Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"Normal speech"
'Flashback/thoughts'
"Biju/Summon, empahsis" speech
"Biju/Summon speech" in flashback
Chapter Four Part Three:
Rage Unleashed!
*Back in Konoha*
Sarutobi reclined in his office chair, smoking his pipe contently. He'd just finished all of the paperwork early for that day, and was finally enjoying some downtime. In fact, come to think of it, the entire day had been unusually peaceful….almost too peaceful, in fact.
Sarutobi considered the possibilities. What earth-moving event could possibly lead to a decrease in paperwork, a quiet atmosphere, with virtually no complaints coming in?
His countenance turned rueful as he recalled that this serenity had begun the moment that Naruto had set foot outside of the village on his first mission. Apparently, his lack of presence gave the people some peace of mind, as they, in their paranoia and vindictiveness, believed that the "Demon" was gone, or in their hopes, dead, even if on a temporary basis.
However, his advisers, and several of the shinobi council had been heckling him here and there for follow up reports on Naruto's progress, relations to his team, and above all, his loyalty to the village. This had gone up until the point where Sarutobi had gotten fed-up with their nitpicking, and reluctantly agreed to submit Naruto to a hearing after he'd returned so that they could gauge the fox boy's progress themselves, both physical and mental.
Sarutobi honestly would rather not subject Naruto to this sort of thing. You don't see the council dare attempting to do it to a prominent clan, for example, the Hyuga, or when they were alive save two, the Uchiha.
'How ironic. The civilians and most of the shinobi want him gone or dead completely on one side, whereas the other half has apparently realized that his being on an outside mission puts him outside of their abuse and power, and to top it off, now they're paranoid that he'll potentially be captured or recruited by the enemy, and betray us.'
'Too bad it has never occurred to any of these fools that if they'd only treated Naruto with a touch of kindness and humanity, then they might not have to worry about that possibility...' Sarutobi wryly thought to himself. Of course… he himself had considered that happening, but at the same time it is a risk with any shinobi, not just a jinchuuriki.
Naruto wouldn't betray them. The Sandaime knew that Naruto, regardless of his treatment by the villagers would return to fight for and protect the few people in the village that cared for him, and vice-versa, and Sarutobi would do all in his power to enable him to do so. His eyes shifted towards his office window. In the meantime, he certainly hoped that the mission was going well…
*In Wave Country*
Kakashi and Sasuke were in a bit of a…tense, (to say the least), situation. The two were up against Zabuza and surprise, surprise, the hunter ninja that they'd met earlier. Tazuna was a couple of meters away, on his guard, (for what little good it would do him as a civilian against a shinobi), trying to put as much distance between him and the missing-nins.
Zabuza chuckled to himself as he took a combat stance. "Well now Kakashi, it appears we keep meeting like this. Don't suppose you'd care to take me up on my offer this time."
"If by that you mean hand over Tazuna and let you kill him, well then I'm afraid I must decline. I do have a reputation to uphold after all. Well, that, and he's a good man trying to do a good thing for his people, and it just wouldn't sit well with me."
"A pity then. And here I thought we could negotiate like businessmen."
"True. Consider negotiations voided."
Zabuza made a few seals, and several mizu bushin rose up around the two, an imposing sight indeed… but Sasuke only smirked.
"Go ahead, Sasuke," Kakashi sounded almost cheerful.
Sasuke's smirk almost turned into a wide grin for a split second. Drawing a kunai, he vanished in a flash and in one instant later, the clones were annihilated, reduced to puddles of water by Sasuke's speedy attack.
Zabuza could hardly hide his surprise. "Well, well, it appears that somebody gotten stronger." Turning to his partner in crime "Haku, go and have fun with your new playmate. The adults must talk for a while." The missing-nin brought his sword up and charged to fight Kakashi.
"At once Zabuza-sama." The boy then was on guard as Sasuke closed the distance and tore into him. Haku started to strafe the Uchiha, flinging senbon, which Sasuke would dodge and try to bring him in close.
'He's faster than me. That and his senbon are keeping me on my toes.' Sasuke realized as the Haku gracefully moved out if the way of a kick. The masked boy was a near blur, as he was nearly running circles around the last Uchiha.
'Damn.' A senbon had pierced him in his back. It wasn't deadly, but if Sasuke knew if he wasn't careful a well placed one would end the fight for him. He drew a kunai, one for each hand, and his hands moving rapidly, blocked a needle heading towards his face. He didn't let up for a moment, as his arm flashed around in a wide arc.
'I must win…' He dodged a senbon that had come dangerously close to his throat. Something in him seemed to trigger.
'I WILL WIN!'
Suddenly, Sasuke could see him! Haku threw another senbon, but it seemed as though it was in slow motion, so Sasuke easily dodged, and then he could have sworn the other boy blanched, or was startled.
'His reaction...that means that he expected that blow to be fatal! Given his skill with these needles, he'd know that for certain, meaning I dodged a critical strike, which means…' Sasuke pulled a dangerous risk in taking his eyes off his opponent, and for a split-second glanced at his reflection in a nearby puddle.
His eyes were now red with two tomoe.
The Sharingan.
His Sharingan had awakened!
Sasuke turned and dodged another blow, this time from Haku's fist that held three needles between the fingers like punching daggers.
'I can win this now!'
"Well, this is interesting." Zabuza brought down his sword to slice. "That brat of yours can actually keep up with Haku. You taught him well. Permit me to ask you a question Kakashi…" as he dodged a kunai throw. "…That crest on the back of your student's jacket, it wouldn't happen to be..."
"Yes, that's right, he is the last Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha. I won't bother asking as to how you know of them."
Shrugging as he kicked, Zabuza answered, "Shinobi tend to gossip. It's how you and I got our respective nicknames, after all. In any case, it doesn't make a difference. That student of yours is no match for Haku. While the Uchiha was growing up pampered, Haku was being trained. He is a pure weapon, shaped and molded by me. He will kill anyone on my command, even himself."
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. He parried Zabuza's sword and growled, "That's not how we treat children, Demon of the Mist."
Zabuza suddenly disappeared and his namesake mist surrounded Kakashi. "Is that so? You are hardly one to judge, Kakashi. You trained that boy, along with the others in your group, to be soldiers to kill. You, me, shinobi, or civilian, we all bring our children intro a harsh world were either we could be friends one day or…enemies the next.
Kakashi could've sworn he heard a hint of regret in Zabuza's voice.
"Anyway, it is not the Uchiha that concerns me, but rather an odd little "fox" of a problem..."
