Disclaimer: I own nothing. Everything belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.
Author's note: Ack! Sorry for the longer than usual update! Some writer's block and tight schedule and wow, 2 weeks and 2 days to update. This chaper includes the whole fight on the bridge as well as the encounter with Gato. I'm hoping to write a few peaceful chapters before going into the Chuunin Exams, so please be patient if you really want to see the next arc. Any suggestions for the next peaceful chapters are welcome! Enjoy!
Italic: emphasis, flashbacks, misc. Bold: dialogue for non-humans, activated jutsu
"speech"
Chapter 7
Battle for the Bridge
'Oh, shit!' was all Naruto could think of at the moment. He hadn't left too late after he noticed Zabuza and Haku where gone. If anything, he didn't want to a Kakashi on this. He had released his weights, but they were both travelling pretty fast as well, not to mention a half an hour headstart.
Naruto concentrated chakra to his clone by the seal on his hand. The Chakra Transfer Seal was a useful seal, able to give chakra to another being by distance. It was another very difficult seal to create despite its appearance looking decievingly simple. Through one seal, you would send the chakra, through another, you would recieve it. A piece of cake, no? Apparently not because it involved quite a bit of space-time ninjutsu.
He sped over the branches, hoping to get there in time.
-
It started on an ordinary day. Well, supposedly ordinary day to begin with. The clone went along the daily guarding of Tazuna except for the fact that his teammates were coming with him today after completely mastering the tree climbing exercise.
Then suddenly he stumbled and gasped as a huge power boost came from a seal tattooed across his back from the original. It didn't hurt, but it felt constricting and overwhelming at the same time. Then a flurry of memories flooded his mind, via another shadow clone.
'Zabuza and Haku are on their way,' he grimaced in his head.
Kurenai had stopped beside him in concern while Hinata and Kiba went ahead. She was about to reach for his shoulder when he spun around and grabbed. As she opened her mouth, he shook his head and gestured to be silent. Then he signed to her.
Danger close by. Guard the target.
Kurenai frowned, then realized Zabuza was likely coming. Good thing that she warned the other two earlier about the possibility of his survival, so it wouldn't be that big of a surprise.
Where's the original Naruto right now? She signed back
On his way. The clone responded.
Team Eight arrived at the construction site early, before the work hours started. It was quiet and peaceful with the fresh morning air surrounding them. Tazuna began to look over the blueprints for the bridge, making slight changes and adjustments as he reviewed the progress of the bridge. Hinata and Kiba started a taijutsu sparring match to warm up while Naruto watched silently. Kurenai simply paced around, alert for danger.
Then it started. A thick fog started to form around them, rising smoothly from sea level.
"Well, well, well. You guys again. I wondered if you had scurried back to your village. This isn't a job for children to handle. Kids like you have no right to be called shinobi. What a joke..." Zabuza's voice sneered at them as he walked out of the forming mist. At his side, a familiar hunter-nin stood next to him.
"You!" Kiba exclaimed. Kurenai eyed the hunter-nin warily.
"So... You did work with Zabuza. Seems like our suspicions were correct." The hunter-nin gazed back steadily at Team Eight.
"Give us the bridge builder, and we'll let you leave here alive." he said in a commanding voice.
"N-No!" Hinata stuttered out unexpectedly. "We g-gave him our word t-that we would p-protect him! W-We won't abandon him!" She noticed dimly that her stuttering actually decreased a little in those few sentences.
"That's right! We won't let you guys kill him!" Kiba shouted out.
Naruto had been sitting quietly where he had been ever since Hinata and Kiba started their warm-up spar. He observed his teammates actions and he smirked inwardly. 'So naive, but determined. I hope that will never have to change...'
"I guess my teammates are dead set on taking on a jonin and his protegé." he said as he got up and stood next to his sensei. "I'm gonna have to make sure they don't kill themselves in the process."
Naruto took off his dark green jacket he'd been wearing ever since they started the mission. Underneath, he wore a very plain grey vest with a dark blue t-shirt he used with his ANBU uniform. Bandages covered his arms under his armguards and right shoulder, hiding his ANBU tattoo and many seals on his forearms. On his both of his sides were five kunai in sheaths, making them easy to reach. Each of them had a different seal tag wrapped around the handle.
