Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto.
Author's Note: As you can probably tell, my update schedule is going to be very sporadic. I have precious little free time, and what I do have, I don't always use for writing.
Souls.
If there ever was a more ambiguous conversation subject, I wouldn't know one. What a soul actually is, is almost impossible to pinpoint. Every attempt at classifying it either ends up as far too vague, or completely off the mark.
Some say souls are your 'true identity'. Others disagree. Some say souls wear bodies like people wear clothes. Switching them out only to get reborn in another. Others disagree. Some say true death only comes after the destruction of a soul. Others… actually, pretty much everyone agrees on that one.
Yin chakra, or spiritual energy, includes all of these vaguely defined concepts. It is your mental strength. Your will. Your focus. Your experiences. Your memories. It is all the bonds you have forged throughout your life.
Yin chakra is the combination of mind and soul. Or a spirit, as some would call it. While yang chakra is your entire body, and holds within itself the secrets of life.
A near limitless number of factors forms a soul. Which makes it nearly impossible to predict. Together with yang chakra, it forms your entire identity. It forms all the aspects of an individual. Body, mind, and soul. These three come together to create what we call chakra. You are your chakra, and your chakra is you.
Chapter 4 – Wave:
Sakura collapsed on the futon Tsunami had given her. The entire day had been an utter mess.
The mission had started well enough. Their client, Tazuna, had been a bit of a douchebag. But other than getting in a shouting match with Naruto, he hadn't really done much harm.
Then a pair of missing-nin from Kirigakure had attacked them.
It was over in an instant. Naruto and Sasuke really did work well together, even if Sasuke had to get Naruto moving. Kaka-sensei didn't have much to do. He even pretended to get killed. So he could 'see their reaction to real danger', or something. It might have been scary, but it was all over before she really got a chance to react.
Afterwards, Tazuna spilled the beans. Telling them about the shipping magnate Gato, and why the bridge he was building was so important. Of course, Naruto wanted to continue, and Sasuke was never afraid of anything. Even if she was a little nervous, it had all gone well. How much worse could it get?
After they arrived in the Land of Waves another missing-nin from Kiri, Momochi Zabuza, had attacked them. What followed was the largest, most impressive and terrifying display of power she had ever seen.
Sakura lived in a ninja village. And not just any ninja village either. She lived in Konoha. The strongest and oldest shinobi village in the world. She was even a ninja herself now. The stories she had heard about the legendary warriors of the Elemental Nations had inspired her to become a kunoichi. It was a dangerous profession, of course she knew that… but they were ninja! They were heroes! There was no better job. Ninja were the coolest, the strongest, the most beautiful and the best at everything. Everyone looked up to ninja, so of course she wanted to be one too.
Now she had seen her first real ninja battle. The aura alone was almost enough to choke her. The only thing stopping it from completely overwhelming her was Kakashi's continuous presence and the waves of positive intent he sent over to them. Kaka-sensei and Zabuza had battled it out on a lake. Although he was captured once, Naruto and Sasuke managed to get him free.
After that, all hell broke loose.
Sakura's first impression of Kakashi had been that of a mediocre, lazy ninja that didn't take his job seriously. He was late on the job, drawled in his speech, and read that perverted book everywhere he went. During the bell test, she had to reevaluate their teacher. They hadn't even stood a chance. Even though they all worked together, laid plans, and set up traps. Sakura could see he let them do it. Sure, Naruto's stupid technique had actually surprised him, but not enough that he'd totally let up his guard. She was mostly sure he let her take the bells. The battle she had just witnessed confirmed it.
That battle…
Almost everything happened faster than she could perceive it. The lake seemed to be at war with itself, rising and falling at the command of the two high-ranking ninja. Kunai and shuriken flew with impossible precision. Taijutsu was exchanged faster than her eyes could track. How Kaka-sensei managed to block that giant sword with nothing but a Kunai, was beyond her. In the end, Kakashi won. However, their match was interrupted when a hunter-nin from Kiri appeared. The newcomer killed Zabuza himself.
