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Title: For the Love of My Friends
Chapter 28: Fortunes Fool
Rating: Mature

For the seventh time, Inari tripped over an overgrown root. Biting back a curse, he stood once more on shaky legs and ran deeper into the woods. It mattered not that he knew the woods like the back of his hand. It mattered not that there was a good chance that Haku was still going after him, to tie loose ends by getting rid of Inari. All that mattered was that if his mother knew there was danger, she'd either go into town or hide in the old tree house his step dad had built for him on his seventh birthday.
He stopped in front of the old oak trees, hands reaching out for the once familiar ladder. He climbed up, his feet slipping twice. Here, at least, he'd be safe. Here he could form some sort of offensive.

Even if his 'weapons' were nothing more than an old wooden bat and an old iron frying pan. They would work fine against unsuspecting samurai, but if it was a ninja who trailed after him..

He curled up in the corner, his two meager weapons in hand. If it was a ninja, he was done for.


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If he twitched one more time, she swore, even though he was Sasuke and she loved him, she kick the s**t out of him. Or at least, that's what Inner Sakura swore. The more passive(at least when it came to Sasuke) kunoichi looked away, forcing a smile.

They both were sitting on the ground, both with their backs to the same wall. Sakura's legs were curled on her side while Sasuke's were slightly bent at the knee, while his elbows rested on his knees. They weren't touching, but they were close to one another, both craving some sort of heat but too prideful to scoot over the extra inch. The wall that they sat against was the one that was the most intact, and while insulating them from some of the chill, didn't keep them warm at all.

The Uchiha rolled his eyes, not seeing how she could smile. They were trapped in a freezing prison, and she acts like they're on a picnic? Not to mention that it took three times to tell her to shut up and one glare before she stopped fussing over him. Women.. Sasuke sighed, cracking his knuckles. Steam poured out of Inner Sakura's ears.

Get out of my way! I'm kicking his a**! her more violent personality exclaimed, a tire iron appearing out of nowhere. Sakura folded her hands in her lap, tensing slightly.

"You're really annoying." they both said at the same time. They both snapped out of their own thoughts, looking suspiciously at one another, the beginnings of a scowl on their faces.

"No, I'm not." they said in unison. Their scowls deepened.

"Stop copying me." Again, their voices were in harmony.

"No, you stop copying me." Finally Sakura saw the hilarity of it.

"Jinx!" she called it. "Haha. You owe me a soda." Sasuke's scowl lessened slightly.

"That's stupid." he said, feeling annoyed that he forgot to call it first. Sakura was grinning.

"Would you rather owe me a date?" she said, a sly smile that reminded him of Naruto on her face. He immediately paled, then tried to hide the expression behind a cold facade.

"Fine. I'll get you your damn soda. After we get out of this hell." Again, Sakura looked amused.

"Hah, hell froze over." When Sasuke gave her a dry look, she shook her head. Sakura was suspicious that Sasuke didn't have a single humorous bone in his body. "Never mind." She sighed, a look of boredom settling back in. The corners of Sasuke's mouth twitched upward. "Wanna play 'I Spy'?"

"In two rounds, we'd be back to ice." he said, glancing at her. The red had settled down, leaving only onyx eyes.

"How about we try to guess what each other is thinking?" she randomly threw out another, knowing it was probably going to be sent back with a big, fat 'NO' on it.

"No, I am not thinking about you."

"Ugh, darn. How about we count the number of planks on each wall?"

"North wall, eleven. South wall, eleven. East wall, twelve. West wall, eleven and a half. In total, forty-five and a half." he said in a monotone.

"And a half?" he nodded. "Fine then.. Um, we could throw kunai at the knot in the wood over there."

The look Sasuke gave her made her feel slightly insulted. "No challenge." Her eye twitched. "I assume I am not that much entertainment." Sakura gave him a look.

"You assume correctly." she said flatly. "Who knew that a guy who seems so interesting would actually be so boring?" She detected a slight challenge in his previous statement, which was why she baited him into a verbal battle. Normally, she'd try to sooth his wounded ego, but she was just too damn cold, too damn bored, and too damn interested what he'd say in retaliation to care much about wounded egos.

"I am very entertaining." Sasuke said with a mocking air. "You're the one who boring. Besides, any one of my.. fan girls would kill to be in the same situation as me." Sakura had to stifle a laugh. He was almost pouting.

"So.. then you'd prefer to be glomped on than yawned at?" When he seemed like he was thinking it over, she cracked up. Sasuke finally smiled.

"You really are spending too much time around Naruto." they said at the same time. This time, Sasuke jumped for it.

"Jinx." he said. Sakura pouted. "I nullify the part where I owe you a soda."

"Damn. You suck."

Sasuke stretched and stood, holding out a hand for her. She accepted it, pulling herself up. He walked over to the doorway, the constant glaring reminder that they were trapped in a dome of ice. Earlier observations told them that the ice was about four feet thick and had a nasty habit of reforming itself whenever it was damaged.

"We need to get out of here." Sasuke said, sobering up. "Dobe's out there somewhere, getting himself killed. Not to mention Tazuna and Kakashi." His stony face, softened a little by worry, was reflected back at him in the ice.

Sakura joined him, looking over his shoulder. She bit her lip, the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind. "Um." she tugged on his sleeve. He turned to her. "I think I got something. Hear me out, okay?"

She started pacing in the middle of the room. "So there's an opposite to everything, right? Yin and yang. Guy and girl. So forth. Ice's natural enemy is fire, isn't it? But when ice is melted, it becomes fire's natural enemy, water."

"Yeah. So even if I used a fire jutsu against the damn ice, it would be extinguished before it could reach the other side. And because there's more chakra in this ice than in normal ice, even ice created in ice jutsus(damn that guy and his blood limit), it would just reform in ten seconds." Sakura nodded, snapping her fingers.

"So there in lies the problem. Because of the water, the time, the chakra factor, we can't get out of here with a basic, chuunin level fire jutsu. It doesn't have enough chakra in it to hold its form." The way she looked excited made Sasuke feel like he should know the solution to their dilemma. Then it dawned on him. Ice was weak to fire and a chuunin level technique wouldn't work so.. they'd need a higher level technique.

"Katon Karyuu Endan." The very first jutsu he learned as a genin, not from any teacher, but from his own team mate. He immediately started to shake his head. "But I can't. I have progressed, but I have not mastered it. I can't even control the damn thing. I can't use it like... Naruto can." Damn that was hard to get out.

"But that's because you're going about it the wrong way." Sakura said earnestly. "I watched you guys, and I think I know why Naruto can do it and you cannot." Sasuke didn't say anything. She hit his forehead protector lightly with her knuckles, the metal making a soft chinking sound. "What was Iruka-sensei always yelling at Naruto for?"

"Either to stop pulling pranks or to stop picking fights." Sasuke said. He should know, the idiot picked fights with him more often than any other boy in their class, Kiba being a close second. But Sakura shook her head.

"Yeah, but he also told Naruto to stop wasting his chakra. In every jutsu he attempted, he always put forth too much chakra and wasted it. Even Kakashi it said once or twice. The reason why he can do the jutsu and you can't is simple: You are not putting forth enough chakra. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and Katon Karyuu Endan only have two similarities. One, they're both jonin techniques and two, the more chakra you feed into the jutsu, the better result you're going to get." Sasuke started to get it.

"More chakra, more kage bunshins." he said.

"More chakra, better fire dragon." she corrected with a cheerful grin. Sasuke pivoted sharply, looking towards the doorway.

"Lets do this." he said, hands forming seals. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the heat building up in his chest.

"Remember, we only have a ten second leeway. Let it all go, let the chakra seep into the jutsu." Sakura said encouragingly.

Sasuke's eyes flashed open, for a second, red eyes staring at his cold enemy. "Katon Karyuu Endan!"

Immediately heating up the small space, the dragon issued from Sasuke's mouth, a giant of a creature far surpassing any other dragon he had created. With a triumphant roar, the creature slammed head first into the doorway, burning the wood and melting the ice. With a resiliency that was do entirely to the excess chakra running through its serpentine like body, it pushed through the water and the ice, punching a hole right through it, leaving a wide gap for its creator to go through. It met its end when it hit a tree, failing to ignite it because of the wall of ice it had went through weakened it to a sixteenth of its size.

The gap started to close. Cursing, Sasuke grabbed Sakura by the back of her dress, ignoring her yelp of surprise, and tossed her through the hole, jumping through right after. The walls had nearly closed in on him, but it was ironically the water, a blessing in disguise, that quickened his impromptu slide and got him out before he became a Sasukesicle.

He put his arms in front of his face to take the impact, rolling with the movement until he landed in a crouch. The ice closed behind him. A few feet away, Sakura rolled over, giving the best glare she could manage through her chattering teeth. He winced, realizing the water that had spurred him forward and now drenched his shirt had hardened into ice.

He really hated that kid. What kind of blood line was the masked mist nin a part of that had ice powers this powerful and resilient?

"Y-you deserve it." Sakura said, trying to hold her dress out in front of her to avoid contact with her skin. "You b-big meanie."

Grimacing, Sasuke slid off his stiff shirt. "An unseen complication, but over all, not very serious." Sakura turned a bright red at the sight of his bared, pale skin.

"Not v-very serious! I'm a girl, I can't just take off my shirt!" she yelled, but slid off her dress, revealing shorts and a tank top. Her shirt and shorts were in just as bad of shape as her dress.

Sasuke slammed his shirt against the rock, shattering the ice into small crystals that scattered on the ground, more likely to melt because of decreased surface area and the decrease of chakra running through each shard. "There's a bush." he said nonchalantly. Sakura opened and closed her mouth a few times before she figured out the best revenge for this transgression.

"When we get home, I'm so going to sic Ino on you!" she sputtered, walking behind the clump of bushes and trees. A moment later, a sound like breaking glass reached Sasuke's ears. He slipped his shirt back on.

The Uchiha, even with his hands busy and his mind full of plans to aid the rest of their team, couldn't stop smiling.


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Kakashi leapt out of the way of the sudden showering of ice needles from above. A soft whistle of something going through air at a high speed was the only thing that warned him of Zabuza's incoming blade. He rolled to the side, the sword scraping the ground in its descent instead of cleaving him in half.
He hated being double teamed. The sharingan was set up mostly for one on one battles. It wasn't helping him too much in this particular battle.

Tazuna, half hidden behind one of the large metal crates that he had yet to take off his bridge, bit his nails nervously. He could see three lower level ninjas fighting a higher level ninja and living to talk about it, like Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto did, but he just couldn't see their teacher winning against two ninjas of the same level as he.

If only I could do something! he thought, both scared of what would happen if Kakashi failed and died trying, and guilty that he was the one to drag Team Seven into this mess.

"Tazuna-san." Kakashi said, his back to the old man. "Leave now. I cannot promise your protection."

"He won't be leaving." Zabuza said, scraping the tip of his sword against the ground and pretending not the notice the high pitched screech it made. "He's our mission." Haku stayed silent.

Kakashi slid his foot back, a kunai held horizontally out in front of him. "You can finish your mission.. over my dead body."

"Why, I think I'll take that invitation.." Zabuza said with a chilling laugh.

"Tazuna, go!" Kakashi shouted, defending himself against Zabuza's sudden attack. The mist nin swung his blade horizontally. Kakashi jumped, landing on the thick metal. He dashed forward, kicking Zabuza in the face. The other man slid back several paces, a hand coming up to cover his bloody nose. Haku wasn't in sight.

A gust of wind ruffled the jonin's hair, immediately making him turn to look at Tazuna's quickly retreating back. An ice mirror opened up several meters above the running man. Haku slipped out of it, a mere blinding shadow darting down on his prey like an over grown hawk.

No! Kakashi thought, his heart pounding. He started to run toward them, even though he knew he'd never make it in time. What little chance that he could, however, was depleted when Zabuza leapt in front of him, attacking him swiftly with basic taijutsu.

Tazuna happened to look up, seeing Haku bearing down on him. His jaw dropped, his eyes reverting to the size of dinner plates. This is the end! he thought, cringing.

Just then, a dark streak zipped over him, impacting heavily with the masked boy. Naruto, dwarfed by Haku's size, had tackled the other boy, digging his shoulder into the other boy's stomach, before Haku could complete his mission.

Haku broke Naruto's hold on him, landing a few feet away. Naruto landed in front of Tazuna, a grin on his face.

"Told you, b*****d! I got out, and now you're going to get your a** kicked!" he cracked his knuckles. "Don't ya know, super heroes always show up at the last minute!"

Naruto. A weight lifted from Kakashi's shoulders with his sigh of relief. "Oi, Naruto!" Naruto broke his staring contest with Haku to look over at him. Kakashi smiled warmly, although the gesture was wasted behind his mask. "You take care of him." Blue eyes widened at the trust the jonin had for the genin.

Naruto grinned even more, giving the jonin a thumbs up. "Right! Got you covered, pervert-sensei!"


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Tsunami rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. The man she had run into was certainly no samurai, yet when she was startled by his sudden appearance, she smacked him across the face hard.
He rubbed his red cheek, looking sheepish himself. "I forgot. People in this country aren't used to randomly appearing ninjas." A grin meant to comfort only served to nearly blind her with its whiteness.

"Ninjas? You're a ninja too?" she asked. She started to look for his headband, for she was informed from Sakura that anyone who had a leaf etching on his of her plates were probably allies, while any other symbol could possibly mean that they were Gatou's hired hands. She sighed in relief when she saw his belt was similar to Team Seven's forehead protectors. "Konoha."

The man beamed. "Yes! That is where I am from! Knowing our symbol, you must surely have met my rival, Kakashi!" Tsunami nodded, blinking in surprise when the strange looking man started to shake her hand. "Yes! My name is Maito Gai, Kakashi must talk so much about me! We are here to back up his team. The stirrings of youth are strong on that team, but sadly, they are merely passionate rookies." This he said all in one breath.

"Uh.." was the only intelligent sound that came from her. Gai merely grinned.

"Ah, I see you know of my name! I am very popular in the ninja world." he said with a forcefully modest look, his hand on his chin. "They call me the Beautiful Green Beast of Konoha!"

I see green.. and I see beast. Tsunami thought, swirly eyed. Then she sobered, remembering the would be fate of her son. If he knows Kakashi-san, he must be strong!

"Please! I need your help! I am the daughter to the bridge builder, the man that Gatou has been targeting. He sent some samurai after us, and I cannot find my son! Can you please help me?" she begged.

"Yes!" Gai said, taking her hands in his. "With the power of youth behind me, I'll shall help you find your family!" Without explanation, he swept her off of her feet and started to run. "I shall follow every young chakra I can sense in the forest until we find the one that is your son! Or my name is not Maito Gai!"


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"They're not in here." Neji said flatly, deactivating his byakugan. A strange dome of pure ice had caught their attention, many different colored lights reflecting off of the surface of the ice. It appeared to be a prison. But no one was in it. Crouching on the ground, Tenten called her team over.
"Look, foot prints! Two different pairs, Sasuke and Sakura's most likely. The unique print of Konoha sandals, you see?" she pointed out the almost unnoticeable swirl near the heel and the toes of the foot print.

"And shards of ice." Lee said, a few feet away from her. He frowned, looking both happy that Sakura got free and unhappy that she was once again out of his reach, where he could not protect her. Oh, my lovely Squee.. I mean, Sakura-san.

"They must have figured a way out." Neji concluded. "And like their foolish team mate, decided to go 'help' out." Where the Hyuuga sounded uncaring of their fates, both Tenten and Lee frowned.

"I hope they'll be okay." she muttered to Lee. Lee sighed, nodding in agreement.

"And now we are to go to the village and stay there." Neji said in a sharp tone, overhearing them. "Just like Gai told us." Normally, Lee would have been tooting his horn about how they were supposed to be obedient and listen to their teacher and blah blah blah, but the normally loud boy was quiet, his thoughts full of ways he could get away from his team to help out his love.

Neji sensed rebellious thoughts churning in his team mates' heads. He had to crack down on those thoughts, for they would only lead to injury or death for supposing a noble role. It was really for their own good.


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A thousand curses sprang up to his throat, yet he beat them down with a control that would have surprised any who knew him. Instead of being at an advantage, with all of Naruto's knowledge of what was to come, he found himself being knocked back even easier than the last time he faced Haku.

Dammit, I'm an Anbu! No, I'm a genin... Gah! I just can't tell anymore! The truth was, Naruto was pushing himself far too hard, expecting results he had gotten from a twenty-two year old boy when he had the body of a twelve year old. It was really only because of the Kyuubi that he mananged to avoid being trapped to a bed while healing. While his body was rapidly adapting to the stress that Naruto was placing on it, it still wasn't half as powerful as his previous one.

Kakashi was fighting Zabuza, but not all that seriously, as Naruto had yet to see the chidori appear. Still, the sharingan was a major threat, but it wasn't an assassination technique. Hiding behind several crates, Tazuna peered at them, too stubborn to run away, yet too cowardly to move closer. Biting his lip, Naruto realized he needed to do things fast, or else someone was going to die today. He still didn't have a plan to try and save Haku from certain death, besides putting him in a coma or severely ending his ninja career. But even that didn't work the last time. If Haku thought he was useless, he'd allow himself to die.

Attempting a capture maneuver that he barely remembered from the Academy, Naruto was stabbed in the shoulder before he could do anything. The only good thing that came from his attempt was that Naruto's scent of blood now marked the mist nin, which might eventually help Naruto out later on, but not even he knew if it would. He was more of a 'fight now, strategize later' person.

Haku hadn't even constructed the mirrors yet, and Naruto was still getting slapped around. A major blow to his ego, as Sasuke had been strong enough to force the mist nin to show one of his ultimate skills.

But then again, Haku would already be lying in a bloody heap if he used a mere fraction of his tenant's power.. Naruto snapped some of his chakra at Kyuubi for planting the thought. The fox shrugged innocently.

What, you like to be knocked around?

Haku frowned. The changes were slight, but it was obvious that with each passing minute, Naruto was getting faster and faster, his reflexes saving him from more blows, and his strength increasing some. Of course, neither ninja knew that Kyuubi had been feeding small amounts of youki to Naruto's limbs, so small of an amount that they didn't notice.

Despite being annoying, of short stature, and extremely loud, he rather liked his cage. But then again, he had to like it to live. It wasn't like he could just transfer back into his own body, scattered to pieces and sent to the corners of the earth. He laughed to himself darkly. Oh yes, they tried to burn it, those silly bugs, only to find that his body actually started healing itself in the fiery inferno. He chuckled some more.

Uh.. Naruto thought to Kyuubi, a little unnerved by the random sadistic laughter. He pulled himself up to his feet.

Oh, right. Sorry. Go back to getting your a** kicked.

Several senbon were thrown his way. He managed to block several of them with his kunai, but one lodged in his side. Cursing, he yanked it out at threw it back at Haku. He had never been the type to use senbon, but he was proud to say that it flew towards its target in a straight line.

Haku caught it between his fingers. "Thank you."

Growling, Naruto put his kunai between his teeth to free his hands, automatically forming familiar hand seals. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Seven Narutos charged, taking their own kunai out of their mouths and attacking the mist nin. Haku jumped, parrying each attack with his own weapon. He grabbed one clone by the front of his vest and threw it at two others. They exploded into smoke. The other four Narutos jumped back.

Something landed at Haku's feet. He looked down, a kunai with a burning tag attached to it catching his attention. He jumped back just in time to get out of the way of the explosion. But before he regain his balance on the ground, Naruto was attacking him again, three of them attaching on to him firmly like leeches.

One clone slid in front of him, keeping his body low to the ground. When Haku was two busy trying to knock the other three off of him, the clone pushed all of his weight onto one hand, launching his foot into Haku's jaw. The mist nin flew back, the kage bunshins that were on him suddenly disappearing. He landed unsteadily. The bottom of his mask cracked and broke off, paling in comparison to the aching pain in his jaw. He reached up to touch it. And.. was that a burn?

Naruto stared at his foot, seeing the faint red glow around it. "s**t.." he said out loud. "Meddling fur ball..."

Haku frowned, a now visible sight. It seems like Naruto has a power that he is not in full control of. A power that far surpassing my own. I must finish this quickly.

Similar thoughts ran through Naruto's mind. "Haku." he said, looking serious. "You and that guy will die if you continue this. Please, just back down. No one will think any less of you."

"Zabuza's orders are of a higher priority than my life, as are his well being and happiness." Haku said firmly. "Anything other than that means nothing to me."

Naruto's temper flared. "Didn't you hear me! You both will die! What would you rather do, watch Zabuza get killed without moving a finger, or prevent his death! What means more, his damn orders, or his life!" Haku drew back slightly, not saying a word. He closed his eyes, deep in thought.

"Naruto!" Naruto tore his angry eyes away from Haku, looking over at the two genins running toward him. Kakashi glanced at the two himself, before having his attention snagged back by Zabuza, who didn't like to be ignored. He jumped out of the way of the missing nin's wild swing, then darted forward, snapping his hand at the hand holding the hilt of the massive sword. Reflexively spasming in pain, Zabuza's fingers let go of the sword. Taking no chances, Kakashi kicked the sword over the side of the bridge.

One hurdle down, how many more to go? he thought. Zabuza's hands lifted and started creating seals. Ah, crap.

"Sakura-chan.. Sasuke." Naruto mumbled. They looked like hell. Sasuke had multiple puncture wounds and a nasty gash along his left check, as well as bandaged hands. Sakura had a makeshift bandage around her thigh that wasn't doing much to stop the rapid bleeding.

Out of the corner of his eye, Naruto saw Haku flinch at the sight of Sakura's blood. Huh? he thought, knowing that the mist nin had no problem making him and Sasuke into human porcupines the last time around. Why the sudden hate of blood?

She is not a fighter. You and that sharingan brat are. He'd fight and kill you, and it wouldn't put any burden on his conscience. But attacking someone who rarely fights would. Not to mention she's female.

What's gender got to do with anything?

With the devil as your shadow, do you think you'd see very many females in your life? Very rarely, and none like her. Keh, the damn brat's embarrassed when she's in sight. I can smell it. Wrinkling his nose at the thought that Haku was shy around females, Naruto dismissed Kyuubi.

"Stay near Tazuna!" he shouted at his team mates. "I got psycho brat covered!"

"Like hell, dobe!" Sasuke yelled back. "You screw everything up! If there was a way to burn water, you could find it! I can't trust you to keep yourself alive!"

Naruto's temper flared. What did Sasuke know? The damn fool didn't know half of the s**t Naruto had been through his entire life! "And why the hell not!"

"Because you care too much about everyone else!" The Uchiha shouted, his hands forming seals. "Katon Karyuu Endan!" A dragon of pure fire issued out of his mouth, zooming straight for Haku. The mist nin jumped, unnerved when the dragon followed his every move.

So he knew the same jutsu! That's how he got out! He twisted out of the way of the dragon's jaws, setting up ice mirrors every where to both improve his speed and also to slow down the dragon.

Care..? Naruto echoed.

Oh, please. No need to be modest. You must have already known that.. What, you need examples? The time traveling, which could have killed you if not for me. Going after that fool who was high off of power, who could have killed you if not for me, again. Jumping in front of him to protect him from his own blade, me again. That whole business with the fighting sannins, the time you stopped that snake summon from crushing your friend, going after Gaara when he was kidnapped by Akatsuki...

Alright! I get the picture! Naruto thought to him sullenly.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered. Naruto looked over. "You did it!" The Uchiha didn't seem to hear her, his eyes suddenly glassy, his body swaying slightly. Naruto's eyes widened, recognizing the symptoms. Aw, crap. He used it more than once. Only I can do that without doing too much damage to myself.

Naruto walked over, his eyes once drifting over to the busy mist nin before returning to his friend. "Sakura-chan, get him out of here, he's about to drop. That technique eats up a lot of chakra, especially if you do it right." Almost as if to prove Naruto's point, Sasuke's knees weakened underneath him. With an audible thud, he hit the ground. Immediately, he felt slim arms curl around his shoulder and his waist, hoisting up his suddenly weakened body.

"L'ggo." he said drowsily. "Nothin.. the matter.. with me."

"Chakra depletion." Sakura said to herself grimly. She walked toward one of the crates, dragging a weakly protesting Sasuke along with her. Sensing her need for assistance, Tazuna stepped out from behind his crate, taking Sasuke's other arm and helped Sakura carry the nearly unconscious boy behind one of the crates.

Haku's ice once again proved to be stronger than any fire jutsu. The mist nin straightened, his chakra burning an intense blue around his body.

Damn, I barely put a dent in him at all! Naruto thought, facing him. He took a few steps back for good measure, finding himself back to back with his teacher.

Naruto could feel Kakashi's deep sigh. "Wanna trade for a moment?" Blinking, Naruto made a noise of agreement. Kakashi knelt, hooked arms with the much shorter blond, and in a fluid movement, flipped the genin over him.

"You know, we could have just switched places the normal way." Naruto said, rubbing his slightly sore spine. He glared at the jonin.

"Where's the fun in that? Keep tall, dark, and ugly busy." Kakashi reached inside his vest for a summon scroll. Naruto locked eyes with Zabuza who grinned wickedly at him through his parted bandages. He found it hard to swallow.

"Gotcha." Naruto squeaked.


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"Are you Inari, son of Tsunami, the lovely lady right here, the grandson of Tazuna-- What?" Gai broke off his speech when Tsunami whispered something in his ear. "Oh... OH! Uh, sorry little girl." Traumatized by the huge lepercon that thought she was a boy, the little girl wandered off in search of her friends.
"One more chakra left! I'm sure this one's your son!" Gai said to the woman.

"Yes, and I thank you for helping me look for him, but do you think it's really necessary for you to carry me--"

"And off we go!" Once again, they were moving at blinding speeds that made Tsunami's head spin. She couldn't tell if he was being deliberately evasive, or if his mind was too occupied to hear her. It turned out to be the latter of the two.

Hahahahahaha! I shall gain one more point against you, Rival Kakashi! Gai thought, his eyes burning in passionate flames. I don't recall you helping ever saving a family from breaking apart! Young Inari, we are coming for you!

He slid to a stop under a tree, nearly burning a trail under his feet. Tsunami nearly sighed with relief when she felt the jonin put her down.

"There appears to be.." Gai squinted up at the top of the tree, drawing the woman's own attention to it. The sudden recognition of the old tree house made tears spring in her eyes. She could see her husband grinning down at her from the roof, all sweaty and tired, but happy because he put a smile on Inari's face.

Gai pushed back his sleeves importantly. "I'll go up. You stay here." he climbed up the planks nailed into the tree as a makeshift ladder. He pushed up the flap and poked his head in. "Hello?"

Tsunami flinched when there was a metallic thud. The jonin fell out of the tree, going splat on the ground. She leaned over, looking at the huge bump on the ninja's head. His eyes were swirling, but his injury didn't seem that serious.

"Green.. fishies... ate... my Lee." he mumbled incoherently. Tsunami sweat dropped.

"Are you alright?" she asked, kneeling by his side. Gai only laughed oddly before mumbling about perverts, monkeys, and rivalries. At the sound of her voice, whatever attacked the jonin poked his head out of one of the windows, a bent out of shape pan in one hand.

"Mom?" he whispered. The woman's head snapped up, her eyes glowing in relief. She jumped to her feet.

"Inari!" At her answering call, her son's head disappeared, and then his body appeared, climbing down the ladder so fast that his feet slipped and he fell the rest of the way. Tsunami caught her son and collapsed to the ground with him in her lap, crying in relief.

"Oh, sweetie.." she whispered, hugging the boy to her. He hugged back just as fiercely.

"Oh Mom, I'm sorry. I was a jerk and I can never repay you guys. That guy was right, I'll never not appreciate you again." he rambled, quieted only when he buried his head into her shoulder. Tsunami rocked him, although he was eight and too old to be rocked. Eventually, he stopped crying, but his eyes still remained bright.

"The fact that you're safe," she murmured, kissing his forehead, "that's payment enough." Inari sniffled, rubbing at his eyes while he pulled back. His eyes drifted over to the guy he hit with his now deformed frying pan.

"Who?" he asked simply, a hand running through his wild black hair.

"A Konoha jonin." she said, looking back at him. "An ally. Who's now delirious."

("Barney is jealous of my mad ninja skills." Gai muttered, only to be tuned out.)

"Oh, oops." Inari said sheepishly. Tsunami laughed like she never laughed before. She ruffled his hair.

"I love you, kiddo." Inari grinned at her, a mischievous look on his face that Tsunami had missed for such a long time, ever since her husband died, taking all of Inari's warm personality with him.

"You'll do, Mom."


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Neji crossed his arms across his chest, leaning against the wall of what was Tazuna's home. The other two watched him warily, knowing that even with his eyes closed, the Hyuuga prodigy could still see them. Lee pushed himself off of the ground.
"Where you going?" Neji asked sharply.

"To the bathroom. Wanna watch?" Lee said in a low tone that was almost too sarcastic to be his own. Neji's eyebrow lifted. Tenten's eyes softened in pity. Poor Lee. He's probably so worried about that girl.

Neji tossed his head, choosing not to answer. Lee left, his shoulders stiff with a grim look on his face. He took off for the woods. After a moment, Tenten stood.

"And you?" he said, his eyes half open. She stiffened and hid her nervousness with a sharp glare.

"I'm stretching my legs." she stretched to prove her point. "Can't you tell? I'm going to the market. You want anything?" The Hyuuga shook his head, preferring to stay in the same spot. She took off to the market.

With a faint smile, she stopped when she was exactly fifty-one meters away from Neji, thus out of his seeing range. Keeping a fifty-one meter distance from Neji at all times, she doubled back, taking the same route that Lee did. Tenten couldn't help but feel giddy and guilty at the same time. She rarely did anything that Neji disagreed with, but desperate times call for desperate measures. She wasn't about to let any of her own people die without doing something to help them out.

Before she could talk herself into going back, she saw Lee who was patiently waiting for her. He nodded to her and started walking. She ran after him.

"How did you-" Tenten stuttered, shocked by his appearance. Lee smiled.

"You're my friend. I saw the same desire to help out in your eyes that I feel right now." he said easily. Tenten made it to his side, a small smile on her face.

"If you know me so well, does Neji?" she asked. "Is he going to figure out that we.. well.. ditched him?" He shrugged.

"He expects certain things out of people instead of accepting what they do or want. He's pretty demanding.. but he'll figure it out. Come on, lets go." They jumped up, taking to the trees. It would only take them fifteen minutes to reach the bridge at their even pace.

Seven minutes later, Neji felt his eye twitch in annoyance. Dammit. They left. He turned to the bridge and took off after them at double speed. They're tempting fate to pass them a bad hand.

In eight minutes time, Tenten and Lee would reach the bridge and Neji would be there two minutes after. What will Team Gai see? A lot of things can happen in eight minutes.

I come bearing... drabbles! One's more pg-ish, but eh, whatever, I'm posting them together here anyways.

Drabble number one!

Gaara and Sasuke, Ino has decided, are both pains in the a**. She really can’t think of two worse people she could have been paired up with. Neither of them talks much, and when they do it isn’t much more than a few words, they have almost constant scowls on their faces, and they tend to glare at her a lot. Sasuke is arrogant and cold, and she wouldn’t be surprised if Gaara still got the urge to kill things once in a while. And the way his sand hisses and swirls around his ankles when he gets angry or upset is a little off-putting. It’s also extremely annoying to wake up and feel grains of sand in your sheets.

Although, she has to admit, her bed is much warmer when she's not the only one in it.


And... drabble two!

Sasuke hates falling asleep.

When he is asleep, he dreams, sometimes about the day of the Uchiha Massacre, and he hates those dreams; in them, everything is red, and the only thing he can feel is fear. He knows what he will see when he comes home, but is powerless to stop the chain of events time and time again. In the background, Itachi laughs coldly.

Other times, he and the rest of team seven are on a mission and Sakura and Naruto are bickering while Kakashi reads a dirty novel. Afterwards, Naruto insists they go out for ramen and somehow Sasuke ends up getting dragged along. He almost enjoys himself.

Mostly though, he dreams of tangled bed sheets and limbs. Ino's blonde hair is out of its pony tail and there are strands of it on his face, tickling his nose. On Sasuke's other side, Gaara watches in barely visible amusement as Sasuke wrinkles his nose and tries not to sneeze. He glares half-heartedly at him and lightly brushes the hair away, tucking it behind Ino's ear. The blankets have all gotten pushed to the floor and to the end of the bed, and Gaara shivers and presses up against him. Sasuke can feel his breath on the back of his neck as he sighs in contentment. Ino groans and mumbles something in her sleep before pressing herself against him as well. He almost smiles.

Sometimes, Sasuke really hates to wake up.

1)i am not big on the sasukeXino pairing...ick...

2) i loved lord. whats his name's fiction more! teh da smex hehe..

go lord sushi!!!

Thanks Babe surprised

Title: For the Love of My Friends
Chapter 30: The Weapon of the Modern Era: Money
Rating: Mature

Sakura peered around the corner of the crate. Tazuna sat on his knees, bouncing in a show of nervousness. Sasuke was sitting against the side of the crate, drifting in and out of consciousness. Getting an idea, Sakura pulled a solider pill out of one of her pouches and gently urged Sasuke to swallow it. A moment after the Uchiha had gotten it down, he immediately jumped up, wide awake.
"What's happening?" he asked, getting a control over the sudden surge of adrenaline and chakra.

"They stopped fighting and Gatou is here." Sakura said, leaning over to look at the crowd that faced the four ninjas. "Gatou has something covered up by his side. I think it's.. a machine of some kind." A slight sound of something landing on the crate above them got their attention.

"What the fu.." Sasuke murmured, trying to see what had landed on top of the huge metal box. After a moment, Tenten peeked over, silently waving before she turned back to see what Gatou was doing. "Team Gai!"

"What?" Tazuna asked, most confused. Sakura filled him in, telling the older man that they were another team from Konoha that was most likely sent after them for back up. Sasuke scowled, not liking the thought of the arrogant Hyuuga, or that fool that fawned over Sakura, helping them out.

"Heh, you're no devil." Gatou sneered at Zabuza. "You're a baby devil!" The men behind him cackled at his joke.

Kakashi leaned over slightly. "I smell gun powder." The two mist nins nodded grimly. That's what made my nose hurt. Naruto thought.

"What do you want?" Zabuza growled at Gatou. As a group, both pairs of teacher and student began edging backward.

"I wish to introduce you to my best warrior yet." He took off the tarp with the walking stick, revealing what was underneath. It jutted outward, a cylinder like metal that was housing several more cylinder shaped metal rods. It sat on a stand, pointed slightly upward.

Back on top of the crate, Lee frowned at the strange metal contraption. "What is that?" he asked his team mate.

"It's a western weapon, one that they use to decide battles because they are in lack of ninjas. It's called a gattling gun, I think." Tenten said, her knowledge of weapons coming in handy.

"Ninjas are not needed anymore." Gatou said arrogantly. "The weapon of the new ages is money! As long as one has money, they are powerful. Let me so you how much my money has improved my strength." He stood behind the gattling gun. He gazed over his choice of targets. The four ninjas in front of him were nearly level with the man he wanted dead, Tazuna. If their reflexes were fast enough, they might be able to dodge. The two ninjas on top of the crate caught his eye. He swiveled the gun to point at them. "Like so!"

Lee and Tenten's eyes widened when they saw the gun aimed at them, even more so when they saw him firing it. Their legs felt like they had been encased in stone, preventing them from moving. As if in slow motion, they watched the bullets coming for them, unable to move and only able to watch in horror as their deaths decended upon them.

A hand clamped firmly on each of their shoulders, yanking them back between the two crates. Lee and Tenten fell, landing nearly on top of Tazuna and Sakura while their savior landed gracefully by the Uchiha.

"You are foolish." They looked up, surprised eyes taking in the stone cold eyes of their other team mate.

"Neji!"

The rattling sound of bullets hitting metal had not faded. Gatou turned the gun on the four ninjas. Kakashi and Naruto jumped for the space that their fellow ninjas were hiding, the latter turning back at the last moment. Zabuza and Haku were wounded from the battle before and couldn't get to shelter fast enough. Haku pushed Zabuza into safety, eyes closing in preparation of the white hot pain of the bullets hitting him.

However, he had prepared for nothing. Someone tackled him from behind, shoving him into the little space near Zabuza.

Something wet and warm trickled into Haku's clothes as he impacted with the floor, whoever that tackled him landing on top of him.

Finally, the rattling stopped. Gatou laughed wickedly, knowing that he had at least gotten one person.

"Come out come out, little ninjas." he nearly purred.

Zabuza reached over and pulled off the weight that had been holding Haku down, with care. Haku pushed himself up, eyes widening when he saw who it was. Surprise wearing off, he moved forward, immediately pressing his hands over bleeding wounds.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke demanded of Kakashi. The older man started to gesture next to him before he realized the spot that was supposed to be occupied was empty.

"Sakura-san!" the pink haired girl lifted her head at the sound of her name, not recognizing the voice at first. She turned her head and saw Haku, mask less and trying to gain her attention. He looked desperate and his hands were bloody. "I need your help!"

Neji looked over her shoulder, sneering at the mist nin. "You're the enemy. Why should she help you?" His hand griping the back of her dress prevented her natural instinct to go help Haku.

Haku's eyes clouded over. "Maybe I should rephrase that..." he moved out of their line of vision, revealing who he needed help with.

"Naruto!" Sakura said in horror. The boy was leaned against one of the crates, his legs sticking out in front of him. A wound in his shoulder and in his side bled rapidly. He was only partially conscious, one hand trying to cover the wound in his side. Zabuza crouched next to him, looking a little confused and out of his field. Sakura started to move toward him, only to be yanked back by Neji.

The younger genin almost started to yell at the Hyuuga, only to realize that he wasn't trying to keep her from helping out her team mate. Five holes smoked slightly in the ground where she had been standing a moment ago. He had saved her.

"T-thank you." she managed shakily. Neji made a noise in his throat, then let go of her and walked back. Lee came to her side, as well as, to her great surprise, Sasuke.

"Okay, so the blond guy is bleeding to death and every time we try to send someone over, they'll be riddled with bullets." Tenten said with a forcefully light voice, her trembling fingers giving her away. "What do we do now?" Seeing that all the genins and Kakashi had their backs to her, she looked questioningly over at Tazuna. He waved his hands in defense.

"Don't look at me! I'm just a humble bridge builder."

Kakashi straightened, giving Sakura a serious look with his one visible eye. "Distraction." he said to Tenten, although he was focused on his student. She blinked up at him when he then addressed her. "I don't know why he believes you can help, although I have my suspicions. You have ten seconds." He created nine clones, who darted in every direction but the direction that Sakura needed to go to.

She froze, hearing the awful sound of the gun firing before she realized what he was doing. She ran to the other side of the bridge, clearing the twelve feet before Gatou could fire the gun at her, sliding to a stop by Haku. Sakura immediately dropped to her knees and took off Naruto's vest and shirt.

"This one punched a hole right through. " she said, looking at the shoulder wound. She reached into one of her pouches, pulling out a vial. She poured a small amount into her hand, then put it on the entrance and exit wounds of the shoulder injury. Naruto hissed in pain. "It's not too bad, actually. Just bleeding a lot. This stuff should prevent any infections." Not having any bandages on hand, Sakura tore up bits of her dress to dress the wound.

"Why isn't it healing already?" Zabuza asked gruffly. Sakura's hands paused. I don't know. she thought to herself. Why, Naruto?

As if he answered her call, the blond's eyes opened slightly. Sakura winced, the last thing she wanted was for him to be awake and in so much pain.

Naruto grinned humorlessly. "Healing is a skill that gets better with use. It's.. all about remembering." he said, answering the mist nin's question. "If I break a bone, my body remembers how it was healed and speeds up the process. If I cut myself, it remembers how it was once healed." His eyes met Sakura's. She had a feeling that there was something else involved with it that he wasn't willing to tell her about.

And she was right. The memory of how the body healed in certain situations not only came from Naruto, but also from Kyuubi. The demon had been attacked by fellow demons and humans in every way possible, making it almost impossible for Naruto to get an injury that he could not heal. His organs had been impaled, he had been beaten around like a club, almost frozen to death, almost crushed to death... the injuries that the demon had sustained even before he decided to be a demon lord would have made the coldest ninja wince in sympathy.
But, adapting to those injuries and finding a way to heal them faster had been Kyuubi's specialty and part of what made him so formidable. That power had been extended to Naruto, giving him almost invulnerability if he had a moment or so to heal(one hit kills, extremely fast attacks, and mental attacks were something that the demon couldn't help Naruto with, unfortunately. If Naruto had no time to heal, then he'd die.). But..

"I've never been shot before." Naruto said with a half smile. And neither has Kyuubi. "Doesn't that suck for me?"

"It isn't all that serious!" Sakura tried to assure him. Naruto smiled gently at her, appreciating her attempt to make him feel better. He removed his hand from the sluggishly bleeding wound in his side.

"I think it missed my kidney." he said, trying to make light of it. "But the bullet's still in there." Sakura had a look on her face that was a mix between total disgust and horror.

Haku moved forward, sensing her unwillingness to dig the bullet out of her friend. "I will help." he said quietly. He met Naruto's eyes. "Do you trust me to help?"

Naruto looked at him for a long hard moment before smiling again. "Yeah sure. Go ahead. Rip me open." Sakura looked faintly green. Haku gave him a look for needlessly grossing his team mate out before putting his hand over the wound, using his blood line to numb it.

"Is he okay?" Kakashi asked, landing back near the other genins. His shoulder was bleeding, most likely having a close encounter with a bullet. The genins struggled helplessly, not being able to see anything over Haku and Sakura.

"You fools are trying my patience." Gatou said, annoyed that he didn't get the gray haired ninja who was randomly jumping around. "Do you submit? I'll allow you to live if you work for me for free."

"Always the bargainer." Kakashi said to him, glancing at him around the corner. "I suppose you have nothing against killing kids."

"You're a ninja." Gatou countered. "You aren't supposed to have emotions while you're on the job."

"Yes, perhaps, but you're not a ninja. The same principles don't apply. Besides.." Stealing one of Naruto's lines, he defended himself and his fellow shinobi. "Before one is a ninja, they are human." At this, Naruto smiled before he winced in pain.

"Where's your honor?" Lee said, angered that one of his friends was hurt. "Attacking people with such a cheap weapon! Come over here and we'll fight like men are supposed to fight: hand to hand!" Tenten and Neji pulled him back before he could jump out from behind their shelter.

Gatou laughed sinisterly. "Honor? Pride? Morals? These are things that are not needed in the modern world! All that is needed in the modern world is money!" he turned to his men, who had cowered at his show of dominance. "Go, flush them out of their hiding spots!"

One ventured a question. "But.. the gun! You'll end up killing-" Gatou cut him off.

"Anyone who lives through this will spilt the money that the ones who died were supposed to get!" The bribe was enough to get the men to move. Captiously, they took careful steps toward the ninjas.

"Damn." Kakashi muttered to himself. He directed himself to the ninjas across the twelve foot gap. "You need to hurry!" They looked over, nodding seriously.

Sakura had healed Naruto's wounds with a modified version of a medic jutsu that she had just learned. The bleeding had slowed down a lot even though the wounds had not completely closed. Naruto held a hand out to Haku with a mischievous grin on his face.

"What?" Haku asked, confused by Naruto's show of a delighted smile. He pointed to the bloody bullet that the mist nin had extracted from him, lying by Haku's knee.

"Can I have it as a souvenir?" he asked, hands clasping in front of him and turning the puppy eyes on full effect. Haku ceased to try and understand the strange boy that had helped him, but handed over the bullet. Naruto grinned in happiness, one hand holding the metal slug out in front of him for his viewing pleasure while the other shrugged on his vest. He left the bloody shirt where it was, deeming it unwearable.

Haku took one arm while Sakura took the other, pulling the blond to his shaky feet. Naruto gave the two mist nins concerned looks. "But, your wounds!" Haku looked down at his wounded legs while Zabuza merely scoffed.

"Flesh wounds, brat." he said. "We aren't the ones with holes in our bodies." Naruto flushed.

All of the ninjas jumped out of their hiding spots, dodging henchmen and bullets as they were pushed back. Haku slickened the ground with ice, while Kakashi and Tenten step up simple traps to ward off the hired hands. Sasuke and Lee knocked away any who came to close in between dodging behind crates. Neji went for simple one hit knockouts. Zabuza followed Sasuke and Lee's example in a much more brutal way.

Sakura and Haku didn't get too far before they realized something was wrong.

One of the henchmen managed to get past the other ninjas and thrusted a spear at Naruto, thinking he was the weakest of them all. Sakura gasped, drawing everyone's attention when the spear went right through Naruto. All the ninjas surrounded the henchman, making him realize that the boy he had attacked hadn't been the right one to fight. But that wasn't the reason why Sakura gasped.

Naruto had disappeared in a cloud of smoke the second after the spear went through him.

Haku immediately tugged Sakura behind one of the crates when the gun went off again, many henchmen falling in their wake. "Where is he?" he asked.

"He switched himself with a clone." Sakura said to him, bewildered. "But why?"

The henchmen were terrified. Half of them had already died, not by the ninjas' hands, but by their own employer. And something was in the air, teasing at their senses, making them want to run for their lives. It was a feeling that Kakashi recognized and immediately started to looking for Naruto.

It was the youki of the Kyuubi that they sensed.


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Naruto leaned against the crate, staring down at the water so far below. There was barely two feet in length gap between the side of the bridge and the side of the crate. He sighed, resting a hand on the wound in his side. It was better now, although he'd have to wait awhile until it was completely healed.
It brought to light the one thing that needed to be done in order to complete one of his goals. He had to get rid of that damn monstrosity of technology. But how?

Don't be such a wuss. Kyuubi said in his mind, copying Naruto's own words. Just a little bit of youki here and there.. As if the demon knew that he was going to protest, he interrupted. Stop being so paranoid! Since when have you gone nuts when under the influence of my power?

He thought of Gaara, how his blank teal eyes would morph into windows of such unbelievable insanity that it hurt to look inside, knowing that if it could happen to one demon host, it sure as hell could happen to another. Kyuubi caught his flashback.

You have a stronger seal than he did to separate my mind from yours. You will not go crazy, though you will be affected a bit in your way of thinking and reacting. Trust this one truth.

Naruto sighed once more, giving in. His body was much too weak from the blood lost and effort he exerted all day to be much help on his own. For my friends.

Crackling energy appeared around his hand as the seal appeared on his palm. He summoned some of his mixed energy to help keep himself from giving in totally to the youki. The mixed energy would act like a barrier between his mind and the youki, keeping it from altering his thinking processes too much. It was the only protection Naruto had against the youki completely taking him over, though weak it was against youki and easily forced through. One symbol turned blue as Naruto's aura took on a slightly purple sheen. Then Kyuubi sent in his youki.

Slight physical changes came with the surge in power, none that Naruto paid attention to, besides the annoying itch of his eyes as the pupil slitted and the eyes turned red. The marks on his face widened and lengthened, having more of the appearance of faint whiskers against Naruto's tan cheeks. His hair fluffed out, becoming less tamed and more wild. He opened his mouth, feeling the growth of his unusually long canines into fangs.

His nose twitched, taking in the intoxicating scents of blood and fear. The rattling noise of bullets hitting metal and the more sickening noise of it hitting flesh made him wince.

Block. Protect. Pack in danger. Naruto scowled, pushing back the instinctive thoughts. But whatever it was, his more primal side or the youki itself, it was right about that.

I gotta block that damn thing.. somehow. He pushed away from the crate, then gave it a look, seeing its promise. Alrighty then! He clapped his hands together then started pushing the huge storage box. Hope that there's nothing in here that's needed.

Everyone was startled at the sight of one of the metal crates sluggishly crawling across the width of the bridge, seemingly without any aid. It screeched to a stop in the middle of the two previous crates, creating a massive metal shield against Gatou's gun. The businessman apparently noticed, for he cursed darkly and then screamed for the rest of his henchmen to off the ninjas.

Without bullets whizzing over their heads, the ninjas found it ridiculously easy to knock back the henchmen, though the henchmen's numbers were far above their own.

Several of the hired hands noticed Naruto walking slowly to the middle of the bridge, a reddish aura hugging his form rather oddly. He turned around, showing his back to them as he observed the crate that he had shoved into place by himself. Only one had the courage to attack.

Enemy. Crush, destory!

Everyone froze at the terrifying sight. The man didn't get within ten feet of Naruto before he was scooped up by a large red paw completely composed of the strange chakra that was whipping around Naruto. The paw chucked the man away from its owner before retreating back to wrap around Naruto's arm. The blond hadn't even moved.

Naruto had barely pushed back the urge to kill the man.

What the hell! Sasuke thought, staring at Naruto's back. The blond turned his head slightly, one red slitted eye meeting the Uchiha's darker eyes. The corner of his mouth hiked up, exposing a long white fang. Naruto turned back to the crate, his stance sliding into a more offensive pose.

"Gatou!" Naruto bellowed, his voice rough. "You've got three seconds to get the hell away from that murder device, or your life ends." His foot slid back, his arm extending away from his body. The red energy started swirling. "1..." The energy began condensing in his hand, a faint purplish circle. "2..." With a sudden flash of light, the orb glowed white and spun rapidly a few inches above Naruto's palm. Kakashi paled when he recognized the jutsu. "3! Rasengan!"

Naruto slammed the orb into the crate, his hand going right through. Nothing much happened on his side of the makeshift barrier, but the jutsus effects were clearly felt by Gatou when the rasengan ripped through the back of the crate, bringing strong and powerful winds that would have lifted him up in the air and sliced him to pieces had he not run to the side. But the same could not be said for his toy.

The gattling gun was lifted and thrown to the bottom of the water below, in too many pieces to ever be used again. Gatou whimpered, his eyes frozen on the torn metal of the crate.

Naruto yanked his hands out of the metal, looking pleased with himself. The youki receded.

"That was pretty pointless." Sasuke said, an eyebrow twitching. All he saw a barely a scratch on the surface of the crate. A weight on his head made him look up at the hand's owner.

"To see the true effects of that jutsu," Kakashi said gravely, "You should go to the other side."

Tenten exchanged a look with Neji, one that made the latter activate his blood line. Pearl like eyes light up with the surge of chakra, veins popping out of the side of his head. What he saw made him nearly gasp in surprise, but he reined in that urge. He released the jutsu.

"He's right." Neji said impassively.

Sakura paid no attention to them, instead she ran up to Naruto. He lazily turned around, looking at her with heavy lidded eyes. They were a faint purple.

"Hiya, Sakura-chan." he mumbled. "Nice weather we have been having, yeah?" She hit him in the back of the head.

"Baka!" she snapped. "What are you jumping around like an idiot for! You'll end up reopening the wounds and then what good will you be to us!" Naruto grinned and flicked her nose. She flinched, then glared at him.

"That's an interesting way you have of showing concern, you shrew." he said, his face all too happy for her to take the insult personally. Sakura pretended that she was hurt and was about to snap back at him when he suddenly turned around, sensing something that she couldn't. The red energy suddenly formed around him again, making Sakura jumped back in surprise. The temperature had raised at least ten degrees, she was sure. But since when did regular chakra had a temperature?

"Naru.. Hey, where the hell are you going!" Sakura yelled, biting off her question when she saw him leap gracefully over the crate. She followed him, not very surprised when she was not the only one.

Gatou, sure that he had already pissed his pants, scrambled up to his feet and took off in a run for his boat. A sight even more terrifying than the man made tornado that nearly ripped him to pieces met his sight. One of the ninjas, a smaller one he might have scoffed at before, landed in front of him before he could get very far. It wasn't until Gatou had looked him over twice that he truly felt terror.

"D-demon." he whispered, falling on his rear. Naruto grinned, his fangs flashing, and grabbed the front of the cruel businessman's suit.

"Lets talk deals, shall we?"


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Tittering laugher was heard in the clearing around Dead Man's Lake, first loud and uncertain, then more free as their courage grew. Nearly the entire village had turned out for the event, one that townspeople would be talking about for generations to come.
Gai stood next to Tsunami and Inari, sulking. The taijutsu specialist had be all geared up to throw his new good deed in the masked nin's face only to find out that Kakashi had been in more danger and had somehow managed to get two of the enemies to make a truce. He was cheered up a little when Tsunami had hugged him and thanked him for helping out, but when he turned to smirk at Kakashi, the other jonin had his nose buried in his perverted book. So he sulked, annoyed that he hadn't been able to awe his rival with his skills.

Kakashi's attention had been drawn from his book out onto the surface of the lake. He sweat dropped, wondering whether or not he should stop the event from taking place. Although it was highly amusing, he was sure that there was a rule or two somewhere that spoke against what was happening.

Sasuke leaned against a tree, faintly amused eyes watching the proceedings. He held the package that Naruto had carelessly tossed at him with a smirk and an insult. "Wouldn't want those delicate arms of yours to get scarred. Happy belated birthday." He had opened it to find two leather arm protectors that were a little bloody. He would have insulted Naruto for bleeding on his gift, but somehow, the thought of his gift being in Naruto's vest when he nearly bled to death, and then the blond's clear want for Sasuke to have them made the Uchiha feel quite the opposite of what it took for him to insult his team mate. Naruto had apparently seen it. "Don't cry, you dork." he had said, flicking the darker boy's nose. This naturally brought on a bout of insults before Naruto went to go 'negotiate'.

Sakura sat at his feet, several children crowding around her. Despite her loud nature around anything that had nothing to do with Sasuke, she had a gift with children. Within a matter of moments, she had taken all of the lost and wandering children in the crowd under her wing and quietly entertained them, either with answers to questions or stories. Every time she looked up at the lake, she'd smirk lightly, then return back to the kids.

Neji leaned against another tree, his back to the lake instead of facing it like Sasuke. His eyes were closed, but anyone who knew him knew that he was probably watching the proceedings as diligently as the townspeople. Tenten sat in the branch above him, a grin on her face.

Lee sat down on the grass a little ways away from Neji, sulking as much as Gai. He had wanted to sit next to Sakura but when the Uchiha, her team mate, had given him a frosty glare when he came close, Lee backed off. He knew that he could probably beat the genius, but there was just something about him that made Lee rather to back away.

The two mist nins were the only ones given ample 'bubble' space. Although the townspeople knew that the two mist nins were there on peaceful terms, they still remembered that they had worked for Gatou. Any speech directed toward them was strictly polite but distant. They both looked tired and were heavily bandaged, courtesy of Sakura(her back pack had tons of bandages, too bad that she didn't think to bring it to the bridge). She had managed to save Zabuza's arm but he wouldn't be using it for a while. It hung in a cast gently resting against his chest as of then.

Haku stayed standing by Zabuza's side, silently keeping his promise to himself to keep his teacher safe. Calm brown eyes followed the proceedings on the lake, his lips curving when he thought justice was being down, but in a slightly less violent way than he was used to.

Zabuza yawned. He was bored, much preferring if Gatou could be handed to him and then... his grin was devilish... then they could have some fun.

It certainly wasn't the crowd of ninjas that made the townspeople so amused. It was what was happening out on the surface of the lake. It was fairly cruel, some that were not familiar with the situation would argue, but to the townspeople it was merely the businessman's medicine being thrown back at him.

"GYAHHHHHHHH!" he shrieked. He was hanging upside down, his captor's grip on his ankle the only thing that kept him airborne. "I CAN'T SWIMMM!"

"That should be the last thing you should be worrying about!" Inari shouted from the shore, a grin on his face. The townspeople laughed outright. "Leave him for the reptiles, Naruto! They're hungry!" Naruto laughed before turning to look down at Gatou.

"This place.. it's called Dead Man's Lake. It's infested with alligators." his captor told him cheerfully. Gatou froze, looking straight down. Something dark was rising to the surface quickly. A fearsome face became visible, a gaping maw that snapped at his head.

"KYAHHH!" he screamed when the alligator surfaced. He was yanked out of the way before the jaw could snap closed. Naruto pivoted on his heel, pulling Gatou out of the way and simultaneously knocking the alligator ten feet away from him with his foot. The reptile immediately dove for the water, in ways, more terrified than Gatou himself. It was the small bit of youki mixed in with Naruto's regular chakra that had kept the great beasts away from him before. Natural instinct kept all animals away from a demon as powerful as Kyuubi.

"So how about it?" Naruto said rather calmly, as if a huge reptile didn't just almost take a chunk out of him. Gatou wasn't as skilled as Naruto at composing himself. The older man started to cry.

"I'll do whatever you want! I'll give you all of my money! Just get me away from this damn place!" he sobbed. Not feeling sorry for him one bit, Naruto smirked.

"That's what I thought, my good man. Now, lets talk about this lovely country and its very bright future..."

great double chapter!! u rock, lord suhi! have fun in canada!!!

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o and Marsala-chan? i like ur fanfic a lot! please continue!

@Sukiharu: Was Gatou's introduction of the gattling gun inspired by Runouni Kenshin, by any chance?