AN: It's been a while since I've updated this story but I'm finally getting around to it. I hope that this was worth the wait.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or anything else that may or may not appear in this fic that is related to anything else.
Clash between a Demon and a King
"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Angel Talking"
"Kyuubi or Inner Sakura Talking"
'Kyuubi or Inner Sakura Thinking'
Last Time
"Aspect," The clone spoke the seal on its back glowing brighter, "Invidia." It finished being consumed in a light that made it impossible to distinguish any of its features, as its shaped slowly began to change.
"Aspect," Naruto said lifting up his hand in front of his face, the back of the hand facing Zabuza so he could see the seal, "Avaritia." For a moment when the white haired brat said that word Zabuza felt something strange, but it soon went away so he just shrugged it off.
When the light that surrounded the Shadow clone shattered it revealed that it had changed and had become an exact replica of Zabuza's zanbato, which was imbedded into the ground. Reaching out and lifting it up with his left hand Naruto slung the giant zanbato over his shoulder.
"This," Naruto said softly in a cold voice, "Is the power of the Crown of Seven."
Now
Zabuza's clone scoffed at the former blonde, "Those are a couple of fancy words for a simple Transformation jutsu. Do you think that just because you had your clone transform into Kubikiribōchō you stand a chance against me now?"
"Kubikiribōchō?" Naruto said, testing the name out for himself' "Decapitating Carving Knife a fitting name for this sword. But you seem to have come to the wrong conclusion on a certain detail, I did not have my clone perform the Transformation jutsu."
"Then what did you have it do?" The Demon of the Hidden Mist asked with a raised nonexistent eyebrow.
"You'll just have to figure that out for yourself." Naruto replied, refusing to explain his abilities to an enemy, before he disappeared right in front of everyone's eyes. It was only thanks to the years of experience from being a shinobi that allowed the Zabuza Water clone to draw his own sword and block the slash from its counterpart. The Water clone struggled though, against the power behind the attack.
'Impossible.' The Water clone thought, 'How is this brat so fast? More than that whatever that Shadow clone did it wasn't a Transformation it wouldn't have been able to survive colliding with Kubikiribōchō like this.' With an angry glare at the impassive former blonde the Water clone pushed Naruto away. "I won't be beaten by some green fresh out of the academy Genin and a fake Kubikiribōchō!" The Water clone declared heatedly.
"We shall see." Naruto stated evenly, "But allow me to make something clear for you. In this world there are now exists two Kubikiribōchō my blade is just as real as yours."
"So what," The real Zabuza scoffed still unbelieving of what the white haired boy was saying. "Just because you have my sword doesn't mean you know how to use it."
"That is where you are mistaken, Zabuza." Naruto said before the Water clone had to duck or risk showing everyone just how exactly Kubikiribōchō got its name. 'Invidia: Envy the Always Shifting. The ability to transform my entire body or a specific part into anything else perfectly, in this case my clone transformed into an exact replica of Kubikiribōchō, down to the last detail and power. All I have to do is see something once or picture it clearly within my mind.'
Off to the side Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna were watching the fight between Naruto and Zabuza's Water clone.
"Amazing that kid is actually going toe to toe with that thing. They're evenly matched." Tazuna said in awe.
'That's not right,' Sakura thought as she watched the fight. 'It might look like they're equally matched, but I think that Naruto is still holding back, like he's testing himself against Zabuza's clone.' The pink haired kunoichi realized.
Sasuke clenched his fists tightly, as he grinded his teeth, watching the dobe matching a Jounin level ninja even if it was just a clone, was an insult to him. How did the dobe get stronger than him, an Uchiha! The Elite! This kind of power Naruto didn't deserve it, what possible reason would and idiot like him need it for. He needed it to avenge his clan, to kill Itachi, to show everyone that he was the strongest shinobi ever without equal. 'Damn you Naruto,' Sasuke thought with a scowl on his face.
Naruto easily sidestepped the Water clone's next slash, a bored look on his face, as he wasn't even trying to put any effort into fighting the clone anymore. The Water clone was growing increasingly irritated; Zabuza himself was becoming annoyed with the situation, even if the Water clone was a tenth of the strength of the original it should have dealt with the white haired brat by now.
Naruto just continued to look uninterested with the situation the zanbato he carried over his shoulder not even looking like it affected his movements at all. 'Avaritia: Greed the Avaricious' Naruto thought ducking under a horizontal slash, 'The ability to steal the skills or abilities of an opponent no matter what they are. The requirements are being able to see my opponent and know what I'm trying to copy. By combining Invidia and Avaritia I can use Kubikiribōchō just as well as Zabuza can.' With that final thought Naruto again dodged the clone's attack before swinging his Kubikiribōchō and slicing straight through the Zabuza look alike turning it back to water. Slinging the zanbato over his shoulder again Naruto stared straight at Zabuza with a cold look in his eye.
