Chapter 23
The place of our fallen white lily
The trio left of team Zabuza stopped a little ways off Wave.
"This should be far enough" Naruto panted. The day's fight and emotional toll was tiring, even for someone like him.
Fu nodded and they both carefully laid Zabuza's body on the grass. Behind them, Haku dropped as well, his muscles screaming at him for holding such a heavy weight for such a long distance. "Who knew sen- no father's blade weighed this much. No wonder he goes through his own personal training" Haku thought.
Fu sighed and sat on the ground, her back leaning against the tree with Naruto following her example. "We didn't think this through did we?" he remarked.
"What do you mean?" Haku asked, looking at him weirdly.
"I mean, firstly," Naruto started, holding up one finger, "we don't know any fire jutsu. We all water natured and never really had a need for a jutsu to cremate someone. And two, we are wasting energy. You," Naruto pointed at Haku, "are carrying a large, heavy blade, and we" Naruto motioned to Fu and himself, "are carrying a large, heavy body. With us just being out a fight, tired, in danger of threats like other missing nin or such, and without the help of Zabuza, we would need all the strength we need."
The other two paused. They weren't used to the smart Naruto, sure he came out at times, but those times are few and far in between. Though when he did come out, he always pointed out they had missed.
"So, even if I really don't want to, we must act like proper hunter-nin," Naruto took out a scroll "and seal both his body and sword"
Fu gave out a weak laugh, "ironic ain't it? We've been posing as hunter-nin the whole time, taking Zabuza's "corpse", but now it's the real thing."
Naruto and Haku nodded in agreement, life had a sick sense of humor.
A few minutes later, Naruto and Fu sealed up Zabuza's body while Haku reluctantly sealed the sword.
"We head straight for the nearest town. We find an inn and stay there for the night. We head out, straight to Ryuunosuke" Haku said, taking command.
Xxxxx
On the morning of the third day, the group arrived on top of the hill and knocked on the weapon smith's door.
They only waited a few moments before the door opened. "Welcome back" he said before noticing the lack of an adult "where's Zabuza?"
The trio looked at each other
"He didn't make it" Naruto finally said, holding out a scroll.
The last remaining member of Zabuza's old team seemed to age a dozen years right before their eyes, "I'm all alone then" he muttered sadly.
Fu stepped forward "no, Zabuza's final words, he told us to give you this. He said you would know the location." She said, holding out a simple messenger scroll.
Ryuunosuke slowly took the scroll and untied the string. He unwrapped the scroll to see 10 simple words.
Let's start clearing the mist at the place of our fallen white lily
Ryuunosuke gave a small smile "that sneaky Zabuza" he said, "Come in, let me pack up. We leave tomorrow." he said before walking back in the house.
"Let us help too. If we are done quicker, we can rest earlier and leave earlier. Zabuza said we had to be there at midday 4 days from now." Haku called out as they walked in.
Ryuunosuke stopped in mid-motion of packing away a well-crafted sword. "Well then this pace won't do. It will take almost 4 days to reach there from here. But we might just make it if we hurry and only stop for minimum rest. Alright, come with me." He said and headed to the back where team Zabuza had frequently trained when they were visiting. "Metal style: metal clones. Earth style: earth hole jutsu. Metal style: metal river jutsu."
Team Zabuza watched the display. No matter how many times they saw it, they were still amazed at the mastery and control the weaponsmith had of his jutsu. 30 clones appeared from blobs of metal he had spat followed by 60 perfect square holes, each about a meter long and wide appearing in the earth. Then the clones seemed to control the metal river to ensure the metal that flowed into the holes molded into the holes and leaving the middle and top empty. The end result was 60 crates made of metal that can be used to hold the weapons and other goods. The once flat field was now full of metal crates in the earth.
"Make as many clones as you can. Put the weapons into the crates to the right and the scrolls the crates in to the left. I will handle the records, pills and anything else left." Ryuunosuke ordered.
"Right!" the trio saluted "shadow clone jutsu" Naruto and Fu called. "Water clone jutsu" Haku called, not having the reserves of Jinchuriki like Naruto and Fu, instead he made up for it in chakra control.
Clones of the trio appeared in between the spaces of the metal boxes leading up the pathway to the house.
