I want to deeply apologize for the long wait. Juggling life, a job, and spending time with my family makes it hard to write and for that I'm sorry that this is so late. I only get about an hour a day to write with everything else going on. Before we get into the story, there are a few things I need to say. First, is that I have been getting some messages from the readers complaining about the tailed beasts names. The names were not my idea and will remain what they are unless thegodofanime would like me to change them. If you have a problem then feel free to message him about them.

Next is that it was decided that Hinata will unlock the tenseigan. It will probably happen during the chunin exams when they face Orochimaru but I haven't decided yet. Another thing is that Naruto will have a hollow form. Don't worry though, it won't be overpowered. I am open to ideas on where to place his hollow form in terms of power if you all have suggestions as I am unsure of how to place it at the moment.

Anyways, let's get on with the start of the wave arc. I plan on doings things a bit differently. I will be introducing a Kumo genin team during this arc. That may be the biggest change for this arc other than the way everything else from cannon plays out.

A group of eight people were hopping through the trees as they made their way towards Wave Country. This group consisted of Naruto, Satsuki, Hinata, and Shisui. The other four people were the three genins weapons. About a month into their training with their new weapons, and Naruto training more with Benihime and Zangetsu, the group discovered that their weapons could take on a human form. They could transform parts of their body into their respective weapon and were excellent in taijutsu. The tailed beasts had told them that once they trained more, the weapons would be able to use jutsu with the same affinity as their masters.

Two of these other four people were Benihime and Zangetsu themselves. (If you don't remember what they look like, go back to chapter 2) The next person was a man standing at an even six feet tall, had short black hair, dark brown eyes, and was dressed in a black long sleeve shirt, black anbu pants, and black ninja sandals. This was Yami, Satsuki's scythe.

The next was a woman standing at about five feet and seven inches. She was dressed in a pure white kimono with blue ninja sandals that stopped just below her knees. She had white hair that reached down to her waist and bright hazel eyes. This was Tsuku, Hinata's bow. Shisui was surprised at first about their weapons being able to transform, but he didn't think about it too much when ninjas used animals that could speak and use jutsus just like the ninja. He had to admit though, nothing was ever dull with this new genin team.

"So what all will we do on this mission sensei?" Satsuki asked as they continued jumping through the trees.

"We are to help Asuma's team escort the client back to the village and protect him while he finishes the bridge he is working on. During the time we are in wave, we are also to find the person responsible for the country's bad condition and eliminate him." Shisui explained getting nods from the group.

"Sensei, we are coming up on team Asuma, I sense their chakra." Naruto spoke up. Shisui gave a small nod and the three genin gave their weapons a small nod before the weapons changed back into their weapon forms and the genin strapped them on their backs.

"Satsuki, put your henge back up for now." Shisui said getting a nod from the girl.

After a few more moments of tree hopping, Shisui and his team came up on Asuma's group. Along with Asuma and his three genin, there were three other people. The first was an older man with a straw hat and a bottle of sake in his hand. The next two were females and were twins. These two females were Tori and Zuki, Ino's sais. Tori and Zuki stood at five feet and five inches. Tori wore a light purple qipao that stopped just above her knees with black shorts on underneath, while Zuki had a black qipao with purple shorts. They both had long flowing brown hair that stopped just short of their ass along with black ninja sandals.

"So my old man sent your team as back up? Nice to have you all along." Asuma said as he let out a puff of smoke from the cigarette he was smoking.

"Yes and we will follow your lead Asuma." Shisui replied getting nods of agreement from his genin.

"We were just getting ready to crossover the river here and then it's about a five mile hike to the town and then another mile to Tazuna's place." Asuma replied turning to the older man.

"There isn't enough room in the boat for all of us I'm afraid." Tazuna said before Shisui spoke up.

"My team and I can walk along by the boat to provide protection if needed. We will be fine Tazuna-san." Shisui replied as Ino's weapons returned to her hips and the group continued on their way.

After about ten minutes of walking across the water, the group finally made it to the other side and started heading for the small town of the Land of Waves. The group had been walking for about a mile now when a thick fog suddenly set in. As the fog got thicker, the ninja continued on their way while constantly checking their surroundings.

-XXX-

Two figures stood high in the trees looking down at the group walking below them. "We didn't count on there being two teams to deal with Zabuza-sama. Are we still going to go through with this?" asked the shorter one.

"We need the money Haku. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can be on our way. I will take out the two jonin first and let a water clone deal with the genin. If they prove to be a bigger pain than I think, then move in and finish them." Zabuza said getting a nod from the young girl as she placed her mask on and disappeared.

-XXX-

"Naruto-kun, you can feel that too right?" Karumi asked her container.

