New Yet So Old

by Lil Nezumi

New chapters added -See CH 1 for full summary. Yes it's a back in time re-write of events from the Naruto manga and animé, but not an OMG I'm in the past kind of tale. Probably with hints of slash pairings, so far nada.

11. Chapter 11

CH 11

C-Class Mission: Land of Waves II

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

They'd camped several times on the mainland and now they were crossing a large body of water that had the unfinished bridge. They were all suitably awed by the size and obvious effort it had taken to build it this far. Old man Tazuna puffed up in pride as he explained that this had been one of the solutions to escape the iron fist of the fishing magnate called Gato.

They already knew that they were going to be attacked. They just didn't when or who. Well Naruto did and that's when he tried to figure out if those two would be worth saving. His plans were set, but he still wondered about it. 'First class missing nin,' he thought. 'One of the seven swordsman of the Mist, are they really missing ninja or rogues? Zabuza a known human demon.'

(…Human demons don't exist…) Kurama told him.

(…That's what humans call people that they consider very dangerous…) Naruto told his own demon. (…He killed the entire graduating class of the Mist Academy, before they'd changed their ways. It was not only that, but he'd never even been enrolled in that Academy to begin with…)

(…Their ways included getting rid of their soldiers?…) The fox looked at him. (…That wasn't very bright of them…)

(…No it wasn't…) Naruto agreed. (…Seems they only wanted the strongest of their students to pass, but because that had happened they'd had to change their ways…)

Kurama's presence faded as they neared the shore that they were getting to. The demon always seemed to know when he could talk to the boy and when to leave him to move about in peace. They were about to land on the opposite shore close to where the village was. They'd planned to travel in a roundabout way because that had been the only way to travel in order to avoid the attention of Gato's mercenaries.

There was one mercenary that had a bit more pride and was quite willing to attack some poor leaf ninjas in order to kill the real prize. 'That bridge builder is going down,' the swordsman thought. 'He might have passed by the weaker ninjas under Gato's influence, but he won't get by me.'

The swordsman Henged into his apprentice's, white rabbit pet and had been hopping along and watching the group move ashore. He Kawarimi'd out with the true poor animal as a kunai landed in front of it. The poor creature was startled into a temporary paralysed state before it decided to hop away from the area of danger, after it had been returned to the ground.

'It was the blond kid that threw the kunai,' he thought, as he observed their progress. Suddenly he was paralysed and couldn't move from his current location.

There was also a blade pressed against his neck and the voice of one of the boys, obviously not his Haku's, who said, "A future death on the unfinished bridge for Momochi Zabuza, due to contract failure in killing the bridge builder, not that Gato was ever planning to pay you, and your death is caused by fighting against the Konoha ninja. There's death for the swordsman's apprentice Haku, sacrificing his lift for his most precious person. After which the Konoha ninjas take out all of Gato's forces and are hailed heroes in the Land of Waves. You can't move because of a Jutsu. There are many choices before you. You can choose to not fight, to fight in the future at a later date or fight those below right now. The future I've mentioned does happen after you heal from the injuries that you'll definitely be receiving, if you choose to fight this group now."

"I have no choice, right now," Zabuza said. "I'm being watched and not just by my apprentice."

"We can fix that," the boy's voice said. "The fight will be a good exercise for the Genin below to participate and witness. It will also let our sensei show us what he can do and let us show him what we are capable of."

Zabuza was released from the strange Jutsu that had left him temporarily immobile. 'We can fix that,' the swordsman thought. 'You have many choices, hmph. I can only take action on the one choice for now. Later I'll see if you can really fix this.'

The large bandaged sword sailed through the air and imbedded itself high into a tree, the swordsman made his impressive entrance. 'The show has to be a good one,' Zabuza thought. 'Let's what they can do, now who had the...ah little Blondie's the one with the blades, hm, interesting?'

"Guys," Kakashi-sensei said, as he stood upright. "Guard Tazuna." He lifted his Hitai-ate to his forehead and revealed the long scar that bisected his left eye. In opening that eye, one of his Genin gasped because the sensei's eye contained the Sharingan.

