Disclaimer: I don't own anything about and from the original Naruto story or any story, character, scenery or anything that the lawyers could and might sue my ass for.
Author notes: Got nothing to write except enjoy the show
Previously on NotS:
Kiba squinted a little bit and frowned but still took the hand and the blond lifted him off the ground. "See! That wasn't so hard!" Naruto chirped and Kiba shrugged.
They got ready and took off towards Nami no Kuni.
Main story.
The journey at first was relatively uneventful except for a few minor 'reminders' from Naruto in regards to Kiba's 'hormonal control'. The guy just didn't seem to take a hint. They weren't anything seriously life-threatening, actually they weren't even dangerous. Naruto would just throw a plum at his head and it would keep the horn-dog in line for half an hour or so but he would get his urge again until the two Jounin set the formations for the trip.
Squad seven was now playing front guard while Kakashi and Kurenai were protecting the rear. This left squad eight to form a triangle formation around Tazuna with Sakura on his right, Shino to his left and Kiba on his back. Normally, with Kiba's nose he should have been in front but the two Jounin noticed that he would be too close to Hinata and Naruto was running out of plums and patience. Besides Kurenai knew about Naruto's Shinsougan, being a friend of the Hyuugas, and so decided that he would be more than capable of spotting danger.
Kakashi decided not to read his porn seeing that he was too close to Kurenai much to his chagrin so he was exchanging small talk with the woman. Sakura was still drooling over Sasuke though she would occasionally spare a glance at her surroundings giving her sensei a moment of relaxation. After all, the woman spent quite a bit of time pounding the meaning of being a shinobi to the girl. Kiba was grumbling and growling at 'the injustice of it all' but was using his nose to scan the area. Shino was as silent as he was stoic (and boring).
Team seven on the other hand appeared to be silent and focused. At least that's what it seemed to the outside viewers.
Naruto had perfected the telepathy seal during the D-rank mission time and were now exchanging small talk between them without moving their lips. That is until all three of them noticed two small puddles on the ground.
'Guys, did it rain here anytime soon?' Naruto asked.
'No, and look where they are. They are directly under the sun. Even if it rained here in the last day, a puddle like that should have evaporated.' answered Sasuke.
'That means it could be a jutsu. Hold on, let me check, Byakugan!' continued Hinata. 'There are two males inside the puddles and judging by their chakra they are barely Chuunin.'
'Thanks Hinata-chan. Okay, listen up! Don't kill them if you don't have to!' Naruto ordered.
'Who put you in charge?' Sasuke teased, his pride not letting it any other way.
'Nobody, but I want to interrogate them to find out what they are doing here. I know you can do it Sasuke but I think that you should keep that secret just a little while more, deal?'
'Sure! 'Sides I love to hear them when you make them cry!' Sasuke smirked.
Hinata giggled.
'Okay… hey I got an even better idea! Listen to this…' Naruto continued making Sasuke smirk deviously and Hinata to mentally giggle some more.
'Now remember Hinata-chan, no peeking and no Byakugan!' Naruto shot a playful glance at her who turned a little red.
'Oh, he's no fun!' she answered.
'You forgot to turn off the transmitter again.' Sasuke sighed making the girl get even redder.
'Three and a half more years Hinata-chan.' Naruto smiled kindly and put a hand around her waist giving her a light kiss on the cheek. They all heard a growl but ignored it.
As they approached the puddles Naruto began.
"Guys hold on! I need to pee." he continued jogging his way to the puddles and unzipping his pants.
"NARUTO! Not here, go into the bushes at least!" Sakura screamed.
"Naruto, I think you should listen to her…" Kakashi half-stretched an arm and got a sweat-drop but was silenced when the blond gave him a devious smirk.
"Oh! Sneaky." both Jounin answered when they saw that.
Sakura quickly turned around and growled. Hinata did as well, holding a hand over her mouth to keep her from laughing out loud with Kurenai following her example but noticing her protégée's behavior.
The blond then brought out his manhood and Kiba exploded (he was at least three inches longer and one inch wider than the dog user). "Oh yeah! That's a relief!" he said as he doused the two puddles firmly and quickly. He barely managed to pull up his pants when then the two shinobi (The Demon Brothers) jumped out and wrapped him in their chain.
"You. will. pay. for. that!" they growled in unison and pulled their chains. The next event happened slowly for everybody outside the blond's teammates. The chains seemed to rip through Naruto, as blood and pieces of flesh flew through the air, landing on Sakura.
"KYAAAAA!" the pink haired kunoichi screamed.
"One down!" the demon brothers said in unison and then charged towards Tazuna. "Next is…" they didn't get to finish their sentence since they were held back by a kunai and shuriken anchoring their chain to a tree. "Shit! It won't come off!".
They were pulling harder and harder until they saw a massive swarm of black bugs coming their way so they disconnected it and jumped Kiba and Sakura. The Jounin were ready to intervene when Hinata appeared near Gozu who had his sights on the Inuzuka and … Naruto teleported in front of Meizu who was targeting the girl and blocked his gauntlet strike with Meian who was now presenting a cloudy sky blue-white flowing mix pattern in the interior of the blade. Hinata incapacitated her opponent with a quick strike to one of his chakra points with ease. Naruto struck his opponent's temple with the back of his sword dealing with him but had to stop the enemy shinobi from falling gauntlet first onto Sakura who froze, getting scratched in the process. Sasuke then appeared and with a flick of a wrist he threw a shuriken with a wire attached around the Demon Brothers and a tree, bringing them together before they could hit the ground after which team seven landed in front of them.
"Naruto? How? I saw you cut to pieces!" Sakura screamed.
"Shadow Clone and Kawarimi. I switched my place with a shadow clone." he explained with a smile.
Kakashi eye-smiled at them "Good job team! But Naruto, their gloves were poisoned so we need to drain the blood out of the wound and treat you!" he explained
The boy answered "No need!"
"Wha?" Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow.
Kurenai moved to his side and whispered "Naruto-kun is immune to poison thanks to a certain chakra 'condition'! I can't believe you don't know this! They are your team! Be careful though! High A-class secret!"
"Oh!" he answered and team eight were looking at him intensely but got no response. "Now what do we do with these?"
"I say we leave them to the authorities!" answered Tazuna who was sweating a little.
"Not yet Tazuna-san!" Naruto turned to him "I had a feeling that you lied to the Hokage when you declared the mission details and this proved it!"
"I-I didn't do such a thing!" the man defended.
"Tazuna-san, Naruto-kun has the ability to tell if a person is lying so it won't work." Hinata warned him making Tazuna shiver in fear.
"Indeed! I saw that you lied when I asked you the details in the mission office but I couldn't ask why so I requested backup. Now why did you do it?" Naruto continued. "A low C-rank is meant to give Gennin experience and is supposed to be low danger. If people trained in shinobi arts appear then the mission ranking starts from high C and can go all the way to high A-rank possibly S. Depending on the info we get from these guys, we can determine the mission standard. Besides, when the client lies about the mission details it is essentially a breach of contract and as such our leaders have the right to call off the mission."
"I-I… I guess the cat's out of the bag now, huh?" Tazuna slumped. "You have to understand that the wave is a poor country so we couldn't afford a higher ranked mission. This C-rank is all we could scrounge up. Even the Daimio barely has enough to live by, so please believe me that I didn't know what else to do!" Tazuna nearly cried. "But go ahead and call off the mission. My daughter will probably end up raped or dead and my cute little grandson will probably cry and hate Konoha…"
"Cut the theatrics!" Sasuke sighed "Konohagakure can supply you with a proper team on an I.O.U policy if the client can't provide the pay on spot but is able to supply it at a later time for missions up to mid A-rank."
"And even if the level exceeds that you could request a loan from the Daimio since the bridge you are building would supply a new and profitable trade route between Hi and Nami. I know the man would never pass up the chance to fill his pockets." Naruto intervened. "Besides we don't know what we will face yet so hold your panties and let me work!" the blond continued making his way to the Demon Brothers.
"Heh! You think that we will talk? Think again!" Gozu smirked behind his mask.
