Hey there everyone! Now much to talk about this time so let's get on with the show!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Naruto, over here!" Kakashi called out from across the ruins. Naruto came jogging up to the man several moments later. Kakashi was currently kneeled over a sealing formula he had found.

"What's this?" Naruto asked as he kneeled next to Kakashi. Naruto looked around and found that they were in the ruins of some sort of dojo.

"Naruto, channel some chakra into this sealing array." Kakashi commanded. He knew they couldn't afford to dilly dally any longer. If Zabuza showed up before they got back, it was sure to be trouble. Naruto seemed to sense the urgency and did as told. The Uzumaki placed his hand on the seal and started to channel chakra.

"Gah!" Naruto exclaimed as five chakra chains sprung up immediately. They all dug into the Uzumaki's back as Kakashi also panicked. The man was getting ready to activate his lightning blade when he noticed Naruto wasn't bleeding.

"What is this?" Naruto wondered out loud as he felt the chains siphoning off his chakra. As the chains continued draining him, the seal beneath them grew wider and wider. Naruto and Kakashi both braced themselves as a large influx of chakra alerted them to the activation of something important. The seal flashed a golden colour before the two disappeared in a shimmer of chakra.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Where are we?" Kakashi wondered as he looked around with wide eyes. This place seemed to be in far better shape than the last area. While the signs of battle where still evident, the combat that had taken place here was clearly quick and bloody. Large blood stains littered the otherwise pristine stairs leading up to a large ornate temple. Reminiscent of the temples of the Fire country's monks, the place was surely massive. It didn't seem grandiose, just large.

"I feel something, this way." Naruto said calmly as he treaded forth. Kakashi was still feeling nervous but he decided to trust the young blonde's instinct. Following along, Kakashi surveyed the damage. The bloodstains were easy to examine as slit throats. All from behind with swords of different types. Well Hidden Cloud had been a part of the invasion, so this made sense. They entered the temple and both were surprised to find a much different state of affairs. The entire place seemed trashed. No walls or floors were damaged, but a hard battle had obviously been fought here.

"This way!" Naruto said in a faraway voice. He seemed to be drawn to the back of the room where a massive sealing array decorated the wall. To Kakashi, it looked more like a beautiful wall painting than anything else, but even with his limited skill in the art, he could tell that many complicated seals were interwoven within it. As he scanned the wall, Naruto treaded forth and was ready to place his palm to the centre.

"Naruto, wait." Kakashi called suddenly but Naruto didn't seem to be able to hear him. Before Kakashi could stop him, the blonde had placed his hand on the seal.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well hello there, young one." A gentle voice chimed through the air. Naruto blinked away the light from his eyes as he adjusted to the bright white of his surroundings.

"Oh, I see that you are not only of Lady Mito's lineage, but also share her burden. Well it seems I may be able to pass on all our knowledge yet" The same voice hummed pleasantly. Naruto finally adjusted to the light and found he was sitting within an endless white void. He looked around and was greeted with a silky red fabric. He looked up and found the fabric belonged to the Kimono of a red haired woman with vibrant violet eyes.

"Just like mom…" Naruto muttered. Looking up at the smiling woman, Naruto felt something swell in his chest. Something familial and safe that he hadn't felt before. Before he could say anymore, the woman distracted him with a soft giggle. Like soft chimes, it seemed to reverberate through the void. Helping Naruto to his feet, she looked him up and down.

"Well, it seems that little Kushina found herself a husband outside the clan." The girl said in that same soft voice. Naruto was knocked out of his stupor by that name.

"You know my mom?" The blonde questioned nervously and the woman nodded her head. Before Naruto could say anything else, she placed a delicate finger on his lips.

"Now that the seal is broken, we have little time. I must impart my knowledge in you before we run out of time. I'll leave all the irrelevant things deeper in your mind for later, but I feel like there are some things you would want to know sooner rather than later." The woman said in that same soft voice. Naruto nodded as he felt a large influx of something in the back of his head. He almost fell over, but the woman caught him.

"Now now, can't have you fainting on me yet. I have some things to tell you." The woman said with a small giggle as she helped Naruto right himself. Once Naruto was stable again, she seemed ready to talk more.

