Here's the new chapter, let me know what you think. And thank you for all of the reviews. :)

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Disclaimer- I own nothing :(

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Chapter 3: The Customer is Always-POTATO!

Kurenai was at her wits end, this was her team's fourth D-rank and Naruto was driving them all crazy. Their first mission had been to paint a civilian's house, it went ok at first but the problem came when the client's wife came home and saw Naruto. By the time her husband had calmed her down and took her into the house nobody noticed that Naruto had painted the house bright pink instead of the white the client had supplied them with, they still didn't know where he got the dam paint.

The second mission had been to weed an old ladies garden; this had gone fine until she refused to pay Naruto. While Kurenai had been arguing with her Naruto had replaced all her plants with cannabis and yet again, they still didn't know where he got the plants, though Kurenai was more worried at the thought of a high Naruto.

The third had been to catch tora, this had actually gone ok. Seems Naruto had a way with animals, he had been the first ever ninja to just walk up to Tora and pick him up without the cat going insane. The problem had come when he left with the little beast for a while. Nobody knew what he did but after the mission it became a lot harder to catch the cat when it escaped again. One gennin team had reported that they had seen him jumping through the trees like a ninja and another and claimed that the cat had shot a fireball at them.

This mission was simple, get the shopping for a woman that had broken her leg and bring it to her house. Everything was going fine, until she had given Naruto a dirty look. At the time the boy had just ignored her, but his team had got to know him over the past few weeks and knew he was going to do something. This was why Kurenai was watching him like a hawk.

They had just gotten back to the clients house without incident and were just waiting for their pay. When the client had been paying them she gave Naruto another dirty look and tried to give him half what she owed him, but after a few harsh words from the red eyed jonin she thought better of it and paid them in full. The feeling of dread that had increased when Naruto didn't say anything, just stood there grinning.

A few minuets later they had gotten the money and were on their way to report to the Hokage when they heard a scream from inside the house. Rushing back inside they had arrived to see the woman sitting on the floor, covered in bright red paint. It turns out that Naruto had somehow put paint bombs in her shopping bags when they weren't looking. Letting out a deep breath Kurenai and the other two gennin started to help her off the floor and to a chair in the living room, the whole time Naruto was laughing his head off, rolling around on the floor. It took them an hour to calm her down.

Now here they were stood in front of the Hokage in his office with Kurenai, Hinata and Shino looking like they had just finished running a marathon while Naruto just looked around the room with an innocent expression on his face as he whistled. For a full minuet Sarutobi said nothing, just sat there looking at Naruto with his pipe in hand.

"...I thought we talked about this Naruto, you can't keep attacking clients."

Naruto just stood there, giggling.

"Well...technically she wasn't a client when it went off; we already finished the mission at that point."

None of them knew what to say to this because he was right, they had finished the mission.

Sighing to himself, Sarutobi just waved a hand for them to leave.

"Whatever, I'm getting too old for this shit, just go."

With that they left to go to the training grounds.

XXX

Team eight had decided to hold off on missions for a while, at least until they were able to stop Naruto from being... well Naruto. It was a good goal, at least that's what they told themselves, but the problem was that it was impossible to predict what he would do. Every time they thought they had succeeded the blonde would come up with something new that they didn't expect. The only real advantage to this was that it did wonders for the team's ability to improvise and think on their feet, if they could deal with Naruto's craziness then nothing could faze them.

Kurenai, Hinata and Shino were currently waiting for Naruto at training ground 8. Today Kurenai was planning to teach Hinata and Shino how to water walk, she would have been teaching Naruto it as well but he was having...problems, with tree walking. The last time he attempted it he was blown off so hard he not only broke the tree he was trying to walk on, but three other trees as well when he flew into them and laded in the middle of the lake.

For some reason Naruto was always a few minuets late to team training, they had asked him about it several time but never got a straight answer, so after a while they just accepted it, he was never late to missions so it wasn't too big a problem. But after waiting for a few minutes longer they decided to start without him and it wasn't until half an hour later that Naruto walked into the training grounds, a strange bundle on his back.

This put them all on edge; though Naruto had never done anything to them they were still cautious.

When so he got to them and put the bundle down they approached with causation, their eyes shifting from the bundle on the ground to the blonde nervously.

"Hey guys, I got you something!"

Seeing their faces Naruto just laughed.

"Don't worry so much, their not going to explode...at least I don't think they will."

The thoughtful look on his face as he added that last part did not fill them with confidence and the three of them took a step back as he reached down and unfolding the package before he took a step back himself and looked at them all expectantly.

"Soooo...what do you think?"

They didn't really know what to think; on the ground before them were the most bizarre yet beautiful objects any of them had ever seen. The first one looked like a normal kunai knife. But when you looked closely you could see that it was a lot smaller and streamline then most and was attached to a small cylinder with leather straps by a length of ninja wire. The knife itself was also covered in strange markings that they soon realized were seals that had been carved perfectly into the metal.

The next were two long metal pipes about four feet in length, with a small needle like point. From a distance the surface of them looked unblemished, apart from the seals that had been carved into them, but on closer inspection they realized that they were both hollow and that there was a small hole in the end of each of them. They were attached to leather straps at the blunt ends.

The last was a pair of strange gloves made from white silk with silver seals actually stitched into them and went up to just below the elbow. The tips of the fingers were silver except for a small hole at the end no bigger then a pin.

After a while of staring at them Kurenai looked at Naruto with a mixture of shock and confusion.

"They are beautiful Naruto but where did you get them, and why did you bring them here?"

Naruto gave her one of his rare, sincere smiles when she asked that.

"Well... remember when I said that I was looking into weapon crafting...?"

Three sets of eyes widened at his words, switching from staring at the now identified weapons then back to the once again grinning blonde.

