The Kamizuru man

by Our hero

It's the Chunin exams again, and a whole year has passed but for some reason Konoha is hosting the event again, thus Spring sends it's best team, A monster of a teen named Heishi Oxman with a mace just as big, an eight year old violent merchant called Willow, and they're lead by Naruto Kamizuru,

Chapter One: The Team from Spring.

Three ninja sat in trees around Konoha, they were three young genin and had just come all the way from the land of Spring,

The three held completely different demeanours,

Most notable among them was the very tall, muscular, pale, horned and four armed tank of a girl who at fifteen years of age already looked like she was an adult due to her sheer size and that glare, pro ninja could tell her eyes looked as if they'd seen warfare.

Her hair was swept back with a stark white colour that contrasted against her grey scarred skin, she wore very little armour, mostly just what seemed to be a metal bra with paldrons and thick brown hakama pants that were tied up at her ankles showing her bare feet, she really didn't need any armour as the thick white chalk like warpaint covering most of her body hardened her skin like steel anyway, the only reason she was forced to wear as ''much'' as she was was due to her clan's orders, she sat on one of the lower branches on the tree, studying those who went by a large two handed mace in one of her hands many hands laid along her lap,

The next was a young girl, must've been no older then eight, she was dressed in a fine bright pink dress and wore a crown seemingly made out of grey wax and several coloured gems upon her unruly bushy ginger mop of hair, on her pale face were various freckles, they ran from cheek to cheek, and even went across her nose, she strangely sat in a grey wax chair on one of the lowest branches of the tree, she was sat higher then the other two, she also had a table and a separate chair where a stuffed animal sat, who she threatened to stab with a large serrated kukari that looked gigantic in her tiny hands, Usually she was also donning a backpack three times her size that itself was bursting with things, but she'd left it on the ground so it wouldn't weigh her down,

The last was a young man who lounged in the tree nursing a small jar of honey as if it were a glass of bourbon, he wore a fancy and frilly yellow and black striped coat and a frilly white shirt shirt underneath it, he wore somewhat baggy pants, well worn black boots, and upon his head was black cordovan hat, and a black facemask tied around his mouth covering everything from his chin to his nose, he sat between his two teammates branches, and hanging limply from his hand was his weapon which resembled a small staff with a button on it,

Each of them had a forehead protector that had several dots on it, denoting they were from the land of Snow... or Spring as it was known as now, the first had it tied around her neck, the second had it hanging from her belt, while the third wore it as a belt,

They were in order Heishi Oxmen, Willow, and Naruto Kamizuru,

Willow took a break from scaring those passing by with her terrifying play, where she'd poisoned the bear who was her spouse, and threatened to take their country from them, to talk to her teammates, "Corr... lot a' blighters came fer this un eh?" The ginger girl asked as she rubbed her chin with a menacing grin, "betcha their kits'd fetch an 'andsome price," she looked to Heishi, "think ya could take 'em in a dust up?"

"I do not make such assumptions about foes I've not faced," Heishi stated as her eyes scanned those walking by them,

"C'mon Honey, surely you can at least guess about their strength right?"

The horned teen turned to the blonde boy, "Do you call me honey because I am strong and you use it as a weapon or is there some other reason for the nickname?"

Naruto sipped more honey, "Honey is sweet and so are you,"

She stared at him for a moment, "What does that mean?"

Willow let out a loud groan, "Bloody- ... ee means that your brilliant 'eishi," she stated,

Heishi's eyes narrowed slightly more, "He is mocking me?"

"No, I like-"

"Excuse me," A small voice called from below,

The three looked down at a leaf ninja she had short red hair with some blonde dye in one of her bangs, "What are you three doing, the Chunin exam is inside the leaf," She was Mikan Namikaze, child of Minato: the Fourth Hokage and Kushina Uzumaki: The Red Hot Habanero, both of whom were thought to be dead up until three years ago when they returned to the leaf with their daughter,

"Oo's this lickle dear?" Willow asked reaching behind her for something,

"Mikan Namikaze," Heishi stated, "Daughter of the Yellow Flash and Red Hot Habanero, Rank: assumed Jonin level but she was denied it and that of anything beyond Genin so she could compete,"

"Thought you couldn't say nothin' 'bout foes you ain't fought?" Willow stated grabbing her bear as the group leapt from the their branches and landed in front of her,

"I did not say that, I stated I cannot assume anything about foes I haven't faced," Heishi corrected,

"Foes?" Mikan asked, "you already assume everyone here is your enemies?"

