Chapter 3: Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die…
OR
The First C-Rank
"What ever happened to
No one get's left behind?"
-Five Finger Death Punch
Naruto's alarm blared for a minute, waking its owner from his slumber. Naruto crashed a fist down on top of the device, breaking not only it, but the end table as well. He sighed and grumbled, "Shit…now I don't know what the time is…"
He rolled out of the bed, and stood up. "I guess I might as well make my way to the training ground and train a little." He muttered to himself.
"Indeed. I have a method of training for you to try out, so hurry up, brat!" Kratos noticed Naruto moving towards the cupboard where he ramen was stashed, he roared, "And no NOODLES!"
…
Naruto arrived at the meeting spot, judging by the sun, it was at least 5 o'clock. So what's this training method? He asked Kratos.
"Walk over to that tree," the Ancient Spartan commanded. Naruto complied, and stared at the tree.
Now what?
"Pull it out of the ground."
...
I think I misheard you. What-
"Pull that tree out of the ground, RIGHT NOW!"
Naruto jumped in fright and ran forward. Fear adding adrenaline to his muscles, he wrapped his arms around a random tree and pulled with all of his now-considerable might.
Crack!
To his surprise, the tree parted with the ground rather easily. So easily, that Naruto was not expecting it, and actually threw the tree across the training ground. He stared in shock at the wooden projectile as it sailed across the field and smashed into another tree. He looked at his hands in wonder. "Wow-"
"You idiot! I said a TREE, not a twig! Find the tallest, widest tree in this forest, and pull it out of the ground! NOW!"
Naruto sprinted into the forest, scanned for a tree, found a really old, ancient-looking one, and wrapped his arms around it. His muscles began to strain as he pulled and heaved. His scream of pain was muffled by the tree bark as his muscles tore, repaired themselves, and tore again.
With great groan and a crack like thunder, the roots of the tree gave away from the ground. Naruto gasped and sweated as he held the tree of above his head, muttering through clenched teeth, "What…now?"
"Congratulations. You now have a new weight to use."
…
30 Minutes Later…
Sakura and Sasuke arrived at the training ground, to find that they had the entire training ground to themselves. Sasuke leaned against the railing, brooding and wondering where the 'dobe' was, while Sakura began to pester the Uchiha for a date.
3 Hours Later…
Sasuke's sanity was about to snap. Three hours. Three! He had to deal with the Haruno fan-girl begging and pleading and screeching to him for a date. He had simply stayed silent and broody, but she had taken his silence as encouragement.
And now, it was all he could do to not pull a kunai out of his pouch and stab the pink banshee wailing in front of him. Either that or cut himself. Both seemed appealing to the emo.
And not to mention that the dobe hadn't shown up, along with their cycloptic sensei.
With that thought, a puff of smoke heralded the arrival of the cyclops, who was reading his little orange book. His lone eye roamed over the two genin standing in front of him.
"So, you all turned up." He said in his lazy tone of voice.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched.
Kakashi wiggled a pinky in his ear. "Sorry, I got lost on the long road of life. Naruto!" He called to the forest, getting a faint, "Yes?" in return. "It's time for the test!"
"One sec!"
The genin and jonin were unprepared for the small quake that shook the ground. Sakura 'accidentally' stumbled into Sasuke, who jumped back in fright when the banshee copped a feel.
Naruto jogged out of the surrounding forest, covered in sweat.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Do I want to know what you were doing?"
Naruto thought for a second. Did he want his sensei to know that he was in the forest, lifting a large tree, that weighed about a ton, for no good reason beyond that he needed a good workout?
"No, not really." Naruto replied.
Kakashi sighed, thinking, Strange kid. "Any way, let's get started, hmm?" He pulled an alarm clock from his pouch, as well as two bells that he tied to his belt.
"Now," he said, "The objective is to retrieve these bells from me. Whoever gets a bell passes."
Sakura, being herself, said, "But sensei, there are only two bells!"
Kakashi nodded, and eye-smiled. "Yes, that's rather obvious. Whoever doesn't get a bell, will be tied to one of these training posts, and forced to watch their teammates eat lunch." He patted the training post and pulled two bentos from his pouch, setting them next to the posts.
He heard Sasuke's and Sakura's stomach growling, but not Naruto's, for some reason. He looked up and saw Naruto finishing off the haunch of what looked like a large deer, tossing away the bone while the other genin looked on enviously.
