Illumination

Tides

High Tides

Sakura stared at the poor, unfortunate victim of her boyfriend's deception. The snow rabbit dangling from her sensei's hand, was now a casualty of this mission. Normally, Sakura would have lamented the meaningless demise of the poor animal, and the Uchiha fan girl she pretended to be in the Academy would have admonished Naruto for killing such a cute and defenseless creature. That Sakura would have sickened her, not only for being a complete bitch to Naruto, but for failing to notice the abnormal state of the rabbit's fur. Now, she acknowledged the warning her boyfriend brought to their attention, and made a note to thank him, properly, when they were alone. As long as he's okay, after this fight, she added to herself, then prayed, please let him be okay, Kami-sama, this is an S-ranked ninja we're fighting.

Behind the rosette, several water needles, began to form out of the suddenly dense atmosphere. "Sakura-chan, look out," Hinata's scream brought Sakura out of her thoughts, as the Hyuga suddenly whirled between her teammate and the projectiles of water! Hinata's palms were wreathed in chakra as she danced between them and Sakura, swatting them out from the air, scattering them all. "Eight Trigrams: Air Shield," she stated, and Hinata's arms began moving extremely fast, causing the chakra to become visible, until what appeared to be a dome of solid air, but really was just her hands and arms, moving so fast they looked like a solid shield, surrounded the Hyuga heiress, effectively destroying the senbon needles.

As effective as Hinata's sudden defense of Sakura was, one needle manages to slip past the Hyuga princess, and punctures Sakura's right arm. The rosette, hisses in pain when the needle sticks into her, she looks at it, but does not have time to examine the wound. She decides to ignore it for the moment, except to remove and throw it away, but it did shock her out of her musings. Sakura looks around, noticing that water needles were pelting them from everywhere. She begins to loosen her joints, swaying as if from an unfelt breeze, evading other needles as she made her body move using the taijutsu style her roommate taught her.

Sakura was taken completely by surprise when a figure wearing a Hunter Ninja mask, rushed low into Sakura's line-of-sight. Sakura barely had time to gather any details on the person, before Sakura's feet were swept out from under her. Before she could fall however, Hinata was there holding Sakura by the middle, adding a fulcrum, allowing the shemagh wearing kunoichi to flip out of the potential fall. As soon as Sakura was clear, the Hyuga infused her fist with lightning, launching a straight punch at the face of the anonymous hunter-nin. Just before impact, their adversary bent his head out of the way, before somersaulting away from the point of impact.

Sakura stood back from the brawl between her teammate and the hunter-nin, she had time to analyze their opponent. He was wearing a gray, pinstriped shirt, and hakama, commonly found in Kirigakure, over which was a sea-foam green haori, with white trim, and a brown, fringed sash, wrapped twice around his waist. The hunter-nin also wore light-brown platoon sandals, with straps in the same color as the kimono, and nail polish on fingernails and toes, matching the blue-green color. He wore a hunter-nin mask, which was white, with thin, curved eye holes, and a red wavy design in place of the mouth, as well as a Kirigakure symbol etched in the top.

Sakura's observation took a fraction of a second, with practiced ease, she pulls her babies from their resting place on her left thigh. The chain-swords given to her by her Naruto were her Angels, and she was not yet ready for the world to hear them sing. Sakura's Babies, also given to her by Naruto, were just right for this occasion, and there was more to them than met the eye. Sakura began to flow through the water senbon, like a dragon on the high winds, with Hinata keeping this hunter-nin's attention occupied, the pink-haired kunoichi reached his side and lashed out with her hanbo. Her attack struck the elite ninja in the left flank, but instead of striking flesh she felt the unmistakable sound of her billy clubs, hitting a body of water.

The water clone evaporated like condensation on a window, immediately upon impact, leaving the kunoichi looking around in surprise. They immediately went back-to-back, staring at the surrounding landscape, they would not be taken from behind, if they could help it. Out of the mists, a form seemed to condense from the air. The hunter-nin seemed to be studying them intently, before she spoke to them with a voice as soft and gentle as Hinata's own. "Please, stand-down, kunoichi-sans," the kunoichi Hunter-nin asked in a pleading voice, "I have no wish to harm you, I simply want the S-ranked ninja, Juzo Biwa, there is no need for you to get further involved… and needlessly injured."

Sakura's expression became contemplative, "surely, ryoshi-san, you wouldn't begrudge some help in taking on an S-ranked ninja," she asked in bewilderment?

The Hunter Ninja just sighed before dropping her head with a shameful shake, "I have been hunting, Biwa-san for some time now, and was preparing a way to take him down, when you and your team appeared out of nowhere. It is my duty to see this through," she added determinably.

"You shouldn't allow your pride and arrogance to dictate how you do your work, ryoshi-san," Hinata rebuked, "it has killed more warriors than any weapon ever could," her voice, while still soft, carried steel within it.

Their opponent started at the reprimand, "I am sorry, I did not mean to belittle your skills, but this is my job," she continued, "it is my purpose."

