What are the pairings you think should be put into this story? I've actually got a solid idea for one or two but I would like to hear your views.
I am also actually willing to tell these ideas to anyone who are confident they can develop them further.
Thanks to Blood-red Moonlight, angel-eyes8611 and The True Not Important for the reviews!
Itachi eyed Sasuke and Sakura. It was Naruto's turn to protect Tazuna at the bridge for the day. He had complained about stopping his kenjutsu training after only a day, but finally relented after Itachi promised to treat him to ramen after they got back home.
If we get back home, Itachi now corrected his earlier words to his student. He had a bad feeling in his chest, and the Uchiha man hoped that he wouldn't have to deal with any casualties.
"Okay, Sasuke, Sakura. Let's begin."
"Itachi-sensei!" Naruto's voice screamed into his ear. "It's the freak with no eyebrows!"
"What?"
"It's Zabuza! He's here!"
"WHA-"
The communication line went dead.
"WHA-"
"Woaaah!" Naruto flew into the air, and his earpiece communicator came off.
Zabuza smirked beneath his mask, satisfied with the punch he had dealt the young blonde. Withdrawing his sword, the Demon prepared to take another life, but Naruto wasn't having it.
"Take this!"
A kunai was flung, but Zabuza effortlessly knocked it away with his giant sword.
"You need better than that to save your skin, kid."
They were on the bridge, and all the builders had fled the scene upon the arrival of Zabuza and his hunter-nin pal. Tazuna stood behind Naruto, shaking in fear as the Genin picked himself back up.
Seemingly unfazed by the punch, he formed a hand seal. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Hundreds of clones appeared, surrounding Zabuza and the hunter-nin on the bridge.
"I'll take half of them and you take the other half," said the swordsman with a big grin. The hunter-nin merely nodded, and drew out a few sharp needles. Naruto recognized them as senbon.
With amazing accuracy, the senbon was thrown and each one pierced one clone in the neck, effectively dispersing it.
"Good job Haku," Zabuza commented, slicing a clone into pieces.
The one called Haku politely nodded.
"Hey!" Naruto pointed at the both of them, just as the last of his clones dispersed. "I'm not letting you get the bridge builder, you hear me? I, Naruto Uzumaki, will fight you! Believe it!"
Zabuza broke out into evil laughter, before lunging at his target with the Kubikiribocho.
Drawing his sensei's katana, Naruto parried the attack. At the withdrawal of the Genin's new weapon, Zabuza was caught off guard, but managed to dodge an attempted stab anyway.
"Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance!"
Please be fast... please be fast...
"Huh?!" Zabuza frowned.
In an instant, three Narutos had attacked him.
"Try this one on for size!" They all screamed, thrusting their weapons forward.
Zabuza knocked away two of the clones, but the original managed to land a small cut on his hip. A brief shout of pain followed. Haku looked on, intrigued as he watched the blonde boy fight.
He actually managed to land a hit on Zabuza-dono... This boy must be strong.
"H-H-Hey, brat!" Tazuna called out. "Where's your teammates?"
"They should be getting here soon!" Naruto yelled back. "Leaf Style: Crescent Moon Dance!"
"The same attack won't work on me twice, you fool- ARGH!"
Naruto had a cheeky smile on his face as he flew past Zabuza. The muscled man was clutching his cheek. "Won't work on you twice, huh, eyebrow-less freak?" He challenged.
"I'll destroy you, brat!"
Haku was tempted to join the battle, but knew that Zabuza could handle the boy alone.
Naruto jumped out of the way quickly as Zabuza's sword came crashing down on the position he'd been standing on a moment ago. With a quick swipe of the Kubikiribocho, it was back on Naruto's tail in an instant.
The orange-wearing Genin blocked the sword with his katana, but was shocked as the weapon broke into two, demonstrating the amount of strength Zabuza was using.
As the sword swung towards his neck, Naruto felt himself blacking out.
"Huh?"
Naruto opened his eyes, surprised to find himself in a sewer of sorts.
The spiky-haired boy took in the surroundings. There was nothing around, but dull-colored walls and water sloshing away at his feet. To his surprise, the metal bars of a prison stood in front of him, and on the bars was a piece of paper with the kanji for 'Seal'.
