11 Chapter 10: It All Comes Together

Chapter Ten: It All Comes Together

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The next morning Team 7 and Team 10 were discussing who would go to the bridge.

Naruto was still asleep, having tired himself out planning things out with Haku and Zabuza. Kakashi had told everyone to let him sleep.

"I'll tae Sasuke, Shikamaru and Sakura with me to the bridge. Asuma-sensei has volunteered to stay here to watch over Tsunami and Inari alongside Chouji, Ino and Naruto once he wakes up," Kakashi said and they split up.

It was nearly an hour later that Naruto woke up and subsequently freaked out over oversleeping.

"Why didn't any of you wake me up?!" Naruto asked Chouji, Ino and Asuma as he burst out, hurrying to get dressed.

"Kakashi-sensei told us not to. He said you'd been up late," Chouji explained.

"Mou," Naruto complained. He headed for the door but Asuma stopped him.

"Hold it right there, Naruto… you were assigned to help guard Tazuna's family like the rest of us," the Sandaime's son told the Yondaime's son.

~You've got to be kidding me,~ Naruto groused. ~How am I supposed to help with the plan now?~

~Don't worry, I filled Kakashi in on everything last night. He'll be able to take care of it until we can slip away,~ Minato ensured the boy.

Naruto sighed before agreeing.

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Kakashi and Zabuza clashed as Haku kept Sasuke and Shikamaru busy. Sakura stayed with Tazuna, acting as a guard.

"Why do you fight so hard for this man? He cant even pay you properly for this mission!" Zabuza exclaimed.

Kakashi recognized the statement for what it was: Zabuza was trying to see if the Copy Nin was in the fold about the plan.

"Our Yondaime once said… to abandon your duty is not courageous. Below the courageous, there is nothing," Kakashi responded.

Mentioning the Yondaime served to be the right cue because realization seemed to dawn in Zabuza's eyes and he gave Kakashi a subtle nod of acknowledgement.

Minato had told Kakasi that they were staging this to make sure the people of Nami no Kuni got their courage back… that's why Kakashi had left Naruto behind. The boy had a way of inspiring people as proved by how he motivated Shikamaru and turned Zabuza and Haku to their side.

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"This is so troublesome…" Shikamaru grumbled as he dodged as many of the senbon coming his way. "I wish I could have been stuck on guard duty."

"Quit complaining and try to think of a way to beat this guy!" Sasuke snapped at the lazy Nara.

"Hn," Shikamaru shot Sasuke's trademark response back at him as his mind whirled with different ideas on how to deal with their situation.

'Naruto told me that the boy with the ponytail would pose a problem because he's too smart for his own good, mixed in with the other boy's arrogant and hot-headed nature, the plan is in danger if they break free,' Haku thought.

It didn't take Shikamaru long to realize that Haku was not facing them with the intent to kill.

'Something is not what it seems…' the intelligent youth thought to himself.

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'I expected there to be people who would attack, but I didn't think this many,' Naruto thought to himself as he and his current teammates fended off the large group of swordsmen that Gatou had employed.

He heard Tsunami's scream and cursed as he realized some of the swordsmen had managed to get to her.

~Let me take over for a moment, Naruto,~ Minato requested.

~A moment?~ Naruto repeated, sounding confused.

~It's all I need,~ Minato elaborated and Naruto conceded.

Within the next few seconds, all that could be seen was a vivid golden light and all that could be heard were agonized screams.

Finished with his enemies, Naruto rushed to save Tsunami.

He arrived in time to see Inari lunging for the swordsmen who were about to kill him.

A quick Kawarimi was all that was needed to save the two civilians before Naruto's Kage Bunshin did away with the goons.

Inari stared at Naruto with an awed expression. "You took them out so easily," he gaped.

"What can I say? I've always got a few tricks up my sleeve," Naruto said cheekily with a wink. "I wanted to say I'm sorry… about last night. You're not a weakling. You're strong for trying to save your mother." Naruto affectionately ruffled Inari's hair.

Inari's eyes widened at the praise and to his shame, tears started to come to his eyes. "Damn it, I told myself I wouldn't cry anymore…" he muttered.

"It's alright to cry when you're happy," Naruto declared warmly, eyes shining with understanding.