"They are my enemies, and I look forward to facing them in battle," Heishi stated as she put her mace on her back, she looked down at Mikan, studying her, as I do to face you, do you have your mother's ability to use chains?"

The young girl nodded, "That I do," she said, "maybe one of you will get a close look at my ability during the exams,"

The blonde haired boy walked around her, twirling his staff behind his back as he did "Ah," he said, "didn't you host this exam last year?" Naruto asked, "wasn't it supposed to be Suna's turn this year?"

Mikan's expression fell, "I..." she looked away from them, "this exam is in memory of my brother," she explained, "he passed shortly after my parents and I returned to the leaf after having left for personal reasons,"

The group from Spring offered nothing to the grieving girl, Mikan looked at the team, Willow hugged her bear as she walked around the tree they were just sat in stuffing her bear into one of the large bag's many pockets before she put it on her back, Naruto had stopped walking having circled the girl and made it back to standing with his team leaning on his staff as if it were a cane, and finally Heishi stared back at Mikan uncaring,

"Don't expect Heishi or Willow here to offer anything, Honey's" Heishi bared her teeth at the Bee coated young man, "Clans culture is radically different then most of the world's, and Willow was born in bad circumstances," Naruto said, "and I'm too morbidly curious as to how your brother died,"

"Why would you ask that?" Mikan asked,

"Eh my clan's culture is sorta morbid, when we die our summons the bees take our corpses to the Queen Bee so she can eat us or use us as decoration for the hive," he said taking a sip of honey, "depending on how awesome we were,"

Mikan stuck her tongue out in disgust, "Why would you have that as a summon?"

Naruto smirked and honey dripped from his fingers, "Infinite honey," he said, "Also the Kamizuru act as temporary Queens to the bees far away from the hive allowing them to not go crazy and pollinate the world far from the actual hive, so it's a give and take relationship built around necessity,"

"Huh," Mikan said, "So you have a summon?" she asked,

"Nice try Namikaze," Naruto said with a wink, "but you'll have to find out during the exams,"

Mikan smiled, "Okay Kamizuru, I'll keep an eye on you then,"

Naruto took her hand, "It's a promise then," he said slipping a fresh jar of honey into her hand, "enjoy Namikaze princess, we Kamizuru don't give out the honey our bees make lightly," he said grabbing Willow and walking by her,

Heishi walked by as well not having much to say,

The lone team from spring entered Konoha, they stood by the entrance, "Welcome to-" the guys at the gates jaws dropped upon sight of Heishi, who by the looks of them she would've been just barely taller then them, which wasn't surprising, Naruto had seen her clan head, the Aroshik, considering he was a behemoth of a man that stood at a gigantic 8ft 7 inches, man looked like a brick wall,

Even in Spring the sight of the Oxmen who were either on guard duty made eyes widen, but here where likely non of Heishi's clan were, everyone stopped to stare at her,

The Guardsmen quickly brought themselves out of their stupor, "Wow they grow big in..." he looked to her headband, "Snow don't they?" he looked at the other two, "You missing a genin?"

"Wot? are you lot thick?" Willow asked, she pulled a knife again using it to gesture from Heishi to Naruto, "She's not the gaffer, 'ee is."

The leaf ninja raised an eyebrow at that, "So where is your sensei?"

"Didn't you get the message our Damiyo sent?" Naruto asked, "After a recent revolution retook the land of Spring from a false Damiyo, and with him went the Kage and several ninja, thus we have a ninja shortage, technically I'm the temporary team sensei, but it's just because I actually have some mission experience, my clan head will be by soon to relieve me from my duty,"

"Seriously?" One of the gate guards asked,

"A letter was sent along with our acceptance to join the Chunin exam," Naruto said, "Your Hokage should have gotten it,"

"He did," a voice said, they turned and saw a pale skinned woman with purple eyes long red hair done up in a ponytail, she mostly black, she had a short sleeved shirt and shinobi pants, the two things that weren't black were her olive Jonin jacket, and her blue headband, she gave a somewhat strained smile at them, "welcome to Konoha, I'm Kushina Namikaze,"

Neither of Naruto's team spoke up, both waiting for him to talk first, one due to it being the single bit of basic politeness she was capable of, the other because her leader was supposed to introduce themselves first,

'Fantastic,' he thought, "I'm Naruto-" he stopped as she bristled and her smile twitched, "Kamizuru,"

"Naruto?" she asked, "Is that a normal name from Spring?"

