Chapter 7: Riding the Wave
In Konoha, Team 8 had just returned from their fight in Mizu no Kuni. After getting to the aged Hokage for debriefing, and getting paid, they took some time off to relax and train in their own ways. Or in Hinata's and Naruto's case, spend some time together. They did like each other, both had confessed that part, however they hadn't 'made it formal' yet. Most on Naruto's request. He couldn't let the villager's bias and stupidity hurt those he cared for. Hinata didn't like it of course and that is why at the moment Naruto had taken her to a picnic of sorts on top of the Hokage's heads. It had a beautiful view, especially on a sunset.
It had been a day since Team 8 had returned and things were getting back to normal with their training. While they were still doing their warmup however a messenger bird flew to Kurenai, landed on her extended wrist, like the well-trained bird of prey it was, and Kurenai took a small message tied to its leg. After letting it go, she read it and called her team.
"Bad news team. We're requested in another high-ranking mission. All other teams are out and we're the only team in Konoha that has a chance there. We have to go to the Hokage right now. Seems like a B to A rank mission."
The team nodded and like a well-oiled machine packed up their training items and left for the Hokage's tower. In a hurry they made it to the Hokage's room, giving a small salute. The aged shinobi spoke to them;
"Yesterday as you were returning from your mission, gennin team 7 left for the land of Waves. It is a small port village with a large economic potential. As of late however a business man named Gatou, of Gatou Industries, took over as a tyrant. A man named Tazuna has taken up the job of building a bridge to unite said land with the mainland. This way they can get away from the economic stranglehold he has placed on the land. Obviously that doesn't sit well with mister Gatou, so he has hired some nuke-nin to take out Tazuna. I sent team 7 there before I found the existence of nuke-nin. It seems however they have encountered a pair of chuunin ranked ones. Your job is to go there and support them. Since you are more experienced you have command of the mission. Your mission is to protect Tazuna with the added option of taking out Gatou if possible. Do not leave incriminating evidence pointing towards Konoha in that case. I wish you best of luck."
"Jiji can we have this written on an official scroll? Especially the fact where we have overall command of the mission. The Uchiha and his follower will not listen to us otherwise. As far as the mission goes, me and my team accept. It will be hard though so we'll take a couple of hours to say our goodbyes if it is all right with you."
"Very well Naruto-kun. Keep in mind that while I want you to support Team 7, you shouldn't overestimate yourselves. Return safely please."
Team 8 nodded and left to their residences. Kurenai visited her friends Anko and Yuugao, while Hinata said her goodbyes to her sister and father. While she did try to talk to her cousin Neji, his aloof behavior made it nigh impossible to do so. While Shino was talking to his clan, Naruto went to Iruka first and then to Anko. After two hours the team met at the gate and left immidiately for team 7's location. Meanwhile Anko went to the eldest Sarutobi to... express her dislike at the mission. Poor man had to watch his Icha-Icha collection turn to mush by Anko's poisonous snakes. The mental strain required Inoichi to block the memory...
Team 8 traveled quickly through the trees, Hinata scouting ahead with her byakugan. During the past weeks of training, she had gotten over her extreme lack of self-esteem, which helped her grow in an amazing speed. Of course having a sparring partner that could push you to the edge, not to mention having no fear of accidentaly hurting him, helped. While she still wore her previous outfit, she had also expertly hidden a few 'surprises' for those getting to close to her, such as a large amount of poisoned senbon needles in a seal on her wrists. Just a small touch of chakra and voila one poisoned needle ready for firing. Her tonfa were sealed on her belt. In Shino's case, he had placed tracking bugs on his team mates as well as a few 'recording' bugs. His Kamas were sealed in the inside of his coat. Naruto was using a small group of henge'd Kage bunshin to move ahead of his team to draw any attacks on them. Other than his clothing he was the only one with a backpack of some weight and size, packing his teams supplies in scrolls, including but not limited to medicinal supplies for Hinata, clothes, tents, food, extra weapons, a bingo book and one of Shino's bug experiments he was working on. He also had a couple of books in sealing and some sealing supplies to practice with.
