Kage Bunshin for Win

by kur3n41.ch4n

Naruto is aware of the memory return of clones. During the Wave mission, Naruto weakened the Eight Symbol Seal, allowing Kurama to communicate with him. Kurama — a vixen.

5. Wave Mission

"Naruto." — Direct speech.

"Naruto." — Thoughts.

*Slurp* — Sounds.

---

The Gates of Konohagakure no Sato. Hour after Team 7 received their first C-rank mission.

"I can't wait to go!" Naruto shouted, jumping up and down with excitement. Standing beside him were the ever-so-cool Sasuke and Princess Bubble Gum Sakura.

"What's there to be so excited about?" Tazuna muttered, leaning against a tree and holding a half-empty bottle of sake.

Naruto glared at him and said, "This is our first C-ranked mission, old man. And it's my first time leaving the village!"

"Great, I'm stuck with a bunch of rookies." Tazuna drank the rest of his sake and threw the bottle away. "Maybe I'll get lucky and die drunk…"

"Don't worry, I'm a Jonin. I can handle any situation that comes up," Kakashi reassured him, smiling behind his mask. "These kids are strong too; they can handle a simple C-rank mission."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" Tazuna said, not sounding convinced. He looked at Naruto and asked, "Hey, kid. Where's your travel kit?"

Naruto grinned and tapped his nose. "I'm a ninja. I have everything I need."

Tazuna raised an eyebrow and glanced at Kakashi, who nodded. He sighed and said, "Well, let's get going then."

A few hours' walk from Konoha.

"Fūinjutsu? And you created this seal yourself?" Tazuna asked, impressed.

"Heh-heh. Of course," Naruto replied, trying to sound humble but with a face that screamed, 'I'm cooler than a three-day anime marathon of your favorite series!'

Tazuna's curiosity was piqued, and he leaned in closer. "So, this Fūinjutsu stuff, can just anyone use these seals? Could I slap one on my sake bottle to keep it from ever running dry?"

Kakashi joined the conversation, his one visible eye crinkling in amusement. "Well, Tazuna-san, Fūinjutsu is a bit more complex than that. It's not just about slapping on a seal—you need to be able to mold chakra to activate and control it. It's an art form that ninjas train for years to master."

Tazuna scratched his head, looking slightly disappointed. "So, no magical sake bottle then? What a shame. But hey, maybe you could teach me just one little trick? I'm a quick learner, you know."

Naruto chuckled, "Well, if you can learn to mold chakra like a ninja, I'll personally make the best seal for your sake bottle. It'll be legendary, believe it!"

Kakashi sighed lightly, knowing full well the complexities of teaching someone to mold chakra. "Let's focus on getting to our destination safely first. But who knows? Maybe we'll have some time for a basic chakra lesson later on."

"Um, Tazuna-san?" Sakura turned to Tazuna with a shy expression on her face.

"What?"

"You are from the Land of the Waves, right?"

"What about it?"

"Um, Kakashi-sensei?" Changing her target, she continued, "Do they have ninjas in their country too?"

"What are they teaching you guys in the academy nowadays?" Kakashi shook his head in disbelief.

"That's what I always told them! Academy is a bullshit!" Naruto happily chimed in.

"Anyway, no, Wave doesn't have ninjas. But most other countries… The culture and customs may be different, but hidden villages exist, and so do ninjas." And so, Kakashi started his lecture about the Five Great Shinobi Countries and the Five Kage…

"Wow! Hokage-sama is the best!" Sakura squealed, though her inner monologue had a different tune, "That lame geezer is that incredible? Sounds fishy…"

Kakashi glanced at his students with narrowed eyes, "You guys just doubted Hokage-sama, didn't you?"

Sakura and, surprisingly, Sasuke missed their steps, but Naruto just laughed it off. "Nah, he deserves all the hype. Old man is tough as nails."

Kakashi smiled with his eye and patted Sakura's head. "But, don't worry. There won't be any ninja combat in a C-rank mission." "Bandits, though…"

"Then we won't come in contact with foreign ninjas?" Sakura's voice was laced with hope, her face brightening.

"Of course not! Hahahaha," he answered Sakura, but his eyes were on the two male genins, obviously dejected by the news.

That was the moment when Team 7 and Tazuna passed by a small puddle.

Surprise, surprise. All members of their team stole a glance at the puddle and then at each other. After a few more steps, they heard the clinking of chains. Whirling around, their eyes widened, seeing Kakashi wrapped up in chains.

"Huh?!" Sakura exclaimed in confusion.

"What the…" Naruto stared unimpressed at Kakashi.

"One down," came the intimidating voices of two ninjas holding the ends of the chain.

Yanking the chains toward themselves, they 'tore' Kakashi apart. Not looking at the results of their attack, they targeted Naruto next. Instantly appearing beside him, they wrapped their chain around him, nicking his arm slightly.

Naruto, who stood 'frozen in fear,' vanished in a poof of smoke. Immediately afterward, one ninja found himself buried in the ground with only his head poking from the earth, while the other was immobilized, unable to even twitch.

From the woods emerged two Narutos, one holding the rat hand seal. Sasuke popped up from underground near the head-first ninja. Pulling out a tag from his pouch, he slapped it onto the ninja's head. Sakura approached the statue-like ninja and pressed a similar tag onto his forehead protector.

"Well, aren't you cool little ninjas?" Kakashi walked from the forest, his visible eye curved in an 'eye smile.'

"Aren't you upset we finished so fast?" Naruto dispelled his clone and crossed his arms in front of him. "Your chance to read that porn again slipped away."

"Hahaha, you're quite a comedian, aren't you? Of course I wouldn't read smut on the mission."

"Just like on any other mission we had," Sakura said with such amount of sarcasm and disgust dripping from her voice it would be enough to fill a Water Dragon Jutsu.

"Well, those were mere D-rank missions," Kakashi waved his hand in dismissal and turned toward the immobile ninja, "Let's tie these guys up."

The guy who tried to imitate a statue struggled with words, "How… did you… know…"

"On a sunny day like this, when it hasn't rained in days… A water puddle shouldn't exist," Kakashi answered with smugness, "You guys are chuunin, aren't you? How in the Log's name did you manage to make a mistake like that? Did you miss masking lessons in the Ninja Academy?"

"…"

"Why did you let brats fight when you knew that?" Tazuna inquired with a raised brow.

With the efficiency of a professional gift-wrapper, Kakashi secured the ninjas with a rope. "If I had wanted to, I could have killed these two instantly. There was something I needed to find out… Who the target these two were after."

"What do you mean..?" Hesitantly, Tazuna asked.

"Meaning, were they after one of us, or you?" Kakashi's visible eye narrowed on him, "Do you have something to say?"

"…"

"We hadn't heard that shinobi are after you. Our mission was to simply protect you from thieves or gangs. This has now become at least a B-rank mission. I'm sure you have reasons, but it causes problems when you lie about mission details," he sat under a tree not far from the two tied shinobi, before continuing, "We are now operating outside of our duties…"

Tazuna was silent for a minute before he started to talk again, "You're right. This job is most likely outside of your duties. A super dangerous man is after my life."

Naruto couldn't quite hide his excitement in his eyes. "S-super dangerous..?" he said with stars in his eyes.

Kakashi sighed, "Who?"

"You've probably at least heard his name. The wealthy shipping magnate, Gatō."

One explanation about Gatō later.

"Well, if you quit this mission… I will definitely be fish food… But don't worry about that! If I die, my cute 10-year-old grandson will just cry for a few days. Oh yeah, and my daughter will live a sad life hating leaf ninjas forever. But it won't be your fault. Not at all!" Tazuna wiped an imaginary tear from his eye.

Team 7 exchanged glances with sweat dripping on their faces.

Sighing, Kakashi replied, "Well, I guess we have no choice but to help you at least get back to your country…"

Almost a week later. Waters near Wave Country.

"So… What's he up to, again?" asked a man, in a pointed hat similar to Tazuna's, as he rowed them toward the Land of Waves.

"Molding chakra," replied a bored Naruto. He had been watching water and fog for the last hour or more, and it started to annoy him, "Remind me, why don't we Water Walk to this Land of Wave? I could totally give Tazuna-ojisan a piggyback ride…"

"Because not everyone is an endless fountain of chakra like you. And we don't want to be vulnerable after spending so much chakra," Kakashi muttered without looking up from his scandalous orange book.

"And he's doing this because..?" A man whose name we'll never know asked again.

"Cause he wanted to use Fūinjutsu seals. I promised him an infinite amount of sake if he could do it."

Tazuna sat at the front of the boat in a lotus position, his head up in the air. His hands formed the ram hand seal, and a leaf rested on his forehead. He lowered his head and focused all his will on his forehead. To everyone's surprise, the leaf didn't fall off.

"Woah! The first ninja of the Land of Wave. Congratulations, Tazuna-ojisan! You'll be signing autographs in no time," Naruto cheered.

"Hahaha, such a dignified title for a drunkard," laughed the man paddling the boat, "Keep it down, though; why do you think I turned off the engine?"

Naruto scratched his head sheepishly, "Sorry…"

Just then, the leaf on Tazuna's forehead was picked up by the wind and flew away on its own little adventure, "Ah, shit…"

As the boat's occupants peered at the drifting leaf, they caught sight of the towering silhouette of a colossal bridge on their path. Even Kakashi, typically engrossed in his... let's call it eclectic reading material, couldn't resist marveling at the scene.

"Well, well. At least you're a good bridge builder," Kakashi remarked with a twinkle in his eye, tucking away his book for the time being.

"Woah, it's massive…" Naruto whispered, his voice a mix of awe and the usual excitement.

"Tazuna, it looks like we've avoided detection so far, but, just in case, we'll take the route that has vegetation. It will make harder for enemies to spot us."

"Thanks," grunted Tazuna.

After navigating through a tunnel, the Land of Waves unveiled itself in its full beauty. They glided amidst lush foliage, glimpsing buildings that seemed to float mirage-like on the water's surface. A few strategic twists and turns later, they reached their destination.

When everyone disembarked, the no-name-row-man spoke to Tazuna, "This is it for me. Goodbye and good luck."

"Yeah, thanks a ton," Tazuna thanked him, before the man started his engine and floated away. "Ok! Get me home safely!" He exclaimed to Team 7.

"Yeah, yeah." Kakashi replied without much enthusiasm. "If we get attacked again, it will surely not be a chuunin level, but jounin…"

A few moments later.

Team 7, along with Tazuna, were ambling toward his residence when an unexpected rustle from the shrubs caught their attention. The genin swiftly drew their kunai and faced the source of the noise—a charming snowy rabbit that emerged, amusingly scratching its ear with a hind paw.

"Aw, isn't that just the kawaiiest thing?!" Naruto and Sakura swooned in a harmonized pitch as they lowered their weapons. Sakura, enticed by the oversized cotton ball, attempted a silent approach but was stopped by Kakashi's hand.

"That's a snow rabbit. Yet it's spring… This is a rabbit that's been kept in a cage for the purpose of body switching, or… So they're here already."

