Thanks for your continued support everyone, though I do still need a beta haha. Now you'll notice I made Kurama a good bit nicer in this fic, just one of the little changes I like to make in order for the story to avoid too many things that pull away from the main plotline in my head. My chapter updates are a bit erratic though so please bear with me. Now let's get on with it!

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Well this was to be expected." Kakashi said dully as he walked with Satsuki and Sakura, Ken had returned from his training the night before and he was still sleeping. He was just glad the two girls were in top form for whatever was coming.

"Well well Kakashi, it looks like your missing two. Don't worry because my other apprentice is sure to take care of them. Let's do this Haku." Zabuza said with a predatory grin and Kakashi's eyes widened hearing this. But he calmed, believing in Naruto.

"He'll be sure to join us sometime soon Zabuza. But for now let's get this whole thing underway." Kakashi said as he lifted his headband and his sharingan spun to life, he charged forward at Zabuza who was forced to leap back in retreat. Seeing this Haku was about to leap at Kakashi's back, only for Satsuki to suddenly appear in front of him with a kunai brandished.

"Not so fast." Satsuki said as Haku withdrew several senbon in each hand and charged at her, Satsuki pivoted out of the way and parried the backhand attack from Haku. The Uchiha girl was in a deadlock for the enemy for a second until Haku flashed through several one handed seals. At that moment four other Haku's sprung up into existence around them, all of them let loose needles at Satsuki who was forced to backflip high into the air. She flashed through hand seals rapidly and flung a kunai with ninja wire attached to it. She placed the other end of the wire between her teeth and grinned

"Fire Style: Screaming Star Jutsu!" Satsuki called as she sent a white hot stream of fire down the ninja wire. The kunai became a white hot star that seemed to bend to Satsuki's will as it pierced the hearts of all the Haku's. They all fell to the ground in puddles of water and Satsuki landed a moment later. However at that moment she felt a chill as the real Haku finally appeared just behind her. She could just somehow feel this one was different from all the rest she had just faced. She just barely ducked under a senbon and was able to kick the boy in the stomach to get him away. Haku looked off into the distance and saw a small explosion.

"I need to assist Master Zabuza so I'm afraid this will have to end quickly." Haku said resolutely as he flashed through hand seals. Satsuki tried to charge the boy but was stopped when a wall of needles rose up between her and him.

"Hidden Jutsu: A Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death!" Haku called as well over a thousand needles flew toward Satsuki. The girl swore and saw there was no way to dodge out of the way. She flashed through hand seals faster than she ever had and slammed her palms on the ground.

"Earth Style: Earth Dome Jutsu!" Satsuki called as the concrete around her surged up and formed a solid dome that was soon covered in needles. Several were even halfway lodged in the dome but it held. When the barrage ended Haku took the advantage of the Uchiha's lack of mobility and flashed through a different and much longer string of hand seals. Satsuki's earth dome crumbled just as he finished his hand seals.

"Hidden Jutsu: Demonic Ice Mirrors!" Haku called and as Satsuki once again tried to charge him she was stopped once again. But this time a solid wall of ice blocked her way, then she watched with slight awe as several dozen more mirrors of ice formed all around her to create a dome. She jumped back so that she was not too close to any of the mirrors.

"Now I'll end this. I'm sorry but I cannot afford to play with you anymore." Haku said as he stepped into one of the mirrors. Then faster than Satsuki could comprehend her body was littered with innumerable ice senbon. However she silently thanked Kakashi for the training in reinforcing oneself with earth chakra. Due to this half of the Senbon merely bounced off her skin. Haku simply prepared a second volley but he was stopped by a loud voice.

"Keep your damned hands of my teammate!" Ken yelled loudly as he tackled straight through one of the mirrors, to Haku's utter shock. He landed next to Satsuki with a large grin on his features as he brandished a blue scroll in his left hand. Haku reformed the broken mirror, he could sense Zabuza growing weaker and knew this new distraction would just prolong things if he didn't stop being kind.

"Now watch with amazement as I unleash the power Naruto helped me attain." Ken said with a grin as he pulled out a blue scroll. Even Haku waited with bated breath as the scroll unfurled and Ken began to glow a sharp blue for a few seconds. But just as the glow seemed to reach its apex it faded to nothing and all present sweat dropped.