"You mean you made these?"

"Yep, I made a deal with a smith in the village. I get to use his workshop and I let him look over some of my designs. Nice guy, open minded."

Naruto seemed to get lost in his own mind for a moment before he continued.

"Anyway, I brought them here because I made them for you guys. We've been a team for a while now and I've gotten a pretty good idea of your fighting stiles, so made you these to compliment them. For example..."

Bending down and picking up the kunai like weapon, Naruto took on an almost lecturing tone and started to explain the weapons.

"This is for you sensei, it goes on your arm under you sleeve. Now I know that when you cast a genjutsu you can't move from one spot without risking disrupting the flow of your of chakra. So I made you this. By channelling your chakra to the cylinder it will launch the kunai at about 90mph, give or take depending on how much chakra you, and if you then channel it through the wire to the blade at the end you can control it to a limited degree. It will take a lot of practise but when you master it you should be able to cast genjutsu and kill your enemies without having to rely on someone to make the finishing blow. The seals are mostly to make it more durable and help with the initial launch."

Kurenai was speechless so say the least; Naruto had made this just for her? It was without a doubt the perfect weapon for her style. He had made her the perfect weapon after only knowing her for less then two months. She was about to thank him but before she could say a word he moved onto the pipes.

"Now these are for Shino and, if they work out, your family. The pipes are made from a strong metal to compensate for them being hollow and the seals on the outside add to that. They can retract into smaller pipes so they can be hidden under your sleeves and by channelling chakra through them you can make them extend to their full size again. The main idea is that you can have some of your bugs hide inside the pipes and, when you stab someone, inject them into you opponent. I know that your clan can't fight in close combat without putting your hives at risk so these should help with that problem."

Shino was deeply impressed with the weapons and the idea itself, but guessed that he shouldn't be surprised; it would take someone with a mind like Naruto's to come up with something as unorthodox as this.

"And last but certainly not least, this is for Hinata and like the others I made it to go with your family's fighting style and in theory they should be able to enhance your gentle fist. By channelling chakra into the end of the fingers they can give your chakra sort of boost. If it works like I think it will, you will be able to actually destroy someone's chakra points completely with enough training. The metrical is light so it wont effect your speed, but the seals I stitched onto them make them almost as strong as the metal I used to make Kurenai-sensei's and Shino-san's, so as long as its not charged with chakra you could catch a sword with your bear hands and not get a scratch."

This actually shocked Hinata, her family had been trying to improve the gentle fist for years to the point that they could actually destroy a persons chakra points and here was Naruto, the most insane ninja anyone had ever known, solving what her entire clan couldn't after watching her train for a few weeks.

It was then that he explained the seals in a little more detail.

"Now as for the whole not sure it they will exploding thing, the seals are your basic strengthening seals like I said before, with something of my own thrown in. Chakra channelling seals, I made them to help you channel your chakra through the metal, or in Hinata's case fabric, so all you have to do is add chakra and the seals do the rest. The only thing is I haven't fully... what's the word, tested them yet."

This surprised Kurenai more then the actually weapons, she knew that he was looking into seals, but never thought he would come so far in so little time. to actually create your own seals, even simple ones, took a lot of knowledge.

"This is great Naruto, but why did you go to so much trouble?"

Naruto just looked at each of them for a moment before his grin came back, the serious atmosphere gone as quickly as it came.

"Why the hell not?"

When they had gotten up after face planting, each thanked him before asking if he had made anything for himself. His grin took on an unnerving glint and he reached behind his back and pulled out two wicked looking miniature scythes that had been hidden behind his long hair. The handles looked like they fitted his hands perfectly and were wrapped in thick black leather with red seals stitched into the folds. The blades themselves were stained a deep black that seemed like it didn't reflect any light and the edge was a deep, blood red with jagged teeth instead of being straight. They had the same seals as the other weapons etched into the metal, but they were almost impossible to see. The sight of them actually sent shivers down their spines, they seemed to radiate a terrible beauty that left no doubt that they were made to take life.

"These...are my scythes."

No one said anything for a few minuets, the blades seeming to weigh down the area with there own killing intent, which was promptly broken by Naruto falling over and laughing so hard it looked painful.

When she saw he had finally calmed down Kurenai spoke.

"Well thank you Naruto, these are all great but I think Hinata and Shino should finish the water walking exercises before learning how to use them. I'm sure the extra control will help in learning how to use them."

Shrugging his shoulders Naruto just put his scythes away and without another word ran to a tree at the edge of the training ground, only to fly pass them and into the water when he was blown off again. As they watched him get up and do the same thing over and over again, Shino summed up their thoughts perfectly.

"It's hard to tell if he is a genius or an idiot at times like this."

Nodding their heads in agreement they all turned back to the lake, their new weapons in place and started the excise again with new found enthusiasm, Naruto's laughter echoing around the clearing as he was continually blasted off the trees.

XXX

It had been a month since team 8 had gotten their weapons from Naruto and ever since then they couldn't be any closer. Hinata and Shino had finished water walking in record time, wanting to start training with their new weapons as soon as possible and Kurenai was starting to get the hang of her 'Straight Shooter' as Naruto had decided to call it. She still had some work to do, but she was getting there. He didn't name the Hinata's or Shino's, saying that they could do it themselves with their families.

Speaking of which, both the Hyuga and Aburame clans had been very impressed with the weapons, so much so that they had requested Naruto to make more for them and he had told them of a small ninja shop owned by a man named Higashi. It turned out this was the man Naruto had made the deal to use his workshop with. Naruto gave him the designs after he made them encase this happened, as long as he got 30% of the profits and that he tell nobody who made them, this applied to the clans as well, Higashi could remake and sell them.

When Kurenai asked why he didn't want anyone to know he made them she could have sworn he was channelling his inner Nara when he said.

"Too bloody troublesome."

It turns out this was more than sufficient, as the clans were paying a small fortune for the weapons. Higashi and his daughter were making so much money from Naruto's weapons they were thinking of expanding the shop.

The Hyuga's had named Hinata's weapon 'The Hands of Kami', as they believed their eyes were a gift from Kami herself and the Aburame had been a bit more modest and named theirs 'Wasp Point'.

Naruto, after many times of being shot off the trees like a cannonball, had finally got the hang of tree walking. He even managed to learn water walking, though the first time he tried all he did was push the water away from him, making a ten foot wide circle around him in the water.

Eventually team 8 started doing missions again, thankfully Naruto had not done anything to the clients, apparently word had gotten out and none dared to do anything to raise the boy's ire. They were currently stood in the Hokage office after just returning Tora to the daimyo's wife and he was looking at their mission record to decide if they were ready for a C-rank mission or not.

"Well...everything seems to be in order, I see no reason-"

Before he could finish the doors to the office slammed opened and Kiba stormed in, followed by the rest of team 7.

"Hey Hokage-sama, can we please get a C-rank now. These D ranks are driving me and Akamaru crazy!"

The moment they saw team eight, or more importantly Naruto, they stopped in their tracks and Kakashi apologised for Kiba's rudeness, though no one but the Hokage noticed the way Kakashi's eye lingered on Naruto for a moment before moving to Kurenai.

"Sorry Kurenai-chan, hope we didn't disturb you."

Before the red eyed jonin could answer she was drowned out by Naruto.

"Duck ass! Dog piss! Pinkie! How you been!"

Everyone in the room sweat dropped at this except the three gennin, who were silently steaming at the names. When they had calmed down the Hokage spoke.

"... Well team 7 does have the necessary number of D ranks to take a C...how about this, I was just about to give team 8 here a C rank, what would you say to a joint mission?"

The two jonin looked at each other for a moment, weighing their options. It wasn't uncommon for genin teams to work together on occasion, and with the two of them together it would ensure their first time outside the village would be safer, so after a silent signal to each other they both nodded to the old Hokage.

"Very well, seeing as team 8 were here first Kurenai will be team leader. The mission is to protect a bridge builder named Tazuna while he travels to his home town in Wave country and until he finishes his bridge. The client will be here shortly."

No sooner had he said this then an old man walked into the room on unsteady feet with a pack on his shoulder, a grey beard. The moment he entered the room it was filled with the strong smell of sake. The moment his slightly unfocused eyes saw the six genin a frown crossed his face and he looked to the Hokage with an unimpressed expression on his red face.

"I pay good money for a ninja guard and you give me this? And what the hell is the mummy grinning at... eh?"

At these words four loud smacks were heard and after looking around the room team 7 saw the Hokage, Kurenai, Shino and Hinata with their hands on there faces. No one noticed as Naruto's grin took on a sinister edge.

XXX

Both team 8 and 7 were stood at the front gates of Konoha waiting for Tazuna to show up so they could leave. After what he said the day before the Hokage had quickly dismissed them and told them when to be here. The two teams were keeping their distance from each other, mostly because of a certain blonde genin that kept giggling and muttering to himself. Speaking of Naruto, both Kurenai and Kakashi were worried what he would do, his track record speaking for itself. They knew he wouldn't actually kill Tazuna, but beyond that they didn't know what he would do.

They didn't have to wait long for the old bridge builder, right on time they could see Tazuna heading their way. He had the same clothes and smell as the day before, but at least he was able to walk in a straight line now. His eyes were red and he was clearly suffering from a monster hang over. As he approached Kurenai cast a nervous eye over to Naruto, but he was just stood there grinning at Tazuna as if nothing ever happened. Not breaking his stride the old man walked right past them and through the gate.

Nodding to their teams Kurenai and Kakashi followed after him.

They were about an hour away from the village when Naruto started to walk next to the old drunk. They spoke in low voices for a moment when Naruto pulled out a small silver flask, which he handed to Tazuna, who took the lid off and had taken a swig before anyone could stop him. Giving the flask back to the boy he stood there a moment, all eyes on him, then his eyes went wide and he opened his mouth, they could all see smoke coming out. It was shortly after this that all the strength left his legs and he fell over.

Bending down and lifting the old man onto his shoulder, laughing the whole time, Naruto started to continue on down the road as if nothing had happened.

Moving next to her student Kurenai walked next to him for several minutes before she couldn't hold her questions anymore.

"What the hell is in that flask Naruto?"

This caused Naruto to laugh louder.

"Don't worry; he'll wake up in about ten minuets. I gave him my home made hangover cure. Ha-ha, did you see the smoke?"

All the ninja present just sweat dropped at the insane boy's antics.

"Naruto if this is to get rid of his hangover then why in the name of Kami is he unconscious? What the hell is in that stuff?"

Turning around and walking backwards so he was facing them, Naruto got a thoughtful look on his face.

"Well let me think...a few herbs, some spices, wasabi, chilli powder, grey lizard intestines, cat piss... Oh! And some strange fish I found in the lake at our training grounds."

Again they all sweat dropped.

Luckily they were getting used to Naruto, well...as used to him as one could get anyway. They were actually surprised when exactly ten minuets later Tazuna's eyes shot open and, after jumping off the blondes shoulder, started to run around holding his throat. After being given water, he turned to Kurenai and asked in a dry voice.

"What the hell did I just fucking drink!"

Shaking her head, she patted the old man on the back and smiled.

"You don't want to know."

It was then that Naruto made his appearance.

"So drunk, how's the head?"