"What," Sakura said. "What is it Sasuke?"

"He's got a Sharingan eye," the dark haired boy said.

"What does it do," Sakura asked.

"It's a form of ocular Ninjutsu," Sasuke explained. "It lets him penetrate and see beyond any illusion or spell to the reality behind it. It can reflect those things back to their caster, but there's more to it."

"That's right boy," Zabuza said. "You're pretty smart kid. The Sharingan also allows someone with it to learn and duplicate their opponent's greatest skills. You're well known Konoha ninja, as Kakashi the Mirror Ninja or the Copy-Cat Ninja, Hatake Kakashi."

"I know of you too Momochi Zabuza," Kakashi stated. "You're one of the Mist's Seven Swordsmen, from the Elite Assassin's core of Kirigakure, also known as the Demon of the Mist."

"Very good," Zabuza said. He leapt from the tree, taking his sword with him and landed in a pool of water nearby creating a splash and then suddenly he was on top of it in a formation that indicated that he was about to do some kind of Jutsu. "Let's see how you handle Kiri's Ultimate Jutsu, Silent Killing Mist."

"Damn," Kakashi-sensei said. "He's built up a lot of chakra to use that."

"Use what," Risa asked.

"A mist forming jutsu," the Jounin explained. "A tool for him to hide in and attack," he looked back at them and said, "Don't worry. He'll come after me first because I'm the harder target."

The mist surrounded, them getting thicker and thicker. Then they heard a creepy voice saying, "There are eight targets," there was a licking sound like the smacking of lips and chuckle, followed by, "Throat, Spinal Column, Lungs, Liver, Jugular Vein, Sub-clavian Artery, Kidney, Heart." These words were repeated a couple of times to up the creep factor, when the question was asked. "So many choices," the voice giggled evilly. "What vital, vulnerable place should I choose?"

Tokuma and Risa were on the left and right side of the client while the three younger Genin were is a triangle formation in from of the man. The mist hid their fears and panicked expressions, but suddenly there was a rise in killing intent that had Sasuke feeling twitchy. It was that like that horrible day when his family disappeared.

"Sasuke," Kakashi-sensei told him. "Calm down, even if he gets me, I'll still protect you." He looked back at his team and grinned. "I'll never let my comrades down."

Naruto knew that this was a crucial moment, but with two extras around to help, he used hands signs behind Tazuna's back in order to give Tokuma and Risa instructions to grab the bridge builder's arms and haul him backwards at his signal.

Then he repeated the eight vulnerable parts of a body in a low tone, increasing his own killing intent. "Hm," he paused dramatically and pulled out his Wakizashi blade. "I choose, Jugular Vein."

This was the signal because at that moment Tazuna was pulled away from the area of the other three Genin. Sakura was nudged to the side and Sasuke was pushed forward, by their sensei.

Naruto struck with a precision that surprised his sensei when the boy had dodged the move that would knock him out of the way. His Wakizashi sword went through the swordsman's neck, through the jugular vein, as he said it would. The ninja collapsed in a splash of water. The blond spat and said, "Suiton Bushin."

Kakashi-sensei had been surprised at the move, but he didn't let it phase him, as the rogue ninja made another move to attack him. He had a kunai to that ninja's throat and then out of the mist another body appeared behind the copy-nin. This person kicked their sensei into the water.

"Shit," Naruto said racing to get his sensei out of there. "Kaka-sensei, get out of there now." He skidded to a stop, just at the water's edge.

"Wah," Kakashi-sensei said. "This feels too heavy to be water."

"Smart kid, but too late," Zabuza said, as he finished his jutsu to form the water prison. He switched places with a couple of water drops in order to bind the Konoha Jounin inside a thick water bubble that strangely didn't seem to drown the man or suffocate him. He had one hand in the prison to maintain it, but there was nothing that the Jounin could do to get out of there at the moment.

"Another water bushin," Sasuke said, as the thing collapsed back to the ground after Naruto's second attack. He turned to Sakura, their client, Tokuma and Risa. "Get him out of here."

"No way," Sakura said. "Those who leave their companions behind are worse than trash."

