"Zabuza is alive."
The declaration shocked everyone at the table, but Tazuna in particular was affected. "What do you mean that monster is still alive! We saw him killed by that young ninja!"
"Did we really see him killed, though? Hunter Nin typically dispose of bodies on the spot, and that one carried him away. It's more likely that was an accomplice of Zabuza."
"That's fine. We can kick his ass again."
Kakashi nodded in agreement. "That's true. It will also take Zabuza around a week or so to be back into fighting shape. The deathlike trance that the Hunter Nin induced is not something that can be recovered from quickly."
The Silver One clapped his hands together. "In that time, we will train. It may not be enough time to learn anything crazy, but we can certainly get stronger. Naruto, I have a technique for you in particular."
The blond nodded assent. "What does it matter anyways! Gato is going to kill you all eventually! You should just leave!"
Team Seven glanced across the table to the young boy who had spoken. His mother admonished him. "Inari! These people are here to help us, have a little faith!"
"They'll die like all the rest anyways!" With that, the young boy ran off. Naruto glanced around, very confused. "What the fuck was that about?"
"Naruto, I am only showing you this technique because I know you have the chakra reserves for it. If other people attempted to use this without possessing the proper reserves, it could have lethal consequences. Is that understood?"
"Yes sir." The blond could tell Hatake was serious. His only visible eye was slightly narrowed, and his posture was far straighter than usual. The man glanced at Sasuke. "I'm allowing you to be here because I want you to have this technique when you are ready. That being said, you are not to attempt to use it unless I give you direct permission, is that understood?"
The black hair boy nodded, equally serious.
"Now, this is the Shadow Clone Technique. A B-Rank technique that divides one's chakra into physical clones. They act as you would, and can perform technique on their own. Any memories learned by a shadow clone can be accessed by the progenitor after it dispels. Now, your fingers must be placed into this seal." The man showcased a familiar hand seal. Index and middle fingers lay across each other into a cross. Sasuke recognized the sign from their Genin test. Hatake spoke up. "Shadow Clone Technique."
Three exact copies of the man appeared in a plume of smoke. "Now you try, Naruto."
The blond did just that, crossing his hands and declaring: "Shadow Clone Technique!"
The clearing was full. Forest floor to tree to canopy. Every visible surface was covered in clones. The original Naruto glanced around. "Is there supposed to be this many, Hatake?"
The man in question got over his shock and rubbed the back of his head. "No, but now I shudder to think what you could do with the Multi-Shadow Clone Technique… For now, I'm going to have these clones assist Tazuna in the creation of the bridge."
The clones ran off in the direction they were given. "Do you think you are up for another batch? Perhaps a smaller group?"
Naruto had the decency to look somewhat bashful, though it was mostly pride that colored his face. "Of course. I just had no idea it would take so little chakra."
The boy put his hands together again, and summoned a more reasonable number of clones, around fifty. Kakashi pondered for a moment, then spoke up. "I am going to teach you a few more chakra control exercises. As well as something calledforcing."
Hatake glanced at Sasuke. Noticing the concerned look on his face, he quickly followed up. "You can learn these as well."
Sasuke nodded. "What about Sakura?"
It made much more sense to Kakashi now. Sasuke wasn't worried about not learning the same things as Naruto, but rather worried about Sakura falling behind. He swelled with pride. What did he do to deserve such wonderful students?
"Don't worry. I have a clone teaching her more Medical Techniques. She expressed interest in them to me. Of course, she will need to seek out a more specialized teacher if she wants to truly learn medicine. I am hardly qualified."
"You seemed to heal your broken arm just fine." Sasuke spoke up.
Hatake nodded in agreement. "True, which is fairly high level. However, healing others is much more difficult."
Naruto was interested in this. "Why's that?"
The Silver One wasn't sure why Naruto was interested in Medical Techniques, but he responded regardless. "A ninja is far more familiar with their own chakra than anyone else's. It takes a lot of training to be able to heal others with any amount of proficiency."