Turning to face the boy to yell at him, Tazuna stopped when he suddenly realized that his hangover was gone. Without saying anything Tazuna started walking again, not looking at Naruto. As he passed Kakashi they could all here him mumbling about stupid mummies and not warning him about tastes.

XXX

That night they had decided to set up camp in a small clearing about thirty feet away from the footpath to avoid being noticed. Not much had happened since Naruto had so kindly...helped, Tazuna with his hangover, though the old drunk had refused to say anything to any of them since since.

It was shortly after they had finished setting up their tents that they noticed Naruto didn't set one up for himself and Sakura, being the ever curious person she was, took it upon herself to ask him where his tent was. The answer shocked them all and even got Tazuna's attention.

"Don't need one. My body produces so much raw chakra that it converts any I don't use into energy. I don't actually need to sleep more than an hour or so a week if I don't use any."

None of them knew what to say to this, to have so much chakra that you didn't need to sleep was unheard of.

"Erm...just how much chakra do you have exactly?"

Thinking for a moment Naruto considered how best to answer.

"Well according to the old man... about thirteen times more then any Kage known to have ever lived. But I can't actually use most of it because I can't control it and most jutsu I try to use ends badly because I always overload them, I can only use jutsu with high chakra cost."

Even Tazuna was shocked at this, he might not be a ninja but even he knew not to mess with a Kage. They all sat in silence after that, staring into the smokeless fire as they thought about what they had learned about the strange blonde.

After a few more minuets of this, Naruto reached behind his back, pulled out his violin and without looking at any of the others in the clearing started to play. The music was soft and gentle...calm even, the complete opposite of the one playing it. Naruto's face took on a serene look as he played and it was almost like he wasn't an insane psychopath.

They all sat and listened to the boy play, watching the fire as it seemed to dance in the night along with the music. They were spellbound, none could move as they listened to the slightly haunting melody that came from the violin. But as the night went on they knew that they needed to go to sleep and, one by one they all got up and went to their tents to sleep, the sound of Naruto's violin the last thing they heard as they drifted off.

None of them saw the single tear that trailed down Naruto's face as he played into the night, his eyes fixed on the small fire in front of him.

XXX

The next day they had all woke up to the sight of Naruto leaning over a small pile of dead rabbits that he had just finished skinning and after he sealed away the skins they ate, packed up the camp and were on there way. The atmosphere was a lot calmer then the day before and the two teams were spread out in a loses formation as Sakura talked to Tazuna about Wave country.

It wasn't until about an hour later when the two jonnin noticed the puddle in the road ahead and the sight of it made Kurenai's blood boil. Such a poor attempt at a genjutsu. Looking at each other, the two jonin silently agreed to let the genin handle it and only step in if they needed to.

They didn't have to wait long; as soon as they past the puddle two men, wearing brown cloaks with masks covering the bottom of their faces, jumped out and wrapped a battle chain around both of them. The genin and Tazuna turned around just in time to see their sensei fall to the ground in bloody peaces.

"Two down..."

"...seven to go."

After saying this, the two ninja started to run toward them, chain at the ready and Team 7 froze, not knowing what to do without Kakashi. Luckily for them, team eight did.

Shino and Hinata were in front of Tazuna as soon as they saw what happened, Hinata with her Byakugan active and Shino with his hive spread out in the air around him. Naruto had moved to intercept the two shinobi, a huge grin on his face as he pulled out his scythes from behind his back and met the two head on. Before the two ninja had moved two meters towards them he was there.

With his back turned to the others they didn't see his grin turn predatory, his hair shadowing his eyes as he let out just enough killing intent to send a shiver down the back of anyone that looked at his face, but the demon brothers did and it stopped them in their tracks, eyes wide. This...boy...had the same grin as him.

They were brought out of there thoughts by the insane giggling that erupted in his throat and his words laced with killing intent.

"Let's have fun...don't die too quick."

That was all it took to anger the brothers, who did this kid think he was! Yelling in rage, the two ran straight at the boy, intending to wrap him in their chain, but before they could a kunai pinned it to a nearby tree.

As they struggled to get the chain free Naruto turned to Sasuke.

"Don't interfere with my fun! Do that again and I will rip out your eyes and shove them up your fucking ass!"

None of the genin knew what to say, they had never seen Naruto like this, his grin was still in place but his voice was hard. But it was more then that, when he turned to face the group they all saw his features taking on an almost demonic look. His teeth were longer, sharper and his eyes sank back into his head.

Turning back to his pray Naruto was just in time to see them detach the chain from there gauntlets and charge at him again. What followed was one of the most...odd, kinjutsu battles any of them had ever seen, including the two jonin hiding in the trees.

His grin stretching painfully large, Naruto switched the scythe in his left hand to a reverse grip...and started to spin as the two clocked ninja charged at him. He span so fast that all they could see of him as a yellow and black blur with just a hint of red from the edges of his scythes. Every time one of the brothers got within striking range they would be pushed back and before long they were on the defence as the blur that was Naruto started to move towards them and as his spins got faster and faster they had a harder time to block and dodge.

Small cuts started to appear all over their bodies and their clothes were soon torn to shreds, their movements started to get more and more sluggish as more and more cuts covered their bodies. No matter what they did it seemed to make no difference, none of their strikes came even close to him. Ten minuets into the fight and the demon brothers dropped to the ground, there entire bodies littered with small, paper cut like marks.

When he saw that they couldn't fight anymore Naruto stopped his rotations, he was a bit unsteady on his feet for a moment but quickly got over it and put his scythes away before tying them up with ninja wire.

Seeing that Naruto was finish the two thought dead jonin sensei stepped out of the woods and after explaining how they had gotten away with the substitution jutsu they turned to congratulate Naruto, only to see him positioning the two brothers in a way that they could see each other.

When they were about to ask him what he was doing he started to circle them slowly, before stopping in front of the one with two horns on his headband and speaking in an almost soft voice that sound wrong coming from his lips.

"Now, which one of you is the brain...you look like the man with the plan. So, are you going to tell me why you attacked us?"

The only answer he got was the man spitting on the ground at his feet.

Naruto's grin turned malicious and without saying a word he turned to the other brother. When he was within arm reach he spoke again.

"I was hoping you would say that."

Lifting his hand up for all to see he made his fingers change, turning into long black snake like creatures, there small mouths full of needle like teeth snapping at the man as he lowered them towards his face.

Seeing what the boy was planning Kurenai quickly cast a genjutsu on the gennin and Tazuna so they went blind, but she forgot to make them deaf.

Which meant they could all hear the man's muffled screams as Naruto lowered his hand to his head and the worms made their way into his mouth, nose and even under his skin. After a minute of the man squirming the two jonin watched in morbid fascination as his skin start to move as the snakes spread throughout his body under his skin.

Staring in horror at his younger brother the ninja could only watch as the lines moving under his skin seemed to go into a frenzy before, without warning, he stopped screaming and his entire body. The only thing that remained was his severed head as the rest of him exploded in a shower of blood, his face frozen in an expression of absolute terra.

Turning back to the now terrified ninja, Naruto slowly made his way over, his hand still changed into the snake-like creatures and an insane grin. And that was the last straw for the missing-nin.

"ALL RIGHT ALL RIGHT! I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT! JUST KEEP THOSE THINGS AWAY FROM ME!"

For the next few minuets he told them everything he knew about Gato and Zabuza. Everything he knew he told them in a panicked voice, his eyes never leaving the snakes, and when he was done Naruto took out one of his scythes, walked up to him and without a word slit his throat in such a way that it took him several minuets to bleed to death. The moment the light left his eyes Naruto used his scythe to cut of the head completely. When he was done Naruto took a sealing scroll from his bag and sealed both the severed heads into it and after letting out a satisfied sigh the blood on his clothes and bandages seemed to melt into them and within minuets he was clean.

Kurenai and Kakashi just stared at blonde for a moment, not sure what to think. It was the first time either of them had seen Naruto's bloodline in action, and what it he could do with it scared them. Without a word Kakashi walked passed Naruto and did a quick fire jutsu to get rid of what was left of the bodies.

Kurenai waited until there was nothing left before she released her genjutsu on the two five genin and Tazuna and after a quick talk with the old bridge builder they decided to continue the mission.

XXX

For the next few hours before they set up camp for the night no one said a word. Every now and then they would sneak glances at the blonde when they thought he wasn't looking, but other then that they just travailed in complete silence. None of the genin knew exactly what Naruto had done, but they knew from the screams it was bad. Kiba could still smell the blood that clung to Naruto like a blanket, though he chose not to say anything.

Shortly after they finished setting their tents and built a smokeless fire Naruto left without saying a word. About an hour later he came back, hair wet and with a dead dear slung over his shoulder, the smell of blood still strong in the air but from the dear instead of him.

They all watched quietly as Naruto sat down on a near by rock, away from the fire, and started to skin and prepare the meat from the dear with a small knife he had taken from his bag. Every so often throwing a piece into the wood to unseen animals that had been attracted by the smell.

It was a clear night and the moon was almost completely full, casting an eerie glow on the insane boy as he did his work, humming to himself as he did. When he finished Naruto went on to stripping the bark off of several branches to cook the meat over the fire.

Not being able to stand the silence anymore Kiba spoke in a quiet voice, drawing the attention of all those present, Akamaru sleeping in his hood.

"What the hell did you do to them back there? They only had small cuts, why did they stop?"

Naruto, turning to face the dog like boy with his usual grin in place, giggled.

"Have you ever gotten a paper cut?"

Seeing the boy nod his head he continued.

"They hurt don't they? Something so small, yet they can hurt as much as a kunai to the gut. Imagine having your entire body covered in them, your face, your arms, your legs, even your torso... small cuts all over your body. What do you think would happen?"

It was Sasuke that answered first.

"It would start to slow you down, then the more cuts you get the more pain. You can't fight if you are too focused on the pain."

Turning his grin to the dark haired boy, Naruto nodded.

"Exactly...and when the pain gets too much your body stops on its own, leaving you completely vulnerable."

This time it was Kakashi to ask a question.

"Where did you learn that style? I've never heard of anyone fighting like you did, the spinning, the precise aim so you only broke the skin when you cut. It seems like the perfect style for capturing an opponent while causing the most amount of pain, while at the same time it could be turned into a full on offensive at a moments notice, capable of quickly overpowering anyone that doesn't know how to counter."

Naruto just nodded at the assessment of his style.

"That sounds about right. I'm still working a few bugs out of it, but that pretty much sums it up... and I didn't learn it, I made it."

This didn't surprise team 8 as much as the others, they had gotten used to Naruto and the way he seemed brilliant one minuet and an idiot the next.

Nothing more was said for a while after that. Team 7 were a bit confuse at Naruto's, somewhat, subdued attitude as he explained his style. In the short time they had known him he had never been this... calm. He still let out a giggle from time to time, but other then that he seemed almost...normal.

While they had been talking Naruto had put the meat on the sticks and started to cook them, the smell filling the camp in a matter of minutes and making all their mouths water. When they were done Naruto handed them out and sat back down on the rock from earlier away from the others and when he had finished his own meat he put the stick down and pulled out his violin again.

He had just started playing when Sasuke spoke.

"Can you teach me your style?"

