Chapter 12:

Rescue from Kirigakure

Naruto nodded his head after hearing Banette's tone and quickly began gathering his clothes off his stand and the weapons by his bed, having a feeling it was needed.

"I'll meet you all by the lake so don't take too long," Banette said as she sunk into the floor.

"We will head out first," Riolu said the other Pokemon began heading out the window. "We will see you in a few minutes, Naruto."

Naruto nodded as he began to dress in his combat guardian clothing and making sure that everything was set before heading out.

'Anbu would still be out and about, even if its this late at night,' Naruto whispered as he began to run while staying near the shadow of buildings. 'I'd rather not have to try and deal with them if I can avoid it.' He quickly jumped into allies and pathways.

As Naruto made it to the woods, he sensed a patrol of aura signatures jumping through the trees. This made Naruto activate his aura and used Quick Attack to augment his speed to get away from them.

The young Uzumaki's eyes widened before he slid down under a tree and cover himself with the brown cloak that blended in with the trees. He hid just in time as an Anbu landed on the ground and looked around before jumping away.

When the Anbu member was far enough away, Naruto ran off, putting the cloth in his seal. 'Sure are a lot of Anbu out tonight,' Naruto thought as he arrived at his training ground.

"Good you have arrived in good time," Banette's voice rang out before rising from the ground next to the lake. She flew over the lake before releasing her energy into the lake as Naruto has done many times before. "Your three partners are already in the Reverse World waiting."

The usual vortex formed quickly as it sucked everything in. "Let's get moving young guardian, I doubt the others would like to be kept waiting for much longer." Naruto nodded and jumped into the portal, followed quickly be Banette.

(Reverse World: Forest)

Naruto appeared as he jumped up and landed onto the soft grass as he looked around. On the grass was Riolu, Eevee, and Zorua with serious expressions. Floating behind him was Banette with her arms crossed.

In the slightly darker sky were Giratina and surprisingly Arceus herself. Under them was a Pokemon Naruto had yet to spend time with.

The Pokemon was a bipedal, humanoid Pokemon whose body resembled a white flowing gown. Most of its body was white, but its hair, arms, and the underside of the gown was a green color. Behind its red eyes are short spikes, resembling a masquerade mask. It has long arms with three fingers on each hand, and slender white legs. A red, fin-like horn extends from its chest, and a shorter, more rounded horn extends from the back. A band of green on its chest extends to the center of the front and connects to its sleeve-like arms.

This was Gardevoir, the Embrace Pokemon and a Psychic/Fairy type Pokemon. She had a very distraught expression and looked to have been crying.

Naruto smiled and waved at Arceus and Giratina before giving a slight bow. "How may I be of help to you guys this night?" Naruto asked as he looked to the Pokemon. "Is everything alright?"

"No young guardian," Arceus said in a serious tone that made Naruto snap to attention. "This here is Gardevior, the leader of the Gardevoir clan line. During a training regimen and collection raid, her daughter went through unnoticed. She has been last seen early afternoon and Gardevoir was finally able to establish a link with her child. This has caused quite a stir as she has been found and locked away due to her uniqueness."

Hearing that a Pokemon had been captured and locked away both angered and worried Naruto. "Where is she?"

"She is currently in Kirigakure, the Village Hidden in the Mist," Giratina said. "We would send one of the other Pokemon to collect her, but it would be better to avoid another incident. With you being human, it would be better and easier for you to move around. Your mission is to infiltrate Kiri, get Ralts, and get out."

Naruto nodded as he looked over to Arceus who gave him a concerned look. "Naruto, I need you to understand something," she said. "While we could easily get Ralts back on our own, it would reveal our more powerful Pokemon before it's safe. This mission would be exceedingly dangerous, so we need you to not hold back, but also be extremely careful. Kirigakure is under a very bloody civil war right now between its citizens and Kage vs the bloodline users and your skills may get mistaken for one. This is not a test nor is it a time to try to prove yourself. If you are in danger, don't be afraid to retreat or call for back-up. Return to the Reverse World if you must do so. Please, just be ready for everything and anything."