It was night when they got to Tazuna's house. Carefully they went to the door and knocked. A young woman opened the door. Naruto introduced himself and his team;
"Greeting ma'm. I am Uzumaki Naruto, taicho of team 8 and a recon, sealing and close quarters specialist. To my right is Hyuga Hinata, a recon, medicine and secondary close quarters specialist. To my left is Aburame Shino our strategist as well as recon and long range specialist. Behind us is Yuuhi Kurenai, our jounin sensei and a long range and support specialist. We have come to assist Team 7 in protecting Tazuna-san. May we come in?"
During the introductions the team members nodded. After he was done the woman introduced herself as Tsunami and let them in. As soon as that happened, Sakura, Sasuke and Kiba went up to them. Sasuke spoke first.
"What do you want here loosers. This is OUR mission so get the fuck out of here and leave us alone. After all you're all worthless trash compared to an Uchiha like me."
Naruto sighed. "Actually this is OUR mission now. We have been sent by Sandaime-sama as the most experienced unit he could find in the short amount of time he could. Don't forget we have gone in hard missions before you so sit down. In this scroll we have confirmation of taking over this mission Uchiha so sit down before I send you home. Got it?"
Sakura started shouting at Naruto "What the heck? This is our mission! Shut up Naruto-baka! Don't insult Sasuke-kun! He's so much better than you, you useless idiot!" Her rant was abruptly stopped by a slap that came from... Hinata of all people.
"Will you shut up Haruno? We are taking over his mission so shut the hell up damnit. Kiba have you guys set up a defencive perimeter or something?"
Sakura again interrupted:"What defencive perimeter are you idiots talking about?". Kiba just gave a negative answer. The ever-present Uchiha however asked them why they would need one in the first place. His presence alone would scare any enemies away. Team 8's thoughts however...
'What the...' by Shino.
'Err... ok that's stupid' by Naruto.
'Are these people for real?' by Hinata
'Kakashi either you suck as a sensei or these should be executed for sheer stupidity...' by Kurenai
Naruto sighed before replying. "A defencive perimeter is set up around your charge to make sure noone gets close. It seems this team has no idea what it is, much less how to create one. Very well we will create one instead. Shino, Hinata-chan? Lets do this. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Naruto summoned a group of clones, while Shino placed tracking and recording bugs on them. Meanwhile Hinata made sure the area was clear. Naruto's clones then went at equal distances in a short, tight circle around the house so their heat-vision mode would not let anyone get close, henge'd themselves to stones and small plants and waited just in case something happened. Kiba whistled at their cooperation. They didn't even need to speak with each other. Sasuke on the other hand went off to brood in a corner, with his faithfull puppy named Sakura following. Kiba took team 8 to Kakashi that was lieing in a fuuton asleep due to chakra exhaustion. Hinata immidiately got to treating him, as she was the only one with medical knowledge, not to mention that due to her Byakugan she was capable of properly infusing him with small doses of chakra to jump-start his system. It took her an hour but in the end Kakashi wasn't in the coma-like slumber of chakra exhaustion but in a restfull sleep. Hinata made a mental note to ask Naruto about a new technique that came to mind. He seemed to have a talent for these things if one went by account that he already had a pair of unique jutsu. Naruto and Shino in the meanwhile were being briefed about everything that had occured. Tazuna and Tsunami told Team 8 of what Gatou had put them through, the pain, the starvation, the fear they had experienced. The killing of their only hero. Naruto and his team were disgusted. They immidiately agreed that they'd take out Gatou no matter what. Such scum should not be allowed to live.
Some hours later, after dinner, Team 8 held a strategy meeting with the only member of team 7 that was willing to cooperate, namely Kiba and his nin-dog Akamaru. After hearing about every part of the battle, Shino concluded that Zabuza was alive, wtih a ANBU-level ally to boot. Considering that Kurenai was at a disadvantage against Zabuza and most probably his accomplice, their only way out of this safely was extra training. When Kiba made a move to suggest this to his team Naruto shook his head. The Uchiha wouldn't agree and Sakura would follow her crush. While he could order them to do the training regime, if they didn't want to do it, it wouldn't do them any good. Besides, according to the team's medic, Kakashi should be up tomorrow, so he should be able to convince them to do it. Until then though, time was wasting so Team 8 and Kiba went outside. At the Uchiha's demand to know what they were doing they simply replied they were going scouting around.
