Author Note
Hi there and welcome to another chapter of Nidaime no Sairin.
I actually forgot how passionate the fans of Naruto were.
I'd gathered that the complaints were that I seemed to follow canon up close to the last chapter. Well, despite having another jounin and three more genin, indeed Zabuza ended up beating Asuma and Kakashi in battle. The same criticism would work had Kakashi faced Zabuza alone. The scarecrow jounin in canon underestimated the swordsman shinobi heavily and was only saved because of two genin forcing Zabuza to release the prison. If Zabuza wasn't interested in playing with them, he would have killed everyone. And Asuma was terribly injured in the beginning, forcing him out of the match. He had to count on Kakashi defeating the enemy while he stuck to protecting six green genins and the client as well.
Whereas Zabuza had no restraints at all.
Worry not, though, Asuma shall compensate in this chapter.
Also, about Naruto still not showing his skills in what appeared to be a life and death situation, I have two things to say about that. One, I don't plan on him out of the blue being able to beat a jounin, being fresh out of the academy. It wouldn't be believable. Don't worry, though, he will be showing his growth as the story progresses. Also, having two jounin to do that, Naruto wouldn't be reckless and try attacking Zabuza on his own. Some readers didn't enjoy him being bent on keeping his skills a secret. Though, bear in mind that being who he is and what he carries, the shinobi Uzumaki Naruto is always under heavy scrutiny. I know that the readers wish to see him kicking ass and writing names, but this is not the equivalent of the profession.
Especially not this early on in this story.
He will, though, but later on.
Now, let's answer some of the reviews that I hadn't answered already above.
Jose19 - Indeed, there will be times when he will have to review a few hidden tricks, but that's the thing. In a shinobi battle, it pays to be unpredictable. As to the age gap, well, it shouldn't be a problem. I won't bother to change the woman's actual age. Age in the anime is a bit more trivial. For instance, a shinobi is considered an adult once the hitai-ate is granted.
Dragonkyubii - Thanks for the compliment.
Now on with the chapter and it's going to be a long one.
A much appreciated help from Scheffinator for reviewing thsi chapter.
Nidaime no Sairin
Chapter 9 – Wave Mission Part III
Beta: Scheffinator
Uzumaki Naruto was busy taking a seat by the clearing close to Tazuna's house while he observed the other five genin going about their respective tree walking training.
Well, six if you count Akamaru.
Naruto had given Team 7 a quick explanation about chakra control and the exercise they would be performing. Sakura offered her own two cents about the more theoretical applications of chakra and even went as far as to supply her teammates with an explanation about the usage of chakra in ninjutsu and genjutsu. Hinata and Shikamaru had already began this training before and Sasuke looked to be more in tune with the exercise concept, though he even used his Sharingan to copy Naruto's demonstration. Of course, that alone wouldn't help Sasuke much, considering that Naruto had way more chakra than him.
Once the explanations were over, Naruto asked everyone to pick a tree and mark their progress with a kunai.
As such, he took a nice relaxing seat by the clearing as he heard the continuous sounds of an angered Kiba falling on his butt followed by his dog.
Sasuke and Shikamaru, amongst the male genin, were still due to reach significant heights and Naruto could see that the stubborn Uchiha was still using his sharingan. Doing so would deplete his reserves at a much faster rate, rendering the exercise useless. Though, differently from Kiba, at least Sasuke would flip his body as soon as his feet lost contact with the tree and he would land on his feet. As far as Shikamaru was concerned, Naruto understood that the genius Nara had a unique way of learning a technique. He would go about understanding the functionality of his own chakra flowing through his own tenketsu, instead of simply attempting numerous times until he was successful.
Also, unlike Naruto's own attempts under Nidaime's guidance, Shikamaru wasn't in any hurry to accomplish this exercise.
"Well, this was easy, Naruto! And you made it sound hard."
The genin in question turned to Sakura's tree and saw the pink-haired genin boast about her accomplishment. Kiba snarled at his companion reaching the top before he did.
Hinata was next to Sakura's tree and was also on the verge of reaching the top.
"Hinata, Sakura, excellent job. Sakura, from what I can see, your chakra control is the best because of your small chakra reserves." The pink-haired genin frowned at the jab but kept listening. "You could go up and down the tree using chakra until you run out…that is a fine way to increase your chakra capacity." Sakura released a sigh at that, before doing as commanded. She turned to see Sasuke noticing her improvement and that alone gave an inspiration and drive for her to try harder.
Naruto, then, turned to Hinata, who had scratched the tree quite high, before flipping her body and landing on the ground safely.
She was about to go once more when Naruto approached her.
"Hinata, a moment please…" The Hyuuga heir nodded as she waited for her genin commander. "As I understand, the Hyuuga Clan is famous for its knowledge in chakra and how it flows through the tenketsus. I would imagine you would have beat Sakura in this exercise, even if your chakra capacity is much higher than hers. Is there something wrong?" Hinata, though, merely looked down in slight shame at the question. That gesture alone answered his question and Naruto silently slammed his face for such thoughtlessness. Of course, her feelings of insecurity got in the way.
"'I'm sorry, Naruto-kun…I'll try to improve…" The Hyuuga flinched at feeling his hand on her shoulder. Upon looking up, though, she only saw a gentle smile at her.
While it was not that full-out smile that illuminated her world in the past, it still managed to relax her posture.
"There is no need to improve something you already know, Hinata. You just need to show more conviction, that's all. I want you to try again and this time, do not think if you can do it, you know you can."
