The Lazy Maelstrom
By The Obsidian Blade
Chapter six-the battle on the river bed
Naruto looked at the road ahead of them. They were able to get to a boat without much trouble. There was the occasional bandit but they were not out for Tazuna's blood as far as they knew. They may as well have been distractions to keep them from getting to their destination faster. The village that they passed through was something to be amazed of. It was literally built on the lake. Sure, it was not in the best of conditions but it was still amazing. It also served as their last stop till they reached the construction site. But Naruto had an uneasy feeling about today. It was as if something bad was on its way and the feel of it hung over him like a dark cloud. 'Great, the next time they try and attack us, they won't use anyone who could be taken down with ease. It will most likely be a jounin or above.' Naruto sighed at that train of thought. This was just not good to have this kind of feeling.
Sasuke looked at Naruto with anger. The teen outclassed him in a fight. The blonde was supposed to be the dead last and yet he outclassed the top of the new gennin as if it was easy. And it did not help him with the fact that Naruto was able to do it efficiently and quickly. The whiskered teen did not even get a scratch on him. But what made things worse was that Sasuke was the one that was petrified into a statue like state. The Uchihas were elites. They were the best of the best and yet the dark haired teen was not able to show his true skill. He sighed. 'I will get the council to get him to show me all of his skills and teach them to me. After that, I will have him executed.' Sasuke smirked at that thought. The council always listened to him and gave him whatever he wanted. After all, it was his birth right to be superior to all life forms.
Naruto's ears twitched as he heard some noise come from the bushes. His hands acted quick as a kunai dropped from his sleeve and two his hand. He snapped his wrist, launching the kunai into the bushes, scaring everyone besides Kakashi. Naruto sighed as he looked into the bushes and narrowed his eyes. Instead of a person like he thought, it was a white rabbit impaled through the gut with the slim piece of metal that he had thrown. 'Wait a minute,' Naruto thought, ignoring Sakura as she ranted and raved about the fact that he killed a helpless rabbit. 'Isn't it spring. Oh crap, this can't be good. I hate it when I am right.' Naruto's ears twitched again as he heard a displacement of wind. "GET DOWN NOW!" the blonde kitsune yelled as he pushed Sakura down to the ground. Kakashi pushed down Sasuke and Tazuna down as well, dodging a giant blade as it carved through the air, nearly lopping off their heads. Naruto raised himself up to his feet and sighed heavily. He really hated being right.
The giant blade wedged itself into the tree. It was a magnificent blade in a wicked fashion. It was large, about five feet with a one foot handle with a single edge. The end of it curled slightly while the edge of it was serrated. At the hilt of was half a circle while the tip of it had a hole in it. The person on it was the one that he was worried about though. The man was named Momichi Zabuza, A rank nuke Nin from Kiri. He was about six foot tall with black spiky hair. His arms were covered by cow skin arm warmers with his feet covered by cow skin boots. His grey, blue pinstriped pants were tucked into his boots and his upper torso was shirtless, showing off his upper body. Bandages were wrapped around his face, barely going over the bridge of the nose, acting like a mask so no one could get a chance to look at him. His Kiri head band was tilted to the side, messing up his short hair.
Kakashi looked at Zabuza before speaking. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Momichi Zabuza, A rank Nuke nin of Kirigakure." His hands reached into the weapons' pouch on his back hip, preparing himself with something that might prove useful to him if a fight broke out, something that he knew was going to happen.
Zabuza chuckled as he jumped from his post and took down the sword, hoisting it over his shoulders as he landed on his feet. "Sharingan no Kakashi, no wonder the Demon Brothers did not stand a chance." Sasuke looked at Kakashi as he placed on hand under his headband and the other above his mask. What did the man known as Zabuza mean by Sharingan? Wasn't that an Uchiha only Kekkei Genkai? "The old man is mine so step aside. That is if you want to live."
