I'm SOOOOO sorry this is late, but it's not my fault! My power's been out since THURSDAY! My Internet, at the moment that I'm writing this, is also being kind of funky. Yahoo. Anyway, onward!

Naruto was starting to tire, but pushed the thought of sleep out of his head. "Well, that took awhile," Sasuke wheezed from his side as the final Oto ninja in the neighborhood fell before them.

"I think we should take a break," Sakura said as she leaned against a wall. Naruto nodded, but a kunai zipped past his ear.

"You'll have plenty of rest in Hell, brats." A powerful wave of killing intent washed over them, not enough to paralyze them, but still a lot. Sasuke narrowed crimson eyes at the ninja. He was a jounin from Oto judging by his clothes, and he looked fresh. The older shinobi smirked at them. "Any last words?" To everyone's surprise, Naruto smirked right back, flashing some canine.

"Yeah. First tail!" Dark blue chakra erupted from Naruto's body, slowly reforming around him into the shape of a fox with a single tail of chakra. Naruto's bestial features, such as his fangs and whiskers, became for prominent. His blue eyes slit, and got on all fours. "I've been wanting to test this out." His voice came out as a growl. In a flash, he was gone, then slamming his clawed hand into the jounin's gut, who turned into a log. In a rather idiotic display on the part of the Oto ninja, he charged Naruto from above with a kunai.

"Die!" Naruto's tail shot up and wrapped around the jounin like a snake.

"Bye." Blood splattered across the ground. As soon as Naruto released the body, his fox aura shrank and he clumsily made it to his feet. "Damn, that hurts more than opening the gates."

"I'll always be happy to take it off your hands," Sasuke said and Naruto gave him a raspberry.

"DEMON!" Time seemed to freeze as the trio slowly twisted their necks to face a terrified Konoha villager.

"Oh, boy," was all Naruto could think to say.

"This is does force a move a little earlier than I anticipated, but oh well," Himaru said as he watched Naruto pack up the rest of his belongings. The disgruntled blond roughly shoved a sixteenth pack of ramen into his bag.

"Relax, dobe," Sasuke said. "It's not like we've been banished into missing-ninhood, no offense Zabuza-sensei."

"None taken."

"We're just leaving until Hokage-sama can calm the council down."

"Yeah, we'll get to start work on the village. I think I have a good location picked out." At the mention of the village, Naruto brightened.

"Yeah! Who needs Konoha, out village'll be the best EVER!" Sakura swiftly implanted her fist into Naruto's head.

"Do you want the whole village to know?" she scolded as he rubbed his sore head.

"Okay, okay! Do you really have to hit so hard, Sakura-chan?" The pink-haired kunoichi smiled sweetly at him.

"What can I say, beating on you is the best part of my day."

"What about making-out with Sasuke?" Both mentioned genin blushed a deep crimson and Naruto burst out laughing.

"Enough with the teasing," Himaru said. "Taijuu Shunshin no Jutsu!" With a pop, everyone was gone.

"Here we are!" When the smoke cleared, a beautiful coast lay in front of their eyes.

"AWESOME!" While Naruto ran up and down the shoreline, Sakura realized it was up to her to be serious.

"Are we in Wave Country, Himaru-sensei?"

"Excellent guess, Sakura, but not exactly." The young kunoichi blinked up curiously at him. "We are in an island, in the center of Wave to be precise, but it isn't technically part of the nation."

"CANNON BALL!" Ignoring the splash caused by a certain blond, Himaru continued.

"The island we're on has no name or country because no one had dared to set food on it." Now everyone, even a very wet Naruto, was all-ears. At this, the black-haired jounin just behind them. Everyone followed his finger to the trees in the island's center.

"HOLY MOTHER OF RAMEN!"

"Very well said, Naruto," Himaru said with a slight sweat drop. Large pairs of glowing eyes stared at them from within the shadows of the trees. After a moment, several of the pairs of eyes moved out of the shadows, first revealing horses, then their horns came into view, and finally their wings.

"Whoa," everyone but Himaru said, at a loss for any other words. Himaru on the other hand not-so-gently shoved Naruto out of his shock.

"It's polite to say 'hi' to your neighbors."

"What?"

"They're pegasuses. If you can impress them, they'll make valuable allies."

"Why me?"

"You're the kage-to-be." Naruto grumbled something but shook it off and started towards the winged horses.

