Captain Blues: Ahoy-hoy! Another chapter of Ansatsuken and I am stoked for it. I've had some folks comment on Naruto's battle with Lee and I wanted to give some insight. Lee had Naruto dead to rights. The only reason Naruto made it out is because the spar was stopped. If Lee had more time during the spar, he would have won.

But no worries…Lee will have more time. Now, with all that hot-dogging and grandstanding out of the way, it's time to set sail to Wave!

Ansatsuken
Chapter Four: Departing Konoha! The First Victim

[THEME OF KONOHA:
LUCA FROM FINAL FANTASY X]

It was early morning when Naruto awakened.

Naruto knew that he had his first C-Rank mission today and while he was excited, he still remained in bed. Ever since he started this training, he has found himself more at peace with the world around him.

He allowed himself to enjoy the sounds of the birds chirping, the wind blowing against the trees and the faint sounds of children playing.

It was nice to be able to just relax and enjoy the sounds of peace.

Naruto rose out of bed and walked to his window and gazed out of it, a faint smile on his face. Yeah, it was going to be day.

After getting dressed in the gold GI attire he had worn the day before during his spar with Lee, Naruto packed up the remaining GI and Scroll within a sealing scroll and leapt out of his window and down to the ground.

Unfortunately for him, this stunt made him nearly fall on top of Hyūga Hinata. Hinata stumbled backwards with a shocked yell and fell to the ground, which allowed Naruto to land in front of her.

"Whoops!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise as offered Hinata a bright smile. "Sorry about that Hinata," Naruto apologized as he held out a hand to her. "I really got to look before I leap…" He added on. With a blush, Hinata placed her hand in his and for a moment, the word 'Soft…' entered Naruto's head before he pulled her up carefully.

"I-It's okay," Hinata stammered out before she gazed up at him.

Naruto always avoided looking at Hinata. Not because she freaked him out but it was because of her eyes. They held so much…Warmth and care in them that every time they happened to exchange looks, he would always feel this weird feeling in his chest.

"I got something on my face Hinata?" Naruto questioned curiously, unaware of the rather charming smile on his face that caused Hinata's blush to deepen.

"No. F-Forgive me Naruto-kun…I just…Was curious. Your clothes are different and you look different," Hinata explained, trying to keep the stuttering to a minimum around him.

"Oh, I decided on a change recently. Figured I'd get rid of the orange for now and move my hiate-ite to my left bicep-" Naruto paused as he motioned to his hiate-ite, which was tied snuggly on his left arm. "-So I can grow my hair out more," Naruto finished with a wide grin.

"I-I think it looks wonderful on you," Hinata told him.

"Wow…Thanks," Naruto said sincerely. "You're the first person that's noticed my change."

"I noticed a lot…I-I…um…" Hinata paused for a moment, as if she was searching for what she wanted to say and once she found it, she glanced back at Naruto and said "I-I noticed that you were trying a lot."

"You did?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded and proceeded to explain with "I tend to go out on a run every morning but two weeks ago, I noticed you training with a lot of c-clones. I-I've never seen that Taijutsu style before."

"Hmm…Rock said the same thing yesterday…" Naruto said thoughtfully. "I didn't think the Ansatsuken was such a rare Taijutsu style…"

"A-Ansatsuken?" Hinata questioned.

"Yeah. It means "Assassination Fist" and it's damn powerful. I managed to fight Rock Lee to a near standstill yesterday but I think he would have beat my ass if our spar wasn't stopped by Kakashi-Sensei and Gai-san."

"I-I See…" Hinata whispered.

"Actually speaking of Taijutsu. If I remember correctly, Iruka-sensei said that the Hyūga clan has a Taijutsu as well… Jūken, am I right?" Naruto asked.

Hinata nodded.

Naruto stared at her until a lightbulb when off in his head. "Perfect. Well hey, I have a mission but when I come back, do you want to spar and maybe grab a bite after? My treat," the blond suggested with a smile.

