Naruko: The Story Retold
By: dbrame91
Sorry for such a long wait folks. I wanted to make this a good chapter but had issues with the story to it as a lot of this part is non-canon story. In order to make up for the wait, I tried to make this a long chapter.
Sadly I have now had to remove a review from this story. The review in question was from an anonymous user who chose to hide behind that one way mirror to tell me to kill myself and then insult me. Good news is I am still alive and active despite this poor soul's weak attempt to put me down.
This is a 9,653 word chapter, not counting the header, and long overdue. Next chapter will gloss over the time between completion of this mission and the seven person group of ninjas' return to Konoha.
Chapter 11: Naruko
Naruko continued to struggle against Zabuza as he tightened the embrace. "Let me go Zabuza." The blond's voice was a growl as she freed an arm and pushed herself back from the man. Slowly the former Kiri ninja complied, loosening his hold on her before releasing her completely, but not before using the closeness to loop the Namikaze heiress into the plan.
Once freed Naruko retrieved her weapon and jumped back with the rest of her team, her head hanging slightly. "Naruko, next time listen during a mission," Kakashi scolded carefully. "You could have been cut down acting like that." Gently he put a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at him. He noticed her mouth moving slightly as almost inaudible words escaped her, laying out the plan set up by Zabuza and Kushina. 'So Zabuza is still willing to compromise.'
Kakashi nodded to his blond student as he got ready to play his part. Naruko looked back towards Zabuza as she lifted her blade slowly. Sasuke was making his way to the shack that Sakura and Tazuna were hiding in, his eyes not turning away from the two Kiri ninja. Haku pulled out several of his needles and held them in a reverse hold, the ends of the needles coming out from the pinky side of his right hand. "Naruko, you and Sasuke are not to engage Zabuza. Keep the Hyoton user busy and I will distract Zabuza so Sakura can get Kushina out of there."
"Hai sensei." The blond shifted her focus from the experienced swordsman to the ice slinging teen to his right. "The seal is still active so that will help keep his jutsu weaker." Turning her attention inward, until her black haired teammate returned, Naruko looked towards her sister. 'Yoko-nee, I'm sorry I lost it back there. It was dumb of me, and I let it rattle me.'
'Everything is okay Naruko-nee. I know you were just worried about Kaa-san, but try and remember to listen to me more okay?' Channeling her senses through her sister, Yoko had adjusted her room to look like the current scene on the bridge. 'Just keep yourself calm and I will help with keeping you as aware of everything going on as I can.' Yoko moved next to her representation of her sister and joined her in looking towards Haku. Yoko was answered by a small pulse of thankful chakra as Naruko returned most of her focus to the external.
"Talking to your sister over there blondie?" Zabuza called out, noticing the slightly eased posture of Naruko as she talked to Yoko. It had been something she would do a lot when she was still his student, the slight change becoming a noticeable habit to the bandaged faced man. "How is she doing? Still a peace lover?"
Naruko nodded in the affirmative as Kakashi looked over at her and dropped his voice to a whisper. "He knows about Yoko?" Again the Uzumaki heiress nodded. "Does he know what she can do?" Kakashi was worried that they may have even less advantages in this fight now if the Demon of the Mist did indeed know. This time Naruko shook her head, and calmed the veteran's thoughts.
"Yoko and I didn't work any of that stuff out until after returning to Konoha. And only you and Kaa-san know what we can do, though Lord Inherited Pinkeye does know about her." Naruko explained, throwing in the jab at Sasuke to try and keep things lighthearted. 'Yoko, where are Sasuke and Sakura?' The internal sister looked around her current setup and found the two Genin inbound to the rest of Team 7. A second later Sakura and Sasuke slid into position on either side, Sasuke to the left of Kakashi and Sakura to the right of Naruko.
"Perfectly timed you two. Sasuke, you and Naruko will hold off the masked kid. I will take Zabuza. And Sakura, you go get Kushina-san while we hold off these two." Kakashi ordered quickly. "Remember, hold back to conserve stamina." Slowly he separated himself from his Genin, Zabuza following his lead, while Team 7's blond tank and raven assault specialist moved on their opponent. Naruko took the lead, her miniature of the Kubikiribocho in a two handed grip and resting on her right shoulder, while Sasuke followed and kept slightly lower with a kunai held in a reverse grip.
With a quick flicker of their bodies the three met in a renewed clash of steel. Naruko brought her heavy blade down fast but light, trying to keep from damaging the masked boy's last remaining weapons, while Sasuke escaped his housemate's shadow by sliding to the left of the blond teen. As he pulled his kunai up the Uchiha aimed for the white mask in an attempt to remove it, hoping that he could read more of the fellow male's attacks by watching where his eyes landed. Seeing the attack as it neared his mask Haku quickly flipped through a series of one-handed hand signs before calling out "Sensatsu Suisho!" As the boy's words filled the air so too did numerous needles made of water hover around the three teens before crashing inwards. Haku disengaged, retreating through a window that gave him just enough room to escape. Thinking quickly Naruko grabbed the back of Sasuke's collar and threw him forward, after the boy, while she began to spin her weapon around like she had back in Haku's prison of ice mirrors.
The two dark haired teens watched the spot as Naruko did everything she could to block the water needles. As the last of the needles crashed into the ground she had only suffered a deeply grazing injury, to her left side, that had dyed the water that tore her side open pink and then red. Her breathing was slightly heavy as she touched the opening and hissed. The blond's arms felt slightly heavy from swinging and twirling her blade around as much as she had done. Planting her sword in the concrete of the bridge she looked around, getting an update from Yoko.