"Naruto, you and I will spread out throughout the house, you go through the left wing and I'll go to the right. We will have our clones form a chain leading to this point. Fu from here, you and your clones will intercept the stuff and pack them into boxes. We all know you are better at packing than us." Haku stated.
The Jinchuriki nodded. That was sound logic and neither of them had a problem with it.
"Let's do this!" Fu said, smirking and bringing her fist up.
Haku and Naruto nodded. "Scatter!" the shouted at the same time.
As planned, Naruto led his clones to the left side of the house while Haku did the right. The clones formed a conveyer belt of sorts and therefore minimizing the need for movement and the risk of colliding with another clone.
The point where the two groups met was a spot not far from the doorway. Fu had to create more clones to compensate for the double load, now her clones had formed their own web of transport with one standing on a tree barking out orders to which goes where.
About 3 hours in, Ryuunosuke walked past to what he thought to be training during war times.
"Number 25 pass to your left. Number 21 hurry up. Number 3 watch out behind you. Number 7 help number 36 with the battle axe…."
So on and so forth. The commands never stopped and neither did the rhythmic passing of Naruto and Haku's clones. "Zabuza, you trained them well" the weaponsmith thought before continuing his way.
By midday, everything had been cleared into the field and packed neatly into the boxes.
"Phew, done. Now to call Ryuunosuke." Fu said, putting the final kunai in. "good work everyone. Dismissed." she called to the clones who saluted and dispersed into a large cloud of smoke.
The trio walked around the house, partly to check there was nothing they missed, and partly to find Ryuunosuke. They eventually found him kneeling by the grave he made for his other teammate, Shiro, with his head bowed.
They stood outside the door awkwardly, not sure what to do.
"is it done?" the weaponsmith asked, finally lifting his head and standing up.
"It is" Fu answered.
"Good, now all that's left is to seal it all." He said, grabbing a scroll they hadn't noticed leaning against the wall. "This is a special Higurashi scroll. It had been used since the time when the Higurashi were still nomadic people, dating even further back than the warring clans era. It can hold any amount of objects so long as the objects were made by a Higurashi. Back before we were separated, most families had a scroll like this." He explained while walking towards the field.
The trio looked in awe. As little of the sealing arts they knew, even a simple seal such as an exploding tag was complex and many jonin didn't know how to make it. To have a sealing scroll that can hold an indefinite amount of objects, even if it was only for a specific clan, the seal maker must have had an incredible amount of sealing knowledge.
Arriving at the field, they watched how he was going to use it. They had expected him to slowly seal each box individually, but instead he just threw the scroll in the air. The scroll unraveled by itself and going around the field, covering the whole area taken by the boxes.
"Seal!" the metal user commanded, his hand in a half tiger sign.
There was a small puff of smoke, just enough to encompass the object, and it was gone. The scroll flying back into the Higurashi's waiting hand. "Let's go"
Once they were outside the gates of the house, Ryuunosuke turned around and took one last look at what had been his hiding place, his work, and his home for over a decade. "Earth style: earth hole jutsu" he said, using his previous jutsu. This time on a much larger scale.
The ground shook for a moment before the entire house, fence and all, was swallowed up by the earth. "We can't have people tracking us" he explained before walking.
The teens looked at each other before hurrying to catch up. "What did the scroll say?" Naruto asked, referring to the one Zabuza gave them.
"Let's start clearing the mist at the place of our fallen white lily." Ryuunosuke recited. "This is a simple but effective code. The first part, "let's start clearing the mist" refers to a conversation I had with him before your mission and doubles as a code word. The second part "the place of our fallen white lily" is a place only known to many, but only a few know the significance to make the connection. The full name of our teammate was Shiro Yuri, which means white lily…"
"it's the place where you lost your teammate" Fu realized.
"Yes, now anymore questions?"
"No" the teens chorused.
Xxxx
The group arrived at the rendezvous point exactly 3 hours before midday.
"Take a break. If Mist is still as strict as it was when I left then we will leave as soon as we meet them and explained the situation." Ryuunosuke said.
"right."
And exactly two hours and 59 minutes later, the weaponsmith got up and walked to a seemingly normal patch of flowers. "I wish to clear the mist" he said to the flowers.
At once shadows leapt from the trees and the patch of flowers went up in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, there was an entire team of ANBU shinobi.
"Ryuunosuke, the Metal Dragon." The leader greeted, "where is the Demon we were told of."
The remains of team Zabuza looked on as Ryuunosuke replied without as much as a flinch. "The Demon has fallen in battle. His students has brought his body and sword"
The leader sighed. "Well that is unfortunate. We could have used a leader like Captain Zabuza." He said, taking off his mask in respect, the rest of the ANBU following. "I am Kyousuke Kousaka. These are Nami, Teru Mikami, Yuuto Kiba and Kimihito Kurusu" He introduced.
Naruto slowly walked up to the group and observed the ANBU. Kyosuke Kousaka was a young man with black eyes and a black hair which seemed to have a slight blue tinge to it and a single lock of his hair was left hanging in the middle of his head. Nami was a thin, athletic looking girl with long wavy orange hair (which scored some points in Naruto's book). Teru Mikami, like Kyosuke, was a young man with short black hair, but what differentiated them was that Mikami let his hair grow to shoulder length and also wore a pair of glases. Yuuto Kiba looked very young, maybe 16 or 17 (which slightly surprised the trio that someone so young would be in ANBU) and had short pale blond hair, grey eyes and a mole under his left eye. Kimihito Kurusu was a tall man with messy black hair and eyes that didn't seem to have pupils in them. He had some scars and his hands bandaged, possibly a taijutsu user.
Ryuunosuke patted Haku on his shoulder, "this is Haku, last known surviving member of the Yuki clan, Zabuza's first student." He started before patting Naruto with his other hand "this is Naruto, Zabuza speculated his parents and has had Mangetsu Hozuki look into it. He is Zabuza's second student." He then nodded at Fu "this is Fu, formerly shinobi of Waterfall. Zabuza's last student."
The ANBU noticeably got tense as soon as they heard she was from Waterfall, but the Higurashi quickly put an end to that. "She is no spy, I vouch for her." This seemed to ease the worries of the ANBU. "Very well. Let's get going" Kyousuke said before jumping off into the trees in the direction of the rebel camp, the others soon following.
As Naruto started to jump, he remembered Zabuza's words.
Flashback
It was the third day of Zabuza's healing. He had regained most of his motor functions but his instincts were still dulled. That was the only reason he hadn't launched an attack on the Leaf teams yet.
Naruto knocked before walking into the room. "Zabuza-sensei." He greeted, "I have a question."
"What is it?" Zabuza asked, he was bored so this was a welcome distraction. "A few days ago, when you were telling us about your time in Mist" Naruto started, "when you first spoke about Yagura, you made him seem like he was a kind and helpful person. But towards the end, he became the Fourth Mizukage and you tried to kill him, why?" he asked.
"So you noticed. Yes I know that seemed out of the ordinary, but I don't blame you. To understand my actions, you must understand that in the 4 or so years I knew him, I could usually tell when something was bothering him. But after I graduated, he started becoming distant. By the time I went on the last mission with Shiro, he had become a complete stranger. Of course, it was possible that he was becoming distant because he was being groomed to be Mizukage, but at his coronation, I saw none of the kind man he was before. When he first issued the order for the elimination of all bloodline users, I knew something was up, he had become a tyrant. Now many could just say that he let the power corrupt him and he deserves to be killed, but I don't believe that. In our fight, I think he had a moment of clarity because near the end when he could have taken advantage of a slight miscalculation on my part, he hesitated and for a moment I saw the man who he was before. That moment of hesitation allowed me to escape. So the point I'm trying to make is- I don't believe he let the power corrupt him. I believe there is outside influence." Zabuza looked Naruto in the eye "and that's why I want to go back. I still believe he can be saved."
Flashback end
"If you believe that Yagura can be saved, then I will do everything in my power to save him. It is my duty, as your student, as your son, as a fellow Jinchuriki to him" Naruto thought determinedly.
-unknown location-
"The escaped subject appears to have awakened the sharingan" a voice said.
"kukuku, well done Naruto. I was beginning to think that you wouldn't awaken it." another cackled as yellow eyes pierced through the dark.
AN: done! No cliffhangers this time ^.^. sorry I know there is a lot of time skipping in the chapter, but I'm sure you don't want to know every single part of their journey to point A to point B right? (and yes I know it is extremely OOC for Zabuza to speak the way he did in the flashback and how team Zabuza quickly got over his death, but 1, I needed to explain something and 2, let's just say they haven't completely gotten over his death yet, only burying the pain)
Oh yeah, I just wanted to clarify one thing: Orochimaru took him just after Minato died due to the reaper death seal. So the Leaf (those that knew he was born) just assumed that Naruto had been disintegrated/eaten or something. Maybe the Kyubi's chakra burned him and Kyubi is dead. So it doesn't matter if any Leaf sees him, they won't recognize him or his name, not for a loooong time. If you need more clarification, just say so and I'll answer as much as I can without spoiling.
Anyways, I have a challenge and 2 questions to everyone!
Challenge: name the anime in which the ANBU members were based off (each one is different). Winner/s gets special shout-out and virtual cookie!
Question 1: some of you guys and/or gals have suggested that I make the chapters longer and last chapter I gave the reason why I have a problem with that. Now the thing is, it all comes down to you readers.
Would you like longer chapters that take longer to make or keep the updates as they are.
Question 2: I had revealed the blue sharingan last chapter, and some of you are hoping that it has some awesome power, now I do have an idea for a good power to give to Naruto via sharingan, but I want to hear your opinions. (credit will be given where due)
What power do you think the sharingan should give Naruto.
Reviews:
AndiDuel: Let's see, in order, I did drop a hint in chapter 17 in my response to AmbertheCat but I'll say it again. I kept his parents as in canon, but I took liberties with his grandparents. His sharingan will have differences compared to the average ones (the current biggest difference is it being blue lol). How special… can't really say, it all depends on what his powers are going to end up I suppose. I won't fit them in the coming chunin exams. But I will in the next one. No I won't kill Gaara. Thanks for your support ^.^ I'm always happy when I pull off a plot twist no one sees coming!
Talonsen: well now is your chance to suggest something. You could suggest a special thing it can do and if we (ZV and I) like it, we will use it! (of course credit will be given where due). As for the sound 4 using curse seals, yeah I admit they were possibly tired because they did need to take a break, but they only seemed a little out of breath and from what I understand, the battle with the jonin was very quick. But you did raise some very good points. Choji taking the pills, Neji and his sacrificial blow, the Sand's timely arrival were probably the only reason they won (well that and the fact they were probably needed for plot xD)
Noahendless: aye
Oneoddtodd: thanks for the support
Zeus501: ehehe, I hadn't had much use for him ^.^ll so bye Zabuza, see ya later (maybe). I suppose they did take down 2 jonin (which were basically no-named canon fodder) and exhausted the other two before retreating, but I still stand by my thought that they didn't look that exhausted when the retrieval team caught up. Well let's see, the Leaf will be fine-that's all I'll say (and no gaara will not die). As for the last question, who's to say he hadn't already? (hint hint).
HAHAHA YOUR DOGS ARE NO MATCH FOR MY SECRET WEAPON! GO GIANT STEAK! *throws a huge piece of meat 500 meters from where the cats are* now where'd I put that catnip….
BClassDemon: hmm maybe… you're close but not quite there. I believe the reason for kekkei genkai is that the body naturally has the perfect balance of the elements, thus making it much easier to use them. The reason the sharingan can't copy the kekkei genkai is because the user's body doesn't have the correct elemental affinities in the correct quantities.
Wyrtha: well, she didn't take a shot at him because she didn't feel like it, and also because she is mostly a support fighter. Besides, Naruto didn't and he finished his fight first. It's because they aren't really assassins. They're more like destroy enemies through fights and not the type to kill without a direct order I suppose. As for Kakashi hearing his name, as I mentioned above, he thinks Minato's baby is dead and never even knew the child's name. Not to mention the thought of Naruto even being alive never even crossed his mind.
S.P. Roy: thanks…
Thor94: I didn't really have much plans for Zabuza, my only plans include him mostly as that mentor who gets them on their feet before leaving. And as I have clarified above, no the Leaf will not connect the dots as him being the son of the Fourth.
Anime Da vinci: if you are still reading this (for whatever reason), that wasn't meant to be a plot armor. That was just an attempt at humor.
Jackalvmage12: thank you, I do think that was one of my better chapters =). Yeah, I only planned for him up to Wave. His death was used for another plot.