"Wha…" Ken mumbled off, he dropped to his knees in shock and Haku took this opportunity to send out another barrage of senbon. Ken saw the slight movement in the corner off his eye and he leapt into action….with much more speed than he had ever experienced before.

"Is this the scroll?" Ken exclaimed as he easily deflected all the senbon incoming at him while Satsuki did the same. It seemed like Haku had trouble aiming for more than one target when moving at his insane speeds. He took the time after the volley to peak at the scroll which now laid open on the ground and he read the large words inscribed in it.

'Ken this will deactivate the gravity seals I put on you, go wild.' It read and in response the boy grinned. He withdrew several paper bombs and held them between his fingers, Haku launched another volley of senbon and once again he noted Satsuki was dodging just fine. As he dodged Ken also surged toward the mirrors and was able to plant paper bombs on several of them before being forced back by a kick from Haku.

"Here we go!" Ken said with a grin as he held a half tiger seal, 7 mirrors exploded and Haku yelled in pain. Ken had managed to slip one on Haku's leg before being kicked away. They were all extra strength so he knew Haku's leg would have to be heavily damaged at least.

"Dammit" Haku mumbled to himself as he looked at his leg which now simply looked like a stick of flesh and cloth. He might even have to use 'that' technique.

"Gaaaaa!" They all heard Zabuza yell and in panic Haku ignored his brutalized leg and flashed through another set of hand seals.

"Hidden Jutsu: Ice Demon's Domain!" the destroyed mirrors were rapidly replaced and they all connected rapidly as the ground also became covered in ice. A much more deadly and heavy rain of senbon came soon after.

"Ken move!" Ken heard Satsuki yell and he leapt back just as a spike of ice sprung up from the ground. Just as he landed a second spike began to rise up. His eyes widened and he felt a silent scream rip from his throat.

A few moments ago

"Dammit he's as fast as I am now, but now that our opponent has two targets I should be able to keep up." Sasuke said to herself as she dodged the next two rain of senbon, she was very impressed when Ken had blown up several of the mirrors and seemingly injured Haku. But the enemy had simply ramped up his game and now seemed to be more powerful than ever. As she assessed the situation she saw the ice under Ken move slightly and she responded to the threat immediately.

"Ken move!" She yelled just in time for Ken to move, she found herself having to dodge her own pillar. But at the same time she saw another pillar about to skewer ken as he landed. The whole world slowed to a crawl around her in an instant and she easily spun out of the way of a second spike. Meanwhile Ken was just able to dodge at the last second, however the spike still managed to tear through his left leg.

"AHHHHHHH!" Ken screamed as his leg was separated at the knee by the spike, he landed on the ground with a heavy thump. Satsuki was distracted by Ken's scream for just a fraction of a second but that was more than enough time for Haku to appear behind her with senbon ready.

"NO!" Ken yelled seeing what was about to happen, he focused all the chakra he could into his kunai and sent it flying at Haku who sensed the danger and held his palm out toward the glowing kunai. A massive spike of chakra shot out from Haku's sleeve to intercept the kunai. Only for the kunai to seemingly pass through the icicle leaving a clean melted hole through it. The kunai tore through Haku's hand and went toward the boy's face, while it did manage to break through his mask the boy's face was only slightly cut.

"I've got you now!" Satsuki yelled as she sent a vicious spin kick toward Haku's stomach, the boy impacted heavily as Satsuki landed. She looked to Ken with a small grin only for her eyes to widen.

"K-Ken?" She questioned seeing the massive puddle of blood around him, his detached leg only attributed to a part of the puddle. What caused the majority of it was the icicle now stuck through his stomach. It seemed as though his kunai did nothing to change the trajectory or speed of the icicle, all it did was pass through the thing. The icicle was still able to pierce the downed boy. Satsuki ran up to Ken and fell to her knees beside him with tears already falling down her face.

"H-hey, your S-Sharingan finally showed up. G-good job….." Ken trailed off as his eyes closed, Satsuki felt everything freeze around her. She had not known the boy that well but she knew that he was kind. And all this blood…it reminded her of the massacre, the trauma suddenly all rushed to the surface as Itachi's Tsukuyomi flashed through her head. She found herself unable to move as her eyes spun wildly, finally they returned to their original black. She absently turned her head as Haku stood to his feet, his hand hung limply at his side but his eyes were burning with desperation.