"O…K?" Kakashi blinked. Naruto licked his fingers, and cracked his neck.
"So, sensei, who will we be fighting?" he asked.
Kakashi eye-smiled, and pointed at himself. "You're opponent will be me, and if don't come at me with the intent to kill, you won't get a bell."
He just smiled, and tapped the alarm clock. "Ready? Go!"
Sakura and Sasuke dashed away. Naruto stood there, staring at Kakashi.
"Hey, punk, if you get one of those bells, in return, I will teach you a magic ability." Kratos said in his mind. Naruto's eyes widened, and he ran forward, fist cocked back. Kakashi pulled a small orange book out of his pouch, and began to read.
"You're a strange one, Naruto." He said lazily.
Naruto reached Kakashi and lashed out. Kakashi raised a hand to catch the punch, but when their hands met, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke.
Elsewhere, Kakashi stiffened when he received the memories of his clone. Holy shit! If that would have been the real me, he would have broken my arm!
He continued creeping towards Sakura, and whispered, "Hey, Sakura."
She turned around, already caught in his genjutsu. She screamed, foamed at the mouth, and collapsed.
Kakashi sweat-dropped, and then shunshinned to where Sasuke's signature was moving, pulling out a little orange book as he did.
Sasuke stepped out of the bushes and Kakashi said, "So, you've come out to face me?"
The emo responded with, "I'm not like the others."
Kakashi chuckled. "We'll see."
Sasuke charged forward and engaged the cyclops in a fierce, one-sided taijutsu battle. One-sided for Sasuke, anyway.
The emo jumped back, flashing through hand-seals, and brought his fingers to his mouth, yelling, "Katon: Grand Fireball Jutsu!"
A large fireball erupted from his mouth, colliding with the earth and Kakashi.
Sasuke smirked, and when the smoke dispersed, so did it. In Kakashi's place there was charred log.
"Where is he?" He muttered. "Left? Right? Up?"
"Below!"
Kakashi's hands grabbed Sasuke's ankles, dragging him underground until only his head remained in the air.
The cyclops popped up next to him, eye-smiling, book in hand. "Now, you said you were different? You were right, because first of all, they're not underground!" He chuckled to himself, then jumped to the side as flaming blade attached to a chain whipped past his head.
The blade shot back to its wielder, Naruto. Kakashi's eye widened. He can channel chakra into his blades? That's a jonin-level technique!
Naruto dashed forward, Blades of Chaos held firmly in his grasp. Kakashi knew that a kunai wouldn't cut it, so he unsealed his old ANBU kodachi, clashing with Naruto.
They battled fiercely, neither giving in inch, though Kakashi was tiring rapidly.
Naruto threw a slash down at Kakashi head, who dodged to the side, the bells tinkling gently as they whipped out in the opposite direction of Kakashi's jump.
They watched in slow motion as the blade sliced through the string holding the bells to his belt, and they detached, flying through the air and landing the grass.
Naruto dived forward and rolled, picking up the bells and jumping to his feet. He smirked and held the bells triumphantly. Sakura, who had just awoken, and Sasuke, who stopped struggling to get out of the hole he was in, watched in shock as Naruto, the dead-last, got the bells when Sasuke couldn't even touch them.
Suddenly, the field, Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke faded, and Naruto found himself back in the sewer.
Except that this was no sewer.
Instead, there were statues of monsters, a dog with three heads, a reptile with three heads, a creature with the body of lion, the head of ram, and the head of snake for a tail. There were others, but what drew his attention was the throne that sat atop many steps, covered in gold carvings depicting acts of violence. Naruto blinked, his attention drawn to the figure of Kratos sitting on the throne, his head on his fist.
Kratos stood, and descended the steps. He towered over Naruto by about a foot, and he sneered down at him.
"It seems that you were able to retrieve a bell from the cyclops. As promised, I will teach you a magic ability." He cocked a hand back, and a huge bolt of lightning crackled to life in his palm. He hurled towards one of the statues, and Naruto gaped as it exploded in a shower of rubble.
The former God of War smirked, and then placed his hand on Naruto's forehead. Naruto felt power rush through his system, and an electric tingle up his spine.
Then, he found himself back outside his mindscape, an eye-smiling Kakashi asking him a question.
"So, who are you going to bring with you?"
