Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Legend of Explosive Youth! ❯ Wave Hello pt 2 ( Chapter 10 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: dialNforNinja 
The adventure continues. Rikou's mom is related to WHO?
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.28.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 6.6K | Visits: 454 | Status: Work In Progress
The adventure continues. Rikou's mom is related to WHO?
Anime/Manga: Naruto Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Martial Arts / Adventure / Action | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 05.28.2008 | Pages: 3 | Words: 6.6K | Visits: 454 | Status: Work In Progress
txy06b.txt
---=- + -=---
Haku had slipped away when his watch was through, sent to retreive his and Zabuza's personal gear from the old Mist outpost they'd laired up in since Gatou was well aware of its location and it would be easier if they didn't face him. The shark's grin as the renegade jounin gave the instructions left little doubt as to who he meant it would be easier for, and given the man's status as a drug kingpin Gai was half tempted to argue for setting a trap there and letting the magnate fall into it.
Blood-thirstiness for its own sake was too alien to his mindset, however, and without at least the agreement of the local daimyo it would be possible for a man of such wealth to bribe his way out of legal trouble if captured. Beyond that, it was always unwise for a ninja to assassinate such an influential figure without even a mission contract to provide them with their village's and country's protection from reprisal.
In the end, the four Leaf-nin, two ex-Mist, and lone architect all retired to Tazuna's house, the arrival of two putative enemies with the group almost sending poor Tsunami into a faint. She'd been delivering lunches to the bridge crew when the missing nin appeared to make their first threats, and been frozen with the terror of their unleashed killing intent.
The next morning was calmer, Tsunami having resolved to face her father's guests like a proper hostess and the ninja having risen early for their usual training routines before breakfast, then gathering in the sitting room to discuss the situation. "Those Demon Brothers were the only other ninja Gatou had around here in the Wave," Zabuza told Gai. "With those two gone and our unique situation, it'll be at least a week before Gatou can get more, since none of the major villages will deal with him, even Mist... and from watching your kids this morning, the rest of his thugs combined would have only an even chance against any one of them."
The Leaf jounin gave a glinty smile at the recognition for his students' hot-blooded youthful power, but soon enough frowned as he considered matters. "The truth is, we have faced Gatou's men before," he admitted after a few seconds. "Within Fire Country he hides his hand behind proxies and gangs, but those Two Gees we became involved with six months ago were actually working for him."
Zabuza snorted in amuzement. "That was you guys? Hah! The shriveled bug was still bitching about that mess last week!"
"Zabuza-sama...?" Haku interjected.
"Don't concern yourself with the secrets of that money-grubbing swine, Haku... we're through with him," he told his apprentice. Facing Gai again he continued, "It was something about how it took this long to get anything out of the ruins of his operation, the money he lost with the smuggling ring broken up, and on top of that the daimyo rooting out his protection rackets and corrupt officials in the Kirika area. It had nothing to do with me, so I didn't care about the details."
Gai's moustache twitched as he thought everything over one more time, then he rose and favored the group with a Nice Guy Pose. "OKAY!" he enthused. "We have just one week to prepare for treacherous Gatou's new ninja, who are certain to be even more terribly strong. That means, everyone's training must go to one hundred percent! Today is Rikou's turn for one-on-one instruction, so Lee, Naruto, continue your usual solo drills. Naruto, go for it with that scroll Jiraya-sama left you about the use of your captured chakra weapon also!"
The tall, lithe girl gave the foxy boy's arm one last squeeze before disentangling herself and checking that her equipment was all present and secure, but before they could split up Tsunami cautiously poked her head into the room again. "Ah, excuse me, everyone," she said, keeping a wary eye on the eyebrowless nuke-nin. "I made some bento to take with you for the afternoon."
'Yeah, yeah!" Naruto enthused, hopping to his feet with his usual energy. "Tsunami-oneechan's lunches will power our training with her passionate, youthful spirit cooked into every bite!"
The twenty nine year old single mom blushed at the compliment, so obviously sincere despite its flowery language. "It's nothing like that, just some mochi and tempura fish," she demurred.
Knowing her team mates hearts (and occasional lapses in brains, at least when it came to explaining clearly) Rikou told the older woman, "It's not the materials you start with that matter, it's the effort put into their final form. Whether the result is a ball of rice, or a shinobi... the principle is the same. We'll make sure to work hard and become excellent ninja like your excellent food Tsunami-san. That's the meaning of our nindo!"
Zabuza caught Haku's eye with a 'can you believe this shit' glance, which was returned with an 'I can't beleive this shit either' shrug. He stifled a sigh but consoled himself that he might still have a chance at turning his niece into a more serious ninja... his sister had been fine until that mission to the Leaf, was the Maito power really -that- strong? A faint shudder rippled through his form involuntarily as he tuned back in to the conversation. Tsunami was getting redder and redder at being the center of attention, while Gai's mini-clone had just said something about doing one hundred push ups for each mochi in his bento to engrave their spirit on his muscles, which made no sense at all.
"Yeah, yeah! the blond Leaf-nin was shouting again. "We'll train with our full power to be ready in a week! Sounds like fun, dattebayo!"
The sound of the outside door sliding shut cut into the ongoing commotion as it was slammed against the frame. "'Fun',,, that's not it!" The boy who'd entered couldn't have been more than half Naruto's age, so small he had to climb on his hands and knees to get up the step from the entryway as he shed his sandals to come into the room.
Tazuna greeted him with a happy shout and wide arms, while Tsunami welcomed the distraction from well meant but embarrasingly overdone praise. "Inari, come greet these people properly," she scolded lightly. "They are ninja who protected Grandpa... and, er..." She trailed off uncertainly, remembering the two former Mist-nin, and was not at all reassured by the amused smirk when she glanced over a shoulder at the infamous swordsman.
Ignoring that, the little boy took only a short look before pointing and saying, "Mom, they're gonna die."
His finger happened to aim most closely for Lee, who gasped and clutched at his chest as if it had fired some deadly ninjutsu into him. "Such lack of spirit in one so young! Gai-sensei... this child... This poor child...!"
"You don't have to say it, Lee!" his sensei replied, laying a calming hand on the genin's shoulder. His eyes glistened sadly at the sight of such a tiny bud crushed before even reaching the blossom of spring.
"Oh, Gai-sensei!" Lee sobbed.
"I know, Lee!" The tears were begining to flow, now.
"SHUT UP YOU MORONS!" Inari yelled at them. "Shouting and crying like that... you act like you're younger than me! There's no way you can win againt Gatou. The weak just die, when someone strong appears!"
Shocked silence filled the room at his poutburst, until Zabuza spoke up. "Heh... you're right about one thing, brat. When faced with the strong, the weak die... the thing is, in this situation it's that sniveling worm Gatou who is weak!"
It was Inari's turn for a shocked silence, until a single tear forced its way out of his eye. "WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID!?" he yelled, throwing a lid of anger over his heart. "Do you think you're some kind of hero!? There's no such thing as heroes! Gatou has money, and a thousand men... if you don't want to die, you should just leave!" He was the one who turned and fled, however, pounding up the stairs to the bedrooms on the upper floor.
Everything was silent again for a few seconds... until Zabuza broke out in wild guffaws at the idea of being called a hero.
By the time his uncharacteristic mirth had faded the Leaf-nin had all left to do some more of their scarily intense training regimens. It had been seeing the routines they put themselves through just to start the day before breakfast that had finally convinced him that despite their bizarre attitudes his niece, brother in law, and the man's other students were, if not exactly ninja by his definition, still dangerously competent warriors. They were just genin, yet even the slowest still had a speed that could make even Haku take notice, and from their comments that was despite wearing weights.