Kakashi growled slightly. 'Surround and protect Tazuna. This man is out of your league." Sakura looked at the man in question. Did he not say that teamwork was the key to win every fight? So why not have them fight alongside the sliver haired jounin? After all, they had a better chance at winning if they all fight. "That is the team work here. Kakashi pulled up his headband, revealing his sharingan eye with the eyelids scarred, showing how it managed to get in. "Zabuza, first fight me."
Zabuza chuckled as he slipped into a ready stance. "I feel honored that you would show your sharingan to me this early into the fight," he said with hidden mirth. Kakashi narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what the former Kiri Nin was up to.
Sakura began to wonder what was so special about the eye. It had to be something special as Kakashi-sensei had it in his left eye. When she voiced her question, all she got was a shaky answer from her beloved. "The sharingan eye is a special eye from Konoha. What it does is read and take down any technique besides blood. It could be tai, gen, or ninjutsu." Sakura looked amazed at what the eye could do. It was practically the best tool in the ninja world for a ninja. "But there is still more that it could do."
Zabuza laughed at the brooding teen. The kid knew his stuff that was for sure. "You're right kid that is not all it could do. The scarier thing is that it could copy the opponent's techniques and throw them back at the opponent." Sakura's eyes widened slightly. The eye was a god to Kekkei Genkais everywhere. Nothing could compare to started to speak again, trying to scare the kids. "When I was on Kiri's assassination squad, I kept a hand book on me that included information about you. The book said that you were the man that has copied over one thousand jutsus, Sharingan no Kakashi."
Kakashi and Naruto narrowed their eyes as the man in front of them, blurred out of sight. This was not the time to be messing around. They had to be serious about this if they wanted to survive. Kakashi looked towards Naruto and flashed him a few ANBU level hand signs. 'Naruto, I want you to create a Kage Bunshin and replace yourself with it. Then hide in the bushes. If things get to out of hand, I am going to send the others and the Kage Bunshin out. You and I will take him on. I do not want the others to get hurt.' Naruto nodded and formed a hand seal, muttering the words Kage-Bunshin-no-jutsu. In a plume of smoke, another Naruto appeared the two nodded to each other before the original disappeared out of sight.
Zabuza gritted his teeth in anger as he saw what the blonde did. This was not good. The teen seemed suspicious, as if he was on the bingo books. He did fit the description of Yami, an A rank Nin from Iwa. The sad part was the he could not be sure as there was no solid evidence on the man. It was not a good idea to lose track of him if he was correct. If he was, he was going to hate it. For right now, he would have to hope Haku would keep the blond from killing him.
Naruto appeared on a nearby branch, watching the fight intently. His eyes were locked onto the fight, trying to decipher the movements. He did not want to use the sharingan as Zabuza might notice the small amount of chakra being given off. He would not be surprised about that at all. The man was known for fighting low visibility situations and chakra detection would be a great way to find anyone. So using as little chakra a possible was the best solution at the moment.
Kakashi and the others cringed as the heard a voice from the ever thickening mist. Kakashi could felt eh chakra coming from the man but it would not be enough to actually pinpoint where the man was. The chakra could be coming from anywhere on the field. Then the voice came in, shocking the team sans Kakashi and Naruto. "Seven points to strike, the heart, the larynx, the jugular, the brain, the spine, the liver, and the kidney. Which one do I go after?" the voice was disembodied, as if it came from everywhere. It had the shocking feeling. But the amazing part was the killing intent coming from everywhere. It was nearly suffocating them.
Kakashi started looking around, his eyes lurking about, trying to find the hidden killer. The mist was not making things easy and he did not have perfect control over his sharingan. The reason being that it was implanted by his friend and not gained by blood like it was supposed to be. His ears were opened to any sound that might be made during Zabuza's movements. His eyes finally locked onto something as he formed a quick hand seal, focusing his chakra through out his body.
