You guys are awesome! Over 5,000 views and over 100 followers!
It looks like you guys decided for the Ice to be XX. And with that decision, massive changes to the Naruto universe are starting to be kicked off. While I can't say what will be changed, It's my hope that you guys will be able to trace several important events back to this moment.
Responses to the awesome reviews are at the bottom.
Since in both the manga and anime Zabuza was kind of a push over, given what we know of Kakashi now, I upgraded Zabuza to what he always should have been. Since technically he wasn't that good of a fighter in cannon, I'm marking this as an AU change.
MachFarcon does not own Naruto.
And without any more delay, here's Chapter 6: The Crashing Wave
Naruto awoke with a start! After he wildly looked around his surroundings, he slowly realized that he was in his own apartment, safe from the villagers that plagued his nightmarish memories. He grunted to himself, shoving the rush of memories back into the vault. Naruto grinned happily as he remembered what today was! Today was the day they got another C-Rank mission!
As Naruto started his morning routine, he reflected on the changes that had occurred in the last month since Team Eight's first C-Rank mission. Kurenai-Sensei had stepped up training, teaching them new moves, combat tactics, and jutsus. Naruto could safely say he considered Kurenai-Sensei his friend. Sakura-Chan and Hinata-Chan had also changed to a certain extent. He wasn't sure why, but they often seemed to sit a lot closer to him now, especially if the other girl was nearby. Naruto shrugged. Perhaps they were getting cold? It was after all, getting colder as October approached.
But that was not the only thing that changed. Naruto had, quite accidentally, discovered the secret behind the Shadow Clone Technique. His clones remembered whatever their creator knew. And since a Shadow Clone could create more Shadow Clones...Naruto smirked. His clones had been spying on the ninja of the village, attempting to learn more close-combat moves and techniques. When a clone discovered something new, it would create more clones to go practice the move elsewhere. And all Naruto needed was the final clone to report back to him to teach Naruto what they learned.
And best of all, technically it wasn't training, so he could do that after team training days without breaking his promise to Kurenai-Sensei. Speaking of Kurenai-Sensei, her friend, Asuma Sarutobi, had brought the team that he had been training over for a team vs. team spar once. Naruto chuckled as he heated his breakfast ramen. Team Ten, Asuma's team, had lost easily to Team Eight. Kurenai's tactics training had turned Team Eight's nearly perfect teamwork into a lethal machine.
Team Ten had some decent tactics and formations. Unfortunately, none of their formations could hope to match a close-combat expert, a lightning-using Hyuga, and a subtle ginjutsu user. Naruto's mirth faded into a frown as he remembered a moment were he almost killed Shikamaru Nara, one of the Genins of Team Ten. The match had been going well for Team Eight when Shikamaru had snagged the blonde Uzumaki with his Kagemane no Jutsu. Naruto, suddenly having flashbacks to the last time that exact jutsu was used against him, had blasted the shadow technique's control off of him with a massive blast of Chakra. His hand had automatically started glowing with an ominous glow without Naruto even realizing it. He had made it within five steps of the Nara before the blonde managed to calm himself down. The other members of Team Eight, perhaps understanding Naruto's flashback, redoubled their efforts to take down the opposing team. Team Ten lost shortly thereafter.
The ding of the microwave broke Naruto from his remembrance. It was Ramen Time!
Hiruzen was sitting behind his desk casually smoking his pipe as Team Eight entered his office. He quietly sighed to himself as he saw Naruto's expression harden into an expressionless mask. He schooled his expression into a professional look as Kurenai approached.
"Ah, Kurenai-San!" The Hokage greeted, "What can I do for you and your team today?"
"We request a C-Rank Mission." Kurenai's voice was cold, professional. It took all she had to not scream at the Hokage. To ask him why, why he let the villagers overcharge and whisper at her student.
The Hokage nodded. He should have expected this. It had been exactly a month since Team Eight had their first kill mission. Eyeing the Genins for a moment, he leaned back and smiled. It seemed that there was no lingering issues with killing.
"Well," The Hokage began, "Let me see what missions I have available..." As he started to leaf though the mission requests, suddenly the door banged open!
"Hokage-Sama!" The ninja who had burst in panted, "You have a urgent message from Kakashi Hatake." He held out a small rolled up scroll to the Hokage with a bow.
"Thank-You, Natori-San." The Hokage said, before dismissing the message hawk handler. Hiruzen turned to Team Eight. "If you will excuse me for a moment."
As Hiruzen read the message on the scroll, his continence gradually grew grim. Once he had finished reading, he set the scroll down and steepled his fingers, deep in thought. After a few minutes went by, he spoke.
"It seems that Team Seven has gotten in over their heads. They received their first C-Rank mission early yesterday morning. It was a simple escort mission. However, it appears that the mission was incorrectly labeled. It is now an A-Rank mission!" He paused for a moment then he ordered, "Since you are Team Seven's official back-up team, you are going to be backing them up. You leave in one hour." He quickly wrote out a brief summary of the important information about the mission before handing it over to Kurenai. "Here is the new overview of the mission. I expect you to make all haste to the mission area."
One hour later, Team Eight assembled at the East Gate. They had brought their traditional mission gear, with one exception. The two female Genins had made sure to bring a large luxury tent with them, as well as a few cups of Ramen. Naruto had brought his sleeping bag.
As Team Eight sped off towards the Land of Waves, Kurenai relayed the information from the scroll she had been given. "The mission states that Team Seven was attacked by a pair of C-Rank missing-nins. After they dealt with the ninja, they discovered that the client, Tazuna, had lied about the mission level. Ignoring standard protocol, Team Seven continued on with the mission. We are to assist Team Seven in their mission. It will count as a A-Ranked mission for us in both pay and in our mission log." Kurenai glanced at her team. Their determined expressions relieved her to a certain extent. Team Eight would be fine!
