ITS MINE ITS ALLL MINE! Except anything that can get me sued of course 3 I plan to put these out sooner ideas have been formed thumbs are just not up to it I guess. ANYWAYS. LETS. GET. TO IT!!!!!
"Where do you get off interrupting us, huh? Don't you know it's rude to steal a dance." Naruto yelled at the masked man as he took off with Zabuza. "Hey idiot, how about getting Kakashi sensei off the ground first. You can worry about that stuff later can't you?" Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke and pulled out two seals. With one he sealed away Kakashi's body like he did the demon brothers from earlier. From the other scroll he pulled out two lollipops. "Here Sakura I noticed you got a lot bit hurt when while you were saving Sasukes butt." She giggled and took the lollipop. "Just up ahead my associate is waiting to take us to wave country. Is the white haired one gonna be...ok in there?" He got a bid of confirmation and shrugged. "You ninjas are weird but it's no sweat if MY back you guys won't be in my hair for much longer. Let's be on our way then." Tazuna said. Once they entered the boat, a small one(probably only ever used for fishing in leisure), the conversation continued in a low tone. "These are one of those healing ones right they're the kind you can get in the market place?" Sakura said. Naruto nodded before responding. " Yes we have a chain of candy shops in the village but the reason lollipops like these are able to be sold in the market is because of their properties and use during missions. Each active duty Uzumaki has a bunch of candy's like this on hand with even better capabilities than what's available to civilians. We don't keep them all to ourselves of course slightly better ones are sold to the hospital and the shinobi corps." Of course this was a welcome distraction for Sakura who had ,for a time, obsessed over the dealings of her father's lumber yard as much as she did Sasuke. "I understand that bit, my Dads lumber yard is one if the biggest in the village. It wouldn't mean much in a village like ours if we didn't employ similar methods to the wood we sell. It's used all over the country for construction and the like . The thing most people don't know is that a select few trees are sold to ninjas to make chakra paper." She excitedly explained how her family had continually expanded the land the lumber yard was currently to the point they owned a good portion of the trees grown by the first Hokage. "Wow Sakura, I always assumed you were a merchants daughter but knowing how you and your family managed to get by all these years is definitely interesting." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "How are those two so calm about all of this. We nearly died and now they want to chat it up about their families dealings." Sasuke thought. "Ugh, am I the only one who thinks we should be strategizing." He said. When Sasuke caught the looks of everybody on the boat he realized this part was said out loud. Sakura started to apologize "Sasuke we-" an effort that was promptly shut down by Naruto. "No Sakura, don't apologize for choosing to shift the focus onto something else. Look Sasuke the truth is you may actually have a point." before Sasuke could try gloating though he continued. "In the same breath we have no way of knowing what to prepare for. If the pattern of enemies we fought on the way here are anything to go by, we should expect someone even tougher. Those brothers from kiri were Chūnin and Zabuza was definitely a Jōnin. If this guy after Tazuna has enough money he can keep hiring stronger assassins." Tazuna nodded at this. Sasuke didn't like blunt Naruto more than he liked regular Naruto for sure. But he in the back of his mind he knew he was right. "Hn I guess I shouldve expected that from the son of Konoha's ultimate genius." He said. "Don't pull the family card with me Duck butt! I don't know about you but I thought strength and ability of your clan was irrelevant on a mission. Have those elders been shitting in ear brain every night before bed? Pride and arrogance aren't something we can afford right now." Tazuna got a hold of the situation and tried shushing the boys. "Shut up you idiots, we're here." While the did quiet down the two boys were obviously still in a mood. "WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS CALLING ME AN IDIOT." They thought in unison.