Sasuke was shaky. His body was just in total shock at all the killing intent being thrown out from the former Kiri Nin. This was just so unreal. He was not expecting something to be thrown out like this on a C-rank mission. C-rank missions were supposed to be just minor escort missions anything else that fell into that category. And yet they had to deal with something like this?! Was this what a jounin fight was really about? Was this what it was meant by laying out your life on the line?! This was just insanity! His hands shakily dug into his kunai pouch, readying it for his death. Before he could do anything, he was stopped by his sensei's voice. "Don't worry Sasuke, I will never let a teammate of mine die will I am around." Kakashi thinned the mist down trying to help the young Uchiha from his fear. The last thing he wanted to have was the death of his student on his conscious.
Zabuza smirked as he began to speak again. "Cute words Kakashi-san but can you back them up?" The group's eyes widened as he appeared into the middle of the group in a crouched down position. His right hand was in a single hand sign and his left hand holding his large blade in a reverse hold. The man was about to make his move and slaughter the group, but was stopped as a kunai impaled him in the ribs, being held by Kakashi. Instead of blood dripping from the wound it was water, as if he was made of the stuff. Then his body morphed into a liquid before dropping to the floor with a resounding smack.
Kakashi whirled around as he heard displacement of wind. There, right behind him, was Zabuza with his sword poised to kill him. Kubukiri wept his body in half, like Zabuza, instead of bleeding out blood, he bled out water. The two halves turned into liquid before going against the floor with a smack. Zabuza looked at the spot where he 'killed' Kakashi in alarm. 'Mizu-Bunshin-no-jutsu,' he thought in shock. 'There is no way that he could be able to copy that in this mist. It's impossible.'
Zabuza was about to move as he felt something press against his neck. His eyes traveled behind him, connecting to the one black eye and the one black and red eye of Kakashi as he held the kunai pressed against the former Kiri Nin's neck. "Don't move Zabuza," the silver haired jounin said dangerously. "This is the part where you drop dead."
Zabuza started to laugh out loud as he looked back at Kakashi, making the silver haired man look at him with a strange eye. Was the mass killer insane? Has every kill he committed finally got to him? This was just not right. "You fools don't get it do you?" the dark haired Nuke Nin asked, causing everyone to stare at him funny. "There is no way that you can defeat me with those funky eye tricks of yours." The shirtless man straightened himself as he looked over his shoulder. "But I cannot say that I am not impressed though. You were able to copy my jutsu through the thick mist. You had a clone talk to the black haired gaki while the real you hid in the mist and watched. I must admit that was good but…."
The man's words seemed to trail off, leaving the sentence open. Kakashi eyes widened slightly as he felt a kunai press against his covered neck. "I am not tat easy," he heard. Zabuza say from behind him. The silver haired jounin cursed his breathe as he watched the man in front of him turn into water and fall to the floor. This was not an ideal situation to be in. Kakashi had to get out of it quickly or he would be killed by the hidden mist killer.
The silver haired jounin brought up his right hand and forced away the hand. Zabuza brought up his leg into the former ANBU member's mid section, sending him flying backwards. The silver haired jounin's body flipped in air so he could land on his feet in a slightly crouched position, before his eyes quickly scanned the area. He forced his body to duck under a sweep of Kubukiri. Kakashi's hands went into his weapon pouch before pulling out a handful of makibishi and throwing them along to the floor, limiting the former Kiri Nin's movements.
The flat side of Kubukiri smacked Kakashi into the water head firs. The dog summoner got to his hands and knees before thinking about something. The water was way too heavy to be natural. It was ads if something was running through it. His mind then clicked before trying to get out of the water. It was too late to try something as he felt himself and the water around him rise up from the lake. "Suirou-no-jutsu," he heard Zabuza say from beside him. Zabuza chuckled as Kakashi tried to get out of the prison. "I would not suggest moving, it only makes things harder Kakashi-san." The black haired man looked at the gennin and smirked. "We can finish this later. First, I'll take care of the rodents." His right hand formed into a single hand seal. "Mizu-Bunshin-no-jutsu."