"I'm sorry but I cannot afford to let you kill me, Zabuza may have need of me." Haku said as he held a half hand seal. Ice senbon formed in the air all around him and Satsuki's eyes widened seeing that the senbon were coming at her and there was no way she could stop it. She was simply in too much shock.

"Satsuki!" She heard a scream and she looked to her left to see Naruto had broken through the side of the dome. But just as she regained her sense the rain of senbon impacted.

Several moments earlier

"Damn you look longer than I had anticipated." Naruto said down to the downed boy he had been facing in combat occasionally for the past several days. He would always engage the boy until his own victory was assured then he would retreat and stay hidden until the boy was fully healed. But he had just felt his seal on Ken dispel so he was panicked now, his opponent's entire body had been broken by his newest Rasengan variant. The crater around the boy spoke wonders for the technique so Naruto considered his training successful.

"I have to get there and help them!" Naruto yelled as he took off with his greatest speed, Naruto zoomed through the trees and as the bridge came into view he could see the large Ice dome. He impacted with a kick but found it wasn't even enough to dent the thing, he heard screams from within and swore as he held out his hand. Chakra began to swirl rapidly and the sphere expanded greatly as Naruto poured more chakra into it. The chakra was now about 3 times its original size as he thrust it forward.

"Giant Rasengan" Naruto yelled as the Rasengan grinded through the dome with ease and exploded in order to make a large opening. Just as the Rasengan dispelled all he could do was yell her name as Satsuki was bombarded with a rain of senbon. He looked to Ken's downed form and then back to Haku.

"I'm afraid I will now have to kill you just as I did your friends." Haku said as tears ran down his face, Naruto grew even angrier seeing this. Haku raised his hand and several massive spikes of ice sprung from all around toward Naruto. They all impacted at once and a loud explosion resonated. Haku felt more tears as he took yet another life, he was getting ready to go help Zabuza when a heavy force core down on him. He looked toward Naruto who was now crouched beside Satsuki. The ice all around the blonde melted easily as the golden chakra surged around him. A large surge of the chakra exploded out of him as he laid Satsuki to the ground gently beside Ken. All the needles were now melted so the girl no longer looked like a pincushion.

"You." Naruto said in a demonic voice, he looked toward Haku with violent slit pupils. His clothes glowed with the golden chakra at his hair all stood on end upward. But Haku felt so very afraid.

"You killed them so it's time to DIE!" Naruto shouted, the blonde felt he was no longer in control. The chakra may have been under his control but the bloodlust certainly was not. Faster than he could comprehend Haku no longer felt his good arm or his good leg, he looked behind him only to see Naruto had two arms of chakra coming out of his back. They held his two severed arms while the blonde's original arms held his legs.

"You're not getting out of this easily." Naruto said with ferocity as Haku's limbless body fell to the ground. The chakra had cauterized the wounds and now all the boy felt was horrible, mind-numbing pain. Naruto was above him in an instant, the blonde's hands ripped through Haku's stomach. Blood and flesh exploded outward as Haku finally faded from the world. Naruto continued to tear at the body even as he became no more than a pile of mush.

"Naruto stop!" He felt a presence running up to him and the enraged blonde turned around ready to strike. Only for Satsuki to leap into him, his chakra burned her for a couple seconds until Naruto gained his senses and supressed it.

"He's dead Naruto you can calm down." Satsuki said in between sobs as she clung to the blood-soaked blonde. The pungent smell of blood filled her nostrils and she could feel the harsh burns forming on forearms as they had been the only exposed flesh when she hugged Naruto.

"S-Satsuki you're alive?" Naruto said with his own tears, he didn't feel like he deserved to touch the girl. His hands were far too bloody.

"When you called out to me I had enough time to reinforce my skin with earth chakra. The senbon still hit some key places though so I was paralyzed for a bit, even after you melted them. But I'm okay now so you can calm down, please Naruto you're not like this." Satsuki cried into the blonde's chest. The ice was no longer there so an injured Zabuza could be seen sprinting toward them, he had felt the massive chakra and had broken away from Kakashi. He had even seen the blonde tearing apart his apprentice and the demon of the mist saw red. He was upon the two Genin in an instant with his sword ready to cleave them in two.

