บท 228: Chapter 3: Bloody Waves
A/N: Just want to give this warning again: Because we know so little of the Uzumaki as a whole and society, expect quite a few chapters to have sections dedicated to this fic's version of their history, policies, laws, protocols, religious practices, society, and so on and so forth. Now, not saying this is how things actually worked with them, but personally I find it interesting/cool if it was.
Oh, just to address this: Acharn is still in the same shape and form as Sting, I just like Acharn more as a name than Sting in this instance for blades, which is why I had it as "Acharn: The sting of lightning" to still have the original name in the blade somehow.
Also, to the couple that asked: yes, there is a blade missing from Naruto's "collection" but he didn't miss it, it wasn't in Uzu for him to find, but he'll have it later.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything else I shove into this fic; not even sure I own any attacks that pop into my head as we go.
"Speech"
"Thoughts"
'Conversation thoughts'
"Biju, summon, and/or Naruto's pissed off/Kyubi voice."
"Above's thoughts"
'Above's conversation thoughts'
[Message]
Jutsu Name
Chapter 3: Bloody Waves
Wave Country: Tazuna's House
Naruto smiled as he set three plates of food on the table and put covers over them with a name for each woman on them so they got the plate that was for them. He then sat down and pulled out a blank scroll and pen from a seal before he wrote out a message to Minato requesting permission to bring Zabuza, Haku, and their two comrades to Konoha to join the village, along with detailing why they'd be assets to the village. He also added in that they didn't need further reinforcements as it was handled right now.
Once he finished the message, he stood and went outside before doing a quick summoning. When the puff of smoke cleared, standing in front of Naruto was a pure black crow with piercing amethyst eyes. Naruto smirked as the crow looked around before noticing him and quickly hopped on his shoulder and nuzzled against his face, "NARUTO-KUN!" The crow shouted happily in a clearly feminine voice as she nuzzled him.
Naruto merely chuckled and stroked her feathers, earning him a hum of happiness, "Hey, Arella, I missed you too." Naruto stated with a soft smile as he pet the crow's feathers.
He then twitched slightly as the now named Arella nipped his ear and glared at him, "I know, I'm sorry I haven't summoned you in a bit, but I had to finish preparing to leave Iron and everything. Don't be mad, you know I'd never purposefully forget about you." He stated as he stroked her feathers a bit more and Arella stopped glaring before nuzzling his face again, "Hey, I need you to deliver this to the Hokage for me." He stated after a few minutes and Arella just looked at him, "I know it seems a bit mundane to deliver this and bring me a reply, but since you're one of the normal sized crows that can communicate easily, you can tell me what the Hokage and anyone say in the room without them knowing." Naruto explained and Arella smiled and nodded.
"Sure! No problem, I can do that!" She stated happily always willing to help her personal summoner when it wasn't something humiliating or insulting, like him having her do a very mundane task. This felt like one until he explained the situation since she and the rest of her clan knew his story and history both from him and Itomi and were more than just a little bit outraged at his so called family. They had even contacted the toads to demand answers for their new summoner's treatment and the toads were just as furious as they had just finished interrogating and punishing Minato and Jiraiya for doing such a thing.
Of course, that also led to the crows chastising the toads for telling Jiraiya about the prophecy the Toad Elder had apparently had. Mortals were NOT meant to know or meddle in the affairs of the gods and Jiraiya had inadvertently done just that since Minato had apparently known about it too, which meant Jiraiya had blabbed when he was supposed to keep it to himself, so there was no telling how many people he may have told. It didn't matter if the Ninja Way of Life was at stake, if the gods say it's gonna be destroyed then there was not a fucking thing you could do about it! It only heightened their fury when they the toads said that the original prophecy was broken now, which meant Naruto was the Child of Prophecy thus his life was further screwed up because of the toads' idiocy and there was no telling what the gods wanted from him now.
The toads had no defense as they had clearly overestimated their first summoner on keeping his big mouth shut about such things and shouldn't have told him about it to begin with. They also had to accept the fact that the crows wouldn't allow Naruto to be their summoner and would be looking for the Uzumaki Clan summons to share their summoner with, which the toads understood since they still didn't understand why Kushina hadn't even contacted the summons to sign her clan's contract. They'd see about Naruto's former siblings being their next summoners later on.
Anyway, with them now watching over Naruto, the crows explained that every few generations the gods call on someone to perform a service for them, though it's never made clear what that service is until they do it. They also explained that it could be something people see as good or it could be something seen as bad, but regardless it was still that person's choice and no one else's, no matter what anyone else said. The crows then further went to state that so long as Naruto showed his loyalty to them and held true to their beliefs, then he'd always have their support and help.
Naturally, Naruto had accepted that and was happy to find the crows beliefs mingled and moved with his own and those of his clan. One big thing with them was that you never left a threat around to challenge you, if someone posed a threat to you then you wiped them out. That wasn't to say that you did this needlessly, but you never allowed an enemy a chance to truly strike at you unless it was to trap and eliminate them. They prized cunning, deception, and using your talents to your every advantage to keep the edge over your opponent and never let them gain the edge over you. While not straight up fighters, they made up for it with trickery, Genjutsu, speed, and a few other things that only their clan were capable of doing, which suited Naruto just fine as he was embracing all aspects of combat both straight up and stealth, face to face and backstabbing, assassination and battle.
The crows had helped in every way they could, teaching him various clan arts and styles as well as helping him scout and finding out just which summoning clan was affiliated with the Uzumaki. While Naruto wanted to stay with the crows, he also knew he had an obligation to ally with his clan's long time summon allies but made a promise not to neglect the crows. The crows accepted and began teaching them much of what they knew while he learned in Iron Country. While Naruto didn't perfectly match them like Itomi did, as she never preferred direct combat instead using deception and skill most often, Naruto still proved a valued and respectable summoner as he wanted to learn all ways of combat and dealing with threats, not just the direct method.
It was 6 months into his training with them that he met Arella when he was summoning different crows to get to know and befriend them. Arella has been excited to be summoned since she apparently was the same age as him and Itomi usually summoned the older ones due to having known and worked with them for years, the younger birds usually didn't get called unless they got a new summoner. The two had hit it off well as they wanted to be the best with no one being able to touch or surpass them, plus they both liked pranks and causing mischief to mess with people. It was only a couple months later that Naruto requested she be his personal summons and the two had only grown closer over the years.
Naruto then broke from his musings and handed the scroll to Arella, who took it and nuzzled his face again before taking off flying while Naruto smirked watching her go.
However, when he turned to leave, he paused before smiling, "I'll be honest, I didn't expect you two to follow me." Naruto stated keeping his smile as he turned to look at two arrivals.
One was a silver haired weathered man with some scarring on his face along with some scruff. He had piercing yellow eyes and padded leather armor with two broad swords on his back and a pair of hand crossbows at his side. He also had a silver chain with a wolf's head around his neck. This was Triss and Yennefer's brother Geralt.
The other was a tall dark skinned man with purplish hair in dreadlocks. He had a black kimono style robe, white coat, purple sash, black forearm fingerless gloves with white bands, an orange scarf wrapped over his shoulder and torso, and he had a sword at his waist. The interesting thing was that he had a blacked out visor over his eyes. This was Tosen, one of his instructors from Iron that served under Aizen and taught him to fight blind alongside Edward and a couple others.
Geralt smiled, "Yeah well, with you gone things quieted down a lot and you could use someone extra to watch your back." He then smirked, "Besides, if you intend to marry or court or whatever the term you and Rukia came up with with my sisters and daughter, then I'm going to make damn sure you don't slack off." Geralt stated and Naruto faked looking insulted.
"I'd never." Naruto stated before smiling and Geralt smirked. Naruto then turned to look at Tosen, "And you Tosen?" Naruto asked curiously, though he had a good idea on why he was here.
