Battle for Dominance
It was a calm night in Suna. Being located within a desert, Suna was quite chilly at night, thus, its villagers needed to cover in warm blankets so as not get cold. However, one person wasn't in need of any blankets. In fact, if someone would see this person, he or she would be able to see that the man was sweating profusely while on his sleep. Uzumaki Naruto was having a nightmare and one of the toughest he ever had to come up against. Since Naruto became an Anbu, when Kyuubi wasn't leaking his killing intent throughout his body, the fox was doing his best so as to provide the blonde with haunting visions and nightmares of seeing his precious people dying in front of him.
Right now, Naruto was having a nightmare that showed his beloved Kurenai being slaughtered by the very person whose heart was in her possession. Normally, this nightmare wouldn't scare Naruto very much from extreme confidence that he would be able to be in control of his own body, thus not letting the damn kitsune take control of him. However, while before Naruto was able to get it under control, right now he was having trouble dispelling the horrible images of himself killing the one he loves from the bottom of his heart with his sword. I have to be in control of this, I can't let him get away with this. I can't let the damn fox do with my mind as he pleases. It's time we settle this once and for all. – Thought Naruto as he focused his blue chakra fiercely, thus eliminating the nightmare from his head.
After doing this, he found himself staring one angry Kyuubi, looking down at him as in trying to find something the blond fears. Naruto wouldn't know and the fox would never in his life, openly admit, but the fox was quite impressed with the blonde's ability to suppress the demon's urges like that. Almost every night and a few days for as long as a year now, the fox has been doing its best to make the blond snap, thus him being able to escape by convincing the boy to rip the seal off. However by looking at Naruto's fierce eyes, Kyuubi realized something he hadn't in sixteen years. 'Those same eyes, the same determination, the same resolve on protecting others, I wonder why I haven't realized it yet; of course, the boy's the son of my executioner, the one who imprisoned me inside the boy. Naruto is the son of the Yondaime.' – Thought Kyuubi as realization was upon him.
"Tell me boy, why do you fight me so much? What pushes you to go up against the almighty Kyuubi no Kitsune?" – Asked the fox, now more curious about the boy's resolve on keeping him away, surprising the blonde a little bit. Naruto for his part, while breading with difficult from the exertion of keeping the fox at bay, was rather suspicious of the sudden question. Nevertheless, the answer was second nature to him. "Why I do this, you ask? ...You've given me nothing more than pure misery. When I'm using your chakra, my mind shatters and suddenly I can't think of anything rather than simply destroying everything my path. You can say it's your doing in regards to my high chakra reservoir, you can say you saved me countless times by healing my wounds, but you forgot that if wasn't for you, I would have a different live, instead of being constantly worrying if you will take possession of my body or Akatsuki or even Orochimaru would claim my head. However, while my life was nothing more than misery, I managed to find love and care in my life" – Said Naruto, making the fox laugh at said choice of words.
"Lower your defenses, boy. I won't do this anymore. I just want to talk" – Whispered Kyuubi with a strange voice that almost sounded…human. Naruto, for his part, found that trusting the fox's word would be a fatal mistake, simply because of the species expertise. Foxes are cunning animals, whose abilities resolve around deception. "You have my word that I won't do anything. I maybe a fox in nature, but I have my pride. Thus when I give my word, I'll keep the promise" – Said Kyuubi to which Naruto nodded and relaxed his shoulder a little bit. "What do you want, Kyuubi?" – Asked Naruto rather apprehensive of this whole situation.
"I merely want to talk a little bit. About what have I been doing to you this past year" – Said Kyuubi, as he now laid down in a comfortable position, making Naruto lift an eyebrow at such a sight. "First of all, Naruto the reason as to why I'm doing all this was at first to break your mind. However, getting you all riled up doesn't get me as much thrill as when you and I are connected in a fight. So, I'll propose a deal" – Said Kyuubi, making Naruto once again grow suspicious of the demon. Foxes are cunning; foxes are mischievous; foxes are….not worth of trust. "A deal!? I can be wrong, but the last time I checked, a deal involved an agreement between two parties, thus towards a mutual benefit. I don't see that coming with the two of us" – Said Naruto to which the fox scowled at the blonde for bloody sarcasm, but nevertheless progressed with his terms. "The truth of the manner is that I'm tired of being in this prison for damn 16 years. In here, I can't see the outside world, my sense of smell is pretty much useless and my tact went downhill as well. So, how about you rip off the seal and we both go our separate ways?" – Asked the fox with a strange sense of humor, expecting the boy to shout and scowl at him, but sadly that never came.
"And yet I thought you're serious about this. Asking things that you know it would never happen" – Said Naruto to which the fox smiled and continued. "It doesn't hurt to try, though. Okay, I just want to feel the outside world again, so the deal is that your senses of touch, smell and vision are connected with my own, thus sharing all such feelings with me and before you say if you can cut such link, yes you can. Believe me when I say that hearing your thoughts while you're with your mate is bad enough." – Said Kyuubi, making Naruto think for a moment. Kyuubi's proposal wasn't far too demanding and the fox could do nothing to his body when sharing his senses, so Naruto concluded that it was acceptable, however being an Anbu, it did teach him some things. Therefore he felt complied to seeing what his share of the deal would be. "Before I say my answer, mind telling what's in it for me?" – Asked the blonde before being confused as to why the fox was smirking. "Yuurei (ghost); Tsukai (Messenger); Onmitsu (detective); Touzoku (Thief) and Kyoushu (assassin), rise from the flames of hell and present yourselves" – Shouted the Kitsune as five foxes suddenly appeared within different colors of flames.
Naruto for his part just watched with his arms crossed as five two tailed foxes from different colors appeared out of what looked to be flames again from different colors. "As I said before, these are demon foxes and together they form the best ninja arts team you'll ever find in all the elemental nations. Ghost is the team's spy, he infiltrates places unseen because of his white skin. By applying youki to his fur, he can change his color to mingle with the environment, thus making him invisible, at least to human knowledge. Tsukai here is the team's messenger, he excels in speed and he can cross the entire Fire Country in less than 10 hours. Onmitsu is the team's investigator. He's the best at searching for clues that are hard to locate and has a cunning mind when to solve a mystery. Last, but not least, Kyoushu. She is one deadly fox, I'll tell you. Don't underestimate this shy and timid look of her, when you least expects, she'll be on your neck before you even realized she moved from her previous place. Now, these five can be used by you, should you need them, in case we close this deal" – Said Kyuubi to which Naruto turn to study the two tailed foxes in front of him. Out of all of them, Naruto preferred Yuurei over all of them. Also, Naruto had Ace to call for help, but the wolf kind of complained from sometimes playing the role of a messenger, so Tsukai could be useful as well. Onmitsu and Touzoku could also be useful from their specific abilities; however upon seeing Kyoushu, he found that he wouldn't need the help of an assassin. In a team consisting of four Anbu members, thus four people with amazing assassination skills, having another one wasn't much of a necessity.
However, should he had to go on a mission that he had to kill someone without no one catching him, he could send her instead and he'll never be linked to any form of attack and he assumed that none of them would mind by being blamed by other humans. "Okay, Kyuubi, however somehow I know that it's isn't so simple as agreeing with the terms, is it?" – Asked Naruto before seeing all the six foxes smile deviously, making him suddenly suspicious and slight pissed at himself from ever doubting the cunning edge of a kitsune. "It seems you understand the foxes a bit too much, Naruto-san. For this deal to be certain, there will be a trial for you to overcome" – Said Yuurei to which Naruto turned his eyes away and responded as to where laid his suspicion. "I wouldn't expect someone who gave me hell for at least as long as I lived; suddenly appear giving away stuff without a cost. However, I can't say that I'm not eager to face this trial. I am always into a good challenge; what is it that I'm supposed to do?" – Asked Naruto before seeing all the foxes turning their necks to see their lord speak.
"That's simple. You just have to beat me in a shinobi fight" – Said Kyuubi like it was the easiest and most common thing. Naruto for his part, scowled at the demon. "Yeah right. When even the majority of Konoha shinobis could even cause even a single damage to you, how on earth do you think I can even lay a finger on you?" – Asked Naruto, already thinking of dismissing the deal and get out of his mind scape. "Don't be foolish Naruto. I wouldn't expect you to beat me in full strength. Hell I don't think any human could beat me in my full strength. No, you'll be fighting me with 1/9 fraction of my power, meaning one tail worth of power" – Said the big fox to which Naruto turned to think for a bit.
"One tail worth of power, I remember the day I used right after the Uchiha defected from the village. If memory serves me right, one tail worth of the Kyuubi's chakra was equivalent to high-level jounin in terms of power. Ok, I admit that I'm stronger now, but I'm not sure if I am close to Kakashi's level yet. Nonetheless, if I can do this than maybe the damn fox would stop trying to torment me in my sleep almost every day. I wonder what he meant of fighting a shinobi battle though. Can he make jutsus?' –Thought Naruto as he looked up to see the almighty kitsune waiting for his answer. "One question, though, what do you mean to fight a shinobi battle. I didn't realize that you can make ninjutsu and genjutsu." – Asked Naruto to which the fox grinned slightly and satisfied Naruto with the answer. "For someone who lived from thousands of years, learning the shinobi arts was like a little hobby of my own. However, using youki instead of chakra did manage to mix the concepts a bit. For instance, compared to the Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu), my version is called Katon Makai Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Hell Fireball Jutsu). However, since I only bothered learning Katon ninjutsu for obvious reasons, I never bothered to see what youki would do to the other elements."– Said Kyuubi.
"Okay then. The fight is on; as I said I love a challenge. Nonetheless, since I'm on a very important mission right now, so why not proceed with the fight after the completion of the mission?" – Asked Naruto, making the Kyuubi think about it for a second. "Oh yes, I know of this mission, deal with some criminals and help Shukaku's ex-host. Ok then, our fight will occur after the completion of the mission. However, I'm most eager to see you fighting, so at least the sight and hearing senses will be linked all times during the fight. The same way you like a challenge, I happen to enjoy seeing a good fight." –Said Kyuubi to which Naruto accepted. "OK, now I have to go to sleep, so night night" – Shouted Naruto before disappearing from his mindscape, leaving the six foxes talking.
"Do you think he can handle one tail worthy of your chakra, Kyuubi-sama? I admit the kid is strong, but I don't think he can win" – Asked Onmitsu making all little foxes look at their lord for an answer. "Naruto isn't so sure of this as well. However, you don't live inside him for sixteen years and not pick up a few things. First of all, Naruto has an strange ability of knowing the right jutsu to use at the right time. Also, from what I've been able to hear, being inside of him and all, he's creating a new taijutsu style that happen to mix genjutsu. The kid is not by all means as experienced as the elites from his village, however he has both the chakra and stamina to keep up with them. Also he has been able to beat two S ranked shinobis together with another one from this new team of his." – Said Kyuubi to which everyone nodded and bowed before leaving the place.
-In Konoha-
Kurenai was just waking up from a wonderful dream she had about the blond. She remembered him passing that day, showing the number three with his hands and Kurenai was already imagining their little trip to a nice hotel that was in a village 10 miles from Konoha. She smiled at all the things they could do as a couple: massages, sharing the public onsen, relaxing in bed together and last but not least, the sex. Kurenai was by no means a pervert; however she found out that sex and Naruto are two words that go together quite nicely. Kurenai found it rather odd to have a two in one package when it came to having sex with the blonde. He was kind and had patience when the situation called for it, but also could be wild when needed to be. Not to mention that with the guy's stamina, he could maybe go all night and still be able for more, thought Kurenai as a little blood came out of her nose when she remembered the one time the couple pretty much forgot to sleep because of all the sex.
Little did the woman know, though, that another girl simply chose to sleep in her apartment as well. Anko had a few drinks left night (yeah right) and found out that she forgot where her house was supposed to be, thus shunshing inside Kurenai's house instead. At the time, Kurenai didn't woke up, though, thus Anko just lied down on the couch. After hearing noise coming from the room, the snake mistress went there to check on her friend. "I see that you're awake, Kurenai-chan" – Said Anko, surprising the genjutsu jounin. "What are you doing here Anko? Did you sleep in here?" – Asked Kurenai to which Anko just scratched her head and smiled as in saying yes to the black woman's question. Kurenai for her part sighed at the helpless case, but suddenly she remembered something that she needed to talk to Anko about.
"Anko, although I don't appreciate you sneaking in my apartment, I'm glad you're here. Now, I have a few things that are worrying me and it involves Yuugao-chan" – Said Kurenai, making Anko pay attention, since she remembered what happened with the poor girl and how she is showing signs of affection towards Naruto which could be a sign for worry. "I don't know why but since she found out about Hayate's betrayal, she started looking at my boyfriend and although I'm pretty much certain that he wouldn't do anything, I'm not sure if Yuugao would" – Said Kurenai to which Anko responded. "Yes this can prove to be quite an touchy subject. Man, how I would like to have my way with that bastard Hayate. I promise that by the end, he will ask me to end his misery" – Growled Anko, earning a nod from Kurenai in response.
"I know, but the topic here is Yuugao. I don't know if her supposed infatuation with my boyfriend is beyond anything physical. I bet she just found someone to teach Hayate a lesson" – Thought Kurenai out loud to which Anko smiled deviously and chose to tease the girl a little bit. "That's true, but can you blame her Kurenai-chan, really. Naruto is one fine piece of meat, if you know what I mean" – Smiled Anko when she saw Kurenai's look that promised hell to anyone present. However Kurenai knew the girl's intention so she smirked and played along. "You're just jealous that I have Naruto all for myself while you're at home doing wonders with vibrators and such" – Said Kurenai but flinched after seeing Anko's devious smile going up a notch, thus getting herself in a dangerous situation.
"Well…." – Said Anko but was stopped by Kurenai whose danger sense was already screaming for her to stop. "We can do this teasing later if you want Anko, but right now I more concerned about Yuugao becoming persistent with Naruto-kun." – Said Kurenai, making Anko scowl at the genjutsu mistress for not being fun at all. "OK, Kurenai-chan, lighten up, jeez. OK rest assured that she won't do anything to him there, Yuugao is possibly thinking about him right now, but the thought of endangering a mission is unnerving to her to say the least. However, rest assured that once the mission is over, she'll try." – Said Anko to which Kurenai nodded, concurring with the other jounin's assessment.
However when she was going to talk, Shizune appeared in the room, saying to Kurenai that the Hokage wanted to speak with her to which the genjutsu mistress nodded and went to change into her normal jounin clothes. "Anko, we'll talk about this later, okay. I'll have to go see the Hokage." – Said Kurenai and got a nod from Anko who shunshined out of the apartment.
-At Tsunade's office-
Half an hour later, Kurenai was inside the Hokage's office watching the 'busy woman' surrounded by stacks and stacks of paper while taking a quick nap. Kurenai was somewhat wondering why the hell Tsunade took this job if she couldn't keep up with it. However, she remembered who was that convinced Tsunade to take such position, so she smiled and forgot about it. Nonetheless, Kurenai was wondering how she could wake up the Hokage without the blonde sending her to the hospital. Kurenai remembered her boyfriend telling how cranky the Hokage was after being waken up and now she was fearing her fate in case she chose to wake her up. So, she chose to wait for Tsunade to wake up.
In the meantime, however, she was searching for things to do while waiting for the blonde to get up. Looking around, she found some pictures on the table and started looking at it for a little while. First of them was a picture of the Sandaime Hokage while young together with his gennin team. Kurenai was fond of the kind Sandaime Hokage and smiled while wondering if he was getting his well deserved rest. Naruto told her that he owed his life to the Sandaime Hokage from being the only one in the village who ever cared for him while he was growing up. Kurenai giggled softly when she remembered Naruto telling a story about Sandaime helping the blond that was choking from trying to eat more than he could chew. Would you approve of our relationship Hokage-sama? Naruto always treasured you as a grandfather, so I would like to have your blessing. I know that you're looking over the village right now. I'm sure you'd be proud of the man he became, Sandaime" – Thought Kurenai as a tear dropped from her face.
While the genjutsu mistress was in deep thought while looking at the picture, Tsunade was already awake, but didn't want to spoil the girl's moment right now. Tsunade wondered what the girl was thinking about after seeing a picture of her genin team with Sarutobi-sensei. A little while later, Kurenai looked at the Hokage who was smiling at her. "Sorry Hokage-sama, I didn't realize you're already awake, I was just looking through some photos and…" – Said Kurenai, but was interrupted by the Hokage who smiled. "Nonsense Kurenai, however I've noticed that you took an interest for that particular photo. Care to explain why?" – Asked the Hokage to which Kurenai returned the portrait on the table and smiled at the Hokage. "I was just remembering the Sandaime Hokage and remembering how much Naruto talked about him. I wonder if he would approve of my relationship with Naruto, though. The Sandaime was like a grandfather to Naruto and having his blessing, would mean a lot to me." – Said Kurenai, while looking at the Hokage Monuments, more precisely at the Sandaime's head.
Tsunade for her part, smiled softly at the girl and couldn't help but giggle upon seeing how much is Kurenai's resolve on being with Naruto. "You love him very much, don't you?" – Asked Tsunade to which Kurenai turned and smiled while nodding. "I do, Hokage-sama. Very much, however I wished he wouldn't be doing as many missions as his team does, though. I miss him a lot." – Said Kurenai now looking sad. Tsunade for her part sighed while remembering something Naruto said to her some time ago. You know Kurenai-san, right before I assigned his mission the mission to Suna, Naruto said something quite interesting to me, want to hear about it?" – Asked Tsunade, gaining the attention of the genjutsu mistress.
"When he appeared that day in my office, I first apologized from cutting off his vacation, but the mission did require a team of his caliber. However I was quite taken aback when instead of saying that is okay, he turned to me and said…
Flashback on
"I understand. However, I'm not displeased simply because it was my day off, I don't care about having time to rest. I care about spending time with Kurenai and it kills me to tell her that I'm not able to spend time with her"
Flashback off
After hearing this, Kurenai's heart pretty much sent a wave of tranquility to Kurenai's body and suddenly Kurenai was just imagining herself weightless right now. "I never knew he had such a romantic side, but what can I say, when you think you know all the things he can do, he appears and surprise us." – Said Tsunade to which Kurenai nodded now with tears running down her face in pure happiness. "Kurenai, I promised him that after he returned, both him and you'll be granted a three day leave. As Hokage as much as family, I'll give you my word" – Said the Hokage to which Kurenai nodded. "I appreciate that Hokage-sama." – Smiled Kurenai and turned to leave after being dismissed from the Hokage's office.
After closing the door, Naruto's words were repeating over and over inside her head. 'I'll wait right here for you to arrive Naruto-kun. I can't wait to see your face again, I'll be waiting, Shippu Ookami – Thought Kurenai as she went over to the Training Ground where she was supposed to meet her team today.
-With Naruto-
When the sun illuminated Suna, Naruto woke up and went to the bathroom to get a shower. When he got out, he heard someone shunshing inside the room and sighed. "It took you long enough, Ace. Where have you been?" – Asked Naruto to which Ace opened his mouth but Naruto stopped him. "Never mind, sure that husky was what happened. Now, we have to arrive in thirty minutes to see the Kazekage." – Said Naruto to which the wolf nodded and waited for Naruto to dress his Anbu armor.
"Ace, by the way, I finally found a way for the damn fox to stop with his actions. We made a kind of deal where he can feel, see and hear the same thing I do and in exchange, he supplied me with what appeared to be demon foxes each specializing in a field. But don't worry; I know you sometimes get all cranky with me over being a messenger and all, so these foxes will do other jobs. You, on the other hand, are my partner at all times." – Said Naruto before seeing Ace nod. "Guess is for the better. If I were to deliver one more message, I'd go crazy" – Whined Ace.
-At the Kazekage's office-
Inside the kazekage's room, Anbu team 5 and Gaara were discussing their mission. "Now let's begin with the mission. Team 5 will accompany me in taking care of these missing-nins that are terrorizing one of Wind Country's villages. According to the report, there are a total of fifteen missing-nins bearing from B to A ranked level. We were able to distinguish 10 missing-nins from Suna and 5 are from Konoha. Their abilities are unknown up to this point, so we'll have to gauge such information while fighting. Now, I'll be the leader of this operation, so please state your abilities so that I can state a strategy." – Said Gaara to which Hawk, being the group's leader, stepped forward.
"Certainly Kazekage-sama; first of all, I have a katon affinity and mastery over kenjutsu. Cat here has a suiton affinity and it's considered the best swordfighter in Konoha; Bear is our taijutsu fighter with extremely powerful earth affinity and a somewhat low temper; and last but not least, Black Wolf is our ninjutsu specialist. He has knowledge on raiton, futon and suiton ninjutsu, being the last two his affinities. He and his wolf partner Ace can double team the opponent and attack them. His physical abilities lies in the usage of Kage bunshins and his kenjutsu style is somewhat on my level" – Said Hawk to which Gaara smiled since not once he heard Naruto's abilities being the fox inside of him, meaning that the blond build up his reputation.
"Okay then, let's move" – Shouted Gaara before all five of them making shunshing away from the room and appear near the gate. "We'll travel for 10 miles towards the village. When we approach the village, I will disguise our presences with a jutsu of mine that simulates a sandstorm. We'll be right behind it and charge the missing-nins when they aren't expecting." – Said Gaara to which the Anbu team nodded and turned to run along with the Kazekage.
When it left one a mile to reach the village, Gaara began molding a long series of hand signs and told everyone to gather behind him. Fuuton Mugen Sajin Daitoppa (Wind Style: Infinite Dust Great Breakthrough Jutsu). With that, a huge gust of sandstorm started forming ahead of the group, hiding them behind it. Naruto was amazed at Gaara's wind attack and so wished to learn it, however since the attack involves some form of control over sand, he discarded from being rather difficult and time consuming. "Beats using this jutsu for blasting clones huh Black Wolf?" – Asked Gaara while his hands were waving, thus maintaining the jutsu. Naruto for his part smiled at the Kazekage and replied. "You remember that one huh? Well, I'll admit that's one good technique, but I remember you expelling from your mouth the last time, made a few changes?" – Asked Naruto, making everyone surprised to see such intimacy between their teammate and the Kazekage.
"You can say that, yes. I kind of had to. Back then, I didn't have the lungs necessary for this technique. Now since Shukaku is gone, I had to make some adjustments. So I heard that you have a fuuton affinity just like Temari-chan?" – Asked the Kazekage hoping to throw away some conversation. "I have, though I have to admit, I could never maintain a technique like this and talk at the same time, bravo for your chakra control Kazekage-sama." – Said Naruto, joking around. "You can say I trained a lot after the Shikaku was extracted. Now, it seems we've arrived, we'll talk later Black Wolf" – Said Gaara to which Naruto nodded and the team stopped moving and hid it below some sheets that match the color of the sand in order for the enemy not to see them.
-In the village-
Still oblivious to the team consisting of the Kazekage and Konoha's Anbu, fifteen missing-nins were taking the village population as hostages for further ransom. "You guys are monsters, why are you doing this to us?" – Screamed the mayor of the town while being tied up by a Suna missing-nin who then slapped the mayor in the face. "Shut up, you idiot. We own this place now. All the villagers here will be hold for further ransom.
While the event was going on, Gaara and the team of Anbu were studying the village intently. "Ok, team. We need to see where all of the missing-nins are located. Aside from the eight right there in the middle of the street, the other seven has to be inside the houses, as in waiting for an ambush. Any of you got good tracking skills?" – Asked Gaara to which the wolf Ace approached and presented himself. "Greetings Kazekage-sama, my name is Ace and I come from the wolf clan near the highest pick of Wind Country. My nose managed to find the location of five of them, however the other two I can't seem to sense" – Said Ace to which Gaara nodded and turned to assess the situation. "Ok, so the last two must be a part of a ex-Suna clan called the Sabure clan. They were well-known throughout the Elemental nations with their bloodline called Sabure Henkan (Sand Transformation). Their bodies can dissolve in the sand and be able to mask their presences. They are dangerous and unpredictable; thus I'll take care of them" – Said Gaara
"Are you sure about this Kazekage-sama? If what you're saying it's correct, your life could be in danger, I knew of the Sabure clan. They were expulsed by your father, the Yondaime Kazekage from being too power-hungry. They would stop for nothing to get their hands on you" – Said Hawk to which Gaara nodded. "No, I know they are after me and to be honest, I already had the suspicion of their involvement in this. I'm the one who can take against sand type attacks better than any of you. I'm entrusting this village's safety to your Anbu team Hawk-san. When you guys attack the thirteen in the village, the other two will appear and help his comrades, I'll be waiting for this to take them by surprise and imprison them with a jutsu I devised specially for them" – Said Gaara to which the group nodded and Hawk turned to the group.
"Alright team, we have thirteen enemies and if my guess is correct, killing is authorized" – Said Hawk looking at the kazekage for authorization regarding the Suna missing-nins to which Gaara nodded. "Ok, so they are thirteen against us five of us. Black Wolf and Ace, you two will take care of the five hidden inside the houses, since Ace know their location. Bear and Cat you two will secure the commotion in the center and drive their attention. Once you do that, I'll strike some of them from behind. Once again when their attention turned to me, you two will move and take care of the rest. Black wolf, I'll need for you to take care of the five quickly and then come to assist us just in case. What are your ideas for this?" – Asked Hawk before seeing four other replicas of Black Wolf appear behind them and say in unison. "You called for us Hawk-taichou?" – Asked Naruto, earning a broad smile from his team and the Kazekage.
"Only you to think of using that Black Wolf; now Black Wolf will give us the signal for clearance, once he takes care of the five inside. When done, simply throw a kunai to the other direction" – Said Hawk, then the group separated, leaving Gaara hiding while keeping the look for his two targets. However, he was wondering about Naruto's Anbu team and how much intimacy they were sharing. Gaara smiled upon seeing that although they know about his burden, they still keep up with him and even befriended the boy.
-With Naruto-
The five Narutos and Ace were talking about the location of their five targets. After Ace pointed the locations, the real Naruto ushered him to stay with Hawk and form a double attack in case they are in need for assistance to which Ace nodded and vanished. That happened, all five shunshined towards their destinations. After all of them found the target, they got in position and waited for the right time to strike. Once the enemies gave their backs, they signed their deaths. Instantly, all five Black Wolfs began molding chakra for Ookami Hijutsu Soukei Kuragari (Wolf secret style: Total Darkness Jutsu) and every light that seemed to fill each of the houses became black for a while and silent screams appeared. Naruto realized that their screams could ruin the plan, so with his ninjato, Black wolf made sure to strike all the missing-nin's vocal cords.
After taking care of this, all the clones vanished and the real Naruto threw a kunai to the other side of the real village, thus giving the signal for the group to attack. Instantly, Hawk and Ace vanished and appeared behind one of the houses in order to take care of two that were right beside them. Without even a notice, a ninjato and a paw went through the two missing-nins chest, thus killing them instantly and gaining the rest's attention which proved to be their mistake since Yuugao used that advantage, thus managing to kill three of them and Bear managed to kill two with a jutsu called Doton Deido Hitoya (Earth Style: Mud prison Jutsu).
Once again because of the surprise attack, the other three were sitting ducks now that the team was complete because Naruto had just arrived. Suddenly, two sand typhoons appeared from the left and charged the team real fast. However as the two approached the village while still within the sand typhoon, everyone heard someone shouting "Sabaku Sabure (Desert Sand imprisonment)" – Shouted Gaara as he extend his two palms and stopped the Sabure brothers as they were known for. "Sabure brothers, Suna S ranked missing-nins charged with a few unauthorized murders and disobedience to the Kazekage's orders, I, the Yondaime Kazekage shall see fit to end your life right here right now." – Said Gaara, before hearing laughter from both of them in unison. "No attack of yours will kill us Kazekage. Our bodies can dissolve to sand" – Said both of them to which Gaara smiled and turned to see Black Wolf approaching.
"So if your bodies can dissolve to sand, than it's safe to say that raiton jutsus are your weakness, right?" – Asked Black Wolf to which the Sabure brothers gulped with fear for the first time. Actually, they made the mistake of looking directly at Naruto with his feral eyes and since his eyes have such effect, the missing-nins were scared to death. "If I may Kazekage-sama?" – Asked Naruto to which Gaara nodded and he began the hand seals sequence. "Raiton Ikazuchi no Yari (Lightning Style: Thunder Spear Jutsu). Then, to the sabure brother's fear, Naruto began forming two spears made of lightning in each palm and just ended the two brother's life right there. After the brothers fell on the ground, Gaara looked at the Black Masked Anbu. "Mission accomplished. Now we must get rid of the bodies." – Said the Kazekage to which the group of Anbu nodded and then vanished to burn the bodies and collect proof of the kill to take to Suna and Konoha.
-Inside the Kazekage's office-
After the end of the mission, Gaara chose to give the bounty money to Konoha, since they were responsible for taking the missing-nins out. Now the team and Gaara were discussing the last details so that the mission report can be handed to both hidden villages. After it ended, Gaara dismissed the team but requested Black Wolf to stay for some time. The team nodded and vanished to go to the hotel and collect their stuff. "You can take off your mask Naruto, no one will know of your presence here or should I say Shippu Ookami?" – Asked Gaara to which Naruto smiled. "I swear, that name is going to be the end of me before I know it. I'm bothered a little bit that Kumo isn't coming to take my head off, though" – Said Naruto scratching his head to which Gaara smiled and turned to answer. "Don't bother; Kumo is somewhat stationary right now. From what my spies near that village told me, they seemed to stop their attempts at catching the Shippu Ookami, because they are afraid of losing any of their task force, even though it could be considered even bigger than Iwa right now" – Said Gaara, but then decided to change the subject.
"So tell me Naruto, what made you to join Anbu? Forgive me, but you didn't sound the secretive type to me" – Asked Gaara to which Naruto smiled. "Being loud and obnoxious doesn't get you very far, thus being rather obvious that people would eventually underestimate your abilities because of it. Therefore, I decided that a change was in order. This black mask was like a signal for me. We jinchuuriki are lone wolves Gaara. You got lucky to have Temari and Kankuro to bear such a burden with you, but I wasn't that lucky. You're even luckier to be given a second chance in living after Shukaku was extracted from you. Back in Konoha, people aren't as friendly with me as Suna's people are with you. Were I not to wear the mask, no one would sell me anything, no one would help me." – Said Naruto, but to the surprise of the Kazekage, not once did the blond look down in sadness or sorrow at his condition. Gaara was somewhat unease to seeing that the blond wasn't sad at all. "I maybe young Naruto, but I'm no fool. You can't afford to tell me this and not be saddened about it? What is it?" – Asked Gaara, making Naruto look at the Kazekage with amusement at being caught. "You're right Gaara, though all of this is true, I'm happy to say I found my true love in Konoha" – Said Naruto to which Gaara smiled.
"Who is it? Don't tell me is that Sakura girl is it?" – Asked Gaara before hearing Naruto laughing about the question. "Oh man, that was funny. No, it isn't Sakura. Well, I don't think you ever meet her when you were in Konoha, but she was a jounin-sensei back at our first chunnin exams, her name is Yuhhi Kurenai" – Said Naruto before seeing a somewhat wide expression coming from Gaara that he understood the man's concern. "Yes, she's fifteen years older than me" – Completed Naruto, confirming Gaara's suspicions, however he didn't sound surprised and or taken aback. "I wasn't surprised by the age difference; we shinobis have a very short life expectancy, although I was more surprised that you managed to date this woman. Temari told me about her a little bit and told me that she was perhaps the most beautiful woman in Konoha, although according to her, this Kurenai person was somewhat cold to people" – Said Gaara to which Naruto nodded in approval. "Temari-san is right, she is the most beautiful woman in Konoha, though I don't agree with the ice cold part, at least when we started dating, she wasn't." – Said Naruto to which Gaara nodded.
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Kurenai felt like blushing but from no apparent reason. Someone must be talking about me, better be Naruto-kun – Thought the red-eyed Kunoichi.
Back to Naruto and Gaara, they've pretty much talked for some time about what's going on in their lives and Naruto was taken aback when Gaara told him of a girl he was seeing. "Naruto, here is a letter to the Hokage and also I humbly request that your team escort Temari towards Konoha. She is to participate with Shikamaru-san as proctors for the upcoming chunnin exam" – Asked Gaara to which Naruto accepted, even though he wasn't in command of the team and told the Kazekage to tell Temari to meet their team at the gate in half an hour.
--At the gate-
Half an hour after Black Wolf arrived, the group was waiting for Temari to arrive so that they can go back to Konoha. After arriving, Naruto handed the letter to Hawk and told him of the Kazekage's intentions towards delivering the letter to the Hokage and escorting Gaara's sister so that she can act as proctor of the chunnin exams that will happen in two weeks. Hawk was a little unnerved at having to do this, but complied simply because of the alliance between both villages. Suddenly, the battle fan kunoichi arrived, steeling glances at her escort team. She hoped at least to find who Naruto was so that the trip wasn't as uncomfortable as it now was. However when the black masked Anbu spoke, she recognized the voice, thus joining next to him for the trip. Yuugao, upon seeing the blond girl join Naruto's side, became suspicious of her. She knew that this Temari person wasn't infatuated with Naruto, but the mere thought of some other girl travelling side by side with him, unnerved her a little bit.
Because of the mission, Yuugao couldn't afford to let her thoughts on the blond in the way of things. However after the mission was over, the thoughts came rushing back in and now she was caught staring at him on occasions; little did she know, however, that Temari was quite perceptive, thus seeing that the cat masked Anbu was looking at the blond. Wait, why is she looking at him like that? He's with Kurenai. What's the deal with this girl?" – Thought Temari as she looked at Naruto and was surprised to see that he signaled her to let it go for now and focus on returning to Konoha. "Temari-san, we need to go faster. We Anbus have a deadline to approach Konoha, thus we'll have only a two hour stop and then we'll resume the fast pace. Please take that time to rest so that you can keep up" – Said Hawk to which the girl nodded, but became somewhat angry with the man from diminishing her stamina just because she was a kunoichi, but then dismissed it because the fact that one of them is a kunoichi as well.
"Soon, Naruto; Soon we'll have our fight to see if you're worthy of my fox team" – Said the Kyuubi inside Naruto's mind and he replied by thinking. "When we reach Konoha, we'll have the fight. How do you suppose we do this? It must be inside my mindscape for this to work" – Said Naruto to which the fox agreed. "Indeed. I can't materialize myself outside of your body because of the damn seal, so you have to get inside of here for us to have our battle. You can choose battling during your sleep or while meditating and reach this place, it's your choice" –Said the fox to which Naruto nodded. "Meditating seems fine to me. I don't want to scare Kurenai; she'll think that I'm having quite a nightmare." - Thought Naruto to which the fox laughed slightly. "Scared boy, don't worry. I don't like to be over or even underestimated by the opponent. From what I saw of your memories, one tail will be enough for us to match each other quite nicely; oh the heat of battle!" – Said the fox to which Naruto sighed and cut off the link.
Back to the trip, Naruto and Temari were talking about Gaara's girlfriend Matsuri. According to the blond kunoichi, Matsuri was one of the only ones who wasn't scared of Gaara while she grew up; also, Naruto learned that the girl's temper was somewhat compared to Shukaku's so she could be quite scary. After hearing Gaara becoming afraid like that, Naruto laughed a little bit. It went without saying that everyone was afraid of Gaara, even his siblings were. However, this Matsuri person wasn't and Naruto smiled at his friend for finding someone as well. For Temari's part, she learned how Naruto and Kurenai met each other and how was Naruto's life in Anbu until now. She was amazed to learn that his team was able to kill Hoshikage Kisame and scare Uchiha Itachi, even if the Hokage was involved as well. Temari knew from rumors that Itachi and Kisame were along the deadliest shinobi around and to be able to take one of them out is nothing short of amazing. Also Temari was saddened by learning that Konoha had yet to accept their jinchuuriki like Suna has accepted their own.
After entering the gate the led to the village, the team and Temari went straight to the Hokage's office.
-The Hokage's office-
Tsunade was reading a report about Team 8's elemental training and was quite happy to know that the new generation of the village clans wasn't so adapt to only usage of their respective family techniques. However, she was surprised when a group suddenly appeared inside her office. However since she saw Naruto's black mask, relaxation was upon her and a smile appeared on her face. Being the leader, Hawk presented the letter from the Kazekage and the scroll containing the five missing-nins that they fought against. "Mission accomplished Hokage-sama" – Said Hawk to which Tsunade nodded and turned to greet the suna kunoichi. "I see you took advantage of my Anbu team's escort services, Temari-san. How was the trip?" – Asked Tsunade while reading the letter from the Kazekage and then resting on the table. However, while she was smiling on the outside, inside she was thinking about the troubling news from the Kazekage.
Greetings Hokage-sama; first of all, I appreciate the immense help provided by Konoha's Anbu team that you sent for assistance. Second, it seems that my spies near Kumo detected a mobilization of their forces. Now I don't know what they are up to, but it doesn't hurt to go check it out. Should any news of these reach you, please keep me informed. If Kumo's preparing for war, I have to prepare my people to assist in advance. We must keep in touch. Kazekage.
While Temari was saying about her trip, Tsunade was thinking about Kumo's recent activities and how it linked to their position now. First, they kidnapped a Konoha team of shinobi, and then they tried luring Naruto into a trap. Something is coming soon and we must be sure of their intentions– Thought Tsunade as Temari finished her story. "…after that, we arrived here with no complications whatsoever." – Said Temari to which Tsunade nodded and called for a chunnin to escort her to a hotel to which Temari nodded. After that, she dismissed the team of Anbus and called for the pervert Jiraya who surprisingly was staying in Konoha for quite more time than before.
-With Team 8-
With team 8, Kurenai and Kakashi was watching Kiba's attempt at manipulating earth chakra. Unfortunately, he was the only one having difficulty with elemental chakra manipulation since both Shino and Hinata already managed their and were already learning some of their respective elemental attacks. Kurenai was thankful of Kakashi for teaching her students some of his jutsu repertoire. However, as Kurenai was about to address Kiba to try again, her jounin senses was in high alert when a person just shunshined behind her. Although when she saw the black Anbu mask, she jumped in joy and hugged the Anbu member fiercely. "I missed you so much, Naruto-kun" – Whispered Kurenai to the blond to which he nodded and told her that he missed her too. After that, he handed a special flower that grew only in Suna to which Kurenai smiled and nodded in appreciation. "Was the mission accomplished?" – Asked Kurenai to which Naruto nodded and turned to reply. "Yes, it was successful. Gaara assisted us in taking care of the missing-nins, so we didn't have a problem with it" – Said Naruto.
While the couple was hugging and whispering to each other, Kakashi was smiling at the return of his student. However the three chunnins were watching with somewhat close to astonishment. All three of them just couldn't imagine Naruto being the Anbu, even though they knew he was. The fact is that upon seeing the couple together, neither of them could visualize the age difference between the pair and were all astonished. After Naruto and Kurenai broke the hug, the Anbu member looked at the three chunnins. "So, judging from the chakra usage around the area, you three are training in elemental chakra. I feel traces of raiton...suiton and….doton, am I correct?" – Asked Naruto, getting a nod from the chunnin who were somewhat apprehensive of speaking to the Anbu member.
Naruto, after looking at the three and the way they were looking at him, felt somewhat unease with the situation, however he knew that such reaction was caused when he was there to rescue them from Kumo. "You three are afraid of me, aren't you?" – Asked Naruto, earning surprised looks from Kurenai and Kakashi who then gauged the three's reactions. To their surprise, though, Naruto was correct. Seeing that the three were ready for battle, Naruto sighed since he wasn't able to gauge why they were scared of a fellow shinobi like that. Kiba was always impulsive, so Naruto could pretty much figure it out, however Shino and Hinata, he couldn't figure it out why they were scared of him. Surprisingly, Shino was the one who started talking. "Naruto, for some reason, my bugs are reacting to your presence and are somewhat wary of your movements." – Said Shino to which Naruto sighed and turned around so as to leave, seeing that he wasn't welcomed. "Kure-chan, the Hokage granted us a three days vacation, so tomorrow we are free. I'm going to the Anbu HQ" – Said Naruto before greeting Kakashi and shunshining within a small typhoon.
After Naruto left, Kurenai went to her team in order to demand some satisfaction from nearly treating her boyfriend as an enemy to which Hinata turned to answer. "Sorry Kurenai-sensei, I…I just don't know if I talk for Shino and Kiba, but after looking at him once again, I was petrified. It was...I don' know…kind of facing an angry wolf with yellow eyes just looking at his prey and we couldn't do anything other than hold our breath and…wait for him to…kill us" – Said Hinata, before looking down to which Kakashi and Kurenai realized what happened and it was Kakashi who told them. "You described it really well, Hinata-san. Naruto's eyes somehow stays tuned with his emotions, hence when he is feeling some negative emotions, his eyes turned to the same of a wolf; yellow eyes and slitted pupils. Now, I wonder what he is thinking right now to cause such a reaction" – Said Kakashi as he began to wonder. "Do you think it's related, Kakashi?" – Asked Kurenai, referring to the fox to which Kakashi nodded.
"Could be; I don't know. Anyway, Naruto isn't easily controlled by his emotions, hence the fact that there is been some time since we didn't feel it manifesting for quite some time. Naruto sometime told me that he was feeling its urges more constantly and was getting harder to control, I'll go check on him to see if he's okay." – Said Kakashi before vanishing leaving Kurenai wondering what the fox could want all of a sudden.
-With Naruto-
After leaving team 8, Naruto shrugged the thought of the ones growing up with him getting scared at him. Right now, there were more important things to take care of. "Right now, it's good time as any Naruto. Focus on your presence inside your mindscape and let's begin our battle" – Said Kyuubi to which Naruto nodded and sit down to begin his meditation. However, he was taken aback when Kakashi appeared with a serious look on his face. "What does he want right now?" – Asked Kakashi to which Naruto looked down, not even surprised that Kakashi knew of his inner turmoil right now. "He wants to fight me" – Said Naruto, scaring Kakashi a little bit. "Explain?" – Asked Kakashi to which Naruto turned to relate the story where he agreed to let Kyuubi feel, hear and see everything Naruto did and how if Naruto manages to win the battle against the fox with one tail worth of power. After Kakashi heard, he became somewhat unease with the results.
"Are you sure about this Naruto? If you're weak, then you won't be able to hold your own against the fox's killing intent and maybe he could gain control of your body." – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded. "Do you actually think I trust him Kakashi-sensei? However, if I don't do this, he'll never stop with the killing intents and giving me nightmares. I don't know how long I can hold his urge, there is a reason to his reputation, you know?" – Said Naruto to which Kakashi smiled even though it wasn't called for. "Only you to joke during a time like this" – Said Kakashi.
"You can watch if you like, Kure-chan knows of a jutsu that can enter another one's mindscape. It's a kind of a variation of the Yamanaka clan jutsus. She can help you…" - Said Naruto but was interrupted by Kurenai who appeared looking serious. "Use your sharingan Kakashi, I want to see it as well, Naruto-kun" – Said Kurenai, earning Naruto's attention, but he denied. "It's too risky Kure-chan. The damn fox keeps sending images of you getting killed by me while being possessed. I manage to send those images away because of knowing that would never happen, however if I became too weak after fighting him, I don't know what could happen" – Said Naruto looking down in shame from showing weakness in front of his girlfriend. After Naruto finished telling, Kurenai suddenly remembered of the dream and smiled at her boyfriend. "Naruto-kun, I once had a dream that you telling me just that. However, you are a part of my life right now and I want to fight the fox together" – Said Kurenai taking the mask away and massaging his cheeks.
"Kure-chan, I can't…I" – Said Naruto before being interrupted by a deep kiss from the red-eyed kunoichi. "Naruto-kun, you had to endure this alone for sixteen years of your life, please let me be with you. I want to share your pain, I want to really get to know everything about my boyfriend" – Said Kurenai almost on the verge of tears to which Naruto sighed and put his hands on her chin in order to address her. "Kure-chan, if you seriously want to share my pain, then you must promise me that if it anything happens, you must leave my mindscape." – Said Naruto to which Kurenai nodded and the three of them sat on the ground. Naruto closed his eyes and appeared inside his mindscape. Moments later, Kakashi and Kurenai appeared there as well and the three of them came across a hidden room with bars.
"I see you brought guests to watch the fight, Naruto"– Said the fox making his appearance behind the bars, instantly making Kakashi sweat in fear and Kurenai to stop breathing. In front of them, appeared the one responsible for the almost annihilation of Konoha, had it not been the Yondaime. Kurenai had never been in direct contact with the fox; however she heard rumors of how terrifying the monster was. Now standing face to the face, she was scared as hell of what could happen. Naruto knew that his girlfriend was scared and decided to talk to her for reassurance. "Kure-chan, are you okay? Kyuubi can't do anything to you in here, I won't allow him to touch you. I want to be here with me, however you mustn't show fear in front of someone who feeds from it. The more fear you show, the more eager he'll become to do something about it. That goes for you too Kakashi-sensei. Although you are less frightened than Kure-chan, if I can sense your fear, the fox can too" – Said Naruto to which both nodded.
"Do not worry mortals, I gave Naruto my word that should he win this, I'll stop with the threats and killing intent. In fact, the reason as to why I did this was to test you Naruto was to merely test your resolve against tougher opponents out there. Remember that I'm thrilled when it comes to battle, hence why I want my vessel to become as powerful as a sannin. So, please come forward and meet your adversary" – Said Kyuubi to which Naruto nodded and approached the gate when suddenly Kyuubi's chakra began to form Naruto's opponent. However when the opponent was materialized, Naruto and Kakashi was shocked to see that Kyuubi created a second Momochi Zabuza to fight the blond. "As you can see, I picked Zabuza. The reason for this is because while I know that there are others more powerful than him; Zabuza was one very tough shinobi. Wouldn't you agree, Hatake Kakashi?" – Asked Kyuubi to which the silver haired man nodded. "Yes, I'd say that Zabuza was on pair with Kisame. You wouldn't know Naruto since at the time we confronted him, you're only twelve. If it weren't for my sharingan eyes, Zabuza would've won the battle against me, thus killing Team 7 and Tazuna" – Said Kakashi to which Naruto nodded knowing that the sharingan was really helpful.
"Now, from what your memory told me, Zabuza was a master of suiton jutsus and kenjutsu, so he'll have such qualities, plus he'll receive one tail worth of power from me. Also, you will be fighting in another scenery" – Said Kyuubi before suddenly all of them were on top of the Valley of the End statues. Naruto and co. were on top of the Shodaime's statue and Zabuza was on top of Madara's statue. "Naruto, during the fight, there will be some surprises that you need to adapt to during it, now Zabuza will receive one tail of power from me and let's get this show on the road" – Said the Kyuubi to which Naruto nodded and jumped towards the bottom showing guts since he was getting into Zabuza's field. Although Naruto had some suiton jutsus to use, he admitted being somewhat unprepared to face a suiton master in his territory. "Begin" – Shouted the Kyuubi. Right there, Zabuza began making hand seals for Suiton Suiryuudan no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu) and the biggest dragon appeared, almost draining the river.
-Naruto x Zabuza-
After seeing the huge monster on his way to attack, Naruto figured that Zabuza would use the big guns from the start. So he waited patiently for the dragon to strike, so he could make his move. Kurenai and Kakashi were terrified of the huge dragon, while Naruto, even though, scared, knew better than show it to the fox. Being that said, he waited until the colossal dragon charged hitting him dead on, however he vanished in a puff of smoke, showing it was a kage bunshin. Jumping from below the surface, Naruto made some hand seals for Raiton Jibashi no Jutsu (Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Current Jutsu) and sent it towards the water while on the air, thus hitting Zabuza with it because the water conducts electricity. However, after seeing Zabuza dissolving into water, Naruto realized that he hit a mizu bunshin.
By sheer instinct alone, Naruto dodged some incoming shurikens that came at his direction and he used his own to counter-attack while making hand seals for Ninpou Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Ninja arts: Shuriken clone jutsu). With that, what were four shurikens, now became forty and Zabuza used his zanbatou to block them all. "Good Naruto, keep it up" – Shouted Kyuubi as he watched the fight. After blocking the shurikens, Zabuza charged with his superior speed thanks to Kyuubi's power with the intent of just cleaving Naruto's head off to which Naruto barely ducked and used some smoke bomb to escape the onslaught and make some hand signs. "Fuuton Kyomou Shippu (Wind Style: Fierce Hurricane Jutsu)". Suddenly, a huge tornado appeared and enveloped Naruto who was now focusing on a one handed seal in order to control the tornado. Zabuza just stood there, waiting for the technique to hit him so that he can see how powerful the hurricane was. Not being one to question, Naruto sent the tornado towards Zabuza who used the Zanbatou to block, plus focusing some of Kyuubi's chakra through the blade.
When the tornado hit the sword, blades of wind and the zanbatou became to battle for dominance. Zabuza was focusing every bit of his chakra for the tornado stop its advancement, however Naruto wouldn't let him. Focusing some more chakra, Naruto managed to penetrate the sword's defenses and hit Zabuza straight on. After seeing the attack getting hit, Kakashi and Kurenai had to cover their eyes from the wind's strength. "Kakashi, do you think he can win this?" – Asked Kurenai while covering her eyes. "I don't know Kurenai. Kyuubi is being unfair as hell. Zabuza was already on pair with Naruto, however he added one tail more of power and now Naruto can't afford a taijutsu or even a kenjutsu battle with him" – Said Kakashi, looking at the fox only to see amusement in the creature's eyes.
Back to the fight, Naruto waited to see the result of his attack only to see that Zabuza wasn't even hurt. Damn it, I forgot that Kyuubi's healing him. How can I beat a guy like this – Thought Naruto as he took off his sword. Focusing some fuuton chakra through the blade, he began to throw a series of wind blades towards Zabuza who defended with his zanbatou. However, after the last one which by the way was more concentrated than the rest of them, ended up shattering the zanbatou, making it unusable in combat. "Very clever Naruto, focusing the attack on a certain point, thus hindering the weapon useless; now we can fight for real" – Said Kyuubi before seeing Naruto channel chakra through his feet and attack Zabuza with his ninjato in hand. However as he appeared in front of Zabuza, he molded chakra with one hand and used HekiShuukai no Jutsu (False Surroundings Jutsu), making Zabuza think that Naruto would attack from the left, thus hindering the mist demon victim of his attack to the man's chest, managing to make a deep cut.
Kakashi was visibly impressed at the usage of genjutsu followed by a kenjutsu attack and turned to see Kurenai smiling. "I see you taught him some genjutsu moves, Kurenai?" – Asked Kakashi, but was surprised when Kurenai nodded and said about Naruto's new fighting style called Genkaku Genkotsu (Illusion Fist) and how Naruto uses genjutsu to trick the opponent and then attack when he or she tries to dispel the illusion. Needless to say Kakashi was impressed by such a creation and nodded at the simplicity yet ingenuity of it.
Back to the fight, Kyuubi was applauding behind his cage. "You are quite something Naruto. I am having much fun watching it. However, you need to beat Zabuza, not just hurt him, simply because if you don't, my chakra will heal all his wounds"– Said Kyuubi to which Kurenai and Kakashi snarled at the unfair fight, however Naruto stood there just gauging his next attack. It's time to end this; I'll put everything in this last attack– Thought Naruto as he began the sequence of hand seals for Raiton Denkou Houkou (Lightning Roar Jutsu). After he stopped the necessary chakra molding for the attack, his body was envolved by electricity because of the chakra being used. Up on the stands, Kakashi was watching intently at the jutsu and wondering If Naruto created this jutsu, simply because of many fights that he had with Kumo ninja, never once had he heard about this technique.
When he released the technique, a huge lightning lion charged Zabuza with such speed and strength that Zabuza was unable to move in time, thus receiving the technique head on. Because he was soaked, the attack was even worse. Thousands bolts were passing through the mist demon's body right now and screams of pain and agony were all that could be heard. For a while, Naruto thought he had won the fight, therefore he kneeled on the water from slight exhaustion. However, when he looked Zabuza lifting from the attack, although bruised like hell, was still able to fight. Shit, he's still up. It seems I don't have another choice, I was saving this jutsu for later, because It isn't perfected yet, however I must use it; damn the consequences. "You got my respect Naruto. The damage was quite large, thus Zabuza only have power for one jutsu and that's it. Therefore, how about we finish this or you're out of chakra already?" – Asked Kyuubi to which Naruto snarled at the fox and Kakashi turned to talk with Kurenai.
"This is bad. Naruto used a lot of chakra in that last raiton jutsu. I don't think he has enough to match Zabuza's daibafuku no jutsu" – Said Kakashi to which Kurenai got worried about her boyfriend's welfare. Back to Naruto, he got up and started breathing calmly and try to gauge the possibilities. Okay, if my memories serves me correct than Zabuza will use the Daibafuku no Jutsu (Grand Waterfall Jutsu), so I believe my technique should work, however the timing must be precise" – Thought Naruto as he summoned a clone to step next to him. Zabuza began his set of hand seals while Naruto began forming the rasengan.
Zabuza was focusing everything on his suiton technique when he saw Naruto holding what appeared to be a windmill shuriken purely made of wind and the rasengan in the middle. "Let's end this Naruto. Suiton Daibafuku no Jutsu (Water Style: Grand Waterfall Jutsu)" – Said Zabuza, sending the attack towards Naruto who closed his eyes for a moment. He needed the right time and place for this to work. When he opened his eyes, he saw that where he needed to hit the attack so that the waterfall would break in half from his attack. Jumping straight towards the attack, Naruto slammed his wind powered rasengan, thus literally cutting it in half as he passed through, while making a dive forward the now battered Zabuza who were only waiting for the technique to hit him. "Take this, Fuuton Rasenshuriken" – Shouted Naruto as he slammed the attack into Zabuza's chest, thus creating a dome of destruction around him.
Kakashi was by now with his sharingan activated and trying to count the number of cuts that Zabuza was receiving, however he lost count of it. Minato-sensei, your son is something else entirely– Thought Kakashi as he turned to Kurenai who were smiling at her boyfriend's victory. Suddenly, a voice from the back on their heads spoke in a somewhat weak voice. When they turned to see, they were surprised to see that it was Naruto barely moving. Kakashi for his part was trying to understand what happened, however Naruto beat him to it. "The Fuuton Rasenshuriken damages my arm a lot, hence the fact is not finished yet. So I left the clone to attack in my stead. However I had to pump every chakra I had so that the clone wasn't vanished by the contact with the waterfall technique. Although I didn't feel the pain in my arm this time, the clone's memory of pain went back to me and it's…a weird feeling to say the least. You have the memory of almost breaking your arm, but you even felt it" – Said Naruto, earning a giggle from Kurenai and a deep laughter from the fox. "As I said, you managed to beat one tail of my power. Now, you're free to use the foxes. However, I'll be gauging your level and have this fights on occasions to improve yourself. Now don't worry about chakra exhaustion. You'll be tired, but tomorrow it would be like nothing happened"– Said the fox before sending the three out of the mind scape.
-Outside Naruto's mindscape-
After opening their eyes, Kurenai and Kakashi were thrilled to be able to escape without harm, however upon looking at Naruto, they found that he was sleeping. Seeing this, Kakashi smiled and picked up the blond to take him to his apartment so that he can rest. Kurenai nodded and smile while following Kakashi. A little later, Ace appeared and travelled together with the group towards Naruto's apartment. The wolf was then informed of what happened and smiled at his companion. After arriving at Naruto's apartment, Kakashi landed him on the bed and left leaving Kurenai and Ace to take care of the blond. Naruto-kun, you were wonderful today. Rest, you've earned. Tomorrow, we'll have our much deserved vacation. – Thought Kurenai as she played with her boyfriend's hair.