Naruto flashed a grin that would make Ibiki and Anko proud "Really? That's too bad! I heard that Kiri (Mist) loves traitors and deserters with a passion. I'm sure that they would kill to get you two back. They constantly need victims, I mean prisoners to train their interrogation squads. Messy work if you ask me. Those beginners can really fuck things up and possibly make you brain dead or kill you veeerrry slowly and painfully! That is if you survive Konoha's T&I. Have you ever heard of Ibiki the Sadist and Anko Mitarashi? I know them and they wouldn't be too happy that you refused to talk to little old me. The second in command there has a twelve foot white cobra summon that loves me with a passion and, if you know summons, they understand what you tell them. Miki-chan, the snake, would be mighty pissed. Her venom hurts like a hive of bees when she bites you and will kill you by stopping your lungs from working." Naruto paused a little to take in their faces. They were close to shitting themselves. He didn't notice that his comrades were looking at him like he grew another head.
"Now, Hokage-sama could probably keep you away from them if you decide to become our 'friends' but as you know, friends don't keep secrets from one another!" Naruto blinked innocently (like Anko)
Two split seconds later "We were hired by Gato of the Gato Company to kill the old man since the bridge he is building would be a spine in his plan's behind to take over Nami! Besides us he has around a hundred or so thugs and as for shinobi, there are two former Mist Swordsmen, Zabuza Momochi the wielder of Kubikiribōchō and Raiga Kurosuki who has the Kiba swords. There is also this boy Haku who is Zabuza's apprentice Haku Yuki that has an Ice release kekkei genkai. He's hell'a strong, possibly high-Chuunin and a no-name Gennin team that we didn't bother learning the name of. That's all we know now please don't torture us!" the brothers spilled.
"Okay, since you didn't lie to me, I will keep my word! When the team from Konoha come here they will take you to jail. I will send a message in advance to the Hokage to take it easy on you guys now …" Naruto flashed three hand signs "Sleep!" he said touching their foreheads making them go unconscious with a seal forming on their foreheads.
Naruto then turned to the rest of the group. "Well that settles it! This mission has just bumped up to high A-rank!" he shrugged looking to Kakashi. "Well Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi sighed "Naruto was right about the previous statement. Right now we should cancel the mission and have Hokage-sama provide Tazuna with a standard team but, what do you guys think?" the scarecrow turned to his team.
"Hold on Kakashi! You're giving them the choice?" Kurenai snapped.
"Of course! I trust my team to take the right decision, don't you?" he answered making her blush and look away in embarrassment. "Well guys?"
They looked between themselves and at Tazuna who was looking a little more relaxed since he heard that he would be getting shinobi either way.
"We say that we keep going! That is if you and Kurenai-sensei think you can keep the two Mist swordsmen busy until we take care of Haku and the rest." Naruto answered and the other two nodded.
"Hey! Don't we get a saying?" Kiba shouted.
"Nope!" team seven along with the two Jounin answered but after a short pause they continued "Except Shino!"
"Thank you! Logic would dictate that we should retreat since we have two Jounin and six Gennin while the enemy has two Jounin, a Chuunin and three Gennin. But I do not desire my first high-rank mission to be canceled, that would look bad on my record. It is up to Kurenai-sensei to decide." Shino answered.
Kurenai took on a thinking pose for a second and then answered.
"Okay! I agree with keeping the mission for now but we will send notice to the Hokage to have a team ready if things get out of hand. Kakashi and I will take on the two swordsmen while team seven deals with the Chuunin and possibly the Gennin while you guys guard Tazuna!" she detailed.
"Hey! Why do we have to stay behind?" Sakura protested.
Her sensei sighed "Simple! Because besides Shino here none of you acted before when the two attacked." she answered making the duo look down in shame "Besides, team seven managed to take out Kakashi here during the Gennin exam and he was going at them full force! Do you think that you could have done the same to me back then?" she asked and the Gennin shook their heads from side to side. They realized later that Kurenai never fought back except a couple of low rank genjutsu.
"Now that it's settled, let's continue our mission!" Kakashi eye-smiled and summoned a dog to take the report to the Hokage together with Naruto's recommendation regarding the Demon Brothers.
(Cannon from here until after the boat landing except imagine Kakashi and Kurenai walking on water to make room in the boat and Sakura being quiet)
They kept the same formations while walking down the road with Hinata and Naruto scanning their surroundings with the Byakugan and the Shinsougan.
Having greater range than Hinata, Naruto saw two figures waiting at them in the trees a mile away. He notified his Gennin teammates and told Hinata to let the rest know since he didn't want to reveal his Shinsougan to the others yet.
"Kakashi-sensei, there are two figures hiding in the vegetation about a mile from here. Judging by their chakra one is a Jounin and the other one is Haku. Also the Jounin has what appears to be an oversized meat cleaver on his back. I would say that this is Zabuza." she calmly stated.
"Hmm… I didn't expect them so soon but only them…?" Kakashi quizzed.
"They must not be expecting us guarding Tazuna or the others may be coming soon." Kurenai continued.
"Logic would dictate that the first option is the likeliest. What should we do about it?" Shino added his two-cents.
Naruto got into a thinking pose before answering. "I propose that we split up. Team eight together with their sensei take Tazuna and one of my clones through a detour while we continue forward. I will make a Shadow Clone that will Henge into the client."
"Agreed! Tazuna-san, do you know an alternative path?" Kakashi responded. The man nodded and motioned for another path but…
"But they are alone! We can just take them out now while we have numbers!" Kiba protested and the rest sighed.
"Kiba remember that the primary mission is to protect Tazuna-san. We can't drag him into battle, he would only be in danger and can be a hindrance since he has no battle training." Kurenai explained.
"Heh! Don't worry! I'll protect him and beat the other shinobi!" Kiba boasted giving team seven each a tick mark.
"Gennin, you are not ready to face a Jounin that has every intention to kill you!" Kurenai growled.
"But…" the Inuzuka wanted to protest again but was silenced by Sasuke and Naruto each holding a kunai\Meian from a side of his neck.
"Jump!" Naruto ordered before blasting him with a pulse of KI.
Kiba didn't comment anymore and hopped to Kurenai's side and they took the detour. Naruto made the Shadow Henge Clone of Tazuna and they continued on the current path.
When they made it into position Kakashi and his team were keeping his senses sharp. A few steps later and…
"Get down!" Kakashi shouted as he and his team ducked for cover, Sasuke taking clone Tazuna down with him. Kubikiribōchō flew over their heads and impaled itself to the side of a nearby tree.
Zabuza then jumped on top of the sword hilt, his back turned to the traveling party.
"Well hello there, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, the Kirigakure (Mist Hidden village) missing-nin! If you are here that means I have to get serious." Kakashi began unveiling his Sharingan eye.
'So it's true! He does have the Sharingan!' Sasuke smiled.
"Sharingan no Kakashi! I'm honored that the man who copied a thousand jutsu wishes to fight me at his full strength, but all I want is to kill the old man!" clone Tazuna got worried "But it looks like I would have to fight you first!"
Zabuza dislodged his blade from the tree and then moved onto the water. "Now then will you attack me alone or will those brats assist you? EH!" he asked releasing his KI at the Gennin who were in formation around Tazuna.
They began to shiver as the top part of their eyes were shadowed. A moment later they … attacked each other.
Naruto launched a fist at Sasuke who was snapping a chop at Hinata who wanted to poke Naruto's eyes out. Their attacks countered each other so they switched between themselves the attacks failing each time.
Zabuza by now heard the attacks names and was sporting a huge … sweat-drop.
"Jan-Ken-Pon (Rock-Paper-Scissors)! Again! Again! Again…" they continued for about seven turns.
"Umm… what are you doing?" Zabuza interrupted.
"Isn't it obvious? We are deciding who will face you since all of us will be kind of unfair!" Naruto responded. He wanted to return to the match but their sensei interrupted them.
"Sorry guys, he's a little too dangerous for you right now so I'm countering you with 'sensei' and beating you all!" he eye-smiled.
"Heh! So you will face me alone Kakashi? I will give you a nice funeral!" Zabuza said before disappearing with his Kirigakure (Hidden Mist/ Hidden in the Mist) no Jutsu.
