Disclaimer: I do not own Thing-Thing or Naruto!
Naruto: The Ninja Gunman
Speech Legend:
Bold Text: Demon speaking/REALLY angry yelling/etc.
Italic Text: Thinking/written messages/etc.
Chapter 5: The Mission in Wave Country! Part 2
We see the two teams training in the forest near Tazuna's house. Kurenai got PO'd when she learned that Kakashi hadn't taught his students tree-climbing yet, having focused on sharpening their teamwork prior to the mission, with mixed results. It didn't help that Kakashi also gave Sasuke private training sessions, another sign of his blatant favoritism with the last Uchiha. While Kakashi trained his students, Kurenai trained hers with help from Zero, who also served to prevent Team 7 from interfering.
In firearms training provided by the bio-weapon, Kiba found his calling with shotguns, considering that close range combat is his bread and butter, while Hinata discovered her niche with firearms that are accurate. Of course, he and Naruto also helped the Hyuuga heiress with her confidence issues. At the mention of her clan elders being arrogant old fools too prideful of the old traditions for their own good, Zero made a mental note to sort them out at a later time. Don't think that they left Kurenai out of the loop, ladies and gentlemen. With much consideration, the genjutsu specialist finds her niche in submachine guns.
Speaking of Team 7, there were some incidents with them. For instance, Sasuke had once again demanded Naruto's guns with Kakashi attempting to pull rank to get the blonde to hand them over. However, Zero pulled out a Konoha shinobi rulebook, referring to an article stating that it is prohibited for a jonin sensei to weaken one student if solely to benefit one other. Kurenai, impressed with Zero, decided to put that in the mission report by the time that it is over.
Not wanting to give up, Sasuke challenged Naruto to a spar with the condition that if Sasuke won, he gets possession of the blonde's weapons. In the resulting confrontation, the Uchiha easily lost against Naruto, much to Sakura's unjustified anger, as the banshee then attempted to punch him, only for her to be thwarted by an irate Hinata.
Thanks to Zero and Naruto, her confidence issues are more than just resolved; some of her shyness had gone away. As the Hyuuga held the fan-girl by her collar, she snarled to her, "Sakura Haruno, you flat-chested banshee! Leave Naruto-kun alone! He won fair and square. You are a disgrace to kunoichi everywhere with that shallow fan-girl attitude of yours!"
Not wanting to throw in the towel just yet, the pink-haired girl defiantly yells, "So what!? He should've let Sasuke-kun win that spar and keep that baka's weapons! Sasuke-kun's the best, better than even that withered old codger known as the Hokage! He deserves to have those weapons more than blondie does!"
At Sakura's verbal disrespect towards the Hokage, Hinata knocks her out with a single kick to the pelvis, as she shrieks angrily, "Never, EVER disrespect the Hokage like that!" Upon realizing her outburst, she gave a bashful smile.
Before Kakashi could try and take control of the situation, Zero says to him, "Don't even think about it, Hatake. You heard what that pink-haired brat said about Lord Hokage. She will get in a lot of trouble after this, and so will you," as he then pulls out the Hades Rifle and cocks it for emphasis.
He replies somewhat smugly, "I doubt that. I am the jonin in charge of this mission, and what I say goes. So, I say let Sakura's slip of the tongue slide." At this, Zero lands a harsh punch in the gut, before growling, "Oh, no you f***ing don't! Because of your godforsaken arrogance so far, the Hokage ordered for Kurenai and me to be in charge of the mission, so your word is moot at this point, asswipe!"
It is then that Inari, a young boy who is Tazuna's grandson, came forward and remarks, "Why do you all train so hard? Gato's too powerful for you to take down! You should just go back to your village!"
At this, Naruto replies, "Gato is nothing more than a filthy little coward who hides behind an army of hired thugs and his own ill-gained money," before warning, "And before you could say that neither of us knows what it means to suffer, let me tell you this; there are people out there who suffered more or less worse than you," as he then explains, "Sasuke, as much as I hate the guy, lost his family in a massacre caused by his own older brother. Sakura was made fun of for her forehead when she was younger, but that's about it. Hinata, however, had to deal with her clan's elders being a bunch of arrogant old douchebags with 39-and-a-half-foot poles up their saggy asses who think that her kind heart makes her a weakling! Plus, Kakashi had lost just about everyone he was close to, but unfortunately refuses to stop grieving. Zero-tou-san was pursued by a huge corporation for being too deadly of a warrior, and was forced to fight for his life! Me? I was shunned, abused, beaten, overcharged for rotten food, and God-knows-what-f***ing-else! It doesn't help that the village Elders gave that damned Civilian Council a little too much power, but that's in the past. So, acknowledge you're not the only in this damned world that suffered! Be grateful with what you have, GOT THAT?!"
Inari ran off in tears after being told off like that. At this point, Sakura asks incredulously, "Did you have to be that hard on the little guy?!" Naruto replies, "That's what he gets, Haruno. With Zabuza recovering from that battle, this is a good time to start taking your career as a ninja seriously. Otherwise, you could get killed while you're still living in that little fantasy world of yours. Sasuke is not going to save you when you get into a pinch you can't even escape from, and plus he doesn't even like you in that manner," as he and Zero left her to her thoughts.
Meanwhile, we see 153 disposing of the bodies of the dead Mist ninjas after searching them for whatever items that they have. He then puts said items in a bulletproof briefcase, before resuming his work on his secret weapon.
He thinks, "Now that I dealt with these foolish Hidden Mist shinobi, I can finally continue work on my new weapon," as he tightened a bolt with a large wrench, welded some plates of armor into place, and wiring a control panel. He then sensed some more unwanted visitors, only this time it is a group of Gato's thugs that came along.
One of them remarks, "Would you look at this, boys? We could bring this stuff to the boss! I'm sure we'll find some use for this!" At this, 153's voice rang out, "I don't think so," before he came into view with the Zeus Rifle in hand.
Before they could try anything, 153 fired the weapon at two of them, blowing them into bloody pieces, before quickly switching to a Heckler & Koch MG121 and firing upon three more thugs, Swiss-cheesing them with 7.62mm NATO bullets at a rate of 800 rounds per minute. The remaining six thugs, terrified by the weapons, attempted to flee, only for 153 to quickly switch to another weapon, this time being an M35 rocket launcher (A/N: It's a fictional rocket launcher weapon from Thing-Thing Arena Pro and Thing-Thing Arena Classic).
The Gamma-Class Bio-Weapon pulled the trigger on the MPATS, firing a single unguided rocket at the cowards, blowing them up in a spectacular explosion.
He smirks to himself, "Now that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you use a rocket launcher," before once again resuming construction of the yet-to-be-known secret weapon. Little did he know is that his little slaughter of Gato's thugs hadn't gone unheard.
Just as the ninjas were going inside Tazuna's house after finishing their training session, they heard the distant sounds of firearms going off, along with an explosion. Zero narrowed his eyes, at which Kurenai asks in concern, "Zero-san, what is wrong?" He replies, "It seems I'm not the only bio-weapon here in this world. He's here as well…"
At this, Kakashi asks, "Who's here? Explain yourself," as the gunman shook his head, "Someone else from my past…Someone who I assumed had managed to kill the last time I fought him…" One thing is for certain, the two bio-weapons will battle each other once more real soon…
Just as they went back inside the house, Naruto is engaged in a mental conversation with the Nine-Tailed Fox about the possible new presence in Wave Country being Project 153. "Do you think that whoever tou-san sensed and heard firing off weapons is that Project 153 guy he told us about?" asks Naruto as he stood in front of the chakra entity's cage.
The massive demon remarks with a thinking pose done with one of his tails, "I would say so. Whoever he is, his presence is very similar to that of your adoptive father's. If it is 153, then we must be on our guard, kit. From what Zero said about him, he has complete awareness of his surroundings and is a strategic thinker. He's also excellent at operating advanced vehicles, too. It's possible that he's somewhere in Wave Country working on something that could allow him to kill your father once and for all."
Naruto nodded, as he then replies, "Nonetheless, we now know that Zabuza and his unknown accomplice, in addition to Gato and his goons, are the least of our problems."
As the blonde carried on his mental conversation with the fox, Zero was talking with Kurenai about what submachine gun to get her, when he noticed Inari coming up to him.
He asks, "What do you want, kid," at which the bridge builder's grandson replies with a slight stammer, "Erm, Mr. Zero, sir. I-I-I would like to apologize for my outburst earlier," as he bowed, "I didn't mean to offend anybody. It's just that, my father died for standing up to that cowardly pig, Gato. I got real bitter over it. When your son told me off, I realized that by moping about and not doing anything to get over daddy's death; I'm dishonoring his memory."
Naruto, who had just finished his mental conversation with his tenant, smiled, and said to him, "That's pretty grown-up of you. Glad you took my advice, Inari," as he then patting the younger boy's head.
Little did Zero know is that he and the others weren't the only ones to have noticed 153 being present in Wave Country. Moments earlier, we see a feminine-looking individual in a pink kimono gathering herbs for healing purposes, when he (A/N: I'm keeping Haku's original gender, so don't expect any female versions) heard a series of loud bangs and then an explosion.
Not wanting to get what may be the crossfire of a nasty fight, he left the area as fast as he could. That individual is Haku, the accomplice of the feared Demon of the Mist, Zabuza Momochi. He thinks, "Whatever these loud noises are, I wouldn't want to be involved with the source or else I'm dead to rights," as he left for Zabuza's safehouse with the needed herbs in tow.
Back at Tazuna's house, we see everyone at the table for dinner. Deciding to strike up a conversation with Zero, the bridge builder asks him, "So, er…Zero, is it? Just where in the world do you get these kinds of weapons from? They looked like they packed a serious punch!"
Not wanting to give Team 7, especially their sensei any ideas, the bio-weapon simply answers, "Sorry, Tazuna, but it's a trade secret," before whispering into his ear, "Besides, I don't want to give away anything for that pervert, Kakashi and his students to hear. I don't want to risk those guys stealing anything from me, all to please that Uchiha brat." The bridge builder nodded in understanding as he glanced towards Sasuke, who is brooding as usual while Sakura looks at him with hearts in her eyes, and Kakashi is reading his porn novel again as always.