Hinata looked in awe for a while, before holding her kunai more firmly and accepting Naruto's advice. This time, Hinata activated her byakugan and took some distance before running towards the tree and placed the first step. As soon as she did so, Naruto smiled upon sensing the correct amount. The girl then climbed her tree like a pro, only looking at her destination. The rest of the genin all stopped their own work as they saw the Hyuuga genin climb her own tree with as much expertise as Naruto himself.
When Hinata managed to reach the top of her tree, she was surprised at herself while looking at the view from up there.
"Way to go Hinata! Congratulations!"
The Hyuuga blushed at the praise, but her facial expression showed contentment at her own achievement. She managed to do it in the end and that brought great joy.
"Shikamaru, what are you doing, just standing there, you're still half up the tree!"
Hinata couldn't help but smile in elation at the other member from their team complaining as she got back down and got close to Naruto.
"Ah Naruto-kun, is there something else I can do, while the rest finish their exercise?" Naruto then turned to the smiling Hyuuga and nodded.
"Sure, why don't you rest a bit and then I'll teach you how to do water walking. Actually, I believe that Sakura could join us as well…"
Naruto then went to the male genin team while Hinata took a seat at her tree. Sasuke was still struggling somewhat; Kiba was barely doing so and Shikamaru had called it quits for today, much to Naruto's complaint. Well, Shikamaru would learn at his own pace and if he wanted help, he could ask either Naruto or Asuma. Naruto, then, turned to Sasuke as the Uchiha kept on looking at the tree, almost like he was looking at Itachi. It was quite visible what his problem is.
"Huh, you can't be angry like this Sasuke." The Uchiha turned to Naruto. "You need to focus on the exercise…focus on your chakra and feel how it flows through your tenketsu. You will tire up if you keep like this…you too Kiba!"
"Oi, who do you think you are…" Naruto sighed and then turned to Sasuke with a smile. "Well, you can look at your teammate and do the opposite."
The blond then turned to Hinata and Sakura.
"Hinata, Sakura, I think I saw a small lake nearby, the next step of chakra control is water walking and you two are more advanced in that regard. Follow me."
The two girls nodded and followed the blonde genin, leaving the male genin alone in the clearing, with Shikamaru on the ground taking a nap, while Kiba and Sasuke used their stamina to finish the exercise.
===Back in Tazuna's house===
It was already nighttime when the teams gathered at the table for dinner.
Tazuna, Asuma, Kakashi, Naruto and Shikamaru were gathered at the table, while Tsunami had the help of Hinata and Sakura. The woman was enjoying herself, preparing dinner while talking with the two teenage kunoichi. It made her remember the times when she was Hinata and Sakura's age in Wave Country. She would smile upon seeing Sakura swoon over the boy called Sasuke. The way that Hinata was blushing when asked about the subject, Tsunami wanted nothing but to hug the cute little genin kunoichi.
Back at the table, Kakashi was still having trouble moving and his chakra was in complete disarray.
Asuma's injuries were already healed and as such, he took command over the mission.
"Naruto, where is Sasuke and Kiba?" The genin looked at Kakashi in annoyance.
"Still outside trying to finish the exercise. Sakura tried talking to them, but they are quite stubborn, though I don't know if each one is trying to outdo the other at this point."
Kakashi released a sigh at that and scratched his head.
"Yes, I believe they are…having a rivalry is fine and all, but not on a mission. I do wonder why you thought it was wise to teach water walking to Hinata and Sakura. I did recall Asuma asking you to focus only on tree walking." Kakashi's remark lacked any tone of reprimand, so Naruto casually explained.
"Seeing as they finished tree walking in record time, I figured that water walking would benefit them, plus Sakura needs to increase her chakra capacity."
Naruto was highly impressed by both women's knowledge of both the theoretical and practical applications of chakra up to the point that they had managed to not sink in their first attempt. By the end of the day, both had already managed to stand on top of the water by dully regulating their chakra. By his estimate, it would take two more days for them to finish.
"I see…well, next time, please run by either me or Asuma before teaching them anything this advanced." Naruto merely nodded, before accepting a bowl from Hinata.
Once everyone took a seat, Asuma cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention.
"Well, I was hoping that Kiba and Sasuke were here to hear this, but they will hear later. It appears that you're right Shikamaru…" The Nara genin mumbled at that as Asuma continued. "We have reason to believe that Zabuza is still alive." The news came as a punch in the gut for Tazuna and Tsunami as well as Hinata and Sakura. At this point, Naruto learned never to question Shikamaru.
"But sensei, how is that possible…Kakashi-sensei did check him for a pulse." Sakura questioned as she took a seat close to Hinata.
This time, Kakashi took over the explanation.
"Yes, Sakura I did and there was no pulse. However, considering the ability of the hunter-nin and the weapon of choice, it's safe to assume that the hunter-nin managed to place Zabuza in a death-like state. Hunter-nin are qualified as the elite of the elite. As such, they possess enough knowledge about the human anatomy and which weapons are best suited for their purpose. Also, a hunter-nin's job is to dispose of the target's body right away. However, he instead took Zabuza's body away."
The explanation made everyone's mood shift negatively, especially Tazuna and Tsunami who were specifically targeted by the business magnate Gatou. Everyone was surprised when the door opened abruptly as a beaten Kiba and Sasuke walked inside. In no time, both genin ran towards their respective seats and ravaged their respective bowls.
"I take it the two of you managed to finish the exercise…" Kiba and Sasuke had their mouths full but both managed to nod at Kakashi's question.
Sasuke and Kiba were then briefed on the news, before Asuma surmised their mission onward.