The water in front of him started to rise into a humanoid shape before it actually formed into an exact replica of Zabuza, color an all. A replica of Kubukiri was strapped to his back as he raised himself to speak to the gennin and the bridge builder. "Wearing those headbands and acting like real ninja. Do you think you are real ninjas? The real ninjas survive brushes with death on a day to day basis. To put it bluntly, until you are listed in my bingo books, you should not even be called ninjas."
Naruto's eyes narrowed as the water clone disappeared. His left arm went up, blocking the clone's kick before his right hand gripped Yami no Seishin and sliced the clone. "So one of you is at least half way decent," the real Zabuza muttered. "And you at least show that you know how to swing a blade." Naruto's eyes narrowed even further before he slipped into a ready stance. "But it doesn't mean that you are still not green. Several clones of water formed up before the squad.
"I just had to show some potential," Naruto muttered under his breath lazily. "Why couldn't I just let the clone strike me?"
Kakashi looked at the group panic stricken. Sure, he knew that the clone that Naruto dispatched could last against one target like Zabuza's Mizu Bunshin but there were too many of them. The Kage Bunshin knew that. What needed to happen was that the blonde clone and the rest of the team needed to leave. And it had to be fast. "Take Tazuna and run!" the silver haired man yelled. "You guys do not stand a chance! As long as he is keeping me trapped inside this prison he cannot move! The Mizu Bunshin can't move far away from the real body either! Just run!"
The group nodded slightly before taking Tazuna out of the area. They did not stand a chance at all. None of them, sans Naruto, had the experience to take the man down. It was a suicide mission to actually go after the former Kiri-nin.
Zabuza chuckled at the retreating forms of the gennin. None of them could be called ninja if the ran away from odds like this. His water clones dispelled themselves, smacking against the floor. Then his mind clicked to something. Yami was still out there. He never left the battle. He could be anywhere in the area and he would not know. The man's eyes closed as he tried to sense was where the real blonde was. The man smirked, sensing that Yami was behind him before trying to reach for a kunai. Trying being the key word in the sentence. What he found out is that he could not even move a muscle. "Kage-Mane-no-jutsu success," he heard a voice lazily voice out behind him.
The Nuke Nin struggled to keep his hand in the prison but found it near impossible. There was just no way that he could actually keep it in with the amount of force that Naruto was applying to the jutsu. Evidently his arm was finally pulled out of the prison, releasing Kakashi in the process. Zabuza felt his body regain control over itself before he was sent flaying through the air by a solid kick o the stomach by Kakashi.
Naruto sighed as he knelt to the ground and focused his chakra to different directions. "Furoamasutaa-no-Jutsu," the blonde muttered as the all so familiar hands went off into five different directions, surrounding the front of Zabuza before lashing out of the ground and going after the black haired man. The Nuke Nin cursed slightly as he flipped away from the hands, allowing them to hit the ground. What he was not expecting was for the hands to morph together and lash out of the point of contact even larger. The giant hand threw itself at the man before he jumped back; having it hit the ground yet again. He was even more surprised to see several smaller hands lash out of the arm of it and towards him. His body moved into different direction before he jumped into the air. Another shadow hands lashed out at him, forcing the man to use a Kawarimi with a near by log to get away from the grip of the hand.
His eyes widened as he saw what happened after the log was grabbed. The piece of wood was taken into the shadows and landed in Naruto's hand as he pulled it out of the ground. The former Kiri Nin was not able to do much was he was forced back onto the defensive as Kakashi tried to strike him with a kunai in hand. The dark haired man's massive blade was in a flurry of movements as he blacked the scarecrow's kunai strikes. Zabuza's eyes were constantly on the ground, fearing that a shadow might creep up on him.
Zabuza took a double take at where he was going before trying tot urn around, seeing that it was part of the forest. He managed to turn around, only to feel a kick to the side from Naruto, sending him flying to the side. His body flipped in the air slightly as he tried to land on his feet. His body raised itself as he looked at Kakashi and Naruto as the two ran through a string of hand seals. "Why did you betray Iwa Yami?" the man asked.