"I admire your determination to have justice for your clan and to expel traitors, I also know about the enemies you will incur because of who you are. You are quite possibly the strongest warrior in the countries, but you will still need help to face the enemies before you. I have decided to be one of those warriors. I shall aid you, Naruto-sama, until the day I die or fail to meet your expectations." Tosen stated before bowing to Naruto.
"Very well, when we return to Konoha and I get my seat as Uzumaki Clan Head, I'll induct you into my clan as a Branch member to guard my family." Naruto stated and Tosen bowed in respect and acceptance. "Good, Geralt if you so wish you can be inducted as well or wait until your sisters or daughter marry me and will become part of the clan that way." Naruto stated making Geralt nod as he'd have to consider when or if he wanted to join a clan since it entailed a lot of things. "Come on, I'll show you where we are staying for the moment until this absurdity that is this mission is over." Naruto stated as he led the two back to the house and then explained the situation to them in detail leaving nothing out about what Naruto planned and intended.
The two understood since, while a skilled swordsman, Zabuza hadn't truly dedicated himself to the art and tried to make up for it with his water Jutsu and assassination arts. While he showed great potential given what he did to graduate from Kiri's academy, it was more for brutality and strength than finesse. Plus, contrary to popular belief, the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist weren't that great of swordsmen, they made up for it with the powers and talents of their blades thus people thought they were dangerous over the blades. While true in the case of Zabuza since his blade just couldn't permanently be destroyed, Kisame Hoshigaki was the only full exception as his blade was dangerous and powerful but the man was equal parts to it and could have been a greater swordsman if Samehada was designed to work like a true sword over a sentient scaled war club.
The three then talked for a while and greeted the three sore yet satisfied women when they came down and ate the food Naruto prepared for them. Naturally, Triss was happy to see her brother while Naruto introduced Tsunami to the two swordsmen while informing her that they were no danger to her or her family. This also brought into the conversation that when the fighting at the bridge started, Naruto wanted them to hit Gato's mansion and kill any guards and thugs he had there before raiding the place.
That way, while Naruto and the teams handled the bridge fight, someone could ensure Gato's remaining thugs were handled since there was no way he'd let Zabuza fight and then pay him. Triss and Unohana would handle keeping the house, Tsunami, and Inari safe since at worst it would be a couple thugs, which the two women could handle easily enough. However, he made it a point to Geralt and Tosen to behave around his former family members as he didn't need a heated argument or a fight to break out outside of a spar and even then he wanted them in control and not acting out since both were protective of their allies.
The two agreed of course as, while tempting to get a shot in at the idiots who deserted Naruto, it wasn't worth it when considering Naruto had his own plans to repay them and shove the mistake they had made into their faces. Say what you will for the discipline, restraint, and patience they had taught him, Naruto held all the vindictiveness, vengeance, and cruelness his clan was known for if someone betrayed or crossed them, all they did was make him less impulsive in his payback. No, now he could wait patiently for years at a time planning, outlining, preparing, and training for his revenge and would account for every maneuver, rebuttal, attempt to stop, and anything else someone could do in response to what he would do.
They'd taken the heir to the clan with a legendary thirst for vengeance surpassed by none in the history of the world and made him a disciplined, armed, trained, outfitted, patient, tactical juggernaut of a man that could fight anyone he pleased with little difficulty unless they were a high caliber of warrior or ninja. Thus far, Lord Mifune, Zaraki Kenpachi, Aizen, Kenshin Himura, and Anakin Skywalker were the only ones capable of facing him for extended periods of time and not lose.
To sum it all up: Don't fuck with Naruto unless you wanted to lose and lose BADLY.
A lot of people would learn that soon, and those that wouldn't would suffer the consequences.
Next Day
Naruto was outside the house with Sasuke and helping him with a chakra exercise as it involved coating a weapon in charka to a fine sharpened edge. It was Chunin level because it was hard to fully and evenly coat the weapon and the difficulty went up the longer the weapon was or if you used elemental chakra. Naruto was doing normal chakra right now mainly because it was a foundation exercise for coating weapons in elemental charka, but had the added benefit of helping in controlling chakra better as well as teaching you how to flow it and control the flow. Controlling it helped when you used jutsu that involved coating your hand, body, or whatever in the Jutsu or just your chakra. However, experimenting with your body could be hazardous since you could overload your chakra points, damage cells, or unintentionally use elemental chakra which would harm you even worse than normal chakra since you'd be putting lightning, fire, etc. etc. through your body and losing control or not having enough control could destroy nerves, set you on fire, sweat blood, or a host of other things that no one wanted to experience.
Off to the side, Unohana was helping Sakura with some medical jutsu as the girl had asked her what she specialized in besides a sword and Unohana had revealed she was skilled in medical Jutsu and other healing techniques, which was something Sakura had an interest in so Unohana took her under her wing to start learning. Unohana was wondering if she'd prove skilled in the art or if she was just a genjutsu mistress. Naruto believed she may since Itomi seemed to believe she was capable of achieving great things or she wouldn't have taken her as a student. Her control was good, but that was partly because her reserves were so small, but if she could maintain that control then she'd be a perfect Genjutsu Mistress and Medic Nin, maybe even a badass bitch like Anko was supposed to be.
Regardless, it would be hinging on how well Sakura took to Medical Jutsu and if Unohana and Triss thought she could handle it all. Her skills could be expanded on later if needed, he was just glad she wasn't some obsessed fangirl that would sooner diet herself to death than take training seriously. Itomi had to tell him she was nearly that way before Sakura's mother, a former high Chunin-low Jonin level kunoichi beat some sense into her, literally. Once she had Sakura's attention, she then sat her down and talked to her about different things concerning being a kunoichi and the fact that she shouldn't focus on a boy so much that she fails in her training. If she did, there was the chance she'd be killed or raped and enslaved and Sakura wouldn't have the skills to get away. She also told her that while liking a boy was fine, don't make them the center of your universe as it can blind you to other things that can make you happy if the boy isn't interested.
Since then, Sakura had been working hard and, while being friendly to Sasuke and Arashi, hadn't been focusing on getting a date or anything and was feeding and training her body like she should be.
Of course, unknown to Naruto, she was also training under Unohana to get information on Naruto since her mother was friends and teammates with Mikoto and Kushina. Mebuki had told Sakura that Naruto was probably an ideal person for her to marry, but she had written it off because she never met or even knew Naruto, much to Mebuki's ire as she wanted Sakura to bond with her friends' children. When Mebuki found out Naruto had left, she was pissed like the others that cared since she had met him couple times and wished she had invited him to dinner to see how things were for him. She was filled in by Mikoto and she was understandably pissed at Kushina for doing that to her own son, which was when she started noticing she overlooked Sakura's fangirl ways and began breaking her from that. She also told her to talk to Naruto if she ever met him as he needed friends and those he could rely on if his own family was going to treat him like that.
Now, some lesser people would think it was just to get to the Uzumaki Clan's funds or get in with the Hokage's family. Well, they'd be dead wrong.
Mebuki had wealth and status by being part of the civilian council and having successful businesses. The council was a surprising thing since no one had expected Minato to create one. The reason he did was because after the Kyubi incident, he had to focus on village defense and ensuring no enemies smelled blood in the water to the point they'd attack. So while he handled the military, the Civilian Council, under the watchful eye of Hiruzen to ensure no greedy or ambitious individuals tried anything, were handling the economic affairs with Hiruzen bringing any possible fruitful proposals to Minato to look over with Kushina to approve. It had worked so well for the first five years that Minato kept it going to see if it could be a permanent group, of course him having less paperwork as a result had nothing to do with it.
Anyway, with Hiruzen watching over the civilian council there were no problems that could be classified as major one. The only real noteworthy issue was when a "big shot" businessman from outside Konoha trying to muscle his way in and take a place at the council only to get thrown back out on his ass while his "donations" to people and the village were still used without any influence being gained. The fool tried to threaten and use political and monetary connections only to find it useless against the Hyuga and Sarutobi connections and the different funds the merchant guild and clans could use to back up the village. It didn't hurt that many of the clans had side businesses and connections to ensure if he tried to cut off another civilian's supply then they could pick up the slack and help.