"Okay, now Kakashi and I have talked about it and we shall remain here to protect Tazuna as he finishes his bridge." The old man and his daughter visibly relaxed and appreciated Konoha for their effort. "However, Kakashi is still in need of recovery, so he will take over the genin's training while me and Naruto will accompany Tazuna. Zabuza will not attack us right now. You can't simply recover from a death-like state…the body needs time to recover, but we'll have to face him once more as well as the hunter-nin…not to mention the possibility of Zabuza gathering more to the cause."
The information made everyone quite tense. The thought of facing others like Zabuza was quite terrifying, indeed.
===Next Day===
Next day, while Naruto and Asuma followed Tazuna to the bridge construction, Kakashi had approached the rest of the genin with his directive for the day.
"Okay, seeing that Hinata and Sakura are already training in water walking, you two are to continue. I understand that the boys are still due to finish, even if Sasuke and Kiba claimed to have already finished. So, you three shall keep on doing tree walking until I can attest the completion." Hinata and Sakura were already heading towards the lake where Naruto last took them yesterday. Sasuke, Kiba and Shikamaru stood side by side and it was clear to Kakashi that both his genin subordinates looked irate at his command.
"Hey sensei, we already finished yesterday. Teach us something useful, like a cool jutsu." Kakashi's eyes never changed from plain boredom, however.
"Kiba, I do believe that Naruto had explained to you all the importance of chakra control, but I can repeat it…"
The scarecrow jounin stopped talking once the Inuzuka complained once more.
"Yeah, a good chakra control is adamant for using ninjutsu and stuff, blah blah, but we did finish."
The jounin sighed, half hoping that Sasuke wasn't of the same mind as Kiba.
"Debatable…considering that your chakra reserves were almost depleted last night, having almost none to control isn't the same as finishing the chakra control exercise. Now, continue." True to Kakashi's theory, Kiba attempted to show off and run towards one of the trees and then go all the way towards the top…until his feet slipped and the Inuzuka at least managed to flip in mid-air and land on his feet. Sasuke for his part cursed having to perform this kami forsaken exercise one more day.
Shikamaru, for his part, looked at his tree with both hands inside his pocket, before he began his own climb, placing one foot after the other, only this time he was able to walk all the way to the top.
Kakashi couldn't help but sweat drop at the lazy display. The kid could really put more effort into it, but then Shikamaru wouldn't be called a Nara.
"Well, nice job Shikamaru, it looks like you mastered it. Feel free to practice your family's ninjutsu if you wish. I also understand from Asuma that you're studying genjutsu. If you want any help, please ask."
The Nara genius nodded and took a seat by the tree, before picking up the genjutsu scroll that Asuma gave him.
===With Naruto===
While the genin were training, Asuma and Naruto were at the construction site, while they observed Tazuna and his crew at work.
Along the way, Naruto saw the condition of the country and frowned in concern. After seeing it, his respect for the old man rose. Tazuna may have lied to Konoha about the mission, but he at least had good intentions in mind. While he was observing, Asuma was busy taking a seat on a bench nearby. He was relaxing himself while taking a smoke. His eyes then landed on his blond genin charge.
"Hey Naruto, come here for a second." Naruto looked at his jounin sensei and saw him picking a leaf from the ground.
"What is it sensei?" Asuma was busy twirling the leaf, before giving it to Naruto.
"I gather that you managed this exercise already, but show me."
The genin understood and grabbed the leaf before placing it in between his hands, before focusing wind chakra.
It didn't take five seconds for him to show a leaf sliced in two, to which Asuma smiled in recognition.
"I figured…in your fight against Zabuza, you even used a wind technique and did so perfectly."
Naruto briefly wondered if the man had a question in mind, but when none came, he just nodded in enthusiasm.
"Your scroll helped a lot Asuma-sensei, I have been practicing the two techniques constantly until I got the hang of it." The jounin finished his smoke and then threw it away.
"So, you're also practicing the Daitoppa (Great Breakthrough)?" To Naruto's nod, Asuma urged him for a demonstration.
"Show me then…try clearing this mist so that we can help the workers."
The genin then got into position and performed a considerable sequence of hand seals, while molding wind chakra through his tenketsus, before gathering air inside his lungs. As soon as he released the pent-up air, Asuma's eyes widened at the torrential blast of wind that erupted from Naruto's mouth, ridding the area of the heavy mist for a while. The workers all thought it was a weird natural phenomenon, but continued their work as if nothing happened. The jounin simply whistled in approval.
"How is that?" The jounin looked down at Naruto and hummed in appreciation.
"Good…better than I thought, though you took a bit longer on that hand seals sequence. Keep on practicing. It will be easier once you finish the second wind chakra exercise, but that will have to wait for a while." The genin nodded not bothering to point out that he had already finished the second exercise and performed the techniques a couple more times, while Asuma turned to watch the crew at work.
===Tazuna's House===
At the end of the day, Naruto and Asuma walked inside the house, only to hear the ramblings of a child directed at the members from Konoha.
"Why are you all trying so hard…in the end, Gatou will murder you all."
Tazuna saw his grandson Inari screaming at the shinobi from Konoha and ushered him to stop antagonizing them.
"What's the point Jiji, in the end, everyone who tries to stand against Gatou, dies."
The boy visibly complained once Tsunami scolded him and sent the boy to his room. Tazuna looked at the boy's back in sadness.
"I apologize for his behavior everyone…Inari was such a sweet boy, very energetic." Tsunami looked down as she had no more tears left in her eyes because of what happened. "It all changed after he witnessed his father being killed by Gatou's goons. The bridge I am building represents the hope of Wave Country. Without it, our county has no connection to the mainland. And Gatou controls the ports and harbor in the area, not to mention connections in the Water Lord's office. This bridge is our only chance to save this Country."
After that, no word offering was needed and Tsunami went back into the kitchen to fix dinner.