"Hey, what gives, Kakashi-sensei? I want to hug that cutie too…" Sakura whined from behind Kakashi's paternal stop sign.

Kakashi gazed at her, perplexed, "…too?" He turned back to the bunny and noticed Naruto wholly engrossed in embracing it. His face dropping, Kakashi mumbled, "Well, at least it doesn't have an exploding tag on it… Maybe inside…?"

Suddenly, Kakashi's eyes widened as he screamed, "On the ground! Now!"

With reflexive haste, Sasuke pulled Tazuna to safety, while both Naruto and Sakura dropped flat on the spot.

Missing them narrowly, a massive blade sailed through the air and lodged in a nearby tree. Aloft its hilt stood a man wearing a pale mask and a forehead protector on top of his head with the emblem of Kirigakure on it.

"You appear to be Sharingan Kakashi… Sorry, but the old man is mine," the masked shinobi announced.

"Sharingan!?" Sasuke's mind went on a loop…

"What's Sharingan? Is it like Byakugan?" Naruto was confused.

"Surround and protect Tazuna-san," Kakashi reached for his forehead protector while instructing his team, "You guys are no match for him as you are now. That's the teamwork here." Raising his headband, he revealed a red eye with three black dots on it. "Zabuza, first… Fight me."

"What's the deal with this eye? Why is he showing off?" Naruto was beyond confused, but decided to ask questions later.

"Ah, I already get to see the famous Sharingan. I'm honored," said Zabuza, "When I was a member of the Hidden Mist's assassin team, I kept a handbook that included information about you. The man who copied more than a thousand jutsu, 'Copy Ninja Kakashi.'"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura listened to their sensei and, once again, drew their kunai, encircling Tazuna protectively.

Sakura looked towards Kakashi with a mixture of concern and admiration, "What's going on? First that old Hokage, now this… I didn't know they were this great."

"What's going on? The Sharingan only appears in a select few members of the Uchiha Clan," Sasuke looked at Kakashi with narrowed eyes, "Could it be…"

Lost in their thoughts, Sasuke and Sakura were startled when Naruto tapped them on the shoulders, "I'll stealthily make some clones behind the tree line. They will apply Henge and switch with us," he whispered to them with a sly smile on his face, "We'll secure Tazuna with barrier seals and observe Zabuza's situation from the trees. Agree?"

Sakura and Sasuke smirked and nodded. Glancing back at Kakashi and Zabuza, they saw that Zabuza was getting ready for action, but in the next moment they felt a tug and didn't resist it. Their world blurred and they appeared behind the trees.

"Wha-?!" Tazuna's tongue was trapped midair by Naruto's swift palm. A comical gulp completed his reaction as he almost lashed out with his limbs. Yet, the protest died on his lips, when he saw who it was.

"He-he, sorry. I forgot to explain the plan to him," Naruto whispered, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.

"We need to get Tazuna-san to a safe place fast, I think the battle will start soon," Sasuke said, as he peered at Zabuza who just disappeared from the tree. And so they leapt away from the scene, Naruto piggybacking Tazuna.

After running some distance away, they turned back and noticed that the mist in front of them was much thicker than behind.

"That must be an enemy jutsu," theorized Sasuke, "Let's get a little farther from it and place the seals."

"Are you guys sure it's okay to leave your sensei there alone?" Tazuna asked from Naruto's back.

"First of all, our mission is to ensure your safety," Sakura replied.

Naruto continued her thought, "Second, Kakashi-sensei is not alone." Seeing Tazuna's confused expression, he elaborated, "My clones. If something bad happens, they could either dispel themselves, or create another clone who'll dispel himself and I will receive all the memories about their battle."

They found a few trees that could provide cover and started placing seals around them, as Sasuke continued their explanation to Tazuna. "As for the third… You heard Kakashi-sensei's order. We are no match for that guy. He is the strongest of us four, whatever he says – is the law."

"Alright, that should do the trick," Naruto nodded as he instructed Tazuna on how the barrier works, "That barrier will block everything that tries to get inside, as long as it's not some super strong jutsu that could destroy a hill, or something. Hahaha…"

"…"

Folding a few hand seals, he continued explaining, "Now, remember, keep it down to library voices. Sakura will cast a genjutsu around the area-" He cut himself off as he noticed a few sharp senbon flying toward Tazuna. With a flashy final hand sign, he flared his chakra and the needles were stopped by a slightly visible blue wall of chakra.

"Kindly remove this barrier," a smooth voice asked, gruesomely polite, from behind them.

Team 7 spun around to see a masked person, standing some distance away. "Another enemy? Could there be even more…?" Sasuke thought, kunai in his hand, stance battle ready.

"Kindly go fuck yourself!" Naruto shouted, forming a clone seal and spawning ten clones who immediately ran toward the intruder, and ten more who stood protectively around the barrier with Tazuna in it. "This guy is with Zabuza? I hope that's not a four-member squad like ours…"

"My, aren't you a rude one?" Arms crossed, a sinister glint reflected off the small, sharp senbon needles he possessed, which he hurled with astonishing velocity at the doppelgangers assaulting him, and at Team 7. Four clones couldn't dodge the senbon, but the rest managed to evade or block the needle with a kunai.

Evading the flurry of senbon, Sasuke charged toward their foe, prepared to unleash his combat skills. Engaging the stranger in a close-combat fight, he was briefly surprised by his adversary's speed, yet it was nothing he couldn't handle.

Naruto's clones surrounded them and also tried to land a blow on the shinobi. After a few seconds, the clones started to disappear in a poof of smoke, and suddenly he, still holding off one of Naruto's clones, began to weave single-handed seals quickly. Sasuke saw an opportunity and struck a kunai at the shinobi's shoulder while he was forming seals.

"Hiijutsu: Thousand Needles of Death!" The ninja declared, as an immense swarm of needles began their relentless launch from the riverbank toward the three remaining Naruto's clones at a ludicrous speed. Sasuke was at some distance behind the clones, so all the water needles hit Naruto's clones, not reaching him.

The mysterious attacker broke away from the close combat with Sasuke, clutching his wound on the shoulder. "I underestimated them…" He formed a strange seal, similar to a ram, where his middle fingers were around his index fingers.

Sasuke felt a sudden chill in the air and narrowed his eyes at his opponent. Pumping chakra to his feet he quickly began to approach the enemy shinobi with a kunai ready to strike.

"Hijutsu: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals."

Sasuke's kunai hit a solid ice mirror without even scratching it, "Ice Release?! How is it possible?" Getting around it, the shinobi was no longer there. Looking around, he saw that a similar mirror appeared very close to the barrier, near Naruto and Sakura, who quickly jumped away from several senbon flying out of the mirror.

They stopped near Sasuke and suddenly a dome of ice mirrors appeared around them with the reflection of the mysterious ninja in them, "Shit, I think he trapped us here together? So we can't pull each other out of here?" Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto with a thoroughly unimpressed expression.

Sasuke's eyebrow twitched in annoyance, "Seriously? You think so?"

Naruto crossed his hands in front of his chest and shook his head with a serious expression on his face, "These mirrors look super dangerous!" Sakura facepalmed at her place next to him.

Sasuke tried to run out of the dome, but he was stopped by a whole bunch of senbon flying at him from several mirrors at once. Dodging them, he found himself in the center of the dome again. "If this is ice…" Forming several quick seals, he exclaimed, "Fire Release: Great Fireball!"

Naruto and Sakura closed their eyes from the heat and light with their hands, when the fire went out they saw a completely intact mirror. After a second, they dodged several senbon flying out of several mirrors at once, "I can see him…" Sasuke said with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, really? Cool. I'm getting out of here," Naruto said with a bored tone, further annoying Sasuke. Forming several hand seals, he focused on the ground under him.

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun, I'm with him," Sakura said, repeating Naruto's actions.

The masked ninja's reflections raised their hands with senbon and asked, "Huh, I'd like to see how you do that…"

"If you want, - watch. Whack-A-Mole Technique!" Naruto exclaimed, diving into the ground.

"Don't change the names of other people's techniques… Doton: Headhunter no Jutsu." Sakura sighed, diving into the ground after Naruto.

"Underground!? Damn, now they can help that one to get out of the dome…" The ninja in the mask thought.

"Great," Sasuke said when they came out of the ground outside the dome, "Now I can fight this guy one on one."

"But Sakura, it's not Headhunter if you don't bury anyone under the ground," Naruto completely ignored him, turning to Sakura. Suddenly his expression became serious and he turned to where Kakashi was fighting Zabuza. "Bad news, Kakashi-sensei got caught in a ninjutsu. I don't know how long my clones will last," Naruto announced.

Sakura's eyes widened and she looked at Sasuke who was dodging senbon flying at him from all sides. Turning her gaze back to Naruto, she gathered her thoughts and nodded, "You go help Kakashi-sensei. I'll stay with Sasuke in case he needs help."

Naruto nodded and smiled slightly, "Good luck," then he disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

Returning to Sasuke, she continued to watch the events in the dome.

"Zabuza-sama will not lose," said the voice of the shinobi from the mirrors around Sasuke, shortly after Naruto disappeared in a Shunshin.

"We'll see," Sasuke replied briefly, before dodging a large number of senbon that flew at him, "Okay, maybe 'I see him' was an exaggeration… I barely see his shadow when he leaves the mirrors." Landing on the ground, he immediately repelled a few more senbon with a kunai, but two more needles pierced his leg.

Sakura outside the dome clenched a kunai in her hand, watching the fight, "At this rate, Sasuke will lose…" But after a second she relaxed, "Ah, no, he also has the Headhunter no Jutsu…"

For several minutes the battle continued almost unchanged, Sasuke dodged the senbon, sometimes they scratched him, sometimes they pierced his body. Sakura remained standing outside the dome, watching the show. Tazuna sat inside the barrier, sipping on his sake, surrounded by the ten clones of Naruto that still stood, observing everything around them.

"How does he keep dodging most of my attacks?! And his girlfriend is still outside the dome…" Thought the mystery-nin, preparing another attack on Sasuke, who was looking at the mirrors with narrowed eyes.

"I just need to… Calm down and… Focus on his movements…" Sasuke thought, putting every drop of concentration into looking at the mirrors around him. "There it is!" Suddenly he dodged another attack and threw his kunai at the ice-user, who had not yet managed to hide in the mirror.

The kunai stuck deep into the shinobi's arm, drawing out a painful scream and blood. "But how?!" Going back into the mirror, he looked at Sasuke, "Sharingan!? This boy is an Uchiha?!"

And indeed, Sasuke's eyes changed from their usual black to red with two black dots in them. Sakura saw the change and squealed a little, thankfully only in her mind. "Ah, Sasuke-kun is so cool! Beat up this weird ice shinobi!"

"I saw him! Still a little blurry, but I definitely saw his movements!" Sasuke smirked and got another kunai, "Shall we continue?"

"I can't keep this fight going… This guy is dangerous, and my chakra is running out fast to maintain the mirrors. Besides, Zabuza-sama still hasn't finished his fight, that's strange."