He pulled back some of the bandages covering a storage seal on his right arm. The seal activated and a second ninjato popped out. Naruto caught it expertly in his left hand while pulling out the one sheathed by his side.
As he slid into a well praticed kenjutsu stance, his teammates formed a defensive setup around around Tazuna. Zabuza eyed him cautiously. A dual wielder is rare and very hard to deal with. From his experience, he knew of one that actually beat with only kenjutsu. That man was not part of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen. In fact, that ninja didn't even belong to a village, but gained fame as a master kenjutsu specialist.
He growled. He hated dual wielders ever since then.
"Take the two genin over there by Tazuna. I'll handle the other two."
Haku nodded and raised his senbon. Zabuza smirked slightly under his mask. He was his reliable weapon after all...
-
Naruto, the original, raced along the high branches until he stumbled out through the edge of the edge of the forest. He hoped that Kakashi's awful tardiness hadn't rubbed off of him. Leaping onto a tiled roof, he scanned the area for the enemy. Nothing. He headed towards Tazuna's home to check up on his team, since his clone hadn't dispelled.
Pausing nearby, he attempted to get a reading on the nearby chakra signatures. Damn, his team had gone to the bridge after all. However, he decided to check up on Tsunami and Inari. One of the biggest by-the-book tricks for shinobi was to take a hostage. Anyone with a close connection were in the most danger. No doubt that Tazuna's family would be in danger.
Naruto ran through the yard and stopped just by the smashed door. Tsunami was kneeling in the hallway, sobbing. He immediately panicked.
"What happened!?" Tsunami looked up to see a disheveled Naruto standing by the doorway.
"Naruto! Thugs came by to take me away, but Inari tried to stand up against them! They took him instead!" she cried.
"Did you see where they went?"
"No, but it looked like they were going towards the docks. Please, you have to stop them!"
Naruto reassured her that he would find Inari. Stepping back outside, he sniffed a few times. He quickly picked up his scent and made a mad dash towards the shoreline. He was nowhere near as good as an Inuzuka or Kakashi, but the scent was very fresh. They couldn't have taken him more than a few minutes ago.
He took to the rooftops again, avoiding whatever traffic on the streets. As he leaped on to the fishery, he saw them. They both had katana's on them, indicating them as possible samurai. One was smaller and wore a grey jacket and a dark purple hat on his head. He was sneering at Inari while his partner held him against a post. The other one was shirtless with a tall muscular frame, intricate tattoo covering his whole left arm and a black eyepatch over his right eye along with a small scar over his left eye.
"Well squirt, looks this is the end for you. You're gonna be the key to bringing them all down." the shorter one said.
"Like hell I'd let you!" Inari yelled back at them. He struggled harder against the man holding him.
"Knock him out, Zori. It'll be easier to carry him." the taller one said.
"Sure, Waraji." Zori took a step before hearing a sharp click of metal by his neck.
"Take another step, and I'll slit your throat." A cold voice intoned. He saw a blond boy with three whisker-like marks on each cheek out of the corner of his eye. Zori narrowed his eyes. Who the hell did this kid think he was? He sneered as he gripped his sword and prepared to draw it.
In a blink of an eye, a kick lashed out catching him hard on his ribs before he could draw his sword. He could hear a few nasty cracks as he was lifted off his feet and was launched into the air and landed several meters away with a large splash in the sea. Waraji attempted to backhand him with his left. Naruto quickly countered by ducking his head slightly while throwing a punch to the back of the guy's head. Waraji let go of Inari and stumbled forwards only to be smashed in the face by Naruto's left kick. He fell into the water with an unceremonious splash. Naruto turned to Inari with concern who was rubbing his sore throat.
"Alright, Inari-kun?" Naruto said as he knelt next to him. Inari nodded and stood shakily. Naruto gave a small smile and ruffled his head. "Proud of you Inari, I'm proud of you. You stood up to Gato's thugs to protect your mother. Proves you aren't a coward anymore. I don't have to look out for you anymore now you know how to be strong." Inari smiled back. He was growing up fast. No more crying, no more whining, no more having to rely on others anymore. He had courage, the very thing his father taught him long ago.
It would be different now.
"I've got to go Inari. Don't try to come to the bridge however." Naruto said as if reading his mind. Inari opened his mouth to protest but Naruto held up his hand. "It would be best not to go. Ninja business. Sorry." And he sprinted off.
