I am planning on giving them some individuality in their costumes eventually, I'm just waiting for a certain event to happen…
Zabuza had his giant sword at the ready as he glared at Himaru. 'How? How could I have been fighting a clone that entire time?' Zabuza was forced out of his thoughts when Himaru got into a fighting stance similar to the Jyuuken, but with closed fists. The Demon of the Mist narrowed his eyes at his foe. 'He's no Hyuuga. What's he doing?' Himaru charged forward, and Zabuza barely managed to block the punch with the flat of his blade, but he was still sent skidding back across the water's surface.
"Impossible…" he muttered as he watched cracks spread across his blade with wide eyes. In the blink of an eye, Himaru was once again right next to Zabuza, and with a pair of swift kicks, knocked Zabuza's sword out of his hand, and then knocked Zabuza himself into the air. Himaru seemed to blur out of existence before he appeared behind Zabuza in mid-air. The missing-nin didn't even have time to be shocked before chakra strings from Himaru's fingertips bound him.
"Omote Renge!" Himaru spun Zabuza around like a top before blasting him down into the bottom of the lake. He landed back on the surface of the water while Zabuza lay dazed underneath the water. Himaru blurred through several seals before slamming his hand down on the water. "Aisu Myakuhaku no Jutsu (Ice Pulse Technique)!" A sheet of ice started spreading across the lake, almost freezing Naruto were it not for Himaru's speed. He picked up the surprised blond and tossed all the way back to shore before the ice covered the entire lake, sealing Zabuza underwater. Himaru calmly walked back to shore to the sound of Zabuza's fists trying to break through the ice.
"Hi-Himaru-sensei?" Sakura squeaked as he came closer. "Isn't that kind of c-cruel?" Himaru just shook his head, and a massive dragon made out of water burst through the ice, Zabuza riding it out. Himaru sighed almost amusedly and cracked his knuckles before heading back to the icy lake, and towards the dragon. Zabuza's hands were stuck in a single seal as he ordered the dragon forward. Himaru punched the dragon, splattering its watery form all over the ice.
"Is that all?" Himaru actually yawned, stretching and all. Zabuza gritted his teeth, but he was practically shaking in his boots.
'No way,' he hissed in his mind. 'How could he destroy my jutsu with a single punch?' Himaru once again blurred through some hand seals.
"Bakuyaku Tsuba no Jutsu!" Himaru rapidly fired the chakra spheres, but Zabuza knew what they were this time, and performed his own hand seals as they came closer.
"Suiton: Daibafaku no Jutsu (Water Release: Grand Waterfall Technique)!" The whole lake surged up; disrupting the explosive spit wads and then hurtled towards Himaru. His eye twitched in annoyance as he braced himself and prepared a counter jutsu.
"Katon: Su-pa-Noba no Jutsu (Flame Release: Super Nova Technique)!" A flame erupted from Himaru's mouth that was so massive erupted that it engulfed the entire lake, evaporating it completely, leaving even the lakebed completely dry. Himaru dispelled the steam with a wind jutsu, revealing that both shinobi were still standing in the empty lake. Zabuza started slowly backing up.
"What are you?" Himaru smirked as slowly approached the Demon of the Mist.
"You're executioner." Before Himaru could act, several senbon imbedded themselves in Zabuza's neck with a soft punt.
"I apologize." A young masked boy jumped down from a tree and landed by Zabuza's body. "But I wanted to kill him myself." The three genin and Tazuna all rushed to Himaru's side, and Naruto was even glaring at the masked ninja.
"What the Hell? He took out Zabuza? He's our age!" Naruto gritted his teeth. "Do we just suck or something?" Himaru patted Naruto on the head, somehow calming the boy down.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're a Hunter-nin of Kirigakure?" The masked boy nodded and hoisted Zabuza onto his shoulder.
"I shall take the body, lest our enemies discover its secrets." With a hand seal, the boy disappeared in a puff of smoke. With the traces of a scowl still on his face, Naruto looked up at his sensei.
"How come you let that guy take Zabuza's body?" Before Himaru could answer, Sakura sighed.
"Don't you know anything?" Sakura went into the lecture on hunter-nins, and when she was done, Naruto just looked pissed.
"But he's only a little older than us!"
"Himaru-sensei." Sasuke's voice took everyone's attention. "Why didn't you check if Zabuza was really dead?"
"Because I already know he isn't." There were gasps from Naruto, Sakura and Tazuna.
"W-what?" the bridge-builder spluttered. "But we saw him die!"
"The weapons the Hunter-nin used, the senbon, are completely capable of putting someone in a sort of 'temporary' death. Plus, why would he lug off Zabuza's whole body, if all he needed was the head to prove the kill?"
"Himaru-sensei, why didn't you stop him?" Sakura asked, her voice frantic and starting to sound high-pitched. Himaru looked at all of his students.
"I don't have the energy to stop him, at the moment. Regardless of whether or not the boy pretended to kill Zabuza, he was still around Hunter-nin level. That last jutsu took up a lot of chakra. Now, let's finish getting to Tazuna's house."
