Hello everyone I'm back once again to bring you another chapter of my fan fiction; if you are enjoying it please keep on supporting me and my other works. Now with nothing else to say lets begin.
Legacies and Lightning: Chapter 14
At dusk: With Anko, Kurenai and Kakashi
Anko, Kurenai and Kakashi were all running through the woods as they were heading to the meeting point set by Zabuza in order to discuss a possible alliance.
Kakashi was skeptical about this meeting and for good reason; Zabuza a few weeks ago tried to kill him and his team and succeeded in killing Tazuna. Anko and Kurenai were a little bit trusting but still knew that anything could happen.
"Stay on your toes you two" Kakashi said to Anko and Kurenai "this could easily be a trap and I'm not losing anyone else on this mission".
"Oh trust us, we know" Anko said "to be honest with you, if this goes sideways, I really want to fight this guy".
Kurenai looked at the both of them and spoke "I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt" Kurenai said "he sent his apprentice to us bearing peace and surrendered unconditionally; I say have a sliver of trust".
Kakashi nodded and didn't speak 'I don't trust him, Anko is neutral and Kurenai is willing to listen' Kakashi thought; Kakashi turned and looked at Kurenai "ok then Kurenai, would you be so kind as to be the negotiator; if I do it I might just end up killing him".
"I think that'll be best" Kurenai said agreeing with Kakashi.
The 3 jonin ran for another few minutes to the meeting point and to their surprise they saw who they were looking for.
Zabuza Momochi had his massive executioners blade stuck in a tree; the massive 5 foot long blade was stuck in the tree with Zabuza sitting on the 2 and a half foot long hilt. Zabuza was a tall muscular man wearing a black muscle shirt and black pants with purple arm and leg warmers and his face wrapped in bandages; he had his Kiri headband on sideways facing his left side.
Zabuza's cold eyes gazed at the oncoming jonin and he spoke "hello again Kakashi, never thought we'd see each other so soon" he said.
"I'd rather not see you at all" Kakashi said keeping his guard up.
"And who are these two…" Zabuza began until he raised an eyebrow and smirked "lovely ladies"; Kurenai rolled her eyes and Anko smirked and spoke.
"I'm Anko Mitarashi, the 'Snake mistress' and jonin of Konoha" Anko said confidently and Kurenai spoke up next.
"I'm Kurenai Yuhi, the 'Genjutsu mistress'; also a jonin of Konoha" Kurenai said before crossing her arms "you called us out here Zabuza; what do you want?"
"I'm here for your assistance" Zabuza said and Kurenai raised an eyebrow.
"You killed Kakashi's client, dropped off his body and now are coming to help us?" Kurenai said skeptically and Zabuza nodded "why?"
"My employer for this job is a man by the name of Gato; president of the Gato shipping company" Zabuza said beginning his story "after killing Tazuna I reported back to Gato and expecting my payment; but instead the greedy pig double crossed me". "He sent a group of rogue ninja and mercenaries to my hideout in an assassination attempt; but thanks to my apprentice Haku I made it out" Zabuza said "I blew up my hideout taking out thirty of the fifty or so mercenaries he sent".
"So he double crossed you and now you want payback?" Kurenai asked and Zabuza nodded.
"Yes I do; I came here to give you some information" Zabuza said "Gato thinks I'm dead and frankly, I think we can use that to our advantage". "Gato is planning on attacking the bridge, killing all the workers and sacking the town in three days; I want your help to ambush Gato and his cronies when they come" Zabuza said; Anko hearing this spoke up.
"How many men is Gato bringing?" Anko asked and Zabuza answered her.
"About six hundred, give or take; they are coming in on four boats" Zabuza said making them all go wide eyed "he's brining mercenaries and rogue ninja with him; so I thought it'd be best to combine our forces".
"Six hundred!?" Kakashi said "that's basically a small army"; Kakashi was a powerful ninja but he wasn't a fool. An average genin can take on a group of 5 bandits no problem, a chunin 20 to 40 and a jonin 100; but 600 men including rogue ninja was a lot and they could be overwhelmed by sheer numbers alone.
"But… with four jonin we can stand a chance" Zabuza said "not to mention my apprentice and your brats as well; genin can still be useful". Upon saying this Anko began to laugh and Zabuza looked at her "what's so funny?" he asked.
"Oh, you don't know my genin" Anko said referring to Naruto.
"Or mine" Kurenai said referring to Yakumo
"Two of mine could be useful" Kakashi said referring to Sai and Sasuke "but… Sakura…"; Kakashi grimaced and looked at Anko and Kurenai. "She's… not very useful" Kakashi said and both Kurenai and Anko nodded.
"We get it" Kurenai said as she remembered Sakura's poor performance during the spar with Yakumo "maybe she can guard the shore or something".
