(A/N) And we are back. I just really like saying that. All of you who bothered to input it into a review figured out who the man was. In other words, you got the fact that he used steam, and he mentioned being told by Kokuo something. So in other words, you figured out that the man was in fact Han.

I need your guys' help. I need to figure out who I should pair Haku with. I have narrowed it down to two choices. One is KibaxHaku, and was an idea mentioned to me by chaos267. I think it could work. My own idea is the yuri pairing of HakuxYugito. I know that some people might be a little upset at a yuri pairing, and your free to tell me so, but do not tell me that yuri is stupid or something like that as your reason against the pairing. I will respectfully ignore your other argument if you say that. My opinions on yaoi and yuri are as follows: I like yuri because I am a straight 18 year old guy, and let's just say it intrigues me. I approve of NarukoxHinata, but I don't read those sort of stories very often. I am impassive when it comes to yaoi, but I find it a little creepy. Needless to say, I don't read any yaoi. But those are just my own opinions, and they are neither right nor wrong. I personally like these two potential pairings, as the first one would finally give me someone to pair Kiba with, and the second one would give Yugito someone to share her power with. I think mixing ice and cat flames could be quite fun. The executive decision remains mine, and I am leaning towards HakuxYugito, but I would like to hear your opinions on the matter before I decide. I have ideas for where and when both would start the relationship, so it is not a matter of that. Please leave your opinions via reviews or PM's.

Also I would like to say that I have officially built up the courage to write my first lemon. I have thought a lot about it, and I know where and when Hinata and Naruto will do it. It is only a matter of time before we get there, so keep your eyes open.

Anyways, on with the chapter.

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Chapter 20: The fight for Gato, part 1

Naruto swallowed nervously as the figure finished walking out of the ruined trapdoor. He then began reciting "Target: Han, known as "Han of the Steam Armour". Affiliation: Iwagakure. Rank: Jonin. Height: 7 foot. Weight: unknown, presumably extremely heavy. Current age: 40. Threat level: SS+. Eye color: Orange. Notes: Uses dangerous steam based ninjutsu. Also is the jinchuriki of the Gobi, the five tailed Dolphin-horse. Has full control over his tailed beast. Flee on sight orders are mandatory, and is the only one other than our own Yellow Flash to be given these orders. Also note that he was the only one to EVER survive a full blown battle with said Yellow Flash. Extreme precaution is to be taken when retreating."

Han laughed and said "I'm impressed kid. That was word for word my description from Konoha's bingo book. To have memorized it at such a young age is an accomplishment indeed. But that begs to ask the question, why are you not fleeing?"

Naruto laughed nervously before saying "I am seriously contemplating taking the others and Hiraishining the hell out of here. I don't think that even four on one we would win in this fight. Also the fact that you're an Iwa nin who knows my heritage, and even said that you were rivals with him is seriously scaring me."

"You really are the son of Minato then. Anybody else in your situation would have used that accursed space-time technique of your fathers to get as far away from here already. So why don't you tell me why you are not miles away from here?" said Han with a short laugh.

Naruto nervously rubbed the back of his head and said "Well there are a few reasons why we are not gone. The first is that we have a mission to complete. Although I never would have expected that you would have gone rouge and been hired as a bodyguard by Gato. The second is that I wish to speak with you about jinchuriki matters."

Han began laughing heavily, before saying "You have it all wrong. I have not gone rouge. At least not yet, but if those civilian council idiots keep bugging me, then I might. Although that shrimp down there did try to hire me, but I respectfully declined. And I will listen to a former jinchuriki about those sorts of matters."

Naruto let out a huge sigh of relief, before saying "If you are not here because of Gato, then what is such a prestigious Iwa nin such as yourself doing here, Han-san?"

Han flinched at being called "Han-san", and let out a bunch of steam from his furnace, before saying "Please, just Han. While Han-san may be proper, I hate it when people call me that. It really gets on my nerves. As to what I am doing here in such a pitiful country, I am here trying to convince an old friend of mine to come back to our village. Master Roushi has not been the same since he left. However, he declined my offer, and is currently working to protect that pathetic shrimp of a man. After I spoke with him, Gato offered me a rather large sum of money to stay and protect him from an attack, which I presume is you guys. I declined him, as I have no need for money. He then ordered his men to attack me, the idiot. I killed everyone who attacked me and left their bodies there, so feel free to collect their bounties. The only ones who didn't attack me were my friend, a rouge jonin from Kumo, a rouge jonin from Kiri, and a rouge chunin from Kiri. They are the only ones who are alive to defend that man. I realize that you four are going to fight them. My only request is that you-" he said while pointing at Naruto "-Fight my friend and give him an honorable death. He will feel at peace if he knew that he died fighting the son of the Yellow Flash. I suspect that the Kumo nin will go straight for the Hyuuga girl, and the Kiri nin will go for Zabuza. That leaves the chunin for the Hyoton girl. Now you said that you wanted to talk about jinchuriki matters?"

Naruto took a deep breath before saying "Yes, I would like to know your thoughts on becoming a Hanyou by merging with Kokuo, as I think you said his name was."

"Her, actually. She is a girl. As for my thoughts on becoming like you, I am not sure. I have full control over her power, and becoming a Hanyou would probably only make the civilian council in Iwa loath me more, if I gained any features like the ones you and your girlfriend have. On the other side, I have pretty much become as strong as I will ever get, and I assume becoming a Hanyou would probably remove that limit, allowing me to surpass that limit. I need to think about it. Actually, how about this? We both know that I am currently stronger than you, so when you fight me one day and surpass me, I will recognize that I will need to go beyond my own human limits to keep up. On that day that you surpass me, I will merge with Kokuo." Said Han.

Naruto grinned and said "Does that mean that you are not going to kill us all right now?"

Han laughed and said "No, I will not kill you guys. In all honesty, ever since your dad died, I haven't had a satisfying fight. But I can see that both you and your girlfriend have the potential to surpass your father. So I will postpone our match until then. I will take my leave now to report my failed mission back to Iwa. Good hunting."

Han started walking away before he turned and said "By the way, the fox on the bridge is a nice touch." Before he shunshined away in a burst of steam.

Naruto turned to face his group and said "Well that probably went the best way that it could have gone. It sounds like there are only four ninja left, and there are four of us. The opponents that Han matched us with sound fine to me, what about you guys?"

Hinata nodded and smiled evilly at what she could do to the Kumo nin, while Zabuza and Haku just nodded.

With that they headed into the trapdoor.

They followed a passageway that was dimly lit by lanterns quite a ways downwards, before the path leveled out. The path continued a little ways further, before giving ways to stairs. The group climbed the stairs which eventually lead out into what could only be described as an underwater glass dome that was lit by several lights on the sides of the dome. Gato's fortress was indeed a whole underwater dome matrix. Each dome had a glass tunnel that lead to other bubbles. Some of the domes were as small as a shed, while others could hold an entire football field within them.

The first thing Naruto's team noticed was the astounding amount of boiled corpses that were strewn across the floor of the dome that they were in. The second thing that they noticed were the four ninja who stood a little ways away from them. And the final things that they noticed was the small cowering shrimp who stood by one exit which appeared to lead to a solid iron dome.

One of the ninja finally spoke up and said "As you can obviously see, my buddy Han came by and boiled some of your opposition, no thanks to our idiotic employer who thought that numbers would win against an SS+ ranked ninja. No matter, we four are the strongest of all of the ninja that Gato hired to protect him. But where are our manners? Allow us to introduce ourselves, and then you can introduce yourselves. I can tell that we are all ninja of honor here. After our introductions, we can choose who fight who. My name is Kuroyurasu (Black Rock), former jonin of Iwa, and I am known as the "Obsidian Fortress".

The ninja standing next to him said "My name is Akarui (Bright), former jonin of Kumo, and brother to the Raikage's right arm, Darui (Dull). I am known as the "Thundering Gale of Kumo".

The ninja next to him said "My name is Jack Trades, former jonin of Kiri. I am known as the "User of many but master of none."

Finally, the smaller female ninja on the end said "My name is Puchame (Small Rain), former chunin of Kiri. I am known as the "Human Floodgate."

Seeing that their oppenants had finished introducing themselves, Naruto stepped forwards and said "My name is Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, current genin of Konoha. I guess I am known as the "Number one prankster of Konoha." Kuroyurasu got excited when he heard this.

Hinata stepped forwards and said "My name is Hinata Uzumaki-Namikaze, formerly Hinata Hyuuga. I am a current genin of Konoha, and I have not made my name known yet, but in the future, I would like to be known as the "Lavender Flash." Akarui got really excited when he heard the Hyuuga part of what she said.

Zabuza stepped forwards and said "My name is Zabuza Momochi, ex-seven swordsman of the mist. I am known as the "Demon of the mist."

Finally, Haku stepped forwards and said "My name is Haku Momochi. I have no affiliation other than to my adoptive father. I have no moniker as of yet, but I wish to be known as "The frozen wasteland."

Jack Trades then said "Well now that introductions are out of the way, who should fight who?"

Kuroyurasu and Akarui immeadiately said "I want him/her!" While pointing at Naruto and Hinata respectively.

Naruto and Hinata both said that that was fine, but Hinata had a scarily evil smirk on her face.

Jack Trades just sighed at his fellow rouge's impulsiveness, but he said "I do wish to fight you, Zabuza-san, as I have always wished to test fully whether it is to better to be a master of one or a user of many."

Zabuza said "Very well. I have heard of your exploits, Jack. This should be an interesting match."

Puchame said to Haku "I guess that means we are fighting each other. May the best girl win."

Naruto then said to everyone "This dome is a bit messy. How about we each go to separate domes to fight, and the winner of each fight will come back here. If both groups have members that have both won and lost, we will determine new matchups based on the survivors."

With that Naruto and Kuroyurasu took a tunnel leading to one of the larger domes, while Hinata and Akarui followed them, intending to split off to a different dome. Zabuza and Jack took a tunnel to a dome that was the size of a large dojo, and Puchame and Haku took a tunnel to another one of the large domes.

(Naruto and Kuroyurasu)

Naruto was currently looking over Kuroyurasu's appearance with Kuroyurasu doing the same thing to Naruto. Kuroyurasu was a very big and stocky man, with not an ounce of fat on his body. Naruto estimated him to be at least 6' 5". He was completely bald, and he didn't have eyebrows. His eyes were completely black, with no pupils. What intruged Naruto though was the fact that he didn't wear anything except a pair of black ninja pants. He didn't even wear shoes. He also had no ninja pouches or weapons of any kind. Overall, he looked extremely intimidating.

Kuroyurasu then broke the silence, saying "Well, for a genin, you are certainly well equipped, and the fact that you can walk next to me without breaking down makes me question your status as a genin."

Naruto chuckled and said "Ranks mean nothing to me right now. The only reason that I am a genin is that I wish to be. If I showed my skills to the Hokage, then I have no doubt that he would immediately give me a field promotion to jonin. But my goal is to become the Hokage, so I am not taking any shortcuts."

Kuroyurasu let out a deep laugh before saying "You're an interesting kid, I'll give you that. But the fact that you are a Namikaze means that I won't be holding anything back. If I come back with the Flash's son's head, then the civilian council of Iwa would have to accept me back. The only reason why I didn't leave with Han earlier today is that they refuse to accept the way I do things. I fight for my honor and pride, and the council smeared my pride, so I left. While I miss Iwa, if the council does not show me the respect that I deserve, then I refuse to go back. But if I come back with your head, then they will without a doubt treat me with respect."

With that, the pair reached their destination. Naruto and Kuroyurasu stood a ways from each other, with Kuroyurasu standing in a grappler's stance. Naruto slowly unsheathed Kadouken, before suddenly back flipping away, and while in mid flip, Naruto shouted "Rasenkadou!" The spiral vortex was of the wind variety, and it quickly flew and collided with Kuroyurasu.

The attack had kicked up a fair amount of dust, and when the dust cleared, it revealed a still standing Kuroyurasu. Naruto was a bit shocked that he was completely unharmed, so he resolved to find out why. This time charging Kadouken with his fire chakra, Naruto unleashed another Rasenkadou, but paid very careful attention to what Kuroyurasu did. When the flaming spiral collided with the man, Naruto noticed that for a very brief moment, upon collision, the entirety of Kuroyurasu's skin turned jet black.

"That's a very interesting jutsu that you have there, Kuroyurasu-san. It seems that you can briefly harden your body to unknown levels, effectively blocking both my wind and fire. I suspect that your body is changing somehow when you do this, as fire would not be stopped by any skin hardening jutsu." Said Naruto as he charged in towards Kuroyurasu.

Naruto rapidly closed the distance between the two, and swung Kadouken at his neck in an effort to chop his head off, but as he expected, the skin that Kadouken was about to connect with turned jet black. But when Kadouken connected with him, something happened that Naruto did not expect. Kadouken bounced off of his skin in a shower of sparks.

Seeing his opening, Kuroyurasu delivered a mighty left hook to Naruto's unguarded chest. The instant before he connected though, Kuroyurasu's arm turned jet black.

The force of the punch sent Naruto flying 20 meters away. He landed on the ground with a large *CRASH*.

Naruto had somehow managed to hold onto Kadouken, but he was laying on the ground and coughing up a fair amount of blood. Naruto unsteadily stood up using Kadouken as support and wiped the blood off his face. He then said "You shattered several of my ribs with that single punch, and if I were not me, I would have been down for a month to heal. However, I think that I now know what you're ability is. Tell me if I am wrong, but I think that you have the ability to instantaneously turn parts or your whole body into obsidian. That explains why you were completely unfazed by both my fire and wind Rasenkadous, and why your punch did way more damage than it should have done."

Kuroyurasu laughed and said "You truly are a Namikaze to figure out my ability so perfectly after just being hit once. Then again, most people would have been killed by that punch. However, unless you can heal your ribs, then you have lost." He slowly began walking towards Naruto.

Naruto coughed up a bit more blood before smiling and saying "Then I am really glad that I can temporarily heal my shattered ribs. But I will have to finish it quick so my Hina-chan can fully heal them."

Kuroyurasu stopped walking towards him and instantly went on guard.

Naruto's chakra exploded around him in orange flames, and he suddenly vanished. Kuroyurasu suddenly gained a huge cut along his chest, and would have died from Naruto's next cut if he hadn't fully transformed into obsidian. Instead, Naruto clanged off of his body with a bright shower of sparks.

Naruto stood back from his opponent and said "Damn, I still don't have full control when I move at that speed. That first cut should have cleaved your body in two if it had done what I intended it to do. And if you can stay in that form, then my Kadouken is useless against you. Although, my foxfire Rasenkadou could probably melt your obsidian body, the heat generated by it would also melt the glass dome, and that would kill us both. Looks like I have to use Soshi Kiba."

Kuroyurasu was still bleeding heavily from the cut, but the blood looked like liquid obsidian. He started to laugh and said "I can't remember the last time someone made me bleed. You really are something else. But I am not called the "Obsidian Fortress" for nothing. I can probably keep this form long enough for your chakra boost to wear off and stop maintaining your ribs, so it's only a matter of time before you lose, unless you have another trick up your sleeve."

Naruto sheathed Kadouken before taking out Soshi Kiba. Naruto began channeling his wind chakra through the blades, causing large blades of wind to appear. Naruto then said "These are the trick that I have up my sleeve. Let's see how these blades deal with your obsidian body."

Naruto leapt at Kuroyurasu, who was in his grappler's stance. Ducking under a right hook, Naruto slashed upwards with one of his fangs. The wind blade made a small cut that leaked out a little liquid obsidian. Leaning backwards and silently thanking Hinata for helping with his own flexibility, Naruto ducked under a dangerous palm thrust that would have shattered even more of his ribs had it connected. While in the limbo position, Naruto knocked away Kuroyurasu's outstretched arm before kicking off his feet and doing a backflip while at the same time extending and sharpening both fangs to the limit. This resulted in two deep vertical gashes appearing on Kuroyurasu's torso.

Disengaging via the flip Naruto thought to himself "Straight wind is not going to cut it if that's all the damage I can do with it. I would go with plasma, but I remember testing it against the vault door, and the door didn't melt or even get a scratch. I don't trust myself enough to be able to handle the power of an element combined with foxfire yet, so it looks like we have to go with sear. Sear creates what I think to be the sharpest blade in existence, so if I can't end it with that, I'm screwed. If he saw me going through any handseals, I have no doubt that he would do something to stop me, so it looks like sear is my only hope."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Naruto began channeling his fire chakra into his wind blades. The air around the blades began to shimmer with the heat, and the chakra extensions started to shimmer away, until the only way that one could tell that there was an extension would be to look at the complete distortion of air that was where the extensions were at.

Naruto thought to himself "I have three minutes left before my ribs go back to their previous state. I hope this works."

Naruto leapt back at Kuroyurasu, who was eyeing the shimmering blade suspiciously. Kuroyurasu made another right hook at Naruto, who dodged it and slashed a fang at the extended arm. Kuroyurasu screamed with pain as the searing blade cleaved straight through his obsidian arm, slicing it off. It fell to the ground with a loud thunk. Naruto let out a satisfied smirk, seeing that sear had worked perfectly.

Instantly, Kuroyurasu was on the defensive. He focused all of his energy onto dodging the deadly extensions, but the shimmering blades were hard to see, let alone dodge. He took quite a few nasty cuts and he was starting to slow down.

Naruto meanwhile had been counting down the time he had left. He currently had 30 seconds to finish the battle. He knew that Kuroyurasu was slowing down, but so was he. His ribs were starting to destabilize, and the pain had come back.

So Naruto did something drastic. After Kuroyurasu dodged his latest strike, Naruto threw both fangs into the air. This distracted Kuroyurasu long enough for two of his tails to reach up and grab the flying blades before he rechanneled his chakra and flipped, and at the same time, the two tails flowed into an X, carving through Kuroyurasu's torso in with two diagonal slashes.

Landing his front flip, Naruto looked at Kuroyurasu's smiling face. His last words were "That was a fun fight, kid. You really are a Namikaze." Before his body fell apart into four pieces.

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And that's a wrap. That was quite the intense battle, if I do say so myself. I hope you guys like the OC's that I made up. I also made Han one of the most powerful character's in the current Narutoverse. He is not someone to be trifled with, and he would annihilate Naruto in a one on one right now.

Next chapter will be at least two battles, maybe all three, so stay tuned. You should be able to tell some of the OC's abilities by their monikers that I gave them. As evidenced by Kuroyurasu's moniker of "Obsidian Fortress". By the way, obsidian is my favorite type of rock, and I know that plasma should easily melt through it, but in the Narutoverse that I have created, obsidian is one of the strongest materials known to man.

Also you should pay little attention to the meaning of Puchame's name, as it is a lie in terms of her powers. Her moniker suits her powers much better. If you were called "The Human Floodgate", you better be able to do something with water. Lots and lots of high pressure water.

Anyways, on with the omake!

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Wheel of Torture Chapter 12

Did you ever wonder if you could die of sheer boredom?

Well today, the root members found out that it is quite possible.

When they tried their luck with the wheel today, it stopped on "Mr. Resetti".

The root squad was instantly buried in pitfalls, and everybody's (not so) favorite mole popped out of the ground.

He started yapping about how you should never restart your game, but the root members figured that they got lucky today, since it didn't look like anyone would be dying today.

They decided to wait the mole's rant out.

Bad idea.

He just kept going on and on about how you shouldn't reset your game.

One by one, the root members dropped out of life through the sheer boredom of just listening to a mole rant about how you should never reset your game.

The mole continued ranting long after the final root member had died. It wasn't until he got the call that some other no good reseter had reset their game that he left.

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And that's the omake. I am not stupid enough to reset any of my animal crossing games, so I have never experienced the mole's rant. However, I have heard stories. Dying through sheer boredom has got to be one of the worst ways to go in my opinion.

Until next time,

Slice N Dicer