"Oh, and if you mess up, they'll probably attack you." Naruto's eye twitched but he forged ahead, coming face to face with the oldest pegasus. "Um…Hey there, I'm Naruto Uzumaki. What's your name?" The old horse leaned towards him and gave Naruto a firm push with his nose. "Hey, no need to be rude!" The old pegasus pushed Naruto again, harder this time. "If you don't stop that-" He pushed again, harder. "You're really starting to-" One final push, and Naruto nearly fell on his but. "Okay, that's it! You are going down!" Everyone sweat dropped as Naruto tackled the old pegasus and began thrashing around on the ground with it. A sudden neigh rang through the air and the winged animal took off, with Naruto hanging onto its back hoof.

"Ow, ow, ow!" The pegasus began kicking Naruto in the face, eventually knocking the blond off. "Oh no you don't! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A new Naruto poofed into existence in front of the pegasus and grabbed him in a head-lock. The animal thrashed wildly in the air until it clumsily landed back on the ground where the real Naruto tackled and pinned it to the sand. A sudden bout of neighing from the other pegasuses put the shinobi on alert, but instead of attacking they did a sort of bow for Naruto. The blond slowly released the old pegasus and it too bowed once it was back on its hooves.

"Looks like you impressed them, Naruto," Himaru said as he came up to the blond's side.

"Cool. Eh… now what?"

"You know the Inuzuka clan?"

"Yeah…" Naruto's mind was starting to piece it together. "Oh! So there going to be like Kiba's dog!"

"Kind of. We just have to find the right people and bang…we have another clan."

"Speaking of which, Himaru-sensei…" Sasuke strolled up the sand toward them. "How exactly are we going to find able-bodied shinobi just lying around?" Himaru grinned that sort of grin that tells he knows more than he's letting on.

"Oh, we're not looking for able-bodied shinobi. We're looking for the under-dogs." Sasuke raised an eye brow at him. "You see Sasuke, you can't know true strength until you've known true weakness. That Rock Lee character is an example. As painful as it is, struggle makes one stronger, and that's the kind of people we're looking for."

"Sounds like a crappy village." Naruto whirled on the unfamiliar female voice.

"Who said that!? Eh? Kaiki-sennin?"

"What did you just call Orochimaru-sama!?" Sakon shouted.

"At ease, everyone. Naruto means no offense." Naruto ran up to Orochimaru and the four kids surrounding him. Wait, make that five.

"You have a guy coming out of your back!"

"Yeah, what of it!?" Ukon asked in little more than a growl.

"That's awesome! Can you like, move to his chest and punch together? That'd be like having four arms!" Naruto's eyes continued to scan over the group. "Dude! You have six arms! That's just plain unfair!" Naruto detailed each and every one of the Oto Five's unique attributes, each time with an almost child-like fervor and excitement. He even toldJiroubu that he could totally beat him in a ramen eating contest.

"Are you an idiot?" The female voice reminded Naruto of who had insulted his village-to-be. Instead of a response from the loud blond, Tayuya felt a tremendous wave of killing intent.

"Anyone who mocks my dream will feel its power full force!" Even the boisterous Tayuya was silenced, a feat only Orochimaru had ever accomplished.

"Calm down, Naruto!" The killing intent faded as Sakura punched him in the shoulder. As the poor blond rubbed his nearly broken arm, Sakura bowed and apologized to the still slightly shocked ex-Oto shinobi.

"Sorry about him. Naruto can get kind of emotional. Anyway, my name is Sakura, the boy behind me is Sasuke-kun, Himaru-sensei is the one with the bangs, the guy with the huge sword is Zabuza-sensei and the other guy is Haku-kun."

"Haku-'kun'? Wait, that's a GUY?" Kidoumaru asked, pointing three hands at a very irritated Haku.

"And I don't appreciate being called a girl." The spider-nin froze at the voice behind him. This guy could've gutted him like a fish just then if he'd wanted to.

"I'll keep that in mind."

"So will I," Tayuya said, but in a completely different tone of voice, one that made the ex-Kiri shinobi blush a whole new shade of red.

"Introduce yourselves," Orochimaru added in an almost gentle tone that the Oto Five were still not used to, even after he'd explained the situation to them.

"Tayuya."

"Kidoumaru."

"Sakon."

"Ukon."

"Jiroubu."

"Kimmimaro."

"Kimmimaro!" Orochimaru whirled on the approaching shinobi. "I told you to stay and rest at Oto."

"I am fine, Orochimaru-sama." The Snake Sannin sighed and ran a hand through his graying hair.

"Ooh, ooh! What can you do?" Naruto bounced over to Kimmimaro and gazed at him with eager eyes. The bone ninja gave the blond a cold look.

"You're Naruto Uzumaki?"

