Capítulo 12: Start of the showdown
(Five days later)
A new day arises as builders and Tazuna worked together to build the bridge in order to save their country from Gato's oppression. They worked hard and fast to build this bridge as Tazuna is seen sweating
We see Naruto standing guard while Tazuna is working. His face is devoid of emotion and full of focus, scanning his surroundings making sure nothing suspicious or someone dangerous approaching, resting his hand on his katana tied to his waist but ready for action
"You sure take your job seriously kid..." His attention went to Tazuna who has a steel beam on his shoulder as he starts talking to him
"Well it's my turn to guard you Tazuna-san. The others are training" Naruto replied
"Hmm, I see" Tazuna nodded as he focus back on the task at hand
"Hey... Tazuna!" A worker approached and called him out
"Hmm? What is it Gichi?" He asked while wiping his sweat
"I've been doing a lot of thinking recently and... Can I stop working on the bridge?" The man said
Tazuna shocked and asked "What?! No..not you too!"
"Tazuna, we've been closed for a long time now. I want to help you, but if we continue this Gato will start to notice us. And if you get killed, then what's the point of all this?"
Tazuna still stunned and was unable to answer to his friend, he continued
"Why don't we quit now, stop building this bridge while we still have the chance..." He said trying to convince Tazuna to stop working
Naruto stood silently and watched from the sidelines, not getting himself involved in this
"I can't do that" said Tazuna
"This is our bridge. This is the bridge we all worked together in order to save our country..."
"But.. Tazuna! If we lose our lives.."
"Lets stop for now, it's already noon" he said
"It's all right Gichi, I understand. You don't have to come tomorrow" he said to his friend as he packs up
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Time passed as dusk appeared, Naruto and Tazuna are seen strolling through town. Naruto saw the state of the place, he saw people struggling to make a living, seeing someone with a sign saying "Will take any job", a kid running away as he stole from someone, and children laying on the street
Naruto, seeing this aches his heart as he too suffered the same. Seeing someone scavenging for food, just for scraps to relieve their hunger, wearing those rag-like clothes, it pains him to see other people suffering like this
"Come on, we're gonna buy ingredients for dinner on the way home..." Tazuna said
They reached a grocery store and entered. The clerk welcomes them but not in a lively way. Naruto looked around the place and muttered
"There's hardly anything here to buy" he scanned the aisles and saw few pieces of carrots, a single potato, a few almost rotten tomatoes, cabbages that are missing a few leaves, and some celery
After purchasing the necessary ingredients, they embarked on the way home. Naruto suddenly stopped as he felt someone tugging his haori. He looked down as he saw a little girl with messy brown hair, innocently looks at him with a bit of dirt on her face and clothes
She smiled and asked "Can I have some" as she held her hands asking for food
The scene tugged Naruto's heart as he remembers he used to do this to people back in the village but was always harshly refused. He kneels and without a word gives her a few untouched onigiri as he smiles at her
(He brought a bag with him and brought food for himself, just in case he feels hungry)
The little girls eyes brightened as she was given food. "Thank you!" She thanks him, as she runs happily
Tazuna sees this smile warmly to Naruto "That was a good deed you did there kid..." The smile faded as he continued "This is how it's been since Gato showed up. Here, all adults have turned to cowards" he said
"That's why this bridge has to be built. As a symbol of bravery. In order to restore their spirit, so they don't keep running away...for the people of this island. Once the bridge is complete, things will go back to the way it is" Tazuna said with a hardened resolve in his eyes and a clenched fist
Naruto listens and thinks about Tazuna's words. He glanced at where the little girl ran off and thought
'How... can I help them?'
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Night time has arrived, Team 7 and Tazuna's family sat on the table as Tsunami gave them their meal. Tazuna scratched the back of his neck and said
"Man...this is really fun! Been a while since we had so many people eating together" he said joyfully
Sasuke eats at a fast pace while the others are eating at normal speed, Sakura and Naruto looked at him while Kakashi is just minding his business
"Sasuke slow down, you'll barf if you eat too fast" said Naruto, watching him as he ate
Sasuke ignoring his warnings and finished his portion and raises his bowl to Tsunami
"Seconds please!" Asking for more, he suddenly starts choking and felt his food climbing out of his stomach
"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura seeing this gently pats his back
Sasuke softly pats his chest, notices a cup of water brought to him, and glances at Naruto, whose face screams "you're an idiot". He was annoyed by Naruto's face, but he didn't do anything, just mumbled "thanks" and drank the water
"Chew your food and eat slowly, idiot..." Said Naruto, still deadpan at him
Sasuke just glared at him and he continued to eat at a slow pace, not risking to choke again
Kakashi observes his genin and nodded his head
After they finished their meal, they sat and just enjoyed the tea they were given. Sakura stands up and notices a photo hanging on the wall to her left. She walks up and looks at it. A picture of Tazuna, Tsunami, and her son Inari. But she noticed that a portion at the right side of the picture was torn
"Excuse me Tsunami-san, can I ask why do you have a torn picture on the wall" Sakura asked her
"Inari-kun was staring at this during dinner. It's like someone purposely removed the person that was in photo"
Sakura asked, received saddened looks from the family. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke didn't say anything and just watched. After a few seconds, Tsunami answers in a sad and hurt voice
"I..it's my husband..."
"And...the man called the hero of the city" Tazuna sorrowfully said
Inari suddenly gets off the chair and walks off heading straight to his room, not in the mood to listen to them
"Inari, where are you going?!" Tsunami asked. Her son didn't say anything back and just entered his room, slamming the door shut
"Inari!!" She called out to him again but no reply
She turns to face her father and angrily said "Father!! I've told you to not talk about that man infront of Inari!!" After saying that, she went to her room and closed the door shut
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I'm sorry Tazuna-san, I didn't mean to..." Sakura started to apologise but Tazuna waived her saying it ok
"It's all right pinkie, you were just curious..." He said
He starts explaining about how Inari met his father, not biological but very close. He explained how Inari would laugh and smile back then, but those smiles and laughs faded as he watched his father executed by Gato, how he promised Inari he would protect the city with his two arms, but that promise broke when he died causing Inari to change. Tazuna explained all of it as tears fell from his eyes, he went silent and wept as he removed his glasses to try to stop the tears from falling. Team 7 didn't say anything as they listened to Tazuna. Naruto after hearing this stood up, gaining the attention of others
"Kakashi-sensei, I'm gonna train for a bit..." He said smiling at Kakashi, who looks at Naruto for a bit and just nodded, understanding why
"Thank you for the tea, Tazuna-san" he thank him and went outside
Sakura and Sasuke looks at Kakashi, confused. The silver haired Jonin just smiled at them, furthering their confusions
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(Timeskip, brought to you by sleepy nezuko)
It was early in the morning, around 7:00 am, as we saw a fatigued Naruto leaning his back on a tree. Panting, and sweating like crazy from the training he was doing, he sighed
'i just levelled up by one. Things are getting harder than I thought' he looks at the panel that was Infront of him
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|Status|
Name: Naruto Uzumaki
Age: 12
Level: 33
|Attributes|
Strength:high chunnin
Chakra:high jonin (Uzumaki heritage)
Chakra control: high
|Skills|
Ninjutsu:
(Shadow clone)
Wind: (Great Breakthrough)(Violent Whirlwind)(Vacuum Sphere)
Earth: (Mud Wall)(Hiding like a mole)
Lightning: (lightning style: shadow clone)
Genjutsu: none
Taijutsu: high chunnin
Fuinjutsu: storage seals, weight seals, Adamantine Sealing Chains
Sage art: none
|Breathing styles|
Wind Breathing, Thunder Breathing, Water Breathing
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'I tried to increase my chakra reserves but it didn't even budge no matter how many times I controlled my chakra and how many clones I make... at least I practiced my water breathing and chains, I could now use two more adamantine chains and I at least got the hang of the third, fourth and fifth forms'
/Host, please rest. You have overexert your body and your mind. Please rest, inorder for your mind to recover/
"Yeah...I was feeling some headache's trying to increase my chakra and from the clones memories...I'll just rest up here" he said
(A/N:Shadow clones, the ultimate cheat skill)
He dismissed the panel and perched his katana by his side and took a nap as the winds gently sway his hair and clothes, leaves falling from the trees and birds slowly landed by him
Back at the house, Kakashi looked around, saw everyone here but Naruto
"Have you guys seen Naruto?" He asked
"Nope"
"Haven't seen the dobe"
Tazuna just shrugged and continued reading the newspaper
"Sorry Kakashi-san, I didn't see Naruto-san anywhere this morning" said Tsunami
"Hmm... I think he's still outside at the woods. I'll check on him later. Knowing Naruto, he can handle himself out there" Kakashi said, his eyes glued to his book "Icha Icha Paradise"
Sasuke and Sakura had blank expressions as they thought 'you just want to read your book!'
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(1 hour later)
Naruto is sleeping soundly as birds are chirping and perching on his head like a nest. In another part of the forest, someone is picking up herbs and plants, collecting them in their basket. One of the birds landed on the person's shoulder, said person was revealed to be Haku, wearing a pink kimono and his hair down, if someone saw him they will think he's a woman
As the basket is almost full he suddenly saw a shining glint afar. Curious, he went to where the glint is, pushing aside branches and bushes on his way. He found where the glint of light is and saw a sleeping blonde with a bird nuzzled on his hair
'why is a kid sleeping in these part of the forest?' Haku inwardly questioned
He approached him closer and saw something on the blonde's forehead. A forehead protector of Konoha
Seeing this, Haku's look changed from an innocent look to a stone cold face. His eyes narrowed at Naruto's sleeping form, he glanced at the katana beside him and thought of the time what Zabuza told him
(Flashback)
"Listen here, Haku. When you see a kid with long red and blonde hair. Don't take him lightly, if not... you'll be dead" warned Zabuza
(Flashback end)
Still glancing at the katana, he reached to it trying to pry it from his hands and kill him on the spot. Once Haku got a firm grasp on its saya, he tried to carefully remove it from Naruto's hand, nearly prying it away from his fingers
Out of instinct, Naruto's hand shot up and gripped his katana tighter causing Haku to gasp and shift his body to defend himself. Naruto slowly opened his eyes, narrowed on who was trying to to steal his blade, but his eyes softened as soon as he saw Haku
'A girl? What's a girl doing around here?' he said in thought, thinking Haku is a girl
Thinking fast, Haku smiled and said "Forgive me, I was just checking if you are well, you are covered in bruises after all"
Naruto blinked "Oh...well thank you but don't worry about it, I'm ok" he said
He stands up and stretched his body, feeling the satisfying pop of the joints. He ties back his katana on the left side of his waist. Once he's done he turns to Haku and asked
"So what are you doing on these parts of the woods?"
"I was just gathering some herbal plants for medicine. Someone who I'm close with is injured" Haku replied
"Huh, I see"
"You don't mind if I tag along. I'll even help you out, picking out the plants" Naruto offered to help
Haku thought for a bit and suggested he accepts Naruto's help "...yes, I don't mind" he smiled
They searched for herbal plants around the area of the forest for a while and starts gathering in Haku's basket once they saw some
Haku tells Naruto the difference of poisonous plants between herbal, in case he got confused
As they are gathering the last of it, Naruto spoke up, breaking the silence
"You sure work hard early in the morning"
"*Giggle* you as well, what are you doing here at this time of the morning?" Replied Haku, this time asks a question to Naruto
"Training" Naruto nonchalantly said
"Training...so you are a shinobi from a hidden village? Judging from your forehead protector proves that you are"
"Yep!" Naruto smiled
"But, sorry if I'm being intrusive. Why are you training?" Haku asked again
Naruto thought for a while, then replied
"To become strong"
"Hmm. But you already looked strong" Haku tilted his head acting confused
"No no. I want to become even stronger. Strong enough to be acknowledged by my peers. Strong enough to protect my friends. Strong enough to protect the people I held dear" Naruto said with determination, his eyes full of resolve
"..." Haku was silent, stunned by his proclamation as he can see Naruto's eyes have that fiery determination in them
"...I see" Haku said. Putting the final plant in the basket
"Thank you for sharing your explanation" standing up and pats away the dirt on his knees, grabs his basket
As Haku is prepared to leave, Naruto asked
"Wait! I didn't get your name!" He said
Haku turns around, faced Naruto and said " my name is Haku"
Naruto smiled " well, Haku. Hope we meet again" he said
"Likewise..." Haku was just a few steps from Naruto and said
"Oh..by the way...I'm a boy"
"..."
"..."
"Eh?"
'She's a he? Haku's a boy? But he looked so feminine. How? What?' Naruto thought, trying to process the bomb that Haku just dropped with a confused face as multiple question marks float around his head
Haku just giggled seeing Naruto's confused expression. He finally walks away and passes by Sasuke who came to look for Naruto
Sasuke looks back at Haku and and looks back at Naruto, who now sports a thinking pose with his hand on his chin and blankly looking at the sky
'the hell just happened here?' he inwardly questioned
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(Two days later)
Kakashi went outside the house and walked through the forest where Sasuke and sakura are training
He approached Naruto who is watching them. Sitting crossed leg and resting his head on his palm. He noticed Kakashi and flashed him a smirk
"Kakashi-sensei...are you here to watch their progress?"
Kakashi eye smiled him and nodded "yep. Mind telling me how their training is going?"
Naruto smiled and said "Oh their doing fine. Actually, they are doing great. See for yourself!" He enthusiastically pointed to where they are
Kakashi followed the direction and saw two of his Genin's sweating like crazy. One is concentrating on climbing the tree while wearing heavy weight seals, struggling a bit , while the other is lifting heavy rocks tied to a rope and also wearing heavy weight seals
Kakashi blinks and asks "umm, Naruto isn't this a bit overkill?"
Naruto blinked and said "what's wrong with it? I've been doing this kind of training all the time!" He proudly says
Sasuke and Sakura heard him and shouted "THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE BUILT DIFFERENT. WE'RE NOT A TRAINING MANIAC LIKE YOU!!" they comically had sharp teeth while shouting at him
Naruto just laughs further infuriating the two. While Kakashi on the sidelines had sweat drops
'welp it's official. Guy clearly trained this kid and included his ridiculous training regime' Kakashi thought
Pushing those thoughts aside, he looks up and whistles. He saw that Sasuke had finally reached the top of the tree, he looks at Sakura and was impressed by her determination in training
'Hope she gets rid of her fan girl phase'
"All right team, gather around" he clapped his hand to get their attention
The three of them stood front of Kakashi and waited for his announcement
"Ok, I've just got word from Tazuna that the bridge is almost complete so starting tomorrow we all will be guarding him"
"And Zabuza?" Sasuke interjects
Sakura got scared if all of them would have to face him again. Naruto looks at Kakashi, waiting for his response
"We're gonna be on full alert, not knowing when he'll strike. So I trust that all of you have to be on the look out and do not attack when he appears" he said, seriously. Looking at Sasuke who was barely holding his excitement
(Small timeskip)
Naruto is seen training again with his clones, this time without blades just fists. They traded blow after blow as the clones are slightly overwhelming him, making Naruto on the defensive
Naruto swiped away a punch and using it's momentum, he grabbed the clone and threw him to the ground but was almost kicked on the face by two clones of he didn't duck in time. 'My clones are getting better at this' Naruto grit his teeth, he quickly punched the clones hard enough, causing them to collide at a large tree. He wiped his forehead and scanned his surroundings, he made three clones for sparring as they are sprawled on the ground
'Let's finish this' he thought, seeing his clones starting to get back on their feet
He charged to them and closes the distance of the first clone and punched it to the ground causing it to dissipate. He locked eyes on the remaining two, he ran to the first clone and kicked it on the gut followed by sucker punching it's face. He raised his arms and blocked a punch on the head, he immediately countered by hitting a right hook on the cheek, he leg swiped the second clone causing it to fall and stomped it's head, making all of the clones to dispersed
Naruto rolled his shoulders and went to his bag to grab a towel. He wiped his sweat and from his line of sight caught Inari's figure from the left watching him
"What are you doing here kid?" Naruto asked, wondering why Inari is here watching him
Inari didn't answer him and continued to just stare at Naruto making him uncomfortable
Back in the house, Kakashi is seen doing one finger push ups while Tazuna sits at his back with Sakura, talking to him
"I've been meaning to ask you this but...why are you guys still here when I lied to you about this mission? Sure I've been moved by the kid's words back then but I want to know your side"
As Kakashi is doing push ups he said "to abandon your duty is not courageous. Below the courageous, there is nothing. Those are the words of the previous Hokage's"
He starts to stand up causing Tazuna and Sakura to get off his back
'looks like my body is back to normal' Kakashi thought, while clenching his hand
Scene changes to a room with two people inside. Zabuza has an apple on one hand and he easily crushed it to bits
"You're almost better" said Haku, who was standing beside him
"Hmm... good enough. We're leaving soon, Haku" Zabuza said as he lets the bits of the apple fall from his hand
"...yes"
To be continued
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Sorry for making you guys wait. Again my excuses are school and a burn out plus a massive storm in my area due to a typhoon causing 2 days of no power. Sorry to you all and hoped you guys enjoy reading
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