Naruto looked out over the assembled Shinobi in front of him cautiously; they too had emerged from the mist once Guren declared her intentions. The most interesting thing he found of note though was their headbands which bore the simplistic symbol of a musical note. In the time leading up to his dismissal from the ANBU he had heard rumours and a few reports about the fledgling village being set up in the Land of Rice, however the past few months with his Genin had put him out of the loop somewhat in the political sense.
"What's Otogakure doing here?" Guren gave the teen a wide smile, making it clear she was both the leader and voice of this little group. It was odd though as Naruto wouldn't put her above his age; in fact with the slight smirk on her lipstick-tinted lips she looked like someone Anko might get along with.
"Like I said, we were hired for an infestation problem." Her face briefly turned into a pout that might have tugged at the heart-strings of less experienced Shinobi. "I hope you understand that as a relatively new village, we can't upset our clients by doing something like failing to squash a few bugs, right?" The pout that never quite made it to her eyes quickly melted away into a crueller smirk that seemed more appropriate for her delicate but sharp features. "So be a good little tomato and die without splattering Gatou's nice new bridge too much, okay?" Naruto's eye twitched only once.
"Sasuke, Sakura; protect the bridge builder from anyone that gets by me and when Haku comes tell him to do the same." Guren raised an eyebrow as the two Genin, reluctantly in the case of one, moved to follow their Sensei's commands, quickly forming into a tight formation in front of the old drunk.
"Oh, you're going to take us all on yourself? I took you for foolhardy, not suicidal." Naruto simply ignored the slights and allowed his customary smirk to slip onto his features; without his ANBU mask it served well for unnerving his opponents. However it seemed Guren had adopted a somewhat similar tactic and wasn't particularly effected. Not wanting to move into her territory and provide a larger opening for the Chuunin to slip around him Naruto stood his ground, slipping into a relaxed but open stance.
His smirk widened slightly as he made a quick 'come at me' motion with his hand only to spot a few of the Oto Chuunin seem uneasy about facing such a confident opponent. There was something to be said about the freedom permitted to him outside the tight rules and regulations of ANBU. It was a chance for him to cut loose a little and enjoy his fights more, like he had done with Zabuza. Guren on the other hand was quick to eliminate the weakness from her group as she motioned them all forward, apparently not deigning to enter the fight herself just yet.
Still staying precisely in position Naruto waited as five of the Chuunin charged at him; he was a little offended they thought so little as to only send that many. When the first stepped into the five-meter radius around Naruto that was his maximum mobility zone he was quickly flung out to the side with three broken ribs, a snapped arm and a nasty concussion. It hadn't even looked like Naruto moved; it simply appeared like the man had rebounded off some invisible barrier. Only Guren caught the slight flicker and blurred edges that indicated it had been pure speed.
"Oh, so the tomato has a few tricks up his sleeve?" She seemed more amused than intimidated, a stark contrast to the four other Shinobi that had been approaching him only to jump back after seeing what happened to their companion. Instead they decided that long distance would probably be preferable and began launching wave after wave of kunai and shuriken at him. They would have been simple enough to simply bat away or deflect, but that wouldn't be nearly intimidating enough for what he was going for. Instead Naruto moved in a slightly more visible blur this time, plucking each and every kunai out of the air by its handle and using each kunai to pin the shuriken to the floor through the small hole.
"W-What the hell is this guy?" By the time the four ran out of projectiles the area around Naruto looked like some kind of modern-art display, with kunai buried into the surrounding concrete through the holes in various shuriken. Unfortunately there was a slight imbalance and Naruto was left holding eight Shuriken in his hands, spinning them idly on his fingers. He quickly proceeded to launch them all into the hands of his four attackers with lethal accuracy making them all cry out in pain and clutch at their now unusable appendages. This time the message seemed to get through to Guren as the edges of her smirk began to twitch.
"Don't aim for him you idiots, aim for the bridge-builder!" She looked like she wanted to slap her forehead and only refrained from doing so because of the image she was trying to maintain. Immediately, with a bit of panic, a few of them rushed forward and flashed through identical hand signs.
"Water release: Water bullet!" Their simultaneous cries rang out along the bridge in sync with the release of their Jutsu. However just as Naruto was about to respond in kind with a wide-sweeping wind technique the moisture between the two groups seemed to rapidly condense before freezing over into a makeshift wall of ice. It cracked under the combined barrage of six separate water techniques but didn't break. A moment later and it just melted away at the same moment Ami and Haku made their appearance on the bridge.
"Oh Haku, nice to see you." The dark haired boy, now fully equipped and unsealed, nodded back to him curtly. Naruto was glad he had taught Ami the hand seal sequence to deactivate his Chakra seals for emergencies such as these; or at least the one he had used on Haku, Zabuza's was a tad more complex.
"Zabuza-sama has decided to take you up on your offer and offered my assistance." Naruto nodded with a smile before glancing back to the Oto group who seemed to be weighing up the new arrival.
"Do you think you and my Genin could handle the goons while I have a chat with the leader?" Haku's eye trailed over the assembled Chuunin, evaluating them with a practised gaze that almost reminded Naruto of Itachi at a younger age. Haku seemed to find the situation okay which Naruto could understand; Kiri hunter-nin were likely a lot more powerful than these upstart Chuunin from a fledgling village.
"That seems acceptable." Naruto nodded again at the same moment Guren's patience finally snapped.
"What are you standing around for, it's just two ki-" The woman was suddenly cut off as her hand snapped up to catch a kunai throw at her. It confused a few people though as the metal seemed to make a grinding noise against what appeared to be her bare palm. However the real confusion stemmed from Guren as she looked at its odd tri-pronged design. Something flickered at the back of her mind at that, a stray warning from her master and mentor.
"Hello; can we have a talk, squad leader to squad leader?" She didn't have much time to ponder it because at that moment Naruto suddenly flashed into their ranks, an easy grin on his face as in the same motion he threw another of the strange kunai directly up into their air; hard. "But do you mind if we go somewhere more secluded?" Guren was too shocked by the teen's seemingly instantaneous speed that she couldn't react in time as the redhead picked her up bridal style and summarily flashed away again.
"Ami, do you mind providing support; I may not be able to get all of them." The purple-haired girl looked around in surprise as Haku addressed her in his quiet, calm manner, even as the Oto Chuunin got over their shock.
"Ah, yes." Her face betrayed her nerves though; she felt like Sasuke would be far more suited for this than her. All the same though she drew her sword with ever so slightly shaking hands and held it out in front of her as she was taught. Haku, in a move nobody saw coming, ran through a quick set of one-handed seals; even Sakura didn't know those existed. The air around him condensed rapidly, forming a set of thin, clear senbon in his hands.
"To secure my master's freedom I am afraid I have to fight you; I'm sorry." Before the Oto Shinobi could rally themselves or make sense of why their opponent was apologising, Haku delivered a fast and devastating round of senbon into their ranks. They struck with vital accuracy, disabling the legs of four Chuunin at once. They were a little more prepared for the second round but the boy still managed to implant all his senbon in their bodies, hindering their movements by striking strategic pressure points.
"They should be suitably weakened for you now." The stoic boy intoned to his unlikely companion before dashing off at speeds Ami would have only expected from someone like Sasuke, if not a little faster. He flickered back into the ranks of the Oto Ninja much like Naruto had done, lashing out with senbons in hand that constantly regenerating from the air. He was a devastating force in their midst, crippling and disabling their bodies completely non-lethally. Ami could only look on in awe for so long though before a group broke off from their pack and headed for the bridge-builder.
"Y-Your opponent is me!" Ami held her sword out in front of her in an unsteady grip, but her eyes were aflame with determination. These men were slowed by Haku's medically precise shots; she could handle this. She repeated that mantra as the first approach; at the last moment though she reversed the grip on her sword so the flat of the blade was facing outward. Noticing her opponent was hobbling on his left leg Ami stepped into the attack, sweeping out his legs before he could launch his own offensive. Immediately the wind was knocked out of the man and Ami finished him with a swift kick to the temple.
Then she realised what she had just done and blinked, an excited smile appearing on her face. However it was short lived as a shadow appeared over her, revealing itself to be another Chuunin charging at her with a kunai. She froze in panic before feeling something use her shoulders as a stepping stone. Suddenly Sasuke was above her and with a lightning-fast kick he caught the charging Oto-nin in the throat, immediately taking him out of the fight. The dark haired Uchiha rolled to the ground before springing up in a ready stance, a smirk on his face.