The Hyuga narrowed her eyes, and with an uncharacteristic growl, "so you're purpose is to deceive us, kunoichi-kun, to keep us focused on you, while your true self trapped us?" Without warning, Hinata clapped her hands, sending out a massive wave of vibrational energy, rippling out into the air. The ripples hit resistance in the form of the water droplets in the mist, which caused a chain reaction that pushed the fog out and away from their immediate area. The air, suddenly clear of visual obstruction revealed that they had been trapped within a dome-like structure. There were mirrors surrounding the Konoha kunoichi on all sides, even as they looked above them, at the summit of the dome. Held within the reflective surface of the mirrors, the image of the hunter-nin was being reflected back at them from every angle.

"Please," came the voice of the hunter-nin, "don't make me kill you," she pleaded.

"I wonder, kunoichi-meinu (bitch)," Sakura spat, "are you trying to protect your bounty, or are you trying to protect, Juzo Biwa-teme (bastard)?" Sakura was looking into one of the reflections and watched the kunoichi's eyes harden when she insulted, Juzo. Thank you, Anko-nee, the lessons you taught me about reading body language have come in handy, Sakura continued, "it won't matter, because he is as good as dead, right now, and no matter what happens here today, you will fail this mission." Sakura began twirling her hanbo, moving them up and down her body at blinding speeds.

The Hunter Ninja's eyes became outraged, but she tried to conceal her true emotions, pretending that Sakura had not completely insulted her partner. She tried to keep a tight rein on her temper, but despite masking her face, the rosette kunoichi could read her like an open book. The eyes are the windows to the soul, and her soul was bare to the world. Juzo Biwa was precious to this girl, he meant more to her than her own life. Without warning, senbon needles began raining down on the kunoichi from Konoha on all sides, pouring out of the mirrors like a torrential downpour.

This was what Sakura wanted, to make her opponent expend more chakra than she normally would if she was in a more reasonable frame of mind. Sakura channeled her own chakra into the hanbo, causing both of them to transform into a pair of nunchaku. She stepped away from her teammate to avoid hitting her with her weapons and began whirling them through the air, around her body, knocking the needles away from her. The only miscalculation Sakura made was the composition of the needles, because instead of needles made of water, they were made of pure metal.

While Sakura was distracting the ryoshi-nin, Hinata began to increase the vibrational energy in the air, causing the ambient temperature within the dome to increase incrementally. At the same time, Hinata infused fire chakra into her defense, "Eight Trigrams: Flare Shield," she muttered. "Sakura-chan, we need to try to get one of us outside the dome, that way one of us may begin destroying her mirrors," Hinata yelled!

"I'm on it, princess," Sakura yelled back, as she made a dash directly for one of the openings between the mirrors. She brought the ends of her hanbo together, which caused them to become a single weapon, the three-sectioned staff. Sakura spun her weapon over her head so fast it almost appeared to be an umbrella, protecting her from the rain of metal. Before Sakura could make it to the edge, the rain of needles abated as she saw a blur on the periphery of her vision, getting larger as it came near her, at the last minute before impact, Sakura swung her weapon towards the blur. The Ryoshi-nin evaded at the last possible moment and re-entered her mirrors, and the rain of senbon was renewed.

Over the alternative frequency comm device, the kunoichi from Konoha coordinated their defense, their goal here was not to win. Not yet at least, for the moment they were just trying to buy time for the rest of their team to make it to Tazuna's home. That was what Yugao and Hayate, along with a Flash clone of Naruto were doing, transporting their charge as a flock of geese, sealed into a storage scroll. As soon as Naruto told them they were safe at home, they would be able to fight with no holds barred, until then they were just going to be doing their best to distract the hunter kunoichi, and her master. Sakura and Hinata took several convincing rushes at different points within the mirrored prison, all the while Hinata increased the vibes within the dome, causing the air within to become muggy and humid.

Hinata was just taking another run at the walls, when Sakura received another voice, one she cherishes above all others. "Sakura, honey, how are things going over there," Naruto's voice asked, and though he masked it well, she could detect a mote of anxiety for her safety when he spoke?

"We're about even in skill to this hunter-nin, dear," Sakura answered, "she's activated some sort of mirrored ice-prison, that allows her to move between them very quickly, its only thanks to Hinata-chan, that I don't have more wounds than I do already." While she is a strong, independent woman, and does not need her man's affection to make her feel special, Sakura of Konoha, would be lying if the gasp of concern for her well-being, did not fill her heart with warmth, "it's nothing major, Naruto-kun," she hurriedly assured him, but could not keep her love for him out of her voice, as she added, "you've given me worse than this when we spar, and despite not holding back you always seem to go easier on me, than Hinata. Don't deny it," Sakura admonished him!

"Well, anyway, I've just gotten confirmation, Tazuna has made it safely home," he explained the reason for his call, she smiled at his obvious attempt to change the subject, "so, you can do whatever you need to get back to me."

"Roger that, babe," Sakura stated in a thankful tone of voice, "see you soon." Keying her comm frequency to speak to Hinata, Sakura relayed the same information Naruto had to her, "Hinata-chan, it's time to get serious," she relayed to her teammate.

"Hai, Sakura-chan," Hinata replied, then whispering, "Byakugan," her clan dojutsu blazed forth, which allowed her to locate the real form of their adversary. Then relaying that information to Sakura, "she's located in the mirror on the second story of the mirrors, at 284-degrees, Sakura-kun, take her down!"

"Roger, Hinata-kun," Sakura's voice came over the comms, "here goes nothing."