"Be safe nii-san." Inari murmured.
-
Back on the bridge, the battle raged on. Naruto and Kurenai watched Zabuza, preparing to counter him if he made a move against Tazuna while Kiba and Hinata took on Haku. Tazuna stood off to the side, away from the fighting knowing there was no way that he'd survive if he got too close. The thick mist had surrounded them completely. No doubt it was Zabuza's Hidden Mist jutsu.
Hinata activated her Byakugan, but to her surprise, she found that the mist had strands of chakra within them, slightly distorting her sight. Luckily, it wasn't much, so her Byakugan wasn't completely useless, just blurry the farther she tried to see. She focused on her opponent, the hunter-nin. He was oddly familiar, Hinata was sure she'd seen him somewhere else besides the time at the lake.
The hunter-nin started off by throwing his trademark senbon at them. Kiba dove to the right with Akamaru while Hinata jumped to the left. Kiba rolled into a low crouch with a seal formed in his hands.
"Ninja Art: Man Beast Clone!"
Akamaru lept into the air and immediately transformed into a mirror image of Kiba. They both charged at the hunter-nin, engaging in hand to hand combat. The hunter-nin pulled out a senbon and Kiba pulled out a kunai to counter it. They clashed, pausing against each other while Akamaru went behind to land a punch. The hunter-nin dodged nimbly and caught Akamaru's wrist. Using his momentum, the hunter-nin swung him into Kiba. They landed in a heap while Hinata attempted to kick him. Kiba quickly rolled to his feet with Akamaru and formed another seal.
"Ninja Art Beast Mimicry: All-Fours jutsu!"
The hunter-nin caught Hinata's wrist, effectively stopping her Gentle Fist strike. He turned to where the Inuzuka and his dog were and went through a few single-handed seals. Hinata gasped and Kiba's eyes widened.
"Single-handed seals!? But that's impossible!" he shouted.
"Ha! No, it's not if you got a kekkei genkai." Zabuza responded. He was still staring down Kurenai and Naruto. Kekkei genkai were special traits in a single clan and were unique to them only because kekkei genkai were passed down by blood. So only those who shared the same blood could use it. The Byakugan and Sharingan were examples.
"Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death!"
Ice formed in the air, condensing themselves into a large senbon shape and sped towards Kiba and Akamaru. With their now enhanced speed, they jumped away from it and land a sharp hit to his gut. The hunter-nin tumbled several feet away. Zabuza growled.
"Haku, stop being soft and finish it!"
Hinata gasped. "You're the b-boy we m-met in the w-woods!"
"Huh? What? You've met him before?!" Kiba said, baffled.
"When m-me and N-Naruto-san were out l-late that night. H-He came b-by to pick herbs w-where we were."
The hunter-nin, Haku, stood up. "Hai, Zabuza-sama."
"Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!"
Water appeared as he formed a unique seal, quickly solidifying into ice and creating thin rectangular mirrors surrounding the two genin and the dog. Haku slipped inside one of them, as if he was simply touching water. Hinata, Akamaru and Kiba stood back to back in the middle of the dome and Haku's image appeared in each of the mirrors. He began to launch a barrage of senbon from every direction at them. Naruto took a step forward towards the ice dome, but Zabuza stepped in front of him.
"That fight is between them only. If you want to interfere, only your sensei will be there to protect the bridge builder."
Naruto paused. His sensei was good, but she had almost no way to counter his water clones and could easily overwhelm her. He'd be the only one to back her up and his shadow clones were able to hold off any water clones.
Zabuza laughed. "Looks like you can't help your teammates without getting the bridge builder killed. To bad. Your friends have no chance of surviving Haku. I've trained in the art of killing since he was a child. He has faced many skilled opponents, outnumbered too while defeating them all. He's my tool to use against you. Even if they made it out somehow, they would never be able to defeat him simply because he's a killer, and they are not." Haku's needle barrage had stopped momentarily, letting them catch a brief rest from the oncoming attacks and to listen to Zabuza's speech.
"Konoha is far too soft, they should've made their first kill by now. In Kirigakure, the graduation exam was that you'd kill your own classmates. It was a battle to survive. Your best friend, the one you shared your dreams, hopes, fears, everything with, would be you're enemy. You or him, the winner gets to live and carry on, loser dies. It was a system designed to eliminate emotion and create the perfect killing machine. A shinobi. That's what we truly are, tools to our village to carry out their will."
