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Hit The Ground Running

A Naruto/Worm Crossover

By Zero Rewind

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"God, would you just look at him?" A girl whispered to her friend as I passed them by in the hallways. "You think he'd go out with me?"

"I don't know, girl." Another answered. "Besides, we don't really know much about him."

"I heard he's in a class, on his own." The redhead I'd blown off cut off whatever praise the others had. "He's probably special. Besides, he lives with her, so he's probably a freak, too."

She'd said 'special', but I was sure she meant 'retarded'.

'Still mad about being completely ignored, huh.' I thought in amusement as two other girls started arguing with her, driving the noise to irritating levels.

I suppressed the urge to palm my face as I made my way to the cafeteria. The fangirls were already rising.

It was my fifth day, here— a Friday, and I was already mostly through the school's sophomore curriculum. Having done far more advanced mathematics, physics and the like in the Academy, the course material here was a breeze.

That wasn't to say that I didn't learn anything. English, History and Geography ended up being quite the enlightening subjects.

Apparently I was in a country called the United States of America, and the city I resided in was located in the northeast. I'd also located the continent called 'Asia' on a map of the world— apparently that's where my 'people' were from.

A few trips to the library had yielded more definitive results. The language spoken in the Elemental Nations did exist here, in the country known as Japan. Said country was considered lost ground to the Endbringers, now, with its infrastructure almost completely gone.

I switched my focus to these Endbringers.

They'd appeared almost 20 years ago, causing destruction and devastation to any city they came to. They'd show up, destroy anything that came their way, whether it was humans, animals, or parahumans, and then leave.

Sometimes, if people were lucky, the beasts were forced back.

No one was ever able to kill them, though. Whenever it seemed the tide of the battle was turning, the Endbringers turned tail and ran, taking the time to recover until their next appearance.

Information on their abilities was scarce— I'd probably need to speak with those in the know to receive anything substantial. What little I'd gleaned from various texts and word of mouth was enough to tell me to be careful.

It was hard to say with any confidence whether or not I could defeat one. I would probably need Susanoo, at the very least, to deal with them. My Rinnegan could work to absorbing their Chakra –one of the eye's natural abilities. Though, whether these Endbringers –parahumans, too- actually used Chakra wasn't something I was aware of.

I stopped a few turns before the cafeteria to stare at my open hand, studying my Chakra levels. Two thirds in, it would be enough. Tonight, I would go out into the city and seek out these parahumans.

Someone prodded at my shoulder me from behind. Dismayed, but somewhat curious, I turned to see who'd done it.

It was one of the redhead's flunkies. I'd never actually tried to get the girl's name, or her two cohorts. It was unimportant.

I was tempted to just turn and leave, but she seemed harmless enough. I blinked at her, my gaze cool as a breeze in the ever chilly Land of Lightning.

She fidgeted under it.

"Um.." She nervously started, one hand fastened around her elbow as she gave me a hesitant look. "You're Sasuke, right?"

I kept staring, faintly amused.

"Dumb question." She blurted, shaking her head. "What I wanted to say was, are you free right now? We could have lunch together." She said quickly, blushing as she realized her mistake.

Was it a trap set up by her leader and the brute? She seemed somewhat nervous, though it was hard to say whether she was nervous about me catching onto what she's doing, or whether she actually wanted to have lunch with me.

"I am free." I confirmed, watching her expression shift into one of unbridled excitement. That wasn't fake. "But why should I?"

The question punched a hole through her elation, bringing her back down to Earth. She seemed confused as she replied. "What do you mean?"

I gave her an almost bored gaze. "You're part of that group with the redhead, aren't you?"

She'd understood my implication. Her face got redder, and she looked away.

"I heard about what happened to Taylor." I continued calmly. "Apparently, you've been doing things like this for a while, now."

'Long enough for Taylor's demeanor to shift from quiet and reserved at home to paranoid, jumpy and frightened at school,' I thought. 'Her father said she used to be a happy girl, eager to please.'

