Chapter VII: Fateful Battle at the Bridge

"What is this?" The bridge builder, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba had arrived to a terrible sight. Workers lie dead or injured all across the bridge. Supplies were scattered about, uncared for and broken.

"What's wrong? What's happened?" Tazuna yelled to the downed workers.

"It can't be…" Kakashi whispered.

O0o.o0O

"They left already!" shouted Naruto. Gaara had just woken him up telling him that Zabuza and Haku had already left for the bridge to kill the bridge builder.

Naruto's pajamas flew off in a rush and in no time he was ready for the day. "Come on, Gaara! We have to save the bridge builder!"

They ran through the woods at full speed until Naruto's keen hearing picked up a high-pitched scream of a woman, coming from the direction of Tanuza's house.

"Tsunami!" Naruto paused in his run. He had to make a decision fast. "Gaara, you go on to the bridge. Make sure no one kills anyone. I'm going to make sure Tsunami is alright." Gaara nodded.

Their paths diverged as they took off in their separate directions. He found traces of samurai having fun with wildlife along the way. "Tch…what idiots." He kept running until he came upon the familiar house where Tsunami and her father had helped two starving lonely boys so long ago.

O0o.o0O

Mist started to pour in again. The air became thick with moisture and the bridge was hidden from sight. The four leaf nin gathered protectively around the bridge builder.

An eerie voice surrounded them. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi. And you're still carrying those kids around." Sasuke was having trouble controlling the shaking of his hand that was gripping a kunai. "He's shaking again, how pitiful." Suddenly they were surrounded by Zabuza clones.

Sasuke smirked. "I'm shaking with excitement."

The mist nin smiled under his bandages. Maybe this will be better than I originally thought.

Kakashi addressed his student, "Go for it, Sasuke." And Sasuke was off, taking out Zabuza clones with his new confidence in himself. In a matter of seconds, he had turned them all into puddles of water.

"He can defeat the water clones," Zabuza told Haku, "That kid has gotten stronger. A rival has appeared for you Haku."

"It seems like it," he replied.

"Oh, my…my prediction was right," Kakashi said offhandedly.

"You're prediction?" Zabuza asked.

"The masked guy," said Kakashi.

"Just as I thought too," agreed Sasuke.

Sukara, Kiba, and Tazuna looked confused. Tazuna spoke up, "So it was a lie that he was a pursuing ninja from the Hidden Village of the Mist."

Kakashi sighed. "He's on Zabuza's side no matter how you look at it. They're lined up so nicely. However, it still doesn't explain the shadow clone."

Zabuza laughed. "The shadow clone? So that wasn't the boy. He looked too weak anyway to produce one. Now, my last defeat is so much clearer. It will not happen again. This time, I'll kill all of you and then the bridge builder." In his mind, Zabuza decided to punish Naruto for that stunt. He was the only person he could think of that could have that talent.

Sasuke spoke up, "I'll fight the masked boy."

Kakashi nodded. "Kiba will help you. Sakura, you are to defend the bridge builder no matter what. I will take care of Zabuza." And so the fateful battle began.

O0o.o0O

Samurai cut down the door of the bridge builder's house. Tsunami looked up with fear in her eyes. This couldn't end well.

"So you're Tazuna's daughter…I'm sorry, you're coming with us."

Inari had just finished using the bathroom when he heard a shattering down stairs. His eyes grew wide in fear. He rushed out of the bathroom to see his mom on the floor cowering.

"Mom!" he yelled.

"Don't come here! Run!" she yelled.

"What do you want, kid," a tall tattooed thug asked. "Should we take him too?"

A shorter samurai answered, "We only need one hostage."

Hostage? Inari took a step back.

"Then.." the tall one said, gripping his sword, "I'll kill him."

Inari was frozen in fear. He couldn't do anything but shake uncontrollably.

"Wait!" Tsunami shouted, "If you do anything to him, I'll bite my own tongue and die! You need a hostage, right?"

"Hm…" the shorter guy said, "Thank your mom, kid." Inari collapsed to the ground crying. He couldn't do anything.

"I'm not satisfied," the taller guy said.

"Cut it out," his companion ordered, "You already cut those things before we came here. Let's take the woman." They grabbed the woman and tied her hands behind her back.

