it had taken for Hinata to tell -in detail- her dream and it was perhaps the most embarrassing time for both Kurenai and Hinata. Well, this had certainly been unexpected. Hearing of a girl who had just entered womanhood having...intimate dreams of a crush was not something uncommon, despite that Hinata refused to divulge the identity of her love-interest, but hearing that the Hyuuga heir was actually in love with this person was baffling. Kurenai knew that most of the boys in her class were either too obnoxious and immature or were too impassive to garner much friendly responses, such as the village heart throb (Sasuke) and the ever lazy genius (Shikamaru), so that left very few choices but thought better of delving too deeply into the issue since that seemed like an invasion of personal affairs.
After Kurenai had promised not to speak a word to anyone to quell Hinata's fears and dismissed her to continue her sparring, Kurenai vowed to find out who it was that stole her student's heart.
Naruto awoke to the real world, silently thanking Kami that his senses were no longer attacking him with overwhelming sensitivity as before. He threw aside the cover of his futon and walked out the room, just as he heard Sasuke come out of the bathroom after answering the call of nature. The Uchiha gave Naruto a small nod of acknowledgement and the two went downstairs for a morning meal. Sakura and Kakashi were at the table already, with Tazuna, Tsunami: Tazuna's eldest -and only known- daughter, and Inari; Tsunami's only young son. Tsunami served grilled fish, biscuits, and beef stew for everyone to eat. Naruto had been concerned that Sasuke and Sakura would start questioning him once he awoke, but neither had raised any question to him. Silence reigned over the atmosphere.
"What's with your ears and cheeks?" Inari asked Naruto curiously. The question caught everyone off guard, having the silence broken so abruptly, but their surprise had ended when looking to their blond guest for his response. Confused to the pot-hat boy's question, Naruto unfastened his hitai-ate and took the spiral, leaf-engraved shield in front of him. The smudged surface from ill-cleaning obscured his image slightly, but not so much that he wasn't able to see details. He looked intently at his reflection.
His face was just as hard and slightly rounded as before with the same tanned skin, and his hair was still the wild blond spikes it had been as always. There were however small, minute alterations only barely noticeable and perceived at a close distance. His whisker-scars were deeper and slightly darker and, after catching a glimpse of his lips and prodded with his tongue, found his canines on his upper and lower jaws elongated like a predator's, thankfully unnoticeable to his team mates and others around him. His ears were also tipped at the upper curve and his eyes, still the deep blue they've always been, had thick slits like a cat's or a fox's. His new attributes gave him an otherwise hard and feral appearance and a quite intimidating visage. Whatever the Kyuubi had done to him, he wasn't sure if he liked it or should be upset for Kyuubi altering his body without his permission.
He fastened his head-band back onto his forehead and replied indifferently. "That's none of your business. I was just born with them." Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and to Kakashi in puzzlement. They remember their team mate having deep whisker scars, but they hadn't paid much attention to his ears, so they couldn't give question. Inari just went back to eating his stew.
Kakashi coughed into his hand to get his student's attention. "Alright Team 7. We're going to do some training in forest within an hour to prepare for Zabuza's return. Any questions?" No one said anything. "Good. Get ready once we're done eating."
"You're still going to protect me? After I've deceived you and the danger of Gatou's men?" Tazuna sounded completely dumbfounded. Kakashi nodded affirmative. "'To know what is right and to choose to ignore it is the act of a coward'. An old saying one of our previous Hokages recited in our history. One many of our shinobi take to heart and mind. My team and I will protect you until either you finish building your bridge or until Gatou is killed. Either way, we mean to stay until our job is done." Tazuna never seemed to look more grateful.
Sakura was first to notice the framed picture hanging on the bare wall adjacent to the table everyone was sitting at. The picture had Tazuna, Tsunami, Inari, and another person in it, but had been ripped off the photo near the corner. Sakura pointed to the photo. "Who's the person ripped from that photo?"
The atmosphere immediately became solemn and silent in melancholy. Inari scooted his seat away from the table and walked briskly up stairs, ignoring his mother's call. When everyone heard the sound of a door slamming upstairs, Tazuna looked gravely at Team 7 and heaved a sigh. "That man was named Kaiza. He was a wandering fisherman who wanted to make his fortune in our land. One day, three years ago when Inari was being bullied and thrown into the river by the bullies, Kaiza had saved him from drowning. Since the first day of getting to know him, Inari was like white on rice with Kaiza and we quickly accepted him as part of the family, even marrying Tsunami and officially bonding with the family.
"When ever something was said to be impossible, he accomplished it. If there was little fish to catch, he would go to other waters to bring home fish for the whole village. If their was ever anyone in need, he would help them. Kaiza became this town's hero." Tears threatened to erupt from Tazuna's eyes. "Then, two years ago, Gatou came to our village to start a new base of operations...and publicly executed Kaiza on accounts of threatening his business."
Sakura gasped, Sasuke furrowed his brow, Kakashi looked remorseful, and Naruto bowed his head in respect for the man's memory while Tsunami silently wept in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes. "Inari hasn't been the same since then, watching the man he called father die in front his eyes. I don't blame him. This whole village lost their symbol of courage when Gatou killed Kaiza. And that's why completing this bridge is so important to our town. And I swear to complete it even if Gatou has to pry my hammers and nails out of my dead hands."
Naruto gave the old bridge builder a respectful smile, having earned his appreciation for the old man's ambition to help his people. Without another word from their sensei, the Genins of Team 7 finished their meals and went upstairs to gather their weapons for training.
Kakashi was waiting downstairs, having to use crutches since his chakra reserves were still replenishing themselves, and limped himself toward the door with his team following suite after gathering their equipment. Once they stepped outside Tazuna's house onto the pier deck supporting the cottage home, the foursome leapt into the air toward the forest with speed that made them resemble blurred masses.
Ten minutes went by as they traversed deeper into the forest at least a mile away from Tazuna's settlement. When they had stopped, Kakashi turned to them to grasp their undivided attention. "For today's training, you will all run up trees without using your hands. Now, before I begin your instructions, any intelligent questions before we start?" He drawled the word like his students would be asking if there was water in the ocean. Sakura raised her hand in question. "Yes?"
"What's the purpose of this excercise?" Kakashi sighed a thank you for an actual question of relevance with the subject mentioned.
"The purpose of this excercise is greater mastery and control of your energies. While Sasuke and Naruto here" Kakashi pointed to the mentioned Genins, "Have great techniques and a lot of stamina, their control could be less than sufficient, thus either using up needless amounts of energy and ill-performing their Jutsu or ruining their technique entirely. Doing this exercise will allow you all to gain better control, and, in theory, no technique will be beyond your understanding and wielding.