What quite a few didn't know, was that some of these contingencies and plans and protections were made by Naruto through meetings with Hiruzen since the two saw each other when Naruto was still in the village. Hiruzen had mentioned the heavy dependency their different shop owners had on outside suppliers and Naruto suggested looking to the clans and their own supplies of things.
The Aburame had silk, honey, and dyes and their own orchards and vineyards using the insects to keep the plants going with their care.
The Yamanaka had countless gardens growing various herbs and plants.
The Akamichi had spices, alcohol, barley, wheat, and the necessities to make really any kind of food you could want.
The Nara had a plethora of meat, bones, antlers, and pelts from them using the carcass of any of their deer that died as well as a library of medical knowledge from working with the Akamichi and Yamanaka.
The Inuzuka had fertilizer, pelts, lures, scents, and remedies for both animal and human.
The Uchiha had the largest vegetable farm by far due to their "bloodline" of loving tomatoes as much as an Uzumaki loved Ramen.
The Sarutobi kept a pristine orchard and vegetable farm as their clan were more veggie and fruit eaters than carnivores.
The Hyuga clan had a large vineyard, rice farm, various connections to just about everything, and money to back it up.
Naruto had pointed out that Hiruzen and his son Asuma himself bought their tobacco straight from the Yamanaka and it was better quality than most suppliers. While the village wasn't entirely self sufficient they could cut costs by having the clans work with the village and retailers to help cut out outside influence besides the Fire Daimyo's own.
Hiruzen had taken the ideas and ran with them having personal talks with each clan head and working out fair deals for everyone with the Hyuga also taking roles as investors to get businesses the money to expand or build up. The village ended up saving a lot of money in not purchasing from outside suppliers and bought at little as needed unless they got a REALLY good deal out of them.
Naruto had kept in touch with Hiruzen and the others through letters and kept offering advice to Hiruzen if he asked for it. When they first discussed the clans, Naruto would have mentioned the Uzumaki being another good helper. However that would have required Kushina to have ever bothered to fully visit and clean up their ancestral homeland. It was filled with metals, minerals, jewels, and fish. Not to mention the wealth in the Uzumaki Clan accounts that were held by their trusted friend the Fire Daimyo. Kushina has let the former go to waste and as a result disrespected their clansmen and the dead by leaving all the corpses their to rot and whither away for decades.
Naruto though wasn't going to do that which was why he had already brokered a deal with some contacts to begin mining in Uzu again so long as a few rules were followed to the very letter.
1) The graves he made were to be UNTOUCHED regardless of how much wealth was under their burial ground.
2) The land was to be mined but not destroyed, they could mine it but if the land was ruined because of it then he was coming for whoever did it.
3) None of the buildings still intact were to be destroyed and the ones that were broken beyond repair were to still have their foundation kept intact.
4) There was to be no bloodshed on his ancestral home unless it was in self defense or they were punishing someone for a crime they committed there.
So long as those rules were followed then Naruto and they would keep a good business relationship and Naruto made a point to be clear that he would know if any rules were violated. Violating those rules meant Naruto would kick them out and kill everyone he had to in order to do so. Luckily, some friends and allies were watching over the mining operations so they'd keep things from getting too out of hand and ensure his rules were followed.
Back to the point though: Mebuki didn't need the wealth or status that would come if Sakura and Naruto married down the line. She genuinely thought Sakura and Naruto would make a good couple.
At the here and now, again, Triss was also helping Sarada with her control and her lightning affinity since it was the main form of aggressive combat Triss excelled at. Yennefer excelled in fire and was more aggressive than her sister thus she excelled at combat, but Triss was better at the healing arts.
Sarada was also going to learn at least some of the healing arts since it would be useful to have the skill. Even if she couldn't do anything major, being able help heal someone would be useful and could help in an emergency. You couldn't have enough medics in one group, but the key was to ensure the medics at least knew how to fight and protect themselves and possibly had some protectors or support since medics were usually targeted first in a fight.
Meanwhile, Itomi was practicing her swordplay against Tosen to help her get better and get some of the "rust" off her skills. She realized while fighting Zabuza and his group that she'd let her skills with a blade slack, which was partly because there were only four people worth training against with a blade… or rather, there were four. Kushina has grown to accustomed to being a housewife and let her skills slack and only just started regaining them when she decided to get into shape to train her children, but neither used a blade so her skills were still severely degraded after so long without using them.
As for the other three, they were busy with their own duties and Itomi could only see them so much. Yugao Uzuki was her primary training partner when they were both in Anbu, but since Itomi left it about 3 years ago to help her clan and become the Jonin sensei to her siblings when they graduated they couldn't train together as easily. Yugao was still an Anbu Captain, thus her schedule and duties kept her from having a lot of relaxing time or chance to train with Itomi.
The other two, Hayate and Raido, were skilled with a blade, but Raido was an elite bodyguard for the Hokage and Hayate had a sickness that limited how long he could train or fight before it became dangerous. Thus, both weren't exactly active sparring partners and the few times they could train it wasn't an intense fight that pushed her skills.
However, Tosen had no such limitations or reservations and as such was making her fight like she was doing so for her life. Tosen and the others in Iron didn't pull any punches: if you wanted to learn then you had better be ready for bruises, broken bones, cuts, gashes, lacerations, and really anything and everything that was a wound from fighting with swords and limbs. Itomi was fine with that and was told to not use her Sharingan or any jutsu, strictly blades, which she was also fine with as she could train her eyes and jutsu any time but swordplay was something you really needed an opponent to face to grow in skill. The fact that Tosen was blind and such a skilled fighter only made her more intrigued and interested to learn since her own eyes were at risk of the same fate if she overused her Sharingan or she was hit with a rare disease that was genetic in her clan.
Geralt was back at the house keeping an eye on things while Itomi's team was training and Kushina and Kakashi's team were guarding Tazuna. Tomorrow Kushina's group would be here training and Itomi's team would be guarding Tazuna while Naruto and his group were going to help the village out a bit. The day after would be Naruto's group protecting Tazuna while both teams trained, though Naruto would have a clone with Tazuna as he needed to see Haku and Zabuza since the paperwork and agreement came late last night.
It was also last night that Naruto had to contain his laughter at Kushina's group trying to be "subtle" in their questioning of Geralt and Tosen to get information on them and Naruto in general. They failed miserably besides Naruto stating they were two friends and teachers of his that wanted a change of scenery and maybe see if the local talent were worth training or not. Naturally the point of needing clearance came up and Naruto circumvented that via stating he had already sent a message to the Hokage about the matter, which Naruto did this morning with Arella being sent out again. She didn't mind the job since it let her get a lot of fresh air and new scenery while helping her friend and summoner.
The deception was needed because he didn't need Kushina or her two children or Kakashi hounding him about his decision and him being the Uzumaki Clan head let alone him planning to exile them from the clan due to them being "blood traitors" as the Uzumaki called them.
The term blood traitor was reserved for anyone who broke the laws and tenants of the Uzumaki Clan to such a degree, they couldn't truly be Uzumaki and they therefore betrayed their blood and kin, thus they were blood traitors. Of course, once he took the clan head seat, there was nothing they could do about his plans and decisions as Kushina would further insult and desecrate the Uzumaki core values if she tried to resist him taking the Clan Head spot or tried to fight his decision and plan, her children would probably but that only reflected further on Kushina as she should have instilled the core values and tenants of the Clan into her children if they were to ever be considered for taking the Clan Head spot in Konoha's council chambers.