Hinata face was cherry red at this point, which had Naruto concerned, until she smiled and nodded. Naruto bright smile widened. "Awesome. I've never fought a Hyūga before. This'll be fun. Well, I got to go but I'll come find you as soon as I come back."

Hinata nodded.

"Awesome, see you later," Naruto said as he walked off, not seeing Hinata faint in the street. After twenty minutes of walking, Naruto approached Konoha's front gate where he found Sasuke and Sakura waiting there.

With Kakashi nowhere to be seen.

"Hey guys!" Naruto said as he lifted up his right hand as a lazy wave.

"Hey Naruto," Sakura said with a nod while Sasuke remained silent.

"Kakashi-sensei is running late per usual. Even on an escort mission…" Sakura grumbled out.

"But he wouldn't be our sensei without his chronic lateness," Naruto joked with a smile.

Sakura shrugged but then she turned her head to glance at him. "What's with the outfit?" She asked him curiously.

Sasuke turned his head slightly to observe Naruto's change in clothes. "Not bad dope. At least it isn't that bright orange anymore."

"Yeah, it looks nice on you but it's still not as cool as Sasuke-kun's outfit," Sakura said as she nodded in approval.

Naruto gave a wry grin but he let their comments go. This wasn't about looking good to anyone. This was all about what he felt was right and with learning a new style with new skills, the clothes were just another step in changing things up.

So while he waited, Naruto began to do a light warm up, which consisted of jumping in place, stretching out his limbs and once he was finished with that, he summoned a clone and began a light spar with it, with was primarily blocking and dodging its jabs and kicks.

When Kakashi finally arrived, he arrived with Tazuna, who looked anxious.

"Alright team, let's head out," Kakashi said with a smile.

Ino Yamanaka was as bored as could be.

Shikamaru and Asuma were playing Shogi and Chōji was in the middle of pigging out. She needed a break from the monotony that has become her life.

So she went for a jog.

A nice afternoon jog was the best way to spice up her life filled with lazy and hungry men. But as she jogged past a training ground, she noticed something peculiar. There was a boy there. He was wearing a hideous green jump suit with ugly orange leg warms and had fuzzy eyebrows and a bowl cut hair style.

He was sparring with a large clone of himself…except it had a Jōnin vest on.

But what interested her was the way the two moved. Each blow they landed on one another looked impactful and the way they moved as if they were gliding on the grace impressed her greatly.

She then wondered.

Could she move that fast?

Could she hit that hard?

She then snorted. Obviously she could. She was Yamanaka Ino after all and she could do anything that she wanted. Besides, from what she observed about Sasuke, he wanted to revive his clan and become strong and what better way to do that than to get strong enough for him?

With a determined grin, she walked onto the training ground and shouted "Excuse me!"

The two shinobi kept on with their intense spar.

Ino's eyes twitched and she yelled out "Excuse me!"

The younger one's head looked to the left at her briefly before he was kicked hard in the face, which sent flying towards her but just as she yelled out in alarm, the youth twisted his body and pushed himself off the ground and made himself into a ball before he landed in a crouch.

Ino turned around and shouted "You could have hit me, you jerk!"

"Sorry about that Kunoichi-chan! I'll make sure to be careful when Gai-Sensei launches me!" The youth said with a bright smile, his eyes twinkling slightly as he scratched the back of his neck. Ino frowned and looked away, ignoring the odd feeling in her chest at his smile.

"Too loud," Ino whined slightly as the larger green wearing freak walked up to her.

"Ah, hello Yamanaka-san," Gai said with a smile. "What are you doing in our neck of the woods?"

"My team is being lazy oafs and I wanted to do something actually entertaining so I happened to pass by," Ino explained. "You guys are very good at Taijutsu. What style is that?"

"Ah! It's Gōken. That is the style Gai-Sensei and I primarily use," the teen said enthusiastically. "Gai-sensei was training me to further my knowledge of the style."

"I see…Can anyone learn this style?" Ino asked.

