I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters.
Slow Progress
Naruto sat back against the railing watching Fu teach Hinata a few things Naruto didn't know. She wasn't better than Naruto, in fact, now that Naruto knew not to hold back, Fu couldn't beat him. However, Fu's fighting style involved a bit more skill than Naruto's whose fighting style involved his Three Clone Squad and a lot of jutsus and misdirection. Fu had taught him for two days now, however and in a battle of pure skill, he could almost match her. Hinata was coming along much faster, though, having progressed past Naruto to the point that she was being taught Fu's best technique. But Naruto had a secret. Yugao had taught him two jutsus, one that used chakra to speed up the user while the other required clones, which Naruto was infamous for. At the same time, another ninja, Kosuke Maruboshi had taught him a genjutsu that disoriented the opponent allowing for a much easier finishing blow. Naruto had yet to test any of the three but that was fine since they were all just added to a list of jutsus he hadn't revealed his knowledge of.
"Hey Naruto," Hinata spoke up walking over. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Naruto nodded. "What is it?"
"How did you save Honoka if you can't heal the dead?" Hinata questioned. "And, what were the chains?"
"The chains are a Kekkei Genkai that about fifty percent of Uzumaki acquire," Honoka spoke up walking over. "He still need practice since they're damaging his hands. As for reviving me, I've never heard of them doing that, or being green."
"That was me," Naruto stated. "The chains are green because of something I acquired a while back. The chains allow me to connect to things like spirits, things not exactly physical, and then allow me to heal them with my other special jutsu. Unfortunately, I can't heal myself or I'd have healed my hand."
"I see," Honoka nodded. "That explains a bit then."
Hinata nodded and sat in Naruto's lap and Honoka's eyes betrayed an unpleasant thought.
"Hey Hinata!" Fu called. "Get back here! We're not done training yet! You still have to master that last maneuver!"
Hinata sighed and nodded standing and walking over to Fu, who was using one of the two Double-Edged Swords while Hinata had the other one. As Hinata walked away, Honoka sat down beside Naruto looking him in the eye.
"Does she know?" Honoka questioned.
"About what?" Naruto questioned.
"The naturally extensive lifespan of the Uzumaki," Honoka stated.
"Oh that," Naruto sighed looking at Hinata. "No. But I'm only half Uzumaki so I don't know if I have it."
"You might want to warn her just in case," Honoka stated. "It is rather important."
Naruto nodded and Honoka stood glancing at Aoba who was talking to the crewman steering the ship.
"Why don't you just talk to him?" Naruto questioned.
"The last guy I liked turned out to be using me for my body," Honoka stated bitterly. "Guess he didn't know he was dating an Uzumaki who can seal souls."
"Come again?" Naruto blinked.
"My chakra chains are different," Honoka stated. "For starters, I have to use them like a sealing jutsu, for another they're more strings of seals than chains, and they are capable of sealing both physical objects and souls."
"Helpful," Naruto grinned. "How long does it take to activate?"
"A minute," Honoka sighed. "Too long when I tried to seal the Ultimate Summoning Animal."
"Obviously," Naruto grinned. "Otherwise you'd be a little old lady right now."
"True," Honoka grinned then walked away to talk to Aoba who was heading over to the front of the ship.
"My turn Fu!" Naruto called. "I'm getting bored."
"Wait Naruto," Yamato called. "We're going to be stopping at an island to resupply before we enter something called the Sea Route of Silence. There's no fish or wind so we'll drift on the current until we exit on the far side after two weeks."
"Long trip," Naruto sighed.
"Look at it this way," Fu grinned. "We'll have plenty of time to spar."
Naruto grinned and nodded. A few minutes later, they docked at a small island and left the ship. They all got supplies before getting something to eat while they were there. Then, the got back on the boat and left, entering the Sea Route of Silence a short while later. The route was filled with a dense fog, though not as thick as Naruto had seen at the Land of Waves. The wind died down to nothing and the sail was raised and they all sat in silence. After a few minutes, Naruto and Fu, both enjoying to train stood as Naruto tossed both Double-Edged Swords to her then drew his Sword of Kusanagi and Temujin's sword, extending Temujin's to math the other and holding it in his right hand then grinning.
"Dual wielding huh?" Fu grinned. "Alright . Bring it on."
They both charged, spinning into a blur of movement and flashing blades. After a few minutes, Naruto leapt over Fu, blocking two slashes from her and using her swords to hold himself off the ground as he swung down and kicked her away, landing on his feet then charged forward, swinging at her again. She blocked it then ducked under his own sword, standing and slashing at his neck. He blocked it and spun around her placing his swords to her throat as hers pressed against his stomach.
"Impressive," Naruto grinned. "I've got another idea, however."
He jumped back and put his Sword of Kusanagi away, moving Temujin's sword to his left hand while drawing his Crow Blade and shortening Temujin's sword to match it. Fu grinned readying herself and Naruto attacked, much faster this time. Fu struggled to keep up, realizing Naruto had still been holding back by using his swords rather than kunai. After a few minutes, Naruto jumped back, swapping the two swords for his Sword of Kusanagi and creating two clones who charged at Fu from the sides. She blocked their attacks then looked up as Naruto began to fall toward her from above.