"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi called as his hand punched through Zabuza's chest, the man's sword tumbled to the ground and he fell to his knees. Life left Zabuza's eyes as Kakashi eased him to the ground. He laid the demon down next to what remained of Haku, Kakashi himself had two large cuts of his abdomen and one on his left leg but the Jonin was still conscious.

"You two it's not time to rest yet!" Kakashi yelled as he looked to the end of the bridge, an entire army of Gato's mercenaries stood ready to murder them all. Naruto looked down at the now unconscious Satsuki and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head. He placed her in Kakashi's arms as the man didn't seem able to stand.

"I'll take care of this sensei, I'm still practically in perfect condition. My mind was just a little shaken up." Naruto said to the silver haired man as the mob came upon Ken's body.

"Get this trash out of the way." The man said in a disgusting voice that pissed Naruto off even more. The man's cane was about to impact with Ken's body only for the cane and his arm to fall to the ground.

"I'm going to take a shameful amount of satisfaction in this." Naruto whispered into Gato's ear as the blonde once again disappeared in a blur of speed. Just as Gato's screams filled the air a dozen or so henchmen were already hitting the ground. All of them looked around in a panic as 10 blurs surged around. The heads of all of them were being exploded by what looked like blue streaks that travelled with the blurs of speed.

"Oh god what is this!?" A mercenary cried as he waved his sword around, only for one of the blue streaks to break through the blade and his head. This deadly light show continued for several minutes as the blurs moved around gracefully taking out opponents left and right. Finally Naruto finally stopped in front of Gato with his 9 clones dispelling at the same moment, the entire army behind Gato now lacked heads on their shoulders and fell to the ground unceremoniously. The shipping magnate simply wet himself as a scream caught in his throat, the last thing he saw were electric blue eyes and a sphere of blue chakra.

"Ken!" Kakashi called as he attempted to find some sign of life in the Genin, he had seen the look in Naruto's eyes and for some reason knew they would not have any more enemies to deal with. But the fact remained that poor Ken was already gone from this world, the Jonin let tears fall from his one good eye as he wrapped Ken's wounds.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So…." The second of Zabuza's apprentices mused as he sat tied up to a tree behind Tazuna's home. The boy had woken up like this and ever since he had regained consciousness he had waited for something to happen. Finally a blood soaked Kakashi and the blonde who defeated him showed up.

"So you're all that's left." Kakashi said with an edge in his voice as he threw down Zabuza's blade in front of the young man. The boy's eyes widened and he felt a sick feeling down in the pit of his stomach.

"Taking you back to the leaf for imprisonment would be an awful waste of time so we'll give you this one chance. You'll find their bodies at Gato's base which we've already raided for the citizen's belongings. Feel free to bury them or burn their bodies or whatever mist ninja do. Just be sure not to ever cross paths with us again." The blonde said with a sharp edge in his voice, he was extremely tempted to blame the youth for Ken's death and Satsuki's injuries but he had nobody to blame but himself.

'If only I'd stayed with the team. Then I would have been there to protect them, Ken wouldn't be dead and Satsuki wouldn't be in coma' Naruto thought angrily to himself as he felt the Nine Tails chakra start bubbling within him. However Kakashi placed a gentle hand on the blondes shoulder, the blonde seemed to calm visibly.

"O-okay I promise I won't cause any more trouble for you guys or the village. In all honesty I only wanted to train under Zabuza because I heard he was a swordsman of the mist. I'm still not technically a Genin so I can just return to the village. Having the sword with me is bound to get me in good with one of the factions." The boy finished, Naruto looked at the boy quizzically and Kakashi seemed to notice the blonde's confusion.

"The Hidden Mist has been in civil war for quite a while now, it looks like the rebel faction will win sometime soon though. You'll be wanting to side with the rebels kid." Kakashi said as he quickly cut open the ropes. The youth nodded his head with a solemn expression and picked up the sword. As he walked away he looked back at the two and smiled slightly.

"I won't waste the chance you two gave me, I'll use my strength well I promise!" The boy shouted as he jogged off into the woods. Naruto let a small smile grace his lips seeing the youth run off. Having fought the boy so much Naruto knew he wasn't a bad person, it made him wonder why he was mixed up with people like Zabuza and Haku.