Tazuna and the members of team 7 left the boat and hopped on the dock leading back to a small home. There they were introduced to the bridge builders family. His daughter, Tsunami, and grandson, Inari. "Thank you so much for getting my father back safely. Please feel free to stay here while the bridge is built." They were given places to rest while Tsunami prepared a meal. It was there that Naruto unsealed Kakashi and worked waited on his recovery. He rejoined the group and happily ate the meal prepared for him. He washed up and got ready for bed when someone approached him. "Yes?" He said with a yawn. "It's late so hurry it up you know!" He grouched. "Sorry Naruto I was just wondering about something." It was Sakura and she seemed genuinely worried so Naruto turned around and did his best to maintain a conversation. "How- how was it that you could kill that guy. I'm usually left to guard Tazuna and I know that your seals are good but I just I want to be-" Sakura felt a hand on her shoulder. "I understand. Won't tell you some bullshit about how you don't need to rush being strong, I'm sure you already know that. We can work on something while we're here. It's not going to erase all the neglect you may have done in your time as a fangirl but it's a start to what you want. I know because I want the same thing too. To be strong for myself before I start trying to be strong for others." This had Sakura in a bit of a daze. Naruto never seemed like the type to care about things like that. He was like her opposite, legendary war heroes for parents, a ninja clan to teach him, and now that she thought about it friends. At some point she was ok with just having Ino but that...didn't work out. Then she was alone with only her unhealthy obsession over ,her now teammate, Sasuke. She thanked Naruto for the talk and the help then went to bed. "I'm on a road to change myself for the better CHA! Whatever I can do to fix my past mistakes I will no- I must do." She thought as she dozed off
"Today I'll be teaching you all a technique that will definitely come in handy on the bridge should a fight break out." Kakashi who had woken up with the rest of team seven was currently trying to give the Genin a lesson in the forest near Tazuna's home. He walked up the tree and planted a kunai before walking down and hanging from the underside of the branch with his feet. "Here, take these and go to the top of the tree then walk back down. Once you've done that you'll be done with the exercise. This is a lesson in Chakra control so don't try rushing it, take the time to understand how your chakra interacts with the tree, find a balance." The Genin picked up the kunai and attempted the justsu. They all had their different approaches. Sakura chose to walk up and down and got it in her first try. Naruto ran up the tree and back down with success. Sasuke seeing this tried sprinting but blasted himself off before he could get to the upper half of the tree. Sakura was about to help him but was stopped by Kakashi. "He needs to figure this one out for himself. It's for the best." She was about to ask how that were true when Naruto can over. "Come on we've got something else to work on anyway." They went to a slightly deeper part of the forest where they would have a little more space than on the tree-line with Kakashi and Sasuke. "Shadow clone jutsu!" Naruto made a single clone and the two nodded at each other. "Ok Sakura I brought you axes for this here." He handed her the weapons and got some distance between her and the clone. "Now that clone is going to shape shift into Zabuza, and to start you're going to kill that clone. Cutting down trees is different than cutting down people. You need to get used to fighting for your life and attack as if it were real." That's exactly what they did. For the next five days, Sakura faced off against 'Zabuza', Sasuke continued to work on the Tree walking, Naruto however had another thing going on. Deep in the forest Naruto was trying to make the most of his faction training. He was issuing the seal, Satomi's blessing, to talk with Labolas. "I how has Tora been progressing? I know it was hard to forgive him but I think he has potential believie it!" He thought to his infernal partner. "The kitten has progressed nicely you may even be able to summon him the way you summon me in the future. I've managed to keep him here long enough to bring out some demon traits. Right now it doesn't look like much but the potential is undeniable." They said in their echoing voice. "Well since you brought it up I think summoning should be the next milestone. I could use seals for it but I'd need him to come back to earth for that to happen. Really I'd love to have a secondary contract that doesn't have a chance at devouring my soul when I die. But that's not the worst thing. Kakashi says that Zabuza guy is still alive and the masked dude is working for him. I guess one of the only good things about this week has been practicing my leadership skills." The redhead thought. "I hope we get to fight that one especially. I know you've felt it too, the coldness he possesses." Labolas said. "Who the butcher with the oversized kitchen knife and odd fashion sense? You forget my being a sensor is a skill I trained on consistently." At this the beast snarled in the echos of Naruto's mind. "You know exactly who it is! When you get the chance, try a technique that you can use more than once. Killing both of them isn't exactly bad for you. It's not like the first time when you cried." They said laughing at the end. "I was younger then and we'd only just become partners. You had a difficult time too with some of the conditions of the contract like this seal and not have my soul promised to you at the beginning. But according to you the chakra was like candy to your kind." Before they could continue Naruto felt someone approach. So without trying to draw attention to himself the Uzumaki summoned the left hand of Cruel Altea. "So this is where you ran off to Sakura couldn't find you and she needs another clone to practice with." It was his sensei. Naruto sealed away his weapon and turned to face the Jōnin. "You know you could make one for her you'd recover by dinner time and you could actually say that you're helping a student. I know for a fact you didn't give too many pointers to Sasuke, otherwise he'd be down here demanding I make him a clone to spar with too." Naruto said. "I'd say I've helped plenty inspiration is a good motivator for some. I happen to have a bunch of little geniuses on my team. The the only active Uchiha since the massacre, a civilian born ninja with an excellent handle on her chakra, and of course there's you Naruto. The pride of the Uzumaki clan." Naruto didn't see the point of all this. "Glad you left it there but what exactly do you want. Flattery works as well on me as it does on my aunt, you remember her don't you? The former mentor of Anko in the TI department. She taught me a few things that I'd love to practice since you actually felt like teaching today." His hair floating up in that ominous way that warned of silent rage. "The point is that I'm not sure I have to do much. Just because you guys have some genius qualities I can't really think of a way to nurture that." Kakashi said reading halfheartedly. At some point taking out that orange book and loosing interest in everything else. "You could be sharpening the skills we already have since you're sooo unimaginative. It wouldn't kill you to test out chakra natures and teach us a few jutsu, keeping in mind you have a former fangirl on your team you need to be building her up the best way you can. Sasuke needs help with that eye thingy and I feel like the chakra nature test may help him out too." While Naruto spouted off more and more ideas on how to help his teammates, Kakashi smirked. "Just like his mother in her day. So focused on what I raged him he forgot an important detail." The Silver haired Jōnin thought. "Why don't we head inside Naruto. Sakuras helping prep the meal as we speak." He said. "I thought she needed a clone to help her?" Naruto responded. "I took your advice and did it myself." He said miss deep in his book.
Team 7 was gathered at the table talking about their training thus far and how the bridge was nearly finished. "You ninja are just so nice to have around the house! We all know THESE boys aren't helping out much." Tsunami said with a smile. The males of the bridge builders home held a more sour expression. "I think I'm helping plenty. The whole country owes me a lifetime supply of sake if you ask ME." Which triggered a bop to the head from his daughter and the unanimous thought, "Of course that's what he wants..." from their ninja guests. The funny scene didn't do much for Inari though. He sat there fists balled up grinding his teeth. "What's wrong Inari? Aren't you happy, soon you can be a regular kid and not worry about that evil Gato man." Sakura tried reassuringly. But there must've been something wrong with her saying this beach the boy immediately got more upset. His balled up fists slammed down in the tabletop. "What is wrong with you?! Don't you know that you're gonna die? What's the point if he's hired fancier ninja that YOU said TRICKED you before. You're training for no reason it won't help you! Gato's gonna KILL YOU. He will, HE WILL, HEEE WILL! You're all gonna DI-" SMACK! "These people are here to help us, you shouldn't disrespect them like that!" Tsunami said. Inari started tearing up. "But you know it's true! Friends, family, people on the street, nobody can stand up to Gato. It won't matter if they're strong or if they have help Gato will defeat them! They're gonna die, just like HIM!" He screamed. Sending his mother to tears as well and shutting up his grandfather. "Hn, What a loser. Treating your mom like that." Sasuke said. "What would YOU know? Gatos gonna kill you anyway. Then you'll see!" Inari spat back. His mother tried to protest his behavior but she couldn't form the words. "No coward who can't even fight for himself is gonna kill me. I'd never let anything like that happen to me. No one could ever say they walked all over me because I will get strong and make sure losers like you get out my way from the moment I look your way." Sasuke said getting up from the table. "Sasuke where are you going?" Sakura asked. "To train you guys can deal with the crybaby but I'm outta here." He said, hands in his pocket as he strolled out the door. Later that night on the dock Inari sat head hung low with his tears falling into the water. It was a funny thing to Inari the tears made ripples but when everything settled you couldn't even see a change on the surface. Nothing he or anyone else did would ever make a difference. Then there was footsteps on the dock from behind him, Inari didn't want to talk but the outburst from earlier had drained him if too much energy. Whatever this was he was going to sit through involuntarily.
"You know Sasuke probably didn't mean what he said, not that he'd ever admit to it. Your Grandfather told us about Kaiza...he was a good man; the type of person that you can put your hopes and dreams into. Sasuke had a person like that, he wanted to be like him more than anything at some point but the man he idolized nearly killed all of his family and left his mother in a coma to this day. So when he called you a coward and a loser... you have to understand he's been saying those things to himself since he was young." Kakashi said to the boy. "So why does he keep trying? What's the point when someone showed him that way was too dangerous to follow?" Inari asked. "Why would anyone ever put themselves at risk like that? How does he not get scared?" He thought and almost like he heard the thought, Kakashi added on to his speech. "I imagine that since he was so young when it happened, that he felt helpless, in his mind things can only get worse if he does nothing." With that Kakashi left Inari on the docks. Back to his thoughts, Inari trued remembering the dinner really remembering it. Past all the mean things that were said there was something there sitting in the back of his brain. "That boy...he's sort of like..."
"Alright team. Tomorrow should be the last day of Zabuzas recovery. I want you guys to be ready for a fight, obviously Zabuza is willing to kill any of us to get to the client. The unknown factor is his helper with the mask. What we do know is that he uses senbon, they'll be extremely difficult to deflect in Zabuza's mist so today we will train on that skill." He threw some shuriken their way and each of them deflected the weapon kunai in hand. "Kakashi sensei what's the point of this if I can just use my seals?" Naruto said after half hour of training. "It's not like I'm bored but this training has been on the same level for ages." Kakashi peered over at the redhead. "Actually I want to capitalize on your fuinjutsu talents Naruto." He said. "Realy?!" Naruto asked he was used to not having special treatment despite what many thought and he liked it that way. All of his strength worked for and earned changing that now would be disappointing in his mind. "Yes I know you Uzumaki have seals for just about anything it seems . I know asking you to make one is a bit arbitrary, so do you perhaps know a seal that can get the job done?" Kakashi asked. "What exactly so you need me to do?" This was Naruto's more serious side his mind was fully ready to taken on whatever fuinjutsu problem in his way. After Kakashi explained what it was he was meant to do Naruto got working on the seal right away. He was back in time to spar against his teammates. It was kenjutsu only and his Cruel Altea wasn't allowed. Much to the annoyance of surprise of Sasuke, his once super devoted fangirl was managing to hold her own. Sakura twisted and ducked in a manner that almost felt like a fighting style with her twin onos. When she swung her axe she quickly regained her guard and kicked Sasuke to the floor. He later there foor a second and Sakura caught up in the moment swung down at her crush. "Stop! This round goes to Sakura. Sasuke, you can't afford to freeze like that in a real battle. It's important that you-" for a second there was something that seemingly caught Kakashis attention. He peered down at the boy with bated breath. Whatever he was looking for he must have been disappointed because he sighed and looked to the whole team. "It's important that you don't get caught up in the moment, we've been through a lot as a team on this mission. I'm sure that some of these things will be sticking with you for a while but you need to remember the reason you chose to go along with this mission." Sasuke got back up and nodded, Sakura tightened her grip on the axe, and Naruto pumped his fist into the air. "Naruto have you finished?" Kakashi asked. "I want to make a few tweaks before I hand it over. Otherwise yes!" He was happy about his work but there was something else he had in his mind. "Sasuke have you finished the exercise yet?" He asked. "Hn, I don't need to answer that." He said.
"...So you didn't finish?"
The Uchiha then proceeded to pounce on the other boy. He was nearly strangling him but sloppy in his flash of rage. The scuffle ended and the two got up with dirtied clothes. Sasuke tried to bop Naruto on the head but caught a fist to the gut instead. "Jerk! I just wanted to help you know!" He said taking out a lollipop. "Hn, well don't I'm nearly there I don't need your help." He said looking to the side. "Do you want me to come along Sasuke kun?" Sakura asked. Now that she thought about it she hadn't called him that in a while. The result was two blushing Genin quietly making there way to the tree line. Naruto kept himself occupied by "modifying" his seal. In truth, Naruto just needed to ask a favor if the research trio. They weren't ninjas but they were definitely busy. At first most of the clan hadn't paid attention to their efforts until the U.S.A., it was there that the clan head ordered them to work together after failing the final test. They were in a mission of sorts to truly integrate magic and fuinjutsu. Most techniques could pass as strange methods from ancient Uzumaki which played to heighten the clans standing (much like the Akimichi). This was something of a secret to a lot of the clan as progress had been halted and other wise seemed impossible to advance in. But the thought was so intriguing it just HAD to be explored. The trio worked with Kyō to make and modify weapons. They even created a special training room to practice them in something that was quickly taken note of by both factions. They alternated in the space for combat training and practical demos four days out of the week. Naruto was hoping to get in contact with the trio about the space but had no luck. His attempts at a reverse summoning a message was unsuccessful it seemed. "What now then?" Naruto looked around and saw Kakashi was focused on the book and his teammates busy with the tree walking exercise. He went deeper into the forest and drew his finger. He made a spiral of purple energy in the air before snapping, the energy gained a border in strange writing before spinning fast. Naruto stepped through and this purple array vanished behind him. Naruto let out a sigh. It was quite hard concentrating the spiritual energy into magic. In that way now that he thought about it magic and chakra were directly connected. After all chakra is the combination of spiritual and physical energy, and it made sense why it was offered to the demon in the ceremony. "In the tome it says that 'witches' used to offer their souls like with the reaper death seal but Satomi was able to make the compromise for something soul like in her great amount of chakra. This of course with the promise of claiming the souls of her enemies for the demon served as a loophole." Why wait on one soul to get stronger when you can get a surplus in the duration. Her duaghters discovered the seal Satomi created was a bit messy granted she did make it alone and wasn't the best in her era at Uzumaki fuinjutsu. The beauty of the error was that in the seals connection to the demon that allowed transfer of knowledge, power, and communication also gave way to a link to Inferno itself. Although usually just the partnered demons territory. The link could be 'shared' with animals which is how some demons got their start in that world like Labolas. Upon learning this Naruto immediately knew that he wanted to try it out. He just needed a creature that wouldn't easily die and had somewhat of a malevolent nature. Naruto's hair lengthend and its tips formed another purple array he waited behind him. "I hope this works."
"Kakashi sensei do you think Naruto's alright? He's been out there for hours and we need to get rest for tomorrow." Sakura said. Kakashi told her that he would make it back on his own time and that she shouldn't be so worried. These were the only words he needed to say because Sasuke started making his way back to the house with a "Hn." Sakura looked back into the woods before following her team. Something pressed at the back of her mind but she didn't know how to ask about it. "Sensei do you- do you really think we'll have to kill someone on the bridge tomorrow?" He turned to her and tried to figure out how to say what she needed to hear. "Listen Sakura, there will come a time where you have to take a life. This is the way of the shinobi as I'm sure you know. How you handle that when the time comes is not a definition of your career as a shinobi. Dispute what you've seen in this mission killing isn't easy." Kakashi said. "It's just that Naruto-" The girl started. "You and Naruto had very different upbringings. You don't have the burden of being the son of two war heroes, heir to a prominent clan, and son of the current Hokage. What you do share is a drive to prove yourself. You with your families ultimate lack of ninja history, despite both your parents being made to enlist in the last war." It was true even though they had served they never made that stretch to Chūnin that would've allowed them to see the war torn battlefields. Seeing as they were both civilians it made sense. They wouldn't last out there for long. "But what excuse can you have when the Hokage was in the same boat." She thought. Thinking on what Kakashi told her though she looked back at the forest. "Maybe I can be that too." She turned back around to catch up with Sasuke. As they entered the house. While that was happening the red head of the group was vigorously trying to see the fruits of his labor. "Come on this time for sure!" He said in the limbo of purgatorio. Just like before and the times before that, his hair lengthened the tips going a bright heliotrope like his eyes. The hair spread into a slightly different array, and started to swirl. "PEAB MOSPLEH AMMA ANANEAL!!" The hair crashing down in front of him like his mind had pictured so many times. It was all going well, exactly like the tomes instruction, just when he started to see a paw he passed out.
"has anyone seen Naruto? It's not like him to miss dinner." Tsunami said. It had been hours since the last bit of training and the Uzumaki was still MIA. "He'll turn up if there's anything I know about his clan it's that they love a good fight." Kakashi said nonchalantly, flipping to the next page in his orange book. "What is he? A Kaguya?! He sure doesn't look or act like one." Tazuna said. This had gotten the Jōnin attention. "It's surprising that you would know what a Kaguyas features were or how they act. The Land of water isn't far from here but the majority haven't lived there for years. But again I wouldn't expect you to know that." Kakashi said. Tazuna chuckled nervously and began to speak. "Well I'll have you know that ninja come through these parts all the ti-" Kakashi jolted, his exact movement too fast to make out. To everyone else in the room Kakashi simply twitches when adjusting his posture, at the same time however Tazuna's blood splattered over the table shortly followed by his head. The heavy thunk against the wood set everything back into motion. Screaming from Tsunami, shocked looks from his students, and out of the corner of his eye he could make out a crying Inari on the stairs. Poof. The illusion dispersed and where Tazuna's corpse was now lay a young man. "Sasuke, come with me to search the house. Sakura, I want you to make sure nobody leaves this room but us. It would seem we underestimated how far this Gato was willing to go." By the tree line was a struggling Tazuna. He'd been tied up presumably by the young man inside whose blood was probably dripping on the floor at this point. Kakashi surveyed the area. He never doubted the stupidity of a hired thug, in fact he very much welcomed it. He couldn't however discount the possibility of a partner. He'd already made that mistake on this mission and it nearly got him killed. Once he was sure of things he took the old man back inside. "Sensei do you think that the show off is dead? You think someone else could have come here too right? So what if they got him and that's why he's gone missing." Not a question Sasuke fully believed that Naruto was dead in the forest somewhere. "I highly doubt it. He's no genius but he is definitely an Uzumaki all the way. We can only hope he's just being an idiot and trying to prank us. Besides letting the enemy that clearly isn't here know that their comrades failed this early is a green move we should wait on looking for him until the morning." Sasuke nodded and the two Konoha shinobi walked back to the house with Tazuna. "Is everything alright here?" Kakashi asked. He turned to Sakura for an answer. "We're fine here sensei but... could you... um." She pointed to the body draped over the kitchen table. "Right, get to bed everybody, I'll handle this."
Naruto had to practically crawl out of Pergatorio. His head was pounding and the memory of last night was gone. He guessed that he passed out after making it halfway to the bridge builders home. At the moment his eyes were closed and could sense two approaching chakra signatures one was more familiar than the other. "This damn headache! At this rate I can't even concentrate hard enough to use magic." He thought. When he did finally open his eyes a darker set was looking back at him. He quickly shot up trying to read the situation. In front of him was a girl? Dressed in a flowery garment with long flowing hair framing their face. Unsure of what else to do Naruto chose to do the only thing he did naturally. Talk. "Hello... I'm Naruto am I dead or just dreaming?" He said with a hand nervously scratching the back of his head. The person in front of him chuckled. "Hello Naruto. What are you doing out here all by yourself?" They asked. "I don't really know but I think I was training. I'm actually a shinobi on a mission right now; I need to get stronger to succeed on it." This whole time Naruto had been trying not only to fight the headache. Not only was it hindering his skills it made studying this persons mannerisms that much more difficult. It was important to know how to read people in the shinobi world. Any ninja could transform into another appearance to make it through a mission, and as they knew Gato wasn't opposed to hiring ninja. "So you want to get strong..hmm. Why, and not for the mission, I mean why do you really want to get stronger? What's your motivation?" The girl(?) asked. "Weird. But I guess answering can't hurt." Naruto thought. "I need to get stronger to make my dream come true. I want to protect those closest to me on my own with everything I have! You know?!" His said fist pumped. "I do actually. I'd do anything for the one I want to protect. My precious person, that's why I'm here actually. I'm collecting herbs to help him feel better." Naruto chose to respond with caution, something about this girl was irking him. "This person must be really special, to be coming out here so early. Especially when it's so dangerous right now." The girl only smiled at this though. "I guess you could say I'm trying to be strong for him. You're strong too, I can tell by what you said earlier." She stood up gathering the last bit of herbs that she needed and walked away. She paused about five feet away and turned back to face him. "By the way I'm a boy!" He said and turned back around. Just when Naruto thought he was getting a break from any and all noise Sasuke walked up to him. "So Kakashi was right. You idiot, what do you think you're doing out here? We're on a mission and we don't have time to goof off." He said in a stern voice. "Idiot?! Who do you think you are? I just over did it training, something you should definitely know about!" Naruto said agitated. The head was subsiding but this argument wasn't helping the process. Especially after the Uchiha said he "had know idea what he was talking about," as if he hadn't been running himself into the dirt trying to figure out tree walking. "Let's just get back to the house. Kakashi said that Zabuza guy should be feeling better now. We don't want to risk anything happening to the bridge or Tazuna so you need to go and get some rest before we leave." Sasuke told Naruto. Honestly what the hell was he doing out here anyway. They got back to the house where Naruto promptly fell asleep. Sasuke headed back to the kitchen where Kakashi and Sakura were waiting. "Hn. I honestly think that we should just leave him here. That loser isn't getting anytime soon." Sasuke grunted. Sakura turned to her sensei for some idea of what to do next. "Alright, hopefully he'll wake up in time to meet us at the bridge. We can't wait any longer, let's go."