"Then you three get under cover," Sasuke said as he pulled on a pair of brass knuckles that Naruto had carved very minor seals on them. Those markings allowed an element to pool on the surface of the knuckles. The seal allowed an element to be added to a hit, but they were element specific seals, which meant that the dark haired boy had to be careful which pair of knuckles he put on. In this case he chose the ones stronger against water, which was lightning.

The blue-white light of the lightning appeared and in surprised move the swordsman took a shocking hit to his abdomen and dissolved to reveal another Suiton Bushin. "Damn," the dark haired boy said. "Missed the kidney."

Naruto had been attacked by another Suiton Bushin, but the water clones were only there for one purpose that was to prevent the Genin from freeing their sensei. The swordsman was also having a laugh at the because of it.

Pissed off, Naruto called forth ten Kage Bushin and attacked the water clone. As several of his clones were knocked back, he tossed a large folded shuriken to Sasuke, who'd been knocked the ground from his last attack. In a slight of hand move, he pulled out his own folded shuriken and expanded it in front of him.

"What are you going to do with that toy, little boy," the swordsman sneered at him.

"Demon Wind Shuriken, Windmill of Shadows," Sasuke said and launched the large four bladed weapon in the direction of the clone, but it veered away and aimed for the swordsman Zabuza.

The clone reacted by looking back in confusion, but then it said at the same time as its original, "At least you had the sense to zero in on my true form." Zabuza caught the oversized shuriken and said, "Amateur."

However the man was shocked to note that there was a second oversized shuriken flying towards his lower half and Kakashi thought, 'He used the Art of Shadow Shuriken!'

Zabuza jumped high to avoid the second weapon, when he then noticed that everyone was looking at something behind him. He glanced back and was surprised to see the little blond brat throw three kunai and several smaller shuriken at him. He was forced to release the water prison in order to avoid the flying blades, but he'd forgotten that boy had a sword of his own.

The missing-nin had thought that the boy had fallen into the water, but the blond was standing on the water's surface and had attacked him with both his blades. He barely dodged the slicing motion to his side and side-stepped a lunge from the other hand that held the Tanto blade.

Zabuza was about to throw the large shuriken still in his hand, when that motion was stopped by the boy's sensei's fist.

"Thank you Naruto," Kakashi-sensei said. "You'd better get back to the shore and help to protect the others." The gray haired man then looked sideways to the Demon of the Mist. "You're dealing with me now."

Naruto knew that there was someone watching from the trees and that that person would attack, if he did anything further. Even just acknowledging that they were there would change the outcome of this encounter. Despite the fact, he had given away the fact that he knew there was a second person in the area because of the death prediction he'd given the man.

He ran across the water, avoiding his sensei and the swordsman. He chose to run to his teammates and from there they all watched from a distance the battle that was happening with the water.

"You keep an eye on that action Sasuke," Naruto said. "Let me deal with some of your wounds."

"But what about," Sasuke looked at him and noted that the blond just shook his head. "Tch, fine," he said and looked back at speed that the hands were moving in creating the hand Seal for the Mist's new Jutsu Technique. This one looked like it was going to be a big one.

"Oh my," Tokuma said. "I've never seen that technique before. I heard about it, but have never seen it."

"What's it called Tokuma-sensei," Risa asked. Everyone on the shore was riveted by the mirrored actions that were taking place. They could see the doubt in the swordsman's eyes. Was the Jounin really just copying him or...

"Water Style: Water Dragon Missile," the two on the water said at the same time. Two dragons of water formed and attacked. Since two elements were the same and two identical techniques were used the result was a large water splash that knocked everyone off their feet and hosed most of them down. The water quickly receded back into its preferred channel, only to be called upon again.

'Something isn't right,' Zabuza thought. 'This shouldn't be happening. All of my gestures...All of my moves...He sees...'

"Through all of them," Kakashi finished the thought for the man.

"Oh this is gonna be good," Naruto said softly, as he finished wrapping the last wound from his teammate. "Talk about psychological torture in the middle of a battle. Zabuza's trying to figure it out. His doubt is growing and it's like his hands are moving just a fraction slower. Keep watching Sasuke, you're about there."