"Ok then" Zabuza said "we have us four plus Haku and your four genin"; Anko, Kakashi and Kurenai nodded and Zabuza spoke again. "I like those odds" Zabuza said as he got up and grabbed his sword before putting on his back "meet back here in three days two hours before dawn; they're planning to attack at first light". Zabuza turned to leave and but stopped "and tell Haku to hurry up back to our camp" he said before jumping away.
Kakashi, Anko and Kurenai all stood there and Kakashi spoke up "was everything he said bullshit" he asked and Anko shook her head.
"Nope, his eyes, body language, voice and general demeanor showed no signs of lying" Anko said; Anko spent years with Ibiki from the interrogation department and learned how to tell a lie very well. While not always 100 percent accurate Anko can see general clues.
"Well looks like we have a fight in three days" Kurenai said "we should go tell the others"; Kakashi and Anko nodded as the group turned around and ran back to the house.
(30 minutes later) Back at the house: with Naruto, Yakumo and the others
Naruto was still standing behind Haku with the Sword of the Thunder God in his hand still activated; so far Haku has not made any sudden or hostile movements. In fact Haku was calmly drinking a cup of tea that was given to him by Tsunami; everyone was surprised when Haku removed his mask, because doing so revealed his feminine face and subsequently ensuring everyone that he was a boy. This made Yakumo, Sakura and even Tsunami a little jealous as a boy was even prettier than they were.
Haku swallowed his hot tea and looked to Naruto and spoke "you don't have to keep that sword on me Naruto" Haku said in a calm voice "I'm already surrounded by your comrades, stripped of my weapons and the element of surprise; I'm at a complete disadvantage".
"Well keeping you at a disadvantage is an advantage I intend to keep" Naruto said keeping his sword at the ready "I don't trust a single damn thing you told me in the past thirty minutes; there's no way your a dude, there's no way you met a kid who used bones as weapons and there's no way you guys will ever help us after what you did to that Tazuna guy".
"I assure you that what I'm telling you is the truth" Haku said; Haku turned to Inari who was looking at him "and I do apologize for what happened to your grandfather".
"Shut up; that doesn't mean anything to me" Inari said "I hate you… my life was ruined, again"; Inari still remembers when Gato Killed his step-father Kaiza in front of the entire village.
"Well we are trying to save your village now; and I hope that at least brings some comfort to you" Haku said; Tsunami hearing this looked to Haku and spoke.
"It doesn't" Tsunami said "I lost my husband and now my father; all I have left is Inari"; Haku sighed and decided to just stay quiet.
Yakumo feeling the tension in the air spoke up "so Haku, how long have you been a ninja?" Yakumo asked changing the subject.
"Ever since Master Zabuza found me" Haku said "after my father murdered my mother and I killed my father he found me and took me in; I have been with him ever since".
"I don't want to hear your sob story" Naruto said stopping Haku "everyone has one but that doesn't give you the right to do what you did; killing innocent people is wrong no matter what excuse you use".
"Very well put Naruto" Sai said sitting across from him and Haku at the table; Sai during his time in root has killed 42 people both innocent and guilty. Sai had no doubt that no matter what excuse he used whether it was for Lord Danzo or Konoha, that most people would consider it 'immoral'.
Sasuke was listening on the conversation and was annoyed by the constant chatter; the only thing he wanted to do was fight Haku to test his strength but he knew Naruto would attempt to stop him.
Meanwhile Sakura was just staring at Sasuke like he was a painting at an art gallery not taking the situation seriously.
A few minutes later the door opened and everyone saw Kakashi, Anko and Kurenai enter "Yo" Kakashi said with a wave before looking to Naruto "Ok Naruto, you can stand down; Zabuza asked us to release him".
Naruto frowned and looked at Haku "you better not try any funny business" Naruto said as he deactivated his sword and put it on his belt.
"I won't; you need to be more trusting Naruto" Haku said as he got up and Naruto scoffed; Haku retrieved his gear and politely bowed before speaking "I appreciated the tea and the company; I hope you have a nice night".
Haku made a hand sign and a mirror made of ice appeared behind him; before anyone could say anything Haku stepped in and the ice mirror shattered, falling to the ground in shards.
Naruto and the others blinked at this and Yakumo spoke "he could've done that the entire time?" Yakumo said surprised.
"Well shit" Naruto said 'I guess… he's a little trust worthy'.
Kakashi shook his head and spoke "alright everyone, listen up; I have some news" Kakashi said gaining the attention of everyone in the room "Tsunami, please take Inari out of here; we have some important things to discuss".
"Ok, Mr. Kakashi" Tsunami said as she grabbed Inari's hand "lets go Inari"; Inari got up and left with his mother leaving the group of Konoha ninja in the room.
"What's going on Kakashi sensei?" Sakura said and Kakashi spoke.
"Well we have good news and bad news" Kakashi said "the bad news is, in three days we will have about six hundred mercenaries and rogue ninja coming here by boat to destroy the bridge and sack the town". Upon hearing this Naruto, Sai and Sasuke all narrowed their eyes while Yakumo and Sakura gasped "but the good news is is; we know where their going to land" he said.
Kurenai walked up next and spoke "we spoke to Zabuza and we've decided to form a temporary alliance since he got double crossed by his employer, a man named Gato" Kurenai said.
"So we decided that all of us are going to ambush Gato and his mercenaries when they come to the land of waves" Anko said speaking up "basically we are going to draw them in and kill every single one of them if possible".
"So were going to be teaming up with the two ninja who were just trying to kill us?" Sasuke said speaking up "that has to be the stupidest idea I've ever heard; what if all of this is a trap".
"Then we kill the son of a bitch and his apprentice" Naruto said speaking to Sasuke "but considering they didn't attack us or burn the damn house down I think we're in the clear; if they wanted to kill us they would've done so already instead of knocking on the front door".
"Naruto's right Sasuke, they haven't given us a reason to not to trust them; as much as it goes against my better judgement " Kakashi said and Sasuke merely brooded as the conversation continued "anyway now we need to plan for the oncoming invasion". "Me, Anko, Kurenai, Naruto, Sai and Sasuke will be the main fighters" Kakashi said before turning to Yakumo and Sakura "Yakumo and Sakura, we'll need you two to defend the shore in case any break through".
"Ok sensei" Sakura said before looking over to Sasuke with a dreamy smile "it's such a shame I won't see Sasuke in action again; I'd like nothing more than to see him take out all those bad guys". Sasuke smirked from Sakura's praise as it fed into his own ego; however the moment ended when Naruto spoke up.
"Hey Sakura, if you're done sucking his dick lets get back on topic" Naruto said and both Sakura and Sasuke looked at him with contempt but Naruto didn't care "so what is the plan of action; we just going to throw everything and the kitchen sink at them".
"Of course not" Kakashi said "we are going to pair into teams and attack them; I'm thinking if we each take a boat before they reach land then we can take them all out".
"So how will the teams be decided?" Sai asked and Kakashi looked at him.
"I'm sure Zabuza and his apprentice will work together to so they take one boat; Anko and Kurenai should take another boat, then Sasuke and Sai and finally me and Naruto" Kakashi said and Naruto looked at him "I hope that's fine with you Naruto".
Naruto looked at Anko who nodded and Naruto spoke "sure thing" Naruto said in a neutral tone; Naruto felt a little uneasy about working with Kakashi but he was willing to put his feelings aside for the sake of the mission.
"Alright then; we only have a few days to prepare, so we better get to work" Anko said speaking up "lets discuss training and go over the plan; we cannot afford to mess this up".
Later that night: With Naruto
Naruto was standing outside the house swinging his sword going through the drills that Sai taught him; Naruto sent a diagonal slash like he was trying to hit someone in the left collar bone. Naruto went with the motion like he cut through before following up with a stab and ripping motion.
Naruto got back into his neutral stance and deactivated his sword; Naruto was breathing a little hard and sweating as he's been at these drills for over an hour.
A voice from behind Naruto spoke up "Why do you do it?"; Naruto spun around and saw Inari standing there, over the past few days Inari has been telling Naruto and his fellow ninja that the situation is hopeless. Naruto knew about Inari's step-father Kaiza and how he was killed by Gato for resisting him "people who try to play hero always end up being killed; like my grandpa and my dad… so why do you do it?"
"I'm not trying to be a hero" Naruto said as he put the sword back in his belt "I'm just doing the right thing and completing a mission".
"You're probably going to die, no one can beat Gato" Inari said and Naruto looked at him with a bored expression.
"We all have to die at some point" Naruto said "but what matters is how we die; either on our feet or on our knees". "And I won't die on my knees like some coward" Naruto said "and if need be; I'll die doing the right thing".
Naruto remembered the words Doki spoke to him all those years ago and spoke them "a real man does the right thing no matter what, a man is only as good as his word; so help those who are weaker than you, protect the innocent and stand by your own beliefs". "You know who told me that?" Naruto asked and Inari shook his head "a freaking badass that's who".
Inari looked to the ground and spoke "so what should I do?" Inari asked and Naruto reached down and pulled a kunai out of his holster.
"Here take this" Naruto said as he handed Inari the kunai "hold it like so"; Naruto adjusted Inari's grip on the weapon so he held the weapon properly. "Now then, copy what I do" Naruto said as he pulled out a kunai himself and got into a fighting stance; Inari seeing this copied Naruto as close as he could.
"Now then this is what you do" Naruto said and Inari nodded; Naruto thrust the kunai out in a stab before giving it a sharp twist and pulling it out "stab, twist, pull".