Naruto looked at the bells in his hands, then at Sasuke, who had dug himself out of the hole, and Sakura who was standing next to him.
"Hmph." Naruto grunted, then tossed the bells to Sasuke and Sakura. "They are weak, and I did not need their help to defeat you. If I must, I will fight you again to prove that I deserve to be a ninja." His blades lit on fire, and he dropped into a ready stance.
Kakashi simply eye-smiled. "However you word it Naruto, you chose your teammates above yourself. As it is, you all pass."
Sakura gaped and Sasuke fumed. "What?" The pinkette yelled in shock. The cyclops wiggled a pinky in one of his ears, smiling.
"Yup!" He walked over to a carved block of stone, his eye open, laying a hand on top of it. "You see, a friend of mine had a saying. 'Those who abandon the mission are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.' I live by this motto, because teamwork is one of the most important facets of a successful team."
Kakashi turned to them, and smiled. "So, congratulations. We are now Team 7. Meet me here tomorrow for our first mission as a team."
…
Naruto entered the ninja supply shop, named 'Higurashi Weapons', looking around for the owner. Kratos had brought up a good point, which was that, while he was a ninja, a person who was supposed to rely on stealth, orange wasn't exactly the best color for that. The former god had given Naruto some designs for armor, similar to the one Kratos had worn during his tenure as the God of War. So, Naruto looked around for smith to make his armor.
The bell above the door rung as Naruto pushed it open.
"Hold on one second!" A rough voice called out from the back.
The sounds of metal being struck rang through the shop, followed by the hiss as it was cooled in water. The door to the forge opened, and a large man, with a rough beard and shaggy hair, with beetle-like eyes set in a rugged face. The man froze as he took in Naruto, and more specifically, the Blades of Chaos across his back.
The image of a man wearing similar clothing, with tribal tattoos across his left eye, pectoral, and arm, with ghostly white skin, super-imposed itself over Naruto's figure, and the man gasped, "Kratos?"
Naruto's eyes turned from cerulean blue to amber-gold, and in an entirely different voice, spoke. "Hephaestus? How are you still alive?"
The man, now known as Hephaestus, stumbled back. "Kratos! It really is you!" Kratos raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you not trying to kill me, Hephaestus?"
The former smith-god raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Why would I want to kill you, Kratos? I should be thanking you!"
Surprise flitted across Kratos's face. "What do you mean?"
Hephaestus looked confused. "Do you not know?" The look on Kratos's face was enough of an answer. "You see, you didn't kill me, Kratos, but banished my soul into the deepest pits of Tartarus, or as it's now called, the Void. I was down there for years, along with my brethren. When the newest god, the one you named the God of the Void, Shin'engami, came to us, he informed us of your deal with them, and cleansed the corruption from our souls. He gave us another chance, and reincarnated us into human bodies. As far as I know, the other former gods are scattered all over the countries. I decided to settle here, met a beautiful human woman, and now I have an amazing daughter, who loves weapons just as much as I do!" He smiled cheerily at that, making Kratos blink blankly. "It's all because of you that I'm happy, Kratos. So, whatever you need from my shop, I'll be sure to help however I can!"
Kratos was stunned, and it showed on his face. He nodded to Hephaestus, and disappeared back into Naruto. Naruto shook his head, clearing the dizziness away.
Hephaestus put a hand on his shoulder to steady him, and asked, "So, what can I help you with today, Naruto?"
Naruto handed his designs off to Hephaestus, who got to work immediately, saying that the armor he requested would be ready in about a week.
As the blonde was leaving, he ran into a girl with brow hair put up into two panda-like buns, with chocolate-brown eyes, wearing a pink Chinese-styled shirt. Naruto helped the girl to her feet, noticing that she was blushing, a lot like Hinata had done.
"Sorry about that," Naruto said.
The girl started at his voice, and peered into his eyes, and looked at his cheeks. "Naruto!" She exclaimed.
"Yes?" Naruto was confused. Did he know this girl?
"It's me, Tenten!"
Naruto's eyes widened and a smile broke out over his face. "Tenten! I didn't recognize you!"
He encompassed her in a massive hug, wrapping his arms around her. She blushed at the feel of the warmth he seemed to radiate, and his muscles weren't all that bad either.