Naruto sighed as he and Kakashi landed on the last two hand seals. "I never did bail out on Iwa Zabuza-san." Zabuza eyes widened slightly as he was about to speak again, only to be shut up as he heard the words that he thought would end his life. "Mizurappa-no-jutsu!" The two shinobi in front of him shot out water from their mouths towards the former Kiri-nin, knocking him back into the tree behind him.
Naruto blurred out of sight with Yami no Seishin poised to strike. His hand brought down the blade, stopping right before his neck as two needles found their way into the man's neck. Naruto looked at the scene odd before leaning down and checking his pulse. Naruto sighed as he got up and sheathed his demonic blade. "The man's dead," he informed Kakashi.
The silver haired jounin sighed as he covered his left eye. His eyes scanned the path before looking up towards a Hunter Nin who was on a branch next to them. "Thank you two for weakening him," the Hunter Nin said, sounding more feminine then a man. The Hunter Nin was young. She had dark brown hair that was kept up in some sort of bun, allowing a few large bangs to frame her white mask with red swirls on it and the Kiri insignia on the forehead. She was wearing a blue battle kimono with large sleeves capable of hiding a lot of weapons.
The girl jumped down next to the Kiri Nin before placing a hand onto him. "So you just used us to weaken him?" Naruto asked with an arched eyebrow. The girl nodded at the, having Naruto groan out in disappointment "Wish I had that luxury," he muttered under his breathe before placing a hand in front of Kakashi, stopping him from going after the Hunter Nin as she disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Kakashi looked at Naruto oddly. "Uh, Naruto-kun, why did you did you stop me from going after the faux Hunter Ni?" the silver haired man asked with an arched eye brow.
Naruto sighed as he looked around. "If I know Gatou, he would rather kill men like Zabuza instead of paying them," Naruto started in his usual lazy tone. "People like him usually have good hiding places. If we let them live and come after us later, then we have a good lead on Gatou. If we kill the ring leader than we don't have to worry about so many protection missions for this place."
Kakashi sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You just don't want to go on a man hunt if I am right," the silver haired man stated. Naruto sighed and nodded before looking off into the distance.
"You know there is something that we forgot." Kakashi looked at the kitsune with a curious gaze. "How the hell are we supposed to get to his house if we don't know where Tazuna lives?' Kakashi groaned at that statement. This was going to be a long walk.
A/N Alright, there is another chapter. I know, about fucking time. Alright, yes Haku is going to be a girl so do not complain about this. And here is some answers to Some Readers questions on this. You asked why Naruto still wears the sunglasses. The answer is simple, the council and the rest of Konoha. It is not common knowledge that he has the sharingan so he wears. He really does not like Konoha. And you also asked why can't they send Kage Bunshins back as well. The answer is that they could but they would be told to wait for backup to arrive as well. When they are waiting, they could be attacked by numerous people. Everyone has their limits. And this is to Vilkath. Naruto is anything but noble. The only reason he does not use the sharingan like other people is because a lot of his jutsus can take down people quickly. It is not because he is noble at all. The only reason he wanted those eyes is because he needed to cure a sight problem for a jutsu that he is creating. That is the main reason. Why he has them. And to as to the following the cannon thing, I kinda agree there. I had this plan stuck in my head for a long time. And to Some Reader again. Yes, this will be a harem but there will be no Hinata. The reason why is because I honestly have no idea how I am going to actually add her with what I have planned further on in the story. I do have one question. Should I have Haku and Zabuza die, neither, or just Haku? I am at a stand still for that one. Other than that, I do have another question, who should I add to Naruto's small harem? Kurenai is already in and I will to do Anko either. I just don't feel that happening in this one. Maybe some other story but not his one. So you guys get one choice. Hell, it can even be an OC if you guys can com up with on. So the pairing for Naruto is this so far: Naru/Kure/OC/X. So please help and review!