"Just who is this kid?" Zabuza muttered to himself, slightly disturbed by how the boy with the same blade as him across his shoulders was acting and performing. "Hm, well no matter just because the kid took care of a single Water clone doesn't mean he can compare to me."
Naruto stared at Zabuza with a cold calculating look trying to determine the next best course of action. Zabuza still held Kakashi prisoner within his jutsu, the Copycat-nin most likely running out of air soon, and was standing in the middle of the lake using, what Naruto guessed, was some type of chakra control exercise that he hadn't learned yet. While he could use Avaritia to learn the exercise instantly Naruto didn't want to become too dependent on the Crown of Seven, or use it for something as basic as Water Walking.
'So what are my other choices?' Naruto thought before sparing a glance back at his teammates that stood close to Tazuna. 'Teamwork is not an option at the moment. Haruno can't do anything productive at the moment with her skill set, and the Uchiha can't be counted to follow through with any plan that is formed at the moment with how his attitudes been like since I defeated him in our spar.' The storm-grey eyed shinobi continued turning his gaze back to Zabuza. 'Best chance to defeat Zabuza is to free Kakashi, but the question is how?'
"What's the matter brat? Don't you know how to walk on water yet?" Zabuza taunted the Genin. The Mist ninja's eyes widened a second later when Naruto appeared in front of him with Kubikiribōchō coming down at him. Blocking the strike with his own sword Zabuza held Naruto at bay with a single hand. "Is that it? If that is the best that you can do then you are already finished kid."
"On the contrary," A voice said a Shadow clone of Naruto forming behind Zabuza with a kunai in its hand. "That was only a momentary distraction." It finished bringing the kunai down toward Zabuza's spine. Zabuza tried to destroy the clone with a kick but the Shadow clone was barely able to dodge the kick and continued with its attack. With no other choice, now that he had an attack coming from both the front and the back and was now practically standing on one leg, Zabuza had to jump away from Naruto and his clone, or risk being cut either by the kunai in the clone's hand or Kubikiribōchō in Naruto's.
"Damn, to be made to drop my jutsu by a simple brat. I must be getting rusty." Zabuza muttered distastefully as Naruto dispelled his clone and he landed in the water. He wanted to attack the boy who copied his blade, but he knew that his biggest concern now that his Water Prison was undone was the freed Kakashi. Naruto quickly swam to the shore of the lake to get out of the line of fire from the two battling Jounin who were trading high ranked water jutsu. Kakashi, using his Sharingan's ability to copy Zabuza's actions perfectly unnerving him enough to gain the advantage in the fight and finish it with the jutsu that Zabuza was about to use.
"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" Kakashi exclaimed, the high pressurized water blasting Zabuza back into a tree.
"C-can you see the future?" Zabuza asked Kakashi, who appeared in the tree above the beaten rouge, kunai in hand.
"Yes," The grey haired Jounin answered. "And your future is death." Kakashi finished, but before he could end Zabuza's life three senbon suddenly struck Zabuza in the neck.
"You were right his future was death." A mysterious figure said wearing a white mask, with the Mist Village's symbol carved into the mask. (AN: I'm not going to describe the clothes that Haku wears everyone should know by now.) "I must thank you I have been after Zabuza for quite a while now."
"Who the hell are you?" Sasuke demanded. First the dobe out does him and then this nobody shows up out of nowhere and kills Zabuza. This was completely unacceptable to the last Uchiha.
"Mist Hunter-nin," Kakashi answered instead checking Zabuza's vitals and confirming his death.
The Hunter-nin disappeared in a Water Shunshin only to reappear a second later with Zabuza's body hung over their shoulder. "If you'll excuse me I must now dispose of the body, farewell." The Hunter-nin said before disappearing in another Water Shunshin.
Naruto stared at the place where the Hunter-nin stood a second ago, something seemed off but he wasn't sure what it was. The Jinchuuriki's attention was brought out of his thoughts when Kakashi said his name.
"Naruto," The Jounin sensei began sternly his voice completely serious unlike how it usually was. "Do you mind explaining to me what exactly you thought you were doing? Not only did you ignore the order of your superior officer and sensei, when I told you to leave with the bridge builder, but you also engaged an enemy that you weren't prepared for on your own. Did you even think about using teamwork and relying on Sasuke and Sakura?" Kakashi asked him harshly.
"Hey aren't you being too hard on the kid? I mean he did hold his own against that guy." Tazuna spoke up trying to defend Naruto's actions, but was ultimately ignored.
Naruto just let out a scoff at Kakashi's reproachful words, while he stared coolly at the older man. "You were the one who taught us that lesson." The Uzumaki began spitting out the word lesson. "About how we don't abandon our comrades Hatake and Shima-sama told us we shouldn't blindly follow orders, especially if we know they are wrong." Naruto stated evenly. "If we had retreated like you ordered, how long would it have been before Zabuza killed you and hunted us down?" He asked but didn't give Kakashi enough time to answer. "As to teamwork, Haruno, while she has improved marginally, doesn't know anything that could be deemed useful. Uchiha really only has his fire jutsu and from the distance he would have to produce the jutsu from, along with how long it takes him to perform it, would have given Zabuza more than enough time to defend himself. If I had included either one in the battle then it would have only brought Zabuza's attention to them putting them needlessly in danger." Naruto finished.