Naruto and Hinata activated their eyes and they easily pin-pointed the man's position in a tree near the water.
The missing-nin then began talking "There are eight points, larynx, spine, lungs, liver, jugular artery, collarbone, kidney's, heart. Now which one should I hit?" he continued adding KI.
Team seven just yawned together then Naruto responded "You forgot the sternum, solar plexus, back of the neck, groin, parts of the backbone, temple…" but before he could finish Zabuza appeared behind them.
"Thanks kid!" he smirked behind the bandages and swung his sword in a chopping motion but was stopped by Sasuke with a kunai who had little trouble intercepting the blow thanks to his weight training and his… three-tomoed Sharingan.
A split second later, Kakashi appeared and decapitated the man who turned into water.
"A water clone!" Kakashi commented but then noticed Sasuke's eyes. "How?" he asked.
"You mean the Sharingan? I awoke it a few weeks after the 'Uchiha Incident' with Naruto's help." Sasuke answered.
"You shouldn't look away Kakashi!" Zabuza whispered as he appeared behind the scarecrow and sliced him in half but Kakashi also dissolved into water. "He copied my Water Clone technique?" the Kiri nin whispered before Kakashi appeared behind him with a Kunai to his throat.
"It's over!" the Konoha Jounin growled.
"Sensei that's a fake too! Behind you!" Hinata shouted.
Kakashi frowned and sliced the Mizu Bunshin before ducking under a cleave only to be launched into the air by a kick from the missing-nin. Zabuza then went for a finisher only to stop at the caltrops that Kakashi threw onto the ground.
Kakashi landed in the water only to emerge a little distance away.
'What's with this water? It's heavy.' he thought before Zabuza appeared behind him going through a series of hand-signs.
"Baka. 'Water Prison no Jutsu' (Suiro no Jutsu)!" Zabuza said before encasing Kakashi in a sphere of water. "I got you into my inescapable prison." He then made another water clone and wanted to send it at the Gennin but Naruto stepped forward.
"Yo, No-brows! I would recommend releasing that jutsu about now!" the blond commanded.
"Really? And why should I do that? Do you think you can take me on? Get real gaki! You are just a bunch of brats playing shinobi! When I was younger than you I had already killed a lot of people!" Zabuza answered.
"Yeah, yeah! I read about it! Village of the Bloody Mist final exam and all, Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi. Killed a whole academy class by himself even though he wasn't even a student!" Naruto brushed it to the side.
"Oh? So you heard?" Zabuza raised a … piece of forehead.
"Big deal! Killing a bunch of kids who couldn't defend themselves. What was the matter with you? Did you fall on your head when you were young and the doctors screwed it on wrong?" Naruto taunted.
Zabuza growled "Get him!" He ordered his clone who charged and got close to Naruto but then Sasuke used his speed and destroyed it from its blind spot.
"Ho? You are pretty good! But that clone had only a tenth of my power!"
"A tenth? Than that means that you are not even worth it all! You should see Kakashi-sensei when his porn is destroyed! He is like a monster! Speaking of Kakashi, like I said, I think that you should cancel that jutsu by now, or else!" Naruto continued.
Zabuza laughed and then turned to the blond "Or what?" he taunted.
"Or that!" the boy answered using his thumb to point over his shoulder towards Tazuna. Near the man was a shadow clone who was holding a panting, wet Kakashi.
"WHAT?" Zabuza screamed and then looked at his hand to see his prison was holding a log that had a dozen explosive tags stuck on it. "SHIIIT!" he shouted as he let go of the jutsu as it exploded. The Kiri-nin managed to escape from most of the blast but his right arm and side still suffered serious burns.
He was now panting while the other side Kakashi was tended to with medical Ninjutsu by Hinata and Naruto's clone. Sensing that he was at the end of his ropes, he rushed forward for a suicide type attack only to be stopped by a couple of senbon needles embedding themselves in the back of his neck. Zabuza fell to the ground like he was struck by lightning and skidded to a stop a few feet away from the Konoha party.
They all turned to see a boy a year or two older than the Gennin wearing an androgynous kimono and a mask with the Kiri emblem on.
'Haku!' they all thought. 'But why did he attack Zabuza?'
Haku then began "Thank you for your assistance! I was trailing him for a while now and was waiting for a chance to get him."
"That mask, you are a Kiri Hunter-nin!" Kakashi bluffed.
"Indeed. I will waste no more of your time. Let me just take his body to dispose of it elsewhere!"
Naruto jumped in "Hold on! Aren't Hunter-nin supposed to take care of the body on the spot? You only need the head to claim the kill."
Haku flinched "Yes, that is correct but unfortunately I lost my storage scrolls in a battle and now I must take his body with me."
"I have a couple of extra storage scrolls." Naruto continued.
"I couldn't take one. They are expensive." the Kiri boy continued.
"Don't worry! I make them myself. Here." the blond insisted and Haku had no choice than to take one.
"Thank you! Now let me just move him out of the way. This could get messy and I'm sure that you don't want your lunch spoiled."
"That wouldn't be a problem since I have medic-nin training." Naruto puffed his chest.
"Really?" Haku was starting to get worried.
"Really! And you know what else I leaned as a medic nin? I learned that there are certain points in a body that you can hit with objects such as senbon to cause a fake death, Haku Yuki-san! SASUKE!"
Sasuke quickly flashed through some hand signs (think Kakashi after the Shipuuden time skip) and did a Goukakyu at Zabuza. When he stopped they noticed that both Zabuza and Haku vanished.
'He's quick!' they all thought.
Kakashi then covered his Sharingan and collapsed on one knee panting hard and Naruto dismissed the Tazuna clone.
"Well it looks like he got away." Kakashi sighed and Naruto handed him a chakra pill for which he thanked the Gennin.
"Will you be okay sensei?" Hinata asked the man.
"Well I'm a little worse for ware and tired as hell but I got off easily. A good's night rest and a hot meal and I'll be back to full strength." he answered.
"Follow me. Kurenai-sensei reached the house by the time you got trapped so I know where to go." our blond hero suggested and they all nodded.
Later that day they reached Tazuna's house where they met up with team ten, Tazuna and his daughter Tsunami.
"Kakashi? Was he that strong?" Kurenai worried as she saw Kakashi's battered form.
"Yes! Not to mention that he got a lucky shot in, but this is mostly Sharingan backlash." the male Jounin answered.
"Lucky shot?" Sakura quizzed.
"Sensei got trapped inside a Water Prison Jutsu with his Sharingan open and constantly trying to break free. The enemy got away though." Naruto answered "But he should be okay with two days of R&R."
"Oh!" Kurenai and Sakura responded.
Kakashi sighed "You are right Naruto, but I can't take that time while they are still out there."
"Oh you will take the time or you will be demoted to Chuunin for insubordination!" Naruto ordered.
"Naruto, in case you are forgetting Kakashi and I are the Jounin leaders here while you are a Gennin." Kurenai explained.
"I did not forget Kurenai-sensei but you forgot that I am the only licensed medic-nin in this party and as medic-nin I can even order the Hokage into retirement if I consider that it will be good for his health!" Naruto answered and both Jounin slumped.
"Is that true?" Sakura asked.
Kurenai turned to her "Yes and not only is Naruto a medic-nin he is also a First-class one and second in command of the Konoha medical-corps." the woman admitted earning Naruto two glances filled with awe from Tazuna and Tsunami.
"Now that that's sorted out, after lunch you it's off to bed with you mister!" Naruto entered medic mode.
"Hai! But before I go, how did you get me out of that jutsu Naruto?"
"Well, after you got caught I secretly made a Kage Bunshin and had it 'move' (*cough* teleport*cough) stealthily to your position while me and Sasuke distracted Zabuza with Hinata protecting Tazuna-san. When I got there I used my 'special' (*cough*space-time*cough*) talents to pry open a portal through the jutsu and then used a simple Kawarimi no Jutsu with a log that I prepared earlier."
Naruto explained everything but then ordered the scarecrow to do as the doctor ordered. A slumped Kakashi answered weakly and Naruto unsealed a perfectly balanced meal from his scrolls. After Kakashi ate he was sent to bed.
"Well now that that's over I think you need to think of training your team Kurenai-sensei. Judging by Zabuza's wounds and Haku's knowledge of the body, they will be back to full force by the end of the week at the earliest." Naruto turned to the woman.
"Yes." She answered.
"Do they know the tree climbing exercise yet?" Sasuke decided to break his silence.
"No, I didn't have the time to teach them until now." she answered. "But I guess that I will show it to them tomorrow."
"Hey, what is this about tree-climbing exercises? We know how to climb trees!" Kiba protested.
"Really? I thought dogs don't climb trees." Naruto taunted and Kiba growled but kept himself seated. "Besides, you are supposed to climb it without your hands."
"Without our hands? How are we supposed to do that?" Sakura asked.
"With chakra, like this!" the blond continued and walked up the wall and onto the ceiling. "You cling to the surface by focusing a steady amount of chakra to your feet. This place is said to be the most difficult to channel the energy and so if you manage to do it you will get a good feel of your own capacity. Kurenai-sensei will show it to you tomorrow." the blond explained and unhooked from the ceiling landing gracefully on two feet.
"That was a nifty trick." Tazuna chuckled and Tsunami applauded.
Just then the doors slid open an Inari walked in.
"Ah, Inari come here!" Tazuna motioned to the boy "Come meet the heroes who will protect Nami from Gato!"
"Why do you try? Gato will kill you! That is how it is! The strong will always beat the weak! So go home if you want to live! There are no such things as heroes!" the boy screamed.
"Inari!" Tsunami admonished him but Naruto held a hand in front of her.
"Yup! You don't know how right you are!" he answered making everyone look at him like he was a mental institute escapee.
"Wha?" the kid was surprised.
"I mean the part where the strong will always beat the weak! And that's why we will beat Gato!" he said flexing an arm while holding his biceps with the other.
"You don't mean that you think you have a chance against Gato? You're crazy! That thing is a demon!" Inari cried out.
Naruto stared at him with a dumbfound look for two seconds before bursting into laughter.
"Bwhahahaha! Boy you crack me up! Him? A demon? Trust me when I say this kid that you don't know anything about demons!" Naruto wiped a tear from his eye.
"Don't laugh at me! Do you know what demons are?" Inari snapped.
"Have you ever heard of the Bijuu kid?" Naruto got serious. "They are gigantic constructs of pure living energy, chakra as we call it as big as a mountain. Twelve and a half years ago, the Kyuubi no Yoko, the strongest one of them attacked the village and killed a lot of people kid. They were shinobi, trained people who in a quarter of the number that died, could have handed Gato's rear to him on a silver platter. And he didn't so much as suffer a scratch. If it weren't for our hero, Minato Namikaze who sacrificed himself, he could have destroyed everything. And this does not even scratch the surface of the full story!" the blond growled.
Inari then rebounded "So, what does that have to do with you! You lived in a nice village without having to worry about getting killed! You know nothing of pain…" Hinata gasped. That was one thing that Inari shouldn't have said. "…look at you!"
Naruto snapped and grabbed Inari by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall making Tsunami want to rush to his side but was stopped by Kurenai.
"You think that you had it tough brat? You are being bullied by a man with more money than you and you think that your whole life is over just because you don't see the silver lining of your cloud? Here's a newsflash for you, there are people who had it far worse than you. Sasuke here had his whole clan murdered except his mother by his brother and he was forced to watch everything for seventy-two freakin' hours within a powerful illusion!"
Naruto then let out a low growl gaining even more of the boy's attention.
"I know nothing of pain?" Naruto whispered but everybody heard him "Look at my face! Do you see those marks on my face? They are birthmarks! I had them since I was born, which coincidentally was the same day that the Kyuubi attacked! And because of these and some other reasons, the villagers thought that I was the demon reincarnate and were ruthless against me! Because of the Kyuubi attack I had lost my parents! That's right I never knew them! I never saw them smile at me, congratulate me or hug me when it hurts! Instead I can't remember anything older than the orphanage caretaker beating the shit out of me when I wasn't even three years old!" Tsunami then gasped "Tell me how hard your life is, I dare you! You have your mother and grandfather cooking for you and comforting you when you are crying! Have you ever survived a month with nothing than a dumpster to dine in when you were three? Have you ever been hunted by an angry mob on your birthday when you were four? Have you ever been tortured in such ways that it would make a horror novel seem like a child's color book? HAVE YOU? I have!"
Naruto let go of Inari and quickly stripped to his bare torso. His scars were faded because of Kurama's power but Naruto used a basic Ranpu jutsu based on the diagnostic jutsu to reveal them and it wasn't a pretty sight. Tazuna clenched his sake glass so hard that it shattered in his hand, Tsunami and Sakura moved their hands to their mouths to keep from screaming, Akamaru and Kiba were trembling from the sight, and although Shino kept his stoic appearance his clothes were vibrating from his bugs that reacted to his emotions. Team seven and Kurenai had seen it all before but that didn't mean they didn't grimace, especially the woman since she never saw it in such high detail.
"Here you are having people that love you and care for you and what are you doing? You hide behind sorrow and fear!"
Naruto got dressed again and looked at the stunned Inari with eyes that now reflected sadness and disappointment.
"I can feel that you lost somebody dear to you to Gato. I can tell that because I see the sorrow in your eyes." Inari's eyes were bulging. "But this is not the way to honor them! Can I safely guess that he was your hero? Yes, otherwise it would not have made you sunk so low. What will you do if they come for your Kaa-san or your Oji-san? Are you going to cower away and cry, saying that the strong always defeat the weak? Are you going to let them get hurt? If you still think that only the strong survive then get stronger and stronger and guard your precious ones and your dreams kid! You got a good pair of sturdy arms, be a man and use them!" Naruto spoke as he walked through the door.
"Naruto, where are you going?" Kakashi asked.
"To blow some steam and to train to prove that heroes do exist! And that's a promise! Hinata-chan and Sasuke will know how to get to me if there is trouble." he said with a thumbs up while slowly walking outside.
The house was silent for a few seconds before Inari broke it.
"Did he really go through all that?"
"Oh come on, nobody could survive through what he said he's been through, right?" Sakura answered shakily while Kiba nodded in approval.
"Actually Sakura, that was the watered down and sugar coated version." Kakashi explained. "Before I became a Jounin sensei I was part of the ANBU, the elite special agents of the village. Because of the reasons that Naruto mentioned, the Hokage formed a special task group solely to monitor and protect him from the villagers who refused to see that he was not the Kyuubi. I did the best that I could to keep him from danger but some of my colleagues were part of the group that hated him behind the Hokage's back and they sabotaged his protection. He suffered everything you can imagine and much more, from starvation to broken bones, assassination attempts, muggings and stabbings. I even heard from the Hokage that he was nearly burned at the stake but the ropes burned and he could escape. He still has the scar, it was the one on the side of his abdomen." he explained.
Tsunami began to cry and Inari was a few short seconds away from following her example.
The scarecrow continued "But then he was taken into Hinata's clan and didn't have to fear from that again." he eye-smiled at Hinata who responded in a similar fashion after she finished healing Tazuna's hand from the broken glass.
The white-eyed girl then turned to Inari "Listen Inari-kun, Naruto-kun didn't say those things to hurt you! Those are the things that he kept repeating to himself over and over for many years. I heard him since our rooms are close. He used to cry himself to sleep until one day I guess he just got tired of it and decided to change all that into the will to protect his beloved ones. And I swore I would follow his example. Got it?" she smiled while placing a hand on the boy's head.
Inari looked to her in surprise but then an image of Kaiza appeared in his mind besides Naruto's 'If something is truly important to you… even it's heart-breaking, even if it's sorrowful… you keep on trying and trying, even if you lose your life, you keep on protecting it with these two arms! …Then, even if you die, you leave behind the proof that you are a man… forever…'/ 'What will you do if they come for your Kaa-san or your Oji-san? Are you going to cower away and cry, saying that the strong always defeat the weak? Are you going to let them get hurt? If you still think that only the strong survive then get stronger and stronger and guard your precious ones and your dreams kid! You got a good pair of sturdy arms, be a man and use them!' and understanding the meaning behind those words he nodded furiously.