'Zabuza and Kakashi-sensei are still a little bit off, but Sakura has Kaa-san who is filling her in on the plan.' Yoko explained as she turned her head around, studying the layout of the bridge occupants. 'Gato and his men are nearing the Wave side of the bridge now. Probably only two minutes before he makes his move.' Yoko was given a slight chakra pulse as Naruko regrouped with Sasuke, making two shadow clones along the way that branched off towards Kakashi and Kushina to give them updates.
"Gato is on his way here. He is about two minutes away with a bunch of thugs." Naruko was pressed shoulder to shoulder with the raven haired teen as she alerted her teammate to the incoming forces, her voice loud enough to let Haku know too. "Get ready, we're about to have a lot more fighting ahead of us." Sasuke eyed her injured side silently as the blond looked around in the thinning mist. "I need to get this closed up, so you hold off this guy while Sakura patches me back up." With that Naruko disappeared in a burst of speed to allow the two male teens to keep up the act.
When the blond met up with Sakura it was just as her clone dispersed itself, leaving a small cloud of smoke. "Sakura, I need you to fix me up, fast as possible." Lifting the left side of her shirt, Naruko exposed the wound to Team 7's medic. Her shirt had soaked up a fair amount of blood and clung to her side with a wet warmth that cooled quickly in the mist saturated air. "Ah, that is better already," she sighed as she felt the healing properties of her fellow teen's medical jutsu staunch the bleeding and knit the skin back together. In a few seconds Naruko was as good as new, just as a laugh filled the air from the direction of Wave.
With a huff Naruko got back on her feet and looked towards the laughter's source. As the sound got closer more voices became audible, each adding its presence to the mixing laughter, before it all died back down. "Well what do we have here? A bunch of brats, two failures at their job, and a cyclops" Gato called into the thick mist, relying on the reports he had received to mock the gathered ninja as the mist was still too thick. 'I can't see a damned thing through this mist, but if they think I can it will be all the more imposing.'
"Kaa-san, there are three in the group that smell of weapon oil only." The Namikaze teen whispered out as she put her weapon on her back. "They are no doubt the Kiri Hunters that Gato called in. Then there are about thirty other people, counting the little rat and his two body guards." With a quick pulse of chakra into the mist Naruko thinned out the curtain some more. "We should all group back up." With that the three female occupants on the bridge got up and silently dove deeper into the mist, the two uninjured ninja following the blond as she made her way back to the others.
The four male ninja on the bridge had regrouped, with Kakashi and Zabuza rushing over to the teens as soon as the clone dispersed. As soon as the four were together they heard the laugh of the shipping tyrant and his henchmen. As Gato mocked the collective each one of them got ready for the next step, eliminate the tiny man and his laughable force of goons. When the tyrant stopped the group of four was suddenly met by the three bright haired members of their plan.
"They have three Hunter ninja from what I can tell." Naruko said as she looked around the group. "I can't pinpoint them, not in this mist anyway. Though I can think of a good way to draw them out." Quickly making a Kage Bunshin Naruko made sure she had the group's attention. "We just have to go for Gato. Depending on their experience they will either be some of the first ones to react or they won't even move. Either outcome will tell us who is who. The Hunters will either see it as a trap and not move to even draw weapons, or they draw and rush while their speed gives them away." Kakashi was nodding slowly as he thought it over.
'Not a bad idea.' Locking eyes with his student Kakashi spoke up. "What about if we move too quick for the thugs and they don't realize they should draw."
"They will get ready out of anger almost as soon as they see Gato dead, which still helps us because the Hunters aren't being paid by the bastard so they won't care." The blond explained as she took off her coat and put it back on immediately, leaving her low hanging ponytail tucked into the neck of the garment. "I'll be the one going out there, well my clone will be, that way we can also get a quick idea of what they look like and not risk losing one of us." At this the clone saluted as it hefted its clone of Naruko's sword. "We'll just wait for him to finish talking before we start. Zabuza, I'm going to need your help to make some more cover for us."
"This is pathetic Zabuza. I thought I hired the Demon of the Bloody Mist, but all I got is some weakling who can't even kill a bridge builder." Gato called out into the mist, looking in the direction he last heard the sound of clanging metal, still too blinded by the ex-Kiri ninja's veil to see. Gato's hired stooges stood around behind him, hesitant to enter the mist due to the stories of the Demon's former accomplishments. The three hunters were mixed into the group of thugs, the only ones to notice that the mist was thinning now, each one gripping their weapons and waiting for the time to strike. "I guess I didn't need to alert Kirigakure to your being here, and just had my own men kill you."
As the words left his mouth a blond blur shot out of the mist towards the large group, an animalistic roar coming from it. Six bodies moved as the blur came into sight. The first was one of Gato's nameless peons, stepping forward to prove his skill. He was cut down quickly, his cheap iron sword snapping under the force of the heavier blade carried by the blond streak, as the blur sped past his left side and took the arm off before he could realize the loss of the limb. The second and third were Gato's body guards, stepping in front of the diminutive man with their swords drawn. The last three to move were the Hunters, one came from the left, the next came from the right, and the final one came straight down.
The one on Naruko's left was braced against the bridge under his feet, a kunai buried in her side just above the previous wound. The hunter on her right was holding a ninjato, which went from about his hip to just passed the knee, and had stabbed it clean through her right thigh. The third Hunter, on her back, was also wielding a ninjato but his was longer and stabbed through one of her lungs. "A Leaf brat? Did she really think she could take on this whole group?" The second one asked as he looked at the soon to be dead girl, already sliding weakly towards the ground. Just as the third was about to speak up the area was filled with a sudden cloud of smoke as the blond disappeared. "A clone?!" As the Hunters looked at each other three identical voices called out, the voices coming from behind each of them.