Sakura was conflicted in how she was feeling, Naruto had admitted that she had improved but she still wasn't strong enough to do anything. Sasuke just silently glared at the white haired teen's back.
Kakashi was about to say something, but he suddenly passed out causing him to fall to the ground in a heap.
Naruto looked down at the Jounin with a cold look in his eyes before he reached down and covered Kakashi's Sharingan with his headband and forming a couple of Shadow clones to carry passed out Jounin before turning his gaze to Tazuna. "Tazuna if you would lead us to your home, so we can make sure that Hatake recovers properly."
"Yeah, sure my home isn't all that far from here." Tazuna answered happily after a second and proceeded to lead them to his home.
The next day Kakashi woke up groggily still reeling from some of the after effects of using the Sharingan to long the other day. Looking around he noticed that he was lying down in a bed in a room he had never been in before, a beautiful woman with dark blue hair was in the room. She seemed to notice Kakashi's return to the conscious world.
"I see that you're awake now, that's good." The woman said.
"Where am I?" Kakashi asked. "And who are you?"
"Oh I'm sorry, where are my manners? My name is Tsunami, I'm Tazuna's daughter, and you are in our home." Tsunami answered politely. "If you wait a second I will let your students know your awake." She stated before leaving the room. Not long after Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura entered the room, Tazuna and his daughter following after them.
"You know Sensei the Sharingan is great and all, but if it leaves you like this maybe you shouldn't use it." Sakura commented taking a seat beside Kakashi's bed.
Naruto mentally snorted at the idea. The fact that Kakashi was known in the shinobi world solely as Copycat Kakashi and Kakashi of the Sharingan meant that the Jounin most likely used it whenever a threat was present and he felt justified using it.
Kakashi seemed to be deep in thought for a moment as the others waited for him to say something before he finally said something. "Zabuza's still alive." He declared clearly shocking everyone in the room.
"What, how can that be? Sensei you said that Zabuza was dead you checked him yourself." Sakura said voicing everyone's thoughts, though Naruto seemed to be the least surprised by Kakashi's statement as he had a thoughtful frown on his face.
"Think about it what kind of weapon did the Hunter-nin use." Kakashi encouraged his students to answer.
"Senbon," Naruto murmured quietly.
"Exactly, senbon aren't necessarily suitable weapons for killing unless they hit a vital spot." Kakashi began his explanation to his attentive audience. "The Hunter-nin struck Zabuza in the neck, which won't guarantee the death of a target, but if hit in the right spot it can simulate a state of death."
"Aren't you over thinking this?" Tazuna inquired fearfully.
"Maybe," Kakashi acknowledged. "But it is better to be prepared and consider all the possibilities then be caught off guard." The grey haired Konoha-nin reasoned.
"If Zabuza is alive then what are we going to do Sensei?" Sakura asked, "He could at attack at any moment."
"Don't worry Sakura it will take Zabuza about a week to recover from being put in a death like state." Kakashi said trying to calm the pink haired girl. "In the mean time we'll be doing some training."
"What's the point?!" A new voice shouted from the doorway into the room. Turning in that direction everyone saw a young boy with black hear wearing a white hat standing in the doorway glaring at the ninja. "Your all going to die anyway Gato is too strong!"
"Inari!" Tazuna said greeting the child happily Inari greeting his apparent grandfather with a hug.
"Inari!" Tsunami said scolding her son, her hands on her hips and a disappointed frown on her face. "That is no way to talk to our guests. These people risked their lives to bring your grandfather home."
"Its fine I insult them all the time." The old man said dismissively.
"But mom it's true they're just going to die if they stay here. Gato is unstoppable there is no way they are going to win against him, so they should just go back to where they came from." Inari argued with his mother in a whining tone of voice.
"Children like you shouldn't speak of things that they do not understand." Naruto said coolly everyone turning their attention to white haired teen as he looked at the black haired child unemotionally. The room grew quite as no one was sure how to react to what Naruto said, though Sasuke would reluctantly admit that he somewhat agreed with Naruto, while Inari glared at the white haired teen heatedly.
"Ah, anyway we will start training in a few hours so get ready." Kakashi finally said bringing everyone's attention back to him and getting varies types of confirmation from his team.
Later Team 7 was in the woods near the bridge builder's home to begin their training. The three Genin looked at their Sensei, who was using crutches to move around, patiently waiting for him to explain what kind of training he had in mind for them.
"Alright for today's training exercise you're all going to learn to climb trees." Kakashi said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world with an eye smile.
"Climb trees?" Sakura said dubiously, "Sensei how is that supposed to be training?"