The moment got interrupted by Asuma, Ino and Chouji as they rushed over, finished with the large group of warriors.

"Naruto, we've got to go… if we were attacked here, the others may have been attacked too," Asuma said. "Ino and Chouji, keep watch over Inari-kun and Tsunami-san."

The Genin nodded and went about their orders.

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Shikamaru was in his classic thinking position while Sasuke covered for him.

They had tried to run out of the ice dome and that had failed. Sasuke had attempted to melt the ice with Katon jutsu and that had failed as well. Lastly, Haku was way too fast for Shikamaru to be able to capture using the shadows…

"Have you figured anything out yet?" Sasuke queried impatiently.

"I won't if you keep bothering me!" Shikamaru shot back, mind whirring.

Sasuke would have glared but he was too busy dodging senbon and making sure that none would hit the strategist. He found it was getting easier the more he concentrated, not realizing that he'd activated his Sharingan.

Shikamaru recalled Naruto and Asuma teaching him one Fuuton jutsu during their training sessions. While Shikamaru wasn't a Wind type, it was one he could use relatively well aside from his elemental affinity, Water.

He then thought back to something Naruto had once told him during the week when they'd trained together.

/"I'm not surprised your affinity is water, Shikamaru. A calm guy like you is well matched with the element. But you know… a little wind always stirs things up… an uncontrollable force that can't be contained that can even send the calm water into a frenzy or free a contained flame…/

'The wind is just like you, Naruto,' Shikamaru thought. Naruto was able to motivate him when he was being lazy and turn the cold Uchiha into a complete hot head and yet, no one was able to contain his endless energy. He was a free spirit and Shikamaru wouldn't have it any other way.

Getting up with newly formed resolve, Shikamaru turned to the now curious Sasuke.

"On my call, use your most powerful Katon jutsu," Shikamaru instructed his current teammate.

"We already tried that!" Sasuke yelled irately. Shikamaru glared at him.

"Just do as I say," the shadow nin said. "I've got an idea."

Sasuke didn't appreciate being told what to do but if Shikamaru's idea worked… "Fine," he conceded.

Shikamaru followed Haku's movements with his eyes, trying to find the right timing to go about his plan.

A minute later, he'd gathered all the information he'd needed.

"Now!" Shikamaru ordered, going through hand signs at the same time Sasuke went through his.

"Katon: Gokyakyu no Jutsu!"

"Fuuton: Daitoppa!"

The timing of the attacks was such that they mixed together so perfectly that even Shikamaru was surprised by how brilliant the newly formed fireball became as it struck the ice mirror Haku had just entered, shattering it and sending the stunned Hyouton user skidding across the bridge.

"They broke Haku's mirrors?" Zabuza stated, sounding stunned.

While Kakashi was glad the two Genin had found an impressive way to get out of their predicament, he wondered how this would affect the plan.

"Sasuke-kun did it!" Sakura squealed while Inner Sakura celebrated alongside her.

'As would be expected of him, Shannaro!' Inner Sakura yelled with a large, manic grin.

'What am I? Chopped liver?' Shikamaru thought before sighing. 'Troublesome…'

"It's over for you!" Sasuke cried, lunging at a weakened Haku with a kunai.

"Haku!" Zabuza couldn't help but exclaim, fearing for his apprentice.

He needn't have worried.

Sasuke's eyes widened as he found Naruto defending Haku against him.

"What the hell, dobe? Get out of the way!" the Uchiha growled, glaring with his Sharingan eyes, aiming to intimidate the blonde.

No such luck.

"I won't," Naruto shot back.

"Naruto-baka, stop being stupid and let Sasuke deal with that ice bastard!" Sakura yelled angrily.

"Sorry but that's a no-can-do," the blonde retorted.

"Last chance, usoratonkachi. Get out of the way or I'll be forced to move you myself," the avenger warned.

"Go ahead and try," Naruto challenged. Sasuke gritted his teeth.

"Fine… don't say I didn't warn you," he scowled about to make his move when he felt a hard blow to the stomach, courtesy of Minato himself, knocking him out instantly.

