Thunder and Black Wings

Chapter 7:

– Blake Himejima –

We left Zabuza Momochi behind in that dingy clearing. He was sprawled out on the ground, unconscious, while his apprentice—or son, or something—Haku hovered anxiously over him. I couldn't really tell what their relationship was. Father and son? Master and devoted student? I had no clue. Tsunade had beaten Zabuza senseless, then used some special medical jutsu on him that made him look dead even though he wasn't. 

Haku would take him back to Gato and report their so-called failure, and Gato would be none the wiser until it was too late.

"All according to keikaku…" I muttered, chuckling to myself as we walked. Tsunade and Shizune both glanced my way, but they didn't comment. We had a long walk ahead of us, and we were all lost in our own thoughts.

Eventually, we made our way to the Land of Waves' main village, and I realized the place was a total dump. I'd never seen such a stark contrast. From the outside, the Land of Waves looked peaceful enough—misty shores, calm waters, and wooden bridges that stretched out into the distance. But once we entered the village proper, it was like stepping into a dystopia. 

I'd seen poverty before in New York City, but this felt more desperate. Homeless people lay in the streets, so skinny you could count their ribs. Children wandered around in dirty rags, digging in trash piles or begging for scraps. I caught a rancid odor in the air that made me want to gag.

"God, this is depressing," I said quietly. I looked at Tsunade, who seemed just as disturbed. Shizune walked on Tsunade's other side, clutching TonTon against her chest. The pig squirmed and let out anxious little grunts, as if he knew something was off.

Tsunade gestured at a row of rundown stalls. Each one sold fish that looked half-rotten at best. "You said we stopped by here years ago, Shizune," she said. "I think I would've remembered a hellhole like this."

Shizune nodded and kept her eyes forward. "It must've changed a lot since then. Maybe Gato's influence is stronger now. I remember it being nicer too. Not fancy, but not… this."

A few villagers stared at TonTon like he was the answer to all their problems. I saw at least three pairs of hungry eyes locked onto his plump little body. He was basically fresh meat walking around in a place where nobody had eaten properly in weeks. 

Shizune noticed too. She tightened her hold on TonTon. "I'm going to find a place for us to stay," she told Tsunade. "Maybe an inn, if that's even an option. Otherwise, I'll see if there's an abandoned building or somewhere safe we can hole up."

I frowned as I glanced around. "I don't like the looks we're getting. This neighborhood's a bit too rough to be sleeping in, if you catch my drift."

Tsunade agreed. She suggested we look for somewhere on the outskirts of the village. "Or maybe we just find someone with a halfway decent place and offer them enough cash to let us stay the night," she added. "It's not like they'd turn down free money in a place like this."

Shizune sighed. "I'll do my best." She looked down at TonTon. The pig was practically trembling because of all the hungry stares. "This little one definitely doesn't want to be here, not with all these hungry people sizing him up like dinner." She gave us a small nod, then walked off quickly, not wanting to stay on the streets any longer than she had to.

That left me alone with Tsunade. She smirked and reached out to grab my hand. I blushed a little, still not entirely used to the idea that I was dating this gorgeous older woman. And of course I didn't forget I was also involved with Shizune, though that dynamic was still developing in its own way. 

Life had gotten complicated, but it was worth it.

I squeezed Tsunade's hand back as we walked. "I doubt you'll find any entertainment here," I told her. "Feels like everybody's just trying not to die. It's messed up."

She nodded. "I know. I don't like seeing this. Gato's got a lot to answer for." She paused to stare at a group of children rummaging through a broken cart. One little boy was chewing on what might've been moldy bread. "Hopefully, once we deal with him, these people can start rebuilding."

I couldn't stop wondering how a coastal town in the Land of Waves ended up starving. "Doesn't make sense," I said. "They're surrounded by the ocean. You'd think they'd have fish. Sure, maybe money's tight, but they shouldn't be starving to death. Unless…"

"Unless Gato destroyed their boats and stopped anyone from fishing," Tsunade finished for me. "He wants total control. If these people can't fish, they have to buy from him. And if they can't buy, he doesn't care, apparently. He'd rather keep them weak so they don't fight back."

I shrugged. "He's an idiot if he thinks starving out the population is the best way to become Daimyo. But I guess that's his plan."

We continued on until we reached what was left of the docks. It was no surprise that we were right. The pier was almost completely destroyed. Charred debris littered the shoreline. What used to be fishing boats were piled up, blackened and sinking into the muck.

Although, one boat stood out in the bay. 