Suddenly, the mirrors collapsed into pieces that fell to the ground, revealing the real ninja, his shoulder and arm still bleeding, his head lowered to the ground. Raising it, he looked at Sasuke who was looking at him with his Sharingan, waiting for his actions. He made a seal to create a mirror far away from here and help Zabuza, but he noticed that something was missing.

It clicked too late for the masked assailant, Sakura had vanished from his sight. She materialized out of thin air, descending upon him with an overhead punch, bellowing her iconic "Shannaro!" Her fist connected squarely with the back of his head. "I owe thanks to Kurenai-sensei… And Naruto…" Sakura reflected.

The ninja's mask fell from his face as he flew towards the barrier, revealing a cute and pale face bruised from the impact with the dirt. He/she got up from the ground on shaky legs. "How did she get there without me noticing her?" He tried to make seals again but realized that he could barely move. Turning his head, he saw the clones that Naruto had created at the beginning of the fight and left to protect the barrier. One of them held his hands in a rat hand seal.

Not a second later, a clone appeared behind the immobilized shinobi and knocked him out.

The Battle with Zabuza.

Naruto materialized on a tree branch near the confrontation between Kakashi and Zabuza, quietly observing the unfolding events.

A water clone of Zabuza appeared in front of transformed Naruto-clones, "Hehe, wearing those headbands and acting like ninja. A real ninja is someone who has survived numerous brushes with death," Zabuza-clone started his teachings of tough life, while making some hand seals, "Only when you're good enough to be listed in my handbook can you start calling yourselves ninjas. You are not ninjas." With these words, he began to disappear in the mist.

"He disappears in the mist and reappears without the possibility of tracking him. Kakashi-sensei said that he is a master of Silent Killing…" Thought Naruto before he noticed that Zabuza reappeared in front of his clone with his leg aimed at his face. The clone's eyes widened, but he managed to crouch under the blow.

Zabuza-clone raised a non-existent eyebrow, as he shifted on one foot and brought his leg towards Naruto-clone's head, who pumped chakra in his legs and jumped away from him. "You have some skills, aren't ya?"

Original Naruto looked at the real Zabuza who was holding Kakashi in his technique, "He can't pull his hand out of the water if he doesn't want to stop the technique… Then let's make him!"

Suddenly, Zabuza-clone froze in place, feeling like a steel rope wrapped around his body. Turning his head to the side, he saw Sakura-like-clone holding her hands in a rat hand seal.

"When did Sakura learn Temporary Paralysis? No, wait…" Kakashi's eyes widened as he looked at Naruto.

"Huh, trying to hold me…" Zabuza's clone raised his sword, albeit at a slower speed than before, and tried to swing at Sakura. But the ground beneath him exploded and he dissipated in puddles of water.

From the ground not far from that clone's previous location, a clone in Sasuke's henge came out with a smirk and exploding tags in his hands.

Real Zabuza caught a glimpse of shuriken flying from the forest, turning around he saw at least twenty shuriken flying straight at him. Reaching for his sword, he quickly lowered it down when the shuriken were close to him, deflecting them. After that, he noticed a crowd of Naruto clones running at him with kunai in their hands.

With his sword in his hand, he created three more clones, who started cutting down the clones with little difficulty. He turned back to the three genin and Tazuna. In their place were only four Naruto, with their tongues out and eyelid pulled down by their finger. "That little…!"

His eyes widened when another Naruto clone jumped out of the water behind him, and tried to stab him in the back with a kunai. Reacting quickly, he swung his sword behind him, blocking the clone's kunai, but exposing himself to attacks from the front. One of the clones who was fighting with Zabuza's clones threw a giant shuriken, aiming at the right hand of the real Zabuza, holding the Water Prison Technique.

Noticing the approaching shuriken, he dodged to the side, letting the Water Prison fall. Swiftly twirling his sword, he obliterated the clone behind him and leaped away from the now freed Kakashi. All the Naruto and Zabuza clones dispersed, leaving the two of them in a deadly duel.

Kakashi quickly stood on the water surface and confronted Zabuza, looking him straight in the eyes, "I will not fall for the same jutsu twice, Zabuza."

"Let us test this statement…" Said Zabuza, putting his sword behind his back and starting to quickly make hand seals.

"I think Kakashi-sensei will handle it. Probably…" Thought the real Naruto who was still sitting in the forest, with his legs dangling from a tree branch.

Water Dragon, Great Waterfall and a bit of Sharingan later.

After the fierce battle, Kakashi casually walked over to Zabuza's unconscious body, covering his Sharingan with his headband. He looked at his students and raised an eyebrow as only Naruto came out of the forest. "Well, well… Do you want to tell me what exactly happened back there?" He took one step forward and felt his legs give out. "On second thought… You did a good job! Now, tie up Zabuza with as many seals as you can, and find a cozy corner for me to rest in…" With those final orders, he collapsed, perfectly imitating a log.

Naruto quickly ran over to him with worry. "Kakashi-sensei!" He flipped him over and checked his pulse, incorrectly touching the artery on his neck. "Oh no, you have no pulse!" Naruto screamed frantically. "There's no other way, from the first aid courses I only remembered mouth-to-mouth…"

Kakashi opened one eye and managed to mutter, "Don't even think about it… I'm just exhausted." Before he fell unconscious again.

Naruto laughed and returned to Zabuza, taking out an ink and brush from his seal. "Well then…"

Tazuna's home. A few hours after the fight with Zabuza and other shinobi.

Kakashi sat on his mattress, looking at his genin, Tazuna and his daughter Tsunami, with a perplexed expression. "Huh? A cute mysterious shinobi with Ice Release tried to kill Tazuna-san?" He continued after their collective (except Tsunami) nod. "And you stopped her?" Nods again.

He sighed and lay down on his back, covering himself with a blanket. "Well, this is definitely good news. That means Gatō just lost his most powerful employees… Hopefully…" He turned to his side and instructed his team. "Sasuke, Sakura. One of you must always be near our prisoners - poke them if they squirm too much. Naruto, you will protect Tazuna while he is building the bridge. Leave some clones here, they should watch the prisoners too, especially the integrity of the seals. If an emergency happens, pop some clones and we'll know." He nodded to himself as he thought of different possibilities. "Our worst case scenario now - Gatō finds some rogue ninja who will agree to fight us. Though, after we defeated the great Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist, there shouldn't be any idiots…" He punctuated the word 'great' with air quotes.

"You know we're already awake, don't you?" Zabuza's grumpy voice came from the corner of the room. "What are you going to do with us?" He was bound by ninja wires in at least five places, seals were visible on his head, arms and legs, restraining his movements.

A mysterious shinobi lay quietly next to him, his eyes open, calmly observing the events. He was tied up no worse than Zabuza, maybe a little weaker. It looked like Team 7 had run out of ninja wire…

The eyes of all the people in the room widened to the size of saucers and turned towards Zabuza. Kakashi just said mockingly, "What's this? Oh, they're conscious? I can't believe it…" Sakura facepalmed while everyone rolled their eyes. "To answer your question, Zabuza… So far, nothing. Although, it would be nice to get more information about Gatō. Don't you know anyone who can help us with that?"

"…"

Kakashi couldn't help himself but jab at Zabuza's pride. "To think, the mighty Zabuza and his sidekick got trounced by some fresh-faced newbies on their first C-rank mission. Let's just say, your reputation might need a little polishing after this."

"You were lucky this time, the next…"

"Next time, I'll win even easier," Kakashi interrupted. "It's you who were lucky enough to trap me in the Water Prison. I've already told you - I won't fall for the same trick twice."

"It's a shame that there was no information in my handbook that Copy Ninja Kakashi was such a clown."

"Clown? Well, if juggling your sorry ass around qualifies, I'll take that as a compliment!"

The rest of Team 7 and the other people in the room watched as the argument between Zabuza and Kakashi continued. Naruto got up and lifted the younger prisoner over his shoulder, intending to leave the room.

"Hey, where are you taking him?" Zabuza shouted at him.

Naruto stopped and slowly turned his head to look at the boy on his shoulder. "H-him?"

"He's cuter than I am!" Thought the women in the room.

"The world is surely full of mysteries…" Sasuke said, lowering his gaze.

The boy in question blushed deeply on Naruto's shoulder, but when he saw everyone staring at him, he gave a small chuckle. "He-he…"

"I'm taking him to the kitchen to get some food and chat a bit. I was tired of listening you two bicker, and he looks like our age, so maybe we can find something to talk about," Naruto explained.

"Great idea, let's leave these two alone and I'll make us something to eat," Tsunami said, clapping her hands.

"Hey, I want some food too…" Kakashi muttered, but the room was already empty, except for Zabuza in the corner.

In the kitchen.

They sat around the table and waited for Tsunami to finish cooking. "So, what's your name?" Naruto asked, breaking the silence.

"…Haku."

"Are you really a boy?"

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded. "That's rude!"

"What? Why? Aren't you curious too? When I saw his face for the first time, I thought 'Wow, he might be cuter than Sakura…'" Naruto defended himself. "Though not as cute as Hinata-chan…"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched, as Haku blushed again at Naruto's compliment. "Yes, I'm a male."

Naruto looked confused and asked him another question. "I thought guys don't wear nail polish…?"

"Why not?" Haku asked, tilting his head.

Another minute of silence passed before Tazuna spoke up. "So… You're Zabuza's… Son?"

"An apprentice."

Tazuna took a sip of sake from his bottle and asked him. "Hmm. And why in the world are you working for that midget Gatō?"

"Sorry, but I won't say anything about my master's plans."

"Huh, such loyalty. I respect that," Naruto said. He then put on a mischievous expression. "You know, I think I could modify these seals, so you could move…" Haku raised an eyebrow at him as he continued. "But only if you could tell me more about the Ice Release that you used back there."

"No."

"Oh, come on! That has nothing to do with your 'master'! What do you have to lose?" Naruto whined, making puppy eyes at him, making Haku blush a little.

"Cute…"

"Just tell him whatever he wants… I don't want to hear his stupid whining any more than I have to." Zabuza entered the room with Kakashi, leaning on each other for support. Wires were missing from Zabuza's body.

Kakashi saw his team's puzzled looks and raised an eyebrow. "What? I'm hungry," he said, patting Zabuza on the back, making him groan. "This guy is hungry too. A ninja must use any possible way to achieve his goal!"

Team 7 and Tazuna laughed heartily at him, and even Haku smiled playfully at his master, making Zabuza glare at him. They helped the wounded to their seats and waited patiently for Tsunami to serve the food.

"I'm so surprised that you can move…" Naruto said, looking at Zabuza.

"Looks like your seals are crap," Zabuza replied.

"Nah, the only crap in this room is you, Zabuza. Your seals didn't seal his chakra, he can pump some to his limbs and strengthen them," Kakashi explained to Naruto.

The doors of the kitchen opened, getting the attention of everyone inside. "Hey, grandpa. Welcome back."