Naruto, Kakashi, Haku and Zabuza, who were the only ones who could see the Yondaime, flinched in sympathy for the Uchiha – but only just.

~You over did it, Tou-san,~ Naruto reprimanded. ~Besides… I could have done that myself.~

Minato was completely unrepentant. ~He deserved it,~ he said. ~That was revenge for him kissing you.~

~Sometimes, I wonder who's the child, you or Naruto?~ Kyuubi sighed.

~Come on, you can't say he didn't have it coming,~ Minato defended himself.

~You just wanted to take out your anger towards the Uchiha clan on the only one left within reach,~ Kyuubi said.

~You hate the Uchiha clan too, you now,~ Minato pointed out.

~Yes,~ Kyuubi agreed. ~But the one who will be blamed for your actions will be Naruto.~

It was only with that little piece of knowledge that Minato finally looked chastised.

"What did you do that for, Naruto?" Sakura screamed, enraged by the sight of the unconscious Sasuke.

Naruto didn't get the chance to answer because that was when they noticed the arrival of a bunch of new threats.

Gatou had finally arrived, alongside countless numbers of his hired goons.

"Looks like things are getting interesting, hmm?" Gatou sneered, eyes raking over all of the shinobi.

"Gatou, what are you doing here?" Zabuza asked, playing his part.

"The plan has changed, Zabuza… well actually, this is what I planned to do from the very beginning. I'm going to kill you and everyone here… that way I don't need to pay for your services and still get what I want," Gatou declared smugly.

~Just as we thought,~ Naruto thought with narrowed eyes. Seeing the man up close and personal… seeing how despicable he was… really ticked the blonde off.

"Hiring a normal ninja is way too expensive and they could betray me. So I hire you nuke-nin instead… you're all so easy to take care of. The ninja fight each other until they're too weak to defend themselves and then I have them killed. Brilliant plan, isn't it?" Gatou ranted.

To Gatou's surprise, Zabuza only laughed.

"Looks like the joke's on you," Zabuza smirked, making Asuma, Shikamaru and Sakura very confused. "We've been waiting for you."

With that said, Zabuza, Haku and Kakashi lunged into battle, showing how not tired they truly were. Once Asuma figured out who was the real opponent, he joined as well.

As they deal with the goons, Naruto headed for Gatou, who was attempting to flee.

As he hid himself amongst the fighting mass, he performed a jutsu he and Kyuubi had been working on.

"Oiroke no Jutsu! Kitsune style!"

Gatou stumbled to a stop as he saw a sultry red-haired woman enter his field of vision, giving him an inviting look.

Distracted from the urge to flee by Kyuubi's allure, the business man was drawn to the lovely demoness, drool beginning to leak from his mouth and blood dripped from his nose.

He began to try to charm the amused fox demon with promises of riches beyond her imagination and other enticing offers, not realizing the danger he was in.

Kyuubi pretended to consider the offer by flashing a charming smile. "You make a very good offer," she purred, almost melting the despicable man into goo. "But I don't think y children or my mate much appreciate it."

"What?" a confused Gatou asked in confusion before he saw a large group of hostile foxes emerging from the forest and as a strange shock ran through him, Gatou came face to face with a murderous Yondaime Hokage.

"W-Who are you?!" Gatou stuttered in fear.

"Your Shinigami," Minato said sadistically, flashing a kunai. Gatou let out a high-pitched scream and turned to run only to get impaled on Kakashi's Chidori.

He died instantly.

The remaining goons, a still sizable amount of them still standing, made loud noises of discontent at the sight of their employer's execution.

"You just eliminated our meal ticket!" one yelled.

"We'll just have to loot this town to make up for it!" another asserted.

"No, you won't!" a familiar voice rang out and everyone saw Inari, Ino and Chouji leading a large group of villagers armed with pitchforks and other make do weapons.

"Good job, Inari!" Naruto cheered for the boy, popping out of the henge. "My turn! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" A bunch of clones popped up all around him, producing an intimidating army for the goons to face.

Catching on, Asuma, Zabuza and Kakashi did the same.

Scared by how outnumbered they were, the goons fled.

Everyone cheered, save for a confused Sakura and the unconscious Sasuke.

"What just happened?" Sakura asked.

"Haven't you figured it out yet?" Shikamaru asked her, wondering how she'd been labeled Top Kunoichi in their academy class. "They set a trap."

"Why didn't they tell us?" a chagrined Sakura inquired.

"I suppose because the plan may not have worked if all of us knew. It wouldn't look quite as real," Shikamaru rationalized.

Zabuza approached Naruto, an unreadable look on his face.

"That jutsu of yours… that henge… is rather dangerous," he said, sounding a little embarrassed.

It was then that Naruto noticed the blood leaking through the bandages covering Zabuza's mouth and nose. He grinned mischievously.

"Who knew? Momochi Zabuza, Demon of the Bloody Mist, is a pervert!" he teased, invoking Zabuza's anger.

"Come here, brat!" the swordsman exclaimed, chasing the hysterical Jinchuuriki around the bridge.

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Sasuke was not happy.

Not only had his dobe of a teammate succeeded in knocking him out but it had been to protect a plan that said dobe had created and successfully pulled off, alongside their once enemies no less!

He was more than a little peeved that he'd been left out of the fold, never mind the fact that Team 10 and Sakura had also not been informed.

His humiliation at the hands of his pathetic teammate made him thirst for revenge.

'You'll pay for this, Naruto… that's a promise,' he vowed.

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A few weeks went by as Tazuna and his men finished building the bridge. During that time, Kakashi used his Sharingan to erase any bold memories of Minato's existence from the minds of everyone, save for Haku and Zabuza on Naruto's request.

Therefore, the suspicions Team 10, Sasuke and Sakura had developed had all been suppressed, for the most part.

Haku had been helping Naruto with his Fuuton and Suiton jutsus, even teaching him a few Hyouton jutsus that didn't require his Kekkei Genkai to pull off.

The two nuke-nin had been accepted into Nami no Kuni, much to their surprise and they opted to stay there to protect the shinobi-less nation from any future threats.

"If you ever need our help, just ask," Zabuza told the Konoha nin on the day that they intended to leave. This message was especially directed to Naruto.

"We will," Kakashi said, shaking Zabuza's hand.

"Thanks for all of the help, you two," Naruto said brightly.

"We should be thanking you, Naruto-kun," Haku said. "For opening our eyes." The feminine boy made a subtle nod of acknowledgement to Minato

"It was no problem," Naruto said with a small smile. He glanced at all of the villagers who had come to see them off before focusing on a sad Inari. "Don't worry, we'll come visit," he promised.

"You better," Inari stated, fighting off tears.

"It's okay to cry if you want to," Naruto pointed out, feeling a bit sad himself.

"I'm not going to cry, but you can if you want," Inari shot back.

"Fine… later," Naruto quickly did an about face, so that the smaller boy wouldn't notice the tear that streamed out of his eye.

'They're like twins,' Ino thought to herself as the other shinobi followed the blonde boy.

~You did good on this mission, Naruto. I'm proud of you,~ Minato stated as he walked alongside his son.

~Thanks,~ Naruto beamed, pleased with the compliment.

~I guess I have to keep with my promise then,~ Minato remarked. ~I'll start training you for the Hiraishin now.~

~Yatta! It's about time!~ Naruto exclaimed.

~Don't get your hopes too high up, Naruto. It's going to take a good long while to get you up to the standards needed to use it. You need perfect chakra control, mastery of all seals and you need to be fast enough to handle the rapid-fire movements, at least enough so that your body won't be ripped apart from using it. It's going to be a lot of hard work,~ Minato reminded him.

~Since when have I ever backed down from something?~ Naruto shot back.

~Point,~ Minato remarked. ~Then it's time to adjust the gravity seals…~

~Again? Ah damn…~ Naruto whined crossly, hating having to get used to more weight again.

A/N: I've been contemplating a thought that I feel is a bit of a necessary evil in the story.

Minato and Naruto are going to disagree about something at one point and get into a big disagreement but I'm trying to think of a strong enough reason why. Possibilities I've got so far are:

Minato's overprotectiveness goes overboard and Naruto gets annoyed

Minato doesn't trust that Team 7 is ready for Chuunin exams, hurting Naruto's feeling over the thought that his own father may not believe in him (or something like that)

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