"What is this place?"
His question was answered by an irritated growl. The figure of a giant creature appeared in front of him. Red eyes glared down at his small form. Taken aback, Naruto jumped.
Blue eyes met red ones, and a questioning glance was met with a growl.
"What business do you have with me, puny brat?" The creature demanded.
Naruto backed away fearfully. "Where... where am I? Am I dreaming?"
"Dreaming?" The red-eyed giant threw it's shadowy head back and roared with menacing laughter. "You're within your own body, brat!"
"My... own... body?" Naruto said quizzically, taking in the surroundings. "Why does my body look like a sewer? Why is there water everywhere? Does this mean my chakra nature is Water? Wow! No, wait, but Itachi-sensei said it was Wind."
"Silence!"
The creature's bellowing scared Naruto out of his skin.
"W-W-Why should I listen to you?" He shivered, trying to sound brave.
"I can kill you with the swipe of my hand, brat!" The giant creature stepped out of the shadows, revealing a face that told Naruto it was a fox. A gigantic fox. Naruto gasped, finally connecting the dots and realizing who this was.
"You're that demon!"
"I'm no demon, brat!" The fox roared. Then it's voice lowered. "Well... maybe... but my full name is the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, the Kyuubi, and you shall address me as such! Not something as low-class as 'demon', you hear me, brat?"
Scared out of his wits, Naruto nodded quickly.
"Now, tell me. Why have you come here?" Kyuubi asked in a rude tone of voice.
"I don't know!"
The Nine-Tails glared angrily at his container.
This kid is as dumb as his mother.
Naruto watched on, confused, as the Fox closed his eyes.
"Eh, Fox! Ya sleeping?"
"No, brat! Shut up or I'll kill you!"
Receiving killer intent from his Tailed Beast again, Naruto stood at attention, mouth shut tight. Finally, Kyuubi's eyes opened, his expression changing to a look of unamusement.
"You're going to die, fool."
"Wha-?"
Naruto suddenly felt himself blacking out again.
Consciousness returned to the blonde, as the Jinchuriki felt his sight of the world returning to him. Unfortunately, Zabuza's sword was still just inches away from his throat.
"Naruto!" He heard Itachi scream a few meters away.
This is it, the Genin thought sadly. I never got to become Hokage, and I never got to become anything further than a Genin. Naruto Uzumaki, the number one hyperactive knucklehead ninja, killed in action on his first ever ninja mission.
No sooner had he thought that, his arm moved. Naruto blinked as his arm moved with incredible speed, knocking away the sword. Zabuza stared on in disbelief as the Kubikiribocho went spinning into the air, before landing with a loud thud.
Naruto felt himself leaning back, and suddenly Zabuza was kicked backwards with sheer force.
What? I-I didn't do that!
He raised his arms to look at them, and was both surprised and fearful when he saw his entire body covered with red chakra. From within Naruto's body, the Kyuubi cursed his luck.
It's the perfect moment to have some fun with this brat's body... but the damned seal still isn't weak enough! Growling, the Demon Fox backed into his prison. Maybe in a few months... Naruto Uzumaki.
To his relief, Naruto felt the red chakra disappearing.
Itachi and the rest of Team 7 stood beside Tazuna, shell-shocked, for individual reasons.
Sakura was shocked at Zabuza's almost-successful attempt to behead her teammate, while Sasuke was very surprised at his IQ-challenged teammate's ability to react fast enough for his life.
Itachi, however, knew what had truly happened. The Jonin frowned, but like Naruto, was extremely relieved to see the red chakra receding.
"You did well, Naruto," the Uchiha called out to his student. "I'll take it from here."
"I think it's time for me to join the battle, Zabuza-dono." Haku looked towards Zabuza with a questioning look. The swordsman stared back at him, before turning back towards Itachi's team and nodding, giving a certain command.
"Kill them all."
Probably the shortest or the second shortest chapter so far. I'm sorry I couldn't provide a longer one but I like leaving chapters at the start of a battle/fight. In the next chapter, Team 7 combat the deadly duo of Zabuza and Haku. Until next time. :)