"Wait, that's...the Dance of the Crescent Moon!" Aoba gasped. "Only two people I know ever knew that technique. Yugao. Should have known."
Fu leapt into the air, kicking the two clones away then landed and blocked Naruto's attack with both of her swords, the force of the impact smashing Fu through the deck into the floor below, Naruto landing beside the hole.
"I like that one," Naruto grinned.
Fu leapt up and landed across from Naruto grinning.
"Yugao taught you," Fu grinned. "That one is easy for you, though."
"Then how about this?" Naruto grinned holding his sword over his head.
He began to move his arm in a circle, an after image developing as he did before he gripped his sword with both hands and charged forward. The after-image not his entire body and now from speed. Fu's eyes widened as Naruto sped toward her. She swung the Double-Edged Swords, sending a blast of wind at him that removed a good portion of the hand rail on the ship but Naruto's after-image shot to the side and Fu's brain lost the ability to keep up suddenly seeing the afterimage as a blurred line but unable to see where it started before Naruto stopped beside her, the pommel of his sword against her stomach.
"Game over," Naruto grinned.
"Good, not can you stop fighting?" Yamato groaned. "One more of your attacks and you'd have sunk our ship."
Naruto looked around and winced. Yamato repaired the ship then leaned on the railing as Fu tossed one of the Double-Edged Swords to Hinata.
"Three-way battle," Fu grinned.
"Oh boy," Naruto groaned. "This is-"
"Not happening on this ship," Yamato stated. "Do it behind us."
Naruto nodded grinning and the three jumped off the ship standing in a large triangle while Fu and Hinata nodded to each other. Naruto and Hinata both activated their Byakugan as Fu and Hinata both charged at Naruto.
"Oh that's fair," Naruto smirked rolling his eyes and lifting his sword arm to its opposite side, holding the sword so that the blade hung down then began to move his arm in a wave motion.
After a moment, both Fu and Hinata stopped at the jonin all watched in surprise. A moment later, Fu and Hinata began to sway and stumble as Naruto sprinted at Fu, tripping her into the water and tapping his sword blade against her then spun and blocked a slash from Hinata. She kicked him back and he stood charging forward as she put her sword away, preparing her Gentle Step, Twin Lion Fists.
"This is supposed to be a sword fight," Naruto stated stopping.
"You used a Genjutsu," Hinata countered.
"You were double teaming me!" Naruto defended.
"Restart," Fu stated stepping up onto the water. "No jutsu of any kind. Only swords."
Hinata nodded and Naruto did as well. Then, they all charged forward, meeting at the same time and fighting both of the others at the same time. The result was a massive blur of blades and body parts with no obvious way to see who was doing what. Then, Naruto dropped into the water, returning to the surface behind Hinata who activated her Byakugan again and began to fight them both. Soon, she ducked under a slash from both of them, allowing their swords to meet, and kicked Naruto back tapping the blade of her sword against Fu's side then taking hers and turning to Naruto. He stood and put his sword away, drawing his Crow Blade and Temujin's sword again and charged forward, activating his own Byakugan.
When they met, Naruto leapt over Hinata's first slash, landing behind her and spinning, blocking an attack from her with Temujin's sword, now held in reverse grip like the Crow Blade, before slashing with the Crow Blade. She blocked the slash and shoved him back then stepped forward slashing at his head. Naruto blocked it and then leapt back from a stab. He had to grin at Hinata's effort. She wasn't quite fast enough to beat him, yet, but made up for it with skill. He sprinted forward again, spinning and slashing at her every time one of his blades passed her. After she had gotten into the rhythm and timed her blocks to his attacks, he delayed the next slash for a fraction of a second, slipping it past her sword and toward her. At the last second, her other sword blocked it and her first blocked his next slash, stopping his spin and he grinned.
"Impressive," Naruto grinned.
They pushed off each other's blades and ran along the river, catching up with the ship, all the while slashing at each other and blocking them. Finally they reached the ship and Naruto leapt onto it, landing beside Fu with Hinata landing beside him. Naruto took his swords back, putting them away then looking to Yamato.
"Can we eat now?" Naruto questioned.
"Sure," Yamato sighed. "I'm getting pretty hungry too."
"You should try being a Jinchuriki," Fu snorted.
"You should try being a Jinchuriki that just got done training," Naruto grinned.
Yamato rolled his eyes and they all walked down to the hold to get some food and froze. The food was gone. The fresh water was gone. And in place of it all, were hundreds of red, blue, and green mushrooms.
"Where the heck did all of these mushrooms come from?" Aoba questioned.
"Well," Fu began quietly. "This guy at the market said they would make good emergency food because of their ability to reproduce quickly without water or dirt."
"Points for thinking ahead," Naruto sighed. "Unfortunately, he forgot to mention that it acts like mold. We now have no food, exactly one hour in. How long can we go without food and water?"
"Eleven days," Yamato stated. "At most."
"Great," Naruto sighed. "Hope you were wrong about the no fish thing."
twelve days later
Naruto and Fu stared at the mushrooms in disgust and desperation. Everyone else was too weak from hunger to move. Naruto and Fu had tried to push the ship but Naruto didn't have the strength by that time to create more than five clones and neither were strong enough to do it alone. To make it worse, Naruto didn't have enough energy to even enter Sage Mode. Even Samehada was out of chakra, having kept them all alive past the natural length of time without food and water. The only option left was the mushrooms.
"We don't have much choice," Fu sighed. "If we don't eat we'll all die. If we do eat them and they're as poisonous as they look, we'll die, and then they'll die. If, by some miracle, they're not poisonous, we'll be able to save Hinata and the others. We don't have a choice."
Naruto nodded and knelt picking one of each and shoving them into his mouth eating them. After a moment his eyes widened and he began shoving whole handfuls into his mouth. Fu tried one and began doing the same. Whether it was just because they were hungry or not, the mushrooms all tasted delicious. Within minutes there were barely any left but now, the side effects had kicked in. Both of them had turned purple with mushrooms growing off of them.
"Need more," Naruto growled looking around and spotting the mushrooms on Fu. "Give me your mushrooms!"
"No!" Fu snapped jumping away from him with his Double-Edged Swords. "They're mine! Give me yours!"
"No!" Naruto snapped drawing his Sword of Kusanagi and extending his left arm's Garian blade. They both charged and began to fight. Unlike usual, their movements were uncoordinated, their bodies acting like they were numb, blades flailing around almost randomly. Nothing was anywhere near hitting each other for the most part but after a few minutes, their swords collided and all but the Garian blade were knocked away. Naruto retracted that one and they began attacking each other with their fists. After two minutes, Naruto kicked Fu, sending her smashing up to the deck then left up to the deck after her. He immediately ducked as she kicked the mast and smashed a section of it. Naruto spun swinging a fist in her general direction and wound up smashing a hole in the floor as his body bent forward under another kick. The mast suddenly crashed down on the ship shaking it and knocking both over. A moment later they both stood and bent over the railing vomiting up the mushrooms they had left in their stomachs.
"Damn mushrooms," Naruto growled. "Have to eat...that's it!"
Naruto bit his thumb and began making hand seals.
"Ninja Art, Mushroom Summoning Jutsu!" he said, still partially under the mushroom's influence as Gamatatsu appeared, taking up most of the deck.
"Well hi," Gamatatsu greeted.
"Boy you look yummy," Naruto grinned. "FOOD!"
He leapt at Gamatatsu who caught him inside his mouth then spat him back out. As Naruto landed, Hinata stumbled onto the deck.
"She don't look so good," Gamatatsu stated.
"We haven't eaten in days," Naruto groaned. "That's why you're going to be our next meal!"
And with that, Gamatatsu disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Fukasaku in his place. After a few seconds, Fukasaku summoned Gamatatsu back, this time in a much smaller form with a mountain of Shima's cooking, meaning both raw and steamed bugs. Naruto's eyes widened and he ran into the ship, bringing the others out one at a time until they were all present, Samehada included, and they began to eat. Within seconds they were all restraining gags but they finally had food, no matter how inedible normally. When they had finally regained most of their strength, Naruto sensed someone coming. He had clones quickly hide the bugs then they all either lay or sat around the deck to act as if they were dead. A few minutes later, a second ship pulled up beside theirs, given extra speed by oars along the sides.
"Good, looks like their all dead," the leader, the same man that had sold the first mushroom to Fu, smirked as he and the other two stepped onto the ship. "Probably didn't even know what hit 'em."
"You're a genius boss," one stated.
"Yeah, a Pirate taking out a ship with one mushroom?" the other grinned. "Amazing."
"If kept in a dark humid place like the Sea Route of Silence, the Mold Shroom spreads quickly, devouring all food and water around itself," the leader stated as if gloating. "Probably never saw it coming did you."
"Not really," Naruto stated standing from behind the three as the others pushed themselves up as well, Fu holding Samehada. "Nice plan. shame you didn't know we were ninja. Ninja aren't as easy to kill."
The three thieves all pressed toward each other looking around in fear. Fu walked forward and rested Samehada on one of their shoulders and after a moment of him being terrified, he passed out. The other two looked at her in shock before Naruto and Guy both knocked them a day later they left the Sea Route of Silence and put the three pirates in a life boat with the Mold Shroom and Yamato sent them on their way through a return current. Then, he repaired the ship with his wood style.
"So," Naruto grinned turning to the others. "Please tell me we have something other than bugs to eat."
"We do," Aoba nodded also grinning. "The now harmless Mold Shrooms."
"Right," Naruto sighed. "Hang on."
He dropped to the water behind the ship and created two clones. The three of them entered Sage Mode then lifted the ship and began running along the water while the others held on. It was a bit less steady than sailing but they were moving a lot faster than the ship could with full sails and a breeze directly behind them. Within hours, they could see an island. Naruto would soon regret stopping there. A bit, at least.
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