"How can you tell," the other boy whispered back.

"Your chakra," the blond explained in a hushed tone that the others couldn't understand. "Raise it slowly to your eyes and hold it there as long as you can. You've practiced this, I know you have."

"How could you possibly know," Sasuke said.

"Its power isn't it?" Naruto said with a sad tone. "It's what you want, how else to gain more skill and ability than to cheat and get it through something that basically memorizes and plays it back for you as needed."

"It's a Clan thing," Sasuke hissed back. "You wouldn't..."

Naruto squeezed the boy's shoulder and said, "I do know. We'll talk about pride and revenge later. Look at them now and learn something of what the Sharingan can really do."

Sasuke eyes hadn't left the battle and as much as he wanted to defy and deny the other boy that he didn't want to know right now, the truth was that he did. He wanted to see something like this so bad that he nearly missed the point of realization that the swordsman was seconds too late in his hand signs.

"Water Style: Giant Waterfall," Kakashi concluded the Jutsu before the other man.

Zabuza was hit with a vortex of flowing water that battered his body. He flew backwards into the water and then out of it. His back was slammed against a tree and he was suddenly pinned there with kunai sticking out of ever limb and some in other places. He was still alive and he had to ask, "What...can you see the future?"

Kakashi held a kunai and looked at him from his softly whirling Sharingan eye. "I predict your death."

Two senbon needles flew out and hit the swordsman in the neck. Eyes blanked and the large man fell forward, unmoving to the ground. Everyone heard a giggle from higher up into the trees and when they looked they say the figure of a child in a white mask with red swirls on it.

"Hee, hee," the child giggled. "Your prediction came true."

Kakashi jumped down from the tree limb he'd jumped onto in order to avoid being tossed by the water too, to feel the man's neck and he thought, 'He's really dead.'

The child bowed and said, "Thank you for your help. I hope you don't mind the interference, but I wanted the satisfaction of putting that man out of his misery, myself."

"That mask is familiar," Kakashi-sensei said. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a Shinobi Hunter from the Village Hidden in the Mist."

"Aren't you the informed one," the Hunter replied. "Indeed I'm a member of the Elite Tracking Unit from the Village Hidden in the Mist. It is our responsibility to hunt down rogues and outlaws."

'Judging from his size, height and voice,' Kakashi thought. 'He's not much older than Naruto or the other two on my team.'

'He's already a Shinobi Hunter,' Tokuma thought. 'This kid is not your average ninja child.'

'Hunter,' Risa thought. 'Damn, we can't do anything because he's technically stronger that the two Jounin here, most definitely stronger than that Zabuza.'

Kakashi-sensei could tell that the arrival of this new ninja didn't sit well with his students. But it was the sad truth that he shared in a commiserating glance the other Jounin from Konoha.

"Are we just going to let him do what he wants with that man's body," Sakura asked. "He can't just…"

"Sakura," her sensei stopped her rant. "You'll need to get used to the fact that there are sometimes people in this world that are younger than you, but are stronger than me." He gave her a look that said to let the matter drop. The pink haired girl only sighed and nodded.

The Hunter boy drop from the tree he'd been standing in and landed next to the body he was there to claim. "Your battle is over," he said. "Now I must dispose of the remains, lest it gives up secrets to our foes."

The boy easily hefted the larger body onto his shoulders and then left the area in a swirl of leaves. "Well he's gone now," Tokuma said. "What should we do… Kakashi," he yelled as the other Jounin collapsed after having covered his Sharingan eye. "You idiot!"

"Tokuma-sensei," Naruto said in a questioning tone.

"It's nothing," the Jounin said. "We need a stretcher to carry him. Did any of you bring one in scroll?" He received negatives headshakes from the Genin. "Well then Risa you know what to do, get to lengths of wood, approximately even in size. Naruto, I know you brought an extra length of canvas, so pull that out and we'll make the stretcher to carry this useless lump to Tazuna's home."

