Author's note – Kishimoto Masashi owns Naruto while Guyver is written by Yoshiki Takaya.
I make no claim to either, I am merely playing in their sandboxes.

Edit - Deus Ex Machina seems to have been deleted. This is now officially the longest Guyver!Naruto story on the site.

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Chapter Twenty-Four

Wave Ebbing

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Anko nodded in approval as Naruto leapt into a twisting somersault that allowed him to catch the two giant shuriken that he had sent on curving courses around the clearing. As he landed, he spun both shuriken, one held before him like a shield while the second one was held to one side and back, ready to be thrown again.

"Okay, you're good." She admitted. "In fact, you're probably better with those things than Mizuki ever was but… why?"

"Why?" Naruto asked even as he halted the spinning weapons and in a practiced move, slung them over his back and fastened the strap that secured them.

"Why?" Anko repeated. "I mean, you've got that super-duper-invincible-suit of yours, even if it's less than fully powered at the moment, so why use the big shuriken? Surely that head-gem of yours is better."

Naruto frowned as he tried to parse his thoughts into words.

"It's just… the armour is a tool. It's an amazing tool that gives great powers, but at the end, it's only a tool." He finally said. "It has its weaknesses, I'm stupidly vulnerable to raiton while wearing it, it's why Kakashi-senpai was assigned to look after me. As such, I need to learn as much as possible for when I can't simply armour up and punch. Kunai, shuriken, traps, fuuinjutsu, stealth… all of those things are vital to a well-rounded ninja. Those who rely on a single thing… once someone finds a way around them, they're as good as dead and I know my armour has weaknesses. I'd rather not die because I was arrogant enough to think that I was invincible in my armour."

"Damn, kid." Anko whistled. "That is so damn mature. I didn't hit that stage until I was sixteen."

Naruto blushed slightly at the compliment.

"Of course, you're going to have to claim clan privileges once you get back." Anko continued. "Fortunately for you, I did some research and the Uzumaki didn't frown on multiple marriages, probably because as a small clan, they needed to increase their numbers. They did limit it to three spouses from outside the clan, though."

"And I need to do this… why?" Naruto asked nervously.

"Because Ino declared several years back that if you were Hiro, she'd marry you for being cooler than Uchiha Sasuke. Her dad put several thousand ryo on you being Hiro just to tease her, but then it turned out that you were…"

Naruto sagged. "Oh hell. That explains more than I wanted to know."

"I'd talk it over with Hinata as soon as you get back to Konoha, if I was you." Anko smirked and Naruto glowered at her.

"You are getting way too much amusement from this."

Anko didn't even bother to deny it, choosing instead to change the subject.

"I wonder what happened to Zabuza?" Anko mused. "I'd like to know where he went…"

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"Mei."

Zabuza." The red-headed kunoichi replied.

"Another donation to the cause." Zabuza smirked as he handed over the scroll. "A big one this time. Quarter of what that bastard Gato had in Wave and we got rid of six of Yagura's most loyal hunter-nin as well."

"You did more than that." Mei grinned. "According my sources in his ranks, he's lost at least twenty hunter-nin to that mission… including Tsurugi!"

"No. Freaking. Way!" Zabuza breathed. "If he's gone…"

Both ninja shared a smile that would have chilled the hearts of anyone nearby.

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"…but we'll probably never find out." Anko finished. "I wonder how things are going on at the bridge now that you've talked Ino through flying?"

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"Left a bit, left a bit… there!" Tazuna called. "Secure it!"

The workers started to hammer the nails in to hold the beam in place. Once it was done, Ino floated out from underneath and rose up to deck level where Shikamaru and Choji were helping to move buckets of nails.

"This is fun!" She chirped, earning fuming glances from both boys. "What?"

From where he was leaning against the railings, Asuma bit down a chuckle and lit a new cigarette.

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"From the fragments that she lets slip through our link, I'd say that she's probably annoying her team-mates." Naruto replied as he walked over. "I heard that Kakashi and Tenzo sealed everything in the mansion and took it to the town bank. I wonder how that's going?"

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"I have absolutely no idea what half of this is worth." The bank manager stated and Kakashi stepped forwards, picking up one of the scrolls and examining it.

"Tenzo and I will take the ninjutsu technique scrolls in exchange for dropping the penalty charge to the equivalent of a C-rank instead of the current A-rank level."

Tenzo glanced at him curiously and Kakashi's fingers twitched.

~Techniques rare and taken from many villages. Some I don't recognise at all. Will strengthen Konoha. Worth S-class by themselves.~

Tenzo gave a slow nod of understanding.

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"Kakashi's probably making out like a bandit while leaving his victim thinking that they got the better of the deal." Anko grinned. "So, tomorrow we'll be heading back. It'll let us test how far that link between you and Ino stretches. I can tell you now, though, you're almost certainly not going to be assigned to the same squads in the future unless absolutely needed, not with your ability to co-ordinate with each other like that."

"I… guess that makes sense… strategically..." Naruto slowly agreed.

"And with that thing that made all that damage…" Anko continued, waving to the still-smoking fan of shattered splinters that were once trees, "Having two of you in an attack would be serious overkill."

"True." Naruto admitted. "I haven't tried mine yet, but what can we call it? I mean, chakra-beam is already taken, so…"

"Excessively deadly attack of complete and utter overkill?" Anko suggested. The two of them looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"That wouldn't work." Naruto finally gasped.

"I don't know." Anko shrugged. "Some of the techniques have names that just don't match up with what they are. Earth Spear actually hardens your skin, for instance. Weird or what?"

"I'm sure that there was once a reason for it." Naruto shrugged after several minutes of deep thought. "Perhaps it was named after a now-forgotten type of mystical armour or something."

"I guess." Anko shrugged, then she grinned and pulled out a kunai. "Now, armour up and let's see how your Uzuken stands up to my Inshō-tekina hebi!"

"My whirling fist against your striking snake?" Naruto mused, then he grinned. "Let's do it. Armour on!"

Anko grinned as she slid into the stance of the coil, ready to lash out at her armoured opponent.

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"You know, Anko," Kakashi commented, "When I left you to look after my kohai here, I didn't expect you to end up so bruised."

"Screw you, scarecrow." Anko groaned. "That armour of his… it's as bad as going up against Gai!"

"But without the bowl cut." Naruto chimed in helpfully, causing Kakashi to close his eye and shudder.

"Naruto in green spandex with a bowl cut… thank you for that delightful mental image. Anko, will you be good to head back to Konoha tomorrow, or shall I leave you here with Asuma and his brats?"

"I'll be okay." Anko instantly replied as she shifted slightly. "Ow. His punches are hard and that Uzuken of his is even more unpredictable than my Inshō-tekina hebi."

"After my first spar with him, I realized that his armour raises his effective level." Kakashi agreed. "When he was a genin, his armour let him fight at Chunin level. Now that he's a chunin, his armour lifts him to Jonin when he uses it, although with his flight gone, he's probably down to special Jonin. Of course, there is a slight problem with it, he can't actually use ninjutsu while the armour is active, with the sole exception of the Kage Bunshin, and his clone's armoured form has none of the special abilities and still has the ninjutsu issues."

"Weird." Anko finally managed. "Any idea why?"

"Well, the Kage Bunshin is a technique that expels chakra that forms outside the body, but it doesn't need to be expelled from a specific area. All the other techniques use hands, feet, the mouth and so on, and the Armour seems to disrupt those so they can't be used."

"How did you work that out?" Anko asked, then she face-palmed when Kakashi tapped his angled hitai-ate. "Oh, I should have guessed. That eye of yours."

"It does sometimes come in useful." Kakashi said as he pulled out an orange book and lounged against the wall. "So, tomorrow at dawn, you, me, Tenzo and Naruto-kohai will head back to Konoha while Asuma and his team stays here until the bridge is completed."

"Sounds like a plan." Anko groaned. "I'll have to use healing meditation tonight, but I'll be good by tomorrow."

"What's happening tomorrow?" Asuma asked from the doorway.

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The four forms vanished into the morning mist, leaving Tazuna and his family staring after them.

"I didn't even get a chance to talk to them." The young boy finally said. "They brought down Gato and I didn't talk to them…"

"Probably a good thing, Inari." Ino said from behind him. "Naruto-kun isn't the most diplomatic person around. So, we going to finish that bridge of yours now?"

"Yep!" Tazuna laughed. "Let's get super-working!"

"Seriously," Ino whispered to Inarai, "What is with him and the word super?"

Inari burst out laughing.

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Naruto's armoured foot let a slight imprint on the tree branch and Kakashi glanced at him.

"Problems with chakra control?"

"I never realized just how much I relied on my belt-metal before." Naruto admitted. "I really hope that it finishes rejuvenating soon, being grounded is boring."

"Huh!" Anko huffed. "Just because you can fly, you don't need to depress those of us who can't!"

"Stop teasing him, Anko." Kakashi said before Naruto could respond. "We can move at top speed because of his armour, if he wasn't wearing it, we'd be going at less than half this pace."

"I have been observing the belt-sphere's progress." Tenzo offered. "It is already at half the size it was before this mission."

Kakashi glanced at Naruto's waist, then nodded. "It is… and I think I can actually see it growing… hmmm. Naruto, try channeling as much chakra as you can to it as we run, see if that helps."

"Um, sure?"

"And once we get back, you need to talk to Inoichi."

Naruto's posture changed, radiating a mix of panic and depression.

"Inoichi and Hinata… I don't know which of them will kill me first…"

"You could always give Hinata armour of her own, now that you know how it's done." Kakashi offered and Naruto brightened up.

"Yes… yes I could. Whoah!"

Naruto smashed straight through a branch, turning it into a cloud of splinters, and fell to the ground. Slamming into the ground, he pushed off as hard as he could and arced back up into the canopy, where the other three had slowed down to let him catch up.

"Sorry, got distracted."

"He just went through a branch as thick as my arm and barely noticed it." Anko complained. "Why the hell is he not a jonin again?"

"Because without my armour, I'm still not sure I'm actually skilled enough to be a proper chunin?"

Anko's mouth moved a couple of times as she tried and failed to find the words that she needed.

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The quartet landed in front of the gates of Konoha and walked over to the open-fronted hut where two chunin-guards were sat.

"Temporary Team Kakashi plus one returning." Kakashi eye-smiled.

"Ummm, sure." The first chunin managed, staring at Naruto. "Sign here?"

Kakashi filled out the form with the ease of long practice and the chunin scanned it professionally.

"Looks good, you're clear to proceed to the Hokage Tower for debriefing.

"Thank you." Kakashi said, then he turned to the others. "Come on, let's not keep him waiting."

"What?!" Anko spluttered. "Hour Late Kakashi not wanting to keep someone waiting? Who are you and what have you done with the real Hatake Kakashi?"

"Meh, meh, that's not very nice." Kakashi drawled as he pulled an orange book out of his jacket pocket and opened it. "Come on, the sooner we report…"

"The sooner we can have ramen!" Naruto interjected, earning a flat stare from Kakashi. "What?"