Outside, Naruto asked Kiba what training he had received. Seeing as he had no training at all he started Kiba on Tree-walking.
"Alright Kiba, Akamaru, you've got to learn a basic chakra control excercise. Its called tree-walking and as the name says, it allows you to walk on trees. Not climbing but actual walking, like so." With that Naruto demonstrated the excercise to Kiba who looked awed.
"It is real simple actually. You have to pump a small amount of chakra in the soles of your feet and climb. Normally I'd say run up and mark your progress, but I'd personally suggest placing a foot after the next. You won't fall as many times this way. Hinata will help you with regulating your chakra. Akamaru, you should do it too. It'll help really. Once you complete this, if we have time we'll teach you water walking otherwise we'll spar to get you up to shape."
Kiba and Akamaru both picked a tree and started on it. While they made good progress, it was still slow, so Team 8 went to their individual practices. Shino went to the side and meditated on his bugs, creating a sphere of kikai-chu, at which some Naruto clones started throwing weapons faster and faster. Shino then used the input of his insects to detect the attack and couter it with his kama. Hinata and Naruto on the other hand squared off against each other. Kurenai set out to attempt to complete the excercise Kyubi had made for her. She had to gather a lot of chakra and concentrate it to the point of it taking a liquid form. She almost had it down but it was very draining. Thanks to that however, her own chakra reserves had increased, as had her already impressive chakra control. She had asked Kyubi, through Naruto that is, if she could use a Kage Bunshin for it, but the ancient Bijuu replied that she had to learn it with her body, to the point of being able to do it without too much focus. Kurenai sighed after her attempts failed for the third time that night. Kyubi was really a slave driver, very effective but a slave driver nonetheless.
Next morning, Hatake Kakashi woke up to the sound of people verbally tearing each other off. As he got up he saw the Hyuga heiress over him treating him with her Byakugan active.
"Ohaio Kakashi-san. How are you feeling?" she asked without stopping her treatment for a second, a treatment which consisted of using chakra bursts, much like jyuken to restore his chakra system.
"Better already Hinata-san. I see that Sandaime sent you and your team as back up. What's the fight down there for?"
Hinata sighed a bit. "It seems that Uchiha-san's pride simply doesn't let him get some things. He's been actually ordering Naruto-kun to teach him his jutsu. I wonder if Uchiha-san will survive the day this way... Naruto-kun is pretty annoyed. Anyway here is some food you should have. I have healed most of your wounds and restored your chakra coils as much as I could. It is only a matter of time now to fully heal and you should take it easy. Only very light excercise and chakra manipulation is allowed. No more than tree climbing for now. Otherwise the strain will hurt you. Now I'll leave you to get dressed." With that Hinata left Kakashi to get dressed while she went downstairs to attempt and defuse the situation.
Downstairs Sasuke was yelling at the 'dobe' to show him his jutsu because he was undeserving of its power. Shino sighed, this was really annoying even for the stoic bug user. Kurenai on the side was ready to mentally mutilate Sasuke. She wasn't a morning person and yelling first thing in the morning really annoyed her, especially since she stayed out all night trying to complete her chakra manipulation. Naruto on the other hand was promptly ignoring Sasuke's existence and was cooking something for the morning. Kiba had gone out to hunt something if he could. Sakura was busy trying to get Kurenai to punish Naruto for ignoring her Sasuke-kun.
That was the scene that greeted Hinata, who was also assaulted by Sakura about Naruto continuously ignoring her Sasuke-kun. After telling her to, in no uncertain terms, go hit a tree with her forehead, she too went to the kitchen to help Naruto prepare breakfast. Shino was busy speaking to his insect allies and coming up with the proper strategies to deal with the situation. This scene of chaos was the first thing Kakashi saw as he came down the stairs. He sighed, his team might look good on paper, but their teamwork was as non-existent as their patience. Sasuke was a power-hungry fool, Sakura had no knowledge outside her books and Kiba was always rushing head first. His smartest student was in fact... Akamaru the nin-dog. Poor puppy was pulling Kiba out of every trouble he got into. In relative silence breakfast was served when Kiba came back with a pair of rabbits for lunch. It wasn't much though since everyone who could hunt did so to feed their families, so game was scarce.
