Chapter 4

Spars and new jutsus

Having had enough of time being wasted, Zabuza asked Naruto and Haku to spar. Just to get an idea of what Naruto can do. "Enough! If you want to run around chasing each other, then do it as a spar, not some 5 year olds playing tag!"

Haku had an evil grin as he put on his mask, "Yes Zabuza" he said as he started attacking the unprepared ninja. "Hey! Don't I get some weapons or something?" he complained as he dodged the punches of Haku.

2 minutes later

"Hmm, not bad, you sure are fit enough." Haku's voice sounded much deeper from behind the mask as he kept attacking Naruto in hand to hand combat. He was right, Naruto had little trouble keeping up with Haku's impressive speed, but the overall technique was where Naruto was lacking. Haku methodically kept bombarding Naruto with strikes, without giving much of an opening for his opponent, who could only rely on his purely physical attributes and raw talent.

That wasn't enough though and soon Naruto was sent rolling after a powerful kick from the masked shinobi. "Damn it." Naruto growled, picking himself up, but Haku was not about to relent.

"Ninja art: A thousand needles of death!" Haku jumped into the air and before Naruto could even blink he saw what seemed like a whole cloud of needles going straight for him.

"Water style: water wall!" Naruto acted more on reflex, using the only actual ninja technique he knew for now, but it worked. A wall of highly pressurized water appeared in front of him and did a fine job shielding the blonde. The needles simply didn't have enough of a punch to pierce the otherwise relatively weak defensive jutsu. "Hey, that almost hit me!"

Naruto pointed accusingly at Haku, who landed some distance away and tilted his head, somewhat impressed by the way his opponent defended himself, though the moment Naruto released the jutsu he got showered in water and now stood there, water streaming off of him and onto the ground where it was forming a giant puddle of water from the water wall and melted senbon needles."Almost doesn't count." Haku shrugged.

"That mask suits you, you know. It reflects the sadist you actually are."

"Please, it doesn't please me to hurt you, though it is amusing at times." Haku smirked taking off his mask, signaling that their spar was over.

"Hah, you admitted it. You are a sadist with a feminine face!"

"My face is not feminine!"

"So, you are not going to argue about being a sadist, right?"

"Hmm, maybe you need a bit more training." the twitch that formed on Haku's forehead was suddenly hidden by the blank ANBU mask.

"Ladies! Enough!" called an amused Zabuza, "Naruto, you use more instinct and brute than finesse. Though I admit that I also use a lot of brute, I also use some finesse. I will help you to rely on more than your gut instincts. Haku, your ice-needles could use a little more work, you work on their speed and strength. I will have you spar again in 2 weeks' time; I expect a great increase in both of you. Naruto I will be teaching you an offensive water jutsu to help complement your defensive one."

"Yes Zabuza!" they called together.

"I'll never say it out loud to the kid, but he's got a strong water wall there, if he masters it, it might even be strong enough to block a full swing of Executioner blade. He must have an extremely high affinity to water, possible even higher than my old teammate Kisame or the Leaf's Second Hokage" Zabuza thought as he walked away.

2 weeks later

It's been 2 weeks, and true to his word, Zabuza had Naruto and Haku spar again.

"Are you just going to keep dodging?" Haku broke off the attack, allowing Naruto to move back creating some distance. His defense was pretty solid at this point. Haku could not penetrate it without resorting to some more exotic means. But Naruto was mostly just defending, either dodging the attacks, or when there was no other option, using a substitution or the water wall.

"I'll attack when the time is right, not when you want me to." the blonde replied while catching his breath. His stamina was beyond impressive, but hardly limitless, though it will grow as he ages.

"Hmm, that is actually pretty smart. But you do know that those who are only defending are bound to be defeated."

"Yeah, yeah, offense is a perfect defense, Zabuza says that often."

"So, how about we keep going."

"Oh great." Naruto rolled to the side avoiding a barrage of needles that Haku sent at him without any warning. Naruto often wandered where the masked ninja was carrying his seemingly never-ending supply of those things. But he had no way of keeping that thought as he was once again running, dodging or using the environment to his advantage. But as before, he eventually had to resort to ninjutsu.

