I do not own Kamen Rider Blade or Naruto. Those belong to their respective creators and not me. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs their heads examined. Anyway, here's the next chapter and I hope you all enjoy.
The Forgotten Rider
By Ten-Faced Paladin
Chapter 2: Rider of the Wave
Kyle's fame as 'The Rider' as the people began to call him spread quickly. The people were excited to see that someone was able to stand up to Gatoh's thugs and live. Ninjas no less! Now when he went with Tsunami and Inari into town for things, people would whisper wherever he went and eyeing his belt, wondering how much it was worth. Kyle was never one to stand out so he found this new attention placed on him to be both unnerving and exciting.
Tazuna had gone to Hi no Kuni a day after the attack by whom Kyle now recognized as the Demon Brothers. His mind gave him that information after the battle was finished and the adrenaline had worn off. Still, it worried Kyle to see Tazuna go off on his own. He knew the Demon Brothers would attack again, but he wasn't sure if his presence would have altered anything. At best, it might make Kakashi's fight with them that much easier.
Gatoh hadn't sent anymore ninja after the workers on the bridge either. He was probably trying to gather info on The Rider now. Most smart people did that when faced with something new. They learned about it and in Gatoh's case, try to find a way to get rid of it. To that end, Kyle was keeping the Blade and Garren Buckles secret for the moment. King Form and Garren's gun would definitely give him an edge in battle if he had to go up against Zabuza rather that Kakashi.
Inari had likewise warmed up to Kyle since that day. He slowly began to regain his faith that heroes did exist. Kyle knew that such people already existed, but the hard part was to prove that there were heroes all over the place. You just had to keep an eye out for them. Kyle also knew that Naruto would help Inari see this.
At the moment, Kyle was watching Inari as Tsunami got some of the daily chores done. The two were playing a card game with the Rouze Cards. Inari actually found the Rouze Cards interesting and was asking questions about what they did and what kinds of Undead were inside of them. Kyle would just answer his questions with knowledge he gained from watching the Kamen Rider Blade television show. It only got Inari even more interested. Kyle was thankful for Inari's enthusiasm since it kept his mind off his grandfather for the time being.
While they were talking, the front door suddenly slammed open with the sounds of stumbling feet. Kyle was instantly up with his Category Ace of Hearts in his hand. He went straight to the front door to see who had entered and let out a slight sigh of relief when he saw Tazuna coming in. Beside him were three Genin shinobi who wore hitai-ate with the Konoha symbol on them. The first was the black-haired emo Sausuke Uchiha. Next to him was the pink-haired intelligent-yet-annoying fangirl Sakura Haruno, and finally was the blonde prankster that Kyle could recognize a mile away, Naruto Uzumaki. Sasuke and Naruto were both carrying over their shoulders a man in a Jounin uniform with his hitai-ate draped over one eye and silver hair. Kyle instantly recognized him as Kakashi Hatake.
'And so it begins,' Kyle thought to himself before looking to Tazuna. "Glad to see you home, Old man. Inari was worried sick."
"Glad to be back," Tazuna nodded. "Now help me get this guy to a futon. There was a huge fight and he used up a lot of his chakra."
Kyle nodded as he and Tazuna took the unconscious Kakashi from Naruto and Sauske and headed for a corner of the house. Tsunami was quickly gathering a spare futon for him. If Kyle was less serious about his situation than he was, he might have felt some kind of excitement in the fact that he was meeting Kakashi himself. As it was, the guy needed rest. Both men carried the unconscious Jounin near a window before Tsunami set the futon down. Kyle and Tazuna then put Kakashi in it so he could recover.
"Judging by the Genin, we didn't have enough to pay for a B-rank mission, did we?" Kyle asked. His voice was low so the three Genin in question wouldn't hear.
"No," Tazuna sighed in an equally low voice. "I had to lie and make it a C-rank one instead."
"I see," Kyle sighed. "Well, we lucked out. If I'm right, then this guy is the infamous copy-nin Kakashi, the man who copied 1000 jutsus. His presence alone will help. If those three are his students then we might have some hope after all."
"I dunno," Tazuna frowned. "The blonde down there is a loudmouth who froze when those Demon Brothers you took down showed up again. Before he left, he went on and on about how he's going to be Hokage."
"The Demon Brothers showed up again?" Kyle blinked. He was slightly relieved at that. It meant that things were still going on track.
"Yeah," Tazuna nodded. "I guess they decided to try and take me out when you weren't around."
"I wondered what happened to them," Kyle snickered.
"Yeah well," Tazuna sighed. "Pinkie is just a fangirl for that other kid who was the only one who actually did any damage to them before Kakashi finished them off."
"So they're still green," Kyle nodded. "Still, if Kakashi is their teacher then there must be something about them he sees that we don't."