Naruto was then seen walking through the house corridor, before he heard the noise of a child crying.
He looked inside the door to see the kid Inari sitting on a table and crying his heart out while looking at the picture of a man.
"Excuse me, can I come inside?" The kid Inari grabbed the picture and held it close to his chest as he looked towards Naruto in anger.
The genin showed his hands up in peace.
"Sorry to intrude, I just wanted to talk, if that's okay."
Inari then wiped the tears from his face and turned into a cold exterior.
"I have nothing more to say."
Naruto smiled in sadness as Inari diverted his eyes to the ground. The genin took a seat by his side as he looked at the ocean from Inari's room window.
"This picture is from your father, right? Tazuna told us about what happened to him." Inari flinched for a second, as tears threatened to come back, but he held it in.
"Like I tried telling you all, Tou-san also tried standing against Gatou. He was killed right in front of me. Tou-san was stupid like you all are." Naruto's face was passive as he heard Inari vent. Hinata was passing by the very same hallway and looked inside Inari's room to see Naruto talking to the kid. She stood there, observing the two boys talking. Her eyes almost watered as she heard the next words coming from Naruto's mouth. Also, those deep blue eyes of his still held the same amount of confidence.
"Well, I don't know about us, but in my eyes, your father was a hero."
Inari looked up at the blond genin in surprise and Hinata smiled at the scene.
"The fact that your father faced the adversity of this Gatou with nothing but his bare arms, that showed courage above all else. It showed that he stood for what's right in the end." Inari fought hard and all, but he was still a six-year-old kid that missed his father. And Naruto's words made him remember his old man's words. Naruto only smiled, though, as he held Inari in a hug as the kid cried in his chest. "You know…I grew up an orphan, so I never met my parents." Inari looked up in surprise as Naruto smiled at him. "I would have liked to hear that my father was a hero just like your father was. As a matter of fact…I somehow know in my heart that he was." Hinata looked quite saddened at Naruto's testimony and it made her remember her mother, who died giving birth to Hinata's sister.
Still, Hinata could see that Inari had stopped crying and was paying close attention to Naruto's words.
"You really think my father was a hero?" There was hope in his voice as he waited for Naruto's response.
"Is there any doubt, Inari?" The kid then smiled and nodded. "Now, I need to do some training, but anytime you want someone to talk to, I'm here okay." The kid nodded happily, and Naruto turned towards the door to leave the room. By this time, Hinata was already downstairs with a content smile on her face as she remembered the look on Naruto's face. It was times like these that she still remembered the old Naruto, the one who would brighten her world…the one who gave her confidence to march forward.
===With Naruto===
After talking to Inari, a quieter Naruto went downstairs and said to Asuma that he would do some training before dinner.
As he left the house and walked towards a more secluded clearing, Naruto pondered about his parents. Naruto was speaking from the heart when he said that his father was a hero, though every time he asked the Sandaime about it, the man would say that he didn't know. Though, Naruto already knew that Sarutobi Hiruzen hid the information about the Kyuubi from him, so it stood to reason that the pattern would be the same regarding his parents. It was the only explanation, considering the boy's status as a jinchuuriki. Being a person of interest to Konoha, there was simply no way the Sandaime wouldn't know everything about him.
A long sigh was released from his mouth as he found a nice enough clearing covered by a heavy mist.
Once he stood in the middle of the clearing, Naruto closed his eyes and focused on the ram seal to train his water manipulation training.
Focusing on the Nidaime's words and the feeling of water through his tenketsus, Naruto's senses extended to the molecules in the air around him. This land had a high concentration of humidity, being close to the sea, so Naruto's capabilities doubled. In this place, he realized that he needed less time to mold the necessary chakra for his techniques. So engrossed was he in his training, that a person wearing a pink kimono with long straight hair approached the clearing with Naruto none the wiser.
"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know that someone was here." Naruto's eyes opened fast as he relinquished control from his jutsu immediately.
When he looked at the source of the voice, he saw what appeared to be a teenage girl holding a basket.
Naruto went into high alert, considering that he didn't sense this person approaching, though he could barely feel a chakra network, so it could be a civilian.
"Who are you? And what are you doing here?" The pink kimono user merely smiled and showed the basket to Naruto.
"Oh my name is Haku…I'm just here to gather medicinal herbs." Naruto approached what appeared to be a girl and looked inside the basket to see slices of plants.
"I see…so, you're a healer, then." Haku merely smiled at that.
"Yes, something like that, sure. I'm collecting these herbs for someone very special to me."
Naruto found his control smoothing in this person's presence. He couldn't feel any animosity or killing intent whatsoever.
"Well, do you need any help or are you finished collecting?" Haku merely smiled in appreciation.
"I appreciate it, but I got everything I needed." The blond nodded and was about to turn and leave, when Haku noticed the headband.
"Say, are you a shinobi? I recognize the headband."
"I am...name's Naruto. Nice to meet you Haku."
"A pleasure to meet you as well Naruto-kun. So, what are you doing here if I may ask." Naruto debated on what to say at first, but answered.
"Training, that's all. I need to become stronger after all." Haku looked doubtful at that as he casually observed.
"Why…you already look strong enough. Is there a reason you need to become stronger?"
The Konoha genin look startled at the question, never once debating with himself the reason for it. Getting recognition, being one step closer to becoming Hokage…those would be the answers he would have given before meeting with the Nidaime Hokage and getting trained under him. The man was ruthless in all the lessons he passed on to Naruto, but one of them really stuck to the genin, which actually was the last words he had spoken, before vanishing.
"...Naruto, use the skills I taught you and the ones you will learn to protect Konohagakure."
The genin then looked at Haku with enough confidence to state the same thing.