Naruto didn't stop playing and for a moment Sasuke thought he didn't hear him, until he saw the blondes eyes fixed on him. Kakashi was about to tell Sasuke that he was being rude when he was stopped.

"Sure, why not. We'll need to get you something to use until I can get you something better suited for you, but I don't have a problem with it. Actually, I think I have something here you can use for now."

Putting down his violin and reaching into his bag, Naruto pulled out a small scroll. Unrolling and putting his hand on one of the seals, a moment later there was a puff of smoke and in his hands were two beautifully crafted swords. The blades were only two foot long, with seals carved onto their length from tip to handle with a slight curve at the tip. They had no guard and the handles were wrapped in a fine red silk. The sheaths were made out of wood that had been stained black. After giving them a quick inspection Naruto nodded to himself and through them over to Sasuke.

Catching the blade Sasuke's eyes widened at the skill shown in the making of them, the weight was perfectly balanced as his eyes traced the seals that had been etched into the blade with a calculating look before he turned back to Naruto when the boy started speaking again.

"They were one of the first things I made. The seals make the metal strong and the blade shape should work for you just fine until we can something better."

Sasuke just stared at the weapons in his lap for a long moment before looking up at Naruto. He nodded once and said two words that no one had heard him say for many years.

"Thank you."

Naruto just nodded back, picking up his violin, and started to play again. Just like the night before, they all fell asleep to the sound of Naruto's violin.

XXX

The next morning after they had finished the rabbits Naruto had caught and killed while they slept, the two jonnin sat the group down and explained about Zabuza. Needless to say, Naruto was the only one grinning at the end.

"S-so you're saying he's like a real a demon?"

Sakura voice was barely understandable because of the quiver in it. Turning to his student Kakashi with a understanding look in his single eye, let out a small sigh as ne nodded.

"...pretty much"

An air of depression started to leak out of the genin, the thought of having to face someone like Zabuza weighing heavily on all their shoulders. But the silence didn't last long.

"Potato!"

This caused them all to sweat drop and, turning to look at a grinning Naruto, Kurenai let out a breath and asked the question they were all thinking.

"Should I even bother to ask?"

"...Probably not"

Shaking there heads they returned to the conversation at hand, the tense atmosphere having been broken by the blondes random outburst.

"Anyway, as we were saying. When Zabuza shows himself you all stay with Tazuna while Kurenai and I fight him. You will not engage Zabuza, if something happens to us you run, understand."

"That's stupid."

They all turned their attention back to Naruto and, raising his one visible eyebrow, Kakashi motioned for him to explain.

"If this guy is as strong as you say then how can we outrun him if he kills both of you?"

That stopped both of the older ninja in their tracks, he had a point. After that they spent about an hour planning what to do if both jonin failed before continuing on their way to wave.

XXX

They had crossed the river about an hour ago and so far everything was going fine up to this point, at least no one had tried to kill them on the way across and for some reason Naruto had taken to walking on his hands instead of his feet shortly after they got off the boat.

Ever since the demon brothers attacked they had started to be a lot more formal in the way they guarded Tazuna, all of them keeping there senses on wide alert for any incoming attacks. Currently they were set up in a circle formation around him, Kurenai and Kakashi at the back, Naruto at the front and the others at the sides.

As they were getting closer to their destination Kurenai was getting more and more worried that they didn't get attacked yet so quickly moved to stand next to Naruto, leaving Kakashi to cover the rear for a moment.

"Naruto I think you should walk on your feet again, we could be attacked at any minute."

Pouting, the insane blonde did as he was told and started to walk normally again and not ten minutes later they found themselves in a thick mist that made it hard to see more than a few feet in any direction. It so bad that they were struggling to see each other. They knew instantly that it was Zabuza; Hinata could see the tiny particles of chakra mixed in with the mist.

All that they were waiting for was for him to make the first move.

The mist caused more problems then they expected though, not only did it make it hard to see, but according to Kurenai it made it almost impossible to cast her genjutsu, something about the chakra in the air interfering with her ability to use her chakra in the right way. This meant that when he did make his move, Kakashi was on his own.

They continued on their way, pretending that they weren't waiting for an attack, and after only being in the mist for a few minutes Kakashi heard it, the sound of something moving though he air at high speeds. Quickly grabbing Tazuna the one eyed jonin had just enough time to warn the others.

"GET DOWN!"

Instantly they all hit the floor, heads down...except Naruto, who had jumped up instead and as he was coming back down instead of landing on the ground he found himself spinning through the air at high speeds on a giant sword, using his chakra to keep him in place.

"Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Eventually he stopped when it struck a tree and got stuck.

"That was so fun! Can I go again!"

Getting off the sword he wobbled for a moment as his head was still spinning, but before he cold regain his balance Naruto was kicked hard in the back towards his team.

"Hey! That wasn't nice!"

"Tell someone who gives a fuck!"

Turning to look at the man that had kicked him Naruto's eyes locked on the huge form of Momochi Zabuza. He wire a light grey sleeveless shirt, black and grey cameo pants and grey arm warmers with his slashed head band slightly tilted to one side in a way similar to Kakashi's but without cover his eye. The bottom part of his face was completely covered by white bandages, preventing anyone from seeing his mouth and making his words slightly muffled. But Naruto only saw one thing and decided to comment on it, loudly.

"Dude! What happened to your eyebrows?"

Even with the current situation all those in the area face planted in the ground, including the Zabuza. When the missing-nin picked himself up he had a large tic mark on his forehead as he glared at the blonde.

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY YOU MUMMY!"

"Your one to talk!"

The two stared at each other for a moment, smoke practically coming out of their ears as they glared, then without warning both burst out laughing. None of the others knew what to make of it, one minuet they were at each others throats and the next they were laughing together as if they were old friends. It goes without saying that they were all getting very worried.