"Clones are a specialty of mine." As the three turned to look, they met the eyes of the clones behind them, each one releasing the mist around them. "Bunshin Jutsu and stealth are my two primary skills." As more of the mist cleared the rest of the growing Team 7 came into view. The three Genin and Kushina were together behind the thigh length ninjato wielder. Kakashi had Haku next to him, behind the hunter who had landed on the clone's back. Lastly was Zabuza behind the man who had only a kunai drawn. Each clone turned to smoke as the group of seven closed in more.
In a sudden movement all three of the masked Kiri charged their closest opponent. Haku blocked his and Kakashi's target with an ice mirror, forming the ice around the blade to keep it stuck. Zabuza casually blocked kunai stabs with his own weapon, each time the small knife only skipped off the broad side of his massive sword. The last one rushed at the blond Genin who had tricked his team, only to be hit from his right side by a hidden clone's Suiryuudan and knocked off his feet. "I already told you that clones are my specialty."
"Shut up you annoying blond bitch!" The man charged again, picking his weapon off the bridge's concrete surface as he got to it, the ninjato having been dropped when he was hit by the dragon shaped water form. "I was chosen to be one of the next Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, and I will not stand for some brat to make a fool of me." As he got in front of Naruko he brought his blade down, only to have it met half way by her own weapon. A smirk grew across her face as she continued to mock the man, only this time without words. Pushing forward a bit, the blond was able to force him to jump back.
"What sword would you get?" The Hunter was stunned for a minute, not expecting the question. "Come on, you can't be that shaken by being blocked can you?" Naruko asked as she met the man's eyes behind his mask.
"I don't see why it matters to you, but I'm the next to get the Kubikiribocho once we take it back from Zabuza." The man lunged again, the blade pulled back along his right hip. As his foot made contact with the bridge surface directly in front of the blond a surge of water suddenly lashed upward between the two.
"Don't forget, you aren't doing this alone Naruko." The voice of Kushina called out from a few paces off to the Uzumaki heiress's left, both of the red headed mother's hands on the bridge in a puddle that stretched out to where the two sword wielders stood. "Let's take this guy down before the rest finish up." With a look over her shoulder Kushina called out to the medic of team 7, "Now Sakura, Sasuke!"
With the cue given a crouching shape landed in front of the man and lashed out in an uppercut, pink hair coming into view as the figure attacked. The Seven Swordsmen hopeful gave a quick swing of his ninjato, only for it to pass through the figure and the sound of flying shuriken to pervade the air. His thoughts took in the situation despite the threat, 'an illusionary bunshin.' As the Kiri man looked into the fog he heard the sound come closer before finally seeing the glint of light bouncing off the sharpened throwing stars. Choosing to keep pressing his opponents he rushed forward, back at the blond, as well as getting away from where the weapons could hit him. As he got closer to Naruko the man felt six thin lines of pressure along the front of his clothing that went around the sides. Before he could realize the trap the wires snapped around, closing off a chance to retreat as the shuriken embedded themselves into the bridge and pulled the wires tight around his body.
Again a pink haired figure appeared in front of the man, but when she swung her fist upwards Sakura was actually there and using her chakra augmentation to add to the punch. The blow sent the hunter up and backwards, the shuriken stuck in the bridge being pulled up with him, as he heard the approaching sound of feet. Correcting his short flight the ninja landed on his feet and freed himself from the ninja wire that had trapped him while he looked around. He was surrounded by ten copies of the same blond haired teen, all of them started flying through hand signs that came to a sudden end and resulted in ten similar dragon shaped streams of water rushing towards him.
With Kakashi and Haku
The two impromptu teammates were holding their own easily enough against the disarmed hunter, his weapon still stuck in an ice mirror that was kept out of the hunter's reach. Kakashi had come up with a plan before everyone had approached. He and Haku were going to use hit and run tactics, Haku would use his Demonic Ice Mirrors to make another dome while Kakashi would remain on the outside. Haku would then assail the hunter, much like he had with Naruko, Sasuke, and Kakashi, to keep the hunter from running out and Kakashi would run in from any blind spots the hunter provided while trying to defend against the rain of needles.
Kakashi wove between the mirrors, shooting into the dome and back out armed with a single kunai. Each hit resulted in small cuts along the hunter's legs and arms mostly, and they were finally starting to slow the man down. The Hunter's response time to the incoming ninja tools was slowing down as evidenced by the growing number of needles perforating his body.
"Haku, release the first mirror." Kakashi called out into the dome in the middle of one of the teen's assaults. The Leaf Jonin was standing by the mirror, hand on the hilt of the trapped weapon as he readied himself to move in and keep the opponent distracted while Haku readied his next attack. With a sudden slide of the weapon coming free Kakashi was running off into the dome, the enemy's ninjato in hand and ready to sing through the air as he rushed the panting man. With a quick swing of the weapon Kakashi felt the blade tear through the hunter, but as he turned around after slipping through the walls of the dome he watched as the man fell to the ground in a puddle. In his haste to find his target again Kakashi tore his eyes away from the puddle, missing the 'remains' move towards freedom from the trap. As Kakashi watched he felt the blade in his hand be ripped free and pointed towards him.
As the blade came in closer Kakashi switched out quickly, substituting himself with a small load cement mixer from along the top of the bridge. From where he stood the silver haired man heard the edge of the sword grind against the drum of the mixer. Haku was next to him shortly after. "Now he has his weapon back, and I doubt we will be able to trap him again. Or at least no as easily." Kakashi nodded his head to the teen's words.
"I should have been using the Sharingan. I would have known if it was a clone if I had been." Haku nodded this time before he spoke up again.
"You should have, but I don't think that was a clone. Zabuza told me about a clan in Kirigakure that are capable of turning themselves into water." Haku looked in the direction of the puddle man. "It is possible that he is a survivor from the Civil War in Kiri. If he is, the clan reportedly needed to keep a very high hydration level in order to use the ability. If we can force him to waste his use of it then we might be able to tire him out again."
"Start chilling the air as much as you can. He doesn't have to freeze, but if we can reduce his willingness to change out of fear of freezing it should help too." Sniffing at the air Kakashi could pick up on the man's scent, as well as the smell of blood from Zabuza's direction. Without a word Haku began to focus his chakra into the air, forcing out the mix of water and wind that made his Hyoton. "Try and draw his attention, I'm going to prepare for the next attack." With that the Jonin was off and hiding in the mist, his chakra spiking quickly but subtly as he began to form his original jutsu.
with Zabuza
'Boring.' Zabuza tilted his head to the right a bit as he blocked another stab, only to send it upwards towards his face. With a light push he forced the hunter away. So far Zabuza had only moved one foot, and that was to widen his stance. "You know, for a Kirigakure hunter, you are terrible at this." Another stab came at him, and again it was aimed for center mass. 'He is too predictible. It's a miracle I haven't killed him yet. Maybe I should settle down somewhere again, recover my old skills.' Focusing a short blast of chakra and killing intent, Zabuza projected a demonic aura and watched as the hunter almost tripped over himself. As the masked man got closer Zabuza swung his weapon in a diagonal slice from his enemy's right shoulder to his left hip.
The Hunter jumped back, taking the strike across his chest and receiving a shallow cut. The bleeding was just enough to be worrying, especially with the other four oozing openings along his arms and one leg. In a string of Kiri's hand signals the masked hunter conveyed his own message, the hand based language roughly coming together as, "come quietly Zabuza, and pay for your betrayal." Zabuza translated this statement out loud before breaking into a maniacal laugh. The hunter took a second kunai out, hiding the movement within his large cloak, and began a new assault.
Zabuza actively avoided half of the swings and thrusts, the rest of the attacks were stopped by his sword. "Using a second knife isn't going to make you a bigger threat. Kicking out, the ex-Kiri ninja forced his opponent away before making a quick charge and swinging his blade downward. The Hunter chose to avoid the weapon, jumping back again, and caught the end of the Kubikiribocho in the mask. The porcelain split with little resistance and the Hunter underneath got away unscathed. The knife wielder reached up to his face before dropping back into an offensive stance.
"You look familiar. Did I kill a brother of yours?" Over his years as a ninja, both rogue and Kiri loyal, Zabuza had learned to tune out the faces of his targets and opponents if they didn't provide a real challenge for him, or make him a hefty profit. However that level of indifference came later on in his life, probably around the time he first went against the former Mizukage. The former Kiri swordsman watched as the hunter signed again, before lowering the high collar around his neck to reveal a scar going along his throat."'No, but you almost killed me?' What the fuck does that mean?"
Again the unnamed Hunter signed his words, "Back in academy?" The Hunter nodded to Zabuza's spoken translation. "When I was a kid?" Another nod. Realization slowly dawned on the sword wielder. "I missed one." This comment was just to himself as he started to smile under his bindings, his lips quickly twisting into a grotesque sneer, before he started to laugh. "So I failed to kill everyone with my class's massacre. That just means I need to correct that mistake." Moving quickly Zabuza charged the man, his sword pulled back over his head. The Kiri loyal jumped to the side, knowing that his village's limited accomplishments with steel meant that his kunai would snap under the single swing if he tried to block.
As the sword came down Zabuza corrected the movement, letting the speed transfer to a horizontal swing that caught the once masked mute in the back. "Just stand still so I can kill you quick." The Hunter stood back up, having been forced to take a knee as he was cut, and continued to move slowly away from the mercenary. "I'll take your head one way or another, now let me finish this."
The Hunter recoiled slightly as Zabuza mixed his chakra into his killing intent, creating a larger demonic projection to fill the space behind the former Kiri swordsman. With a charge Zabuza closed any distance and began his onslaught of swings, an unseen vicious grin under his face's wrappings and a menacing non-stopping laugh. The hunter continued to dodge and, in an act of desperation, threw one of his kunai from behind his back, angled to try and catch the crazed swordsman in the face. The airborne weapon sailed straight at Zabuza, who in his berserk rush barely noticed the knife in time to move his head, only for it tear through a small section of his face wrappings and leave a red weeping line across the cheek underneath.
with Kakashi and Haku
Haku was keeping his and Kakashi's opponent as busy as he could without wasting too much of his own chakra. Every now and then the Yuki clan survivor would create an ice mirror behind the man, and all the mirrors were starting to drop the surrounding temperature steadily. Soon their entire section of the bridge was a maze of mirrors, and the water on the surface was making slick spots of hard to detect ice.
Kakashi was still out of sight, his hitai-ate completely up and exposing his gifted Sharingan eye, as he focused the erratic lightning chakra needed to power his Chidori. The recently exposed eye allowed the silver haired man to find the concentrations of chakra that made the ice mirrors even in the thinning mist created by his student and the former Kiri swordsman. As he watched Kakashi studied his enemy's chakra patterns, every now and then it would dip slightly as his body fell apart and reconstitute itself. A fatal injury presumably being avoided each time.
The two impromptu allies slowly forced the Hunter into a long dead end made of ice mirrors that gave Kakashi a perfect chance to strike. As the Jonin began his charge the Yuki teen struck out at the actual Kiri shinobi; causing his shape to distort, burst apart, and come back together. As the Hunter looked up his vision was filled with the blinding light of Kakashi's original jutsu as his angered scream was drowned out by the bird like noise of the technique in the veteran's hand. Without enough time to use his clan's abilities the man felt the jutsu tear into his chest, pulverizing the heart once located inside and leaving it a mess of muscly ribbons, before the hand burst from his back in a fountain of red that splashed against the ice mirror.
with Naruko and company
Kushina stayed off to the side, interfering in the one on one skirmishes between her daughter and the Kiri hunter. Naruko made sure to watch for any hints at Sakura and Sasuke aiming for sneak attacks against the man and stepped back when the couple made their move. Any time the pink haired teen or her Uchiha lover became the focus of the sword wielder Naruko would step back in and pressure the black clad man with slightly restrained kenjutsu. 'If I give it any more effort I will probably be out of steam by the time it comes to fighting Gato's little army. Yoko, think you could give me a light recharge? Like what a Jinchuuriki can do with their Bijuu.' Naruko analyzed as she once again took over in the fight, giving Sakura a chance to escape a gruesome beheading.
The only daughter of the Fourth Hokage pushed her opponent away, putting all the force in her weapon to try and open the man's guard. Working as hoped the man's sword went wide at the same time he took a backwards leap to keep himself from being cut down. 'I'm sorry Naruko-nee but I don't even know if we can mix our chakras like that. I know it works for the Netto Shodoku Mizu Bunshin Daibakuha, but I mix the chakra directly into the clones to make that happen not mix it with your natural reserves. It could fry out your system forever.'
"Kaa-san, keep him off me while I talk to Sakura!" Naruko yells into the mist, knowing the Matron of the Uzumaki clan will follow through, as she clears herself from the confrontation. Letting Yoko guide her to her fellow Genin, Naruko stops next to the medic of Team 7. "Sakura, I want you right behind me on the next assault. Once I catch his weapon with mine you come in and smash the back of mine," she explains as she demonstrates the area that the pinkette should hit. "We're going to try and eliminate his weapon to reduce his threat level."
The blond doesn't move until she sees the medic nod her head. With a smile Naruko is off, Yoko guiding her through the mist, to start their plan. A short blast of chakra to her surroundings allows her to find Sakura behind her without distracting the fox spirit she calls sister.
'Naruko-nee, Sasuke is currently keeping the hunter busy. Kaa-san is building up a decent amount of chakra. I think she is going to use one of the Uzumaki clan jutsu.' Yoko's voice was calm as she tried to relay the situation to the blond teen.
Naruko stopped short and grabbed Sakura as the pinkette caught up. "Kaa-san is gonna try something big. We need to stay back till we know it is safe." With a quick joining of her hands in one of her most frequent signs the Namikaze girl was joined by an exact copy who took off towards Sasuke.
Grabbing the black haired teen by the back of his shirt, the clone pulled Sasuke away from the enemy and shouted an all clear for Kushina. The Hunter brought his blade down in a diagonal ark, slicing the fake in the back from her right shoulder to her left side, and created a cloud of chakra smoke.
The call that came from the clone acted as a target for the Uzumaki matron. Slamming her hands together, fingers curled in and laced together, Kushina caught the ninjato wielder in her jutsu.
Water quickly comes up and surrounds the man, much like the Suiro no Jutsu. As the trap finishes forming the water begins to move slowly and pick up speed as Kushina funnels more chakra into it. The sphere quickly becomes a balled up whirlpool meant to catch and disorient the Hunter inside as he struggles against the flow only wasting his strength and dwindling air. After a few minutes Kushina releases the technique, depositing the Hunter on his face to the bridge surface.
Naruko approached the downed man carefully, weapon ready, to check for signs of life. As her hand was reaching out to check the pulse line in his neck a standard kunai knife flew past her hand and embedded itself into the base of the man's neck. There was no noise made except for the tearing sound of destroyed skin and crushing/grinding of the knife severing the spinal cord and damaging the vertebrae.
"It's safer to just waste the kunai when not sure if an enemy is actually dead or just faking it." The redhead of the Uzumaki clan stepped up behind her daughter as she explained. Taking a knee near the fresh corpse she collected her knife in a quick, freeing, tug and cleaned it off on the soaked cloak of the Hunter. Putting the throwing weapon away Kushina looked back over her shoulder and at the blond. "You could also spend chakra on a jutsu, but that could be less favorable in the long run."
With a huff of exertion Kakashi steps out of the mist, a body with a large hole through its torso dragging on the ground at his side. With another gathering of strength, and air, the silver haired ninja hoists the body up a bit before throwing it over the other dead Hunter. Haku on his heels with the man's ninjato at his side before throwing the blade towards the pile too.
"Tougher than he looked, but he also had an annoying kekkai genkai to make it worse." Kakashi explains as he stretches out his arms slowly.
Suddenly a dark shape sails through the mist and rolls a few times. The third Hunter's body hiding the torso long ninjato that Haku had thrown. "I should have made sure that son of a bitch was dead when I was a kid." Zabuza's arms were covered in small, but bloody, cuts. The Hunter however had several deeper wounds and a split in his temple. "He decided to study sword breaker skills, but they were useless with only kunai as weapons. Only good for chipping the Kubikiribocho, which is a pointless goal."
Sakura steps forward and reaches a hand out toward the swordsman. "Would you like me to fix up your arms Zabuza-san? It shouldn't take long." Accepting the offer, Zabuza extends his arms with a glare on his face directed to the pink haired teen.
"Relax Zabuza. She is specifically trained as a medic, and the best in several years." Kushina says as she hits him in the shoulder once. Within a minute Zabuza's right arm is fixed and Sakura is starting on the left. Taking hold of the the man's limb, the pinkette turns it slightly and lowers her head as she inspects the damage.
With a soft huff Sakura begins to gather chakra in her hands as she begins to heal the swordsman. As the green glow comes to life on her palms a slight shifting goes unnoticed at the pile of downed enemies. The wounds healing is slower than it should be, something that the young medic notices almost immediately. "I think you've been poisoned Zabuza-san. The cuts aren't closing up right."
With a quick curse Zabuza looks at Sakura. "Kiri ninja tend to use a lot of poisons. I would say that guy used an older one, something that I wouldn't be immune to." Sakura nods as she carefully smells a few of the cuts, picking up on a slightly flowery scent that she isn't able to place easily.
"It's a purple flower. I forget the name, but it has blood thinning enzymes in its stem. The leaves of the stem have a concentrated amount as well." Naruko chimes in as she caught the smell too. "We covered it in the stealth and poisons joint class last year."
Zabuza nods as he thinks it over. "Sounds right. It is about a thirty year old poison that Kiri stopped using before the civil war." Zabuza looked at the cuts half heartedly. "The Hunters should have an antidote on them somewhere. I think it was a sickly green color with a sludge like consistency." With a slight huff Sasuke moved over to the pile and quickly found a phial of the green gunk in the weapons pouch of Zabuza's opponent. The former Kiri loyal took the glass tube and drained the contents after removing his face wrappings.
"The mist will clear soon, so let's finish this quick." Sakura nodded to the assassin's words as she bent her neck to check the healing rate of the cuts, finding a normal response to her application of medical ninjutsu. As the medic worked on her patient, no one noticed the last to be added hunter pick up the sword used by his comrade with a hole in his chest, and make a quick rush to his target. Taking aim the silent figure planned to take Zabuza's arm, even if he had to take the pinkette's head first. As the mute swung his weapon downward he was noticed by the Uchiha of the group, as well as the Namikaze, who took action immediately.
Sasuke reached out and pulled Sakura away from Zabuza. The nuke-nin noticed the sudden withdrawal and jumped back as the medic was pulled to safety. Naruko lifted her weapon and met the smaller sword with her own. As the hunter applied more force his blade bit into the large slab of sharpened steel and cleaved through it like butter, to the shock and horror of the blond holding it. The hunter's swing did not stop though, continuing down and across the girl's right eye, making her draw back and scream in pain.
Dropping the remains of her sword Naruko brought a hand to her eye as she hunched over, making herself as small as possible, as she fought back tears. 'FUCK! My sword and eye are both ruined.' With half her field of vision now a black void the blond missed the hunter coming for her again. Lost to her own thoughts she also missed her pink haired teammate trying to aid her.
During his rush the hunter failed to hear the roar of anger from Kushina, a roar that carried ancient power and raw hate. Kakashi and Zabuza turned towards the red head, not missing the violent change in the atmosphere. Her body was engulfed in a boiling, blood red, chakra that flowed slowly into a one tailed cloak with two long ears on it's head. As the power was released and enveloped the mother it began to burn away the skin in some places, most noticeably on her cheeks in the shape of three thick lines on each side of her mouth.
As the cloak solidified so too did a second and third tail, before Kushina's normal chakra flared up in the shape of a set of chains that wound their way around the red chakra. The two additional tails were the first parts to be suppressed by the golden chains, being held down against the back of the malicious red energy. As soon as the tails were contained the chains wrapped around the jinchuuriki's arms, legs, and torso. With a sudden jolt the chains where pulled tight around her form, the chains retracting into their point of origin at the middle of her back.
In the second it took for both Jonin to realize the situation Kushina was gone from sight and back in front of the hunter. Her hand shot out and grabbed at the man's face, the cloak gripping his head firmly as it began to burn his skin and squeeze the skull. Before the bijuu's might could claim the kill Zabuza grabbed his sword and removed the man's head from his shoulders, leaving the body to flop to the bridge's surface. "Let's see you survive that, bastard," Zabuza huffed out just as the hunter's cranium gave into the force and was crushed like a grape. Kushina then began to turn her attention towards the crowd of mercenaries and their employer on the other side of the bridge.
With a quick movement she was among the horde of dirty men. Her current connection to the beast sealed inside her gave the Uzumaki head a strange understanding of the men's feelings. Lust was the first thing she noticed, but that was short lived as the group began to recognize the danger present. Terror, it was everywhere around her but coming strongest from the shortest member of the crowd. Anger, a weak feeling among the mix that seemed to be coming more from fear. With a slow swing of her hand Kushina threw the person closest to her into the wall of the bridge, a sickening crack as the man went limp and fell backwards into the water below.