The bee styled coat wearing boy rubbed the back of his neck, "No, my mum liked this old story and named me after the main character,"

"Ah," she said, "it uh..." she swallowed nervously, "was my sons name too,"

Naruto's eyes went wide as he pretended to be shocked, "No, I'm so sorry for your loss,"

"I... thank you," she said wiping her eyes, "we wanted to use the chunin exams to unveil a statue in his honour,"

"He must've been quite the warrior," Naruto stated, "to get a statue I mean,"

"I" her eyes shot away from the group, to the oth-... the citizens around it must've looked as if she were deep in memory of the child she lost,

But Naruto knew the truth,

"Yes, he was a fighter, never knew when to back down," she said, "he got that from me," she stated, still avoiding the eyes of the group, "We... couldn't bury the body for reasons, so we decided to honour him another way,"

"Why you all try to ''honour'' your departed confuses me," Heishi said, "why is so much put into burying or burning your dead?"

"'Oo ruddy cares?" Willow snarled,

"Actually bodies are put into the earth or cremated on a belief that we all came from the earth and that to return us to the ground will allow us to pass on," Naruto explained, "Actually some people would often remove finger's from their victims in order to ensure they suffered and wouldn't find rest in the afterlife,"

Willow's snarl vanished and a bright smile took it's place, "Wow big bro you're bloody brilliant," she said her eyes almost shining,

"That still makes no sense," Heishi stated, "when we die we are nothing but-"

"Not everyone believes that," Naruto stated, "And even when you die, I'd still bury you,"

"..." Heishi gave him a somewhat confused expression, "If you must," she said uncaring of his words,

"You're all... very strange," Kushina stated bluntly,

"We get that a lot," Naruto said,

"Well uh I'm here to act as a guide for you all," Kushina said with a forced smile,

"Why?" Willow asked, "I know enough 'bout this place from passin' merchants,"

Naruto raised his hand, "And I've been here before in the past,"

Kushina seemed surprised, "Oh?"

"Yeah, knew an old friend I'm excited to see again," He said, "used to try writing to him but ain't ever got a response,"

Kushina smiled widely, "Oh? well I'm sure they just forgot to reply, what's their name? I'll use my husband's connection as Kage to find them for you,"

"He, I, and your son all share a name," Naruto said, "His name is Naruto,"

Kushina's eyes went wide and she stumbled back, "...Oh," she said clearly shocked, "you..." she forced a smile, "you knew another Naruto, one who lived in Konoha?"

Naruto pulled a stack of letters out of his coats pocket and thumbed through them as he spoke, "Yeah, he didn't have much, orphan boy, didn't know anything about his parents, unliked by the village," as he listed things Kushina seemed to flinch in response, "when my clan rolled though here several years ago he practically begged us to take him with us, mum was even open to doing it, but for some reason no one would let her adopt him,"

"B-begged?" Kushina asked playing with her hair absentmindedly, "surely it w-wasn't that bad," her voice pleaded and begged him to lie,

But Naruto had no kindness left for the woman before him, "Huh that's what the third said," he said, "yet he never did or could explain all the bruises on him,"

"B-bruises?" Kushina asked her the skin on her face turning pale, "y-your joking right?"