"As you've probably already learned in part, our clans massive chakra reserves stop us from using elemental manipulation. Though in your case, your diluted blood may prove to be a strength. However, you can discover that path for yourself. With this handicap against us, the Uzumaki were forced to find their own path of the shinobi. We settled on pure chakra manipulation and sealing. Over the years, the rest of the clans bickered, fought, and formed villages while we perfected our own arts. Around the time of the second great shinobi war, we were forced to intervene due to our new alliance with the leaf. The Uzumaki's first foray into war could be described as brutal. Our clan was divided into two sectors, the first was composed predominantly of women that specialized in our Sealing Jutsu. They served as the support and leaders of the teams. The other half was our frontline fighters. We called them our Cerulean Knights, on account of the chakra they wielded so liberally. They were a smaller group, being composed mostly of men, our clan was predominantly female after all. But they were certainly very powerful. The jutsu they wielded lacked any typing, but they were varied enough to counter any jutsu out there. Naruto, I believe you will be our next cerulean knight." The woman said with fire in her eyes. Naruto nodded with wide eyes, looking up to the woman. He was currently in a minor state of shock due to the overload of information.

"Well I already know how to use-" Naruto was cut of quickly by the woman, who giggled a bit at his excitement. Naruto seemed to understand and stayed quiet.

"I know of your use of our chakra chains Naruto. Being in this seal allows me to look through all of your memories." The woman said and a small tear trailed down her cheek. Gently brushing the tear aside, the woman continued. "The chakra chains are the beginning of all our clans training. They are most immensely useful weapons and act as catalysts for most of our sealing Jutsu. The reason you're having trouble with that third technique is because it is the first step into the Sealing aspect of the Uzumaki. I believe you will find more success with these. The techniques of our cerulean knights." The woman said as she pulled a deep blue scroll out from nowhere. She handed it to Naruto, who carefully tucked it into his back pouch. Nodding at him, the woman seemed to grow much more translucent.

"I'm afraid you won't be able to ask me any questions, as I'll be fading quickly. Now I have some more things to tell you. With the last of my energy, I'll pull the reigns in on that beast within you. It's what you want, right?" The woman asked and to her great shock, Naruto shook his head immediately.

"Sorry lady, but I'm gonna beat this thing within me myself. I'll become one of your cerulean knights or whatever. But I'm not going to ignore what my mom left to me. I'll learn that stuff too. I'll master all the Uzumaki techniques, just you watch!" Naruto said with a grin and a thumbs up. Quickly getting over her shock, the woman smiled warmly. Rubbing his hair gently, the woman leaned in and kissed Naruto's forehead, which shut the blonde up immediately.

"I'm very happy little Kushina was able to bring such a nice boy into this world. I'll use the last of my chakra for something else then. I'll impart my chakra in you. This chakra of mine is much more in tune to sealing techniques. You can't reject this gift, Naruto Uzumaki." The woman finished as she burst into shimmering gold chakra. Naruto felt that chakra enter his system and warm him up all over as the white void faded away.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted nervously. For the past several moments, Naruto had been standing stone still with a sphere of seals blocking him from Kakashi. However, Kakashi was busy with his own problems at the moment. Just as Naruto was trapped in that sphere, Kakashi found several beasts summoned around him. They consisted of a three headed dog, a panda brandishing a pillar as a blunt weapon, and a massive gecko. Kakashi's sharingan was spinning wildly as he dodged an attack from the gecko that was currently invisible.

"Chakra Chains: Seal!"Naruto called out as three chains shot from his palm, each chain pierced a beast. Even the invisible gecko was speared through the chest. The chains rapidly split into smaller chains that wrapped over the entirety of the beasts. In puffs of smoke, all three of the beasts disappeared. Kakashi looked behind him to see Naruto glowing with golden chakra. The boy dropped to his knees as the chakra receded into him.

"Naruto, what happened?" Kakashi questioned as he took a knee next to Naruto, who was breathing rather heavily. Naruto looked up at Kakashi with a small grin as several tears fell down his face.

"I finally found more out about my clan Bro, and I know how to get stronger now. Strong enough to stop that fox from hurting anyone else." Immediately after his statement, Naruto felt a burning pain shoot through his body. Naruto dropped to the ground as red chakra bubbled to the surface. Within the confines of the seal, the Nine Tailed Fox was thrashing violently against a group of chains. Outside, Kakashi watched in horror as Naruto squirmed around but he was also perplexed by the layer of golden chakra protecting Naruto from the dangerous red chakra.