"Water style: water wall!" as before the barrier of water materialized, blocking the numerous senbon needles, but it also made it hard to see what was in front of him. Suddenly a foot came breaking through the relatively weak and hastily put up barrier, striking Naruto in the chest and throwing him back, forcing the jutsu to collapse in a harmless puddle of water under Haku's feet.

"Told you." even from behind the mask the mocking tone was evident. Haku took a step forward, but then saw Naruto look up with a smirk.

"So did I. Water style: glimmering water chains."

"Huh?" Haku looked down and realized he made a mistake. The water from the collapsed water wall was now used as a weapon and Haku walked right into it. Chains of water shot up, wrapping around the masked ninja and pulling him down to the ground.

"See, timing is important. Zabuza says that too." Naruto's fist stopped inches away from Haku's face hidden by the mask. The result of this spar was painfully clear.

"Tsk, fine, I'll admit, you got me this time." Haku sighed feeling the water chains disappearing, allowing him to stand up.

"Good work, both of you!" came the deep voice of Zabuza, "Haku, your ice-needles have gotten harder and stronger" he said looking at the needles stuck in some trees, buried about 3/4 through on the tough bark. "Naruto, that last move was well executed, you managed to lure Haku into the water wall and used the remains to execute the next technique flawlessly" he said in a proud the boys beamed at the praise.

"I am going to give you another jutsu, though this one can be used both offensively and as support." He said as he went through some hand signs. "Water style: water clone jutsu" out of the remains of Naruto's water wall, several clones of Zabuza appeared. Naruto watched in fascination as the water suddenly gained shape and color. "Water clones, they contain about 1/10 of their creator's strength and they can only travel a short distance away from the creator. They only take one hit to dispel but don't take a lot of chakra to form. Once dispelled they will leave a puddle of water, which they can be recreated or used for another technique." He hinted. Naruto's eyes widened,

"cool! So if I make a lot of water clones, I can have an army and when they dispel, I can make my water chains out of them!"

Zabuza was impressed; the kid was smarter than he had originally thought. "Yes and many more, but for now, first learn it"

Naruto sweat-dropped, having forgotten he had to learn the technique first, "Hehehe, right!" he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Haku sweat-dropped, "I swear I have no idea what goes on in that thick skull of his."

Zabuza went through the hand signs slowly while Naruto copied him, "Water style: water clone jutsu" they shouted at the same time.

Suddenly the clearing they were in was filled with 10 more Zabuza's and 200 more Narutos. Haku and Zabuza just stared at Naruto. "Incredible! He just made at least a hundred clones and he doesn't even look winded!" Naruto let the technique drop,

"Wow you're right! I didn't even feel a drain on my chakra!"

"WHAT!?" they shouted, "Even I would have trouble making that many! When I said they don't take a lot of chakra, I did not mean they wouldn't!" continued Zabuza. "How much did you use?"

"Umm, an extremely small amount?" Naruto answered uncertainly.

Zabuza sighed, "You clearly have a problem with chakra control, the water wall and water chains don't require much chakra control but the water clone is different. The more chakra you put in, the more clones you get out." He explained, "Do you know the tree climbing exercise?" Zabuza asked

"Yes, I mastered it a month ago" Naruto answered.

"Water walking?"

"No, just tree climbing"

Zabuza sighed, "Haku show the kid the water walking exercise, I'm going to send a message to call in a favor then get a drink" he said as he walked away.

"Did I do something wrong?" Naruto asked fearfully.

Haku just sighed, "Come on, let's get you started, there is plenty water here" he said as he looked around.

AN: alright sorry for the wait! I have been a bit busy and haven't had the chance to type, here's a slightly longer chapter! I would like everyone to thank Novrier for the fight scenes, I would not be able to write anything that detailed at this stage. Also feel free to point out any mistakes I could have made!

Reviews:

BlackDragonShinigami: I received your review during class and I couldn't help but laugh at the simplicity of it. No complaining, no buts this just "cool story. please update, bye bye" xD well here's that update

Yagura's sensei: thanks, I intend to (and hopefully finish before August too)

Novrier: I see where you coming from, let's just pretend that this Kurama had not been that vengeful and let go of it easier or he was willing to put it aside and pulled that mood swap like he did when Naruto asked him to help with sage mode. Thanks for the fights again =)