"Well I'm glad you asked, Sakura." Kakashi replied happily, "You see for this training exercise you won't be using your hands." He said before going on into an explanation. "You'll perform this exercise by channeling chakra to the soles of your feet. This is going to be a challenge since channeling chakra to the bottom of your feet in a controlled manner is supposed to be difficult, when you believe you got the right amount of chakra gathered you simply walk up the tree, see simple right?" The Jounin asked at the end as he demonstrated the exercise to his Genin before ending hanging upside down a branch. "Now use these to mark your progress up your tree." He finished throwing a kunai near the feet of the three Genin. "I suggest a running start."
The three Genin grabbed the kunai and picked a tree before performing the Ram hand seal to gathered chakra to the bottom of their feet before running at the tree in front of them. Sasuke was the first one to be shot off his tree when the tree cracked under his foot and he had to jump off, but not before marking the tree with his kunai. Naruto only got a couple of steps higher than Sasuke when the same thing happened to him and slashed at his tree.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that if you gather too much chakra to your feet you blast right off, my bad, but too little and you slip off. Well Sasuke's performance was about what I expected, though Naruto's is a bit of a surprise." Kakashi commented at the end to himself having walked back down to the ground, "But what of the female member of our team?" Looking up toward the tree that the final member of Team 7 had chosen the three male members noticed Sakura sitting comfortably on one of the tree's branches.
"Hey this is easy!" Sakura shouted down at the other members with a smile on her face.
"Hm, it seems compared to Sakura the Uchiha aren't the Elite they claimed to be, and I guess the Crown of Seven isn't that great either, huh Naruto?" Kakashi taunted the raven and white haired teens. 'Though given how much chakra Sakura has compared to Sasuke and Naruto it's to be expected.' The grey haired sensei mused.
The pink haired kunoichi raised an eyebrow in curiosity, 'Crown of Seven? What the hell is Kakashi-sensei talking about and how is it related to Naruto?' Sakura questioned thoughtfully. "That doesn't matter because of Kakashi-sensei, Naruto is going to end up hating us more than he already does, Cha." Inner Sakura finished angrily.
Hours later Sakura was lying on the ground exhausted after continuously walking up and down the tree to better her chakra control and increase her reserves. Taking a short break to catch her breath she looked over to see how her teammates were doing only to see just Sasuke performing the exercise, with little progress, while Naruto was nowhere in sight. The tree he had been working on climbing only having a few more slash marks from the first one. Looking around thinking that the former blonde might have just changed to a different tree, Sakura noticed that Naruto wasn't even in the clearing at all.
"Sasuke, do you know where Naruto went off to?" Sakura asked the avenger tentatively.
"Don't bother me Sakura!" Sasuke answered harshly frustrated with his lack of progress.
Sakura's eye twitched at the Uchiha's response before letting it go and looking toward their sensei that was lying on a tree branch reading his book. "Kakashi-sensei, Naruto's gone!" The green eyed Genin yelled up at her sensei.
"Oh," Kakashi began lazily, "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about." He finished dismissively with a wave of his hand as he continued to read his book.
Sakura almost scowled at how Kakashi didn't seem to care that one of his students was missing and instead chose to read his smut, she also hadn't forgotten how Kakashi treated Naruto after the fight with Zabuza. Picking herself up Sakura began looking for her missing teammate, walking deeper into the surrounding forest figuring that that the storm-grey eyed shinobi had looked for a different place to train. After a few minutes of walking Sakura stumbled onto the unexpected sight of a dozen Naruto's performing the Tree Walking exercise, and one of them off to the side practicing with Kubikiribōchō. Figuring that, that was the real Naruto Sakura made her way towards him.
"Naruto?" Sakura called out the white haired teen softly, slightly awed by how fluid he moved while wielding such a large blade.
"What is it Haruno?" Naruto replied in an even tone, Sakura flinching still not used to his different way of addressing her.
"Uh, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked unsure of what to actually say now that she has found her missing teammate.
Naruto stared at the pinkette uninterested for a minute, and for a moment Sakura believed that he was just going to ignore her, when he finally spoke up. "Training," He stated simply.
'Obviously,' Sakura thought exasperated before she remembered what Kakashi said before, "Hey Naruto what is the Crown of Seven?" She asked him curiously. Naruto frowned, as he looked at the girl coolly, trying to figure out how she knew about the Crown before he remembered that Kakashi had mentioned it earlier when they first tried the Tree Walking exercise.
'Hatake has a big mouth.' Naruto decided for himself before focusing his attention back to the pink haired kunoichi. He had to decide what to do at that moment he could blow her off completely and ignore the question, but Naruto felt that if he did that then Sakura would be even more determined to learn the truth. If Sakura was anything it was determined, that was easily evident from how resolutely she chased after Sasuke despite how the Uchiha treated her and the rest of his fan-girls.