"Oh, Inari… Where have you been?" Tazuna asked, smiling lightly at the little kid in a blue and white hat. "Say hello to these ninjas from Konoha. They protected me on my way here and even defeated Gatō's mightiest warriors."

"They're going to die…" Inari said quietly, but everyone heard him. He got on his grandpa's lap and looked at Team 7 and the other two.

"Why, they're incredibly strong! With their help, I'll finish the bridge and bring hope back to hearts of this land's people!"

Inari looked at his grandfather. "But there's no way they can win against Gatō…"

While they were talking, Tsunami silently stepped into the room and started serving food. Sasuke and Naruto, kind souls, went to help her.

"Don't worry, Inari-kun, we're super strong. We'll protect Tazuna-san from any danger. Gatō or anybody else, they have no chance against us," Sakura smiled at the kid and playfully flexed her arm.

"What are you, stupid? Trying to be a hero?" Inari said, and a vein twitched on Sakura's forehead.

"Inari, that's not the way you talk to people," Tsunami scolded him.

"Sorry, mom…"

The next day. Living room in Tazuna's house.

"So this is a Bloodline?" Naruto asked, visibly dejected. He sat next to a smiling Haku and Sasuke in the living room. Not far away from them lay Kakashi and Zabuza opposite each other, with Sakura sitting beside Kakashi.

"Yes, only the Yuki Clan possessed the ability to control ice…" Haku's voice turned mournful for a second. "You wanted to use it?"

"Yeah, I thought it was some cool combination of Wind and Water…" He plopped down on the floor with a glum expression on his face.

Kakashi sat up in his bed, startling Sakura a little. "You're not completely wrong. Ice Release is a Nature Transformation of Wind and Water elements."

"Oh yeah, about that… How many elements are there? I know about Fire, Wind, Water, and Earth. Is that all?" Naruto sat up and looked at Kakashi with a clueless face.

*Sigh* Zabuza opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. "I got defeated by a boy who doesn't even know how many elements there are…"

"There are five elements, you named all but Lightning," Kakashi explained.

"Oh, okay. So back to ice, if I could combine Wind and Water, could I use Ice Release?"

"Well… Yes, of course. But if you manage it, make sure to teach me how to do it, because no one before could figure that one out," Kakashi snorted and lay back on his comfy mattress.

"What is Nature Transformation?" Again questioned Naruto.

"Nature Transformation… It's a kind of advanced form of chakra control. With it, shinobi can shape and change the nature of their chakra, altering its properties and characteristics for use in techniques. You use Nature Transformation for your Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, Sasuke uses it for Fire Release: Great Fireball." Kakashi explained, "But full control over an element is only achieved after years of training…" He raised his hand and pointed one finger at Naruto and said, "Catch."

Suddenly, a small lightning bolt flew out of his finger and hit Naruto, shocking him, "Argh! Why me?!"

"Because you started this conversation," Kakashi said with a blank expression, "By the way, it's important not to forget about affinities, everyone has an affinity. If you have a Wind Affinity, you will have much easier time controlling wind, Water Affinity - makes controlling water easier, and so on. Sasuke has a Fire Affinity because he is an Uchiha. Haku has a Water and Air Affinity because he is from the Yuki clan. Zabuza has an affinity to lose, because he is such a loser."

"Corny," Naruto said.

"That's bad, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said.

"Really bad," Sasuke said.

Zabuza laughed and turned to Team 7, "Hahaha, thanks kids."

"I think it's time for you to go with Tazuna-san on the bridge," said Kakashi as he turned his back to the others in the room.

"Naruto! Time to go! Are you coming?!" They heard Tazuna's voice from outside.

"Eh, at least tell me how to control the Water! I will work on it while on the bridge. No more than a hundred clones, promise," Naruto said, making Zabuza twitch at the number of clones he could create.

"Create water with your chakra. Knock yourself out," Kakashi said lazily.

"You can use something like a sponge, cloth or paper. Try to make it damp," Zabuza unexpectedly added.

"Thanks!" Naruto shouted as he formed a clone seal, popping a clone who would stay at Tazuna's home, and ran outside.

"Does he even have a Water Affinity?" Zabuza asked boredly.

"Dunno. I have this weird feeling that he is Wind…"

"The boy can create hundreds of clones? Which god smiled at him, and gave him such amount of chakra…?" Zabuza thought, "You are a terrible teacher, Kakashi."

"At least I could beat a nuisance like you."

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke approached and sat next to him, "Where did you get the Sharingan?"

Kakashi sighed, "It was a gift from my deceased friend," Sasuke lowered his gaze to the floor, "He was an Uchiha, and before his death, he asked to transplant his eye to me."

"I see… I apologize for bringing up the bad memories…"

30 minutes later. At the bridge.

"Wow, you guys are incredible…" Naruto was watching the builders do their work with awe on his face, "Maybe I could help you?" He asked the smiling Tazuna.

Builder near them smiled at his enthusiasm, "I heard that ninja are much stronger than an ordinary man… Even a small one like you." He laughed as Naruto's twitched at 'small' comment.

"I'm twelve and I'm still growing!"

"Ha-ha. Sorry then. My name is Dorry, I am a newbie here," apologized Dorry, holding out a hand for Naruto. Dorry was a firmly built, stout man with dark hair, kind expression on his face and dull green eyes.

"I'm Naruto. Genin of Konohagakure," he grabbed offered hand and shook it.

"Hoh, quite a grip you have…"

"Okay, enough talking. Let's get to work! Naruto, if you want to help, please wear a hard hat. We always need free hands!" boomed Tazuna, cracking a grin.

"Hai!" roared the builders and Naruto in unison.

"Oh, hang on a sec..." Naruto folded the clone seal and created a hundred clones in front of him, who nodded their heads and ran towards the shore. In search of leaves. "Well, where's that hard hat..?"

The jaws of all the workers on the bridge practically unhinged at the spectacular clone display.

"Oh! Totally slipped my mind you had that trick up your sleeve. Think you could pop out fifty more to help with the construction?" Asked nonchalant Tazuna.

"Hmm... I promised Kakashi-sensei that I wouldn't make more than a hundred clones..."

"When your team got this mission, your job was to protect me until this bridge stands proudly, wasn't it?"

"So..."

"By helping me build the bridge, you'll reduce the amount of time you spend here," reasoned Tasuna with Naruto.

"..."

"Well, what are you thinking, I'm sure your sensei won't mind! Don't you miss your home? Maybe you have a girlfriend waiting for ya?" asked Dorry with a smile.

Naruto went five shades redder and began furiously scratching his noggin, while snickers spread like wildfire. "Awh, our wee ninja's got himself a sweetheart, has he?" exclaimed a man in a toolbelt.

"Can't blame 'em—decked out ninja-style, if I were a decade or so younger…" Hollered a playful female voice from the crew.

Naruto was now a spirit-haunting shade of red and zapped his hands into the clone sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Operation 'Help Tazuna and leave faster for date' is a go!"

4 hours later. During a lunch break.

Tazuna planted his backside next to trio which included Dorry, bare-coated Naruto, and a young woman roughly hailing from her mid-twenties. A small piece of paper was adhered to Tazuna's forehead, ensnared in an impromptu display of his newfound chakra-fueled stickiness.

"So you're a ninja now, Tazuna-san?" the woman inquired, her giggles breaking the stillness.

With bravado puffing out his chest, Tazuna retorted, "Absolutely! Ninja moves? Piece of cake!" But, he lost control over his chakra, and leaf floated to the earth below.

Not missing a beat, Naruto pointed his finger at the leaf, and, almost as if on a magician's whim, it quickly flew up to it. Twirling it a little over his finger he smirked, "Kindergarten stuff."

Striking a nerve, Tazuna's mood struck a defensive chord, "Leaves may dance for you, but tell me, boy, would you be able to build a bridge as incredible as this?!" he crowed, voice betraying the hint of a challenge in his mirthful indignation.

Naruto raised his hands up, the leaf still above his index finger, "Don't be offended, Tazuna-ojisan. All crafts are important. What's the big deal if mine is a little more fancy?"

Laughing at Tazuna's annoyed face, Dorry turned to the woman. "Miss Mina? You were born in this place, weren't you? Could you give me a little tour around it?"

Mina was a tall and beautiful woman, sporting a mane of dark blue that would make the midnight sky jealous, eyes so onyx you'd think she could see through your soul, and a beauty spot so perfectly placed, it's like Cupid himself signed off on her face with a 'P.S. I made this.'

How predictable—the innuendo of 'date' invigorated her already simmering hue, "That would be great. It's been a long time since I've eaten at a restaurant..."

"Tazuna, I'm hoping for a good bonus to my payment..."

"Hahaha, you brought it on yourself!" Tazuna laughed at him, "Ah, springtime of life, such green untested hearts."

Naruto raised an eyebrow at him, "C'mon Tazuna-ojisan, you're not very old yet, maybe you can still find someone?"

Tazuna offered a bittersweet smirk, shaking his head in resignation, "Nah… After Tsunami's mother, I doubt there's another soul brave enough to put up with my tipsy shenanigans…"

A contemplative silence engulfed them, punctuated only by the melodic lapping of the ocean waves.

All of a sudden, Dorry blindsided Naruto with an exuberant headlock, "Yo, cheers, kiddo! Because of you, I've somehow snagged myself a date tonight!"

"Hey! Let me go!"

Evening. Tazuna's house.

"You did a great job, Naruto. Don't worry, you won't suffer any harm from fifty clones, and the bridge is being built much faster," Kakashi praised him with a traditional eye smile. He sat on his mattress next to Zabuza and Haku.

"I still can't believe he can create so many clones and still stand on his feet," Zabuza grumbled.

"You can't believe it because you're so weak…"

"Look who's talking, Mr. Can't-Get-Up-For-A-Week-After-Using-Sharingan."

"Haku, my clones got bored of trying to create water and tried to improve the Body Restraint Seal," Naruto said, ignoring Kakashi and Zabuza, "They managed to create something interesting. If the Body Restraint Seal - restrained the body from moving, as if it wasn't obvious, then this seal," he took out a seal from his pouch under his coat, "Restrains your chakra… The clones I tested it on couldn't use chakra in any way."

"Not bad, it seems you did your homework on Fūinjutsu that I gave you…" Kakashi complimented him.

"Yes, I decided that if the people of my clan were masters of this, I should honour the traditions…" Naruto replied, removing several seals from Haku.

"You… Uzumaki… Of course. Huge chakra reserve, Fūinjutsu. If you had red hair I would have guessed right away," Zabuza turned his head towards Naruto, "Do you dye your hair?"

"No! Why does everyone think that?!" Naruto exclaimed, taking out a bone and ink from his seal on his hand. "Now I'll draw a seal around your neck and a bit of your back, can I take off this jacket?" Haku blushed at these words and nodded, "Why are you blushing?! You're a man! And you still have clothes underneath!"

Sakura and Sasuke who were sitting nearby got up and started watching Naruto draw a seal on Haku's body.

"His brush moves smoothly, barely lifting from the skin… Is this a whirl?" Sasuke mused.