Shortly thereafter, their teacher collapsed. He woke up a little after they'd arrived at Tazuna's place. The old man had turned out to be a much nicer person after they had proved themselves capable and he wasn't completely drunk.
When Kakashi awoke, he explained to them what had actually happened when the hunter-nin had 'killed' Zabuza. So now they had two enemies… great.
They were supposed to train tomorrow. Although Sakura doubted exactly how much that would help. According to Kakashi, they had about a week until Zabuza went after them again.
Sakura shifted restlessly on the futon. At least the sleeping quarters was comfortable.
All three genin stood before Kakashi as he leaned on a pair crutches. "Ok, let's review what you've learned up to now." All three students looked at each other, confused as to what their teacher was up to.
Not that he made much sense at the best of days.
"Eh… We have done the tree walking exercise, some teamwork training, and normal strength, stamina and speed training." Naruto began. He scratched his head as he tried to think of more. Sasuke continued where he left of. "We have worked on taijutsu, target practice and the beginnings of elemental manipulation." Kakashi nodded, seemingly satisfied.
"Have any of you managed the jutsu I've shown you?" Both Naruto and Sasuke nodded while Sakura felt a blush staining her cheeks. She had tried. She really had. It was just that every time she practiced, she became so exhausted it was impossible to continue.
Kaka-sensei had given them each one elemental jutsu they could work on. The fact that he knew techniques from all five elements was nothing short of amazing. The ability to use all five natures was practically unheard of. Kakashi and the Sandaime were the only ones in the entirety of Konoha to master all five. At least they were the only known ones… it was a ninja village after all.
The more she discovered about their sensei, the more it showed how amazing he was. Although his demeanor demanded no one take him seriously. It was actually somewhat scary.
"Show me." Their teacher demanded, looking at Naruto and Sasuke.
Sasuke went first, going through a short set of hand signs. "Raiton: Lightning wave!" As he spread his hands, arcs of lightning shot through the air. It crackled and smelled of ozone.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Impressive, that's quite a large radius." He complimented.
Their sensei looked over at the other boy, who was practically jumping with excitement. "Naruto." He said simply.
No further prompting needed, Naruto went through his own set of hand seals, ending on snake as he blew out from his mouth. "Futon: Great Breakthrough." A strong wind flew from his mouth, shooting upwards and ruffling the trees above them. Kakashi nodded, apparently satisfied. "Good. Great volume, but low efficiency, keep working on it."
Kakashi looked them all over with a critical eye. Naruto had no idea what their teacher was thinking, but he couldn't say he wasn't excited. After graduating the academy, he felt he had learned so much!
"So, you have all finished tree-walking. The next step is water walking. We are currently on an island, so that might be useful. However, our opponents are from Kirigakure. Rule number one when fighting someone from mist. Do not fight a mist-nin on water." Kakashi punctuated the last sentence with a hard stare, making sure they got the memo. Naruto could almost feel the red of the sharingan staring at him through Kakashi's headband.
"But you did Sensei!" He complained. How come he could and they couldn't?
Kakashi rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Well… I didn't have much choice, did I? So, do you want to walk on water or not?"
The second stage of their terrain training went much like the first one. Sakura managed it first, much to her pleasure and the boys' annoyance. It did take longer than the tree climbing exercise, though. The first one took a whole week for the boys.
If this one lasted any longer than that, they weren't going to learn anything until their week was up. "Ne, Sakura-chan. Can you give us some tips?" Naruto asked. Sasuke didn't say anything, but it was clear he was listening.
That was all the encouragement Sakura needed. "Well... It is similar to the tree walking exercise, but instead of a constant flow of chakra, it needs to always be adjusted. The water move and you have to compensate. Strengthening the surface tension only work when you stand on the surface. So don't channel chakra into your feet once you're under, or you'll just disrupt the water." She continued explaining about the anchoring element, and how it could be used to increase or decrease their friction on the water. She talked about water tension and chakra infusions. About halfway through, Naruto zoned out, not capable of following the increasingly complicated explanation.