"Are you really going to tell her?" The child angel questioned the Heir of the Crown from within his mind. "You could just as easily ignore her and she would never learn anything." The angel commented frivolously bemused by how much thought the white haired shinobi was putting into this decision, it was really quite simple unless… "Ah, I see now the reason you're having so much trouble. I suppose that no matter what the circumstances are it is never easy to let go of your first love, is it Naruto? Especially, I suppose, if you never quite stopped loving her." He said with a mirthful chuckle, humans were always so entertaining. "Even after she and the rest of your team left you tied to that stump. Love truly is a strange and perplexing thing."
'I have no idea of what you're trying to insinuate.' Naruto denied mentally. 'And it would be best if you watched what you say in the future.'
"Hm, if you say so young king." The fallen angel replied dismissively. "But that doesn't change the fact that what I said is true, now does it?"
Naruto scowled mentally as he tried to find something to refute what the former bearer of the Crown said, but nothing came to mind. He couldn't deny that he still felt something for Sakura, but after everything that had happened to him, he would no longer let his emotions control him and decide how he acted. Looking at the girl in question Naruto noted how her eyes were focused solely on him and nothing else, once that would have made him very happy, "A Kekkei Genkai." Naruto finally said simply using the lie that he had come up with.
"Kekkei Genkai?" Sakura repeated the word confused for a moment. "I didn't know you had a Kekkei Genkai."
"It awakened when you and the rest of Team 7 left me tied to that log." He informed her, noting how she seemed to look down in shame when he reminded her of her past actions.
Sakura could feel the regret welling up inside her at being reminded how she treated Naruto before, and how she didn't even care about the fact that they were all leaving him there tied to the stump and how they found him the next day. While Naruto didn't have a scratch on him, the state that his clothes were left in and the dry blood on them more than hinted at the things that Naruto had to suffer through. Sakura had wondered how Naruto's orange jumpsuit could be left in tatters and yet him not have a mark on him, but if he had a Kekkei Genkai and it awakened then that might help explain that mystery. "W-what does it do?" Sakura asked hoping that the white haired shinobi trusted her enough to tell her his Kekkei Genkai's abilities, though at that moment she suddenly remembered something. "Is that how you were able to absorb Sasuke's jutsu?"
The storm-grey eyed shinobi noticed for the first time how Sakura didn't add the "kun" suffix to Sasuke's name and how she had slowly stopped adding it since the day of the Bell test. "Yes," He began. "My Kekkei Genkai grants me seven different abilities."
"Then that transformation that your clone used in the fight against Zabuza was another ability of your Kekkei Genkai?" Sakura asked, though she was more than sure of the response, as stared at the zanbato in Naruto's hands.
"I see now why you were considered the smartest kunoichi in our year, Haruno." Naruto remarked, causing Sakura to blush lightly from the compliment, "Gula and Invidia, or Gluttony and Envy. Gula allows me to absorb the chakra in a jutsu or weapon making ninjutsu all but useless against me. Invidia allows for the perfect transformation of anything or anyone down to the last physical detail. Things like other Kekkei Genkai and memories of a person I turn into aren't included in Invidia." The former blonde explained evenly as if what he was talking about wasn't all that important.
Sakura thought over what Naruto just told her and came to some of her own conclusions. Kakashi called Naruto's Kekkei Genkai the Crown of Seven which, from what Naruto told her of the bloodline granting different abilities, meant that Naruto had seven different abilities at his disposal and she just told her of two of them. While that did make Sakura happy, as it probably meant that Naruto trusted her on some degree, it also meant that the kanji for seven on the back of his haori probably had nothing to do with him belonging to Team 7 something that the pinkette hoped meant he still felt some kind of connection to the team, but it seemed that wasn't the case.
"So you've only used two of your Kekkei Genkai's abilities?" Sakura asked in an effort to keep the conversation going as long as she could.
"No," Naruto denied surprising the emerald eyed kunoichi. "I've used three."
"Three?" Sakura said surprised.
"Avaritia allows me to copy the power or skills of an opponent. In a sense it is a better form of the Sharingan as it isn't limited to having to see my opponent perform the jutsu just know what they are capable of. The reason I can wield Kubikiribōchō so well is because I used it on Zabuza to copy his skills in Kenjutsu." Naruto told her.
Sakura was in a state of complete amazement Naruto's Kekkei Genkai sounded like the sort of thing many shinobi would die and kill for. The ability to absorb chakra, perform a real transformation, learn the skills of an opponent with only a look, and that wasn't even all of them. Who knew what the four other abilities allowed him to do? Pride, Wrath, Lust, and Sloth were still a mystery to her. "What else can you do?" Sakura couldn't help herself from asking.
"Isn't there something else you should be concerning yourself with Haruno?" Naruto asked her instead uninterestedly as he began swinging Kubikiribōchō around again.
"I already mastered the Tree Walking exercise." The pinkette replied, somewhat disappointed that Naruto was ignoring her again. "Why are practicing with that thing if you can use it as well as Zabuza?"