The girl kept quiet; she didn't offer any words in defense, she didn't try to throw the blame elsewhere, but she didn't try and take any blame, either.

"I see." I said, and turned to walk.

"Wait!" She said. I turned my head.

"I-I..." She stammered, looking down. "They told me to talk to you to keep you busy. I think they plan to do something to Taylor."

'They', she was saying; not 'we'.

How odd.

"Where." It was not a question.

"It might already be done. I'm-"

"-Where? I will not ask you again." I turned and approached her slowly; dangerously.

She took a step back. "They were saying something about the girl's bathroom. It wasn't my idea, I swear!"

Wasn't her idea, but she was fine being part of the plan to distract me.

"We shall see." I made my way to the girl's bathroom, thoughts of lunch forgotten.

Too little, too late; halfway there, I spotted a drenched Taylor, angrily heading for the school's exit. I walked faster to intercept her, catching the smell of juice and soda.

"What happened?" I asked her, gently putting my hand on her shoulder. The awkward girl had grown on me over the past few days, despite both of our reservations. We'd found a certain similarity between the two of us.

"Just let it go, okay?" She said, pushing my hand away with her shoulder. "They'll just keep escalating if you keep stepping in. Don't you get it?"

I gave a minute frown. She was right; I didn't want to admit it, but she was right.

"I understand." I said, quietly. "Do you want me to accompany you home?"

She gave me another one of her disbelieving looks, before shaking her head and wiping at her eyes. "It's all right. I'll be fine, Sasuke."

I ended up accompanying her to the exit; she'd seemed annoyed, but I could tell that a good deal of the tension had left her, from that gesture alone.

I frowned at her form, slowly getting smaller as she exited the school premises. Seeing her hurt had also hurt me. I'd wanted to curse.

"I'm sorry." I heard from behind me.

I turned to see the same girl from before. Madi-something, that was her name? I never bothered learning it. I walked past her, like I did with her redheaded boss, but I stopped for a second.

"If you truly are sorry," I started, turning and giving her a disdainful look. "You will leave Taylor alone."

"B-but, my friends, they-"

I shook my head and headed back to the cafeteria, banishing all thoughts of the stupid, stuttering hanger-on from my mind. No sense in wasting my brain power on such nonsense.

I joined the line of kids and started piling food on my tray. I picked the least awful looking meal –the pizza- and a soda, before paying the lunch lady and taking a seat on an empty table. The pizza, a simple cheese, was very oily, but the food was filling, so I didn't complain.

Fortunately, there were no more interruptions-

Spoke too soon.

Someone took a seat beside me. I stifled the urge to bring the building down on everyone, and turned to see an Asian fellow, wearing a red and green shirt- the sign of the ABB gang that Danny had warned me about.

"Hey there." The kid said, extending a hand to me. "You're Sasuke, right? I'm Kenzo, and-"

"Beat it." I cut him off, going back to my food. "I've no interest in joining your gang."

The kid, Kenzo, opened his mouth and closed it as his hand clenched into a fist. Once, twice, three times. For a moment, I thought he'd storm off in anger, but I could only hope to be so lucky.

"You sure you want to go down that road?" The boy attempted to sound dangerous, lowering his arms. "You don't really know who it is exactly that you're pissing off, right? We're the gang, here. No one else has as much power as us."

Hm. I gave him points for not immediately trying to hit me after I'd insulted.

"The gang?" I repeated, finishing the last pizza piece and cracking open the soda, taking a small sip.

He nodded.

"Led by Lung, correct?" I continued, getting up. Kenzo got up as well, nodding.

"Hm." I pretended to give it some thought. "My answer remains the same. Now, if you'll excuse me…"

I made to leave, but Kenzo grabbed my shoulder.

"You don't know what you're doing, you fool. You wanna get your family killed just cause you don't wanna join?" He threatened, his grip tightening.