Himaru gathered his students in a circle on the floor of Tazuna's house as Tsunami prepared dinner. "I'm very proud of how you handled the situation, Naruto, Sasuke." Naruto grinned, and Sasuke smirked. "And also Naruto, that kind of quick thinking under stressful situations is key for becoming a kage." Naruto grinned again, this time so wide his head looked like it was going to rip in half. The Himaru turned to Sakura, a comforting expression was on his face as he looked at the ashamed kunoichi.
"Sakura, I understand you're scared, but you must overcome it to be strong. It's totally normal for genin to act like you did. What you have to remember, is that you've got a giant brain in that head of yours. Your capable of becoming a great ninja, you just have to blossom." Sakura's eyes widened slightly at his last word as she recalled her days with Ino. As she thought, Himaru refocused his attention on all of them. "I'm going to increase your training schedule. In fact, by about a day or so before Zabuza is up and at 'em, probably within a week, you'll barely be able to stand." Himaru grinned at them reassuringly, but it had a sadistic tint to it. "Follow me!" Himaru sprung up from his sitting position in a single, fluid motion and headed towards the door. When they followed him to a patch of forest just outside Tazuna's house, a simultaneous groan escaped their lips.
"Not more tree-walking?" Naruto whined but Himaru shut him up with a bop on the head.
"Yes, but I'm also going to teach you each a new jutsu or two." Naruto almost jumped in the air for joy, but Himaru's gaze stopped him again. "First, Naruto, stand right in front of that tree. Trunk to back." Naruto looked confused, but obeyed and stood by the tree. Himaru then turned to face Sakura. "Naruto stole your panties last night." Sakura turned as red as an apple, and Naruto just screamed as the fist came rushing towards his head, but Himaru pulled him out of the way, and Sakura's fist met the tree. All three genin paused in shock when her fist tore right into the middle of the tree trunk, making it wobble. Sakura slowly withdrew her fist and stared at it.
"How did I-"
"You're the first ninja in your family, correct Sakura?" Sakura nodded to her sensei without looking away from her fist. "I've been watching you three interact, and I've noticed that you seem to be able to hit Naruto incredibly hard. This little experiment proves my theory: you have a sort of inborn ability to automatically and effectively enhance your arms with chakra. Normally, any ninja could do the same thing with training, but you chakra seems to be more potent when it's in you body than when it's outside in the form of a jutsu."
"Like a blood line?" Sakura asked slowly and carefully.
"I believe so." Sakura had never felt happier in her whole life: she was special! Then a thought flew back into her mind.
"N-A-R-U-T-O…" Himaru grabbed Sakura's shoulder.
"I was lying, Sakura." Naruto sighed in relief when Sakura's anger subsided.
"I'm alive…" he muttered. Sasuke was watching from the sidelines.
'So she may not be useless after all,' he thought. Himaru's hand slid into one of his many pants pockets and pulled out a scroll. He handed it to Sakura, who gladly accepted it, still riding her previous giddiness.
"That's a scroll on the body with a few excerpts on senbon, it should come in handy. Since you chakra control is already good, read that while the boys practice."
"When did you get a scroll on senbon?" Sakura asked, for they hadn't been in town since the Zabuza incident. Himaru blushed ever so slightly.
"I could be called a pack rat." The genin sweat dropped, but Sakura immediately went to a tree to sit down and read her scroll, now hungry to get better. Her brain only briefly noticed her almost unnatural over-abundness of eagerness before she dug into the scroll, only partly paying attention to even Sasuke. Himaru turned his attention back to his other students.
"Sasuke, since your ultimate goal is revenge, I'm going to teach you a jutsu specifically for killing someone." He now had Sasuke's total cooperation. Himaru slowly put his hands together: dog-snake-tiger. Fiery chakra gathered at the tips of two of Himaru's fingers, and he pointed the two alight digits at the tree Sakura had already maimed. "Nenshou Kousen no Jutsu (Burning Beam Technique)!" The red light at his fingertips turned into a crimson beam, piercing the tree and several behind it, leaving little scorch marks along the holes. Himaru looked at Sasuke, and the genin nodded in comprehension. He wasn't called a genius for nothing.
"My turn!" Naruto exclaimed, hopping up and down.
"Stop that, ninja have to be patient." Naruto frowned, but still did as he was told, something that still amazed his teammates and even himself. Himaru smiled at him "Oh, don't pout. I'll be you a couple bowels of ramen when he get back to Konoha." Naruto grinned madly, and it took all his will power to avoid jumping in the air and shouting like an idiot.
"What are you going to teach me? How to shoot lasers too?" Naruto asked, his excitement almost tangible.
"Taijutsu." Naruto's excitement died down slightly.
"What?"
"According to your academy records, you taijutsu is like a drunken monkey." Naruto scowled when Sasuke smirked. "Don't worry, this taijutsu style is very special." Naruto perked up again. "Its called Akaken (Bloody Fist)." Himaru entered the same stance when he was fighting Zabuza. Himaru punched the tree, only hard enough to crack the bark, but the real sight was what was revealed when the bark fell away. Both Naruto and Sasuke were awestruck as the inside of the tree fell out in a gelatinous glob. Himaru smoothly transitioned back to standing normally. He slowly walked up to Naruto's shocked form and bent down to face him directly.