A fancy-looking yacht with large sails. It sat in the water like some arrogant monument to whoever owned it. A couple of thugs were on the bow, brandishing machetes while they scanned the coastline. They looked bored, but alert enough not to let anyone sneak up. They wore ragged clothes but had decent weapons.

"What do you want to bet that's Gato's ship?" I asked Tsunade, pointing at the yacht.

She rolled her eyes. "That's a sucker's bet even for me. It's obviously his." She folded her arms over her chest. "You want to sink that fancy yacht?" she asked with a smirk. "It might make you feel better."

I felt my lips curl into a grin. "Absolutely!"

She pointed at the two thugs. "They look like regular punks to me. Probably can't even use chakra. You'll be fine."

My wings were still aching from all the flying I'd done recently, but I couldn't pass this up. Two black, feathery wings sprouted from my back, stretching out. I gave them a quick flex, ignoring the dull throb in my muscles, then lifted off the ground. A dark Lightspear formed in my right hand. It always felt good to channel that power after having it blocked for so long.

I soared across the bay. The thugs on deck spotted me right away and started shouting.

"Who the fuck are you?" one yelled, gripping his machete.

The other pointed at me. "Pretty boy with wings? What a fucking fairy! You here to start shit? Get down here so we can carve you up!"

I hovered a safe distance away, ignoring their insults. "No thanks," I said, trying to sound calm. "I think I'll just do my business from up here." I reeled back and hurled my lightspear at the hull near the waterline. It ripped through the wooden boards, burning hot as it disappeared into the boat. Immediately, water began to seep in, but it wasn't fast enough, so I conjured another spear.

The men kept screaming, calling me a piece of trash ninja, threatening me with every curse in the book. One of them picked up a crossbow from somewhere on deck, but he seemed to have trouble aiming it at a flying target. I threw another spear and another, watching them punch hole after hole into the yacht's hull.

The boat started to list, and the men got frantic. They shouted for me to come down and fight like a man, but I just smirked and kept throwing my spears. I counted ten in total before my energy reserves dipped. That was enough. The yacht was taking on so much water that it tilted at a dangerous angle. The sails flapped uselessly in the wind at that point.

"Shit!" one of the thugs yelled. He tried to leap overboard, but he got tangled in some ropes. The other managed to dive in. The first thug managed to follow after him, narrowly escaping going down with the ship.

They both ended up doggy-paddling, trying to swim toward the far side of the bay. They swore at me the entire time, promising that Gato would send assassins after me, that my whole family would die…

Feeling satisfied, I flew back to Tsunade's side. My wings retracted with a slight burning sensation. Tsunade gave me a playful kiss on the cheek. "Nice work," she said. 

She reached into her pouch and pulled out two kunai. With a casual flick of her wrists, she hurled them at the men who were still swimming. They screamed a second later, and then there was just silence. Both bodies floated face-down in the water.

"It's probably better that Gato doesn't know what we look like yet," Tsunade said, brushing off her hands. "No witnesses, no problem." She glanced at me. "Besides, my reputation tends to precede me, even in foreign countries. If he realizes the legendary sucker—I mean, the legendary medical-nin is in town, he might get spooked."

I nodded, still catching my breath. "Yeah. I guess we should keep a low profile… as low as we can manage after sinking his ship."

She rolled her shoulders, looking proud of herself. "I'm sure it'll be fine. I doubt we'll run into any surprises until Gato hires his replacement ninja at the very least."

…

"Ah crap…" Tsunade groaned. "I forgot about them..."

We had been following what we thought were Shizune's footprints leading out of the beaten-down village. Instead, we veered off somewhere and ran into a surprise we definitely hadn't expected: a team of leaf ninjas, complete with a teacher and three young teenage kids.

The first thing I heard was an obnoxiously loud yell from a short blonde kid with spiky hair, an ugly orange jumpsuit. He thrust a finger in our direction. "Who the hell are you two?!" he barked, eyes narrowed like we'd just crawled out of the nearest ditch.

I glanced over at Tsunade. She raised an eyebrow at him, but said nothing. 

Instead, she glanced at the leader, a tall guy with messy silver hair styled to stick up, a mask covering the lower half of his face and even one of his eyes. There was also a quiet boy with dark hair and a moody expression, and a girl with pink hair who looked torn between yelling at the blonde kid or paying attention to Tsunade.

The silver-haired one eyed us carefully, taking in Tsunade's features. His single exposed eye widened in recognition. "Lady Tsunade," he said, addressing her by name. "I'm surprised to see you in the Land of Waves, of all places." He offered a friendly wave, but his posture was still guarded.

The pink-haired girl lit up, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Wait, this is really Tsunade!? As in, Tsunade of the Sannin? The best kunoichi ever? I thought I recognized her!" She looked starstruck, though the other two kids seemed clueless. The dark-haired boy barely glanced in our direction, and the loud blonde kid just frowned.

I saw Tsunade's mood shift. She wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or annoyed that only one of them recognized her name. She crossed her arms, standing up a bit straighter. "Yes, yes, it's me," she said blandly. She focused on the silver-haired guy. "I remember you, Hatake Kakashi. You got taller..."

He looked like he didn't know how to respond to that one. "Er—Right... And this here is my squad. The loud one is Naruto Uzumaki, the one with dark hair is Sasuke Uchiha, and the pink-haired girl is Sakura Haruno." Kakashi glanced at me, as though waiting for an introduction, but I didn't bother giving him my full life story. Tsunade didn't, either.

Tsunade shifted her weight. "We're just here on a small errand, Kakashi. It's none of your concern. And don't go reporting my location to the old man, either!" She sounded irritated. I had a feeling "the old man" was her old mentor—probably the Hokage of the Leaf Village if I remembered right. Tsunade had mentioned him before.

Kakashi gave a half shrug. "You know I can't just not report it at all, Lady Tsunade. That would be considered treason. But I can… delay my report a bit." His tone was casual, but I sensed he was serious about the rules he followed. Then, as if something occurred to him, he tilted his head. "I take it the two dead ninja we found on the road were your doing?"

Tsunade blinked. "Oh yeah. I almost forgot about those clowns." She shrugged. "They wanted to attack some bridge builder, I think? They were in the wrong place at the wrong time, so I took them out."

A short, older man with a straw hat was standing behind the squad. The second Tsunade mentioned a bridge builder, he let out a quiet gulp and shifted his eyes away. It was obvious he recognized something in her statement.

Kakashi turned that single exposed eye toward the older man. "Is that so? Do you have anything to tell us, Tazuna-san?" There was a note of warning in his voice.

The old man, Tazuna, tried to deflect. "I don't know who this Tsunade woman is, but she's obviously lying," he insisted. His voice trembled a bit. "We didn't get attacked by any ninja on the way here!" He spoke too quickly for it to sound convincing.

Kakashi sighed. "That's only because they were already dead before we ever arrived, Tazuna-san. We saw the bodies ourselves. If you're hiding something, it's better to come clean now. This is exactly the kind of trouble the mission parameters should've included."

"Who cares about the parameters!" The blonde kid grinned proudly, puffing out his chest. "It's our first real ninja mission! I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna be the best ninja ever! You're looking at the next Hokage, dattebayo!" His voice was so loud it made me step back a bit.

I snorted and raised an eyebrow. The dark-haired boy next to Naruto hissed at him. "Shut it, dweeb," he muttered. 

"No you shut it, Teme!"

"No you!"

Clearly, they butted heads regularly…

Next thing I knew, they started going at it. They literally shoved each other, pressing their foreheads together while growling a string of childish insults. Then they actually dropped to the ground, rolling around, each trying to get the upper hand while the pink-haired girl, Sakura, watched on and cheered.

"Go, Sasuke-kun!" 

Tsunade and I stared at them. I'd seen petty fights before, but these two were unbelievably unprofessional, especially in front of a client. The old man, Tazuna, stood there awkwardly, torn between obviously wanting to tell them to stop and trying not to be noticed by Tsunade again.

Kakashi pinched the bridge of his nose. "All right, that's enough, you two." He spoke lazily, but there was a hint of authority. "Seriously, you're in front of one of the Legendary Sannin, and you're making a scene like a bunch of kids." He paused, then sighed. "Which you are, but still… come on."

Naruto hopped back up, brushing dirt off his orange jumpsuit. Sasuke rose more gracefully, shooting Naruto a dark look before turning away. Sakura's face was bright red from embarrassment at her teammates. 

Tsunade shot Kakashi a flat stare. "Your team is obviously not ready for a mission outside the village," she said. "They have zero professionalism and zero discipline."

"Oh, believe me… I know." He sounded depressed to admit that…

I thought we were finally going to split ways with that gaggle of Leaf ninjas. 

We'd chatted about as much as I could handle, and I was more than ready to keep searching for Shizune so Tsunade and I could move on. Of course, nothing was ever simple in my life.

Shizune popped out from behind a nearby tree, waving her arms like she'd been looking for us this whole time. She wore a relieved expression and had TonTon tucked under one arm. It looked like he hadn't been eaten quite yet! 

"Blake! Tsunade! There you are. I've been trying to find you." She sounded excited. "I just met a really nice lady named Tsunami. She invited us to stay at her house for a few days."

Tazuna, the old bridge builder guy standing with the Leaf squad, perked up at the mention of the name. "...Tsunami is my daughter." He looked shocked that she'd offer to host more strangers.

"Of course she is," Tsunade muttered, crossing her arms with a sigh. 

I glanced at her, silently acknowledging that this meant we were probably stuck under the same roof as Naruto and his teammates. It wasn't that I disliked them. It was more about the constant yelling and bickering. I figured five minutes was funny—two days might be torture.

Still, Shizune looked happy about this arrangement, and Tsunade didn't exactly protest. So we all started heading in the direction of Tsunami's house, which, according to Tazuna, was just up a small road near the edge of town. Sakura latched onto Tsunade's side, chatting excitedly about medical jutsu and the basics of chakra control. Tsunade tried to answer each question, but there was something about the pink-haired girl's high-pitched enthusiasm that tested Tsunade's patience. Or maybe Tsunade just wasn't used to being fangirled at anymore.

Meanwhile, Naruto was busy walking next to me with this cocky grin plastered on his face. He kept glancing at my clothes and my lack of a headband. Finally, he just blurted it out. "So who the hell are you supposed to be? You don't have a ninja headband, so you're obviously not a shinobi." He said it like that fact alone made me some kind of lesser life form.

I took a breath, trying not to let his attitude get under my skin. "My name is Blake Himejima," I said, keeping it short. "I'm traveling with Tsunade and Shizune."

"Why?" he asked bluntly. "You look super weak." He turned up his nose like he was the ultimate authority on who could or couldn't fight.

That little comment irked me, but I clamped down on the urge to snap at him. Kakashi, who was probably eavesdropping the whole time, decided to step in. "Looks can be deceiving, Naruto. You never know who might be stronger than you think."

Naruto snorted and tipped his head back. "Yeah right! I bet I could take him." Then he spun around and pointed right at me.

I tried to ignore the challenge, reminding myself that this was a twelve-year-old kid talking. I repeated a silent mantra in my head: 'Don't pick a fight with a twelve-year-old. Don't pick a fight with a twelve-year-old.'

Apparently, Naruto wasn't done. "I bet the ninja lady only keeps you around 'cause you're a pretty boy," he added, looking at me with a smug grin.

That did it…

"Fuck it," I muttered. I spun to face him. "Now listen here, you little shit. If you want to throw down, then let's throw down!" My voice was louder than I intended, but it was what it was!

Naruto smirked like I'd just confirmed all his hopes and dreams. "Heh! You're going down!" 

I glanced at Kakashi, who gave me a resigned shrug, like he'd tried to warn his student, but this was just Naruto being Naruto. 

Sasuke and Sakura both stopped walking. Sasuke looked mildly interested, while Sakura scolded Naruto. "Stop it, you idiot! You can't just pick fights with people out of nowhere!"

Naruto ignored her. He adjusted his headband. "You ready or what?"

I felt my blood pumping. A part of me wanted to teach this brat a lesson. Another part realized how ridiculous it was to brawl with a kid in the middle of a dirt road. But my pride wasn't going to let me back down. 

Tsunade must've heard the ruckus because she paused and turned around with an exasperated look. "Blake," she said, narrowing her eyes, "please tell me you're not about to fight a twelve-year-old."

"He started it," I said defensively, though I knew I sounded like a child myself. Naruto stuck his tongue out at me, which only made my hands twitch with annoyance.

"Men…" Tsunade rolled her eyes and gestured for the two of us to just get on with it then already. 

…Everybody shuffled off to the sides of the dirt road, giving me and Naruto plenty of space. 

"I'll show you why people don't mess with Naruto Uzumaki!" he shouted.

I rolled my eyes. "You're the one who picked this fight, blondey. Don't come crying to your sensei about what happens next." 

"Rah!" Naruto yelled, and with that, he charged. He came at me straight on, throwing a punch toward my jaw. For a so-called ninja, he really wasn't that fast—at least, not as fast as the other shinobi I'd seen in this world. 

I easily sidestepped and tapped him in the face with a quick jab, using my longer reach to keep him at bay. His head snapped back, but he stayed on his feet, looking more stunned than hurt.

"Ow!" he whined, rubbing his cheek. Undeterred, he lunged at me again, telegraphing every move. It was like he was fighting with pure guts and no technique. I popped him again, this time with a straighter punch, then followed up with a short kick to his stomach that made him double over.

Naruto groaned, staggering a step. I felt a small twinge of respect that he was still standing. I had twice the strength of an average person after all. "Surprised you're still conscious after those hits," I muttered, shaking out my hand. "And you're not even enhancing yourself with chakra…" Maybe he didn't know how yet? 

"Enhance myself with what?" Naruto snapped, breathing hard. "I'm just getting started!" Then he blinked. "And what the hell is 'catra' anyway…?"

Everyone seemed to freeze for a moment at that profoundly dumb question.

Tsunade and Shizune both whipped their heads around to look at Kakashi. Even Sasuke and Sakura turned to stare at their sensei in disbelief.

Tsunade's eye twitched in irritation. "He doesn't even know how to pronounce chakra correctly… let alone understand what it is? Is this kid retarded, Kakashi?"

Shizune glanced at Tsunade, clearly uncomfortable with the harsh wording but also baffled by Naruto's cluelessness. 

"Uh… maybe?" Kakashi mumbled in response, rubbing the back of his neck.

Sasuke smirked. "Yes, yes he is."

Sakura, looking awkward, added a tiny "Uh-huh," apparently agreeing with Sasuke.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "I know what… catra is! Just watch!" He put his fingers together in a single hand sign, and a puff of smoke erupted all around him. When it cleared, there were at least ten Narutos standing in a loose circle around me, each one grinning that same obnoxious grin.

I arched an eyebrow, genuinely impressed. "Now that's a legit ninja move," I admitted. For an annoying twerp, he sure had a cool technique. "But it's not gonna save you."

Before his clones could rush me, I let my wings pop out of my back. Gasps rose from some of the onlookers. 

I saw Kakashi's lone visible eye widen in surprise, while Sakura and Sasuke both stared like I was some freak of nature.

"What the…?" Kakashi said, blinking–or technically winking. "What are those wings?"

Tsunade answered for me. "It's Blake's bloodline. Trust me, you'll only give yourself a headache trying to figure out the details..."

The Narutos all started yelling in unison, calling me a cheater, but I ignored them. I beat my wings once and lifted off the ground, hovering around ten feet in the air. I conjured a dark Lightspear in my right hand and they all flinched below me.

One of the braver clones tried to leap at me, but it barely got half my height before I stabbed downward. The clone vanished in a puff of smoke. 

I didn't even worry about hitting the real Naruto by accident. 

There was this sixth sense I had as a fallen angel—something about being able to tell which bodies had souls and which were just chakra constructs. The clones definitely had no souls, so it was easy enough to keep track of the real one. For now, though, I just needed to reduce his numbers.

"How's that for cheating?" I called out, jabbing at another clone. It poofed away as my spear speared the top of its head.

"You bastard!" the Narutos shouted from below. "Come down here and fight me like a real man!"

"And let you dogpile me? Pass…" I shot back. "You started this fight, so don't whine that I'm playing it smart and winning."

"Darn you!" he whined.

"I can do this all day!" I taunted, swooping overhead to strike the last clone. It vanished in a final puff of smoke.

"So can I!" Naruto yelled back, forming the same hand sign again. That kid was about to double down on creating more clones. But Kakashi must have finally decided enough was enough, because he stepped forward and raised a hand, halting Naruto.

"That's enough," Kakashi said in a flat voice. "You've lost, Naruto."

Naruto clenched his fists in frustration. "You don't know that, sensei! I was just—"

Kakashi shook his head. "You're not ready for a long-range opponent. And maybe if you hadn't dropped all your ninja tools off the side of the boat on the way here, you'd have more options. You can't just rely on Shadow Clones to win every fight…"

Naruto deflated as he got lectured. 

I floated back to the ground. I landed next to Tsunade and Shizune, wiping a bit of sweat off my forehead. My wings disappeared, folding back into my body. There was a dull, throbbing ache in my shoulders, and I knew I was done flying for the day. But I couldn't resist a smirk in Naruto's direction.

Tsunade rolled her eyes at my victorious expression. 

It was a hard earned victory! 

Ok… Not really… but still!

"Yay. Congratulations on beating a retarded child," she said dryly. 

You know what? Fair.

I could tell she was mostly just being sarcastic to amuse herself at this point and didn't actually think Naruto was like that. He was just…very uneducated. It was probably not a good idea for all schooling to end at 12 years old in this world.

Shizune shook her head, but still had a small smile on her lips. "I'm proud of you, Blake. You didn't go overboard. You kept your cool… mostly. But you definitely need some more of that training you asked for earlier! I'll be happy to help!" she added with a cheery grin.

A chill ran through me. Shizune might look gentle, but when it came to training, she was almost a slave driver. "R-right," I muttered. "Why don't we all just go check out this house and take a break for now though?" I suggested.

XXX