After twenty minutes a mist came crawling from the coast and engulfed the small group as they made their way to the bridge. The closer they were getting to the construction site, the more intense the thick grey fog became. From the edge of the village they could identify the silhouettes of what appeared to be the material lying on the bridge. More and more details came into sight: the schemen of a crane, stacks of steel, joists and railing. Not a single person was nearby.
From the moment Naruto set his foot on the bridge, the veil around the construction site revealed the hectic battle between three ninja. The mist lifted just enough to show a spinning and jumping Kakashi, hastily evading the attacks from Zabuza, who was swinging his giant sword, the Kubikiribocho at him. At Zabuza's side stood the masked Haku, irregularly hurling senbon at Kakashi in order to distract him. The fight was more a game of exhaustion since neither of the opponents wanted to spare too much of his chakra in an all-out front attack.
The repeated sound of deflected needles and Kakashi's tabi gliding over the somewhat slippery surface of the bridge came to an end, when the three stepped into the backs of Haku and Zabuza. Kakashi got on his knees to catch his breath, removing a senbon that had impaled the less protected part of his thigh and was causing blood to flow down the leg that Kakashi had just been able to fully use the is morning. He threw back a glance at Tazuna, who was standing at the very edge of the bridge, as far away from the two Kirigakure-ninja as possible.
The tension, that had been building up, since each of the opponents noticed the presence of the three rookies, exploded in a violent clash. Zabuza snarled, lifted the massive sword above his head and then, after spinning around in a full circle, he hurled the blade at Kakashi. Haku turned around instantly, his left hand throwing a hail of senbon and his right hand forming seals faster than either Sakura or Sasuke could identify them.
Icy needles raised from the puddles of water on the ground; their points sparkling in the remnants of the dull sunlight.
Kakashi, who was barely dodging the thrown heavy Kubikiribocho, realized in the very second he rolled to the side und threw a single shuriken at the now defenseless Zabuza, that he made a terrible mistake: When his shuriken hit it's target, it became liquid until the image of Zabuza dissolved into water, that splashed onto the ground.
How did he...? Right, the Hiding in Mist technique, his specialty.
"Gotcha, you rat!" Zabuza sent his blade downward in a heavy blow, loaded with enough strength to crush the very stone, where Kakashi stood a splitsecond ago.
"Damn it..." he grunted, freeing his great sword with a single effort from his left arm. "Stop running already and fight!"
In a flash he accumulated his chakra and started the complicated sequence of eighteen seals. Kakashi, who was still trying to get away from him, wasn't even able to get on his feet, before the technique was finished.
"Water release: Great waterfall technique!"
Suddenly from both sides of the bridge giant amounts of water emerged as if they were pulled up by an incredible force. Those two columns met above Kakashi's head and clashed down on him with the violent power of a waterfall.
The whole bridge trembled for a short moment, protesting against the sheer amount of chakra that Zabuza used to pin Kakashi down.
While Sakura and Naruto were watching in awe how the gigantic cascade tore away parts of the railing and even took joists of steel with it.
"Is he...? No, not Sensei Kakashi!"
Untouched from the magnificent destruction caused by the water, Sasuke drew air into his lungs and spew a fireball of considerable size at Haku in an attempt to melt his ice needles as well as burning him to ashes with his attack.
When the wave of hot air that was accompanying his fireball dissolved, he already knew that his attack didn't have the inteded effect. Although Haku's spikes of ice appeared to be molten their creator was nowhere to be seen.
Is he hiding in the mist?
Sasuke's eyes were darting around, scanning his sorroundings for possbile hiding places.
"Hey you two! Snap out of it already and help Kakashi!" he ordered the two that were still staring at the aftermath of Zabuza's Jutsu.
"No!" Kakashi emerged from the ground at Sasuke's side. "He'll kill you in a flash if you three go up against him." He turned at Naruto who was openly showing his relief that Kakashi survived the technique openly.
"Naruto!"
"Yes, Sensei?"
"Use your shadow clones to protect Tazuna and help Sakura and Sasuke bring down this fake hunter-nin! I'll take on Zabuza. The boy can form seals with only one hand, so be careful."
"Yeah, I noticed that." Sasuke nodded. "First time I hear of something like that."
"Just don't let him surprise you with it. I think you can easily match his speed and in terms of prowess it should be possible for the three of you, to overwhelm him."
"Hey, are you done talking?" Zabuza swung his blade around, mocking them by casually waving his sword at them until he pointed it at Kakashi. "Or do I have to come and get you?"
"You should not underestimate him..." Haku appeared from a stack of barrels that had been pushed aside as a result of Zabuza's waterfall. The boy took off the Kirigakure-mask and looked at Kakashi's team as he spoke. "Afterall, he managed to damage you pretty badly, last time. I think..."
Zabuza gave him an icy look. "I know." he interrupted Haku. "Now get going and bring me the heads of his little underlings, if you want to be useful."
Both Zabuza and Haku knew that it wasn't a question of 'wanting to be useful'. If Haku didn't obey his orders he'd lose the single person in the whole wold, that relied on him. The one person that didn't hate him. If he'd lose that person, he would become even less then a human: A mere beast.
No! It was of greatest importance for him to be needed, to have someone, who would rely on him and value his existence, even if he were to become nothing but a tool. He'd spill blood for him, murder for him and even lose his humanity for that person.
This was the unspoken contract that bound him to Zabuza and the motivation that kept him going.
"Fine, I'll do it."
With burning determination Haku turned at Naruto, who was building up a human wall around Tazuna using his shadow clones. Eight of them took position to form a slightly curved line of defense intended to cover the largest possible area. In the meantime, Sasuke readied another fireball and Sakura produced shuriken from her pockets in order at least not be defenseless against a foe like this seemingly superior ninja that managed to stop Zabuza's heartbeat with only two senbon.
Yet neither Naruto nor Sasuke seemed to be the least bit intimidated by Haku. He was still wearing the mask that was conceiling his slightly surprised expression in spite of the confidence the two boys displayed. He knew that underestimating them would be fatal, but he could not let Zabuza down. He had just recovered and it was uncertain if he would be able to kill Kakashi in a straight fight after the latter so easily avoided his probably most deadly technique.
Not wanting to reveal too much of his power, Haku started off by throwing several precisely aimed senbon in qick succession at Tazuna, followed by splashes of water that turned into small icicles in mid air, at Sakura, which he deemed to be the easiest target.
Just as he finished his ice-spears, Haku noticed Sasuke, who was spitting a fireball and then directly following in it's wake, using the burning missile both as protection and diversion.
Seeing right through his attack, Haku simply tumbled to the left and directly created a barrier of ice that stood about two meters in height and leght on his right side in order to prevent Sasuke from charging on.
Naruto's shadow clones easily deflected the needles that were thrown at Tazuna, while the real one looked for an opportunity to strike. They just had to delay this until Kakashi eventually overwhelmed Zabuza and could help them. And with three people against him, their enemy would eventually would run out of chakra and have to give up. On his left, a clone left his position on it's own accord, throwing himself infront of Sakura, who was staying there motionles, simply glaring at the icicles in utter despair.
"Hey, snap out of it, already, Sakura!" Naruto yelled, while his clone fell to the ground with his back pierced by the sharp tips of the icy projectiles. With a 'poof!' his alter ego disappeared for good and Sakura, who had been standing there as if she had been petrified simply by looking at Haku snapped out of her current state and started yelling back at him:
"What do you think are you doing!? I could have easily dodged that!"
"Of course... Next time just thank the person who tries to save your life!" Naruto shouted angrily.
Geez, if she just weren't so vicious from time to time.
He looked back at Haku, whom he recognized somehow and it was not just from the first time, they fought Zabuza.
This hairstyle... and if you'd imagine a pink yukata... That's him! But why was he in my dream? And why was he dressed like a girl?
Just as those thought's crossed Naruto's mind there was a crack on the backside of the bridge. Kakashi, who had reavealed his sharingan charged at Zabuza and was tearing the parts of the stone away as he ran towards his target, his hands blazing with electric energy. Beneath Zabuza's hip Kakashi's summoned ninken sank their teeth in his legs, rooting him in place.
There was a sound of impact and lightning flooded over the bridge as the Chidori hit Zabuza's chest. The swordsman sank to his knees with a hole, where his heart should have been.
"Wow, Sensei Kakashi is simply incredible! He defeated the demon of the hidden mist this quickly!" Sakura screamed with glee in complete disregard of the the still living Haku, who was presently engaged in a hand-to-hand combat with Sasuke.
When his master dropped down in his back, he slowly turned his head, ignoring his opponent for a second.
Taking his chance, Sasuke tried to execute a swift and deadly strike towards his enemy's throat. Haku, shocked by what happened around him, ducked to dodge in the last possible second.
The tip of the kunai glided over his mask, as Sasuke pressed onwards, tearing the coloured wood to splinters, where he hit it.
With an angry howl, Haku tumbled backwards, threw away his mask and covered his eye, where a splinter had hit him. With his vision blurred by the pain and the fear of what could have happened to Zabuza, he ran, slightly stumbling in his haste, away from Sasuke.
He had to get to Zabuza and protect him! But when his damaged eyes finally got sight of the man he had been fighting for, Haku knew that it was already too late. Kakashi was crouching over the corps and currently removing the forehead protector with the crossed out Kirigakure-symbol.
Zabuza was dead. Haku's dream, his future and his identity all lied there in a puddle of water, uttering their last breaths. This couldn't be right – it had to be a trick! No, the tapping of several feet that was coming towards the bridge had to be Zabuza leading Gato's men. This thing on the ground surely was a decoy, created to fool the white-haired ninja.
Shades of people emerged from the thick mist. Dozens of people, wielding swords or clubs. Between them, Gato marched, a hideous little man with a black suit and sunglasses. A gnome of a criminal, but dangerous nontheless.
Directly by his side, the gagged and tied up Tsunami was pushed forwards by an middle-aged man in a grey kimono. His stubbled chin and the worn-out gaze matched with the rugged appearance of a freelancer mercenary, someone who abducted children and women for those with money.
Gato banged his walking stick on the bridge and his subordinates simultaneously came to an halt, with the drilled precision, great amounts of money could create in even the most undisciplined bunch of gangsters.
"Well, well," Gato chuckled. A chuckling as poisonous as the small man himself. "Now, i don't even have to take care of this guy. Good news, although I'd expect someone of his reputation to at least kill one or two of these kids. Ah... I guess it can't be helped." He grinned. "Slaughter them!"
When Gato finished his monologue, Haku was already fully ablaze. Zabuza's death had pushed the boy's mind past any reasoning and his hands were cramped in anger, as he yelled out without adressing anyone specifically:
„You killed him! I'll never forgive you!"
Before anyone could react, Haku threw out his arms and simultaneously created seals with both hands. On his right side, water appeared in the air and quickly crystallized. On his left side there was an extreme chill that seemed to kreep on the ground towards Gato's men, while the ice-spears on the right slowly took form.
"I'll kill you all!"
Trembling with hatred, Haku uttered a primal scream and released his missilies at the mercenaries; at the same time, more spears of ice emerged from the frozen bridge at their feet. The air itself was stripped of it's humidity and the water created sharp, icy stalagmites.
The people around Gato were panicking. Their front line was impaled by the thrown spears in the very first seconds. They could neither run, nor do anything to stop the jutsu from killing them one by one, as most of the thugs couldn't feel their feet anymore. Even those, who were near enough to the edge of the bridge to try getting off of it, got their way blocked off by three bigger pillars of ice. When they turned around, giving up their futile attempt of flight, their heads were immediately cut off by razor-sharp icicles.
Gato, who was standing in the middle of the masscre, seemed to be unscathed and curiosly uninterested. The small man remained calm, while his companions were either pierced to death or beheaded and the huge amounts of ice slowly turned completely red.
The rugged man at his side, whom the crimelord remebered to bear the name Geta, did the same: his grey, unchangingly distant eyes observed his surroundings absolutely unmoved, firmly keeping his hostage at his side. If they were lucky, maybe they could exchange her for their lives... No. Gato didn't know why this boy was so angry, but it probably wasn't because he abducted this woman.
Slowly but surely the horrified screams around them came to an halt. The last of those, who had been unfortunate enough to be lifted off the ground by a smaller pillar of ice to be impaled on it's tip breathed their last breath and calmed down.
Gato looked up to Haku, who had slowly approached to them and was now staring directly into his eyes.
"You... were planning to get rid of him either way, right?" he asked in a voice that implied neither sadness nor a threat, just a question, asked out of curiosity.
Gao gulped.
"You know... if it's the money you care about... You can have the whole right now. I mean... It's not like he'd need it or anything." Nodding to Zabuza, he tried a businesslike smile which immediately froze in his face, when he looked at Haku's expression.
"I don't think so."
He stomped on the ground and a needle-thin spear blossomed from only a few drops of water. The ice grew with an amazing speed until it reached Gato's chin. However it didn't stop growing there. After it pierced the skin, it ran though his skull, eventually reaching the brain and killing Gato. In the single second all of that was happening, Gato's eyes widened. It seemed as if he'd only realized that he was already dead and his body was simply following. A small drop of blood ran down his chin and splahed on the ground... strangely enough it wasn't black. He found it quite reassuring to die a human – he, who had been called a heartless monster so many times. Afterall, he was only human.
The merciless, cruel expression disappeared like a shadow from Haku's youthful face as Gato sunk down on the spear, until his skullcap stopped the ice from adcancing.
Geta released Tsunami the very moment, Gato sunk down; his contract had been terminated: now he wouldn't get his money. He had no more reason to hold onto this useless hostage. He figured, he could move his feet again and turned his back at Haku, taking his leave without a single word. The boy didn't stop him and just stood there, glaring at Gato.
Just when Haku was starting to reminisce about his times with Zabuza, while watching the corpse of the man, who had caused his death, he was disturbed by a sound in his back.
"Tsunami! By god, I'm glad you're safe."
Tazuna embraced his daughter and gave Haku a frightened look. So did Naruto and Sakura. They all watched him as if... he had just murdered dozens of people. Only Kakashi and Sasuke seemed to take this slaughter relatively lightly, as they just unemotionally measured him, trying to estimate how much of a threat he was.
Naruto's thoughts were racing: He fought an urge to panick over the massacre, Haku created, driven mad by Zabuza's death. This demonstration of brutality truly shocked him and reminded him again, that death was not something he would always be able to escape from. He remembered how easily Sasuke had been threatening the lives of Gato's followers, as if he didn't care if they died or lived, but in fact he took this as lightly as a game.
These thoughts were disgusting Naruto now – the complete disregard for human life a shinobi was expected to display and that all of this could end every moment. When he made this realization, he quickly glanced to his left and could tell from the look on Sakura's face that she was thinking the same.
This was truly something to be afraid of and – although Haku remained calm and was just standing there... he even seemed to be on the verge of tears – couldn't help but picture this boy as a monster and a mass-murderer. No. Somehow he was like him. In his dream, Haku, whom he believed to be a girl, told him about how fighting for someone would mean to get stronger and be the most noble of motivations. It was hard to comprehend, but in a way, he was right – there was a similarity in their way of thinking that was almost disturbing him. Both of them would sacrifice everything to their dream and Haku had been ready to pledge his life to Zabuza. Naruto on the other side now felt that he didn't even knew what it really meant to sacrifice something. Now he knew and he was unsure if he wanted to continue walking down this road, that inevitably lead to pain and destruction. He would never be able to reach anything without sacrificing something else, but this was just too much.
Reluctantly he shook his head. Nothing would come of him, just giving up now.
"I'll never have to do this... And I will survive."
Feeling as if he had to say this out aloud, he earned the attention of those around him.
And then after what felt like an eternity, Haku moved.
He slowly treaded to Zabuza's corpse, picking it up. Noone stopped or tried to attack him, even though they had a clear advantage in numbers, chakra and techniques over him, something was keeping them from attacking him. It was not fear, but something like pity.
Shouldering his dead mentor and firmly checking his pulse, he was performing a medical eximantion of the corpse that had once been his partner. Haku also made an effort to pick up the reamains of his mask, hiding them away under his shirt.
With a now motionless face, he turned at Kakashi, calmly drawing forth a scroll from his sleeve, opening and placing it on the ground.
„This isn't over." he said, positioning his hand on the middle of the scroll. „I will never forgive you for what you've done."
When he uttered these words, mist started undulating from the scroll, engulfing Haku and making it impossible to detect him. Kakashi and Sasuke however, easily identified the Jutsu. The scroll was replicating the hiding in mist technique and probably an escape tool given to Haku by Zabuza.
Although the mist was blocking their sight, everyone could feel that Haku had vanished. When the fog started to lift, a small boat came into sight, that seemed to move indepentendly away from the island towards the coast of the main land. On board stood Haku, covering his damaged eye with his right hand. A breeze in the channel played with his brown hair and, even if he was already too far away for them to reach him with any Jutsu or weapons, it was almost possible to see the bitterness in his gaze.
Kakashi stood on the middle of the bridge with his arms crossed and his head turned away from the small ship. He closed his eyes for a moment, sighed deeply and then nodded at Tazuna.
"I guess now you can freely build your bridge. I am sorry we didn't capture the boy but I doubt, he'll come back here."
Tazuna, who had simply been staring at the carnage, Haku left behind, nodding and sighing as well.
"R-Right... I don't think so either. I thank you for protecting me and... well, I'm sorry for drawing you into this mess. I just hope, it's over now."
"It's okay." Kakashi assured him. "I'm glad we could help. We are leaving once you finished your work, just to be sure."
"Yeah, if I can get the others motivated again, we might make it in a week or so... I'm sorry, I'm just a little..."
„I can understand that." Kakashi said. „Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto! We're staying and making sure that everything goes smoothly."
„Understood!" they replied in unison. Although the order was clear and simple, it left a bad feeling in them. After what happened today, they didn't know if everything in the country of waves would simply return to normal for good. It had been shocking for Tazuna and his family but the villagers were now free and the ideals, Kaiza, Inari's stepfather had been fighting for, prevailed. As Tazuna told them, his death had been the key to oppress the villagers.
The change eventually came and people would learn to trust themselves again – in the end, not only Kaiza's spirit but also the community continued to exist.
After a week Tazuna had finished the bridge as scheduled. There wasn't a big ceremony to officially open the bridge. A mere sign was planted, labelling it the 'Red Ice Bridge'. Over this bridge Team seven left the country of waves. It had been an exhausting mission but it gave them confidence that they overcame the odds and survive. The did it now and woud do it again – surviving and getting stronger.
-End of Chapter 1-