"Mom…I'm sorry…I'm sorry," Inari cried. He wasn't strong enough. "I'm weak…I can't do anything! I don't want to die. I'm scared!" He had tears running down his face as he stared at the ground, his entire body shaking in fear.

"You can't just keep crying," an unfamiliar voice told him. He looked up to see a masked nin sitting on the cabinets, looking to be at ease. "Being a crybaby helps no one," he explained. "Unless you're willing to put your life on the line to protect what you love, then you don't really know anything. A coward has no reason to live but to exist." He jumped down off the counter. "Being brave is not about not being scared. It's about doing something even if you are afraid."

"Who are you?" Inari asked, wiping his eyes. This mystery man had just nearly repeated back his father's words at him. Inari could feel his body again. He needed to do something.

"It doesn't matter. You want to stay here and cry? Or are you going to go save your mom?"

Inari rushed out of the house. "Mom!"

"Inari!" she shouted back, being dragged by the men. "Stay away! Don't let them get you too!"

"No mom! I won't let them take you like they took dad!" he shouted. He rushed toward the men. He had nothing to fight with, but that didn't matter. He just wanted his mom back.

The shorter guy gestured to the taller one. "You can take care of him. He's being a pest."

The tall guy grinned. He pulled out his sword and licked the edge. "I'm gonna have some fun."

He slashed his sword at the boy, expecting to meet only flesh. He was surprised when a metallic cling met his ears. Where a second ago there was only a boy, now there was a masked ninja standing behind the boy, holding a kunai out to intersect the blade.

"What the…" the man said.

"That's not very nice," the masked nin taunted. The man crumpled to the ground with a swift punch to his temple. "One down, one to go." The shorter guy held his sword up to Tsunami's throat.

"Come any closer and I'll kill her," the man threatened.

He too crumpled to the ground a second later, no harm to done the woman. "Not fast enough," the masked nin said.

"Who are you?" Tsunami asked, collecting her son into a hug.

"Ah…Tsunami, you don't recognize me?" He took off his mask and the bandana his used to cover his characteristic blond hair. "How 'bout now?"

A memory of a little, starved five-year-old boy passed through her mind. 'Naruto?"

He nodded. "All grown up! I must leave now. You father is in danger at the bridge. Do not worry, I will keep him from harm." With a slight bow, Naruto disappeared.

"Mom, who was that?" Inari asked.

"His name is Naruto and he is a real-life hero," she answered. Inari frowned. A hero, like his father?

O0o.o0O

"How's it turning out, Gaara?" Naruto said as he landed beside his red-headed friend a short run later. He pulled the bandana over his hair once again and put his mask back on.

"If it continues on like this, Zabuza and Haku will surely win," he answered from his position behind some of the crates that help building supplies that were piled on the bridge.

Naruto surveyed the scene. The mist was thick covering the battle where Kakashi and Zabuza were going at it. He couldn't see, but he could hear the sounds of their heavy breathing from exertion with his keen hearing. Haku had two of the boys plus a dog surrounded by a dome of his ice mirrors. The two boys looked like human pin cushions with all of the needles sticking out of them, but the dog was unharmed. Naruto didn't have to worry about that battle. Haku would not hit any vital organs and, at most, would put them in a death-like coma. Haku would probably just leave the dog as it was, being of no threat to him or his ice mirrors. He was just keeping them contained and out of Zabuza's fight right now.

Suddenly the air erupting with the sounds of chirping, the mist seemed to be clearing as well. It revealed Zabuza pinned to the ground by a group of dogs attached to his arms. That explained why the mist cleared. Zabuza had to continue to feed chakra to it to keep it up and he was obviously not in a state where concentration came easy right now.

The chirping sound was coming from an electrical attack that was charged on Kakashi's hand.

"What is that?" Naruto asked Gaara, who shrugged. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. Naruto had already started moving closer.

"This ends now, Zabuza!" Kakashi shouted before charging. Haku looked over at the battle and his eyes widened. No Zabuza! He formed an ice mirror in front of Zabuza and teleported there, intending to take the attack. He never got the chance as another masked boy jumped in front of him, impaling himself on the attack.

Kakashi's eyes widened. It couldn't be. He'd just killed someone he didn't mean to. He pulled his hand back and jumped back. . Naruto fell to the ground like a puppet whose strings had just been cut.

O0o.end chapter.o0O