"He has such beautiful skin… How is that possible…" Sakura wondered.

Naruto finished drawing the seal and sealed the bone and ink, Sasuke and Sakura sat back in their places. Making a short series of hand seals, he activated the new seal, which shrank to a small swirl on Haku's neck, "There, try to move."

Haku slowly raised his hand and made an one handed seal, "Hmm, I can't release chakra from my body… The seal blocks my tenketsu…?"

"Oh, those points where chakra comes out for techniques?" Naruto asked, getting a nod from Haku, "I don't know where they are, but this seal doesn't care about it. It connects to your body's chakra system and blocks it completely."

"That's a bit weird. But I don't feel any discomfort…"

"At night we'll still put the Body Restraint Seal on you, but under our supervision you can walk around with the Chakra Restraint Seal," Kakashi instructed, turning back to Zabuza he smirked, "You'll have to lie down with this seal until the bridge is finished. Naruto, draw Chakra Restraint Seal on him too."

"Whatever, I understand that you're afraid to let me move, because I'm a superior shinobi."

"Superior to what? To a bunch of kids who can barely throw a kunai?"

"Kakashi-sensei, can you give me some pointers on how to manipulate Water?" Naruto asked, completely ignoring their bickering and turning Zabuza's back towards him.

"Hmm… That's not my main element, so… Maybe Haku knows something about it?"

"No, I haven't reached that stage in my training yet…" Haku answered, stretching his neck.

"Imagine that your chakra is as liquid and fluid as water. You can try to take some water in your hands and feel its qualities," Zabuza suggested again, keeping his eyes closed as if he was meditating. Everyone in the room looked at him in surprise.

"Why are you helping me?" Naruto asked in confusion, but Zabuza ignored his question.

"Hmph, leave him alone. Better tell me, have you come up with the seal of infinite sake yet?" Tazuna asked eagerly, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Father! Did you really ask a child to invent a seal of infinite sake for you?!" Tsunami approached him and hit him on the head.

"What?! He volunteered!" Tazuna defended himself, clutching his head in pain.

"Hahaha, I was just joking, ya know! Who knew you could actually mold chakra?" Naruto laughed, hitting his knee with his hand.

Tazuna's face showed the most crestfallen look they had ever seen. He looked like he had just lost his best friend.

"Don't worry, Tazuna-ojisan! I gave you my word, so it doesn't matter how long it takes, I'll find a way to create an endless supply of sake, believe it!" Naruto exclaimed with a wide smile, "Besides, who else but the greatest ninja of all time can pull off something like this, ya know!? Hahaha!"

The next day. On the bridge.

Naruto was sitting next to Dorry and Mina again, while Tazuna had gone with the other workers for lunch. "So how was your date?" Naruto asked with a mischievous smile, "I had a huge urge to follow them, but I restrained myself so as not to ruin their moment."

Mina blushed a little, and Dorry just laughed with his hand behind his head, "I think it went well, considering that we have a second date this evening."

"Good for you! I was afraid that you would mess up on the first date so much that Mina wouldn't want to talk to me," Naruto joked.

"Don't worry about that," Mina smiled playfully at him, "Why are we talking about us and us? How about you tell us about your girlfriend in Konoha?"

With a relaxed posture and a wide grin, Naruto spoke affectionately, "Her name's Hinata; she is from one of the distinguished clans within Konoha. Imagine someone my height, with deep blue hair and pale eyes, but much cuter. There's an endearing sincerity to her, and humbleness. She has this adorable tendency to falter in her words when she's nervous, but when we are deep in a conversation, you'll hear her words flow smoothly. Whenever she's feeling bashful, she has this charming habit of touching her fingers together. Have I mentioned just how endearing, cute and sweet she is?"

Mina and Dorry sweatdropped a little but smiled. "Yeah… Several times."

"She's incredibly strong in taijutsu! Her eyes can see 360 degrees around her, and her hits hurt for almost an hour after the fight! Even Sasuke's hits stop hurting faster. And every time she hits me, she has this worried look on her face and she holds her breath until she sees that I'm okay, then she exhales with relief. I'm sure she'll become incredibly strong in the future!"

"She sounds like a wonderful girl, take care of her."

"Of course!" Suddenly Naruto jumped to his feet and threw his fist in the air with a huge smile on his face, making Mina and Dorry blink in bewilderment, "I'll become the strongest ninja in the world, stronger even than the First Hokage! And then I'll become Hokage myself! As Hokage, I'll definitely protect all the people of Konoha, especially Hinata-chan! Believe it!"

"Alright, end of the rest time! Back to work!" Tazuna shouted from nearby.

Mina and Dorry stared at Naruto for a few seconds before their faces broke into wide smiles.

With Naruto's clone and Haku.

Haku was sitting on the edge of the veranda of Tazuna's house, dangling his legs over the ocean and watching Naruto's clone running on the water and performing taijutsu stances. "Don't you need to conserve your chakra in case of an emergency…?"

"I'm just running on the water, it's not too chakra consuming…" Naruto-clone said, jumping up to him on the veranda and sitting next to him.

"…How much chakra do you have?"

"Kakashi-sensei said it's about the same as his," Naruto said without batting an eye, "He's not a sensor so he doesn't know for sure…"

"And your seal on your hand? That's a Sealing Jutsu, right?"

"Hmm… I don't think so anymore," Naruto chuckled at Haku's curious look, "I've modified it so many times that it's hard to call it a normal Sealing Jutsu. The size and number of objects that I can seal in it have increased so much that it's probably Advanced Sealing… If you give me some time, I think I can seal Tazuna's house in it. Maybe even more than a house…" Naruto scratched his head in thought, "The only thing that I haven't fully succeeded in yet is sealing chakra. Although I'm definitely getting there, sealing chakra in your body is something different than sealing chakra in a seal… But it's a progress!"

Haku looked at Naruto in awe, "Wow, that's amazing. For how much would you print me one?"

"Huh? You want one for yourself?" Haku nodded, "I don't mind drawing one for free, if Kakashi-sensei doesn't forbid it."

"Thank you." Haku blushed and turned his head away from Naruto, hiding his face.

"Argh, stop blushing like that next to me! You're sending the wrong signals!" Haku's face turned even redder.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Haku turned to him again, "Why do you want to become stronger so badly?"

Naruto smiled widely and raised his hand to the sky, "That's my dream! I want to become the strongest ninja in our village, and the world! All my predecessors will eat dust, when I become the next Hokage!"

"For yourself, or for someone else?"

"Huh?" Confused Naruto tilted his head to the side, eliciting a giggle from Haku.

"Do you have someone important to you? I believe that only when a person has something precious to protect, that's when they truly become strong."

Naruto looked at the water in front of him and smiled, "Yeah, I understand that very well…"

From the second floor of the house, Kakashi watched Sasuke, who was standing behind a corner near Naruto and Haku, with a thoughtful expression on his face, "His hatred is diminishing with each day and he's starting to truly appreciate this Team…" Seeing that Sasuke went back into the house, he decided to return to his comfy mattress. "Naruto has an incredible influence on people…"

Evening at Tazuna's house.

Team 7, Tazuna, and Haku with Zabuza gathered around the kitchen table, waiting for Tsunami to prepare the food.

"So, Haku… Maybe you can tell us why you worked for Gatō?" Kakashi asked, putting his book away.

"I'm just a tool for Zabuza-sama, if you want to know his goals, ask him."

"I respect loyalty but... Tool? Why the hell are you devoting yourself to him so much?" Naruto asked, bewildered.

Haku showed a sad smile to him, "He accepted me. When everyone else shunned me, denied my existence; he saved my life." Looking at Zabuza, he saw that he closed his eyes again, and sat as if detached from the world, "I think I could tell you a little story…"

Naruto listened to his words with all attention he got. The other people in the room also listened closely.

"I was born in a snowy little village in the Land of Mist, and I was happy. My parents were… good, kind people. But, as I was growing old enough to notice the world around me… something happened." He stopped for a moment, looking at the floor, collecting his thoughts.

"…Like what?" Naruto asked with a drop of sweat on his neck, having a bad feeling about that little story.

Tazuna dropped his eyes toward his bottle with a sad expression and took a few gulps from it.

"My father killed my mother… and tried to kill me," he said finally, changing the mood of the room in an instant. "You see… The Land of Mist has been the scene of generations of non-stop war. Among its people, those who possess the Kekkei Genkai are loathed as abominations," Team 7's eyes widened as they looked at each other but still listening to him, "Their inherited skills that were exploited and twisted, used to cause horrible slaughter, until they ceased to be looked on as warriors or even weapons, but were condemned as the harbingers of doom. After the wars were over, those who possessed this trait were hunted, only able to survive by hiding the existence of their skills and bloodline away. Exposure meant certain death."

He stopped and took a deep breath before continuing, "My father… Learned that my mother came from a clan… Before I even realized what I was about to do, my father died by my hand. And then it came to me. I knew what I was. And I was forced to accept it. That was the most painful thing…"

Another silent moment passed in the room, nobody tried to say anything before he started talking again. He raised his head and looked Naruto in the eyes, "Accepting that I was alone in this world. Superfluous. Unwanted. Shunned."

Naruto's eyes widened at his words, "That sounds, the way I feel!"

"I don't need you to understand me, really. But if the whole world denied your existence and you had only one person in your life… Who acknowledged you, even cared for you. Wouldn't that person become the most important, treasured person in your life…?" In Naruto's mind, the faces of the Third Hokage, Iruka and Hinata appeared, "Master Zabuza adopted me, knowing I came from a Kekkei Genkai bloodline. The very thing in me that made everyone else hate me - he didn't just overlook it. He cherished it, wanted it," he smiled sadly and his eyes started watering with tears, "I was so happy…!" He choked out. "And I failed him…"

Tazuna placed his bottle of sake on the table, and looked at the ceiling, "Bloody Mist… I heard stories from sailors about that land, but this… Bloody hell."

"When I worked in the Anbu, I also heard stories from that place from other operatives… They were never happy stories," Kakashi shared.

Naruto locked his eyes with Haku, plenty of emotions running through his mind, "I understand you…" He said, gaining the attention of the people in the room.

At that moment, Inari entered the room in his usual blue and white hat, Tazuna turned to him and put on a small smile on his face, "Oh, Inari, come sit down, we'll be eating soon."

The room was completely quiet for a few minutes, until Tazuna tried to dispel the gloomy atmosphere with some good news, "Naruto's clones are incredible. We'll be able to finish building the bridge in two weeks, at the latest! Some builders got scared and left the construction, but the rest, after witnessing how Naruto tries to help us, decided to stay and finish this job."

It seemed that Naruto was too shaken by Haku's story and he didn't even respond to Tazuna's praise. Sakura looked at him with a worried face and even Sasuke showed some emotion from the spectrum of concern.

"Why are you guys even bothering? Even if you're a little strong, you're still no match for Gatō's men! No matter what glorious claims you make or how hard you work, when facing a strong one, the weak will only end up getting killed!" Inari suddenly exclaimed, drawing the eyes of everyone at the table, tears streaming down his face. Even Zabuza opened one eye and looked at him, but closed it after he glanced at Haku.