"Yeah, we're being watched. I can sense a lot of chakra in this fog which means this could be the hidden mist jutsu that Kiri is famous for. But with Kiri being in their civil war right now, it is more than likely a rogue ninja. I also sense two different chakra signatures. There's the one who is causing all this fog, and then a smaller one not too far away but I can't get a lock on their location." Naruto replied before he picked up a sound coming through the fog with his enhanced hearing.

"Get down!" Naruto yelled as he grabbed Hinata and pulled her to the ground. 'Sasuke' pulled Ino down with him, and Shikamaru and Choji pulled Tazuna to the ground. Asuma and Shisui were more concerned that their genin were alright, and didn't have time to dodge. They both brought up a kunai to deflect the large blade but both jonin were knocked back into the water.

Laughter was heard through the fog as it slowly began to disappear to reveal Asuma and Shisui trapped in two water prisons held by Zabuza with another copy standing a few feet in front of him. "To think I was worried you all would put up more of a fight."

"Take Tazuna and get out of here now, that's an order. You guys can't fight against Zabuza." Asuma shouted before Naruto spoke up.

"We know Asuma-sensei, he is an a-rank missing nin and a master at the silent killing technique. But we can't just leave you two trapped in there and run away. Even if we did, Zabuza would just hunt us down later." Naruto stated before turning to Ino and her team.

"You three protect Tazuna, we'll get Asuma-sensei and Shisui-sensei." Naruto said getting a nod from his fellow blond. "When you get the shot Hinata-chan, take it. Let's go 'Sasuke'." Naruto said as the two started going through hand signs.

"You won't even be able to get pass my clone let alone get to me." Zabuza laughed.

"Fire style: great dragon fire jutsu!" Naruto and 'Sasuke' both launched a massive ball of fire at the clone that took the shape of a dragon's head. Naruto channeled chakra to his legs and rushed behind the fire dragon towards Zabuza. Zabuza surrounded himself with water which canceled out the fire. He saw Naruto rushing him and went to slice him in half, but Naruto suddenly vanished.

'Sasuke' launched a barrage of kunai at Zabuza as he managed to deflect them all. Naruto reappeared behind him and grabbed a kunai out of midair and started to slash at the clone before jumping back a bit. "Sasuke!" Naruto shouted as the two ran at the clone, each with a kunai in hand, and sliced through the clone causing it to dispel.

Zabuza was so distracted by the two genin that he didn't notice the arrow flying at him until the last minute and had to jump back to avoid it which caused the water prisons to be undone. "Nice work you guys." Shisui said as he and Asuma stood and faced the missing ninja.

Knowing he was out matched, Zabuza did the smart thing and jumped into the trees. "Enjoy your victory while you can, I will kill the bridge builder." With that, Zabuza left. After making sure everyone was ok, the group continued their walk into the town.

-XXX-

As the group of ninja and one civilian made it into the town, the genin's mood changed to one of anger. Looking around at all the homeless people, the run-down buildings, and the kids looking for food anywhere they could caused the genins to become even angrier with the way Gato was treating everyone. The two jonin weren't bothered as much having seen this type of thing many times before.

Naruto continued to look around the place as the group continued on their way towards Tazuna's home. During the walk through town, Naruto was reaching out with his senses just in case Gato had anymore ninja waiting for them. As they neared the end of the town, a mass of negative emotions was sensed by the blond.

"Can you sense exactly where that is coming from Karumi-chan?" Naruto mentally asked as he looked around the area.

"Next alley on the right Naruto-kun." Karumi replied getting a nod from the blond as he took off getting looks of confusion his fellow ninja. Naruto stopped at the entrance of the alley and what he saw made his blood boil. Two thugs had a blue haired woman in a pink shirt and blue skirt pinned to an old table. One of the thugs had his hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming as the two thugs looked her over.

Naruto made a single shadow clone as they both unsealed one of his blades. The clone unsealed Benihime and Naruto himself unsealed Zangetsu. The clone jumped to the roof as Naruto walked down the alley towards the two thugs and the Konoha group stopped moving and Shisui moved to see what was going on. Seeing what was happening, Shisui decided to let Naruto take care of and only jump in if he needed to, this would give the young blond the chance to take his first kill and have time to deal with it.

Naruto stopped a few feet from the two thugs before speaking. "Let the woman go and mess with someone who can fight back." Naruto said causing the two thugs to spin around and draw their swords.

"Beat it kid, this doesn't concern you." One of the thugs said.

"One of the biggest things I can't stand are rapist. For what you tried to do to this woman, you both will die." Naruto said as the other thug started to move forward.

Naruto looked to the woman with a gentle look on his face. "Please close your eyes, you don't need to see this." Naruto said as the woman did as told. Naruto rushed forward and vanished from sight before reappearing behind one of the thugs. A moment later, the man's head fell from his body and hit the ground. The other thug growled at Naruto, but before he could move, the clone appeared behind him with his blade sticking through his chest. The clone then pulled the blade from the man and shoved him to the ground next to his dead friend.