(A/N: I wanted to write this scene ever since I started the fanfic! I hope it turned out well!)
(Here would be cannon scene with Haku except that instead of sleeping, Naruto was resting and that he knew who he was but decided to play along and Naruto didn't hesitate to say that he has people who he cares about and that he is training for them.)
"Well I have to go now, take care!" Haku smiled.
"Bye Haku, give my regards to Zabuza-san!" Naruto chirped and Haku turned around frightened.
"You knew? Then why didn't you attack me?" the Kiri boy cautiously asked, senbon at the ready.
"You may have Ice ability but your heart is far from frozen. I saw the kindness in your eyes. I decided to spare you today since I began to see you as my friend." Naruto smiled kindly.
"I see! I hope we don't see each other on the battlefield then." Haku saddened.
"I do!" Naruto answered with determination "Because I know that you will be there and I will save you from your darkness!"
"What if I don't want to be saved?" Haku puzzled.
"Why wouldn't you?" Naruto answered.
Haku then began to explain about his powers, how he killed his father because of it and how he is hunted by his country.
Naruto then intervened "So? Do you think that you are a monster just because others tell you so? If that is true then will you believe ME if I told you that you are quite the opposite? Let those bastards think what they want! Just remember, you are yourself and nobody else!" the blond kept smiling at Haku's dumbstruck look.
The Kiri boy then smiled and bowed before leaving.
Naruto took a few moments to stretch and then Hiraishined close to the house. He walked back in to find that Tazuna was ready to head out into town with Hinata. Naruto decided to tag along but not before giving his team and sensei the brief about the encounter.
"And you let him go? Just like that?" Sasuke questioned.
"Sorry Sasuke, I just couldn't bring myself to hurt him. He is just like us, fighting to protect someone whom he cares about. He doesn't know he has other options, just like Itachi-nii-san." Naruto admitted looking to the floor feeling sad for the boy and Sasuke and his sensei cringed at the mention of the Uchiha's name. Kakashi had been informed of 'Operation Gardner' and the 'Uchiha Incident' background by the Hokage at the request of Naruto and was not surprised by this comparison.
"Well, it's no use crying over it. I just hope that you did the right thing Naruto." Kakashi shrugged it off.
When they went to town Naruto could see the decrepit state that the country was in. Tazuna explained that because of Gato's actions to subjugate the country, unemployment rate was nearly 100 percent and crimes were at their peak.
There were beggars at every corner and the disturbing part was that most of them were children. At one point, Hinata and Tazuna went inside a store to pick up some materials while he waited outside. During this time he felt an unfamiliar presence approach him so he activated his Shinsougan and saw a hand going for his pockets but he caught it with practice ease. He saw a man who looked like he had seen better days trying to rob him.
"You are either very stupid, very brave, or both to try to steal from a shinobi!" Naruto growled.
"P-please let me go! I-I didn't know anything it's just that I'm so hungry!" the man whimpered and Naruto saw the truth in his eyes and sighed. He let go of the man but not before unsealing some ration bars from a scroll and explaining to the man.
"These things taste like sawdust but they are very good for the body and keep you full for a day. It's not much but it will keep you alive. I will give everyone more after my friends and I deal with Gato and his cronies."
The man looked like he saw Kami "Thank you! Thank you!" he said before ripping a pack and biting out of a bar and chewing on it like it was a fine cuisine.
Naruto looked at the man before cringing 'Gato! You better pray that we never meet face to face or I'll show you how a real demon feels like from up close! Right before I grind you to pieces, slowly!'
Hinata and Tazuna exited the store and went off to the shopping district to buy food for the evening. On his way Naruto felt another, softer presence behind him so, when he was touched he turned around and noticed a small four to five year old child holding his hands out and a couple more kids hiding in the back.
"Give? Please!" the little girl smiled and Naruto returned the favor unsealing the rest of the ration bars and a large bag of candy.
"You in the back, you can come over. I won't hurt you!" he smiled and another five kids appeared.
"Listen guys these things are called ration bars. They are very good for you and they keep you full for the day but they taste like mud so use this candy to wash away the taste afterwards, okay?" the blond smiled and started sharing the food around.
"You are very kind." Tazuna praised the blond.
Naruto blushed and looked away "Not really. I just wanted to get rid of those things. They taste like sawdust and I'm not really into candy either." said the blond.
Tazuna just smiled and motioned for them to keep moving. They then got home and Tsunami made them the food which Naruto complimented her highly, even going so far as to compare it to Ichiraku. Inari came down eventually.
"Oh Inari, come sit down and eat!" Naruto chirped as if nothing had happened.
Inari saw the blond and looked to the floor in shame.
"Ano, I wanted to say that… I'm sorry for saying that you don't know pain!" the little boy fidgeted.
"Apology accepted now stop feeling sorry for yourself and come and eat! Your mom's cooking is godly!" Naruto answered without hesitation and Inari nodded.
Sakura then got into the conversation "Ano, Naruto? Aren't you sorry for what you said to Inari?"
"Nope!" Naruto answered taking another bite of the food and making the boy cringe. "Why should I be? I told the truth! If he wants me to say sorry then he has to prove that he can change! I meant every single word when I said that crying and wallowing gets you as much as a cold fart. If you can do something then you better damn well do it! I would! Even if my hands are taken away from me I will kick my way to the top! Even if my legs are destroyed I will bite my way through. Even if I died I would kick the Shinigami's ass and come back here to try again! Because that is my nindo, my ninja way!" he said adjusting his headband and making Hinata blush, Sasuke to smirk and Inari to stop moping and look at him in awe.
The next day team eight began the tree climbing exercise with Sakura doing a little better than her cannon counterpart since Kurenai actually bothered to train ALL her students when she could. Kiba was doing decent for his ability. Shino on the other hand was struggling a little since his bugs were constantly eating away at his chakra and were destabilizing it.
Team seven minus Naruto took turns between patrolling the area and training by meditating on water getting jealous stares from Kiba.
Naruto had chosen to follow Tazuna to the bridge to guard the man. (Cannon here- Gichi scene)
"If this keeps up I will have no more men to finish building the super bridge!" Tazuna sighed.
Naruto, who was sitting on a large crane overlooking the area turned to the man.
"How many workers do you need Tazuna-san? I can provide you with about two-thousand that can walk on all surfaces except air and are very strong but have little experience." Naruto flashed his foxy smile.
"Really?" Tazuna's eyes bulged. "How fast can you get me three hundred of them?" he asked.
Naruto just smirked and three hundred and twenty clones appeared on the bridge and surrounding area. "Does this answer your question? I made a couple more since you can give commands through one and when it vanishes everyone gets the information and you can order one when to do it!"
"Ah-ey-uoh! WOW!" the man mumbled.
The bridge was now being built at a record pace since Naruto by now had upped the bands at around 500 pounds equivalent for each limb and each clone could carry the same weight so you could see small blond twelve year-olds carrying five bags of cement in each arm with ease everywhere. The older construction members got to rest while giving out directions and orders to the clones, occasionally stepping in where experience was needed.
By now Kakashi had recovered fully and was doing a little bit of light training himself.
This was repeated throughout the days until the end of the week.
The following morning Naruto woke up to the sound of a door crashing open. Groaning he went down the stairs to find two thugs dragging Tsunami while Inari was fighting against them.
(Tsunami & Inari POV is cannon except Naruto's intervention.)
Naruto got seriously pissed and teleported between the two backhanding each of them and sending them flying before even touching the ground. He praised Inari (cannon) and then turned to the thugs who were just getting up nursing their sore cheeks. Naruto then took a rock and planted the Hiraishin on it before throwing it high above the ocean. He then teleported to the thugs and grabbed them before Hiraishining to the rock and smirking.
"Happy landing!" he chuckled before chucking them towards the water and teleporting back to Inari's side.
"Where are the rest?" he asked.
"They are at the bridge. Jii-san said that you were tired from working on the bridge and so they decided to let you sleep.
"Understood, I'm going there now. They might need my help. Inari, I'm proud of you! Protect your mom while I'm gone!" he smiled before contacting his teammates.
'Guys, do you copy?' he thought activating the telepathy seal.
'Yes!' they both answered.
'How's the situation over there?'
'Kakashi-sensei is fighting Zabuza while Kurenai-sensei is going against Raiga but seems to have a difficult time against him. We are battling Haku but he is tough. Team eight finished off the Gennin fast who ran away and are now guarding Tazuna-san.' Sasuke answered.
'Okay, be right there. Hinata I'm Hiraishining to your side!'
'Got it!' they both answered and Naruto mentally yelled 'Hiraishin no Jutsu' and flashed to the girl's side just in time to block a flurry of senbon with a Kaiten but true to his chakra it exploded sending a shockwave that cleared the air of some of the mist.
He then noticed that he was in a dome of ice slabs (Haku's ice mirrors) in which many Haku appeared.
"Hello Haku!" Naruto smirked.
"Greetings Naruto-kun! I had hoped that you would not have come today but I'm afraid that we must now battle." Haku answered preparing some senbon.
Naruto activated his Shinsougan and Soujin Seishin and blocked most of the needles although some of them got in.
"Naruto, careful, he's fast!" Sasuke looked at the blond with his Sharingan active. On his right was a panting Hinata.
"Hinata-chan!" Naruto deactivated his bands and shunshined to her side.
'Fast!' thought Haku.
"You okay?" Naruto supported the girl who nodded.
"Yes, I'm just a little tired from using Kaiten a lot." she answered and Naruto gave her a chakra pill.
"Why Haku? Why do you follow him? I know that he saved you but this is not you! He is trying to change you into something else!" Naruto shouted.
"Change me? No, I can't change. Only a person can change Naruto-kun. I am but a tool. An item for Zabuza-sama's use." Haku smiled behind her mask.
"QUIET!" Naruto roared making the Ice user take a step back inside the mirrors. "Does your heart beat? Do you have dreams? Even if your dream is to help Zabuza fulfill his, it is still your dream! That means you are a person and not a tool! A tool does not care for his master! It does not have any of those! Stop calling yourself that or I'll kick your ass!" Naruto responded.
"That is your view Naruto-kun. I will say it again; I am a tool to be used! An obje…" Haku began again but Naruto teleported in front of the mirror the real one was in and shattered it with a chakra enhanced punch.
Haku was surprised by this change of events but quickly recovered and, flying out of a shard he came forward towards Naruto, kunai at the ready but Naruto lazily caught it and punched him in the face, shattering the mask and sending the Kiri boy sliding on the ground and vanishing, head first into an ice mirror. After making sure that everything was still attached, Haku shot a surprised glance to Naruto.
"Told you I'd kick your ass!" Naruto smirked.
"That was surprising Naruto-kun, but it will not work on me again. As long as my ice dome stands, you will not win!" Haku frowned before regenerating the broken mirror.
"That can be arranged! Sasuke?"
"My normal Katon can't melt his ice Naruto." Sasuke admitted but then smirked at the blond who responded in kind.
"But who says it should be normal? Hinata-chan can you give us a couple of seconds?" Naruto replied.
"Hai!" the girl responded and moved in front of the two.
"I don't know what you are planning but it will not work!" Haku jumped out of the mirror aiming his senbon at the boys but was blasted back by a Hakke Kūshō (ET Vacuum Palm) from Hinata.
In the meantime Naruto charged a lot of pure wind chakra in his lungs and Sasuke flashed through hand-signs and breathed in a lot of air before blowing it out mentally shouting 'Katon: Karyuu Endan (Fire Dragon Flame Bullet), a dragon made of fire twice as thick as the brunet appeared just before Hinata jumped out of the way. In that moment Naruto blew a concentrated pipe like stream of wind-chakra that surrounded the fire jutsu, compressing and fueling it and making the flames pure white because of the heat.
"Fire-Wind Combination: Dragon Flame Vortex!" the boys shouted as the dragon circled the interior of the dome in a screw like motion going higher and higher. The ice never had the chance as the fire-wind jutsu melted it like a white-hot knife through butter.
Haku barely had time to jump out of the jutsu before the 'dragon' passed through it and was now panting hard. The dome was very chakra consuming and to lose it all at once like this was a massive blow to his reserves. When he looked up he saw that the three Gennin had surrounded him. He had no more energy to fight back and so he did the only thing he could.
"Kill me!" he begged.
"No." they answered.
"Please do it! I am a broken tool, and a broken tool has no use to Zabuza-sama so you have to dispose of me!"
The three sighed and Naruto answered.
"You are right! A broken tool must be disposed of!" before bringing his fist back for a punch that glowed with chakra. Haku's eyes widened before adorning a soft expression as the fist charged towards his face but when it made contact it barely had enough force to send his head to the side.
"Why? Why didn't you do it?" he cried before another fist made contact with the other side of his face.
Naruto grabbed his collar and hoisted him to his level "Why? Because I told you I would kick your ass if you kept saying that you are a tool! Wake up dammit! You are no more a tool than I am Santa Claus!" Naruto growled.
"Who's that?" everybody including Haku asked.
"Long story, but the main point is that I'm not him and you are not a tool! I know the pain you are going through! The pain of suffering because of something that you had no control of! But that is no reason to give up on your humanity! Live dammit! Live and fight against it! That is what means to be human and that is what you did until now! And I'll be damned if I'll let you stop now, got it?"
Haku's eyes widened when he realized that the blond was right and his expression softened when he wanted to thank the blond but just then the fog cleared and you could see Kurenai was protecting Kiba while fighting against Raiga, both Jounin panting in the distance, but closer to home Kakashi was charging his Raikiri in front of Zabuza who was held by his dog summons.
"ZABUZA-SAMA!" Haku screamed before doing a couple of hand-signs and shunshining in between them as Kakashi charged forward.
When he heard Haku scream Naruto reactivated the Shinsougan and Soujin Seishin and watched in slow motion as Kakashi was inching his way closer to Haku's heart.
'Oh, no you don't!" Naruto said before Hiraishining to Kakashi's side and shoving him out of the way but the Raiton jutsu managed to cut through Haku's right shoulder.
"Ahhhh!" the Kiri boy screamed as he felt the current through his right side and collapsed to the ground on his knees.
Kakashi and Naruto skidded to a halt. "Thanks!" the Jounin muttered to Naruto who nodded.
"Haku! Why did you do that? You should have killed Kakashi with that move not to try and take that hit! As I though, you are useless." Zabuza growled.
Haku simply smiled even though he was in pain and muttered "Sorry Zabuza-sama!" before falling to the ground.
The next moment Zabuza's nose was acquainted with Naruto's left knee that sent the Jounin skidding to the side. The blond quickly gave Haku a blood pill and, making two clones he took to mending his wound.
"Why didn't you kill me with that attack kid?" Zabuza growled.
"Because you are too important to Haku to kill!" Naruto answered.
"Why do you care so much about a broken tool gaki?"
"Liar."
"What?"
Naruto then shot a cold glare to the Kiri Jounin that sent chills down his spine. "I said that you are a liar! Even you don't believe that Haku is a tool. It easy to tell that you care for him a lot and that you hide behind those words to keep yourself from mourning if he ever got killed. Well let me tell you something No-Brows, you can't ever escape from that! Now shape-up, be a man and admit that you care for him or I'm going to pound you into the next millennia!"
Kakashi stared at his student before shifting to Zabuza who looked like he was about to … cry. The speech obviously hit the mark and now the Kiri-nin was contemplating his mistakes. He then heard somebody shouting his name and saw Hinata and Sasuke jogging towards him.
"Hinata-chan, I need your help with Haku!" Naruto called out and she made her way there but on the way, a lightning bolt barely missed her. The blond having stabilized Haku looked towards the source of the lightning and saw Kurenai and Raiga's battle approaching it's end as well. "I'm going to assist her, after you dealt with things here you should join me!" Naruto told his two partner Gennin and clones, who nodded back.
Naruto then teleported to Kurenai's side just in time to move her out of the way of a lightning strike.
