Chapter 10

Last Time:

'But how?' Naruto wondered as he took out a piece of paper and turned on the laptop. He had a lot of research to do.

Now:

Time Skip: One Month:

"That won't work either…" Naruto muttered under his breath. It had been a month since the Super soldier formula episode and the subsequent melt down of the bunker. Naruto had been trying to figure out where Natalya's bunker was, but his efforts had been.. less than fruitful. He had made various theories of where it might be, but the maps were always off, pointing to the bunker being in the middle of nowhere or in the bottom of the ocean. No map he theorized ever managed to fit the current, elemental nations.

Naruto groaned as he looked at the map sketch before him. It was impossible to figure out! At first, Naruto theorized that the elemental nations had been a result of the various continents (I.e. N. America, S. America, Asia, Europe, etc) reuniting and making another Pangea. That idea was quickly discarded after Naruto created a map of Pangea and realized that the specifications were off and there were entirely too many bodies of water.

Since that day, his efforts got more elaborate, but to no avail. It was as if one minor detail was eluding him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He shrugged as he put on a coat and headed to a nearby bar and grill. This puzzle, while interesting, was going to be the death of him.

~ Same time: Chun Li's bar~

Tazuna was having a very shitty day. To start things off, he learned when he arrived at the village that he only had enough money for a C-rank mission. Everyone told him that the Kage was a good man who would listen and try to help. Bullshit. All Tazuna got was the standard "I'm sorry, but you can't afford that mission." After an hour of trying to barter with the man, Tazuna gave up. He offered to pay the full mission price when wave was back on its feet, but that didn't work.

Tazuna even went as far as to offer an exclusive trading contract with Wave, but the man just wasn't listening. All he was interested in was gold… 'I guess it is the one thing that makes the world go round..' Tazuna mused as he went back to his drink. He never noticed the young blond man order a meal and sit besides him. "What's got you down in the dumps, old man?" Naruto asked the drunk sitting next to him. Tarzana looked at him and spoke "Life, Gaki. Life's got me down." "Come on, it can't be that bad." Naruto said as a cute red headed waitress handed his order to him.

"Not that bad? I was supposed to hire a ninja team to protect me so I can help finish a project that would benefit my home. But can I? No, all because of that money grubbing Kage!" Tazuna said as he stopped to drink his drink. "Well, why not barter with him? I'm sure if you offered him payment at a future date or something…" Naruto began, but was cut off by Tazuna. "Kid, the only way that's going to happen is if he starts looking at things upside down." A flash of recognition ripped through Naruto when he heard those words.

"Upside down… That's it!" Naruto happily exclaimed as he jumped from his seat. He pulled out a wallet and left enough to cover the meal plus a tip. "When are you leaving old man?" Naruto asked. "Tomorrow…. Why?" Tazuna asked warily. "Because you just found yourself a bodyguard." Naruto said as he left the bar in a hurry.

~ Warehouse ~

Naruto groaned as he looked through all of the map sketches he made. Specifically, he was looking for the first one he mad of Pangea. If his hunch was correct, then… "Aha!" Naruto said as he found the sketch. He flipped it and drew it reflected. "If my theory is correct, then the continental drift tore apart the original Pangea and replaced it with a mirror image…on the other side of the world." Naruto said to himself as he finished the tracing.

"Now.." Naruto began as he overlapped his sketch with the original map. "It fits!" Naruto yelled triumphantly as he tried to figure out the location of Natalya's bunker. "Now if I'm right, then it should be…here!" Naruto said as he pointed right at the village hidden in the Clouds, Kumogakure No Sato. "..Fuck." Naruto said as he saw how far he would have to travel. It was literally the other way… Naruto groaned, but started collecting his items and sealing them in scrolls. Part of being an Avenger was helping people who needed help, and that drunk in the bar looked like a dead man walking…

~ Time Skip: The Next Day ~

Naruto waited patiently at the village gates for tazuna. He had locked the Warehouse up and had taken everything of Value with him. This might be the last time he saw this wretched village, and he could without a doubt say he wouldn't miss it. Since he spent all of his time in the bunker, he didn't really have any connections here. All he had were memories..

Naruto was shaken from his thoughts as Tazuna arrived at the gate. "Oh, you were serious? Listen kid, I know I was drunk last night, but you don't have to stick your neck out for me. I've led…" Tazuna began, only to see Naruto already outside the village gates. "Hey brat, wait up!" Tazuna yelled as he jogged to Naruto."You know there's little pay, right.." Tazuna began. "Did I ask for money?" Naruto replied as he continued to walk. "Its life threatening. Won't your parents be worried?" Tazuna asked, and Naruto thought to Kushina and Minato. "I sincerely doubt it." He replied "What about…"

"Are you trying to talk me out of helping you?" Naruto asked Tazuna, who quickly shut up. "Well, since you're hell bent on it, I might as well tell you the full story." Tazuna said as he took a seat and wove a tale of Wave country and how Gato was running it to the ground. By the end of the story, Naruto spoke "So basically, a tyrant has managed to worm his way into immeasurable power and is tormenting your people, and your bridge is the ONLY thing that could liberate wave from its dependence on him?"

Naruto asked. "Sounds about right.." Tazuna said as he studied Naruto's face, trying to see what the teen was going to do. "Then we have no time to waste." Naruto said as he got up and walked towards the Land of Waves. Tazuna followed him. "You know you could die right?" Tazuna asked grimly. "I could…but then again I could live. And where's the fun in that?" Naruto asked, making Tazuna look at him strangely. "What do you mean brat?" "You either die for something or live for nothing. I never was the type to be idle." Naruto replied.

".. I like you kid. What's your name?" "Isn't it common courtesy to introduce yourself before asking someone else's name?" Naruto asked in response, making Tazuna sweat drop. " I'm Tazuna, the super bridge builder!" "Naruto. Naruto Romanov." Naruto replied as he kept walking.

~Time Skip – One day~

Naruto grinned as he and Tazuna walked towards the docks. These last few days weren't that bad with the drunk, besides the fact that Tazuna wanted to stop off at every bar they passed. Naruto was shaken from his thoughts as he saw a puddle in his way. 'A puddle? Dry ground, cracked from dry heat. Far away from any settlement, so a wandered spilling is less likely, specially that amount. Its an ambush.' He thought as he quietly took out a kunai.

"Now!" Gozu yelled as he and Meizu jumped upwards, ready to attack Naruto. They tried to wrap the chain from their gauntlet around Naruto, but he managed to back flip over it. Before the demon brothers could react, Naruto was in front of meizu. After a hook to Meizu's jaw, Naruto jumped up and rammed his knee into Meizu's face. A sickening crunch was heard as Naruto broke Meizu's nose and dropped him on the floor. Gozu disconnected his gauntlet from the chain and charged at Naruto, only to be stopped by a large kick to his head. He was sent sprawling to the floor while Naruto took the opportunity to tie them up.

"Who sent you?" Naruto asked the brothers as he stood over them. "I.. I don't know what you're talking about!" Gozu said in a bit of fear. "Please. This ambush was the work of an amateur. Considering you guys are missing nin at chunnin level, It's obvious you're working under someone to gain an indirect protection. Now I'll ask again, who sent you?" Naruto asked as he pulled out his gun. "hahahaHAHAHAHA, you won't be able to defeat him like you did us, he's in a league of his own!" Gozu stated with an insane smirk.

"Well, we won't know until we try will we?" Naruto asked as he shot Gozu through the heart, killing him. "You going to talk?" Naruto asked Meizu, only for the nin to shake his head.. "Sorry, but the death you're offering is merciful compared to what he would do." Meizu said. Naruto nodded and shot him through the head. Using a low-level fire jutsu, Naruto burned the bodies and went back to join Tazuna.

"Did…did you kill them?" Tazuna asked with some fear in his voice. "I didn't have a choice. Not only were they non compliant, but they were also a loose end. If I had let them go, they would have continued to live their lives of crime. If I had left them there, a ninja would have just cut off their heads and turned them in for their bounty. Considering their options, killing them was the merciful thing." Naruto said grimly. "..Thanks kid. I would have been dead by now if it wasn't for you." Tazuna stated. "Don't mention it. Are we anywhere close to the land of Waves?" Naruto asked. "Yea, just a boat ride away."

Naruto nodded as he followed Tazuna towards the dock and their boat. He unsealed his bow and got ready, whoever the next player would be, they would be bigger game..

~ Time skip – One boat ride ~

Naruto walked carefully behind Tazuna as they walked towards Tazuna's town. It had been an uneventful boat ride across the ocean, but he was sure things would pick up now. Naruto unsealed a regular arrow and shot it into the bushes, then walked towards them. When he arrived, he saw a large white rabbit with the arrow through its side. As he retrieved his arrow, he noticed something was off about the rabbit. 'White fur, but its summer. It should be a brown fur. Claws have no dirt on them and the rabbit itself is tick free, so a pet…"

Naruto's eyes widened as he turned to Tazuna. "Get down!" he yelled as he tackled the old man to the ground. As soon as they hit the floor, a large blade flew over them and buried itself into a tree a few feet away from them. As Naruto and the old man slowly got up, a sinister voice spoke. "Looks like the demon brothers failed after all. Pathetic." Naruto looked around to see if he could spot anyone, but found nothing except a thick mist settling in. "So the demon brothers were working under someone. Who are you!" Naruto demanded.

The mist slowly cleared to show a tall and noticeably muscular man with bandages wrapped around his mouth and a slashed kiri headband retrieving the giant blade from the tree. "My name is Zabuza Momoichi, formerly of the Seven Swordsmen of The Mist. And your executioner…" Zabuza finished his introduction as he hefted the large blade over his shoulder.

A/N:

Ok, Naruto's skill level:

Taijutsu: Anbu Commander/ Natalya's Level

Genjutsu: Chunnin

Ninjutsu: High Chunnin With mastered affinity for wind and lightning affinity with no prior training

Stealth and Infiltration: Anbu Commander +

Chakra: Due to super soldier experiment, Chakra levels to rival the two tails.

Control: Low Chunnin

Speed: Jounin

Kenjutsu: Jounin

Weapons and Accuracy: Anbu Commander +

Fuinjutsu: High Chunnin-Low Jounin

Strength, Stamina, Resistance, flexibility: High Anbu Commander

Healing: Uzumaki healing factor and advanced metabolism from super soldier experiment.

Default Outfit (unless stated otherwise): Black cargo pants, Steel toed boots, black t shirt, Kevlar vest, black beret with no insignia, Avengers insignia on top right of his vest, fingerless gloves.

Default Arsenal: Special kunai, special shuriken, standard katana, collapsible bow with sharpened edges, explosive arrows, regular arrows, ninja string, rope, infiltration kit, torture kit, and 3 handguns.

Oh, and a reader pointed this out: A black widow is a spider who eats its mate. I know that, but it's only for his assassin record, if you will. He wont actually be called that, his codename is maelstrom. The title is something passed from master to student, and only used during records.