Kakashi glanced around in the mist attempting to zero in on the missing-nin's voice, demanding; "What! What do you want with Naruto?"
Zabuza's laughter rang out. "What do I want? Relax Kakashi, its nothing of detriment, least not if he doesn't interfere, which is the same as I offered you and your team. I'll admit he'd make an excellent, deadly weapon…but even I can tell no amount of persuasion on my part would cause him to join my cause. No, but rather, he reminds me of two… 'equally unique' individuals I once knew from a while ago... and from that I also have my theories as to how your student came about to be the way he is."
"What do you mean? Tell me!"
"Come now Kakashi, that would be far too easy… I'll tell you what though, maybe if you defeat me, I'll feel like answering your inquiries."
Several kunai came flying out of the mist, and only experience allowed Kakashi to barely dodge them.
"But I will tell you this Kakashi… I've figured out the trick behind your little Sharingan. You can't see the future, no, but you plant hypnotic suggestions and play mind games with your opponent in order to throw them off."
"I'm certain you can pick up on techniques, how else would you have your nickname? But, judging by how you're reacting now, it's evident that you can't copy or predict what you can't see."
Chuckling darkly; "Now then, try not to make this too easy…."
'He's good. He's dodging the brunt of all my techniques, ever since his eyes changed... Is this all the power of the Sharingan that Zabuza-sama told me about? Maybe he and his sensei are related?' Haku mentally tossed the theories to the back of his mind, 'No matter, I will fulfill my purpose and carry out Zabuza-sama's will.'
Haku deflected a punch and addressed Sasuke directly. "You are indeed strong, but I am far better. Let us see how you do against this."
He placed a hand on the ground, within a puddle, and the puddle came to life as if it had a mind of its own. It rapidly flowed towards Sasuke, who had sense enough not to take a simple puddle as "harmless" especially when wielded by a missing-nin.
This was indeed wise move, as any later and he would have been impaled by the spikes of ice that immediately rose out of the ground.
"Hyoton: Impaling Spikes."
More water froze and rose up and the spikes flowed suite, this time Sasuke wasn't quite fast enough and the spike grazed his arm. No sooner than that happened then he was stabbed in the leg by another senbon.
'Damn," the last Uchiha thought. 'This jutsu is both defensive and offensive. These spikes are messing up the terrain so I can't run in for close combat, and if they don't skewer me, dodging leaves me open to those stupid senbon.'
Suddenly a solution came to him, and he could've slapped himself for his stupidity. 'Wait, that's it!' He dashed around Haku in a circle, dodging every salvo of needles and ice spikes that he could fling at the Uchiha.
Inhaling deeply he let loose; "Katon, Fireball Jutsu!"
'What's he up to?' Haku quizzically wondered. In any case, he knew that he this was a long range technique, so he prepared to dodge… only to find that he was surrounded by his own ice spikes and needles!
'That's what he was doing! He used my own technique to trap me so that I can't escape!' Haku quickly realized that he wouldn't be able to melt his own ice in time to clear out an escape route. He was trapped!
Sasuke blasted a large fireball, sweeping through the ice spikes in front of him in a straight line, melting them, and heading straight for Haku!
Haku slammed his hand on the ground, and another small puddle raised itself up, and formed a square- like shield of water. Fire met water, and the two canceled each other out, defusing the fire, and turning the ice to vapor. Haku swept his hand in front of him, clearing the vapor…
…just in time to see Sasuke almost upon him, kunai in hand!
'He knew I'd try to dispel the fireball?'
It was true. Sasuke realized that being an ice user, Haku would have control of water to a degree by default. After all, ice is just melted water. So he was counting on Haku to block it, so that the fireball's resulting steam would not only obscure Haku's sight of him, but it also melted part of the spikes that Haku had manifested, creating a path to him right through the spike field!
Not wasting a moment, Sasuke increased his speed. Haku found himself trapped as he couldn't dodge a counterstrike as that would mean stepping on, or getting impaled by his own spikes, which would leave him open to getting stabbed!
'Almost there…' Sasuke almost reached his target.
Quickly, Haku slammed his hand onto the ground, and raised the other straight up. If Sauske could use his ice to his advantage, then the reverse was also true. The mist from the fire technique gathered into warm water, which rapidly spread outwards.
Haku quickly focused his chakra, and extended it into the mist, first in order to try to maintain, and then raise the temperature. He then blasted the steam outward to his own surrounding ice spikes. The spikes all melted and flowed into puddles. He then held out his hands and water gathered around the two fighters in a circle. The pools then separated in numerous puddles, and the shocking part was that the water rose up into a perfect rectangular shape. They all levitated and encircled Sasuke, who'd halted his charge and gone on guard in response to this admittedly-mystical-looking new technique, like a dome.
Haku then appeared IN the mirror in front of Sasuke, staring directly at him.
"Hyoton; Demonic Ice Crystal Mirrors. This is my ultimate technique…" and then with a sorrowful note in his voice, "….and your end."
Without warning, several senbon launched from the mirror version of Haku.
Sasuke dodged, and repeating his previous jutsu, and launched an even larger fireball straight up so that it expanded and targeted all of the mirrors. When the mist cleared, the mirrors… were still there.
"Wha… how come…"
"Nice try, but that was the obvious solution when dealing with an ice technique. Your fire worked for a weaker version, but now they would have to be as hot as the sun to melt the ice for this technique."
Sasuke regained his guard. 'Okay, plan B, I just need to keep dodging until he runs out of needles or I can get close enough to somehow break that mirror.'
He sidestepped, as the next barrage came at him. One caught him in his forearm. He would've pushed through the pain, until he'd realized how unusually cold the needle felt. He yanked the needle out and discovered that the needle was made of ice.
Haku seemed to read his mind. "Ice needles that replenish themselves... You may run out of chakra for your fire techniques… and even if against all odds, you break a mirror…"
Haku gestured with a tilt of his head. Out of the corner of his eye, Sasuke watched as Haku intentionally let a mirror fall to the ground, whereupon it shattered to pieces when Haku loosed his technique's hold on it. Instantly, the mirror reformed and resumed its place, to Sasuke's shock.
Haku gestured, arms wide, "The power for your fire is inward and will run out, but my techniques are powered by all the air and water in Heaven."
Kakashi was still alive. He was weaving in and out of Zabuza's massive sword. His Sharingan was active, but for all intensive purposes it was useless with this stupid mist in his face. Zabuza came at him with an almost insane glee, and managed to score a gash along Kakashi's chest. Kakashi broke away, sweating.
'I've been relying on this eye a little too much. It's been so long since I've had to fight in these conditions, whereas he's been doing this all his life. C'mon, there has to be a way to win this.'