During this display of power Kakashi had enlisted Haku in helping to move his injured student further from the area while Sakura began to inspect the damage. Naruko was not making it an easy task as even the slightest touch caused the injury to burn in pain again, making her pull away from whoever it was in her large blind spot. The blond's pain was also blocking her from hearing Yoko as the chakra girl tried to calm her. "I need someone to hold her steady! I might still be able to save the eye." With this both the Hyoton user and the Uchiha grabbed hold of her arms and held them out to her sides while Kakashi took hold of her head and placed it between his parted knees. With Naruko secured by the three males Sakura began to flow chakra to her hands as she inspected the cut. "The eye is damaged, but the nerves should be fine. We'll have to hold her down a bit more, I need to treat the eye itself before the rest of the damage."
With practiced skill Sakura began to apply a thick supply of numbing chakra to the damaged areas, keeping her hands over the eye until Naruko visibly relaxed. The pinkette then began to add a prolonging aspect to the chakra, to keep it numb while she worked. "Okay, you should be able to loosen up a bit. She shouldn't feel much of anything for a bit." Sakura quickly moved closer to her teammate's head as she began to work. She carefully parted the eyelid as one finger began to glow green before being pressed delicately onto the eye, mending it. As the jelly like tissue was joined and repaired by her chakra, Sakura felt a slight change in the chakra network of the eye that made the fluid like feeling of the blond's energy come across as more hot and wild. When her chakra stopped its work Sakura looked at the eye again, as she inspected the once damaged eye she bit the inside of her cheek. Naruko's pupil had changed, taking on a slightly oval shape vertically but more pointed than rounded. 'I'll have to follow up on that. It should be just like it was before the injury.'
Changing focus the pink haired teen began to mend the skin of the eyelid as Zabuza rejoined the group, retrieving Kakashi to help him keep Kushina contained until the kyuubi's power was flushed from her system. As the exchange between the older ninja became a cemented plan Sakura was finishing her work, the only remains of the injury being a very light scar no longer than the radius of a five ryo coin*. Sitting back the med-nin opened one of her supply pouches and popped two smaller but dense soldier pills into her mouth, and one into her fellow teen's mouth. Naruko began to feel the effects of the pill as soon as it entered her system and opened her eyes, the anesthetic style chakra having knocked her out now wearing off. With a bit of confusion coating her voice the blond touched her eye gingerly, not feeling pain but noticing a change in sensitivity to visual stimuli. 'Ugh Yoko, why do I feel like I went a few rounds with an Akimichi? And why does light hurt so much?'
'Sakura was able to fix your eye but it wasn't going to be completely repaired. Further distances would have become an issue, so I tried to add my own chakra to the eye to mitigate that change.' The fox girl's voice carried a tone of pride, and hope, as she explained before approaching the subject of Kushina. 'Kaa-san also lost control. She's being consumed by the Kyuubi's power... She is tearing through Gato's men like a wild beast, we need to find a way to stop her.' As energy and feeling returned to the blond she stood carefully and waved off Sakura's fretting.
"I'll be okay, but we need to stop Kaa-san. Kakashi and I are the only two with sealing experience." Naruko stood, her knees locked as she regained coordination in the limbs. With a take charge attitude the Namikazi girl began to dish out orders and making a small platoon of shadow clones to assist the other teens.
"The clones will keep guard for you while you do your jobs." Naruko met the eyes of the three as she talked, going from one to the next. "Sasuke, you'll need to lead her into the trap with shuriken, kunai, and as much ninja wire as you can." With this she handed her pseudo brother a storage scroll and a group of five clones. "Sakura, you'll stay back to assist anyone who is injured on our side and provide visual cover." Naruko then handed the medic a rope, with several smoke bombs secured to it, and a bottle of soldier pills. "Haku, take your clones and start setting up as large of an ice cage as you can." Two groups, of five clones each, stepped up and followed their assigned wards.
With slow methodical movements Naruko began to go over any seals she could use to suppress the power currently burning away at her mother. 'Nothing I know is strong enough to resist that much rage.' Thinking back to any of her lessons with Jiraiya, the blond suddenly remembered the seal that the Toad Sage had used on the orange haired teen with anger issues. 'It could work, if it is able to siphon and trap nature energy.' Continuing to call up the specifics of that seal Naruko started with the basic goal for the intricate mark. "It needs to harvest chakra." Naruko began to draw this seal on the palm of her left hand.
With the purpose clear Naruko made a small spiraling mark starting at the pad below her thumb, barely noticeable spots in the curling form containing the actual complex parts of the starting point. "Next it should store what it collects." This time she drew a line that started at the inside of the spiral and cut through it, before curving to make it's way up to the tip of her middle finger. "It also needs to strengthen itself with what it collects." Without lifting her finger from her palm, the blond teen brought the mark back down her finger and made a single curly que after the third knuckle and brought the line to the right side of her palm.
With a soft sigh Naruko looked down at her palm. "I feel like I am overlooking something." As she thought over her work a loud and deep metallic shattering sound was heard before the pale form of Zabuza came sailing through the air, his sword less than a foot long, before rolling onto his feet and running back towards the Uzumaki woman. A clone from each of the teens' platoons popped to let their creator know everything was set up. Driven by the sudden info Naruko stood and rushed off, pushing any worries away as the young kitsune inside her tried to inform her of the error she had made.
Following the oppresive bloodlust that was the kyuubi's chakra Naruko found the once pristine bridge as a war zone. The entire surface was littered with bent and ruined kunai while a large enclosure of ice mirrors surrounded the mass of red energy. Sakura was currently treating a chakra low Haku with a few soldier pills to refill his reserves, and Sasuke was watching as Kakashi and Zabuza both tried to contain the enraged redhead with low power jutsu.
The top of this dome was about sixteen feet in the air, and so the blonde ran up to the top mirror and looked into the trap. With a quick prayer, and chakra charge to the seal Naruko jumped in, aiming to land on her mother's back. As she got close though, the head of the Uzumaki family jumped to the side, spinning as she went, with a leg out and caught the Genin girl in the side. The kick had more power than normal behind it, setting the teen off course but gave her the opening she needed too.
Reaching out Naruko took hold of her mother's ankle, using her left hand, and instantly regretted it. The seal came to life as it made contact, absorbing the maliscious chakra into itself and then into the person marked by the improvised seal. The palm of Naruko's hand quickly turned an agitated pink color, and then paled and blistered. The blond's entire body felt like liquid fire, and her sunset haired sister wasn't fairing anybody.
As the seal continued to absorb the Kyuubi's chakra the pain grew. When the Namikazi girl tried to pull away she found her hand unresponsive to her commands, the muscles locked up to try and avoid more pain. She could feel the cloak shrink down as her hand held the contact. Naruko's throat felt like she had been forced to swallow knives as she screamed through a clenched jaw. With a
While Naruko felt like she had been stuffed into a box full of hellfire, Yoko wasn't feeling much better. Due to sharing memories with Naruko she felt all of her sister's pain as if it was her own, on top of the pain that roared through her own chakra. The chakra construct's entire body was reacting, her fox features tucked away. Her tail was down and between her legs, while her ears were pressed flat against her skull. The secret daughter of Kushina could also feel her teeth pressing deep into her lip as well, until the soft skin gave and blood slowly flowed down her chin in a pencil thin river of red. As Yoko cowered and shook from the feeling her brain slightly registered new feelings along the backs of her thighs.
The pain was constant for both girls until there was suddenly nothing. Naruko's hand let go of Kushina as soon as the cloak was gone, dropping the girl to the damaged bridge as she lost consciousness. With her link to the real world cut off Yoko also fell unconscious due to exhaustion and pain. Both sisters were wiped out while also more energized than ever before, and between the two states of being, tired was the overpowering feeling when added to the amount of pain.
Kushina rose on weak legs, slowly lifting herself off the pavement of the bridge. Her body ached in a way that she knew only using the Kyuubi's power could generate. Looking around she recognised the hyoton technique surrounding her. Inspecting herself gingerly Kushina found most of her skin to be either burned lightly or burned away, only for it all to heal quickly. As she watched the wounds close without even a scar she heard the sounds of landing ninja and an aching kind of groan from her feet.
Her eyes traveled down to find her daughter panting and passed out on the bridge, the blond suffering from minor burns on the palm of her hand and near her wrist. Kushina came to some form of reason for her daughter to be injured in such a way quickly, having seen Minato with similar burns one time when he had had to reinforce her seal. Her full concern instantly went to her daughter, forgetting about her own injuries as she did so.
As Zabuza and Kakashi approached her she could hear the wary tones as they talked. Suddenly a calloused hand gripped her shoulder in a strong but caring way that drew her attention to the former Kiri ninja. Zabuza had avoided most of the harm directed at him by using water jutsu to shield himself, but still had a rapidly darkening bruise on his chest from when he had been thrown aside and the Kubikiribocho shattered.
The red head swayed slightly before Zabuza caught her by both shoulders, letting her rest her body against his. Worry still flooded her eyes as she watched the silver haired Jonin try to wake the unconscious blond. When he got no response Sakura stepped up to check on her, running through a few diagnostic jutsu, but was unable to find anything as the Kyuubi's chakra threw off her readings. Sasuke was called over to carry the teen, resting her on his back as they readied to leave.
As the ninja were about to leave Gato came out of hiding with his two body guards. The shorter of the three was a nervous wreck, while the two swordsmen were shaken but still trying to do their job. When Zabuza readied his sword the duo gained some confidence, thinking he was a much smaller threat, until the Kiri ninja touched the broken weapon to a pool of blood left behind from Kushina's rampage and it started to repair itself.
As the sword slowly mended, resharpened, and worked its way to its regular size and shape, the crimson puddle shrank. Soon the sword was twice as long as it was after being broken, and the bridge's surface was clean again. Carefully he let go of the red haired woman, letting her lean on the silver haired jonin, and with a sudden charge Zabuza made his way to the two men and brought his weapon down on one of their swords, snapping the cheap metal and cutting into the man wielding it. The other lost his nerve, his blade falling from his hand, before the cleaver took his head from his shoulders. The blood from both body guards sank into the hefty steel like water into a sponge.
Turning his attention to the man who hired him Zabuza made his way to stand in front of Gato, causing the tyrant to fall backwards onto his ass. Readying a swing, the man from Kiri was stopped when the voice of an unknown individual called out. Looking in the direction the gathered ninja found a crowd of Nami's town people. Every man and woman present had some kind of weapon, be they improvised or actual weapons.
"If Gato is to die he should first be found guilty and then punished by those he wronged." An elderly man stepped forward from the group, his aged features obscured by a dense graying beard. His voice firm and demanding, but also giving, respect. Hearing a chance of mercy Gato crawled to the mob as tears filled his beady eyes, the rough ground under his knees tearing holes into the pants. "We will not be merciful, only fair."
About to refuse the old man's wish, Zabuza was stopped by Kushina. "Zabuza, stop. Our daughter needs to rest. Please let them take care of this themselves." The worry for the blond teen was hard to ignore, and so with a sigh the former Kiri ninja handed the remains of his weapon to the last Yuki and took the girl from her black haired teammate. Once the Namikaze girl was securely on his back the group began a long and slow walk back to Tazuna's home.
