Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters. Isa Yamanaka and any other OC's are mine.


What... what is that?

Tazuna was holding her arm, carefully, as if she might break. He pulled her to her feet, peering into her wide, unfocused blue eyes. It was like he wasn't even there; she just looked through him, transfixed by something that he couldn't see.

Isa had never felt anything like it before. It was huge, and angry, and it felt hungry somehow. Have to help. Have to save them. She took a faltering step, hand finding Tazuna's and pulling. She dragged him through the mist, toward the cage of mirrors.

The mirrors were shattering, blown away by sheer force. The red chakra was everywhere, pulsing and twisting. She couldn't see anything, her vision a haze of chakra and smoke, but she knew when Haku was sent flying out of the cage. She could feel it. The sheer force of the blow sent him crashing to the ground, tumbling and coming to a stop. His mask fractured and broke, revealing a face that could only be described as pretty.

Isa hesitated, looking from Haku, who was standing up, and the mirrors, which were shaking. They broke, falling like a rain of ice. Naruto was standing in the middle of the circle, breathing hard.

Isa gasped. Naruto's face wasn't the face of her teammate. It was different, darker. His eyes were red, his body hunched over and shuddering. Sasuke lay at his feet, unmoving.

Isa was rooted to the spot. It's him. That chakra is coming from him, she realized. Naruto, who had just spent two days learning how to run up the side of a tree, was the source of this immense power. How is this possible? What is he?

He snarled, a terrifying, bestial sound, and charged at Haku. The boy made no move to defend himself, staring at Naruto with a somber expression. Naruto's fist stopped two inches from his face.

As suddenly as it had appeared, the red chakra was gone. Naruto was panting, but his body didn't have the primal edge it had had moments before.

"You're the kid from the woods!" He exclaimed.

"Hit me," Haku murmured. "Avenge your comrade's death."

Naruto growled, then punched him. Haku stumbled and fell. With a start, Isa remembered Sasuke. Dead? He's not dead, is he? He can't be. She sucked in a breath and grabbed Tazuna's hand again.

"I need to help Sasuke," She said. They stepped into the broken circle of ice, and she crouched next to her teammate. If not for the senbon jutting out of his body, he could have been asleep, his face peaceful and a little sad.

She smoothed his hair away from his forehead. "Hey, Sasuke, you're gonna be okay," She whispered, fighting the choking feeling in her throat. She felt for a pulse, lips trembling when she found none. She sat back, hard, knees pulling up to her chest. She pressed her lips into a thin line, feeling hot tears gathering in her eyes.

He's dead. He can't be dead! But he is. I should have helped! But I didn't. She shook, her mind mind an internal monologue of guilt and reason. Tazuna knelt, placing a hand on her shoulder gently, and she swallowed a sob. I didn't even try to save him. He told me to go, he told me to trust him. He told me he was gonna be okay. I shouldn't have left, I shouldn't have listened.

She looked up, blinking away her tears. Naruto was talking to Haku, and beyond them, she could make out Kakashi and Zabuza.

"The fog's clearing. Zabuza's getting weak. I need to help them," She said, wiping at her face angrily.

"I think your sensei has it under control," Tazuna said. He was right. Kakashi had Zabuza pinned, a pile of dogs anchoring him where he stood. Dogs? Some kind of summoning jutsu? Kakashi was holding chakra in his hand, blue electricity arcing around him.

He charged, ready to strike. And then Haku was in front of him, and Kakashi didn't have time to react, his chakra sinking into the boy's chest. Time seemed to freeze, all the breath leaving Isa's body in a rush. There was blood everywhere, blooming over Haku's torso and splattered across the ground.

Zabuza recovered first, grinning maniacally. "What was that you said about my time being up, Kakashi?"

Kakashi was standing stock still, shocked. His summoned dogs vanished into smoke, and Haku clung to the hand that was pressed against his chest. "He threw himself in front of my attack to save your life," Kakashi said, voice strained.

Zabuza gripped the hilt of his sword. "I told you I trained him well. He's given me my life as well as yours."

He swung his sword, not caring that he had to cut through Haku to get to Kakashi. Kakashi dodged, taking Haku with him. He landed on the ground, gently laying Haku's body down in front of him.

"You think you're gonna get away with that?!" Naruto shouted, glaring at Zabuza. "He gave his life for you! You can't just treat people like they're tools!"

Kakashi shot him a warning look. "Naruto, stay with Tazuna. Zabuza's mine."

Naruto looked like he wanted to argue, but when he looked back at Isa, with her legs curled up to her chest, his face softened. He ran back to her, offering her a hand. She took it and he pulled her up, into a hug.

"I'm sorry, Isa," He muttered into her shoulder. "He was trying to save me."

She bit her lip, chin wobbling dangerously, and buried her face in his chest. "We have to protect Tazuna," She said, voice brittle with the effort of controlling her emotions.

Realistically, it would be hard for Zabuza to actually get to Tazuna. Kakashi wasn't even trying any more, tossing Zabuza around like a rag doll.

"Well, you look like shit, don't you, Zabuza?" An unfamiliar voice rang across the bridge. A short, stumpy man materialized through the mist, standing at the end of the bridge. Behind him stood a small army of well-armed thugs.

"Who is that?" Naruto wondered, squinting at him.

"Gato?" Zabuza sounded genuinely surprised to see him. "What are you doing here?"

"That's Gato? He's so... short." Naruto looked unimpressed.

Gato chuckled, idly tapping his walking cane. "See, Zabuza, you're expensive, so I've decided to take you off the payroll. You're dying on this bridge, and I brought these idiots to get the job done. If you could kill some of them for me, that'd be great."

Zabuza snorted, eyes narrowed in anger. "Looks like our battle is at an end, Kakashi. Since I'm no longer under Gato's employ, Tazuna is safe. We have no reason to continue fighting."

"So it would seem," Kakashi said, tone carefully neutral.

Gato walked toward them, stopping at Haku's body. He rubbed the bandages wrapped around one of his arms, sneering at the corpse. "This punk's dead? Serves him right, he almost broke my arm." He kicked Haku in the ribs sharply, grinning.

Naruto stiffened, eyes going wide in anger, and he ran toward Gato, kunai raised. Kakashi snagged the collar of his jacket, halting his progress.

"Get away from him! I'll kill you! You can't treat him like that!" Naruto struggled against Kakashi's hold. "Aren't you going to do anything, Zabuza? You can't just stand there and watch him do that!"

"Shut up, brat. Haku's dead," Zabuza said. Naruto glared at him in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?! Haku threw away his life for you! You were the only person he cared about, and you treat him like he's nothing!"

Zabuza didn't even bother looking at Naruto. "You don't understand what it means to be shinobi. Haku was my tool, just as I was Gato's tool. I treated him like he was nothing because he meant nothing to me."

"How can you say that?! You and Haku spent years together, doesn't that mean anything?" Naruto was crying, angry tears coursing down his face. "Just tossing someone aside when they're weak, that's not the way of the shinobi. He gave up everything for you and your stupid dream, and you don't even care."

"You're annoying," Zabuza muttered, staring at the sky through tear-filled eyes. He reached up, tugging at the bandages that covered his face. They pulled away, revealing a mouth full of sharp teeth. He grinned, but there was no mirth in the expression. "Surprised? I'm just a man. I'm human, all shinobi are, no matter how hard we try to avoid that reality."

He looked at Naruto. "Give me your kunai," He said. Naruto hesitated, then handed him a kunai. Zabuza turned back to Gato, smiling. Gato, unnerved, stumbled back into his gang of thugs. "You can't hide from me, Gato." Zabuza started running, kunai in hand.

He moved so fast that he was little more than a blur, a flash of steel and a spurt of blood as he sliced through the gang. A sword landed in Zabuza's back, and Isa gasped, wincing. But he kept going, even when a spear lodged itself beside the sword.

Gato was backing up as far as he could, but was stranded at the edge of the bridge. Zabuza staggered toward him, then shoved the kunai hilt-deep in Gato's stomach.

"If I'm dying, Gato, I'm taking you with me," He said, eyes wild.

Gato coughed thickly, blood staining his mouth. "You crazy bastard."

Zabuza spun, and the kunai imbedded itself in Gato's neck. He choked once, then toppled backward off the edge of the bridge, landing in the water far below.

Zabuza fell to his knees, looking at Haku's body sadly until he couldn't hold himself up any more, and collapsed.

Isa took a deep breath, body tingling from nerves, adrenaline, and exhaustion.

"Is it over?" A weak voice asked. She turned, and Sasuke's eyes were open, watching her.

Her knees gave out and she fell, arms wrapping around him, hugging him tightly. She couldn't help the tears that ran down her face, nor the way she clung to him, despite his grunt of pain. His arm went around her uncertainly.

"I'm okay," He said. "I'm alive."

She whimpered against his neck, fingers twisted in the back of his shirt. "Sasuke, I'm sorry. I couldn't help you and then I thought you were dead and I didn't know what to do, and I'm so, so sorry!"

He huffed a laugh, breath tickling her face. "Don't be stupid, it wasn't your fault." He glanced over her head. Kakashi was carrying Zabuza, laying him beside Haku's body solemnly. "They're dead?"

She nodded, sitting back enough to let Sasuke sit up. He winced and slowly climbed to his feet, not even protesting when Isa slipped his arm around her shoulders.

"Is Naruto okay?" He asked.

"He's fine, and so is Kakashi-sensei. Naruto," She called out. The blond shinobi turned around, face lighting up when he saw them. "Sasuke's alive!"

Sasuke lifted one hand in an ironic sort of wave, and Naruto grinned.

"Man, I guess we'll go hit up the village since Gato's gone," One of the thugs said, a hand on his weapon. "Gotta get paid somehow."

"Are they serious?" Sasuke wondered, shaking his head.

Isa frowned, sizing them up. Their group had been cut down a little by Zabuza, but there were still too many of them to take on, especially since they were all running low on chakra.

"If you want to get to our village, you're gonna have to go through us!"

They turned around to see what appeared to be the entirety of the village standing behind them, wielding makeshift weapons and glaring fiercely. Inari was leading the group, a crossbow in his hands, smiling.

"Inari!" Naruto laughed, overjoyed to see the young boy who had had, only the night before, called a coward. Sasuke and Isa glanced at each other and shrugged.

"You know how it is, the hero usually shows up at the last minute!" Inari said cheerfully, repeating the same words Naruto had used when he'd appeared.

"The whole village is here. I can't believe it." Tazuna wiped away a tear from his eye, smiling proudly.

The thugs hesitated, now heavily outnumbered, and quickly clambered back into their boat, leaving without so much as a backward glance.

Isa and Sasuke joined their teammates, Sasuke leaning heavily on Isa. They looked at Zabuza and Haku, and snow began to fall.

Naruto sniffed, trying valiantly not to cry. "Haku told me about his past, he said that where he grew up, it was always snowing."

Kakashi ruffled his hair. "Come on. They deserve a proper burial."

The villagers, who were already heading back to the village, provided two stretchers. Exhaustion was setting in, but they still placed Zabuza and Haku on the stretchers, carrying their bodies away from the bridge.

They found a peaceful spot, a clearing that overlooked the ocean, and they buried them there. They left the broken pieces of Haku's mask and Zabuza's sword to mark the graves. Isa laid bundles of white flowers on top of the graves, then stepped back, standing between her teammates.

"What do those flowers mean?" Sasuke asked softly.

"They're baby's breath," She said, looking up at the setting sun sadly. "They stand for innocence and purity of heart."

They were quiet for a long time, each enveloped in their own thoughts.

"Was Zabuza right?" Naruto asked suddenly. "Are ninjas just tools to be used? Is that the ninja way?"

"Everyone is a tool of destiny, shinobi or not. We can't escape that, it's just the way it is," Kakashi said.

Naruto frowned. "Well, I think that's messed up. I'm not gonna go through all this training just to end up like them."

"You won't," Isa said. A breeze ruffled her hair, and she brushed her bangs out of her eyes. "You're too strong for that."

Naruto laced his hands behind his head, grinning. "Yeah, that's why I've decided that from now on, I'm gonna find my own ninja way. I'm following the way of Naruto!"

Kakashi chuckled. "Just don't try to find the way back to the house, or we'll never get there." Sasuke snorted, and they turned to leave.

That night, the village was lit up, every door thrown open, the streets filled with happy people. It was like one of the festivals back in Konoha, and for a while Isa wandered around, dazed by the laughter and bright lights all around her. Naruto and Sasuke had promptly collapsed when they'd gotten back to Tazuna's house, but Inari had dragged Isa away, his previous animosity forgotten.

She found Kakashi sitting on the end of the dock, looking out at the water. She sat down next to him, leaning against his side.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei," She said, blinking tiredly.

He chuckled, glancing down at her. "Hey, Isa. Having fun?"

She nodded. "Everyone is really nice. They keep thanking me over and over." She pursed her lips, despondent. "I feel bad for not being as happy as they are."

"You watched people die today," Kakashi said gently. "Nobody has to be happy after something like that."

She hesitated. "I actually wanted to ask you something." He nodded, watching her stare across the dark ocean with a frown. "During the fight, there was a moment when something happened, and I don't understand it."

"What was it?" He asked.

She turned to look him in the eye, gaze sharp. "Something happened to Naruto. He destroyed Haku's mirrors without even moving. I could feel all the chakra, and it wasn't his."

Kakashi considered her carefully. "So you want to know what it was? That's something I don't think even Naruto knows the answer to."

"But you do," She said. "And you're not going to tell me, are you?"

He smiled. "I can't. Besides, it's not my secret to tell."

She huffed, irritated. "Teammates don't keep secrets from each other. It's not safe."

"You're right, but it's not my decision. If you really want to know, I'm sure you can figure it out by yourself," Kakashi said, ruffling her hair affectionately. "You are the brightest young ninja in Konoha, after all."

The edges of her lips quirked up in a rueful smile and she stood up. "Goodnight, Kakashi-sensei." She left him sitting at the end of the dock, returning to the house and collapsing gratefully into bed.

When Isa woke up, she did so slowly. The room was warm, her bedroll cozy, and the steady breathing of her teammates comforting. She could feel others moving around the house; Tsunami was in one of the bedrooms down the hall, Inari was hurrying around the kitchen, and Kakashi was in his room, near the window.

She stretched languidly, yawning. Eventually, she roused herself enough to get out of bed, running a comb through her hair before putting it up again. Tsunami had liberated them of their dirty clothing, promising to give it back after she'd washed it, so Isa changed into a dress Tsunami had lent her. It was too big for her, but she tied her forehead protector around her waist, cinching it tight.

"Did Tazuna leave already?" She asked when she peered into Kakashi's room.

He nodded, leaning against the windowsill. "He left before I woke up, otherwise I'd be with him."

She walked over to him, looking out the window thoughtfully. "Do you think there will be any more attacks now that Gato's dead?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I doubt it, but our job isn't finished until the bridge is." He glanced at her. She seemed to be chewing on a question, mulling it over before asking it.

"Kakashi-sensei?" She ventured.

"Hm?"

"I want to learn how to be stronger," She said, eyes serious. "I know I'm not useless, but I want to be able to help my friends when they need me."

Kakashi considered her for a moment. "You know you don't have the kind of chakra that Naruto and Sasuke have," He cautioned, not unkindly. "You won't be able to do powerful jutsus right away."

"I know. I don't want to summon shadow clones or make fireballs, I just want to be able to help. My Mind Transfer jutsu is a one-shot deal, and it might not even work if I hit my target. So I can't rely on that to be my main jutsu, I need something else."

"Like what?" Kakashi asked.

She chewed on her lip, thinking. "What about that mist jutsu that Zabuza used? You can't see through that, even with the Sharingan, right?"

"No, but Isa, you're not weak just because you don't know a lot of jutsus. You don't need to prove that you're as strong as the boys," Kakashi said.

She made a displeased noise. "That's not the point, Kakashi-sensei. I'm not trying to prove anything, I just want to be able to do something."

He pushed off of the windowsill and gestured for her to follow him. They left the house, walking along the shoreline. Kakashi stopped.

"Do you know the hand sign?" He asked her.

She nodded, raising one arm in the air and bringing the other in front of her face, holding two fingers up on each hand.

"Okay, you've got the whole ocean right here, so you won't need to make water from your own chakra. You'll be able to regulate how much mist you make depending on how much chakra you put into the jutsu. Don't overdo it," Kakashi warned, stepping back.

She took a deep breath, focusing her chakra. "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu."

She could feel her chakra being sapped away. It wasn't leaving at an alarming rate, but it was still more than she'd been expecting. She frowned, trying to rein it in. A light mist had sprung up around her, snaking across the ground and curling around her legs. After a minute, she let the jutsu go. The mist faded away quickly, burned off by the sun overhead.

"Not bad for a first try," Kakashi said.

She puffed, bangs fluttering. "That took more chakra than I thought it would."

Kakashi sat down, his back against a tree. "To be honest, I didn't expect you to get that much mist, especially not right away. How do you feel?"

She shrugged. "Fine. I'm a little drained, but I still have plenty of chakra left."

He nodded, pleased. "Keep trying. Let me know when you're all out of chakra." He pulled out his book and started reading.

She focused again, forming the hand sign. "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu."

The second wave of mist looked the same as the first. So did the third and fourth. By the time Naruto and Sasuke wandered out of the house, Isa was wiping sweat off of her face, nose wrinkled in frustration.

"Nothing's changing," She said, hands on her hips. "Why can't I get any more mist?"

Kakashi didn't look up from his book. "Chakra isn't built for instant gratification. You've got to practice and build up your chakra."

She sighed, waving to her teammates as they approached. Forming the hand sign, she performed the jutsu again. By this time, the mist was a little thicker, but it still didn't get any higher than her thighs.

"The mist jutsu?" Naruto asked. He looked impressed. "I didn't know you were a water transformation ninja, Isa."

"I'm not," She said. "Or at least, I don't think I am. I can't be, not with the progress I'm making on this stupid jutsu."

"I told you, you're doing well," Kakashi said, barely paying attention when Isa narrowed her eyes at him. "Particularly for your first time trying the jutsu. Give it some time and keep working at it, you'll get it eventually."

She rolled her eyes and tried again. The next week went by very much like that. Tazuna's crew was working hard on the bridge, but it wasn't a fast process. That left them with a lot of time to sit around. Isa continued practicing doggedly at the mist jutsu. She was improving, if not as fast as she wanted to, and by the end of the week she could manage to create a decent amount of fog.

Naruto latched onto the idea of learning new jutsus and also decided to work on the mist jutsu, though his was even worse than Isa's. Sasuke, who'd initially expressed no interest in learning the jutsu, began practicing, as well. Isa guessed that it was more because of his rivalry with Naruto than anything else.

By the second week, Isa was bored. And homesick. She missed her bed and her fluffy pillow and her mother's tea. She missed Ino, too. Sasuke had given her a hilariously incredulous look when she'd mentioned it, but it was true. She'd never been apart from her twin for so long before, and it was a strange feeling not having her there.

"It's like a piece is missing, or something," She explained. She was sitting on the beach, drawing in the sand with a stick. Naruto was wading in the water and Sasuke was sitting beside her. They'd spent the majority of the day training, but the sun was beginning to set and they'd ended up just sitting down instead of heading back to the house.

"That's weird," Sasuke said. He smirked when she playfully poked him with her stick.

"Shut up, it's not weird! Ino and I have always been together, I didn't even think about what it would be like not having her with me." She said, staring contemplatively at her sand drawing.

"Quieter, probably." Sasuke drawled.

"You are so rude," She said, laughing. "Don't be a jerk, you don't even know her."

"I know she's stalked me for, like, three years," He said.

"She doesn't stalk you. She's just..." Isa paused, searching for the right word.

"Insane?" Sasuke offered.

"Enthusiastic," She said, glaring at him in mock anger. "She's actually really nice, once you get to know her."

Sasuke didn't look like he believed her. "You have to say that, you're her sister."

Isa grinned. "Well, yeah, but it's true. Come on, Sasuke, it's fun to have friends."

He looked at her skeptically. "I don't need friends."

"Liar. Everyone needs friends. Friends are important because they let you eat their food and they listen to you talk about stupid stuff." Isa nodded emphatically.

"Stupid stuff like this?" He asked, smirking when she pouted at him.

"This isn't stupid, Sasuke! Naruto, come tell Sasuke that friends are good," She said pleadingly. Naruto was standing waist-deep in the water; he looked at them and shrugged.

"I don't know, I've never really had friends," He said, the blunt honesty in that statement making Isa's heart twist unhappily.

She glanced at her teammates and frowned. "Well, you do now," She declared.

"I do?" Naruto asked, looking to Sasuke, who didn't look entirely happy to be involved.

"Yeah, of course. The three of us are friends," She said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Oh," Naruto laughed, expression clearing. "Yeah, we are!"

Isa smiled and went back to drawing in the sand. Three days later, the bridge was finished, and they were finally able to leave.

They stood in front of the bridge, the entire village out to see them off. Inari and Naruto were crying, promising to visit as soon as they could.

"Thank you for everything," Kakashi said, smiling at Tazuna, who waved it off.

"We're all in your debt," He said. "Without you four, this bridge would never have been finished. You've given us our courage again, so thank you."

They waved goodbye and left, crossing the bridge eagerly. Isa looked back at the Land of Waves, took one last deep breath of the sea air, and stepped off the bridge with a smile.


A/N: Here's Chapter 7! And I'm so glad people are enjoying Tempest so far! Writing it is super fun, and I'm having a ton of fun exploring the characters, both Isa and the canon characters. I got a review the other day about how Sasuke is too open to Isa and Naruto, and I had a whole big thing typed up about it, but I decided not to include it because I think it came off as kinda harsh. But suffice to say, constructive criticism is a good thing, and I do take it into account, but one of my main goals in writing this story is creating character depth. I feel like in the show/manga, especially in the beginning, most of the characters were very one-dimensional, which is understandable and totally okay. But I don't want to write one-dimensional characters. I don't think Naruto would realistically be a cheerful, playful kid all the time. I don't think Sasuke would be an asshole every second of every day. I don't feel like that's realistic, and I don't think it does justice to their characters. People are more than what they present themselves as. I want to write characters with depth, and if you feel like that's not something you want to read about, that's fine. Anyway, sorry for the rant, I just wanted to get that out there. Hope everyone likes Chapter 7, Chapter 8 will be out next Wednesday. The rating is probably going to go up to Teen once we hit the Chunin Exams due to language and violence and stuff, so heads up for that, I guess. Thanks for reading, have a nice day, hope you stick around for more!