"I forgot to thank you for helping me with my accuracy. It was all thanks to your help that I was able to pass the throwing portion of the exam." Naruto said, releasing her from his embrace. "Hey, are you alright? You're kinda flushed…"
Trying to distract from her blushing face, Tenten asked quickly, "How'd you get so tall, Naruto? And…" She caught sight of the blades, and her eyes widened comically, a bit of drool escaping her mouth. "Where did you get THOSE!"
Naruto pulled one of the blades off his back, and let her examine it. "Wow!" She exclaimed, "The workmanship on these is exquisite! And the edges are so jagged! What are they made out of, anyways?"
Naruto shrugged. "To tell you the truth, I don't know. They are a family heirloom, so only I can wield them."
Tenten pouted at that, but smiled shyly at the tall, muscled blonde. "Um, hey, Naruto…if you'd like to…would you…like to spar sometime?"
Naruto smiled brightly back at her, and nodded. "Of course, Ten-chan! And after that, how about we go out for some food?"
Tenten blushed bright red at that, and stammered out, "L-like a d-d-date?"
Naruto's eyes changed from bright to mischievous in an instant. He leaned in close to her red face, and smirked foxily. "Only if you want it to…Ten-chan." He whispered in her ear. He pecked her on the cheek, and strode off, leaving a red-faced Tenten in front of the weapon's shop.
…
Two Months Later…
The door to the missions' office opened, and Kakashi walked in, followed by Sasuke and Sakura, who both had scratches covering their faces. Naruto walked in, holding a brown striped cat by the scruff of its' neck.
Naruto wore a breastplate made of metal, inlaid with bronze in the shape of outstretched talons on his abs, leading up to birds on his pectorals. On his left shoulder, he wore a pauldron of a bear's head in mid-roar, with interlocking plates running down his arm, leading to his bracer covered in the chains that attached to the Blades of Chaos. His right shoulder was bare. He wore a kilt/loincloth that Kratos had worn, with red and black trim, a bronze belt around his waist. The carvings on his belt were actually ancient storage seals that Kratos himself had used to store his multitude of weapons. On his feet were a pair of Spartan sandals that were attached to metal shinguards, both also wrapped in chain.
Over the course of the two months, Naruto had been drawing a tattoo, similar to the one Kratos had, on his face, chest, and arm. They were actually weight seals he that he had engraved on his body by Hephaestus, to increase his strength even further.
All in all, he cut a very imposing figure.
So imposing, in fact, that he could shut up most people with a glare and a scowl.
"TORA!" A large woman in an inordinate amount of jewelry shouted, snatching the brown cat out of Naruto's hands. She began to strangle and squeeze the life out of Tora. The lady bowed to the Hokage, and walked out, still squeezing the cat.
"Mission: Catch Tora the Cat, complete, Hokage-sama." Kakashi said respectfully.
The old-man nodded, and began to look through a couple of scrolls on the desk. "Good job, Team 7. Now, we have a man who needs his garden weeded, the Inuzuka's need their dogs walked, and-"
"Tora!"
"There is also catching Tora again." He finished smoothly.
Truthfully, Kakashi could not stand to do another D-Rank, and was about to voice his opinion when Sakura reached the end of her rope.
"NO!" She screeched. "I AM NOT CATCHING THAT DAMN CAT AGAIN!"
"Sakura!" Iruka yelled, "be more respectful to the Hokage! You are fresh genin, right out of the academy! You can't expect to do dangerous missions right away!"
Kakashi raised a hand a stepped forward. "Actually, I think they're ready for a C-Rank."
Iruka gaped at the jonin, before spluttering, "You can't be serious!"
The Sandaime cut in, saying, "If you think your team can handle a C-rank, then I have one that's perfect for you. Bring in Tazuna!"
An old man, wearing a grey shirt and shorts, with a straw hat on his head, drinking a bottle of sake stumbled in, clearly drunk.
"Are these the ninja who are supposed to protect me?" He slurred. "The one with the duck-butt hairstyle looks really emo. And why do you have a boy with pink hair wearing a dress? Is he trying to be a girl or something? The only one who looks like they can handle themselves is that blonde with the armor and the tattoos."
Sasuke's eye twitched at the slur against his hair, and Naruto nodded at the compliment. But Sakura screeched, "I'M A GIRL!" and had to be held back by Kakashi to keep her from killing the old drunk.