After breakfast, Kakashi broke the news that Zabuza was in fact not dead. After his team got over their fear, he announce he'd be training them to fight Zabuza's ally. Naruto and his team looked at each other and agreed they'd be doing some training too when not guarding Tazuna and his workers. Meanwhile Shino had made a basic schedule they'd follow. It was mainly shifts rotating to watch over Tazuna, using a code to be sure of the other's identity. In the meantime they'd be practicing with each other in preparation of the fight, that is when they wouldn't be securing the area around them or sleeping. After pretty much ordering Team 7 to go train, Naruto followed Tazuna to his bridge, while leaving some clones at the house for protection. Once there he summoned another bunch of clones and had them spread out to watch the area, while he made some more to help Tazuna after using henge to look like common people.
Kakashi started his team on the tree-walking excercise and was between amusement and annoyance at Sasuke's reaction when Kiba surpassed him in it. Amused since it really was funny seeing the supposed number one elite Uchiha get trumped and annoyed since he was pretty much ordering his own sensei to teach him jutsu using nothing but his family's name as incentive. Sakura on the other hand... despaired him. She didn't work out, fawned over the Uchiha and still clung to the fairytail that her knight in white armor would save her every time.
Team 8 proceeded with their plans and training in a separate area than team 7. They had to or there would be a very real danger of Sasuke and Sakura seeking revenge, each for their own reasons. As much as Naruto and his team might want to get a chance, any chance, at bringing Sasuke down a peg or two, it really wasn't the time for that.
At lunch team 8 had the... pleasure of meeting Inari (cue shicker from Kyubi at the name) in all his brooding glory. Naruto sighed after his speech before he spoke.
"Is that all Inari? Are you finished?"
"Yeah and what are you dumb blond gonna do about it? You're all going to die!"
"Are we really? You do not know us kid. I don't know about team 7 over there but this is not out first mission. So how exactly are we going to die?"
"Shut up! Gatou will kill you all! Noone can kill him! He's got money! You don't know anything about us! You just butt in our business! You don't understand us!"
"Guess that's true. I don't understand someone who lost his father because I never had one. Or a mother for that matter. I don't understand the pain of someone who eats two meals a day because some years ago I might have been lucky enough to scavenge enough trash to eat one meal every two or three days. I don't understand the pain of someone who can sleep at night and not run away from mobs of your own village trying to kill you. I don't understand the pain of someone who is as an idiot as YOU! You think I never felt pain? Fool! My whole village hates me apart from maybe 10-12 people. And that's a maybe. I've been hunted down, beaten upon, thrown out of the orphanage at five and had more assassination attempts on me than any Kage. So yeah I don't understand your pain. Little coward what are you going to do? Sit there and cry about your fate or get up and face it like a man? I'm out of here. You make me sick. Maybe me and my team shouldn't take out Gatou as is our mission. Maybe you cowards deserve him."
With that Naruto left the house leaving a sobbing Inari, a freaked out team 7 and a sad team 8.
"Was it really that bad?" Asked Tsunami.
"He actually sugar-coated it for you. Trust me, the worst you've been through is nothing compared to him. Yet he still holds on to his humanity. He's just that amazing." Answered Kurenai.
"Will the gaki be alright though? I mean he doesn't seem to be coming back anytime soon?" Tazuna looked worried. He had liked the kid.
"Ano I will go l-looking for him. He is j-just upset and n-needs to vent a bit."
With that Hinata left to stalk... err spy... err look, yeah right look for her crush. After activating her Byakugan, she left to look for him deeper in the forest. True to Hinata's prediction Naruto was at a small clearing venting on some poor trees. Naruto seemed pretty pissed off.
"Naruto-kun... Inari-san didn't know... please calm down..."
"I know Hinata-chan... I know... I just don't know who I am angrier at... Inari or Gatou..." Naruto slowly stopped punching the tree. He had already created dents and holes in virtue of his claws.
"Naruto-kun, n-not everyone is you... Inari-san is just a kid... a s-sheltered kid who l-lost everything he knew of..."