Naruto had an entire list of things to just pound home that Kushina was not, is not, and could not be the Uzumaki Clan Head. Even just cutting away the fact she left Uzu in such a state, she also abandoned the Uzumaki Shrine at Konoha and allowed it to go into disrepair and disrespect the Shinigami, the deity that the Uzumaki Clan primarily prayed to and honored hence the shrine and temple being dedicated to the Death God and held one of the treasures that the Shinigami granted the clan within it. Such a thing was inexcusable and Mito would be kicking her and Tsunade's ass all over the village for daring to let it happen. Only difference was that Tsunade was raised as a Senju, so she wasn't fully accustomed to Uzumaki ways and Tsunade wasn't trying to claim to be Clan Head of the Uzumaki. Kushina should have taken the Uzumaki seat to get things done for the Uzumaki Clan, but NEVER claim she was the Uzumaki Clan Head or that she could dictate which of her children would be the next Clan Head.
The Uzumaki did not allow or believe in "Inheriting" seats or positions. It was picked based on skill, experience, and capability for the seat, not because your father or mother held it and decided to pass it onto you. Such a thing was NOT in the best interest of the people as a whole as you could be great at fighting but suck at politics, which meant you wouldn't fit as a leader having to deal with allied leaders and enemies. You could be great at politics but suck at handling money. There were just too many cons to the whole inheriting a position for it to be worth it. Chief among them being the inheritor could be cold, selfish, pompous, and ruthless thus the Uzumaki did it so you had to be chosen by items that were sacred to the clan and all members accepted it.
Being Kage was the only thing that was popular vote to achieve and even then, it was from a narrowed list of approved candidates. Clan Head, Jonin Commander, Anbu Commander, Advisors, and other positions within the Clan were granted by other means. Clan Head was already discussed, but the others had to be picked by the Clan Head and at least one of the items connected to the clan. Same with the Kage as the items would react to who was worthy to be Kage and if there was more than one candidate, then it was done by popular vote.
Many had considered their ways foolish, but not once did the Uzumaki have an irresponsible or incapable ruler or person of authority in their history. When countries or villages degraded because of their terrible rulers, Whirlpool and the Uzumaki only thrived and grew stronger. Of course, it was that strength that made them a threat and justifiably so since one clan wiped out multiple minor villages and severely weakened the major ones that attacked them during the second war.
Part of their strength came from taking in refugees from all the different countries getting people of all kind of trades and even some with bloodlines and quite a few were brought into the clan as Branch members or even Main members if they married in. The Branch House of the clan were the protectors of Uzu and the Main House while the Main House were the ones who took authority and missions outside the county, but no one was forced into it and the Main House treated them as brothers and sisters while training them to be stronger and better fighters. The Branch House was almost as feared as the Main House given the diverse and brutal methods implored to protect the country. They had ex-samurai, ronin, exiled ninja, weapon masters, former master of arms for Daimyos, and many others that all knew how to fight and kill when necessary.
Now though, only Naruto and maybe a small handful somewhere in the world were all that was left of the Main House and he'd have to work on rebuilding it with his lovers while Tosen and maybe Geralt and Zabuza would be his first Branch members. A good start admittedly, but still a long way to go before it would be back to a respectable sized clan.
For now, Naruto would keep the clan in Konoha, but eventually he would move it either to Uzu to rebuild or maybe even here to Wave since it was peaceful and had no protection from bandits and the like.
Right now, he was going to help Sasuke and then meet with Zabuza and Haku when the time came.
Two Days Later
Naruto stood in a clearing petting Arella as she sat on his shoulder and nuzzled his face. He knew Zabuza, Haku, and the Demon Brothers were there watching him, no doubt seeing if there was an ambush or anything there that could cause them problems. He couldn't blame them, an enemy combatant invites you to a private meeting where he allegedly will be providing documents to offer amnesty in a village for seemingly no reason.
It did seem a little too good to be true and smelled a LOT like a trap.
However, Naruto was fine with it and just pet Arella as he stood there waiting for one of them to decide to show themselves. Tosen and Geralt wanted to go with him, but he decided against it or it would put them on even more of an edge. Plus, someone had to be there to watch over Tazuna. Arella brought the reply back to him and sure enough it was positive and Arella had no mentions about any discussions she overheard other than Minato saying he'd update Anbu and jonin patrols to ensure they kept an eye out for anyone from Kiri concerning Zabuza's group. Tosen and Geralt were accepted easily enough, but it was mainly because Minato knew having another two sword experts in the village would help it and maybe he could get some extra info on his son while at it.
"You can come out whenever you want guys." Naruto stated as he looked towards the trees they were hiding in causing them to come down. Naruto merely glanced at the four as he kept stroking Arella's feathers.
"Haku informs me that you can get us situated in Konoha." Zabuza stated while keeping his blade ready.
Naruto merely nodded before unsealing a small folder and tossed it to Zabuza, who caught and opened it to show four citizen registration papers, passports to get into Konoha, and registration papers to be ninja of Konoha if they so desired. Zabuza looked them over with an extremely critical eye to ensure this wasn't some ploy to capture them upon arriving at the village, last thing he wanted was for him to be dead and Haku turned into a breeding factory for Konoha.
Though, given the rumors of the Fourth Hokage and his wife, that latter item was an unlikely scenario. But still, better safe than sorry.
After a careful examination, Zabuza found no signs of them being anything other than legit, "So what exactly is the deal with this if we accept?" Zabuza asked as he looked back to Naruto.
"You sign the documents, present yourselves to the Hokage, and then we go from there with a probation period, a test to ascertain the rank that you should have, and then housing within an apartment. Though there is an alternative should you wish it." Naruto stated as he kept petting Arella.
"Sounds interesting, but what about Haku? I have no intention of letting anyone turn her into a breeding factory for bloodline children." Zabuza stated while Haku looked a little worried.
"That would be part of the alternative living arrangements. I will be taking the Clan Head seat of the Uzumaki Clan within Konoha, so I can provide clan protection and I am close to the Uchiha Clan Head so she will back up my claim. The living arrangements come in the form of you being able to stay in the Clan Compound I will build after this as Konoha has all but forgotten the Uzumaki." Naruto stated making them look at him in surprise.
"I thought the Fourth Hokage's wife was the Uzumaki Clan Head?" Meizu asked in confusion and Naruto nodded.
"That is a common misconception on account of the fact she and others of the Konoha ruling body decided she was Clan Head. However, she didn't EARN the title as she was supposed to according to Uzumaki Clan law, thus she will be removed from that position the minute I can get a Council Meeting to take place, which will be near immediately due to the situation I'm part of." Naruto stated confusing them a bit.
"Situation?" Haku asked curiously and Naruto sighed a bit.
"Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze are my birth parents." Naruto stated though it was with some disdain for the two people he named.
Naturally, that declaration shocked the four, "S-so you're the boy that rumors said fled Konoha." Gozu stated since there were rumors of one of the Fourth's children having left Konoha, but nothing was confirmed.
"Yeah, they weren't the… best of parents towards me and instead favored my siblings. So with the help of a dear friend of mine, I went to Iron Country and trained under the various masters and experts there, which began my reputation." Naruto stated with a sigh, "Then I went to Uzu and proved my worth the Clan way to become Clan Head and took the treasures of my clan with me after burying the dead. Now, I'm starting my ninja career in Konoha because it's honestly the best option for me given how some of the other villages would react to me or the issues that two of them have that I don't wish to accommodate." Naruto explained making them frown wondering what the hell parents could do that a kid would decide to risk his life to get away and get stronger.
"And what exactly would us coming under your protection entail?" Zabuza asked wanting to fully know what he was possibly getting into before he agreed to anything.
"So long as my clan exists, you'd be protected by it so long as you don't break the law. To go into further detail, I actually want you, Zabuza, to join my clan as a Branch House member." Naruto stated making them look at him in surprise again.
"What the hell does that entail?" Meizu asked since he couldn't fault the young man for wanting Zabuza in a clan given his talents, but how do you just take someone into a clan like that?