"Naruto," Himaru began, an unbelievably serious expression ingrained on his face, "before I teach you this, promise me you will treat this style as what it is: a forbidden style, and only use it when you have to kill someone. Understand?" Naruto slowly nodded. "Do you promise me you will use this style with extreme care? Do you give me your word?" Naruto's face scrunched with determination.
"You have my word! And Naruto Uzumaki never breaks his promises!" Naruto pumped his fist in the air, and Himaru's lips slowly spread his lips in a grin.
"Good." He stood all the way up again. Himaru turned to Sasuke next.
"I want you to practice you Nenshou Kousen. I'm sure you'll find the variations amusing. Oh, and practice your chakra control as well." Himaru smiled sadly at the scowling Uchiha. "Oh don't pout, if you master the Nenshou Kousen, I'll give you a very special gift." Sasuke seemed appeased for the moment, and began practicing. Once the other brunette shinobi started busying himself with training, Himaru once again turned back to a still more or less somber Naruto.
"Now watch and copy." Himaru slipped into the stance, and Naruto followed clumsily behind him. The jounin began to slowly mover through punches and kicks and the genin continued to mimic him. "Mind your feet, Naruto. Don't let them slip to the side. Your fists follow them." Naruto corrected and checked his feet. Soon, it looked like the blond was a mirror.
"Three quarter extension," Himaru reminded his student. Naruto slowly and shakily corrected his arms. He was covered in sweat, and could barely see his hand in front of his face in the moonlight. A red flash suddenly illuminated the sky, and an audible thud was heard. "It sounds like we're all tired," Himaru said, not even having to look at Sasuke's slowly rising form. "I bet it's time for dinner, anyway." Himaru started walking away, and Sasuke and Naruto began a sort of limping race back to the house. Sakura meanwhile just walked normally, still reading the scroll in the moonlight. As they neared the house, Tsunami approached them.
"I hope you all worked up an appetite!" Boy, was that an understatement. Sasuke and Naruto both bolted into the house, despite their previous exhaustion. They had already started gorging themselves by the time Himaru and Sakura entered the house. Tazuna, Himaru were highly amused by the eating contest going on, but Sakura was mostly just disgusted. Finally, she interjected when the two rivals threw up simultaneously on the floor.
"What's the point of gorging yourselves if you're just going to puke it back up?" Both Sasuke and Naruto looked up at her, both slightly green.
"Because I have to beat him," they both replied. Sakura sighed
'Boys…' 'What idiots!' Inner Sakura finished.
"Sakura's right," Himaru added. "Don't eat so much that you make yourself sick. That won't help you train tomorrow."
"Why even bother?" All faces turned to a small, very depressing looking boy. "Why don't you just give up? Gatou's just gonna kill you."
"Inari!" the boy's mother chastised.
"What a wuss." Inari's face turned hard and he glared at Naruto.
"What do you know? You have no idea what it's like! Living in this mud hole and being treated like dirt!" Naruto's fist hit the table with enough force to crack it, and he released small, unintentional amounts of killing intent on the poor boy.
"I'd rather die brave than live as a worthless, cowardly little crybaby like you!" Inari's face scrunched up, and tears began pouring down his face as he ran upstairs to his room. His mother called after him, but to no avail.
"Naruto!" Sakura reprimanded the blond. "That's going to far, he's just a-" Sakura froze at the look Naruto gave her. 'Did-did his eyes just flash red?' Naruto pushed back in his chair and away from the table. Himaru just ever so slightly smirked at the whole thing.
'Not how I would have liked for the procedure to start, but this should still work.' After a brief, tension-filled pause, Sakura asked about the missing portion of the group photo in an attempt to change the subject. We all know how that goes. After the depressing story, the group slowly drifts apart for bed.
"We're waking up early in the morning people," Himaru said, although he knew that wouldn't stop some people. CoughNarutocoughSasukecough. Sure enough, he saw the genin separately sneak out of the house back towards the trees just a few minutes after they departed from dinner. He sighed half-heatedly before going to the back of the house, where he heard a certain little boy crying.
"Takes more muscle to frown than to smile." Inari jumped at the new voice.
"Wh-what do you want?" he said as he tried to desperately hold back his tears. In one smooth motion, Himaru sat down next to Inari.
"I wanted to apologize for Naruto, but you have to understand, he's told himself the exact same thing throughout his life." Inari looked at the man and blinked, confused. Himaru smiled sadly, not even looking at the Wave boy anymore. "Naruto never knew either of his parents and no one was ever there to help him. One day he just decided to stop crying, and do something about his problem." Himaru stood up and patted a slightly stunned Inari on the head. "Well, 'night kid."
I'm REALLY sorry this has taken so long! I've been really busy, and when I wasn't busy, my computer would act all funky. Please read and review. Especially review!