"That's me! Future kage of- Well we haven't named it yet, actually." Naruto rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, before his eyes suddenly widened. His nose twitched and he leaned in closer to Kimmimaro, all trace of childishness gone. "You're sick. In the heart." Kimmimaro gravely nodded. "Then hold still." Before Kimmimaro could react, Naruto gripped his arm and the bone ninja couldn't move. It was over in an instant. Naruto's free hand glowed dark blue and he slammed his fist into Kimmimaro's chest, right over his heart. The bone ninja stumbled and hacked up something black, which Naruto then stepped on and ground into the sand.

"W-what just happened?" Kimmimaro wheezed out as he felt the constant throbbing pain in his heart subside. Naruto grinned so widely his face looked about ready to split in half.

"You're all better!" Everyone, including Orochimaru, on the ex-Oto side just stared.

"Naruto can't perform most medical jutsu simply because he lacks the chakra control, unlike our Sakura, but most diseases can't stand up to a blast of demon chakra," Himaru summed up. "Though you may want to be careful for a little while. Human bodies aren't designed for holding demon chakra." Himaru turned to Sakura. "Do a quick check would you? Make sure Naruto didn't rupture anything." Sakura nodded and yanked the still slightly befuddled Kimmimaro over to the side.

'He's officially on the abnormal list,' each and every one of the Oto Five thought simultaneously.

"Thank-you for the support, Orochimaru-sama," Himaru said and bowed to the older shinobi.

"Huh? Support?" Naruto asked, and everyone sweat dropped.

"These five are your first new recruits," Orochimaru said. "I would send more as thanks, but my village needs a lot of man power to fix the damage Orochi did."

"So you're not re-joining Konoha?" Himaru asked. Orochimaru only shook his head.

"When I realized I would lose the title of Hokage to Arashi, my own weakness let Orochi in. I cannot return to Konoha as a shinobi, and I must repent to the villagers to Oto." Himaru smiled sadly.

"Well, one more ally for use, I suppose. Once again, thank-you."

"Feel free to stop by anytime, Kaiki-sennin!" Orochimaru smiled at the blond before turning to his shinobi.

"I wish I could see you settle in, but time won't allow it. I'll definitely come by to say 'hi'." And with that, he was gone.

"Naruto!" The blond turned around to face his teacher.

"Yeah, Himaru-sensei?"

"I want you to start scouring for recruits. Try to focus more on children, most adults are to late to save. We'll branch off later, but for now Wave will do." Naruto did a little salute, and was about to dash off, but Himaru stopped him with a raised hand. "Leave some shadow clones. You'll know why when you get back." Once several pops were heard, Naruto was off for real this time. Once the blond was out of sight, Himaru clapped his hands together and put on a big smile.

"So, who's ready to set up camp?"

A small boy ran through the alleys, accidentally taking a wrong turn and ending up at a dead end. He whirled to face his pursuer, a bulky butcher. "I told you, I didn't take it!" The butcher voice came out greasy, just like his face.

"Don't lie, brat! I saw ya' do it, now pay up!"

"I don't have any money!"

"Then I'll take it out of your hide!" The boy clamped his eyes shut. He was going to die for the one thing he didn't steal. A loud 'thump' without any pain on his part told him that something was amiss. He creaked his eyes open, and was greeted by the sight of an angel.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and you're coming with me!" A very loud angel.

Similar occurrences occurred all over Wave. Dozens of blondes could be seen jumping from roof top with a person or two on their backs. Whole families of people were being carried across the roof tops, and none of them had any idea what was going on. But hey, it had to be better than here.

"Why'd you choose Wave?" Zabuza asked as Himaru bent some palm trees into a shelter to teach some pegasuses how to do it.

"Simple. It doesn't have a shinobi village, it's protected by the sea, it's going to be experiencing an economic boom with the completion of the bridge and that same bridge is going to be a constant source of body guard employment." Zabuza quirked a hairless eye brow at the jounin.

"How long have you been planning this?"

"This whole thing? Since I was about fourteen. Now get of your butt and carve up some lumber or something." Zabuza grumbled something about being bossy, when his eyes suddenly brightened with mischief.

"So, who was that chick you ditched when the invasion started?" Himaru turned a bright shade of red and nearly let go of the trees.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Zabuza smirked underneath his bandages.

"You're gay, aren't you?" This time, Himaru did let go of the trees who promptly snapped back into place.

"I am NOT! I just…she took me into her house."

"Yeah, so?" Himaru cast a sidelong glance at the kids working several yards away before leaning toward Zabuza's ear. The missing nin's eyes widened considerably.

"Whoa. Guessing you'd be the 'S'?"

"Shhh!" Himaru shot another look at the genin and Zabuza just laughed.

"Ah, relax. They'll have to learn about it eventually. Oh, and from personal experience, chicks like that never give up on something they want." Himaru shuddered.

"I know."

That's all for now. Hope you liked it. Now my Internet just has to start working and I'll be set!