"I'll believe that when I see it," Tazuna grumbled before he and Kyle began heading back to where the others were waiting.
Tsunami was already working on something for the Genin to eat. Inari was nowhere to be seen though. He probably went to be by himself. He was obviously a little distrustful of new people. Sasuke was just sitting still at the table, looking a little brooding, but that probably wasn't new. Sakura had snagged a seat next to him and looked like she won the lottery, but she seemed a little nervous too. Naruto on the other hand seemed a little impatient with what was going on. It figured. He was the hyperactive ninja in the ranks.
"Well," Kyle sighed, catching their attention. "Sorry about troubling you guys like this, but if you still came then I guess you did accept the mission."
"You bet we did!" Naruto cried while leaping up. "Once I accept a mission then there's no turning back!"
"That's good to hear," Kyle chuckled. "Because we're in pretty deep. The help is definitely appreciated. By the way, my name is Kyle Jones. Might I ask who you three are?"
"Oh, my name is Sakura Haruno." Sakura introduced politely.
"Sasuke Uchiha," the silent boy spoke up.
"I'm Naruto Uzumaki!" the hyperactive blonde cried. "You'd better remember it because I'm going to be Hokage one day!"
"I'd better remember it then," Kyle chuckled. "If we need help from Konoha in the future then it will be good for us if we personally know the Hokage."
Naruto's face split into a wide grin at the comment. Kyle guessed that he hadn't received too much encouragement beyond Iruka and a few others in his life.
"So," Kyle spoke up again. "What just happened out there? Were the Demon Brothers really that much tougher?"
"Heh," Sasuke smirked. "As if. I could handle guys like them easily."
'Suuuuuurre you could,' Kyle thought. 'Hold them off probably, but Kakashi would stand a much better chance against them.'
"It was Zabuza Momochi," Sakura spoke up. "We ran into him while heading here. He and Kakashi-sensei fought and sensei had to use his Sharingan to beat him. It apparently drained his chakra so that's why he was out cold when we got here."
"Wait, the Demon of the Mist? THAT Zabuza?" Kyle spoke up.
"Yes," Sakura nodded. "But thankfully he's dead now. Someone Kakashi-sensei called a hunter-nin killed him."
"Was he now?" Kyle nodded. "Well, that's one worry out of the way. Still, I'm a little surprised that one of the former Seven Swordsmen of Mist was taken down by just one Hunter-nin."
"Seven Swordsmen?" asked Naruto. "Who are they?"
"Didn't you ever pay attention in class?" Sakura sighed. "The Seven Swordsmen of Mist were elite fighters in Kirigakure! They disbanded a while ago, but they are still really dangerous! So Zabuza was one of them?"
"I believe he was," Kyle nodded. "Of course, if what you said about the hunter-nin was true then we don't have to worry."
Naruto grumbled slightly as he leaned back in his chair. He actually seemed disappointed that Zabuza was dead. Kyle just kept his thoughts on this to himself. Why anyone would actually be eager to fight a nut job like Zabuza was beyond him. Personally, they neededto have their heads examined. Then again, Naruto wasn't one of the smartest ninjas around.
A soft groan suddenly rose from the futon as Kakashi returned to the waking world. The three Genin were immediately at their feet as they went to see their teacher. Tsunami was likewise heading there to see if he needed anything.
"How are you feeling, Sensei?" she asked with some concern.
"Bad," Kakashi groaned. He attempted to sit up, but his movements were stiff. "I don't think I'll be able to move properly for about a week."
"Then don't move!" Tsunami ordered sharply. As nice a woman as she was, she was strict with her bedside manner.
"Yes ma'am," Kakashi nodded as he lay back down.
"You burned through your chakra by using the Sharingan," Sakura commented. "I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing to have it."
"Sorry," Kakashi mumbled, but he didn't sound very sorry at all.
"Still, you did take down Zabuza so we should be okay for a while," Tazuna grinned.
"Speaking of which," Sakura pondered. "Who was that guy in the mask? You called him a hunter-nin"
"I did," Kakashi nodded. "They are a band of ANBU who hunt down ninjas who have betrayed or abandoned their village. A ninja's body can reveal many secrets about their village; chakra, herbs, medical techniques. For example, if I was killed, my Sharingan eye could be examined and possibly all my jutsus could be recorded. It is the job of these ninjas to make sure the bodies are destroyed."
"So Zabuza should be nothing more than a few drops of blood or ashes by now," Kyle spoke up.
"I wish it were that simple," Kakashi replied after a moment of silence.
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto.
"Hunter-nin are trained to destroy the bodies of ninja where they are found," Kakashi frowned behind his mask. "The hunter-nin that killed Zabuza took his body away, didn't he?"
"He did," Sakura nodded. "But why? I mean, what would he want with a dead body?"