"I have no family." I said coldly and grabbed his wrist, squeezing just hard enough to almost crack the bone. "I can see that you're not too fond of your hand, putting it in reach of a possible enemy."

"You have no fucking idea who you're pissing off." Kenzo snarled, trying and failing to tear his wrist from my grasp. I let him go, watching as the momentum from his pull threw him back tripping over the seat and dropping on the ground, bringing down his tray full of food with him.

The students around him went quiet. A moment later, an amused snort filled the silence. Barely a second after that, the whole cafeteria erupted in booming laughter, drowning out whatever else the moron was about to say to me.

By the time he'd gotten over the pain, shock, and humiliation, I was already back to my classroom, poring over a book detailing the history of Japan –a fascinating country, I thought.

Apparently, Ninja had existed there at some point, as well as Samurai. Ninja acted more as spies than assassins, it seemed, choosing to hide under the guise of farmers and peasants. They used their disguises to spy on the local lords and their enforcers, as well as spread disinformation among their ranks, if needed.

The Samurai, on the other hand, served more as mercenaries –protection details, police force, even outright war between the lords. Though it was interesting, the history had not given me much detail. I was hoping the Ninja might have their own set of techniques, but it seemed like they didn't even know about Chakra.

Worse yet, it seemed everyone thought it was some nonsense priests and gurus liked to talk about; the seven 'Chakras', they preached, were energy centers located along the spine and ending in the brain. I'd checked the chart in question–utter nonsense.

It had been one of my remaining hopes that I would find some mention of a civilization resembling mine, but it was not to be. There were similarities, sure, but it was like saying a baby and a grown up were similar; both human, but the adult was capable of so much more.

I shook those thoughts off when the bell rang, Hudson entering the classroom once more, looking worse for wear.

"Made it." I heard the man's mutter, as he went to his desk and took a gulp of water from his bottle, before turning to me. "All right, Sasuke; I trust your lunch break went well?"

He didn't wait for me to answer. "I thought, for the rest of the day, we'd cover some more history."

I closed the book on Japanese history and put it away as Hudson began his lesson.

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I felt a bit parched when the bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Hudson stopped my packing to tell me what exactly would be covered in the next week.

"You've done exceptionally well, Sasuke." Hudson praised. "And to think, on Monday, you didn't even know how to read."

I gave my usual reaction to the man's praise –that is to say, none. "My thanks."

He nodded, before gesturing at the door. "Go on then. Enjoy your weekend, you've earned a break."

I bid the man goodbye, and exited the classroom. The students seemed more rowdy, I noticed on my way out. It was probably because it was Friday. Two days of nothing ahead of them, they must've been excited.

I was searched by the security guys on the way out, but nothing was found. They let me through easily. I noticed the ABB thug, Kenzo, giving me the evil eye as he was stopped by the security guys, as well.

I made my way to the bus stop, my mind still on the boy's clumsy and foolish attempt at recruitment. Danny was right, these guys tried to recruit anyone that fit the bill of "Asian". Those who didn't join ended up suffering the consequences.

Obviously, I was in no true danger –you would need Madara or Kaguya to make me experience that telltale feeling of impending doom- but they could target the Heberts and hold them hostage, in exchange for my cooperation.

It didn't sit right with me, letting something like that happen. Danny opened his home for me, without expecting anything in return. He had every reason to deny it, too. But, he'd accepted, and even tried to teach me a thing or two about the ins and outs of Brockton Bay.

Anyone that fucked with them would be fucking with me. As it was, a couple of thugs from a gang probably had no idea who it was that I lived with –hell, even if they did, they would need to follow me, or Taylor, home.

Good luck fooling my senses.

Speaking of senses, I detected several presences a ways behind me. I quickly glanced, expecting Kenzo and his goons, but was faintly surprised. It wasn't them; instead, it was a group of five kids of different skin colors.

Every single one was tall, and top heavy; the very definition of a brute. I recognized a few of their faces –I'd seen them passing me by in the hallways, though they were wearing sports gear, then.