The two Genin complied, while Sasuke and Sakura were tasked to recover any of the thrown weapons from the area before meeting back at the clearing with the others. They came back to watch how the canvas was rolled into the lengths of wood and made a very serviceable stretcher to get the fallen Jounin to their client's house.

The four Genin then had to take a corner each and then immediately learned how to synchronize their pace so that they didn't jar their unconscious teacher. "Ne Tokuma-sensei," Naruto said. "Are you and Risa still going to that other town beyond this one?"

"Yes," Tokuma said. "I have personal commissions to do there, plus it'll give me time to look into those Bokken practice weapons for you. Were you thinking that you'd need something else?"

"No," Naruto paused. "I don't think so. I still have a lot of stuff that we picked up during our last travel to Suna… Can I think about it?"

"Sure," Tokuma replied. "We'll stick around until Sleeping Beauty wakes up." The Genin and old man snickered at that. "I'll even coach you in some E-Level Elemental Jutsus, if you like."

"We'd appreciate that," Sasuke said immediately. "When you said you'd help, I brought along several scrolls from the Uchiha Clan coffers to share with you. I'm hoping that you'd be able to break down a few of them for me, since someone…" He said this pointedly, without indicating whom he was talking about, but that was given away by soft snickers coming from the person beside him. "Refused to explain many of the techniques until my chakra control had improved some more."

"There's a reason for that too," Tokuma said.

"What," Sakura asked, curious as to why chakra control was so important.

"Elements are wild," the man began. "Those with low chakra reserves are lucky in the sense that they can learn to control just how they need to put out in order to complete certain tasks. Now that doesn't means that there's no way to increase those reserves, but because they naturally have smaller amounts they're more aware of its loss and guard against it more."

"How do you increase your reserves, sensei," Risa asked.

"Exercise," Tokuma said. "Increase in body strength, speed and health, will help the body to open the chakra channels more and the area holding the reserves will expand. Practice and daily use will also do the same thing. It's the lack of use that will atrophy the channels."

"So we'll begin by learning the base spells or jutsus at E, D, & C-Levels first," Sasuke said with a small pout.

"It's best to find the spells or jutsus that call out to you," Tokuma said to the boy with a smile. "There's always the chance that you can't learn the low level elemental jutsus because of the amount of chakra contained within you. If you have some E-Level spells that just don't work for you, that could be one of the reasons."

"Hm," the dark haired boy just noised as he turned away to think about that.

Tazuna's daughter greeted them and then guided them to the two rooms that they'd be sharing for the duration of their stay. She was able to diagnose Kakashi as just being exhausted. She ordered her father and Tokuma to remove most of the Jounin's gear and then shooed the children down the stairs for a hot meal before telling them to bed down for the night.

The two girls took the smaller of the two rooms and left the men to room with their unconscious teacher.

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

The next day Tokuma spoke to Naruto alone and asked, "Do you want to do that paper test again?"

Naruto looked slightly shocked and then shook his head. "Nah," he answered. "This is enough. Why do you ask?"

"Naruto," the man looked at him. "I've seen you light a campfire under impossible conditions, remember. I know that you have a few more elements under your belt."

The blond boy rubbed the back of his head and said, "That's not quite it sensei." He looked at the man and said, "Please don't tell anyone. Its…kind of part of that technique I'm working on and not really based on the Elements, as you know them. It really is different and the fire thing, well that was something I've always been able to do because of you-know-who."

"I see," Tokuma said. The he handed the boy a small pouch. "As promised a few of the more interesting coins and a couple of complementary gems for you and your dark haired friend." The blond looked at the man quizzically. "We were always 'quid pro quo' as a team. Nothings changed, it's a thank you for those scrolls."

Naruto grinned and said, "You got it. Hey, can you look for some dark knuckles for us or else some dark arm and leg guards, you know the kind of metal that can channel elements."

"Sure," the man said. "Pay me, if I can get them, give me the measurements." He was handed a scroll. "Promise me that you only practice the low level stuff on the water and away from anything of value like someone's home."

"Promise," Naruto told him. Then he turned to his old teammate and said, "Safe journey."

Risa hugged him and then handed him another pouch. "Remember to raise all your elements for these," she said with a knowing look. "Kick that shipping magnate's ass if you see him."

"Believe it," Naruto said with a grin. He watched them leave and then tucked his gifts into two smaller storage scrolls. Now was so not the time to bring them to the light. "Teme," he called to the boy in the nearby tree. "We're going to need to practice on the water, some distance from the bridge and village."

"Agreed," the other boy said. "What do we do about her?"

"Sick Kaka-sensei on her," Naruto told him. "He needs something to do other than read that smut while he's recovering. He can teach her chakra control."

"It's time for breakfast," Sasuke told him. "Maybe Kakashi will be awake after that."

After breakfast they were all around their sensei's futon wondering what to do. Sakura had been tempted to lower the man's mask, but Sasuke's comment of it being disrespectful and rude to their teacher stopped her in her tracks.

"Naruto, you're usually up for something like this," she commented. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

"I happen to agree with Sasuke on this one," the blond said. "It's rude and disrespectful to our sensei. If he wants to reveal his features he will." The pink haired girl just blew a gust of air out of her mouth in frustration that the blond was now becoming kind of dull to be around.

"I thank you boys for that," Kakashi-sensei said, trying to lean up onto his elbows, but he fell back onto the pillow. "What happened?"

"You covered your Sharingan eye and collapsed," Sasuke said.

"The Hunter left with the body," Sakura continued.

"Tokuma-sensei and Risa left this morning," Naruto said. "They're going to another port town to see what they can learn about this Gato guy, plus have to take care of a few personal commissions for their families."

"Tokuma-sensei did show us how a few of the low level E and D Jutsus should work," Sakura said. "Although he did say that I'd have to learn better chakra control before I can even think of trying any C or B level spells."

"What about you boys," Kakashi-sensei asked, trying to sit up and this time succeeding. "What levels did the Hyuga recommend for you?"

"The scrolls were mainly for the Uchiha family," Naruto said. "I have all the Wind and Water spells since I'm the only with those two affinities. Sakura received mostly E, D, and C Level Earth spells, including Risa, but she also got a couple of the low level lightning ones because of her minor affinity in it."

"Tokuma-sensei told me to hold onto the higher level Earth spells until the girls learn the lower ones," the other boy explained. "I gave a couple of Fire of E and D level Fire spells for the dog to learn, but I don't know how that will turn out. They were duplicates anyway, I told Risa to keep them. I kept the rest of the Fire ones. I gave some duplicate lightning ones to Tokuma-sensei because he showed us that he had that affinity."

"Wait a minute," Kakashi-sensei said. "Go back to the beginning, what was that about the Hunter?"

"He took the body with him," Sakura said. "Why, is that bad?"

"Very," Kakashi sighed. "It means that Zabuza is still alive."

"WHAT?" Nearly everyone said.

"Hunters have a specific function within a Shinobi society," Kakashi-sensei explained (…i…). "Some have a very specific function, to ensure that none of a ninja abilities or techniques can be revealed by the dead. They generally have the code name 'Undertaker Squad' and are some of the most trust by their Kages because their purpose is to dispose bodies so completely, it's at though they never existed."

"Why," Naruto asked, even though he already knew. He still had to play Genin with Team Seven and this was a logical question for someone his age.

"Ninja corpses tell too many tales," Kakashi-sensei told them. "Even after death, a Shinobi corpse can reveal many things. Secrets kept, abilities learnt and how they were learnt, as well as containing and retaining the steeped chakra from the land of origin. Not only that, but anything that they may have consumed in their lifetime can be reveal down to it's base ingredients, like exotic foods to deadly poisons."

"That's bad," Naruto commented. "That's really bad."

"Why," Tazuna asked. He was present in the room to help monitor the health of the man that had helped him to get home.

"For example, if I was to die," Kakashi-sensei said and earned a choked sound off to the right where Naruto was sitting. He looked at the boy, who'd quickly moved out of his sensei's line of sight as though he was embarrassed, but the man suspected otherwise. "If I was to die and an enemy had taken my corpse, my body would tell them every anatomical idiosyncrasy unique to those who possess a Sharingan eye. The worst case scenario would be that the enemy could learn and master its power."