"Because Zabuza may not be dead after all," Kakashi replied with his single eye narrowing.
"Huh?!" all three Genin and Tazuna cried.
"How's that possible?" asked Sakura.
"That guy killed Zabuza with senbon needles, correct?" Kakashi asked. Seeing nods, he continued. "Senbon needles weren't initially created for battle. They were made for acupuncture. Depending where they hit on the body, they can make it do different things. There are even spots, that if hit precisely and accurately, can create a death-like state for the person the technique was used on."
"So Zabuza's still alive then if that's the case," Tazuna sighed sadly.
Kakashi nodded, "Luckily, it takes a toll on the person too. Zabuza will be weakened for a while. Hopefully enough time for me to make a full recovery. In the meantime though, you three will have to start training."
Naruto started grinning at the prospect of that. Kakashi noticed the blonde's sudden upbeat attitude. It actually seemed to him that Naruto was happy that Zabuza was still alive. Kyle likewise noticed, but was feeling a little unease. He had proven that the Rider System was capable of fighting ninjas, but against a missing-nin like Zabuza, he wasn't sure. Come to think of it, the Demon Brothers were missing-nin too. Why hadn't their headbands been scratched?
"Kakashi-san," Kyle spoke up. The gray-haired Jounin turned to look at him. "The Demon Brothers are missing-nin like Zabuza, right?"
"Yes," Kakashi nodded. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, when the brothers attacked the bridge, I noticed that they didn't scratch their village symbol. I heard Zabuza didn't do that either. Why is that?"
"Not all missing-nin do that," Kakashi shrugged. "One reason why not is if ninjas are caught do terrible things and their headbands aren't scratched, people assume they are still loyal to their village. In this case, it would give people a bad view of Kiri-nins and possibly hurt the Mizukage economically when it comes to missions. Either that or they were just too lazy to do it."
"He doesn't like Kirigakure as it is?" asked Sakura.
"His reasons are his own," Kakashi sighed. "Right now he is our enemy and we need to prepare for his return."
"All right!" Naruto grinned. "Looks like things are getting interesting!"
"Says you," a new voice spoke.
Everyone turned to see who had spoken and found themselves looking at Inari, who had walked back into the room now that everything had calmed down. Naruto frowned slightly at the tone of his voice and decided to address him.
"Hey, who are you?" he cried.
"Inari!" Tazuna cried. "It's good to see you again!"
"Hi Grandpa!" Inari smiled as he ran and hugged his grandfather. Kyle smiled at the sight. If there was anything that helped Inari smile, it was his mother and grandfather. Of course, Kyle was neutral ground.
As Inari was hugging his grandfather, Tsunami stalked towards them with her hands on her hips, "Inari, don't be rude to our guests. These ninja are the ones who escorted your grandfather back home."
Inari turned his gaze to the collected ninja in the room. He didn't seem all that impressed with them and he looked rather neutral about their appearance.
"We don't need them," he spoke. "We have The Rider. If they don't want to die then they should go home. They aren't strong enough to go against Gatoh."
Kyle blinked at the announcement. Now that was unexpected to him. He thought that Inari didn't believe in heroes. Had his presence and use of the Rouze Cards really changed the young boy's views that much? Naw, it couldn't be.
"What did you say?!" Naruto cried. He pointed at Inari. "Listen up! I am the super hero Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hokage of Konoha!"
"You're no hero!" Inari frowned. "You don't even come close! The Rider helps us everyday! Even more than just fighting! He doesn't even ask for anything in return!"
"Why you-!" Naruto growled as he began to walk over to thump Inari on the head for being rude. Well, he would have if Sakura hadn't physically restrained him. Naruto struggled for a few more moments before he calmed down enough for her to let go.
Inari just turned to leave the room. As he was leaving, he spared a glance at the collected ninja, "If you want to stay and die, then go ahead. Just don't get in The Rider's way."
With that, Inari was gone. Kyle felt a little guilty now. No doubt Naruto might try to pick a fight with him once he either finds out he was the Rider or seen the Rider himself. Although, Kyle began to wonder why Inari didn't tell them about The Rider's true identity.
"Sorry about that," Tazuna sighed while rubbing the back of his head.
"It's no problem," Kakashi shrugged. "Although, this is the second time I heard mention of this 'Rider' fellow. Care to shed some light on this?"
"Where did you hear about him before?" Kyle asked curiously. Did they meet one of the workers and overhear them or something?
"The Demon Brothers," Kakashi replied.
------------------------------------------Flashback------------------------------------------
Kakashi stared down the two notorious missing-nins that had just attempted to kill Tazuna. He had spotted them hiding in a puddle even though it was a bright and sunny day and it hadn't rained recently. After using a Kawimari no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique) to avoid their attack, he found it slightly odd, but they were a little slower than expected. He almost triggered the jutsu too early.