Naruto supposed that made sense. "Okay, well after I learn this 'forcing' thing can you teach me some Medical Techniques?"
Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. "I didn't take you as the type to be interested, but I guess I could." He stood up straighter. "Anyways, let's learn 'forcing' now!"
Hatake's lone eye curved downwards. "This might hurt."
The man looked entirely too jovial for such a sentence. "Sadist." Naruto glanced over at his muttering teammate with a grin. "We can stop whenever it's too much for you, Uchiha."
"Fuck off, Uzumaki. We both know I won't stop until I've fainted." The ravenette snapped at him.
Naruto raised his hands in mock surrender. "Whatever you say, Uchiha."
"Anyways," Kakashi interrupted their banter seamlessly. "How forcing works is, well,forcingyour chakra down a body part in order to increase its strength and speed."
Sasuke frowned. "That sounds like chakra reinforcement. We can both already do that."
"Ah, but there are a few key differences. You see, 'Forcing' involves very precise timing, and can be stacked multiplicatively. First you punch with your arm, for example. Then, your arm is reinforced by chakra as usual, then the momentum your arm and chakra generate is multiplied by a second layer of chakra forcing itself into your limb. This second layer rams itself into the end of your limb, and generates a second layer of momentum." He paused. "It sounds complicated, and in theory I suppose it is. I'm certain you'll find it easy in practice, however."
A certain blond boy's face lit up with a savage grin. "Let's get started!"
Chuckling at his enthusiasm, Kakashi led them to the tree line. "We'll use trees at first, and move up to rocks. Soon, all will objects be paste before you."
Sasuke frowned. "You're weird, Sensei."
Kakashi sweat 'd I do?
They were interrupted by a loud crash and a shower of bark. Naruto extricated his arm from the tree, and tried reinforcement, momentum of my arm, then time the force!
A thunderous roar of exertion escaped Naruto's lips as he smashed his hand violently into the tree. Sasuke observed with his Sharingan, as a second wave of chakra 'echoed' the blond's movement. The result was… anticlimactic. Rather than a thunderous explosion, the tree simply ceased to exist. It was reduced to a fine cloud of wood particulate. Kakashi shook his a monstrous aptitude for learning…
"Good job, Naruto. Try it with running, now." He turned back to the black haired boy. "Get to it."
So he did. The trio practiced late into the day, far after the sun had begun to set.
It was the day that Zabuza was predicted to recover by. Three fourths of Team Seven were assembled on the bridge, and the final, blond member was at Tazuna's house. He had opted to stay behind in order to protect Tsunami and her progeny in the event of an attack. It was a good line of thought too, seeing as he was engaged in a brief standoff between a few hired thugs.
"Look kid, just hand over the woman and we'll let you live."
Naruto gazed stoically back at the group. "Can we take this outside? I'd prefer to not do this in front of women and children…"
"No brat, we do this here. None of your tricks."
Naruto sighed. "Tsunami, Inari. Would you close your eyes?"
Neither of them seemed particularly inclined to do so, so he intoned solemnly, hands still at ease in his pockets. "Dismantle."
The band of men was bifurcated horizontally. With that done, he noticed a large flare of ?
"I should go help your father. I'll leave a clone here to protect you." With a quick hand seal and chant, a shadow clone was summoned. It nodded at its creator, who then sped off towards the bridge.I hope I'm not late…
Naruto is late as fuck!
Sasuke was in trouble. The masked 'Hunter Nin' that Zabuza brought with him was proving themself as more than a match for the last Uchiha. He was fast, much faster than himself, which was only made worse by the fact that they pulled out a technique that drastically amplified their speed. Sasuke coughed up a heap of crimson fluid. He was peppered with holes, courtesy of the Hunter Nin's innate technique, which involved this, am I really going to die here on my first mission that isn't chores?! No way. I refuse. Fuck this guy, fuck this mission, fuck this stupid ice that can't melt, fuck Naruto for being late, and fuck Tazuna for being a lying bitch.
His anger reached a peak, his sharingan swirling rapidly, three tomoe in each eye. It wasn't enough. The amount of damage he had taken slowed him to the point where it didn't matter how perceptive his eyes were, his body couldn't keep up. He shouted in anger, as an agony mounted in his frontal lobe. "It burns! It burns it burns it burns!"
His incoherent babbling caused the Hunter Nin temporary pause. What was this Genin doing? He prepared a new set of senbon. He dashed from mirror to mirror, tossing volley after volley. Nothing landed. There wasn't a single sound of impact, not a grunt of pain. The fake Hunter Nin stopped bouncing between mirrors, and took a moment to look long and hard at his opponent. The black haired boy was standing straight up, hands pressed to his face. All around him were the senbon that had been thrown,floatingin the air. It was as if some invisible force had prevented their continued trajectory.
Sasuke didn't know what happened, but he did know two things.
The pain in his brain stopped. That was big considering it had been agonizing.
The senbon barrage from his opponent had also stopped. That was also pretty great considering that he didn't enjoy becoming a pin-cushion.
Taking these two things into account, Sasuke opened his eyes. There was ashieldof sorts surrounding him, that kept the senbon suspended in the air.
His mind supplied him with what he was missing.
Infinity
An unnerving, unhinged chuckle spilled from his lips. "This power… I never would have thought…"
The Last Uchiha laughed again, his peals of dark laughter echoing in the mirrors. He had a crazed look in his glowing red eyes, a wide grin stretching his lips unnaturally. The typically stoic Uchiha looked deranged. "I think I owe you a thank you, Hunter-Nin. Without you, who knows how long this power would have remained dormant."
The Uchiha removed his hands from his face, Sharingan swirling calmly. He made a gesture with his right hand. "Come."
The Hunter Nin obliged, but instead of drawing more senbon from their pouch, they held their hands out on either side of themselves. There seemed to be a coalescing of mist, the very air dropped in temperature. Senbon made of hypercharged ice chakra appeared in their hands. They spoke. "And I must thank you, Uchiha. I have never been pushed this far. I confess, it feels… good."
A psychotic laugh tore at Sasuke's lips, and he pressed his hands into a few seals, chanting. "Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"
The air was calm. The temperature was still chilly. That all changed in an instant as a veritable ocean of flames was formed, exiting the Uchiha's mouth in the caricature of a snarling dragon. The temperature in the mirror-like dome of ice soared, becoming muggy and humid. The enormous dragon was superheated, made of nearly as much chakra as Sasuke was willing to part with. It raced through the air, instantly frying the water from the air and drying wherever it went. The Uchiha licked his now incredibly dry lips. He tugged his chakra to the left, attempting to steer the monster he had created. It did curve gently in the direction he bade, but he lacked any meaningful control. His sharingan spun, attempting to find his opponent among the icy mirrors.
The dragon made contact with three mirrors. Such was the monstrous size of the fire technique Sasuke had given life to. The mirrors shuddered, and shattered. The shards were then melted into water, which was then instantly boiled into steam. Those mirrors would not be healing any time soon, but Sasuke made no effort to leave the dangerous battlefield his foe had created. Sasuke smiled. He wanted to see how far he could go.
The Hunter Nin paused, their androgynous voice echoing throughout the ice like castle. "Why not attempt to leave? This is my turf, you stand no chance if you stay here."
Sasuke let out a chuckle. "I'm just soexcited." The manic grin tugged at his lips again. "After all, how can I beat the shit out of you if I run away?"
This new found confidence was worrying to the Hunter-Nin, as prior to this new barrier around the Uchiha being formed, the boy looked to be scrambling to find ways to escape. They resumed action.
The Hunter-Nin was confused. "I'm… floating?"
It was true. They had attempted to stab Sasuke, foregoing the throwing utensils and opting for something a little more hands on. However, they were halted mid air looked up at them, Red eyes observing the vulnerable Hunter-Nin passively. He spoke. "I'm going to kill you."