"So the role of that kid," Sasuke said. "Was to make sure that nothing remained of Zabuza."

"That means that Zabuza's corpse should have been dismembered and destroyed," Sakura said, thinking about it. "Eww, gross! That's so creepy."

"What makes you think that that Zabuza guy is still alive," Tazuna asked.

"Think about it," Naruto said in an automatic response to get his team to think. He nearly slapped himself as they all looked at him. He rolled his eyes, "If the kid was supposed to get rid of the body on sight, what did he do?"

Sakura replied, "He carried him away."

"Think about the weapon used to kill him too," Kakashi-sensei said.

"Senbon needles," Sasuke said with a sigh. "Hitting different places can induce nerve paralysis, instead of death."

"Good," their sensei told them. "Also, if you hit certain places on a body and the body can imitate death for several hours, even fooling those of us that should have been aware of it in the first place. Although why Tokuma didn't, surprises me."

"He was concerned for our client," Naruto explained. "I'm sure he's already realized the problem, but at the time he was instructing on how to transport you, take care of your wounds, plus our own and in getting out client to safety. He did say that he'd try to make back by the end of the week, considering that the town with were going to was no more than about a day away, as the ninja goes."

"The nearest town is three days away," Tsunami said.

"Not for ninja," Sakura said. "They can augment their travel by using specialized techniques. It really will only take them about a day to get there more or less."

"I see," the woman said.

"Don't worry they'll be back in time to help us against that Gato guy," Naruto said.

"You're gonna die," a small boy said, drawing everyone's attention to him. The boy looked very young and stubborn. "You're all gonna die if you go up against Gato and his men."

"Pah," Naruto said. "That man's nothing, but a blow hard. Without money to pay for anything, he's just another man wailing at the world."

"You're an idiot if you go up against him," the boy said.

Naruto put his hands behind his head and said, "So…I'm an idiot who'll win and you're just brat that cries when nothing in the world goes your way."

"Naruto that's not fair," Sakura said.

"You wanna be a hero," the boy, Inari said. "Heroes die. So you're gonna die if you go up against Gato."

"I'll be exception to the rule," Naruto huffed crossing his arms. "You'll see."

"Don't expect me to bury you," the boy said,

"Wouldn't be your responsibility to do that in the first place," Naruto told the kid, who huffed and was about to leave the room.

"Where are you going," his mother asked him.

"To my room to watch the ocean," the boy said and left them.

"Please excuse my grandson," the old man said with a saddened expression. "A man he respected passed away because of Gato and his men."

Naruto left them to go find the kid and talk to him, like he'd done in the past. He didn't need to hear the story of the man's passing again. Not that he ever heard it the first time around. He needed to hear the crying boy. Human emotions needed to be heard in order to be acted on and he knew that hearing that boy's plea for his lost father would motivate him and help him to relive the life he'd be given a chance to relive.

"Daddy," the boy said as tears poured down the kid's face as he watched the ocean.

'Yeah,' Naruto thought. He smelled the salt of human tears and knew then that he was on the right path once again. 'Now, what to do about Zabuza? What should I do about him?'

(…Kill that Gato guy and install Zabuza as the one to take over the business for the man…) The fox told him.

(…I really can't see a ninja swordsman taking over a business…) Naruto said with a chuckle as he pictured the ninja with a frustrated look on his face dealing with the paperwork that normally came from large working in a large business.

(…Then you do it, get that Gato to sign over everything to you and you run it from the shadows…) The Fox told him. (…You'll have access to money and you can fix many of the things that that horrid man did, plus you can hire your own enforcer…) The image of Zabuza and his apprentice flashed in the boy's mind.

Naruto blinked as the fox left his awareness to let the boy younger ninja think about it. 'I was kind of getting bored with this slow learning,' he thought. 'I wonder, if the old fox is able to see the plans that I've already put into motion?'

Naruto - New, Yet So Old - Naruto - New, Yet So Old

TBC…

(…i…) Near direct quotes from the manga, Volume 2 – in no way is this my idea and I make no claim to its origins. Kakashi was the best at explaining it.