"Naruto?" asked a panting and bruised Kiba.
The boy didn't bother to answer "Kakashi has finished with his battle but is in no fighting shape. What's the situation?"
"I can't seem to trap him in any one of my illusions, and he is awfully protective of the bag on his back." Kurenai answered and Naruto activated the Shinsougan but found the bag empty so he began scanning using different wavelengths.
Raiga then surprised them with a quick lightning bolt shooting it towards the woman but to her surprise, it arched around her and was heading for the Inuzuka. He didn't have enough time to dodge so he closed his eyes and braced for the hurt. He waited and waited but it didn't come until a scream made him open his eyes.
In front of him was Naruto's smoking back. His coat was now shinobi black with white glowing kanjis for 'shield' all over the material. The blond had his arms stretched to protect the dog-boy from any serious damage. The kanji faded out of view and Naruto fell to one knee, panting lightly.
"Damn *cough*, I didn't activate my barrier Fūin fast enough and some of it got through, You okay Kiba?" Naruto asked.
"Why? Why did you take that shot for me?" Kiba shouted and Akamaru barked.
"You may be a horn-dog who constantly wags his tail after my girlfriend, and we may not get along that well… but I still see you as my friend and a Konoha comrade. And I never abandon my friends!" Naruto smirked at him before getting up and facing Raiga, leaving the Inuzuka to stare at him in shock.
Raiga grinned as he looked at the new addition to the battlefield.
"What's this? Another brat as backup? Do you think that you can stop me kid?" he chuckled as his Kiba swords were crackling with lightning.
Naruto decided he should play safe and brought out Meian who started to glow with wind-chakra.
"Nice trick with the sword but can you match it with technique?" Raiga taunted before charging the blond, swords connecting and sparks flew as the wind-chakra canceled the lightning chakra and metal hit metal.
Raiga had a very offensive style that was countered each time by Naruto's highly defensive maneuvers.
"Interesting moves kid!" the Jounin was impressed.
"Thanks! I call it the Seikuuken (Control of the Air Sphere – another thing based on HSD Kenichi)!" Naruto smirked as he continued defending while using his eye technique to peek inside the backpack.
He didn't have to wait long as, when he got to infra-red, he saw what looked like a small child. The strangest thing was that, even though the bag didn't appear to have holes for looking through them, the child's eyes were the hottest portions of his body where normally it should not have been this active even during broad day. Another thing that caught Naruto's attention was the overall body condition and that the child appeared to be very… frail.
"What the fuck do you think that you are doing moron?" Naruto shouted catching Raiga off guard with his question enough time for Naruto to slam the side of his blade into his temple and send him skidding on the ground "Why did you bring a sick child into battle? Are you really that heartless?" the boy growled.
"Wha? I-I don't know what you're…" Raiga started sweating. 'How does he know about Ranmaru?' he thought.
"Don't try to lie and cover! You have a small boy in that backpack! What are you thinking jackass? Do you know that he can suffocate in there?" medic-mode Naruto was back. "Besides, he should see a doctor not battle! Now stop this shit and let the kid go!"
Raiga stopped his attack and turned his head slightly towards the child-backpack. He whispered a few words before turning back to Naruto who was waiting defensively.
"How do you know about Ranmaru gaki?" Raiga lowered his sword
"I can see him through your bag. Consider it a talent of mine." Naruto relaxed as well. "And I can also see that he needs medical treatment. I'm a medic-nin and I can see that his condition isn't too severe but until I can consult him I won't know if it's curable!"
"How do we know that you aren't just trying to separate us so you can kill me!" the man defended while looking at the blond and the Jounin sensei who was still huffing a little.
"Two reasons. One, I hate lying unless I have to! And two, I spared your partners Zabuza and Haku, why shouldn't I spare you?" Naruto smirked.
Raiga responded in a similar manner "You make it sound as if you could kill me anytime you wanted gaki!"
The next moment Naruto disappeared from his position.
"WHAT?" Raiga answered.
A soft voice was heard from his backpack. "Behind you, on your left."
The swordsman turned his head to that direction to see Naruto holding Meian close to his neck.
"Took you two, seven seconds to notice me. That's six and a half more than I needed to kill you! Now, how about we settle down and talk while I examine the boy. We already defeated Zabuza, secured him and provided aid for the other team who should be here any second now. Just to let you know, my teammates are just as strong as me if not stronger and I'm sure you heard about Hatake Kakashi not to mention the Jounin that you already fought. So do we have a deal?" Naruto questioned bringing Meian closer to his skin and drawing a little blood.
Raiga pondered a minute before dropping his swords. "Alright kid, you win! I give!" he said lifting his arms.
Naruto smiled and lowered Meian. "Good! Now let me see Ranmaru-kun."
The backpack rustled and whispered "Raiga-san, no. I don't want to be away from you!"
Raiga sighed as he gently dropped the boy on the ground and brought him out of the 'hiding place'. "It can't be helped kid. He defeated us fair and square."
Naruto smiled as he saw the boy for the first time, Meian fading from his hand. The blond gently dropped down to his height and put a hand on the kid's head. "Don't worry Ranmaru-kun, nobody will take you away from him if you don't want to! Not for now at least. Kurenai-sensei!"
"You called Naruto?" the woman made her way there.
"Yes! Please watch over Raiga-san. Sorry Ranmaru-kun but I can't trust a wanted man that much yet." he answered then turning to the purple haired kid.
"It's … okay. I understand." Ranmaru sadly admitted but he was satisfied with not being separated from the man for now.
"Good kid! Now stay still while I examine you." Naruto ordered gently before a Kage Bunshin appeared next to him and got to work. After two minutes the clone dispelled and Naruto got all its information.
"Well I got some good news and some bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?" he turned to Ranmaru and Raiga.
The two looked at each other before Raiga answered. "The good one first."
"Ranmaru-kun's condition is fully treatable. With enough exercise he could become a full-fledged shinobi if he wanted to." he answered with a smile.
Ranmaru looked excited at the prospect of living a normal life and Raiga was happy for the boy but then remembered something. "And the bad news?"
Naruto grinned playfully "The bad news is that the recovery process is so boringly slow and the medicine is super bitter." he admitted and the people around him face-planted.
Before they could clobber him for making them worry, Tazuna and the rest of the Konoha-nin arrived with Zabuza and Haku in tow all tied up and having a chakra suppression seals on them.
"So Naruto-kun got you too?" Haku asked and Raiga nodded looking embarrassed.
"Well, all's well that ends well! 'Arf!'" Kiba commented and Akamaru complimented but they both sensed a foul smell in the air.
"Oh and what do we have here? Looks like you missing-nin failed me! No matter, I wasn't going to pay you anyway!" the midget Gato appeared with about two hundred goons around him.
"I was really going to kill you after the Konoha shinobi softened you up but it seems that I will have to take care of everything. Kill them all!" the billionaire ordered.
"All of them boss? What about the girls and the woman?" one of them asked.
"Ah you're right! How foolish of me! Kunoichi slaves are very valuable after all and we can take our time to break them. I will personally take care of that white-eyed one after which you can have a go at her!" Gato sneered. Bad move!
"Oh yeah! She's cute! How lucky our boss is a pedophile!" the goons sneered in unison. Double bad move!
"We can have her every night after…" they didn't get to finish their sentence as a pure black horizontal line appeared near their neck area. ( Imagine that you are looking at a picture of the goons and you take a pencil and trace a line over their necks in one quick motion)
A few moments later the black line faded and their heads were separated from their bodies, some tall ones were cut in half and blood sprayed everywhere. The trees in the visible area fell over cut in half where the line was. Even the clouds in the distance appeared cut. The only one remaining was Gato who was saved by his short stature.
On the shinobi side everyone was watching the scene with horrified expressions and bulging eyes. Ranmaru was spared the sight by a Naru-clone.
The blond on the other hand was in front of the group holding Meian with his demonic features a lot more pronounced like sharp claws and red slit eyes. The sword's blade was a pure radiating black that generated a shadowy ghastly aura. The blond had a stance like he had just cut something in half horizontally. He stood like that for a couple of seconds while the others watched him in awe and horror before collapsing on his hands and knees panting like crazy.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata snapped out of her daze and ran to him, kneeling at his head.