'I shouldn't tell him that none of Satsuki's injuries where in life-threatening places. It would only make him feel more guilt over ripping Haku apart. The loss of Ken is more than any pain a Genin should have to bear' Kakashi thought to himself as he looked down at the conflicted blonde. This mission had been more than any of them had bargained for, Haku was at least as strong as a Ninjutsu special Jonin. Zabuza had even been close to defeating the copy Nin a couple of time during their bout.

"Come on Naruto let's go check on Satsuki, she should be waking up from her minor chakra exhaustion today or tomorrow." Kakashi said as he and Naruto walked back toward the house, Naruto walked behind him with slightly fearful eyes.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Satsuki suddenly felt herself wake up but in her first attempt to open her eyes she found she couldn't even do that yet. As the moments ticked by she felt she was lying down, a heavy blanket was placed on top of her and her forearms felt very numb.

'Naruto!' She thought in panic remembering the golden chakra the blonde had been covered in, all she could remember was that it faded away and she felt him carry her in his arms before she lost consciousness. She felt a heavy blush creep into her face as she remembered how the blonde's chest had been so warm. As her senses returned she smelled something familiar and relaxing. She felt another weight on her legs as well. Finally her eyes decided to obey her. When they fluttered open she was greeted by the eye-smiling visage of Kakashi.

"Well look who's up, Naruto's going to be sad he wasn't awake when you woke up." Kakashi said somewhat teasingly, as her mind tried to process what he said she looked down at the weight on her legs only to find Naruto's head resting on her thighs. His right hand was placed gingerly atop her own bandaged hand and the blonde's eye sockets were sunken in and red.

"He wanted to stay by your side until you woke up, he actually only passed out an hour or two ago." Naruto nuzzled further into Satsuki's lap, the girls blush reached new heights as Kakashi chuckled and exited the room. He closed to door behind him leaving a red-faced Satsuki with the sleeping blonde. The Jonin had his own emotions to sort out.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You certainly did mess up, and you can't blame it on your lack of strength. The chakra you've gained control of was more than enough to take down even that Zabuza if you needed to. You simply made a mistake in judgement." The fox said looking down at Naruto who was sitting with his back to the bars of the fox's cage. Naruto had been brooding ever since he entered the mind-scape. Only now had the fox bothered to offer speculation so Naruto looked up to him.

"Just smarten up brat, if you don't want something like this to happen again then don't let it." The Kyuubi said simply and Naruto let a small smile grace his features, he had been mulling over every little detail in his head finding things he could have done better but the fox was right. In Ken's honour he would make sure he never lost anyone again, he wouldn't mess up like that again.

"But just because you can control a tails worth of chakra doesn't mean you won't have to get stronger. You'll have to fight the rest out of me, so I know trusting you with the chakra isn't a mistake." The Kyuubi said with a condescending grin that Naruto may have even seen as friendly if it were not the fox giving it to him. Naruto grinned up at the fox and held his fist out.

"Well when the day comes I can beat your chakra out of you then that means I can just let you out of here right?" Naruto said with a childish grin on his features, the fox stumbled a bit at that one. He looked down at the blonde quizzically and Naruto was soon to withdraw into himself a little.

"Well like you said that Madara guy could control you, but if I was strong enough to beat you then that wouldn't be a problem anymore. Because if he did take control of you then I could just beat you and him up." Naruto said with a small blush as he looked off to the side, The Kyuubi grinned and shook his head slowly.

"Sorry to say for both of our sakes but that won't be able to happen kit, that bastard of a Yondaime took my physical body with him into the death god's stomach. The only hope I have of roaming this world freely again is by taking over your body. Not to mention that without me in here your body would cease to function, its processes now rely on my own chakra and without it….well to be simpler it would be like ripping out an organ you couldn't live without." The Kyuubi said to itself as it also slumped against the bars of the cage. He looked back at Naruto expecting to see a horror stricken expression but what he found were those electric blue eyes he only saw every now and then. The same eyes as his father.