The 'jocks', as the kids called them.

The dark skinned brute from the redhead's group was also present, slowly trailing behind them and keeping to the side in an attempt to hide under the shade and behind the various hedges.

It was funny; they all thought they were sneaky, but I was already fully aware of their presence.

It didn't take a genius to know what they were here for.

I could run, but they would likely give chase. If I ran faster than humanly possible, then my position in this world might be compromised. I calculated the possibilities for a second longer, before finally making a decision.

I would take them on.

I turned on my heel and walked straight towards them, hands in my pockets, an almost bored look on my face.

The sudden turnaround seemed to startle the five boys. My mouth twitched minutely at their reactions, but I was too far away for any of them to see it. They quickly got past their shock, thanks to their leader murmuring something to them.

I only caught part of what was said, but I could get the gist of it; apparently he'd made a quip about this saving them the time to follow me, which lifted the others' spirits.

I said nothing as the five guys finally reached me.

One of them cracked his knuckles in an attempt to be intimidating, which slightly amused me. These idiots were so out of their depth, and they didn't even know it.

I kept my hand in my pockets, coolly surveying the leader who began to speak.

"So I heard you dissed one of my friends." He started, taking a step forward, angling his body in a menacing way. The others emulated his move. "We're here to teach you a lesson."

"Is that so?" I kept my hands in my pockets, appearing careless to the world. "The odds seem a bit unfair, don't they?"

"Don't worry, little guy." The leader, a dark skinned fellow almost a foot taller than me, gave his mocking reassurance. "We won't rough you up too bad if you apologize to the lady."

I tilted my head in mock confusion. "You misunderstand. I meant that you'd need more men. Five isn't nearly enough to do much of anything, really."

Silence met my answer.

Then, a boisterous laugh came from the guy on the right. The others joined him shortly, the laughter infectious.

"Can you believe the balls on this guy?" The guy who'd first laughed shook his head in amusement. "Five on one, and he tells us that."

"He's all talk." The leader said dismissively, motioning for two of his guys to move. "You two hold him."

"Sure." They agreed easily, moving to grab me. Keeping my hands in my pockets, I stepped forward and planted my foot in the first one's solar plexus, before using my momentum to kick the other under his chin.

The effect was instantaneous. One dropped to his knees, mouth opening and closing like a fish before he dropped face first into the ground; while the other fell, back-first. Both were unconscious before they hit the ground.

The momentum of my kick spun me backwards, and I landed on my feet, hands still in my pockets. The whole exchange took less than a second.

Silence. Then—

"What the fuck!" The guy who'd laughed earlier had lost his jovial mood. "He took them out without even trying. Screw this noise, I didn't sign up to fight Bruce Lee!" He ran for it.

Soon after, the remainder fled, dragging their unconscious friends with them, screaming threats and obscenities my way, eventually leaving me to my own devices –well, I still had one audience member remaining.

The brute was hiding behind one of the tall hedges, still watching me through the branches. I looked right at her, smirking in a way I knew would piss her off, before turning and leaving.

I threw my hand up to say goodbye, adding to her humiliation. Minutes later, I boarded the bus, and headed towards my temporary home, thoughts of ineffectual bullies already gone.

Instead, I focused on this gang, the ABB— such a silly name. My little stunt likely pissed off one of its members, today. I would have to deal with them before things got out of hand. Though, what exactly could I do?

A show of strength could make those kids back off, like I'd dealt with those bullies, just now. Then again, they didn't answer to school principals, or whatever— these guys answered to the leader of the gang, Lung.

It was a sure thing that the gang leader would see this as a challenge to his authority and might, if the situation devolved any further. I briefly considered his known abilities.

Apparently, his power caused him to transform while fighting, eventually reaching a dragon-like form. That form was supposedly powerful enough to fight Leviathan on equal ground. He certainly sounded impressive, at least on paper.