Hinata trembled from the horror of Zabuza's words. Kill your own classmates? Unthinkable. 'Oh Kami, Kiba and I were in the same graduating class. I don't know what I would've done if I had to actually kill him or Sakura or Ino or Choji, Shikamaru or anyone else!' she thought in a haze of shock. Kiba was similarily shocked while Akamaru whimpered beside him. Kurenai's brow furrowed in distaste and disgust. Naruto didn't react in any way except for closing his eye as if accepting the entire barbaric way of such things. This did not escape Zabuza's attention.
He turned towards him. "You seem very calm about whole idea about killing your comrades. I can tell you've taken lives before, the experience shows in your eye. Your left eye is gone, no? That kind of injury would be unlikely to be caused by training, so it must've been a brutal fight... or perhaps torture. My killing intent has almost no effect on you even though your teammates practically suffocated them. You were able to match me in combat when your sensei could not. Yet, I can see that you're the same age as them, but so very different."
Hinata started to concentrate much more on the conversation. Naruto was the same age as them? How? They naturally assumed that he was older, but hadn't had his growth spurt yet. All kinds of little things and bigger things came back to her. The way he handled Kiba so well back during the Genin Test Kurenai had given them, how he fought on par with Zabuza, the fact that she knew nothing about him except for, sadly, only his name and specialties. Uzumaki Naruto was a complete mystery to all of them.
"True, very true." Naruto said. "But, I hate killing unecessarily. You seem to enjoy it. After all, you did kill the whole graduating class one year without even entering the Academy. That earned you your moniker, the Demon of the Hidden Mist, as well as the banning of the graduation exam." More horrified looks from Kiba and Hinata.
"Heh, you know a lot. What is your name, boy?"
"... Uzumaki, Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto didn't want to reveal his name, but figured it would be interesting to put the Demon of the Hidden Mist a little on edge.
Zabuza tensed. An Uzumaki? Here? He gripped his sword tightly. Zabuza now knew to keep a distance, one touch could finish him if he wasn't careful. He was fairly sure there were hardly any of them left, but who would've known that he'd fight one again? The last one was Uzumaki Kitoshi, a prodigious swordsman, unlike the rest of his clan. If he had lived in Kirigakure, the man would've been one of the best of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen in many generations. The Double Ninjato Dual-Wield Style was his strength and creation. He must've taught it to the boy.
"Well, that explains your swords." Zabuza grinned as he pointed at the matching styled swords. "This will be an interesting fight." And he disappeared into the mist.
-
Hinata gasped in pain. Senbon stuck out of her like a porcupine, though none had hit her vitals yet. Kiba had used his Fang Over Fang in an attempt to break free from the barrier of ice mirrors surrounding them. However it only cracked the mirrors slightly before repairing rapidly. He tumbled to the ground with another couple of senbon in his leg.
"Dammit! We've got to do something! Hinata, make a break for the gaps between the mirrors! I'll try to hold him off with Akamaru!" he shouted.
"Fang Over Fang!"
Kiba and Akamaru formed into their signature vortex combination, smashing into the ground and rebounding off the mirrors. Hinata scrambled towards the gaps. She knew Haku was indeed moving through each of the mirrors at extreme speeds, making it seem like he was in more than one place. She had attempted to track his movements but it was to no avail. The Byakugan gave her an excellent X-ray like vision in all direction except for a small blindspot by her back. Unfortunately, it could not track movement so easily like the Sharingan. It was through reading from the muscles and off hand gestures that they could keep up with movement and only a very skilled Byakugan user could do so.
A few feet away from the gap, a senbon sliced through the back of her leg. Hinata stumbled and fell as a strong hand gripped the collar of her coat and tossed her back. Kiba immediately switched directions for where Haku had stopped, but he stepped back in time into one of his mirrors as Kiba smashed the ground where he stood.
"Grrrr... I almost got him. Hinata are you alright?"
She nodded, even though her leg certainly was not. The last cut was much deeper than the previous ones she received from Haku. Hinata got up shakily, leaning heavily on her right leg. She wasn't done, not yet.
"Alright! We'll try again! Let's go Akamaru! Fang Over Fang!"
