'...' are thoughts (italic)

"..." are Naruto talking while using Kuubi's chakra (bold)

Dedicated to You

Chapter 1 :

Naruto was jumping from trees at the fastest pace he could manage. He couldn't believe his team left him behind. Though it was fortunate in the end as he could save Tsunami-san and Inari from Gato's thugs. Still, it was the principle of the thing. He had also learned, thanks to the two bandits that they most likely were engaging in battle right now and he wasn't there to support them. To tell the truth Naruto felt quite angry, a bit worried for his teammates and also disappointed, but that was nothing new and as usual he shoved that feeling away.

Naruto arrived at the finally finished bridge and saw Sakura and Tazuna. Quickly he joined them both.

"Sakura-chan !" She startled violently. Even though she was quite stressed and looking for any movement coming to her or her client, she hadn't noticed Naruto coming.

"Naruto-baka ! What are you doing here ?! And don't sneak on me like that !"

Naruto rubbed his neck.

"Heh, sorry about that Sakura-chan. And I came here to help ! By the way what's with all that mist, did that Zabuza guy come back ?

-Yeah, Zabuza used the same jutsu as last time to call the mist and he is fighting Kakashi-sensei. Sasuke is a little closer and is fighting the fake hunter-nin. I'm here to protect Tazuna-san.

-Ok, understood. Thanks Sakura-chan, I'll join Sasuke to help finish off that fake bastard quick and then we'll both go to help Kakashi-sensei. Stay safe Sakura-chan, Tazuna !"

Naruto ran straight in the mist. He soon saw the dome made of mirrors, and inside it, his second teammate who looked like he was having a hard time.

The fight had been going on for a few minutes now but Naruto and Sasuke couldn't get a hit at all on the ice-user ninja. They were both imprisoned inside the ice dome and couldn't even break one of the mirror to get out. As a result, both teammates were quite hurt by those ice senbons that kept coming at them. Fortunately the tides seemed to turn in their favour.

Sasuke had unlocked his Sharingan and could see and predict their adversary's moves more and more and even got him once in the right foot with a fire jutsu. To be honest, in comparison, Naruto felt quite useless. Yes he was protecting the both of them from the projectiles of the masked ninja so that Sasuke could focus on attacking but he couldn't even get them all, some got through and pierced him and Sasuke. What's more he couldn't get a hit at all. Their difference in level was too much, he couldn't keep up and that was really infuriating him.

'But I am Uzumaki Naruto. I am the future Hokage of Konoha ! I never give up, no matter what, no matter the odds and I'll be damned if I don't try to get a hit on the ice bastard myself !'

Just at this moment the ice shinobi seemed to falter. Naruto took the opportunity and rushed forward. He tightened his hand on the kunai and prepared to launch it at the masked ninja. Unfortunately that had been a faint, the fake hunter-nin threw ice senbons at the blond genin, changed direction and entered a mirror. Naruto barely managed to avoid the senbons and fell backward on the ground. The masked ninja being way faster than Naruto, was back out and sending senbons in his direction before the blond was even back on his feet.

"Naruto !"

The young Uzumaki knew he wouldn't be able to avoid the projectiles this time and thought that this was the end. He'd die his butt on the ground, completely at his ennemy's mercy. He instinctively closed his eyes preparing himself for the pain...

Thompthomp thompthompthomp thomp

...and felt nothing.

"Urgh.."

Naruto opened his eyes and saw his teammate, Uchiha Sasuke's back. The body slowly went down until the black-haired genin was on his knees.

"Teme, wh..-why ?"

Sasuke's head turned and looked at him. A confused look entered his face.

"I don't.. really know. My.. body kind of.. moved..by itself."

He suddenly coughed up blood, his body folding in half. Naruto, forgetting his surroundings surged to his teammate's side. That was when he saw the senbons piercing Sasuke's body and the blood slowly surrounding the wounds, though as the clothes were dark blue he couldn't really see how injured he was except for a wound at his neck. Indeed, one senbon was piercing the jugular and there had been another one that had grazed him and blood was flowing down. Too much blood. He stared. Not wanting to admit the truth of what he was seeing.