However, the trick to beating him was simple enough; disable him before he got the chance to get to his full power. Obviously, I was only theorizing, but it seemed the logical step— not that I was planning on tangling with that particular man, tonight.

'As if anything ever goes to plan.' I thought after I got off the bus, making the walk to the Hebert residence. Entering the household, it became apparent that Danny wasn't even home— the only noise was the one in the basement.

I'd caught Taylor sneaking down there a few times in the past few nights; her steps were hard to miss in the middle of the night. I shrugged, neither willing, nor curious enough to invade the girl's privacy.

I set my backpack on the couch, noticing something on the table as I did so.

It was a note, left by Danny, which said:

"Coming in late tonight, don't wait up.
-Danny"

I stared at it for a few moments, before heading to the kitchen and grabbing a bite to eat. Hm, there was a pot of spaghetti on the stove. It was still warm, by the feel of it.

I filled a plate and dug in with gusto.

It was actually quite convenient, come to think of it. I wouldn't have to tell the man what I was doing tonight. After finishing my food, I went to wash my hands, considering my next move as I did so.

It went without saying that I would need a disguise of some sort. I could always use the Transformation Technique, but I would rather not expend any unnecessary Chakra- however minor the use might have been. I knew my Chakra was mostly recovered, but I didn't have the reserves Naruto did.

I shook my head, remembering the braindead moron's excessive, wasteful use of his Chakra. All of that power was completely wasted on him.

Taking a seat on the couch, I scratched my neck. To be honest, I only really needed to hide my face and hair. I entertained the idea of putting on a facemask like Kakashi for a moment, before scoffing at the very thought.

I'd tried to do it at some point, a bit after Team Seven's mission to Wave Country. The mask I'd worn was tight and constricting; I didn't know how Kakashi did it. I didn't want to know.

I ended up burning the mask to bury that little secret forever. I could only imagine how Naruto would have reacted, if he'd found out. Or worse, Kakashi; he'd have probably handed me his collection of porn or something.

Shinobi teachers were all mental cases.

I gave the matter some more thought as I left the house; I wished Nekobaa was here. She always had the best gear, suitable for any situation. Here, I doubted I'd find anyone willing to forge me a sword, let alone the shuriken I needed.

Actually, come to think of it…

I looked around the neighborhood, trying to find an out of the way place to try this. I walked around for a few minutes, before finally finding a small, obviously disused path with tall hedges on each side, growing uncontrollably.

The perfect spot to do something without being seen.

With a thought, my Rinnegan was activated.

That Madara could form those Chakra rods; he'd used them to bind the Second Hokage, right before he'd stabbed me in the heart.

My hand went to my chest— the pain of the wound a strong memory. Faced with my imminent death, I had been completely powerless. If it weren't for the Sage, as well as Kabuto's help, I would've been dead.

As much as I hated the bespectacled man, I would acknowledge that much, at least.

I concentrated on the feeling I had when I'd removed the black rods piercing Tobirama's reanimation.

A black metal rod erupted from my palm, as I expected. I scrutinized the object for a second, before breaking it off; the remainder was absorbed back into my body.

The drain on my Chakra wasn't insignificant, but it wasn't world shattering, either. I gripped the black spike, putting all my strength into it. It was unaffected; the metal was surprisingly sturdy.

I felt a connection with it, as well. These things could easily conduct my Chakra. Still, was I only able to form cylindrical objects?

I discarded the rod and held the ram seal for a few seconds, concentrating on the memory of my sword. The drain on my Chakra was stronger this time, but not nearly as bad as I was dreading. Out of my hand came a replica of my Sword of Kusanagi, scabbard and all.

Detaching it, I curiously pulled the blade out of the scabbard.

'Same width, same length, same weight; the only difference is that it's black.' I thought as I looked it over, smiling slightly after swinging it experimentally. I finally felt like I had something from home.