"The Uzumaki always had a policy of taking in people who needed a home and a family, those that showed talent as warriors were asked to join the Branch House if no one in the Main House had an interest in them. Essentially, the Main House was all the blooded Uzumaki while the Branch House was all the adopted Uzumaki. The Branch House were the guardians of Uzu and were essentially the primary police and protectors from invasion and visitors while the Main House ran the village and took most of the missions outside of the country. The Branch House was happy to do it as the Uzumaki had taken them in when they were on the run and had no purpose, so they were glad to defend their home and get to have a family." Naruto stated making them nod while impressed since such a thing as adopting others into a clan was unheard of outside of the rare Clan Head taking in an orphan or two. "Also, don't get me wrong, I'd have no problem if Meizu, Gozu, and Haku were to join the Branch House too, I was just more interested in having one of the Swordsmen of the Mist as my now third Branch Member." Naruto stated wanting to be clear he wasn't insulting Gozu, Meizu, or Haku with his offer specifically to Zabuza.
The quartet nodded while Zabuza frowned, "You've put me in quite the predicament, I am still under contract with Gato." Zabuza stated and Naruto merely raised an eyebrow.
"You don't honestly think I believe that you trust him to uphold his deal do you? He only pays what he absolutely has to pay, he can just hire a small army of bandits, a small squad of missing nin, or both for less than half what he's paying you to kill you and anyone else after the fight at the bridge in a few days. He'd assume we are weakened from fighting and can wipe us all out easily… though I'm sure he'd order his men to not kill the women as he can use them for other purposes." Naruto stated with a frown at the end since he knew what a full blooded Uzumaki, an Ice user, and two prime and ready to breed Sharingan users could fetch for the tub of lard if he sold them to a few different places. Kushina would just have it worse since, while Keyone was valuable as Minato's daughter, Kushina was a 100% Uzumaki woman in her prime and ready for breeding and Iwa would no doubt pay a lot for the chance to breed the Fourth Hokage's wife and daughter.
Zabuza frowned since Naruto had a point in what the midget would likely do to save money. The fool thought money was the most valuable thing in the world and was the only real way to show and hold power. HA! If that were true Daimyo's wouldn't need armies to defend their land since they had such vast treasuries of money. "Alright, you got a point there, but I still don't know about this." Zabuza stated and Naruto smirked.
"You mean essentially swearing a loyalty to a person around half your age." Naruto stated still smirking while Zabuza snorted and nodded.
"Yeah, that does sting a bit, but I do have to admit you have skill with your blade and you've got a reputation I can respect." Zabuza stated since the Sage of Swords had become a bit of a boogeyman for anyone that would consider threatening Iron Country since there were numerous reports of him bringing down bandit hordes alone and taking out some of the other boogeyman swordsman that had turned rogue and left Iron Country. Some of those rogues counted a couple men even Kisame would be cautious about and that guy was almost a literal monster in combat!
"Then how about a fight? On the day that you'll be back at max strength, you and I can have a straight up fight without anyone interfering and if you lose, you'll agree to join the Branch House. If you win, I'll give you as much money as you can possibly carry. Regardless of the outcome though, you can still join Konoha and have my clan protection over you." Naruto stated making Zabuza frown in thought since at first glance it was an easy win, but Zabuza could see his stance and his way of doing things that he was no amateur and was more seasoned than some people twice his age.
Zabuza could live with having fealty to someone like that, especially if he got to put up a fight first. "All right, you got a deal kid." Zabuza stated before gripping Naruto's arm and Naruto reciprocated it as they shook. "See you in a couple days." Zabuza stated before he and the others left and Naruto smirked.
"Seems you've got four more allies, Naruto-kun." Arella stated as she knew her summoner was building up his own power base to get the upper hand over others.
"Yup, and with the girls getting some of the ground work done in Konoha, I'll have an even larger base to work with soon." Naruto stated with a smirk as he scratched under her chin.
"By the way, have you summoned the others recently?" Arella asked and Naruto frowned slightly.
"Yes, just to check on things since they asked that I wait until after I take the Clan Head seat before discussing full privileges with them." Naruto stated making Arella cock her head.
"Why so long?" Arella asked curiously.
"Well, the clan they were allies with for over 200 years was destroyed down to a small few and the last known adult didn't even bother to try and summon them and tell them what happened. They had to hear from you and the toads before I managed to find the contract. Right now they are mourning their friends and surrogate family as well as nursing the sting of the betrayal they feel Kushina has committed towards them as they were bonded to the Uzumaki Clan more than the Inuzuka are to their ninja hounds. I can understand that they'd want some time to mourn and vent before discussing having a chief summoner again." Naruto stated knowing the Uzumaki Clan summons were deeply hurt and wounded to know that so many of their friends had been killed and they were never notified about it.
Contrary to popular belief, names weren't removed from a contract when the holder of the name died. They're connection to the contract was just cut, which was due to no one wanting dead members to be used to summon if they were brought back by a jutsu. Edo Tensei was one example.
Naruto broke from his thoughts as Arella spoke again, "That makes sense. It'd be like if you and Itomi were killed and someone decided to wait decades to tell us. We wouldn't want to focus on getting a summoner until we finished grieving as we wouldn't be able to put all of our heart into being allies till we were done accepting the loss." Arella stated making Naruto nod before he stroked her feathers again.
"Don't worry, I'm not going to forget you or the others, I swore on my blood and clan. The others will understand when I explain it to them." Naruto stated making Arella smile and nod before she nuzzled his face again.
Naruto smiled before he started walking to the bridge to replace his clone and discuss some things with his surrogate family.
Maybe even add a few hundred clones to expedite the construction of the bridge.
End of the Week
Naruto sighed as he awoke finding a naked and smiling Tsunami sleeping on his chest after the night of fun they had since Tsunami wanted to keep having some fun and relief and forget the troubles of Wave for now. She also did it as a way to show her gratitude for what he was doing around Wave, despite his attempts to dissuade such a thing.
Yesterday he had used some of the money he had accumulated to buy a few of the struggling businesses for twice what they were worth before then explaining to the owner turned manager what he wanted done and how he wanted things to work. For what he was paying and for helping Wave against Gato, they gladly agreed and began working on spreading the word to a few others about the opportunities.
Of course that also led to speaking to Tazuna and Tsunami in private about his ideas and plans for Wave. Naruto wanted to essentially turn Wave into the hub of his information network. This would work via their tourist and rest areas keeping track of any information worth noting while their traders and fishermen did the same thing. By essentially having the country as a spy network, Naruto could get information from all over and no one would even suspect what was happening since drunks tended to talk and blab without thinking and traders heard things because people tended to not pay attention to them.
Plus his expansions would help them get more goods and trading and more tourists since Wave was essentially an island that could be a resort and cater to expensive and lower class people. Fresh fish, fresh fruit, boat rides and tours, beaches everywhere, diving areas, and a host of other relaxation activities and things to sell/provide to people. Add in some casinos, a few more bars, some hotels, a brothel or two, and some other things and people would be coming here even more.
Tazuna and Tsunami has been surprised at his suggestions but saw they did have merit since many avoided their country because they were so small and had nothing really to offer besides some beaches. Plus you had to find a boat coming to them because they weren't a big shipping area, though Gato added that but his business ethics left much to be desired. Hence why Naruto could acquire the shipping business and then either have Tazuna or someone else run it or turn it over to Tazuna to do with what he pleased. Either worked for Naruto as another information pathway would be opened as well as a supply line for harder to find items and supplies.
Anyway, Naruto had given them time to think on it and Tsunami had taken him to her room and the night was spent pleasuring the other since Unohana and Triss were helping the villagers till late and wanted him to "have fun befitting a young lord and man of his status" as they had put it at times.
Essentially, the girls and Rukia decided that before he sealed the deal and got married, he should have fun and enjoy his life as much as he pleased despite his arguments against their insinuation that he'd not be happy or have fun when he did marry them. Rukia, at the very least, didn't care and wanted her love to enjoy to his heart's content before they married and even stated she'd encourage it afterwards since there would come a time possibly where she and the others would be pregnant and he'd have to find relief elsewhere.
Never mind the argument that they could just be careful or he had over a dozen lovers and that's not counting any women in Konoha that had feelings for him, so getting them all pregnant would be difficult. Rukia's thing was that she knew how to rule a house and be a Lady to her Lord and Husband, as such she wanted Naruto to know that she also understood his duty to his clan and title which meant he and the few non-exiled Uzumaki would have to bring it back which meant he needed to have women that could love, support, and provide heirs for him to keep the clan alive. Thus, she was encouraging him to find more women to love, trust, teach to keep his back covered, and of course fuck and impregnate.
It didn't hurt that she also knew that the Uzumaki also had a Servant House for the Main House and that the women, for lack of a better word, were also concubines for whichever group of the family they were assigned to and worked to keep them going. Those that weren't concubines were helping care for the children or elderly, the ones that had aged to the point Uzumaki genes couldn't help anymore. That was where the majority of Civilians without any real skills that joined the Uzumaki Clan ended up, though it was volunteer unlike what other clans would do. Your choice was Branch House, you learn or use a skill to help keep the whole of Uzu going, or join the Servant House with full knowledge of what each area entailed. Quite a few women who became servants were ex-royal concubines, former prostitutes, heartbroken women who wanted comfort or wanted to help with family, rape victims who were nursed back to health and wanted to repay the only way they knew how, and various others. They were free to leave the Servant House at any time they wished whether to see other places or because they were getting married and some were married into the Main House.
Anyway, Rukia intended to reestablish that to ensure Naruto had outlets and comfort in many forms and ways. While not viewed as dignified, normal, or decent, Rukia didn't give a fuck and would help run her new family with her future husband as she and he saw fit, anyone with a problem could fuck off or take up a blade and face them in combat.
Either way, the complainers were going to shut up and leave her new family alone.
Shaking those thoughts away to focus on the present, Naruto switched with a pillow and left Tsunami to sleep while he got up and showered before dressing and heading downstairs. Naruto made breakfast and set up everything while leaving a covered dish for Tsunami before he sat and relaxed until everyone was up and ready to go.
An hour later had the groups, minus Tosen, Geralt, Triss, and Unohana, heading for the bridge with Triss and Unohana protecting the house and Tosen and Geralt heading for Gato's mansion to handle things there. Naruto had made sure to explain to the Konoha group that Zabuza and his group were no longer a threat and were joining Konoha. He mainly explained it to ensure no incidents occurred at the bridge. He also told them that he and Zabuza were going to have a sword fight for their own acknowledgement of who the better fighter was.
Of course Kushina and Kakashi tried to lecture him on not telling them about his plans, but Naruto countered with the fact that he had nothing concrete to tell them until the Hokage responded. Then with the meeting, if he told them, one or more would have tried to tag along and that would have put Zabuza's group on edge and made the meeting harder to be a success. Plus it wasn't like he needed help or protection from them, so what was the point? They also tried to talk him out of fighting Zabuza before he pointed out he handled Zabuza before so why worry about it?
The Uchiha understood since they knew Naruto the best of their two groups and he usually did things himself and only mentioned the action if it was a success or failure, but never if he was waiting to see which it was. They still needed to fully catch up with him on things since it was clear that while the core of him was still the same, he had matured and changed in ways they'd yet to fully see.
Everyone then broke from their musings as they reached the bridge and saw a thick mist over it and the workers knocked out and put carefully to the side. Naruto merely smirked as he walked forward before part of the mist cleared revealing Zabuza and crew with Zabuza already having his blade ready. "I'll thank you for not killing the workers, it would have been very… unprofessional of you." Naruto stated as Haku and the Demon Brothers stepped away from the two and the Konoha group stayed back with Tazuna.
"Yeah well, I'll be a Konoha shinobi soon, no reason to start killing people who have no part of any of this." Zabuza stated since he was a professional after all.
Naruto nodded before a seal on his arm glowed and he had Glamdring in his hand making many raise their eyebrows seeing the pristine blade and the fact Naruto was holding it easily with one hand. Naruto then gripped it tight and then held it over his head pointing towards Zabuza, who raised his blade to near his head with it pointing towards the sky. The two swordsmen just stared at the other before launching forward and clashed blades resulting in a loud CLANG that made many twitch or cover their ears from the sound. The two then rebounded and swung again, locking blades together and then clashing again and again with many being surprised that Naruto was holding his own against Zabuza and was easily matching him in strength.
Unknown to the observers, Naruto was the aggressor despite the appearance as he was adding more force and pressure each swing and Zabuza was adapting to keep up and finding that his impressive physical strength was being hard pressed to push back Naruto's blows. Of course, with the brutal/near cruel training Naruto put himself under, it wasn't that surprising to anyone who knew how he trained and fought. Oh sure, he could beat Zabuza right now without having any real trouble, but what fun would that be? He wanted to see fully what Zabuza could do and push him to become better. He was rumored to be an S rank ninja at one point and then was reduced to A rank for some reason, he wanted to bring out the S ranked ninja and see just what the Demon of the Mist could really do.
Which is why instead of matching him, Naruto began being more aggressive pushing Zabuza back making him grit his teeth, "Come on, show me what the demon can do with a blade." Naruto stated with a grin as he continued to attack Zabuza.
Zabuza grit his teeth as he met Naruto swinging with more intensity and muscle behind it. He could honestly say this was more fun than anything else as they didn't want to stop fighting. The rush of a worthy opponent, the feel of a battle you didn't know if you'd walk away from, the feeling of uncertainty of if you would win, and the fight being equal, for the most part, in terms of strength only made him grin more at fighting a man that could keep pace with him so easily. When was the last time he felt like this? When was the last time he had fun in a fight that didn't involve spilling a lot of blood? When was the last time he had a straight up fight with swords that made his blood rage for more?
Too long was the answer.
Zabuza broke from his musings as he had to duck a parried cross swing that would have taken his head if he hadn't. He was unprepared for the boot that came up under his chin sending his head snapping back and made him stumble back as he tried to shake the cobwebs away. Looking up, with his bandages having some blood on them now, he saw Naruto standing there with his blade resting on the shoulder with a smirk. Zabuza grinned beneath his bandages before he launched at Naruto again letting them clash again and again.
The others could only watch enthralled at the dance of death that seemed to be before them. While not… elegant in a sense given the blades and the brutality in which both were fighting, it was still something to be seen. To Itomi and Kushina, it was obvious Naruto was holding back against Zabuza, most likely to keep the fight against Zabuza going for his own fun. It was clear to everyone that Naruto was sufficiently trained given the way he moved and used the sword against Zabuza.
However, Kushina couldn't stop the nagging feeling that she knew that blade and the blade he used before, she just didn't know why. She hadn't seen them before, she knew that for a fact, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she SHOULD know the blades even if she hadn't ever seen them before. She just didn't understand why.
Unknown to her, Arashi and Keyone felt the same way only to a lesser extent. Though that was only because they were only half Uzumaki in blood and spirit.
The reason for the feeling was because Glamdring, Orcrist, and Acharn called out to those of Uzumaki blood. However, theirs was dulled because they were blood traitors to the clan, granted the two halfbreeds could be slightly excused because they weren't fully taught the Uzumaki ways in full, but they still should have felt their blood shouting at them not to abandon family no matter what. The call wouldn't be as strong as it was for Naruto unless they somehow became worthy to become clan head, but that was unlikely given the rules and laws set with the Uzumaki.
Even disregarding their treatment of him, intentional or not, there were still the political, familial, spiritual, loyalty, and combat ways that you had to know to the last detail and be an expert in. Naruto had been given a slight pass when he became Clan Head as he was the only Uzumaki to return and handle the dead of both clansmen and invaders as well as refusing to commit sacrilege in the main temple by desecrating the statue that protected the rosary and staff and refusing to call himself Clan Head unless he truly was. The items had filled his mind with the basics, but Naruto had read through every scroll, book, text, and procedure for the Uzumaki Clan rights, trainings, practices, and worship and memorized them all along with the rules, laws, and edicts connected them.
