UzaiUkiyo: Hi, this is a new Naruto story, my very first fanfic, in fact, and I'll be writing one in which Naruto gets a small benefit early on. I'll try not make him too overpowered and all at least early on in the story. Also, if you have any questions about the fanfiction then PM me or leave a review and I'd also like to hear you guys' thoughts about this fic, if you like it or not or if you want me to improve something or make changes. I'm also going to try to keep updates to this story frequent so follow to get notified and if you like the story and where it's headed then a favourite will be greatly appreciated. That is going to be all for now regarding this fic.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

As Naruto stood there, looking at the bloodied bodies of the wielder of the Kubikiribōchō, Zabuza Momochi and his faithful 'weapon', a strange feeling washed over him. It was a mix of rage and grief, that left him feeling hollow, for some reason. The more rational part of him knew that for any ninja, death was a common occurrence, both for one's allies and your enemies. Despite that, to see two people die in front of him, just when he thought they could be something more than adversaries. As he thought of the time when he had talked to Haku in the forest, he recalled the possibility that the two of them could have been friends, warm tears began to trickle down his cheeks.

Hearing Naruto cry, Zabuza lifted his head, and watching the boy tear up in front of him a new desire sparked inside him. He had known it since he had laid eyes on him that Naruto was special, even as the Jinchuriki of the Kyūbi he had kept on trying to pursue his dreams and kept a positive approach to life, always trying to protect his comrades and help the people around him, despite the fact that there was a Bijū sealed inside him. Zabuza was not naïve to the situation of the Jinchuriki. Most of them were blatantly hated by their villages, even to the extent of complete ostracisation. Best case scenario, they were trained into ultimate killing machines. But this kid, Naruto, he stayed bright, despite that. He stayed human. Sure, there was the off-chance that the kid had been lucky enough to have had a good childhood, but that was a long shot.

He had failed with Haku but seeing Naruto standing there, he knew that maybe with this one final act he might be able to finally redeem himself as a shinobi by ensuring that some good was done in the world. Making a decision, he spoke in a raspy voice occasionally coughing up blood between speech. "Kid," Naruto stopped crying momentarily and looked at Zabuza questioningly to see him smiling. "Yeah, you. I want you to have this." Zabuza said as he picked up the Executioner's Blade with his right hand and offered it to Naruto. Naruto looked shocked for a moment but quickly came out of his reverie to hastily take the sword from him. He knew that Zabuza was exerting himself even by just lifting up the sword, and Naruto acting stubborn would only make his situation worse. What he didn't expect was for the sword to weigh a million tonnes! As soon as he took hold of it, trying to cradle it in his arms, he fell to the ground with a dull thud. The sword weighed too much for Naruto to be able to handle as he was. Zabuza let a small chuckle escape his lips, though it quickly turned into a sharp cough.

"That sword is Kubikiribōchō or the Executioner's Blade, one of the Seven Legendary Swords of Kiri. I deem you, Naruto, Uzumaki, worthy of wielding it as your own. The sword requires an enormous amount of chakra since it is the primary source of energy for the sword to function properly but seeing how you made those clones earlier; it won't be a problem. As for the sheer weight of the sword, well, you'll figure something out." As Zabuza explained the mechanics of the sword to Naruto, he replied by nodding vigorously to show him he was listening carefully, after all these were the man's final moments. Zabuza smiled proudly, he had picked the right person to pass his sword on to and with that thought embedded into his mind, he finally let breath escape him as a numbness spread through his body and he was left cold and rigid.

While he was standing there taking in all that happened to him, Kakashi and the rest of Team 7 had cautiously approached him, not wanting to interrupt Naruto and Zabuza. Kakashi knelt down and sealed the blade in a scroll for later, he had overheard the conversation between Zabuza and Naruto and thought this would make it easier for Naruto to carry the sword. Naruto didn't stop him and let him do the Fūinjutsu needed to seal the blade, Naruto made a mental note to learn how to do that once he returned to Konoha. When Kakashi was done he carefully accepted the sealing scroll that his sensei offered him. After having given Naruto the scroll, Kakashi spoke. "Naruto, come on, they deserve to be buried." All Naruto could manage in response was a weak nod as he got up, pushing away the thoughts that had occupied his mind about what Zabuza had said to him.

After burying the bodies of the two shinobi, they were given the rest of day to recuperate and heal but it was mostly to get over the shock of what they had went through. Of course, Kakashi, as a seasoned Anbu, was no stranger to the grim reality of the battlefield, but it was a completely different story for the Genin under his tutelage. To see such carnage up close was always a difficult experience for the new Genin, and they would need some time to process it.

At the crack of dawn, the next day, they went back to their task of guarding Tazuna while he finished building the bridge. It took a week, which was longer than the team from Konoha would have wanted, but they were just thankful that the week had been mostly uneventful. The Genin had continued with their practice of the tree walking exercise to pass the time when they weren't on duty. Naruto had yet to take out Kubikiribōchō, because he had thought it would be best to first discuss the issue with the one ninja who he was closest to – his Hokage-Jiji.

As a testament to the sacrifices and hard work of the shinobi, the villagers had decided to call the bridge the "Great Naruto Bridge". Though Naruto only gave them a humble smile of appreciation, for in his mind he was still thinking about what Zabuza had said the boy also wondered whether this was even allowed, for him to be a ninja of Konoha, and wield one of the Seven Legendary Swords of Kiri.

Finally, after a week of the uneventful routine of guarding Tazuna while he built the bridge, it was done. Tazuna and Team 7 stood at the end of the bridge that connected to wave, all of them smiling proudly at what they had achieved. Now it was time to leave Wave and return to Konoha. They said goodbye to the villager who had congregated there to say their farewells but when they had turned to leave, Inari ran up to Naruto and spun him around, his eyes teary and swollen. "Naruto, don't go yet, Wave needs a strong hero like you to protect it from bad guys. You can't leave!" Inari spoke as tears ran down his red cheeks. Naruto wiped the tears off that had begun to flow down his face upon listening to the younger boy's farewell. "Yeah Inari, I think so too. That's why you're here to be that hero, okay? You have to grow up to be strong so you can protect the people of this village and your grandpa and mom, you got it!"

Inari nodded as he looked up at the older boy, feeling inspired by his words. Naruto then turned around to walk on with his teammates while Inari waved at them energetically and shouted goodbyes. It took Team 7 two days to get back to Konoha, and they took the time to write up their official report for the mission and fortunately, their journey remained unevetful.

When they finally returned to Konoha, they immediately went to the Hokage's office to hand in their report, all of them wanting to get this over with and rest from their travels. The Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, went over their report with the occasional hum of acknowledgement. After having gone through the report completely he neatly stacked it on his desk and spoke in a calm and collected tone.

"Interesting, very interesting. With an unfortunate turn of events, it seems this mission went from being a C-Rank to an S-Rank but for Genin with such little experience in field missions, I must say you handled it quite well. Since it turned out alright, your decision to not turn back and abandon the mission like you should have when such a drastic change occurred is forgiven. However, Kakashi, I expect better from you in the future." After the Hokage had finished with his small speech of sorts, Kakashi's hand shot up in to the air. When he had received a nod from the old man signifying that he could speak, he started.

"Hokage-sama, I agree that I should not have acted so recklessly and in doing so I endangered the lives of both me and my team, and I apologize for that. I also wanted to ask you, what will happen regarding the matter of the sword? I believe I mentioned it somewhere near the end of the file." Kakashi said this rather timidly not wanting to offend the man. The Sandaime thought over this for a moment before speaking. "Naturally, the five major villages will soon enough come to know that the sword is no longer in the possession of Zabuza Momochi. But Kiri will not have much of a problem if Naruto was given the sword by the previous wielder and did not use force to procure it. Even if they did want it back, I doubt they will be able to spare enough resources for an operation to retrieve it from an active ninja at this time, due to the current civil war taking place there. If they had been able to do this, Zabuza would not have had the sword himself.

Though Naruto, now that you are the owner of one of the Seven Legendary Swords of Kiri, one that is on the stronger end of the spectrum at that, you will be considered by many as an adversary, and the Bingo Book will upgrade you to at least an A-Rank ninja. As for my verdict regarding the sword: keep it and be sure to make good use of it. Now, I know you never shy away from trouble, but this time I urge you to at least learn to use the sword, so that you can protect yourself better."

He finished with a smile addressed to Naruto. He had always had a soft spot for the boy considering the trauma he had gone through at such a tender age, and saw him as a grandson. It both pleased and saddened him to know that he was one of the very few adults in the village whom the boy could trust completely.

Kakashi and the Sandaime exchanged a final nod, and Team 7 left the Hokage Tower to go their separate ways. While walking through the streets of Konoha, Naruto thought about how he would try to tackle the problem of the Kubikiribocho's immense weight and wielding it in general. As he went over the issue, he realised that even if he did make his body strong enough to carry the sword through rigorous training, he would need external help to find out how to use it properly. When he reached his run-down apartment, he hastily got into his pyjamas and nightcap and fell on top of his bed. 'I'll think about it tomorrow.' He thought to himself as he drifted off. The scroll containing his sword lay safely tucked under his pillow.

The next day was Tuesday which meant a working day so Naruto and the rest of Team 7 had to meet at one of the training grounds. When all of them had arrived, there was the usual irritation with Kakashi die to his tardiness, but other than that they exchanged no words. Sasuke had stopped making fun of Naruto and calling him weak and Naruto was also acting docile towards him, this was because both of the boys had realised after fighting alongside each other in Wave that at the end of the day both of them were comrades and had each other's backs.

Sakura however was feeling a bit lost. 'Naruto and Sasuke have such burning ambitions that keep them going. Sasuke wants to become stronger so that one day he can confront his brother and avenge his clan, and Naruto's dream was to prove to everyone in the village that he isn't weak by becoming the Hokage. But what about me, why do I want to become a ninja, for Sasuke-kun, or do I have an actual purpose.' Even on their most recent mission she hadn't been able to help them at all. She knew that even if she had gotten the chance to assist them, she would have been more of a hindrance than a help.

She thought while viewing both Sasuke and Naruto standing in front of her, brimming with confidence. Just as she was letting those thoughts flood her mind, Kakashi appeared, pulling her out of her reverie.

"So," he said as he snapped his book shut, deciding to read this particularly saucy edition of 'Icha Icha Paradise' later, "An announcement was made early this morning to all of the Jounin presently leading squads, do any of you know what it was?" Kakashi spoke addressing the entirety of the team, though Sasuke was the only one to answer. "Well, obviously, it was about the "Chunin Exams", right?" He spoke with an undertone of off-handedness, not thinking much of the knowledge.

"That is correct, you will be receiving a two-month break starting today, meaning no missions or meetings, and this time is being given to you so you can train for the Chunin Exams, a contest of sorts with different tasks, in which not only Genin from this village but from others as well will be participating for the Chunin rank. The first task will be a written exam which will happen once your time for your break has expired." All of them listened carefully to what Kakashi had to say, knowing how important this was for their futures as shinobi, considering these were the examinations they would have to take to become Chūnin from Genin.

Naruto knew this would be tough as they had to face ninja from different villages whom they knew nothing about but rather than being discouraged he was honestly pumped. He would train like hell in these two months! Having finished, Kakashi turned to leave and both Sasuke and Sakura were also walking away. Suddenly remembering the scroll tied to his back, Naruto rushed forwards and yelled. "Kakashi-Sensei wait, I have to ask you something." Kakashi turned around and enquired. "What is it now, Naruto?"

"Kakashi-sensei, I was just wondering if you could give me some tips or exercises for physical training. The sword is way too heavy, so I need to be really stronger to be able to use it at all." Kakashi's expression softened at this, he hadn't expected the boy to have a genuine inquiry, but rather some odd musing. "Well Naruto, someone does actually come to mind. An old friend of mine, Might Guy, he's a master of taijutsu so he'll know more about that than even I would know. You can visit him later, he'll be in training ground nineteen with his team." Kakashi told him.

"Thanks Sensei, I'll meet him right away!" Naruto said to him looking determined. "Ok then Naruto, tell him Kakashi sent you. He'll understand." Kakashi said as he used Shunshin to disappear, leaving a small flurry of leaves in his place. 'So, that's it then, Might Guy, a taijutsu master. That's awesome! I'll still have to find someone for kenjutsu though, I've only ever wielded basic kunai and shuriken as weapons, this is going to be a big change. But I won't give up, I need to make Zabuza proud. So I don't care what I have to do, but I am gonna learn how to use Kubikiribōchō, dattebayo!'

Co-written and beta'd by Kofukuna Shi No Kami.