Sasuke followed shortly thereafter, although Sakura didn't notice, she had completely lost herself in chakra theory and the physics of liquids. The two boys stared at her in amazement as she continued to ramble on and on.
"Sakura? When did you learn this?" Sasuke asked slowly. Sakura stopped her tirade and blushed. She hadn't realized what she'd done. Normally she tried to keep her inner nerd in check, but Sasuke's attention removed all her restraints. She wanted to impress him, not make him see her as some kind of weirdo.
"Eh… I like reading?" She shrugged, face burning red.
A cloudless night illuminated the land of Wave as Naruto sneaked through the house, trying to make as little noise as possible. He was a ninja, so that was very quiet. Only Kakashi noticed him go.
Naruto walked through the forest looking for a fitting place to train. When he found a clearing, he sat down and took out the rubber ball Raya had given him. Even if he were training something else, an actual attack jutsu would be very convenient right now.
"More power, eh?" He murmured as all of his focus centered on the small rubber ball. Chakra swerved around in all directions as his other hand tried to stabilize the chakra. The ball wiggled and stretched, but otherwise refused to pop or rip. Naruto was not deterred. If the jutsu had been easy, it wouldn't have been worth learning.
The next morning found Naruto passed out in the clearing. Sunlight streamed through the canopy in carefully strict light-beams.
A voice echoed through the forest. "You will catch a cold sleeping in a place like this."
The week Kakashi had given them was up, and all three genin were exceedingly nervous about the upcoming fight. Naruto and Sasuke was spending every waking moment on the water, trying to get the exercise down. While it did take longer to master than the tree climbing exercise, learning well enough to run wasn't too hard, and they weren't supposed to fight Mist ninja on water anyway.
The four of them walked together towards the bridge. Three ninja and their client. Normally, they would have one of them watching the house. This was the day the attack would most likely come however, and Naruto had gotten the idea to leave some shadow clones as guards.
As they approached the bridge, a familiar mist settled over them. "This is it. Be on your guard." Kakashi told them in a hushed voice.
As they arrived at the bride, they saw Zabuza and the mysterious hunter-nin that had taken him away. They were standing in the middle of the bridge, the bodies of several bridge builders lying between the two groups.
"Wha… What is this!?" Tazuna exclaimed in horror.
Kakashi lifted his headband, revealing the sharingan. The tomoe spun in lazy circles. "Don't bother with them. They're just water clones" He reassured the old man.
Zabuza's bandages stretched. "Ah, I should have known I couldn't fool you with something so basic. Long time no see, Kakashi." Kakashi inclined his head a bit, just enough to show mutual respect between two professional killers.
The henged water clones fell away as ten new ones appeared around the Konoha team. Kakashi barely reacted. "Sasuke, Naruto." A moment later, the water clones disappeared, several kunai flying through them. "Oho, looks like someone has improved. Haku, you take care of the brats."
The false hunter-nin nodded as Naruto and Sasuke squared their stances, ready for combat.
"Sakura, protect Tazuna. Naruto, Sasuke, the hunter-nin is yours." Naruto and Sasuke nodded, walking forward as one, their steps falling into a steady rhythm.
Sasuke looked over his shoulder. Sakura was covering their client and Kakashi was in a standoff with Zabuza. The first fight between the two jounin had reminded him how far he still had to go to reach that man. It was a daunting prospect, but somehow also an exciting one. He shook those thoughts out of his mind. He had his own fight to focus on.
Naruto was standing to his right, and directly opposite to them was the false hunter-nin. The boy slowly took off his mask, revealed an almost impossibly feminine face and gentle eyes. It actually made Sasuke question if he was even a boy. "We meet again, Naruto-kun." Haku said calmly.