"What was that?" Sasuke pondered out loud.
Naruto took a few more breaths before answering "'Tentoukirite' (Heaven Cutter).*huff* It's Meian's final and strongest *huff* ability. It takes as much *huff* chakra as three Kage can *huff* provide."
Naruto then paused for a couple more seconds to stabilize his breathing before continuing. "It is an unstoppable strike that will cut everything in sight like a picture with its tip, no matter the distance to the target or how powerful its resistance is. The cut stays in place for a couple more seconds after it was produced and anything that comes in contact with it gets cut as well."
Naruto, receiving a chakra recharge from Kurama got up and viewed his surroundings. He noticed his handiwork, feeling a knot slowly rising in his stomach and heading for his mouth.
Tazuna turned away from the sight.
Haku, Kiba, the Konoha Jounin and Raiga were looking at the same scene with even more dread and all of them were thinking 'Daaaamn!', the Gennin continuing with 'I'm glad he sees me as his friend! He really went easy on me all this time and all I've done is go after his woman. Guess mom and sis were right when they said that I should start growing up huh?'.
Sasuke and Hinata were a little amazed but by now they expected something like this from the blond so they were more affected by the gory scene.
Zabuza whistled "Wow kid! Wait a minute! Why didn't you use it against me when we first met?"
Naruto was fighting to control his stomach but answered "Because like I said it takes a lot out of me and I knew that Haku was close to the scene so I couldn't leave myself chakra drained." he said before taking another look at the bandits and confessing "Now if you will excuse me…".
Naruto put his hands on his mouth and jumped into some bushes.
"Bleahhhhh…" was the sound that came from his direction.
"What's wrong with him?" Sakura asked.
"First kill. It does that to you." Kakashi answered and the Gennin nodded in understanding.
Naruto then groggily walked out of the vegetation and wobbled to their position but Hinata and Sasuke moved to support him while he caught his breath again.
"Hiiii!"
They snapped out of their admiration when they looked towards the source of the squeal. Inside the bloody mess Gato rose to a sitting position having fainted earlier when the blood started gushing.
"A-a-ahhh!" he continued to shout, frightened by the scene.
Teams seven and eight together with Kakashi made their way to his side surrounding him.
"P-Please don't hurt me! I'll give you money!" he begged.
"No deal." Naruto answered.
"Please! Women, power, land! Anything!" he got into a seiza in the blood and begged again trembling like an earthquake.
"Like Naruto said, no deal." Sasuke continued.
"Please! Just don't kill me!" he grabbed Naruto's legs and cried.
"Oh we won't do anything to you!" Naruto smirked.
Gato blinked in surprise "So you will let me go?"
"I said we won't do anything to you but I don't know about them!" Naruto grinned while pointing to the billionaire to look behind him.
The midget quickly turned his head to see a mob of villagers overlooking their positions with Inari and Gichi leading them.
"Hey Inari could you turn around for a little bit?" Naruto smiled.
The boy, who was shocked about the scene of the massacre did as he was told. Naruto grabbed Gato by the back of his coat and lifted him off the ground before jumping towards the crowd.
"Sasuke, if you would…" Naruto requested and the Uchiha nodded before flashing through hand-signs and blowing out a Goukakyu over the corpses, burning them to ash in seconds. "Okay Inari, you can turn around again."
The boy turned around and was amazed by the sight of a huge burned area, with some of the bushes still on fire but nearly no trace of battle. He shook his head to get him out of the trance before smiling back to Naruto.
"Hey Naruto-nii-chan! I got the villagers to help you guys out but it seems we were too late."
"No problem. It's good to see everyone grow a backbone and they have you to thank." Naruto answered ruffling up the boy's hair. "Oh yeah! I got a present for you guys!" he smirked before chucking Gato in the middle of the mob like an old shoe. What happened to him in the following days was something that became a horror legend.
After the bridge was completed Naruto unsealed most of the food he had inside his scrolls and distributed it to the people, especially the kids who now saw their 'oni-chan' as their hero.
In the following days the Kiri nin were held under arrest inside a house but were eventually released from that place when it was time to leave after Naruto interrogated them. It turns out that they were working for Gato to raise funds for a coup against the current Mizukage. (A/N: You know the story! Blah, blah, coup against the (perceived) evil Yagura, blah, blah, bloodline purges! **********Also in my fic, Raiga is not the crazy funeral-obsessed nut he is in the anime, does not hate the other swordsmen and has the same goal as Zabuza.******)
(Cannon from here until the departure and the naming of the bridge except that the Kiri-nin were now coming with the Konoha-nin)
On the way back to Konoha…
They were making good time by jumping from tree to tree. The Kiri-nin were following them without restraints since Naruto placed a complex seal that would paralyze and eventually kill them if they got too far from him so tying them up was unnecessary since none of them had any experience with seals. Kurenai was carrying Ranmaru.
"What's going to happen to us?" Haku asked.
Naruto stayed silent for a while and kept looking forward before answering.
"To you, I'm not sure. You will be charged with aiding a missing-nin in battle against a Konoha team but, since Zabuza-san taught you since you were a child, you will most likely benefit from mitigating circumstances and will be put on probation and community service. Your bloodline will help a lot since Konoha loves bloodline users." Naruto answered and Haku looked at him in surprise. It would be heaven if he didn't have to hide his gift so he could not believe the blond.
"Really? Konoha loves bloodlines?" Haku made certain.
"Actually, it's more like it worships them. The village was founded mainly by two bloodline clans after all." Naruto smiled.
"And what about the rest?" he asked a little relieved.
"Since Ranmaru-kun has a bloodline and is even younger he will probably be in an even better position than you and will be admitted into the hospital to be treated." Naruto chirped before getting serious.
"Zabuza-san and Raiga-san will be charged with various crimes and most probably be extradited back to Kirigakure no Sato (Mist village full name) where they will be executed." he confessed.
Haku's mood turned dark and Ranmaru was shocked.
"NO! You lied! You told me that I wouldn't be separated from Raiga-san! Liar! Liar!"
Naruto stayed silent while the kid vented his fury before continuing. "Unless of course, they ask for political asylum. Considering the state that Kiri is in and the fact that they are highly skilled shinobi, they will be saved from extradition but because you have attacked us, interfering with a legal mission, they will be put under arrest and will probably spend a few years in Konoha's prison with their chakra suppressed … where you could visit them during visiting hours. That is until another arrangement is made like, for example, they could be used as mercenaries in a nearly suicidal mission or something like that in exchange for their freedom. Don't worry. Konoha has a complete freedom of choice policy so they would have to agree to the mission first." the blond smiled, turning his head to Haku and Ranmaru who smiled back.
Zabuza and Raiga looked at each other and smirked before nodding. They didn't need words to agree that jail during peacetime would be better than dying pointlessly.
And so the party members had their plans made as they continued their journey.
*End Chapter*
Author notes
****Important*** I am looking for a beta reader with good English skills to correct my sentence structures and other eventual mistakes. I have no idea how to 'use' (for lack of better term) one so if you are interested PM me with instructions like how to send you the file and so on.
I'm sure you are wondering what did Naruto told Sasuke to keep hidden before he pissed in the puddle. It will be revealed during the second part of the Chuunin exam chapters.
Also, don't expect Zabuza or Raiga to appear in my fic like an exam proctor because none of them will. In fact they will probably have minor roles until after the time skip. Authors used the whole 'don't-kill-have-him-join-the-ranks' idea way too much. Also think about the politics involved. They were some of the strongest and highest ranking shinobi in their village. Do you think that Kiri would do nothing and say 'oh sure keep him (Zabuza) and our precious sword relic!'? No! The political implications would be too great.
I noticed that I didn't bash Kakashi as much as I let on and for the fact that I gave you a reason to misunderstand me, I apologize! I wanted Naruto to toy around with him a little bit not to be all 'Go fuck yourself!' on Kakashi.
The second incident at the Fire Capital will be presented during the Chuunin final stage.