He then sensed an approaching chakra signature, and it was coming fast. 'What the…don't tell me there's backup for them! If that's the case….we'll have to try and grab Tazuna and run.'
Fortunately for Kakashi, it wasn't as he feared. Several kunai went flying straight at Zabuza. The missing nin, twirled his sword, deflecting them all, and turned to face this ambusher.
Naruto landed between the directly between the two fights on all fours, Sakura on his back clinging for dear life. She less-than-gracefully dismounted, legs shaking so much that she could barely stand. 'Dear Kami that was crazy! I'm never doing that again in my life!'
She recalled the tremendous speed that Naruto had displayed in transporting her. She was sure she'd lost several years off her lifespan! When they'd approached the bridge, they caught sight of the two fights, and Naruto told her to fling some kunai at Zabuza. Her aim shaky, she'd complied as Naruto sailed through the air from his high jump.
Naruto turned to Sakura, who was regaining her balance; "Go and guard Tazuna! I'm gonna back up Sensei and Teme!" Nodding, Sakura half ran half stumbled over to the bridge builder, who looked relieved at the backup.
Naruto looked over the situation, and immediately charged Zabuza, the missing nin, however, first threw a shuriken at the fox boy, causing Naruto to sidestep...
...only to see that Zabuza used his other arm to bring his sword down towards him, too fast for him to dodge! However, Zabuza was forced to alter his swing, as Kakashi attempted to run him through from behind with a kunai. The massive sword managed to catch Naruto along his chest, leaving a long, but thankfully shallow gash.
Backing off, the missing-nin faced Kakashi and Naruto. Kakashi glanced at Naruto, seeing that the gash was thankfully healing up quickly, so Naruto was still battle-ready. He gave a discreet gesture to Sasuke's position. Naruto took that as his cue, and headed straight for the dome of ice mirrors.
'Okay… Now that Sasuke's got help, I can calm down and concentrate better. If anything, maybe Zabuza will be more on edge and make a careless mistake that I can exploit.'
'Damn, that fox brat is here… argghh, at this point it doesn't matter. I'm getting closer to my goal with this job's completion. Haku has his instructions for this.' He returned to his fight with Kakashi.
Naruto dashed into the dome, and stood back-to-back with Sasuke. "So Teme," he whispered, "What have we got?"
"Idiot, you just walked straight into this guy's trap. He warps between those mirrors whenever I get close. He's got me pinned and has been trying to…"
"…turn you into a pincushion?
A glare. "Yes, dobe."
"Why didn't you just distract him with a jutsu or technique, then run out while he's occupied?"
"I refuse to run, I'll win. After all, I've got these…" He gestured at his eyes.
Naruto took a glance. What was it with the eyes everybody seemed to have? And why did he seem to attract them out the woodwork, or something? Outwardly, Naruto responded, "Huh, new contacts? I don't see how that'll help. Nice color though."
Incensed, Sasuke retorted; "IT'S MY SHARINGAN YOU DOBE!"
"And yet despite that you're still in here… and now so am I. So what do you want to do?"
Sasuke seemed to consider this, and then reluctantly; "We need to either destroy the mirrors, or distract him, get out and regroup with sensei. Which is it?"
"How about both?"
Unspoken words seemed to pass between the two. Then without warning, the two shinobi split, with Naruto performing his infamous technique, "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
One Naruto became fifteen, and they all shot straight for the mirrors. Sasuke fired off another fireball jutsu, which split into several miniatures, all aimed for the mirrors that Naruto's clones didn't target, creating a large cloud of obscuring steam.
Haku, however, was much faster. Moving between his mirrors at blinking speed, he slung a massive barrage of needles that intercepted all the clones, dispelling them, and ignoring the fireball, went completely around in a circle of mirrors, flinging needles from all angles into the misty center.
"Demonic Ice Mirrors- Impaling death." "There are no blind spots for this technique in which you can escape. I am truly sorry, but Zabuza-sama has ordered me to do this."
"Sasuke! Naruto! Don't give up you can beat him!" At Sakura's outburst, Kakashi stole a glance away from his fight and saw Haku's imposing dome of mirrors. He shoved Zabuza's sword back with the kunai he was parrying it with, and started to go to help.
"Hold it. I wouldn't take your eyes off me if I were you, Kakashi. The Cyclops jounin turned back to face Zabuza. "If you try to help those kids, I'll either kill the bridge builder and the girl, or I'll attack you while your back is turned."
Kakashi gritted his teeth in frustration. "Sakura, do not call out to them. They need to focus right now. Also, don't think any lighter of them if they choose to run rather than fight."
At Sakura's expression, Zabuza chuckled, "Ah yes, the kids are still green… why, when I was your age, I'd already slaughtered my entire class. Imagine that girl… friends and comrades… all turned against each other in a barbaric ritual of despair, leaving only one standing."
"Wha? That's horrible! What kind of monster are you!" Sakura was aghast, her skin turning pale. Zabuza's remark had her thinking back...
*Flashback*
Team 7 was at their training field. Kakashi sat on a tree stump, and his three students reclined in their own way in front of him. Naruto was sitting legs extended and wide-eyed up at his teacher. Sasuke chose to stand, pretending to be aloof and disinterested, and Sakura sat cross-legged in between the two boys, though every so often her glance would shift towards Sasuke.
Kakashi addressed them. "As you already know...tomorrow's mission will be the first one outside of this village. This means that it isn't a controlled environment where virtually anything can happen. We may be going into enemy territory, with hostiles about that may strike at anytime, or anyplace. Should that be the case... then it may be required for you to use lethal force in order to complete your objectives. Do you three understand?"
Without waiting for an answer, he continued, while observing his charges. Naruto's face was rather thoughtful, but serious, his brow furrowed and his ears twitching. Sakura appeared somewhat perturbed by this, and Sasuke, well, he raised one of his eyebrows as he observed Kakashi. "...What I'm basically saying is... that if it comes down to it, can you take a life in order to protect your teammates, and in this case, your client?"
"I can and will," was the immediate response.
Surprisingly, it was not Naruto who had spoken up first, but rather Sasuke. The Uchiha then had somewhat of an arrogant smirk when he said this. Sakura's eyes then seemed to show stars, as her thoughts turned to admiration as to how Sasuke showed no hesitation in his declaration.
"Are you sure about that?" Naruto's response had beaten Kakashi to the punch. Kakashi decided to hang back and listen to Naruto's response. After all, a teacher can be lecturing at times and thus a point might not be as well received as it would be from a teammate... and somebody that you might be able to empathize with. Sasuke turned to glare at Naruto, as did Sakura for his questioning of Sasuke's drive.
"I would be able to do it before you did, dobe."
Naruto slowly turned, and with a solemn expression, looked at Sasuke square in the eyes with his slit pupils. "What if the enemy is begging for mercy? What if the person that you are assigned to kill is... just sitting there, helpless and broken, with no defense whatsoever? Would you be able to do it? That person is living, and breathing, just as you are...and you would just be able to do it without a moment's hesitation?"
Sasuke growled at this as he regarded the fox boy. "Don't question my will on this..."
"It isn't your will that I'm questioning, Sasuke, its whether or not you can call yourself human..."
"At least I'm more human than you..."
Naruto's eyes narrowed. Sakura looked back and forth between the two, as if unsure of something...
"Sasuke..." He turned to address his sensei when addressed. Kakashi stared back stoically, but unnoticed by his students, prepared to intervene at a moment's notice.
"Kill Naruto now, or I'll kill Sakura." Sasuke froze, stared straight ahead at his teammates. None of his limbs moved, in order to make a grab at a weapon, or even make a fist. Sakura gasped and stared fearfully at Kakashi, lip quivering, whereas Naruto... The fox boy stared stoically back at Sasuke, his tails stiff and not moving, and his eyes cold and unblinking, as if he were daring Sasuke to make a move.
After a few moments, Kakashi then raised his hands. " Calm down. That is how quickly and easily a situation could degenerate into life threatening. I could have been an enemy shinobi, having captured one of you, or an innocent bystander to be used as a bargaining chip. Killing anybody, regardless of affiliation, is not something to be taken lightly. To be truthful, there is no real way to answer how to go about it, nor a defined way as how to respond afterward."
"I know that the Academy has already discussed this with you all, but I wanted to drive the point in again to make sure that it was understood. ]For this mission tomorrow, I will not be so idealistic as to say; "Don't kill your enemy at all." That is both implausible and often, though not always, unrealistic based on unforeseeable factors. I will handle said situations if they come up for you, which they hopefully will not. If something does happen, then I will be there to talk to and listen."
"If you want my truest advice...when we go on this mission, fight to protect and defend your teammates and friends. That is how you will gain strength to overcome your inhibitions, and be better able to deal with the consequences afterward. I admit...it is a shallow... way to think about it, and by no means, am I trying to trivialize a life... but at the same time... there is no guarantee that your enemy will think the same of you. Idealism is good and all, but there is a time and a place for it."
He looked each of his teams in his eye. "Knowing this, do you still want to proceed on this mission?"
Naruto nodded.
Sasuke and Sakura had a few moments of contemplation. Finally, they too nodded.
"Heh, I'm merely giving you and those boys a little preview." He chuckled darkly before continuing. "What did you think you were signing up for when you became a shinobi? Ask yourself, do you really have the stones to kill another person? Admittedly, an enemy, or someone you despise may be one thing, but what if that person is a teammate… or a friend?"
Sakura realized that she had no answer...
The steam from Sasuke's fireball technique was fading.
'They are surely done now.' Haku thought.
The mist finally lowered… revealing a ring of Naruto's clones, all facing outwards! The clones immediately all went straight for the gaps between the mirrors.
'He must have formed more kage bushin! Used them to block the needle barrage, and then used the steam from the fireballs to obscure the rest of them! Wait… where's the dark haired one?' It was true. There was no sign of Sasuke anywhere amongst the clones.
It was all replicas of Naruto!
'I only have seconds…' Haku flashed through a hand sign, and two other mizu bushin appeared in a mirror to his left and a mirror to his right.
'Time to end this.'
The three circled completely around and through the mirror dome, creating a maelstrom of needles. The clones were wiped out instantly… save for two that had somehow avoided the attack, or not dispelled from the needles.
'That must be…' Haku flung his needles straight at the clone's vitals. The faster clone almost made it outside, when as if sensing the approach, he turned his head to watch… and saw the other clone leap into the path of the barrage, taking the full brunt of the attack.
Instead of the clone dispelling, in a poof of smoke it revealed… Sasuke!
*Flashback*
"We need to try to either destroy the mirrors, or distract him. Which is it?"
"How about both?"
Unspoken words seemed to pass between the two. Then without warning, the two shinobi split. Naruto performed his infamous technique; "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"
One Naruto became fifteen, and they all shot straight for the mirrors. Sasuke fired off another fireball jutsu, which split into several miniatures, all aimed for the mirrors that Naruto's clones didn't target, creating a large cloud of obscuring steam.
Naruto and Sasuke stopped in the center, where Naruto formed a large group of clones surrounding them. "I've layered up the clones, one row behind the other. That way, no matter how many needles he throws, they'll take the impact."
Sasuke seemed to be thinking, and then performed a henge, transforming into… Naruto?
"Wha?" Was Naruto's stunned reply.
"Dobe listen, when the steam dispels, have the clones all make a break for the exits. I'll stand out like a sore thumb among your clones, so as much as I despise doing this, I need to look like you, thankfully only for a few seconds. This way we should have a chance to get out."
"Wow, a plan that didn't involve, "proving your superiority? I'm impressed."
"Shut up dobe."
*End Flashback*
Sasuke collapsed in a heap, blood pouring from his many, many punctures. Naruto stood there in shock. He dashed over to his fallen teammate and stooped low.
"SASUKE! Teme, why the hell did you do that!"
"Heh, *cough*… don't know… my body… moved on its own…"
He coughed one more… then slumped over, still.
Naruto just knelt there, his hair covering his face and his ears and tails drooping.
One of Haku's bushin drifted out of the mirror, and walked up to Naruto and Sasuke's dead body silently, making no move to strike.
Silently, he said to Naruto, "I won't attack you while you mourn your comrade's loss, you have my word. After a moment, he then added, "I also promise that I won't chase after or further attack you should you decide to run, and no longer try to harm Zabuza-sama."
Naruto didn't respond.
Haku paused, and continued, "Your comrade fought bravely, and I will remove his body so that it won't be defaced should you decide to continue this battle." The clone picked up the body, and in a flash, disappeared.
Sakura and Tazuna stood on guard, unable to see what was happening through the damned mist. She then nearly had a heart attack when the masked hunter-nin appeared before her. Rather than attack, the nin gently laid a body before her and whispered, "He was a true shinobi," before the clone dispelled into water.
Sakura took one good look at the body. Her eyes widened as recognition dawned upon her. 'No... it can't be… Sasuke-kun…'
Her heart-wrenching scream of horror echoed across the bridge.