Naruto looked like someone had punched him in the gut. "You! But, how can you be…" Naruto exclaimed pointing at Haku in complete disbelief.
"Are these the precious people you want to protect?" Haku continued, apparently unbothered by Naruto's look of betrayal.
Throughout the following conversation, Sasuke was filled in on the details. This Haku person was apparently someone Naruto had met in the forest plucking flowers. Honestly, if Sasuke hadn't seen what his friend was capable of, he would swear up and down that Naruto was the world's worst ninja.
"But why?" Naruto insisted. Still disbelieving.
Was it truly so hard to believe he had been fooled? Sasuke wondered. He hadn't even known the boy for more than a few minutes.
"It is for the sake of Zabuza-sama. He is my most precious person, and I will do anything he asks of me." The boy repeated as he put on his fake hunter mask again. Intimidation? Removal of facial cues? Suddenly, the temperature around them dropped dramatically and a thin layer of ice began spreading over the bridge.
Ice? Ice wasn't an element. He didn't have time to think more about that however, as dozens of senbon was thrown their way. Sasuke rolled to the side, never letting his eyes off their opponent.
As they tried to close the distance to Haku, they were met with two obstacles. The first was the obvious fact that their opponent had shorter range to hit them the closer they came, so they had less time to dodge. That he was deadly accurate with his senbon was also a factor. The other obstacle was the thin layer of ice under their feet. It made it hard to get a grip. Even sticking to it with chakra seemed to have limited effect, as the chakra infused in the ice interfered.
As fast as he could, Sasuke went through a set of hand seals. "Raiton: Lightning wave!" Sparks of chakra-powered electricity flew towards their opponent. The jutsu wasn't very destructive, but potentially damaging and hard to dodge.
Taking the cue, Naruto flung some kunai towards the fake hunter-nin. In response, the other boy went through his own set of hand seals.
The moisture in the air collected around him, froze over, and blocked Sasuke's lightning wave. Naruto's kunai he just plucked out of the air. Sasuke's expression firmed. That wasn't the first the time he had seen something like that happen. Kakashi-sensei did it all the time. This wasn't Kakashi however, and the fact that their opponent had reaction speed like that was worrying. Doing his best sticking to the ground, Sasuke gathered chakra to his leg and blurred forward. Haku dodged the first kick by a hairsbreadth, but the young genin could see the surprised face of his opponent.
The raven-haired boy still had a lot of momentum, so using it, he grabbed the ice-user and tossed him towards the bridge railing.
Kakashi seemed to relax a bit as the fight wore on. "Don't underestimate my brats Zabuza. Sasuke is the rookie of the year. Sakura is the brightest kunoichi in her generation, and Naruto is Konoha's number 1 unpredictable ninja. They won't be defeated so easily."
Zabuza observed the fight with a neutral expression, both him and Kakashi showing their faith in their students as neither pressed the attack.
After Kakashi's words however, a dry laugh began to build in the swordsman's throat. It built and built until it came out as full-blown laughter. "HAHAHAHAHA! Oh Kakashi, your brats have no idea what they have gotten themselves into!" A chill went down Kakashi's back as Zabuza smiled amusedly. "Show them, Haku."
Haku picked himself up from the ground, mask cracking and flaking off in places. "Hai, Zabuza-sama." He shook off his mask completely, his long black hair falling around his feminine frame.
The ice user started to go through hand seals. Unfortunately for him, Sasuke was too close, and the Uchiha was upon him before he finished. "As if I'd let you!" The Uchiha snarled. His kunai whistled through the air before stopping, being held at a stalemate by Haku's senbon. But instead of aborting the jutsu, he continued making seals with his single free arm.
Sasuke's eyes widened. One-handed seals? He had never heard of anything like that before. Behind him, Kakashi made sounds of disbelief. Naruto was on the way, but he was too slow.