"Being cocky is reserved for successful Shinobi dobe, be more alert." Ami just stared at the boy in surprise as he began speeding through hand seals.
"S-Sasuke, you, you…" The boy grunted as he brough his fingers up to his mouth in the traditional tiger seal and spewed out an impressive sphere of flames at the other approaching Oto-nin, causing them to scatter.
"Don't look too much into it; my body just moved on it's own." Ami said nothing but a warm smile crept up ion her features. "Now hurry up and get your sword back up if you want to be useful." Ami caught herself and wiped her expression clean, replacing it with a determined look as she brought her sword about to meet the rallying threat. She remembered Naruto's words during their training and focused on her breathing, making sure it as in sync with her movements as she prepared herself.
"Right."
A few hundred meters above that fight Naruto and Guren flashed into existence as the kunai reached the zenith of its flight, quickly being caught by Naruto as he let go of the latter. Her surprise was evident in the short and quickly quashed yelp she released as she suddenly found herself startlingly high in the sky, quickly rushing towards what would be to many, their doom.
"So, I thought we could have a brief chat." Despite the wind rushing past them Guren could hear Naruto just fine as he amplified his vocal chords with Chakra. He fell a few feet from her, comfortably laid back with his head resting in his hands as though he were on the most comfortable bed in the world. Guren just growled at his nonchalant attitude to suddenly falling at terminal velocity.
"I'm not telling you anything tomato!" She punctuated her words by forcing a set of snowflake-resembling shuriken to seemingly materialize out of thin air and promptly throwing them at him. Without any leverage to move off of his speed should have been rendered useless. However Naruto simply tossed the Hiraishin Kunai to the side and quickly flashed over to it. Choosing whether or not he kept his momentum when he transported was one of the trickier aspects of the Fuinjutsu for the Hiraishin but when he appeared again out the way of her shining barrage he continued to fall at their steady speed.
"Rude, but rather interesting technique." Guren just growled from her throat again as a set of purple wings with the appearance of tinted glass seemed to grow from her arms. They couldn't make the woman fly but they allowed her to glide over to Naruto before spinning her body so it resembled a buzzsaw. It turned out the edges of the 'wings' were razor sharp, made apparent by the hum they created as the blue-haired woman span. Once again Naruto casually tossed the kunai, effortlessly moving himself out the way of her attack.
"Pretty too; that isn't like any Jutsu I've ever seen before." Guren emerged from her spin with furious, narrowed eyes; she always kept an eye on the ground though as it rushed up to meet them with increasing danger.
"So what? Were you just planning on letting me fall to my death? Sorry to burst your bubble tomato but a fall like this isn't enough to kill me." Naruto just grinned, annoying the woman at how easily he ignored her tone and threats.
"Good, I was planning on getting more information anyway; this way I won't have to catch you." And with that he suddenly vanished in a flash of red; before Guren could be angered at his sudden departure though she realised how close she was getting to the ground and hurried through hand seals.
"Crystal release: Shimmering cave!" Suddenly the water near the bridge below her erupted into beautifully glittering spines of variously shaped crystals, all with a pinkish-hue. They grew up towards her, forming a long, slippery tunnel that she angled herself into. It safely carried her the rest of the way down before angling outwards and letting her skid across the water to a relatively peaceful stop. She was a little annoyed though at what falling at terminal velocity had done to her hair.
"Crystal release? Never heard of it." She looked up to see Naruto sitting atop one of the crystal spires looking down at her. He quickly hopped off, knowing it wasn't the best idea to remain atop a construct your enemy had created, and landed without even a splash atop the water.
"Well you're about to know all about it; it'll be the last thing you ever see." Naruto raised an amused eyebrow before lifting a lazy foot into the air.
"Riiight." When it touched down he vanished, only leaving a faint ripple in the lake below them. If she was shocked at the burst of speed Guren didn't show it; instead she smirked for an unknown reason that became clear as Naruto appeared a few meters from her, gently shaking his hand back and forth with a wince. "Okay… ow." The teen had tried to get in close and take Guren out quickly with a series of fast jabs only to have his fists rebound of a very hard, very invisible surface around her skin. When Guren moved her head to smirk at him he spotted the faintest hints of a light-reflection pass over her.