Inari nodded and looked ahead "stab, twist, pull" Inari said as he repeated the motion; "stab, twist, pull, stab, twist, pull, stab, twist pull". Inari practiced this with Naruto looking on and observing him; this was how Uzui trained him how to properly use a kunai.
"When you do that, either aim for the throat, chest our stomach" Naruto said and Inari nodded before Naruto held out a hand and stopped him "and if the kunai gets stuck; give the bad guy a good kick to knock him off".
Naruto showed Inari this showing the boy a basic front kick; Inari began to copy Naruto as the 2 boys went through the motions. This was the sight that Tsunami walked up on as she was looking for Inari and Naruto.
Tsunami at first was concerned with seeing her son with a kunai, but she relaxed when she realized Naruto was teaching Inari self defense; Tsunami smiled as she saw Inari bond with Naruto before turning around and walking back to the house.
3 days later, At Dawn; on the bridge: with Naruto, Anko, Kurenai and team seven
Naruto was standing on the incomplete bridge with Anko, Kurenai, Kakashi, Sai and Sasuke as they waited for Zabuza and Haku to arrive; Naruto still felt uneasy working with 2 known criminals but he wasn't by himself so he felt better.
Kakashi was reading his orange book, Anko was cleaning her nails, Kurenai was drinking water, Sasuke was brooding and Sai was paining the sunrise; Naruto just stood as the railing spinning a small shuriken in the air with his static strings.
As everyone waited in silence at the end of the bridge 2 swirls appeared one made of water and one made of ice. Naruto grabbed his shuriken and put it in his holster while the others stood at attention; both Zabuza and Haku appeared in the swirls of water and Zabuza spoke.
"Good morning" Zabuza said with a chuckle; Naruto got on guard and Zabuza spoke "relax brat, we're on the same side remember."
"I wouldn't go that far" Naruto said as he put his hand on his sword handle; Zabuza then moved his eyes to the sword and began to think.
'So Haku was telling the truth; the brat does have the second Hokage's sword' Zabuza thought 'he doesn't look like a swordsman though; so I guess he uses it but is not aiming to be a master'. "Nice sword kid; that the sword you were telling me about Haku" Zabuza asked and Haku nodded.
"Yes Master Zabuza" Haku said "it has a blade made of lightning; it's quite a sight".
"Hehehe, well kid; you aiming to be a swordsman or what?" Zabuza asked Naruto and Naruto scoffed.
"No, I just use it because lightning jutsu is my specialty; besides the last guy who had it doesn't need it anymore" Naruto said and Zabuza nodded. "Besides" Naruto said as he reached behind himself and summoned out one of his Fuma Shuriken "this right here is my bread and butter".
Anko seeing this spoke up "alright you two, enough of the dick waving competition; we have a fight coming up" Anko said "when are these assholes supposed to be coming?"
"Take a look sweet cheeks" Zabuza said as he pointed out into the sea; everyone turned and looked out into the morning fog. After a few moments in silence 4 black figures came out of the fog.
4 boats with steam engines were coming towards them, white smoke billowing out from the chimneys; Kakashi seeing this put up his orange book and sighed.
"Alright then; it's show time" Kakashi said looking at everyone "remember, two to a ship; don't be a hero, if you get over whelmed just back off and head to shore". "Naruto; are you ready?" Kakashi asked and Naruto nodded.
"Ready as I'll ever be" Naruto said; Naruto was walking over to Kakashi when Zabuza spoke up.
"Hey brat; hold up" Zabuza said and Naruto stopped "you said you're a lightning specialist right?"
"Yeah, so what?" Naruto said scrunching up his face; Zabuza got a sinister smile and he looked to Kakashi.
"Hey Kakashi; how about you and me use the brat to kick this party off?" Zabuza asked and Kakashi raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, and how do we do that" Kakashi asked and Zabuza looked at Naruto.
"A little 'Shock and Awe'" Zabuza said; Naruto and Kakashi hearing this got what he was getting it.
"You know what Zabuza" Naruto said "I'm starting to like you a little more"; Naruto turned to face the ships with Zabuza and Kakashi on either side of him.
"Well them, lets give them a warm greeting shall we" Kakashi said as he, Zabuza and Naruto all went through hand signs.
Kakashi and Zabuza both finished their hand signs and spoke "Water Style: Water Dragon jutsu"; 2 massive water dragons appeared out of the water just as Naruto finished his hand signs.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Clone jutsu" Naruto shouted as he created 20 lightning clones; the clones proceeded to throw themselves towards the water dragons hitting them and exploding into lightning. The result was the 2 water dragons becoming electrified and Naruto smiled "lets get this party started" he said.
Ok another chapter done; I hope you all enjoyed it. If you did please like, comment and share with your friends; and until next time bye.