It was a statement. A declaration. A self assured decision. And so Sasuke acted. Reinforcing his right hand with chakra, he swung it at the Hunter-Nin's exposed gut. As his fist gained momentum, a second wave of chakra helped accelerate it. Forcing. He was still new to it, not nearly as proficient as Naruto was, but it would do. At the last moment, he flooded half of this newInfinityinto the punch. His mind supplied him with a name for this half,Blue. The channeling of his chakra into hisInfinitydistorted space, creating a blue glow. His fist impacted his opponent's chest.
His opponent's chest was gone.
Red Sharginan were blown wide, burning the sight into his mind forever. The Hunter-Nin no longer possessed a chest. His fist was occupying the now empty space. Blood spattered his vision, halted byInfinity. He withdrew his hand shakily. The Hunter-Nin, toppled to the ground, hacking up blood. "Z-Zabuza…Forgive me… I… Have f-failed."
Their final words declared, the light left the Hunter-Nin's eyes, forever.
Sasuke let out a shuddering breath. That was the first human life he'd taken. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto.." He croaked out.
"Shhh.. It's okay, Sasuke." The blond was strangely sympathetic. "I understand. I'll help Hatake. You did good. Leave the rest to me, alright?"
A wave of exhaustion washed over the Uchiha, his eyes returning to their typical coal black. "Rest… sounds nice…"
The world went dark.
Kakashi Hatake wasn't having the best day. He was sore, and tired from his prior battle with the missing-nin, Zabuza. He was also incredibly rusty, if he was being honest with himself. Despite his recent training, it was clear to Kakashi that it wasn't nearly enough. Zabuza should've been put down incredibly easily. He frowned.I need to up Team Seven's training once we get back. Including mine…
Pressing his hand into the flat of Zabuza's cleaver, he vaulted over it in an incredible show of agility. Chaining a few hand seals together, he chanted: "Lightning Style: Chidori: True spear!"
It was something The Silver One had come up with on the spot. Having copied thousands of techniques it was only natural that he could make a few of his own.
Zabuza's eyes widened as the spear of crackling electricity closed the distance between the Copy-Nin and him in an instant. He would have substituted had he not been shocked to feel his apprentice's chakra flicker and perish. The flicker of concern was all the opportunity Kakashi needed, and Zabuza felt a surge of pain lance through him, filling his nerves with a tingling agony. His legs buckled as he dropped to a knee.
The Silver One was a relentless bastard. A spiraling ball of chakra was thrust through Zabuza's chest, turning the material there into mush. He keeled over. "H-Haku…"
A wave of blood exited his mouth as the Mist missing-nin felt the life rapidly flowing out of his body. "Some… day… I'll see…"
Zabuza died.
Clapping echoed across the bridge. A short, blown haired man strode across the bridge, a large crowd of men faintly visible through the mist behind him. "Well done! Thank you for cleaning up that Demon for me. I owed him quite a hefty sum, you see."
The silver haired Jonin narrowed his eyes at the approaching hoard. He was exhausted, physically and spiritually. His chakra was dangerously low, having chained rank-A techniques back to back, on top of using the Sharingan. He glanced behind him. Sakura was tending to a seemingly unconscious Sasuke, and Naruto was making his way towards Kakashi's position.
"Now however, I need to clean up this mess. Luckily for me, I brought this crew with me!"
The short man vaguely gestured to his small army, who clanged weapons against themselves in recognition.
"Naruto." Hatake spoke to seemingly thin air. At the sound of his voice, the muscled boy in question appeared at his side.
"Need something, Hatake?" The words were callous, considering Kakashi's current state, but the man was sure it was his cute little student's way of covering up his care.
"As a matter of fact, I need a favor from you, Naruto. I would like you to-" The Jonin cut himself off. His posture straightened slightly, though his exhaustion was obvious. His voice took on a more commanding tone that Naruto hadn't heard before. "No, I am ordering you to slaughter those people in front of you."