Long before the orange-clad Genin could reach them, their opponent called out. "Hyoton: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals." A large dome of Ice mirrors coalesced around the two Konoha-nin. Then Haku stepped into one of the mirrors and disappeared. He reappeared only a second later, as the ice-user projected dozens of reflections of himself on every mirror that surrounded them.
Behind him, Sasuke could hear Kakashi finally starting his battle with Zabuza. A bit on the late side, as usual.
As they stood there, surrounded on all sides, hundreds of senbon descended down on them like a rain of death. They were almost impossible to dodge. They didn't have much other choice than to try though.
Both boys rolled, bolted, jumped and hand sprang to get clear of the senbon. They tried to get out through the opening between the mirrors, but the closer they got, the faster the needles flew towards them. At some point, Naruto tried a Futon: Great Breakthrough, but if it had any effect on the mirrors, Sasuke couldn't see it. He himself tried a Great Fireball, but it wasn't nearly hot enough to damage Haku's chakra enhanced ice.
The fight started floating together in an eternal dance of needles, pain and panic.
Sasuke's perception focused. He couldn't die here! He still had a man to kill! Everything went too fast. He couldn't keep up! Haku flew through the mirrors like a demon, achieving ridiculous speeds without even trying. He had no options, nothing he could do. He would die here. Naruto would die here. Naruto… the only friend he had left. Maybe the only friend he had, period. He wouldn't allow it. Couldn't allow it. Never! Never again!
He felt a rush of chakra as the world seemed to slow down. The senbon started to get easier to dodge. He could see each piece of wood and metal as they flew by him, and those already stuck in his body didn't hurt as much. What's going on? He wondered, even though a part of his mind already knew. He saw himself in one of Haku's mirrors, red sharingan eyes blazed back at him. One tomoe in the right eye, and two in the left.
He almost stopped to stare at the reflection. However, he didn't fancy dying, so that would have to wait until later. 'The last Uchiha' allowed himself a satisfied smirk as he focused back on the fight.
Sasuke looked over at Naruto, the motion somehow faster than it would have been before. The blond was still standing, but he was a lot worse off than Sasuke. He lacked the black haired boy's speed and agility, and had no convenient sharingan activation to help him.
A thought struck Sasuke. It was a plan, or rather, the start of a plan. He didn't have time for anything more though. "Naruto! Use your wind jutsu!"
Naruto looked over quickly, but soon had to focus on dodging again. "Tried it already! It doesn't work!" He shouted back.
Sasuke shook his head. They couldn't stay like this for much longer. "Just do it!"
Naruto looked uncertain, but complied nonetheless. The beat-up blond went through a series of hand seals, preparing for the jutsu.
They had never managed a combination jutsu before. Kakashi had them try a few times, but it always just blew up in their faces. Doing more damage than good. After that, Kakashi had decreed that it was probably too early.
Now they didn't have much choice. Naruto's wind jutsu wasn't strong enough by itself, and Sasuke's fireball wasn't hot enough. This time however, they had an advantage they didn't have before.
Sasuke watched Naruto carefully as he went through the hand seals. The sharingan saw the flow of chakra, the amount, volume, intensity and effectiveness of the Uzumaki's jutsu. The majority of the technique's energy was wasted, and only petered out as Naruto tried to form the jutsu. How he still had enough to cast it repeatedly so many times, Sasuke didn't know, but it wasn't important right now. Only the energy used on the actual jutsu did. The Uchiha went through his own set of hand seals and jumped to stand beside Naruto. Only focusing a little on dodging the incoming senbon, he kept the majority of his focus on balancing his chakra.
Harmony, coordination, chakra resonance. There were many names for it. Right now though, the only thing Sasuke could think about was winning this goddamn fight. So they could hopefully live a few more years. He still had things to do. A man to kill. And Naruto had to become Hokage.
"Futon: Great Breakthrough!" "Katon: Great Fireball!"