Looking around as he regained his composure, Zabuza saw his apprentice sitting quietly, watching him with a smile and warm, shining eyes. "What is it?" he demanded gruffly.
The effeminate boy's smile widened further and his eyes curved into little arcs as he replied, "I'm glad to see Zabuza-sama so happy, to be united with family."
"I'd have thought you weren't much for the idea of family," the swordsman prodded.
Haku's smile wavered for a moment, but then he shook his head and replied, "If my family had been happy, I would not have met Zabuza-sama, but Zabuza-sama is the only family I need."
The jounin stared for a a full minute before stating, "That was really sappy. I'm going to leave now, before you start gushing about youth power."
It was the blond boy he was watching now, the team ninjutsu specialist if the fire-type seal combinations he'd been practising for speed were any guide. It was what else he was doing that was the amazing part - not because he was water walking, which any half-competent punk could manage if they tried, but that he was also using chakra to make a single leaf cling to each of his knees and elbows and over the symbol of his hitae-ate at the same time. It was like the other boy's marathon sessions of physical training and kata applied to chakra control... which made sense when he thought about it, at least as much as any of what these crazy Leaf-nin did.
After a while Naruto stopped the sealing practise and unslung the chakra channeling chopper board he'd taken as a prize on their first C-rank mission. Getting it to hover and let him ride around on it had been easy, figuring out how it had been used as a weapon in its folded form was less so. It did have a physical edge, after a fashion, but it wasn't really sharp at all, and the fact that at four and a half feet it was almost as long as he was tall and had only limited cutouts to grip by made it awkward.
Jiraya had given him a scroll listing some techniques the Toad Hermit knew for using similar weapons, but so far the only one he'd managed was to charge some chakra into it, letting the forged-in seals shape it into a strip of energy that ran along the blade and made it fiendishly sharp. Maintaining that chakra while doing anything else was harder, hence his extreme chakra control work, but worse than that was that he didn't really know any effective moves to use with a blade of that shape, and niether, it seemed, did anyone else in Konoha. He could flail around with it, and it was very handy for cutting through brush and gathering firewood, but without an effective style he wouldn't dare try to use the thing in a battle.
Of course, as any Maito or student of one could tell you, the key to excellence in anything was hard work, and Naruto was determined to become excellent in this as well, even if he had to make up a style from scratch.
So, Naruto worked hard. He'd trained his finger strength, until the single hand that would comfortably fit in the grip didn't threaten to have the heavy metal chopper fly out of it with every swing or impact. He trained his arms, so moving it rapidly around him no longer tired them out and left his joints aching after only an hour or two of practise. He even trained in quickly switching off from one to the other hand, since it had a grip on either end and working only on a 'strong side' meant leaving a 'weak side' to be exploited.
But... he still hadn't gotten very far in actually using the blade. He could slash with it, but he could tell they were awkward and weak. He could parry blows with it, but the rapid movement needed would often leave him off balance. The only thing he really felt confident he could do with it was blocking, because for that it was almost like using a jo stick, espescialy with the ability to use a two-handed grip on both ends and catch things in the middle - even better, in fact, since it had a notch to keep them from sliding off toward one or the other end.
It was this less than proficient display that finally drew the former Mist-nin from his hidden observation. "Get over here, runt," he ordered, "and drop the leaves, I don't have time for less than your full attention."
"EEEEH!? Zabuza-aniki! Where did you come from?"
"Don't call me 'brother,' pipsqueak, as far as you're concerned I'm 'Zabusa-san,' got it? I don't like you, I don't care about your nindo, and I expect you'll be killed from behind while ranting about the power of youth if your enemies aren't all laughing too hard to hold a kunai, but it offends me as a swordsman to see you swinging a blade around with no skill. So shut up and pay attention, because I'm going to teach you the Kiri no Tenken style, or as much of it as can be beaten into your thick head in seven days."
Speechless, Naruto could only look at the so called Devil of the Mist with shining eyes. Alas, the moment didn't last. "YEAH! YEAH! I'LL LEARN WHAT ZABUZA-ANIKI HAS TO TEACH ABOUT HUGE-ASS SWORDS WITH ALL THE SPIRIT OF MY YOUTH! FULL POWER, DATTEBAYO!!"
THere was a blur of speed, ending with Kubikiri Houcho striking a glancing blow off the boy's blond head. "I told you to shut up," the former Mist-nin said. He readjusted himself to hold the massive zanbatou with his hands low and the blade angled to one side in front of his body. "This is the first stance, a low guard. Without a long hilt to grip, just brace your second hand against the heel of your first. No, legs further apart, so you have a wide base for stability."
"In this position, the blade can be quickly slashed to either side or in front to feint or parry, turned sideways to block a straight thrust, or raised along its length to drop down in a powerful blow. The ideal strike begins with it held as far away from your body as possible and pulled inward just before the hit, to increase the speed as it rotates around your base. Do that now against your practise log, up and then down! Every blow is a killing blow with the Swords of Heaven, if that stump was a man you just cut him in half from one shoulder to the other hip. Now do it again, brat!"
---=- + -=---
The genin of Team Explosive Youth generally spent around fourteen hours a day in various forms of training, between the pre-breakfast warmup and spar, solo routines, one on one instruction or Self Rule augmented D-rank missions in the morning, group work in the afternoon, and an evening spar and cool down without their weights, to remain in practise moving with the altered balance in that condition. Part of their individual routines amd group work generally included long runs, during which they'd do anything they wanted in town, running in place as neccessary to talk with shopkeepers or friends. (Gai himself made use of advanced meditation techniques to reduce his need for sleep and train even more than that.)
During the 'safe' week they spent in Wave country, Naruto's routine was almost entirely taken over by Zabusa and sword work, keeping him so busy he barely had time or energy to hear about how Gai was doing with Rikou, or that Haku had by Gai's request and with his own sensei's assent begun speed drills with Lee. Overheard snatches of conversation gave him the idea that Wave was even poorer than the somewhat run down furnishings of Tazuna's home, one of the most prosperous in the area, would indicate, and that even with the ninja who'd appeared to threaten them now dead or on the side of the architect's protectors the work crew for the bridge kept shrinking day by day. Even so, there were only a the last span left to complete by the end of that time.
The demon vessel couldn't help but be concerned about Inari, as well, but Lee seemed to have made a goal of reigniting the fire of the younger boy's spirit, and Naruto had full confidence in the power of his freind's youth to acheive shining victory as a genius of hard work. The steadily increasing tension had apparently brought that situation to a head just after lunch on the last day of the week, but that day had been the blond's "final exam," a running battle of only speed and blades that had continued until he literally collapsed sometime after dark. He'd survived until sunset, though, so the former Mist jounin grudgingly gave him a passing mark, and even dragged the unconscious boy back to Tazuna's house instead of leaving him in the shady glen where he fell.
Lee had been brought back in only slightly better condition by Haku as well, the kind hearted boy having finally been wheedled into using his ultimate speed technique for the Proud Green Beast to test himself against. Haku had concocted a medicinal balm for the two Leaf genin's minor wounds, one that in Tazuna's words was "so smelly it had to be super effective."
Despite Gai's mania for physical conditioning, or perhaps because of it, he was well aware of the difference between the kind of exhaustion that just calls for a more gradual warm up the next day and the kind that requires extra recovery time, so by the time the two boys woke only Tsunami and Inari remained in the house.
They rushed out after hearing that Gai had left a message for them to meet him at the construction site, barely taking time to dress before bounding out the door. As they leapt between the trees, however, Naruto's nose twitched and he paused to look around, Lee coming to a stop on the next branch to see what had attracted the blond's attention. On the ground below they could see the signs of a quick struggle, and not far away the corpse of a boar covered in slashes from a sword or large knife. Foot prints led out of the bloody mud around it back the way they'd come.
A quick glance between the boys was all they needed to decide what to do, both nodding firmly before springing back toward the house to check on their plucky hostess and her son. Lee was a moment behind his team mate after a quick hop down to the ground and back.
---=- + -=---
Tazuna and the ninja had arrived at the bridge, Zabusa having tagged along to talk with his niece after spending most of his time the preceeding week beating the rudiments of swordsmanship into her team mate's head, and Haku because where the jounin went, he followed. They'd almost reached the unfinished end, Gai casting a surruptitious look at his brother in law which was returned with the most subtle of nods. Before either could act to dispel the genjutsu, however, it was dropped, revealing the five men who'd stuck with the work surrounded by at least ten times as many rough looking thugs. Leading his party, the architect staggered back half a step, incredulously shouting, "Wha- What is this!?"
A short, well dressed man with tiny round sunglasses, a permanent sneer and greying, wildly over-fluffed hair barked scorn filled laughter from beyond the mob, a quartet of figures in cloaks and wide straw hats at his side.
Cutting off his dark amusement, the man called out, "Zabuza you bastard! Do you know how much money you've cost me!? Hiring a full team from Hidden Rain just to punish you and do the job you were hired for... even a devil is supposed to keep a contract! Heheheh... Of course, you were never going to get paid as I said, only in the steel blades of my men; perhaps you figured that out!"
Stepping a pace to one side so he'd have room to fight, the former Mist-nin replied with some trash talk of his own. "Your history hiring nukenin and then disposing of them isn't unknown, it's true... You just never dared to reach as high as me. The only reason I accepted your offer in the first place... was that it seemed like it might be fun to kill your whole army when you tried the doublecross!"
Gatou's mocking sneer turned into a mask of rage, flushed red enough to make a try for the grimacing mask of a devil himself. "I'll show you that you can't just do as you please... Even one of the Mist's Seven Swords. You see... This ninja, has an even more legendary sword! Aoi! Kill these bastards and bring me their heads!"
At this, the leader of the cloaked squad looked up, face no longer hidden below the wide woven hat. His mouth was curled into a smile, but the cruel set of the blue-green eyes above was as cold and flat as the treacherous still water in the lee of an iceberg. "As you command, Gatou-san."
The direction of the voice was wrong, however, and even as the ninja reacted a hail of senbon flashed down out of the sky. Zabusa drew Kubikiri Houcho and blocked the path to his body with the width of its massive blade, whle Haku grabbed Rikou and jumped away. Gai pitched Tazuma clear before getting out from under the piercing metal rain himself. "A second genjutsu!?" he gasped, before forming a seal and producing a heavy chakra pulse to dispell the illusory reality. Slowed by the need to protect the client, he was unable to avoid one of the needles, and a thin line of blood welled from a scratch on his cheek.
Seeing this, the other members of his squad threw off their cloaks, revealing pale canvas body suits, rebreather masks, and Hidden Rain forehead protectors. They all also wore a bandage wrapped around their eyes, one with holes cut in it like a mask, another with just one, and the third obviously having some form of special vision as his was completely intact. "Unlucky," the two-eyes Rain-nin said, apparently the leader among the trio. "That was Aoi-sensei's 'Jou Rasenbou'... to only get one hit!"
Catching his bamboo umbrella and landing from the leap, the Rain jounin's smile grew wide and cruel. "True... but that is my special 'Toxic Rain' venom. No motter how big your body is, in just a few minutes it's quite fatal." Just to make the defending team's day complete, he was wearing a suit of heavy grey cloth crisscrossed by dark blue conduits that fed into a grapple launcher on one arm and a blue and white yin-yang on the opposite shoulder, a style that was all too familiar to Gai and Rikou.
---=- + -=---
As Lee and Naruto cleared the tree line, they could see several people standing on the deck around Tazuna's house. Two men with katana, Tsunami being chivvied along between them with her hands bound, and at the other end--
"HOLD IT!" Inari shouted, running out of the house. Ignoring the woman's terrified protests he screamed, "You... get away from my mom!" He bellowed wordlessly and charged.
"Geeze, stupid kid," the bare chested mercenary said, as the pair stepped forward to make room to swing their swords. "Makes me want to-"
"Cut him, right?" his partner asked sarcastically, freeing his own blade.
"Sure," the first replied, an evil glint in his one eye.
Frozen in place, Tsunami could only scream, "No... INARI!" unable to even turn her head as her little boy charged blindly into the two samurai's swings, the blades striking home with a meaty squelch.
It wasn't her only child that landed in three pieces on the wooden planks, however, but the boar, most of its blood already drained into the forest soil so it made relatively minimal mess.
"What...? The replaceent technique?" the mercenary with the crumpled hat gasped.
"Sorry about being late," Naruto apologised, as he sliced the rope around Tsunami's wrists. Eyes tearing up in relief, she sank to her knees and grabbed the blond in a crushing hug.
"...but heroes usually arrive at the last second," his team mate continued, setting Inari back on his feet beside the two. His mother switched for just a moment to the second genin before grabbing her son and cradling him in her arms.
"Lee..." the small boy said, wonderingly.
"Great job, Inari!" the bushy-browed genin told him, with a glinting smile and thumbs up. "Your springtime of youth has finally been reborn! Thanks to your distraction, we were able to save Tsunami-san."
"How touching," the one-eyed samurai sneered. "It looks like two of the loser-nin Tazuna hired came out." Resetting their stances, the two mercenaries charged in, easily dodging the pair of shuriken thrown by the two ninja. "As if that would work against us!" he taunted, just as the throwing stars turned into Naruto bunshin behind them. Two quick kicks later both of Gatou's men were unconscious.
"I'm so glad you came back," Tsunami gushed tearfully, "but... why did you bring the boar?"
Not sure himself, Naruto also looked curiously at Lee, who returned the woman's gaze seriously. "It was no extra trouble," he began, "and after seeing the condition of the village market, it seemed shameful to allow the meat to go to waste. But more importantly..." The Proud Green Beast shifted his attention to the boy still in his mother's arms. "Inari-san, I should not have spoken to you in such a harsh way, yesterday," he apologized. "Even the most youthful spirit can fall under the winter of circumstances, but with a passionate heart the explosion of spring will always return! Your youth is strong!"
Dazzled by the glint of sunlight from Lee's smile, the youngster just stared up at him for a few seconds, eyes shimmering, until tears began to cascade down his cheeks. "Oh... Lee!" he sniffled, shaking loose from his mother to grab the older boy's waist in a hug.
"Inari!" the genin responded while scruffling the boy's hair affectionately, his own tears once again flowing like waterfalls.
"Lee!"
"Inari!"
Naruto stood behind Tsunami with his hands on her shoulders, both also moved by the display of burning spirit.
A few soggy minutes later the three boys were inspecting the job Naruto's bunshin had done tying up the samurai, while Tsunami had retrieved her sharp kitchen knife to skin and quarter the animal carcass. "Well..." the blond said, after concluding that the massive bundle of ropes was probably overkill even if they'd been jounin, "If they attacked here, the bridge is proabbly also in danger." He looked over a shoulder at Inari and asked, "We can count on you here, right?" Seeing the boy's positive response, he and Lee began to head back toward the bridge. "It's hard work, being a hero," he remarked conversationally.
Lee simply nodded agreement with a grin, while Inari pumped a fist and called after them, "It sure is!" before throwing a thumbs up and a gleaming smile.
---=- + -=---
"Why did you save me?" Rikou's question was simple enough, even if the circumstances behind it were not. Sure, the Leaf group had coexisted with the two nuke=nin with only minor friction, but they'd also made the duo forfeit on a contract and casued them to split up training her team mates while she worked with the father, and it was obvious to see the only thing Haku wanted was to spend time with and be of use to Zabuza. Not to mention her own incredibly embarrassing introduction to the boy entirely - not to ever mention that, and hopefully to forget it as soon as possible.
The young hunter-nin's reply was equally simple, or equally complex. "Because you are precious to Zabuza-sama, you are also an important person," he explained. "But right now, I must attend to your honored father."
Indeed, the mighty Handsome Green Beast was wavering on his feet, virulent poison already taking effect. Haku snagged one of the needles out of the roadbed as he crossed to the side of the faltering man, lifting his mask to sniff the poison that coated it. Arriving just in time to catch the Leaf jounin as his knees collapsed, the teen set him gently on the surface of the bridge, then formed a few quick hand seals and created a dome of ice over their position to protect them while he tried to administer an antitoxin.
Tying a pair of kunai to the ends of her silk rope, Rikou stepped closer to her remaining comrade. "Be careful, Uncle Zabu," she warned. "That suit he's wearing, it's a special chakra armor, that amplifies his ninjutsu and provides a barrier to resist and reflect any attack. We faced them before that time in Kirika... Gai-sensei and Jiraya-sama had to take them on one on one that time, and use some of their best techniques."
Practically frothing at the mouth, Gatou shouted, "THAT WAS YOU BRATS!?" He threw his cigar on the ground and stomped on it in rage, then ordered, "AOI! I changed my mind! Don't kill that one, she's got a lot of 'working' to do to make up all the money she cost me! WELL!? DON'T JUST STAND THERE, GET THEM!"
The criminal boss fumed for a few more seconds, as nothing continued to happen, then looked around fearfully as he realised even the sound of waves and sea birds had faded away, and the omnipresent ocean wind had stilled. "What... what's going on?" he demanded, then stepped back in horror as his mercenary army turned to look at him, eyes milky white with death and maggots crawling through their rotting flesh. The trio of ninja at his side fell apart into piles of festering meat and skeletons, skeletons that grabbed him and held him fast with their cold, bony hands as the zombies circled around, moaning and reaching for him, bloated purple tongues trailing green filth as they licked at black lips, ever closer, yellowed teeth flashing in decaying gums as they leaned in and the jaws gaped wide...
Seeing his former employer look around, then collapse screaming and thrashing in terror and imagined pain, Zabusa snuck a glance over his shoulder at his scowling niece. "Genjutsu?" he asked, recieving a confirming nod. "Good girl. No one gets to make those kind of comments about you. Nothing to say about it?" he asked, full attention back on the still smiling Aoi.
"He's paying us," the Rain-nin replied, "but he needs to learn not to say such things to me as well. Still, I suppose it wouldn't be fair to leave her all alone while we play... You guys, get going," he ordered his team.
"We get one all to ourselves... Super lucky!" the leader said happily as all three formed a few seals, then announced, "Ninpo: Oboro Bunshin no jutsu!"
Three clouds appeared around each and took on their forms, then the whole group sprang into motion, advancing in a confusing pattern to make their opponent lose track of which were real or fakes.
Knowing she couldn't trust the enemy to ignore her client and focus on herself - that's why they were called 'the enemy' after all - Rikou quickly moved to cover Tazuna where the old workman was still sitting half-slumped over from being tossed out of the way of the poison needle attack. He'd avoided any serious injury but the landing had knocked the wind out of him, and he'd thumped the back of his head on the roadbed as well. She was just in time, a small spray of blood flying from the one-eyed rain-nin's arm as he lunged at the architect with a kunai.
He jumped back with a yelp, getting tagged twice more with the flying daggers on her cord before making it out of her range. A dozen other attacks as his team mates moved to cover the retreat passed harmlessly through the mist clones. Then it was her turn to yelp as a no-eyes she'd just attacked through after a strike to it directly had no effect seemed to stab her in the leg.
Whipping her flying daggers into a furious area-denial pattern around herself and Tazuna the girl tried to figure out the trick to the attack, without much luck. *I don't have time to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, and my weapon isn't well suited for close defense, espescially with a second person to protect. Also, this pattern takes too much stamina to maintain for long. This is... a bad situation,* she admitted to herself.
The crowd of illusory Rain-nin had pulled back, forming a loose circle around the pair and she withdrew her blades to grip them by the handles, a small flow of chakra making the cord coil itself neatly over each shoulder to be out of her way. Wairly she tested her leg, but it didn't seem significantly weakened and a quick glance at the wound revealed minimal bleeding. It was painful, of course, but working through pain was a familiar challenge by now. The trouble was that even minor wounds would add up quickly, and she couldn't see the enemy she'd bloodied anywhere in the ring of clones.
*The real enemies have to be hiding somehow, but then how are they atacking? That wasn't a thrown weapon, it was pulled out after the strike. Could they be using something like my own style, or chakra strings?* Her father had mentioned that the technique she used to control the motion of her cord with chakra was also used as a training excercise for the chakra string technique of advanced weapon masters and nin-puppeteers, but Rikou hadn't moved on to studying it herself yet. She eyed the circling opponents warily and prepared for the next attack.
Within the dome of ice, Haku worked quickly and calmy. Having been trained as a hunter-nin he was quite familiar with poisons of all types, even the more obscure kinds foreign to Hidden Mist, so once the components Aoi had used to make his 'Toxic Rain' were identified it was a simple matter to determine the antidotes to be administered. A wide-spectrum remedy slowed the effect long enough for him to combine half a dozen herbs and prepared medicines, and spoon the resulting mix into the pallid jounin's mouth.
Gai swallowed with a grimace and tried to roll to his feet, but was restrained by the teen's hand on his chest. "Please remain still for now, Gai-sama," he instructed, "The anti-toxin will require a few minutes to take full effect, and until then you could permanently damage your body with any exertion."
He pulled his mask back down over his face and formed a quick hand seal, gently assuring the older ninja, "I will assist Zabuza-sama and Rikou-sama while you recover." A thin, rectangular sheet of ice appeared behind the masked boy and he stepped backward, merging into it like the image in a mirror before fading away. Grimacing at the neccessity but knowing better than to disobey medical orders in battle, Konoha's Handsome Beast began counting heartbeats impatiently.
The staring match between Aoi and Zabuza had continued, punctuated by the obligatory trash talk. "So, the slime bag mentioned some legendary sword," the ex-Mist-nin rumbled. "So where is it? Oh, I know, it's Princess Soranaki Hasaki's 'Usuba Kusanoha no Parasol,' The famous stilletto from her failed assassination of the Lightning daimyo in Kuchiyura fifty one!"
Never very stable, the Rain jounin's pupils shrank into psychotic pinpricks as his temper flared. Growling and gnashing his teeth Aoi whipped the bamboo umbrella around and down in front of himself, releasing a punishing wave of chakra amplified by the Hidden Snow chakra armor recieveed from Gatou. The blast of force bowled Zabuza over and tossed him a good hundred feet back down the bridge before he could dig his sword into the deck and anchor himself.
(continued in part c)
---=- + -=---
Haku had slipped away when his watch was through, sent to retreive his and Zabuza's personal gear from the old Mist outpost they'd laired up in since Gatou was well aware of its location and it would be easier if they didn't face him. The shark's grin as the renegade jounin gave the instructions left little doubt as to who he meant it would be easier for, and given the man's status as a drug kingpin Gai was half tempted to argue for setting a trap there and letting the magnate fall into it.
Blood-thirstiness for its own sake was too alien to his mindset, however, and without at least the agreement of the local daimyo it would be possible for a man of such wealth to bribe his way out of legal trouble if captured. Beyond that, it was always unwise for a ninja to assassinate such an influential figure without even a mission contract to provide them with their village's and country's protection from reprisal.
In the end, the four Leaf-nin, two ex-Mist, and lone architect all retired to Tazuna's house, the arrival of two putative enemies with the group almost sending poor Tsunami into a faint. She'd been delivering lunches to the bridge crew when the missing nin appeared to make their first threats, and been frozen with the terror of their unleashed killing intent.
The next morning was calmer, Tsunami having resolved to face her father's guests like a proper hostess and the ninja having risen early for their usual training routines before breakfast, then gathering in the sitting room to discuss the situation. "Those Demon Brothers were the only other ninja Gatou had around here in the Wave," Zabuza told Gai. "With those two gone and our unique situation, it'll be at least a week before Gatou can get more, since none of the major villages will deal with him, even Mist... and from watching your kids this morning, the rest of his thugs combined would have only an even chance against any one of them."
The Leaf jounin gave a glinty smile at the recognition for his students' hot-blooded youthful power, but soon enough frowned as he considered matters. "The truth is, we have faced Gatou's men before," he admitted after a few seconds. "Within Fire Country he hides his hand behind proxies and gangs, but those Two Gees we became involved with six months ago were actually working for him."
Zabuza snorted in amuzement. "That was you guys? Hah! The shriveled bug was still bitching about that mess last week!"
"Zabuza-sama...?" Haku interjected.
"Don't concern yourself with the secrets of that money-grubbing swine, Haku... we're through with him," he told his apprentice. Facing Gai again he continued, "It was something about how it took this long to get anything out of the ruins of his operation, the money he lost with the smuggling ring broken up, and on top of that the daimyo rooting out his protection rackets and corrupt officials in the Kirika area. It had nothing to do with me, so I didn't care about the details."
Gai's moustache twitched as he thought everything over one more time, then he rose and favored the group with a Nice Guy Pose. "OKAY!" he enthused. "We have just one week to prepare for treacherous Gatou's new ninja, who are certain to be even more terribly strong. That means, everyone's training must go to one hundred percent! Today is Rikou's turn for one-on-one instruction, so Lee, Naruto, continue your usual solo drills. Naruto, go for it with that scroll Jiraya-sama left you about the use of your captured chakra weapon also!"
The tall, lithe girl gave the foxy boy's arm one last squeeze before disentangling herself and checking that her equipment was all present and secure, but before they could split up Tsunami cautiously poked her head into the room again. "Ah, excuse me, everyone," she said, keeping a wary eye on the eyebrowless nuke-nin. "I made some bento to take with you for the afternoon."
'Yeah, yeah!" Naruto enthused, hopping to his feet with his usual energy. "Tsunami-oneechan's lunches will power our training with her passionate, youthful spirit cooked into every bite!"
The twenty nine year old single mom blushed at the compliment, so obviously sincere despite its flowery language. "It's nothing like that, just some mochi and tempura fish," she demurred.
Knowing her team mates hearts (and occasional lapses in brains, at least when it came to explaining clearly) Rikou told the older woman, "It's not the materials you start with that matter, it's the effort put into their final form. Whether the result is a ball of rice, or a shinobi... the principle is the same. We'll make sure to work hard and become excellent ninja like your excellent food Tsunami-san. That's the meaning of our nindo!"
Zabuza caught Haku's eye with a 'can you believe this shit' glance, which was returned with an 'I can't beleive this shit either' shrug. He stifled a sigh but consoled himself that he might still have a chance at turning his niece into a more serious ninja... his sister had been fine until that mission to the Leaf, was the Maito power really -that- strong? A faint shudder rippled through his form involuntarily as he tuned back in to the conversation. Tsunami was getting redder and redder at being the center of attention, while Gai's mini-clone had just said something about doing one hundred push ups for each mochi in his bento to engrave their spirit on his muscles, which made no sense at all.
"Yeah, yeah! the blond Leaf-nin was shouting again. "We'll train with our full power to be ready in a week! Sounds like fun, dattebayo!"
The sound of the outside door sliding shut cut into the ongoing commotion as it was slammed against the frame. "'Fun',,, that's not it!" The boy who'd entered couldn't have been more than half Naruto's age, so small he had to climb on his hands and knees to get up the step from the entryway as he shed his sandals to come into the room.
Tazuna greeted him with a happy shout and wide arms, while Tsunami welcomed the distraction from well meant but embarrasingly overdone praise. "Inari, come greet these people properly," she scolded lightly. "They are ninja who protected Grandpa... and, er..." She trailed off uncertainly, remembering the two former Mist-nin, and was not at all reassured by the amused smirk when she glanced over a shoulder at the infamous swordsman.
Ignoring that, the little boy took only a short look before pointing and saying, "Mom, they're gonna die."
His finger happened to aim most closely for Lee, who gasped and clutched at his chest as if it had fired some deadly ninjutsu into him. "Such lack of spirit in one so young! Gai-sensei... this child... This poor child...!"
"You don't have to say it, Lee!" his sensei replied, laying a calming hand on the genin's shoulder. His eyes glistened sadly at the sight of such a tiny bud crushed before even reaching the blossom of spring.
"Oh, Gai-sensei!" Lee sobbed.
"I know, Lee!" The tears were begining to flow, now.
"SHUT UP YOU MORONS!" Inari yelled at them. "Shouting and crying like that... you act like you're younger than me! There's no way you can win againt Gatou. The weak just die, when someone strong appears!"
Shocked silence filled the room at his poutburst, until Zabuza spoke up. "Heh... you're right about one thing, brat. When faced with the strong, the weak die... the thing is, in this situation it's that sniveling worm Gatou who is weak!"
It was Inari's turn for a shocked silence, until a single tear forced its way out of his eye. "WHAT ARE YOU, STUPID!?" he yelled, throwing a lid of anger over his heart. "Do you think you're some kind of hero!? There's no such thing as heroes! Gatou has money, and a thousand men... if you don't want to die, you should just leave!" He was the one who turned and fled, however, pounding up the stairs to the bedrooms on the upper floor.
Everything was silent again for a few seconds... until Zabuza broke out in wild guffaws at the idea of being called a hero.
By the time his uncharacteristic mirth had faded the Leaf-nin had all left to do some more of their scarily intense training regimens. It had been seeing the routines they put themselves through just to start the day before breakfast that had finally convinced him that despite their bizarre attitudes his niece, brother in law, and the man's other students were, if not exactly ninja by his definition, still dangerously competent warriors. They were just genin, yet even the slowest still had a speed that could make even Haku take notice, and from their comments that was despite wearing weights.
Looking around as he regained his composure, Zabuza saw his apprentice sitting quietly, watching him with a smile and warm, shining eyes. "What is it?" he demanded gruffly.
The effeminate boy's smile widened further and his eyes curved into little arcs as he replied, "I'm glad to see Zabuza-sama so happy, to be united with family."
"I'd have thought you weren't much for the idea of family," the swordsman prodded.
Haku's smile wavered for a moment, but then he shook his head and replied, "If my family had been happy, I would not have met Zabuza-sama, but Zabuza-sama is the only family I need."
The jounin stared for a a full minute before stating, "That was really sappy. I'm going to leave now, before you start gushing about youth power."
It was the blond boy he was watching now, the team ninjutsu specialist if the fire-type seal combinations he'd been practising for speed were any guide. It was what else he was doing that was the amazing part - not because he was water walking, which any half-competent punk could manage if they tried, but that he was also using chakra to make a single leaf cling to each of his knees and elbows and over the symbol of his hitae-ate at the same time. It was like the other boy's marathon sessions of physical training and kata applied to chakra control... which made sense when he thought about it, at least as much as any of what these crazy Leaf-nin did.
After a while Naruto stopped the sealing practise and unslung the chakra channeling chopper board he'd taken as a prize on their first C-rank mission. Getting it to hover and let him ride around on it had been easy, figuring out how it had been used as a weapon in its folded form was less so. It did have a physical edge, after a fashion, but it wasn't really sharp at all, and the fact that at four and a half feet it was almost as long as he was tall and had only limited cutouts to grip by made it awkward.
Jiraya had given him a scroll listing some techniques the Toad Hermit knew for using similar weapons, but so far the only one he'd managed was to charge some chakra into it, letting the forged-in seals shape it into a strip of energy that ran along the blade and made it fiendishly sharp. Maintaining that chakra while doing anything else was harder, hence his extreme chakra control work, but worse than that was that he didn't really know any effective moves to use with a blade of that shape, and niether, it seemed, did anyone else in Konoha. He could flail around with it, and it was very handy for cutting through brush and gathering firewood, but without an effective style he wouldn't dare try to use the thing in a battle.
Of course, as any Maito or student of one could tell you, the key to excellence in anything was hard work, and Naruto was determined to become excellent in this as well, even if he had to make up a style from scratch.
So, Naruto worked hard. He'd trained his finger strength, until the single hand that would comfortably fit in the grip didn't threaten to have the heavy metal chopper fly out of it with every swing or impact. He trained his arms, so moving it rapidly around him no longer tired them out and left his joints aching after only an hour or two of practise. He even trained in quickly switching off from one to the other hand, since it had a grip on either end and working only on a 'strong side' meant leaving a 'weak side' to be exploited.
But... he still hadn't gotten very far in actually using the blade. He could slash with it, but he could tell they were awkward and weak. He could parry blows with it, but the rapid movement needed would often leave him off balance. The only thing he really felt confident he could do with it was blocking, because for that it was almost like using a jo stick, espescialy with the ability to use a two-handed grip on both ends and catch things in the middle - even better, in fact, since it had a notch to keep them from sliding off toward one or the other end.
It was this less than proficient display that finally drew the former Mist-nin from his hidden observation. "Get over here, runt," he ordered, "and drop the leaves, I don't have time for less than your full attention."
"EEEEH!? Zabuza-aniki! Where did you come from?"
"Don't call me 'brother,' pipsqueak, as far as you're concerned I'm 'Zabusa-san,' got it? I don't like you, I don't care about your nindo, and I expect you'll be killed from behind while ranting about the power of youth if your enemies aren't all laughing too hard to hold a kunai, but it offends me as a swordsman to see you swinging a blade around with no skill. So shut up and pay attention, because I'm going to teach you the Kiri no Tenken style, or as much of it as can be beaten into your thick head in seven days."
Speechless, Naruto could only look at the so called Devil of the Mist with shining eyes. Alas, the moment didn't last. "YEAH! YEAH! I'LL LEARN WHAT ZABUZA-ANIKI HAS TO TEACH ABOUT HUGE-ASS SWORDS WITH ALL THE SPIRIT OF MY YOUTH! FULL POWER, DATTEBAYO!!"
THere was a blur of speed, ending with Kubikiri Houcho striking a glancing blow off the boy's blond head. "I told you to shut up," the former Mist-nin said. He readjusted himself to hold the massive zanbatou with his hands low and the blade angled to one side in front of his body. "This is the first stance, a low guard. Without a long hilt to grip, just brace your second hand against the heel of your first. No, legs further apart, so you have a wide base for stability."
"In this position, the blade can be quickly slashed to either side or in front to feint or parry, turned sideways to block a straight thrust, or raised along its length to drop down in a powerful blow. The ideal strike begins with it held as far away from your body as possible and pulled inward just before the hit, to increase the speed as it rotates around your base. Do that now against your practise log, up and then down! Every blow is a killing blow with the Swords of Heaven, if that stump was a man you just cut him in half from one shoulder to the other hip. Now do it again, brat!"
---=- + -=---
The genin of Team Explosive Youth generally spent around fourteen hours a day in various forms of training, between the pre-breakfast warmup and spar, solo routines, one on one instruction or Self Rule augmented D-rank missions in the morning, group work in the afternoon, and an evening spar and cool down without their weights, to remain in practise moving with the altered balance in that condition. Part of their individual routines amd group work generally included long runs, during which they'd do anything they wanted in town, running in place as neccessary to talk with shopkeepers or friends. (Gai himself made use of advanced meditation techniques to reduce his need for sleep and train even more than that.)
During the 'safe' week they spent in Wave country, Naruto's routine was almost entirely taken over by Zabusa and sword work, keeping him so busy he barely had time or energy to hear about how Gai was doing with Rikou, or that Haku had by Gai's request and with his own sensei's assent begun speed drills with Lee. Overheard snatches of conversation gave him the idea that Wave was even poorer than the somewhat run down furnishings of Tazuna's home, one of the most prosperous in the area, would indicate, and that even with the ninja who'd appeared to threaten them now dead or on the side of the architect's protectors the work crew for the bridge kept shrinking day by day. Even so, there were only a the last span left to complete by the end of that time.
The demon vessel couldn't help but be concerned about Inari, as well, but Lee seemed to have made a goal of reigniting the fire of the younger boy's spirit, and Naruto had full confidence in the power of his freind's youth to acheive shining victory as a genius of hard work. The steadily increasing tension had apparently brought that situation to a head just after lunch on the last day of the week, but that day had been the blond's "final exam," a running battle of only speed and blades that had continued until he literally collapsed sometime after dark. He'd survived until sunset, though, so the former Mist jounin grudgingly gave him a passing mark, and even dragged the unconscious boy back to Tazuna's house instead of leaving him in the shady glen where he fell.
Lee had been brought back in only slightly better condition by Haku as well, the kind hearted boy having finally been wheedled into using his ultimate speed technique for the Proud Green Beast to test himself against. Haku had concocted a medicinal balm for the two Leaf genin's minor wounds, one that in Tazuna's words was "so smelly it had to be super effective."
Despite Gai's mania for physical conditioning, or perhaps because of it, he was well aware of the difference between the kind of exhaustion that just calls for a more gradual warm up the next day and the kind that requires extra recovery time, so by the time the two boys woke only Tsunami and Inari remained in the house.
They rushed out after hearing that Gai had left a message for them to meet him at the construction site, barely taking time to dress before bounding out the door. As they leapt between the trees, however, Naruto's nose twitched and he paused to look around, Lee coming to a stop on the next branch to see what had attracted the blond's attention. On the ground below they could see the signs of a quick struggle, and not far away the corpse of a boar covered in slashes from a sword or large knife. Foot prints led out of the bloody mud around it back the way they'd come.
A quick glance between the boys was all they needed to decide what to do, both nodding firmly before springing back toward the house to check on their plucky hostess and her son. Lee was a moment behind his team mate after a quick hop down to the ground and back.
---=- + -=---
Tazuna and the ninja had arrived at the bridge, Zabusa having tagged along to talk with his niece after spending most of his time the preceeding week beating the rudiments of swordsmanship into her team mate's head, and Haku because where the jounin went, he followed. They'd almost reached the unfinished end, Gai casting a surruptitious look at his brother in law which was returned with the most subtle of nods. Before either could act to dispel the genjutsu, however, it was dropped, revealing the five men who'd stuck with the work surrounded by at least ten times as many rough looking thugs. Leading his party, the architect staggered back half a step, incredulously shouting, "Wha- What is this!?"
A short, well dressed man with tiny round sunglasses, a permanent sneer and greying, wildly over-fluffed hair barked scorn filled laughter from beyond the mob, a quartet of figures in cloaks and wide straw hats at his side.
Cutting off his dark amusement, the man called out, "Zabuza you bastard! Do you know how much money you've cost me!? Hiring a full team from Hidden Rain just to punish you and do the job you were hired for... even a devil is supposed to keep a contract! Heheheh... Of course, you were never going to get paid as I said, only in the steel blades of my men; perhaps you figured that out!"
Stepping a pace to one side so he'd have room to fight, the former Mist-nin replied with some trash talk of his own. "Your history hiring nukenin and then disposing of them isn't unknown, it's true... You just never dared to reach as high as me. The only reason I accepted your offer in the first place... was that it seemed like it might be fun to kill your whole army when you tried the doublecross!"
Gatou's mocking sneer turned into a mask of rage, flushed red enough to make a try for the grimacing mask of a devil himself. "I'll show you that you can't just do as you please... Even one of the Mist's Seven Swords. You see... This ninja, has an even more legendary sword! Aoi! Kill these bastards and bring me their heads!"
At this, the leader of the cloaked squad looked up, face no longer hidden below the wide woven hat. His mouth was curled into a smile, but the cruel set of the blue-green eyes above was as cold and flat as the treacherous still water in the lee of an iceberg. "As you command, Gatou-san."
The direction of the voice was wrong, however, and even as the ninja reacted a hail of senbon flashed down out of the sky. Zabusa drew Kubikiri Houcho and blocked the path to his body with the width of its massive blade, whle Haku grabbed Rikou and jumped away. Gai pitched Tazuma clear before getting out from under the piercing metal rain himself. "A second genjutsu!?" he gasped, before forming a seal and producing a heavy chakra pulse to dispell the illusory reality. Slowed by the need to protect the client, he was unable to avoid one of the needles, and a thin line of blood welled from a scratch on his cheek.
Seeing this, the other members of his squad threw off their cloaks, revealing pale canvas body suits, rebreather masks, and Hidden Rain forehead protectors. They all also wore a bandage wrapped around their eyes, one with holes cut in it like a mask, another with just one, and the third obviously having some form of special vision as his was completely intact. "Unlucky," the two-eyes Rain-nin said, apparently the leader among the trio. "That was Aoi-sensei's 'Jou Rasenbou'... to only get one hit!"
Catching his bamboo umbrella and landing from the leap, the Rain jounin's smile grew wide and cruel. "True... but that is my special 'Toxic Rain' venom. No motter how big your body is, in just a few minutes it's quite fatal." Just to make the defending team's day complete, he was wearing a suit of heavy grey cloth crisscrossed by dark blue conduits that fed into a grapple launcher on one arm and a blue and white yin-yang on the opposite shoulder, a style that was all too familiar to Gai and Rikou.
---=- + -=---
As Lee and Naruto cleared the tree line, they could see several people standing on the deck around Tazuna's house. Two men with katana, Tsunami being chivvied along between them with her hands bound, and at the other end--
"HOLD IT!" Inari shouted, running out of the house. Ignoring the woman's terrified protests he screamed, "You... get away from my mom!" He bellowed wordlessly and charged.
"Geeze, stupid kid," the bare chested mercenary said, as the pair stepped forward to make room to swing their swords. "Makes me want to-"
"Cut him, right?" his partner asked sarcastically, freeing his own blade.
"Sure," the first replied, an evil glint in his one eye.
Frozen in place, Tsunami could only scream, "No... INARI!" unable to even turn her head as her little boy charged blindly into the two samurai's swings, the blades striking home with a meaty squelch.
It wasn't her only child that landed in three pieces on the wooden planks, however, but the boar, most of its blood already drained into the forest soil so it made relatively minimal mess.
"What...? The replaceent technique?" the mercenary with the crumpled hat gasped.
"Sorry about being late," Naruto apologised, as he sliced the rope around Tsunami's wrists. Eyes tearing up in relief, she sank to her knees and grabbed the blond in a crushing hug.
"...but heroes usually arrive at the last second," his team mate continued, setting Inari back on his feet beside the two. His mother switched for just a moment to the second genin before grabbing her son and cradling him in her arms.
"Lee..." the small boy said, wonderingly.
"Great job, Inari!" the bushy-browed genin told him, with a glinting smile and thumbs up. "Your springtime of youth has finally been reborn! Thanks to your distraction, we were able to save Tsunami-san."
"How touching," the one-eyed samurai sneered. "It looks like two of the loser-nin Tazuna hired came out." Resetting their stances, the two mercenaries charged in, easily dodging the pair of shuriken thrown by the two ninja. "As if that would work against us!" he taunted, just as the throwing stars turned into Naruto bunshin behind them. Two quick kicks later both of Gatou's men were unconscious.
"I'm so glad you came back," Tsunami gushed tearfully, "but... why did you bring the boar?"
Not sure himself, Naruto also looked curiously at Lee, who returned the woman's gaze seriously. "It was no extra trouble," he began, "and after seeing the condition of the village market, it seemed shameful to allow the meat to go to waste. But more importantly..." The Proud Green Beast shifted his attention to the boy still in his mother's arms. "Inari-san, I should not have spoken to you in such a harsh way, yesterday," he apologized. "Even the most youthful spirit can fall under the winter of circumstances, but with a passionate heart the explosion of spring will always return! Your youth is strong!"
Dazzled by the glint of sunlight from Lee's smile, the youngster just stared up at him for a few seconds, eyes shimmering, until tears began to cascade down his cheeks. "Oh... Lee!" he sniffled, shaking loose from his mother to grab the older boy's waist in a hug.
"Inari!" the genin responded while scruffling the boy's hair affectionately, his own tears once again flowing like waterfalls.
"Lee!"
"Inari!"
Naruto stood behind Tsunami with his hands on her shoulders, both also moved by the display of burning spirit.
A few soggy minutes later the three boys were inspecting the job Naruto's bunshin had done tying up the samurai, while Tsunami had retrieved her sharp kitchen knife to skin and quarter the animal carcass. "Well..." the blond said, after concluding that the massive bundle of ropes was probably overkill even if they'd been jounin, "If they attacked here, the bridge is proabbly also in danger." He looked over a shoulder at Inari and asked, "We can count on you here, right?" Seeing the boy's positive response, he and Lee began to head back toward the bridge. "It's hard work, being a hero," he remarked conversationally.
Lee simply nodded agreement with a grin, while Inari pumped a fist and called after them, "It sure is!" before throwing a thumbs up and a gleaming smile.
---=- + -=---
"Why did you save me?" Rikou's question was simple enough, even if the circumstances behind it were not. Sure, the Leaf group had coexisted with the two nuke=nin with only minor friction, but they'd also made the duo forfeit on a contract and casued them to split up training her team mates while she worked with the father, and it was obvious to see the only thing Haku wanted was to spend time with and be of use to Zabuza. Not to mention her own incredibly embarrassing introduction to the boy entirely - not to ever mention that, and hopefully to forget it as soon as possible.
The young hunter-nin's reply was equally simple, or equally complex. "Because you are precious to Zabuza-sama, you are also an important person," he explained. "But right now, I must attend to your honored father."
Indeed, the mighty Handsome Green Beast was wavering on his feet, virulent poison already taking effect. Haku snagged one of the needles out of the roadbed as he crossed to the side of the faltering man, lifting his mask to sniff the poison that coated it. Arriving just in time to catch the Leaf jounin as his knees collapsed, the teen set him gently on the surface of the bridge, then formed a few quick hand seals and created a dome of ice over their position to protect them while he tried to administer an antitoxin.
Tying a pair of kunai to the ends of her silk rope, Rikou stepped closer to her remaining comrade. "Be careful, Uncle Zabu," she warned. "That suit he's wearing, it's a special chakra armor, that amplifies his ninjutsu and provides a barrier to resist and reflect any attack. We faced them before that time in Kirika... Gai-sensei and Jiraya-sama had to take them on one on one that time, and use some of their best techniques."
Practically frothing at the mouth, Gatou shouted, "THAT WAS YOU BRATS!?" He threw his cigar on the ground and stomped on it in rage, then ordered, "AOI! I changed my mind! Don't kill that one, she's got a lot of 'working' to do to make up all the money she cost me! WELL!? DON'T JUST STAND THERE, GET THEM!"
The criminal boss fumed for a few more seconds, as nothing continued to happen, then looked around fearfully as he realised even the sound of waves and sea birds had faded away, and the omnipresent ocean wind had stilled. "What... what's going on?" he demanded, then stepped back in horror as his mercenary army turned to look at him, eyes milky white with death and maggots crawling through their rotting flesh. The trio of ninja at his side fell apart into piles of festering meat and skeletons, skeletons that grabbed him and held him fast with their cold, bony hands as the zombies circled around, moaning and reaching for him, bloated purple tongues trailing green filth as they licked at black lips, ever closer, yellowed teeth flashing in decaying gums as they leaned in and the jaws gaped wide...
Seeing his former employer look around, then collapse screaming and thrashing in terror and imagined pain, Zabusa snuck a glance over his shoulder at his scowling niece. "Genjutsu?" he asked, recieving a confirming nod. "Good girl. No one gets to make those kind of comments about you. Nothing to say about it?" he asked, full attention back on the still smiling Aoi.
"He's paying us," the Rain-nin replied, "but he needs to learn not to say such things to me as well. Still, I suppose it wouldn't be fair to leave her all alone while we play... You guys, get going," he ordered his team.
"We get one all to ourselves... Super lucky!" the leader said happily as all three formed a few seals, then announced, "Ninpo: Oboro Bunshin no jutsu!"
Three clouds appeared around each and took on their forms, then the whole group sprang into motion, advancing in a confusing pattern to make their opponent lose track of which were real or fakes.
Knowing she couldn't trust the enemy to ignore her client and focus on herself - that's why they were called 'the enemy' after all - Rikou quickly moved to cover Tazuna where the old workman was still sitting half-slumped over from being tossed out of the way of the poison needle attack. He'd avoided any serious injury but the landing had knocked the wind out of him, and he'd thumped the back of his head on the roadbed as well. She was just in time, a small spray of blood flying from the one-eyed rain-nin's arm as he lunged at the architect with a kunai.
He jumped back with a yelp, getting tagged twice more with the flying daggers on her cord before making it out of her range. A dozen other attacks as his team mates moved to cover the retreat passed harmlessly through the mist clones. Then it was her turn to yelp as a no-eyes she'd just attacked through after a strike to it directly had no effect seemed to stab her in the leg.
Whipping her flying daggers into a furious area-denial pattern around herself and Tazuna the girl tried to figure out the trick to the attack, without much luck. *I don't have time to use ninjutsu or genjutsu, and my weapon isn't well suited for close defense, espescially with a second person to protect. Also, this pattern takes too much stamina to maintain for long. This is... a bad situation,* she admitted to herself.
The crowd of illusory Rain-nin had pulled back, forming a loose circle around the pair and she withdrew her blades to grip them by the handles, a small flow of chakra making the cord coil itself neatly over each shoulder to be out of her way. Wairly she tested her leg, but it didn't seem significantly weakened and a quick glance at the wound revealed minimal bleeding. It was painful, of course, but working through pain was a familiar challenge by now. The trouble was that even minor wounds would add up quickly, and she couldn't see the enemy she'd bloodied anywhere in the ring of clones.
*The real enemies have to be hiding somehow, but then how are they atacking? That wasn't a thrown weapon, it was pulled out after the strike. Could they be using something like my own style, or chakra strings?* Her father had mentioned that the technique she used to control the motion of her cord with chakra was also used as a training excercise for the chakra string technique of advanced weapon masters and nin-puppeteers, but Rikou hadn't moved on to studying it herself yet. She eyed the circling opponents warily and prepared for the next attack.
Within the dome of ice, Haku worked quickly and calmy. Having been trained as a hunter-nin he was quite familiar with poisons of all types, even the more obscure kinds foreign to Hidden Mist, so once the components Aoi had used to make his 'Toxic Rain' were identified it was a simple matter to determine the antidotes to be administered. A wide-spectrum remedy slowed the effect long enough for him to combine half a dozen herbs and prepared medicines, and spoon the resulting mix into the pallid jounin's mouth.
Gai swallowed with a grimace and tried to roll to his feet, but was restrained by the teen's hand on his chest. "Please remain still for now, Gai-sama," he instructed, "The anti-toxin will require a few minutes to take full effect, and until then you could permanently damage your body with any exertion."
He pulled his mask back down over his face and formed a quick hand seal, gently assuring the older ninja, "I will assist Zabuza-sama and Rikou-sama while you recover." A thin, rectangular sheet of ice appeared behind the masked boy and he stepped backward, merging into it like the image in a mirror before fading away. Grimacing at the neccessity but knowing better than to disobey medical orders in battle, Konoha's Handsome Beast began counting heartbeats impatiently.
The staring match between Aoi and Zabuza had continued, punctuated by the obligatory trash talk. "So, the slime bag mentioned some legendary sword," the ex-Mist-nin rumbled. "So where is it? Oh, I know, it's Princess Soranaki Hasaki's 'Usuba Kusanoha no Parasol,' The famous stilletto from her failed assassination of the Lightning daimyo in Kuchiyura fifty one!"
Never very stable, the Rain jounin's pupils shrank into psychotic pinpricks as his temper flared. Growling and gnashing his teeth Aoi whipped the bamboo umbrella around and down in front of himself, releasing a punishing wave of chakra amplified by the Hidden Snow chakra armor recieveed from Gatou. The blast of force bowled Zabuza over and tossed him a good hundred feet back down the bridge before he could dig his sword into the deck and anchor himself.
(continued in part c)