They charged again, but once the mirror cracked, it repaired itself to fast for Kiba or Akamaru to hit it again. Hinata tried again to reach the gaps between the mirrors, despite every step her legs took flared with pain.
Haku became impatient. 'Why don't they just give up? It's hopeless. They won't win against my jutsu. If they continue to oppose Zabuza-sama, I will have to kill them!' he thought.
He swiftly passed through his mirrors towards Hinata. She gasped as he brutally kneed her in the gut and flew back from the force. Enraged, Kiba came out of his vortex, throwing a vicious punch towards Haku's face. Haku jumped back in time into his mirrors.
'Damn! I'm running out of chakra. I need to end this now!'
He threw a multitude of senbon towards the genin. Several of them found their way to Akamaru's legs when he stopped spinning as well and he crumbled to the ground, immobile. Kiba cried out in rage as a volley of senbon struck him as well. The attack pierced deeply into torso and a couple through his neck. Hinata watched in horror as Kiba went limb, collapsing to the ground. His eyes were glassy and his breath started to come out in ragged gasps.
"Go... Get out... of here..." And his eyes closed and his shallow breaths of air slowly faded away.
She fell to her knees, frozen in shock at the death of her teammate. Haku stared sadly at her behind his mask, but death was inevitable in this fight.
"A brave boy. But I will not allow anyone to oppose Zabuza-sama. You should have left before you got in the way." Hinata did not respond to this. Instead she looked up with a blank expression with empty eyes.
What could be described next was that something snapped within that gentle demeanour. It wasn't really anger, but a mix of despair and fury. All of a sudden a huge amount of chakra lashed out from within her. It was so powerful, it smashed into the mirrors, leaving large gashes behind. With a reddish flare, it shattered the remaining mirrors. Haku was blown back hard from the sheer power released.
'What in the world?! Who is she? Is she a monster!?' Haku thought.
Hinata stood up. The senbon that had struck her had been immediately repulsed, shooting everywhere. The red chakra then morphed itself into a blue colour and began to form an armour like shape around her body. The chakra became denser around her head, forming a helmet of chakra. It also became noticeably denser on her shoulders, chest, forearms and shins. Haku, seeing the situation going rapidly out of hand, began a seat of hand seals.
"Ice style: Ice Spear jutsu!"
From the remnants of his shattered ice mirrors, he formed the spike that shot out of the ground, aiming straight for Hinata. She made no attempt to dodge, instead she let it smash into her forearm she held up in front of herself. The chakra armour cracked slightly as the spike drove into it. Haku swore. He was now seriously outmatched with a heavily armored opponent.
"Zabuza-sama... forgive me..."
-
Kurenai grunted as she ducked under another of Zabuza's massive swings. Then she flipped backwards, avoiding a nasty kick. She ran through some hand seals for genjutsu. However when she executed it, he simply disintegrated into a puddle of water. Kurenai took a step back on high alert for the next attack. Zabuza then lept out from behind her, the Kubikiribocho held high above his head. Thankfully, Naruto beheaded him from behind, revealing to be a water clone as well.
"Wind style: Great Breathrough jutsu!"
A huge gust of wind flew out of his mouth, blasting away the mist and Zabuza, (who was apparently in that direction). Naruto jumped back to where Tazuna was.
'The original is almost here. At least he could use the eye.' he thought.
Zabuza growled in frustration. "Water style: Giant Vortex jutsu!"
Naruto grabbed Tazuna and jumped over the side of the bridge just in time as a huge wave blew over the whole walkway. He landed sideways on one of the supports for the bridge. Kurenai was not so lucky and got hit with the full power of the jutsu. She flew back a few dozen meters away hitting the surface hard.
Suddenly something hard grabbed her, putting a stop to her rough tumble.
'Shit...' she thought when she looked up into the bandaged face of Momochi Zabuza. Kurenai tried to roll away, but he held her firm. His fist slammed into her face, making her head spin immensely. Before he could strike again, a sword whizzed through the imbedding itself in his chest. Zabuza burst into water.
Naruto stood off several meters away, his arm outstretched. Then Zabuza lept and brought his cleaver down on the boy. Naruto raised his other sword to block it. The force pushed him to one knee and his sword pressed hard against his shoulder, pinning it to him.
'Crap, I can't even make shadow clones to fight him off. Not even a few of my other jutsus. Is the original here yet?' he thought panicked. Suddenly, he felt a large spike in chakra. 'No way... The Nanabi?! The seal is weaker than I thought!' Although he had never felt the Nanabi's chakra, he felt a distinct sense of chaos in it, unlike the feel of malice when he used the Kyuubi's chakra. Naruto felt his frustration rise. He needed to stop it. There was no telling what it would do...
Kurenai was already locked in combat against three water clones. She blew out a few fire jutsu in an attempt to hold them off. Naruto could see she was tiring quickly as she had a nasty gash at her side and numerous smaller cuts and bruises. If this continued any longer, someone was going to die.
Naruto brought up his free hand, nicked his thumb, drawing out blood. He placed his bloody thumb on the scabbard by his waist.
"Summoning jutsu!"
The ninjato returned to its sheath in a burst of white smoke. Naruto drew it in a vicious slash, cutting a deep gash in Zabuza's knee. Zabuza gasped stumbling back and releasing the weight of his sword on Naruto's shoulder. Naruto stood up raising his hand with his index and middle finger.
"Wind style: Wind Blade jutsu!" he shouted as he made a slashing motion with his arm.
The blade of wind sliced deeply into him, but not enough to kill. He collapsed to the ground bleeding heavily. Naruto fell to the ground in exhaustion close to dispersing, but relieved at the same time.
"He took his bloody sweet time..." he said before disappearing in a poof of smoke.
-
Hinata could not think clearly. A strange haze had swept over her thoughts and all she could feel was grief and rage. Her body felt like it was on fire, but she did not collapse in pain. Blood trickled out from her nose, a sign of the strain the new chakra was putting on her.
Hinata could only think about killing the masked one in front of her.
She charged head on, faster than what she thought she could. Unfamiliar hand signs appeared in her hands almost instinctively. An extremely sticky substance burst of her mouth and fell on Haku's legs as he tried to get away. It stuck to the ground, effectively immobilizing him. Hinata threw a hard punch to his face, not bothering to use her Gentle Fist. Haku's face flew back as his mask was ripped from him.
Hinata prepared to punch him again, but his face stopped her. It was full of sadness and a certain innocence despite what he had done. She stopped, the hazy feeling in her mind clearing in an instant. No, she couldn't kill him, she just couldn't.
"Well? Weren't you going to hit me again? Kill me?" Haku said quietly as the glue like substance disolved around his feet.
Hinata shook her head. "N-No, I-I'm not a k-killer. I-I can't." she said as the dense chakra around her diminished.
"I'm useless to Zabuza-sama. I have failed my master, I'm a broken tool with no use, no purpose. I am unnecessary."
"N-No-."
"Hinata-san you do not understand. Remember what I said about your precious people? Zabuza-sama is the only I fight for. Live for. He has given me a purpose to be necessary to him. You see... My parents are dead, I have no siblings. You are lucky to be part of a clan in Konohagakure. After a bloody civil war in Kirigakure, clans with kekkei genkai, bloodline traits, were hunted down because they caused massive amounts of deaths. Everyone came to fear them. My mother came from the Yuki clan which held the Ice Release kekkei genkai. She kept it a secret from my father and they married happily. One day I showed my kekkei genkai to my mother who hit me out of fear and made me swear to never demonstrate it ever again. Unfortunately my father found out and he killed my mother. He turned to me, but out of desperation, I killed him instead."
"I left my family home when I realized nobody would be waiting for me back there anymore, nobody needed me. I wandered the streets of Kirigakure until Zabuza-sama found me. Then I realized that someone wanted me, even though he thinks of me as his tool. But I am happy as my life became necessary. So kill me. To live without a purpose is a fate worse than death and I will never go back to it."
Haku looked sadly at her. Hinata stood still unsure of what to do until a wave of pain flared over her body. She collapsed to her knees coughing up blood as the powerful chakra around swirled. Haku knelt besides her, unsure of what to do. A hand slapped down on Hinata's back and she went still. The figure behind her was revealed as she drifted into unconciousness.
It was Naruto with a snarling fox mask on his face. Truth be told, he liked wearing it combat. It hid his emotions better than the cold mask he portrayed on himself at times, giving him a slight psychological edge. It also hid his left eye better. Haku took a step back. Was that an ANBU mask?!
"Sorry, but I'm not going to let Hinata kill you. Nice of you to tell her your story. It's good for them to learn about the hardships in other lands, so they wouldn't be so ignorant of how shinobi actually are."
"You're that boy... The strong one."
"Strong? I would never consider myself strong unless I could protect my comrades. Against anyone."
"I can't let you get in Zabuza-sama's way." Haku said, pulling out several sharp senbon.
"And I can't let you kill Tazuna, but I don't want to kill you either since you've spared Kiba. Honestly you and I are too much alike."
"What do you mean?"
"It means sweet dreams." Naruto said lifting up his eyepatch to reveal a fully mature Sharingan. Haku dropped like a sack from the ocular genjutsu. Naruto swiftly covered his eye again. That was a S-rank classified secret.
"Dammit, kid." came a voice. "I underestimated you."[A/N: Zabuza did not see his eye if you are wondering.]
Naruto turned to see Zabuza getting up from his pool of blood on the ground. His clone had finally dispersed itself once he had arrived. Thankfully it seems that he wasn't too late. Kiba was only suffering from the death state coma that Zabuza went through back at the lake. Kurenai was fairly exhausted from the fight and was resting near Tazuna. Naruto's only concern for his teammates was with Hinata. For that much chakra to leak out was dangerous and had shown that the seal had partially ruptured. If they were lucky, the Nanabi would recede and the seal would hold. If not, the seal would probably break very soon without his intervention.
"You are in no shape to fight."
"I'm not giving up on my dream." They stared down at each other while Kurenai observed from afar. Suddenly, before they could leap at each others throats, they were interrupted by the sound of clapping.
"Well, well, well, Zabuza. I give you a simple job of killing three brats, an old man and that weak woman. I'm sorely disappointed with you." A voice rang out.
They all turned towards the end of the bridge. Gato stood smuggly with about sixty thugs behind him. He was a short man with wild receding light brown hair. He wore a basic black business suit with a purple tie and a yellow shirt underneath and dark round glasses.
"What is the meaning of this?" Zabuza said curiously.
"A simple change of plans. You're not needed anymore, so we're getting rid of you." All the thugs grinned. Zabuza growled, he took a step forward but fell back to his knees in pain. He turned to Naruto.
"Well, I'm no longer in his employment. The bridge builder is safe from me and Haku."
Naruto nodded. "Fine." he turned to Gato. "Unfortunately for you, I've got a contract for your head." Intense killing intent leaked out from him, making even Zabuza tense up a little. The thugs froze where they were and Gato quickly ran to the back of his miniature army, screaming for his death.
"Kill him! What are you doing?! Kill the masked boy! Kill him!" They stood still, unsure of what to do. Naruto walked closer to them until he was just several feet away.
"Well Kurama? They're in the way..." he said inwardly.
"Sure... Whatever kit as long as you don't overdo it. You don't want to break the bridge."
The thugs finally unfroze and charged at the boy. After all, what was one boy going to do? Little did they know that the red chakra spreading over the masked boy meant absolute destruction. The thick red chakra spread over Naruto, forming a one-tailed fox shaped shroud. He blinked and his right blue eye was replaced by a slited red one. Under his mask, the whisker like markings on his cheeks grew, taking a feral appearance, while his canines became much longer and visible.
Naruto lifted his hand and out shot a much bigger hand of the same chakra. It smashed into about a dozen of thugs, knocking them brutally over the the bridge. The others faltered in their charge. Naruto quickly lashed out another hand smashing another dozen of the bridge. He was very careful not to hit anything around on the bridge. The thugs backed up and ran away in fear leaving Gato behind. The pitiful man was frozen in horror.
The red shroud disappeared around Naruto. He quietly walked up to the trembling man and drew his sword.
"You know, Gato, I would've killed you earlier were it not for my circumstances. But never forget this: Zabuza is not the only demon of this world. You threatened my homeland, now you pay the price." And Naruto swiftly beheaded him. Good thing Inari didn't come. He was sure something like this would happen.
He turned back to his shocked sensei and Tazuna. The workers were just arriving now to the slightly bloody scene. Thankfully, there was hardly any damage to the bridge.
"Let's go."
-
END
Okay, a quiet ending. One more chapter for the Wave arc to wrap it up and some interlude/non-action filler stuff. I hope you don't mind Naruto having a Sharingan eye. Bye