Kakashi had hid in the trees to see if he could catch the two off guard while his team dealt with them. As he watched, he found that he was right. The Demon Brothers were being a little slow for Chunin. They also seemed to be favoring their right side. Possibly because of an injury that they had sustained a short time ago. Sasuke was able to hold them off while Naruto seemed to freeze and Sakura hung back with Tazuna.
Acting quickly, Kakashi leaped into battle and managed to knock out both of the Demon Brothers at the same time. A nice surprise attack if he would say so himself.
Now that he had a moment to look at the two, he saw that they did have some injuries that still hadn't healed fully. There were signs of frostbite on their faces and judging by how they winced whenever their left sides were moved, something had hit them pretty hard in the ribs as well.
"Well now," the gray-haired Jounin observed. "Isn't this interesting? It seems someone gave you two a good beating before I even got to you. Care to share who?"
"Rrrrr," One-Horn growled angrily. The sting of defeat felt just as bitter the second time around.
"The Rider," Two-Horn hissed angrily.
"The Rider?" Kakashi blinked. He hadn't heard of anyone like that and last he checked, the bingo books didn't have a name like that either. He did notice that Tazuna flinched slightly at the name. He apparently knew whoThe Rider was. Judging by the size of the flinch, it wasn't because he was afraid of him.
"Interesting," Kakashi pondered to himself.
--------------------------------------End Flashback-----------------------------------------
Tazuna and Tsunami both looked down slightly as Kakashi explained where he had heard of The Rider. Now it was painfully obvious to the Jounin that they knew something about this unknown fighter. To be honest, Kakashi was finding himself curious about this person. He must be something if he was able to take down two Chunin-level ninjas.
"The Rider is someone who showed up a few weeks ago," Tazuna explained. "When those Demon Brothers attacked, he fought back. As you could tell, he defeated them."
"By himself?" asked Sasuke. This Rider was beginning to catch his interest. If he could fight him, someone who beat two Chunin, and win, he would be one step closer to killing him.
"Well, he had a summons to help him," Tsunami offered.
"What kind?" asked Kakashi. If they learned what kind of summons The Rider could use, then they might be able to figure out where he was from.
"Well, it looked kind of human-like," Tsunami offered.
"He called it an elephant, but I dunno," Tazuna shrugged.
"Elephant?" Kakashi blinked. He hadn't heard of a summons like that before.
"Yeah," Tazuna nodded. "As weird as it looked, it was a powerful fighter."
Kyle refrained from speaking. While he could give some testimony to the fight, he might give away something that would implicate him as The Rider. He wasn't very sure why Tazuna and Tsunami were keeping his identity as the Rider secret. He could ask them later, but at the moment he decided to keep his mouth shut.
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Later, Kakashi was on a pair of homemade crutches as he led Team 7 out to the woods. After a short time walking, he stopped around some particularly large trees. Kakashi then turned to his students.
"Okay," he spoke. "Now, I'm sure you guys were taught in the academy about chakra, right? You three know what it is?"
"It's the mixture of both body energy and spiritual energy, right?" replied Sakura.
"That's right," Kakashi nodded with his eye in an upside-down U to show he was smiling.
"Why do we need to know this, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto impatiently. "We already know how to use chakra!"
"What he said," Sasuke sighed. "We can already use techniques."
"True," Kakashi nodded. "But you can't use chakra completely yet."
"Huh?" the three Genin blinked.
"As you are, using your chakra creates waste which can create a weakness of not being able to fight for a while," Kaakashi explained. "This is a weakness a ninja cannot afford. So, I am going to put you through a dangerous training which may very well endanger your lives."
A chill ran through the spines of the three Genin as Kakashi's words. They each entertained of training their teacher would put them through. It was a couple of seconds before Sakura had gotten up the courage to finally ask a question.
"W-what are you going to have us do?" she asked timidly.
"What I'm going to have you do is," Kakashi began, "climb trees."
It was a strong urge to facefault which was shared by the three. Still, they held strong to keep from doing the embarrassing action.
"Climbing trees?" Naruto asked. "What kind of training is that?!"
"It is good training since you can't use your hands in this exercise," Kakashi replied.
"Then how are we supposed to do it?" asked Sakura.
"Watch," Kakashi spoke before he made a hand seal. He collected chakra before turning towards one of the trees. When he was in front of a tree, he placed his foot on the tree, before he started walking up the side of the tree. He kept going until he was standing upside down on one of the branches.
"Woah!" Naruto cried. "That's cool!"
"How do we do it?" Sasuke asked emotionlessly.
"What you need to do is concentrate your chakra into your feet," Kakashi explained. "This exercise helps you learn better chakra control. Even seasoned veteran ninjas have problems doing this sometimes. In theory, if you can master this exercise, then you can master any jutsu out there. Like I said though, a theory."