"Nooooo! I was getting so close to taking over! You won't impede my progress you whore!"The fox howled violently as a massive stone tablet formed behind him, massive gold chakra chains lashing out and wrapping around the fox. The woman from the seal glared violently at the fox as she tightened the chains.

"I won't let you hurt my Grandson anymore monster!" The woman shouted as the fox was locked in place. Smiling, the grandmother of Naruto Uzumaki faded away within his consciousness. Regardless of the boy's objections, after seeing the Fox's progress, she knew she had to protect him. Back in the physical realm, Naruto had finally stopped thrashing as the gentle gold chakra faded with the violent red.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Naruto awoke in a cold sweat with his arm jutting through the thin wall of Tazuna's home. Several seconds of fuzzy thoughts and heavy breathing ticked by like hours as Naruto tried to get a handle on everything that had happened. Finally convincing himself it wasn't a dream, he took stock of his surroundings. He was back in Tazuna's house, in the same bed Anko had been staying in when he had left with Kakashi. All his gear was neatly laid out beside him, along with a rather large cinnamon bun. Naruto reminded himself to thank Hinata as he bit into the large pastry. The blonde's demeanor immediately shifted into a more relaxed state as he chewed the scrumptious treat. The events that took place back in the temple slowly organized themselves within his head as he finished off the cinnamon bun. Looking to his shuriken pouch, he reached inside and was pleasantly surprised when he pulled out a familiar blue scroll. So that meant everything that happened inside that seal was real then.

'So the seal faded away, then I used that lady's power to save bro, then…' Naruto trailed off as he felt around his chakra network. He had never noticed before, but the nine-tails chakra had always left a hot feeling in his stomach. He had always had it so he never noticed, but surely now he could feel something different in that same place, something far more warm and safe. Lifting his shirt up, Naruto looked to his stomach and molded his chakra. Sure enough, a new seal was now in place. What looked like immensely complicated chains laced over the seal in a swirl pattern. Naruto couldn't even feel a trickle of the fox's chakra, instead, he felt that comforting warmth. He focused on that warmth for several long moments and sure enough, a small slip of it slipped out and into his system. A barely noticeable golden glow flowed along his skin for a second until his thought process was broken by murderous intent.

"Stay away from my mom!" Inari shouted angrily as he ran at the mercenary duo currently keeping his mother from him. Both men grinned as they prepared to draw their swords. The boy had seemed complacent until they made it out onto the dock in front of the house. Now it seemed like they would get at least a little fun out of this assignment. Just as they were prepared to cut the boy to shreds, two chains shot out of the ground behind them. Faster than the two could act, the chains wrapped around there necks and slammed them back into the ground with enough force to knock them out.

"Chakra Chains: Bind."Naruto said calmly from within the house as he retracted the chains. He lifted his hand from the floor and quickly proceeded to fasten his equipment onto his person. An attack like this in broad daylight meant those two knew the ninja were all occupied. That meant Zabuza. And while he had confidence in his team, the blonde still found himself extremely nervous. He was internally hoping the two had grown stronger while he was away. Anyone who gained a Ninja like Zabuza's trust, had to be pretty strong. And despite all their training, he doubted his teammates could hold up long against a Jonin of calibre even close to Zabuza's. Hell, he doubted all three of them could do that, but he somehow felt that if all three of them were together, then they could pull through. With that thought in mind, he took off at a breakneck pace, making sure to summon some clones to take care of Tazuna's family along the way.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Hinata here he comes!" Sasuke shouted as he adjusted the grip on his two kunai. The Uchiha stood back to back with the Hyuuga heiress inside a dome of large ice mirrors that were growing closer to becoming a solid walled dome by the second. The two had gotten into a good rhythm of dodging and parrying since the boy Haku's first attack, but as was evidenced by the dozens of needles in their bodies, the two were far from untouchable. Once again, a hailstorm of senbon rained down from all direction faster than they could track. Both burst into action as Hinata's palms glowed with chakra and Sasuke's kunai seemed to smolder with chakra. Gentle fist and kunai cut through senbon at amazing speeds as the two ducked and weaved and flipped together in unison. Hinata's Byakugan allowing her to match Sasuke's movements, while the Uchiha kept an acute awareness of his surroundings that he found invigorating. Hinata, meanwhile, couldn't find the energy to tell him his eyes were now blood red with black tomoe in each, two in his right and one in his left.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"Sasuke shouted when he found a moment of reprieve. A large fireball shot forth toward a seemingly random location, only for a target to zip by the fireball, missing it by only a few centimetres. Sasuke smirked to himself as he got back into position with Hinata. However, that new confidence was swallowed up as the dome suddenly became darker. Sasuke scanned around and noticed the dome was now solid and they were faced with no escape routes at all.

"My technique has now reached its true form. You have no chance now." Haku droned in an emotionless voice that sent a shiver down Hinata's spine. Meanwhile, on the outside of the dome, both Kakashi and Zabuza were already beginning combat while Anko stood beside Tazuna. An angry look marred the woman's face as she glared holes at Kakashi, who had used a minor lightning technique to freeze her weakened body. Shifting her attention to the dome, the woman felt a pang of worry echo through her heart. The dome was now solid and she could no longer sense chakra from within the ice structure. Just as her stress was reaching its peak, she grinned, feeling another presence fast approaching.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Almost there guys, just hold on!" Naruto shouted to no nobody but himself. The blonde sailed through the woods with speed he hadn't known before. As he finally found himself shrouded in mist the blonde grinned, he was almost there. Naruto suddenly broke the tree line and looked around with wide eyes. He saw Kakashi fighting Zabuza, seemingly at a standstill, while Anko stood stationary by Tazuna with a grimace on her face. The final thing his eyes landed on was the ice dome, from within he could feel his teammates wavering chakra signatures, along with a third, much stronger, one. Running up to the dome, he reared back his fist with as much chakra as he could muster behind it. The impact was solid, but the blonde grimaced when not even a dent formed in the ice. His hand however was already swelling slightly.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit! Come on fox help out!" Naruto shouted as he punched at the dome more. With each second his friend's chakra grew weaker and weaker and with each second the blonde dug deeper for that dangerous fire-like feeling he had associated with the fox's power.

'Sorry Naruto, but I'm afraid you won't have access to that power anymore.'A gentle voice cooed from within his head. Naruto focused on it and felt that same warmth that was now resting in his stomach. Matching the voice, he finally realized it and his eyes widened.

'I know you might not be pleased with me right now, but I'll explain later. For now you need to break through that Jutsu. There is a technique with that can be used with enough blunt force. You won't be able to use the actual technique, but thanks to your chains you can use a bastardization of it. Now summon your binding chains and wrap them around your hands and forearms.'The woman said with urgency and Naruto nodded. He flashed through the hand seals and slammed his palms together.

"Chakra Chains: Seal!"The blonde focused and watched the golden chains spring out and coil around his hands and arms.

'Good, now go through these hand seals.'The woman instructed and Naruto's chain coated hands struggled to follow along with the chain of seals. Finally landing on the last one, Naruto watched the chains melt away into blue chakra that formed a vague fist shape around his hand.

'The chakra is no longer focusing on sealing as is denoted by the gold colour. Now it's simple raw destructive chakra. Smash that wall and save your friends!'The woman shouted and Naruto grinned and thrust his fist forward. Chakra blasted from his elbow as the gauntlet of raw chakra smashed the ice dome to pieces with ease. Ice shards fell as Haku was unceremoniously blasted away. The gauntlet stayed intact as Naruto ran up to his friends who were lying on the ground, motionless. Their bodies both resembled pincushions, but Naruto could see Sasuke had taken the brunt of the needles. Feeling anger swell within him, the gauntlet on his arm started to warp and shape as it became something different. Naruto stalked toward Haku, who looked at the blonde with wide eyes. His mask was already shattered. Haku sent out a barrage of needles at Naruto, who took a crouching stance and reared his fist back. Launching a punch at the last second, a blast of chakra boomed form the gauntlet that now seemed to be sharpening into a wicked piece of gear. The chakra was tightened to his skin to create what looked like a solid blue gauntlet. Blue chakra jutted out into dangerous spikes along the sides that jutted out and back. The top grooves formed and styled the gauntlet further with curved lines following the contour of Naruto's arm. The chakra took on the form of solid plates that slid against each other with each movement of Naruto's arm. As he charged the downed Haku, the fist of Naruto's gauntlet shrunk unto his hand and formed a sort of metal plating over his hand while the palm seemed to retain movement. Two wicked spikes jutted straight forward from just above the two outermost knuckles as Naruto planted his fist into Haku's stomach.

"Cerulean Knight Martial Art: Chakra Cestus!"Naruto shouted the name of the technique being slipped into his head at the last moment by his new tenant. Haku's mouth hung agape and his body collapsed in on Naruto's fist as the blonde dug the technique into Haku's stomach. Just as the punch seemed to reach its apex, a massive blast of chakra sent Haku sailing through the air toward Kakashi and Zabuza's fight. Naruto felt faint as the chakra cost caught up with him. The Uzumaki took a knee and wheezed for a few moments.

'Oh dear, it seems forcing the full technique without proper training has made it cost ten times the normal chakra cost. But it seems like the silver haired fellow will have this wrapped up in short order.'Just as the woman said this, Haku's body impacted the ground beside Zabuza. The young boy was unconscious the second he left contact with Naruto's gauntlet. Zabuza looked over as Kakashi charged up his lightning blade. Growling at the sight, Zabuza felt his chakra surge enough to break the ninja dogs hold on him. Kakashi charged forward with his technique, only to be met with the flat side of Zabuza's sword. The Demon of the Hidden Mist rushed Kakashi with new vigor that the man took in stride, dodging and countering with a kunai stab occasionally, Kakashi was no longer in a rush to finish things. He could see from Haku's defeat that he could focus on the enemy in front of him now.

"Sasuke! Hinata!" Naruto choked out as he finally regained his strength and ran toward his friends. Dropping to his knees beside them, he watched all of Haku's ice needles melt rapidly. It seemed with the boy being unconscious now, the needles would lose their form. Laying them both on their backs, Naruto's eyes widened when they both took sudden breaths in. Sasuke's eyes shot open and Naruto grinned childishly.

"Looks like I saved you this time, Sasuke." Naruto teased as the Uchiha looked at him with a lost expression. Seemingly regaining his bearings, Sasuke tried to hide a chuckle. Hinata breathed steadily and Naruto propped her up against him, holding her upper body in his right arm. Sasuke smiled a bit at the worry in the blonde's features as the last few memories from the dome flashed into his mind.

Flashback!

Sasuke had messed up. The Uchiha had overextended on a dodge and now it seemed as though he was defeated. The extra-long barrage bore down on him and at nearly the last moment, Hinata pushed him to the ground. Sasuke looked up at the girl with wide eyes as she smiled at him.

"…Tell Naruto… I lo-" Hinata was cut off as Sasuke's reflexes kicked back into action. Spinning on his back, the Uchiha knocked Hinata to the ground. The weakened girl seemed to lose consciousness from the impact alone. At the very last second, Sasuke flipped himself over the girl with his back facing the hail of needles.

"…Tell him yourself." Sasuke muttered with a smirk as the rain of senbon bashed into his back. The Uchiha lost consciousness by the time half of the needles had impacted.

Flashback Over!

"Well…What do we have there?" A disgusting voice gurgled from the other side of the bridge. Sasuke was knocked from his reverie as he looked up at the approaching army. Both Zabuza and Kakashi had halted their combat to stare at the approaching horde. Gato stood at the head, his diminutive size making him appear almost childish next to the hulking men surrounding him.

"It seems like little Zabuza could only take down one of you. Oh well, you all look suitably worn out so my men should be able to pick you off easily enough. Get 'em boys!" Gato called with an ugly smirk. Soon after, the army all charged forward with greed in their eyes. All the shinobi present paled at the thought of having to fight such a large force in their current state. They certainly wouldn't escape unscathed. However, Anko chose that moment to step up.

"Finally, I can move! I've got this!" Anko shouted in childish glee as she flashed through hand seals, then bit her thumb just a moment before she slammed her palm on the ground.