To sum it up, Naruto knew every last piece of history, combat, sealing, religion, law, ethics, procedures, construction, and everything else that had to do with the Uzumaki Clan down to the last letter of it. Naruto would be amazed if Kushina knew even a quarter of it or at least remembered even close to that much.
To the point though, there were no other Uzumaki left that knew all their clan ways, thus Naruto was the only true Clan Head left and as such it was his duty to uphold all the clan laws and procedures as well as teach any Uzumaki that needed to learn their ways so long as they didn't break the number 1 rule: You NEVER abandon family unless they were traitors to the Uzumaki way. There was no forgiving that act, even if you showed full repentance for your actions you were only allowed into the Branch or Servant House never the Main House, thus certain rights and techniques were barred from you and you'd reflect your new status.
It wasn't even that Naruto or the past Clan Heads had a choice in their execution of punishments. They HAD to give that punishment or they risked greater harm on the clan. The reason was because the Uzumaki bloodline, meaning their family line not any bloodline limits in the clan, as a whole was part of a pact made with the Shinigami, hence him being their major deity that they prayed to. If you broke the laws of the clan then you dishonored the pact and Shinigami as a result, thus your own blood would reflect that, hence the term Blood Traitor as they literally betrayed the blood in their veins and the blood would in turn betray them. It was why the Uzumaki never cared if a blood traitor was recruited by another village as their bloodline was tainted and as such their heirs and the like were tainted as well.
Now, if the heirs returned to Uzu and swore fealty to the clan and passed a test, then they'd be welcomed back into the clan with open arms at the lowest rank of the Main House and could work their way up. If their parent(s) were truly sorry, their offspring could vouch for them and they'd be welcomed into the Branch or Servant Houses.
However, if they weren't punished, then the Uzumaki Clan as a whole was punished for the transgression and thus the culprit was to be punished regardless of how heartless it seemed. This also led to the second most important rule of the clan: The Clan as a whole was more important than any lower number of members. The Clan as a whole was to be protected over 1, 10, or even 50 members regardless of the reason for it. Thus even if the member was remorseful immediately afterwards, they still had to be punished. It was harsh, but then so was the world they lived in.
So, even if Kushina and her children were truly and utterly remorseful in their actions and Naruto would forgive them completely, he still had to exile them from the clan as that was what the law required. The Shinigami has helped build the laws when the pact was made and the pact was the basis for the laws. Naruto wasn't going to let his clan suffer because three people decided they were going to try and plead for forgiveness for what they did.
The only reason Naruto and probably the other still living members of the clan weren't feeling the effects of their betrayal was because the Shinigami knew what Naruto had planned and decided to hold off on letting the pact's negative effect kick in. This was due to Naruto having to follow procedures to publicly announce their exile. In his heart and blood, they were exiled which was good enough for Shinigami right now so long as he did do the public declaration when he was able. The public part was so they knew their crimes and the punishment for said crimes.
Now, if they had unknowingly hurt the clan, that was another matter entirely as it occurred with no intention to break the rules or betray the clan. Hence why Tsunade was safe from Naruto's ire as she honestly was just too busy to do anything for him. It wasn't she neglected and abandoned him as she only saw him the same time as his siblings unless he visited her at the hospital. How could it be neglect aimed at him when she treated the others of the clan the same way? She wasn't abandoning her clan or family, it was just she was so busy saving lives and training others to do so that she couldn't spend time with them, thus she was spared the punishment.
The others? Not so much.
Back to the fight, Zabuza was against the railing of the bridge due to leaping back from a cleaving strike done by Naruto. He then jumped on the railing as Naruto came at him with a sweeping attack and jumped away as he panted. Naruto hadn't let up in his attack even once and was always ready for when Zabuza tried to turn the fight in his favor. It seemed unreal that someone less than half his age could match him so well with a blade. Granted Zabuza hadn't had a real sword fight in years while Naruto had them daily up until less than two weeks ago.
Naruto casually stepped up onto the railing and held his blade at his side before the two started clashing again creating sparks and more clangs as they fought on the railing. However, it was clear Zabuza had a bit more trouble keeping his footing, most likely due to the weight of Kubikiribōchō. Luckily it wasn't a problem for long as he had to dive back onto the bridge to dodge another guillotine swing from Naruto and everyone was shocked to see the blade sink into the concrete with little resistance. Naruto merely slid his blade out before dropping to the bridge and faced Zabuza.
However, he had to frown as he turned towards the opposite end of the bridge before he raised his blade and blocked a small barrage of kunai that were thrown at him. Naturally, this put everyone on edge and Haku and the Demon Brothers quickly moved away from the mist. Zabuza then released some of it to let it show some ninja of Ame and a small group of ronin and one in particular had Naruto's interest: Aoi Rokusho, the traitor of Konoha that stole the Raijin No Ken. That was an issue for Naruto since that blade belonged to Tobirama Senju, Tsunade's granduncle and cousin to his clan, which meant that blade was property of Tsunade and possibly the Uzumaki and thus he was going to beat the man until he understood his mistake.
However, Glamdring was not the right choice, which was why he sealed it away and called Acharn out, "I'll take Aoi, you lot can handle the others." Naruto stated as he pointed his hand at Zabuza and a light hit Zabuza making him feel energized and healing the few injuries he had.
Zabuza merely blinked before moving a bit and grinned as Naruto approached Aoi with Acharn in his hand. "Ha! Look at this naïve brat. Do you know what I hold? The almighty weapon of the Second Hokage: The Raijin No Ken." Aoi bragged making Naruto just look at him in boredom while the others with Aoi went around them and went for the others.
"You're an idiot." Naruto stated calmly while looking at Aoi as he twirled Acharn in his hand. Aoi scowled at him for the remark, "You and many others make the mistake of thinking that just because you have a legendary weapon that you automatically win, and you're an absolute idiot for that line of thinking." Naruto stated as he merely looked at Aoi and ignored the sounds of combat behind him knowing the others would be all right.
Aoi grit his teeth before lunging at Naruto with an overhead strike ready and grinned as the blade came down on Naruto as he blocked with Acharn. However, the grin left him and was replaced with shock as Naruto was unharmed by the blade even as electricity crackled over his blade. "I-impossible! This is the Raijin No Ken! No blade can match it!" Aoi shouted in denial as a few looked over and were surprised too.
Of course, the Uchiha and Zabuza's group used the enemies being distracted to kill them quickly and help finish off the others.
"As I said, you're nothing but a fool." Naruto stated before he punched Aoi in the gut making the man lurch forward and puke up blood and his stomach contents as Naruto side stepped to ensure he wasn't wearing the bile and blood. Naruto didn't act on Aoi's condition, he just stood there waiting before Aoi finally got up though it was shaky at best and he would fall over with a good enough push.
"Y-you're g-going to pay for that." Aoi stated as Naruto just looked at him in boredom before he blocked another sloppy slash from the blade and then another and another. It was very clear that Aoi only swung it around and thought he'd win. No discipline, no practice, no form, no tactical use, just swinging around and hoping to hit the target.
Naruto then blocked a slash and pushed the lightning blade to the side before backhanding Aoi across the face sending him to the ground again as Naruto just stood there. "See, you idiots always think that a big fancy blade will make you invincible, same with those that think some flashy jutsu or bloodline will keep them alive. Let me tell you, it counts for shit when you've got an opponent with better skill, technique, and power than you." Naruto stated standing there while Acharn was still in his hand.
Aoi tried to get up only to fall again and his nose and mouth were bleeding as he got up. He glared at Naruto and swung again only for Naruto to take his wrist and in a flash Acharn cut through his forearm with the wound being cauterized right after. Aoi fell to his knees screaming in pain clutching his new stump of an arm while Naruto took the blade from the hand and tossed the hand into the water below. Naruto then twirled both blades in his hands before stabbing diagonally down through Aoi's shoulders and twisted the blades before tearing them out and decapitating him
Naruto stood there a moment before kicking the body off the bridge into the water below and deactivated the Raijin No Ken before pocketing it and then sealing Aoi's head. Naruto then resealed Acharn and flexed his hands before he started to walk back to the others, but had to pause as he caught a crossbow bolt fired at him.
Turning to it's direction, Naruto frowned as he saw Gato and an army of thugs and mercenaries there. However, the frown was because one goon next to Gato was holding Inari's head in the air and Gato was sporting a bandage on his face. "Hmph, clearly those Rain ninja were overrated to lose without event taking one of you with them. No matter, it saves me some money and now you all will lose to these fine gentlemen standing beside me." Gato stated while Tazuna scowled at him with tears flowing from his eyes at the loss of his grandson, "How does it feel Tazuna? To know that your grandson is dead because he took after your shit for brains. The little brat actually thought he could kill me with one of my men's blades when we caught him in the village." Gato sneered/gloated knowing the brat had gotten close to killing him if it wasn't for the fact that one of his men was right there next to him to stop it. "Now boys, kill the men, but take the females hostage. They could provide some entertainment before I sell them off." Gato stated with a laugh as the men all grinned before they froze as a cold chill went down their spine and it was from the aura Naruto was giving off.
"Now, you're going to die painfully." Naruto stated with a cold tone as he brought Orcrist out again before he started walking with the tip dragging against the bridge and leaving a cut as he went. The thugs and mercenaries all gulped before they charged right at Naruto.
The first five to reach Naruto were hit by a swing of Naruto's sword cutting them all in half as he kept walking before he looked towards the horde and vanished from sight shocking everyone even the Uchiha, who hadn't turned off their Sharingan yet. All they could see were flashes of light and brief images of Naruto as he cut down every thug and mercenary that got in his way with ruthless and clean strikes.
Decapitations.
Amputations.
Bisections.
Trisections.
Chopping them in two.
Cut throats.
Arteries cut.
Dismemberment.
And more as Naruto cut through them all before reaching Gato as all the meat shields were dead and it was just the midget, who was cowering and backing away in fear. Naruto, however, just grabbed him by his jacket and took his cane before dragging him through the blood, guts, bile, and shit and walked towards Tazuna. The others wisely chose to move out of his way as he walked before he dropped the midget of a man before Tazuna and offered him said midget's cane to beat the man to death.
Tazuna took the cane and then began to make Gato regret ever daring to come to Wave Country or touching his family.
1 week later
A week later now had the groups, now including Tazuna and Tsunami, getting ready to leave Wave and go back to Konoha with all of Wave seeing them off.
However, they also had six other female tagalongs named Cattleya, Branwen, Lilith, Aya, Olva, and Bellemere, all of whom were rescued from Gato's mansion by Tosen and Geralt. Thankfully, they were new "acquisitions" to Gato's slaves and thus hadn't been touched yet. A small mercy if there was one. The six had been given clothes and freed before they talked to Tosen and Geralt and then Naruto, Unohana, and Triss and decided to go with them both to get out of Wave and to maybe settle down in Konoha since they each had skills that could prove useful, both to Konoha and possibly to Naruto if they got his attention to be added to his clan.
As for the others, after the bridge fight, Naruto and the others had gone back to the house with Naruto leaving a couple clones to clean the bridge and watch over the workers. Naruto had relieved Tazuna of the responsibility of telling Tsunami, who broke down in tears as he held her with Unohana and Triss comforted her too. Apparently, Inari had gone to see a friend in town that morning without telling anyone and was captured on the way home as he had been to his friend's house and left.
Anyway, Tsunami was offered a place in the clan back in Konoha if she wished it along with Tazuna, done in private of course, and Naruto had spent every night laying in bed with Tsunami holding her. It was the fifth day when tsunami stated she wanted to go with him and they made love on her bed for hours as Tsunami wanted to just feel nothing but a pleasure and wanted something, anything, to take her mind off of her son's death. Coincidentally it was also the same day Naruto had buried Inari for her and Tazuna and made a grave marker as he put Inari right next to Kaiza and made sure some flowers would grow over the graves.
Tsunami would be joining the Servant House and attending to Naruto's family while Tazuna was going to help Naruto with something he wanted built and Tazuna stated he was going to either stay in the village or do some sight seeing across the countries. The reason for the latter was Inari always used to talk about leaving Wave to see different countries and sites and coming back to Wave to tell others what he had seen and experienced. Tazuna may have been pushing into the elderly category, but he still wanted to do something with his life besides drinking. Plus, there was always someone in need of a skilled builder so why not?
No one of Wave blamed Tazuna or Tsunami for wanting to leave Wave. The loss of Inari's father, Tazuna's wife, then Kaiza, and now Inari combined with the overall suffering and living in fear just made them hit the breaking point. The fact that Tazuna had beaten Gato's head until it was like a deflated balloon and had stabbed his torso and genitals with the pointed part of the cane until not even an Academy training dummy could compete with the number of holes, just showed how much rage Tazuna had been harboring and getting the chance to vent just made it easier for him. They were wished the best of luck and that they'd have people watching over and taking care of their home should they ever want to come back to Wave.
Tazuna had helped convince many others to go along with Naruto's plans for the country and with the funds that Geralt and Tosen returned to them all, they'd be able to help him fund his projects and plans. The fact that he delivered Gato into the very vengeful hands of Tazuna only further spurred them to help him especially if he could use the information to stop other pigs like Gato from ruining other homes and families. Plus, with all the help he and his group had done for the people it only made it easier to decide to help him. Naruto had informed them that an associate of his would be coming to Wave to handle the business of managing and passing along the information to him.
The Konoha groups, of course, had their suspicions on why Tazuna and Tsunami were coming with them, but Kushina kept it civil and non-invasive since she could see things through Tsunami's view. She couldn't imagine what would happen to her if she lost her husband, mother, and lover and then lost her only child to a monster of a man that would gladly rape her until she was nothing more than a piece of meat and having to fear he would come after her, her child, or her father. Kushina would probably have gone on a rampage killing and destroying everyone and thing in her way to get to her target, but she was a kunoichi with training and kills under her belt so her response was normal.
But for a civilian woman who just had to cope and try to keep what family she still had? She'd never set foot in the country where she lost everything.
Besides, she wasn't blind, there was definitely something going on between Tsunami and her eldest, but again she wasn't going to pry or go protective mother since really what good would it do her right now? Furthermore, what good would it do Tsunami?
For now she'd keep quiet, but back in Konoha she and her family needed to talk to Naruto and clear the air between them all. She wanted her family whole again, she wanted to get to know the man that was her son, she wanted to know the women that had won his heart, she wanted to start making it up to him to let him know how sorry they all were.
Unfortunately for her, she was too little too late for any of that.
And by the time she did learn it, she'd be out of a clan and have no connection to her son any longer beyond birthing him into this world.
DONE!
Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. It was fun to write it when I was doing the Uzumaki Clan stuff and the rest was hit or miss.
Yes, I killed off Inari because A) it's rarely done. B) it provides a time later for Naruto to drive the point home for the other Genin that they are Human no matter how powerful they become and thus things can happen. C) It provides a good enough reason to have Tsunami and Tazuna leave Wave as there are just too many painful memories there to keep them.
I'm not going to say there won't be other deaths as we go along as I can't promise that and some of the stuff I decide to do on the spot for character or story growth.
Anyway, Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. See you all next time.
Characters
Bleach: Tosen
Queen's Blade: Branwen and Cattleya
Borderlands: Lilith
One Piece: Bellemere and Olva
Assassin's Creed: Aya
Arella is also from an item, but I am not going to say which one as it's part of a surprise for down the line. If you figure it out, then good for you but do NOT put it in a review, please, so those that don't figure it out can still be surprised later on.
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