Naruto blinked. So this was the demanding presence of a Jonin… Regardless, that wasn't the thing at hand.
It was an odd request, what Hatake asked of him, but perhaps it was better this way. The man was clearly tired and Naruto was a much better choice than, say, Sakura. Naruto shook his head. She kinda sucked. "Uh, sure? You know what, not gonna question it. Order from my superior, yup yup. Okay, fifty or so dead men, coming right up."
His blasé tone covered up the fact that this was a big step. Naruto had killed before, and he also knew that Kakashi suspected as such. However, that was in self defense. He was young, and under intense emotional duress. This would be a very deliberate slaughter. He sighed. He supposed he could use this opportunity to practicethat.
Naruto turned away from Kakashi, who allowed himself to slump to a sitting position. It was fine. A few civilians would mean nothing to the might of one of Konoha's soldiers, trained since reaching the tender age of eight. He lowered his headband, covering the Sharingan.
It'll be fiiiiiiine.
The man did not believe his own thoughts for even a moment.
Naruto stalked forward, a grin slowly starting to form on his lips. "You know, there's this thing I've been meaning to try. It involves my lovely little friends."
At his command, a quartet of glowing, angry looking orange chains emerged from his back. A grin spread itself across the blond boy's face. He clasped his hands together, pinky and ring fingers touched each other by the middle phalanx, while pointer and middle met fingertip to fingertip. He spoke.
"Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine."
The world seemed to groan, as the boy exerted his will upon the world.
His chains thrust out, channeling a vast amount of chakra through them. The result was new chains branching off of the original, twisting, seeking, interlocking, into a large dome of glowing orange energy. Naruto channeled all of his anger, his vilehateinto his Shrine innate technique, and the area within the domechanged.
Where there was once the concrete surface of the bridge, there was now an ankle deep layer of water. The sky turned blood red, and an angry moon hung in the sky. A throne appeared, and at its foot lay a single skull.
Naruto sat on the throne.
He channeled his dismantle, and a barrage of vicious slashes filled the dome. Horrible screeches sounded out, the acrid, coppery scent of blood filled his nostrils. The very air became stained with violence. Hundreds, no,millionsof lacerations filled the air, cutting everything within. Naruto felt invigorated, his body brimming with energy. That energy needed to go somewhere, so he channeled it back into his newly crownedDomain was as if doing this got past a mental block. The young boy intoned, but his solemn tone was betrayed by the bloodthirsty grin staining his face. "Cleave."
He added this newly dubbedCleaveto his domain, cutting apart the rest of the mercenaries with ease. A keen eye spotted thatCleaveignored all inanimate objects, opting instead to go right for living things. Naruto assumed it was attracted to the chakra within the mice before him. TheDismantlehandled all of the inanimate objects, while theCleavedealt with things that had chakra that could be locked onto. His eyes shone with giddiness, practically salivating. He had hoped to just practice hisDomain Expansion,but he also unlocked another part of hisShrinetechnique. Things could not have been better.
When he was finished, all that remained of Gato and his group of thugs was fine chunks of meat and bone that were chopped so finely one would think it were sand from a beach. His chains retracted into his back, and the world seemed to return to normal. The blond turned back to his teammates, his grin bloody. "That wentsplendidly."
Kakashi keeled over, adrenaline gone and students safe. He slipped into the realm of unconsciousness.
(Sakura followed, but for a decidedly different reason.)
Naruto frowned, and his glowing, orange, bladed chains emerged once again. He would have to carry everyone back to Tazuna's house for a little bit of rest.
The bridge that had been erected by the people of Wave was finished, and now needed a name to crown it. They had considered "The Bridge of Waves" but that seemed a little too on the nose. In the end, Inari shouted out "The Great Naruto Bridge!" And no one really had the heart to argue against such a passionate eight year old. Thus it was dubbed as such.
(How different it would be had anyone witnessed the atrocities on the bridge that day.)
So, Team Seven returned to the Village Hidden in the Leaves, their mission a marked success.