"I know Hinata-chan... its just so... it reminds me of my past... how I felt..."
Hinata hugged Naruto who visibly tensed for a bit before relaxing. "Don't w-worry Naruto-kun. I'll be t-there for you. You are not alone anymore."
"Arigatou Hinata-chan... you really are my savior..." Naruto whispered the last part. After the conversation, the two fell asleep with one of Naruto's heavier coats covering them.
In the morning Naruto woke up early to the sounds of the forest. After seeing Hinata hugging him, he purred softly before going back to sleep, content smile on his face. That was the scene that greeted Haku as he had gone foraging for herbs to help Zabuza. A pair of kids hugging each other asleep. Seeing their hitai-ate though, Haku frowned. They were Konoha ninja, which meant they had been sent to back up the other team. This was bad. They had to be eliminated. Haku tried to kill his emotions and do the deed... but couldn't. Sighing he woke them up.
"Hello you two. What are you doing here? You could get cold."
"Nah we're fine. Wasn't really cold last night. Besides I've left some clones watching out for us. If something had happened I'd have known."
"Clones? You are ninja then? You have headbands too."
"H-hai we are ninja of Konoha. We w-were hired to p-protect the b-bridge builder."
"I see. So what were you doing here?"
"I was here venting from last night. Damn cowards giving up so easily." *sigh* "Hinata-chan go to Kurenai-sensei. I'll be there for training as soon as I clean up this place a bit."
"Hai Naruto-kun."
"Training? What do you train for? You seem pretty strong already if you did this all."
"Yeah I'm strong... but not strong enough. I need to get stronger. Much much stronger."
"But why? What reason do you have to get stronger?"
"Heh I'm a person that's hated. So if I want to be with my friends I have to be strong enough to protect them. Even if it costs my life I won't let them get hurt."
"So you have prescious people?"
Naruto looked melancholic. "Yeah... few of them but they are very important. You have such people too right? Is that why you are gathering herbs?"
Haku looked at her basket. "Yes.I have to help him since he saved me from my hell."
Naruto gave a sad smile, remembering his past always saddened him, even though now he could look at it with pride. He had survived it, he had not fallen to the darkness around him. "So why were you hated? In my case it was something that happened at birth and reminded a lot of people their dead loved ones."
"I come from Water country... and my family had a bloodline. It never manifested in me and I didn't receive shinobi training, but my mother had it so my father tried to kill us both. They and a mob that had gathered died that day. I lived alone until my prescious person came along and gave me a purpose to exist."
"I see... We are more alike than you think nee-san. Anyway what is your name? I am Uzumaki Naruto."
"Haku. Just Haku. Pleased to meet you. And I am a boy."
"Hehe not according to my nose even though you are good at hiding it. I do understand you hiding it though. Especially with that creep Gatou's thugs around. Anyway I'll be late for training so I got to go. If you want you can meet us again here tomorrow morning. My team is pretty open minded so you shouldn't worry about things."
"I think I will Naruto-san. Thank you."
After saying their goodbyes the two parted, Haku going to gather more herbs for Zabuza, all the while thinking about the weird blonde. They would have to fight soon. Haku sighed, she hated fighting and especially killing. How she wished there would be anoteher way for them to solve this. She had finally found a friend, not master like Zabuza but a friend that could understand her and in less than a week they would fight to the death. Haku's sadness didn't escape Zabuza's notice. He didn't find out why but when Haku asked to be excused for tomorrow morning he allowed it. Wouldn't do her any good anyway to stay in Gatou's place and Zabuza wasn't exactly defenceless either.
The next day Haku did meet up with team 8. After being introduced to the team she took special interest to the quiet boy named Shino. For some reason he... intrigued her. Whether it was the fact that he revealed little of himself or the way he held himself or the way he spoke, she didn't know. He seemed weird but not uncomfortable. She even realized that he had shut himself emotionally from most people in order to not get hurt by them, rather than being generally anti-social. Kurenai also seemed interesting. Even though she never hid her feminine qualities she was strong and unafraid. Something very few kunoichi, especially young ones, could claim. Haku was told a few things from all members of team 8, such as what happened the day Naruto was born, though nothing of the seal was ever mentioned, the way Hinata was treated by her own father and Shino's loneliness when it came to people outside his clan.
Unfortunately Haku also had the bad luck of meeting team 7. While glad that neither Kakashi or Kiba recognised her, she was angered by the other two team members. Kiba might have been a bit too straightforward in his advances towards a cute girl as he put it, but it was nothing compared to the other two. When Sasuke found out Haku had a latent bloodline, he practically demanded she be given to him as a way of strengthening the Sharingan. Of course this caused Sakura to repeatedly screech and insult her for stealing her Sasuke-kun, no matter how many times Haku refused to accept Sasuke's rather foolish proposals. In the end Sasuke was punished by Shino who disabled them both with his Kikai bugs. Despite these two however Haku had a good time, perhaps one of the few happy times in the tired oi-nin's life. It caused her that much more grief too, that she would have to fight them soon... If only... if only something could have worked out... Haku didn't sleep well the next days, dreading the day she would have to fight and possibly kill again. Zabuza noticed it but when he inquired his ally, the only thing he got was Haku's insistence to abandon the job and just leave. Zabuza of course did not accept this. He was a proud shinobi and would see to it to the end, his honor demanded no less.
That night Haku slept lightly, not once letting go of team 8's gift to her. A tiny stylized silver pendant in the shape of a snowflake. It took Naruto, Shino and Hinata a long time to make it and it wasn't that expencive. It was however something that Haku treasured. Finally the morning Haku dreaded came. Steeling her heart she showered, ate an early breakfast and got ready for the fight against her friends. It was time for Haku the friend to fade away and Haku the shinobi to emerge... It was time for battle and blood.
A/N: Ok first of all I want to thank all my reviewers for making it worthwhile to write. Thanks people. You're the driving force behind this. I would especially like to thank P5yCH0, Abe95 and Ferail. This chapter took me a long time to write 'cause my inpiration seemed to have slipped away a bit, getting only little glimpses of it. Ah well it happens. Oh and remember to vote on my poll.
Now some matters that have to be addressed.
Sasuke/Sakura Bashing: Some have asked about it so I gotta give the reply. There is Sasuke and Sakura bashing but it is naturally occuring. In the 'original' if you will, Naruto was teamed up with them. During their travels and difficulties they bonded together. Because of that Naruto 'mellowed' them out a bit. Sasuke wasn't as big a prick and Sakura came to actually think of him as more than a useless pile of flesh getting in her way and shouting DATTEBAYO! all the time. In this case however, Naruto is not with them. Because of this small change, Sasuke not only remained a prick but became even more of an arse, since Kakashi (being famous and pampering him) confirmed in a way his superiority. Something he goes out of his way to prove all the time. Also because Naruto beat Sasuke in taijutsu, Sasuke desperately wants to beat Naruto at any cost. In short he sees him as a milestone to defeating Itachi. Again thanks to the lack of Naruto's calming influence, he only falls more and more into a manic-depression of sorts; if he isn't taking out someone strong, he broods and broods about his dead family. Sakura on the other hand... Well in my opinion there are two types of evil-doers; those who do evil because they LIKE it and enjoy it and those that do evil because they are too stupid to realize what they are doing. Sakura belongs to the second group. Remember book smarts are not wisdom or real intellect. Merely memorization. It was clearly shown in the show when she couldn't ID a Kawarimi and questioned her sensei about why there were only two bells in the bell test. I'd have expected that of Naruto or Sasuke but she was supposed to be the smart one. Anyway, once again, since Naruto isn't there to show her another way, or to mellow her out a bit, she remains a loyal fangirl, in fact becoming even more fangirl-ish as time goes by. Anyway for the reasons explained, Sasuke and Sakura constantly try to 'bash' Naruto, so of course he retaliates. Seriously, what would YOU have done? I hope I answered well enough.
Naruto's Killing Spree: Naruto killed at 9 remember? Also Kyubi explained some things to him. That's why, even though Naruto doesn't like killing, he is not going to cry his eyes out because of it. He's accepted it as a part of his duties and in fact sometimes is glad about it since dead murderers or rapists don't come back do they? He of course understands that he can't take them all out, but also understands that every little bit helps. In his own words "If I have to kill so be it. If I have to become a demon so be it. I will kill so that noone else has to bear this burden. I will become that which everyone fears so that when I die you will be free of your fears." Kind of deep but its just the way he thinks. Now as to why he kills so easy, it is simple. Bludgeoning attacks can be reduced by the toughness and training of a person. Those of you learning martial arts know what I'm talking about. If you hit a wall enough, over time your skin will harden so that your hands won't hurt anymore. Same thing here. Most people train their bodies so punching them doesn't hurt them as much. In Naruto's case however, he doesn't punch. He cuts and stabs. Because of that, he severs muscles, rips enemies open and kills relatively easy. Take into account that he is about as strong as Lee and his claws are as sharp and strong as tempered steel. Also notice that he attacks lethal points, brain, heart or ripping out the intestines. In the latter's case the enemy won't die immidiately, but the bloodloss and pain will take him out. In his last fight, keep in mind that his enemies were surprised; he was stabbed with a pair of ninjatou, stabbing him through his lungs while poisoned at the same time. He took advantage of it to quickly take them out. And yeah unless you cut his head off, maintain constant massive trauma or destroy his heart and keep it that way, Naruto will ignore the damage and keep fighting. While he may be slowed due to pain, he won't stop. Besides don't forget Anko trained him quite a bit. That means his poison resistance is pretty darn high as well as his pain tolerance. She's a damn T&I expert. She knows how to inflict a lot of pain without killing the subject. Especially on a subject that has as little chance of dieing as Naruto.
Kyubi's Role: Kyubi is here to help Naruto. He is not here to give him an easy way out. He's there to maybe provide some answers when he deems it necessary. He does train Naruto and teach him how to manipulate his chakra better but he isn't going to teach him jutsu or tell him how to defeat everything or make him immune to genjutsu. Of course he MIGHT help against say a very powerful one but then again only after having Naruto figure it out. In case you're wondering why Naruto made Kyubi his kekkei-genkai... you just have to think about Naruto's life. As an orphan, being alone again is the one thing that scares him more than seeing his prescious people die. Its exactly because of this that he made Kyubi a bloodline. This way, no descendant of his will be forced to live a life like that. To him its a hell beyond anything else imaginable so he seeks to protect his children from it. Besides he knows that even though he's very hard to kill, it is a possibility (no Naruto isn't stupid-he knows that there are a few things that could kill him even if he doesn't know his limits). This way at least his children will have a father figure in Kyubi that will be able to guide them and protect them. Note that Kyubi didn't offer, he was pretty much ordered to.
Naruto's Body: Naruto's body has evolved to a near inhuman level. For example his muscle fibers are ten times thinner than a normal human but are also ten times stronger, meaning he can maintain a wiry and thus quick physique while also possessing immense strength. His bones have more 'hollow' which allows for more bone marrow, creating more blood for him, while his bones have much more calcium and carbon inside making them as hard as, if not stronger than, a Kaguya's body. His heart is surrounded by bone protecting it, is made of 4 compartments instead of two even though the extra two are usually not working, when they do however Naruto experiences a massive increase in strength, stamina and speed for a very short time, usually about 20-30 seconds. Naruto's lungs are made up of individual compartments, each capable of functioning on its own and providing enough for Naruto to fight on. It also allows him to hold his breath for much much longer. Each and every joint can bend both ways if Naruto wants them to while also maintaining the same strength as if they were bending the 'normal' way. His brain has many more synapses for electrical signals, he is ambidextrous and his eyes transmit images much faster than a normal persons, enabling him to see in 'sharingan speeds'. All in all Naruto's body has evolved above and beyond anything else, making him next to unkillable. Also his immunizing system is capable of analyzing and breaking down any substance, from rotten meat to bone to viruses to poisons. In other words, he can become immune to a poison after a single time of experiencing it and thanks to his body's capabilities, he can do it in about 5-10 seconds. Hey I told you this was a god-like Naruto didn't I?
Today, on this 9/6/2012, I, Soulblazer87, do hereby leave this site, possibly forever.
I shall not update this, or any other story.
I shall leave them on, however. Should you desire to follow my stories, do so in my new site of residence: www dot yourfanfiction dot com.