"I need to be stronger in order to protect my village and everyone in it." Haku looked surprised at his answer, before smiling back at Naruto.
"Oh…then you are indeed strong, Naruto-kun. When a person has something precious they want to protect, that's when they can truly become strong." Naruto looked deeply at Haku's eyes and found himself thinking about the words of wisdom he had just heard. Haku, then, got up from the ground with the basket in his arms and walked away, leaving the pensive Naruto in the middle of the clearing. Naruto then turned to see Haku leaving and couldn't help but smile deeply at those words that were now recorded in his mind.
The blond was so far engrossed in his thinking that he didn't see Sasuke approach right after Haku left, saying it was time for dinner.
===Next Day===
As soon as Kakashi was fully healed, the teams stood in front of Tazuna's house together with Inari and Tsunami. The time it took for Kakashi to heal was the exact time it would take for Zabuza, give or take, so it stood to reason that the hidden mist missing-nin could attack Tazuna at any time now. After saying their goodbyes to Tsunami and Inari, the teams walked towards the bridge. Inari looked much better than before, thanks to the talk he had with Naruto yesterday. And Tsunami and Tazuna were thrilled to see the livelier look coming from the kid.
Once the teams from Konoha left, Inari even offered to help his mother with some chores, earning a deep smile from Tsunami.
Inari then went inside the house to go to the bathroom. The kid was on the tip of his feet washing his hands, when he heard the frantic scream from his mother. Quickly running to check what happened, Inari fell on the floor in pure fright as he saw his mother on the ground panicking and two men standing there with swords, one with an eye patch and tattoos all over his body and the other wearing a blue jacket. Both were looking at his mother, while their hands reached for their sword's hilts.
"Kaa-san!" Tsunami's heart clenched as she heard her son's scream as Gatou's goons both turned their swords to the little kid.
"So, what do we have here…huh." The man with the eye patch approached the frantic boy, who couldn't stop shaking.
"Gatou only ordered us to capture one hostage, so I can test my blade on you kid."
The other goon simply huffed as he was watching the mother's terrified look at the threat made upon her son.
"Stop…if you dare to even touch him, I'll bite my tongue and kill myself! You want a hostage, don't you?"
The one with the blue jacket simply smirked at that and then turned to the crying Inari.
"Thank your mom, kid! She had just saved your life."
As such, Inari could only whimper on the ground as he saw his mother being tied by a rope and then taken away as a hostage. He just stood there crying and he couldn't help it, he was powerless to stop and couldn't protect his mother from these goons. He just stood there doing nothing. Inari felt like he had disappointed everyone…he was just a little boy and couldn't do anything about it. His body was shaking, and tears were freely falling from his eyes. The boy then looked up when he remembered the words.
'For the things I truly hold dear to myself…I will protect them until the end with both these arms, even if it looks like I might lose my life!' Tou-chan
'The fact that your father faced the adversity of this Gatou with nothing but his bare arms, that showed courage above all else. It showed that he stood for what's right in the end.' Naruto-niichan.
'You really think my dad was a hero?'
'Is there any doubt, Inari?`
As the kid wiped the tears from his face, he looked up and wondered if he could be strong like his father.
Outside the house, the two goons were escorting a fuming Tsunami as she heard the one with the tattoos pass his hand over her skin, threatening to give her some cuts from his sword.
"Wait! You can't take my mother away!"
Inari suddenly appeared from behind them, much to Tsunami's protest, begging him to go back home.
She would have screamed even further, but she received a slap on her neck and was unconscious.
The kid saw red at this point and charged at them with reckless abandon as the goons stood ready to skewer him with their swords.
Despite the odds against him, the kid was beyond driven at this point to save his mother.
When it became apparent that the kid would be slashed in half by these goons, they were surprised at the sudden noise of a projectile rain of shuriken and kunai stucking on their backs. Inari's eyes widened as he saw the shocked looks on their faces, before both had fallen on the ground, dead. Inari was surprised for a while and then he looked at the end of the dock that led to his house. There, Naruto stood with his hands in a throwing motion, indicating that he was responsible for the projectiles.
"Naruto-niichan!" The genin smiled at his name being addressed and approached Inari and the downed Tsunami.
A couple minutes ago, the real Naruto had received the information from the tags he had placed around the house, that intruders had breached the perimeter and quickly sent a kage bunshin to come back and deal with them.
"Good job Inari…your father would be proud of you."
Naruto said as he caressed the kid's hair for a while and then moved to check on Tsunami. Quickly passing some chakra through her to awaken her, Naruto saw as the woman slowly opened her eyes to see what happened. When her eyes jerked open in surprise to see what happened to her son, her heart and shoulders were relaxed as she saw Inari there safe and sound with Naruto next to him, smiling down at her.
"Naruto, but I thought you had left…did something happen to Tou-san?"
"Nothing happened, I had just placed a security measure to warn me in case of someone trying to invade. Thanks to Inari here who stalled those goons, I was able to take care of them."
Tsunami then saw Inari's happy face and quickly embraced her son for dear life.
"Thank you Naruto-kun…" Naruto merely nodded and then stood up.
"No need to thank me. Now, l don't know if more will come, is there anywhere you two can hide?" Tsunami got up with Inari's help and then turned to the genin.
"Yes, I have a friend in town who will provide us shelter, we'll go there right away."
Naruto then acknowledged it and gave Inari a thumbs up, before vanishing in a puff of smoke, leaving mom and son alone wondering where he went all of a sudden.
"Let's go Inari!"
===At the Bridge===
As the teams approached the place where the bridge was being constructed, the original Naruto received the news from the Kage Bunshin and reported to Asuma and the others. Tazuna no doubt got spooked that Gatou targeted his family once more, but relaxed when he heard that they were okay now. The real thing, though, was that Naruto had to review something that neither jounin knew he knew about it. Both the Kage Bunshin and the rudimentary use of fuuinjutsu tags. He had no choice as Tsunami and Inari would no doubt tell them what happened.
The fuin tags, despite being advanced stuff, could be excused as Naruto could have had access to them through the library.
However, the kage bunshin was a jounin level technique and a highly dangerous one to use. In the end, he had invented the history of him breaking into the library a couple years ago and finding the technique. While it wasn't the best cover story in the world, it's not like either jounin would bother to follow up on it, since he wasn't a shinobi yet when it happened and his actions weren't under the Hokage's jurisdiction.
As soon as they stepped foot on top of the bridge, Tazuna's eyes widened at the workers on the ground, dead.
The heavy mist had immediately surrounded them all as the genin surrounded the client while the two jounin stood in front of the group, waiting for Zabuza to approach. Their eyes widened as they heard footsteps approaching. In their right mind, Zabuza would come at least with the hunter-nin that helped him escape before. However, neither were prepared to hear three sets of footsteps followed by many others as well.
When the mist cleared, the jounin's eyes widened at the sight as there was Zabuza, the hunter-nin and another former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, Kurosuki Raiga. And right behind the three shinobi, there was a group of at least ten goons bearing swords, making it clear that Gatou was not saving expenses to get rid of Tazuna for good.
Kakashi and Asuma all tensed at the sight of not one but two members of the Seven Swordsmen. This mission rapidly bumped to at least A-ranked.
"What do you think Kakashi?" The silver haired jounin looked straight ahead at the army in front of them.
"Each one of us will have to face one of the swordsmen, Asuma. Naruto and Sasuke shall have to handle the hunter-nin and the rest shall cover the client and deal with the goons." Asuma released a sigh in dismay at the thin odds right now. As he looked back, he at least got comfort in knowing that Sasuke and Naruto could work well together in dealing with the hunter-nin. Now, he needed to assign a third chain of command for the other genin as they will be quite occupied.
"Hinata and Shikamaru, you two shall coordinate Tazuna's defense with Kiba and Sakura."
The rest of the genin nodded and immediately formed the manji formation around Tazuna.
Zabuza and Raiga, for their part, were busy conversing with each other.
"Oi Zabuza, what's the deal here…" Zabuza looked at his comrade in arms and hummed in annoyance.
"The copycat Sharingan no Kakashi is mine, you can deal with Sarutobi Asuma."
Raiga showed his full smirk, before releasing his Kiba swords and charged them with electricity.
Within seconds, the jounin level shinobi all got into their respective battles. The goons had charged straight at the client and met resistance from the other genin, leaving the hunter-nin to face Naruto and Sasuke in the middle of the bridge. The two genin stood side by side and Naruto noticed that Sasuke already had his sharingan on as he observed the hunter-nin. Sasuke was eager to fight, that much Naruto could tell by the feeling of the Uchiha's chakra. The blond surprised Sasuke as he crossed his arms.
"I can see you're eager to face him, so I shall act as your support, Sasuke."
The person in question nodded with a smile, before vanishing towards the hunter-nin with superior agility and two kunai in each hand.
Sasuke reached the hunter-nin in less than a second and attacked him with one of the kunai, only for the hunter-nin to stop it with a senbon. Sasuke kept on attacking using extreme agility with his kunai, but every move he made was parried by a senbon. When the hunter-nin was about to expertly divert Sasuke's kunai and counterattack, the hunter-nin had to evade a barrage of shuriken from Naruto. That move allowed Sasuke to keep on pressing the attack, only this time Naruto kept on attacking from long-distance, using shuriken and kunai as well.
The hunter-nin as soon as he parried Sasuke's kunai, began a sequence of one handed hand seals, taking both Naruto and Sasuke by surprise.
He then kicked the puddle of water on the bridge, before finishing the seals for his ninjutsu.
Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishou (Hidden Technique: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death)
The water that the hunter kicked then turned into water senbons and circled around Sasuke, before charging straight at him. However, Sasuke managed to jump and evade the attack, before using a quick shunshin and appearing behind the hunter ninja. He landed a powerful kick, forcing the enemy to skid a long distance, before looking back at Sasuke, Naruto now being forgotten. Sasuke for his part looked smug at the enemy, who just stood there watching him. That look turned sour when the hunter ninja flared his chakra to its maximum, showing that, so far, he was just toying with the Uchiha.
Both Naruto and Sasuke felt the sudden shift in the air temperature, before the hunter-ninja did a sequence of hand seals.
Hijutsu: Makyo Hyosho (Hidden Technique: Demonic Crystal Ice Mirrors Technique)
Naruto was in surprise as a group of ice made mirrors formed around Sasuke.
The blond genin saw no other way of helping Sasuke and used his agility to step close to the Uchiha, seconds before the mirrors closed around them. The hunter-ninja then appeared to be getting inside one of the mirrors, before his reflection appeared in all of the mirrors. Naruto and Sasuke then stood back-to-back as they observed the technique. Naruto could feel both types of elemental ninjutsu water and wind at the same time, wondering if this was the case of an elemental Kekkai Genkai. Sasuke's Sharingan looked around the many numbers of the hunter ninja just as Naruto unleashed his sword.
"So, shall we begin…allow me to show you my real speed."
Naruto and Sasuke were both being bombarded left and right with senbon. Though, their agility and Sasuke's Sharingan allowed them to either block or dodge.
Because of this, the hunter shinobi increased the speed of the senbon, this time drawing first blood from the genin.
Sasuke took advantage of Naruto being targeted and used his fireball technique to melt the ice mirrors, but to no avail.
"You would need a stronger technique to do that, Uchiha. Now, I'm afraid I can't waste time with you. Zabuza-sama needs me."
The hunter shinobi then targeted Sasuke treating him like a pincushion, however Naruto increased his speed and parried most of the projectiles. Sasuke took the opportunity granted by Naruto's defense and attacked the hunter ninja with fire based ninjutsu. The hunter saw the attack coming and increased his speed, before getting back inside the protection of the mirrors.
The same pattern kept on going.
Haku would attack Sasuke and Naruto blocked the senbon allowing Sasuke's Sharingan to pinpoint Haku's position to use a fire attack in retaliation. One fire ball even managed to singe the hunter-nin's leg and Sasuke kept on the offensive, counting on Naruto's protection as well as his own agility. Because of this, the hunter decided to use other attacks as well while keeping the mirrors active.
Using his hyoton based ability, the hunter would create ice senbons around Sasuke's location, flipping the game a little bit.
This made the genin from Konoha work double in awareness because now they had to worry about not only real senbon but ice senbon as well. The hunter ninja observed his opponents with a keen eye, noticing that they worked really well together, though he saw that the Uchiha was the one to beat first. Sasuke, for his part, was unaware that his eyes had evolved to the two-tomoe Sharingan. As such, he began to see the opponent moving at slower speeds, which made him move even faster to anticipate his movements.
The problem was that he couldn't see the ice senbon behind his back, but Naruto managed to cover his six with enough accuracy that made Sasuke's combat drive even more pronounced. He was even able to grab the opponent's arms in mid flight and managed to land a fierce kick on his chest. The hunter was sent straight towards one of the mirrors and slammed his back, forcing some blood to fall from the mask.
The hunter ninja then climbed inside the mirrors as he observed the Uchiha more closely.
"Now, I know how fearsome it is facing the Sharingan." Sasuke smirked at that notion, feeling the pride of being a part of the Clan.
"I can see your pattern…now you won't be able to land another hit on me…" the hunter ninja, though, merely snorted at that and snapped his fingers.
Naruto was the one who noticed an infinite number of ice senbons surrounding Sasuke.
"Sasuke, look out!"
The warning came in time and the Uchiha saw Naruto moving with his sword to reflect the surprise attack. The Uchiha used his agility to follow the ones that Naruto couldn't reach in time. However, neither Sasuke nor Naruto noticed that the hunter ninja took advantage of the water on the bridge to make more ice senbons that came from the floor. Naruto noticed it too late and tried increasing his speed and even focused wind chakra on his sword to slash the projectiles. A couple of them ricocheted, however, from his protection and ended up piercing Sasuke's neck, earning a violent scream in pain from the Uchiha, before he succumbed to it and fell on the ground.
Naruto was still parrying the needles coming his way, before looking at the downed Uchiha. Naruto, then, went close to Sasuke and checked him up for a while.
"He is dead…there is no need to mourn him, because you will be next." The blond could feel, though, Sasuke's chakra circling through his tenketsu.
"I'd gather you did the same as you did with Zabuza…placing Sasuke in a death-like state."
The hunter ninja then looked at Naruto more seriously, who cracked his knuckles and neck.
"I guess I can let myself loose with you, now."
===Asuma x Raiga===
Kakashi and Zabuza both met in the middle with Zabuza's sword and Kakashi's kunai battling for dominance. The Sharingan made it impossible for Zabuza to focus on ninjutsu, so he battled against Kakashi in close-range. While Kakashi was able to anticipate Zabuza's movements, the swordsman was taking advantage of the heavy mist. He was more used to this terrain than the Konoha jounin, so the fight was more even.
Also, Asuma and Raiga danced with each other as Asuma's wind chakra knives battled against Raiga's lightning kiba swords in a show of sparks.
"When Zabuza told me about facing you, Asuma Sarutobi, I was quite eager…"
The bearded jounin grunted as he managed to get behind Raiga's guard and swing his right-hand knife laced with wind chakra, but Raiga evaded.
"When I kill you, I will receive a suitable bounty and then I shall give you a proper burial."
Raiga said, before lifting both swords above his shoulder and crossed them, before focusing lightning chakra and gathering a ball of lightning to be hurled at the jounin. Asuma, though, merely evaded the attack and charged, keeping the fight in close-range. The two Jounin shinobi clashed weapons once more, but Asuma had the superior element and negated Raiga's lightning Kiba, before landing a fierce kick at Raiga's stomach, sending the swordsman skidding backwards.
Asuma wasted no time and made hand seals, while his twin knives spinned in front of him.
Katon Haisekisho (Fire Release: Ash Pile Burning Technique)
Asuma then unleashed from his mouth a cloud of smoke towards Raiga. As soon as the ash smoke enveloped the enemy, Asuma clicked his teeth, igniting the smoke, which then turned into a torrential blast. Raiga, however, used a simple water barrier around his body and emerged from the blast to attack Asuma. The bearded Jounin was surprised, when Raiga used lightning jutsu and enveloped himself in the energy. Asuma, then, focused more wind chakra and his knives extended to become close to a sword's length in wind chakra to block Raiga's attack.
Once more, the element won and Asuma managed to nullify Raiga's lightning armor. As a result, Raiga received a couple of slashes on his arms and torso.
"You can't win this fight with lightning, Raiga."
The swordsman cursed and used Kirigakure no Jutsu to use the mist in his favor. Asuma frowned as Raiga vanished just like Zabuza.
"I guess you're right, Sarutobi Asuma. Then, I shall change strategy."
His voice echoed in the clearing and Asuma stood with his knives laced in wind chakra waiting for an attack. He extended his chakra in order to feel where the attack would come, when the bearded jounin's eyes widened. He looked backwards at the genin facing Gatou's goons while protecting Tazuna and saw Raiga appear behind the client. Working fast, Asuma placed his knives inside the kunai holster and made a sequence of hand seals, before placing both hands close to his mouth horizontally. This technique needed to be aimed properly or else he would accidentally hit the client instead.
Fuuton Fuujin no Jutsu (Wind Release: Dust Cloud Technique)
From Asuma's mouth, a high velocity wind surged, containing dust particles.
Raiga had only one second to try and place his kiba swords in front of him to protect himself from the blast. The hit caused great pain in Raiga, because his element was lightning, thus weak against wind-based techniques. Asuma kept on the offensive, taking the opportunity and picked up his knives once more and laced it with wind chakra, before piercing Raiga's chest. Asuma looked at the enemy bleeding from his mouth and it appeared to be the killing blow, before Raiga smiled and turned into water.
Asuma cursed seeing that he must have replaced himself with a water bunshin at the last moment.
Asuma, then, blocked Raiga's kiba swords that came from his back.
"Yes, indeed, you don't disappoint Sarutobi Asuma. I shall give you my strongest technique now."
Asuma cursed and once more slashed Raiga's body who was another water bunshin.
He then felt a strong surge of chakra close to him and saw Raiga lift his kiba swords up in the sky and received lightning from the dark clouds, before his body once more was enveloped in a lightning armor. Raiga then began to spin his body fast. The element began to grow in a vortex of wind upward. Asuma's eyes widened as he saw the vortex of wind shift into a dragon's head, heading straight to the bearded jounin.
The result was like Asuma was hit by a lightning bolt that came from the sky.
Raiga then approached the place where the jounin was hit and he smirked upon seeing the downed jounin on the ground.
Raiga was sure to finish the bearded jounin when he flinched and looked down to see a wind chakra sword piercing his back and emerging at his chest.
Raiga had barely enough time in his life to turn and see Asuma behind him, while the one on the ground vanished in a cloud of smoke.
"...Kage Bunshin…" Asuma just smirked with a nod at Raiga's guess.
"That was a rather nasty technique, if I was hit by that, it would hurt like hell." Raiga then fell on the ground, dead.
===Naruto x Haku===
"So, you were waiting for your partner to get taken care of, before showing your true skills."
Haku was still inside the mirrors as he eyed the genin. For a minute, the hunter ninja actually thought that he had seen a kindred spirit in Naruto.
Naruto stood with a fighting pose. Though, his thoughts actually drifted towards what the hunter ninja was implying.
"No actually, seeing the pattern of your senbon, I was protecting it from reaching his vitals. Sasuke here is actually quite stubborn and would be a pain in the ass if he saw me taking the initiative. Now, I can feel this technique of yours taking a lot of chakra from you…I bet it takes too much chakra to maintain, doesn't it." The hunter said nothing in reply and used his superior agility to attack Naruto from presumably all over the place. The hunter was surprised when Naruto's speed doubled, allowing him to block all the senbon from reaching him.
"I see that you're indeed faster than before, but it won't be enough to stop me."
Naruto flinched as his eyes followed the hunter leaving one mirror and landing on the other using speeds even superior to his own.
The senbon had even increased in speed, making it difficult to block them all. He needed to use his own agility, to avoid the projectiles. For a while, then, it became a game of cat and mouse as the hunter shinobi used his agility and senbon to attack and Naruto to block and evade. It soon became clear to the blond shinobi that there was a pattern in the movements being unleashed at him, though he couldn't shift from defensive to offensive. These were the times when he remembered the teachings from the Nidaime Hokage. No matter the overwhelming odds he had right now against him, all it took was one carefully applied move to shift the game in Naruto's favor.
That being said, when Naruto landed in the middle of the ice field, he saw senbons – normal and ice made – charging at him from all possible directions.
He couldn't escape them nor could he block them all.
Then, molding water chakra inside his tenketsu, Naruto made a small sequence of hand seals, gathering water from the area.
Suiton Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall Technique)
The hunter became surprised when a typhoon of water surged around Naruto, just as his senbons were about to pierce his body from head to toe.
Naruto's attack wasn't finished as he made more hand seals.
Suiton Hahonryuu (Water Release: Tearing Torrent Technique)
The typhoon of water that circled Naruto shifted and turned to target all of the hunter-nin's mirrors at the same time, hitting the hunter-nin dead on. Still, the attack while managing to take him away from the mirrors wasn't enough to seriously injure him, so the hunter moved fast to climb inside the mirrors once more, however he had to dodge as soon as Naruto appeared in front of him with his sword surrounded by wind chakra. Naruto swung the sword close to the hunter-nin's face and cut the mask in half. The attack was enough to not only carve a great dent at the hunter's face as well as his right bicep, earning a scream of pain from the enemy.
Naruto was about to finish the enemy off with a second sword slash when the mask fell off and he took a look at the downed enemy he had encountered before.
"Haku..."
Author Note
Ok that's it for now. Next chapter is the end of the Wave mission as well as the follow-up to the next mission.
A small comment that I believe it's necessary about Hinata and Naruto. I have plans for a relationship between them, but not the one you're all thinking about. That one shall be reserved for the pairing already in my mind, which will be revealed shortly. It shall be a relationship where Hinata sees Naruto as a senior shinobi, one to look up to, but never to stand next to him. He shall be there with her to guide and help her as they grow up. There won't be any romance involved. And Naruto will look out for her as well, so as to further increase her overall confidence.
Please give me your feedback.
Next update: Fate Shadow Spear