"I understand Lady Arceus," Naruto nodded as he gave a gentle smile. "I will be extra careful; you can count on me." He looked to the distraught Gardevoir before walking up and giving her a warm and comforting hug. "Don't worry Lady Gardevoir, I will do everything that I can to help return your daughter to you. I promise."

Gardevior smiled happily as she returned the hug. "Thank you, Naruto-san," she replied joyfully. "Please bring my baby girl back to me safely. She's so scared." Naruto nodded before images flooded his mind.

The image was of a dimly lit jail cell that looked to be haven't cleaned in a long time. The cell bars were dirty and around the cell was kanji written on the walls and floor. The image focused in on a figure that was curled into a ball in the corner.

The figure was a small humanoid creature with a small white body. It had thin arms and legs that widen near toward the feet. There is a wispy extension trailing off the back of its feet, creating the overall impression of a nightgown or oversized dress. Most of its face was covered by blue hair that resembled a bowl cut, but a pair of pinkish red eyes was barely visible. There were two flat, red horns on top of its head: a large one toward the front and a smaller one at the back.

'So that's Ralts,' Naruto thought as he made sure to memorize every detail of the room that he could. "I'm all ready to go guys, send me when you are ready," he said as he looked to Giratina.

The lord of the Reverse World took a deep breath, before blasting open another vortex portal.

"We will be on standby here Naruto," Riolu said as he walked up. "You can call us whenever you need us. Do not hesitate because we 'might' be hurt."

"Yeah Naruto," Zorua said next as he smirked. "We can kick just as much butt as you can, so we will be here ready to back you up."

Naruto nodded before Eevee jumped into his arms, licking his left cheek. "Please be safe Naruto," she said in a worried tone. "I want you to return to us."

"I will Eevee," Naruto said as he pets the Normal types head and set her down. "You just be ready for pick-up should I call for you partner." The red-tipped blonde turned to the portal and took to the portal before jumping in.

(Elemental Nations)

A portal opened up in a small pond that Naruto rose from and landed next to. The portal closed up without a trace. Naruto proceeded to look around and shook his head at what he could see, or more accurately, what he could 'barely' see.

Just as the name of the village suggested, the surrounding area was hidden by a thick mist. It wasn't so bad that he couldn't see at all, but enough to where he couldn't see too far ahead with his normal vision. What he could see was concealed greenery, tall trees and some animals that looked at him in curiosity. There was a river not far from him that went on till it vanished in the mist.

'It would seem that I am in some kind of forest,' Naruto thought as he began walking, making a slight 'slosh' sound with his steps. 'I guess I shouldn't be shocked that everything is so wet here, with it being called the Hidden Mist village and all. Plus, the air is so much cooler than in Konoha. Well, it's time I start the mission, but first I need to find the village.'

Concentrating his aura, he activated his Aura sight. He was surprised to find out how much easier he could see now that he had merely focused on the aura around him. He looked to his right and saw a large amount of aura signatures. Some moving at high speeds, some moving at sedate paces.

'Woah, that's a really strong aura!' Naruto exclaimed mentally in shock as he noticed one aura sense in particular. It was centered in the middle of all the others and it was brighter than all the others. 'That must be the village then.'

The Uzumaki-Namikaze concentrated aura to his legs and ran as fast as he could, looking like a blur to anyone else. Naruto was close to the Mist Village in only a few short moments.

As Naruto reached the village, he felt the exhaustion of the day begin to take its toll, due to not having enough rest. He gazed into the village streets, his aura sight on full blast as he looked around.

'Why can't I locate Ralts' signature?' Naruto thought to himself as he tried to focus harder. 'Her aura signature as a Pokemon should make it easier for me, but I can't find her anywhere! What is going on?!'

Naruto took notice of three signatures heading to a direction away from the village to his far left. He looked and took notice of another mass of signatures far from the village over another mass of water.

'Maybe those are the people who are fighting the village,' he thought as he saw the signatures heading over to it. 'Now that I think of it, I wonder why the village is trying to kill the bloodline users in the first place. What caused the fighting?'

As he looked at the signatures, he couldn't help but notice how powerful the aura signatures were. If he faced them now, he would be one hundred percent sure to lose. 'I'm going to have to find somewhere to get some rest right now.' As he looked around, he found a tree with a lot of foliage and jumped onto its thick branches and hid into its leaves. The young Uzumaki-Namikaze closed his eyes as he quickly let his exhaustion take him. 'I hope things will look up for me in the morning.'

(The Next Day)

Naruto awoke from his sleep with a start, having felt an explosion that shook the area and tree he was in. This caused Naruto to nearly fall from the tree branch, before he caught the branch and swung himself upwards until he hid himself amongst the tree leaves.

He looked around and found himself staring down two shinobi's that were sparring one another. Each shinobi held a blade of some kind and held another blade of a different kind.

The first shinobi was a woman with relatively long, red hair and was much shorter than the other swordsman. Her black eyes held a mischievous flint in them. Along with the Kiri forehead protector, she wore a brown cloth that tied parts of hair to the sides of her head, both tied upwards and let the remainder flow downwards. She wore a loose, pin-striped long-sleeved shirt with a dark obi around the waist, black pants that got looser closer to the ends. She had bandages tied loosely around her neck and wore a smirk that showed off her sharp teeth, reminding Naruto of a shark. Her swords were a pair, and both were each a straight, double-edged. Both the blades had a curved upward bladed prong near the tip of one side of the blade, and another one being near the base of the blade's other side.

The second person was actually a quite tall man, with a very thin frame that gave the appearance of being ill to Naruto. He had long, shaggy, straw-colored blonde hair. Naruto could not see the man's face as it was covered by a white, porcelain ANBU mask that had a green-colored triangle on its lower half, slits for eye-holes, and Kirigakure's symbol etched on the top half. He wore a damp, sleeveless black shirt, matching pants, complete with a waist-guard, and Kirigakure's striped wrist and leg guards. He wore bandages around his neck that were also slightly dampened.

Naruto was mesmerized by the show of swordsmanship between the two as they both tried to gain the upper hand on each other. The one with two blades tried her best to try and get past the blonde mans guard, but the skinny man showed how skilled he was by parrying and blocking the strikes.

The red haired girl twisted around the next strike from the shaggy haired man but her arm moved up in time to block a kick that sent her flying into the tree next to Naruto's.

'Such strength within those thin legs!' Naruto exclaimed mentally. 'I really would rather not get kicked by him if I can help it.'

"It would seem that you may be getting soft, Ameyuri," the masked man said in a mocking tone. "Or could it be that you are getting old? If your not careful, you may just die by my blade before an enemy shinobi does it."

The red head, now named Ameyuri, merely smirked. "Heh don't think you have the advantage here Kushimaru," she said as she got into a stance with her two blades at the ready. "Your just lucky I'm still getting over that damn disease."

Kushimaru nodded as he too took another stance, his blade's point facing downward. "Yes you should have died years ago, but it would seem you cheated death like the stubborn brat that you are and a lot of pure luck."

Ameyuri's blades roared to life as lightning surrounded the blades as she smirked, her shark-like teeth showing. "I have more than enough life in my body to enjoy this snack between us! Lightning Blade Jutsu: Thunderbolt!"

A powerful bolt of electricity shot from her blades and rushed at the masked swordsman who leaned his body to the side, only a few hairs of his got singed from the strike.

"Looks like your aim is off," Kushimaru taunted as he tightened his grip before he began pulling out ninja wire. "Maybe its time you retired and turned in your blade. After all, wouldn't want to risk the Kiba Blades getting out of Kiri or enemy hands in general."