The Sandaime sighed and face-palmed. "Alright, you're mission is to escort Tazuna back to his home country, Wave, and guard him until he finishes building his bridge. While normally you would take the Eastern path to Wave, you will be going south instead, because of a high amount of bandit activity. You will travel to the river south of here, meet up with the captain of a ship there, and take the vessel to Wave. Understood?"
Team 7 replied, "Hai, Hokage-sama!" and then left to pack.
…
Naruto entered the Higurashi Weapon Shop, smiled at Tenten behind the counter, and asked, "Is your dad in the back?"
Tenten smiled at her friend and nodded. "What do you guys talk about?" She wondered curiously.
Naruto smiled mysteriously, and replied, "Guy stuff."
Tenten huffed but nodded for him to go back. As he passed her, he kissed her cheek and they shared a smile.
Over the last two months, Naruto and Tenten had grown close. After the first spar and subsequent date, they had found that they had a similar love of weapons. Naruto had spent many nights at her house, working with her in the forge, sparring with her, or just talking with her as they watched the shop. He had even invited Hinata over occasionally, and the two girls had become friends as well.
Unknown to Naruto, the girls had a long talk one night, and told each other their feelings for the muscled blonde. They had decided to share him, although it took much arguing, sparring and chasing around the forge with weapons, but they had finalized it. But, they had also declared themselves rivals for Naruto's affections.
As Naruto moved past Tenten to go into the forge, she snaked a hand around his shoulders, and pulled him down to her face, where his lips met her lips. She kissed him gently, her hands around his neck, his arms around her waist.
They broke apart, Tenten with a smirk on her face, and said, "You can't expect to tease me like that and get away with it, do you?"
Naruto grinned back. "I was hoping not to." He replied.
"Ahem."
Tenten blushed and leaped out of Naruto's arms, whirling around and coming face-to-face with her dad. He looked down on her with an amused glint in his eyes, and a twitching scowl on his face.
"And what do you think you're doing, little girl?" He rumbled.
Tenten flushed and hit her dad in the arm, shouting, "DAD!" and running away.
Hephaestus turned to Naruto with a grin on his face. "I love doing that. Anyway, you said you needed something from me, before you tried to suffocate my daughter with your lips?"
Naruto turned serious. "Yes, actually. I'm going to Wave country. Is there anything there that I should be aware of?"
The large man thought for second, tapping his chin. "Yes, actually. If you're going by land, you might want to watch out for bandits and thugs."
Naruto quirked an eyebrow. "And if by sea?"
Hephaestus turned a serious gaze on Naruto.
"Beware the Hydra."
…
Three Days Later, Aboard The Arashi…
A loud thump reverberated around the ship, waking Naruto from his slumber. Sitting up from the hammock below deck, he looked around for whatever had made the noise. Seeing nothing, he shrugged, and was about to lay down, when the thump returned, louder.
Sighing, he rolled off the hammock, and began to make his ways down the hall towards the stairs that lead up to the deck.
With an almighty crash, a scaly, finned head, taller than two Naruto's and about three times as wide, burst through the side of the ship, water splashing into the hold.
Naruto drew his blades as the hydra spotted him, and let loose a loud screech. It snapped at him, and he dodged to the side, coming up in a rising slash into the overgrown fish's neck.
It screeched again, the blood flowing from the wound into the blades. Naruto jumped forward, slashing and hacking at the hydra's head and face, the blood pouring out and jumping into the blades. He could almost feel the weapons gaining power.
The hydra snapped at him before he could dodge, forcing him to grab the jaws of the beast before it could take a chunk out of him.
Naruto strained against the mighty jaws of the animal, before his strength overwhelmed its'. He slammed the jaws shut and smashed the head against the side of the ship, jumping on it, stabbing his blade into the blue eye of the beast.
It roared as the blood was absorbed by the blades, flinging Naruto off before withdrawing, a jet of water taking its' place.
Naruto slid under the jet of water, sprinting up the steps and flinging the door open. He came upon a nightmarish scene.
Rain pounded down. Three scaly heads bobbed around the ship, the crewmen fighting against a crew of pirates that had boarded, their ship along side the Arashi. The hydra heads would shoot down and snap up crew members in their maws, leaving body parts and blood to be washed off the deck by the rain.
Naruto ducked under a swing from a pirate, catching the arm and bringing the offender in close, driving his blade up into their abdomen, and yanking up, ripping the pirates upper body in half.
Naruto jumped down the deck, landing next to two crewmen with spears who were crouching behind two boxes.
"What's going on?" he shouted over the rain and sounds of battle.
One of the men turned and yelled, "We're under attack by pirates! They somehow summoned that beast that's attacking us!"
Naruto nodded and gripped his blades tightly. "Where's my squad?"
The same one was about to reply, when a hydra swooped down and snatched him up, throwing him into the air, his spear clattering to the deck. He screamed as he was torn to shreds by the razor sharp teeth, his blood splattering the deck.
The other screamed in fear and ran, only to be cut down by a hail of arrows coming from the pirate's ship.
"Coward," Naruto muttered, scowling. The head was finished with the crewman, and turned it's attention onto Naruto. It lunged at him as he rolled to the side, narrowly missing the bloody maw.
Naruto crouched behind the crate as the head snapped at him. As it missed, he slashed it across the nose, drawing a screech from the creature. As he ducked behind the crate again, he noticed the writing on the box.
Danger! Do Not Place Near Open Flame!
He grinned as he formulated a plan. He jumped on top of the box, hurling his blades at the hydra. The beast turned to him and lunged, jaws open. Naruto dove off the box, and the jaws closed around the crate.
The hydra seemed confused. Naruto drew his arm back, palm open. A large lightning bolt sparked to life in his hand. He hurled it, dead-on the crate.
The crate sparked once, then exploded violently, taking the hydra's head with it. Blood rained down onto the deck, hopping around and jumping into Naruto's blades.
Naruto fought his way across the deck, the Blades of Chaos now glowing with demonic red runes. He sliced through armor and flesh easily, the blades sucking up the blood like a man dying of thirst.
Naruto reached the stairs to the upper deck, only to find that they were destroyed. He jumped to the side as one of the heads lunged at him. As it withdrew, he spotted a pulley system for moving heavy goods, with a pallet of concrete bricks hanging from it. He ran over to it as the head lunged again, cutting the rope and catapulting himself up into the air, the pallet smashing down on the hydra. The blood flowed from the crushed head, jumping into the air after him.
Naruto landed in front of a shivering Sakura and a Sasuke with his Sharingan activated, one tomoe in each eye. Sasuke stood in front of a terrified Tazuna and Sakura, holding a kunai in one hand, about three bodies lying next to him with gashes in them.
"Where's Kakashi?" Naruto shouted over the noise. Sasuke yelled back, "He went over to the other ship! He said something about finding out how to stop the attack!"
"Alright! I'm going to go join him!" A pirate swung through the air on a rope, yelling a war cry. Naruto's blade pierced his chest and dug into the flesh, pulling him onto the ship. Naruto threw the body off the side, grabbing the rope and swinging back across, as Sasuke shouted, "Wait!"
Naruto landed and rolled, bringing his blades to bear, as a crowd of pirates rushed him. He swung and released, letting the blades fly on their chains, spinning in a circle, cutting through many of them.
One charged him with a spear. Naruto deflected the spear aside, ripping the weapon aside with one hand, grabbing the pirate around the middle with the other, and pulling him up over his head, bringing his other hand up to grab onto him.
With a mighty roar and a yank, Naruto ripped the pirate in half in a shower of blood and gore. Throwing the two pieces aside, Naruto ran up to the wheel, where yells and the clashing of metal was heard.
Naruto came up the stairs, spotting Kakashi with kunai in hand, barely defending against a wiry man wearing all fur, swinging a large sword that was lightly glowing purple. Naruto's eyes widened. The Blade of Artemis!
Kakashi had his Sharingan eye uncovered, dodging and blocking the glowing blade when he could, as the man cackled wildly.
"Hahaha! You smell of fear, Kakashi Hatake! Do you fear me? Me, Taka, the Hunter of the Hidden Mist!" The man yelled, swinging the blade wildly.
Naruto answered his rhetorical question by throwing his blades at Taka. The ex-Kiri nin managed to block on of the blades, but the other cut him lightly on the arm.
Kakashi took advantage of Naruto's distraction, flying through handsigns. A large dragon of water rose out of the sea, glowing yellow eyes fixed on Taka. "Suiton: Water Dragon Technique!"
The dragon shot forward, smashing into Taka and sending him skidding back into the railing of the ship. The ship shook as a roar echoed across the sea.
Taka took the chance and stood, throwing out his arms as he did. "Yes! The greatest beast of the seas! Come, King Hydra!"
The ship nearly capsized as a head, twice as large as the others, rose out of the ocean. "Yes! Yes!" Taka screamed. "The strongest creature to roam the seas! The-"
He was cut off as the King Hydra's open mouth slammed over him, and with a mighty crunch, bit off the piece of deck that Taka was standing on, and swallowed.
Kakashi and Naruto stared as the beast roared in pain, and swung it's head around, breaking off the top of the mast, leaving only a jagged spear about twenty feet tall.
Naruto shouted, "If that thing keeps it up, it'll destroy both ships! We gotta kill it!"
Kakashi nodded and they jumped down to the middle deck.
The beast roared, the force of the noise knocking them back. It snapped at them, forcing them to dodge or be devoured. Naruto slashed at it, fire lighting up his blades as he hacked at the scales of the Hydra. Kakashi charged lightning all around his forearm, sprinting forward and stabbing it into the tender gills, as Naruto did the same with his blades.
The Hydra roared in pain and jerked its' head back. Naruto, still having his blades stuck in the gills, was pulled up with it.
Landing on the scaly head, Naruto was forced to apply chakra to his feet of fall off. He ran forward, and jumped, landing on top of the lid to the Hydra's right eye. The bright blue eye rolled in its' socket, locking gazes with Naruto.
Then, as if sensing what Naruto was about to do, the lid slid shut.
Naruto pulled one of the blades of his back, spun it in a reverse grip, and stabbed into the eye.
The blade bounced off, and Naruto sure of his grip. He pulled the blade back, tensed his muscles, and slammed it forward rapidly.
The eye lid bent inward as the beast roared in pain. Then, in a spurt of blood, it broke and the eye was quickly blinded. Blood poured from the now empty socket, the blades absorbing rapidly.
Naruto hooked one of the blades inside the socket, and let go as the beast thrashed about in agony. Swinging underneath the mouth of the Hydra by his chains, Naruto stabbed into the soft underside of the jaw, the serrations digging into the flesh.
Naruto threw himself off the head, landing on the deck. Loosening more lengths of chain from his wrist, he double-wrapped them around his hands, and began to pull the giant beast to the deck.
It roared and pulled back, nearly yanking him off his feet, but Naruto jumped back and pulled harder, his titanic strength meeting the Hydra's. It resisted, pulling its' head back as hard as it could.
Naruto strained his muscles, feeling them tear and rebuild themselves.
With one, last gigantic effort, and a bestial roar, Naruto pulled the mighty King Hydra's head down, on to the broken mast, impaling it through the roof of its' mouth, the tip protruding from its' right eye socket.
It struggled for a second, blood pouring out in rivers from its' wounds, until it gave one last shudder, and fell still.
Naruto approached the gaping maw of the creature, and stepped inside, the tongue squishing slightly as he walked through the mouth.
He descended through the tunnel of flesh that was the Hydra's throat, until he came to a sight he would have laughed at normally.
Stabbed into throat of the Hydra, with Taka hanging off the hilt, was the Blade of Artemis.
Scoffing at the ridiculousness of the situation, Naruto bent from his position, grabbed the hilt, with Taka's fingers still around it, and pulled it from the flesh of the throat.
Holding Taka down in front of him, he smirked and grabbed the complaining nin's head, and began to pull.
With a scream of pain and horror, the ex-Kiri-nin's head was separated from his shoulders in a spray of blood.
Naruto sealed the head in his belt, and kicking the headless corpse down the throat of the Hydra.
He swung the blade a few times, to get a feel for it, before sealing it into his belt as well.
Making his way out of the mouth of the Hydra, Naruto spotted a fang that was unlike the others. Where the others where white and shiny, this one was green and grimy.
Naruto felt the fang, and instead of a smooth surface, it was ridged and cold, like metal. Curious, he used his monstrous strength and ripped the fang out of the mouth.
Breaking it over his knee, he pulled the fang apart until something metal and green clattered to the deck. Pulling out a cloth, he began to wipe away the grime. When part of it was finally clean, Naruto gasped.
It was gold armlet, with a carving of a ram's head as the pauldron. In shock, Naruto murmured:
"The Golden Fleece…"
A/N: Surprise, surprise! A new chapter of War Is The Answer!
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