Team Eight made good time on reaching the mission area. When it was nightfall, they stopped to rest for the evening. As Naruto was starting the fire, Hinata spoke up. "Naruto-Kun, did you bring a tent with you?" Her voice was a strange mixture of shyness, determination, and hopefulness.
"Huh?" Naruto answered, slightly confused. He hadn't thought about where he was sleeping yet. "Nope. I don't have a tent." He answered Hinata's strange question.
"I-In that case," Hinata's face grew steadily more and more flushed as she continued. "W-Would you like to sleep in m-my tent?" Hinata's face seemed rival the camp fire in sheer heat.
"Sure!" Naruto grinned happily. "I'd be glad to sleep in your tent Hinata-Chan!"
Hinata felt fought off the urge to faint when she heard Naruto's words. Sakura frowned. She was going to ask Naruto to sleep in her tent! "Naruto, " Sakura asked with a forced casualness, "Would you like to sleep in my tent tomorrow night?" When the oblivious Naruto had agreed, She threw a smug look over to Hinata.
Hinata, not to be outdone, quickly asked if Naruto would want to her tent the following night. Sakura, seeing her chance, suggested that Naruto alternate between the girls tents. Naruto had agreed, figuring that the girls would get cold. He made a mental note to see about buying a three-person tent so neither Sakura-Chan or Hinata-Chan would get cold.
As Sakura watched her Naruto-Kun go into Hinata-Chan's tent, she suppressed the urge to run over to the tent and drag Naruto to her tent. While she knew that all Naruto-Kun would be doing was sleeping, she also remembered how nice it was to sleep in the same tent as him. During Team Eight's last mission, she had finally realized two important truths: She liked Naruto-Kun! And Hinata-Chan liked him too! Sakura had confronted the shy Hyuga soon after they had returned to the village. They had both agreed that while they were rivals for Naruto's affection, making sure they never made their blonde choose between them is was paramount.
Team Eight made the seven day trip in five. They arrived at the client's house and Kurenai knocked on the door, using one of Konoha's secret knock-patterns. After a few moments, Shino opened the door.
"Kurenai-San!" Shino's monotone tone somehow portrayed his extreme relief. "We were expecting you. Kakashi-Sensei is on the second story, third room from the stairs." Kurenai thanked him and headed for the stairs, intent on finding out exactly what was going on from Team Seven's sensei. Shino turned to Naruto and asked, with a hint of curiosity, "And how is your hive doing Naruto-San?"
Naruto grinned as he entered Tazuna's home. "It's doing awesome! I've been sleeping in a tent each night!" Shino tilted his head in confusion, no doubt wondering why such a event was worth mentioning. Sakura, wanting to divert boy from thinking further into it, quickly spoke up.
"And how is your team, Shino-San?"
Shino sighed. "My team is a terrible hive. The other members of the hive tend to fight constantly for dominance. Kakashi-Sensei views this as team bonding." Shino shook his head. "It is not. The hive is slowly fracturing." He turned to look at Naruto, his voice taking on a hopeful tone. "Have you spoken with Sakura-San about a four Genin team?"
Naruto grimaced, before nodding. "Yeah. But in order to get a fourth member, it has to be specifically cleared by the Hokage."
Shino's shoulders drooped for a moment. "Then I guess I shall have to stay with my current hive." His tone took on a trace of bitter pessimism as he continued. "With the Hokage receiving all of Kakashi-Sensei's reports, I have no doubt that he is aware of the situation. So he if chooses to do nothing, then I am stuck within this hive."
Shino seemed to have completed his statement on his team status, and changed the subject. "You are aware of our current mission?" Seeing Team Eight nod, he continued "In that case I shall introduce you to Tazuna's family. He has a daughter and grandson. Tazuna is working on the bridge, being guarded by Kiba-San and Sasuke-San."
Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata followed Shino into the house's kitchen. Upon entering it, a pretty black-haired woman looked up from the stove. "This is Tsunami-San. She is the daughter of Tazuna." He introduced. He turned to Tsunami. "This is the team that I was telling you about. This is Naruto-San, Hinata-San, and Sakura-San." He said, pointing at each of the Genins as he introduced them.
Sakura and Hinata bowed in greeting, Hinata's bow was much more graceful then her counterpart. Naruto grinned and waved, his honest and cheerful demeanor disarming any fears Tsunami would have had. She quickly set the pan back on the stove and bowed back.
"It is nice to finally meet the team Shino-Kun was talking about! Welcome!" She bowed again. "Would you like something to eat? I don't have much, but you must be starving from your journey!" Hinata shook her head as she graciously replied, "We cannot accept your offer Tsunami-San. We have eaten already today and do not wish to trouble you. We will gladly join you for the evening meal however." Hinata's training in politics and social graces paid off once again as Tsunami nodded, content with Hinata's answer.
Naruto grinned and said happily, "Kurenai-Sensei's back!" He frowned slightly as he continued to listen. "But she doesn't seem happy." His brow scrunched slightly as he attempted to further decipher Kurenai's mood from her footsteps. "She seems...slightly mad and worried. But I don't think she is mad at us."
"Team Eight! Shino-San!" Kurenai called from the living room, "Could you come in here? We have some things to talk about!"
Shino turned to Naruto as they headed for the living room. "Your talent with your sensory organs rival that of an bug." Naruto rubbed the back of his head, slightly embarrassed.
"Eh, I've just trained them. Gotta be able to figure out what is goin' on before I see it!" He explained, not exactly comfortable with Shino's honest evaluation of his skill. As they entered the living room, all of Naruto's embarrassment was wiped from his mind as he spied the serious expression on Kurenai's face.
"What's wrong Kurenai-Sensei?" Naruto asked, wondering how he could help her.
"Nothing is wrong per say," Kurenai began, being careful to not give the blonde any indication that she was hurt or in danger. Naruto had the tendency to hurl himself between his team and whatever danger was threatening his team. Even in training. It had gotten so bad that she had stopped using thrown weapons when she was sparring with her team. After Naruto had hurled himself into a kunai that was headed for Hinata, she had realized that Naruto would happily take any attack for his team. She didn't know why he was so intent on doing so, but it was a puzzle she would figure out! "I was just...discussing the events that happened in this mission." A worried look crossed her face as she continued. "Apparently, just one day ago, an A-Rank missing ninja by the name of Zabuza Momochi attacked Team Seven just before they arrived in Wave. He was intent on killing Tazuna-San. Kakaski-San was able to drive him off temporarily with the help of the rest of Team Seven, but Zabuza's partner, a person masquerading as a hunter-nin of Kiri, was able to rescue Momochi." Seeing that Team Eight didn't understand the threat that Zabuza represented, she elaborated. "Zabuza Momochi is known as the Demon of the Hidden Mist. He was a member of Kirigakure's legendary Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. He killed over one-hundred of his classmates before he made Genin. He has a well-earned reputation for ruthlessness, cruelty, and violence." Kurenai's explanation left a cold silence in the air.
After a few moments, Naruto spoke with a thoughtful yet serious tone. "Shino. You saw Zabuza fight. What was his fighting style?"
Shino turned to the blonde, surprised at his serious tone. He had never heard such a tone from the normally exuberant Uzumaki. "Well..." He began slowly, shutting his eyes as he attempted to remember every detail, "Zabuza likes to fight while hidden in his mist. He used a jutsu, water release, to cloak the area in a dense mist. He then was able to sneak up on us, bypassing even Kiba-San's hearing. Luckily Kakashi-Sensei was able to stop him. We quickly learned that in spite of the massive blade Zabuza wields, he is able to fight dexterously with it. After a few moments of fighting, he was able to trap Kakashi-Sensei with a advanced water release technique. It functioned as a cage made of water." Shino took a deep breath, his monotone voice never changing. "Sasuke-San and I were able to come up with a plan to distract Zabuza. Kiba-San and Sasuke-San would split his attention, while my bug clone would attack him directly."
A slight inflection of pride entered Shino's tone. "The plan worked. Zabuza was utterly surprised when my insect clone collapsed on him. He was too fast for my insects to incapacitate him, but it did allow for Kakashi-Sensei to escape from the water prison technique." Shino's voice dropped back to his normal monotone. "Kakashi-Sensei was able to fight Zabuza to a standstill. However, before Kakashi-Sensei could make the kill, Zabuza's partner knocked him out with several senbon. The senbon were so accurately aimed that Zabuza was put into a death-like state. However, my insects were able to detect that Zabuza was still alive. Kakashi-Sensei fell unconscious from chakra exhaustion. We could not pursue the fake hunter-nin and also protect Tazuna-San. We regrouped at this house. Kakashi-Sensei awoke briefly to inform us that Zabuza would not be able to try again to kill Tazuna-San for a week." Shino finished, his monotone never changing as he wrapped up his recounting succinctly.
"Hmmm..." Naruto verbalized, his mind racing to come up with an effective strategy against Zabuza and his partner. The rest of Team Eight watched Naruto, knowing that he was the best one to come up with combat strategies. After several minutes passed, Naruto stopped scratching his chin in thought. "I've got a few ideas, but they will have to be tested before we use them." Naruto said, before rising to start his testing.
"Naruto-Kun!" Kurenai's voice froze him. "You aren't going out for training until tomorrow! You, and your team, have just finished a hard journey."
"But I'm not tired!"
"You can't train until after dinner." Kurenai's voice booked no argument.
Naruto suddenly grinned. "Ok!" Kurenai's eyes narrowed in suspicion at his easy acceptance of her order. What was she missing? Right after the Genins had left the room, her eyes widened as she realized it. Naruto wasn't planning on training! He was planning on having his clones train! Then he'd just copy them after dinner! She was about half-way out of the chair before she stopped. Honestly, this was probably the best she was going to get. At least this way, Sakura-Chan and Hinata-Chan wouldn't feel the need to train with Naruto-Kun...
Soon Tsunami called for the Genin. It was dinner time! Soon after Team Eight and Shino were seated, Tazuna, Sasuke, and Kiba entered the house. When Sasuke entered the dining room, he froze for the briefest of seconds before continuing to the seat he had picked out, the one away from everyone else. Kiba sat down in his seat and barely suppressed his annoyance at having to wait for his sensei. Two minutes later, Kakashi slowly limped into the room. He settled into the closest seat to the door that had been thoughtfully left open.
As the ninja started to eat, Sakura watched Naruto as he ate. She remembered how Naruto didn't really have any table manners when she had met him. But over time, she had shown him how to eat with manners. He still ate quite fast, but she figured that was mostly because he wanted to get out training. Nothing got Naruto more fired up for training then if he had a clear goal to surpass. Sakura frowned to herself. Speaking of training, she needed to talk to Ino when she got back. Sakura had looked extensively at the library for books to figure out why Naruto felt his obsessive need to block every attack that was throw at them with his body. But she had come up with nothing. So Sakura figured she needed to ask someone who was trained in human psychology.
As Naruto finished off his plate, another Naruto burst into the room! "Boss! I've got something that you'll want to hear!" Naruto took the late bite of the food, finished the glass of water, and excused himself. As he entered the living room, his clone launched into its explanation.
"So I got bored watching the other clones train and I decided to walk around." The clone's face turned grim. "And guess what? This town is super poor. They can't even buy a lot of food and clothes! I gave them all of our extra ramen, but it didn't really help that much." The clone's face screwed up in confusion. "But they thanked me." The clone's confusion was mirrored on Naruto face.
"But all you did was give them the ramen right?" He questioned.
"Yeah." The clone confirmed.
"Huh." Naruto scratched his head in befuddlement, his clone unconsciously mimicking him. After they couldn't figure it out, the clone moved on with his explanation. "As we were finishing up with giving out the ramen, some thugs came up and tried to take it from us. We beat them up and took them to the forest for interrogation." The clone's face grew angry. "Turns out, there's this rich guy named Gato who's tryin' to take over the Land of Waves. He's basically starving them. He's trying to stop the bridge from being completed. If the bridge is completed, his hold on this area will be broken." Naruto now looked very angry.
"He's starving them?" He asked quietly, wanting to make sure he heard the clone correctly.
"He is." The clone confirmed. Naruto was quiet for a few moments. Then he spoke, his voice having a note of finality to it.
"Take a group of clones to the bridge. See if it would benefit from our help tomorrow. If not, see if we can figure out a way so we can help."
"And once we complete the bridge?" The clone asked, it's mind already figuring out the fastest way to the bridge.
"We kill Gato." Naruto answered coldly.
The clone nodded in approval of the plan before it headed out to fulfill its orders. Naruto turned around and headed back into the dining room. As he entered, he addressed Tazuna, ignoring the curious looks from the rest of the people seated at the table. "Tazuna-San. If I told you could have more workers tomorrow to help complete the bridge, would you use them?"
Tazuna looked decidedly confused. Where was this young ninja going to get more workers? He knew that these ninja had seemingly other worldly powers, but he was fairly certain they couldn't conjure more people. "Well, yes. I could use another few men. Why do you ask? Do you know how to get ten more workers?"
"How about four-hundred?" Came the shocking reply.
Tazuna choked on his drink. As he looked up to congratulate the young ninja on his joke, he saw the blonde's deadly serious face. "H-How could you get more workers?" He questioned, utterly astonished by Naruto's claim.
"You'll find out in the morning. What time do you leave for the bridge?" Naruto questioned, still maintaining his professional tone.
"About six in the morning." The still confused Tazuna answered.
"I'll make sure you get the extra workers before then." Naruto promised.
Naruto abruptly turned around and headed out to train. He only had a few hours before he had to sleep, and he wanted to make the most of them!
The next morning, all of Tazuna's household was waiting for Naruto. At exactly six, Naruto walked out of the house, yawning slightly. Tazuna's shoulders drooped. He didn't know what he had expected. Ninja weren't miracle workers. As he started head towards the bridge, Naruto's confident voice stopped him in his tracks.
"Hey! Don't you want the extra workers?" Tazuna turned around, preparing to yell at the young ninja for his cruel joke, the words dying in his throat as he watch Naruto bring his hands up in a cross sign. White smoke blanketed the area.
There was a shocked silence as the smoke drifted away, revealing four-hundred clones of the blonde. As Tazuna gazed speechless at the army of workers, he felt something stirring that he hadn't felt in a long time. Hope.
As the next few days passed, it became increasingly obvious about the gap between Team Seven and Team Eight. While Team Seven had powerful clan techniques to draw upon, that was all they had. By contrast, Team Eight had little to no clan jutsus, but they had some training in all of the various types of techniques. They had elemental techniques, a solid foundation in the shinobi basics, and perhaps the most solid teamwork seen in a least several generations. With Kakashi incapacitated, Kurenai took it upon herself to train both teams. Unfortunately, it turned less into training, and more into a crash course on shinobi basics for Team Seven. They didn't even know tree climbing!
Speaking of tree climbing, Naruto had explained to his team, privately, one of his new techniques. He had gotten the idea when he was first being taught tree climbing with chakra. He had originally supercharged his chakra, as per his normal response to any new technique that required chakra. The moment his foot had touched the tree base, it had blasted a massive hole in the tree, catapulting the young ninja back several feet. As Naruto gazed in stunned awe at the demolished tree, a sudden idea blossomed in his mind. The technique had been born from that idea. Sadly, it took far too much chakra to be useful in combat for the rest of the team. But Naruto was determined! He would find a way for Sakura-Chan and Hinata-Chan to get powerful jutsus like him!
Sasuke seethed. While he had initially been all right with Team Eight on this mission, that had all changed when he had heard that they had already taken a C-Rank mission! And completed it successfully! To the Last Uchiha, it was yet another thing the clan-less Uzumaki had beaten him in. Needless to say, Sasuke spent his days training until he could barely move. It had gotten better for him, however, once Kakashi was able to move. Kakashi, for some unknown reason, started training Sasuke alone as Kurenai trained the remaining members of Team Seven as well as her own team.
On the fifth evening, during dinner, Inari, Tazuna's grandson, couldn't take Naruto's cheerful optimism anymore. "Why are you so happy?" He burst out. "You all are just going to die! No one goes against Gato and lives!" He then looked at Naruto, his eyes angry and his face spiteful, "I bet you've had it easy! I bet you don't know what suffering is like!"
Naruto froze, countless emotions awakened within him by Inari's words. As he felt anger slowly winning, he abruptly stood and left the house, not wanting to be around anyone. As he ran, he felt his anger build. When he felt he had gotten a good distance from the house, he skidded to a stop. As he punched the nearest tree, he spat, with each word punctuated by a increasingly stronger punch, "So I don't know suffering, huh? I guess starving wasn't suffering! I guess being gutted wasn't suffering! I guess being impaled wasn't suffering! I guessing fearing for your life every day wasn't suffering! I guess never knowing your parents wasn't suffering! I guess not knowing if they hated you wasn't suffering!" Naruto finished with a roar, the tree crashing into the ground in front of him!
Naruto's shoulders heaved as he took aggravated breaths. With a snarl, he brought his hands up in his signature cross hand sign. As all of his clones gazed at him with similar expressions on their faces, Naruto's hands started to glow ominously. On some unseen signal, all of the clones charged Naruto. He charged to meet them with an aggravated shout!
Back at the house, Inari was quickly silenced by the two remaining members of Team Eight. Sakura had risen halfway out of her chair before she caught herself. Hinata's eyes narrowed. "Doesn't know suffering?" The Hyuga spat out, before calming herself. "Tell me, Inari, do you have loving family?"She continued calmly, but somehow her calm tone was ten times worse than when she had raised her voice. "Do you have to buy only the cheapest things because prices were raised for you? Do you have to bring all of your supplies with you so they don't get stolen or destroyed?" He relentless questions caused Inari to tear up. Hinata drove the knife home as she practically snarled, "Then you have it better then Naruto-Kun ever did!" Her final words drove Inari to run from the table, sobbing quietly.
"I-Is everything you said true?" Tsunami tearfully asked, fearing the answer.
"Yes. It's probably worse then we know." Sakura answered, still having to remind herself that beating the client's family into the ground was frowned upon. Tsunami began to cry silently as her heart broke for the cheerful young man that had entered her life only a few days ago.
Sasuke didn't know what to think. On the one hand, part of him was happy something broke though Naruto's cheerful demeanor. A another portion simply didn't care. Sasuke ignored the smaller part of him that wanted to find Inari and show him what real suffering was like...
Hinata sighed. She wished Naruto was here. Her heart ached for him, imagining the pain he must feel, knowing that Naruto never even knew his family. She sighed again. If she didn't know Naruto wanted to be alone right now, she would be searching for him, mission or not!
Sakura grunted unhappily to herself. While she knew that Naruto most likely wanted to be alone to hit something, or many somethings as the case may be, she still wanted to find him! She was sure that this was another of the strange "Naruto Problems" thing she hadn't figured out! Sakura suddenly brightened. That was it! She could document everything she knew about Naruto so Ino could help! Sakura grabbed a piece of paper from her sealing scroll. She smiled smugly to herself. "Never going to use a random piece of paper, huh? Well looks like I needed it!"
It was early morning when a black-haired girl in a pink sleeveless kimono entered the clearing in the forest. She let out a surprised gasp as she took in all of the devastation. Trees had been blasted apart, the ground ruptured, tens of kunai and shurikens littered the area. And in the center of it, a blonde haired boy, roughly about the age of twelve or thirteen, slept soundly, seemingly ignorant of the destruction all around him. As she got closer, she noticed several alarming details about the boy. Numerous kunai surrounded him, most of them still covered in blood. He was laying in a dried pool of blood, presumably his own. She noticed, with just only the faintest of blushes dusting her cheeks, that his shirt and pants were torn, giving glimpse of the well muscled flesh underneath. Something silver glinted beside him. She moved closer to see if she could help the hurt boy.
Naruto groaned as he slowly awoke. His...everything hurt! He sat up quickly, only to let out a drawn out "Whoa..." as all of the blood seemed to rush to his head. He scrunched his eyes shut as he furiously rubbed his temples, attempting to relive the pounding headache that had just appeared. As the pounding ceased, he yawned, stretching out his sore muscles that protested sleeping on the uneven ground. A shadow fell over him. He froze for the briefest of moments before he slowly looked up, flashes of distant, terrible memories threatening to break free of their confinement. A pretty girl stood ten feet from him. She didn't look angry; she looked...concerned?
Haku was concerned, and more then slightly confused. She knew, from the ample evidence, that this blonde had been very injured recently, most likely last night! But here he was, wound free. He even seemed to get over the blood-loss headache very quickly! She wondered if he was like her, a blood-line user. As he turned his confused beautiful blue eyes towards her, she detected a faint sense of fear in his eyes. Such a look seemed very wrong on his face, and she quickly greeted the boy, hoping to find out what caused his look of fear.
"Hello." The black-haired woman spoke, her tone warm and welcoming. It soothed Naruto's flickering visions of old memories, and brought him firmly back into the present. Naruto tilted his head as he looked at her. She had long black hair, a pretty face, and light brown eyes. Naruto, not feeling any ill-intent from her, returned the greeting with his typical gusto.
"Hello!" Naruto grinned, "My name is Naruto! What's yours?" The black-haired girl was taken aback, surprised at his enthusiastic greeting. A moment later she found her voice, successfully suppressing the faint flush that threatened to appear at his handsome smile.
"My name is Haku." She bowed, "Nice to meet you Naruto-San!" She paused, remembering her initial worry. "Are you hurt?"
"Huh?" Naruto looked confused at her question. "Why would I be hurt?"
"You were laying in a pool of your own blood." She pointed out, now concerned that he had forgotten the attack entirely. She quickly tried to remember if she had any herbs that could help restore temporary memory loss.
"Oh! That!" Naruto remarked, now knowing what Haku was referring to. He rubbed the back of his head in slight embarrassment. "Eh, I just got carried away training last night." He explained.
Haku blinked. She eyed the glinting piece of metal on the ground next to Naruto-San. Now that she was closer, she realized that it was a ninja headband! She cut her eyes back to the blonde. He wasn't making any threatening gestures or movements. In fact, he seemed quite relaxed. A sudden thought occurred to her. "Naruto-San, is this not the first time you have awoken up in a pool of your own blood?"
"Well, the first time from training, yeah." Naruto answered, slightly confused as to why Haku-San was concerned about this.
"But you are a ninja, correct?" She persisted.
"Yep! I'm a ninja from Konoha! Along with Sakura-Chan, Hinata-Chan, and Kurenai-Sensei!" He answered proudly.
Haku tilted her head, her face gone carefully blank. She knew that some ninja villages treated those with blood-lines poorly, but she had no idea that they would deliberately hurt a young vibrant boy like Naruto-San! Her eyes narrowed. If his village was doing such a thing, there was no way the blonde's team didn't know! Which meant they were in on it! She flashed back to the terrible time when she was nearly killed, her mother's dead body beside her. They were going to kill her because of her blood-line!
Naruto noticed his new companion slowly grow angry. As she did, the temperature seemed to slowly start to drop. Not knowing what was wrong, Naruto asked earnestly, "What's wrong? Can I help you?"
Naruto's slightly deep voice broke though Haku's angry thoughts. She quickly realized that she had nearly lost control over her blood-line, if the decreased temperature was any indication. Haku quickly regained control of her blood-line, and ambient heat began to slowly effect the area again. Attempting to distract the blonde from the details of what just happened, she quickly asked, "Would you like to help me gather herbs?"
Naruto nodded vigorously. Maybe he could learn something new! As the two gathered the herbs, Haku casually asked Naruto a few questions in between explanations of the many purposes of each herb they gathered. Naruto's answers were painting a very ugly picture; it seemed that he was not treated well in Konoha, perhaps even beaten. She, having experienced such hate directed to herself a long time ago, vowed silently to make sure that he wasn't abused by his team again! Then she asked the question that had burned within her for a while now...
"Naruto-San, why do you train? What makes you strong?" She asked, her tone serious.
"I train to become strong to protect my precious people! So they'll never get hurt! Ever!" Naruto's impassioned voice resonated deep within the brown-eyed girl, for she existed for the same reason! She sent a quick glance over at Naruto. A faint blush stained her cheeks as she watched his face scrunch up in concentration as he carefully unearthed the next herb. As he stood back up, she quickly turned away, least he see her blush. She glanced down at her herb basket. It was very full, almost over flowing. She turned to Naruto once her blush was under control. "Naruto-San, we have gathered all of the herbs that I needed." She bowed, "I want to thank you again for helping me!"
"It's no trouble!" Naruto replied, happy to help out. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Will I see you again?"
"I hope so...Naruto-Kun." And with those parting words, Haku quickly disappeared into the forest. Naruto glanced at the sun, attempting to estimate the time he had left before dinner. He had several hours to train still! Naruto grinned to himself as he brought his hands up a familiar hand sign.
Sakura worriedly glanced at the surrounding area of the bridge. She was watching Tazuna-San today, along with Hinata-Chan. Hinata had gone to use the restroom, and would be back shortly. Sakura, not for the first time today, silently cursed Inari. Why did he have to go and say those horrible things to Naruto-Kun? She hadn't seen Naruto-Kun in over seventeen hours!
Hinata was hurrying back to Sakura-Chan, when she noticed a mist rolling in from the water. She reflexively closed her eyes and concentrated. A moment later, she opened them, revealing her active Byakugan. As she looked towards the approaching mist, intending on seeing if there was any enemies hidden inside, she saw something infinitely more alarming instead! The entire mist was laced with Chakra!
"Sakura-Chan! The approaching mist is filled with chakra!" Hinata cried out as she neared Sakura at a dead sprint. "Spike your chakra!"
"Right!" Sakura quickly spiked her chakra several times in the prearranged pattern to indicate immediate distress. She hoped that the rest of the Konoha ninjas would reach them in time...
Kurenai's legs burned slightly as she skidded to a stop in front of her two students. She hadn't pushed that much chakra into her legs in a long, long time. She slid a kunai out in front of her, keeping an eye on the mist that had almost reached the bridge. Beside her, she spied Kakashi do the same, his team also dropping into combat stances. She heard the two girls behind her ready themselves. "Where are you Naruto?" She wondered worriedly, determinedly ignoring the part of her that was informing her off all of the terrible things that could have happened to the sunny blonde. The mist reached the bridge. The Konoha shinobi readied themselves for the coming fight.
The white mist swept soundlessly onto the bridge, cloaking everything in its embrace. After a few tense moments, the Konoha ninja were able to pick-up movement in their direction. Slowly, several figures walked out of the mist to stand opposite the Konoha nin. Kakashi recognized Zabuza, the fake hunter-nin, and the two C-Rank missing nin that they had faced several days ago. He did not, however, recognize the two other ninjas standing alongside Zabuza. Zabuza's rough, mocking voice rang out.
"I saw that you invited some...friends to the fight, Sharingan no Kakashi. So I invited a few of my own. We wouldn't want them to get in the way of our rematch now would we?" Kakashi slowly brought his hand up to his slanted headband, sliding it up to reveal his active Sharingan. "Everyone! Leave Zabuza to me! Team up to defeat your enemies if you can!"
Haku gazed with relief at the Konoha ninja. She didn't see Naruto-Kun with them! With any luck, she could take care of them before he ever got here! She stepped forward, moving towards the two kunoichi behind the female Jonin. One of the large ninja Zabuza had brought with him charged towards the female Jonin with a cackle, his face mirroring his glee at getting the chance to fight a Konoha ninja. The two demon brothers charged at Kiba, Shino, and Sasuke, intent on getting a revenge for their defeat from before. The last two missing ninja slowly followed the demon brothers. The bridge soon dissolved into chaos.
The ninja attacking Kurenai swung his sword at her forcefully, forcing her to leap out of the way of the attack. He follow her, laughing the entire time. Haku stopped fifteen paces away from Sakura and Hinata. "I am sorry, but Zabuza-Sama has ordered your death." She apologized, before bringing a hand up in front of her. As Sakura and Hinata watched with unbelieving eyes, Haku drew upon her blood-line, crafting senbon out of pure ice in an instant. A second later, the senbon flashed towards the two kunoichi! Hinata and Sakura dodged out of the way, once again thankful for the extra training they did with Naruto. Sakura quickly grabbed a kunai and charged her masked opponent, Hinata following a step behind.
The battle between the three kunoichi raged fiercely for several minutes, the balance of power shifting from one side to another. Haku was more skilled then the other two, but their exceptional teamwork leant them a surprising lethality. Eventually, Sakura was able to get in a lucky cut with her kunai, and Haku knew she couldn't afford to not go all out. She leapt several feet back from Sakura and Hinata, warning them, "This is my strongest technique. Please prepare yourselves!" Haku's chakra spiked. The temperature plummeted. Snow began to fall. Then, with a sound similar to rushing water, twenty-one mirrors made of ice surrounded the two Genins from Team Eight. A moment later, all of them reflected Haku, seemingly housing the kunochi in each mirror. As Hinata and Sakura watched in shock, Haku formed more senbon. And then all of the reflections drew their arms back. And they threw.
As this was all happening, Naruto felt the chakra spike in the distance. "Sakura-Chan! She's in trouble!" He snapped his head in the direction that he had felt the chakra spike come from, and raced off. Within a few minutes of frantic running, he spotted Tazuna's house in the distance. His eyes widened as he saw two men with swords slowly advancing on Tsunami. Naruto's eyes hardened. "Not today! Not on my watch!"
Waraji advanced on the black-haired woman. Gato had ordered him and his partner, Zori, to take out Tazuna's family. But nothing said they couldn't take their time and...enjoy the family's...hospitality first... He let out a cruel chuckle, relishing the woman's flinch. A sudden wet gurgle behind him cause him to freeze. He spun around, starting to draw his sword as he turned! He didn't have time to react before there was a blur and then pain erupted in his chest. He slowly looked down, and stared with stunned shock at the kunai buried in his chest. As he watched the kunai with stunned fascination, a flicker of moment caught his eye. He looked up just in time to see a kunai flash towards his head!
Naruto ignored the wet thud as the second thug hit the ground, a kunai buried in the thug's skull. He summoned two clones. "Take Tsunami and Inari to someplace safe. Take the thugs' swords with you." He ordered before rushing off. The clone turned to his fellow clone and nodded towards the dead thugs. While his fellow clone was gathering up the swords, he approached the pale Tsunami. "Tsunami-San, do you have someplace to go that is safe?" He questioned, seemingly laidback despite the situation.
"Y-Yes. T-There w-we can go to a friend's h-house nearby." Tsunami stuttered, badly rattled by the traumatic events that had just occurred.
Naruto rushed towards the battle, pushing more and more chakra into his legs. He ignored the dull burning sensation as he sped his way towards the bridge. In what seemed to him like a lifetime, he reached the bridge. In the distance, he spotted a massive dome of mirrors, made of...ice? He sprinted towards it when he caught a glimpse of pink.
Haku looked sadly down at the two kunochi below her. They were good, she feely admitted, but they never stood a chance when she had activated her Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystal technique. Haku was simply too fast for them to dodge her attacks, and the ice mirrors were too strong to break. Seeing that the kunoichi were fighting to remain standing, she readied another barrage of senbon. She threw.
Sakura flinched, bringing up her arm in a fruitless gesture to protect her face as the fake hunter-nin threw a dozen senbon her direction. The sound of the senbon hitting flesh sounded out! Surprisingly, Sakura realized, she didn't feel any pain. She slowly lowered her arm. She immediate spotted the hunter-nin looking over at something to her right in shock. She glanced over, her hand coming up to her mouth in with a horrified gasp!
Haku stared at Naruto's unmoving form in stunned shock. She had aimed for the two kunoichi's non-vital areas, seeking to put them in a death-like state. But, in a blur of orange, Naruto-Kun had suddenly appeared in front of the two Konoha ninja, shielding them from the senbon. He had skidded lifelessly to the side after the dozen razor sharp needles pierced his body. With mounting panic, she quickly snapped several senbon into each of the opposing kunoichi's necks, placing them in a death-like state. She rushed to the mirror closest to Naruto, praying that she wasn't too late.
A massive blast of red chakra knocked her back, she quickly flashed to a mirror on the upper section of the dome, hoping to get an idea of what was going on. Fear began to trickle down her spine as she watched Naruto slowly stand up, the senbon popping out of his wounds with soft pings as they healed rapidly. She watched as the whiskers on the blonde's face thickened, and his posture began to hunch; becoming vaguely reminiscent of some great predator. The dark red chakra swirled around Naruto as his nails grew into wickedly sharp claws. His muscles seemed to increase in size, and Naruto's beautiful blue eyes turned a baleful red. Then with a terrible hissing sound, the red chakra flowed back into Naruto.
"You killed Sakura-Chan and Hinata-Chan! I'm gunna kill you!"Naruto's snarled threat made the icy fingers of utter fear wrap around Haku's spine. The killing intent of the enraged blonde practically crushed the kunoichi into the ground. A cold sweat broke out on her brow. "W-what is he?" She wondered in panic. Suddenly, the feral blonde's head snapped in her direction. With a sudden jolt of terror, Haku realized that Naruto could see what mirror she was actually in! She barely reacted in time to flash to another mirror, as Naruto streaked towards the ice mirror. A shocked gasp of terror and surprise escaped her as she watch her unbreakable mirror shatter like glass as Naruto's fist smashed into it! She desperately dived at him from above, hoping to knock him out; hoping to fix this terrible mess she had made. She was suddenly jerked to a stop. Naruto's crushing grip on her hand preventing her from touching him! A second later, a heavy fist smashed into her mask, driving her though the empty spot in her ice mirrors!
Haku slowly stood up, feeling her cracked mask slowly slide off her face. She heard all of her remaining ice mirrors shatter. She closed her eyes as the feral blonde charged towards her. She really was a useless tool after all, she reflected sadly.
"Why?" Naruto's heartbreaking voice asked, his red eyes reflecting rage and hurt confusion. Haku's eyes flew open. She could still fix this!
"Naruto-Kun! Listen to me! They aren't dead!" She shouted desperately, "I put them in a death-like state!"
"You mean they are alive?" Naruto's voice fluctuated between the dark tone and his hopeful one.
"Yes! If you take me to them, I'll heal them!" Naruto rushed over to Haku, not noticing her broken arm or bruised face. He quickly rushed the black-haired kunoichi over to his downed friends. Haku moved swiftly, quickly taking the senbon out of the two kunoichi she had hurt. As soon as she had finished with Sakura, Naruto pulled the pink-haired girl into his lap, needing to reassure himself that she was alive. As Haku finished pulling the last senbon out of Hinata, the sounds of clapping echoed over the suddenly silent bridge.
"Well well." The short business man known as Gato began. "Looks like you ninja are all tired out!" He chuckled to himself. "Luckily I wasn't planning on paying any of you anyway!" Seeing that there was several ninja still up, he turned to the small army of thugs behind him. "All right! You know the drill! You kill the ninja, and you get paid!" Spotting the fallen kunoichi in the distance, he sweetened the deal. "In fact, the people that land a killing blow get a first go at the ninja girls!"
Gato's satisfied laughter was abruptly stifled as he watched the blonde ninja slowly turn his head in Gato's direction. The blonde slowly looked down at Sakura. He placed her gently on the ground. And for the first time in his life, Naruto hated.
To my reviewers:
RikudoNaruto1: While I can't tell you what will go on during the Chunin exams, I can tell you that Orochimaru is a ruthless, cunning, and brilliant person. So he will be not following the normal "resurrect the previous hokages" plan to the letter. Instead, as events take place, he will alter his plans to best counter/take advantage of them. After this chapter, Sarutobi really won't have the option of being in denial anymore. Turning out for the better because of it is not guaranteed however. As far as Hiruzen getting what's coming to him over his treatment (or lack of it) of Naruto, don't worry. No one gets a free pass. And as Hashirama and Tobirama, you'll have to see!
Hanmac: Well, Naruto is considering buying a 3-person tent. Granted, it's because he thinks they might get cold, but...
Animaman: I can tell you I have no plan of adding Ino at this time. Granted, I originally never planned on adding Hinata either... I can tell you that everything Hiruzen is doing is out of his own volition. But he perhaps doesn't listen to the correct people. It doesn't excuse his actions, but it does explain them to a slight degree.
midnightscar17: I can safely tell you that it is not rasengan based at all. Techniqally this story is more of a Naruto/Sakura and a Naruto/Hinata story rather than a Naruto/Sakura/Hinata story. As Sakura is more of the outgoing/forceful one, you'll see more of her pushing the line with Naruto compared to Hinata. For now at least. Granted, Naruto is still oblivious as ever, but that's beside the point.
Druto: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Animaman: Well, you'll just have to wait and see about the result of the poll. While in this chapter it will become obvious about what the poll chose, next chapter will show what happens to Haku and Zabuza. You pinpointed the issue with Hiruzen. He, perhaps mistakenly, trusts the people who give him information. Combine this with his tendency to view the world with rose-colored glasses, and you get his current behavior. However, the events from this chapter will permanently shatter those rose-colored glasses. But only time will tell if it will turn out better or worse for both him and Naruto. I thought for a while about giving Naruto more elements, I even had a draft of chapter 5 that had him being dual-natured with fire and wind. But I ultimately decided that I should stick with cannon for his powers. Granted, as events start spiraling out of cannon, he may start to develop more abilities as a direct result.
bloodbrother 18: I'm glad you liked it! Here's the next chapter!
drannakka: I cannot confirm or deny that something like that may or may not be in one of the chapter drafts. I can confirm, however, that Sakura will be learning medical techniques.
skg1991: Thanks! As the events go on, several of the younger generation will start thinking for themselves, making their own decisions about Naruto. Shikamaru and Choji encountered Naruto and Team 8 for the first time this chapter, and they will start to grow closer as fellow Genin as the teams continue to interact. Knowing Shikamaru and Choji, they will get along famously with Naruto.
THE 7TH DEMON OF RAZGRIZ: Thanks! And I tried to explain Naruto's new technique he used in this chapter. If it was a confusing explanation, just let me know and I'll explain it in greater detail. And keep in mind, that was just the first attempt by Naruto at creating his own techniques...(rubs hands together as he thinks about all the future carnage)
Carolyn12: I'm glad you liked it! Here's the next chapter for you to read!
Shinobi of life: Honestly, I'm not sure Sasuke would do that currently. He is currently so focused on beating Naruto and killing his brother, that he doesn't even really notice girls. Or perhaps he just ignores them. I'm not really sure at this point. But perhaps once he achieves his goal...
turtle sage: Honestly, Naruto/Sakura/Hinata is perhaps the only way this story could have worked. Naruto, as currently written, wouldn't ever choose between them. And yeah, Naruto/Hinata is cannon. While I held out hope for Naruto/Sakura, I feel that Naruto/Hinata was a good match in the end. (Unlike many of the other parings...)
So, how was it? Drop a review and let me know!