[Meanwhile, at the Systems Corp. corporate offices…]
"So you say that Project 154 is in the world that your unit went to when you entered the dimensional gateway?" asks a balding, smug-looking, cigar-chomping figure in an expensive-looking business suit towards a certain surviving soldier, as the latter nodded before explaining, "We were interrogated by that bio-weapon, and he killed off my fellows, before beating me around. He did, however, allow me to escape, but told me to give you a message that he's not messing around and that if we sent anymore soldiers and mercenaries to that world that they better watch their backs, sir. Least we now know that he's alive, but he's also under the direct command of the leader of the ninja village where we were interrogated."
The CEO of Systems Corp. then says to him, "You may leave now, soldier." The man nodded, before leaving his boss' office. The CEO then thought, "Damn, that bio-weapon is more trouble than we expected. For him to be in a world full of ninja warriors, now that piques my interest…"
[Back in Wave Country…]
We see Zero deep in thought, "If 153 is truly here in Wave Country, and he develops a weapon that I wouldn't be able to take down too easily without sustaining significant damage, then I'm going to need to bring out the Hellshot-13," as he looks down at a most wicked-looking handgun held in his right hand. The Hellshot-13 is a monster of a custom-made semi-automatic pistol that fires the powerful 13mm (.511 inch) UH (Ultimate Handgun) round, packing serious power, more so than the .50 Action Express. It features an 11-inch Stellite-lined barrel, so that even while the barrel is hot, the gun can still fire. It also has a two-fingered trigger, a gas-operated recoil action like the Desert Eagle, iron sights, and uses 6-round magazine clips. In terms of physical appearance, the Hellshot-13 has an upper assembly resembling a cross between the Desert Eagle and the H&K Mk. 23 SOCOM, but oversized and lengthier, especially to accommodate the barrel. Its grip handle resembles that of the Beretta 92FS, except it is grooved. As for the 13mm UH round, the bullets come in different varieties, and all of them are boat-tailed for extra reach, ranging from full metal jacket to explosive and even armor-piercing. The casings are made of some of finest brass, and the powder used for each round is especially tailor-made to bring out the best in each bullet with minimal wear and tear to the weapon. "With this gun," thought Zero, "I'll finally end my conflict with Project 153 once and for all time…"
It is then that Naruto came into view, and asks as he notices the Hellshot-13, "So, thinking about using this gun in the upcoming battle against Zabuza?" Zero replies, "I also want to use it against Project 153 should he ever show up during the whole thing. As long as he's alive, he's still a significant threat," as he loads a clip of ammunition into the gun and cocks it.
"Lock n' load," smirks Naruto, "Let those chumps on Team 7 demand for you to hand it over! Too bad for them, it's too much gun for any of them. As for Sai, he'll probably report the existence of this weapon to Danzo, but hey, if that old coot sends any ROOT ninjas to try and steal it for their master, they're screwed either way…"
The bio-weapon nodded in agreement with a wicked smirk that would promise pain and humiliation without end, when he hears a familiar voice ask, "Who's screwed either way?"
The two narrowed their eyes, as they turned to see Kakashi casually reading his porn novel. "What do want now, Kakashi," asks Naruto as he crosses his arms. The silver-haired jonin replies, "What I want to know is why you refuse to give these kinds of weapons to Sasuke. Surely, he'd be able to perform quite well with them, maybe even finally get his revenge on his brother."
At this, Zero snarls, "Don't act so casual, Hatake. Sasuke is mentally unstable, and I'm certain that giving him firearms would only inflate his ego to a popping point. He'd end up getting too arrogant on the battlefield with no knowledge on how to properly use it, you idiot! Plus, favoritism is unbecoming of a instructor like you," as he threateningly aims the Hellshot-13 at the jonin, "Besides, this baby can dish out more damage than the XM-435 SuperMag…"
Kakashi gulped in fear, at the idea of being shot by this new weapon, and even an instant death from it. Zero smiles wickedly, "I see you've got my point, you pea-brained pervert, now get the Hell out of here before I send you to the afterlife to be spanked by your father, you miserable lapdog of the Civilian Council!" The jonin thought bitterly, "This isn't over, Zero! I will get the last laugh, and all those weapons will belong to Sasuke, as they should've been, because he is an Uchiha elite, and they deserve the very best," as he leaves via shunshin. "He's going to be trouble at a later time," remarks Naruto, "Might as well even pull some dirty trick during the battle to come against Zabuza Momochi. Then, we also gotta factor in Project 153 and Gato. Anything could happen." The bio-weapon replies, "True. If worst comes to worst, we would have to bring out some extra firepower…"
Part 2 End
Geez-Louise! Took me long enough to finish this one! Oh, be sure to review! Constructive criticism is a must!
Oh, and the Hellshot-13 is inspired by the Jackal 13mm Anti-Freak Combat Pistol from Hellsing. I thought that it was such a cool weapon, that I wanted to feature something similar to it in this 'fic!