When they had both calmed down Zabuza wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, still chuckling.

"You're all right brat, for a genin I mean, but I've got a job to do. Hand over the old man and you can all walk away."

For a moment the grin on the blondes face was replaced by a small smirk, his bright blue eyes seeming to shine.

"No can do, no brow."

Silently nodding his head at the boy Zabuza turned to Kakashi, his face serious once again as if nothing had happened.

"So are we going to do this? Or do you want to trade insults for a bit first."

Taking out a kunai and lifting his head band, Kakashi just stared at the missing-nin with a blank expression on his face, the three black dots in his now uncovered red eye spinning slowly. Without saying anything else the two met in a clash of steel, Kakashi with his kunai and Zabuza with his zanbato.

Kakashi put up a good fight, even though he was only using a kunai to defend himself from the larger mans huge sword he was still able to match him move for move, but it wasn't long before Zabuza gained the advantage. Sending Kakashi into a nearby lake that none of them had seen through the mist the Demon of the Bloody Mist had him trapped in a sphere of water before he could even resurface. When he has sure that the silver haired jonin was truly captured Zabuza quickly used his free hand to make twenty water clones and had them charge the group.

Thinking quickly, Kurenai run forward so that the real Zabuza would be in range and with a burst sent her Sharp Shooter straight toward him at high speed, hoping to take advantage of the fact he wouldn't be able to doge without releasing Kakashi in the process.

Unfortunately without using her genjutsu to help supplement the move it was easy for the experienced missing-nin to grab the blade and pull her into the water and before she knew it, Kurenai was in the same predicament as Kakashi, as another clone appeared on top of the water next to her used the same jutsu as the original to trap her in a sphere of swirling water.

At a silent command from their creator, the clones went speeding towards the gennin and bridge builder, swords raised high in preparation to cleave the group in half. But this time, unlike with the demon brothers none of them froze, Naruto and Sasuke ran to meet the clones before they could get to the others while the gennin stayed to protect Tazuna. Pulling his scythes from behind his back Naruto met the clones and started to spin while Sasuke, not having the chance to use the swords fixed to his back yet, chose to use a kunai in each hand.

As he watched the two boys finish off his clones Zabuza sent a curious look at the blonde. He could tell there was something different about him, the way he move, the way he spoke, if he was honest with himself he reminded him of himself when he was younger. Then it hit him, the brat was almost exactly like him when he was younger.

"I've got to say, I didn't think you Konoha wimps had it in you."

He could just hear Kakashi's reply though the water.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't bullshit me Kakashi; I know what it looks like when someone has had their mind broken. That kid has the same look in his eyes that I did at his age. The skills, the attitude, even the grin. You people have the makings of a true monster in that boy."

He got no answer to this, which made him laugh. But what he didn't realize was that he was so caught up in his conversation with Kakashi that he didn't see Naruto spin his way over to him and his captive and, just before one of the scythes slit his stomach open, Zabuza was forced to jump back from the young psychopath. As soon as the jutsu was released Kakashi sent a kunai at the clone that held Kurenai destroying it in one shot, before turning back to the real one to resume their fight. Before the two could start again Kurenai grabbed Naruto by the hood on the back of his straight jacket and jumped back to the group on land, putting as much distance between them as she could.

The fight didn't last long after that, both ninja sent a water dragon at each other, Kakashi's overpowered Zabuza's and he was sent flying into a tree not twenty feet from where they were standing. Slowly making his way to the downed missing-nin with his kunai in hand, the silver haired jonin prepared to make the finishing blow.

He never got the chance.

Before he could finish what he started three senbon were seen sticking out of the missing-nin's neck and his eyes widened before going blank. Putting the kunai away Kakashi stepped to the body and checked for a pulse and when he found none, turned his head to a random tree to his right.

"Thank you for the assistance hunter-san, though you could have intervened a little earlier."

Before anyone could ask who he was talking to a masked ninja jumped out of the tree and, moving towards the body bent down to do their own pulse check. They had on a sae blue battle kimono, with their long brown hair tied up in a bun with senbon to hold it in place. The kimono hid most of their figure, making it impossible to identify them as a boy or girl, but even with the mask covering their face it was clear to all that the hunter-nin was young, no older then the genin themselves in fact. The mask was mostly blank, except for the eye holes, the Kiri sign on the forehead and a blood red wave like pattern on the right side. Nobody noticed the grin on Naruto's face stretch wider as the hunter passed him, his nostrils flaring for a moment as he took in the figures sent.

Nodding at Kakashi the hunter bent down to pick up the body and, without saying a word, disappeared in a swirl of water. The moment he was sure they were gone the once silver haired jonin pulled down his forehead protector to cover his eye and turned to the group with his customary eye smile in place.

"Well done you guys, great team work, and thanks Naruto you saved my life. Now, if one of you could carry me the rest of the way to Tazuna's house, I'm going to sleep for a bit."

And with that Kakashi eye rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the ground, unconscious.

Running over and checking her fellow jonin for any injury, Kurenai let out a deep breath before turning to the others.

"It's all right; he's just suffering from chakra exhaustion. A few days rest and he will be fine."

Before anyone could say anything more, Naruto walked up, grabbed Kakashi by his left leg and before they could ask what he was doing the blonde started to drag the downed jonin the way they had been going before Zabuza attacked, not even bothering to avoid the many stones in the road as he walked. When he was a few meters away he turned back to the group to se they hadn't moved and were just stood their staring at him.

"What?"

XXX

About an hour later they arrived at Tazuna's house, Kakashi was being carried by Sasuke and Kiba, who had taken him off Naruto who had wanted to just drag him the whole way there. They were all sat around the silver haired jonin, who had been put in a spare room in Tazuna's house and had regained consciousness a few minuets earlier. He had just finished telling them about how his eye used a lot of chakra, which was why he had chakra exhaustion.