Sakura's scream nearly distracted Kakashi into making a fatal miscalculation, as Zabuza's sword nearly cleaved him in half.
'What the hell just happened? Are they alright? I have to remain calm and survive this…so I can help my team that is still alive.'
Haku stared at Naruto's silent, kneeling form. 'He hasn't moved or responded at all. I wish that I could say that he's harmless now and lost his fighting spirit, but I cannot let my guard down even for a moment.'
A shrill scream echoed out, and the memories from the dispelled clone came back to him.
"I am sorry…" he muttered under his breath to the girl.
Immediately after the scream ended, it seemed as though the bridge grew deathly quiet, save for the sounds of Kakashi and Zabuza's battle.
The scream however, seemed to act like some sort of catalyst. Haku suddenly felt involuntary shivers go through his body, as he continued to stare at Naruto. Then he felt a massive wave, go through his entire body. The water in the puddles laying about the battlefield began shaking and rippling. The fox boy oddly enough seemed to be the source of this. Naruto's tails started to wave about ominously, as if they were being carried by a strong breeze.
'What…what is this?' Haku felt his sudden fear rising. There was an ambient growling noise, and Naruto slowly rose to his feet, face still facing the ground. Slowly his head rose, and his eyes opened. He stared directly at Haku.
'His eyes... they're different!' Naruto's eyes, though slit, were blue and displayed kindness and compassion. These eyes were a bright red displaying pure malevolence… and killer instinct. For an instant... there awsa something else that had appeared with the eyes... something ancient... something powerful.
*Elsewhere, deep in a dark, obscure location, a pair of eyes opened. They seemed to glance around, taking in their surroundings. A large gate stood before it, blocking its entry or escape, and a seal paper stood on the bars of the gate. A fanged grin seemed to emerge out of the void and a dark presence started contemplating.*
Although feeling his terror grow, Haku rapidly formed hand signs. Several more mirrors rose around the already formidable fortress he'd constructed. In addition, three more bushin appeared in central points in the surrounding mirrors, senbons gathered.
'I need to end this now! Forming mizu bushins uses less chakra the more water is in the area, but I'm starting to lose stamina, and I have no idea what he's capable of doing in this state!'
Naruto still stared straight ahead directly at him, as if he were sensing which Haku were the real one. Lastly, Naruto started glowing. A reddish orange aura surrounded Naruto, looking both solid and immaterial in its appearance.
Naruto opened his mouth, and the growl became a savage roar.
Kakashi and Zabuza stopped their fight as soon as they heard the roar. Both jounin took into account the significance of the primal scream.
Kakashi gave an involuntary shudder, as he recalled the events of so many years ago. 'No… the Kyuubi? Is the fox gaining control? Or worse, breaking free?'
'What was that roar? The only other time I've heard anything even remotely similar was when I had been a Swordsman, and Yagura had shown us…'
Naruto's mind was feeling nothing but rage. Images flashed through his head. Images of his hellish life... those who'd hurt him and belittled him…. how so many times, he'd tried his best to prove himself… only to get shot down in the end.
When he found he'd be on a team, he admitted it was a rough start, but he was willing to at least try to adapt and make friends. And now, this bastard ninja had taken that chance away! He'd never be able to have the chance to have one more person he could call friend. He may not have agreed with the stuck-up Uchiha, but he at least respected him! They came from the same background! And… they'd both been… alone.
Addressing the cause of his rage, he roared. Several needles came flying at him from all angles from the shinobi in a desperate attempt to kill him. The mysterious chakra cloak around him caused the needles to be stopped cold, bouncing off the aura, and falling harmlessly on the ground.
Haku's eyes widened behind the mask, and he went through another series of signs. Several ice spikes sprung up from the ground, all aimed at piercing Naruto through the chest. Despite their considerable hardness, they too failed to penetrate, snapping off against the aura.
As a desperate, last resort, the missing-nin then performed some seals and the mist surrounding Naruto congealed and froze instantly into ice, entombing the fox boy completely. Haku breathed a sigh of relief…
...which was shot to hell as the ice cracked, then broke apart, revealing Naruto completely unharmed.
Naruto glared at him, then burst out laughing in an evil, ominous tone. "You think that you can stop me with that pitiful attack! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHO YOU'RE UP AGAINST!" BUT JUST TO GIVE YOU A HINT…." Naruto crossed his arms in front of him, and to Haku's further shock, actually levitated, hovering about a foot and a half off the ground. The chakra seemed to grow denser, as if it were gathering together.
"DEATH TO ALL WHO OPPOSE ME, KITSUNE JUTSU: KYUUBI….BLAST!"
Naruto flung his arms outwards. A red sphere of energy blasted outward instantly from Naruto, about thirty five feet in diameter, roughly the same size as the ice mirror fortress that Haku constructed. The ice mirrors never stood a chance. They were evaporated and atomized in an instant.
The shockwave from the blast radiated all the way out across the bridge, shaking it and causing Sakura and Tazuna to fall off their feet. Sakura had already been shaken by Sasuke's death, when she'd felt another horrible presence was over her. It was like all the negative feelings she'd ever felt had multiplied and come at her at once. Tazuna looked about the same way, clutching his chest and gasping. If he wasn't having a heart attack now, it could've fooled him.
Kakashi and Zabuza's eyes were practically bugging out at the explosion, having barely stayed on their feet themselves. Images of the Kyuubi's attack flashed through Kakashi's mind. His traumas caused him to hesitate, and Zabuza regained his composure sooner. He brought up a mist again, and concealed himself within it.
"Sorry to disappoint you Kakashi, but I'm going to have to end this fight quickly. That student of yours certainly is an unpredictable one."
"I couldn't agree more, Zabuza..." Kakashi regained his composure and whipped out a scroll, smeared his blood on it, and then smashed both to the ground. Several dogs rose up out of the ground, all of varying sizes and breeds, and all were wearing blue capes.
They latched onto Zabuza with fang and claw, stopping him from moving, and creating gouges in his flesh. "…and since my blood on your weapons forms a scent trail… my canine friends here will give me a hand… or paw."
The smoke from the explosion cleared out of the area, blown away by the wind. The destruction revealed a large chunk of the bridge had been taken out, with surprisingly little remnants, as any scraps had been annihilated.
Haku slowly stirred. He blinked twice to clear his vision, and surveyed the area.
As soon as he'd seen the chakra build up in Naruto, self preservation kicked in. He certainly didn't know THIS would happen, but with a buildup like that, he realized that he'd have to be suicidal to stay where he was.
