Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Rubies & Sapphires ❯ Formation of Team Eight and Mission to the Wave ( Chapter 2 )

 

Back in the Present:

 

Naruto shook his hand and winced slightly at the pressure. Despite both Lee and Gai's passionate talks of the 'flames of youth', crying, group hugs and the strange Genjutsu that usually manifested in the form of something that would usually be equated to a romantic scene, such as waves crashing against a rock in the afternoon sunset, that even with the help of Kurenai's training in Genjutsu, Naruto still couldn't figure out how it worked, both of them were actually quite acomplished fighters and excellent Taijutsu sparing partners. Soon enough, Naruto had become friends with the girl, who identified herself as Tenten, and even managed to eventually get under Neji's cool exterior to an extent. Today, Gai was teaching them about opening the Celestial Gates, and a move that can only be used by opening them. After the theory, as well as some tips from both Naruto and Gai, everyone tried. Even though the group knew that Lee had no chakra, he had a suprising nack for opening gates, as did Naruto. Naruto was puzzeled as to why Neji could not open them, considering his clan relied on total control of their chakra, but proceeded to open the first gate. Once he closed it, Gai showed them the move, which shocked even Naruto. The move was a highly destructive, self damaging move, but if you managed to get the enemy with it, they were pretty much garunteed death. Gai gave Naruto two rolls of specially modified medical tape, insisting that he use them to assist with the move. Naruto found that he could control the movement of this medical tape with chakra. Naruto and Lee both undid part of the medical tape around their forearms and aimed for their individual 'targets' which happened to be two rather large logs. Once they opened the first gate, the dissapeared, reappearing inside what would be considered the enemy's guard, giving a savage kick to the log, making it fly into the air. One of the things Naruto, Neji and Gai noticed was that when Lee opened a gate was that his body somehow produced chakra while the gate was open. Using this, both boys controlled the medical tape to wrap around the logs, adding an extremely fast rotation to add extra damage to the impact, slamming the logs into the ground.

 

“Omote Renge!”

 

Both boys fell back, panting from the strain on their bodies as they heard the logs crack and split in half, much to Neji and Tenten's amazement. Lee, having boundless energy, jumped up, cheering and shouting while Naruto just shook his head, trying to get over the pain his body was feeling.

 

“Stamina freak...”

 

Lee smiled, giving him a 'Nice Guy Pose' and Naruto shuddered as he saw Lee's teeth sparkle. After training with the three for the day, Naruto went home, silently dreading whatever foolish mission they would get tomorrow.

 

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Next Morning, Midday:

 

After a 30 minute meeting, Kurenai had taken the team to recive their mission, much to the chargrin of the team, it was time to find that dreaded cat, Tora again. Naruto just barely supressed a groan. This was the FOURTH time this week alone they had to retrieve the Daimyo's Wife's damn cat. Naruto seriously wish he could just kick the cat clear into the middle of next week so as to avoid it for at least one week. When they had caught it, the cat attempted to scratch Naruto until he directed a non too small amount of chakra infused hatred at the cat, who quietend down immediately. Shikamaru had sighed.

 

“Mendokuse...”

 

When they reported their success to mision command and handed over the offending kiten to the Daimyo's wife, she started violently squeezing the cat against her face. Chouji smiled as he put more chips into his mouth.

 

“No wonder it runs away so often...”

 

Naruto was chanting a mantra to himself, which the others heard.

 

“Hug it harder. Hug it harder. Hug it harder.”

 

Both boys smirked and Kurenai chuckled. The woman left the payment for the Hokage and left the room with a very distressed cat. The Hokage smiled at them.

 

“Team, 8. Your missions for today include babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in a nearby town, diging up the potatoes-”

 

Naruto sighed and shook his head before speaking the other three's opinions.

 

“Old man, do you realise the content of the missions you're giving us? I really don't see how these could be classified as 'missions' for ninja. These are tasks that should be deligated to regular civilians. A ninja is supposed to handle his inventory carefully, not squander it on things that they could be used for something that would better suit their purpose.”

 

Iruka was going to shout out at Naruto, but his logic was sound. There really was no answer to Naruto's request other than to admit that he was right. The Hokage sighed and took a puff of his pipe, reaching into the stack of paper marked 'C'. He handed a scroll to Kurenai, giving them a breif summary of the mission.

 

“The Wave Country has sent a person to request protection from thugs and bandits as he completes the bridge he is working on. You can come in now.”

 

The door opened, and the team turned to see a thickset man most liekly in his fifties. His skin was very tanned, indicating he worked outside most of his life. He reeked of alcohol and the bottle of sake in his hand proved it. He took another swig as he looked over the people that were assigned to protect him.

 

“What's the idea of giving me three runts for protection? Are you sure they can do it? The blonde looks super stupid.”

 

Naruto smiled lazily as he looked at the man.

 

“You know, understimating a person is a grave mistake that will you usually won't live to regret.”

 

The old man stopped drinking a grin spreading over his face.

 

“I like you kid. I was half expecting you to lose your cool. Sorry about that.”

 

Naruto waved his hand dismissively.

 

“No harm done. We'll protect you until you complete the bridge.”

 

The man nodded as he thanked the Hokage and led them to the front of the Hokage Tower. Kurenai looked at each of them.

 

“We're leaving in half an hour from the South Gate. Prepare yourselves for a several week mission. Go!”

 

The three split, while Kurenai nodded at Tazuna, 'poof'ing away to get her own things, leaving the man to walk towards the South Gate by himself.

 

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Half an Hour Later:

 

The three boys met up within a minute of each other, seeing Tazuna already there. As the designated half hour expired, Kurenai appeared and the team walked out of the gates towards their destination. Naruto immediately struck up a conversation with Tazuna about the project he was the head of. Tazuna had carefully prepared a story that would leave out any details hinting this mission was anything more than a C class. Naruto smiled when he felt a Genjutsu and looked to see a puddle on the ground. All four ninjas noticed that it was off. It hadn't rained in weeks, and the weather since it last rained had been very sunny with few clouds. They kept walking and both Naruto and Kurenai felt the Genjutsu dispell and two ninjas charge at them. Naruto flicked his trusty knuckleduster blades onto his hands from their hidden pouches in his sleaves and activated the chakra knives. Kurenai smiled at the team.

 

“Go for it.”

 

Tazuna looked up to see two ninjas wearing face masks, cloaks and a gauntlet on opposing arms that were connected via a chain with their eyes right on him. Shikamaru jumped in front of Tazuna, extending his Kagemane to catch the two Chunin level ninja unaware. Naruto charged forwards, slicing the chain connecting the ninja in half while Chouji used his combo to turn into a ball of meat while he began rolling towards them.

 

“Roll, roll, roll, roll, roll!”

 

The ninja looked at Chouji with a look of surpise, fear and a hint of total confusion. Just as Chouji was about to impact them, Shikamaru let go of the Kagemane to insure he didn't recive friendly fire. Chouji squashed the two ninja and came to a stop. Naruto looked at the two ninja who had stars in their eyes. Naruto took out some Ninja wire from his pack, dragging the pair to a tree and tieing them to it. Tazuna looked at the three young ninjas in suprise. No wonder the Hokage had assigned this team to him. These guys were good. Naruto slapped the ninja awake to start questioning them. After he thought he'd gotten all of the info out of them he could, which was very little, he used a Genjutsu to knowch them unconcious for quite some time. Naruto turned to check that his team mates and Sensei were uninjured, and they all turned to Tazuna. Naruto spoke for them.

 

“We really don't mind taking on enemy ninja, but it's not a good idea to hide that info. Judging by the description you gave us of the Wave Country, I can understand the problem with the payment needed for a 'B' or an 'A' rank mission, but if you had told the Hokage of your circumstances, I'm sure you could have come to some agreement.”

 

Tazuna sighed. The boy was smart, no doubt about it. He looked up with a fake smile.

 

“Sorry about that. So, will you still continue the mission?”

 

They all looked to Kurenai who just shrugged.

 

“I may be their Sensei, but if they don't want to, I can't force them.”

 

Tazuna looked at each of them before Naruto's eyes crinkled into a lazy smile.

 

“Not doing something that you know is right is the coward's way. We all want to continue.”

 

Tazuna looked genuinely happy as he led them further down the road towards the Wave.

 

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Several Hours Later:

 

Tazuna had led them to a boat where another man in a coolie hat was waiting. The man nodded to Tazuna, and when Tazuna introduced the four Konoha ninjas as 'super powerful kids', the man smiled and bowed, introducing himself as Kaji. Once everyone was onboard, Kaji started the motor and they made their way upriver into a thick mist. At an apparently random point, Kaji cute the engine, stating that Gato's men regularly patrolled this area, asking them to keep it down as he brought out an pole and began pushing the boat the last leg of the journey. Soome enough, the silloutte of the bridge came into view. Shikamaru studied it in a calculative fashion, as did Naruto and Kurenai. Chouji looked at it in awe.

 

“That's a large bridge.”

 

Tazuna smiled, keeping his voice low like Chouji had.

 

“Yeah, that's the super bridge I'm building. Once it's completed, the Wave Country will return to it's state of prosperity.”

 

Naruto nodded as they passed under the bridge and arrvied at the shore. They got out and Kaji nodded to them.

 

“This is as far as I can go without being caught. Good luck.”

 

Tazuna nodded.

 

“Take care, friend.”

 

Kaji nodded and began rowing back the way he had come while the others continued on towards the Wave. After several hours of walking, both Naruto and Kurenai stiffened slightly and Naruto hurled a kunai into a bush. After whatever was in there stopped moving, Naruto went to check what the person wanted. When he cleared the bush, he saw a snow white rabbit looking at him glassy eyes. Tazuna raised an eyebrow, but Naruto knew there wa something off. Rabbits that were this coulour only came from one country, and Wave wasn't it. Naruto felt his danger sense tingling and he jumped to the ground, as did Kurenai and Chouji, while Shikamaru took Tazuna down just in time to avoid having their heads spearated from their bodies.

 

The massive sword imbedded itself into a tree and a figure appeared on the hilt, staring at them over his shoulder. Everyone recovered and looked at the man. Kurenai's eyes narrowed at the man.

 

“Momochi Zabuza, 'S' class Nukenin, former member of the Seven Shinobi Swordsmen. This is the last place I expected to run into you.”

 

Zabuza 'hmph'ed and turned around fully, focusing on Kurenai.

 

“Yuuhi Kurenai, Genjutsu Mistress of Konoha, 'A' Rank. I see you've brought some brats with you. How long do you think they'll last?”

 

Kurenai raised an eyebrow.

 

“Longer than you think.”

 

Zabuza raised an eyebrow, that is, if he had one. Instead, the skin where his eyebrow would be just lifted.

 

“You seem to have a lot of confidence in these kids.”

 

Kurenai smiled coldy at Zabuza.

 

“I do, especially since I've trained them.”

 

Zabuza laughed mirthlessly as he yanked the sword out of the three and landed, forming a single hand seal.”

 

“Kiri Gakure no Jutsu.”

 

The light mist around them rapidly intensified into a severe fog, making them incapeable of seeing more than 2 meters in any direction. A disembodied voice floated out from all around them.

 

“8 Points.”

 

Shikamaru and Chouji raised an eyebrow. Naruto smiled.

 

“Silent killing. He's going for the 8 vital points of the human body.”

 

There was laughter from all around them.

 

“You know your stuff kid. Mind telling me what those points are?”

 

Naruto's eyes crinkled up as he recited them.

 

“Liver, Lungs, Spine, Clavical Vein, Jugular Vein, Brain, Kidneys, Heart.”

 

There was more laughter before Naruto felt Zabuza appear right in the middle of there group.

 

“Exactly. Let's see how many I can get on one swipe.”

 

Naruto flashed forward, shoving a Kunai into Zabuza's stomach only to see the wound drip water, and not blood. Naruto cursed his luck.

 

“Mizu Bunshin...”

 

Sure enough, the Bunshin turned to water and splattered onto the ground. Naruto felt another presence behind him. This one was just as weak as the last, so Naruto prepared his plan.

 

“You're not bad for a runt. However, this is where you die.”

 

Zabuza cleaved Naruto, only to find he puffed into smoke.

 

“Kage Bunshin?”

 

Naruto appeared behind Zabuza again, one of Naruto's chakra knives held to his neck.

 

“Yeah. I would have though a Jounin would never have underestimated an opponent. After all, there are kids my age that are stronger than I am.”

 

Naruto was awear of another Zabuza behind him. This one was also a clone, but he felt the real deal appear behind Kurenai. Naruto stood stock still. No matter what he did now, it was highly likely that one of the group would die. Naruto should have seen this coming.

 

“So, you sacrificed pawns until you got me into a false sense of security, and then cornered the queen with yours. I should have seen that.”

 

Zabuza smirked again.

 

“So you play Shougi. Well, you realise without your 'queen', you're stuffed right?”

 

Naruto sighed, slowly taking his knife back from in front of him. Zabuza smirked and gave Kurenai a savage kick to the back, sending her flying into the water. Naruto used both knives to inflict a wound deep enough on the clones to destroy both of them before looking at Kurenai.

 

“Kurenai-Sensei!”

 

Kurenai got to the surface of the water only to see Zabuza wizz behind her and form several seals, trapping her in a prison of water. He looked back at them.

 

“Check mate. Hand over the old man.”

 

Naruto, Chouji and Shikamaru got to their feet. Kurenai looked at them.

 

“The three of you, get out of here! Naruto, I may have trianed you for seven years, but you're still no match for him! Take Tazuna and run!”

 

Naruto sighed.

 

“The second you were captured, we lost that option. If we ran, Zabuza would kill you and then pick us off at his leasure.”

 

Both Chouji and Shikamaru nodded in agrement. Zabuza formed about 10 Mizu Bunshins and sent them to stand around the four of them. Shikamaru bent down and formed his 'thinking' pose. Naruto and Chouji smiled. Whenever Shikamaru formed that pose, he was coming up with a stratergy. After about one minute, Shikamaru opened his eyes and put his hands by his side.

 

“Naruto, I need you to take care of the queen. I'll hold off the pawns with Chouji until you deal with him.”

 

Naruto nodded and readied himself as Shikamaru pulled out 10 kunai, while Chouji prepared to do an old trick. Shikamaru launched the kunai at the clones, who dodged with ease. Chouji focused his chakra to his arms.

 

“Bubun Baika no Jutsu!”

 

Chouji's arms grew massively disproportionate to his body size, and he brought both hands in a swipeing motion, knocking the Zabuza clones back to their original positions where Shikamaru captured them with his clan jutsu that he had extended towards their origianl positions after throwing the kunai.

 

“Kagemane no Jutsu... Seiko.”

 

By now, Naruto had long dissapeared ftom his teammate's position and Zabuza felt the boy's presence behind him, running along the top of the water with chakra knives activated. Zabuza smirked and used his free hand to swipe at the boy, who brought the knives up into a defensive position much like a boxer would. After dodging several swipes, Naruto brought the two knives together and captured the sword in between them. Even though Zabuza was using one hand, Naruto was struggling to keep the blade from cleaving him in half. Naruto started trying to push the blade back before he kicked water up into Zabuza's face, making him shut his eyes out of instinct. The split second was all Naruto needed as he dislodged Zabuza's sword from the deadlock and let gravity do it's work. Zabuza was still putting a heavy amount of pressure on the sword, and when he felt the resistance dissapear, he stumbled slightly, but not enough to break the prison. Naruto took care of that by reappearing behind Zabuza, giving him a boot to the small of the back. Zabuza stumbled and pulled his hand free of the prison, therby breaking the jutsu, releasing Kurenai. He looked up at Naruto with a wicked glint in his eyes.

 

“You're good kid. To be able to take me on in armed Taijutsu, even if I only had one hand free and live without a scratch proves that you're good. No wonder your Sensei has faith in you.”

 

Naruto smiled lazily at him distancing himself from Zabuza. Kurenai joined him and they both stared at Zabuza, who stared right back. They both waited for the other to make the first move. Finally, as the splash of water hit the ground that indicated Zabuza's clones had been defeated, the real one started forming hand seals. Naruto instantly recognised the jutsu as one he had seen Kakashi perform not too long ago. However, he still did not know how to perform it, sho he used a separate jutsu.

 

“Suiton: Suiyuudan no Jutsu!”

 

“Katon: Karyuu Endan no Jutsu!”

 

Kurenai had also performed a Genjutsu, making her dissapear from the naked eye, leaving the two jutsus to take form and collide. The dragon of water headed straight for the dragon of fire, creating a huge explosion of steam and super heated particles of water. Kurenai had used this time to reappear behind Zabuza with a kunai to his neck.

 

“It's over Zabuza. Check mate.”

 

Zabuza started to relax, knowing he had lost when he felt two senbon needles peirce his neck, and he dropped to the ground, or in this case, the surface of the water and began sinking until a young child with a mask, signifying he was either an ANBU or Hunter nin appeared, pulling Zabuza's body out of the water.

 

“Indeed it is checkmate. I have been hunting Zabuza for several months now. He had proven illusive. Thank you for your assistance.”

 

Kurenai nodded slowly as the boy put the body over his shoulder. Naruto raised a lazy eyebrow.

 

“So, you going to get rid of the body? I can see it would be hard to do on water, but why not do it over there where my friends are?”

 

Naruto motioned over to Chouji, Shikamaru and Tazuna. The hunter nin looked there and then gave a slight shurg, dissapearing. Naruto cursed. The boy had left the area.

 

“Great. The boy took Zabuza somewhere else. I get the feeling that he wasn't what he claimed he was.”

 

Kurenai nodded as they went back to shore, heading the last part of the way to the main village of the Wave.

 

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