"Concentrate your chakra to your foot and hold that energy there for a prolonged period, and your feet will cling to the surface of just about anything you choose. Use a running start to go up the tree you choose and mark your progress with your kunai. This training exercise will be over once you've all reached the top of the tree you choose. Until then, I'll watch and assess your progress." With that final statement, Kakashi set his crutches aside and sat cross-legged against a tree, pulling out an Icha Icha Paridise novel out of his belt pouch to amuse himself, much to the aggravation of his students.
Despite their irritation in seeing their sensei's infamous orange-covered book, they set about gathering their chakra to their feet, forming the "Goat" seal and dashed toward their chosen tree.
For Sakura, she had continued to go upward until she reached the nearest branch, which was nearly three stories high and gashed the tree bark to mark her progress. She grabbed the nearest branch and sat on it to allow her breath to return to her lungs.
Sasuke had a bit more difficulty, since he had inadvertently gathered too much chakra to his feet and the surface of the tree repelled him after he ascended only about ten or so feet and agilely hopped off the tree to land back onto the ground. Deep foot engravings were left where he had stepped.
Naruto, however, was no where to be seen. Raising curious eyebrows, Sasuke and Sakura looked about to search for their foxy team mate when a rustle was heard overhead and they saw Naruto at the top of his tree almost five stories high. Sakura gaped while Sasuke fumed in frustration. What had he done that was so vastly different? Without so much as a warning, Naruto dropped to the ground from his vertical perch and landed soundlessly, his knees bent apart onto the ground and began to walk away deeper into the forest to train alone, leaving his team mates to ponder what they had paid witness to. Kakashi didn't follow him.
Sasuke called to him. "How do know how to climb trees?"
Naruto stopped, turned, and looked back to his team mates. Kakashi was still reading his perverted book, Sasuke looked expectant at him, and Sakura had just landed back onto the grassy ground and waited to hear his words. Naruto seemed completely ignorant of their anticipation. Either that, or he simply didn't care. "Iruka-sensei taught me finer chakra control before last month when we had few missions. I'm going to spar alone with my Kage Bunshins for a while. Don't bother waiting for me. I'll be staying in the forest until you call for me when Zabuza returns." And with that final statement, the demon vessel set off toward the deep woods.
All was quiet within the deeper portions of the forest that encompassed the Land of Waves. Amidst the tall, enormously thick and giant pine trees, a cone-shaped settlement with a single tree running through the edge of the bottom base and out the lower slanting roof remained hidden. The hide-away was sectioned in several floors, holding several rooms each and slanting upward to the tip, and made of thick wood that wrapped like a sheet, looking much like the basic shape of a small cone tree. Various arrays of cables and ropes were fastened on it's slopping sides to hold a few bridges that led entry from the trees to openings along the slopping roof, and a single spiraling, plank walkway led into the entrance at the bottom base from the ground beneath it. It was camouflaged to blend into it's surroundings.
Inside one of it's many spacious and circular rooms, Zabuza laid in his square bed and looked at the ceiling above him in a daze, his body covered by the blanket and his face still covered in bandage wrappings. Haku was beside him, sitting on a wooden chair and awaiting any orders that her master may give her, but none seemed forthcoming at the time. Zabuza's strength was slowly returning and would become whole within a week, but the broken ribs the blond had given him would take a week more after regaining his strength, even with Haku's medicinal skills and supplies.
The door behind Haku opened and in stepped Zouri and Waraji, the samurai bodyguards of Gatou, the said business man stepping behind his henchmen. Zouri was a wiry framed man with a bent-tipped black hat with long hair, a large, thick winter coat fitting snuggly on him and loose, black shorts that reached his knees. Slash marks were painted under his eyes. Waraji was a tall, muscular man with top-knot fashioned hair, an eye-patch over his right eye, with a short beard on his chin. His torso was bare, revealing many swirling shaped tattoos on his arms, shoulder, and ribs. His legs and waist was covered in zig-zag designed hakama. Both samurai had their trusted swords in their hands. Gatou, a old man that barely reached Waraji's waist and dressed in business attire sneered at the resting form of Zabuza as though looking at a dog he despised had been put to rest. His eyes were covered in oval sunglasses and his hair was a matted brown mess.
"After boasting about all your skills and you perform no better than your subordinates. The Kirigakure no Sato (Village of Hidden Mist) has pathetic shinobi if you're the best they have to offer. 'Demon of the Mist', ha! Don't make me laugh!"
Zabuza didn't even give Gatou a side glance, continuing to stare at the ceiling like it was on display for his time consuming amusement. Zouri and Waraji growled threateningly and their hands drifted closer to their sword hilts while they stepped in front of their employer. Haku gave them bored glances, as though disinterested in them entirely. If they attack, Haku thought, I'll just render them immobile. Too troublesome to bother killing them.
"Hold your weapons!" Gatou raised his hand on his bodygaurd's hilt to stop them from drawing their swords and stepped toward Zabuza's unmoving form. "Nothing to say for yourself?" he said as his hand drew closer to Zabuza's neck in a threatening manner.
His hand never reached him. Releasing a cry of pain, he found his arm in the grip of a crazed Haku, looking at him menacingly. An audible snap was heard as Haku's grip tightened. "Keep your filthy hands of Zabuza-sama!"
"How dare you! Let go!!" Gatou was unsuccessful of taking his arm out of Haku's grasp.
Zouri and Waraji were already unsheathing their swords and jumped forward with the intent to kill and swung their swords!
It wasn't until they found their own weapons at their throats and that Haku had disappeared and reappeared did they realize that Haku had taken them from the samurai like child's play and moved too fast for their eyes to follow. Haku stood tall and rigid, the katanas in her grasp crossed near the hilts and only a hair's breadth from slitting their throats. N-not possible! Zouri and Waraji thought fearfully, I didn't even see her move!
"Do that again, and I'll carve out your very hearts." The threatening scowl on her face told more than enough she wasn't bluffing, and it terrified Gatou and his bodyguards. After he realized his arm was free, he jumped back as far as his legs could allow by his bodyguards. Haku tossed the katanas away after Gatou had found only minor safety behind his henchmen, much to the despair of the samurai.
"I-if you f-fail again, d-don't come back here or you'll be sorry!" His fearful ramblings were followed by a loud slam of the doors closing as Gatou and his bodyguards left. Haku sighed in relief after they left, having her blood boil in rage was certainly taxing her calmness and control.
"Haku, there was no need to do that." Zabuza said as he lifted his blanket to reveal his hidden kunai.
"I know, but we need to be patient. It's too early to kill Gatou...If we cause a commotion, the Ryounin (Hunter-Nin) will catch our trail and we'll be on the run once more. Have faith in me and my services and actions. I promise not to disappoint you."
"...Very well. We'll wait."
Another clone fell from Naruto's furious attack.
Surrounding him was over several dozen Kage Bunshins that were literally armed to the teeth. Kunais and G-shaped fist axes in hand and double-bladed kunais in their jaws, a single mistake could cost Naruto dearly. Hours had passed prior when Naruto had taken to his training, fighting his Kage Bunshins by the wave and bettering his experience to handle multiple opponents, such as Zabuza and his Mizu Bunshins, and that Ryounin (Hunter-Nin). There was something strangely dangerous about the Hunter, like a knife hiding beneath a cloak waiting to sink itself into unsuspecting flesh. It was for that reason he training as rigorously as he was against his clones.
It was also during that time that Naruto discovered the mechanics of his senses. While his hearing and sense of smell were only greatly enhanced, his vision was beyond simple clarity of sight or telescopic vision. While he fought with his clones, he found that his sight perceived their movements like images that showed where a body would move when, as though his eyes read and predicted muscle responses, thus able to follow and intercept movements. It was a great advantage he used to its fullest with his Bunshins.
A volley of shurikens shot toward him from all sides, aiming for his flanks and back. With practiced ease, Naruto leapt and spun into the air, grasping a handful of shurikens and launched them each at a clone, felling four in an instant and dispersing them into smoke. Three more rushed from behind him when he landed and aimed their kunais in hand to his unprotected back and head, but Naruto heard them coming clearly with his enhanced hearing.
Just before the clones could sink their kunais into his back, Naruto flipped backward, grasping two outstretched arms while in mid-air and crashed his knees into two of the three clones' heads, dispersing them simultaneously. The last of the three spun back around and threw his kunai toward Naruto's exposed head. Like he had done with Sakura's knife, Naruto caught the kunai by the tip with his teeth, spat the knife into his hand and threw the knife back toward the clone. The Bunshin dodged it and dashed with his hand-axes in hand and released a fury of blows edged with his razor-sharp weapons. Five more descended on Naruto from above, and the trees around him kept him locked in place. He concentrated, gathering his chakra throughout his body and clasped his hands to together, forming the "Snake" seal to unleash his Jutsu -which had required over ten hand seals- and waited until his cloned were within range. He released his attack.
"Kamisori-ha Gufuu (Razor-Leaf Tornado)!!"
The remaining six Kage Bunshins were dispersed at once when leaves of pure green energy formed around his body in a dome-shape and spun like a twister of deadly knives, shredding into the clones like paper. The smoke dissipated with the leaves of summoned energy, leaving Naruto alone in clearing beside the stream that ran through the forest. Sweat poured off his brow and his muscles were burning with fatigue after hours of endless sparing. He dropped himself onto the ground heavily as he panted to regain his breath. Naruto scowled darkly knowing he was no closer to getting the answers he needed from Kyuubi. Why couldn't he contact the demon?
I'll be damned if I never hear from the fox again!, Naruto thought furiously. I've waited too long for so much as a word from him, then he suddenly changes my body without my permission, and now I've got more questions than answers. I need to know about that vision I saw when those Demon Brothers attacked! But how can I contact the damn demon if my past attempts were futile? Damn it all to hell, I'll break my mental defenses down to dust if I have to speak to the fox!
With his new incentive in mind, Naruto crossed his legs and relaxed himself, allowing his mind to drift at the edge of his consciousness until he felt completely disconnected from his body. He opened his eyes and saw complete darkness around him. Naruto concentrated once more and commanded his mind to bring him to where the Kyuubi dwelled. Minutes passed with agonizing slowness until he felt his feet deep in water. He opened his eyes and found himself within the hallway of rusted pipes running along the ceilings and into various corridors. He entered the furthest one to his left, sloshing water as he approached the entryway.
Upon entering the familiar cavernous room, a shimmering, transparent wall of red chakra was seen blockading his entry. It left no openings anywhere in its formation. Two others were behind the one in front of Naruto. Naruto gritted his teeth in frustration after seeing this as Kyuubi's doing. At least now he found out why he hadn't been able to contact the demon. These walls must prevent anything from getting through, but he hadn't seen them when he had awakened within the chamber and had his body altered by the Kyuubi's energy. Despite his ire at the thought of being deliberately repelled from confronting the demon, he was determined to see Kyuubi.
Gathering his chakra to his fist, Naruto pulled it back beneath his shoulder and rushed toward the translucent wall of energy, releasing his punch and watched as the wall fractured and splintered like glass before collapsing into a lined pile of red shards onto the floor. Satisfied that his method appeared effective, he gathered his chakra to his hands once more and stalked to the next wall. When he was an arm's length away, he struck his hands into the wall like a pair of javelins into thick glass and aimed to rip the walls apart. High-pitched cracks echoed as the wall was slowly being broken while Naruto was physically straining to finish his task.
His efforts were soon rewarded with the chorus of cracks resonating in the silence of the corridor. With a final pull, the wall exploded into thick shards and dropped to the flooded floor like pebbles. Naruto huffed and inhaled air as the strain left him fatigued and almost drained of all his strength, but had no intention of stopping when there was only another wall left before he confronted Kyuubi. He stepped closer to the final wall of red chakra and mulled about how to effectively remove the obstacle before him. A memory from when Sarutobi had taught him a couple Doton (Earth Element) Jutsus in his early academy days came to mind. Grinning ear to ear from remembering the technique he had managed to memorize amongst others, Naruto placed his palm against the red wall and gathered his chakra to his hand.
"Doton: Retsudo Tensho (Earth Element: Earth-Splitting Fissure)!!"
Like a rippling wave through a water's surface, Naruto's chakra surged through the wall of chakra and shattered it into pieces instantly, falling to the floor like the last two before it, breaking and shattering with ear-piercing audibility the demon vessel ignored. Grinning at his accomplishment, he sauntered toward the caged doors and called for his resident demon to come forth. He wasn't disappointed, nor did he have to wait long before the behemoth fox demon veered into the lantern light's garish luminescence. His nine tails swished to and fro like excited serpents. The smirk he wore was clearly amused.
So, my kit comes at last. Quite the feat of breaking down my defenses to my prison. I'm impressed beyond words. The Kyuubi drawled in amusement and pride. Naruto's face hardened instantly and he clenched his fists tight to repress his fury from taking form of attack.
"Over two whole months I've waited to hear so much as a word from you, and after receiving a vision that will plague me 'til death -which I know came from you!- I fall unconscious for Kami knows how long and you suddenly alter my body without so much as a warning and expel me from your chamber without even so much as an explanation! And just when I awake, my own senses attack me with pain beyond description because of your alterations, and too my surprise, I find you've erected walls to prevent me from contacting you!
"Since I'm now here and exhausted as hell, I demand answers for everything that has happened after I fell unconscious, the vision and alterations you gave me included, and I won't be leaving until I have them! Answer me now, Kyuubi!!"
For many minutes, neither party exchanged another word and just stared at one another while the water at their feet sloshed about with their faintest movements that stirred the flooding liquid. Growing bored after holding his gaze with Naruto for longer than he had the patience for, Kyuubi sighed in defeat and crouched onto his belly, crossed his fore-paws under his chin and rested his head onto them, motioning his kit over to him with his flicking ears. Naruto took the signal and stepped closer.
If I were to tell you in words all the answers you wish to know, hours would pass and I would barely scratch the surface of everything you seek to gain answers from. There is, however, another method that is much quicker and simpler. When you leave your mind and awaken to the physical world, conjour a Kage Bunshin and I'll give it my memories of what I've learned and the answers to your questions through my chakra. When you disperse the Bunshin, you should aquire everything I've given it through the Bunshin's link with your psyche. Not only will I give you the answers you seek to your questions, but I will give you the knowledge of something only the greatest of warriors deserve. Consider it a gift for making it this far on your own.
Be forewarned before you accept. While I have only allowed a number of memories into the Bunshin, the mental fatigue could very well strip you of your mental and physical strength for days, and you could die if the strain of knowledge becomes too much to handle at once. Are you still willing to endure the pain of this procedure?
Naruto hadn't hesitated for a moment when he nodded his consent. If it meant he had to endure pain to obtain the answers he sought, so be it. He was willing to face it without regret.
Taking his vessel's answer as affirmative, Kyuubi gathered his energy and poured it into the water, letting it envelope Naruto's form without fear of his vessel losing control of himself. Naruto closed his eyes let the energy serve its purpose and felt the heat from the fox's chakra that coursed through his veins and chakra coils. When he opened them, he felt the surge of power from the demon's given energy. Naruto allowed his mind to drag his consciousness to the surface while watching the Kyuubi's cell move further and further away as his consciousness returned.
When he awoke, Naruto immediately stood up and used the demon's chakra to make a Kage Bunshin. A swirl of air and red energy later, Naruto's Kage Bunshin appeared before him and he dispersed it a moment later. For a few scant seconds, nothing happened or felt different, but when the Bunshin's memories and experience flooded into his mind, he screamed from the head-splitting pain as thousands of images and scenes flashed before his eyes in seconds, but he couldn't decipher it all. It was overwhelmingly strong as the forced intake of foreign knowledge progressively wracked his skull, but he endured it and waited until it was over, regardless of how long it would take. Kyuubi hadn't been exaggerating when he said there was a possibility of dying. Naruto just hadn't fathomed the pain would be like this because he had never felt anything that strained his mind. The memories became clearer, but even more intensely overwhelming.
The tendrils of chakra coils formed from the Kyuubi's chakra like webs of massive veins spreading throughout his body, the ruptured Celestial Gates; the Kyumon (Rest Gate) and Shomon (Rest Gate), the blue chakra created from the mixing of the ruptured gate's energy, his strengthened constitution, his beastly blood limit of enhanced senses, a lost fighting style like none he had ever seen, Ninjutsus he never even heard of, everything was flashed before his eyes with the intensity of perhaps a thousand suns.
When the last images of the woman raped and memories if the incident after flashed behind his eyes, he collapsed and fell the ground unconscious. Tears pooled onto the ground where his head lay.
One week and five days had passed since Team 7 had undergone their training regimen and they were excelling by leaps and bounds. After the first week, Sasuke had managed to reach the top of his tree and joined in sparring with Sakura and Kakashi, who had regained most of his strength two days before and could walk without the crutches. Since Kakashi had no intention of teaching them any Jutsus he had acquired with his Sharingan (Mirror-Wheel Eye) because of their level of difficulty, Kakashi had them practice holding themselves onto tree with their chakra in place. Arduous as it was, Sasuke and Sakura had gotten accustomed to it within little time while practicing strategy and stealth. They hadn't heard of any word from Naruto, but they had no inclenation of disturbing him while he trained by himself.
During the whole week's time, Kakashi had been vigilantly guarding Tazuna while he and his half-dozen workers continued their construction. Progress was obviously slow with such little man-power and that all the builders were in their senior years. These men had only agreed to doing this ill-profitable task because they were hopeful and positive of returning the life of their small village back to its former glory. The other village citizens were too preoccupied in themselves to contribute to building the bridge, their distended thoughts of hopelessness leading them to believe their efforts would be a waste after their oppressor Gatou formed a ban for their bridge. By the looks of the bridge, it would take another two months at bear minimum before coming even close to completion.
The sun had just begun setting below the horizon when Kakashi had called a reprieve from their training and ordered the Uchiha and Haruno to return to Tazuna's house. Dripping with sweat and fatigued to near complete exhaustion, Sasuke and Sakura were eagerly compliant and began trudging to their charge's cottage home. Immediately upon reaching Tazuna's home and stepping inside, the smell of freshly made food instantly made their stomachs rumble with hunger. With little care for table manners, Sasuke and Sakura attacked their meals ravenously and savored their meals while Inari, Kakashi, Tsunami, and Tazuna ate more slowly.
"I'm getting worried about that friend of yours," Tsunami said out of the blue, "Do you think he's alright? He's been gone for over a week in the woods and hasn't even come by once to at least tell us he's fine. Haven't any of you checked to see how he was?" Kakashi stopped eating and looked over to Tsunami and winked playfully.
"You needn't worry about him. Naruto may seem...out of the ordinary, but his skills are not to be questioned, and he's a full-fledged shinobi. I have complete confidence that he can handle himself. We just have to wait until he comes back himself or until we call him for need. We know he's dependable when called for action. His performance with Zabuza from before is proof of that. Let's just be patience and wait for him to come."
Taking Kakashi's words of confidence alleviated everyone's concerns, though Sakura was still mindful that she should dislike the blond Genin for breaking her arm. She more or less lost the ability to hate him after saving her life from Zabuza's cleaving sword. Driving her out of harms way meant he didn't hold her in any sense of reproach, thus her drive being aggressive toward the orphaned shinobi fell like a stone. Realizing she had been needlessly spiteful toward him only served to shame herself even more.
The day before the Genin Exams, Ino and her friends staked a bet that Sakura wouldn't have the guts to confront Naruto and mock him out in the open. Sakura had been quick to deny that claim and recklessly accepted the challenge. Because of her frequent distractions with attempting to gain Sasuke's attentions, she had never paid much attention to Naruto's history, nor did she know what he was capable of. When seeing it from a different perspective, Sakura realized insulting him for his loneliness earned her that injury. She needed to apologize to him as soon as he returned.
Soon the table emptied and everyone had went off to sleep for tomorrow. Since their training period was finished, Sasuke and Sakura had agreed to guard Tazuna with Kakashi for the remainder of their stay. Taking the incentive to get a good amount of sleep for tomorrow, the Haruno girls drifted off into slumber with the rest of the house hold.
Morning came with a panoramic sight most would label breathtaking. To the three present members of Team 7 escorting Tazuna to the bridge through the village, the sun's rising seemed out of place in contrast of this desolate town. Most of the building structures were simple sheds of wood planks for walls and sheets of aluminum for slanting roofs, while some of the citizens couldn't even afford solid wood homes and situated themselves in tent stands to sell over-priced products and goods. Ropes and power-lines were lined taught and slack above the village citizens as they moved about with little more than hopelessness moving their limbs. Several towering building stood tall above the rest of the buildings in the village; two cylindrical, the others just metal sheet-covered slanted roof warehouses sectioned by multiple floor levels. It was as though the town were a jumbled mass of disorganized blocks that were just dropped onto the landscape with little care or consideration for their location and space.
As Sasuke and Sakura strode along side their sensei, they looked about the town's structure and it's citizens, all dressed in dark-clothed sleeveless shirts, dirty white belt sashes and black labor slacks, and circular straw hats that covered more than their heads, though it was mystery why they wore them with the absence of the harsh sun. Seeing as the dreariness of the town was beginning to wear on them, Sakura and Sasuke decided to ignore it along with Kakashi as they neared the bridge. They all stopped still in their tracks when they saw the sight before them.
At the very edge of the incomplete bridge, several men from Tazuna's construction team were lying on the ground bleeding from slash wounds, injured but still relatively alive. Although none were fatal wounds, blood-loss could mean their demise if wasn't treated quickly.
Tazuna rushed to his friend Giichi, who was breathing heavily from the strain of his injuries. The old bridge builder looked down at his friend's pale face and held him close. "What happened?! Who did this to you?!"
"M-monsters!" Giichi gasped out, blood leaking from his forehead and out his mouth. Kakashi narrowed his visible eye and looked about suspiciously, as if trying to find an unseen foe hiding somewhere close. Deciding to help the injured while he could, the Copy Nin summoned six Kage Bunshins; five for the injured, the last one to bring Naruto for help. The replicas immediately took to their task, five hoisting the injured over their shoulders and the other dashing toward the forest, leaving Tazuna and Team 7 just as a heavy mist rolled in around them like an ominous fog. Everyone present knew this wasn't natural mist; It was Zabuza's Kirigakure no Jutsu (Art of the Hidden Mist). He had returned just as Kakashi had predicted.
So he's come back has he? Kakashi thought while his hands were readying themselves for the inevitable confrontation. A haunting, raspy voice echoed across the area that chilled everyone but Kakashi to the core, shaking and trembling for varying reasons. The Nukenin (Missing-Nin) remained out of sight within the confines of his vapor barrier.
"It's been quite some time, Kakashi. Looks like your brats are shaking again. Where's that blond brat that broke my ribs? I'd like to have some fun cleaving him apart."
In a heartbeat, at least a dozen Zabuza replicas surrounded them, giant cleavers at ready for the strike. Sasuke just smirked and replied calmly. "Our friend couldn't quite make it to the party, so I guess you'll have to dance with me. I'm trembling in anticipation." The clones only sneered in response. Kakashi smiled playfully behind his mask. Zabuza had no idea what he was in for.
"Go for it, Sasuke."
The Zabuza dopplegangers swung their swords in deadly succession, aiming to cleave them all in half, but Sasuke was gone in a flash and cut the Mizu Bunshins down with his kunai easily, the clones dispersing into water and the Uchiha returning to place guarding the bridge builder. He hadn't even broken a drop of sweat. Tazuna and Sakura would have praised the young prodigy, had not two figures emerged from the thick mist at the starting end of the bridge. Team 7 and Tazuna recognized them without any difficulty: Zabuza and the Ryounin (Hunter-Nin).
Carrying his curved-tip, cleaving sword on his back, Zabuza sported a black leather sleeveless top that hugged his torso and black shinobi slacks with his horizontal stripped, calf-sleeve boots. His face bandages were taught around the lower half of his face, but slack around his neck. Haku wore her Ryounin uniform and ghoul mask as before, striding along side her master. Zabuza gave his opponents a sneer. "It seems you have a worthy opponent to fight, Haku. Don't bother being lenient on him."
"Yes, Zabuza-sama. It's quite impressive that he felled your Mizu Bunshins, even though they possess only a tenth of your original strength, impressive nonetheless."
Team 7 watched as Haku and Zabuza slowly advanced toward them. Despite the distance separating them, they all overheard their conversation. "We're still on the offensive. Go and kill the pretty boy. I'll handle Kakashi. Go!"
"Hai!" Taking her orders, Haku spun in a swirl of motion and vanished to confront Sasuke who held his kunai tightly in his hands and clashed with the hunter's needles.
The Battle for the Bridge had gone underway.
The doors to Tsunami's house were slashed apart. Razor sharp swords cut through the wood of the walls and door and clattered to the floor in pieces, alerting Tsunami of intruders at the entrance. Waraji and Zouri stood in the door way with their swords at their waists. Waraji smirked when hearing Tsunami cried in alarm, unknowingly attracting Inari's attention from inside the bathroom. Waraji kicked and broke the table the brunette woman had sought refuge behind, toppling it aside with ease and pushed her to the ground, pulling his sword from his sheath. Slightly stunned from the hard shove, Tsunami ignored her pain when she saw her son peer around the corner from the bathroom he had been washing in. His eyes were fearful and confused. Waraji caught a glimpse of Inari quickly and turned to his partner.
"What do we do with the boy?" Zouri looked back at the pot-hat boy and shrugged indifferently.
"Use you imagination. We need only one hostage for the old man." Waraji looked like Christmas just came early and eagerly began unsheathing his katana to decapitate the trembling boy. His hand stopped when hearing the mother's loud protests.
"If you dare touch one hair on my child, I'll bite my tongue off and drown in my own blood! Then what would you have for a live hostage?" Zouri and Waraji looked back at Tsunami with irritation, knowing she was right. While Waraji grumbled about not getting to have any more fun cutting anything, Inari crumpled to the ground in complete fear. Tears were spilling down his cheeks as he felt his own helplessness weigh him down to the floor while thinking his mother was going to get harmed and he couldn't do anything to help her.
A memory flashed to his eyes from when first meeting Kaiza. The surrogate father's words repeated themselves in his memory:
"If there's ever anything you hold dear in this world, protect it with all your might and even if you die in the act, at least you die trying and being brave."
With renewed resolve and conviction, Inari ran outside his house, onto the planked dock and defiantly called to his mother's captors. "Let go of my mom!" He ran with all the speed his short limbs could carry him, but Zouri and Waraji were ready and began unsheathing their katanas to kill the boy, ignoring Tsunami's calls to her son. The two samurai waited until the boy was within three paces and slashed with their weapons!
Pain exploded in the samurais' sword arms. Looking down at their limbs for the source of their pain, they saw only twisted, mangled limbs of their former glory. Both samurais clutched at their ruined limbs in vain attempt to alleviate the agony, but stopped entirely when they realized the boy was nowhere to be seen and their hostage was gone! Where did they go?!
"Sorry to disappoint you fools, but you won't be claiming any lives or hostages while I'm here." Zouri and Waraji looked back behind them and saw a spiky blond-haired teen with a tattered and dirty dark orange-red jumpsuit with a blue hitai-ate (Head Band). The engraving instantly identified him as a Konoha shinobi, and the younger boy and his mother were safe behind him. Waraji growled and snarled in embarrassment of actually falling victim to a boy -A Boy!! Without thinking, the muscular samurai grasped his katana with his only good hand and went to throw it like a javelin and spear the brat through.
The samurai never had the chance to throw his sword. In the blink of an eye, Naruto dashed and leapt with profound agility, spun his form in mid-air, and delivered a heel-thrust kick strait into the man's face and shattering the bones beneath it inward through the brain and concaved the whole front of the skull. The force sent the samurai soaring backwards and into the waters with a great splash. Naruto didn't bother sparing his second opponent a second glance before he twisted himself once more and grasped the tipped-hat man's throat and crushed the neck like a dried twig in one swift motion. Zouri was dead instantly. Naruto hoisted the lifeless body and tossed it into the water like a rag doll. He turned back to Tsunami and Inari, stunned and awed looks shaping their faces. Inari was the first to speak. "How did you know we were under attack?"
"Those idiots had left a stuck pig in the forest and cut to ribbons, and there were slash marks on dozens of trees leading to this house. It wasn't too hard to figure that you were all in trouble. But enough of that. If this place has been attacked, then the bridge in under siege and your grandpa's in danger." Inari and Tsunami gasped in shock. "Gather everyone in town and have them ready for an attack from the bridge. I'm going to meet my team there now. I'm counting on you two to gather the villagers. Take care." And with that final statement, Naruto bounded like lightning toward the bridge where the main fight was awaiting.
"You don't plan on giving up, do you?" Haku asked calmly. Her senbon (Needles) chinked as the steel metal chaffed against the Uchiha's kunai.
Sasuke smirked in defiance. "I'm not backing down." Haku didn't seem the least bit surprised.
"That's a shame. I don't want to kill you, but you leave me no choice. Despite your thinking that you're on par with me, I'm the one holding the advantage." Sasuke looked at the hunter quizzically, uncertain what she meant. "First is the water surrounding us right now, with which I can use for my Jutsus. Secondly, your hand is too occupied fending off my first attack for another defense, thus leaving you open for my second attack with my free hand." Taking the initiative, Haku's hand flashed through several seals in rapid succession, non of which Sasuke nor Kakashi had ever seen before and unprepared for hunter's ability for one-handed seals. Haku raised her hand in a silent gesture, clopped her sandaled foot twice, and whispered her secret technique:
"Ninpo; Suiton: Sensatsu Sushio(Secret Art; Water Element: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)!!
Instantly, all the water formed from the fallen Mizu Bunshins and surrounding mist formed into branching shapes of sharp needles around Sasuke from all sides, poised and ready to deliver the killing blow. All the levitating needles shot forward to their target, Sakura and Kakashi looking on worriedly. Sasuke didn't panic and brought his free hand near the bridge of his nose and concentrated his chakra to his feet, closing his eyes in focus and struggled still against the Hunter's needle and leapt into the air before Haku could notice.
Haku leapt back gracefully away from Sasuke just as the needles shot toward the young Uchiha and watched as the water needles crashed into each other in an explosion of liquid, seemingly having skewered their target and reducing him to a pin cushion. When Haku saw the dissipated water fall to the ground, Sasuke was no where to be seen. Where is he?! Haku thought frantically. A volley of shurikens from above answered her unasked question, and she jumped back with every shuriken shooting toward her and lodging into the hard cement of the bridge. She stumbled slightly as she regained to her balance and heard Sasuke's voice behind her. "You're not very fast. Now you're the one who has to worry about defending yourself."
Sasuke slashed with his kunai toward Haku's masked face, but the Hunter blocked the attack easily with her arm and stopping the Uchiha's blade from touching her. Her move was a temporary achievement since Sasuke threw his kunai with a flick of his wrist and the Hunter ducked to avoid the knife, but she couldn't evade the swinging kick that crashed into her mask and sent her flying off the ground and unsteadily regained her footing beside Zabuza, who looked on with astonishment that the young prodigy managed to keep up with his servant.
Kakashi was obviously pleased with his student's performance, and despite having learned through his Kage Bunshin's dispersal of not finding Naruto, his confidence was rising with the situation. "Surprized, Zabuza? Sasuke here is our village's top-ranked Genin, and our little lady over here, Sakura, is Konoha's genius. And let's not forget our unstoppable and cunning beast, Naruto. Still thinking of gaining an easy victory?" If the Copy Nin had hoped to rise a favorable response from Zabuza, it hadn't worked. The Nukenin only chuckled coldly.
"Did you hear that, Haku? If we don't get serious, you might actually fall prey to the boy you sought to spare. Don't you think that would be a shame?" Zabuza's words came out in a coaxing whisper to his servant who was still kneeling in front of him. Zabuza's hidden smirk widened when feeling the temperature drop several degrees as Haku rose slowly and deliberately while translucent energy wisped off her shoulders and back. She too replied in a deadly whisper. "Yes, Zabuza-sama. That would be a pity."
Sasuke and Kakashi felt the sudden chill instantly, watching the masked Hunter form several different hand-seals neither had ever seen. Sasuke was too focused on watching Haku to realize the danger. When Haku finished her Jutsu, it was already too late.
"Makyo Hyo Shou (Demonic Ice Mirrors)!"
Sasuke watched as mirrors of pure thin ice formed from the fallen water and moisture on the bridge, completely surrounding the young prodigy in a dome of over a dozen rectangular floating sheets of reflective ice. Haku stepped closer and into her ice mirror, molding herself into it and forming a projection of herself in every other mirror surrounding the confused Genin while his sensei, infatuated team mate, and old charge watched from a distance with alarm and confusion.
"Welcome to my art. Now I'll show you true speed." Haku gripped a senbon in one hand and Sasuke grimaced in pain from the cut he felt on his arm from nowhere. Haku's image appeared in another different mirror and Sasuke's world exploded in agony as he felt his skin literally ripped from his bones, screaming in pain while his team watched in horror from a distance outside the mirror's reach and boundaries. When Kakashi made a move to help the Uchiha, Zabuza intercepted him easily.
"Let's leave my kid alone while she kills yours. Make any move and I'll kill the brat and old man." His voice was clearly amused, and Kakashi was ready to rush the Nukenin when he saw the Hunter ready to deliver the killing blow but was batted aside with a powerful kick to her belly from another figure that appeared from nowhere in mid-air and sending her skidding to stop on the bridge, outside her mirror fortress. Kakashi recognized the figure inside immediately.
"Are you alright, Sasuke?" Naruto asked while offering his hand to his friendly rival who took it gratefully. During their brief reunion, Sasuke saw Haku behind Naruto step unsteadily into an ice mirror and crouched into a stance ready to attack. Instinct guided Sasuke's hands to grasp his team mate's thick coat, surprising Naruto before throwing him over his shoulder and out of the mirror prison -strait over the bridge and into the water.
Unknowing his friend's fate, Sasuke turned around to face the Hunter just as she shot from the mirror holding her image. He felt a heat flare in his eyes his blood rush to all parts of him as he watched inevitably as Haku closed the distance in the blink of an eye, but the Uchiha watched as if in slow motion and sharp pain sprouted from all around his body before he went numb and collapsed.
The last thing he saw was his friend's horrified face looking back at him before his vision became black as night.
Naruto had been so unprepared for Sasuke's maneuver, he fell into the river with a resounding splash. Remembering his team mate was still trapped up on the bridge, Naruto gathered his wits and flapped his legs like a dolphin's toward the surface, rocketing out of the water like a missile and onto the bridge once more over the railing. Well, he could say good bye to stealth since Zabuza had undoubtedly seen him. He just hoped he wasn't too late-
Naruto recoiled in complete shock at the sight before him. Standing above Sasuke's needle-fested body was the masked Hunter, looking both triumphant and regretful at once. Sasuke's neck was punctured by at least half a dozen needles that formed a macrebe collar of spikes, his limbs and torso equally riddled with long needles. Naruto didn't need to hear for Sasuke's nonexistent heartbeat; the Uchiha was still as death.
Anguish, helplessness, regret, and pure unadulterated rage filled the temporary void of emptiness Naruto felt at that moment as his eyes hardened into glaring projections of burning ice. His hands quivered with barely restrained suppression to release his vengeful hatred. Liquid-hot energy surged through his limbs and body as he heard the Hunter speak her respects about how Sasuke was a true shinobi right to the very end. It should have been him-It should have been HIM!! Not the friend who treated him as an equal, not the friend who was his rival, and not the one person who gave him what Naruto ever felt he gained of significance:
Friendship. Trust. Understanding. And this Hunter took it away!
Unnoticed by the blond vessel, Kyuubi grinned proudly as he felt his energy drawn from the seal and out of his body. His kit was ready to harness the power of the King of Demons. His tails swished madly with excitement.
Now's time for you to take my power, kit. Embrace it, control it, and use it. Now's the moment you seize your destiny!
If Naruto gave any acknowledgement of Kyuubi's voice, he gave no indication and embraced the powers of the demon within him, feeling the physical alterations on his body and the rushing heat of the demonic chakra surging through his chakra coils. Haku watched in stunned amazement as Naruto's hair became wilder, his fangs and claws lengthening into killing weapons, his cheek-scars deepening 'til they bled and mixing with his falling tears, and his once stormy blue eyes becoming a primal blood red.
Crimson, demonic chakra erupted from Naruto's body and ripped at the concrete of the bridge, swirling and twisting like a tornado around the blond Genin until the chakra formed a flame-like head of a growling fox, high above the demon vessel like a guardian sentry. Ripped chunks and pieces of concrete floated in the air by the power of the unearthly energy.
"You will pay", Naruto hissed threateningly, his voice deep like an animal's that terrified Haku more than Zabuza ever had before in her knowledge, making her quake violently and feel weak in the knees. "I swear you will pay! I'll make you pay in blood!!"
The swirling mass of chakra receded and twisted back into Naruto's body, filling him with greater power than he could have ever dreamed possible and altering the shade of his jumpsuit from dark orange to blood red. The pressure around him made the gravity almost feel tripled as the bridge quivered from the intense pressure. Naruto fell onto all fours and bared his fangs at his opponent.
"I will KILL you!" It wasn't a statement born from hatred. It was a promise to bring retribution.
With that deafening roar that could silence the heavens themselves, Naruto galloped toward Haku like a hell stallion, but Haku barely managed to evade the rabid blond and made a frantic run to her ice mirrors. Naruto had already turned back around, lunged for the Hunter and grasped her wrist in a bone-breaking vise, stopping her in her tracks. Before Haku could even attempt freeing herself, a fist bashed into her masked face and sent her flying head-first through her ice mirrors, skidding to a stop hundreds of feet away while the thin sheets of ice crumpled and shattered into fragmented pieces.
Naruto didn't stop what so ever in his aim to finish his kill, leaping like a fox through the crumbling mirrors with little detire and rapidly galloped and closed the distance with each second as his feet pushed off the cement ground with such strength, deep foot engravings were left. As Haku slowly stood up and faced the rapidly approaching demon incarnate, her ruined masked crumpled and fell just as Naruto was about to grasp her face in a crushing grip, but suddenly stopped when Naruto saw the face of the girl he met in the forest only a few days hence, the kind girl who was collecting herbs. With a single movement, he delivered a heavy blow to her belly, forcing the wind from her lungs and collapsing into his powerful arms and setting her down onto the ground.
Looking back at his still friend lying motionless with a twinge of regret, Naruto took to where he heard the sound of a thousand birds.
Zabuza was trapped, held in place securely with Kakashi's summoned ninken (Ninja Dogs); two average sized mutts biting on his legs, one holding the ring at the end of his sword, a large bull-dog biting into his neck and holding his arms down, while two more clamped firmly on his wrists and a smaller dog held feebly onto his hitai-ate.
The battle had been going in his favor for longer than even Kakashi would expect, summoning a mist thicker than all the ones previous, preventing the Copy Nin from copying Zabuza's Jutsus and movements while attacking the silver-haired Jounin while following him by sound alone, thus how he earned the title "Silent Killing Master Assassin". Despite having been alarmed and slightly distracted from the enormous and oppressive level of chakra, it had been a one-sided fight with Zabuza attacking the Copy Nin and blindsiding him several times with his kunai and shuriken that Kakashi had managed to deflect with his hardened reflexes. Once Zabuza had attempted to finish off Tazuna and the pink-haired girl while in the confusion of the mist, but Kakashi had managed to intercept the Nukenin with his body acting as a shield and took the slash in his torso, coating the edge of Zabuza's sword with red blood.
That was Kakashi's plan all along.
With Kakashi's blood coating thickly on two of his weapons, the Copy Nin had summoned his ninja dogs to track through the thick mist and captured him through surprise. And now he was helpless as he watched Kakashi summon forth his chakra into his palm and converted it into electricity, the energy completely enveloped around his clenched hand and ready to deliver the killing strike. No more words were passed between the two as Kakashi prepared to run the Nukenin through with his only original assassination attack: The Raikiri (Lightning Edge).
Kakashi rushed forward, arm pulled in and streaks of electricity trailing behind him as he closed the distance between his opponent and himself. When he was just an arm's length away, he thrusted his hand toward Zabuza's heart!
Kakashi's hand was batted aside before it even touched its target, followed by a punch in the belly that knocked the wind from his lungs and collapsing onto his knees, his attack dissipating into nothing. Zabuza didn't have time to relish in his freedom from the dogs after they dispersed from the newcomer's kunai striking the summoning scroll before he felt a back-handed fist bash into the side of his head and knocked to the floor. Dizzy and stunned from the blow, Zabuza looked up at the new attacker along with Kakashi. Zabuza growled while Kakashi frowned suspiciously at the newly red-clad blond before them, but stopped when feeling his enormous power radiating from him like leaking killer intent.
Naruto looked down back and forth to Kakashi and Zabuza with his crimson eyes. Kakashi looked worridly at the demonic Genin and grew terrified thinking the seal had been broken. Zabuza only gripped the handle of his Kubikiri Houcho (Neck-Cleaving Sword) and was ready to cleave the brat in two for not only breaking his ribs before, but also catching him unprepared and striking him in the head. Naruto didn't need to see with his acute eyes to know what he was doing and held a hand up to stop him and pointed at the end of the bridge, obscured from the view due to the heavy fog. Naruto formed several hand seals and bellowed his technique:
"Katon: Ryuuka no Jutsu (Fire Element: Art of the Dragon Fire)!" A stream of white and red fire erupted from Naruto's mouth and evaporated the mist with white-hot heat as the fire trailed further into the fog. The sight before them was anything but comforting.
A mass of renegades and hired killers were crowded behind the business man Gatou who was sneering at the shinobi before him as if he were holding all the strings to a puppet show. He stepped forward with his hand wrapped in a white cast, the same hand Haku broke, and a cane in his hands. "You still haven't killed the brats yet, 'Demon'? I shouldn't be suprised." His voice was clearly mocking, and Naruto suppressed the urge to rip the man's throat from under his chin.
"Why are you here, Gatou? And why did you bring them?" Zabuza indicated to the mass of wicked men behind the stout business man who only grinned sickly.
"What does it look like, fool? I'm here to have you and the Konoha shinobi killed. Having to pay an experienced and high-ranking assassin is too expensive, and their subordinates tend to seek revenge once I've killed them. It's much more cost-efficient to kill you at your weakest with these renegades and thugs. My biggest mistake was hiring you in the first place. You're no 'Demon'. More like a 'baby devil', if that." Gatou looked around amongst the shinobi and Tazuna. "Where is that whore of yours? The one who broke my arm? I've brought enough of a crowd to have their way with her several times over and it would be a shame to disappoint them." His perverse gaze fell on Sakura beside Tazuna. "I think that little girl will do fine. A little young, but all the better for my men here. 'Waste not, want not' you know." The mass of thugs behind him laughed cruelly.
Sakura gasped and paled from hearing that threat. Zabuza growled and hefted his massive sword over his shoulder, ignoring the Konoha shinobi since he no longer had a reason to fight them and keeping his threatening glare situated on Gatou. No one insulted his servant like that and got away with it. Kakashi looked disgusted at the business man and inched his hand closer to a kunai. The Copy Nin took a glance to his blond student and dropped his kunai in complete fear.
Naruto's eyes were vicious and his elongated fangs were bared in absolute fury. Glimpses of past memories flashed before him of the Kyuubi's mate being raped, the woman from five years ago almost suffering the same fate, it was enough to nearly make his stomach lurch. His hands clenched and stiffened into claws, ready to rip into the mass of trash before him. There was nothing Naruto detested more than rape in all its forms and references. Naruto stepped forward, drawing the attention from everyone around him. His every step imposed threat to every one standing in his way. His onyx colored claws flexed as he came closer.
"None of you pieces of trash will leave this place alive", Naruto whispered threateningly, drawing shudders of fear from the mass before him with his demonic voice, "This bridge shall be your resting place, the waters your graves, and the hell of your darkest nightmares shall await for you before the sun dies, because the hell I send you to shall seem like heaven after I'm through with you all."
Seeing the mass of armed renegades cringe and pale despite their numbers at the red-clad Genin, Zabuza smirked and grasped his cleaving sword and stepped beside Naruto, flaring his chakra to intimidate the crowd. Kakashi caught the hint and stepped to Naruto's left while grasping two kunais in hand. Naruto regarded his sensei and the Nukenin with curious interest before his face broke out into a sadistic feral grin that unnerved the masses before them. He reached behind him and pulled out two G-shaped fist axes and his red eyes were almost glowing with anticipation. Now was the moment of drawing blood.
"Kakashi, I'll leave you two dozen of the trash assembled here," Naruto said without looking at the Jounin, "I'll take about four dozen with my Kage Bunshins, I'll leave Zabuza here to kill Gatou himself with handling the remaining trash we don't kill. After all, it seems appropriate since the scumbag had attempted to double-cross you." Even through his facial gauzes, the crease of a smile was evident on Zabuza's face. It seems Christmas came early for the Nukenin.
By unspoken command, the three shinobi once divided but now one dived into battle, their weapons already reaching for the bloody tribute.
Sakura looked down sadly at the peaceful face of her beloved crush riddled with long needles, feeling his cold skin that stole the warmth from her hands. Tears dripped onto the young Uchiha's cheek as Sakura cried beside him, Tazuna standing behind her while looking on regretfully as the young girl cried her heart out. He never thought a shinobi's life was so indescribably risked and lost at such young ages. Sakura hugged Sasuke's limp form in her arms and cried desperately for him to open his eyes and tell her to brush off as before, hoping above hope that he would hear her and awaken.
The sound of screams and combat was almost deafening to anyone within a three acre radius, but Sakura ignored it all as she rocked back and forth with Sasuke in her arms, humming a sad song that projected her sadness. She distantly heard approaching foot steps coming toward her but ignored it. All that mattered to her then and there was her beloved in her arms. She could almost feel his breathing against her ear and lifting his arms around her. "Sakura..."
The struggling whisper was as faint as a distant memory or dream she didn't want to wake up from. The arms encircled her from around her waist, and her sadness was replaced with absolute joy feeling her crush's pulse beat against her, feeling his breath brush her ear, feeling him alive! She pushed herself away just enough to see his scratched, bloody, but still handsome face...smiling at her -At her! His smile was honest and heartfelt. Sasuke's eyes looked behind Sakura and the pink haired girl looks back with him to see Naruto standing with his hands resting in his pockets, his demonic extremities having been receded after completely killing the renegades with blood completely soaked in his clothes and on his face and arms. Despite this, he had a smile of great relief and happiness from the turn of events. His smile was replaced with sudden realization as he leapt to where Haku was unconscious and scooped her limp form in his arms.
Kakashi looked toward his team mates and gave them all a proud smile for all they had accomplished. Zabuza came striding up beside Kakashi with his bloody sword resing on his shoulder, having killed Gatou by cleaving him in two and leaving Naruto's Kage Bunshins to burn the bodies with Katon Jutsus. Having caught sight of Haku in Naruto's arms, Zabuza grinned with a suggestive smile not even his mask could conceal which left Naruto feeling the heat flush to his ears.
Tazuna looked around in a slight daze as though everything he had witnessed today was a dream. Gatou was dead, the renegades that had once plagued his village with the cruel business tyrant were slain, and his family was going to be safe once more. It was more than he could have ever dreamed.
Naruto chose that moment to speak, interrupting the old man's musings. "I need a bath."
Sasuke took a sniff of the air and grimaced. "You're not kidding."