Grim Reaper of Iwa

Chapter 3

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Things have been pretty hectic for Zabuza since that day he took in Guren. The three brats got along pretty well and messed with each other a lot. Like how Guren took advantage of Naruto's simple mindedness at times.

But he had to divide his attention a lot and those little brats gave it to him good when he was not truly paying attention. Naruto had resumed his pranking and dragged Haku and Guren into it. It was driving him up the wall, but thinking on it, he wouldn't trade these kids for all the gold in the world.

Yes, he still had plans to go back to Mist and kill the Mizukage with Mei. He owed her that much for just up and disappearing after his failed attempt of killing the Mizukage. However, he knew these kids were far from ready to go against a Kage and fully trained Jinichuriki nonetheless.

Truth was…he was just afraid to face the woman. Yes, that's right, even the feared Demon of the Mist could be afraid. He was afraid because he feared what the woman would think of him. They had been friends since after the Genin Exams. They were on the same team before he joined the Swordsmen. Then…they went out and he wanted to propose to her, but the Mizukage was getting nervous again and was cracking down even harder on the Bloodline users. After that, things all went to hell all because he wanted a family of his own. Heh, he had a family now….he just needed a loving wife. But life is cruel like that.

Thinking about his students, he looked to his newest student, who was teasing the boys. They were currently at a co-ed hot spring, relaxing. Guren was quiet the shinobi with here poison skills. Her keen perception of her surroundings and of fights gave her a dangerous mind in battle and it helped her teammates with their fighting styles. Her powers over the Crystal Release were impressive. Finally after a month or so of work on her earth manipulation, she was getting better at standalone earth jutsu and it was helping with her Crystal jutsu as well.

Then there was Haku, his first apprentice. He had gotten faster like he wanted and he often wondered if Haku had a second bloodline. It wouldn't be unheard of, just rare. Now if he did have a second bloodline, he hoped it was the Swift Release because it would explain Haku's rare bursts of pure speed where no one could keep up with him. In addition to that, Haku had gained a few more Ice Jutsu. Hell, he was also getting into medical jutsu from a scroll he picked up in town they passed. He was doing well.

Finally was Naruto, one of his best students. Konoha was full of a bunch of fools if they let this kid get away. His shadow clone jutsu really sped up his training. He had full mastery over Wind and Fire. All he needed to do was actually make his own jutsu for those…unless he already did and the Demon of the Mist didn't know it. Now came the fun part. Water. He was going to take them to the desert for a reason. If Naruto and Haku could pull water out of that air, then they could pull it out anywhere.

Naruto also seemed to have good control of the Darkness element. Zabuza guessed it was because of those weapons, but he could be wrong. And then there was Kyuubi. Zabuza was not proud about what he did to bring the beast out, but Naruto could now use its power….if barely.

Zabuza knew he had a lot more work to do with these kids, but that was the challenge of it. They were already pretty strong for their age and they didn't have a village to hold them back with stupid D rank missions. Now that was a thought. Maybe he should get them a few missions.

"Oh Haku! I didn't know you where this forward!" Guren laughed.

"I didn't mean it!" Haku freaked.

Naruto could be heard laughing. "Come on girlie boy, don't tell me you haven't thought about it. Or are you gay?"

"Oh Naruto, don't be so hard on him. I bet you're just jealous of the position he is in." Guren said.

"I think any guy would be. He is just the lucky one." Naruto grumbled aloud.

"Ugh…this again." Zabuza groaned.

XXX

The gang made it to the desert like Zabuza had planned a few days later. "Man, it's so hot." Naruto complained and his companions did not argue about that. It was freaking scorching out!

"Come to think of it, WHY are we here?" Haku asked.

"For the next stage of training for you two." Zabuza answered. "Haku, I am sure you can teach Naruto the second part of stage two of Water Manipulation. I know you know this, but last time it was easy because of the environment we were in. If the two of you can pull water out of this environment, then your training for Water Manipulation will be complete."

"What about me?" Guren asked.

"While they are doing what I told them to do over by that out cropping of rock, we will be over in that oasis over there, sparring. At least I hope it is an oasis." Guren sweat dropped at that. Zabuza was already suffering from the heat. "Come on, I want to see how far you are." Guren nodded and followed after her, hopefully not delirious, sensei.

"Well." Naruto sighed. "Let's do our thing."

Haku nodded while looking at Guren as she and their sensei left.

XXX

After Haku had taught him what to do, Naruto quickly got to work, but each time Haku tried pulling water out of the air, it just got hotter!

Haku's mind, however, was not on his task. It was on a certain female member of their group. "Naruto….what do you think of Guren?"

Naruto stopped for a moment to consider the question before he went back to concentrating. "Odd question man, but I think she is pretty cool. Sure she is flirtier than me and I am still clueless to girl's feelings toward me, but I don't think she is for me. I want someone closer in age to me." He then eyed Haku and smirked. "So my female looking friend, do you like her like that?"

Haku shook his head at his best friend's constant use of calling him girlie looking. "You could say that. What do you think I should do?"

Naruto gave him a stupid look. "Are you deaf? I just told you how clueless I am towards girls' feeling towards me and you want advice from a guy like that?"

"But you flirt with Guren!" Haku countered.

"Harmless, which will never get me anywhere." Naruto replied nonchalantly. "But even though I am clueless with things toward me…I can see how she looks at you. Take for example the incident at the hot springs. If that had been me that 'accidently' got pushed and then slipped and fell into her breasts, she would have beat my head in. She has a thing for you man, just ask her out."

Haku put on an annoyed look. Sure he was graceful for the advice but Naruto just admitted he pushed him. "So it was you!" Haku shouted as he flung a ball of water at the blond's face.

"This water is not even refreshingly cold Haku." Naruto deadpanned, expecting it to be cold due to his powers. However, they both were smiling after a moment. Sure they would fight, but they would always help each other out.

"Thank's Naruto." Haku replied.

"No, really, why is it not cold!" Naruto whined as he unwittingly used his chakra to pull some water out the air and flung it at the ice user.

"Sorry, I am at a disadvantage here in the desert." Haku smiled, but his tone was snide as he dodged the water.

There banter went on for a few minutes longer, their minds not on the water control at all but they were actually doing it and the air was getting drier. "And now my friend, we need to get you a girl." Haku said happily.

"Oh don't go there man, you still have to ask Guren out!" Naruto said as he lost a bit of control and pulled too much out of the air. The rest was a large globe of water that shot past Haku. They didn't realize it, but their water fight had taken them past the small out cropping of rocks. Now they were near a large nest of scorpions. Normally that wasn't so bad, but these were….huge. Merchant Cart huge and the water splashed right into their nest.

"Oh…no." Haku replied quietly and fearfully but the large desert dwellers heard him and turned.

"I think we should run." Naruto deadpanned, realizing his mistake.

"YOU THINK?" Haku screamed as they ran for it.

XXX

"You did well Guren." Zabuza said as he saw on a rock near the water of the Oasis.

"You still beat me, even in your weakened, delirious state." Guren sighed. "I guess you really are strong."

"Well, I have been training on my own as well…I am nowhere near S-class and I have to protect my students somehow."

Guren smiled. Her teacher was a big softie despite his reputation. She smiled as she leaned on the man's shoulder. "I am glad you guys found me instead of that freak who killed off my entire village."

Zabuza, still uncomfortable with his feelings with these kids, just wrapped his arm around the girl.

Guren closed her eyes for a moment, ignoring the heat of the desert, before she snapped them open. "The ground is shaking."

"What?" Zabuza asked, wondering if she was getting as sick as he was.

"The earth is shaking despite most of it being sand!" Guren freaked as they stood up and a few seconds later, Zabuza felt it and tried to keep his lunch in.

"AAAAHHHH!" Came the screams of the soaked forms Naruto and Haku as they ran past them. Zabuza looked at them like they were nuts.

"What's after them?" He asked.

"Scorpions!" Guren screamed before she too ran away.

"Scorpions? They can't be that bad, can they?" The Demon of the Mist asked before he turned around only to pale. "Son of a bitch!"

XXX

Orochimaru smiled that sly snake like smile of his as he and his guards met with the Fourth Kazekage and his guards in a mountainous region of Suna….which was basically near Suna itself.

However, while Gaara's father wanted to get more business back from Konoha, he didn't feel that this man would keep his word. He had the sinking feeling, despite his power, he could not beat Orochimaru in a fair fight. No, this had to end. Konoha was still their ally and maybe he could talk to the Hokage for a better deal. That old man was not unreasonable after all.

"Hello Kazekage. Have you decided about our deal?" Orochimaru asked in his odd airy voice that sent chills down people's spines.

"I have Orochimaru." The Kazekage replied in an even tone.

"And?" the snake man asked, already getting tired of this run around.

"We will not join you for your foolish endeavors. I will speak to the Hokage personally about what is happening. He is not unreasonable." The Leader of Suna replied.

"How…disappointing. I fear-" Orochimaru was going to kill the man one way or another, but there was something wrong. He felt the earth they were on shake. Was that even possible in this land? He looked to where he thought the source was and he got an eyeful of kids and one adult running for their lives. In fact, they would be running right past them. WHY?

"AAAHHHH!" Naruto, the young blond screamed in fear as he ran passed. His darkness powers acting up and making look like a running skeleton in the desert at times.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS GET US IN THESE SITUATIONS, NARUTO!" Haku, a girlie looking boy, cried out to the heavens as he kept pace with is friend.

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO KEEP AN EYE ON THAT FOOL SO THIS SHIT DOESN'T HAPPEN, HAKU!" Guren, a blue haired girl shouted angrily yet panicked at the time.

Wait, isn't that the Crystal User? The snake man thought in shock.

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU BRATS FOR THIS! I AM IN NO CONDITION TO FIGHT THOSE THINGS!" Zabuza, a notable nuknin shouted as he too was running for his life.

HE GOT THE GIRL? Orochimaru thought angrily.

Meanwhile, the Kazekage knew what Orochimaru was about to do and was thanking his lucky stars that those kids, mainly the blond one, and oddly enough, the Demon of the Mist, made a great distraction for him and his guards. However, he knew what was after them with scent alone. Suna's little scorpion problem.

So he made his special Gold Clone and signaled for his men is to go help that group that just ran by and to secretly kill off Orochimaru's men. He would deal with the scorpion and snake problems all in one.

And sure enough, they came. Apparently, by what those kids were shouting, the blond must have disturbed a nest of the big ones. Fuck. The Kazekage thought as he sent in his gold dust to weigh them down.

At this point, Orochimaru got the point as he took out his special sword to run them all through, unknowingly getting some of the gold dust on him. While one final swing, the madly smiling man ran the 'Kazekage' through.

"Nothing personal, but I need your pathetic village. Your ninja will make great cannon fodder for the ninja of Konoha." Orochimaru teased to the dying man.

The Kazekage clone looked up to Orochimaru in fear before that look turned into a smirk. "Sorry, but I am not dying today!"

Orochimaru tried to retaliate, he really did, but he felt weighed down too much. For a Sennin, he was moving at a snail's pace and that was not boding well for him as he tried to escape. Go figure that the body of the Kazekage exploded in a shower of gold dust before all that attached itself to him!

As it stopped all movement, it was slowly covering his body. It was like looking at a statue! "Ugh! When I get out of this I will kill you!" Orochimaru screamed in rage.

"Not even you can get out of that, prepare to die." The Kazekage said calmly as he appeared before the man and took his fallen sword.

"I WILL BE back! AND I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" Orochimaru screamed in rage but knowing that even if ONE curse seal was active, he could return.

With that, the gold covered his face and the Kazekage looked on in respect. "Today, Orochimaru of the Sannin dies! Gold Style: Golden Impact!" The golden man flew into the air before it started caving in on itself into a large gold ball. With a wave of his hand, the ball soared down to the ground, creating a crater in the sand, which soon filled up.

"Be lost with in the sands for all time." The Kazekage stated to his fallen enemy before disappearing in a golden Body Flicker to rejoin in guard and that very odd group. He had to thank them personally.

XXX

The group had been escorted to the one place they had not planned on going. The Kazekage's office in Suna. The man looked at them all with piercing eyes. It was unnerving to say the least. Finally, he spoke. "First of all, I would like to thank you for being the distraction that I needed. I am in your debt, if you need help, just ask."

The group of four just stared at the Kazekage in shock. The man was not known to be this…hospitable. Zabuza nodded. "If it wouldn't be too much trouble, may we stay for a day so I can continue to train my students? Haku and Naruto still need to learn how to pull water out of air like this."

The Kazekage nodded. "Well it is odd see you, Demon of the Mist, I will offer a place to stay for your time here. There is a hotel down the street that will give you a free night, on the house."

"Thank you Kazekage-sama." Zabuza said respectfully.

Since that was arranged, the Kazekage was curious about the man's students. "Please, could you tell me about your students? They must be exceptional if they are being taught by you." The man could read people as well and it seemed that this kids, tamed the infamous demon. He seemed to be a caring person to these kids, not he mass murderer that many said that he was.

Zabuza nodded. He supposed that was fair. They were in the man's village, so he had to follow the rules. "The girl is Guren Lagan. She is a very good warrior and she is a Crystal Release user. She has many skills in combat that can turn any battle her way."

"Not many Crystal users in the world nowadays." The Kazekage replied. He knew of that old clan. Why one of them was here of all places made no sense. They were from Iwa. But they were said to have died out. She must be the last of her clan.

"Next, is my first apprentice. Haku Yuki. He is an Ice Release user with exceptional speed and I have the sinking feeling it borders on another bloodline." Zabuza replied, hoping the man knew what he was talking about. He wanted to tell Haku when he was ready.

The Leader of Suna nodded. That bloodline was indeed rare and to have it in a Yuki clan member. Well, that would make them unstoppable in the speed department. It is such a shame that Kiri is the way it is. Konoha did try and get some of the bloodline users out of there, but that ended with the White Fang's death. Since then, no other village has bothered to try.

"Finally, we have my best, yet most idiotic student." Zabuza stated, ignoring Naruto's outburst. "His name is Naruto Uzumaki. He is the son of my hero, Kushina Uzumaki and the Yellow Flash."

"Not to mention the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. I do hope he is stable." The redish haired kage stated calmly.

Zabuza's eye twitched at that. "I trust the Fourth Hokage's seal making prowess and from what I have seen, he is more human that any jinchuriki I know."

"Good." The kage said, very relieved as he sagged in his chair. "His parents were strong and with the Kyuubi in him and his heritage, he would be near unstoppable…if trained right."

"You seemed pretty nervous to know I was stable, why? Don't tell me you have the Shukaku in someone?" Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. When the Kage didn't answer and looked guilty, Naruto widened his eyes. "No way, you did! Who?"

The kage sighed. "My youngest son." That made the group's eyes widen. "I wanted a weapon for Suna, so I used my son…the biggest mistake of my life." Naruto was looking at him strangely so he elaborated more. "Naruto, this is not Konoha, so it is run differently. The council basically runs the village and I am just a powerful figure head. While I do have power, I cannot over throw the council or go against their decision."

The Kage sighed again. "I have always been torn been the village and my family, which I value greatly. But, that decision of the village over my own family has back fired greatly. It killed my wife and the Shukaku has warped the mind of my son, more so after the council decided that he was a failure and used my wife's brother to kill him. That didn't end well…for her brother."

"That's not right." Naruto growled.

"I take no value in what has been done and it has torn apart my family." The Kaze replied. "My oldest, Temari usually takes care of my younger sons and is always trying to get through to Garra, the Jinchuriki."

"That…has to suck." Guren replied with a dead panned expression.

"Yes and that is why I ask you to stay away from Gaara, he might try and kill you to prove his existence." The Kage replied and the group nodded before leaving the office.

XXX

The next day, after their morning training, Zabuza let them all do what they wanted to do because he got sick again. The man did not like the desert at all. That was fine with Haku and Guren as they finally went out on their date. Naruto didn't go because he would feel like third wheel. So now he was wondering the streets of Suna…extremely bored and that was never good for anybody.

In his bored state, he ran into someone. Help them up, he found that it was a cat suit make up wear guy. "Sorry about that mister cat."

"I am not a cat!" The teen shouted. "I am Kankuro!"

"Well, nice to meet ya man." Naruto replied before he notice they were in front of book store and it was showing off the new issue of Icha Icha.

While he was observing the book store, Kankuro took a look at the blond, noticing he was the boy that he father talked about. "You don't look like much, but my dad talked about you."

"Hmm? Oh you much be one of the Kazekage's kids." Naruto replied.

"Yep." Kankuro replied with a small but annoyed smirk. This kid would probably just kiss his ass not that he knew who he was.

However, Naruto's prankster mind made him smile. "So….a Kage's kid, huh? I bet you can get away with more than others."

"You could say that." Kankuro replied, not entirely sure what this kid was getting at.

"How about we pull off a little prank."

"What do you have in mind?" The older ninja asked.

XXX

"Ok, I go down there and calmly talk to those kids at the park. You whistle or something when you have the chakra strings attached and watch the freakout." Naruto said with a big shit eating grin before he jumped off of the building they were on to the park below.

Kankuro snickered. "This kid is awesome. If this works and we escape, that means we are the best…yeah." He watched as Naruto started talking to a group of kids that seemed to like him. Soon, the puppet user has all his chakra strings attached and whistled. After that, he could not help but laugh his ass off.

Naruto had got skeleton and Kankuro was making him do a dance, which freaked out the kids and made them all run, screaming home.

"What the hell are you doing?" came a female voice behind the puppet user, making him freeze.

Kankuro nervously looked him to see his big sister. "Uh…hi Temari."

"Reel in that fool and then get the hell out of my sight." The four pony tailed girl commanded and the boy just nodded, knowing that this was a not a good place to be if his sister was pissed. So he pulled the younger blond to the roof and then got the hell of out dodge.

Naruto reverted back to normal and said, "Yo! Where's the fire?"

Kankuro didn't even bother answering as he ran away. Naruto that was never a good sign and by the tapping sound behind him, he knew they had been caught. Turning behind him, he saw a very beautiful blond woman behind him. He recognize this older teen from the picture in the Kazekage's office. "Ah, you must be Temari."

"You would be correct." The blond woman replied with a straight face. "What the hell do you and my idiot brother think you were doing?"

"A harmless prank?" Naruto suggested nervously.

"It is stupid…but oddly comical." Temari replied.

"While I admit it was stupid for kids and all that, I was extremely bored." Naruto groaned. "My teammates are a on a date and I am stuck wondering the streets of a village I know nothing about."

Temari took pity at that. He was a foreigner and she knew her brother wouldn't bother showing a kid around. And she did admit that it was a bit boring here, that was why she was always training. Taking another look at the boy her father was interested in, she could not help but think he was cute. And he was not eyeing her up like most of the idiots her age. Maybe I could give this kid a chance.

"Fine. I understand about the boredom this place has." Temari replied and then turned to the side a bit so he didn't see her blush. "I also wouldn't mind showing you around."

"Great!" Naruto said happily. "It's a date then!"

"W-what?" Temari whipped her head around and was blushing a bit, as she was not used to going on any dates.

"Yeah! A pretty girl like you showing an outsider like me around this place. I don't mind calling it a date." Naruto replied.

Temari smiled at being called pretty. Most of the other guys just ogled her, but didn't dare ask her out do to her being the daughter of the Kage. "Yeah, I would like that." She said as she took his hand and they walked away from the park.

A pair of teal green eyes watching them as they did. "You are powerful, Uzumaki. You blood will fed mother!"

XXXX

Yeah, that's the 3rd chapter for those of you that are going to bitch, don't. I have no use for orochimaru in my story, so yeah, i kill him off.

I bet you can guess what is going to happen in the fourth chapter. What will happen on Naruto and Temari's date? Probably not much because I suck at that. Oh well. Naruto vs Gaara? Hell yeah.