The two jutsu met at the start of their lives and combined perfectly. Haku's eyes widened in surprise as he jumped to another mirror. Less than a second later, the combination of fire and wind blasted through the ice dome and broke Haku's jutsu.
The kiri-nin staggered backwards and fell to one knee. The backlash from having his jutsu broken wasn't exactly comfortable. Sasuke and Naruto weren't any better off though. Both were riddled with senbon and could barely walk. Sasuke looked over at Naruto and smirked. "Glad to see you could at least follow instructions, dead last."
Naruto bristled, but eventually he smirked back. "Did you have to get those precious eyes of yours at the most dramatic moment?"
Sasuke was tempted to continue their bickering. But at that moment, the mist dissipated. There stood Zabuza. He was being kept in place by a pack of dogs as Kakashi prepared to run him through with a lightning covered hand.
Haku saw it as well. A desperate shout went up from the young boy, rattling anyone with a heart to hear. "Zabuza-sama!" A mirror manifested itself in front of the boy as he sprinted through it towards Zabuza and Kakashi. Sasuke could easily predict where Haku's path would take him. Heck, he probably didn't even need the sharingan to see it.
Naruto saw it too. His eyes widened in realization and horror as he watched Haku run towards the two jounin. Scenes flew through his mind faster than he managed to comprehend them. Haku in the woods, talking about protecting precious people. Zabuza, knocking Sakura out with the flat of his blade. Tazuna, talking about Gato and Kaiza. Inari's stubborn insistence that heroes didn't exist. Raya talking about people understanding one another.
How could he ever be Hokage if he couldn't even save someone like Haku?
Before he even realized what was happening, he felt his feet move. The senbon suddenly didn't matter. His pain didn't matter. Naruto's eyes had become red slits as the bridge cracked under his feet.
Somewhere in his subconscious, he could hear Sasuke shouting after him, but the meanings of the words were lost. Nothing mattered except Haku.
He had to save him. Save them.
Haku materialized in front of Zabuza. The kiri orphan held up his arms in a protective manner in front of the only person who had ever recognized him.
Kakashi's sharingan eye widened in surprise.
That was nothing however, compared to when Naruto jumped in front of Haku. Red, pleading eyes directed straight at the copy-ninja. Electricity flew through the air and stones cracked underneath Kakashi's feet, as the famous shinobi did everything in his power halt the attack. The Raikiri wasn't that easily stopped however. The legendary lightning cutter hit the young ninja. It pierced through muscles, flesh and bones, sending shocks of electricity surging through Naruto's already beat up body.
"NARUTO!"
He didn't quite know who had shouted. It could have been Sasuke or Sakura, or maybe even Haku. Kakashi stood like frozen, hand outstretched, staring into space. Staring, but not quite seeing.
Naruto fell, but not all the way to the ground.
Someone cradled him in their lap. A smell like flowers in the winter filled his nose. Flowers and… rabbits? Naruto scrounged up his face. That didn't seem right…
He couldn't breathe properly. Each time he tried, it felt like someone had doused his body in fire. It was so hot. Everything was so warm. So very, very warm. Then he felt angry. He didn't quite know what he was angry at, but that didn't stop the rage. It came like a wave, a wave of red-hot boiling malice. Destroy! Kill! Destroy what? Kill whom? Everyone and everything! All senses had lost their meaning, all except sound.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this just horrible." A voice; slimy and dry, cut through the chaotic landscape of his mind. It came from somewhere behind him, somewhere…
"Ah, Zabuza, you couldn't keep our contract I see. The bridge builder is still alive." That meant something, he knew. Contract? What was this about a contract?
"Gato." Zabuza's voice, calm and collected. Gato? This was Gato? The anger that had formerly been directionless lashed onto that thought. It focused and magnified a hundredfold. Sight came back. He was not lying on the ground. Haku was cradling him in an embrace, staring down at him in complete disbelief.
The burning didn't stop. It wouldn't stop. It felt like someone was pumping him full of too much air. Before he didn't have enough, now he had too much.