Kushimaru tossed his blade at Ameyuri who ducked and jumped back before jumping away, the thin wire connected to the tossed blade barely missing her. She then charged forward, an action mirrored by Kushimaru.

'Ameyuri and Kushimaru,' Naruto thought as he watched the two swordsmen clash over and over again. He was amazed by the amount of skill that the two possessed while still holding back. His eyes were stuck on the two, having trouble fighting down the worry that crept up in his mind. 'I know I read about both of those names from somewhere, but I can't remember. Either way, I really do need to get going. I don't have time to be caught by those two.'

A bright light caught Naruto's attention as he realized that the light came from Ameyuri who was charging up a high amount of electricity. Realizing it was going to be a fairly big attack, Naruto tensed his muscles as a reflex.

"Lightning Style: Depth Charge!" She cried out as a powerful bolt of electricity struck down, destroying the area with a small explosion.

Using the explosion and smoke as a coverage, Naruto snapped out of his stupor and jumped away and ran off using the aura in his legs as a boost to get away from the area as quick as possible While he could use Quick Attack to escape faster, he didn't know how skilled of a sensor those two were and would rather not risk it.

Naruto landed near the border of the village and the red-tipped blonde looked at the village entrance. In his opinion, the village was definitely pretty and had it's own unique flare compared to his home village.

Seeing a few people walking around, Naruto took notice of their clothing. Most of them wore darker clothing than he did and he chose to bury his jacket and keep his black undershirt and chain mail under that. Moving quick, Naruto entered the village under a small aura induced illusion and quickly mixed himself amongst the shadows of the buildings as best he could.

Naruto couldn't help but notice that not many civilians were out and about, at least when he compared it to Konoha. He took note that many people that he could see looked to be shinobi. They were patrolling the streets, combing the areas. The few civilians that were out generally kept their heads down and out of the way. They were doing their absolute best to not call attention to themselves.

'It's like even the civilians are afraid of their own protectors,' Naruto thought to himself as he watched some people flinch when away when a Kiri Jonin looked their direction. 'Lady Arceus said they were in a civil war, but I didn't know things would be this bad.'

Naruto did his best to emulate the scared civilians by keeping his head down himself while staying near the buildings shadows. At the same time, Naruto kept his Aura Sense active, hoping to locate Ralt's unique signature.

Just as before, Naruto could not locate the unique signature anywhere in the village and it was worrying. He kept moving and found the buildings were either in need of repair or were standing tall. Turning quickly he entered one of the more destroyed buildings and hid away so he could think clearly.

'I'm in a foreign that I don't know too much about,' Naruto thought as he leaned against the damp marble walls. 'And I can't do too much or I gain some unwanted attention that could end badly. Man, this sucks.' He took a deep breath before he decided to explore the building as he thought over his next plan.

He took note that this building must have been an old office buildings due to the different cabinets and desks lying around. Dust and debris littered the place as wet papers and equipment were scattered about. He looked around sadly as he saw some dried blood mixed in with the damp walls and floors. Not a lot, but enough to show a battle had taken place here.

As he walked around, Naruto stopped as he heard a strange echo sound from the floor boards. He looked down and lightly tapped it a few more times and noticed that it sounded hollow in comparison to which made him examine it more. He noticed that the floor board looked a bit different than the surrounding area.

Focusing his aura to the area, Naruto was confused because he couldn't really see anything. Taking a wild guess, Naruto bent down and grabbed the floor boards. As he pushed up, he was shocked by the floor board lifting up.

A cold mist poured out slowly, shouting a staircase and nothing more. Focusing once more, he made his way down the stairs. 'I hope you are down here Ralt's,' he thought to himself as he readied himself just in case as he entered a tall but narrow hallway. It gave enough muveribilty to mover around but not to his liking.

As he walked, Naruto began to feel more and more nervous as he began to slowly lose visibility due to the mist. 'Is it me or is the mist getting thicker here,' he thought to himself as a bead of sweat rolled down his face. 'Maybe coming down here wasn't my best decision.'