He'd warped to the outermost mirror, and then exited it right as the explosion began and started to run like hell. He truly thought that he wouldn't make it, but by some miracle, the shockwave flung him out of range of the brunt of the blast, and smashed him into a banister on the edge of the bridge.
Not the most pleasant landing, but at least it beat being dead.
The boy started to reach forward, to pick his aching body up, but he then noticed couldn't feel his right arm. He turned his head to see, and gasped. Apparently he hadn't escaped unscathed.
Haku's right arm, up until the midpoint of the humerous, was gone. It was just a stump, having been cauterized by the explosion. Looking at the rest of his right side revealed that the exposed skin on his leg was also badly scarred and bleading. Reaching his left hand up to his face revealed that half his mask was broken, while the rest was breaking off in pieces, having been shattered from his landing impact.
Now Haku had wished he had died. 'I've lost my use… Zabuza-sama will no longer have a use for me. I've lost…my purpose…'
He didn't look up as he heard footsteps approaching.
"Well… the situation's reversed now. Just moments ago I was in this position." Naruto growled as he walked up to the Haku's prone body. "Have you anything to say?"
No response.
Becoming irritated, Naruto seized Haku by the collar and raised him up to look him eye-to-eye. "ANSWER ME WHEN I'M TALKING TO YOU!"
"…Kill ….me…"
Naruto smirked, "Well, if you insist." He raised his claws and started to drive them forward to Haku's face, when he stopped, abruptly releasing Haku, who collapsed to the ground,
Naruto started to shake on his feet, and then his eyes reverted, turning back to their normal blue. He found himself unable to stand, and collapsed to his knees and hands, panting heavily as if he'd been oxygen deprived.
"What...was… that? 'What was I doing… my body feels like it's made out of lead…' Naruto felt like all of his cells were crying out in agony. The only thing close to this was when he'd been tortured by the villagers.
"Why did you stop?"
Barely able to move, Naruto forced himself to look at Haku. The crippled boy lay there where he'd landed, but he turned his head to stare at Naruto.
"I… killed your friend. So why did you stop?"
Naruto thought about it through the pain. "You're a…. kid like… me. Why would you work for…. a creep like Zabuza?" He fought to get the words out
"He's precious to me. I was all alone, with nobody, but he gave me use. It was like I was finally alive. As long as I could be his sword, my life had purpose." He raised his stumped arm, staring at it sadly.
"But now I no longer have that. Please. Killing me would be a mercy. I cannot face Zabuza-sama like this."
Naruto thought for a few moments, then agonizingly hauled himself forward. He held up his claws, and started to bring them down, to plunge them through Haku's throat.
"I'm sorry,' he said to the boy.
Suddenly Haku glanced to the side, and fast as lightning, and with his remaining arm pulled out a kunai and deflected Naruto's hand, leaving a gash on Naruto's arm.
"I apologize Naruto, but I have one more thing I must do." He flashed through a hand sign and disappeared.
Naruto heard this, but it was like he was far away. He was staring at the arm that was now bleeding profusely. The rest of his clothes, where Haku's final assaults , as well as Zabuza's earlier sword gash had pierced him also felt damp, blood pooling in the areas. He felt the pain from them as his adrenaline rush ebbed.
'I'm… not…healing…?'
Kakashi found himself horrified. He'd activated his trademark technique with the intent of cutting Zabuza down, and charged towards the immobile missing nin… only to find the young hunter nin had thrown himself in front of the jutsu, taking Kakashi's electrified hand right through the chest. Also in the process before sacrificing himself, the nin had flung ice senbon at his summoning scroll, dispelling his dogs.
Zabuza, ever the opportunist, swung his sword with his good arm, hoping that Kakashi would be too horrified by Haku's sacrifice to respond.
Kakashi however, realized that the boy was dead, flung the body aside, ducked underneath the sword, and shot forward, jamming a kunai into Zabuza's good arm, forcing the man to drop his sword.
"There. Now you can't use either of your arms. "This time…" Kakashi held up his hand, which sparked again with brief electricity "… I won't miss."
Zabuza only glared back at him loathingly.
"But… before I kill you, there's information that I need to know. What did you mean when you said Naruto reminded you of somebody?"
Zabuza continued to glare, as if weighing his options, then shrugged. "Heh… let's just say that he isn't the ONLY person I've seen like with that… condition. Not exactly the same thing, mind you, but the basics are remarkably similar." He chuckled again. "Yagura was his name. Yutaka was the other."
Kakashi's eyes widened. The Mizukage? He was a jinchuuriki and apparently a half-demon like Naruto? And who was this Yutaka?
"I see you know at least one of who I'm talking about. The Seven Swordsman served directly under him. You recall the reason I became a missing-nin?"
"You were trying to earn up the money to counter the Mizukage and overthrow Kiri."
"It's not like I would have done any worse," Zabuza responded with a shrug. "Something was up with Yagura in the last few years I knew him. He was the reason the Bloody Mist graduation ceremony was instigated. Maybe it never did sit well with me to begin with…"
"If you want to know more, good luck. The most I've heard of Yagura is he disappeared recently."
"Disappeared?"
"Disappeared, dead, whatever, although the last one I doubt it, much as I wish it. As for Yutaka, well, that guy was even more of a recluse. Kiri has been in political turmoil for a while now while they attempt to find a new Mizukage. I know of one of the candidates, a young lady, I can't recall her name though…
He grinned under his facial bandages. "One hell of a looker, though."
"Well then," Kakashi said, "Thanks for the info. Now then, back to busin-"
"Well, well, what do we have here? Demon of the Mist, HA! You can't even kill a few kids! Well it doesn't matter now…" a smug voice interrupted.
Kakashi and Zabuza both looked up to see Gato. The smug S.O.B. stood about thirty feet away. Standing behind him was a massive crowd of missing nin and samurai.
"Since you've oh-so obviously failed in your end of the bargain, I had to find more able-bodied, willing folk to do the job."
"Kakashi," Zabuza muttered; "Since it appears that my former employer no longer wishes to pay me, I am no longer obligated to kill the old man. You now have no threat to fear from me. That okay?"
Kakashi nodded; "Fine by me."
Gesturing at the crowd, "Now what do you say we do about this?"
"Hmm, nothing. I have no ties, so I'll just cut my losses." He turned to leave.
"You're, you're not just gonna leave are you?" Zabuza paused.
Naruto, had literally dragged himself over to the two shinobi, leaving a bloody trail. Kakashi was shocked as he took in Naruto's appearance. 'He's barely conscious as it is. Shouldn't the Kyubi have healed his wounds?'
Naruto pointed at Haku's body. "What about him?"
Zabuza looked for a moment then shrugged, "What about him? Haku was a tool, nothing more, nothing less the same as you or me. He's dead and gone, so I have no need for him."
"THAT'S BULLSHIT! He really cared about you! He said… that you gave him a purpose in life. And you're just gonna ignore all that? If so… then you really are a demon."
Zabuza stood, back turned to them. Then he turned back to Naruto. The fox boy saw that amazingly, there were tears in the missing nin's eyes.
"Kid… Not another word…"
Sakura was crying. She knelt sobbing over Sasuke's body.
"Why… why Sasuke-kun, why did you have to die!" Tazuna stooped down low, and placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to placate her.
Sakura's despair worsened and she slumped over the corpse, still sobbing.
Through her tears, Sakura thought she felt movement. Disregarding it at first she paid more attention when the phenomenon occurred again.
Now in disbelief, she sat up and placed two fingers on Sasuke's neck checking for a pulse. Yes! It was there but very faint. He's alive!
"SASUKE'S ALIVE!" She immediately started checking him over, and only now did she start to full take in his appearance. She then realized that the shock of seeing Sasuke's "corpse" overridden her common sense. He had multiple protrusions from the needles, yes, but he really wasn't bleeding that much. Also, his breathing, though faint, was steady!
Sakura's shout registered throughout the bridge. Naruto was able to smirk. Turned back he regarded Zabuza.
The nin nodded bitterly. "Haku was always... gentle, too gentle for the life of a shinobi."
"Yet he stood with me throughout the years. He was my weapon. I guess maybe I did the same to him as Kiri had to me." An emotion, regrets, and not just for Haku flickered across his face. "I did many things in my life that even I'm not proud of, but hey that's the life of a shinobi, eh?"
To Naruto, "Can I get a kunai from you?
Naruto awkwardly reached into his pocket and pulled a kunai and flung it to which Zabuza caught in his teeth, having bitten through the bandages covering his mouth.
"Now then, I think I'll show these fools what a real demon is!" He charged into the bloodthirsty crowd, arms trailing uselessly behind him.
The mercenaries would stab slash and punch at him, but despite the increasing number of wounds, he wouldn't stop. Reaching the terrified Gato, he gave a savage twist and decapitated the crime lord. He then collapsed to the ground, blades piercing his body.
Spitting up blood, he muttered, "Heh, that's the second thing I'm at least proud of."
Straining to look at Team 7, "The first was that I was actually able to give that bastard Mizukage a souvenir of my defection. Kakashi, if he's actually not dead and you see him, tell him I said; "You're welcome," for that scar if you ever meet him."
"Haku... I'm sorry... I hope that in the next world, I get to see you…again."
Naruto and Kakashi only stared as the missing-nin Zabuza Momochi's breathing stopped, and he was gone.
The crowd of mercenaries apparently grew their courage back as the saw the demon of the mist fall. "Well now, you guys just killed our meal ticket. I think I'll take it out on you and the village!"
Several of the mercenaries agreed and started forward...
Narrow tried to pull himself to his feet, but fell back to the ground. 'What's going on? I can't move and my body... it feels like it's on fire...and it's getting worse.'
Gritting his teeth, he strained to get up. The consequence of this had several if his wounds reopened. He didn't care. He had to help Kakashi-sensei!
'Maybe I can scare these guys off.' He placed his fingers together for a kage bushin, only for one sickly clone to appear, and then poof out of existence three seconds later. Then a furious pain ripped through Naruto, as he had several spasms and fell face-first. 'Crap... I can't do anything.'
Kakashi saw how Naruto was faring. 'Damn this doesn't look good. If only they'd seen what Naruto did earlier, then they wouldn't be this bold. I can't use any more solid jutsu either because if my sharingan and the Raikiri.'
Suddenly an arrow whizzed by to stop the leader in his tracks missing him by inches. Behind Kakashi and Naruto, on the other side were all the townspeople of wave. Men and women stood strong and armed with kunais, regular knives, pitchforks and some that appeared to have some shinobi experience stood as ready as possible.
At their head stood Inari wielding a crossbow.
"HEY YOU THUGS! WE WANT YOU OUT OF OUR VILLAGE!" The entire crowd chorused their agreements, and started to approach.
The opposite group appeared uneasy at the prospect of this. They were hoping for an easy takeover, not a full mob.
'Another psychological push ought to do it…' Kakashi formed several seals, and numerous immaterial bushin appeared next to him. 'Nothing solid, but since I can't do any more…'
The mercenaries practically turned a ghastly color at Kakashi's display, and they all bolted as fast as they could. The crowd began to cheer, all of them giving voice to their liberation.
Kakashi turned to face his team, Naruto being the closest. The fox boy was crumpled on the floor, panting laboriously with exhaustion. Blood seeped out of his wounds, puncture marks from Haku's assaults.
'What's going on here? Naruto should have healed from his fight long before this point! Kami knows… he's survived worse…' akashi thought back to the battle. 'During the fight, Naruto unleashed some massive chakra… could that have something to do with it?' He carefully poked and prodded Naruto, testing his body's reactions. The fox boy barely responded. Suddenly, without any warning, Naruto collapsed completely, slumping forward, blood poling beneath him.
Now extremely alarmed, Kakashi carefully rolled him onto his back, bracing his neck, and leaned forward, listening. 'He's still breathing, good, and he has a pulse, albeit a faint one.' Glancing up, he saw the crowd approaching. 'Damn, I'd rather not they see Naruto without his henge, but I guess it can't be helped now. I don't have the chakra left to create a genjutsu or henge over him, and he's in such rough shape that he can't do it himself.'
Realization came to him, and he started to call for Sakura. 'Sakura should be able do it if I instruct her...'
He then stopped himself. 'On the other hand, he and Sasuke both need medical attention ASAP, and any doctor here may need to see them while NOT under henge.' He calculated and then made his decision. Kakashi gestured for Tazuna and Inari.
"Listen, I need you two to act quickly. Haku, that hunter-nin, probably only put Sasuke into a coma, a rudimentary suspended animation. He should be fine but he still needs medical attention. Get a trustworthy doctor, and bring him or her over here quickly. I need one of you to hold back the crowd, at least from Naruto."
The two nodded, and went to their tasks. A startling and convenient few minutes later, a doctor arrived and immediately attended to the two boys. The doctor's eyes widened greatly when he saw Naruto. Kakashi immediately spoke up in a hurried tone; "He was born that way. It's an S-Class secret. I recommend that you do not say anything about this." For added affect, he leashed some killing intent.
The doctor got the message and began to treat Naruto, with Kakashi providing some basic advice. "His human half is identical to anybody 'normal.' Therefore he can take any medication that you deem necessary. That's all you need to worry about. Do what you can to makes sure he doesn't get worse. Believe me, he heals quickly. 'At least normally he does.'
He turned to check on his other student. Sasuke had been loaded onto a makeshift stretcher, and brought over to them and laid down next to Naruto. Sakura was weeping relief over Sasuke's body. The black haired boy groaned, then slowly his eyes started to open.
"Wha…what happened?"
Kakashi eye-smiled, "It's over Sasuke. You all did great."
"…and Zabuza?"
"….He and his partner are dead. But let's just say Zabuza had a change of heart at the last minute. He took out Gato on the way out, and he gave us some vital information on possible enemies."
Sasuke 'hmmped,' and against his body's protests had managed to sit up awkwardly. He stared at Naruto's body.
"Is the dobe…okay?" Sakura raised her head also, her eyes silently voicing her concern.
Kakashi eye-smiled. "He's just extremely tired. The fight took a lot out of him."
Sasuke then noticed the large chunk of bridge that had been taken out. 'What did that! Was it…Naruto?' Sasuke then recalled something, and smirked. He'd almost forgotten what he'd done. It even made up for him not winning the fight with the hunter nin.
"Sensei, I did it."
"Hmmm?"
"I unlocked my Sharingan."
"Well that's impressive! Since that has occurred, we'll discuss it some more when we get back to Konoha. In the meantime, when you've recovered, I'd recommend trying to activate and deactivate it at will. This way you'll be able to utilize and control it more effectively."
Sasuke nodded. 'I'm one step closer….'
As the group recovered, the same eye that spied on Naruto at the shipyard appeared, observed them. Zooming out, a shadowed figure was revealed watching Team 7 and the crowd.
The figure reached up and fingered a headset, careful to avoid disturbing his other headgear.
"Report."
"Zabuza has been defeated, and I was unable to recruit him in time. I apologize for my failure. "
There was silence on the other end of the line. Then; "It's alright... What of the child?"
"He lives, but he's extremely battle weary, with signs of internal bleeding and other traumas from the fight. His chakra levels are extremely low as well. Whatever that attack he just did was, it looks like it came close to killing him too. The medic that you had the foresight to send is working on him and the Uchiha as we speak. Shall I try to claim the either the fox boy or the Uchiha while he's recovering?"
There was silence, as the voice seemed to be thinking. "No, Sharingan Kakashi is there, and I can't risk losing you at this time. We have enough to deal with at this time, while I try and finalize my position. My predecessor left enough of a bad taste that I can't stretch my resources too thin. If my guess about this child is correct, then Kakashi will be on complete guard at this time. Even if you did capture him, then Konoha would probably retaliate, and we'd be the ones to suffer the most for it, given our tentative situation. Ensuring that he lives is good enough for now, but we WILL come back to this later on."
"With all due respect, are you saying that I can't handle Kakashi? I was brought up to be tough. I could do it. Even if Kakashi hadn't had engaged Zabuza first…"
"Engaged?"
The shadow winced. "Sorry."
The voice paused, then recovered, and in a rather smug, yet jovial tone; "Don't worry, I know you've wished to fight him, what with the similarities in your…abilities, and I've no doubt of your strength…"
"In any case, your progress is excellent, and always appreciated. Kakashi and his team will probably return home as soon as possible while the fox child is recovering. What I need you to do now is to head back to that shipping area that Gato ran and double check the area for shipping records, leftover documents, any sort of clue at all. I need to know two things; One: What that fat bastard Gato managed to sneak by us, and two; what possessed the fox child to be so interested in that ship, despite the danger. It isn't just that somebody was interested in the crate, but who was interested in it that has caught my notice. "Does Konoha, or the fox boy know something we don't?"
Then, the voice became jovial again. "I'll send backup to meet you there, in order to help you clear out what remains of Gato's thugs… and don't give me that look, he could use the extra experience. Once you two are done, head back!"
With that, the shadow's headset clicked off.
'Backup…' The shadow then facepalmed. 'Damn it, I'll probably end up with the kid again…'
*End of Part 3*
Author's Notes.
*Chaos Controls into existence.*
Whew, what a rush.
Character Interactions
What did everybody think of the talk that Kakashi had with his team? It seems logical that the instructors would prepare their teams for the possibility that they would end up being forced to take a life, which wouldn't be easy to the young Genin. Sure, some, such as Sasuke, may act all haughty and nonchalant about it, but its one thing to boast about in theory, but another to be actually in said situation, or in the heat of the moment. This isn't the first time that this will come up, so if you feel I left anything out, then bear with me, because odds are it was intentional.
I wanted to provide a little more depth into Zabuza's motives, so I tried to go for the whole, "traumatized warrior angle."
Nothing major here between Team 7. *Sarcastic* Yay, yay Sasuke's unlocked the Sharingan *Sarcastic*
Abilities
Oh yes, we finally got our first major jutsu, (Bonus points for those who can guess what this attack was inspired by), for Naruto! Here's the deal;
Kitsune Jutsu: Kyubi Destruction Blast-Naruto crosses his arms, and glows with the fox's chakra. Upon reaching critical mass, he throws out his arms and radiates out a massive blast of chakra. This creates an energy based type of explosion in the shape of a sphere. The blast radius can extend up to a fifteen to twenty feet diameter in his youth, but as he grows, it may become even larger and more powerful. (The chakra burst he unconsciously used in chapter one was a much milder version of this) The closer Naruto is to the target when the blast occurs, the more damage they will receive. At point blank range the attack can vaporize, whereas those on the outer edges or outside the radius completely will get thrown back by the concussive force.
Now then, allow me to read everybody's mind, which I predict are running along this train of thought; "The attack's too strong….are you gonna have Naruto to bust out that move for every fight?…, etc."
So let me say this... Naruto won't use that as a cheap cop-out for every time, that there are extreme drawbacks to the move, and although I've hinted at them, they will be fully revealed later on. Also, as of this moment he can't use the attack on his own.
In any case, that's about it for this case. Also, my next couple of updates may take a little longer, due to work, and researching for this story, etc. But do not fret, for I shall finish this story.
Now... The wave arc is done, and the plot thickens. What will Konoha do now that more jinchuuriki are known? What is the significance of them being half-demon? Will Team 7's mission be considered a true success upon its review, or will others take the opportunity use it to their advantage? A new twist will occur next chapter!
Well, then, that's all folks! R&R please!
*Holds up emerald*
CHAOS CONTROL!
*Vanishes*