Kakashi then threw some kunai down to his students, "Use these to mark your progress. Try to get a little higher each time. My advice is to make a run of it since you aren't used to using chakra this way just yet."
"Hah!" Naruto smirked. "I'll do this training easy!"
The Training was on for the three. Naruto didn't even manage to get very high since he didn't have enough chakra in his feet. Sasuke on the other hand got a little bit up the tree before the wood began splintering under his feet before launching away from the tree. Apparently, he had been using too much chakra. Sakura though, managed to get to the first branch that could support her weight. Kakashi made an offhand comment about Sakura becoming the next Hokage and the Uchiha clan not being so great. It only served to make the two boys competitive with each other.
Little did they know, Inari was watching them train from behind a tree.
"I don't see the point in doing something like that," he frowned to himself.
"Oh, I dunno," another voice spoke from behind. Inari quickly turned to see who had followed him. He sighed in relief when he saw Kyle. "I didn't learn the combos for the Rouze Cards overnight. I had to train on how to use them."
Inari frowned in thought about that comment. Kyle just turned to see what was going on and fondly remembered the exercise. Inari looked to see what Kyle was looking at.
"Why are you watching them anyway?" asked Inari. "They aren't as strong as you."
"Hmm," Kyle frowned. He then got a grin on his face as he drew the Ace of Clubs and a card depicting a dragonfly with the word 'Float' written on the side. "Why don't we introduce them to the Rider? Then we can find out."
Inari blinked at the moment. He then realized what the older boy was thinking of doing and began to grin a little.
Naruto had gotten a little higher, but his control was still bad. He hadn't been improving much at all. He had a few bumps on his head. Still, he wasn't going to be dissuaded in his training. He looked up the tree to see the marks he had made in the tree. Most of them were collected near each other with a few marks above the mess.
"Rrrrgh!" the blonde growled. "I'll do this! Believe it!"
Naruto brought his hands together to try and get the chakra needed to try the technique again. Dust was kicked up slightly from the chakra flow and he charged for the tree again. His feet met the wood and started trying to get higher than he did before. After a few steps, he felt himself starting to slide back down again.
"Wagh!" he cried as gravity reasserted itself.
"Float!"
Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke watched as Naruto fell before something green came down from above and caught him by his jacket. Now that everything was holding still, they could see just what had caught Naruto. To be more specific, who had caught Naruto.
Sitting on a tree branch just above Naruto and holding him by the end of his staff was Kamen Rider Leangle. If one could see his face, they would see a big grin on his face. He observed the looks of shock on the ninjas' faces. Off to the side, Inari was trying not to laugh as well. Seeing the ninja his grandfather had hired shocked like they were was funny.
"Yo!" Leangle waved, using Kakashi's catch line when he arrived late for something.
"Who the heck are you?!" Sakura cried, the shock catching up with her.
"Depends who you ask," Leangle shrugged. "To Gatoh and his thugs, I'm called 'Bastard'. I personally call myself Leangle right now. The people around wave call me 'Rider'."
"You're The Rider we've heard about?" Kakashi asked curiously.
"That's me," Leangle nodded. He turned down to look at Naruto. "You okay?"
"Uh...yeah," Naruto nodded, still surprised at seeing The Rider. "Are you going to put me down or not?"
"Sure," Leangle nodded. He held out his staff and allowed Naruto to unlatch himself and land on the ground feet first rather than on his head. Leangle allowed himself to roll off his seat and instead of dropping like they thought he would, he just slowly hovered to the ground. When his feet touched the ground softly, he looked to the surprised Genin and alert Jounin.
"What brings you here...Leangle?" Kakashi asked suspiciously.
"I heard some Konoha-nin had been called in by the bridge builder," Leangle replied. "I wanted to meet them for myself."
"Well you sure came at the right time!" Naruto grinned as he stepped forward. "Watching us powerful ninja train is pretty cool isn't it?"
"I guess," Leangle shrugged. "It's cooler than those Demon Brothers anyway."
"So, Leangle," Kakashi spoke as he stepped forward. "I suppose that it was you who first beat the Demon Brothers?"
"That was me," Leangle nodded. "Those two bozos survived the fall off the bridge?"
"They did," Kakashi nodded. "Tried again a second time."
"I see," Leangle sighed.
The three Genin only watched the exchange with different feelings. Sasuke was trying to determine just how strong this Leangle guy was just by his actions, but he wasn't getting much. That didn't mean he was weak. It could just mean that he was hiding his skill. Naruto thought that Leangle looked pretty darn cool-looking in his armor. He seemed to be a pretty nice guy since he went out of the way to help him out. Sakura was trying to figure out how he hovered to the ground like did. Inner Sakura was making comments about cool and mysterious Leangle looked with his armor and appearance.