Naruto raised his hand as a small ball of crimson flames appeared and he held his hand at the two thugs. "Fox fire." Naruto said as the ball of flame surrounded the two bodies before burning them nothing but ash. A moment later and Shisui appeared.

"You ok Naruto? You need to talk about it or anything?"

"It isn't my first kill sensei. Jiji wanted me to be ready for the ninja life so he had me kill one of the prisoners back in Konoha who was set to be executed a few years back." Naruto explained getting a nod from Shisui before Naruto was tackled in a hug.

"Thank you so much for saving me young man." The woman cried as she hugged the blond.

"There is no need to thank me. I just did what everyone else would have done. Come on, let's get out of this alley." Naruto said as the three walked out. As they made it back to the street, Tazuna saw the woman and ran to her before wrapping her in a hug. After a moment of explanation, the group found out that Naruto had just saved Tazuna's daughter Tsunami.

Asuma and Shisui spoke by themselves for a few minutes before turning back to the genin. "Shisui and I will escort these two back home. You all split up in groups, Choji and Shikamaru, Hinata and Naruto, 'Sasuke' and Ino, and look around town and find any information you can about Gato from the civilians, listening in on his thugs, or any way you can and meet back at Tazuna's place by sunset." Asuma explained getting nods from the genin before they split up.

-XXX-

Naruto and Hinata stood on the roof of one of the few stores in the town as they looked over the place. It had been a few hours since their sensei left them to gather information and so far they had found nothing useful. They were on their way to Tazuna's place to meet up with the rest of their group and make a plan for protecting Tazuna and freeing Wave from Gato. As they started to leave, Naruto sensed a couple chakra signatures that put him on edge.

"What is that? It feels like two more tailed beast chakras." Naruto thought as he looked to see a group of Kumo ninja. One was a well-developed blond female with blue eyes and one was a spiky red headed female with amber eyes. The two that caught Naruto's attention were the last two.

The first was a blond female that stood about five foot, five inches. She had long blond hair that reached just above her waist line and was done in a braided ponytail. She had on a purple shirt, black anbu styled pants, and black ninja sandals. The next was a taller white haired man with dark skin that stood close to six feet tall and was wearing a pair of sunglasses. He had seven swords strapped to his back, a white, one shoulder flak jacket, and a pair of gray pants with black ninja sandals.

"The blond holds my youngest sister Matatabi, the two tailed demon cat. The man houses my brother Gyuki, the eight tailed giant ox." Karumi explained getting a nod from Naruto.

Hinata saw the group Naruto was staring at and took a step back. Ever since her attempted kidnapping when she was younger, she was afraid of Kumo ninja. Kumo and Konoha had discussed what happened and found out that the Raikage had no idea who had ordered the kidnapping but had taken care of things with his council. Naruto turned to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"It's ok Hinata-chan, I will be with you and won't let anything happen." Naruto told her with a smile getting a nod from the girl as both jumped down and landed in front of the group.

The Kumo ninja were immediately on guard but stopped when Naruto spoke. "Matatabi, Gyuki, it's been a while."

"How do you know those names?" asked the man with narrowed eyes behind his glasses.

"The oldest, Karumi, is with me." Naruto said with a smile getting wide eyed looks from the two as Naruto held up two fists. "Wanna chat?"

The two ninja stepped forward and bumped fist with Naruto as their surroundings changed to the field Naruto had created for Karumi and the others. Naruto stepped back from the ninja as the four tailed beasts appeared behind him. "The names Naruto Uzumaki."

The blond girl spoke up first. "I'm Yugito Nii and this is Matatabi." Yugito said with a smile.

(Don't expect Killer Bee to rap. I can't rap so neither will he.)

"Names Killer Bee and this Gyuki." Bee said with a wave of his hand.

"If you don't mind me asking, what are you all doing in Wave?" Naruto asked.

"The other blond on my team has a brother who was captured by some of Gato's employees. We are just trying to find him and rescue him." Bee explained after thinking about if he should tell him or not.

"There are two teams here from Konoha. We are protecting the bridge builder while he finishes his bridge and take Gato out in the process. If we hear anything about your friend, I will be sure to let you know." Naruto replied getting nods from the other two.

They small group spent the next few minutes explaining to Naruto what Atsui looked like, allowing the tailed beast to catch up and just friendly talking. After they were done, Naruto broke the connection and bid the Kumo ninja goodbye as he and Hinata headed for Tazuna's place.

Again, I am deeply sorry for the wait and hope this was up to everyone's liking. The chapter wasn't as long as I wanted it to be but I wanted to get this out for you all. And Zabuza running away, look at it like this. He had the upper hand by taking out the two jonin with the surprise attack. He didn't expect the genin to be that good who to cause him to release the water prison. One jonin against two isn't good odds and I believe Zabuza to be a smart person and know when he needs to retreat.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed and please leave a review and let me know what you think.