"Gōken is a very powerful style that not many could use without putting their body at risk," The man, Gai she assumed, said with a cross of his arms. "Lee and I are able to use it. For someone like you…Hmm…You may not be able to our style however I think there is a style that would suit you but I would have to see how you fight."

"Okay…." Ino drawled out hesitantly.

"Very good. Lee and I are doing our pre-mission spar as we are leaving in an hour but when we return in a few days' time, we would be happy to test your mettle and see what style your youthful spirit can use."

"Great…I'll let Asuma-sensei know so he could be there to see," Ino said.

"Ah, Asuma-kun is a very good sensei. It would be good to have his expertise regarding your skills. Well, until then Yamanaka-san!" Gai said with a salute before motioned for Lee to follow.

Lee nodded and gave a wide smile and said "I hope your youthfulness remains as bright as your beauty, Yamanaka-chan," and with those words, Lee ran off after him.

"Ugh…I think I'm going to regret this," Ino whined but curiously enough, there was a smile on her face.

[THEME OF TRAVEL:
THUNDER PLAINS FROM FFX REMAKE]

"It's so weird being so far outside of the village," Sakura said with wonder in her voice.

Naruto opened remained silent but he couldn't help but agree with his pink-haired friend. It felt as if a whole new world was opened to him now and he was going to enjoy every second of it.

Unfortunately, fate decided different because it was then he felt some ill feelings coming from the puddle of water ahead.

Naruto always had the ability to sense evil energy and while he didn't know where it came from, he always used to keep away from those that meant him harm.

Naruto quickly walked up to Kakashi, who was in the middle of a discussion with Tazuna and said "Sensei. You see that puddle up ahead?"

Kakashi looked up and saw the puddle and then looked to the sky before he glanced down at Naruto and asked "Seems suspicious doesn't it?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, considering he hasn't rained at all."

"Curious…" Kakashi said.

Naruto waited for Kakashi to say anything more but after a minute of walking and getting closer to the puddle, Naruto realized that Kakashi had said all the he was going to say. Naruto walked backwards so he was in between Sasuke and Sakura and said "I think something is going to happen."

"What makes you say that dope?" Sasuke questioned.

"Well…Notice that puddle that's coming up?" Naruto asked.

"What puddle?" Sakura asked as she looked around only to blush in embarrassment when Naruto pointed it out. "Oh that one. Yeah…That's pretty strange that, considering it hasn't rained for days."

"Right?" Naruto replied. "And yet when I told Kakashi-sensei, he didn't listen to a word I said. All he said was "Curious" and then stayed quiet."

"Hm…Something bad coming may be coming from there so we should be careful," Sasuke said.

And fate would prove Naruto's gut feeling and Sasuke's words correct because seconds after they passed the puddle, chains came out and wrapped around Kakashi. Sakura screamed in terror as two shinobi leapt out of the puddle, their chains extended.

The pair landed on the ground where Kakashi was in the middle of them, chains wrapped around his body.

The one of the right had shoulder-length, smooth dark-brown hair and dark eyes. He wore a rebreather that covered the lower half of his face and a large, clawed gauntlet on his right arm which had a chain coming out of it that had the other end attached to the other man's own gauntlet.

He wore a blue camouflage suit with bandages around his waist, dark-colored, knee-length sandals and a ragged black cape. His Kirigakure forehead protector had a single horn on it.

The second man had shoulder-length, wild dark-brown hair and dark eyes. He also wore a rebreather that covers the lower half of his face and a large, clawed gauntlet on his left arm which had a chain coming out of it that connected to the chain on the other man's gauntlet.

He wore a tan camouflage suit with bandages around his waist, dark-colored, knee-length sandals and several pouches around his waist. His Kirigakure forehead protector had two horns on it.

With dark, wild eyes, the two then pulled on their chain and ripped Kakashi to shreds.

"Sensei!" Sakura screamed in terror as Naruto and Sasuke looked on in shock.

"One down Meizu," The wild haired man said with a smirk.

"Four more to go Gōzu," The smooth haired man responded before the duo charged forward.