Sasuke's body slowly collapsed on his side and Naruto quickly reacted and grabbed his shoulder halting his fall.

"Sasuke...

-I can't believe it... I can't.. die here.. I still have.. things to do. I have.. to kill that man. I had sworn.. to kill my.. brother.. and avenge my clan. Fuck !

-I-I'll do it." whispered Naruto.

Sasuke looked up. His eyes meeting Naruto's.

"I'll do it !" The blond said more forcefully. "I'll kill your brother ! For you ! To avenge you and your family ! You took that hit for me, I owe you my life. So that's only right that I do that for you. I'll dedicate this life that you saved to fulfill your task."

Sasuke stared at him. Tears were falling down Naruto's cheeks, though, he didn't seem to take notice of them. His blue eyes were staring right back at him full of sincerity and determination.

"Take them then. I'll give them..to you.

-What ?" Naruto's expression turned slightly confused. He wasn't sure what Sasuke was refering to, did he mean that he agreed to give him his self-appointed task , to kill his brother in his place ? 'But then what did he mean by "them"?'

"My eyes", Naruto's eyes widened, "I finally unlocked the sharingan.. and it would be a waste to.. let them rot.. with my body, so.. I'm giving them to you."

Naruto's expression turned slightly green.

"What are you saying ?

-It's possible, Kakashi has one and.. he's not an Uchiha. He must have.. transplanted it. Take my eyes Naruto. If.. you're really.. going to go after that man.. you'll need.. every advantage you can take. He's.. very strong. He killed all my clan in a few hours after all."

Sasuke's eyes closed and his breathing seemed to get more difficult.

"I can't do that. I don't even know how !"

Sasuke's still red eyes snapped open.

"Cut the.. crap, Naruto ! Promise me.. that you'll do.. it Naruto ! Find a way ! You.. have to take them, then.. I'll be able to watch.. Him die.. with my own eyes when.. you get to kill him. You're the.. most stubborn and.. unpredictable.. Dobe that I know. You'll.. do it and.. you'll let.. me.. see.. that man die through these eyes.

-... Ok, I understand. I'll do what you want Sasuke. I owe you my life. And, you're my first friend you know, you're also my bestfriend, Sasuke. So you can count on me. I'll do it. That's a promise of a lifetime. And you know that I don't go back on my word. That's my nindo. We'll do it together. I'll definitely show you a time when your clan have been avenged and you'll be able to rest in peace with them my friend.

-Friend.. I guess that's what we are, huh. You might have been my bestfriend as well Uzumaki Naruto." Sasuke half-smirked. The atmoshere got a little ruined, however, by Sasuke suddenly coughing up blood.

"Do your best then, Dobe. I'll be.. watching with.. yo..u."

Sasuke's breath stopped with his taunting expression fixed on his face. His sharingan eyes lost their light. Time seemed to have stopped and Naruto's breath seemed to have stopped as well.

"Was it the first time you saw someone die ?"

The voice broke the daze in which Naruto had been and brutally brought him back to reality. He realised that he was still on the bridge and that the masked ninja was still alive and that they were in the middle of a battle. He wondered why the friend-killer bastard didn't attack him while he was focused on Sasuke.

"It's really too bad. He was a good person. He died to protect you. And he kept himself alive for quite some time with such wounds. He must have been a very stubborn and loyal person as well as a great shinobi."

Naruto snapped.

"What the fuck are you talking about ?! You're the one who killed him !

-Yes, while that is true it doesn't mean I can't recognise the worth of my ennemy. I don't hate you or your comrades. I'm just a tool, and I do what my master Zabuza-sama wishes of me. It just so happens that you are the targets Zabuza-sama has instructed me to eliminate. It is quite unfortunate of you but it cannot be helped.

-Well I don't care about any of that ! I'm going to kill you because you killed Sasuke ! That's all I need to know !