"Hmm? HEY WHERE'D YOU GUYS GO?!" Naruto exclaimed after waking up. He rushed to put clothes on and scrambled down the stairs. Tsunami was making a small breakfast for Inari. "Oh your sensei told me to let you sleep for a while. The rest of your team is over at the bridge by now." She explained. She plated the table and sat to eat with her son. The hope in her eyes shone like stars but fear was just as easily noted beneath the surface. "A brave face without will is expected to crumble." Labolas echoed in the Uzumaki's head. "I should get going then. We can do this, it's just a few days work left." He said. He steeled his nerves and made his way to the door. Naruto was back to normal after gaining the much needed rest. He worked his magic and chakra to sense the rest of team seven. They were on the bridge alright and they had familiar company. He opened the door and wasn't even three steps away when little foot steps came behind him. "Inari..." he started. "Why?...Why do you think you can do this? I already told you that you can't beat Gato, so WHY? Why can't you just give up and accept that nothing will ever change? Heroes aren't real!" He cried. Naruto shook his head. "Kid I'm able to do this because I'm not a coward. I don't know how things used to be around here but I know wouldn't be able to stand for this tyranny anymore." He ran towards the bridge leaving Inari to think about his words. "Tch, he'll see. No body can beat Gato...nobody." Then a hand covers his mouth and a sword went to his throat before he had a chance to understand what was even going on. "Inari, come back and finish your food. Inari?" She came around to the front door where her son was being held hostage. Two thugs obviously on Gatos payroll were standing in the doorway menacingly. "Look the family was here like gato said. Too bad Take died, now we have to do this." Said the shorter man. His bald comrade seemed to have other ideas though. "It might not be all bad. I get to kill this brat after all!" He said pushing the blade closer to Inari's neck. "Wait please don't do it! I-I'll do anything. Whatever you want just please don't hurt my son." She cried looking down. The thugs shared a glance smiling to each other at the new opportunity before them. "You never can get tired of the sluts in Wave country. Alright you got yourself a deal bitch." The smaller man said. With a nod the bald guy threw Inari across the room and quickly snatched up Tsunami. The bridge builders daughter didn't resist. She turned to her son and beg him to flee. Inari was frozen though. Tears running down his face all he could think of was how his father died. How his mother was suffering. "You ugly bastardes are the only bitches I can see." Naruto's voice called out. Pheum pheum. Two beams shit through the men and they dropped to the floor. Naruto ran over and applied a seal on both of them. "They won't be able to move for a while I'm going go tie them up outside." Before he could start however Tsunami approached him. "Thank so much but what should we do once you leave?" She asked. "Oh that? Don't worry about it, I'm actually a clone sent by the real Naruto. I should last the whole day so you have nothing to worry about." He told her. Inari was happy to hear about this but in his mind he had to do something. He ran out the door headed for the village. "If something's really going on at the bridge we need to fight back." He said to himself. Ignoring his mother's plea to come back inside.
Meanwhile on the bridge a few things had happened in Naruto's absence. Kakashi was standing by a very healthy looking Zabuza just outside a heavy fog. In that mist he could sense Sakura and Tazuna. He had a plan to get over to them and tell her to use the seal but there were other things to think about. Like the giant dome of ice in the middle of the bridge. Ok let's do this! He thought. He sent a clone to run on the bottom of the bridge and get to Sakura while he ran for the dome.
"Just stay behind me." Said Sakura. Her axes in hand she had been trying to put her skills to use she had two layers of clones surrounding her and Tazuna. The kunoichi crouched low trying to hide her presence. If I'm lucky the enemy will assume that I'm near the strength of my teammates and back off . An excellent plan in this sort of situation. I'm sure of it cha! She thought. This confidence would be shaken however as a section of clones dispersed and footsteps neared her person. Grip tightening on her axe she got ready to attack. The fog was so heavy she could hardly see in front of her so she waited till the enemy was really close. In that guys speech he said the masked boy knows everything he does. Not just that but he's stronger. I have to get this right otherwise I'm dead! It was now or never, she swung at the enemy and heard a clattering. A vial of blood rolled towards her with a note: Use on the seal! It said in Naruto's handwriting. Thankfully she was still inspecting the vial because she was also made aware of aforementioned seal being in her weapons pouch. She pulled out the only piece of paper in it and walked over to Tazuna. She didn't know much about seals but she was hoping that the activation process was simple. She walked over to Tazuna and place the seal in between them on the ground. "What's that? Some more fancy ninja shit?" Tazuna asked. Sakura normally would've taken the time to express her irritation at his foul mouth but instead she nodded. She took the cap of the vial and poured half of the blood onto the seal. A spiral branched off the paper and into the floor of the bridge. In a purple flash they were gone.
That flash.. Naruto must be here. Kakashi thought. "HEY! Don't get distracted!" Yelled Zabuza. He swung his sword at the other Jōnin. "Copycat bastard. I wonder if your student is doing just as poorly as you in Hakus dome." Zabuza sneered. Right Naruto doesn't know about what Haku can do. Although we're all pretty much in the dark. He can figure out he's got a Kekkei Genkai but can he find a way to combat it? Kakashi quickly jumped back from the man he'd already been cut and Zabuza was right. He needed to focus.
"Ugh I'm so close to figuring it out. I just need to see him one more time!" Sasuke was trying to hold his own against this masked boy, Haku, who was hitting him with senbon at the moment. "You have nothing to fight for that's why you're weak. I am the tool in Zabuza samas dream. You? You're nothing but an obstacle to that dream and I will tear you down!" That was it for him Sasuke was tired and frustratingly weak compared to this guy. But saying he was nothing? That lit a fire he couldn't help but give into. His rage fueled a fireball he sent crashing toward the masked boy. Haku was surprised, not because he hadn't seen fire before used to try and escape this jutsu. That he knew was impossible, what got his attention was the fact he barely dogged the attack. There's no way. I'm too fast for the human eye to see so he couldn't have. He can't be one too can he? One with a Kekkei Genkai? Haku thought. "Sorry I'm late, mind if I join the party?" A voice called out. Haku turned and saw the red head from earlier fixing his ponytail. "And what do you plan to do? Your friend here is already tired and all the information you need about me has to come from him. You'll get distracted and your friend will d-" Naruto had misled Sasuke it seems the boy Haku saw standing in front of him was also making of with his soon to be victim. A clone I should've seen it! He jumped towards the ice mirror near the boy and tried to kick him back. Much to Haku's confusion the kick didn't land and the boys were gone. "Here, take this Sasuke." Nartuo said handing his team mate a green lollipop. "Congratulations by the way! I'm sure Auntie Mikoto would be proud." Before Sasuke had a chance to question what Naruto said the boy ran back into the dome. When he did the mirrors grew making an exit like before impossible. It was because of the mirrors though, that Sasuke saw his eyes. Bright red irises were in the place of onyx ones. Two comma marks in one eye and just one in the other. I did it! I'm finally closer to beating him! Sasuke thought.
"I get it you're angry and a little tired but let's keep things going huh?" Naruto taunted. Haku was absolutely furious. He despite usual temperament, he wanted to kill this guy. "I can tell you out a lot of faith in this jutsu. Maybe that's your problem yeah? Confidence in misplaced trust?" Naruto said with a smile. What fleet like a thousand senbon flew at him. All I need is to dodge one. And that's what he did, Naruto dodge the first few senbon at the last moment. And just like he'd practiced time slowed for him Naruto could see Haku jumping from mirror to mirror throwing senbon before settling into the one behind him. "Nice try but I prefer to finish face to face!" Time went back to normal and faster than Haku could react a hair covered paw swatted him down. As Haku crawled away the mirrors broke one by one. "Running out of chakra already? Why don't we get to the climax? FABOAN PAEB AMMA ANANAEL!!!" Naruto's hair shot up swirling around in the air like a cyclone. Its length growing at least ten feet before gaining a heliotrope hue. It crashed down in front of Haku and formed in to a horrifyingly dark portal. Red eyes beamed from the umbran abyss when suddenly, eight hair bound scorpion tails jumped out and impaired the masked boy with how hard he was hit. Each stinger dripping a substance that left the wound bubbling and Haku screaming. "Hey don't you drag this one to Labolas as a favor to me, hmm?" Naruto asked. As if to agree the creature roars and a bigger tail, much larger than the rest pierced the boy's chest. It picked him up and pulled him down into the depths of his hellish dark home. Sasuke stared in a mix of awe and horror. "This power! Will I ever reach this level!?" He thought. Kakashi was running up to the scene. "I saw that last bit, your skill is definitely impressive for a Genin with your experience. Good thing too or we'd have found ourselves in a real pickle." Kakashi said. "I only dealt the final blow. Sasuke here had him worn down by the time I showed up. I also handled that thing you asked for." Naruto reported. "You did huh? Good thing because we're not done yet." The Jōnin turned around to the unfinished part of the bridge. Zabuza stood pinned by dogs. Each of his limbs locked in one of the canines jaw.
"As you can see your great tool has finally been defeated. You're finished Zabuza." Kakashi said.
Clap clap clap.
"I must agree with you there. Unfortunately Zabuza you're the last ninja I'll ever employ. Thanks to you and your annoying subordinate I know that hiring rouge ninjas like you will only ever be a waste of time and money. I'd like to think you cared about that boy dying but I'm sure you're much MORE disappointed in your own failures." The source of this long winded introduction was none other than the infamous (surprisingly short) Gato. He stood there with some 50 or more thugs. All armed with weapons and backing Gato with expressions almost as violent as their stench. "You a demon? All I see is a loser done up my children and mutts!" He said laughing. Team 7 looked on from the other side of the bridge. As they prepared for yet another fight Zabuza spoke. "Kakashi...let me out of this and I promise you won't have to worry about me messing with you again. I can tell you moved the bridge builder somewhere, so you have that as an advantage in this situation. No punk is gonna try to embarrass me like that and live." He said. "This guy. There's no way Kakashi would ever do something like that." Naruto was surprised to find that Zabuzas living restraint vanished. Gone in a puff of smoke Kakashi had a look in his face he couldn't read. He turned to Sasuke and he was just as lost. The boys look back at their sensei and watch on as he handed him a weapon? The two nodded at each other and then Zabuza ran off. He charged Gato getting stabbed and shoved as he advanced. "OH SHIT! " Gato thought as he ran into his crowd of henchmen. Not that the underlings made it easy, his small form crashed into weapons and unwashed backs. Ricocheting him from beer bellies to funky asses until he found himself infront of the bridges edge. At some point during his attempted escape he got turned around. "I can still get out of here! I just need to ugh!" When Gato turned around his now former, employee stood before him. The fear had made time distorted in the little man's mind. He couldn't move, even though he was screaming in his head for his body to do something. He simply stood there and though to hem it was a dragged out five minute expirence; the reality was that within a second Zabuza had lopped off Gatos head.
"I never thanked you Haku..without your devotion to me and your strength...I would've done this a lot sooner. I wonder if I'll see you again? Hm look at that your attitude grew on me. You little disease. Ha! HAHAHA! When we do meet again I'll be sure to give you that...Haku."
The crowd of thugs parted away from Zabuzas lifeless body. Opening up to show off their work. " Now that this loser is out of the way, and Gato is dead. What should we do fellas." One of the goons said looking around. "I say we kill the ninja and Liam what ever bounty they got!"
"Let's head back into town and get em for what they got left."
"No let's go FURTHER we can sell some of them as slaves too!"
"NO WAY IN HELL FUCKFACE!!" The band of former henchmen looked beyond the ninja on the other side of the bridge. The squeaky young voice that yelled these obscenities had belonged to Inari! Backing him was all of wave with all sorts of make shift weapons. Even the undereducated thugs knew that with numbers like that skill wouldn't be enough to ensure survival. If that wasn't enough the ninja were ready and willing to kick their ass, the sensei cloning himself to make the first line of defense. "Screw this!" One of them said and then they all ran back to the end of the unfinished bridge. There they jumped into Gatos boat and hightailed it out of there. Seeing this the citizens of Wave cheered. They were finally free of Gatos oppression. "Where's Sakura?" Asked Sasuke. Kakashi and Sasuke turned to Naruto waiting for an answer. "Oh well you see..."
"I know asking you to make one is a bit arbitrary, so do you perhaps know a seal that can get the job done?" Kakashi asked. "What exactly so you need me to do?" Naruto asked. "I need the seal to take Tazuna out of the fight entirely. Barriers are fine but Sakura isn't like you, her chakra pool is the smallest on the team and with her maintaining the seal...she won't have enough energy to fight if the barrier is broken." So with a nod of understanding Naruto drew up a seal he knew. Kakashi wanted Tazuna out of the fight entirely so Naruto decided to take him to an entirely different place.
Naruto walked over to the seal on the ground still glowing a dim purple as proof chakra still flowed into it. He preformed a few hand signs and Sakura and Tazuna were back on the bridge. They looked surprised albeit for different reasons. Tazuna was surprised that they weren't in any apparent danger. Sakura was surprised to be back at all, the fight was long she thought her teammates might very well be dead. Of course after the initial shock of her return she turned to Naruto saying the other thing that was on her mind. "NEXT TIME WARN ME BEFORE YOU SEND ME TO YOUR DEN OF FREAKS NARUTO!!!" She shouted at him. "Oh you must mean the research trio I meant to have them leave you alone. Sooo how bad is it, did they try to mess with your axes or study your fighting skills." He asked slightly embarrassed. Sakura was about to start her complaining but was interrupted by the bridge builder.
"AHEM, What about the ninjas?" He asked.
"Taken care of." Kakashi said.
"Well even so Gato and his goons could be" once again the bridge builder was assured that things were taken care of. "If you want proof you can go over to the edge of the bridge and chat with Gatos corpse." Kakashi said. Tazuna looked at his grandson and all the cheering villagers . Part of him couldn't believe it, he'd actually be able to finish the bridge and give his people a real chance in the world. "Well then let's get to work!" He said grinning. And work he did, with the help of Naruto's clones they were able to finish the bridge in two days. "What should we call it then?" Tazuna asked the crowd waiting in front of the bridge. Murmured ideas were spread but ultimately they decided on Inari's chosen name. "Then it's decided! For is inspirational words to my grandson and ultimately all of us. Not to mention his help making the bridge and defeating Gato and his thugs. We will call this the Great Naruto Bridge!!" The crowd cheered and everyone that had planned to set out on the bridge for the mainland started their journey. As team 7 walked on the newly named bridge Sasuke had a thought. I helped out with all that stuff too...hn. I at least deserve some credit.
"Wow my first real mission and I'm already a hero!"
"Shut up Naruto!!"