"Because our bodies are different it means that I can't do some of the things that Zabuza can, 'Not to mention that I'm not a 100% used to using such a large blade.' Naruto thought, "If you're done with Tree Walking continue with the next step." He told her.
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked confused.
"Hatake and Zabuza demonstrated it yesterday." The white haired Jinchuuriki began, "Water Walking, it's another chakra control exercise, one that is harder than the one that Hatake showed us earlier. If you've mastered Tree Walking as you've claimed then continue with that."
Sakura wanted to argue that she didn't know how she was supposed to do that, but she had a feeling that Naruto would just see that as an excuse for her not to try. She was also sure that if he had to Naruto would figure out the exercise on his own, so why couldn't she? And if she had to Sakura figured she could ask Kakashi. "Fine," Sakura said, turning around and leaving.
Before she could go too far Naruto called out to her. "Sakura," He began getting her attention and surprising her by the fact that he used her actual name. "For what it is worth good job with the Tree Walking exercise." Naruto told her not once looking in her direction, though his voice sounded softer in the pink haired girl's ears.
"Thanks," Sakura murmured softly a smile on her face before leaving Naruto by himself and his many Shadow clones.
For the next few days Team 7 spent their time training, Sasuke trying to master the Tree Walking exercise, Sakura the Water Walking exercise, which she learned was much harder than she had originally thought, and Naruto worked on Tree and Water Walking along with learning to properly wield his Kubikiribōchō. The team also learned about Kaiza, Inari's surrogate father, the Hero of Wave Country, and how he stood up to Gato and how in the end it cost him his life. Sakura had witnessed just how bad things were in the village when she had gone with Tazuna to get the necessary groceries for dinner one evening. It was heart breaking for the pink haired girl who grew up never having to worry about the possibility of going a day without eating. Naruto never bothered going into the village he had grown up in similar conditions, maybe even worse ones, as the children there and he had no wish to spend his time reminiscing about the past.
Naruto also did his best to ignore Inari whenever he was in the young black haired boy's presence and how he would sulk all day. When they had dinner the boy would spend half his time glaring at Naruto with a scowl on his face, the similarities that the boy had with the emo Uchiha was disturbing to say the least. It all came to a climax nearly at the end of the one week that Zabuza would need to recover.
"Why do you even bother?!" Inari shouted at the gathered group. "No matter how hard you try there is no way that you're ever going to beat Gato, he's unstoppable! You should all just leave while you still have the chance!"
The room grew quite for a moment, as everyone processed what the young boy said, before the silence was eventually broken by Naruto. "Children like you shouldn't speak of things that they do not understand," He said repeating the same thing he told Inari when they all first met, taking another bite of food from the bowl in his hands with his eyes closed not even bothering to look at the boy.
Inari grew angry as he slammed his hands on the table and stood up. "You're the one who doesn't understand! You come here acting all cool like none of this is a big deal and that you'll be able to beat Gato, you don't know what it's like here! You don't know what it's like to suffer living happily in your stupid village, so why don't you just go home already!" The black haired youth shouted.
The room grew even quitter than before as all of a sudden it got several degrees colder. Naruto set down his bowl of food and chopsticks, as he opened his eyes and glared coldly at Inari. "I don't know what it's like to suffer? I don't know what it is like here?" The white haired shinobi began in a deadly tone of voice. "How hypocritical of you to accuse me of not knowing what it is like here and assuming I lead a pleasant life when you know nothing about me." Naruto said his cold voice causing Inari to flinch, "Your way of thinking, believing that only you know what it means to suffer is arrogant and foolishly naïve. Your life until now could be considered blessed compared to what the children of the village have to live with and what I've had to endure." The storm-grey eyed Jinchuuriki stated before standing up.
Moving around the table Naruto stopped once he stood behind Tazuna, who was sitting at the end of the table. Looking straight at Inari, Naruto slowly pulled out a kunai. "Since we arrived you have not once stopped telling us of how our efforts are futile and how we should just return to Konoha, that anyone standing up to Gato will eventually be killed, do you have any idea of what you are saying you ignorant child?" The Genin shinobi asked rhetorically before placing the kunai at Tazuna's neck shocking everyone, and making their eyes' grow wide while Tazuna froze in place. "Should I do Gato a favor and just kill your grandfather now to save him the time and trouble?"
"Naruto that's enough stand down," Kakashi ordered seriously.
"Yeah Naruto, don't you think you're taking things too far?" Sakura asked him.
"No, the boy needs to learn a lesson." Naruto replied not moving the kunai from Tazuna's neck, "Don't interfere." He told them looking straight at them, his glare causing them both to reluctantly keep quiet, before returning his gaze to Inari. "By your own admission, anyone who defies Gato dies your grandfather and his bridge poses a threat to Gato's control of Wave, which means that Gato won't stop until he has killed him and destroyed the bridge. It only seems logical that I kill Tazuna now and just be done with it, don't you agree Inari?" The white haired shinobi asked the now trembling boy who had tears appearing in his eyes.
Inari did his best to futilely keep the tears from falling, "W-why a-are you d-doing this? Aren't y-you here t-t-to protect h-him?" The black haired black eyed boy asked.
"Why bother?" Naruto retorted evenly shrugging his shoulders uncaringly, "Like you said Gato will win in the end."
"B-but-" Inari began but couldn't finish.
"Team 7 and I are here to protect Tazuna from Gato; as such we are the only ones who are keeping him alive. You're continual insistence that we return to our village is equivalent to saying that you are okay with your grandfather being killed. I'm only offering to do what you want and be done with it." Naruto told him. "Or we can stay and continue to protect Tazuna like we said we would."
"You can't win." Inari insisted pathetically.
"Then your grandfather will be killed and the bridge will never be finished." Naruto stated factually. "But the problem is that a person like Gato would never just accept Tazuna being killed, he will also take your mother and do whatever he pleases with her. Then Inari you will be truly alone." Naruto told him, making Inari's eyes widen while Tsunami looked off to the side she knew what would happen to her if Gato ever got his disgusting hands on her. "What will you do then, when you no longer have a home or family, continue to cry? Will you continue to dishonor Kaiza by living so pathetically?"
"Shut up, you don't know anything about him!" Inari shouted angrily.
"I know that you and the rest of this country watched him die and did nothing to try and save him." Naruto replied indifferently before continuing, "I know that since then you've turned your back on everything that he believed in." He finished drawing the kunai away from Tazuna's throat, who let out a sigh.
"He's right." Tazuna said somberly with another sigh as he rubbed his neck, "After Kaiza's death we lost all hope and just let that bastard Gato do whatever he pleased. But no more even if it kills me I'm going to finish the bridge and bring hope back into this country. And to honor everything that Kaiza had done for us I will not allow his sacrifice be in vain." Tazuna declared a determined look in his eyes.
"Grandpa?" Inari murmured surprised.
Naruto nodded his head in approval and then moved towards the door intending to blow off some steam, but stopped just as he reached the door and turned toward Tsunami. "I'm sorry for the disturbance I've caused tonight." He said bowing his head slightly before turning back to the door.
Standing up from her seat the pink haired kunoichi took a couple of tentative steps towards her white haired teammate, "Naruto where are you going?" Sakura asked concerned.
"Out," He answered simply then looked over his shoulder at Inari, the boy freezing up at his gaze. "Stop wasting your life by crying about the past and move forward with your life, and do something with it so you never have to go through what you have again." Naruto said a strange fire in his eyes that his team had not seen in a long time, "Because as bad as you have it is nowhere near as bad as I've had it or as bad as others have it." He finished before exiting the house.
"That boy is something else." Tazuna said after a moment of silence that was followed after the whiskered shinobi's exit. Tazuna had seen many things in his long life, but it didn't seem to compare to what the white haired teen seemed to have gone through when he got a good look at Naruto's eyes. The boy hid it expertly but with age comes a wisdom that could see past even the best shinobi's efforts to hide their actual feelings, and Tazuna had been able to see through the boy's indifference to the sorrow, pain, and anger he felt when he talked about his past.
"Yeah he is." Sakura agreed quietly mystified by the look in Naruto's eyes before he left.
Early the next morning a beautiful figure named Haku was wearing a pink kimono, with pale skin, long black hair, and brown eyes was walking through the forest of Wave country looking for some herbs to help with Zabuza's healing. Haku was the Hunter-nin that saved Zabuza's life during the initial confrontation between the rouge-nin and Team 7. It was only thanks to Zabuza that Haku was alive right now, so she would do anything and everything in her power to ensure that Zabuza was able to achieve her dream.
Haku had just arrived at the area she knew that the herbs were located when she noticed someone a short distance away resting against a tree, his clothes slightly ruffled from sleeping outside. What caught the young woman's attention was how the sunlight shined brilliantly off his white hair that framed his peaceful face with three distinctive whisker marks on each cheek perfectly. She couldn't help but stare at the boy, who was probably only a year or two younger than her, for a moment before recognizing him as the teen that somehow was able to duplicate Kubikiribōchō and give Zabuza so much trouble. Kneeling beside him she reached out a hand towards him.
Naruto had awoken the moment he had sensed somebody approaching, but decided to feign sleep in order to see what they would do. When the unknown person sat beside them the white haired shinobi was able to discern enough from his enhanced senses to determine that the person was female, but her scent was also something that Naruto recognized from somewhere, but he couldn't place where he recognized it from.
In a split second Naruto opened his eyes and grabbed Haku's hand when he felt a sliver of ill intent coming from the raven haired beauty. The girl looked genuinely surprised from the former blonde's actions, as she just stared at him for a couple of seconds.
"Um, you'll catch a cold if you sleep out here." Haku finally said using the first excuse that came to her mind.
Staring at the girls brown eyes Naruto came to a decision, there was one aspect of the Crown that Naruto had been meaning to try, but hadn't had the chance so far but this turned out perfectly as he could get some answers out of the girl. 'Aspect… Luxuria,' Naruto thought his eyes becoming half lidded a green seal appearing over his heart, as a long black arrow tipped tail sprouted from his lower back along with two devil wings, though neither person seemed to pay the extra appendages any thought.
Haku stared into Naruto's eyes her mind slowly clouded over as she found herself unable to look away, though she couldn't think of a good enough reason why she would want to do that in the first place, as she felt her heart start to beat uncontrollably fast and another certain part of her body heat up and moisten at the same time.
Naruto watched as the black haired girls breathing grew heavy, a blush appear on her face, and how she unconsciously pushed herself towards him with a small smirk on his face. 'Luxuria: Lust the Insatiable. The ability for perfect accuracy, so no matter what my target might be or how impossible it might seem to reach. I could throw Kubikiribōchō at a target that normally would be too far away and still be able to hit it, but that isn't all that Luxuria can do.' He thought as he caressed Haku's cheek, the brown eyed girl leaning into his touch as blissful look appeared on her face. 'It also allows me to entrance any female I wish and compel them to do whatever I want.' Naruto finished just as Haku let out a sensual moan. "Who are you?" Naruto asked not breaking eye contact with the girl who was practically in his lap, his voice smooth and filled with desire.
"I'm, I'm… Haku," The raven haired girl answered in a hypnotized whisper.
"And what, my dear Haku, are you doing out so early in the morning?" The white haired shinobi asked bringing himself closer to Haku, to the point that their lips were almost touching.
"Gathering herbs for a friend of mine, Naruto-sama," Haku murmured her reply, instinctively knowing the name of the teen that had her completely ensnared, as she used whatever self-control she had left to keep herself from closing the gap that existed between her lips and Naruto's.
Turning the girl around so she was no longer facing him Naruto encircled his arms around her waist and pressed her back against his chest, "And who is your friend?" Naruto persisted, his voice a whisper in her ear, which made the black haired girl shudder with desire.
"I-it's Zabuza-sama." Haku managed to get out, not at all caring about what she just admitted, and only focusing on Naruto's hand that was sliding up and down her stomach coming only teasingly close to her bound breasts before going back down. The only evidence that Naruto was caught by surprise by her answer was the slight widening of his eyes and how his hands stalled for a fraction of a section before continuing.
"So you're the Hunter-nin." Naruto said more than asked.
"Yes," Haku gasped out a confirmation. "Please Naruto-sama," The raven haired kunoichi pleaded, every part of her body telling her to rip off her clothing and offer herself to this… god beneath her.
"Please what Haku-chan?" Naruto asked with a playful tone in his voice.
"Please Naruto-sama I need you." The brown eyed girl all but begged.
"Is that so?" Naruto murmured quietly his hand reversing direction and going down to her soaked nether region, getting a moan from the girl in his arms, only to bypass it completely and continue down her thighs playing with the edge of her kimono as if he was about to open it and reveal what lay underneath. "Sadly Haku-chan you are going to have to wait. Now how much longer until Zabuza is fully recovered?" The Konoha shinobi asked, drawing a disappointed whine out of the dark haired girl's lips, his voice much more serious than it was before.
"A-a couple of days," Haku answered in a daze.
"I see," Naruto said after a moment of thought, before he turned her face in his direction locking eyes with her and bringing their lips close together again. "Haku-chan you are to gather the herbs you'll need, I'll help, then you'll return to Zabuza, but you cannot tell him or anyone else of meeting me understood?"
"I understand Naruto-sama." Haku replied in sultry whisper as she reluctantly picked herself up from Naruto's lap.
"Good." Naruto said standing, surprising Haku when he grabbed her by the chin and drew her in for a quick kiss before breaking it. The kiss though short left Haku completely breathless with a vacant look in her eyes before wide smile spread across her lips, as the duo then proceeded to gather the necessary herbs.
"Ah, Naruto-sama," Haku suddenly spoke up catching the white haired boy's attention.
"What is it Haku?" Naruto replied without looking at the girl.
"Do you have something or someone precious you wish to protect?" She asked getting a curious glance from Naruto and gesture for her to explain herself, "I believe that one is only truly strong when they have something they wish to protect. Is there someone like that in your life?"
"No." Naruto replied sharply not even giving it a seconds thought before he turned back to gathering herbs without saying anything else to the raven haired girl, who had a brief frown appear on her beautiful face.
AN: There that's the end of this chapter though I'm not completely sure about how I feel this turned out. I covered everything I wanted this chapter but I'm still not sure if it turned out as good as I wanted. Anyway if it wasn't obvious enough I am planning to include Haku into the harem, whether Zabuza survives the next chapter or not is still to be decided.
Despite everything I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter and please remember to review to let me know how I did.