'Summoning Jutsu!"Anko shouted as a massive cloud of smoke appeared. From within the swirling screen, a shape formed. With a quick flick of its tail, a massive Navy Blue snake appeared. Before Anko said anything, the snake surged forth and what followed looked rather amusing. The giant creature played with the trained mercenary's like cheap toys that it tossed over the side with its swift tail. Occasionally, it would swallow one whole and screams of suffering would echo from its stomach. Finally, when it seemed Gato was the only one left, the Snake winked at Anko and disappeared. Slowly all present grew to accept the odd circumstance's of the army's defeat. Anko was surely interesting, that was for sure. The woman herself however seemed to be on her last legs. Obviously the woman was not one to have massive chakra reserves and something on that scale probably took all she had. However before she fell over, the woman sent a grin and a thumbs up toward her three students, one of which returned the thumbs up with equal vigor.

"You Leaf Ninja… are an odd bunch." Zabuza mumbled from under his bandages and Kakashi nodded in agreement. He knew Gai, so he was in no position to argue with that statement.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Hinata felt herself regain consciousness as her senses were flooded with new information, flinching at first because of the memories of what had happened. Was she dead? No, the girl knew that wasn't. The fact that the world slowly came into focus to all of her senses proved that. First, she felt she was lying on something that was sturdy, but undeniably comfortable and warm. The girl's nose wiggled as a familiar scent permeated her sense. Then with sudden realization, she realized where she was as her eyes shot open to confirm her suspicions.

"Eep!" Was all that escaped her throat as she looked up behind her at the sleeping face of Naruto Uzumaki, who was currently resting against the wall behind the mattress they were situated on. Hinata looked at the two arms wrapped around her protectively as a blush of herculean proportion burst onto her features. Hinata felt herself grow faint but was able to remain conscious due to a rather loud perverted giggle. Looking across the room she, her features morphed into pure fear and horror seeing Kakashi, along with Anko and Sasuke, all staring at them. She attempted to jump out of Naruto's arms, but found the blonde's hold on her was too strong. A camera flash alerted her to the small novelty camera Sasuke was holding, a smirk spanned the Uchiha's entire face as he chuckled to himself.

"Poor Naruto wouldn't let go of you but he ended up falling asleep like that, how cuuuuuute." Anko cooed as Hinata's eyes seemed to bulge out of her skull. Naruto's eyes fluttered open due to the camera flash and he immediately took stock of the situation. Letting go of Hinata, Naruto slowly stood up and cracked his back.

"Good morning, Hinata." Naruto said simply with a dumb smile on his face. Everyone, besides Hinata, face-palmed at the massive blush Naruto was trying to hide with his nonchalance. Anko watched with a wide smile as the two youth's awkwardly avoided each other's gazes.

"…Fuckin Brat's." Zabuza mumbled from the corner of the room, both Naruto and Hinata's blushes disappeared upon noticing the man. Kakashi waved aside the dangerous atmosphere the two were giving off with an eye smile.

'Relax you two, we're all square now. Zabuza and Haku just wanted to talk with you two before heading off." Kakashi said cheerily. Naruto and Hinata both nodded as Zabuza took a step forth. He reached out his hand to Naruto and the blonde looked at it inquisitively.

"You did good beating Haku like that brat. You earned my respect. And for sparing him, I also place myself in your debt. Upon my honour as a ninja swordsman, I'll repay this debt one day." Zabuza said seriously as Naruto gingerly accepted the man's hand and was surprised to find a small silver object dropped into his palm. Naruto looked at it and found that it was a small silver pendant shaped like Zabuza's sword, with the Kanji for seven scrawled over it. Kakashi and Anko's eyes widened at seeing the pendant that Naruto was examining.

"Keep that on hand and one day when you need my help, just channel your chakra onto it. It's connected to my sword by a summoning contract, so I'll be summoned to your position upon its activation. You only get to use it once though, so be careful with it." Zabuza said with a smirk and before anyone could react to what the man said, both he and Haku disappeared in clouds of smoke. Everyone present blinked slowly as they tried to wrap their heads around what had just happened.

"Naruto, you should guard that thing very closely. Each of the seven swords wielded by the Ninja Swordsmen of the mist is paired with one of those pendants. Usually, they are given to ones lover or close friend, but it seems Zabuza chose to give his to you. Surely, he will be saving you one day, so always remember to have that as a last resort." Kakashi said seriously and Naruto nodded in response. He unraveled the chain, attached the pendant, and tucked the object underneath his clothing.

"Well… this was an eventful mission." Anko droned out and Kakashi couldn't find it within himself to do anything but nod in agreement. It certainly had been a wild ride.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx