A New Beginning A NaruHina fic

by ForsakenAng3l

This is my first Fanfic. It's a NaruHina where Hinata gathers the courage to talk to Naruto on his tenth birthday while he is training. She's about to help him when two unknown ninja appear in the training field, battling each other. Neither Naruto nor Hinata know how much of an impact these two newcomers will have on their ninja lives. (PERMANENT HIATUS)

2. The Land of Waves

A New Beginning

Chapter 2: The Land of Waves

LEGEND: "…" speech

'…' thinking

(…) probably authors notes

Italics will purely be flashbacks

- Scene change

"Naruto here. I'm at point A, believe it," Naruto called said over a headset.

"Tatsumi, I'm at point B," Tatsumi said shortly after.

"This is Hinata. I'm at point C and waiting orders," Hinata said quietly.

A couple seconds later Karin chimed in, "I'm at Point D, believe it."

The four of them all sat in the trees watching a small animal from each of the four points. It quickly moved into the brush and ran towards the middle of town.

"He's on the move!" Tatsumi yelled. The four genins all raced after it. They watched it run past a few people before disappearing.

"DAMN CAT!" the Uzumaki cousins yelled, neither one could stand cats; and this cat was no exception.

Tatsumi and Karin took to the roof on either side of the street while Naruto and Hinata circled around the buildings to cut it off. When it saw Naruto and Hinata on the ground it quickly turned down an alley. The four genins raced after it as it ran down the alley straight up to a fence.

"Stupid cat!" Naruto yelled at it as the four closed in on it. It only hissed in reply, raising the hair on the back of its neck.

"Steady Naruto," Tatsumi warned, "We don't want to scare him off."

The cat growled at Tatsumi as he stepped forward. The team was only about two feet away from it now.

"Hang on a second," Hinata said quietly to the others. She squatted down in front of the cat and put her hand out for it to sniff. "Can the three of you back up?" she asked quietly. They nodded and did as they were asked.

"Don't let him get passed you, Hina-chan," Naruto told her.

Hinata simply nodded, keeping her eyes on the cat. "Come here. I'm not gonna hurt you," Hinata said quietly to the cat. The hair on its back smoothed out, but it didn't quit growling completely. "It's ok. They aren't gonna hurt you either." The cat quit growling finally and sat on its back legs, tail swishing back and forth quietly. Hinata stilled held her hand out to it as it took a step towards her nervously. The cat got closer to Hinata and began sniffing her hand. Hinata smiled as the cat finished walking up to her and started to purr as it rubbed its back on her legs. She picked it up, gently stroking it fur.

"Looks like we got him," Rin said from out of nowhere. "Missing cat Tora found. Mission accomplished. Let's get back to the Hokage's office and finish this mission officially; and get our next mission." The four nodded and lept off towards the Hokage's office.

"AWW! My little Tora is back!" a rather large woman said loudly as she took the cat from Hinata. The woman proceeded to squeeze the cat close to her chest. It almost looked as if it was struggling for air. Seeing this earned suppressed snorts from Naruto and Karin. Rin smacked them both in the back of the head with her hands not moving from where she was standing and not taking her eyes off of the Hokage. Even though she thought it was a hilarious display, she still kept her composure in front of the Hokage.

The woman paid the Hokage for the success of the completed mission and left with her cat, still squeezing the life out of it. As soon as the woman left the room Naruto lost his composure and began laughing hysterically, thus earning another smack to the back of the head.

"That was well done you four. This is the seventh time this week he has run off," the Hokage said. "And now we have some more missions for you guys to partake in. Some of these include gardening, walking the mayor's dogs, babysitting his kids, also picking up the groceries for his wife, and-"

"No way! All we've been doing since we became genins two weeks ago are these stupid missions! An academy student could do these!" Naruto yelled, cutting the Hokage off. "We need an actual mission!"

"Do you ever shut it?" Rin asked to him, smacking him in the back of the head harder than the other two times.

"OWW!" Naruto complained. "What the hell was that for?"

"Because you're complaining too much," Rin said flashing him a glare that almost always silenced him. She had developed this trait a few days after passing these four; the back of the head smacking as well.

"Well I wouldn't complain if we got an actual mission and not babysitting!" Naruto shot his own glare back at Rin, which was never a good idea, but in this case Rin would hold her composure.

"Silence!" the Hokage yelled at them before Naruto could say anything else. Naruto fell silent before mumbling something under his breath that was ignored by all in the room. "The reason you're getting these types of missions is because you are merely genins. And you will receive D-rank missions unless I say so."

At this point Iruka chimed in, "Hokage-sama, these four have shown exceptional skills in taking on missions using their teamwork. And from what Rin told us in her report they have some of the best teamwork she's ever seen; even after adding a fourth member that they didn't really know entirely from the academy."

The Hokage took Iruka's words into consideration before sighing, blowing smoke from his ever present pipe out of his mouth. "Very well. I'm going to give this squad a C-rank mission. The five of you are going to be escorting a man back to his home and protecting him while he finishes a bridge connecting his land to an adjoining one. It's only C-rank because you will not be facing any enemy ninja's but merely a small gang of inexperienced thugs." The Hokage turned to the man standing by the door, "Send him in."

The man nodded and opened the door and walked out for a few moments before returning with a man wearing very basic travel clothes and a tattered pack. He had a bottle of some unknown substance in his hand, probably sake.

"What's this? Four puny brats and one ninja? I thought I would be getting a whole team of ninjas," he said insulting the genins. Thus earning him glares from all four.

Rin stepped up to him, "I can assure you, these four are very well trained. You will be under their care for the length of this mission." Her eyes showed that the statement meant that his life practically depended on the four genins behind her with her actually saying so. The man gulped slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by Rin. She smiled almost viciously at her victory setting the man in his place for insulting her team of genins. Even if they were idiots sometimes, she wouldn't dare let anyone who didn't know them insult them.

"Very well then," he said taking a couple steps back. "My name is Tazuna, and I need you to escort me back to my land and protect me while I finish the bridge I am building."

Squad Seven nodded in unison. After they received their payment for completing the last mission, they followed Tazuna out of the room and out to the Hidden Leaf gates.

"Where do you live Tazuna-san?" Hinata asked as soon as they exited the village.

"I live in the Land of Waves. It's a small country with no ninja to protect it, but it can be prosperous at times. Although as of late things have gone downhill. That's why I'm building a bridge to connect our land with the main land," Tazuna explained to them.

The ninjas all listened to him as he spoke, well, all but Naruto that is. He walked ahead of the group as they walked down the road. As they came around a corner, he stepped in a rather deep puddle. "Aww man!" Naruto complained as he pulled his foot out of the water. However, not only his foot came from the puddle, but a hand wrapped around his ankle came with it. The arm that shortly followed flung Naruto into a tree nearby as two Ninja jumped out of the puddle.

"Little brat! That hurt!" the man yelled as him and another guy jumped out of the puddle. They were both dressed in a black cloak that covered their thick camo clothing. Each one wore a breathing apparatus over their mouths and nose. Over one of each of their arms was a thick gauntlet that looked as though it shot projectiles from it. Covering their hands was inch thick or longer claws.

"Everyone, defensive formations!" Rin yelled as she drew Cherubim from its sheath. Tatsumi followed suit as he drew Seraphim as Karin and Hinata stayed close to Tazuna, holding kunai in each of their hands.

"I've got the brat in orange," the first guy said to the other.

"Fine. Just don't take too long, there are others here to take care of," the second growled.

The first one just grunted and went for Naruto as the second ran towards Tazuna. Tatsumi jumped in front of the first as Naruto climbed from the tree he was in. Naruto growled as he jumped up beside Tatsumi, with a Kunai in hand. That was when Rin noticed the headbands on the two dark ninja. They were wearing headbands with squiggly lines in a group of four. Two on top and two on bottom, with the bottom ones directly under the top ones.

'Mist ninja? What are they doing here?' Rin thought to herself. She watched the Mist ninja run towards Hinata and Karin's position. Karin threw her kunai at the ninja who dodged easily. The Mist ninja then fired his own kunai from the gauntlet. As the kunai flew towards them, Hinata jumped in front of them and blocked them with her own kunai. She then threw her two passed the Mist ninja in front of her, aiming for the one attacking Naruto and Tatsumi. She then took a gentle fist stance and activated her Byakugan as the ninja drew near.

Karin made a few hand signs and placed her palms on Hinata's back. "Support jutsu: Strengthening!" she called, making Hinata's attack power rise significantly.

"Eight Trigrams: 2 Palms!" Hinata yelled, slamming two of her palms into the Mist ninjas arm. "4 Palms! 8 Palms! 16 Palms!" Hinata's last palm struck him directly in his heart, stopping it in an instant. However adrenaline was still moving through his body as he swung his clawed hand at Hinata's throat. Right before the attack hit, Karin knocked her out of the way and took the claws to her upper arm, making her scream loudly in pain. Both Karin and the Mist ninja fell to the ground in a heap.

Meanwhile, the first Mist ninja ducked as two kunai flew straight at his head and fired his own kunai at Tatsumi and Naruto from his gauntlet. Tatsumi blocked them with Seraphim while Naruto simply dodged them.

"Wind style: Severing Wind!" Naruto called and flung the blade of wind at the Mist ninja. The ninja jumped to the side to avoid the attack then fired more kunai from his gauntlet.

"Charge, Seraphim!" Tatsumi yelled, as Naruto jumped in front of the kunai to cover Tatsumi as he charged up an attack.

"Wind style: Wind Wall!" Naruto yelled as he blew a wall of wind at the kunai, knocking them all away.

"Chidori Light Blade!" Tatsumi called the name of his jutsu, leaping over Naruto and sending lightning from his sword at the Mist ninja. The attack struck the Mist guy back into a tree, knocking him out cold. Tatsumi landed just as soon as he heard Karin scream in agony. "KARIN!" he yelled as he turned and saw her fall along with the other Mist ninja. He turned towards the Mist ninja knocked out against the three and charged him with his sword aimed to kill. He let out a vicious battle cry as he reached the Mist ninja. However, from out of nowhere, Rin grabbed her little brother by the collar of his clothes and threw him on his back.

"Nechan! What the hell are you doing?" Tatsumi asked angrily.

"We need information from this guy and keeping you from killing him just out of pure revenge. Besides Karin is ok. See?" Rin turned to her other two subordinates. Tatsumi did the same and saw Hinata helping Karin get up from under the second Mist ninja. She looked ok with the exception of the deep claw made wounds on her shoulder.

Tatsumi sighed and sheathed Seraphim as he walked over to her. Right before he reached a look of pure agony came over her face. She reached up and grabbed her arm, falling to the side screaming in pain.

"KARIN!" Tatsumi yelled and rushed to her side. He pulled her up into his lap, taking care not to hit her shoulder. Rin grabbed the dead Mist ninja's claws and sniffed them.

"Poisoned. And none of us know hardly any medical jutsu. But I can slow the poison down," Rin said as she made a quick set of hand seals. Her hands began to glow a bright green color as she moved them over Karin's wound then the rest of her body. "That'll hold it off for a few days. Until then we need to get to the Land of Waves quickly." She stood up and turned to Tazuna. Rin's eyes flashed dangerously, "You and I need to have a serious talk. Why didn't you say that there were enemy ninja after you? This mission deserves to have an A or B ranking, not C ranking. You deliberately hid the fact that there were enemy ninja after you."

"The Land of Waves is a small, poor country," Tazuna began. "We have no ninja to protect us. So when I began building the bridge to connect us to the main land, the man who had taken control over us decided to do something about it. His name is Gato. He's a very powerful business man on the surface. But underneath all that he sells drugs and other sorts of illegal items. And when he figured out that the bridge that's being built would break his control over the Land of Waves, he hired ninja to kill us all. Like i said before, the Land of Waves is a poor country. That's why i hid the fact of enemy ninja."

At that moment the knocked out Mist ninja jumped up and dashed away, shooting kunai at Tazuna. Said kunai then hit an invisible force field and flew into nearby trees. Everyone who was there flinched back when the kunai struck, all but one. Karin was holding her hands in the final hand seal for a protective barrier jutsu. Everyone there said a silent prayer to Kami when they saw Karin's hands. She opened her eyes and looked at Tatsumi.

"Hey, silly," she said quietly.

"Hey you," Tatsumi smiled down at her.

"We need to get going," Rin reminded the couple. "That guy will most likely report to his superiors about us. And then that means reinforcements. Plus we need to get Karin to the Land of Waves so I can analyze the poison better. I could here, but we could use better cover."

The genins nodded and stood, Tatsumi picking up Karin bridal style, thus causing a blush to come over Karin's face. They group resumed walking to their destination as the Mist ninja hid in the trees watching them. 'That girl is gonna die in a few days unless you get the antidote,' he smirked to himself before leaping off in the direction of his headquarters. He had to report to his leader; even though he knew she would be pissed for failing the mission, he still needed to make the report.

"You failed?!" a female voice asked angrily at the Mist ninja. He was silent, with his head bowed. "And you were defeated by genins no less. You insolent fool!" she yelled as she quickly sliced his throat with a kunai. He didn't make a sound as he fell lifeless to the floor. "If you want something done right, I guess you've gotta do it yourself." She sliced her hand with the kunai and stabbed the blade into the corpse's back. "Blood Pact Jutsu: Dead Rise!" she called after making a complex set of hand seals. The dead Mist ninja slowly stood up and looked to the woman.

"What is your bidding, Neko-sama?" he said flatly.

She grinned to herself, "We are going to kill those ninjas and the damned bridge builder."

A fever had broken out over Karin's face the next day and by the time they got to the Land of Waves, it had worsened significantly. Rin reapplied the poison slowing medical ninjutsu again, but it hardly helped. Tatsumi worried frantically about it, but Rin was able to calm him down every time he began to get over worried. She looked at her little brother with large amounts of concern in her eyes; she had never seen Tatsumi get this way about anyone or anything. Karin must've been very special to him, especially considering that he had been in love with her since the first day he was in the academy. He was just really shy about it, which was strange considering his personality was very outgoing. He was always able to talk to the other girls in his class, but when it came to Karin, he just kinda froze up. The same way Hinata used to do when talking to Naruto. Rin thought it was adorable, to be honest. However, in this situation, there was no time to think of anything as adorable. They needed to get the Tazuna's house so his daughter could cure the poison. She was very good at those types of things since her late husband almost always got poisoned by some sort of fish when he was fishing.

"We've arrived," the man steering the boat said quietly as he rowed through the dense fog. They didn't want anybody to know that the master bridge builder had returned with ninja from the Land of Fire's Hidden Leaf village. He rowed under a bridge that connected to the much larger bridge nearby and emerged beside a dock.

"This is where I leave you guys," he said quietly. Tazuna stood and exited the boat.

"Thank you, Suski. You won't have to smuggle any in or out here in a little while," Tazuna said looking towards the bridge.

The ninjas all exited one after the other, Tatsumi getting off last so he could hand Karin to the others. Once he stepped onto the dock he took Karin back into his arms.

"Maybe you should let one of the others carry her, little brother," Rin said to him as they walked out of the docks and into a more wooded area.

"Yeah. I can carry her so you won't be too worn out," Naruto said to him.

Tatsumi merely shook his head, not saying a word. Rin sighed to herself. She knew how stubborn her brother could be when he set his mind to something. Hinata placed her hand on his shoulder as she walked beside him. "It's going to be ok, Tatsumi-kun. I'm sure Tsunami will know what to do," Hinata said referring to Tazuna's daughter.

Tatsumi smiled at her weakly, nodding only slightly. She returned his smile with a caring and concerned one. Hinata then walked back to her spot beside Naruto and out of Tatsumi's vision. She grabbed Naruto's hand squeezed it tightly, making sure nothing could happen to him. Tazuna watched the four kids with interest. He had never seen kids this young show this much care to each other before. He liked what he saw, despite the fact that Karin had an extremely high fever.

"Well isn't this just cute," a female's voice said from the trees. "It's so cute that it's disgusting." She jumped in front of the group from the trees, blocking the path. She wore a Mist headband around her waist. Her clothing was simple ninja gear, except way more revealing. Only her breasts were covered by the almost half flak jacket. Her shorts only went down to mid-thigh. She had her hair tied back into a sort of fan formation that was held together with senbon needles. Everything about her was green, well except for her skin. Her hair and eyes were the same shade of emerald green.

The ninjas all took up defensive positions. Hinata stood in front of Tazuna in her Gentle Fist stance. Rin drew Cherubim and stood in front of everybody. Naruto had two kunai drawn in each hand, ready to throw. Tatsumi made a shadow clone to hold onto Karin while he drew Seraphim.

The Mist female laughed at this, "I can't believe that you actually think you can take me on. I am Neko of the Blood Mist Clan; you puny insects have no chance against me." An evil grin spread across her face as she spoke.

"Everybody stay back. Even as a team, you won't be able to take her on," Rin said to her subordinates. 'I, myself probably won't be able to take her on...' she thought grimly to herself.

At that moment Neko charged towards Rin with a kunai in hand. Rin blocked with Cherubim, tossing a kunai behind her back at Neko's head. The Mist ninja blurred away, appearing between Hinata and Tazuna with a kunai in each hand aimed at Tazuna's and Hinata's throats. Rin gasped when she saw her attacking them both; but before she could move an orange blur swept passed her vision. Said orange blur got behind Neko and kicked her in the back, sending her flying away from Tazuna and Hinata. The two of them had no clue what just happened for Neko's movements were faster than their eyes and minds could follow. Anger was plastered over Naruto's face when Hinata turned to him.

"Don't you dare touch them!" Naruto yelled at Neko, who standing again.

"That was impressive, kid. I never expected you to move that quickly," Neko smirked at him then made a complex set of hand seals, unknown to everybody there. "Blood Pact Rise," she said evilly. After she said that the Mist ninja they had fought before rose from the ground. His white lifeless eyes stared at Naruto who flinched in return.

"Is this the one, master?" he asked in a dead tone.

"Yes. Yes it is," she smirked and made one more strange hand seal. "Kill him. And while you're at it, show absolutely no mercy," she almost laughed.

The undead Mist ninja's eyes changed to completely red and charged towards Naruto. He raised his gauntleted arm and fired kunai at Naruto, who either dodged or blocked them with his own kunai. Meanwhile Neko blurred out of existence and appeared in front of Rin with a kunai. She sliced Rin's cheek with the kunai then disappeared again, only this time appearing in front of Tatsumi. She did the same thing to him and blurred away to stand beside a rather large tree. Both Rin and Tatsumi jumped back from the quickness of her attacks, knowing full well that their lives could've been ended in that moment. This woman was very powerful to be able to do that without either of them realizing until after it had already happened.

"Now try this attack on for size," she grinned evilly as she stabbed the kunai that had cut the siblings into the tree handle deep. She made another set of strange hand seals, "Blood Pact Jutsu!" she called. Instantly the tree seemed to come to life as it fused with the trees around it and stood. Neko stood on its shoulder and laughed down at them. The giant tree monster stood at least twenty feet tall and each of its arms were formed into bludgeoning weapons.

"Damn..." Rin cursed quietly.

Meanwhile on the other side of the forest two figures stood at the tree line. One was significantly taller than the other and wore only a pair of gray striped pants and sandals. Over his arms up to his biceps were brown camo arm warmers. He wore a sort of harness across his back and chest to hold the giant sword on his back. Over his face were bandages that covered his face from his neck up to his nose. He also hand a Mist headband tied to the side of his head instead of having it on his forehead. He kept his dark hair short and spiked.

His companion, however, wore more clothing. She wore brown striped clothing under a robe of teal with white outlines on the edges. Around her waist was a sash that doubled as a belt. She wore sandals similar to the first guy. She wore a Tracker ninja mask over her face with the same Mist emblem on the direct center of the top. Her hair was extremely long. The majority of it was tied back in a classic samurai bun towards the top of her head and the front hung down on the sides of her face that was tied at the ends.

The two of them started to walk into the forest when they heard the sound of thunder and then the forest being ripped apart. On high alert, the two of them jumped up to the treetops to see what was going on. What they saw was a tree giant and two people with swords of lightning fighting. They watched as one of the figures sent lightning from their blade into the center of the tree while the other attacked at the shoulders.

"Haku, let's go," the taller one said in a deep voice and lept towards the fighting.

"Yes," the other one said in a low voice. She couldn't have been any older than the four Leaf genins.

Back with Squad Seven, Rin and Tatsumi were engaged in combat against the tree giant. "Chidori Light Blade!" Tatsumi yelled sending a stream of black lightning at the tree. It struck the stomach area, knocking the tree back a few steps before swinging it's arm at Tatsumi. Rin, however, was more focused on Neko, who was standing on the giants shoulder.

"Lightning Barrage!" RIn yelled as she whipped the wires in her boots at Neko who used the tree to block the wires. The wires simply hit the tree branches and whipped away. Rin withdrew the wires back into her boots, cursing under her breath. As she landed on a tree limb, her eyes were drawn to the kunai in the center of the tree. 'That's it!' Rin's eyes grew wide with realization. "Tatsumi!" she yelled, "Aim for the kunai in that things chest!"

Tatsumi nodded and looked at the kunai. It was giving off a faint glow, but that was enough. Tatsumi jumped back far enough and raised his sword to eye level. "Charge Seraphim!" he yelled as the blade became covered in black lightning. With a ferocious battle cry, Tatsumi jumped towards the tree aiming the blade at the kunai.

"Chidori Light Blade!" Tatsumi called as the black lightning raced at the kunai. When Neko finally saw that happening, she tried to block with the tree's arm, but the lightning was already within its defenses. The lightning struck hard, shooting out the back of the tree; thus also sending the lightning heated kunai into the ground. The tree became lifeless in an instant and soon after started to fall backwards.

"Damn these people," Neko cursed as she lept away from the tree and onto a nearby pond. She turned to the fight Naruto was in the middle of and smirked. Naruto was having a hard time fighting her undead underling.

"Wind Style: Severing Wind!" Naruto yelled sending a few blades of wind at the Mist ninja in front of him. Said ninja blocked with his gauntlet then shot his kunai towards Naruto. Without giving Naruto a second to recover, the undead Mist ninja was already in the air above him. Before Naruto realized what was happening, he felt a foot in his face.

"That was for a few days ago brat!" the Mist ninja yelled as he landed.

'Damnit. This guy is way more powerful than from a few days ago. Is it that weird jutsu she used?' Naruto thought to himself as he stood back up slowly. Naruto shifted his hands into a simple hand seal. "Multi-shadow clone jutsu!" he yelled as about 100 copies of Naruto appeared.

The mist ninja took a slight step back, "That's a lot of shadow clones." He looked around at them all.

"Well if you're not coming to us," one Naruto said.

"Then we'll come to you," Another finished.

"This fight is over as of now!" the real Naruto said as they all charged the Mist ninja.

The Mist ninja faltered as he watched the sea of orange come towards him, all with kunai aimed to kill. Even though the Mist ninja was already dead, that didn't mean he feel a bit of fear. The hundred Narutos all tackled the Mist ninja, stabbing the kunai into him, punching his face, and kicking his gut. Once the onslaught was over Naruto dispersed the clones and watched the ninja lie there, no longer undead.

Neko growled angrily, "Damn brat!" She charged at the unsuspecting Naruto. However, before she could reach the shore line, Rin was in front of her.

"I'm your opponent, Neko," Rin said dangerously.

Neko smirked, "Fine. I guess we can play together." Neko made a set of hand seals, "Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!" The water Rin was standing on instantly warped up around her, forming a ball. Neko placed her arm inside before the jutsu could shatter. "Well, that was a short play date," she said in a high pitched girly voice.

"Rin-sensei!" Hinata yelled.

"Stay back! All of you! There's no way you can take her on. You need to run!" Naruto, Tatsumi, and Hinata recoiled hearing the last words. Run? How could they run with their sensei trapped like that? Neko would only hunt them down and kill them all.

"How can we just run away? She would only hunt us down if we ran. And we can't abandon you Rin-sensei," Hinata said quietly. Naruto and Tatsumi looked over at her then to each other.

Naruto threw a few kunai at Neko while Tatsumi made a set of hand seals. Neko dodged all of the kunai while keeping her arm inside of the water prison. "That's not going to work on me little boy," she said calmly looking at Naruto. Naruto already had a giant shuriken in his hand prepared to throw it. Her eyes widened slightly.

"Like I said before, something like that won't work on me," she growled as Naruto threw the shuriken. Neko watched as the shuriken flew straight at her. Her face remained calm as it got within feet of her body. She blocked with a kunai at the last second, sending the shuriken flying into the air. What she didn't notice, however, was that Tatsumi was missing and that the shuriken disappeared in a puff of smoke to be replaced by Tatsumi. His sword in hand and aimed down at Neko.

"Let my sister go!" he yelled as he sliced at Neko who dodged back, bringing her arm away from the water prison. The sword just barely sliced her cheek before Tatsumi landed in the water.

She glared at Tatsumi as he resurfaced. "You little brat!" she yelled. With kunai in hand, she charged Tatsumi, aiming the kunai at his throat. The kunai, struck a metal blade, inches from Tatsumi's face.

"As I said before," Rin said dangerously, looking Neko in the eyes with her activated Byakugan, "Your opponent is me." Rin flung her sword back, sending Neko skidding back across the water.

"New rules huh?" Neko asked to nobody in particular. "Fine then," she said making a complex set of hand seals. After about the 45th hand seal, she finished with the Bird seal. "Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Neko called. As soon as she finished calling the name of the jutsu, a giant dragon of water rose from behind her and wrapped around her in a defensive position. She made another set of hand seals, this time ending in the Ram seal, and called out another jutsu name. "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" she yelled as the dragon raced towards Rin. It began to spiral around quickly with its maw opened. Rin jumped back just as the dragon crashed into the pond where Rin had been standing.

'Damn that was close,' Rin thought to herself. She jumped to the side to avoid the dragon bursting up through the pond under her. Rin brought Cherubim up to eye level. "Charge Cherubim," she said calmly. Rin pointed the sword at the water also releasing the wires in her boots down into the water. "Tatsumi. You better get out of the water now," Rin said dangerously.

Tatsumi knew the voice she was using all too well. Especially after he played the pranks on her that he did. He nodded and quickly swam to the shore and climbed out of the water. As soon as he stood up on solid ground, he bolted over to where Naruto, Hinata, Tazuna, and his clone holding Karin were standing. "That was too close for my comfort," he said panting.

"What's she doing Tatsumi-kun?" Hinata asked him, "And does she have a Byakugan?"

"Yes she does. Remember our mother was Mariko Hyuuga? Now watch her," Tatsumi said never taking his eyes off of his sister.

Just as Rin stabbed Cherubim into the water, the dragon burst through the surface behind Rin. "Lightning Barrage!" Rin yelled as electricity arced through the water heading straight for Neko. It also arced through the dragon that swallowed Rin whole. Rin felt her lightning attack hit her, but she simply absorbed the chakra back into her system. Rin also found out that the dragon's insides were the vortex that Neko called out. Rin couldn't figure out what was up or down. 'Damnit!' Rin yelled in her head, trying to hold her breath for as long as she could, but with the vortex swirling the way it was, she was having a hard time doing so.

Just before she ran of air, everything went cold. She could breathe air, but it was very cold. She opened her eyes and saw ice everywhere, she was in a small air pocket within, what she assumed was the dragon. "What the hell?" she questioned as she grabbed Cherubim from where it was incased in ice. She noticed the wires were still out of her boots. "Lightning Barrage!" Rin called as the wires lit up and shattered the ice under her. She withdrew the wires as she landed on a now frozen pond.

The genins and Tazuna were all shocked at what they just witnessed. The dragon had Rin in its belly and was crashing down and the resurfacing above the water. Then with half of its body submerged and the other half above, the entire pond just froze over. Neko was shocked and turned to see who had caused this. That was when she noticed the Tracker ninja mask.

"You?" she said quietly. "Why are YOU here?"

"To kill you, Neko," the masked person said simply.

"And do it by any means necessary," the taller one said from directly behind Neko, bending down to whisper in her ear. Rin jerked around and Neko lept away from him.

"Z-Zabuza-sama?" Neko quivered when she said his name.

The man called Zabuza stood up to his full height. The man towered over both Rin and Neko. He was at least 6'5" or 6'6".

The Tracker ninja lept down from the trees and stood beside the genins, watching Zabuza from behind the mask.

"I don't have time for this bullshit!" Neko cursed leaping away from the scene. She threw a couple of smoke bombs to cover her trail. The smoke gathered in a huge amount around the group of ninjas. Everybody coughed as they inhaled the smoke.

"Damn her," Zabuza said as the smoke cleared.

"She knew she had to retreat. Her chakra was almost out," Rin told him, deactivating her Byakugan. She walked over to Zabuza, "Thank you. Did she say your name was Zabuza?"

"Yes it is. Zabuza Momochi, or The Demon of the Hidden Mist," he replied to her. "And that over there is Haku."

Haku made a slight bow to Rin then turned to the genins. "Your friend, she's been poisoned right? I can help her," she said to Tatsumi.

"Not here Haku. Let's get somewhere else," Zabuza said.

"Right," she replied.

Rin nodded to the others, "Let's get to Tazuna's house." Rin walked over to where everyone was standing. She got closer to the group before her vision went black.

She didn't even hear the conscious genins calling her name as she fell. Zabuza picked her up bridal style and followed behind the group. The genins talked to Haku the entire way to Tazuna's house. When they arrived about an hour or two later, Tazuna rushed inside to clear off the table for Tatsumi to set Karin down. Haku took off her mask and came over beside Karin. When Tatsumi looked up, he noted that Haku was very pretty. Her green eyes fit her perfectly. Tsunami, Tazuna's daughter, rushed all the males out of the room as Haku unzipped Karin's jacket.

"Bring Rin up here," Tazuna said as he shut the kitchen doors behind them. He walked upstairs and opened a door to reveal an empty guest room. He unfolded a blanket and laid a pillow up by the top. Zabuza set her down on the blanket and stood back up. Tatsumi looked at his sister lying there unconscious, worry was plastered all over his face.

"Don't worry kid. She's just exhausted. I would assume she used up too much chakra in that fight," Zabuza told him.

Tatsumi nodded, took his bag off his back and set it down by the wall, then turned and left the room. Naruto took his bag off as well and followed Tatsumi out followed by Tazuna and Zabuza. When Tatsumi came downstairs, Haku was standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"She's stable and the poison is gone. Luckily I knew the type of poison the Demon Brothers used," Haku said when she saw Tatsumi walking off the bottom stair. She blushed when she saw Naruto come into the light.

Hinata saw the blush come over Haku's face when she came into the room. Hinata couldn't help but feel a hint a jealousy come over her. It was only human nature for that to happen. But Hinata refused to lose to somebody they just met.

"We need to go look at Rin-sensei too," Hinata said, bringing Haku out of her trance.

"Right," Haku nodded and followed Hinata upstairs, but not before casting another look at Naruto.

Zabuza chuckled quietly to himself as he watched Haku. 'She's growing up,' he thought to himself. Zabuza was like Haku's father. He had raised the girl since she was five when he found her scrounging around for food. Her parents had been killed during an uprising by her clan. Everyone was wiped out due to the uprising, even those who didn't take part in the revolt. Haku's parents hid her before the clan was attacked. They knew of the uprising, but had refused to take part in it. Zabuza hated the Mist for what they had done. He vowed that as soon as he could he would take his revenge on the Mizukage, but he never got the chance to do so. The Mizukage had been assassinated before Haku could graduate from the Tracker training classes. The new Mizukage had been the Three-Tailed Jinchuriki. He was the third person to claim the title. However, shortly after the third Mizukage gained his position, he just disappeared without a trace. And it was shortly after that incident that Zabuza and Haku left.

Ever since then they were branded rogue ninjas and avoided the Mist as much as possible. But they still had their problems from time to time. "Zabuza-san, why were you trying to kill that woman earlier?" Tatsumi asked Zabuza, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"She's a rogue ninja like me and Haku are. We are trying to get rid of her so she doesn't bring the Hidden Mist near us," Zabuza explained.

"But doesn't being a rogue ninja make you a traitor to your village?" Naruto asked.

"It does, kid. But it's better than following order that are foolish and cause your allies to die because of those orders. I'd rather be branded a traitor than do that to my allies," Zabuza told them.

Tsunami entered with a tray with cups of tea on it. "Thank you for bringing my father back in one piece," she told the ninjas who in turn nodded, thanking her for the hospitality and tea.

Karin walked out from the kitchen, zipping up her jacket. Tatsumi stood up and walked over to her and embraced her.

"Were you that worried about me, Tatsumi-kun?" she asked embracing him back.

"Yes I was. Don't ever do that to me again," he said quietly in her ear. Karin smiled and nodded into his chest.

Meanwhile, in the forest quite a ways away from Tazuna's house, Neko lay in her bed while another ninja with an orange mask covering his face healed her. The mask spiraled towards the ninja's right eye. Over where the right eye was there was a hole so the ninja could see. His eye was a fully activated Sharingan that looked dangerously down at Neko. "Neko, you fool. You should've been able to kill them, but instead you ran away," he said behind the mask.

"I wouldn't have had to if Zabuza and Haku hadn't showed up," she said quietly.

"Your old teacher and his new subordinate?" the man asked.

"Yes," Neko nodded. "They showed up as I was about to drown that Jounin." Neko cursed under breath. "Next time, I'll for sure kill them," she said more to herself than anyone.

"Well, either way you need to rest. You probably won't be able to move for a week after that battle. And the next battle you'll have one of Zetsu's clones with you," he said then disappeared into a weird dimension that only he could create.

As soon as he disappeared Neko shivered. That man always gave her the creeps. And to make things worse he was sending one of his underlings clones to fight with her. If the masked man wasn't creepy enough, the one named Zetsu sure was. Neko shivered again before a short man with two bodyguards walked into her room.

"I thought I hired you to kill that bridge builder?" the man asked.

"Gato. Yes you did, and he had ninja protecting him. Plus they got back-up from my old teacher. Otherwise I would've killed them all. But next time, you won't have to worry about them anymore," Neko said coldly to him.

Gato merely scoffed, "You better." He shot a glare at her before turning and leaving. His two goons shut the door behind them before they left.

"And when you pay me, I'm gonna kill you too..." Neko said quietly before drifting off to sleep.

As the week went by, Rin trained the group on the tree climbing exercise. Before the week was up, all four of her genins could climb to the top of their designated trees without falling. Karin, of course, used her support jutsu to heal herself completely before she tackled this type of training. Rin was proud of her subordinates for successfully completing the training. While they trained, Zabuza and Haku guarded the bridge builder. They hoped that Neko would show up so they could kill her, but sadly she never did.

As they almost reached home after a day of building, Naruto and Tatsumi jumped in their path. Their weapons clashed against each other and sweat dripped from their brows. They had been out here practicing for quite a while, Haku noticed. She eyed Tatsumi as he swung his sword at Naruto. Naruto ducked under the swing then attacked with his kunai before the both of them jumped off the road and back into the trees to continue fighting.

Haku blushed slightly as she watched Naruto. She was sad that he was taken by Hinata, but couldn't help but watch him. Maybe, just maybe she could get him for herself if she tried hard enough. She sighed, louder than intended. Zabuza turned his head and laid his hand on top of her head.

"You alright?" he asked Haku.

Haku looked up at her teacher and nodded, smiling. "I'm ok Zabuza-sama," she said to him.

Zabuza nodded and continued on. Tazuna walked into his house and took his shoes off by the door before walking further into the kitchen. Zabuza and Haku did the same thing. Haku walked over to the kitchen table and sat down beside Hinata and Karin. The three of them had become great friends over the past few days. Even after a rivalry between Haku and Hinata over Naruto had erupted. Karin couldn't help but laugh at them from time to time. Karin was just happy she wasn't after Tatsumi.

Shortly after, Rin came down stairs, limping slightly. "Where are the boys at?" she asked.

"Where else?" Karin replied.

"Training?" she sighed and sat down at the table.

Shortly after the two boys walked into the house, laughing. "That wasn't a bad attack back there Naruto. Nearly got me," Tatsumi said taking off his shoes by the door.

"It's something new I've been working on. Not going so well though," Naruto replied, taking his shoes off by the door as well.

"What's the point of training so much?" a small voice said from out of nowhere. "All that's going to happen is you getting killed by Gato's men. You don't have a chance in the world to defeat him."

"Inari!" Tsunami scolded her son.

"What? It's the truth. They can't do anything to stop him!" Inari raised his voice.

Naruto looked at the boy. "It's why we train so we can stop guys like that. We train so we can get stronger and not get defeated by guys like Gato. But I guess a coward like you wouldn't know anything about standing up for yourself." Naruto said the last part bitterly.

A hurt look came over Inari's face and tears began to well up. Everyone watched the two of them for an awkward thirty second silence. First they looked at Inari, then Naruto, then back to Inari, and then back to Naruto. Finally Inari broke down and started crying, not able to hold back any longer. Inari quickly turned and ran towards the stairs.

"Naruto!" Karin yelled at him as Inari ran upstairs.

"Whatever," Naruto walked out of the room and walked upstairs. 'Who does that kid think he is? Calling us ninjas weak. I'm gonna put him in his place right now!' Naruto thought to himself. As Naruto stood in front of Inari's door, he heard crying from inside.

"Huh?" Naruto leaned closer to the door and peered through the crack in the door. Inari was sitting on his bed staring at a picture.

"Daddy. Why did you have to die?" Inari sobbed, tears streaming down his face. "Why can't I be brave like you were? Why am I such a coward?"

Naruto looked down at his feet and turned around walking back downstairs. He walked into the kitchen without saying a word to anybody. Hinata smiled at him, but the smile soon faded as she saw the look Naruto had over his face.

"Where are you going, Naru-kun?" she asked as he put his shoes on.

"I'm going for a walk. I want to be alone for a little while," he said before walking out the door and shutting it behind him. As soon as he got outside, Naruto ran away from the house. He went passed the training area they had used for the tree climbing exercise and up to a hill he had found with Hinata one afternoon. The hill had a single tree atop it where Naruto sat down against it. He sighed to himself as he looked up at the sky. Naruto never had a mother of father to care for him so every time he saw somebody like Inari, he grew a little bit jealous. Even if Inari's father was killed, Naruto still couldn't help but feel jealous. He knew that it was a bad thing to feel towards a boy who had lost his dad, but he couldn't help it. A family was all Naruto had ever wanted throughout his entire childhood. Hell, just to not have the villagers look at him with such hateful, cold eyes would've sufficed sometimes.

He couldn't enjoy his life as a child when he went outside to train or to take a day just to walk around the village and see how many pranks he could cause before getting caught. Every day this was the normal routine, except for his birthdays. They were never like that. For a kid a birthday should be the greatest day ever for that year. They are one more year older and feel as though there is a higher respect being given to them. Well this was true for everyone but Naruto. Naruto's birthday just so happened to be the same day that the Nine-tailed fox attacked the Leaf Village, and the same day that the Fourth Hokage was killed. If Naruto ever left his apartment that the Third Hokage had given him, the looks from the villagers were ten times worse than any other day. You could almost feel the anger and killing intent in the air. One year the villagers even decided to attack him that day. Naruto had decided to go train that day and left his apartment to head to his favorite training spot. Once he got into the crowded streets, however, he knew there was something different. There were no crowds as usual, and even though Naruto couldn't see them, he could sure feel the villager's presence close by.

Naturally, Naruto shrugged this feeling off and continued to walk down the street. Once he got into the center of the street the villagers began to walk out of the alleyways. Every single one of them was holding some sort of weapon; whether it be a pitchfork, shovel, poorly made club, the occasional knife or sword, it didn't matter to Naruto. When he saw them, Naruto stopped dead in his tracks. Then they charged, they charged at him with weapons raised with every intent to kill. Before the horrific memory went any further, Naruto shook his head. He wanted to forget that day entirely and was able to when a voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Naruto-kun!" the voice yelled. Naruto instantly knew it was Hinata. He could never forget that voice even if he tried.

Naruto remained silent when she yelled his name. He just wanted to be alone for a while.

"Oh! There you are Naru-kun!" she said excitedly when she found him sitting under the lone tree. She ran up to where Naruto was and sat down beside him. "What are you doing out here alone Naruto?" she asked.

"I shouldn't have said those things to Inari. Then when I went to go set him straight, I saw him crying. He was staring at a picture of his dad crying. I guess he died when Inari was younger. It made me think about not having any parents... And of everything that has happened to me in the past..." Naruto said as a single tear flowed down his face. The thought of never having parents hurt Naruto more than the cold glares the villagers always gave him when he walked in the village. Then he felt something he hadn't expected to feel: Hinata hugging him. She held his head to her chest, holding him as close as she could possibly get him to be to her.

She kissed the top of his head as the tears in Naruto's eyes began to flow. He hadn't cried like this when he thought about the parents he never had in a long time. But something was causing it now. Perhaps it was the thought of what Inari had to go through or the fact that somebody was caring for him as he spoke his feelings, Naruto didn't know. Nor did he care at that moment, he just wanted to be held by the girl he loved. Naruto soon wrapped his arms around Hinata's waist and held onto her tightly as though he could lose her any second. Although he wasn't squeezing her really hard, Hinata let out a small gasp when he held onto her. She wasn't expecting it, but she liked it nonetheless.

The two of them stayed liked that until the sun set over the horizon. They were silent the entire time. Naruto stood up, wiping the tears from his eyes and looked down at Hinata. She looked back up at him and smiled that heartwarming smile she always had. Naruto loved that about her. He held his hand to her; as she took it, Naruto helped her up. When she was standing fully, Naruto leaned down and kissed her soft lips. Hinata blushed at the suddenness of the kiss, but then kissed him back.

"Thank you for being there for me, Hina-chan," Naruto said quietly to her.

"I will always be there for you Naru-kun," she smiled and hugged him.

Naruto wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her back. As the two broke the embrace they didn't notice Haku standing in the tree line a ways away. She was sent out to go find them to bring them back for dinner, but when she found them she couldn't help but watch Hinata hold Naruto like that. She had watched them for about ten minutes, wishing that it was her there instead of Hinata. Haku shook her head. Who was she kidding? She had only just met Naruto and she was furiously infatuated with him. She hardly even talked to him, so the thought of being in Hinata's shoes was illogical. But that didn't mean she wasn't going to try her hardest to get him.

"Hey you two!" Haku called to them finally breaking out of her thoughts. Naruto and Hinata turned to see who was here. They waved when they saw it was Haku. "Rin-sensei told me to come find you guys. Dinner's probably ready by now," Haku said. The two genins nodded and walked down the hill to Haku. Then the trio headed back towards Tazuna's home.

When they arrived, dinner was finished and everyone was downstairs talking. Inari was the only silent one there. Naruto walked over to him and sat beside him. Naruto apologized about what he said earlier. By the end of dinner, Inari was laughing at Naruto's and Tatsumi's jokes they made towards Rin, who in turn smacked them both on the backs of their heads. This only earned more laughs from everyone at the table. Rin and Zabuza talked more to themselves than the others. They found out that they had a decent amount in common, especially swords. Tatsumi rolled his eyes when Rin stared in on all the swords she's had over the years, especially Cherubim. After dinner, everyone turned in for the night. Rin went to her room while the four genins all made pallets on the floor and fell asleep. Naruto held Hinata as they fell asleep together, Tatsumi did the same with Karin. Zabuza went to his own room and quickly fell asleep. Before Rin got into her room Haku stopped her.

"Rin-sensei. Can I sleep in there with you? There's not enough room down stairs and Zabuza-sama prefers to sleep alone," Haku said to her.

Rin smiled, "Sure thing." These two had become sort of like sisters over the past week. Rin got the little sister she never had and Haku got the older sister figure she had always wanted. Haku smiled and walked into Rin's room and made herself a pallet to sleep on.

"Rin-sensei," Haku said as she sat on her blanket.

"Hmm? What is it Haku?" Rin asked before turning off the light. "Is something the matter?"

"Kind of..." Haku replied. "How do you get boys to notice you?"

Rin was taken aback at the suddenness of the question, but soon overcame that. She knew Haku should've soon been thinking of boys and whatnot at her age. Rin was the same way when she turned thirteen, or was it twelve? She didn't remember. Rin looked at Haku and saw that she was blushing slightly. Rin smiled and sat down in front of Haku, "Well, first who's the boy?" Rin asked.

"Anon... It's umm..." Haku mumbled.

"Is it Naruto?" Rin asked, fully aware of who it was.

Haku blushed deeply and nodded shyly. "Y-yes," she managed to stutter. Even after being a rogue Tracker Ninja and able to kill anybody without being hesitant, this girl still had her shy side.

"I thought as much," Rin chuckled more to herself than Haku. "That's gonna be pretty tough to do. Even though I'm sure Naruto does notice you, he just doesn't do it in the way you seek. From the way I understand it, Naruto was very lonely as a child, never having any parents or friends made his life miserable. And on top of that the entire village hated him, thus making his life closer to a living Hell. Hinata was the first person to ever truly acknowledge him. She never hated him, but admired his determination from behind him. So he treasures her more than anything in this world. Not trying to sound like a downer, but that's an extremely tough bond that probably can't be broken."

Haku knew that Rin was right and looked down, sighing as she did. "Will I ever find anybody like that for me? I mean I'm not even that pretty and everyone seems to be afraid of me..."

"They just don't know you. And it's not you they fear but rather Zabuza. He looks quite menacing with his face wrapped up in that mask of his," Rin giggled, blushing slightly herself. "Even if it does give an air of mysteriousness to him. And as for you saying that you aren't pretty, that's not true. You are a very pretty young girl. Everybody knows it. That includes the boys."

"Really?" Haku said in a disbelieving tone.

Rin nodded smiling, "Oh yeah. Just because the boys each have someone special in their lives, doesn't mean that they don't notice beauty when they see it. It's the same for every guy out there on earth. They can't help but notice pretty girls, even when they are with their wives. I'm sure that there is somebody out there who likes you for who you are."

Haku smiled weakly at Rin, "Is there anybody you like Rin-sensei?"

"There's a possibility of that," Rin grinned.

"Oh yeah? Who is it?" Haku asked, her usual cheerfulness returning.

"I think you may already know."

"Is it Zabuza-sama?"

Rin smiled, blushing as she did. "Maybe," Rin said giggling slightly.

"I knew it!" Haku declared victoriously, smiling as she did. Her smile really did suit her face when she did.

"Haha!" Rin laughed quietly. "Alright, we need to get some sleep for tomorrow. And staying up all night gossiping isn't the greatest thing in the world, no matter how much fun it is," Rin said as she stood up and turned off the light. "Night Haku," Rin said as she laid down on her own pallet.

"Good night Rin-sensei," Haku said as she laid her head down on her pillow. Soon the two of them fell asleep. As the whole house fell silent, the two goons from earlier watched the house from the trees.

"When do we get to and attack them? I wanna cut something," the bigger one said. He wore his hair in a samurai ponytail. A long scar went across his face between his eyes, making him look ferocious. He had his jacket on, where it normally would've been around his waist. But since it was cold tonight, he decided warmth was more necessary. At his waist was a katana that nearly doubled the lengths of Tatsumi's and Rin's. He wore baggy pants with a few pockets in them. Not that they were really needed.

"After the bridge builder goes to work tomorrow. Gato told us to kill his family and leave the ninja to Neko," the second shorter guy said. He had almost shoulder length hair that was covered by a beanie. His ever present hoodie with sleeves that were too long for his arms was pulled closely around him. He wore cargo pants that held all manner of useless objects in them. Money, some nails, little bit of trash, basically just whatever he wanted to keep. Attached to his hip was a katana of the same length as his partners.

The first guy sighed, "I really hate waiting like this..."

The second guy just shrugged as he sat down against the tree they were standing on. "Whatever. You've got first watch," He said before closing his eyes to sleep.

"Jackass," the bigger guy retorted.

The next morning Rin woke everybody but Naruto and Tatsumi. They had been training non-stop for the past four days and they needed to rest. As Tazuna and the all the awake ninjas left, the two hiding in the trees watched closely. They knew that there were two more ninjas in that group that hadn't come out yet. The waiting game continued and those two were getting sick and tired of waiting.

Tatsumi woke up first between him and Naruto. He walked into the kitchen to find only Tsunami doing dishes.

"Hey where did everybody go?" he ask worriedly.

"They left already. Rin said you needed your rest since you've been training so hard. She thought that she would give you a break," Tsunami replied. As soon as the last words left her mouth Tatsumi was already dressed and out the door.

"Damnit Onesan!" Tatsumi cursed as he left. Tsunami only smiled at his eagerness to help out. Tatsumi ran as fast as he could towards the bridge.

The two in the trees groaned as they saw only one of the ninjas leaving.

"When in the hell is the other gonna leave? I'm so sick of this waiting bullshit," the bigger guy grumbled angrily.

"He'll leave when he leaves. But you're right. This waiting is bullshit," his partner said.

Meanwhile Naruto continued to snore lightly in his sleep. If Hinata saw him in this state, she would probably giggle at him. She loved to see him when he was like this. Hinata thought it was kinda cute. Soon after Naruto himself woke up. He stood up and yawned as he walked sleepily into the kitchen.

"Morning everyone. Sorry I overslept," Naruto said still in a sleepy daze. As he opened his eyes he realized he was only talking to Tsunami who was already busy making lunch.

"Morning Naruto. Everyone already left. You better hurry if you want to catch up with them. Tatsumi just left about ten minutes ago," she said smiling at him.

"WHAT?" Naruto asked loudly. "They left without me? Rin-sensei!" Naruto quickly got dressed and left waving goodbye to Tsunami. As he left the two goons in the trees smirked to themselves. Finally they would get to have their version of fun.

Naruto hopped up into the trees, "Damnit. Why didn't they wake me up?"

Once Naruto was far enough away the two jumped down from the tree they were in and slowly walked over to Tazuna's house. The smaller guy knocked on the door. "Just a moment!" they heard Tsunami call form inside. The door opened shortly after to reveal Tsunami drying her hands with a towel.

"Can I help you?" she asked. Her eyes grew wide when she realized who they were. These were the men who had killed her husband two years ago. Tsunami tried to slam the door in their faces, but they pushed through before she could. Both men had evil grins on their faces.

"Why hello their pretty lady," the bigger guy said to her with an evil smile.

"Get away from me!" Tsunami yelled and threw a plate at his head. The guy ducked under it easily as the other one ran around the table and grabbed her hair. He held his sword to her throat grinning evilly.

"Make one wrong move and I'll take your head off," he warned dangerously.

"Let's have some fun with her before we kill her and her son," the bigger guy suggested.

"I was thinking the same thing. But I say we kill her son right in front of her then have fun with her. That way she won't be so inclined to fight back," the shorter guy sneered.

"Right!" the big guy walked through the house and found Inari in his room.

"Let go of me!" Inari yelled trying to hit and kick the man.

"Please let my son go! He's just a boy!" Tsunami pleaded.

"Not a chance," the guy holding her said. He turned to face his partner. "Do it," he said calmly.

"With pleasure!" the bigger guy smiled evilly as he drew his sword and brought it down, slicing through Inari's neck. Tsunami screamed loudly when she saw the blow, but then recovered her composure when the body disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"A simple substitution with one of my shadow clones," a voice said from the door way. The two goons turned quickly to see who the voice belonged to. It was none other than Naruto Uzumaki with the usual stupid grin plastered on his face. He was holding Inari over his shoulder.

"That was really cool Naruto. Thanks for saving me," Inari said as he got down.

"No problem. Sorry I was late," Naruto smirked.

"Damn brat," the bigger guy said and charged Naruto with his sword aimed to kill. Naruto smiled as two clones jumped behind the guy holding Inari's mom. They both delivered hard karate chops to the sides of his head, knocking him out cold. The big guy was almost at Naruto and Inari. At this point Naruto stood up and blocked his sword with his two kunai in a cross-shaped fashion.

"All that training with Tatsumi now pays off," he smirked. "This is for Inari's dad!" Naruto yelled as he delivered a strong kick to the guy's stomach. As the guy hunched over in pain, Naruto grabbed him by the collar and flung him out the door into the waiting fists of two more Naruto shadow clones. Both of the clone's fists sailed right into the guys jaw. The sound of bones could be heard snapping from inside the house. The man landed on his back in pain.

"You little bastard!" he yelled as he drew a dagger from behind his back. He stood up and watched Naruto from where he landed.

"If you want to live, I would suggest that you just stay over there and not attack me," Naruto said calmly yet dangerously.

"Not gonna happen!" the guy yelled as he began to charge towards Naruto. The clones that were still in the house grabbed the unconscious goon and tossed him to the real Naruto who in turn threw him at the charging goon. The dagger stabbed through the man's heart as the two collided.

"You little brat. That hurt!" the big guy yelled as he pulled his dagger free of his partners back. Naruto dispelled his clones and fully faced the guy this time. He still had both of his kunai in his hands. Naruto ran to face the attack head on. He ducked under a wild slash from the dagger. Naruto brought one kunai up under the goons arm and stabbed it up through his shoulder. Then in a quick and solid movement, Naruto got behind the guy and stabbed the other kunai through his heart.

Naruto sighed, "I told you to just stay over there."

"That was incredible Naruto!" Inari yelled form the house. Naruto turned to smile at Inari.

"Of course it was! I did it," Naruto grinned like an idiot. He walked over to Inari and squatted down the his eye level. "But killing isn't all that it's cut out to be. You shouldn't do it just because you can. Only do it if necessary; like to protect those closest to you," Naruto told him. Inari nodded at his words. "Now take care of your mom while I'm gone. I've got to get to the bridge," Naruto said, standing up and taking off in the direction of the bridge.

'I hope they aren't in any trouble...' Naruto thought to himself as he jumped through the trees.

As the group reached the bridge, they noticed a dense mist had fallen over everything. Everything was quiet, way too quiet for a construction site.

"Byakugan," Hinata called as she engaged her eyes. "This mist is filled with chakra. I can also see the rest of the builder's unconscious all over the place." Everyone drew their weapons as Rin also engaged her Byakugan.

"Well, it certainly took you all long enough to get here. I was beginning to wonder if I was gonna have to wait all day," Neko's voice said from somewhere in the mist.

"Stay on your guard everyone. I trained her before she went rogue," Zabuza said as he drew his guillotine sword.

"You trained her? Why didn't you say something earlier?" Rin said as she drew Cherubim from its sheath.

Zabuza didn't answer as group all put their backs towards Tazuna to protect him. "Why don't you also tell them what my blood pact ninjutsu can do, Zabuza-sama," Neko said as she revealed herself finally. There was also a man with pure white skin and yellow eyes beside her. He had green hair and wore a black robe with a red cloud pattern on it. He honestly looked like a monster.

"On second thought, why don't I just show you myself?" Neko smirked evilly as the made a single hand seal and directed her attention to Haku. "Blood Pact Control!" Neko called.

Haku seemed to go into a daze as she walked over to Neko. "Haku! No!" Zabuza yelled. He glared at Neko who only smirked back.

"You shouldn't have chosen her instead of me as an apprentice," Neko said coldly to him. She then turned to Haku, "Kill them my dear."

Haku merely nodded and drew a couple of senbon from her weapons pouch. She then charged towards the group of ninjas, aiming for Hinata first. Her jealousy and the jutsu made her attack what her strongest emotion, jealousy at the time, was directed towards. Just before Haku reached Hinata, however, a sword cut the senbon in half. Everyone on the bridge was shocked to see who it was. Tatsumi landed in a crouch from his leap from the top of a construct that was made to offer shade to the workers during the intense heat of the day. He stood up slowly and glared at Neko with eyes that had a red glare to them. Neko thought it was a trick of the light, but soon realized it was actually his eyes. Tatsumi had just activated his Sharingan for the first time in his life. The right eye had a single comma shaped mark near the pupil while the left eye and two.

"If, you want to make her fight somebody, I'll be her opponent," Tatsumi said coldly to Neko.

Neko smirked to herself. Was this boy a fool for wanting to fight Haku alone. Neko knew all of Haku's jutsu. Her favorite was the Crystal Ice Mirrors. "Very well. But just so you know, you've signed your very own death warrant," Neko said as Haku made a set of one handed hand seals. The water under the bridge rose up and formed around Haku.

"Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death," Haku said calmly as the water formed a very large amount of senbon.

Tatsumi's eyes widened, but not with fear. He saw the attack coming before it even happened. He lept high into the air, making the water senbon strike the bridge. They turned right back into water as the hit solid ground, Tatsumi noticed.

"Charge Seraphim!" Tatsumi yelled, making his sword glow with black lightning. "Stun Charge!" Tatsumi called as he swept the air in front of him aiming the lightning directly at Haku. He didn't want to kill his comrade, but just take her out of commission.

Haku lept back, causing the attack to strike nothing but the bridge and some water. The lightning arced through the water and nearly zapped Hinata and Karin.

"Watch it!" Karin yelled at him, although she wasn't angry.

"Sorry!" Tatsumi said back to her. Once he landed, Tatsumi didn't wait for even a second before charging at Haku. "Haku, you need to wake up!" Tatsumi yelled to her. Haku didn't respond when Tatsumi said anything to her. Just before Tatsumi could hit her with the flat of Seraphim, she drew a senbon in each hand and cross blocked with them. Haku sent a kick towards Tatsumi's gut which he easily dodged thanks to his partially complete Sharingan.

This time Haku took to offensive measures. She threw her senbon at Tatsumi then drew more between each of her fingers on each hand. As soon as she had them drawn, Haku flung them at Tatsumi. Tatsumi saw the first two coming so he jumped. He realized that was a mistake after he remembered that his teammates were behind him. Tatsumi quickly drew two kunai from his weapons pouch and tossed one at each senbon. The kunai struck each senbon, knocking them to the ground harmlessly. The next eight, however, he could not block.

Hinata saw those senbon would not be directed off course in time, so she did what anybody would do: jump in front of her teammates. 'Please work this time,' Hinata thought to herself as she took a gentle fist stance. "Eight Trigram Palm Rotation!" she yelled as she began to spin around wildly. A shield of chakra formed around spinning wildly. The senbon struck the wall of spinning chakra and were deflected off course; all but two were, that is. The rotation technique that Hinata was using was only partially completed. So there were some gaps within the shield. The two senbon that weren't deflected struck Hinata in the chest as she came back around.

The rotation technique ended in an instant and Hinata flew back several feet from the impact of the senbon, screaming loudly in pain. The senbon had a poison on them that was made to make the victim feel immense pain for a short period of time. Hinata flew back into Karin who was standing directly behind her. They both fell on their backs in a heap and tangle of limbs. Hinata continued to yell out as Karin got up and removed the senbon from Hinata's chest. Hinata flailed her arms around her chest, trying to suppress the pain.

"Support Jutsu: Pain Suppression!" Karin called and placed her hand directly where Hinata had been wounded. The pain became somewhat bearable now, although Hinata still clutched at her chest.

Tatsumi cursed himself for being so naive to even think of dodging like that. He had to apologize to Hinata later, but that would have to wait. Haku was already moving to attack him again. 'Damn she's quick. I never expected such speed from her,' Tatsumi thought to himself as he blocked a senbon sent flying towards his face.

Over with Naruto for a moment. "Damnit! I really hope I'm not too late!" he said to the empty air. Just then he heard a sound that made him stop dead in his tracks. His eyes full of emotions. Shock, anger, disbelief, and most of all fear. Fear for the most precious person in his life. He was fairly close to the bridge now, so when the sound of Hinata screaming in agony was heard his pace quickened. He had to get there to protect her. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if the person he loved died now.

"Argh!" Tatsumi growled as he was struck in the upper arm of by a senbon. Luckily for him this one wasn't poisoned.

"Play time is over," Haku said coldly. 'Why can't I stop this! I don't want to fight my comrades!' Haku screamed inside her head. She momentarily stopped but then resumed fighting. This pause did not go unnoticed by Neko.

'She's fighting the Blood Pact. Little brat,' Neko thought to herself.

"Ice Style: Ice Rose Jutsu!" Haku called. The air instantly became much colder as a rose made out of pure ice rose up from the ground directly under Haku's feet. "Now you will die," she said as she stepped into one of the petals, there were fifteen in all. Almost instantly the other petals had an exact copy of Haku in them. Tatsumi rushed towards the jutsu hoping to shatter it, but stopped when the petals all detached themselves from the stem of the ice rose. Each petal had Haku facing Tatsumi. They all moved around in a circle to surround Tatsumi. Haku had senbon in each of her hands. She threw them at Tatsumi, but he realized that the ice petals did the same and they were real senbon, not illusions. Just what the hell was this jutsu? Tatsumi did his best to block each senbon, but was soon struck in the back of the knee with one. And soon after more and more senbon flew through his defenses, all piercing Tatsumi's flesh. Once Haku finished the onslaught, Tatsumi had senbon stuck into his arms, back, chest, and legs. He panted heavily, with only one eye opened. A lucky throw grazed his eye, but not enough to blind him in that eye. However, there would probably be a scar there later on.

"Charge Seraphim!" Tatsumi said weakly. The blade once again became wreathed in black lightning. "Chidori Light Blade!" Tatsumi called as he sent the attack towards the stem. He had realized that the stem was the control unit for the petals halfway through the onslaught. The attack struck but not before the real Haku lept out of the stem. As the lightning hit, the stem shattered into thousands of pieces. This also made the petals break apart and do the same thing. Tatsumi then fell back, still clutching Seraphim.

Haku watched him fall with no emotions showing on her face. 'NO!' she screamed in her head. Haku turned to the rest of the ninjas and watched them. This time Zabuza stepped forward.

"Haku. Stop this, please," He said to her, hoping to break her out of the jutsu. When Haku didn't respond, Zabuza sighed. He could never kill her, but he had to knock her unconscious. He drew his sword in a one handed grasp then charged towards her. Just before Zabuza reached her, he was kicked away by a completely white foot.

"I'll be your opponent," the white creature said as he landed on his feet. Zabuza crashed into some supplies and grunted with pain.

"Why you. Who the hell are you?" he yelled angrily.

"If you want to know someone's name, you should introduce yourself first," the white... thing said casually.

"Fine then, if you really want to know the name of your killer so be it. I'm Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the hidden Mist," he said.

"That's good to know. I'm Zetsu. But not the real Zetsu. He's back at base. I'm merely a copy of him," Zetsu said.

Zabuza's eyes widened at that fact. Not the real one? Who would just openly admit that in the middle of a battle? It didn't matter to Zabuza, he was going to kill him here and now. Zabuza then made a quick hand seal. "Hidden Mist Jutsu!" he called as a huge amount of mist descended onto the battlefield. "Just so you know, I am a master of the silent killing technique," Zabuza said from somewhere in the mist.

"Well with you talking it doesn't sound very silent, baka," Zetsu taunted.

"Heh, is that so?" Zabuza asked directly behind Zetsu. Zetsu was shocked that Zabuza was right behind him. He jumped away from a sword attack that could easily chop him in half.

"This is gonna be more fun than I had expected," Zetsu said with a smirk as he attacked Zabuza with a kunai in hand.

Haku was moving to attack the rest of the group. Rin stood in front of her with Cherubim raised waiting for an attack. Haku charged, senbon present in her hands. What surprised Rin the most was not the speed of the next attack, but the person who was attacking. Hinata had gotten up from where she was lying. Her Byakugan was activated and he hands were glowing with chakra. That had to be the Hyuuga Gentle Fist. Rin would recognize it anywhere since she had seen her mother use it so many times before she left. Hinata knocked the senbon away from her as she sent her palm at Haku's torso. Haku saw the attack and jumped back before any serious damage could be dealt. Even though Haku was under the effects of a jutsu, she still remember sparring with Hinata once. That attack could do a tremendous amount of damage to a person's body.

"I'm going to end this quickly," Haku said as she made a unique hand seal. "Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!" she called as 21 rectangular mirrors of ice were created almost out of thin air. Once they finished forming around Hinata, Haku stepped into one of the mirrors. Instantly 20 other copies were made on the other mirrors.

"Now that you have been trapped in this jutsu, you will die," Haku said as she began to throw senbon in a similar onslaught that she had Tatsumi trapped in earlier.

"Eight Trigrams Palm Rotation!" Hinata yelled as she began to spin around rapidly, forming a chakra sphere around her. The senbon were deflected off the shield of chakra. But again, Hinata's jutsu wasn't complete yet so not all senbon were deflected. Many of them began to get through the gaps and stabbed Hinata's arms and legs. Despite the pain she was in, Hinata continued to use her jutsu. But as one senbon found its way through the gaps and stabbed her in the direct center of her chest, she stopped abruptly. This was another of those poisoned senbon. In fact a few of them that were currently in Hinata's flesh also had the same poison on them, but the adrenaline was keeping the pain at bay. She screamed in agony once again as she fell forward. A well-aimed senbon was sent towards the base of her neck where her spine and neck connect. Time seemed to stretch on for an eternity as Tatsumi lifted his head to see his comrade fall and the senbon flying towards her.

Rin and Karin yelled out to Hinata, hoping to make her regain her composure. Still Hinata didn't move from where she lay. 'I'm sorry, Naru-kun. It seems this is the end for me...' she thought to herself.

What happened next made everyone there gasp. The senbon melted! They didn't even see him approach, and what shocked them more was that he was covered in a red aura.

"Don't you dare lay another finger on Hinata-chan!" Naruto yelled dangerously. The six whisker shaped marks on his face had darkened and grew in size and his eyes had turned red with slits for pupils. Even his teeth and nails had sharpened. The red aura swirled around Naruto as he growled at Haku. For the first time since the jutsu was activated, Haku seemed scared.

'That's Naruto-kun? But what happened to the sweet boy? This isn't him,' Haku thought to herself. Naruto dashed faster than Tatsumi's Sharingan could follow towards one of the mirrors. Naruto raised his hand to smash the mirror with brute force. Just before the clawed hand hit, Haku jumped out of the mirror and into another. Naruto shattered the mirror into a million pieces, surprising Haku.

'This boy would be fun to use against his comrades,' Neko thought evilly to herself as she tossed a vial of red liquid at Haku. Haku grabbed the vial and nodded. The next time Naruto got close to her, she opened the vial and splashed it into his mouth before leaping out of the mirror.

"Now! Blood Pact Control!" Neko yelled as the same daze that came over Haku, now came over Naruto. Neko laughed maniacally. She now had two of the most powerful people under her control. Naruto moved to stand beside Haku and stared at his comrades with the same blank expression that Haku had.

"Kill them all," Neko said as Naruto and Haku took up attacking positions then charged. Haku went for Rin while Naruto charged towards Karin.

"Charge Cherubim! Now Stun Charge!" Rin yelled as she charged Haku head on. Haku dodged, but failed to see the wires from Rin's boots strike her body from below. They carried the same attack in them. Haku screamed as the electricity jolted through her entire system. Just before Haku fell she smiled weakly at Rin.

"Thank you Rin-san," she said quietly as she fell to the ground unconscious.

"What a nuisance that jutsu is," Rin complained as she turned to go help out Karin. At that time, Neko appeared in front of her and sent her flying back with a punch to the face.

"Don't even think about it bitch. You're all going to die here," Neko said dangerously.

"Fine then," Rin said as she stood up and held Cherubim in a striking position. The two dashed at each other and locked weapons before engaging in further combat.

As Naruto aimed a swipe at Karin's head she ducked under it. All they could do was dodge since Naruto was relentless. He never stopped attacking so all she could do was dodge. Karin didn't' dare block, not knowing what an attack from Naruto could do in this state. As Karin continued to dodge back, she didn't notice a small puddle of water approaching fast.

"S-stop it... Naruto. Please," Tatsumi said barely louder than a whisper. "Stop it. Stop it. STOP!" He finally yelled as he got up and charged at Naruto, the adrenaline surging through his veins. Karin stepped back one last time and right onto the puddle causing her to slip and fall back. She watched in horror as Naruto aimed his claws at her throat. She closed her eyes waiting for the inevitable, but never felt it. She opened her eyes to see Tatsumi standing in front of her with Naruto's clawed hand sticking out of his back.

"Tatsumi-kun! NO!" she screamed as he turned to smile at her slightly. Tears began to stream down her face as she saw the boy she had fallen in love with being stabbed. What happened after that made her recoil. The red aura that had developed over Naruto was now doing the same thing to Tatsumi.

'NO! This can't happen!' Larka screamed inside of Tatsumi's head. Tatsumi's sharpest teeth began to grow much longer and claws similar to Naruto's formed on his hands. His eyes did the same as Naruto's except for the pupil. It was a three-point star in the direct center. Also, to Karin's amazement, Tatsumi had an actual tail forming behind him. His ears were also becoming more wolf-like. Instead of being on the side of his head, they were on the top and covered in black fur.

Tatsumi grabbed Naruto's arm and pulled it free of his shoulder. The wound healed up in an instant. He then threw Naruto towards a pile of heavy steel beams. Naruto crashed into them and yelled in pain. Tatsumi then grinned at Naruto, but the grin wasn't a happy one. It was evil, pure evil. Karin couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. Her Kekkei Genkai didn't tell her this about Tatsumi. His chakra had become completely dark and evil with only course of action: Kill. As Naruto stood up he turned to face Tatsumi, sneering angrily. This next fight would be very deadly and Karin had to get the bridge builder and her comrades out of the way...

Man what a chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it. The last part definitely had to be my favorite. And doesn't everybody just hate cliffhangers? Rhetorical question. Anyway, hopefully I will have the next chapter up soon, but with work and everything, it's gonna be a little difficult. But this is ForsakenAng3l signing off.