-That's not really true now, is it. It's because you were foolish and didn't realise the depth between our skills and overestimated yourself. You put yourself in danger and had your comrade sacrificing himself to protect you.

-Shut up !

-You even made a promise that you know you'll never be able to keep. Because for that to happen you would have to win this fight and that is not possible at your current level. To make an empty promise like that to your friend is not a very honorable thing to do, don't you think ?

-I told you to SHUT ! UP !"

Completely overwhelmed by rage and guilt at the fake hunter-nin's words Naruto felt his chakra exploding outward and his reason and consciousness fading, consumed by what was in reality the Kyuubi's chakra. Woken up by the strong emotions in Naruto's heart, he demon used Naruto's rage, helplessness and guilt to push him into unconsciously grabbing his chakra and using it to kill his ennemy.

From the outside, Naruto's body erupted with red chakra that shot up in the sky. His physical appearance changed too. His eyes turned red with a black slit in the middle. His nails turned into claws and his whisker marks accentuated. His hair became wilder and his teeth elongated, especially his canine teeth. The air turned heavy and the atmosphere was filled with killing intent and the evil taint of the Kyuubi's chakra.

Naruto seemed to disappear and reappear right in front of the ice ninja, too fast for his eyes to follow, and punched him in the face. The mask broke and the young Haku flew and crashed on the floor. He didn't understand the reversal of the situation. 'Where did his strenght come from? He wasn't nearly that fast or strong a few seconds ago. And what was that chakra?!' He had never felt nor seen such a thing in his life before.

"What are you ?"

But Naruto didn't answer, he didn't even seemed to have heard him.

Zabuza and Kakashi were deeply engaged in a taijutsu fight when suddenly they felt an enormous release of chakra. A paralysing killing intent washed through them like a wave.

"What the fuck was that?!" Zabuza briefly eyed the area in the direction from which it had come from and saw the red pillar of chakra.

"What...?

Kakashi's face paled, he remembered that chakra. "Naruto..."

Zabuza turned back his attention on his opponent and observed Kakashi. The entire body of the Konoha shinobi was tensed, his eyes, narrowed, were scruting the mist. Those same eyes then met the dark ones of the missing nin.

"I'm sorry but it seems that I have to cut our fight short.

-You think I'll let you kill me that easily ? And what's that over there ?! Is it one of your brats ? I've only felt this kind of chakra once and that was...". He interrupted himself as the copy cat Kakashi came at him, doing hand signs and breathing a fireball straight at him.

"I won't fall for the same trick twice so you better up your game if you were serious with your threat earlier, hehehe."

The flames slowly disappeared and Zabuza saw Kakashi finishing another set of hand signs and slaming his hand on the ground.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu ! It was just a distraction to let me do this."

Five dogs appeared and rushed at Zabuza jumping on him and grabbing him so that he wouldn't be able to move anymore. The missing-nin's eyes widened as he saw Kakashi doing another set of hand signs at an unbelievable speed.

"Raikiri !"

"Argh !"

Haku felt his arm burn from the wounds caused by Naruto's claws and red chakra. He wouldn't be able to escape the blond boy for much longer. He knew now that he won't be able to kill him. Somehow he had gotten stronger than him and surpassed his skills. Haku was only defending now, narrowly escaping with his life but getting more and more wounds. He was a useless weapon. He won't be able to fulfill Zabuza-sama's orders. As he was going to completely surrender he felt a spike of killing intent further in the mist and didn't recognize it as Zabuza-sama's. So without a second thought he turned his back to his own fight and rushed to the aid of his master. Being suddenly filled with a foreboding feeling he reached for all of his remaining chakra and sprinted. He saw in slowmotion the Konoha jounin forming a ball of lightning chakra in his hand and running straight to his immobilised master.

"Come back here, you !" Naruto growled, chasing after the fake hunter-nin.

"You won't escape your death !" He was right on his tail when he saw what was happening between the two senior ninjas a little further away. He immediately understood the intention of the ice shinobi and felt a grin stretching his face. He slightly changed his path and began to push chakra in his hand and arm.

Kakashi saw the young man, that he assumed was the previously masked ninja, put himself between him and Zabuza. 'Ah, he's a bit younger than I had thought him to be.' Unfortunately, he couldn't stop his run nor his jutsu. He pierced the stomach of the fake hunter-nin, which acted as a shield and prevented him from reaching his primary target.

As the ice shinobi felt relieved to have gotten in time to save his master...

"Haku, you.. ! Urgh"

...he felt a wet and burning hand grip his neck from behind as well as something dripping on his head. The sensation of that hand was familiar. He recognized those claws and that burning chakra surrounding it all. Considering his current position and the wet sensation as well as his master's gurggle, he immediately understood what had happened. And as death took him, he knew that he wouldn't be going there alone. His master, Zabuza-sama, his most important person, will go with him. He didn't had the time to wonder whether he was happy or sad about that. And as his conscioussness left him he heard one last sentence.

"An eye for an eye."

Even though everything happened very quickly, having his sharingan eye opened and looking, he memorized and understood everything. He saw the relieved smile forming on the former masked shinobi as he saved his comrade from death. He saw Zabuza's shock at his companion's presence and act. He saw shock widening the eyes of the fake hunter-ninja too as a bloodied-hand gripped his neck from behind. He saw Zabuza jerking and spitting blood. And he heard his dead-last of a student's growling voice saying in a vindictive tone : "An eye for an eye".

He then saw understanding and acceptance filling the eyes of the ice-user shinobi as he died.

Kakashi understood immediately what that last sentence implied. Though his brain rebelled and tried to deny it. The facts were there. Naruto had killed Zabuza in what appeared to be revenge, and the last he knew.. 'Sasuke had been the one fighting the ice-user, so...'

"HA ! Not that tough those missing-nins from Kirigakure ! Though I wasn't planning on paying them it still is disappointing when trash like that don't manage to do their job."

Kakashi and Naruto's eyes locked on the other side of the bridge and saw Gato and a big group of thugs, all carrying different weapons and looking eager to fight.

"Gentlemen, I order you to eliminate all these vermin !"

The thugs ran to them.

Before Kakashi could do or say anything his blond student was gone, sprinting to meet the coming herd.

"Naruto ! Come back here !" Seeing the uneffectiveness of his order the jounin-sensei charged after the raging genin. He didn't have any qualms in killing the small fry but he was quite worried about the possibility of the Kyuubi getting out. He hoped the seal would hold on until he could have the Hokage check it.

The bridge was bathed in red and the mist empowered the sent of blood. All the men of Gato were dead. Though a few might have escaped back in the forest or by jumping over the bridge. Gato had had his heart ripped from his chest. His murderer still standing in front of his body, unmoving, but for the drops of blood falling from his claws on the bridge.

Kakashi slowly approached him.

"Naruto. It's over. Come. We have to get back to Sasuke, Sakura and Tazuna-san."

The boy's body stiffened and his fingers twitched. He slowly turned around. His still-red eyes filled with restrained rage staring straight into the ones of his Sensei. Those demonic eyes seemed to be screaming at him all his anger, his desperation, his helplessness, his consuming hunger for hunting and killing. It looked like a tremendous battle was going on between the two different minds that were sharing the young shinobi's body. And that was exactly what was happening though neither of them were getting the upper hand in this battle of will. Kakashi felt like things could go very bad very quickly.

A sudden scream broke the heavy silence however and gave Naruto the necessary push to completely resurface. The Kyuubi's chakra and evilness receded and went back into the seal. His eyes turned back to their natural blue color, his physical appearance became human again and tears fell down his cheeks for the second time this day.

-SASUKE-KUN !

Sakura's voice was unmistakable.

END OF CHAPTER 1

Dobe : japanese insult for "idiot" and Sasuke's nickname for Naruto

Teme : japanese insult for "bastard" and Naruto's nickname for Sasuke

Nindo : philosophy as a ninja