Hearing a strange noise, though very faint, made Naruto cancel his Aura Sight and channel chakra to his ears to listen better. His eyes widened when just barely a foot away, was a huge blade spinning right for him.

Bending backwards, showcasing impressive flexibility, Naruto allowed the blade to harmlessly pass over him. Snapping back to place, Naruto pulled out two kunai's as he got himself ready to strike.

"Seems to me that have some skill on you," a deep voice spoke out through the mist. "It's too bad that you found this hatch because you will have to die."

Feeling his danger sense screaming at him to move, Naruto ducked in time to dodge a punch aimed for his face. Leaning to the side, he dodged a kick that would have hit his chin and twisted his body so he could jump back in time to avoid and elbow for his head. He used his hands to flip away to avoid another strong strike.

When he landed, he used his kunai to block two kunai's that were thrown at him. Naruto was shocked by the amount of force they had as they nearly knocked his arm away. The mist cleared a bit more to reveal the attacker.

The attacker was a tall man who had grayish skin with well-defined muscles. He had short black, spikey hair along with small eyebrows. He wore white bandages that wrapped around the bottom half of his face. He had the Kirigakure headband sideways on his head. He wore what appeared to be the Kirigakure Anbu uniform as he had the flak jacket on. His right hand held the handle of the giant blade that tried to cleave him in two earlier.

"You got some impressive moves I'll give you that," the mad said as he gripped the handle and yanked the blade from the wall with no effect. "Too bad you will have to die here, I would have liked to see the skill you would have had in the future." He then tossed two kunai's at Naruto who was ready.

Naruto effortlessly dodged the two kunai's but was shocked by the man appearing before him with is blade already aiming to cleave him in half from the waste line.

Naruto ducked in time as the blade cut the tip of his spikey hair. He was unprepared for the kick aiming for his face as he coated his arm in chakra and brought them up in an 'X' formation just in time.

The force of the kick not only sent Naruto sailing back, but it also made him drop his kunai in the process. Flipping in the air, Naruto landed on his feet as he winced from the throbbing in his arms. Realizing he couldn't hold back, he flowed aura to his arms.

"Recover," he whispered as he felt the effect heal his wounds and felt the throbbing vanished. Pulling out his kunai, he tossed it only for the man to grunt in boredom as he merely caught the weapon and tossed it back, only to freeze to see Naruto gone.

"Where did that brat," he began before he stopped as he felt his instincts go off as he laid the flat of his blade on his back in time to block a stab from Naruto. "Not bad kid, but not good enough."

Naruto smirked as he gathered his aura once more. Sucking in some air, Naruto cried out his next technique. "Whirlwind!" He breathed out a big burst of wind that blew the man back as he slammed into the wall and blew the mist away a good bit. Not missing a beat, Naruto tossed out shuriken's that pinned the man to the wall as he grunted in slight pain.

'I can't have any witnesses to me being here,' Naruto thought as he pulled out another kunai only to be shocked by some laughing. He looked back to see the man pull the kunai's out and that he was not even pinned like Naruto intialy thought.

"You are not bad at all kid," the man said as he stood up with his huge blade. "To push me, a member of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist, like this takes some considerable skill. What's you name kid, so I know who it is I am adding to my kill count."

"You first," Naruto replied trying to hide the fear he was feeling. This man just stood up like the blades in his body were not even there to begin with. 'Just like that Daisuke guy! What kind of monsters are walking in this world?!'

The bulky man placed the blade on his shoulder, chuckling deeply at Naruto. "Shows that you are either not from here or grossly ill-informed to not know who I am," he replied as he cracked his neck. "My name is Zabuza Momochi, Demon of the Hidden Mist. And who is the boy that I'll be sending to hell today?"

Gathering aura into his hands, Naruto clasped them together before pulling them apart. In between his hands, a blue staff formed before Naruto grabbed it and took a staff fighting stance taught to him by a Lucario. This surprised Zabuza as he has never seen a jutsu like that one before.

'This brat is full of surprised,' Zabuza thought as he tensed his body ready to strike at a moments notice. 'Guess I should stop just playing with the brat, especially if he works for the enemy. No one is allowed passed this point, child or not.' "You know the great thing about being in the village itself brat?"

Naruto was confused by the question as he prepared himself.

"The abundance of water no matter where you are!" Zabuza replied as he did one-handed seals. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Water poured out from under the floor's cracks and formed a dragon made of water that rushed at Naruto.

Not seeing enough space to completely dodge, Naruto reached out his hand releasing an aura dome around him. "Protect!" The dragon smashed into the dome, but the Normal type move held strong, only gaining a few cracks into it.

Before Naruto could let down the barrier, Zabuza appeared above him and swung his blade into the barrier. The cracks became worse as Naruto's sweating became worse as he tried his best to maintain his barrier.

Twisting his body around, Zabuza swung his blade sideways in order to shatter the Protect and cleave Naruto in two at the same time.

Naruto, knowing he would not last if he stayed where he was, cancelled the Protect and dodged the blade by jumping over it. This surprised Zabuza, which gave Naruto time to kick the swordsman's face and twisting his body to be behind him before he kicked off while gathering more fire aura.

"Flamethrower!" Naruto cried as he released a stream of red, hot flames that encased Zabuza's body. Holding it for a few more seconds, Naruto cancelled it in order to conserve more of his energy.

When the fire vanished, Naruto was shocked to find the man gone. Nothing was left, besides a puddle of water and his aura staff in the ground.

Feeling his aura sense go off, Naruto quickly leaned to the side as a blade passed him by. He jumped backwards and did a hand stand, a kick missing his legs. He pushed off in time to dodge another body shattering blow, only to have his leg grabbed by an unharmed Zabuza.

"Where do you think your going brat?" he said as he slammed Naruto into the ground. The force was enough to crack not only the ground, but a few bones. At least it felt like it to Naruto. Lifting up his prey to eye level, Zabuza prepared to cut Naruto in half. "You didn't do too bad kid, but this game ends here."

Zabuza didn't expect for Naruto to swing his body upwards and slam a glowing fist into his shoulder screaming "Rock Smash". The shock of pain made Zabuza cry out in pain and drop Naruto.

Ignoring the pain and exhaustion he was feeling, Naruto spun and landed on his feet before turning around. "Leaf Blade!" he cried as his right arm glowed green and he used it to slit the surprised Zabuza's throat. Naruto thought it was over as he felt the liquid touch his face and the body dropped...

...turning into a puddle of water.

Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what just happened. "A Water Clone!" he cried out in shock. He looked down the misty halls to his opponent and leaned back in time to dodge another blade but had to roll to the side to dodge another from his back.

He jumped back as his back hit the wall, pouring more aura to his Aura Sense and Sight. He saw that there were three more Zabuza's as they stalked towards him. Naruto began gathering his aura and feeding his Leaf Blade which made it stronger while gathering more into his lungs.

"Smokescreen," he blew out a thick cloud of black smoke that covered him and the clones, which caused the three Water Clones to have another coughing fit. Naruto rushed forward with a burst of speed thanks to the aura in his legs and swipe his green arm to 'kill' one of the clones.

This was not to be as he had to dodge a swing from the clones giant blade and then dodge away as another clone tried to kick him. Then he backflipped as another clone made another attempt to cut him in two. When he landed, his eyes widened as another Water Dragon rushed his way.

Activating his Agility, Naruto dashed away from the attack in time and continued running. He ran towards his aura staff, but glared as a clone guarded the staff. Charging more aura to his legs, Naruto slid under the clone's blade swipe and grabbed his staff.

Feelingthe danger, Naruto turned around with his aura staff spread out in time to block Zabuza's blade which was thrown at the cry of Flying Revolving Sword which made the staff crack and push him back. Twisting his body, Naruto let the bladefly harmlessly by him. Feeling his aura warning him of more danger, he turned and tossed his cracked staff which made the charging Zabuza stop and deflect the staff with ease.

Before he could relax, Naruto followed his instincts and dodged in time as a blade was being swung towards him. Naruto landed on the roof of the hallway and stayed there with his chakra. He used his new position to jump off as a clone swung once more and landed on the wall. He continued to jump from wall to wall while activating his Agility to give him time to try to gain more speed.

Activating his Leaf Blade again, Naruto cut a clone which made it grunt in pain. Sadly, it wasn't enough to dispel the clone. "Will you just vanish already!" Naruto yelled out as he made another swipe but had to twist his body back to dodge Zabuza's blade. Naruto rolled on the ground and jumped forward before Zabuza could kick him.

"It's over now!" One of the clones said as another clone appear on either side of him. Both sung their huge blades towards Naruto who quickly realized that their blades blocked any means of escape.

'Protect won't help me here so I will have to try this!' he yelled mentally before calling upon aura to cover his body. "Double Team," he said as Naruto vanished, surprising Zabuza as he thought he had a pretty good idea of Naruto's skillsets. This shock was only enhanced when more Naruto's appeared around the hall. This shock gave way to annoyance as the Zabuza's felt insulted.

"Do you really think these clones will help you against me?" one of the clones asked as he lifted his blade horizontally with one arm. "This childish move will do nothing for you besides annoy me!" The other clone finished as the third prepared handsigns.

Each Double Team copy lifted their arms as they each activated Cut and Leaf Blade on their left and right arm respectively. "Try this on for size then," Naruto replied as they all rushed around the hall, bouncing from wall to wall again.

The Water Clone's had a little trouble as Naruto and his copies kept vanishing upon each jump making good use of their smaller size. The Zabuza's though kept on the defensive as they did their best to keep their eyes on the copies. Another slash appeared on Zabuza's side which made him grunt and the other almost lost its footing when it was hit on the back.

The third Zabuza barely dodged in time as he jumped back and created more handsigns. He created another Water Dragon that rushed towards the area where Naruto was.

Knowing he would be hit if he didn't do something, he turned on the ground and used his Agility. He quickly ran down the hall to get away from the dragon that chased him down and eliminated his clones.

"No matter how much you run, it will chase you down and crush you," the clone stated with a dark chuckle but stopped when he heard hissing. They looked around and noticed they were surrounded by explosive notes that were already about to go off. "That clever brat..."

He couldn't finish as the bombs went off, causing that part of the hall to crumble and destroying the Water Clones within the debris and explosion.

Naruto continued to run as the Water Dragon closed in on him before he poured on the speed, vanishing completely and ending up in a clearing filled with different puddles of water.

A few seconds after exiting the tunnel, the dragon burst from the tunnel and Naruto noticed it was vanishing. It lurched upward and completely disippitating from the lack of chakra feeding the jutsu.

Naruto watched for a moment as the aura racing through his body began to settle. He began a light chuckle before it got louder before he burst into a happy, exhausted laughter. He went down to one knee but continued to laugh happily at his victory.

"That worked so well," he said in between deep breaths. "The only issue is that I don't know where I am right now and I used a lot of my aura in that fight. I need to decrease the amount of time it takes to use my aura and chakra. For now, I need a quick rest, but why was I attacked like that? I found the area by accident, so I will need to be careful from here on."

Walking towards one of the water pools, Naruto began drinking the water and splashing the cool liquid on his face.

While cleaning the water from his eyes, he did not notice that the mist in the area began to thicken slowly. Standing up with the water dripping off him, his body stiffened as his aura warned him of danger and considering its track record, Naruto instictively activated his Protect as the dome appeared in time to deflect a now very familiar blade.

This time, while it did deflect the blade to another direction, the blade shattered his Protect which completely surprised Naruto. The result not only pushed Naruto into the water, but it drained his stamina a good chunk.

Moves that use a constant flow of aura to maintain like Protect, when it gets destroyed will take a huge chunk of his aura as it lost its source that fed on it. This causes a slip of control for a split moment.

Lifting his body out, Naruto coughed water out his tiny lungs as he took a big gulp of air. Realizing just how heavy he felt, Naruto looked at the water which felt like weights to him as it was hard for him to move. 'Why does this water feel so heavy?' Narutothought to himself. Before he could do anything else, he felt a presence appear suddenly behind him.

"It's over for you!" the presence, which turned out to be Zabuza, said as he finished a set of handsigns. "Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!" Water swirled around Naruto before he could react and trapped Naruto in a huge orb of it.

"What is this?!" Naruto cried out. He could fell the was so heavy that it prevented any major movement of his body/ "Why can't barely lift my arms?!"

"There is no escaping this prison unless I let you, brat," Zabuza stated, his hand in the water to keep it stable. "The prison isn't just water, but water manipulated by pure chakra which these pools of water were saturated in."

Naruto was shocked as he tried to make a few more attempts to move, but quickly realized that it was a wasted effort.

"And before you try that seal-less Clone Jutsu of yours," Zabuza said as a few more Water Clones of Zabuza appeared from the water pool they were in. Four Zabuza's, complete with their signature blade, at the ready.

'I need to get free and summon the others,' Naruto thought as he got nervous from the glaring shinobi. 'Problem is getting an opening to do it. Day two and I am captured by the enemy, what a great ninja you turned out to be Naruto.'

"Don't worry so much," Zabuza said in a fake caring tone as more shinobis appeared in the area. "As long as you cooperate nicely then you won't be hurt too badly. Try any funny business, then I can't promise you anything but death. Either way work for me to be honest as I haven't killed in a few days and I have been itching for blood."

Naruto didn't say anything as he knew he was screwed at this point in time. If he could escape he would have to face several shinobi of unknown strength levels ready to kill him. Not to mention more Water Clones that he was already having trouble fighting against along with the original who was in a completely different league of his own.

In the end, Naruto knew he had to submit and wait for an opportunity until he can get away and continue his mission.

"We are going to have to move Zabuza," a man with an eye patch and a very strange hair style. "That explosion most definitely got everyone's attention and its only a matter of time before they head over here. Our men are creating a diversion so we have time to escape."

"Well then kid, looks like you are coming with us as I can't have you walking around," Zabuza said. "Aoi, slap a Suppression Seal on the brat so we don't have to worry about any fancy tricks."

The now named Aoi pulled out a tag that had the kanji for 'suppression' on it as Zabuza glared at Naruto. "If you try anything, I promise it will be the last thing that you ever do."

Quickly Naruto felt the water drop back into the pool below him. Before he could hit the water too, he felt Zabuza's arm wrap around his neck and the other hold him in place which kept him in place.

Aoi tagged Naruto with the Suppression Seal which glowed as the writing spread to his arms, legs, and face. Naruto instantly felt his body go slack as his chakra flow nearly stopped. He even felt his aura almost completely stop flowing, though it was better off than his chakra. This sudden fatigue caused him to go unconscious.

Gripping his prisoner tightly, Zabuza looked to Aoi and nodded. "Good, now let's get going to Mei before other shinobi appear and gives us trouble," he said as he got a nod from the man. Zabuza, along with his prisoner, vanished in a shunsin.

AN: I am going to apologize for how long this story has taken as I have a lot on my mind and been so busy lately. I have caught up with all my writing so I had to write up more before I could start typing. Now I am also a married man with a beautiful baby girl on the way so I have been taking more hours at work to pay for everything and get ready. So please forgive me for how long this story has taken. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and please Comment, Favorite, and Follow. Thank you all for your patience and see you all next time!

Dragon Soul94 is out!