"Gato, what are you doing? We had an agreement. The bridge builder will soon be dead." The slimy voice made a few 'tsk tsk' noises. "But that's just it Zabuza, I never really meant to pay you in the first place. It's a brilliant tactic. Hire ninja to take care of all the complicated stuff. But then, ninja are so expensive. It is much simpler to kill them than to pay them. And no one cares if one or two missing-nin dies."
Silence reigned after this declaration. No one said anything.
Naruto struggled with his thoughts. His body shook as he looked over at where Gato's voice had come from.
There. A few meters away was a man in a business suit and a horde of thugs behind him. They were all armed with swords, clubs or some other kind of weapon. Naruto only had sight for the small man in the business suit however.
He rolled out of Haku's lap, thumping onto the ground wet with red liquid. His body didn't hurt so much now. Although the fire burned stronger than ever. He crawled to his feet, back hunched, and that terrible, terrible anger burning within him.
"You. You're Gato?" His voice sounded deeper, sharper. It didn't really register to Naruto tough. It was unimportant.
Gato looked uninterested, confident in his superior numbers. "Weren't you dead, brat? Well no matter, you will be soo-" He faltered.
During his little speech, Naruto had looked up. Demonic red staring the corrupt businessman dead in the eye.
Naruto didn't really understand where all this anger was coming from. Sure, he was angry at Gato, but this was something else. This was hate. Hate enough to kill a person. Hate enough to kill thousands. And it was all directed at Gato.
Gato's eyes widened as killing intent flooded the bridge. It was so thick it was almost tangible. Naruto screamed and clutched his head. All the pressure that had been building inside him exploded outwards in a flood of chakra. Red chakra.
He was clutching Gato by the throat before he even realized what was happening. Sharp nails digging into the terrified man's skin. Gato stared completely horrified at the twelve-year-old boy that had just been dying. The mercenaries stepped back fearfully, the killing intent oozing from Naruto stopping any thoughts of attack. A pair of older men turned and fled.
Zabuza stared wide eyed at Kakashi. "You- He is a…"
Kakashi didn't know if he should be relieved or worried. Then again, considering the alternative, this was by far the better option. He should probably stop his student before he did something he would regret though. "Don't say it." He ordered. Zabuza knew the answer anyway. It was staring him right in the face.
Naruto was panting, red chakra curled around his body, embracing him. His head was starting to clear up.
Something was wrong.
This didn't fit.
He had been stabbed by Kakashi's lightning technique, then… He looked down at his chest. His shirt and orange jacked had been destroyed. There was still a wound, but it knitted itself back together as he watched. The healing went slower and slower, and the clearer his head felt the more it hurt.
And there was blood.
Blood everywhere. His entire front was soaked in red, as if he had just emptied one of his paint buckets on himself. He looked back at Gato. What was he about to do again? Oh, right. He was about to kill the worm. Why would he do that? Images of the townspeople, of Inari, of Tazuna's story, floated through his head. Naruto snarled and shook his head. This wasn't right. He was still angry, but killing him wasn't the right choice. He knew that, so why did he want to do it so bad?
"Naruto!" A child's voice, a familiar voice.
Naruto turned his head. There, gathered in the hundreds was Inari and the villagers. Vague recollections of him kicking the crap out of some thugs with swords and speaking with Inari flew through his head. When had that happened?
They had come to rally against Gato. Come to stand up for themselves. That was what was supposed to happen.
He didn't have to kill Gato.
He shifted his attention back to the corrupt businessman. Red eyes melting back into the normal blue as he let go. Gato fell to the ground gasping and grasping his bleeding throat.
Darkness encroached upon Naruto's vision as he collapsed once again.
Author's Note: I actually managed the entirety of wave in one chapter. I am very pleased with that. Now there are just a few tie-ups that I have to do. I am really looking forward to the next chapter. Hopefully you will like it as well.
Thanks for reading ;)