'That just leaves a disguise.' I mused as I headed back to the Hebert residence to check through my belongings. Entering the home, I quickly scanned my surroundings. From the sound of it, Taylor was still downstairs, hard at work at.. Whatever it was.

I sat down on the couch again, placing the sword next to me.

What sort of disguise could I use? I briefly considered creating a helmet with the Chakra rod technique, before shaking my head. Armor just wasn't my style. Speed and agility were my specialty, and using armor would ruin that.

I pulled up a zip hoodie from my pile of clothes.

'This can certainly conceal my hair.' I noted, frowning. 'Not my face, though.'

'Perhaps a thin mask to cover the upper half of my face?' I considered, holding my hand out and reactivating the Rinnegan, hands already formed in the ram seal. I held out my hand, concentrating on an old memory of mine.

A thin sheet of black metal came out of my palm, forming a half mask with ears- cat ears, to be precise. I'd modeled it after my brother's old Anbu mask. It would be my way of honoring him.

Nodding to myself, I grabbed the hoodie and the mask and went to the bathroom to try them out.

'I look stupid,' I realized, looking at my reflection. I was still wearing the pants and sneakers I used for school. The hoodie seemed to hide my hair fairly well, while the cat mask hid my nose and cheekbones; and, with my eyes activated, I looked fairly different than I did, normally.

'Well, at least it's not as stupid as those cat ears I had to wear in the past.' I was overwhelmed by nostalgia for a moment. I frowned and forced the thoughts down, for now. I checked outside the window; the light was dimming, but it was not yet night time.

Criminal elements tended to be predictable; they conducted most of their business at night. They had no other, real choice. During the day, the most they could probably get away with were a few relatively minor crimes; recruitment, drug dealing -of the 'harmless' sort- and the like.

At night, on the other hand, their operations went into overdrive, trying to get the most out of everything. I'd seen the same thing in the Elemental Nations, and this place was proving to share many of my home world's characteristics.

Despite the fact that the country I now resided in was considered to be the wisest, and most powerful in the world, I could easily tell that it suffered from the same issues.

Greed, corruption, apathy, hopelessness, and hatred… I'd already encountered those in spades, here. The people looked defeated; their city was going down the drain due to their nonexistent sea trade, and whatever hope they had remaining was being sucked dry by the gangs.

A harsh place to live in, to be sure. It was a surprise most people didn't turn out to be raving psychopathic murderers from the sheer stress of it all.

I looked out the window again, finally making a decision.

An hour later, I made for the docks, my sword and mask sealed in a Lightning Flash Blade Creation seal I'd placed on the piece of cloth tied into my right arm. To the regular observer, I was merely another civilian.

I explored the streets -memorizing the city map using Sharingan had made navigation quite easy- not quite seeing anything out of the ordinary. I went into an alleyway, pulling my hood up and unsealing the sword and mask, before running up the building's side.

I hopped from roof to roof, my eyes already activated and scanning everything. Minutes passed with no obvious results; it was to be expected. I stopped for a moment, noticing a nondescript van pull over by a small, run-down building that had obviously seen better days.

Two men exited, their posture screaming of aggression. They went to the back; one opened the doors, while the other stood back, hand moving to the weapon hanging in his pants- a pistol, I noted.

An impressive creation, all things considered, capable of launching metal projectiles three times faster than the speed of sound. Granted, they did not have the piercing potential of anything imbued with my Chidori, but they required little effort to use effectively, from what I could tell.

One simply had to aim, and pull the trigger. Training to master that was infinitely easier than all the effort I'd taken mastering my Shuriken techniques. I took slight comfort in the fact that you couldn't do any trick shots with a gun.

The first man came back out of the truck, dragging a small group of crying women. There was a barked warning, the other man slowly pulling the gun out, but not yet pointing it at them; a clear message.

The girls deflated, looking down as the two men led them inside.

My eyes flared with suppressed anger. I knew what I would be doing, tonight.

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Sasuke is about to tangle with the ABB~