"You're looking pale Miss Namikaze, maybe you should go lie down, we'll find our way to the hotel we've got booked, and I know where my friends apartment is, so I'll be alright in finding it," he said walking past her, "c'mon crew let's go explore Konoha,"

Kushina stared off into the distance, just standing there as the team passed her by, Willow gave Naruto a curious look but he just shrugged,

They found their hotel, A large building called King's Finest where they checked in and dropped off what few possessions they didn't keep on them,

Willow jumped on the bed, feeling how soft and squishy it was, "Mmm~ so nice," she moaned,

Heishi took up a spot on the floor, her back to the wall, "We have checked in, what now?" she asked looking toward Naruto,

"You two do whatever," Naruto said from his perched spot on the windowsill looking out at Konoha, "I've got old letters to deliver,"

"Where do the ninja train?" Heishi asked, "I want to get started on my own practice since now we won't be set upon by bandits,"

"You have to go to the Hokage office to get a training ground requisitioned," Naruto explained, "And Willow will want a merchant's license to legally sell her wares,"

"So we scamper off ta the big gaffer's bloody manshon while you go look for yer old mate?" Willow asked, "why not all go together?" she asked, "ya don't know if yer mate moved, and if he didn't we can go together"

Naruto turned to look at her, "No!" he cried, shocking both of his teammates, he looked between them for a moment, "no... thank you," he said, "this is something I have to do myself," he said standing up, "I'll meet you two later on,"

Then he slid off the roof and darted across the nearby rooftops,

"This is what he meant when he said he'd act a bit weird here isn't it?" Willow asked,

"So long as his judgement as leader is not changed he will be fine," Heishi said standing up, "come, I am eager to start training,"

Willow frowned, "Fine,"

Naruto slid off a roof and saw an old abandoned looking apartment building, "Huh." he said,

He walked up the stairs, three sets before he reached the door he was looking for,

It was old, shabby and looked like it had been kicked in several times since he last saw it, he raised his arm to knock,

"Th-

"THE HELL!?" he cried turning around staff in hand pointing it at the one who'd shocked him,

Behind him was a Konoha hunter ninja, an anbu, he couldn't tell what they were from the markings on the mask alone, "The Hokage requests your presence," they stated,

Naruto took a few breaths and put his staff away, "Okay? I'll talk to him in a second," he said turning back and knocking on the door, upon contact the door fell off it's hinges, "Hello!" Naruto called in, "Naruto?" he asked entering, "it's me, your name brother from Iwa now Spring," he called, "I brought letters,"

The Anbu followed him inside, "No one has lived in this apartment for years," the anbu explained, "the Hokage can explain more,"

Naruto turned, "What? what do you mean the Hokage can explain more?"

The anbu held out their arm in response, but said nothing more,

Naruto looked at their hand, "Okay, to the Hokage then," and grasped their hand,

He vanished and reappeared in a swirl of leaves, inside The Hokage's office, He looked around the room, in a corner sat four elderly people, one he recognised as Hiruzen Sarutobi, behind the desk before him was him,

Smiling brightly at him in contrast to the drained looking Kushina by his side was Minato Namikaze,

'Two of the biggest dirtbags in the world,' he thought,

"Naruto Kamizuru right?" Minato asked,

"I'd rather Kamizuru-san, if it's all the same to you Hokage-dono," Naruto responded, hating how his name sounded from the older man,

"Please call me Minato," the bright blonde man requested,

"if you insist Minato-dono,"

Minato shook his head, "You don't have to use the honorific," he said rubbing the back of his head, "I never felt like I deserved it all that much,"

'One thing we agree on,' Naruto thought, he turned to Kushina, "you still look rather pale Namikaze-san, are you alright?"

"Boy" a voice came from the corner of old people, one wrapped in bandages stared at him, "tell me why you went to that apartment?"

"Do you want some honey if you're hungry, I normally don't offer them freely but it's easy to keep down then-,"

"Don't ignore me boy," Danzo spat, "answer the question,"

Naruto turned to him, "Oh I'm sorry, were you talking to me?" he asked, "sorry I thought that you'd have used my name if you were," he said smiling through his mask, "it's the polite thing to do,"

Danzo bristled, Koharu opened her mouth instead, "Kamizuru-san that particular apartment has been abandoned for a while, what purpose could you have to visit it?"

Naruto pulled the letters out of his pocket, "Knew a guy here a while ago, been writing letters to him, never got a response, figured while I was here I'd bring them to him,"

"Ah so-" Naruto turned to Minato who pulled a large stack of unopened letters out from under his desk, "these are yours Kamizuru-san?"