"Oh, you coated your body in the thin, adaptive layer of crystal." Guren's smirk only grew at not even having to explain herself; it was nice fighting competent opponents.
"My defence is impenetrable." Naruto couldn't help the smile that appeared on his features at that; it sounded like a challenge to him. One moment he was there the next he was right beside Guren, a swirling ball of convulsing blue Chakra barely contained by his palm. He wasted no time in crashing this right into Guren's chest, watching her surprise when her 'impenetrable' defence gained more than a few cracks. However it soon turned to surprise of his own when those very same cracks quickly began to heal over, almost at the same rate the Rasengan was grinding through it.
"Well this is a war of attrition if I ever saw one." Guren smirked at him as she brought a hand up to touch his arm.
"Not quite." She took great satisfaction in seeing crystal begin to creep up her opponents arm; the fight was hers now. However it turned to shock and dismay as the trapped 'Naruto' in front of her quickly faded away. Her scowl showed her immense irritation as Naruto once again appeared a few feet from her, looking at the vaguely arm-shaped crystal fall into the water. "Dammit a clone?" Naruto shrugged as he analysed the best way to get around this obstacle.
"After-image actually." Guren seemed a little miffed by that but quickly shrugged it off as Naruto nodded to himself, seemingly coming up with a solution. "These are clones." Suddenly there were four more of the redhead, each of them taking up positions in a roughly pentagonal shape around her. Guren was incredibly wary as they began running through seals and quickly began flashing through her own.
"Uzumaki sealing technique: Vitality prison!" The clones finished as they slammed their hands down on the water, causing a glowing red circle to spread from each contact.
"Crystal release: Crimson fruit." Likewise Guren slammed her hands into the floor, causing a gleaming red crystal barrier to spring up around her, completely encasing her form from whatever Naruto was doing. From each of the rings the clones and original had made, lines spread out to connect them to each other before various kanji sprang up within the pentagon. For a moment it felt like nothing happened but Guren soon felt the tug on her Chakra reserves as the barrier around her seemed to thin.
"This is the end game Guren." The woman huffed as she poured more Chakra into her construct, keeping it active at the cost of a lot of her energy. "This seal drains the Chakra of anything inside it; eventually you'll either collapse from exhaustion or be forced to try and get out." They both knew the consequences or that; Naruto was a lot faster than Guren and even with her armour she couldn't survive consecutive barrages of Rasengan. However she was a stubborn woman and kept her barrier up until the very last dregs of her Chakra left her system causing her to collapse to her knees and the red crystal around her to shatter into glimmering dust.
Naruto walked over and checked the woman to make sure she was unconscious before hauling her onto his shoulder. Suddenly though her eyes snapped open and she wrapped up as much of Naruto's body as she could with hers to prevent him from escaping. She took vindictive pleasure in watching his look of horror on his face as his entire form began to crystalise… right up until the moment 'Naruto' puffed into nothing but white smoke, leaving her to unceremoniously drop into the water and summarily drench herself.
"Can you please not do that to all my clones or it's going to take ages to get you back to the house." She spotted another Naruto standing nearby who sent over another clone to come pick her up. At this point Guren really was spent and just allowed herself to be carried, her eyes burning furiously the whole time. Her anger only grew worse as Naruto patted her patronisingly on the head. "Thank you." She swore to get her revenge right then; any way she could.
Naruto appeared on the bridge again in a flash of red, prisoner still in tow, and quickly observed what appeared to be the aftermath of a large and messy fight. Oto Chuunin were strewn about on the concrete either lightly crisped by Sasuke's fire release, twitched from the slowly melting senbon in their limbs or disabled through bruises and cuts from Ami. The man smiled at his students proudly, even if the abundance of water about the bridge suggested Haku did the majority of the work.
"Haku, if you would go and get Zabuza over here I would be happy to fulfil my end of the deal." The Young Land of Water runaway looked up at him with a small thankful smile before flickering off to get his master. Naruto took the opportunity to address his Genin as a group, still beaming enthusiastically. "I'm proud of all of you guys you know; it takes a lot to stand up and face so many Chuunin at your age, never mind come out as victors." He winked at the two girls cheekily. "I still knew you guys could do it though." The Genin seemed to take the news differently.
Sakura seemed to slump forward in relief, taking it as the sign that it really was over now. Naruto was happy to note a few of the Oto-nin seemed in a daze and confused meaning she hadn't stood idly by. Sasuke just smirked in satisfaction at the praise, as well-deserved as it was; considering the large number of burned or beaten Shinobi he had likely turned this experience into some kind of competition. Ami just smiled, her posture relaxing as she finally slid her sword onto her back; her hands were slightly shaking but Naruto put that up to the adrenaline rush.
"What do we do now Sensei?" Naruto looked over to Sakura and was about to answer when a voice cut in from the far end of the bridge.
"That is a question I would like the answer too as well Konoha Ninja. What are you going to do next?" Naruto took great pride in his ability to remember voices and faces so when he turned at the oddly familiar voice he wasn't wrong in assuming it was that client he had so long ago.
"Oh Gatou, I had wondered if you would turn up at some point." The Jounin commented as if he were talking about a lost set of keys. Gatou on the other hand scrutinised the much taller teen for a moment before grinning.
"I remember you kid; you were there when I hired escorts into this country." Naruto was a little surprised; it seemed he wasn't the only one good with faces. "That's good, it means I can just hire you guys off to look the other way; that's how you Shinobi work isn't it?" Naruto shrugged his shoulder's nonchalantly, surprising and shocking both his Genin and Tazuna.
"Eh, more or less." Gatou's grin intensified as he reached for something in his suit jacket.
"Perfect, now-" He was shocked then as Naruto suddenly appeared in front of him, never having noticed the Hiraishin kunai planted in the ground he was standing by. Naruto had mixed a few into the kunai he was lodging in the bridge earlier as a fail-safe in case his Genin were in trouble.
"More or less; it's a shame that right now we're already on a mission. Currently that mission is the protection of one bridge-builder that you seem all too intent on threatening. Unfortunately…" Naruto shrugged again with a slight wave of his head as if internally deliberating "…the best way I see of keeping him safe, is if you can't harm him anymore." Gatou's eyes remained locked in a state of fear as Naruto's hand suddenly whipped around, applying a simple paper tag to his back that paralysed him in an instant. He fell forward on his face, completely unable to move as Naruto turned his attention to the horde of bandits and thugs the man had brought along with him.
"Hello." He spoke with such an unnervingly lackadaisical tone that a few of the thugs toward the front of the crowd took a step back with unease. "Could you kindly go away now?" The men looked at one another uncertainly for a moment before quickly moving to comply with the request. Maybe it was the speed he displayed or his unsettling attitude; however half would agree it was because of the way his eyes seemed to flicker red for a moment. Tazuna and the Genin could only look on in shock as Naruto defeated an entire horde of bandits with nothing but a spoken sentence.
Luckily to distract them, at that moment Zabuza and Haku reappeared on the bridge, the former giving a quizzical look to his now petrified employer. However his freedom was more concerning at the moment as he quickly shook his bound arms to get Naruto's attention.
"Oi Namikaze hurry up with this would you; I have an itch on my nose." Naruto chuckled as he walked up to the taller man, flashed through hand seals and tapped him on the back of his neck, making the man grunt in irritation. "So that's why I couldn't find the seal." Naruto simply smirked as he backed off, watching in amusement as Zabuza gratefully stretched his arms and rolled his shoulders before accepting Kubikiribochou from Haku and giving it a few test swings.
"Happy now?" The redhead asked the former Kiri-nin only to get a toothy grin in response.
"I'll be happier once I get a suitable lead from the hunter-nin. Come on Haku, we're leaving." Naruto nodded at that; he had been worried that Zabuza would try and attack them but it seemed unfounded. However a more pressing issue cropped up when a new voice made itself known at the entrance to the bridge; it wasn't Gatou this time.
"I'd appreciate if you stayed right there Zabuza Momochi." From the mist emerged a man dressed similarly to how Haku was, only older with fin-style blue hair and an eyepatch. "We've been trying to catch up to you for almost a month now." Immediately Zabuza's sword was raised defensively as he eyed the newcomers, each bearing the unmistakable sigil of Kirigakure somewhere on their clothing.
"You know I'm not going to go quietly right?" Zabuza intones gruffly. The man stared at the former swordsman stonily for a good long moment, the tension growing so thick it could be cut with a kunai, before chuckling.
"I'm afraid you misunderstand Momochi-san." He stepped further out of the swirling mist only to catch Zabuza by surprise an causing the man to lower his cleaver slightly.
"Ao?" The man nodded, causing the odd talisman-like earrings he wore to shake and flap about. Naruto recognised the Fuinjutsu on them as one of protection, but for what he couldn't say. A moment later and Zabuza was on guard again, not letting something like familiarity with his pursuers drop his guard. "What do you want then?" Ao shook his head, motioning for one of the masked hunter-nin behind him who quickly produced a small scroll.
"Me? Nothing. However I do carry an offer for you from the Mizukage." Zabuza snarled as he caught the thrown scroll, looking for all the world like he wanted to tear it to pieces right there.
"I don't give a shit what that bastard wants; why don't you go back and tell him one day I'm coming for his damn head." Ao just chuckled as he motioned for Zabuza to reads the scroll.
"Reconsider, I'm sure you'll find what she has to say is rather interesting." Zabuza, caught off guard by the remark, cautiously opened the scroll, his eyes widening the more he read through it. Finally, and more than a little shakily, he looked up, an indecipherable expression on his face.
"It's over?" Ao nodded, taking Zabuza's confusion in stride; he was sure the man must have severely conflicting emotions over this news. Happiness that the war tearing his home apart was over, annoyance that he wasn't the one to take down the Mizukage, relief that he could finally return home.
"I can't believe that woman actually did it." Ao seemed a little irritated by the remark but again let it slide and Zabuza threw him the scroll back.
"Yes, with her leading us we were able to emerge victorious; but there is still a lot to do in re-building Kirigakure." Zabuza nodded slowly and Naruto took that opportunity to weigh in.
"Kirigakure has a new Mizukage?" Ao turned to the man, seeming to stare right through him for a moment before scowling.
"Konoha's Bloody Flash; this doesn't concern you but if you must know Lady Terumi was elected as Godaime Mizukage a few weeks ago." Both Ami and Sakura seemed shocked that for the first time in history there was a female Kage. Naruto on the other hand was shocked for a different reason; there was only one Terumi in the Bingo books that could even be considered for the Kage position. However he was a little more perturbed by the tone of Ao's voice; a moment later though and suddenly the protection seals and his agression made sense as the hair-style clicked in his memory.
"I remember you! You were part of the Kiri squad that got in the way during our mission in the Land of Tea. If I remember right Shisui was the one who fought you but you got away from him somehow." Ao seemed aggravated by the reminder as he fully turned his attention toward the man.
"I remember you too Naruto Namikaze, nor shall I forget that encounter; Shisui Uchiha was one of the most vicious and talented opponents I have ever faced." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man who proceeded to do the same, everyone else feeling the tension beginning to rise again. However it was broken as Naruto smirked, his hand coming up to rub the back of his head.
"Well, nice seeing you again I suppose." Ao seemed to come to a similar conclusion in his mind as he straightened up and nodded curtly. Behind him, Naruto's Genin nearly face-faulted at their Sensei's attitude. "Take good care of Peachy and his little apprentice." Zabuza's eye twitched at the comment but he wisely didn't rise to the taunt. Ao gave another curt nod before flickering away, after a moment of pause where it seemed Zabuza would do the same he stopped, turning to the redhead.
"I'll be back for a re-match Tomato." Said redhead simply smirked at him and offered him a small nod of recognition. To the side of them Haku inclined his body respectfully to the Genin with a small smile.
"I'm glad we never had to fight, I look forward to coming across you all again sometime soon; I hope it is under better circumstances." Ami had to suppress a small blush as the boy looked up at her and smiled before he and his Sensei flickered away after the other Kiri-nin, leaving Naruto and his team, along with Tazuna and Gatou, alone on the bridge. The Jounin looked down at the paralysed man on the ground for a moment before letting his head cock to the side slightly.
"Now what do we do with this guy?" From the side, the up until now quiet bridge-builder spoke up, a hint of vengeful anticipation in his tone as he stared at the helpless businessman.
"Leave that to the people of Wave; we'll be sure he gets what he deserves."