"So what are your intentions in Nami no Kuni?" Kakashi finally asked.
"I saw people in trouble," Leangle replied simply and without hesitation. "I want to help."
"Admirable," Kakashi nodded. "You do it with asking nothing in return."
"Even if I wanted money, these people are too poor to give it," Leangle commented. "I bet they had to sacrifice a lot of what they had left to pay for you four. I just hope that they get what they paid for."
"They will," Kakashi replied.
"That's good," Leangle replied with a cheery voice. "I look forward to working with you."
Kakashi nodded. He was definitely suspicious, but he had no reason to be hostile to The Rider. He just seemed to be concerned about the people of Nami and wanted to make sure that Team 7 was on the level. Kakashi could remember plenty of missions where civilians involved wanted to be sure of his intentions before letting him help them. He really couldn't blame The Rider for doing the same.
"Us too," Kakashi nodded.
Leangle nodded in satisfaction. Although he knew plenty about Team 7, meeting them as The Rider was important. He had to make sure that they knew he was one of the good guys. It wouldn't do to help against Zabuza or Haku only to get a kunai in the back from a suspicious Sasuke or get trapped in one of Kakashi's techniques.
"Well then, sorry for interrupting your training," Leangle bowed slightly.
"Not at all," Kakashi 'smiled'. "This was very informative."
"Great," Leangle nodded. He then turned towards the deeper woods. "Well, see you."
"Wait!" someone cried.
Leangle turned around and saw Sasuke standing and staring at him unblinkingly. Leangle didn't like the look that was in the Genin's eyes. They seemed to be shining with anticipation and expectation. The last Uchiha had been trying to figure out how Leangle stacked as a fighter, but now decided that fighting him would be the easiest way of finding out.
"Yes?" Leangle asked.
"Fight me," Sasuke all but demanded.
"Why?" Leangle asked in reply.
"If Zabuza is coming back, then we are going to need battle experience as well as training," was Sasuke's response. Leangle wasn't sure, but Sasuke might be using that as an excuse to test himself to see how strong he was.
Leangle turned to Kakashi, "Would you permit sparring with your student?"
"Fine by me," Kakashi shrugged.
"Then we can have Blondie and Pinkie spar too," Leangle nodded. This caught Sakura and Naruto's attention. Naruto was beginning to feel bitter that Sasuke was apparently going to get extra training while Sakura was getting ready to see her Sasuke-kun in action. Of course, hearing their names mentioned in the sparring returned them to reality.
"You're going to spar with all three of them?" Kakashi asked skeptically.
"Me?" Leangle chuckled. "No. I've got a friend in mind for that."
Kakashi guessed that he was talking about a summons. Either Leangle himself or this so-called elephant summons, it didn't quite matter. His students would get some battle training and he would see some of the Rider's techniques.
Leangle reached to his case and drew two cards. These cards were the Screw Mole and Remote Tapir. They were the Category 3 and 10 of Clubs respectively. The four ninja were somewhat confused to see the cards. That confusion only grew when they saw him throw one of the cards at them.
"Remote!" Leangle's weapon called as he passed the second card through the end. Leangle then pointed it at the flying card before a beam of energy flew at it. When it struck the card, an image of the mole on the card replaced the card itself before it started to grow larger and larger. When it was large enough, the Undead within came out and Sakura actually screamed.
The Mole Undead didn't really look like the species it was the ancestor of. It was humanoid in shape with what seemed to be a blue head. It had a black mask which had three drills coming from the eyes and nose. Its body was covered with studded metal armor. Its shoulders had rectangular covers while its hands were large claws that were made for digging. Its forearms were covered with spiked armguards which could double as shields. The Mole Undead gave of a dark growl as it watched the three Genin.
"You three can spar with him," Leangle smiled as he pointed at the 'summons'. "The Mole Undead."
"Mole?" Kakashi blinked. Even he was shocked by the creature's appearance. "That doesn't look anything like a mole!"
"The reason behind its appearance is a story for another day," Leangle shrugged. He then turned to his Undead. "Mole Undead! The three in front of you wish to spar!"
The Mole Undead turned to look at Leangle before it nodded. It then turned back to the three Genin before its growling got louder. It then charged forward with its claws raised, ready to strike. Team 7 immediately leaped away to gain some distance from the Undead.
"You can stop that thing before it kills them, right?" Kakashi asked, deathly serious.
"Rest assured, I can," Leangle replied, just as tense. "I would have used one of the more intelligent ones, but they are way more powerful than this one. Start off small and all that."
"But what's the point of having them fight that thing?" asked Kakashi.
"Well, if you can face a real monster, you can face a human with killing intent," Leangle shrugged. It made perfect sense to him. Strangely enough, Kakashi found himself nodding in agreement. A loud crash caught their attention as they looked back to the sparring match.
Things had been hectic. Sakura had tried numerous shuriken and kunai, but the Mole Undead's armor was too thick. The only section of flesh they could see was its head and it was wary of that. Sasuke tried to sneak around for a back attack, but apparently the Mole Undead's hearing was very sharp. It quickly spun around and tore a chunk out of a tree with a blow that just missed the last Uchiha. Naruto seemed to have a little more success. He used his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) and tried a mob assault on the Undead. A large number of clones were lost as the Mole Undead swung wildly. Naruto himself managed to plant a solid blow to the Undead's head, sending it stumbling slightly. It wasn't much of a blow though.
Sasuke took advantage of the momentary distraction to go through a set of hand seals
"Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)" Sasuke cried as he finished the hand seals. He inhaled deeply before releasing a giant fireball from his mouth straight at the Mole Undead.
The Mole Undead heard the roaring of the flames and turned to see what it was. It felt the fireball coming closer by the temperatures it was giving off. It seemed that the Undead was quickly engulfed by the small blaze.
"Looks like they win," Kakashi commented.
"Takes more than that to defeat an Undead," Leangle retorted.
The flames began to die down and the three Genin dove in to see their handiwork. What they got was a large hole in the ground that was an obviously a tunnel which the Mole Undead had created to escape from the attack.
"Hey, where did it go?" Sakura cried out. Naruto looked down into the hole.
"It dug its way into the ground," he then tensed up and grabbed Sakura before pushing her away. She landed roughly on her rear.
"Hey what was that for!?" she yelled at him but she got her answer as the Mole Undead exploded out of the spot where she'd been standing just a minute ago. It then looked at Naruto and fired the drills in its face at him. The drills were sent flying at the blonde. Sasuke immediately threw some kunai and knocked the drills out of the air, giving Naruto some time to back up.
"Teamwork isn't bad," Leangle spoke.
"It's an important part of being a ninja," Kakashi replied with pride in his voice.
The three Genin leaped away from the Undead as it tried to attack them. Sasuke was breathing heavily after using that jutsu mixed with the training exercise.
'If The Rider can control a creature this strong, how strong is he as a fighter?' he asked himself
Sakura was starting to get worried about their chances of winning. This thing was much stronger than any other kind of enemy they had faced in their brief career as ninjas. The Rider had used one of these things to help him defeat those Demon Brothers too. She didn't like their chances of defeating this thing.
"Dammit!" Naruto growled. "What's it going to take to beat this thing?!"
"Is there any way for them to beat it?" Kakashi asked Leangle.
"How do you think it got sealed in the first place?" Leangle retorted. "Someone had to weaken it for sealing."
"I see," Kakashi nodded.
The Mole Undead apparently got impatient and roared angrily before charging at its nearest opponent. In this case, that would be Sakura. The pink-haired kunoichi felt her fear spike as she watched the Undead charge at her with its large claws raised.
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto cried in shock. His hands flew into hand seals before unleashing his jutsu. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
The Mole Undead was about to try and crush the pink-haired girl when it was suddenly mobbed again by Naruto and his clones. This time, they latched onto the Undead to make it lose its balance. As more and more clones latched onto the Undead, it began to fall and slam into the ground.
"No one hurts Sakura-chan!" Naruto growled at the Undead.
"Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!" Sasuke cried, unleashing his fire jutsu for a second time. With so many Naruto clones holding it down, the Mole Undead couldn't use its arms properly. As the fireball came closer, Naruto leaped from the mess of Undead and clones just as the fireball engulfed them all. The clones popped out of existence, but the Mole Undead was trapped in the tiny inferno. It roared in agony as it got up and began to stumble around. After a few moments, it fell to the ground before an explosion followed.
"Woah!" Naruto cried with wide eyes. "Awesome!"
Leangle chuckled as he and Kakashi walked towards the shrinking flames, "Good work you three. Fighting Undead is a pretty hard thing to do. Beating them is even harder. You should feel proud of yourselves."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Kakashi 'smiled'.
A gurgling noise caught everyone's attention as the now dead flames revealed the Mole Undead on the ground. The buckle that was around its waist had snapped open to reveal some kind of strange symbols.
"No way!" Naruto gaped. "How can it still be alive after exploding like that?!"
"Because it can't die," Leangle sighed as he drew a Proper Blank. "It has what many people only dream about. Immortality."
Kakashi's eye widened at the words before Leangle tossed the Proper Blank at the downed Undead. When the card made contact with its body, the Undead's body turned green as energy engulfed it before the Mole Undead was sucked inside of the card. When it was sucked inside, the image of a mole appeared on the card before it flew back into Leangle's hand.
"Like I said; congratulations," Leangle spoke with a smile.
"Yatta!" Naruto cried happily. Sasuke smirked victoriously while Sakura smiled happily.
"Well, that's enough excitement for me today," Leangle sighed. "I'll be going on my way. I'll see you all around."
With a small wave, Leangle began walking away into the woods. Behind him were an observing Kakashi and three Genin, happy with their accomplishment.
Leangle walked a fair distance away from the clearing and when he felt he was far enough away, he closed his buckle and slid his Category Ace out. As the purple field stripped the armor from him, Inari came walking through the trees towards Kyle.
"How's my acting?" Kyle grinned.
"Pretty cool," Inari smiled. "Those guys were really surprised when you used that weird summons."
"It was funny to see their faces," Kyle agreed. "Do you think they're strong enough to help now?"
"Maybe," Inari shrugged. "They can fight your summons, but the one you used was a low number. You had to use a high one to fight those Demon Brothers."
"I guess," Kyle shrugged. Well, he couldn't hope for Inari to change too much with just the presence of The Rider alone. Still, there was some progress at least.
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Night soon fell and eventually, everyone had gone to bed. Sakura was bunking with Tsunami since they were both girls while Kakashi, Tazuna, and Naruto were bunking with that Kyle guy in the spare room. He was a mystery and no one in the house seemed to have much to say about him. The basic story was that he came from another country hoping to find work building the bridge. He didn't know about the depression and since he helped Tsunami and Inari out with some goons, they invited him to stay while he worked. Tsunami even said he sacrificed a good portion of his pay to help pay for the C-rank mission they were sent on.
Sakura's thoughts then shifted to dinner. Sasuke and Naruto pigged out to the point of being sick just so they could get back to training sooner. Then Sakura herself had mentioned the torn picture which got Inari upset. Tazuna then explained about Kaiza and everything he had done for Nami up until Gatoh killed him for resisting. His death took the courage away from the people of Nami and from Inari. In fact, it made Inari stop believing in heroes altogether; well until The Rider came. Inari now believed in the possibility of heroes, but his standards of one were high. The other people in Nami were also beginning to brighten up when they heard about how The Rider stood against Gatoh and defeated his men. In the end, Naruto swore that he would prove that more heroes like The Rider existed in the world.
Speaking of which, just who was The Rider? After meeting the guy she had to admit that he was something. To control such a creature like that thing he called a Mole Undead. Although Sakura couldn't understand how that summons was called a mole. It didn't look anything like its namesake. What part of it could prove it was a mole aside from its ability to dig into the ground? It looked more like a demon than an animal summons.
She then thought about the Rider in question as well as the cards he carried. They were amazing. He was able to perform complex jutsus without the use of hand seals. Rather, he just swiped one of those cards across a part of that weapon of his before something would happen. She suspected the floating ability he had displayed was due to a card as well. How many cards did he have?
Most importantly, she wanted to know what he looked like behind that mask. He was a mystery, and for some reason this mystery was one she wanted to get to the bottom of.
Sasuke's thoughts were also of The Rider. He was thinking of how The Rider gained such power and where he could get it. Sasuke was an Avenger so any advantage he could gain over him would be helpful. Maybe, just maybe, he would discover The Rider's secrets and then use them. He would not know what hit him.
Naruto's thoughts were only of how cool The Rider looked and how fascinating his cards and jutsus were. That armor of his was pretty cool too.
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Inside their base, Zabuza was recovering quickly. He was testing his strength by moving and walking before crushing apples. He seemed to be pleased by the results.
"Your strength is returning quickly, Zabuza-sama," Haku observed,
"Yes," Zabuza nodded. "We'll be ready soon. Soon I'll be ready to kill Sharingan Kakashi."
"What about those rumors about The Rider?" asked Haku with some concern.
"If what we heard from the Demon Brothers is true then we will no doubt be running into him too," Zabuza replied darkly.
"Do you think it's true he can do powerful jutsus like summoning without hand seals?" Haku asked.
"He must have some kind of trick up his sleeve," Zabuza frowned. "There is no way someone can just summon without any kind of hand seals. Even so, be prepared for anything. Gatoh has only rumors about him and the Demon Brothers weren't very informative. We will have to be careful."
"Yes, Zabuza-sama," Haku nodded. Even so, there was something about this Rider that worried the ice-user. The Rider was rumored to be able to use ice in his attacks. That worried Haku, but also gave her a small measure of hope. Maybe there was someone else with her bloodline and thus a relation to her. Was The Rider related to her in some way? Of course, she would not even think about abandoning her precious person, but it would be nice to know that she was not the only one with an ice bloodline.
To Be Continued...
A/N: Chapter two is up. I want to thank the people who are supporting this fic with their reviews and non-flames. Pairings are still up in the air. Keep voting.