"They are," Naruto nodded, "and... I notice they haven't been opened,"

"Yes well these letters have been held onto for a while, we needed to make sure there wasn't anything harmful in them," Sarutobi said,

"So... he... Naruto didn't get... any of them?" The coated teen asked, "they all went undelivered?" he asked,

"There's a bigger problem here to talk about Kamizuru-san," Minato said offering a chair,

"I'd prefer to stand,"

Minato nodded, "Well... I'm sure you're wondering why you're here?" he asked causing Naruto to nod, "well I'd like to ask you how you knew Naruto Uzumaki?"

Naruto Kamizuru shrugged, "We... the Kamizuru clan came through Konoha after we'd escaped Iwa, mum the new head felt like the clan wasn't given the respect it deserved, we just needed a bit to fuel up before we headed out to..." he put his hand to his chin, "Oooh I think... it was Hoshi at the time?" he asked himself, "Mum figured it was a smaller village that needed Ninja so we were headed there to see if we could offer our allegiances," Minato nodded as he spoke,

"While we were here a young blonde boy came up to us, clan was weary of him at first, but I was happy to have someone around my age to talk to,"

"And that was Naruto?" Kushina asked,

"Yeah, nice kid, he... was, something was always happening with him," He said cracking a noticeable smile, "always pranking someone, or being chased for some reason," Naruto Kamizuru shrugged again, "seemed really interested in us, wanted to join us, and mum seemed to want to adopt him,

"Which I refused," Sarutobi said,

"And I guess that was it," Naruto said, "we hung out a lot, talked a lot, but couldn't take him with us when we left," he said, "I promised to write to him, telling him about my adventures and that's it I guess,"

"I see," Minato said, "well the thing is..."

"He's dead," Danzo stated, "or assumed to be, no body has been found, and nothing here can track him down,"

Naruto turned giving a wide eyed stare to the old man,

"Danzo have some tact!" Kushina hissed,

"It's best to rip the bandage off now Kushina,"

"I'm... he's... what?" Naruto asked,

"A few months after your family left Naruto went missing," Minato explained,

Naruto walked forward, he pulled a chair out and sat down in it, he put his hands together, "he's... gone?"

"Yes," Minato said, "were you two very close?"

"Like a brother," The Kamizuru heir said covering his face, "that's what he always said, that if he had a brother, he'd want them to be like me, kind and brave," he was on the verge of tears, "begged mum and I to take him regardless of what Konoha said,"

"Did he?" Minato asked,

Naruto nodded sniffling, he pulled his hat down over his eyes, "I-" his breathing hitched, "it feels like yesterday we were here and he was being weird covering these marks on his arm, pleading with mum to take him," he shut his eyes, "I begged too," he admitted, "he seemed so... miserable here,"

"D-did he?" Minato asked,

"That's how he was Minato, just unhappy," Sarutobi said,

Naruto felt the urge to bring up the marks again but restrained himself, 'Wouldn't do well to say too much,' he thought,

Then the chair beside him was pulled out, he turned to see Kushina Uzumaki, she walked around it and flopped into it,

Weakly she leaned forward and took his hands, she stared deep into his eyes, actively holding back tears, "C-...can you... tell me about him?" she asked,

Naruto nodded, "What do you-"

"Everything you know," she said squeezing his hands, "Please?"

Naruto nodded again, "His favourite food was ramen," Naruto started, he chuckled, "he'd argue with anyone who said it wasn't the food of the gods, he and I got into arguments about it, and it wasn't just any ramen, Ichiraku Ramen specifically," he said, "and I think he had a crush on the ramen vendor's daughter Ayame, always said 'Big sis Ayame's like an angel', his best friend was... us I think, he had a group he hung with, but that was mostly just 'they didn't leave when he started talking' so he said,"

Naruto smiled, "Like I said he was a prankster, I think once he painted the faces on Hokage mountain,"

Kushina smiled at that, "Wh-" she hiccupped, "was he c-caught?"

Kamizuru chuckled, "Only by his teacher Iruka-sama, said scores of anbu passed him by but this one Chunin always found him," his eyes glistened with unshed tears, "always wondered how he did it,"

Kushina giggled, or that's what started, slowly she started leaning forward and then sobbed into his shoulder,

"He was so young," she said,

"I know," he said wrapping his arms around her, sobbing too, out of the corner of his eye he noticed Minato wiping his own eyes, trying to hide that he was crying,

Her muffled sobs continued into his shoulder, while Naruto himself pleaded, "h-he's alive right?" he asked, "I... I want my brother back,"

Kushina held him tightly as she cried, he shut his own eyes, and after a bit he noticed her weight shifting, he lifted her up to find her eyes shut tightly, and snores coming from her,

"Perhaps we should allow young Kamizuru-san to go?" Sarutobi suggested,

"Y-yes," Minato stated, shaking his head, he gestured to the door, "Sorry this is such bad state for us,"

"It's okay," Naruto said standing up propping Kushina in her own chair, he walked over and opened the door,

He shut it behind him, before turning and walking away, feigning ignorance of the eyes of one Mikan Namikaze on him,

He walked down the stairs, his misery felt in every step, he looked around as he got to the secretary's section, but his team was long gone or hadn't come yet, thus he kept walking, as he left the mansion he turned and started walking towards one of the three other things he had to do,

"And stay out!" a familiar voice screamed, he saw an older man run out of a small stall chased by a tall but petite long brown haired girl in an apron waving around a frying pan like it was a mighty blade, "DON'T EVER COME BACK HERE!" She raged, "YOU'RE NOT FIT TO SAY HIS NAME!" with her piece said she tossed the frying pan and had the man not ran around Naruto it would've hit him, but Naruto caught it before it could hit himself,

When he lowered the pan the woman had gone, likely back into the stall, 'Ichiraku Ramen' was on the sign,

Naruto walked forward entering the stall,

He found the young lady in the back wiping her eyes, it didn't take long for her to notice him, she walked over, eyes narrowed, lip curled up in anger, she snatched the frying pan "What?" she demanded,

Naruto put his hands together, "Sorry I'm... are you Angel?" he asked,

Her eyes narrowed further, "three. two-" he raised his hands,

"I'm looking for Angel of Ichiraku," he tried to explain,

"Two and a half" she spat raising the pan,

"I knew Naruto," he defended,

Her eyes stayed the same but she lowered the frying pan slightly, "Talk"

He sighed in relief, "Okay, I'm Naruto Kamizuru, Naruto hung around us when we were here, just got in town for the chunin exam and I hear he's gone missing,"

"He's not here, if we had him we wouldn't be in this SHIT! HOLE!" she shouted, not at him, behind him, she took a breath, "why are you here?"

"Honestly I wanted to meet the Angel he talked about and try some of the miso-pork-"

"Naruto Special," she said, "That's what it's called now,"

"I..." he looked at her, "and he hasn't- didn't say anything?"

"No" she growled,

His eyes went wide and his cheeks turned red, 'Wow' he thought,

"What?" she asked after a few minutes of him giving her a wide eyed stare,

"I just... wow,"

"Wow what?"

Naruto Kamizuru swallowed nervously, "I uh... he was right," he stated, "you're so pretty you have to be an Angel,"

She lowered the pan and snorted, she put it on the counter as she started giggling, "You... really are his brother," she said,

"So I'm told," he said sitting down, he leaned to try and look in the kitchen, "Is the er... older gentleman in the back?"

"It's my dad's day off today, and mine tomorrow," she said with a sigh, "this place... it just... drains us now, the people who come in and mention him, just to try and get a rise out of us," she said, "and then there's the ''artists'' every day I have to scrub this stall clean of paint," she stated looking at the frying pan in her hand, "these days my pans are used more to chase off idiots and assholes then frying,"

"He'd never have wanted this," the Kamizuru man said,

"I'd give anything to have him back," she said, "if only anything I had to give was enough,"

"It'd be more then he'd have ever asked for," Naruto replied, "and he'd never have asked,"

"Yeah," she nodded, "he was good like that," she slumped on the desk, "I just... if I knew..."

Ayame looked to him, "Is... your country looking for him?" she asked, a small bit of hope in her voice, one it sounded like she'd not had in years, "We'd be anywhere else if we just knew-"

It broke his heart to see her like this, he stood up, "C'mon," he said, "I'll take you home,"

"I can't leave the stall, people will-"

"No, they won't" he promise as he pulled her over the counter, he took her outside, he stuck his right thumb into his right palm and a massive plume of smoke appeared,

Ayame's jaw dropped as a large mean looking bee twice the size of her father's ramen stand appeared out the smoke, the bee had sharp teeth in his mouth, it looked like large baggy pants over his legs that had a hole through the back to let his stinger out, binding around his waist, he had a scarred chest, was missing an antenna, and what looked to be a giant stinger over his shoulder, looked down at the two tapping his large stinger bat onto his shoulder, "Eh! who summoned the mighty Juzo? step forth and I may not smash ya!"

Naruto dropped to his knees then pressed his head to the floor, "Lord Juzo, this humble summoner has a request for your mighty self,"

"Oh doooo ya now?" Juzo asked squatting down as he glared at the summoner, "and what is your request, and it had better be worthy of my immense power, else you and I have a problem summoner,"

Naruto sat up and gestured to Ayame, "This poor maiden desperately needs time to rest, for a young man who loved her dearly has vanished,"

The Bee tapped it's stinger a few times, then shook it's head, "Ah... love," he nodded seeming sympathetic, "and love lost? a tragedy even one as mighty as I has felt," he looked to Ayame "did you return their feelings?"

Ayame frowned, "I..." she bit her lips, "no," she said grabbing her dress, "He... wasn't much younger then me, but he always was younger then me, I... tried not to encourage him,"

Juzo nodded, "Yet more of a tragedy," he said sizing her up, "but... did you love him?"

Ayame nodded slowly, "I did," she said, "and... not just... as a brother,"

Juzo's grin sharpened, "I see, what a waste,"

Ayame looked at the giant insect and said, "If he were here I'd propose on the spot, I'd hold him, and hug him, and tell him everything I've been holding back! that I loved him! that I always loved him! that his big sister he called an Angel desperately wanted to be his bride!" she said sobbing, "and to prove that I'm staying here, because if he comes back, he'll come here!" she stated pointing to the stall, "because it's where he came to find help,"

"The stall?" the large bee asked, "I see," he nodded, turning to his summoner, "Juzo thanks you summoner," he said leaping next to the stand, "I will guard it happily with my life,"

Naruto nodded, "Thank you Lord Juzo,"

'Tell her boy' Juzo responded through the hivemind the bees shared with the Kamizuru, 'take the pain away from her heart,'

The young Kamizuru nodded, but offered no reply, verbally or mentally,

He walked Ayame back to her home, she kept her eyes on the ground not wanting to look anywhere, everyone who even thought about approaching her thought better upon realising there was a young man beside her twirling his pipe around his fingers glaring at anyone who got close,

Finally he stopped in front of her door, "We're here" he said turning to her, she nodded and took out her key, "sorry I'll try to be back tomorr-"

He raised a finger to his lips, "Shhhhh" he said, he pulled a letter out of his pocket and offered it to her, his eyes went from the letter to her,

Slowly she accepted the letter, "Open that when you're inside with your dad," he said sadly, "I'm sorry I can't explain now but everything will make more sense when you're inside," he leapt away,

Ayame stared off into the air as he vanished, she looked down at the letter, the envelope was black and embroidered with roses, red string was wrapped around it, she was very confused by the obviously romantic envelope from a man she just met,

After a few minutes she entered her home and locked the door, while Naruto sadly stared on, 'I wish I could tell you, straight to your face Ayan-gel-chan, forgive the coward I must be to protect you,'

"Problem?" he asked the figure behind him,

"The giant bee you summoned, why?"

Naruto turned as saw an ox masked man wearing Anbu gear, he closed his eyes, "My brother loved that woman, he loved her so deeply that to him no other woman could compare to her radiance, beauty, or kindness" he said, opening his eyes he stared straight into the eye holes in the mask the man wore, "should I his older brother do nothing to help her and my brother is dead, he will claw his way from the other side to haunt me, thus I do all I can to assist the maiden who held his heart,"

"And if it hurts anyone?"

