As usual I own nothing of either world.


Bridge Battle

The rest of the day the ninja spent resting their bodies or preparing the other side of their mission. It was Kakashi who made sure that they continued training to ensure that they did not let their victory over the Enforcers make them think that they were untouchable. The silver haired Jonnin took his book and rested while watching the results of his students and their training. The Jonnin was very proud of all that his students had managed to achieve in the time that they had been gone. In the past few days they were here, they had managed to show him how strong they really had managed to become since that day in which they had barely managed to steal those bells from him a few months ago. Now they were to the point where they could fight high level gennin low level chunnin shinobi. If they continued to improve at this rate, they would become some of the best in the business. When the time of the Chunnin exams came around and he would be glad to nominate them when the time came around. He doubted that there were many students that had even half of the skill and potential that his Gennin possessed, and they would shock any and all comers.

The Jonnin was distracted from his thoughts as he saw that Naruto and Peter had already left to work on some more of their training while Sakura was still recovering from her wounds and Chakra use. The two boys were determined to finish off their bet. Their healing factors did give them an unfair advantage when it came to training. The way he figured it after all of the training that they had been doing he wouldn't be surprised if one or both of them managed to complete this particular type of training. If it hadn't been because of his injuries he would have been out there with them, unfortunately he had to prepare himself for another fight with a shinobi just as potentially strong and powerful as he was instead of just giving them small little hints. He had been fortunate that Sakura had mastered it so quickly. He sat on a tree and watched as the pair of boys climbed up and down in an attempt to master the chakra exercise. He was still unsure if they would master it thanks to their weeding out the excess of skilled foot soldiers. Still even if they didn't master it today, their skills and powers had taken large leaps from what they had been.

The pair of boys finally made it to the very top of a tree. They were tired and worn and looked like they would need twelve hours of sleep each when they finally returned to Tazuna's house. The pair of them had slowly trudged back into the house and a shocked Sakura had seen what a mess that her friends had become. It seemed that the extensive training had taken the pair to the limit of even their chakra reserves. The two boys had tiredly accepted her help even as they explained that they had finally managed to reach the treetops.
"So who won?" Kakashi questioned them curiously.

"We tied," Peter admitted to the man grudgingly.

"Hmm, well I guess that means that the two of you will be splitting the lunch bill for a week then won't you?" Kakashi said with an eye grin, as he stared at the two daring them to back out. The two boys nodded their heads in agreement at this as they eased themselves into their seats. The other two offered congratulations to the pair as they celebrated the pair having finally finished the last piece of preparation for the upcoming fight.

Inari watched the pair as well with wonder as he saw that they were all set to fall down from low chakra from all of the work that they had done in the past few days. They had taken out some of the worst of Gato's men. All that was left was Zabuza, and then they would have dealt with the worst of the people that had oppressed their village for so long. For the first time in a long time Inari felt the flickering of hope that he hadn't felt in years. It was like having the protection of his dad with him once again. There was a part of him that was starting to believe that these people might just have a chance against the shipping mogul's forces. The boy didn't say anything to the two figures as he recalled the last time that they had spoken had not been good, and he would rather not have something like that happen again.

After the meal Kakashi allowed them to all relax while he went out and scouted the bridge out. He knew Peter had bought several odds and ends at the local electronics store and was working on something though he was still unsure as to what it was exactly. Hopefully the boy was not wasting his time and money though in whatever it was that he was trying to make. Kakashi had used his time to examine all of the possible attack angles from the bridge and sighed. There were simply too many variables for them to worry about. He would have to hope that Zabuza would want a final battle between them to finish their fight instead of trying for an accident or something of a similar nature. Zabuza's pride would demand that he deal with him first, besides both knew that a surprise attack wasn't likely to work as long as Kakashi was alive and doing his job. It would be best to deal with each other first. Hopefully his students would be able to take on the fake hunter ninja without his help.

The next morning Kakashi had Sakura and Peter get dressed and get prepared for guard duty while he let Naruto get in some extra sleep. He planned for the blonde to relieve Peter later on, and then Sakura would be relieved, by then they should get to the end of the day. Somewhere in that though they would most likely have to deal with Zabuza though. As they approached the Bridge he turned to the student that had been present during the day. "Well Sakura, is there anything here that we should be aware of before we get to the bridge?" He questioned hoping the girl might remember some last minute detail that might aide them in the next couple of days.

"No Sensei, the Bridge is only a few days from final completion and today is the day that bridge is finished enough so that it can be used." Sakura explained to the rest of her squad.

"If that's the case, then today is the day that Zabuza has to make his move then." Kakashi noted to the gennin. "If the bridge is completed before he kills Tazuna I somehow doubt that there will be as much of a payment for him or his associates."

"Should we have left Naruto behind then?" Sakura questioned worriedly, as she turned her head to look back at the way that they had just come from.

"It's better to allow everyone to rotate and rest than to have half the team exhausted." Kakashi explained to the girl. "When Naruto shows up we will change the shifts out again and so on and so on until Zabuza shows up."

"And how do we know he won't want to get an early start?" Peter asked casually as he was adjusting the straps to his bracers in case something unexpected happened.

"It looks like we're about to find out." Kakashi noted as the grouped stopped and saw all of the remaining workers on the ground. "Some of them were dead, while others were bleeding.

"Figures that things wouldn't go easy." Sakura grumbled as she eyed the downed figures but followed protocol and stayed near Tazuna.

As they eyed the fallen construction workers Kakashi noticed a Mist that floated in and surrounded them. "Peter, Sakura get ready." Kakashi warned as they all went into a back to back defensive formation.

"This is Zabuza's Hidden Mist technique isn't sensei?" Sakura questioned, as she lifted the pocket of her kunai holster.

"Yes Sakura it is. I knew that he was alive and wanted another chance to beat me." Kakashi noted to the girl.
Peter swallowed and closed his eyes and let his spider sense and ears to all of the searching as he tried to locate the location of the bandaged ninja that was somewhere out there just waiting for them to make a mistake.

"So sorry to keep you waiting Kakashi. but you really did a number on me last time." Zabuza's voice echoed out of the mist. "I see you still have two of those brats with you though. Whatever happened to that blonde idiot in the stupid jumpsuit though?"

"This coming from a guy that doesn't wear a shirt, but has arm warmers and wears winter cameo?" Peter called out into the mist.

"I see you're just as mouthy as ever punk." Zabuza noted suddenly they were surrounded by a group of six Zabuza's clones that had them effectively boxed into their small area.

"What can I say, it's just part of sparkling personality." Peter shot back at the voice. "And hey, you remembered to wear your shirt this time." Peter said nodding toward the black short sleeve the clones were wearing. Sakura smiled weakly at her defiant friend. Peter winced as he felt a wave of Killer Intent come at them and it made his legs feel a bit wobbly as his spider sense flared up from all directions for possible attacks.

"I see that you still have trouble staying focused little one." Zabzua said mockingly.

"I can still take you on, you wannabe mummy rip off." Peter grunted back at the various copies of the ninja. "By the time we're done with you, you're going to need all of those bandages to wrap your body up in."

"Peter, Sakura take them down." Kakashi ordered encouragingly, as he stood back as his students went at the clones. The pair slashed their weapons through their enemies within moments as their speed was nearly twice what it had been before. The clones were still for a moment before they all fell apart into puddles of water.

"Impressive," Zabuza said as the mist thinned and the missing ninja and the fake Hunter Ninja appeared. "The way the two of you moved I'm guessing that you must have been able to tell that they were all water clones. Your runts are getting better there Kakashi. The girl still has a long way to go before she's on the level of being a threat though. The other one might be enough to give even you a run for your money though Haku."

"So it would seem." The masked figure said from beside the former Swordsman of the Hidden Mist.

"Haku huh?" Peter said as he eyed the younger ninja. "I thought that there was something off about you when we met. I should have listened to my senses and dealt with you out in the forest yesterday then and there though instead of letting you go free."

"Indeed you should have." Haku returned tonelessly.

"Is there a reason your even bothering wearing a mask?" Sakura questioned the boy. "I mean we already know who you are underneath that thing."

"Sakura never doubt the power that a mask can give you." Peter said with an amused voice. "You never know what it is that they might be hiding underneath a mask."

"He's right Sakura, with so much of the face hidden it makes it rather hard to judge movements based on facial expressions. This is doubly difficult with Haku's mask, because you cannot even see his eyes." Kakashi informed the kunochi.

"Yeah and then there is no arguing that the mask makes all of us look badass." Peter added in. "I mean if you get right down to it, you and Naruto are the only ninja around here that aren't even wearing any masks so that makes you guys the weirdos not us. I mean yeah Zabuza has a rather lame mask since it's only made out of bandages, but it is his shtick though so we'll allow it."

"Are you done posing yet?" An irritated Zabuza questioned. "Haku, kill those annoyances already." The other ninja commanded.

"As you wish." Haku returned, and began moving at incredible speeds to strike at the gennin. The ninja was moving so fast that it seemed as if he was a small tornado.

Peter smirked as he fired a webline from either hand. "Nice speed, but let me show you something." He said, as he yanked as hard as he could and sling shot himself feet first at Haku. His feet connected with the ninja sending him sliding back several feet.

"Your strength is even greater than your speed." Haku noted to the other masked ninja.

"Coming from Whirlwind's cousin I'll take that as a compliment." Peter said as they each drew a weapon and lunged at each other. Sebon needles met kunai as they tried to take each other down.

The more experienced ninja watched silently as the pair of younger ninja battled each other. Their speed was nearly equal with Haku having a slight advantage there, while Peter's strength meant that tHaku could not hope to stand up against the Leaf Shinobi straight up. If it had not been for Haku spinning as he had it was likely that he would have been hit a lot worse than he had instead of just deflecting the attack as he had.

"Sakura, keep the Bridge Builder safe." Kakashi ordered as he watched the two ninja dance around each other. Neither one of them was able strike a hit as the other always seemed to move out of the way at the last moment. Haku because he was a fraction faster, and Peter because he was able to sense when an attack would slip by his blades and come at him. The girl nodded, and drew a blade for each hand as she waited for a possible attack.

The two fighters began circling around each other looking for an opening. "We only want the Bridge Builder." Haku said calmly, showing he wasn't even breathing hard behind his mask. "If you back down then I won't have to kill you."

"Sorry, not happening." Peter returned to Haku. "Besides, today is good day to die." He added with a chuckle.

"You're making a mistake." Haku said with a hint of steel that had been lacking from most of his other comments. "You can't keep up with my speed." He stated solemnly.

"And you can't keep up with my strength." Peter shot back at him.

"True," Haku conceded to the other ninja. "Your form does hide your physical strength quiet well. However you are still at a disadvantage. We are surrounded by water and you need to keep that kunai up to stop me from striking you preventing you from using hand signs." Saying this Haku ran through a series of hand signs with one hand. "Secret Jutsu a Thousand Needles of Death." Saying this he stomped a puddle and they all saw several bits of water change into long slivers of ice needles.

"Incredible, I've never seen someone so young use one handed signs." Kakashi said from where he watching.

"Yes, Haku is indeed efficient with his abilities." Zabuza said smugly as he watched the battle.

"Cute trick." Peter said as he eyed the ice needles that hovered over his head. "And here I thought doctors were the ones I had to worry about with long scary needles. If I had to guess, I'd say all those hand signs were a show though. You're a bloodliner just like me. Only thing is you weren't taught how to use your power like a regular bloodline user and need the hand signs to focus your bloodline ability into attacks."

"Your student is observant Kakashi." Zabuza admitted to the other ninja grudgingly. "In all the years that he's played that trick, no one has ever realized the true secret behind Haku and his jutsu."

"Peter and Sakura have always has been observant ones." Kakashi informed the other ninja proudly.

"I congratulate you on figure me out." Haku said. "I am sorry to say that I can only reward you with death though." The needles that hovered over Peter began moving downward.

Peter watched the needles before he seemed to blur away from the needles and appeared on the edge of the bridge. "Not bad, if you had tried to fight me one on one as well as use those needles of yours you might have caught me. Too bad for you while you've been overseeing Zabuza's health we've been working on getting to be better shinobi. One other thing though, you see I've only been fighting you with the speed I get from my bloodline." He blurred again and was behind Haku. "When you add in the chakra control training that I've been going through I may be just as fast if not faster than you already are." Saying that, Peter kicked the older boy in the face sending him flying only to fall at the feet of a shocked looking Zabuza.

"You shouldn't have called my students brats Zabuza its just insuring that they'll want to kick your ass as they might say." Kakashi explained to the swordsman. "It was like throwing down a challenge for them and there's nothing my team likes more than a challenge. Peter Parker-Abrurame there for example is physically the strongest ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village of his age group with a bloodline very few completely understand, and Sakura Haruno here is easily one of our sharpest minds, and last but not least our number one hyper active knuckle head ninja Naruto Uzamaki."

Zabuza laughed at that. "You think that you've seen all we can do? All you've seen is glance of our power. Haku stop playing around and get on with it."

"Right," Haku said as he climbed back to his feet.

Peter smirked at the figure. "You sure you want to keep doing this? It might be easier on all of us if you were to just stay down like that is all."

Haku ignored the taunt as he gathered his chakra and released it into one burst as he made another unknown hand sign. "Secret Jutsu Crystal Ice Mirrors." They all watched in awe, as mirrors made from ice seemed to form all around Peter encasing him in a type of dome like prison.

Peter looked around as he tried to figure a way out of this cage. The prison was made up of two rows of mirrors that hovered in the air. He looked up, only to see that there was even a mirror there blocking his escape. "You know Kakashi Sensei, that Headhunter Jutsu would be real handy right about now." He said as he tried to find a way to get out of the igloo that he was now trapped in. Peter found himself facing off with an Ice Manipulator of all things. The only thing was in every one of the mirrors that he looked at he saw another version of the figure. "This is some fun house you got here." Peter bit out as he glared at one of the images. He didn't know why, but for some reason he found it ironic that he was fighting an ice manipulator for some reason. "Alright Popcicle, show me what you got." He told the masked figure that he had focused on.

"As you wish," the solemn voice of his opponent said as the dome of mirrors suddenly began spewing sebon needles down at him.

"Cute trick," Peter said as he began dancing away from the various attacks, "I got a few of my own though." He added as began dodging the moves with an odd style of gymnastic ability as he let his danger senses guide his movements as he moved away from the attacks with the grace of an experienced ninja. The ones that were coming close to him would bounce off of his bracers the two began moving in a deadly way.

Haku seeming to be everywhere within the mirrors, while Peter was stuck in the middle doing his best to block the incoming needles. The two did not even appear to be aware of the others as they played their game. The attacks stopped for a minute as all the Haku's stared impassively at him. "How do you do it? How do you seem to know the moment that an attack is coming at you? No matter from what angle I launch my needles at you, you seem to be able to get out of the way moments before the attack actually comes at you. How can you be out of the way in time?"

"What can I say the force is strong in this one." Peter joked as he looked the figure over. "Besides, are you really going to tell me all of your innermost secrets just because we're in your clubhouse?" Peter questioned the robed figure. He had memory flashes of fighting against even faster weapons that were attached to machines that all seemed intent on destroying him. Men in odd clothes holding odd weapons that spat out metal slugs that he ran along the walls of in attempts of moving out of the way. It was all so familiar yet different at the same time.

"So it will come down to a contest of wills, and who can continue at this speed the longest then?" Haku questioned from his hiding place within the mirror.

"Seems so Alice, now let's get it on." Peter said. "Or maybe this will work Excelsior!" He called out as he spun around and slammed his fist into one of the mirrors. The mirror cracked for a moment and Peter smirked. "Other than some bad luck I think I can deal with your game." He assured the other boy.

"Hardly," Haku said nodding toward the mirror.

Peter turned and saw that the mirror was actually already repairing itself from its damage. "Well that's not good." Peter said as he eyed the place that he had smashed his fist into. "Sakura, we need to double team this thing." Peter ordered, as more needles began flying at him.

"Right," Sakura said as she drew a kunai and ran at it and threw the blade at a mirror while Peter did his best to anticipate which mirror she aimed at and kicked at the mirror. Haku was able to leap out of the mirror though and catch the kunai before it struck disrupting their plan.

Peter bit back a curse as he watched the mirror he had hit repair itself. "Sakura, pull back, if he can come out the back then so can his needles." The girl gasped and tried to move away but several ice needles spewed out of one of the mirrors. "Secret Jutsu Ice Needle Spray." Haku said and several needles shot from one mirror and struck Sakura in the leg.

"Sakura!" Peter said as he slammed his fist into the mirror. "Come on out and fight Popsicle, your fight is with me not her."

"Indeed it is." Haku said, "You are the one that invited her into this fight though, I am merely the one denying her entry into it."

"You better hope Naruto doesn't see that, or he's going to turn you into mush, Popsicle. Peter warned the other boy. "Sakura, get out of sight before Naruto shows up. I don't want him to get distracted because you're bleeding." The girl nodded, as she hobbled off to the side and began the process of pulling the ice needles out of her leg.

Haku lifted the kunai to throw at the girl when a throwing star came flying out of nowhere and scratched the mask. "The number one knucklehead ninja." Haku said as a greeting as he turned in the direction that the throwing star had come from.

"Sorry I'm late." Naruto said with a smirk while smoke bombs went off all around him, "but I had to save Inari and his mom first." The blonde explained to the bewildered ninja. "Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said, as he noticed that the girl was wounded he then turned to glare at Haku angrily.

"Not now Naruto, deal with Haku first." Kakashi informed his student before he said or did anything that got him in trouble.

"Haku?" Naruto said in surprise. "Is that you Haku? The blonde asked in shocked disbelief, as he saw the familiar figure of a person that he had talked to earlier about what made a ninja strong.

"Indeed it is." Haku said in return as he turned to face the other ninja.

"Right," Naruto said as his hands came up and began making familiar signs "Shadow Clone…" He started, but was interrupted by Zabuza's throwing stars. Naruto changed his attack and a replacement jutsu happened even as several of Haku'sl needles struck the stars. Kakashi began to berate Naruto for showing off, while a smirking Peter prepared for the next round of the fight. As he finished he watched as he saw that they were all still fighting. While Kakashi had been scolding his friend he had used Naruto's flashy entrance to his advantage, but for it to work he needed the figure to step into his trap. He hoped this work as he fired a throwing star at Haku.

"So you are not content to knowing that you are outmatched then?" Haku asked looking down at Peter. "Even I can tell that you cannot keep the speed you have been going at for much longer if you persist in this you will be destroyed."

"You wouldn't be the first one to tell me that." Peter said. "Like we said before, we have a fight before the others do anyways."

"So be it." Haku said as he placed his hand on the mirror, "I shall deal with you next Naruto Uzamki," Haku promised and then merged with the mirror intent on finishing their fight.

"Naruto, Sakura, use ninja wire the outside now!" Peter ordered the other gennin. Wrap this place up as tight as you can." The other two nodded and began stringing the ninja wire around the jutsu so that nothing could get in or out of the prison.

Zabuza laughed at their efforts. "Do you really think that you can win by containing Haku within his own jutsu?" The swordsman questioned the group. He created the very walls that the prison is made from." He mocked the gennin, as he saw another hopeless attempt to battle Haku and his jutsu.

"Not with wire itself, but then you add in my webbing on the inside you can." Peter said with an amused voice as he saw Haku was now struggling to break free of the webbing that he had tried to move through. All of the mirrors on the side facing Peter had been covered in his sticky webbing, and now with the others tying ninja wire around the dome Haku was trapped within one of his own mirrors. "When Naruto made his big flashy entrance I used the moment of distraction to web all the mirrors Haku was likely to enter through while leaving the ones he wasn't alone. Haku didn't even notice till he tried to jump from one mirror to the other, and by the time he managed that he was already trapped with webbing in front and ninja wire in the back." Peter laughed at the two elder ninja who were staring at the prison jutsu that now held two ninja instead of just one. "It's an old standby of ours for one of us to cause a disruption while the other sets things up."

"There are still ways for me to get out of this though." Haku returned to Peter. "Release," he called out and suddenly the mirrors all reverted back into water and fell with a mighty splash.

"Impossible, no one has ever beaten Haku's crystal mirror jutsu before." Zabuza said as he stared in surprise at the ninja that had just defeated his protégé while using one of his most powerful jutsu. "There were powerful Jonnin that have fallen to that jutsu how can your brats beat it?"

"I did warn you not to underestimate them." Kakashi reminded the other ninja in a knowing voice. "Naruto is the Number one Knuckle head ninja, and Peter is his partner and has all sorts of tricks up his sleeves that no one has ever figured out. Together the two of them are one of the most unpredictable teams around." He assured the fuming swordsman. "When you add in Sakura there's not limit to what they can do."

Haku rose to his feet out of the large puddle of water. "It was an impressive effort, but still not quite good enough." The robed ninja said as he examined the pair of ninja that were standing before him who were setting themselves up to continue their fight.

"Yeah well that's only if you can get us back in there Alice." Peter reminded Haku with a grin. He then shot a webline at a crane that they had been using in the building process. "We've played in your club house Popsicle, now it's time for you to play in our world. Grab on Naruto!" Peter said as the two boys linked hands and swung away from the ice ninja as they looked down at the ice ninja as they made their way toward the crane.

"That will not save you." Haku stated, as he disappeared with a shunshin, and reappeared on top of the crane.

"Welcome to our world." Peter said with a grin as the ninja were now facing off several stories in the air. "We grew up running on rooftops while you were making icicles turn into needles and fighting in the dark."

"Good job Peter, control the battlefield and make it work for you." Kakashi cheered his students on while he continued to watch Zabuza. He had no doubt that if things were to change that the swordsman would lash out in the hopes of completing his mission. For now letting their students battle it out while following their limited directions was merely another way that the two men were fighting.

"Ice Clone Jutsu." Haku said, and a figure made of ice appeared beside them before changing into a copy of the ninja.

"Looks like things just got more interesting." Naruto said the pairs charged at each other ignoring their teachers who had finally stopped watching and were now engaging in a fight of their own. When Kakashi went for his head plate Zabuza countered by creating a large heavy mist that covered everywhere including the crane leaving no visibility for anyone. "Great, now what?" Naruto groused as he looked around for Haku and his clones.

"You deal with the clone, I'll try and keep Haku busy until you're done with it." Peter returned as he disappeared into the mist bouncing from strut to strut with purpose as if he actually knew where the other boy was hiding out. How he could know where he was when Naruto could barely see a foot or two in front of him was beyond what the blonde could fathom. He turned, and sidestepped barely dodging a fist that seemed to pop out of the mist.

"You play the part of the fool very well Naruto Uzmaki." The Haku clone noted, as it appeared before him. "However, the time for playing is over and I think you should show me what lurks beneath you though. Stop playing and let me see what you can truly do Naruto Uzamaki. This clone has half of my chakra, it will be more than enough to deal whatever damage I need to do to you."

"You want me to show you what I got? Fine let's do it." Naruto said, as he rushed at the clone. The blonde swung his blade and the two were in a vicious taijutsu match that the blonde was obviously not on the same level as the clone of the masked ninja. Naruto growled in frustration as he saw the two giant needles that Haku was using to fight him with. Leaping back he threw some throwing stars only to watch as Haku seemed to almost casually deflect the attacks that were directed at him. "How are you doing that?" Naruto finally demanded of the clone. "At least one of my hits should have caught you by now."

"Even with only half the chakra of the original, I am still a better user of taijutsu than you are Naruto Uzamaki." The clone coolly returned to the orange clad ninja.

"Oh yeah? Well we'll see about that." Naruto returned, as he drew a new pair of blades. In one hand he held throwing stars while in the other he held two kunai he tossed the shuriken and then moved in with the kunai.
The clone deflected the three throwing weapons and then met the blades of the kunai again. "And now we are back to doing this." The clone said just as calmly as the real Haku would have.

"I'm not through yet." Naruto returned, as suddenly a pair of clones appeared from above and threw kunai at the ice clone. The clone kicked Naruto in the chest and sent the boy flying away even as it turned and deflected the kunai in a flawless technique. As Naruto was sent flying away he threw more Kunai so that while the shadow clones distracted the ice clone his blades went into the small of the back.

The ice clone stopped for a second even as its needles punctured the two shadow clones. "Well done Uzamaki." The clone said before it fell apart into a bunch of ice shards.

"Alright," Naruto cheered, as he began searching for Peter and the real Haku. He soon heard the clash of steel and followed the sound and found the pair of ninja by nearly running into them. He stopped and watched as his friend and Haku were trying to land hits on each other.

The fog was so thick that no one could use long range attacks and Haku was stuck trying to hit and dodge against an opponent that was almost as fast as he was at regular speed and was much stronger than he was. He was running at Peter and slashing at him then fading back into the mist. Peter was somehow able to anticipate where the attacks were coming from though and always turned to follow the ninja even though he obviously couldn't see the robed ninja. Whenever he blocked the attacks he used one of his bracers to take the attack while the other whirled where the ninja was in an effort to strike the ninja.

"You are good, I'll give you that." Haku complimented Peter from his place hidden in the mist. "Even though you can't see me, and my voice echoes in this area you still know precisely where I am at all times somehow. I would dearly love to know how you manage that."

"Trade secrets." Peter returned to the voice. "You might as well stop trying that way, you can't surprise me and you can't lose yourself in the mist and eventually it will lift and I'll find you."

"And yet you can do nothing to me as long as I remain hidden beyond your sight." Haku said. "We appear to be at a standoff until the Mist changes."

"At least until Naruto shows up, or one of us changes tactics." Peter said in agreement.

"And what if I was to try my crystal ice jutsu again?" Haku asked curiously.

"You would have already done it by now if you could. My guess is that you don't have the chakra to do it again right now. Besides if you were to form it up here you would need more chakra since it's a lot farther from water and you'd need at least one more mirror or else I'd slip out from the bottom."

"Very observant." Haku's voice echoed back at them.

"Yeah, well observe this!" Naruto said as he body slammed into Haku sending the two ninja tumbling forward.

Peter laughed a bit as he saw his friend suddenly appear as if out of thin air and ram into the ninja. "Bet you weren't expecting that were you now Haku?" He questioned. He was interrupted from his victory speech though as Naruto was kicked into him, and while Peter stopped his friend he was sent over the edge of the crane that they had been fighting on.

"No," Naruto said in shock as his friend disappeared from view.

"It would seem that today is a sad day for both of us." Haku said while watching Naruto stare at the place his friend had fallen. "For you, it is the loss of your friend, for me it marks the day of my first kill. Such a day is hard for anyone." Haku said in a philosophical way.

"Don't start counting coup on me just yet Popsicle." Peter said, as he came flying from the other side of the crane and kicked Haku in the back and into the waiting fist of Naruto.

"How?" Haku said as he climbed back up.

"My web shooting ability allowed me to send a line back up and then swing around and kick you." Peter said with a grin.

"The air does help you fight perhaps I should change our fighting grounds besides I still have to prove myself for Zabuza." Haku said as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said worriedly.

"And the Bridge Builder." Peter returned as the two quickly leaped off of the crane and using Peter's web lines slowed themselves down enough to land without breaking any bones. As they landed they saw Sakura facing off against Haku with Tazuna standing behind her.

"Secret Art Ice Needle Spray." Haku said and suddenly ice needles all slammed into the kunochi.

"I warned you that hurting her was a bad idea." Peter said as he fired a web line that caught the robed shinobi and jerked him away from the pinkette.

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto cried out in anguish as he knelt down beside the girl he cared for so much.

"I'm going to tear you a new one for that." Peter snarled at the robed boy. "Sakura may not have been my favorite person, but she was still a member of Team 7." He held the older boy by his throat and was beginning to tighten his grip while Haku tried to pull the vice like grip off of him.

"No," Naruto growled from where he sat holding Sakura. "Let him, go he's mine."

Peter hesitated a moment before he saw that the chakra that was spilling off his friend. His spider sense was screaming at him that he needed to get away and yet there was nothing he could do as he was frozen in fear. This was even worse than the time that Naruto had decided to take on Mizuki. "I did warn you." Peter croaked, as he set the shinobi down. Before he could do anything else though a chakra burst blasted at them and knocked the still fear induced Peter into the wall where he slammed his head knocking himself out.

Naruto didn't even seem to notice that his chakra had struck down his friend, as he focused on Haku. "I'm going to kill you for that." Naruto snarled, as he looked at the shinobi.

Haku raised his hands and sent a flurry of needles at the boy and watched as they all struck true. Instead of knocking the blonde down like they should have though the needles popped out of his clothes and steam rose from his wounds. Haku watched in disbelief as claws seemed to grow on his hands as until they were easily as long as his own sebon needles.

Haku tried to dodge yet however he tried to counter or move away from the ninja with orange chakra that seemed to cover his entire body the younger boy was there and was bursting through whatever he tried. "Secret Jutsu Crystal Mirror Wall." Haku said desperately, as a wall of ice three feet thick appeared between the two of them. This was possibly his strongest defense, as it combined his ice mirrors with the wall jutsu nothing had ever broken through it before. Haku heaved a sigh as he tried to catch his breath only for the wall of ice to shatter as Naruto burst through it as easily as a jonnin might have through an earth wall. Whatever Naruto Uzamaki was he was far beyond anything that he had ever faced off against. "What are you?" Haku gasped out in shock and disbelief as he stared at the ninja. No ninja should have been able to break through his wall, yet this ninja did it without so much as slowing down.

Glowing claws suddenly slashed at him and his mask shattered as he was thrown ten feet across the bridge. "I'm your death." Naruto snarled as he charged at the defenseless Haku. "You hurt Sakura-Chan! Now I'm going to make you pay for that."

"To think it was meant to distract you." Haku said as he weakly climbed to his feet. "I never would have guessed that you had such power within you." He fired more needles and watched as Naruto seemed to roar and a pulse of the dark chakra left the boy scattered the needles and then slammed into him lifting him up while he sailed through the air Naruto appeared in a blur at his side and slammed his fist into his stomach sending him crashing back to the ground.

"Sakura was one of the only people to ever acknowledge me. She may have thought that I was a pest and trouble at times but she acknowledged me for being me." Naruto said angrily as he glared at Haku in a feral way. "And you took away the first person to notice me for being me."

Peter and Sakura were both slowly waking up and listened sadly as their friend and squad mate bared his troubled soul to his enemy. Peter winced a bit as he realized that he had several cracked ribs and Sakura had been stabbed with those ice needles. As long as Naruto was okay the pair were actually better off letting the blonde deal with this. It would help if they could see Naruto but all they could do was hear his angry pain filled voice.

"Sakura-Chan is the one that is going to keep me stable all the time." Naruto continued unaware of the audience that they now had. "She's the first to let me be me."

"I know what that is like Naruto," Haku returned to him, "before Zabuza found me and trained me I was nothing and would have been left with a life of nothingness had he not found me and made me into a shinobi. My own father would have killed me for my power. For this reason I became a tool of Zabuza and am willing to give my life for him to show him my loyalty for all that he has done for me."

"I have my precious people." Naruto spat back at the other boy. "And maybe that's where you can't go on. You only have Zabuza to keep you going, I have a whole team to live for." Naruto said as he finally began to calm down and the dark chakra that had covered him disappeared.

"Perhaps, but there are other things I must do now Naruto Uzamaki I hope you remain strong." He prepared to shunshin when a familiar gray substance wrapped around his legs. "No!" Haku said in shock and disbelief as they all saw the Mist clear and watched Kakashi drive a lightning sword through the chest of Zabuza. The robed ninja fell down to his knees and then turned to glare at the source of the gray ropes that bound him. "Why? You denied me my last chance to serve Zabuza." Haku questioned in distress as he saw the other ninja fall to the ground.
Peter groaned as he pulled himself to his feet. "Not happening buddy, besides now you have something new to do."

"And what would that be?" Haku asked bitterly.

" Live for Zabuza." Peter returned to the boy. "Make his dreams your dreams, or something like that."

"I did so already though." Haku returned to Peter. "All of my being was to make sure that the dreams of Zabuza continued. It was my soul purpose. Now that purpose has been taken from me."

"You can still carry his dream on with you though." Naruto told the ninja. "You can fight for his memory, because if you don't then who will? You say you were his tool, well continue to be his tool. Be the tool that surpasses its master." Naruto said while flashing the boy a grin.

"Is that possible?" Haku asked the group of Leaf Ninja in confusion.

"Only one way for you to find out." Sakura said with a smile.

"Are you willing to earn our trust?" Kakashi questioned the ice user, knowing that the boy might very well decide to attack him since he was the one that landed the killing blow on Zabuza.

Haku stared at the group before he nodded his head in acceptance. "Very well then, I surrender." He said offering his hands to Team 7.

"Well now that is awfully sweet and everything." A harsh voice drawled out. "Not like it really matters."

"Gato." Kakashi greeted as he turned to look at the small man and his army of thugs. "I take it you have decided to terminate any possible future business relations we might have ever had."

"You better believe I am." Gato returned with a sneer. "I was actually hoping that you ninja would all kill each other off and save me the need for anything else. Still this way works just as well." He added with a smirk as he nodded to his army of men. "Boys, show these fools what happens to those that get in my way. Keep the girl alive if you can though I have plans for such a rarity like her."

"It looks like you'll get an early start on earning that trust." Kakashi said as he got himself ready.

"So it would seem." Haku said as he raised his hands. "Because of you Gato I lost my precious person. I think it only fitting that I now take care of you. Secret Jutsu Giant Ice Needle." The boy said and they all watched as a giant needle appeared and then flew toward the shipping mogul who was stuck as he watched the giant needle go through him. The force of the giant needle lifted him up and tossed him off of the bridge that he had been so intent on destroying. "And so I complete my last step in becoming a shinobi, just as Zabuza sensei wanted me to." Haku said, as he took his first life and let a pair of tears trail down his face whether they were for Zabuza or for the taking of his first life no one knew.

"The brat killed the boss." One of the men said in shock and awe. "Let's get them for that."

"Why bother, we're not getting paid enough to risk our lives." Another of the men said.

"Well how about we take what's left of that village." Another suggested. "These ninja are all beaten and bloodied and can't do anything to us."

"We're down, but not out. Kakashi said warningly. "Team 7 Assemble. "The trio nodded as they formed up around their teacher. Sakura and Peter taking the sides, while Naruto was in the front with Kakashi in the rear. "Haku, I want you to give us cover fire." Kakashi ordered the ninja who nodded as he drew his needles out in anticipation of the coming fight. Kakashi and Naruto each created shadow clones.

Several of the thugs looked nervous at the sudden show of strength that the ninja now had. "Don't let them fool you boys, it's all a trick." The apparent leader commanded as he drew his sword. "Let's show them what we think of ninja and their tricks." The others cheered in agreement with the figure.

"Well we tried to end this peacefully." Kakashi said as his team moved to engage the enemy. Haku fired several needles that blinded or wounded the ninja. Sakura and Peter moved around the sides and came in with attacks of their own. Sakura while slower than she had been was still much faster than most of the thugs as she began slicing with her kunai. She was flitting in and out slicing them across their arms and faces causing superficial damage. Peter used the blades on his bracers to open the necks on several ninja as well he then spun around and opened the bellies of several thugs. Naruto rushed full onward against the thugs, some of his clones throwing sharp weapons while others slammed into the thugs and began beating on them. The two groups broke apart when a crossbow bolt struck the bridge and everyone turned to see Inari leading the village people.

The thugs froze at that. The ninja still had plenty of fight left in them and now even if they managed to somehow beat them back they had an entire village's worth of people to fight as well. It was easy to do when the villagers wouldn't fight back but this was different. "This ain't worth the trouble." One man said as he dropped his sword and began backing away several others followed after him. Some of them were holding onto their various cuts as they quickly disappeared.

"Alright Inari, you did good. Believe It." Naruto said flashing a thumbs up at the boy. The dark haired boy smiled and grinned as he realized he had made the blonde that had saved him and his mother proud.

Peter nodded his head in agreement with his friend. "Peter," Kakashi said looking at his student. "I want you and Haku to head back to Gato's headquarters and find anything that you think might be useful. There's no need for those men to profit too much from Gato's passing after all. After that return here, so that we may bury Zabuza with the honor that he deserves as a shinobi." The two ninja nodded and headed away to find Gato's hideout in the forest where he conducted his less savory bits of business. Haku quickly led them to where they had been staying. While Haku went to the rooms that he and Zabuza shared Peter checked the offices and found a large safe. He took out the various tools he carried for this sort of thing out and got to work. The combination tumbler was easy enough and he got through it and when he opened it he saw several bars of gold stacks of money and even some property deeds. They were surrounded by exploding tags which Peter had to slowly disable. He would need Kakashi to teach him better methods of disabling exploding tags though. Peter thought as he gathered the various items into a bag. Once he was done with that he went through an office and began searching for anything that might be of use. Once he was done Haku appeared.

"We need to go." Haku said as he shouldered a bag. "Gato's men are on their way here. They must have remembered that there was a safe here as well."

Peter nodded as he shouldered the bag of items. "I say we head out the window, it might buy us a few minutes."

Haku nodded and the two slipped out the window as silently as they could. Thanks to the injuries that both of them had it was nowhere near as silent as they normally were but it was also better than anything that the thugs could manage as they then began running along the tops of the trees.

They returned to the Bridge to see Kakashi had finished digging a grave for Zabuza. Haku quickly went through the Swordsman's pockets and took his ninja tools headband and a few other odds and ends that he had been carrying. The ninja then with the help of the others lowered the swordsman into his grave with his legendary sword as the only marker. "May you finally find peace. Zabuza." Haku said, as he traced his hand along the flat of the blade for a moment. "I shall live and fight in honor of you my precious person." Haku promised before he rose to follow after the Leaf ninja who were preparing for the trip back to their village.


You know I never meant to change the Bridge Battle to this extent it just kind of happened when I thought of how Peter might fight Haku and realized he would want to get him up high.
Yeah I chose Sakura as Haku's victim because hey Spider-Man in his old life used to dodge machine guns in alleys. Do you really think someone throwing a bunch of icicles and needles would stop him unless he wasn't paying attention. If they were still in the ice prison then maybe.
Haku's an interesting character and one of my faves. That and later potential for Amazing friends jokes are too good. Just need a good fire jutsu user.
And so we end the Mission to Wave Arc. Took me practically the whole holiday to do it but it was fun. Have to wait and see if I decide to continue to run with this.
So should I add complete to this?