Sasuke looked at Naruto and noticed that he started to squeeze the edge of the table with his hand, his head tilted forward, so his hair covered his eyes.

Sakura blinked slowly and put a nervous smile on her face, "Inari-kun, there's no need to cry…"

"No need to cry!? Don't try to calm me down, you know nothing about me or this land, yet you are being so nosy!" He jumped off his stool and pointed his finger at her, "Trying to act like some sort of hero?!" He swept his finger across everyone at the table except Tazuna and Tsunami and shouted, "You don't even know how hard life can be!"

*SNAP*

All the occupants of the room felt a palpable sense of dread coming at them. They turned toward the source of the snapping sound and started to sweat uncontrollably.

Naruto held in his fist a piece of wood that seemed to be torn off the table. The shinobi in the room felt an immense and terrible chakra emanating from him, but to the civilians it was a simple aura of death. He relaxed his grip, letting the wood fall to the ground.

"Such strong chakra!? What's wrong with this kid?" Zabuza thought, his eyes narrowing on Naruto.

"Wha-?! Why did his chakra have so much evil?!" Haku thought, with a drop of sweat running down his forehead.

"Kyūbi?! The seal is still intact…" Kakashi watched Naruto with a serious expression, his hand reaching for his pouch.

Sakura and Sasuke looked at Naruto with sweat dripping from their faces, Sasuke clenched his fists and swallowed a lump in his throat, "What is this feeling…! Is this really Naruto's chakra?!"

The silence that followed was palpable as no one said a word. Naruto got up from his chair, making Kakashi tense up. He fixed his gaze on Inari, who was visibly trembling, and started to approach him. Lifting his head slightly, others noticed that his eyes started turning deep crimson. He raised his index finger and pointed at Inari. Each syllable from his mouth was a hammer strike of unbridled fury as he closed in on him, "SHUT! YOUR! MOUTH! BOY!"

Lowering his hand, he turned and headed for the exit. Kakashi got up from his chair and shouted, "Naruto, where are you going?!" But he was ignored by him as Naruto slammed the door behind him. He turned to the rest of the people in the room with an absolutely serious expression, "Sasuke, you're in charge, no one should leave this house until I return with Naruto, understood?" After a nod from Sasuke, he turned and ran out of the house.

Naruto ran towards the forest, his expression becoming more feral, his pupils slitted, his fingers growing claws. Running a huge distance in a matter of seconds, "Aaaaaaargh!" Without slowing down, he struck a huge rock, ten times bigger than him, turning it into small pieces of stone and dust. Some of the pieces of stone flew at the trees around him, tearing them and knocking them down to the ground.

He stopped and looked at his hand, narrowing his eyes, "What is this… This is not my chakra!" He clasped his hands together and began to focus on this new chakra, releasing it from his body. Around him, the ground began to crack and the trees to bend and creak, the chakra was so strong that he saw a red mist forming around him. He continued to release all the 'red' chakra that was in him, as if squeezing it out with his own chakra.

His eyes widened when he saw that the red mist formed a giant fox head in front of him. "Kyūbi no Kitsune?!" On the fox's muzzle appeared a huge evil smirk and after a second, everything stopped.

Naruto fell to the ground, breathing a little heavily, "What was that… Why his chakra…" Suddenly he heard a rustle near him and quickly got to his feet, grabbing a kunai.

"Quiet, it's me…" Kakashi came out of the bushes with his hands up, "Calmed down?"

Naruto lowered his kunai and sighed, "What was that? It was chakra…"

"Of Nine Tailed Demon Fox, yes," he sat on one of the stones that flew from Naruto's blow, "It seems that in moments of intense anger, Kyūbi can give you more of it's chakra. It in turn makes you more aggressive…" Kakashi explained.

"But isn't the seal supposed to restrain him in me? How did his chakra manage to leak out of the seal?!"

"Eight Symbol Seal allows the fox's chakra to leak out and mix with your own chakra," Naruto's eyes widened at this information, "Also, I think that over time the seal becomes weaker…"

"Weaker? Does that mean that Kyūbi can break free over time?"

"I don't think the seal will break so easily… As long as you don't open it yourself, he should stay sealed." Kakashi sighed tiredly and gestured him to sit on the ground, "Did the Hokage tell you who the Jinchūriki are, right?" Naruto shook his head in denial and sat on the ground in front of Kakashi. "Strange, but understandable… Jinchūriki are people who have tailed beasts sealed inside them, like you. As you should know from the academy course, or not, there are nine tailed beasts. Each of them has a certain number of tails, from one to nine, the more tails the greater the power of the beast," sighing again he lowered his eyes to the ground, "Hidden Villages use tailed beasts as a source of power, sealing them in people, they often use them as weapons."

"Weapons…?"

"Some Jinchūriki can control their tailed beast, using its power they become some of the strongest shinobi in the world…" Kakashi explained looking Naruto in the eyes. Seeing disbelief and a bit of fear in them he reassured him, "The Nine-Tails was sealed in you not to make you a weapon, Naruto. The Fourth Hokage wanted you to be considered a hero. You protect us just by your existence."

Naruto was silent for a few minutes pondering the new information, "If so, then why do I have to control this power? I don't want to become the strongest shinobi in the world just because I have some shaggy dog sealed in me!" Asked agitated Naruto.

"Hahaha, I wouldn't call the strongest tailed beast in the world a regular shaggy dog…" Kakashi laughed, "The reason is simple, in moments of anger you can lose yourself and even hurt your close and dear ones, maybe even release Kyūbi…" Naruto lowered his head again with a sad expression on his face, "Don't worry, we'll deal with this matter after this mission." Kakashi smiled, "Now, can you help me get to Tazuna's house? You run pretty fast and I'm still not recovered…"

"Oh, yes, of course…" Naruto smiled nervously and approached Kakashi, letting him to lean on his shoulder for support.

"Controlling the tailed beast might be too dangerous for him right now… Maybe the Hokage can come up with something that would help to restrain Kyūbi…" Kakashi thought walking towards Tazuna's house, holding onto Naruto.

"Damn, I didn't want to snap at the kid…" Naruto muttered, "I'll have to apologize to him later…"

Bridge. The next day.

Tazuna and Naruto came to the bridge, which was covered in fog, "Hello everyone! Ready for a new work day?!" Tazuna exclaimed looking at his colleagues.

"Good morning Tazuna-san!" Voices of the builders sounded around, "We're always ready!"

"Great then let's start…" Glancing at Naruto, he noticed a lingering sense of dejection. Placing his hand on Naruto's shoulder, he flashed a warm smile and encouraged, "Put your whole soul into the construction, my boy! Disregard any conflicts and focus on your work!"

"Words of a true foreman, Tazuna-taichou!" Dorry laughed coming up to them, "Something happened, Naruto?"

Naruto shook his head in denial and smiled, "Everything is fine. I'm ready to work, Ojisan!"

An hour later…

A sweaty and panicking Mina ran up to the working builders, "Gatō is leading a few hundred bandits this way! They smashed a few shops in the city, and they'll be here soon!" Dorry ran up to her and gave her a bottle of water and a towel.

All the workers stopped and turned to her with fear on their faces, "What?! But why now?!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

"It seems he heard that with the help of ninjas we will finish the bridge faster and decided to stop us… Forever." Mina explained, wiping the sweat from her face with a towel.

Naruto scrunched up his brows. "Get out of here before they arrive," he urged.

"They were already close to the bridge when I heard about it and ran here…"

"And we don't have any boats, it's too far to swim to the shore…" Tazuna said, frustrated as he lowered himself onto a concrete slab.

"Then you go to the edge of the bridge, I'll notify my team and hold off the bandits until they come," Naruto said, creating a clone that immediately disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Hold them off? There are hundreds of armed bandits, and you're alone!" Mina exclaimed in fear and concern.

"Hundreds? Not bad, but maybe you forgot…" Naruto began with a smirk, forming a clone seal, "I can be one…" The whole bridge was enveloped in white smoke, obscuring the visibility of all the workers, "And a thousand!" When the smoke cleared, the whole bridge was literally filled with clones.

"Shit! This kid really knows something!" Suddenly they heard voice from behind the clones.

"Even though there are many of them, it's still one little kid!" Shouted a little man with a staff, Gatō, coming out in front of the bandits with an evil smirk, "You can handle him! For the head of each builder behind him, I'll pay fifty thousand ryo! Whoever kills the real kid gets five hundred thousand!"

"Hahahaha! What are we waiting for!?" The bandits shouted, starting to run towards Naruto's clones who stood their ground, preparing kunai.

The bandits approaching Naruto began to swing their swords left and right, trying to kill as many clones as possible. But the clones successfully repelled the attacks, only a few of them disappeared due to the successful attacks of the bandits.

Among the bandits were few people who could use swords well. A few minutes after the start of the fight, a gap began to appear in the right side of Naruto's defense. A few especially strong swordsmen began to break through the clones forward.

Although Naruto did not kill the attacking bandits, there were already quite a lot of bodies on the floor. Some were just knocked out by Naruto's attack, some were lying in blood, due to accidental attacks of their allies.

The real Naruto received memories from several clones at once, who died at the hands of a strong swordsman with a katana on the right front. His eyes widened, they were close enough to the last line of clones. Quickly forming a clone seal, he created more clones, and gave some of them Barrier Seals.

The clones ran to set up the seals while the others continued to hold back the bandits.

Before the battle. Tazuna's house.

Naruto's clone was sitting on the ceiling of the room, under him Sakura and Sasuke were sitting on Kakashi, doing push-ups. Haku was sitting next to Zabuza in the corner of the room, reading some book.

Suddenly Naruto fell from the ceiling right on Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke.

"Ouch! What happened Naruto!" Sakura shouted angrily.

"Gatō brought hundreds of armed bandits to the bridge!" Naruto exclaimed grabbing his head.

"What?!"

"Boss will hold them off! You need to hurry to the bridge!" Naruto shouted frantically waving his arms.

"Sakura, stay here." Ordered Kakashi.

"What? But…!"

"No buts! You will watch over Zabuza and Haku, we will help Naruto." Instructed Kakashi in a serious tone.

Sakura nodded her head, and Kakashi and Sasuke ran out of the house towards the bridge.

Zabuza opened his eyes and looked at Naruto's clone, who was still walking back and forth in the room, before shifting his gaze to Haku.

On the bridge.

The clones dashed to the right side of the bridge, intent on stopping the advance of the huge swordsman. He was a bald scarred figure clothed in a mesh gray shirt and dark gray pants. He swayed his katana with high speed, cutting the clones in front of him. Naruto began to wonder that he must be using chakra, given the force of his blows that easily damaged the kunai of the clones. A group of bandits flooded in behind him, preventing Naruto's clones from surrounding the swordsman.

"Hahaha! I haven't had so much fun in a long time! I'll crush you, and then I'll deal with all the builders behind you…" He halted mid-sentence as a palpable force seized his body, immobilizing him. All the bandits next to him were in the same situation when Naruto's clones jumped on them and knocked them out with well-aimed strikes.

The clones positioned behind the front line quickly began forming hand seals and in a few seconds the front clones pushed the bandits back and leaned to the ground, allowing the clones behind them to perform the technique, "Futon: Great Breakthrough!" The clones shouted, blowing out of their mouths huge streams of air that pushed most of the bandits back, and sending some plummeting into the water.

Just as Naruto thought that his clones would be able to suppress the bandits, suddenly behind him he heard a loud scream. Whirling around, he saw several bandits engaging in combat with the builders, who defended themselves with building materials. Inside of already existing barrier. "What? But how?!"

The clones responsible for creating the barrier swiftly turned toward the commotion. One of them looked to the water beside the bridge, where a boat carrying more bandits came into view. Despite their attempted breach, the bandits were stopped by the barrier. "They came by boat? Damn!"

One of the bandits pushed aside the builder, who defended against him with armature, and swung his sword at Mina, who was trying to escape. However, just as the sword was about to make contact, Dorry leaped in front of her.

The clones infused all the chakra they possessed into their legs and leaped onto the bandit. Striking him, they toppled him, sending him crashing into the other bandits, rendering them unconscious.

Two out of the four clones within the barrier vanished, while the remaining two clones rose and ensured that all the bandits were incapacitated. Upon returning to Dorry and Mina, their eyes widened at the sight of the sword in Dorry's abdomen.

"Dorry!" exclaimed one of the clones as he rushed over to wounded builder, panic etched on his face. "How... I..."

"Ha-ha.. Hah... The sword slipped from his grip, yet it didn't lose momentum... His trajectory is peculiar... I'm a builder, I can tell..." Derry gasped, blood starting to trickle from his mouth.

"Does anyone here know how to address such a wound!?" Mina cried, tears welling in her eyes. The group huddled together, actively deliberating on the next steps.

"Everyone calm down! We're on a construction site. No one has a needle and thread here to attend to the injury," Tazuna declared, rushing towards them. "Do not touch the sword. And keep your mouth shut," he directed last piece of advice at Dorry.

The clone beside Dorry observed his injuries with urgency, but upon sensing a surge of chakra, he locked eyes with the other clone, "Oh no..."

Tazuna, heard his words and turned to him, "I said calm down..." Following his gaze, Tazuna widened his eyes as he saw the clone with crimson eyes and an aura reminiscent of the previous night. In a sudden puff of smoke, the clone vanished. "Damn."

Tazuna's House.

"Phew, they managed to stop that bald swordsman..." Naruto's clone let out a sigh of relief as he circled the room incessantly.

A vein popped on Sakura's forehead as she raised her fist in a threatening manner, "Naruto, I know you're a clone, but if you don't sit down..." Before she could finish her sentence, Naruto had already seated himself quietly on the floor.

All of a sudden, Naruto's eyes widened and he leaped to his feet again, "How did they get through the barrier!" Naruto exclaimed, irritating Sakura even more.

Zabuza looked at him with an impassive stare while Haku raised an eyebrow, "What's happening again..." Zabuza asked when Naruto again started pacing back and forth in the room.

"My clones set up a barrier around the builders, but somehow... a boat! They approached the bridge from the other side by boat and climbed on. My clones are in the barrier, they should..." Suddenly Naruto stopped mid-step, mid-sentence.

Sakura and Haku's eyes widened as they saw that the clone's eyes had turned deep red. They jumped to their feet, recalling the last time Naruto's eyes had become like that, but suddenly the clone dispersed with a barely visible poof of smoke.

Zabuza just huffed, "Well, looks like our midget wallet is dead..."

Bridge.

All of Naruto's clones suddenly froze in their tracks, their eyes wide with shock. The bandits took advantage of the distraction and started to move forward, their malicious grins growing wider as they closed in on their defenseless prey. But as they reached the barrier, they tried to punch a hole in it, only to find it impenetrable.

Some of the bandits continued to cut down Naruto's clones, who did not resist, but after a second they all disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving only one Naruto in the center of the bridge.

"Dorry… Is he dying? No… He's still alive…" Looking at the bandits around him, he felt an incredible rage filling him from within. "Why are they so… Disgusting… To kill an innocent, unarmed person… For them it's a joy?!" From his body, a visible red chakra began to emanate, tearing his coat to pieces, his already red eyes became slitted, his nails grew and sharpened, whisker marks on his face became more noticeable.

Almost no one on the bridge had ever felt chakra in their lives, but feeling the breath of death on their necks, all the bandits backed away from Naruto. The builders held their breath as they watched the terrifying transformation taking place before their eyes.

Turning to the small businessman, he bared his teeth, leaning to the ground. Seeing this, Gatō was scared and started to run, shouting, "What are you standing for?! Kill him already!"

"Gatō! It all started with this bastard… So it ends with him!" The bandits who stood between him and Gatō flew to the sides when he leaped to him, some even flew off the bridge. He approached him in a second, swinging his clawed hand back, and lowering it on the left side of his back, where his heart was located.

Gatō's eyes widened when he looked back and saw an absolutely horrifying Naruto, with his hand raised above his head, "D-Demon!"

These were the last words of one of the richest people in the world. Naruto's hand easily went through his back, heart, and lungs, piercing him through. Pulling his hand out of his body, Naruto looked at it, and then at Gatō, who fell on his stomach, with a hole in his back. His eyes rolled up and he fell next to him, unconscious.

Some of the bandits, seeing the bloody massacre, jumped off the bridge, swimming to the boat, or to the shore. Most of them threw their weapons and ran across the bridge to the shore. Those who remained, either stupid, or brave, were going to attack the defenceless Naruto, when Sasuke and Kakashi appeared next to him.

"Scram." Kakashi looked at the bandits with his Sharingan and they quickly ran after the rest of the fleeing bandits. Turning to Naruto, he sighed heavily and lowered his forehead protector over his eye. "Sasuke, deactivate the barrier." He said before he lowered himself and checked Naruto's body for injuries.

Sasuke immediately ran to the edge of the barrier and applied a seal from his pouch to it. Pouring chakra into it, the barrier deactivated and a bunch of people ran out of it, carrying the wounded man on a large piece of board.

"They took him to the hospital, he lost a lot of blood." Said Tazuna, who came out of the barrier last. Looking around, he looked at the body of the dead Gatō. "So the scumbag finally died… No one will mourn him."

"Some of these bandits are also dead," Sasuke said, feeling the pulse of the bandits on the floor.

"And what should we do with the bodies..." Tazuna drawled.

Kakashi eye-smiled looking at Sasuke.

…

Naruto opened his eyes and found himself in a dimly lit sewerage of sort. His coat was completely intact, and there was not a single scratch on his body. He narrowed his eyes as he recalled the events that had led him here, and when he looked at his hand, it was clean, without a drop of blood. Deciding that standing still wouldn't help him, he set out to explore his surroundings.

After walking through a long tunnel, he emerged into a spacious room with towering bars in the center. "What in the..." he began, but was interrupted by a voice echoing through the room.

"Hmm? Has my overseer come to check on how the old me is doing?" The voice belonged to a woman.

"Who's there?! Show yourself you scoundrel!" Naruto called out.

"Come closer to the bars, and you'll find out," the mysterious voice replied.

"...No."

Suddenly, a tall woman with long, flowing reddish-orange hair that reached her waist and red slitted eyes approached the massive bars. She leaned against them, placing her hand on her forehead. Her red kimono with golden ornamentation hugged her striking figure perfectly. "I feel so unwell, won't you help me?" she asked.

Naruto looked at her deadpan for a moment. Then, he raised his index finger and narrowed his eyes. "You're the Nine-Tails, aren't you? Why are you a woman?"

"YOU KNEW AND STILL TALKED LIKE THAT TO ME!?" she exclaimed.

"OF COURSE I KNEW, STUPID! I COULD SENSE YOUR CHAKRA THE MOMENT I GOT HERE!"

With a huff, she turned away and walked back into the darkness of the cell.

Naruto waited for something to happen for what felt like a long two minutes, before his patience snapped. "Did you just walk away!? I thought you were doing another dramatic pause before speaking again!"

There was silence in response.

"Come on, what's going on?" He approached the bars a little closer. "Here, I'm coming to the bars, will you talk to me?"

An hour later.

Kyūbi approached the bars and looked at Naruto, who was sitting nearby, drawing circles in the water with a dark cloud hovering over him. "Oh, you're still here..."

Naruto quickly jumped up and pointed at her, "What's with the voice?! 'Oh, I didn't know you were here...' " He mimicked a female voice, "I know you heard me for the past hour or more!"

She looked at him with an impassive stare, "You have guts, I'll give you that, but... One more yell and I'll rip out your larynx."

Naruto sweatdropped, "She's even worse than Anko-sensei! Does she have some kind of PMS or something?!"

"Tailed beasts don't have PMS."

"Great, now you can read my thoughts too?"

"After you weakened the seal - yes. By the way, thank you," Kyūbi said, examining her nails.

Naruto's eyes widened, "W-weakened the seal...?" She lifted her eyes to Naruto, and he felt the weight in his stomach from her gaze, "W-what do you mean..."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is quite an interesting technique," Kyūbi said, stepping away from the bars and turning her back to Naruto. "When one of your clones saw the injured builder, he was filled with hatred, and my chakra began leaking out of him..." Naruto approached the bars, listening intently, "But this clone realized that it was my chakra leaking out of him and dispersed himself, passing the memories of the builder to all the other clones. Now they're all filled with rage and thinking terrible things about your enemies, imagining what should you do to them. But none of them succumbed to the temptation…" she turned back to Naruto, getting closer to him until she was practically inches away. "And then, the bandits started attacking your clones. All the various thoughts they conjured up in their short existence were transferred to you, combining and multiplying with each other, creating the most violent ideas in that mind of yours… And at the peak of this 'creativity process', your weakened state allowed my chakra to weaken the seal..." Getting even closer to the bars, she leaned in towards him, her face just inches away. "So many negative emotions accumulated in all these hundreds of clones passed on to you! I'm surprised you didn't completely break the seal! Hahaha!" Tossing her head back, she laughed from Naruto's pale face.

"I could have completely broken the seal...?"

"Hmm... I doubt it. The Fourth Hokage was a jerk, but a smart jerk... I probably could have released seven or eight tails before some defensive mechanisms would have re-activated the seal."

"S-Seven or eight tails? That's almost all... What would have happened to Tazuna and the others?"

"They would have died. I wouldn't even have had to do anything; the power from my release would have been so incredible that they would have simply died on the spot."

"I would have... killed them?"

Looking at Naruto, she noticed that he had lowered his head and was staring at his hands. Sighing, she reached her hand through the bars and placed it on his head, stroking his hair.

"W-what..." Naruto, wide-eyed, looked up at Kyūbi. "What are you doing?"

"Calming you down? Isn't it obvious?" Kyūbi said, running her fingers through his hair. After a few seconds, she lowered her hand to his cheek and traced her fingers over his whisker marks. She raised an eyebrow when she heard him purring.

When Naruto realized what had just happened, he jumped back a few feet from the bars. "Oww... Cute little Naruto likes it when his whisker marks are stroked? Come, let me pet you."

"No, that's enough. Explain to me why you look like..." Naruto said, with slightly pink cheeks.

"How?" Kyūbi asked, obviously amused. Leaning forward against the bars, she gave Naruto a direct view of her cleavage.

"Like that!" Naruto turned away and pointed at her. "Why do you look like a human? I thought you were a giant fox."

"Vixen," Kyūbi corrected him. "It's just one of my forms. I can transform as I please. Don't you like it?" She asked, squeezing her breasts together with an innocent expression.

"N-No! I mean, yes! I have a girlfriend!" Stuttered Naruto.

Another pause filled the room as Naruto tried to control his thoughts.

"Don't even try. I've already heard what you're thinking about my breasts. I'm flattered," she said.

Naruto facepalmed, "Alright, but why am I still here?"

Kyūbi raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms beneath her enchanting bosom, making Naruto blush. "If you want to leave - go ahead."

Naruto looked at her, confused, before turning towards the tunnel from which he had come. After a few steps, he heard, "Until we meet again."

When he turned back to her, he was surprised to see Haku sitting next to Zabuza. Rising from the floor, he realized that he was in Tazuna's home. "Strange..."

"Hmm, you're awake already," Zabuza drawled. "Kakashi thought you'd be out for at least a day."

"How long was I out?" Naruto asked, looking down at his clothes. His cloak was missing, and there were holes in his mesh armor and pants. Thankfully not in the important parts.

"No more than five hours," Haku replied. "After your clone's eyes turned red and he dispersed, it wasn't long before Kakashi-san's clone brought you here. It's been about four hours since then."

"Where are they now?"

"Sakura recently left the room, saying she wanted to get some water. Kakashi-san and Sasuke-san are probably still at the bridge, helping with... the bodies," Haku answered a little hesitantly.

"Welp kid… Congratulations on becoming a shinobi," Zabuza said, looking Naruto in the eyes.

Naruto suddenly felt anger building deep within him as he recalled the events at the bridge.

"What being a shinobi means is not being a killer; it means being a protector. I'm sorry that Haku chose you as his master; he could be so much better than an apprentice of some petty rogue nin!" His voice gradually rose to a shout. Turning around, he stormed out of the room, narrowly avoiding bumping into Sakura.

"You're awake! Kakashi-sensei said..."

"Yeah, Haku already told me," Naruto interrupted. "I'm going outside for some fresh air," he said before turning and leaving Sakura in the hallway. She looked at the spot where he had been a moment ago with a slightly sad look and then went back into the living room.

Naruto left the house and decided to take a walk in the woods. Suddenly, a familiar female voice sounded in his head.

"Why are you so aggressive? Did something happen?"

"Kyūbi!? Why can I hear you?" Naruto missed a step and almost fell face-first into the mud.

"I told you that due to the weakening of the seal, I can now hear your thoughts," Kyūbi said with an amusement in her voice.

Naruto calmed down and began climbing the tree without using his chakra. "But you didn't say you could talk to me in my thoughts!"

"Now you know," she said, making Naruto sweatdrop.

*Sigh* "Wait..." Naruto stopped on one of the tree branches, his head facing down towards the ground. "It's because of you that I feel like..." Naruto stopped his thought, raising his hand to eye level and clenching and unclenching it.

"Feel like what?"

"...Like I'm going to rip someone's guts out," Naruto said aloud, forcing Kyūbi to grin widely.

"Hehe, I don't even know," she said sarcastically. "Yes, it's the effect of the weakened seal. You're receiving more of my chakra than you're used to, and a side effect is the desire to rip someone's guts out. Not bad, huh?"

"Bad!" He jumped down from the tree and walked further into the forest. "I don't want to rip someone's guts out just because I'm in a bad mood. I'm not Sasuke or Zabuza!"

"Hahaha, human problems..."

"Oh, you're not human... How old are you?" Naruto asked as he reached a beautiful clearing and decided to rest there.

"I think you forgot the basic rule of talking to a girl."

"I thought you're not a human...?" Confused, Naruto lay on the grass in the middle of the clearing and looked up at the blue sky, examining the clouds.

"Deep down, I'm a vulnerable little girl."

"Capable of destroying entire cities with a swing of your tail," deadpanned Naruto. "Why did you attack Konoha?"

"...I got angry?" Her response came after a few moments of silence.

"Hey! That's not a good enough reason to destroy an entire city and kill people!" An enraged Naruto shouted, raising his hand to the sky.

"For me, it is," she said with smugness in her voice. "And anyway, aren't you the same? Wanting to rip out the guts of an innocent person who greeted you as a shinobi?"

"That innocent person is Momochi Zabuza, whose signature move is Silent Killing. And he made me angry."

"Haha, so it's okay for you to rip out guts because you're angry, but not for me?"

"I didn't rip out his guts!"

"But you did to that midget on the bridge," said Kyūbi, causing Naruto to fall silent for a while.

Watching the clouds, he relaxed, recalling everything that happened before his outburst. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet, "Shit! Dorry!" Directing chakra to his legs, he tried to run towards the village, but he accelerated to such an extent that he almost crashed into a tree, landing on his backside. "Woah! The hell..." He heard melodic laughter in his head. "What are you laughing at?!" An irritated Naruto asked.

After calming down from her laughter, her voice became serious again. "...You know, maybe I should still rip your lungs out through your throat."

"What's with her mood swings? This isn't normal," thought Naruto.

"Your chakra is mixing with a large amount of my chakra. It increases, becomes stronger, becomes cooler," explained Kyuubi in a moment of calm.

Approaching a tree, Naruto directed the minimum amount of chakra and gradually increased it until it stuck to the tree. "Okay, I can work with this..." Forming the seal for Shunshin no Jutsu, he disappeared from the clearing in a poof of smoke.

Five minutes later. Local hospital.

Naruto ran to the location that the locals had directed him to and entered the hospital. Inside, he saw several familiar construction workers who weakly smiled at him. "Oh... Hi, Naruto. If you're here for Dorry, he's okay, but he can't be disturbed right now. The doctor sent Mina home to rest."

"Got it. What are you guys doing here then?" Naruto asked.

"Bandits trashed the shops of my friends and injured my buddy," one of the construction workers with dark hair and a scar on his face replied.

"I have a similar story, but they injured my brother," another construction worker with gray hair responded. "Everyone here came to check on their friends or relatives."

Naruto nodded and clenched his fist again. A desire to do not-so-nice things to all the bandits he could find churned in his stomach. Quickly leaving the hospital, he ran towards the bridge.

"Huh, what's with him..."

"Maybe he hasn't gotten over... the thing on the bridge..?"

"Who knows..."

The bridge. A few minutes later.

Arriving at the bridge, he saw smoke rising a little way off. Intrigued, he ran towards the source of the smoke and wrinkled his nose when he caught a whiff of a horrible smell coming from that direction. "Log... What is that smell..."

Reaching a large clearing near the ocean, his expression twisted in disgust as he saw a pile of burning bodies stacked on top of each other in a huge bonfire.

"Hahaha, this is what I love..." A voice echoed in his head, making him cringe.

"Oh, Naruto, are you awake already? I'm surprised," Naruto heard Kakashi's voice nearby and turned to see him standing next to a pale Sasuke.

"Why are you... burning them?" Naruto asked, disgusted.

"What else should we do with them? Throw them into the ocean so they wash up on shore and are found by some kids? Or make graves for each of them? We don't even know all their names. We passed on the bodies of those whose names we learned to their relatives," Kakashi explained.

Naruto turned back to the bonfire and felt an overwhelming sense of guilt and disgust towards himself, just before he was overcome with another wave of anger when he noticed the pale and charred face of Gatō among the pile of bodies. He clenched his fists and teeth so hard that they almost creaked.

Suddenly, he felt Kakashi's hand on his shoulder, and most of his anger dissipated. "Don't blame yourself for their deaths. Many truly innocent people would have suffered because of these people."

"What's the difference to a few cockroaches that polluted the planet with their existence?" a voice in Naruto's head asked.

"Shit, maybe I'm insane?" Naruto thought.

"No, no, you're perfectly normal," an amused voice responded to him.

"I'm talking to a voice in my head, isn't that insanity?"

"Haha, when you put it that way..."

"Naruto? Are you okay?" Kakashi asked with a concerned voice.

Looking at the spot where Sasuke was standing, he noticed that he was nowhere in sight. Turning back to Kakashi, he sighed, "No, the seal of the Nine-Tails has weakened, and I constantly feel incredibly angry. And on top of that, the Nine-Tails keeps making bloodthirsty comments about everything."

Kakashi's eyes widened when he heard the first part of Naruto's words. When Naruto mentioned that the Nine-Tails was talking to him, his jaw dropped, visible even behind his mask. He grabbed Naruto by the shoulders and with a serious expression, said, "The Kyūbi is talking to you?!"

"Yes, that's how I found out about the weakened seal. By the way, why didn't you tell me that the Kyūbi is a woman?" Naruto asked, tilting his head.

"Vixen."

Kakashi pondered for a few seconds on everything he had just heard, until he again caught the horrific smell of burning bodies. "Let's move away from here for a bit, and you'll tell me everything that happened on the bridge and after in maximum detail, okay?"

A few hours later. A forest near Tazuna's house.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'll hold back until we return to Konoha, and then the Hokage should help with my problem," a slightly weary Naruto said.

"Hey, did you just call me a problem?!" Kūbi's voice echoed in his head.

"What? No. I meant the bloodthirstiness," Naruto calmly explained. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at him, and he chuckled, "Oops, did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, and try not to talk to Kyūbi out loud," sighed Kakashi. "It's chakra not spilling out of you uncontrollably, so we hope that the seal has just weakened a bit and the Hokage knows how to strengthen it again."

"Haha, I only managed to have a little fun and they already want to lock me up again?" Kyūbi said in a playful voice.

"Have fun? You suggested at least twenty times for me to kill people who were in my way on the road to the hospital and to the bridge," said Naruto. Kakashi turned back to him and pointed towards Tazuna's house, which was now visible. "Sorry, it won't happen again."

"If only you were a little more cheerful..." Kyūbi said with a playful voice.

"Seriously, what's wrong with you?" an exasperated Naruto asked.

"I was sealed in your sewer pit for over twelve years. Before you, I was sealed in another woman where I literally hung in my true form on a large pool of magma for about twenty years. Before her, in another woman with the same living conditions for over fifty years. And not once did they talk to me! I'd like to see how you would feel if you spent almost a hundred years of your life imprisoned because some idiot thought using tailed beasts as weapons was a fucking brilliant idea!" By the end of her monologue, her voice was feral and filled with hatred. Naruto stopped in front of Tazuna's house, once again receiving a raised eyebrow from Kakashi.

Looking up at the sky, he sighed, "Bloody hell..."