FOUR YEARS LATER

Silky, brown hair danced with the wind as it gave its gentle blow, like a mother's touch. The body followed suit with the hair as it danced around and flowed like the air itself. Clangs echoed throughout the room as metal collided with each other. A katana sliced through the air and came down with the intention to cut its target in two. A small blade, no bigger than the hilt of the katana, appeared in front of the sword, a large clang was heard and sparks exploded out from the collision before falling to ground harmlessly. The force behind the blade pushed the katana away before a second blade came out. This time the katana was raised to block the blow, before having to adjust to block another attack. The katana and the two blades pushed back and the owners leapt back. On one side stood a girl, wearing a white tee, a pair of blue jeans and sneakers. Her brown hair graciously flowed down her back to her waist line. Cold blue eyes stared on and she lifted the katana up with both hands grasping the hilt. On the other side was a boy, his white hoodie was unzipped and the hood was above his head, casting a shadow that covered his face like a mask. The white hood had multiple cuts and tares in it, and the occasional stain of faded red could be found on it. Under the hood was a blue shirt that was in the same condition as the hoodie, as was the blue jeans he wore. His feet were bare and they slithered around the cold tile as he blocked, dodged and parried like the water in the ocean.

They rushed forward, one with a katana in front of them and the other with the blades following behind him. They met in the center before pushing off each other and repeating the process. Clang after clang, blow after blow, they kept fighting. The boy fought like a shark in its ocean while the girl fought like a proud eagle who soars through the air. Neither could gain dominance on the other and so they continued to fight. The girl gave a front roll to get behind the boy before she raised her katana and attempted to slice at his knee. But the boy was quicker, he jumped up with a back flip and landed on his feet before turning around to block another blow. His foot kicked out and dug into the stomach of the girl with a sickening crunch. She gave a slight gasp and the boy used this to his advantage as his blade struck out and slammed into her shoulder blade. Blood squirted onto his sleeve and he was about to pull out when a hand clutched onto his arm, forcing him to stand still. With her other arm, the girl swung her katana at the boy. But he lifted his left hand and blocked the katana with his second blade, before he gave a kick to her hand. The katana flung out of the hand and to the other side of the room. The boy placed his left blade on the neck of the girl.

"Do you yield?" was all he asked with a moon tone voice. The girl had a spark of resistance in her eyes but it soon faded away when he pressed a little harder and a little blood rolled down her neck. Reluctantly, she gave a slight nod. He pulled the blade away from her neck and yanked the other one out of her shoulder before flicking his wrist, causing the blades to recede back into his sleeves. Slow clapping was heard from the far end of the room and a single man stood there, his pink eyes gleaming with admiration and his a warm smile graced his lips.

"I'm glad I personally came to see the final match today. You two are by far the best this academy has seen in years," the older man said. The boy and the girl bowed to the man. "Kenway," he looked at the boy, who took his hood off to show his ruffled blond hair and deep blue eyes. "You have come a long way from barely being able to fight a few thugs. It is both a great honor and a great pleasure that I grant you the title of Genin," the man said to the now identified Naruto Kenway. He held out his right palm, which held a deep red piece of cloth with a metal plate on it. Naruto's hand reached forward and shacked hands with the older man, once done the piece of cloth was handed to Naruto. "Now Yuki, my dearest cousin. I am overjoyed to give you this headband that symbolizes you as a ninja of Kiri. Wear it with pride," he handed the brown haired girl, Yuki, a head band with a blue cloth and metal plate that had a symbol etched into it, the exact same one as Naruto's metal plate. The girl took it with pride and wrapped it around her neck, unlike Naruto who was content on wrapping it around his waist like a belt. "Your teams will be given to you tomorrow at the academy, don't be late," was all the older man said before turning around and walking through the exit.

The two ninja stood in place, an awkward silence hanged in the air. Naruto took the first few steps, not making a sound as he walks, and leaves the girl in the room. He makes his way through the door and starts to take turn after turn in the endless hallways that he was introduced to. A door was in his line of sight and he zoomed towards it, eager to leave the building. The door slid open and he entered the outside world, taking in a huge gulp of air as he does so. A strong breeze blew over the village and Naruto's hair danced along with it as he started walking "home".

His feet pattered across the dirt as he reached the entrance of his "home". His "home" was actually a large, hollowed out tree that he was able to cram him and some other stuff into; but it was free, had a creek nearby for washing himself off and fruit trees all around. He neared the entrance and ducked his head under the small hole in the tree. He fell forward and flopped on his mat, his eyes closed and sleep came to him.

He walked alone in a desolate hallway, blood pouring down the walls with every step that he took. Minutes passed and the blood was up to his ankles as he walked, a solid oak door could be seen at the end of the hallway. He sprinted now, blood splashing everywhere, and kept going until he made it to the end. Before his hand even reached the knob, it opened on its own with a sullen creek. A white light blared into existence and cut into his eyes like a dagger. A hand shoved him forward, and before he could turn around, it was gone and the door was slammed. He turned back around and saw something that froze every bone in his body and made him incapable of thinking. His family, helping his sister out in the courtyard while they obnoxiously forget about their son. He turned around and went to open the door, only to find it war replaced with a blood soaked wall. On it, was the word family imprinted in. He turned back around and instead of his family a large metal cage stood in front of him while he was ankle deep in water. The darkness in the cage was broken by a lone, red pupil looking down at Naruto. "You came never escape your past, no matter whose memories you obtain," the voice said in a dark, menacing way. "Now leave!" it boomed out, after that, a gush of wind sent Naruto flying backwards, away from the cage.

He lurched forward with a startle and opened his eyes in shock. His heart was beating at his chest and sweat trickled down his forehead at a rapid pace; he grabbed a part of his hoodie and wiped it off. He crawled out of his little home and stood up to embrace the cool breeze of the night. A screech was heard from above, and looking up, he saw the falcon that has been with him since the beginning of his journey. It soared in the night sky above, without a care in the world of what others might think of it or what might happen tomorrow, and Naruto was jealous of that. "I haven't thought of my family in years, so why am I starting to now?" he asked himself.

"Because are past will always haunt us. We may run from it, we may not accept, hell, we might even try to forget it, but it will always be there so that in our best moments, it can slap us back down to the ground," a rough voice answered his question. Naruto's senses went on full alert after he got over his initial shock and he scanned the area for any sign of an intruder. Blue eyes narrowed at brown ones when he found the intruder standing on top of a tree branch with a large sword on his back. "Relax kid, I was going through the area when I heard a small yell. I decided to come over here and see who was screaming like a little girl high on hormones," the man explained to Naruto, whose posture became a little more relax but not fully. He flicked his wrist and his hidden blades were exposed to the man. "Look, if you can land three or four hits on me I'll tell you who I am and if you can't, well then you'll probably be dead," the mysterious man said.

Naruto sent chakra to his legs and feet before jumping up to reach the man. He swung the hidden blades in an X pattern, intending to slice the man into four pieces. Metal hit metal and a clang thundered throughout the area, the man pushed back on the blades before giving a swift kick to Naruto's stomach, causing him to fall back onto the ground with an audible oof. He stood up, clutching his stomach and looking up at the man, who jumped down to stand a few feet away from Naruto. He twirled his large sword around in a very threatening way while the bandages around his mouth didn't reveal the man's intent.

Naruto let go of his stomach, flicked his right wrist and got in the Eagle form. The man gave a large swing from right to left, but Naruto leaned back so that the sword barely grazed his cheek before springing back up to stab the man in the shoulder. The man grabbed Naruto's wrist and lifted his arm to throw Naruto backwards. But Naruto was slightly faster, he gave a swift kick to the man's face, causing the man to loosen his grip on Naruto's wrist. Naruto attempted to plunge his hidden blade into the man's arm, but the man let go of Naruto's wrist; causing the stab to completely miss and Naruto to land on the ground feet first. The giant sword came swinging from his left and Naruto barely lifted his arms in time to block the blow. Hidden blade met giant sword like before, but this time, the force behind the sword barely recognized the hidden blades as an obstacle and sent Naruto flying backwards. His back hit a tree and he slumped down, his vision beginning to blur.

He started to stand up, before a fist was planted in his stomach and knee was sent ploughing into his chin. Naruto crumpled onto the ground, but his hand's planted themselves on the hard surface below him and he tried to push himself up; only to get a strong kick in the face that sent him up onto his knees and then be sent back onto the ground by a fist from behind the head. His face was planted into the ground, he attempted to lift his head but a foot stomped onto his head and then lifted itself off of his head. He tried to lift his head up again, but the same result happened.

"You give up kid?" the man asked Naruto as he placed the sword against Naruto's neck with a little force, causing blood to trickle out. Anger, frustration and fear started to dwell up in Naruto, and before he knew it, his blood started to burn and orange chakra started to surround his body like a cloak. The man had a spark of interest as he looked down upon Naruto's glowing body, but the look soon faded from interest into full on alert. He sent chakra to his legs to leap backwards and up, barely avoiding the razor blades of wind that burst around Naruto. Those same blades of wind tore the trees nearby in half and caused any loose debris to shoot out into the darkness of the night.

Naruto, with slightly wobbling arms, stood up onto two legs while the orange chakra started to quickly heal the minor damage he took. The orange chakra flared around him at an intense rate as his nails became claws, his teeth fangs, and his hair more ragged. He lifted his head up, causing the shadow that his hair made to vanish, and looked at the man with glowing red eyes.

"Kid's got spunk, I'll give him that," the man muttered out as he heaved his large blade up and slid into a style that Naruto was unfamiliar with. Naruto's legs shifted a bit before he sped out of existence, leaving only a small after image in his stead. He reappeared seconds later in front of the man with his fist reeled back. "Take this you bastard," Naruto said. He sent his fist flying forward with as much strength as he could summon. The fist made contact… With broad side of the man's sword. Wind blew up from under his fist and traveled in every direction when all the energy from his punch was released. Small cracks started to form on the broad sword. The wind faded and Naruto stood there with the orange chakra starting to recede back into his body, his fist still on the sword.

"Good attempt, kid, but you'll have to do better than that to get to me," the man said to Naruto, who just stood there.

Then, out of nowhere, a tiny blade broke through the cracks on the sword and created a small hole in it. Naruto sent the last of his chakra to both of his arms as he lifted his left arm to lay his left palm of the sword. "AHHHH!" Naruto yelled out as he pushed with his remaining strength. The man was caught off guard and didn't have time to react when his sword came out him in full force. The small blade inserted itself in his shoulder. Blood spurted out of his shoulder and onto the sword, the cracks started to repair itself and the small hole the blade formed, with it still in there, repaired itself. Naruto was to slow to retch it out and a snap was heard, he looked down and saw the hidden blade broke off from the gauntlet. He looked up and barely had time to process the bottom of the handle to plant itself on his head, darkness consumed his vision and he blacked out.

The man placed his sword on his back and looked down at Naruto. "Damn barely using ten percent of what I can actually do and you managed to get a few good hits in, you're going to get places if you keep advancing the way you do," The man said before releasing a small sigh. He picked up Naruto's limp body and placed him in his hollow tree. "Ugh, time for the boring stuff," the man grunted before walking at a leisurely pace towards the Kage tower.

A small candle is the only thing that illuminated the small office that he worked in. His pink eyes shifted from one paper to another as he scribbled notes and signatures on the paper. "Having fun there?" a gruff voice came from the darkness of the room. The man gave a sigh of release as he bent down a little and rubbed his eyes.

"So how was he?" Yagura asked the voice in the dark. A small chuckle was heard, and from the darkness, the man from before immerged.

"He wasn't half bad, for a kid. He managed to get one or two hits in but I was only using ten percent of my power to take him on," the man said in a pleased tone. "So I think I might accept your offer, as long as I have him and the other two," the man said, his tone changing to one of seriousness.

"You can have him and the other two," said Yagura before releasing a small chuckle. "I suppose congratulations are in order Zabuza, you are officially the sensei of team 7," he said before rubbing his eyes again. When he looked up Zabuza was gone, preparing for tomorrow.

A dagger of light protruded from the entrance of his hollowed out tree, penetrating through his eye lids and causing him to open them up. He groggily crawled out of the tree and fell down into the soft grass. "Ow, that wasn't a dream," he muttered to himself before lifting himself up and leaning on the tree for support. His entire body felt like he was hit by a truck and every step he took felt like his legs were burning in hell, but he walked anyhow. Tree from tree, eventually building to building until he made it to the academy. A somewhat large crowd was already assembled near the front, where a large stage was in place. On top of the stage were the newly appointed genin and the Mizukage, who stood near the front of the stage while the genin were near the back.

Naruto lifted his cowl above his head and started walking through the crowd to the stage. No one noticed him and if they did they didn't pay any attention to him as he traversed through. He turned left then right and right again so that he was climbing up the four steps onto the stage. He was in luck, Yuki was in the back of the line. He stumbled when he took his first step on the stage, they pain from yesterday hitting him in full force. He began falling until a hand caught him and hefted him up onto his feet. He looked up and saw Yuki holding him by his shoulder before wrapping his arm around her neck, giving him support. "Thanks," Naruto moaned out with exhaustion.

"Jesus, you look you went to hell, had sex with the devil and crawled out to that tree of yours," Yuki said, noticing how roughed up he was.

"Let's just say that I got my ass whooped, big time," he added in the last part to make sure she knew that he was beaten easily. He was about to say something else but Yuki elbowed him in the rib, causing him to flinch a little at the jolt of pain that traveled through his body.

"Shut up, Yagura is about to start," Yuki said to Naruto, who honestly didn't care.

"The people in this village, it is with great pride and great pleasure that I introduce you to the future of our village. They will live and die for your protection and bleed for your sake. They are no longer children, they are fully grown men and woman who fight for what they believe in. I've seen them grow from children with no hope of surviving a lone bandit to a full-fledged ninja that can take on a camp of bandits. I hope I live long enough to see them all become the greatest of their generation," at the last part of the speech, Naruto felt like he spoke directly to him. "Now, time for the teams. We will start from the back to the front in team order," Yagura said. "Team 7 will be Naruto Kenway," Yagura said, he turned around and gave a hand signal that beckoned Naruto to walk forward. He limped forward, almost tripping a few times, but when he got to the front there was no applause was heard. "Yuki Fuuko," Yuki walked forward so that she stood between Yagura and Naruto, the crowd started clapping their hands and there were one or two whistles blown. "And Haku Yuki," a boy with long brown hair and auburn eyes walked up, like Naruto, he received no applause.

The crowd was confused on why team 7 consisted of two unknowns and one of the most popular people in the village. "As their sensei is Zabuza Momochi," Yagura announced. After those words were spoken, heavy steps were heard as a tall and noticeably muscular man with pale skin, short spiky black hair, brown eyes, and small eyebrows walked up. He wearing bandages like a mask over the bottom half of his face. He wore his forehead protector sideways on his head and donned the village's Anbu uniform and flak jacket. On his back was a massive broadsword shaped like a giant butcher knife. It has two cut outs, a circle close to the top and a semi-circular one nearer to the handle. The latter notch allowed a strap to be wrapped around the weapon so that he could have it on his back. The man walked up so that he was behind the three genin. The entire crowd was shivering in fear at a simple glance at the demon of the mist. Naruto turned around to look at the man.

"You," Naruto said as his eye's opened in recognition of the man who he fought yesterday. "Me," was the only response that Zabuza gave before a mist started to surround the four. The entire crowd looked on in fear and when the fog dissipated, they were gone. Everyone was wondering why Yagura assigned the demon of the mist as the sensei to the already mixed up team.

A heavy mist fell upon training field seven and from the mist came team seven with Zabuza. The mist dissipated from the field, leaving the four to themselves. Naruto flicked his wrist and gave a slow swing at Zabuza's face. Zabuza caught Naruto's wrist and kicked him in the stomach. "I'll be happy to kick your ass into the ground any day kid, but right now I need to do some stuff," Zabuza said.

Naruto just laid on the ground, giving a meager thumbs up, telling Zabuza okay. "Okay brats, I'm Zabuza Momochi the Demon of the Mist and you are a bunch of kids that I have to take care of until you learn to survive on your own. Now, to get a sense of how you kids fight I'll ask you some questions," he said, everyone else just nodded their head, besides Naruto. "You first kid," he said while pointing at Naruto, who positioned himself so that he was sitting up. "What are your likes, dislikes, dreams, and specialties," Zabuza said.

"Just call me Kenway. I like some stuff, I hate idiots, I don't have dreams and my specialties are hand to hand combat and tracking skills, I also have a knack for any water related stuff," Naruto said with a monotonous tone, indicating he didn't want to talk to the man.

"Your next," he said and pointed at Yuki.

"My name is Yuki. I like training, family and friends. I hate perverts and pedophiles. I want to become Mizukage one day and my specialties are sword fighting and genjutsu," Yuki stated with a certain gleam in her eyes that Naruto couldn't quite figure out, even though she was the closest thing he had to a true friend.

"Last," Zabuza said and he pointed at Haku.

"My name is Haku Yuki and I like snow and animals. I dislike killing, I only do it when I have to. I dream of becoming a good hunter-nin and medic. My specialties are ninjutsu and healing, I also have a bloodline allowing me to use one handed seals and ice," Haku said. Zabuza nodded his headed and processed the information.

"So, I'm dealing with a jackass," he said, looking at Naruto, who gave a cheeky grin in response. "A dreamer," this time he looked at Yuki, who gave a small glare at her new sensei. "And a realist," he looked at Haku, who gave no expression whatsoever. He pondered for a few seconds, wondering if he should've become a sensei or not. "I can already tell that I'm going to hate this job," he groaned out. "Normally there would be an entire trial on whether you are worthy of being a genin or not, but I'm going to make this easy on you three. If you can land one blow on me, I'll pass you," Zabuza said, he pulled his arm back and pulled his sword out and held it in front of him. "Go."

After he said those words, Yuki and Haku ran towards him, one with needles out and the other brandishing her katana. Yuki jumped up and swung her sword down, only to be met by Zabuza's giant butcher knife, He slid his sword across so that they were no longer clashing and twirled his entire body around faster than the eye can process. The flat end of the blade came around and smacked Yuki across the head. Yuki's body crumpled onto the ground. Then, it melded with the ground and disappeared. If Zabuza was surprised, he didn't show it. His left leg kicked out from behind him, planting itself in the un-expecting Yuki's stomach. She let out an oof and lost grip on her katana. Zabuza turned his body around and gave a hard punch to the bottom of Yuki's jaw, causing her to lift up a few feet in the air and to drop her katana. Zabuza then swung around with his sword in his left hand and gave a sideways sweep with it. The sword clattered across a mirror made entirely of ice, his senses went off and he did a front flip over the ice mirror so that he landed it on the other side. Hundreds of small thuds were heard across the other side of the mirror and Zabuza turned the corner to see hundreds of senbon needles were embedded in it. Ten feet away was Haku standing with senbon needles in between each of her fingers.

"That was sort of impressive for children your age, now where's the other brat?" he asked. Suddenly, a figure jumped out from a nearby tree and aimed at Zabuza. The figure flicked his left wrist and a hidden blade came out of his sleeve. Zabuza raised his arm up when the figure got close, the figure didn't expect this and tried to turn but it was too late. Zabuza's strong hand clutched around Naruto's neck and held him over the ground. "You almost got me there kid," he said before hurling Naruto at Yuki, who was starting to stand up before being slammed back onto the ground with Naruto on top of her.

"Get off me you louse!" Yuki said to Naruto as she rolled him off.

"Not exactly my chose," he responded coolly as he stammered up and onto his feet. Yuki flashed by him with her katana held out and ready to slice. "That lass is going to get herself killed," he muttered out as she started to fight Zabuza in a one-sided match. He summoned chakra to his stomach and started flipping through hand signs. "Water release: Gunshot!" Naruto yelled out as he formed the tiger sign. His chakra formed into water and traveled up his throat and to his mouth. He opened up his mouth and a large water bullet, the size of his head, shot out towards Zabuza with remarkable speed and strength.

Zabuza blocked a blow from Yuki before pushing her back and turning around to block a bunch of needles that were thrown by Haku. His ears twitched as he heard the sound of water even though there was no river nearby. He turned around and widened his eyes slightly before he lifted his sword up and brought it down, cutting the water bullet in half and causing it to miss him. Naruto ran towards Zabuza, who lifted his sword up for Naruto's next attack. Naruto was nearing Zabuza when Zabuza swung his sword in a wide arc. But Naruto jumped up and sent his weight forward so that he dodged the sword and was over Zabuza's head for a few seconds. "Water Release: Water guns!" he called out and placed his fingers in a gun like position before two heavy blast of water shot out and at Zabuza's head. Zabuza's sword was still swinging and he didn't have enough time to move out of the way. The water bullets made contact with Zabuza's head and an explosion of water occurred. The water pushed everyone back onto their back and drenched them all.

"What the hell was that?!" Yuki exclaimed when she saw that her sensei was no longer there. Suddenly, clapping was heard from behind a tree. Walking around the corner was Zabuza, perfectly fine and not a single scratch was on his body

"Congratulations, you officially killed my water clone," he stated with a tone that said that they did satisfactory in his book. "Meet back here tomorrow at nine," was all he said before he walked off from the group. Haku walked away from the team, not wanting to stick around much longer, leaving Naruto and Yuki alone. "So, you want to hang out?" Yuki asked. Naruto raised his eyebrow and looked at Yuki questioningly.

"I would, but I feel like absolute shit," was all Naruto said before he collapsed onto the ground from chakra exhaustion and physical pain.

Yuki looked down at the blond ninja for a bit before giving a drawled out sigh. "He so owes me," she said. Her petite hands placed her katana in her sheathe before lifting up Naruto and placing him on her back. "Oof, you are a fat ass," she muttered out at the extra weight added to her back. She sent a small string of chakra down to her legs and started walking away from the training field.

The light blared through the window and into the bed of one Naruto Uzumaki. He shifted a little before sitting up while rubbing his eyes. He gave a big stretch with his arms and opened his eyes, revealing those blue orbs to the entire world. He yawned, taking in his surroundings before he realized something. "Where the hell am I?!" he shouted out.

A loud bang was heard and a sore spot grew on Naruto's head. "You're in my damn apartment!" Yuki shouted out while holding a frying pan up. "Now shut up and be grateful for once in your damn life!" she added in.

Naruto rubbed his head with his hands and gave a small glare to Yuki. "I didn't ask for help," he muttered out softly. Yuki heard him and gave a heated stare.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I was supposed to leave you out on the ground blacked out. Next time that happens I'll be sure to let you stay there!" Yuki yelled at him. She turned around and was about to storm off when a hand grabbed her wrist. She twisted her neck around to see Naruto looking at her.

"Thank you, I know I can be a jackass sometimes," he started and at the last part Yuki gave a slight puff. "Okay, I can be a jackass most of the time and I know that I'm not the easiest person to call a friend, but I want to thank you for helping me out there," Naruto said sympathetically. Yuki's stare softened and she turned her entire body around so that she was adjacent to him.

"That's how you thank someone for helping you. Now wash up since we have training in ten minutes," Yuki said with a small smile on her soft face. She walked out the room of the small apartment and left Naruto to his own devise. He pulled the covers off of him so that he could turn his body around and stand up on the ground.

"Pft, she expects me to wash up. I'll bathe in the river when I'm done with training is done today," he stated before walking around the bed and placing his hands on the window seal. He fiddled around with the lock until a click was heard and he lifted the window up. He looked down the window and saw a small cart making its way down the street, on it was a pile of hay. He waited a few seconds until the hay was a few feet away from being under the window and then he dived forward. He sent all his weight to the front so that he was falling back first through the air. His fall was stopped when his body submerged itself in the soft, yet irritating substance. He poked his head out, pulled his cowl over his head, and jumped out the cart and onto the street, walking casually as if nothing happened. He made a sharp left down an alley and started to traverse the village until he got to the training field.

Dark clouds loomed across the horizon as Naruto approached the training field, he scanned the field and noticed that the rest of the team was there. "Kenway, so glad you could join us," Zabuza said with sarcasm heavy in his voice. "Now sit your ass down while I explain what's going to happen today," Naruto grudgingly obliged to Zabuza's command. He sat down in the dirt next to Yuki in a loose position, his legs kicked out and hands planted in the ground as he looked at Zabuza expectantly. Zabuza stared down at his genin squad. "Today I'm going to personally train you all on what I saw yesterday. We will all train here with me helping each one of you with the use of the shadow clone," Zabuza crossed his fingers together and sent chakra to pulse across his body and two pops of smoke appeared on each side of him. Yuki and Haku stood up and walked away to the opposite sides of the field with their designated clone. "You, Kenway, are going to go through hell with my training," Zabuza said. He reached down to the ground and picked up a large stick that was laying there. He picked it up and tossed it at Naruto's feet.

"What the heck am I supposed to do with this?" Naruto asked as he picked it up while Zabuza placed one in his own hand. "Learn," was all Zabuza said and he whacked Naruto on the head with his stick. He repeated this process of whacking the confused Naruto for a few minutes before looking at Naruto quizzically. "Defend yourself Kenway, once you learn to defend you'll be able to learn how to attack," Zabuza said, he brought his stick down at Naruto's head and was met with the cracking sound of wood. He looked at Naruto who raised his arm up to block the blow. "Good, now we truly start," Zabuza said.

Right then left, forward and front, jump and duck, these were all the actions performed by Naruto as he dodged and blocked Zabuza's attacks. With every dodge or block he made it felt like he was hit twice more as they did their little dance.

Block, duck, jump, shift. Naruto's thoughts were consumed as he learned the pattern for not getting hit by Zabuza's stick.

Hours passed by, the other two already went home but Naruto stayed and learned. The afternoon came and went, as did dusk and then dawn. The dirt they stood on was matted and soft from the amount of steps they took as they danced with their sticks. The rising sun blared down upon them as they fought. Rustling from the bushes was heard from the forest, from it came Yuki and Haku who were rested and ready for another day of training. Their ears perked at the sound of clashing and they looked to their right. They saw Naruto and Zabuza, in the same place they were yesterday, still fighting with their sticks. Zabuza looked perfectly fine while Naruto had bruises everywhere on his body and new tears in his jacket. His right hand was bleeding a little from how long and hard he was clutching the wood as bits and pieces of it dug itself into his palm. Zabuza gave a full twist with his body and gave a long slash at Naruto. Naruto's stick moved in the way of Zabuza's, but once it made contact it blew up in half and let Zabuza's stick hit the head of one exhausted Naruto. The reaction was instant, Naruto fell down onto the ground, passed out.

AUTHORS NOTE (IMPORTANT)

Hey guys, sorry for the wait and the rushed chapter. But I had testing all of last month and life has kept me busy for the past few weeks. Good news is that I should be able to update weekly now and my chapters won't be like this. I'm sad to admit that this chapter was rushed and not my best work, especially the last few paragraphs. Leave a review on the chapter and tell me where you think the story should go to next since I'm having trouble writing in the current area. I knew this part of the story would come up but I've always dreaded it, the learning and bonding part. I'm aware of the four year time skip and the fact that you haven't seen much of Yuki, but the best way I can describe the past four years was the regular academy bullshit that bores the heck out the readers and more so for the author and Yuki's relationship is on the same level as Naruto and Sasuke in canon. Please no flames and I do not own Naruto or Assassin's creed.