Shiroyuki had been observing the battle from her vantage point, and she had to admit, these kunoichi were well trained. Because except for that one stray senbon going into the shemagh wearer, she had inflicted no wounds on these women. That was something she had not seen happen outside of her training with Juzo-sama. Thinking of her master, she thought back to her time with her family, when she had unlocked her chakra and discovered her power over ice. Her mother who had always been so gentle and kind to Shiroyuki, raised her hand and struck her daughter. Her mother immediately felt tears well-up within her eyes, and immediately fell to her knees, hugging her daughter, and apologizing profusely for striking Shiroyuki. Her mother rebuked her for using her powers and warned her daughter, to never show them to anybody. What both of them did not know, it was already too late, someone had watched the whole scene play out, and it was Shiroyuki's own father.

He gathered the villagers and stormed into their home. He murdered Shiroyuki's mother, his wife, right in front of Shiroyuki. He would have succeeded in killing his own child, but Shiroyuki's self-preservation instincts kicked-in, and she manifested her kekkei genkai, Kōriton, or Ice Release, killing everybody in her house, including her father.

After that, Shiroyuki lived on the streets, scrounging food and nourishment from garbage, contending with the feral animals wanting to fight over the best hunting grounds. It was during this time, that Juzo-sama found her, sitting on the side of the rode, he said, she had the same look in her eyes that he did… the look of someone with nothing left to lose. He took her in and forged her into a tool, a weapon meant to serve him, and fight for him. Shiroyuki sees her master as her owner, he is precious to her, she would gladly have given herself to him, but he does not like women in that capacity. Still she is his for the asking, if for no reason than to propagate his line, he does not even have to be in love with me, and I will eagerly give him heirs.

Suddenly, Shiroyuki felt a presence, one of the kunoichi protecting Tazuna-san was behind her, how did that happen, she wondered, but it was too late for her to dodge, or even use substitution? She felt the narrow, blunt end of… an energy sword, punch through the back of her mirror and jab her in the back. Shiroyuki fell toward the ground, but at the last moment flipped into a taijutsu stance. Then before her eyes the shemagh wearing kunoichi, leapt high into the air, shouting, "Storm clone technique: Bouncing Betty: flechette style," and in an instant, she began shooting out projectiles of condensed light. The flechettes, as the kunoichi called them, struck Shiroyuki's mirrors, and wherever they struck, they left holes burnt clean through her jutsu. In no time at all, her mirrors collapsed and even began to evaporate right in front of the fake hunter-nin.

As the last of the ice mirrors dissolved, another kunoichi wearing the same thing as her obvious clone, except that the shemagh, was down around her shoulders, came walking through the debris of Shiroyuki's mirrors from the exterior of the dome. It seems I was the one entrapped this time, the Kōriton user observed with a wry smile. The kunoichi's pink hair was cut short, and into a bob style doo, she appeared directly in front of Shiroyuki, in her hands were two blades of light, one of which hummed slowly, like the beating of a heart while it rested. The other was humming, very much like that self-same heart, but beating in passion, like it was about to reach a climax, only needing a little more stimulation before it crescendoed. Shiroyuki got the distinct impression that she had been struck by the slow humming blade, she did not know how she reached that conclusion, but if this girl had used the passionate blade, Shiroyuki would have been dead, of that, she had no doubt.

Shiroyuki fell to her knees, and begged, tearfully, "please, kill me, a tool that cannot fulfill its function, is of no use, and needs to be discarded!" The ice user fell forward, placing her forehead on the ground, and awaited her Fate, if she had kept her face up, she would have noticed the look of repugnance latching itself to Sakura's eyes, but an eyebrow quirked up over Hinata's face.

"As you wish, kunoichi-san," Sakura said, "but I refuse to murder someone with their face in the dirt, you will look at me as I take your life!" Shiroyuki rose to seiza, just as the rosette reached Shiroyuki, Sakura's clone used the rest of its chakra and dispelled. Sakura made her thrust with the intention of making her first kill, the blade came within a hairsbreadth of killing the downed kunoichi, and Shiroyuki, further shamed herself, apart from failing her master, by flinching back from the perceived attack, with her eyes closed, in fear. "You're too pretty to allow fear to creep across your face, kunoichi-san," the rosette admonished her, "my name is Sakura no Konoha, and you're coming with us."

Shiroyuki raised a hand and cupped her own face, when did my mask fall off, she wondered, then looking around, she spotted it lying a few yards away from her? She looked in that direction and noticed the air was free of the mist associated with, Kirigakure no jutsu. Shiroyuki whipped her head around and saw, standing atop the water, her master, with the other kunoichi and the shinobi, teammates to the two kunoichi that had defeated her, standing with their backs to the kunoichi and her.

There were some clones of the shinobi present, one of them, had grabbed a hold of Juzo-sama's sword arm, preventing him from drawing his sword, another was both being held up by his shirt, by Biwa-sama's other arm, and also holding onto the arm as well, as if to prevent her master from letting go of him, and a final third clone was clinging to Juzo's back, it was almost like it was sticking itself there by a force other than chakra. Juzo finally looked at Shiroyuki, and with a smile full of acceptance and gratitude, and though, she could not hear it, knew his final words were for her, "Thank you," then all went white, and she knew no more.

The Whirlpool Clan

Naruto threw up his EM-Field to prevent the surplus energy of the explosion, from destroying anything more than he wished to destroy. As it was, there was already a good-sized crater cut into the riverbank, it was already filling with water from the river's tributaries, in an hour or so, there would be a pond here. Those thoughts were on the periphery of his mind though, as he stared at the hunk of charcoal that moments before, was a human body, the one thought that was reverberating in his mind the loudest is, I just killed someone, someone who, despite coming from a different village, was a genin just like me at one-point. He had family, friends, maybe a lover, maybe not, but he had dreams, ambitions, hopes, and fears, and I've just taken all of that away. Am I truly the monster, the demon, the villagers say I am, what right did I have to take his life?!

He was about to go even deeper into his self-damnation, when he felt strong, female arms wrap around him from behind. "Stop it, Naruto-kun," she crooned, softly, but intensely, "what you did just now, was necessary, it was what needed to happen!"

Naruto was shocked, then concluded with, "for the mission, sensei?"

"No, not for the mission," Kurenai corrected, "but for something far more important than any mission."

What's that," Naruto asked in surprise?

"Your life, Naruto-kun," she answered intensely, "killing Juzo Biwa-san, was necessary to protect your life."

Naruto turned to look at his team's sensei, "but isn't the mission …"

Kurenai scoffed, "despite the propaganda forced into your head by the Academy, the mission is not the most important thing in a ninja's life, not even the Hokage believes that, it is a ninja's duty to do everything possible, to get back from a mission alive. Your life, the life of your precious ones, those that love you, all of them would be devastated if you didn't come back from your mission."

"But, what about his life, sensei, what makes my life more important than his, why do I get to take his life," Naruto questioned?

"It's not, his life was just as important as yours, he was the same as you, and nobody has the right to take anybody's life," Kurenai told him, while still wrapping her arms around him, "the reason you are alive, while Juzo Biwa-san is dead, is because you made the choice between his life and yours. You were not ready to give up your life, neither was he, but your choices, the strategies you employed, the tactics you used, and in truth, not a little bit of luck or divine providence, were what allowed you to win and stay alive."

Naruto's head drooped in thought, at Kurenai's words, "Choices… and consequences, right sensei?

"That's correct," Kurenai nodded, even if he could not see her, "and just think, if you hadn't made the choices you did, or if they had been the wrong choices, I could've been dead now, too. Then, Juzo, may have gone after, Sakura and Hinata, then he could've gone after the bridge builder at his own home, and who knows what would come afterwards." Naruto's eyes widened as he finally understood the stakes, being a ninja had in store for him, and those he loved, "and I'm going to add something else to what I'm saying," Kurenai broke in on his train of thought. "I've seen ninja revel and cheer once they've gotten their first kill, they consider it a rite-of-passage to make their first kill, and many come to enjoy it, and even look forward to it, and I find that way of thinking abominable. Therefore, I am extremely glad that you've shown so much remorse for killing someone, who would've killed you, if your fortunes were reversed."

Kurenai looked back, having noticed that Sakura, Hinata, and the hunter-nin, had joined them, she made eye contact with Sakura, to assure her, she was only acting as Naruto's sensei at the moment. "That being said, this is a consequence for your actions here today," she leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, she stood back and as he turned to regard her, she smiled in warmth and gratitude, "that was for saving my life."

Naruto blushed at the kiss from his sensei, he turned to his Rose to see how she felt about him getting kisses from lips, other than hers. Sakura merely hardened her eyes in false affront, then smiled forgivingly, she understood that Kurenai was not trying to steal her boyfriend. He had just done something, that all of them were going to have to do sometime in the future, and Kurenai-sensei was shepherding him through it, helping him, by putting his actions into perspective. Sakura was not blind either, she knew that while Hinata has given up her claim to Naruto, Kurenai has not yet let go of her feelings for the young Uzumaki. The only thing keeping, Kurenai-sensei from openly flirting with Naruto was the law forbidding student and teacher fraternization, came Sakura's thoughts, which if Naruto is promoted to Chunin, will take him off our team, and he'd be fair game to Yuhi-sensei.

Kunoichi customs and politics, were murky, and Naruto's choice is not the deciding factor, in whom he ends up with. Kurenai could issue a challenge to Sakura, and if the rosette loses, she has to break up with Naruto. Sakura cannot tell him why she would choose to break up with him, she just has to do it. The ironic part of the whole thing though, is Kurenai will never do anything to sabotage her genin kunoichi, she will teach her student everything she needs to know to be strong, even if that strength is the deciding factor in defeating her.

Returning to the present, Sakura returned her smile to her boyfriend, she was barely feeling the weight of the enemy kunoichi draped over her shoulder. The fake hunter-nin had fainted during the explosion, and since it was senseless to leave an enemy just lying around, the two kunoichi of Konoha decided to bring her along, for intelligence on the enemy, if nothing else. This was the sight that greeted Naruto as he took in the rest of his team with a start, before asking, "that's an interesting accessory you've got draped over your shoulder, Sakura-chan," he teased, before getting serious, "I take it you didn't have to kill your opponent to end your fight?"

"No, you're the only one of us to get blooded on this outing," Sakura quipped back, "she seems to be linked to Juzo Biwa-san, I don't know how, but she referred to herself as a tool when we were able to talk with her." Sakura turned to their sensei, "she fainted from emotional shock when Biwa-san died, and I added a small amount of medical chakra, which should keep her down until we can question her and figure out what to do with her. She possesses the Bloodline Limit, Kōriton – Ice Release, and seems to prefer using senbon over other types of weapons," she reported to her sensei, and romantic rival, "her Ice Prison Jutsu, would have been a fairly effective trap, for anyone not inside of it."

Naruto had walked over to the corpse of Juzo Biwa and looked down at him, despite the charred remains, the super-ninja's head and face were largely intact, and the Executioner's blade, still on his back was completely unblemished. "Good-bye, Juzo Biwa-san, I am truly sorry for taking your life, but I wasn't ready to die yet. I've no goals for the future other than to find love, true love, and maybe restart the Uzumaki clan, one generation at a time," he added, then continued, "while I know we were from different villages and Konoha could learn a lot from your body, I will honor your life the way a true ninja would wish to be honored." Thus, Naruto reached down and removed Kubikiribōchō from the deadman's back, harness and all, and placed them in a storage scroll. Then, he summoned Totsuka-no-tsurugi from his back, and with a stylish flourish, and a low sweep, severed the missing-nin's head from his corpse in one motion. It was so fast, the corpse's congealing blood, did not even have time to adhere to the blade, the incidental follow-through motion, would have flung the blade free of blood, if there had been any. Naruto had summoned and made his cut, including the flourish, and then the blade was returned to its dimension, all within a single, second.

Naruto picked up the head of Biwa Juzo, S-ranked, Nuke-nin, from Kirigakure no Sato, in Mizu no kuni, killed in action by Uzumaki Naruto, Genin of Team Seven, aka. Blood Squad or Ketsueki buntai from Konohagakure no Sato and placed it within another storage scroll, of its own. As he completed his duties to the ninja he had slain, he felt two discharges of chakra on his left and right, the chakra reached the corpse which ignited, and almost immediately the only thing remaining of Juzo Biwa, were ashes. He looked and saw all of his teammates, standing side-by-side with solemn expressions on their faces. The two kunoichi that could use fire had their hands in the Tora hand seal, a clear sign that they had expelled the chakra he felt.

Naruto smiled at them in gratitude, he was not very good with fire chakra, yet. They all returned his smile, the unconscious kunoichi was nowhere in sight, leading Naruto to the conclusion that she was also taking up residence within a storage scroll. Kurenai returned his smile with warmth, then got serious, "okay, let's head to our destination, we've accomplished more than enough here today, and as tough and strong as kunoichi are, I, for one, need to take a bath," she finished her comment with a leering wink, at Naruto.

Under Currents

Among the trees within the forest on the previously running stream, two sets of eyes had watched the entire fight, from start to finish. Both were ryoshi-nin, and both were from Mizu-no-kuni, however only one of them was from the Village Hidden in the Mist, and the other was from the rebellion taking place against the incumbent Mizukage. The Mist hunter ninja was astounded and disgusted, at the current turn of events.

The disgust came from witnessing the battle of Blood-freaks, and because one of the Seven Swords of the Mist was now in the hands of those tree-hugging, Leaf ninja. Hunter-nin are among the few ninja that can cross borders into other countries at will, they enjoyed a form of diplomatic immunity among ninja. They are free to take any bounty they are capable of taking, even pursuing them across national borders, and unless the nation is in open warfare against the hunter's nation, there is little legal recourse or restriction that may be imposed upon any ryoshi-nin. The reason for the so-called immunity, is because hunters are instrumental in providing data on ninja to be placed within, The Book of Shinobi, more commonly known as, The Bingo Book. There are two restrictions that a hunter-nin may never violate in order to get a bounty: 1) never interfere in another ninja village's ninja during a mission, even if they end-up usurping the hunter's bounty, once the bounty is dead or in custody of said ninja, a hunter-nin, may not interfere; and 2) if the missing ninja seeks refuge in another ninja village, capital city, or any type of merchant ship, a hunter-nin must stop pursuit immediately.

Yet, despite the repugnance of the official hunter-nin, there was a begrudging respect forming within him as well. He had just witnessed the demise of one of the most formidable ninja, ever to come out of the Village Hidden in the Mist, that in and of itself was a noteworthy feat. What made the occasion even more astonishing was because, Juzo Biwa-san, Nuke-nin of the Mist, also known as, the Nightmare who paints the battlefields, met his end at the hands of a Genin. He was a Bloodline Freak, but he should still not have been a match for one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. I must report this to the Mizukage, the hunter thought, then cursed in his thoughts, shit, there's no way, Karatachi-sama will believe this in any message I send. I have to report this to him person… and the Mist hunter-nin's head, suddenly lolled to the side and a trickle of blood came out of his nose, his body suddenly went limp, listing to the side before falling to ground like a sack of rice.

Behind, where the dead hunter had lain in wait, cleaning the kunai he had used to eliminate, any chance of the preceding battle's outcome from reaching his enemy, lay another legend of the Bloody Mists. He was the sole survivor of his graduating class, and a master of the Silent-Killing technique, he was known by most through the nickname, Demon of the Mists, Zabuza Momochi. He was acting as the ryoshi-nin for the revolutionary forces opposing the current, Sandaime Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, they were being led by the current head of the Terumi clan, Mei Terumi. While young, even at seventeen years of age, she had proven herself time and time again, not just through strength, but as a capable leader and galvanizing figure, that she had earned her status as Jonin by the time she was fifteen, and later during the Bloody Mist Uprising. This was the reason why she had been elected leader of the rebel army, her beauty and the fact that she carried two kekkei genkai, were very much beside the point.

Zabuza and the rest of her forces would go through Hell and back for her, and she well knew it, which was what Zabuza was doing out here. While the rebel forces had been holding their own quite well against Yagura's ninja, it had not been without a few losses in personnel, and while the Mizukage had an entire economy to draw upon to replenish his forces, Mei did not have such a luxury. Zabuza was sent on a recruiting and resources mission, basically he was to recruit ninja among the dregs of the missing-nin, not for their prowess, of course, more to act as jutsu-fodder. The more Yagura had to expend in terms of firepower the more weakened his forces became, and if they refused to join, well, there was another way missing-nin could be useful. They would fill the coffers of the rebel army.

Zabuza was just as shocked about the outcome of this battle, as his now dead enemy, but he was also disappointed that he would not have been able to at least approach his idol, Juzo Biwa-san. The might of the S-ranked ninja would have bolstered the rebel army, and may have insured their victory, one way or the other. Now, however, those plans were dashed all to hell, by some snot-nosed genin who more than likely got lucky, still, even Momochi had to give the kid some grudging respect, even ninja as skilled as himself, would have had difficulty taking on a shinobi as powerful, as the Nightmare. "I'd better report this to Mei-chan," he growled, then he smiled and added, as he began making his way home to the Land of Water, "isn't it interesting to find members of her mother's clan, alive and well, and living in Konoha."

The Unpredictable Maelstrom

Fifteen Days Later

When Team Seven, and the ANBU, arrived at the bridge, half a month later, they were prepared for what may come. They had trained and progressed in water-walking to the point that they could literally run around the Archipelago of Nami no kuni. They had trained themselves into exhaustion before getting back up and training some more, to be honest, they were as ready as they would ever be for the fight that was to come. Whether, they won or lost this battle, they knew there was nothing more they could do, it was all in the hands of Kami-sama, and their own choices in battle.

Shiroyuki, the Tool of the Uzumaki clan of Konoha, had been ordered to stay back at the home of Tazuna no Nami, to better protect Tazuna's family, just in case they were kidnapped to use as leverage. Over the past two-weeks, she had proven herself to be a trusted ally, helping each and every one of them in their training, and in turn, they have helped her improve as well, not just in ninja skills but to become a more independent person. The term Tool is what ninja use to describe a Vassal, one that belonged to the clan, with all the rights and privileges of other ninja, but instead of being loyal to a village, she was loyal only to the clan that owned her. She could love, breed, and speak her mind, to whomever she wanted, though she was answerable for her conduct as was any citizen of Konoha, and if the village did not punish her, the Uzumaki clan could. Her name had been changed, to Uzumaki Shiroyuki, and was now a member of that clan. In terms of ninja skills, she was given the Kubikiribōchō, and had to learn kenjutsu as all Uzumaki are required to do, it did not have to be her primary skill, but she had to at least hold her own as a swordswoman.

Shiroyuki, was not the only combatant to have improved her skills in the last two weeks, the other ninja in the group have all made good strides in their training. The three Jonin had each improved in individual skills, as well as, team skills. Yugao, Hayate, and Naruto, not to mention Shiroyuki had trained and practiced their kenjutsu, and surprisingly the ice user had already mastered the basics of swordsmanship, under the tutelage of her late master. As A Result, all they needed to do was introduce her to Hiten-Musashi-ryu, the sword style of the Whirlpool clan. Every Uzumaki could adapt other sword styles that suited them best, but all of them were required to learn the Uzumaki blade. Naruto and Shiroyuki were even inducted into the basics of Tsuki-Mitsurugi-ryu, Gekkō Hayate's kendo. Yugao, being Hayate's girlfriend, was already at the advanced stages of said style, and it harmonized quite well with Hiten-Musashi-ryu.

Speaking of Gekkō Hayate, he no longer coughed like he did before, or at all, and it was all thanks to Naruto and Hinata. When medical chakra was used on him, it worked for a few days, and then the cough would return, nobody knew why. Naruto ended up having to use his AVS technique, and when he turned it upon his future in-law, he found several spots on his lungs, they appeared to be from a virus, until they found an unusual growth. It was a cyst, which seemed to have rooted itself within the branches of Hayate's lungs, it seemed to thrive on medical chakra. When medical chakra was used, it gathered the chakra up like a jelly fish in the ocean, and retracted its tentacles, until it grew hungry again. Naruto and Hinata, with Sakura and Shiroyuki as a guide were able to isolate it, Naruto encircled the mass with his EM-Field, while Hinata killed it on the molecular-level. They were able to move it up his trachea and out of his mouth, they have it preserved for study to determine what it is, for medical purposes, just in case. Hayate-san was laid-up for about five days, receiving treatment from the two medical ninja of their band.

Speaking of the Hyuga, Hinata managed to create her own cloning technique. She calls them, Resonance Wave clones, Tomonari Harō no bunshin, they are as fragile as Shadow Clones, along with nearly everything else being similar, but they have one advantage over the former jutsu. Hinata, can receive real-time data from her clones, as opposed to getting the information once they have been dispelled, the Hyuga heiress gets it live with no delays. She can close that ability down if she wishes, so she does not have to share her awareness, and switch between clones, or get all of the data at once, though the strain of keeping focus does take a toll. She decided to learn Naruto's Senko bunshin-jutsu, which added its own benefit, because in addition to being able to create their own Harō clones, Flash clones can also resonate with previously made Wave clones, and they get the real time streaming when they harmonize with the clones.

Every ninja of Konoha and the Tool of the Uzumaki, in just two-weeks had become a force to be reckoned with, well mainly the Genin. The other four, the two Jonin, the Tokubetsu Jonin (Tokujo), and Shiroyuki, were already at that mark or were quickly approaching it. The Genin, had nearly perfected their taijutsu, and only experience would allow them to progress beyond their current skill-level. Their ninjutsu, which of course included their Bloodlines, was second to none for Genin, and would even make a few Chunin proud. When they had left the Leaf, all three Genin had all but mastered breaking out of genjutsu, and only S-ranked genjutsu was beyond their grasp. Konoha law, forbade placing such high-ranking illusions on fellow Leaf ninja or citizens, S-ranked are the class of illusions that can kill people. Only by obtaining permission from the Hokage, and only under strict guidelines, could S-ranked genjutsu be practiced.

The advanced ninja of the Leaf had even improved themselves, as formidable as they were before, now they realized that as soon as they had achieved their current ranking they had stopped trying as hard. They realized they had lost that hunger, that drive to improve themselves, and their training in the past couple of weeks had been to try and get back and keep, the eye of the tiger. (A/N: wink) The fierce look illuminating their eyes as they walked onto the nearly completed bridge, said that their training had been successful. Kurenai and Yugao realized, if they wanted to defeat the old way of looking at kunoichi, then they had to step-up, and show the world that other women could rise to the same heights as Tsunade of the Sanin. Gekkō, now that his affliction had been cured, and his lungs were healthy, could now look forward to rising in rank to true Jonin, and perhaps even further. He had begun to wonder if he could find a summoning contract for lizards, his little boy fantasies, that all men, no matter how old, have, now included: Hayate Gekkō, the Tokage Sen'nin, Sage of the Lizards.

The Leaf ninja learned many things while here in Nami, that were not related to their work as ninja, by now, Naruto and Gekkō have become journeyman construction workers, while the kunoichi learned what it took to run such a business. As they approached the bridge, the workers had not yet arrived, which had become standard operating procedure since the Konoha ninja arrived. They would go to the bridge every morning, and check out the scene, then if the coast was clear, they would send out clones to their homes, telling them it was time for work. Of course, even with that extra layer of security, it had not stopped Tazuna from hemorrhaging staff, it had gotten so bad that last week, the bridge-builder had almost had to close down to hire more workers. It would have come to that, if it had not been for Naruto and Gekkō. When the blonde Genin heard what their employer was contemplating, he offered himself, and his Senko no bunshin to fill the positions. Tazuna was blown away, and asked why the boy was doing this for him, Naruto just shook his head, and replied, "it's not for you, old man, this bridge may have started as your dream, but it has now become a symbol of hope, and false hope is worse than no hope at all. If you stop now, I fear you may never be able to start again, and then, this whole mission would have been for nothing," the boy's smile, and the look in his eyes, told Tazuna that his assertions were not from naïve idealism, but from a person who had experienced such things. Hayate Gekkō added his own help through his own Flash clones, not to mention his previous experience from other missions.

It was not just the actual construction workers that felt threatened, but the office staff as well, and even before Tazuna returned with help from Konoha, the office and supply managers had either quit or disappeared. Tsunami, Tazuna's young daughter, a woman of about twenty, had to quit school in Hi no kuni to return home and take over the office. She was a pretty, young lady, taller than most and one of the few civilian women not to look down on kunoichi, she treated all of the ladies the way she treated any woman close to her age, as a friend in the making. She was very good at what she did, but even she could not do everything in the office by herself, so the kunoichi using their own clones learned how to run the day-to-day operations big construction projects need.

Thus, Team Blood, the ANBU, and the Tool, in addition to normal ninja training, and guard duty, learned how to perform construction work, they of course were new to this type of work, and had to start at the bottom like everybody. They learned quickly, with their cloning techniques, about 500 per day total, were able to learn from mistakes and accomplishments, their retention rate was astronomical.

Naruto and Hinata suddenly stiffened, they looked over at the others and gave a silent nod, their enemies were waiting for them. When they walked onto the bridge, the day was bright and clear, and standing amidst the wreckage of their construction equipment, stood four individuals, three shinobi, and one kunoichi. The kunoichi seemed to be the leader, since the men stood exactly one step behind her.

As the groups approached, the ninja assessed each other as they drew near, Naruto was no exception. His Kidogan blazed from behind his visor and balaclava, the kunoichi was tall, a few centimeters taller than, Kurenai-sensei, and slightly more voluptuous. Her hair was an auburn shade but styled in a way, meant to distract the eye and draw it to where she wanted you to look. The majority of it went down her back, with locks of it peeking around the front, some of it had been styled into a topknot, but it was her bangs that distracted an opponent the most. There were four of them, two short and two long, the short ones were the most unusual, one was combed traditionally until just above the left eyebrow, the second was combed until it reached below her right eye. This configuration would probably lead many an assailant to believe it was an opening, but Naruto could tell, despite covering her right-eye, that lock of hair was pretty thin, she would never lose enough of her visibility to make any attacks on her right-side, a sure thing. The long bangs, however, were a blatant distraction, since both of them descended until they almost touched her cleavage, stopping right at the neckline of her ocean-blue, long-sleeved, calf-length dress. The skirt had been shorn off, starting at her right hip just below her white belt, and moving down her left-leg until it reached her mid-calf. Her right hip was covered with a dark-gray mini-skirt, and though he could only see her right side from his perspective, mesh armor covered her body from her neckline down to her toes. Both legs were covered by light-gray, knee-length, shin-guards, with matching sandals. The only visible weapons were a pair of swords, sheathed at her waist perpendicular to her spine. The only visible part Naruto could see, were the non-descript brown hilts and dull metal tsuba, coming out from behind her on both sides.

The three men standing behind her, were as unique as one could get. From oldest to youngest, was a man appearing to be in his late forties, early fifties, with blue-hair that was heavily moussed to a point. He only had one blue-eye, is right, and the left was covered by an eye-patch, his ears were accessorized with a pair of earrings that had the kanji character, 'to hear,' written on them. Naruto could tell from his vantage point, that they were some sort of rudimentary seal but could not determine their purpose without closer study. His clothes, consisted of the standard Kiri pinstriped suit, and ocean-hued robe, trimmed in white-stripes, it looked like the same hunter-nin robe worn by Shiroyuki at their first encounter. Naruto, however, concluded that where his Tool's wardrobe was fake, this man here was very much the real kunai, he was a true hunter-nin. He stood on the left side of the woman, on the far side of the bridge from Naruto, but standing on her right, was a tall, muscular man with sallow skin, and black spiky-hair. His forehead protector was turned side-ways, and on his body, Naruto could see the neckline of a dark shirt, with matching, baggy pants, over which he wore the same ryoshi-nin robe as the older man. The sleeves, however, were short, and so was the cut of the robe, it ended at his mid-calf the same as the kunoichi's, thus revealing mimetic wrist and leg-warmers, and shinobi sandals. He also carried a standard katana, strapped to his back. The third and final shinobi, stood facing Naruto directly, he was in his late-teens, early twenties, he was short for his age, only slightly taller than Naruto. He had short blue-hair, dark eyes, and when he opened his lips, Naruto could see a row of sharpened teeth, a sure sign that he was a member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist. Every swordsperson worth their rice, knew about the Seven, and knew about or had at least heard about their blades. Naruto looked past the young man's clothes, and studied the bandage wrapped bundle on his back, noting the double-hilts peaking up over the right-shoulder. That's got to be, Hiramekarei, he concluded, Kiba-ken, are the only other blades that can be considered two blades, but they're supposed to be slender with a couple of horns along the blade. These look like he's got a fish strapped to his back, Naruto mused as he assessed his opponents.

Naruto briefly turned his eyes, to cast his gaze down the line to his teammates and family, I consider them all my family, and I will protect them at all costs. He would be facing this man on his own, for now, because between him and Hinata and Sakura, who would battle the old man, was his aunt, Yugao and his future in-law, Hayate Gekkō, they would face the tall guy. Two Genin facing down, a veteran Jonin, with more experience than even Kurenai-sensei, talk about long odds of winning, let alone surviving. I'm not so worried about, Yugao-oba-chan or Gekkō-san, they're ANBU, they probably face down guys like this all the time, and it's two-on-one. Looking beyond the ANBU, Naruto saw that Kurenai-sensei was facing the enemy kunoichi alone as well, while Naruto had every faith in her abilities, that's not how Konoha-nin fight. We fight as a team, whenever possible, we always try to outnumber opponents, he remembered, me and Kurenai-sensei, are alone at the moment, I'm going to try to rectify that. He might be one of the Seven, but I'll wager a whole month of Ramen, that the kunoichi is the most dangerous, and powerful of all four of them. I need to even the odds, he resolved!

While the other members of his team began chatting with their enemies, Naruto just began a casual stride toward the swordsman. "Are you, really one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist," Naruto asked?

Chōjūrō could not help the proud smile that crossed his face, "Hai, Konoha-nin-san, I am."

Before the Mist ninja rebel could react, Naruto leveled his blaster at his enemy's face and said, "Plasma Release: Blaster Bolt," he snapped, as an angry-red light shot at the young man, faster than the speed of sound! It struck him right between the eyes, breaking his glasses, but the kinetic force of the blast was so strong it flung the kid, several meters back down the bridge. He landed hard on the stone surface, before rolling another meter and stopping with his back to everybody. Almost immediately, a pool of blood began to spread out and away from the body of the Mist ninja.

The shockingly, brutal display of power, had stunned everybody into silence and immobility, but it was not over. As soon as, the body came to a halt, Naruto used his photokinetics to lift the blades free of the body, and flung them out into the bay, where they sank to the depths. Satisfied with his handy work, Naruto returned his blaster to its holster, then summoning his ten-fist sword, he spun around with a solemn look on his face, "now that the numbers are about even, let's get to it!"