"When he hurts people it will be there own fault for ignoring the warnings of a giant bee armed with a weaponised stinger," Naruto stated, "now if you'll excuse me I have yet another person to meet for my deceased broth-"

Both he and the Anbu turned as they felt something shaking the ground in a close square, both dashed off and came to a three way stand off,

Naruto didn't even react upon seeing Willow on one side of the stand off, she was practically foaming at the mouth swinging around an abbacus on a stick as if it were a staff, behind her Heishi seemed unconcerned weapon still on her back,

On another side was Kiba Inuzuka glaring at her and baring his fangs, his dog was on his head growling, behind him was his team a depressed looking Hinata Hyuga who stood in what almost appeared to be a black wedding dress, complete with a veil over her face, and Shino Aburame,

And finally the last party to the stand off was a nervous but glaring red haired girl with glasses, her team was nowhere to be found,

"Take that back mutt!" Willow ordered,

"You don't have any right to be here you little monster!" Kiba roared, then he turned to glare at the red haired girl, "and you should get gone while I'm dealing with this ankle biter, else I'm after you next!"

The girl looked affronted, "What?" she asked, "you grabbed my ass and I slapped you," she stated narrowing her eyes in disgust, "you should learn not to touch women for no reason,"

"Oi! keep your mitts of the merchandise dog!" Willow barked hopping like mad, "I just brought that girl,"

The girl turned to Willow "I'M. NOT. FOR. SALE!" she shouted, "how many times do I have to say it?"

"A true shame that blood should be spilled on this of all days," Hinata said... with a creepy smile, "how. . . tragic," she said with a chuckle,

Naruto shook his head and dropped between the three, "Experienced mediator here!" he said sitting on his staff, "what seems to be the problem?"

"Big bro!" Willow cheered, "kick these guys arses! they tried to cheat me!"

Naruto nodded, "Riiiight, and someone who wouldn't lie to me to get me to fight for them?"

Willow groaned, "Aww c'mon, can't ya believe ya dear sister just once?"

Naruto turned to the girl, "Ah you, what happened here?"

She rolled her eyes, "Well I'm not really sure," she said, "I came here and saw that little munchkin was selling some stuff and my team jokingly offered to sell me,"

"And I brought her, and they ran off with the money," Willow said,

Naruto sighed, "Great... this again," he said, "and was the sign up?" he asked, "the one that makes it clear that Willow doesn't joke about sales of any kind?"

The girl looked worried, "Uh... look I played no part in the ''sale'' okay?"

"Don't matter, sales are final!" Willow stated,

"Right and then?" Naruto asked,

"And then she went and wrecked me merch," Willow stated, "cause that pig over there grabbed her arse,"

"I didn't think she'd be weird about it!" Kiba. . . said,

"You grabbed my bum, jumping away and slapping you isn't weird!" The girl spat,

"Okay okay!" Naruto clapped his hands bringing attention back to him, "Hi," he looked to the girl "You and I will look for your team, and we will try to get the money Willow gave them for you back," then to Willow, "make a list of how much was destroyed and I'll deliver it to the Inuzuka compound as a bill," and finally Kiba, "and you..." he shook his head, "like grow up man, how would you react if someone you knew got groped?"

"Well how hot is the girl who got groped?"

Naruto let out a long sigh, "Correction! I'm taking him to his mum so she can sort him out, and now I'm doing it first," he said stepping off his staff and pulling it from the ground, "now weapons away, and everyone-" he vanished and appeared right in front of Kiba, "RE!" He flipped kicking him in the jaw "LAX!" Shino was quick to catch Akamaru while Hinata actively dodged catching Kiba,

"Poor poor muttling," The Hyuga heir said, "can't get girls, can't get a break,"

"Alright," Naruto said grabbing Kiba and yanking him to his feet, "Let's take you back to your momma,"

Kiba attempted to pull his arm free of the Kamizuru's grip, and when that failed he aimed a kick at the young man, Naruto responded by deflecting the kick with his staff slipping behind him and twisting his arm behind his back before bringing his staff down on his skull viciously,

The Inuzuka heir dropped to the ground like a puppet with it's strings cut, Naruto tossed his staff up, catching it and putting it away, "Alright," he said pulling Kiba into a fireman's carry and took Akamaru who seemed almost too eager to jump onto the mysterious man's head, "I'll take him home, gimme a bit and I'll be back to help you Karin," he said leaping off into the sky,

OCTOPUS-The End-OCTOPUS