naruto pov

the falls were exactly like they had been forever including the last time I saw them. the water gushed over the picture perfect cliffs which surrounds the border to the village in the mist.

the sun was peeking over the cliffs making the water seem golden, if just for a moment... suddenly the air changed and the water began to seem sinister, it was with that change that I ducked to avoid a massive sword...

spinning around I used my anbu katana to block a strike from the sword and for the next few hours of morning we sparred, i was barely keeping myself in one piece with using only my kenjutsu skills.

as if on mutual agreement we both stopped attacking and i allowed my cut up body to heal by rama-sensei and I dive bombed the partially hidden figure whom was watching our fight.

once i was hugging him with my sixteen year old arms I allowed myself to relax and enjoy the moment.

smiling I hugged the 11 year old ice user in relief, there was still someone who was there for me, and in a similar fashion I also dived towards my attacker pulling the huge swordsman into an embrace.

with my frayed nerves it was good to have somebody who wasn't falling apart, i sat cross legged close to the father and son pair and smiled for the first time since shisui and itachi left, and despite everything it felt good.

i spent the next few days travelling with them and learning from haku how he joined water and wind instinctively to create ice.

zabuza and I sparred in the mornings the same way we had for months with me as a clone and in the afternoons we all joined together under the stars to cook food over a fire and enjoy each others company.

it was the third day when zabuza brought me away from a training haku and walked with me as he offered someone to talk to.

it was that day that me even as naru as he knew me actually spoke to him, i told him with a broken voice about the two friends i had made in anbu he was smiling, glad i had people to rely on.

it was when the tears were silently running down my face as i retold the discovery of the uchiha clan that he pulled me close in a hug his own body tense as he listened to find out what had happened to my team.

as i retold the note i could feel the anger growing as the swordsman found out exactly what the teenage uchihas had to do and that they left him with the responsibility of the last uchiha.

i told him how i had become an anbu general after going on solo mission after solo mission. he frowned at me and asked "" he asked me.

and i tensed my eyes flashing red for the briefest of moments as i quoted the hokage i'm on a "" according to the hokage.

he refuses to allow me to do any more missions until i make my squad of anbu that every general is in charge of.

apparently its mandatory that I create one and train them shisui and itachi were apart of that team but now I can't allow them to join it until their mission is complete.

i grimaced and pulled away from zabuza before turning away wiping away the last of my tears and running off to join haku in training.

it was another week of practising with haku and conversing quietly that i managed to make a shard of ice.

it wasn't much but it left zabuza speechless, and kurama sensei was face palming in my mind, a few mumbles that sounded suspiciously like - only this idiot can defy all known logic of the ninja world and make it seem simple...

we were still mostly travelling during the day and we still came across the random ninja that wanted zabuzas head.

it was on this day however a familiar chakra signature accompanied one of these ninjas. i froze rooted to the spot and in turn zabuza began whipping his head around in an effort to find the cause.

my heart was thumping in relief but also in suspense as the signature grew closer i updated the strength of my naru persona there was absolutely no way this jutsu could go down with whomever itachi was being accompanied by.

it was a few seconds when i saw the tell tale black and red cloud cloaks signifying the akatsuki, glancing behind me i saw haku standing there like he usually does with bandits and easy ninja.

desperately i lashed out with wind chakra and unintentionally sent him into the branches of one of the trees leaving him confused and dizzy.

there was no way he would survive if he tried to join in this fight. we could all feel the tension and as itachi came around the corner i could see the impact of the last year on him, he had deep lines under his eyes signifying his sleepless nights.

his eyes however were a completely different sharingan than what i last saw him with and knew he had acquired the mangyeko sharingan, that was also why i could feel small amounts of shisui's chakra in his eyes, they must have traded eyes in order t keep from going blind.

looking over his companion I could feel the bloodlust coming off him, he wasn't human that much was positive especially as he had blue skin and what seemed like gills on his face but even more alarming was the huge bandaged weapon he had.

the man grinned and attacked us, i moved in time and barely managed to catch zabuza telling me not to fight the shark.

i scoffed and stood to the side, i mean sure i havent shown the older swordsman what i was capable off but i'm not that weak, he's only seen my kenjutsu skill.

i hummed in annoyance and used my mind jutsu to converse with itachi allowing the others to be none the wiser.

na-naruto! you shouldn't be talking to me! but yes we are ok is sasuke ok?

sasuke's fine I told him, but he has a weak genjutsu on him that will automatically break when he gets his sharingan so he doesn't know he knows yet.

really?, how are you doing? hows anbu been

scowling i told him how i was currently on leave because i was portraying self destructive behaviour and that i was now an anbu general.

anbu general?, thats amazing~!!! doesn't that mean you get your own team that can go on missions an d stuff?, if i remember correctly there are only 50 teams per village and our group wasn't one!

yeah... i was going to have you and shisui in it but now your on a mission... actually... do you still have your white headbands?

yeah naru of course i would never go anywhere without it neither would shisui.

keep it, my squad will be represented through that, then your an honorary member of my squad when you come back i choked if you come back you can rejoin any time you want.

please make sure shisui knows and tell shisui that i miss you guys lots and that the buzz from you guys has died down and you can contact me again... if its too much hassle i could always use my fox summons.

yeah naru, i'll tell shisui and don't worry about it, we can still use my crow summons for communication. have you got anyone else on your anbu squad yet?

no... i don't want a squad of people i don't trust... and i don't trust anyone in the leaf that can be on my anbu squad.

i see, still having trust issues, ok understandable, why don't you get only people you can trust it doesn't have to be people in anbu at the leaf it could be anyone you want, as long as you and them are willing.

i smiled to him and he caught it thanks to his sharingan

tapping out a message in morse code was a little difficult as i didn't remember how to do it for a second soon he got the message, - goodbye for now itachi, oniisan-

he smiled looking more alive than before and i turned back to the fight, surprised to see zabuza weakening against shark man.

watching i saw zabuza begin to lose with his arms getting cut from what seems to be a massive scale sword with teeth that eats chakra.

i sweat dropped. walking into the middle of the fight just as they were about to swing there swords again i slammed both my fists down one on zabuza and one on shark mans heads.

i scowled and dragged zabuza away before suddenly a sword came flying at me from behind.

i dodged and growled releasing all of my built up killing intent from the last year and channelled it to the shark

he fell to his knees and his face was pinched in pain, i watched as he attempted to stand and sent another wave at him , he fell unconscious face first to the floor.

i left itachi to deal with his partner and dragged zabuza away making sure haku was following.

when we were a safe distance away i sat zabuz against a tree and helped haku care for his injuries.

as zabuzas eyes fluttered open he sat up and glared at me, "" he yelled

i frowned hurt " " i softly replied

he groaned and ran a hand down his bandaged face. "l" he said

i smiled gently " " i replied

he he frowned playfully " guess your stronger than me then as well, maybe i should be learning from you, cause haku sure as hell should be!"

i smiled shakily and bent my head avoiding eye contact nervously is he mad, does he not like me anymore now that i'm stronger than him... what if he sees me as an enemy now!

" " i changed the subject

"" he said gently as he tried not to seem angry or threatening.

i smiled to him and we set up camp for the night- haku wasn't angry at me for flinging him into a tree, he understood that i did it to keep him hidden and safe in case we lost and he had a chance to run.

tomorrow i would be going back to the leaf village and they would be travelling with me, it would be great to have someone to practice and train with around the village when i'm not doing missions.

-k