[THEME OF BATTLE:
CRISIS FROM FINAL FANTASY X]

"Sasuke, go for the left one, I'll go for the right! Sakura-chan, protect Tazuna," Naruto said as he rushed to Meizu, who immediately swung his right gauntlet towards Naruto when the shinobi got close. Naruto ducked leapt over the gauntlet and shouted "Tornado!"

Naruto spun his body and landed a hard right kick to Meizu's face, which caused him to skid back. Naruto then spun his body two more rotations in order to nail two more kicks to Meizu's face before he turned his body one more time and slight turn of his body, he delivered a brutal blow to the side of Meizu's head, which sent the shinobi sailing into a tree.

Naruto landed on the ground and dashed towards Meizu, who was rising from his position and took him off his feet with a hard tackle against the tree so Meizu was laid against it as Naruto delivered several hard jabs to the man's face, each blow cracking his rebreather before the final blow shattered it, leaving the man's face bloody.

Meizu kicked Naruto off of him and rose to his feet and swung his lunged his gauntlet twice towards Naruto but Naruto swayed to the left to avoid the first lunge and then ducked the second one before placed his back to Meizu's chest, grabbed his arm and hoisted him off his feet and down onto his back hard before he landed a hard, nearly chakra-infused left jab to Meizu's neck, which caused him to choke out in pain as his wind pipe was crushed from the blow.

He reached out to grasp at Naruto's face before his arm fell to the ground.

Naruto stared at the man's glassy eyes and felt both revulsion and shock hit his stomach as he raised his fist from the man's neck.

It had happened so fast….He couldn't stop it…

"Brother!" Gōzu's voice shouted in horror, which caused Naruto to turn to the voice and there he saw Sasuke, with his Uchiha styled version of the windmill shuriken, which scraped against Gōzu's gauntlet.

Gōzu kicked Sasuke away and charged towards Naruto with an enraged "I'm going to kill you!" but seconds later, Kakashi appeared before him and delivered a brutal clothesline, which sent Gōzu to the ground.

"Wow…I was not expecting that…" Kakashi's voice said as he looked back at Naruto.

Unable to hold it back, Naruto vomited as hard as he could.

[BATTLE END]

Captain Blues: And thus, the Assassination Fist has claimed its first victim. So I decided that one of the Demon Brothers would be the one to die to Naruto's fist due to two reasons.

One: Naruto was going to have to learn that his Taijutsu's name was chosen for a reason.

Two: If Sasuke could take them down in canon on his own, then that means these two were very weak and Naruto, who had been training with this style, should be able to as well.

And three: The age old tale of underestimating their opponents.

The next chapter will deal with Naruto's feelings on the death and the battle with Zabuza. Now onto other things…

BREAKING NEWS!

Pairing Updates: Naruto/Tayuya/Hinata/Kurenai and Rock Lee/Ino/? (and also more outside of those pairings.)

That's right, Rock Lee is getting more love and a bump up as Naruto's best friend and Rival so he gets two ladies.

That's right! Two ladies!

And the first one is Yamanaka Ino.

Why Ino?

Well, I didn't want Ino to be paired with Naruto since he already has his hands full (Despite loving Ino a lot) but I started to think. I used to play the Ultimate Ninja and Ninja Storm series and Ino's moveset with kicks was pretty cool but there is another blonde fighter that she could really take after."

ALSO, this does not mean that Lee will be learning anything regarding the Ansatsuken. In fact, His style is already similar to Street Fighter's Bushin-ryu that Guy and Zeku uses so you won't see a difference there. HOWEVER you will start to see more of the Bushin-ryu style in Lee. Along with some moves from SNK's Kim Kaphwan.

Now, I'm sure you guys may have noticed something regarding the pairings and that's Kurenai has joined it. I originally was not going to add her but I realized that I never see much of Naruto/Kurenai so I decided to change that. While I'm still on the fence about Tenten, I'm still fully willing to add her in.

So until the next chapter gang!