One fine day….
Chapter one
Disclaimer: Listen up and listen well, if you think I own this then you're wrong. The characters are owned by Kishimoto-sama. I'm only going to put one of these in this fic since I really only need to do so once per story.
Author's Notes:- Don't ask me where this all came from, I wasn't going to write a story for quite some time. At least that's what I thought, just goes to show what I know. I'm borrowing a scene break convention that I saw in another persons fics as I think it breaks things up nice and clearly and I didn't want anyone to complain about not knowing where I changed the scene or perspective.
A note of warning, this is a divergence fic, meaning that I'm taking it in my own direction from a certain point, 'Guess where'. Major events that are not directly effected by the main characters in this story will still happen, i.e. the chunin exam and invasion by Oto and Suna, it will be different because, well I've changed events leading up to it.
Um, anything else to mention? Oh yeah, first fic so be a little kind with your reviews please. If I made any mistakes just let me know and I'll try to fix them.
/ Begin the story!! \
Naruto stared totally stupefied at the words he was hearing.
"You what?"
"You have taken my reason for living," the softly spoken words were accompanied by a wry smile, "What use could my master have for such a weak shinobi as I?"
"So you get beaten once and you're all like, just kill me? Like there's nothing you can do? You wuss!"
"I wouldn't expect you to understand. He is my only reason for living, without knowing him I would have died a long time ago. My only reason to exist is to do his bidding, kill who he tells me, die when he tells me. How can you understand that?"
"You're right, I can't figure you out at all. You talk as if you're just a tool, like this kunai," he motioned with the weapon in his hand.
"You're right, that's exactly what I am, that's what all shinobi are," the tone of the young boys' voice never faltered as he explained his ethos.
"That's bullshit! Ninja aren't just tools, not if you don't let yourself become one. We're humans, we got emotions and compassion, and, and, uh, we ain't mindless killing machines no matter what people try to tell us! Dattebayo!!"
"Oh how nice it would be if that were true, but I'm afraid you're naïve if you believe that. I am just a tool like I said, and I have outlived my usefulness. I wish to die, at least by the hand of the one who vanquished me. Please give me that much."
"I can't, no, I won't kill ya!"
"I see, I was wrong. You are not strong like I first thought. I believed that you understood what I told you a few days ago but I see I was mistaken."
"Hey! What d'ya mean I'm not strong."
"You are trying to show me mercy aren't you? You think that to leave me alive like this is a mercy, that I can repent and find another purpose? Then you're a fool! To leave me like this would be the cruellest fate you could imagine," Naruto looked at Haku with a sceptical expression, he'd lived through the cruellest fate he could imagine and was in fact still living in it and you didn't see him having a private pity party.
"Hah! Shows what you know!"
"Hmmm, well maybe I should prove my point since you aren't going to kill me," the missing nin turned away and started to hobble away.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?"
"I'm going to kill the girl since you won't protect your precious people, I'll make sure she dies slowly," he managed to put a vindictive edge into the last few words and then turned away to continue a journey he knew he didn't have the chakra to make. A moment later he smiled in satisfaction as he felt a massive chakra spike roar into being at his back.
Naruto couldn't believe what he'd just been told and it took a moment for the full intent of the words to penetrate his mind but when they did his fury knew no bounds. It was ten times worse than when the Uchiha bastard was killed, this was one of his precious people, one he'd protect at the cost of his own life a thousand times over. He didn't even ask the Kyubi for power, he just reached into the seal and tore out what he wanted. The exhilaration of the power flowing through his body, the sound as his blood roared as his heartbeat sped up and his muscles bulged. He didn't feel the numerous changes the demonic chakra wrought in his body as he became more foxlike in appearance as his teeth and fingernails grew into sharp points, and his eyes flashed from blue to blood red. He roared in challenge as he began to move in a dark red blur that headed for his opponent.
Haku turned as he felt the presence bearing down on him, "Thank you," having turned he could see that his death was assured this time, there was no shock of revealing his identity to stop it and the smile never left his face even as time slowed down. He'd heard the strange chirping noise for a few seconds now, and now that he had turned around he could see just what it was. The genin teams jounin instructor had managed to pin his master down and was about to unleash a jutsu on his hapless master that would surely kill him.
Without realising it Haku dug deeper into his reserves than he ever had before, no longer resigned to his fate, he had one last task left to do, a chance to redeem himself. He'd never know that for an instant he'd managed to open the first 'Celestial gate' and flooded his body with renewed power, or just how close he came to having his throat ripped out as Naruto swung blood-red claws through the space it had once occupied. Haku was too busy focusing on the shaft of pain that exploded in his chest as he shunshined into position to take the attack the 'Copy nin' had unleashed on Zabuza.
Naruto stumbled as his fist met nothing but air and then turned panicked at the thought that he'd been tricked again. Looking towards Sakura and the old man she was protecting he could see that Haku hadn't headed that way as he'd first thought. So where? Turning he scanned the bridge carefully until he came across the frozen tableau of his sensei with his fist pushed through the right side of Haku's chest and behind him the pinned body of the 'Demon of the Bloody Mist' as he callously watched his tool die a painful death.
/ Zabuza \
"You said my future was death? Heh, heh, but you've missed again, Kakashi."
Kakashi was staring at the mortally wounded youth in disbelief as said youth glared balefully right back at him, 'He jumped between… To save Zabuza?'
Zabuza closed his eyes for an instant before he opened them again, a movement so brief that if Kakashi had blinked he swore he would have missed it, and then the missing nin spoke.
"Heh, heh, that was brilliantly done Haku," he didn't need to see the smile that formed on his underlings face at those words, he just knew that Haku was pleased that he'd done something for his master in the end, of course neither of the jounin knew all that he'd done, not yet anyway. Then the energy just seemed to leave his young body and he sagged dragging Kakashi's arm down with the weight.
'The boy….is he dead?' he peered closer and noted that Haku was barely clinging to life even as the grip the boy held on his arm slipped a little due to lack of strength. The next thing he heard was a sound that instantly made him more wary as Zabuza shifted the grip on the hilt of his massive sword, 'Damn, he's going to come right through the kid to get to me!'
"I really did find a treasure in that gutter…" the large man yelled as he began to swing the sword downwards, "To think that he'd give me this marvellous chance in the end!!"
Kakashi wasn't going to stand around and wait for some big ass sword to end his life but he also didn't want the boys' body to be destroyed by it either, so he crouched down a little and wrapped his arms around the inert body. It was when he went to leap away that he discovered that the boy had frozen the deep puddle of water he'd been standing in thus trapping both of his feet, he let go of the body startled at the situation, even as his reflexes pulled out a kunai to attempt to deflect the zanbato since he didn't have time for even the weakest jutsu. The weight of the massive blade was too much for him as he felt his wrist snap violently, the sword barely paused as the hilt crashed into Haku's body pushing him aside as the blade itself cut into Kakashi's shoulder shattering the bones and severing arteries, blood sprayed from the wound in all directions.
Kakashi couldn't believe what had happened, it wasn't supposed to end like this, there was so much he wanted to do, so many regrets he wanted to abate. His eyesight fading even as he watched Zabuza turn towards the remainder of his team. He wanted to scream out a protest but couldn't find the strength to even do that much as his knees gave way and he crashed to the ground, the cold shock of blood loss already taking him, his eyesight faded fully and he knew no more.
Haku knew he was dead, no healer could cure the damage done to him in time to save his life, and he had no regrets. He'd done what he felt he needed to do. He'd saved Zabuza just like Zabuza had saved him all those years ago. Kakashi wasn't the only one who watched the swordsman turn towards the genin team Kakashi had brought with him, but unlike Kakashi he had just enough strength to voice his protest, even though it came out as a weak rasp.
"No…." Zabuza hearing the word turned around to face his apprentice, "Don't kill…" the words faded away as his dark brown eyes closed for the last time, the last thing he saw was the beloved face of the man he'd come to think of as his father.
The older mans' face softened as he looked down at the boy, his sole companion of five years. How could he refuse? It was his death wish after all. He would honour it, the genin would live, but the old man had to die or all of this was in vain.
"Hand over the old man and I'll let you live," he stated coldly as he turned towards the pink-haired girl. Just like his apprentice he felt the wave of malevolent chakra as it washed from the short blonde, "Seems I'll have to deal with your team-mate first though," and dismissed the weak girl from his mind which turned out to be a mistake as she launched a volley of kunai at his exposed back, none of which hit as he positioned the flat of his blade to intercept the incoming weapons using his remaining chakra he disappeared and moved past Sakura, the only evidence of his passing was a scream and spray of blood as the kunai held in her severed hand clattered to the cold stone of the bridge. The bridge builder didn't even see the massive blade as the jounin continued its swing through his body, nor did he feel any pain as he died instantly.
Turning away from the fallen pair he walked back towards Naruto who having seen his team-mate injured had reached further into the seal and pulled out even more of the demonic chakra. This turned out to be a mistake as the wear and tear the demonic chakra wrought on his body became too much and the symptoms of chakra poisoning set in causing a wave of fiery pain to flow and ebb through his body. The changes in his physique faded and as Zabuza approached he watched the blonde double over in agony.
"Aiiiiieeeeee!" the jinchuuriki collapsed to his knees as the agony threatened to tear his mind apart.
Zabuza didn't know what had just happened, to be truthful he didn't care too much other than to note that the kid was obviously a pathetic shinobi if he allowed a little fear to do that to him. "To think I thought you would be a threat. Phhft, you're nothing but a coward!" In an act of utter contempt the missing nin turned his back on his opponent and headed towards his protégé to pick him up. It was time to leave, moments later a swirl of mist rose from the bridge and the ninja from Kiri disappeared without a trace. Being gone meant that Zabuza missed the moment when Naruto gained back a little control of himself and looked up with hate filled red tinged eyes, his chakra claws gouging deep scores in the stonework of the bridge as he surveyed the damage.
"Kill you!" he growled as his vision faded again and unconsciousness took him. It was a promise, a vow or maybe a prophetic statement but for just a moment the chakra shell around him spasmed before dissipating fully.
/ Sasuke \
A few minutes after Naruto passed out the last of the Uchiha clan sat up groggily, an act he wasn't expecting since he'd fallen into the trap laid by Haku. 'Damn dobe, couldn't stay out of trouble for more than a moment and I had to go in and save his worthless ass, again.'
His mind flashed back to the thought of Haku being free to do whatever and looked around slightly panicking until he noticed that the ice mirrors were gone and so was the ice user. Looking around he began to see signs of the struggle that had ensued outside the ice prison he'd been trapped in, and froze. He was in motion before he even had time to think of a plan in case one was needed. First he went to check on the fallen body of their sensei, if he needed help he'd rather have the jounin than either of his team-mates. It didn't take long for him to discover that Kakashi wouldn't be helping anyone ever again. The pool of congealing blood showed that the silver haired ninja was dead. Looking around he checked Naruto next, at least he would be of some use in a fight, but again he found that the person wouldn't be any help but at least he was only unconscious and breathing steadily. Sakura was next and here he found the first of his conscious team-mates, though she was fully focused on the wound she'd received as she applied pressure to the stump trying to stop the blood loss.
"Hey Sakura. Sakura? Sakura!" he yelled the last hoping to startle her, it worked as she looked up with a whimper as the pain filtered through her shock.
"Sasuke?" she whispered hoarsely as her eyes widened at his presence.
"Yeah, it's me. Looks like you need a medic, so just hold on," he straightened up and was about to head off in search of a doctor when he decided it would be quicker to take her to the doctor instead.
"Naruto?" she asked quietly before her eyes drifted to the senbon still piercing his flesh, not that she could blame him since they looked both painful and precarious. She wouldn't want to be the one taking them out without knowing how much more damage she might do to him
"Hn, the dobe's alright, just knocked out. Just keep the pressure on that while I get you up." He had to wonder just how the hell he was going to do that without hurting her more. It took a while but Sakura was eventually brought to her feet. "I'm going to have to leave him here for a while, you need help more than he does and I can't carry you both." Sakura wanted to protest but knew it'd be a waste of breath, he was right, Naruto would be alright if they left him for a little while and she stood a good chance of bleeding to death if she didn't get help soon. Reaching an arm around her slender body to support her as she began walking towards the distant village, the bridge might have only been two miles or so long, but in their current state it felt like they'd been travelling for leagues by time they reached land. It was even slower going once they were on the road back to town as Sasuke needed to make sure they weren't walking into an ambush.
A little further down he was surprised to hear a grumbling murmur approaching them and quickly got off the road, it could be that the villagers had finally gotten some spine, or it could be Gato's samurai mercenaries come to finish the job that the missing nin had started, and in the state they were in Sasuke wasn't willing to take the risk. He hadn't forgotten about Naruto, but there wasn't much he could do in this situation other than pray that if they were Gato's men that they were as stupid as you'd hope mercenaries to be. It took a few minutes but the mob of people passed without incident and Sasuke moved back onto the road carefully checking for a rearguard, that there wasn't one proved to him that it was either the villagers or that the mercenaries really were that stupid.
"Okay, Sakura, stay with me!" he said sharply as he felt the girl draped over his shoulder sag.
"Hmmmm, stay with you," the young fan girl blushed as her mind took the implications of what he'd said totally the wrong way.
"Snap out of it! We don't have time for that crap," he patted her cheek and when that did no good he gave her a good ringing slap that was more sound than impact. Still it did the job as the jolt of pain refocused her mind. "Right, let's get into town."
It took another fifteen minutes to reach the market square they'd been shown a few days before, Sasuke took note that there didn't seem to be too many men around at the moment and wondered what it meant.
"Hey you! Where's the doctor?" the young scion of House Uchiha asked. Several people stared at him in surprise.
"Ain't you one of them ninja Tazuna hired?"
"Was that like a trick question or did you leave your brain in your other pants? Just answer my question! Where…is…the…damn…doctor?" It took every ounce of willpower not to pound the dumb bastard into the ground, before he got the answer he was looking for. He reserved the right to look the idiot up later though and give him a right kicking.
Sakura in the meantime was coming to the end of her endurance, she'd lost too much blood now and couldn't stay on her feet as consciousness fled. Sasuke turned startled eyes on her as she attempted to drag him down with her.
"You.. show me to the doctor now, or I'll gut you like a fish!" The mans eyes bulged now that things had been put into perspective for him and couldn't wait to give accurate directions, anything to get this red-eyed monster away from him.
"It's the building over there with the green door," Sasuke followed the pointed finger and saw a small clinic, the sign wasn't clear but he'd seen enough of them that just the feeling he got looking at it was enough to tell him what it was.
"Was that so fucking hard?" He couldn't believe he'd just wasted all that time with the man when his team-mate was in such trouble. Picking her up bridal style he carried her inert form towards the clinic not even stopping to open the door properly as he kicked it off the hinges. Inside the nurse looked over her bi-focals at the rude intruder.
"Excuse me young man…..Oh my, I'll just get the doctor." The chair she was in crashed back as she rose in a hurry.
"No need, Akiko. I'm here. Now what seems to be…. Oh dear…I see, you'd better bring her in here then," the man pushed open the door to allow Sasuke access to the examination room. "Set her down on the table there," not waiting for the young ninja to comply he rushed over to a set of cupboards and began removing supplies. Coming back he unceremoniously pushed a needle into Sakura's arm and injected the cloudy liquid into her.
"What's that?"
"Morphine, trust me, she doesn't want to be awake when I do this. Now tell me did you bring the lost hand?"
"Er, yes, it's here."
"Good, now let me see it," he took the appendage gingerly and turned it around and then over as his hands began to glow with a light green aura, "I, I don't know what to say….I'm afraid it's too late to save her hand. Maybe if I were better, but I'm not so….Hmmm, it was a fairly clean cut so this shouldn't take long. I'm going to attempt to divert these severed veins so that she maintains proper blood flow," lifting her eyelid he checked for dilation that would tell him she was properly under before he started.
"The girl is out, which is good, I need you to hold her to stop her moving. Just in case, you'll also need to apply a little pressure just here to stop blood flow for a couple of minutes." It took those minutes and a few more for the elderly doctor to find the severed arteries and use his small chakra skills to heal them seamlessly together, then he used a small bone saw to cut back the severed bone before sewing the open wound together, a judicious amount of the mans remaining chakra saw the damage well on the way to healing, but it would still take time before the pain went away and the scarring healed.
"There, it's the best I can do for her I'm afraid," the old man sighed gustily.
"Good," Sasuke said, it sounded callous in his ears as he said it, the wound would probably end Sakura's ninja career but better that than to be dead, "Keep her safe for me. I've got to go and get my other team-mate." With that he rushed out the door leaving a perplexed doctor behind.
"Crazy ninja," turning back to the pink haired kunoichi he took a glance at his watch so he could estimated how much longer she'd be under.
/ Elsewhere – approximately the same time \
Zabuza placed his burden down between the massive roots of a gnarled tree. Looking down at the body he gave a sigh of regret, the only emotion he'd allow himself to feel over the loss of his 'tool'. He'd leave the body here for the moment with a mizu bunshin to guard it while he went ahead and got his pay for this job. Not being the fool that most people thought he was he fully expected to be betrayed by Gato, the man was a snake. The kind of man who'd sell his own mother, if in fact he'd had one, if it meant he'd get a couple more Ryo to his name. So no, he wasn't expecting it to be easy, but he would be paid.
Two mizu bunshin and a henge later he was ready, following the two seemingly injured clones at a safe distance he watched as the guards let them into the business magnates stronghold. As the doors closed behind them the guards turned back to watching the hidden path with evil smirks on their faces.
The big man headed east around the base, totally dismissing the guards as insignificant scum. They were only samurai, worthless when it came to facing a semi-competent ninja, and Zabuza freely admitted to himself that he was much more competent than that. Sneaking in close to the wall he followed the path that Haku had discovered early on in their employment. Leaping to the top of the ten metre wall was nothing as he landed silent as a cat on the walls battlements. A guard made the mistake of being more alert than he should have been and died as a kunai passed through his throat, severing his spine on its way to land in the side of the wooden sentry box. The small cubicle gave off a muffled thump as someone within heard the knife strike and scrambled to gather weapons.
The large ninja leapt out into air, traversing the forty foot gap between the wall and the main buildings roof. Turning around at the half-way point he filled the doorway to the sentry-box with kunai and was satisfied to hear a startled gurgling sound followed by a muted thump as the body slumped to the ground. Turning again in time to land facing the direction he was heading he dragged out the loosened ventilation cover and headed inside. Giving a mental command to his clones to slow down he allowed gravity to take effect and dropped down a sixty metre shaft into the heart of the base, only his fingertips and toes served to slow his silent decent and as he approached the bottom he applied light chakra to the walls slowing himself even further. Walking through the maze of ventilation shafts couldn't have been easier, even if he was bent almost double with a massive blade on his back.
Security within Gato's base was laughable when you considered that he had enough money to build something that would be much more secure. He didn't know if it was arrogance or stupidity that led the rich man to think he was impervious to harm, but Zabuza wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth after-all it made his job that much easier.
Three minutes after he touched down on the outer wall he was looking down through a ventilation cover into a large room that looked much like the great hall of a Daimyo's palace, twenty metres wide and thirty metres long, the ten metre tall walls were adorned with rich wood panelling and silk hangings. The floor was covered in traditional tatami mats. None of this was of any concern to Zabuza though, he was more interested in the fat little man sitting on a dais almost directly below him, that and the two body guards at his back, taking quick note of where they stood and who they were.
Hearing a screen slide open he turned to the entrance as one of Gato's many aides strode into the room and straight up to the dais, kneeling to Gato as if he were indeed one of the Elemental countries Daimyo.
"Sir! Zabuza has returned."
"Hopefully more successful than the last time he did so?"
"I couldn't say sir, though he looks like he's taken significant damage. The kid that's always with him doesn't look too good either."
Gato paused for a moment to reflect on his good fortune before rubbing his hands together, Zabuza didn't need to see the viscous smirk on the mans face as he intoned, "Excellent. We'll have to arrange a reception worthy of the 'Demon of the bloody mist' then won't we," his voice turned oily for a moment.
"Yes, sir!" The man didn't need further instructions as this was almost standard procedure when they were dealing with missing nin. A minute after he left Zabuza heard a shuffling noise that indicated that the two rooms on either side of the 'Great Hall' were filling up with the mercenaries Gato favoured using. He'd be interested to see how this played out as silence fell a minute or so before the entrance to the room opened again to reveal the clones he'd created.
"Ah, Zabuza, and little Haku. How nice to see you."
"Don't give me that crap Gato, I've just come for my pay."
"I take it you've accomplished your task then?"
"Of course, though not without some difficulty."
"I see," the man said almost pleasantly, "Tazuna is dead and the bridge will now fail. That's good. Before we get down to business I have something else to talk to you about."
"Oh?"
"Yes, it seems I have a place in my forces for someone of your ability," Zabuza was startled a little as he hadn't expected something like that from the man.
"And what makes you think I'd be interested?"
"Well you see…It's an offer you really can't refuse," he snapped his fingers and the silk screens on either side of the room opened to reveal nearly a hundred samurai.
"I see, so that's the way it is, is it? Well my answer is…..I'm no mans puppet Gato, and you just made a mistake," the hidden ninja smirked at the irony of a clone saying that it was no mans puppet before he turned to watch Gato's response.
"Oh I don't think so, in fact you just saved me a lot of money. A thousand Ryo to the man that kills Zabuza!" he yelled to his men and watched in satisfaction as they charged intent on getting that money for themselves. With any luck they'd kill the ninja and then go on to kill most of themselves off as well as they tried to be the one to claim the money. It'd save him even more money as most of the men out there were due to be paid or have their contracts renewed. Oh he did so hate to renegotiate contracts they always wanted more money than they were worth.
Zabuza watched as the men got half way to his clone, several of them dying to thrown kunai that the mass of men couldn't evade, then he removed the grill silently. No one noticed as there was a sudden clamour of weapons striking weapons at the far side of the room. Forming a few hand-seals that ended with Ox he muttered a quiet phrase and smiled as the world below turned to is favourite scene. Gato let out a yell as the mist descended since he knew what it meant.
"Protect me!" he screamed a moment later, his two body-guards drew their weapons and peered into the mist, a useless act as they couldn't see their hand in front of the faces. Zabuza wasted no more time, positioning his sword he dropped through the hole like an avenging angel, the massive blade, so cumbersome in the ventilation shaft proved to be useful now as it penetrated the neck of the left hand guard impaling his body and then the blade sunk into the ground. He let his hands slide down the hilt to the cross-guards which with a slight jerk showed themselves to be two concealed kunai, the first of which silenced the other body-guard as he cut the mans throat, the second came to rest with the tip under Gato's fat chins drawing blood and silencing the yelling man.
The battle at the far end of the room hadn't stopped just because of the mist either, the samurai knew they were in trouble, and so were attacking any perceived motion. A minute later when the mist finally cleared there were only three men standing, and each of them were heavily wounded.
"Hello Gato, happy to see me?"
"…"
"I wouldn't suggest nodding at the moment, old man, you might find that un-palatable," he paused to see if the man would get the joke, "But then I don't think you were in any danger of nodding were you?"
"…."
"Hmmm, we seem to be at a little impasse here now don't we? So let me tell you a little story. Once upon a time there was a ninja, and his dog, they were happy together as they worked towards their future. Now this ninja allowed himself to be hired by a great merchant, a man so rich he could hire small nations if he chose. That man had a task that only a ninja could do and so he offered the ninja good money to do this task. The ninja toiled at the task and eventually he succeeded, but lo the merchant was an evil little man and chose to betray the trust of the ninja rather than pay him his rightful due. Now the ninja not being an overly vengeful man sought a way to resolve the situation without the need for blood-shed and do you know what he came up with as a solution so that everyone could live happily ever after?" he prodded the man with the kunai eliciting a wince, "Well are you going to answer me?"
"….the business man gave him his pay?" Gato offered hesitantly, quite aware of the trickle of blood making its way down his neck.
"Ooooh, so close, but no biscuit. You see the ninja knew that the price of betrayal is very steep indeed, and so to teach the business man that lesson he demanded to be paid ten times their agreed price."
"That's preposterous, I won't…." he stalled suddenly as the grip on him tightened and the blade moved again.
"I don't think you understand me old man, you see I'm not asking. You pay me what I just stated or die. It's your choice now so think about it carefully, but don't take too long. I mean this blade is heavy and I might decide that its not worth holding it in place any longer. Mmm, by the way did you know that it's possible to stab someone like this and even though the blade penetrates the brain they could still live, of course it wouldn't be much of a life, and there's always the possibility that the person could drown in their own blood. I think that would be a really bad way to die, don't you?"
"Alright, alright, I'll do it," the panicked man cried. Half an hour later Zabuza walked out of the main gate five hundred thousand Ryo richer, Gato walked just ahead of him at sword-point.
"So, it comes time for us to say goodbye. I'd like to say I'll miss you but we both know that'd be a lie. I will however give you a little forewarning, I intend to make sure the missing nin know all about how you deal with our kind. I don't imagine that hiring us will be a very good move for you health in the future. Well I won't be seeing you," and with that he sauntered off into the forest, he had some things to attend to before he left the land of wave.
/ Next morning \
Naruto opened his eyes abruptly as he bolted out of the bedroll.
"Gahh!" Man that'd been the freakiest, most grotesque nightmare he'd ever had. He'd dreamed it'd been night and he'd opened his eyes to a dark room, then after a moment his eyes had adjusted to the dark, and they kept adjusting until the room seemed to be in full sunlight, moving to the window he'd seen the moon, a nearly blinding orb hung low in the sky as he looked out on the forest that bordered Tazuna's home. He'd slid the window open silently and leapt out, he couldn't remember a time when he'd moved this fast. His eyesight wasn't the only thing changed, he could hear all the usual nightsounds but for some reason it was like radar, he kept getting messages like, 'Frog, sixty metres away, behind mossy rock to our right, Cicada above it ten metres in tree.' In fact the sheer amount of information was threatening to overload his mind. Then there was smell, and thinking about it now that he was awake he thought it was probably best not to think about smell too much as he'd smelt things he never even wanted to attempt to describe.
He kept moving for what seemed like an hour, a silent blur in the dark forest, as he passed the immediate area would become silent as if the small animals could sense a dangerous predator. He dodn't know where he was going but he got the sense that it was important as he headed out of the trees and onto a jutting headland. The promontory of rock pointed out to the deep ocean, and he could sense he was close to his target now. In the bright light of the moon he could see the recently disturbed earth, and next to it a crudely carved stone with just a single name on it.
"Haku" For some reason his dream persona had begun to dig into the soft loam until he uncovered the body of the young boy he'd faced in battle, it took a moment to notice that the body had no hair on its head, and that a bone seemed to be missing from the leg and he wondered for the moment what it could mean. In the meantime his hands hadn't been idle, he'd grabbed a kunai and shredded the hunter-nin uniform the boy had been wearing, then once he'd exposed the midriff he'd plunged the blade into the body and mad an incision, reaching inside he'd searched for a moment and then sliced again drawing out a bloody hunk of meat that proved to be the boys liver. Then to his horror he'd moved it to his mouth and torn some off, barely even chewing before swallowing the meat and then continued until it was all devoured. He'd reburied the body then and began the trek back to the house.
When he got back to the house he searched for a moment until he found the mortal remains of their sensei, Kakashi Hatake and against his own wishes he dragged the body outside where he repeated what he'd done to the body of Haku, with the addition of his left eye. When he'd finished he'd made a few hand-seals he'd seen Sasuke do a few times before calling out quietly "Katon: Gamayu Emudan," the shaft of flame that emitted from his mouth incinerated the body in mere moments. Then with his tasks done he'd slipped back inside the building where his dream had finished with him slipping back into bed and seemingly falling asleep.
He quickly ran through the dream and thought, 'Well that's one dream I definitely ain't telling anyone about,' moving off to the bathroom he pulled open the door and went inside to relieve himself, walking over to the sink to wash his hands he looked into the mirror, where he froze in shock.
Author's Notes:- So tell me what you think, Kakashi and Haku dead, Zabuza still alive, Sakura's lost a hand and Naruto's got a new macabre hobby. What does it all mean, where is it all going. Please review and let me know(What you think that is, I know where the story is going).
Katon: Gamayu Emudan Fire release: fire blowing.