"At least now that Zabuza is out of the picture, I doubt we will have anymore ninja... to worry...about... Naruto, is there a reason you're laughing like that?"

Part way through his talk Naruto had started to role around on the floor, banging his hands on the floor and holding his side as he laughed.

"Hahaha...you...ha...you actually believe... hahaha...that no-brows is dead... hahaha!"

His reaction confused the others in the room and when Naruto finally had calmed down Kakashi asked him what he meant, but all he said was...

"That wasn't a hunter-nin."

Both Kakashi and Kurenai's faces took a look of confusion, which quickly replaced with shock as something clicked in to place and Kurenai slapped a hand to her face and Kakashi muttered to himself.

"Shit, how could we have missed that?"

Turning to the still confused genin Kurenai explained.

"Hunter-nin's are required to remove the head and destroy the body of any missing-nin's they kill, with no exceptions outside of a battle field to insure the body doesn't fall into enemy hands."

Nodding his head Kakashi continued.

"But the one that took Zabuza's body didn't, they took him away. We can only assume that they were working together and the fake hunter put him into a near death state with the three senbon in his neck. This means they will be back."

The gennin got scared looks on their faces at his words, the thought of having to fight not one, but two missing-nin of their calibre was scary.

Turing to address her student, who was sat on the floor and had started to pick his nose with his big toe while they were talking and, after getting his attention, asked something that had been on her mind for the last few minutes.

"Naruto, if you knew about the hunter why didn't you say anything before now?"

Taking his toe away from his face as he raised an eyebrow at the red eyed women, the blonde sat up straight and shrugged.

"You still couldn't use your genjutsu, Cyclops over there was dead on his feet and the rest of us are genin. Why do you think I didn't say anything?"

Nodding his head at the logic, Kakashi moved on.

"Fair enough, now we need to discuss what we are going to do. From the injuries he gained during our fight and the stress from being put into a near death state, Zabuza should be out of commission for about a month. Tazuna, how long will it take for you to finish your bridge?"

Thinking on it for a moment, the old man sighed.

"A little over a month, and that's only if we can keep on at the pace we have up to this point."

Nodding his head, Kakashi went on.

"Right, which means we are almost guaranteed to run into him again. We have a month. It's not much, but it's something."

Nodding her head, Kurenai sat on the bed next to her fellow jonin and looked at the sixe genin in front of her.

"From now until then we will be taking shifts, two of you will be training with Kakashi, two will be guarding Tazuna at the bridge with me and the other two will be guarding Tazuna's family encase anything happens. We can switch every two days."

They all nodded their heads at this.

"Potato!"

Again they all stared at Naruto, who just shrugged. Shaking his head at the strange blonde, Tazuna turned to look at the group with tears in the coroner of his eyes.

"I just want to thank you for all your doing for us, if it wasn't for you I would never have made it this far."

Naruto just laughed.

"Don't worry about it you old drunk, if we didn't help you then we wouldn't be any better than Gato."

Everyone in the room nodded at this, agreeing with the crazy genin.

XXX

They were all sat around a table in Tazuna's house with his daughter Tsunami, and her son Inari. Tsunami was a beautiful young woman in her late twenties with shoulder length black hair and a gentle smile that seemed to project warmth. Inari on the other hand had an air of defeat surrounding him and had on a plain white shirt underneath a set of green overalls and a white hat with blue stripes on his head covering his brown hair brown and his skin was very pale, obviously he didn't spend much time outside.

No one said anything as they eat the small meal, feeling a little bad that they were eating so much of the family's food when they had so little and as soon as he finished, Inari ran upstairs to his room without saying a word to his mother.

Turning to the ninja with a sad look on her face, Tsunami apologized to them all.

"Sorry about him, he was never able to get over Kaiza's death."

Seeing the questioning looks on their faces, Tazuna explained about how Kaizar had opposed Gato and had been publicly executed. It was a sad story and it got to all of them, even if they didn't all show it.

After a few minuets of silence Naruto stood and, without looking at any of them or saying anything, went to the front door. Just as the door was closing Kurenai spoke.

"Naruto where are you going?"

He didn't turn to face them, just looked over his shoulder with his usual grin on his face.

"...the roof."

Without saying anything else he left and a few minutes later they all heard it, Naruto's violin. Like all the other times they heard him play it was a soft, sad melody that filled the air around them with its soft embrace. Tsunami was to put it simply shocked, this being the first time she had herd the young boy play. It was a beautiful sound, but it didn't seem right to her for someone that hadn't stopped smiling since he had got there to play it.

"Why does he play such sad music, he seems like such a happy boy."

All the other people in the room stared at her for a moment before, wondering if she had hit her head or something, before Kiba summed up all heir thoughts.

"Happy, he's fucking insane!"

They all nodded there heads at this, making the dark haired women frown at them.

"That's not a nice thing to say about someone."

Shino took it upon himself to explain what they meant.

"I'm sorry Miss Tsunami, but I think you misunderstood. We weren't insulting him, Naruto is actually insane and has spent the last five years in a mental institution. He was released a few months ago to become a ninja."

Both Tsunami and Tazuna were shocked to hear this. But it was Tazuna that asked the next question.

"If he is insane then why the hell is he a ninja?"

Both jonin shared a look at each other before Kurenai sighed.

"There are certain things that we are not at liberty to saying, I'm afraid this is one of them."

With that said they all just sat there for a while, not saying anything else as they listened as Naruto continued to play.

And just like every night since they started this mission, he was still playing when they all went to bed.

XXX

Let me know what you think. :)

R&R