"Well if he using Sealing Ninja Arts to put you in here and seal your body away I'm sure I could find a way to fix both. But first of all I should start research on a way to keep me alive when you leave." Naruto said as his mind soon focused on all the sealing knowledge he had, he had been neglecting it ever since he started on the Rasengan but it seemed like it was time to delve back into his favourite of the Ninja Arts.

"Kurama." The fox said resolutely and Naruto looked up at the creature quizzically.

"What's that mean?" Naruto asked simply and the fox laughed.

"That's my name brat, you can call me that when we're facing each other face to face in the real world one day." Kurama said with a small grin, before Naruto could respond he felt a force pulling him back into the real world.

"Now don't keep that Uchiha girl waiting kit. She seems worried." Kurama said with a chuckle as he flung Naruto from the mindscape, when he was finally alone the fox chuckled and decided to get to work on his own little project. He would place his trust in the brat, he didn't have many other choices after all.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Satsuki?" Naruto mumbled as he was immediately met with the onyx eyes of Satsuki Uchiha, the girl was leaned rather close to him in her inspection of the unconscious blonde. She blushed heavily and was quick to yell at the blonde.

"What the hell are you doing sleeping on top of me!?" She yelled in panic as she reeled her arm back to slap the blonde, faster than her exhausted body could react to Naruto had caught her arm by the shoulder as gently as he could. Worry shown all over his features as he slowly lowered the Heiress's arm back to the soft embrace of the blankets.

"Satsuki please don't move around too much you're still injured." Naruto said gently though Satsuki could clearly see the guilt heavy in his features. The girl had a small internal conflict over whether to speak or not but her confrontational side won out in the end.

"It's not your fault." She said simply and Naruto looked to her with an expression that was confused for a second but then it showed clear disagreement. Satsuki levelled him with her most firm glare and the blonde's defiant expression wilted.

"But…..It only hurts what I want it to hurt and it hurt you…" Naruto trailed off as he looked down at the blankets, he felt a weight on his hand and looked down to see Satsuki's bandaged hand was laying in his own. He looked up and was met with the girl's kind eyes.

"Would you ever want to hurt me Naruto?" Satsuki asked simply as she matched gazes with the blonde, Naruto simply shook his head as he did not trust his words. Satsuki smiled beautifully and placed a gentle kiss on the blonde's forehead.

"I knew that, and you know that. So don't worry about it, we were in the middle of a battle and you thought I was d-dead. I'm sure you'd never hurt me on purpose Naruto, it's partly my fault anyway. Hugging someone who's one fire might not be one of my more clever stratagems." She mumbled cutely and her eyes widened when the blonde captured her lips in the swiftest of kisses. Before she could even react the blonde grinned cheekily at her and disappeared in blur of movement.

"S-stupid Naruto." Satsuki mumbled to herself as her face was overtaken by a blush and she snuggled up in her blankets. Naruto meanwhile was leaning against the wall of a nearby hallway in a cold sweat.

'What was that!?' Naruto wondered to himself and he heard demonic chuckling in the back of my head.

'With you using my chakra it's a bit easier for me to release your more….feral instincts. Even if only for a fraction of a second' the fox said with a cheeky voice that Naruto immediately shut down before another round of chuckling could begin. His cherry red face didn't show any signs of changing back to normal for quite a while.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I wouldn't want to move his body too much. So I hope you three don't mind having his burial place here." Kakashi said solemnly as he and the three remaining Genin stood in front of a clean marble grave that was etched into the bridge itself on one of the structures massive pillars. 'In Memory of Ken Yukimura, the hero who gave his life to save this bridge and the people of wave.' The plaque said and in memory of his sacrifice the bridge had been called the 'Great Yukimura Bridge'.

"We'll be sure to have his name etched into the Hero's shrine back in the village. Take as much time as you need." Kakashi said and a moment later Sakura collapsed against the memorial, despite not being around for the boy's actual death the pinkette seemed the most affected. She had found out when all the mist had cleared and she was able to see the entire bridge, until that moment she had been guarding Tazuna while momentarily hearing loud guttural screams. The poor girl had performed her mission spectacularly though. Both Naruto and Satsuki shed silent tears as they kneeled on either side of Sakura and patted her back gently. Several long moments passed and finally Sakura seemed to be all cried out, she picked herself up and started walking back toward the lead. The rest of the group followed along, they all knew Ken wouldn't want them spending so much time mourning him.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx