Chapter 5

Land of Waves

Tazuna the bridge builder entered the office of the Hokage and what he saw sent a cold shiver down his spine which he masked through some liquid courage. “This is it, two brats?”

“They may surprise you,” Kakashi stated turning to his students both didn’t even bat an eyelash at the comment. He smiled underneath his mask; he had seen the results of their training and the grueling D-Ranked Missions they underwent to get to this level. Sakura had suffered several broken bones during these missions, all mostly because her body wasn’t use to the amount of work that was needed to maintain her body’s integrity. But she slowly got the hang of both the weighted clothing and the chakra weight that increased the gravity around her person. Yet even with broken bones she trained, did the missions, and did her apprenticeship with Tsunade all without one single complaint. As for Naruto the boy was beyond phenomenal the chakra and raw power the boy had surpassed most Jonin and his control was nothing to sneeze at, the Hokage had given the boy the Shadow Clone Jutsu scroll after graduation and cracked it before his bell test the next morning. Kakashi began teaching them several other jutsu from earth, fire, water, and wind. Naruto had mastered the Earth wall, and Earth dome, he also mastered an Uchiha signature the Fireball Jutsu. Sakura also mastered the earth wall and earth dome jutsu’s but she also created an exploding tag Jutsu she calls the Sakura Blossom Jutsu. But Naruto’s greatest technique didn’t even look like a jutsu; instead it looked more like a release of Chakra energy in a massive beam. What was it he called it, Kamehame-Ha. That move alone unnerved the Copy-Nin.

“Fine,” Tazuna looked at the Hokage for a moment hiding his nervousness behind another sip of his sake.

Tsunade felt the same kind of nervousness for a different reason looking to her grandson. “Naruto please be careful,” she said walking over and giving her grandchild a warm hug. “Don’t know what I’ll do without you.”

“I’ll be okay grandma I promise,” Naruto said putting his arms around his grandmother a huge smile on his face. After the long hug the two parted and Naruto joined his team who were told to go pack for a three week trip. “Sakura, time we tested how much we’ve grown don’t need to wear the weights.”

Sakura turned and smiled broadly, “Right.”

An hour later the trio met at the front gate, none of them looked any different; however Sakura seemed to be a bit off balance. “What’s wrong Sakura-chan?” Naruto asked.

“I feel so light,” Sakura replied taking a step toward them. “It’s strange.”

“Heh, just wait if run into bandits I’d feel really sorry for them, or any ninja that are A-ranked missing or lower they’ll be in for a real treat,” Naruto explained as they all fell into step heading away from the village. Naruto and Sakura chatted away quietly while Kakashi was busy reading his porn, Tazuna however was getting more nervous by the moment, it had taken him nearly two full bottles of sake to keep his nerves from alerting his escorts. He should have expected brats after all most C-Ranked missions were done by either two low level Chunnin or three high level Genin with a Jonin instructor. But right now he had two fresh out of the academy rookie Genin and one Jonin. He knew this wasn’t going end well for him.

After a few hours of travel Naruto’s power level senses spiked he looked at Sakura who nodded who subtly reached into her pouch at her hip and withdrew some gloves that Princess Tsunade had given her when she entered her apprenticeship sliding them on her hands and tighten her fingers into fist she was ready. Kakashi had seen the subtle move and wondered what was up when through a casual observance he spotted a water puddle on the ground when it hadn’t rained in weeks. I see they sensed it somehow. Kakashi readied himself as they passed the puddle and then felt the killing intent. Two Mist ninja flew out of the water and launch what they thought was a surprise attack on the bridge builder.

The Mist duo wrapped their chains around Kakashi then tighten appearing to saw Kakashi in two. However what they saw next defied conventional description. Naruto seemed to blur yet remained where he stood, the same could be said for Sakura. Both flickered briefly the mist nin were slightly confused until the next moment when the duo felt intense pain one in his mid section the other on the side of his cheek. Sakura reappeared her fist buried in the face of one Mist nin and Naruto reappeared his knee buried deep into the stomach of the second. Both Mist ninja dropped one unconscious, the other was trying to keep from losing his stomach contents.

Sakura looked utterly shocked at the speed and power she used then over at Naruto. “This is what you were trying to achieve with all that training?”

Naruto smiled brightly, “Works don’t it, I’d say were probably ten times stronger and faster than most low level Jonin,” he stated.

Sakura eyes widen and Kakashi’s did as well jumping down from the tree he was hiding from. “Hmm, you two are just full of surprises,” Kakashi lazily looked at Tazuna who was standing there in stunned silence. Deep down a part of him was glad at the sudden display. “But it seems we’ve been lied to, if you and Sakura hadn’t been at the level you were this could almost be difficult.”

“You mean because of the two Chunin or is it something else,” Sakura asked brushing dirt off her jacket.

“This was to be a C-Ranked mission, bandits and basic thugs well within the realm of survivability for genin out of the academy. However as we’ve seen we have two A-Ranked missing nin and probably more waiting in the wings. That would raised the ranking to a B possibly A ranked mission. Normally I would turn us around and head back to the village. But considering how good you two are I doubt even two Chunin could do better.”

Naruto nodded glancing over at the recovering Mist nin, and frown the man suddenly slumped to the ground, “Poisoned himself.”

“We still have the one Sakura knocked-out, I’m sure Ibiki and Anko will have fun interrogating him,” Kakashi wrote a quick note before summoning hawk and sent the message. He then walked over to Tazuna. “Now mister Tazuna I would appreciate it that you don’t hold anything else back.”

After that subtle warning Tazuna recapped the trio on what was happening in the Land of Waves, about Gatou and his monopolization of the island he wrested from the local nobles. After the explanation the small group went on their way after tying up the remaining mist Nin securely for the ANBU. The group moved on heading toward the boat Tazuna had ask for and was greeted by his younger brother. Upon seeing he had only three ninja with him the brother looked nervous. It was only with a quick smile that gave the brother any reassurance that Tazuna would be safe once they entered the village area.

The boat ride was quiet though Naruto seemed to fidget a bit at the lack of activity. Sakura was watching him for a few moments before giggling gently, this in turn caused him to look over at her cross his eyes, which elicited another bout of giggling. Kakashi watched the pair even in relative silence the two were bonding in his eyes. But he saw something they apparently were missing, both shared words without so much as opening their mouths, simple looks and gestures was all that was needed. It reminded him sadly of his departed sensei and his wife. Dear god, sensei. Naruto and Sakura remind me a lot of you and lady Kushina it’s scary.” The duo didn’t seem to notice this but neither did Minato or Kushina for the first month or so. But the fact was it was developing, looks with questions, and gestures that had answers. Two sides to the same end he noted. Flipping open his porn began reading the next chapter however he found this decidedly difficult for some reason, glancing up he saw two pairs of eyes burning holes into his. Ah yes, another reason the two are so much like Naruto’s parents, they both hate fine literary works. Kakashi went back to reading ignoring the glares he was getting form his pupils.

As they left the boat and began there final leg of the trip Naruto felt more than saw the incoming sword, he grabbed it perfectly between his hands and sent the figure on it flying to the ground. The other three saw Naruto clutching a sword in his hands and a figure slowly standing up staggering a bit. When the figure turned, he looked at the darkly clad Naruto in shock.

“H-How were you able to see me coming?” the man asked.

Naruto twirled the sword’s handle into his hand casually as if the sword weighed nothing more than his kunai looking at the man. “I felt you coming rather than seen you, your ki was only slightly weaker than Kakashi-sensei.”

“Zabuza, Demon of the Hidden Mist,” Kakashi stated in a slow drawl watching as the man in question looked a bit off considering he lost his sword.

“Kakashi Hatake, the Copy-ninja,” Zabuza replied glancing at Naruto who lofted Zabuza’s sword onto his shoulder like it was nothing. “Is the boy your student?”

“Not really, he doesn’t need me to train him anything he or the girl doesn’t already know, I’d say while they are technically Genin fresh out of the academy, their skills place them at low Jonin, wouldn’t you say?” Kakashi asked.

Zabuza glanced at both boy and the girl like Kakashi all three had long trench coats on, the girl wore a red coat with white Sakura blossoms at the bottom of said coat. The boy wore a black coat with orange flames at the bottom, as for Kakashi he wore a silver coat with blue lightning bolts. This wasn’t a typical genin squad with a Jonin instructor, it was three equals. The two genin simply lacked the rank that fit their station. “Looks like I need Gatou raise my fee,” he stated simply hiding his growing worry.

Naruto chuckled a bit chucking the sword at Zabuza, “Here a swordmaster wouldn’t be a swordmaster without his sword.”

“You’re a bit naïve kid, giving me back my sword like this, what makes you think I won’t use it?” Zabuza asked.

“Uh, I just caught once when you thought I wasn’t on guard. Now that I’m on my guard you seriously think I won’t be able to stop it again?” Naruto asked his own question giving the Mist missing-nin pause.

“Touché, however I know how strong you are now and I won’t simply attack you with my sword,” Zabuza countered, this was his first level of battle. With words he could determine how strong his opponent was without wasting his energy in fighting. With Kakashi that wouldn’t have worked he seemed to be the sort that had little in the way with words. This boy however seemed to enjoy the verbal sparring a bit. I like this kid, might be worth betraying Gatou just to see what this kid is really like. Plus he’d be a good influence on Haku. If he beats me in the verbal department, I might actually ask for asylum in the Leaf Village.

“True, but you don’t really know how strong I am, allow me to demonstrate,” Naruto crossed his arms over his face for a moment before slowly pulling them down securing them at his sides them began screaming in rage widening his stance. At first nothing seem to happen until his battle aura appeared like blue white flames.

Even Kakashi and Sakura had to step back in shock at the sudden out pouring of pour energy flying out of Naruto in a torrent. Zabuza had however decided that fighting this boy and Kakashi Hatake at the same time would be very bad for his health. As the boy dropped his stance back to his full height they all felt the power quickly drop off like he had turned to gaze at Sakura. “She can do it as well.”

Sakura looked shocked at that statement, “I-I can, Naruto?”

“Sure just dig down deep and find the power within and bring out using a mixture of concentration and discipline,” Naruto explain Sakura simply followed his advice and found it rather quickly feeling Inner Sakura pump her fist. She started roaring similar to Naruto only her battle aura gave a more gentle white color than Naruto’s bluish white.

Zabuza quickly felt sick to his stomach both the two younger ninja might actually be stronger than Kakashi and he was an elite, however they lacked field experience which was their only down side. If they gained that field experience and employed it their powers. My god their on the copse of being Sannin or Kage level, I’ve made my decision I will not fight what I cannot win, eh Gatou is in for a huge surprise. Zabuza relaxed his stance then let out a quick series of whistles a few seconds later a figure in a mask appeared. “I take it you saw what happened.”

“Yes, we’ll be committing suicide fighting them,” Haku stated watching the trio. “The boy is still hiding his full power.”

“I figured that,” Zabuza turned his attention to Kakashi. “I think I rather claim asylum in the Hidden Leaf Village rather than commit to a fight I wouldn’t win. I have some rather nasty people coming after me.”

Kakashi nodded for a moment before resummoning the hawk and sent another message along with his dog summons Pakkun. “Follow Pakkun here to the leaf village the hawk should reach the village in time for an audience with the Hokage. This is done in good faith Zabuza do not squander it.”

Zabuza simply nodded as the copy-ninja motioned for his teammates to follow him. “I hope Gatou’s insurance is paid up,” he muttered to Haku. “I may be considered a demon by Shinobi standards but those two, are the real monsters.”

The trio had finished their escorting part of the mission, now were spending time trading off as guards. Gatou unsure how his ninja assassins had been captured or scared hired a new beast so to speak to care of the bridge builder. “I understand you came with great credentials General Tao, I hope you will succeed where Zabuza had failed. I want that builder dead.”

“Yes, never send a ninja to do a General’s job.” A man in strange robes, red metallic limbs and thin mustache said arms behind his back and lazy grin on his face as he flipped a long ponytail over his shoulder.

Naruto was sitting quietly looking up at the sky thinking about nothing in particular as he felt Sakura come up and sit down next to him. “What’s wrong Sakura-chan?”

Sakura leaned forward stretching out slightly, “How did you know we would get so inhumanly fast with all that training. Or that inhumanly strong, we’re almost monsters now,” Sakura eyes looked pained.

“I’m sorry Sakura-chan I didn’t mean to cause that, it’s just that all this training we made will help us achieve whatever we can dream of. I want to be Hokage and be better than any family member that’s come before me. I wanted to help you prove that you’re not weak that you’re as strong as I see you,” Naruto explained continuing to look up at the sky. He failed to see Sakura blush deeply.

“You really thought I would get this strong, Naruto?” Sakura asked.

Naruto smiled widened even more looking at her, “Actually you can get even stronger than this, once you finished Grandma’s training. Your physical speed and strength have topped out, but if you had grandma’s medical jutsu’s and chakra enhancing abilities you’ll be greater then you are now, believe it!”

Sakura this time wasn’t able to hide her blush, not even her mother had this much faith in her abilities. Yet here was an almost complete stranger to her and he had every ounce of faith in her and seemed to hold her on pedestal that she herself reserved for Sasuke until a month ago when he shattered it when he used his spiteful words and complete lack of respect for her feelings. This turned around when Naruto offered a shoulder to cry on and positive reinforcement stating that she was far beyond weak. He then set about proving it to her by training her and with her until the two were equals, but deep down she could feel he had well of power that he had yet tapped into and prayed silently that it would not change him. She was coming to like this Naruto, maybe even falling for him. She blushed at that thought but did not crush like she had so many times before, if Naruto had been the one that rescued her when she was seven she be the happiest she has ever been.

Author’s Note: By winner and clear victory in the polls Vegeta will make his debut in the coming chapters. As for the reason why we have so many DBZ characters in each known container is something that is part of the storyline and will be revealed by Jiraiya at a later date. This will also coincide why certain DB and DBZ villains will pop up on occasions. Also it helps move the story a bit considering Naruto’s at the power level he’s at now could probably beat Orochimaru without breaking a sweat. Especially if you consider DBZ power levels at the start of the series. Vegeta had been the strongest at 15,000. If we had to measure Orochimaru, Pain, and Madara I doubt they’d match Vegeta much less those of Goku and Piccolo.