Chapter 8

Battle's End

She was an Amazon, a warrior woman, strikingly beautiful and feral in the mist that she seemed like an ethereal creature of myth and legend. She stood there in the low light, long unkempt mane flailing in the breeze, torn orange kimono and hakama billowing, red eyes glowing in the low light, katana held at her side, glinting like liquid silver.

The thickness in the very air was stifling, a weight on his shoulders which made it hard to breath. Haku felt this even more so than the painful throbbing of his broken nose, the burning in his limbs from the extensive use of his chakra system. He had never felt this defeated and tired before, never before.

She pointed her sword at him, a snarl of anger morphing her features. "Get up, we're not finished!"

Her voice was a guttural growl, a predatory, animalistic snarl which brought a chill to his bones which seemed to counter the burning of his muscles. Haku looked into her eyes, seeing the feral glow of non-human orbs. The questions blurred dully in his mind.

Was this really Naruto? The girl he met in the forest a few days ago? She seemed so different, so different it just felt wrong.

"We're not finished," Naruto growled low, taking a step forward and bringing her other hand to the bottom of the hilt, falling into a sword fighting stance. "We're not finished until I say we're finished!"

Slowly Haku got to his feet, swaying slightly but remaining steadfast and stubborn as his eyes met hers. He would not back down, would not surrender. That would be an insult to both him and to her. "You have me. Why not just kill me?"

"Kill you," Naruto asked with a frown, eyes blazing with an ethereal power. "Death is too easy, I'm going to beat you half to death; nurse you back to health then beat you half to death again. Until I am satisfied, and then I'll give you to the Sensei of those boys you killed and let him do whatever he wants with you!"

"They are Shinobi," Haku replied without hesitation or doubt. "It is the way of a Shinobi to fight, for either their village or their country is irrelevant. Death is a common end to a Shinobi's career, they would have died."

"Or they could have lived," Naruto replied with a roar of anger. "They could have grown up, met a girl, raised a family... but they'll never get that chance will they? Did you ever think about what you'll be putting their families through, did you!?"

"What do you know of family," Haku asked in a dead monotone. "You never knew your parents, you never had any siblings. How do you know this?"

"I may have never known my mother or father, but I do have people who I consider family, sensei, Shizuma, Izaya, the other wielders of the Deviant Blades. They are my family, and if anyone killed them, or hurt them then I would hunt them down, and make them pay!"

"Then kill me."

Naruto's snarl grew, eyes gleaming in anger. "It is not my place to kill you, I have no right. The right is to the loved ones of the people you killed, and you will answer to them!"

Haku shook his head, a wry, dead smile on his face. "I am now useless to my master, all that remains is death."

Naruto tilted her head, frowning, before her eyes hardened into diamonds once again. Before she could advance there was a sudden change in the chakra signatures behind them, one so obvious and sudden that it caught their attention. Naruto vaguely knew one of the signatures as Kakashi, and the other must have been Zabuza.

Haku's ability to sense chakra was stronger than Naruto's and he felt the sudden shift in the deadlock between her master and the Konoha Shinobi. He recognised the signature of a summoning Jutsu, followed by a powerful and overwhelming discharge of an elemental technique, one which was definitely meant for the single purpose of ending a life.

"Zabuza-sama,"

Haku rushed forward out of nothing more than shear instinct, passing by Naruto on his way to protect his master. He thought he was clear from her, but found that he was mistaken. A hand of supernatural strength gripped his right ankle. Haku could only look down in wide eyed shock to meet the feral, glowing eyes of the Samurai. She growled low in her throat before throwing him to the ground with an all powerful force, enough to send the air from his lungs and crack a few bones. She roared her feelings in anger and rage, eyes becoming twin pits of flame in response to her fury.

"I did not give you permission... to leave!"

Her last two words were spoken not from her tongue, but from something older and far more terrible than what any mortal could conjure. Haku could feel it. She was being overtaken by something. Her rage was the catalyst for something within her to gain control. He had only felt this once before, on the day Zabuza-sama resigned his commission as a swordsman of the mist.

"What is within you?" Haku asked as he forced himself to a knee, biting back the pain wracking his body with all of the stubborn willpower he could muster. This was one situation which he would never back away from.

"Something no one should carry," Naruto replied.

"Move, I must reach Zabuza-sama!"

"Try and pass me!"

He did, Haku rushed forward with speed, a needle of ice surging into his palm, created by the moisture in the air and solidified through his special chakra. He came within striking distance and attempted to pass by her defences and pierce her neck.

Naruto was too fast for him at this point. She ignored his strike, and with lightning quickness brought the hilt of her katana around to connect with her opponent's abdomen with a bone breaking crunch. Haku gasped, sputtering gobs of bloody saliva as at least three ribs cracked under the pressure. The tip of his weapon was mere millimetres from her neck, glinting in the low light. She followed up with an upper strike with the butt of the hilt to his jaw, sending him airborne and hitting the ground hard, unconscious before he made contact.

Naruto stood in position for a long moment, before lowering her guard and shaking her head. The voices were coming stronger now, so much stronger. There was a deep voice in the darkness of the furthest reaches of her mind, calling for her to do one act. Too kill. It whispered into her mind, stronger than any in her recent memory. It ordered her to kill this unconscious boy, to make him suffer for what he had made her suffer through, to make him suffer for those he had taken from this world.

What are you waiting for, kill him!

He would do the same to you, if the roles were reversed.

He's a killer, a murderer!

End him, end him!

Kill... kill, kill, kill!

"Naruto!"

A hand grasped her shoulder, and she spun around, striking out of instinct only to see the wrist of her sword hand grabbed and held steady. Through the red haze of anger she began to recognise features, pale skin and raven black hair.

"Izaya?" she asked in a daze.

"It's me," the older Samurai spoke in a soft tone. "Don't give in to him."

"He killed... he killed those two boys," Naruto managed to say through the haze.

"Do not let him win," Izaya stated, bringing his face mere centimetre away from his sibling, his youngest, strongest and most naive of siblings. She was in a daze. Her prisoner's lust for blood had almost overtaken her senses, almost. "You are stronger than him. This is your body, your soul and your strength. He is nothing but a tenant, do not let him dictate your actions, never let him dictate your actions!"

She didn't speak, but a new glimmer was beginning to take hold in her eyes, the pupils began to convulse and the crimson was beginning to flicker from reds to blues as the human within began to fight back against the advances of the demon within. Naruto took a shuddering breathe, snapped her eyes shut and growled low in exertion.

"Stay with me, Naruto." The older Samurai stated; eyes unyielding and firm. "Do not let him win."

Naruto concentrated, all the while saying to herself over and over again, with more confidence with each word spoken. She was the one in control. She was the one who was the jailer. He had no control over her. He had nothing he could hang over her, so long as she kept a vigil he will never prevail.

"I will not yield."

Izaya's released her, features softening.

"I will not yield!"

Like that, his voice was gone, the anger left her mind and she sighed in relief as she nearly collapsed, Izaya caught her as her legs failed her. She was breathing heavily, gasping for air, great inhales and exhales of breathe showed the lengths of her torment. She blacked out for a moment, opening her eyes to find herself being gently placed on the ground in the arms of her oldest and dearest brother, Izaya.

"Izaya," she whispered.

He smiled, "How do you feel?"

"Tired and sore," she replied as she sat up with considerable effort.

"Then perhaps you should rest?" the swordsman asked.

"No, it's not done yet."

"I see."

"The fight?" she asked, meaning the duel between Kakashi and Zabuza. Naruto had every confidence that Shizuma would win against Hayate.

"That little standoff has run its course."

Naruto sat up with effort, using both Izaya and her katana as a needed crutch to regain her feet. The moment she did she looked in the direction of the battle, seeing with wide eyes its bloody conclusion. Kakashi stood poised, his arm, crackling with the remains of lightning and thunder pierced right through Zabuza's chest, exiting through his back in a bloody mess of blood, cartilage, bone fragments and ripped cloth. His exposed hand was coated red with his defeated enemy's blood.

"Is it over?" she asked.

"Not quite," Izaya replied as he turned his back to her and walked a few steps across the bridge. He drew three swords one after the other, two held between the knuckles of his right hand and one held in his left. He turned his head to look out over the fading mist. "The enemy is coming."

Naruto looked across the bridge, following her brothers line of sight just in time to see a mass of shadows appear in the distance, a horde of men wearing drab kimono's and carrying weapons of every kind and variety from daggers to swords, to spears and halberds, from short throwing axes to their long handled variants. It was a small army of thugs and turncoats, thieves and bandits brought together by the purse of a single man.

"Rest easy, I will take it from here."


Hayate panted heavily for breathe, looking up at his opponent as he rested his huge sword against his shoulder with little effort and grinned a feral, blood lusting grin. The Samurai had never faced a wielder of a fully realised Deviant Blade before, and if he survived this he vowed to never face one ever again.

He was a dangerous animal before, but now he was something akin to a monster, destruction and annihilation became the tools of his fighting style where hacking slashes and cuts were his weapons of choice before. The second he named his sword everything changed. The very dynamic of their duel changed. The blade became heavy, crushingly heavy, before it would have made him stumble, but now, in this form it would crush him and break his swords. The claymore didn't change in appearance, other than the blade turning from metal into solid stone, a perfect replica of the blade, without a single nick.

Before when his opponent wielded his blade it would have cut a groove or left a wide crack in the bridges surface, now when he wielded it in its released form it created fissures in the concrete, creating small earthquakes with each missed blow, wracking the superstructure, leaving huge cracks and craters in his wake, pavements crumbled, the ground at his feet rose up and fell with each strike. Worst of all, his opponent didn't seem at all fazed by the sudden increase in weight of his sword, if anything he seemed delighted by it.

"What's the matter?" Shizuma asked, sickening grin still in place as he brought his sword around and pointed it at him. "You were talking all tough just a second ago, where did all of that confidence go oh great student of a warrior?"

Hayate snarled in response, falling back into a defensive stance with his last good sword, his other one had been shattered by the first strike of the released weapon and it was luck more than skill that he was able to deflect the strike to the ground beside him instead of being crushed by the stone carved blade. He had done research on all of the Deviant Blades. He knew what they could do and this blade was as dangerous as any of them.

The legendary Sōtō Kanazuchi, whose blade turned to stone, it is said to be able to demolish anything it strikes, no matter the material or composition. No one but the strongest of men could even lift it when it was in its released form. It was called Twin Sword because when it is released it can be wielded from both ends, as either a sword or a hammer, hence it's other name.

Hayate looked down at the remains of his other sword, which were just the hilt and a few centimetres of blade ending in a ragged edge. "You owe me a new sword. Do you know how rare and expensive elemental blades are this side of the continent?"

"Sorry, thought they were made of sterner stuff." Shizuma replied before barking in laughter.

"Sterner stuff, you say." Hayate asked with a raised brow. "It doesn't matter what they are made off, no natural material can withstand a blow from that sword."

Shizuma shrugged in response before turning his attention elsewhere, Hayate felt it too, a chakra signature going out. "You're friends dead."

"I noticed."

"Not going to go to him?"

"I only met him a few days ago, and I didn't really like him."

"Looks like little Naru took care of his associate," Shizuma added with a grin. "You're on your own."

Hayate also noticed that, as well as the unnatural chakra which seemed to permeate the area surrounding them, it was ancient and foul, like that of an ancient beast or monster. Even in the Samurai nations they had heard of the Nine Beasts of power and the human sacrifices needed to utilise them in combat. "Tell me, is she one of them? One of these Jinchūriki the Shinobi nations have created to fight their wars for them."

"Don't know and don't care," Shizuma replied without a moment of hesitation. "She's just Naruto to me."

"Of course," Hayate replied before cracking his neck and falling back into a stance, tossing his now useless second sword away and making do with a single katana. "Let us continue. I would rather die like my allies than surrender in disgrace."

"Spoken like someone brought up on the ancient code," Shizuma replied as he rushed forward, bringing his prized sword over his head for a downward stroke. "I will be more than happy to oblige!"


Kakashi took a deep breath and backed slowly away, hearing the sickening squelching noises as he removed his hand, covered in blood and cartilage, from his opponent's chest. Zabuza's entire body had been in the grips of a violent spasm for a long moment, eyes bulging, before his head slumped to his chest and his grip on his sword slackened enough for the huge blade to fall to the ground with a clatter.

The second Kakashi fully removed his hand; still sparking from the remains of his technique, from the swordsman's chest the body fell to its knees then collapsed onto its side in a heap. The Copy-nin waited for a moment, but the outcome was decisive.

The Demon of the Mist was dead.

Kakashi looked from the prone body to his hand, watching as blood fell from his fingertips in rivulets. He was tired, legs and arms felt like lead and the subtle burning which ran across his skin was a tell tale sign that his chakra was rebelling against the pressure. He definitely hadn't fully healed from their battle barely a week before, and his training sessions with Naruto and his students hadn't really helped him in his recovery either.

A clash of weapons drew his attention, followed by a sickening crunch. He turned in time to see the Samurai flung through the air, katana thrown from his grasp as he flew high before falling over the bridge, out of sight. A splash signalled his collision with the surface of the water far below. The Samurai stood, blade held in both hands as he rose from his position and flicked the stone blade. It turned back to steel once again, steam rising from the metal.

Kakashi didn't see the final blow, but he guessed that the Samurai was hit head on with the full force of the stone blade, most likely breaking or crushing almost every major bone in his body. He was probably dead before gravity brought him back down to the ice cold water.

That was it.

Zabuza and the Samurai were dead, and the fake Hunter Ninja was unconscious on the other side of the battlefield. The damage to the bridge was considerable, cracks, fissures, craters; half destroyed railings, a piece of stone slid from its place, perfectly cut through, and fell to the water below with a colossal splash. Kakashi spared a look in the bridge builder's direction, noticing that the mist hadn't sufficiently dissipated yet for him to see the true scale of the damage.

The mist was clearing though, with Zabuza's death there was nothing keeping it here any longer. It began to dissipate before his very eyes, slowly beginning to be carried away by the wind. He had already felt the presences at the other side of the half completed, now half destroyed, construct, and breathed a sigh of irritation when the mist cleared enough to show a mass of shadows, a column of men and weapons.

A few more seconds passed, and the mist cleared enough to show a small army of men standing on the other side of the bridge, a horde of a couple hundred mercenaries and thugs, wearing drab, stained and cut clothing, armed with all manner of weapons from katana to broadswords, short-swords, spears, axes, daggers, knives, halberds, crossbows and even shields of all shapes, sizes, makes and models.

The crowd of men looked at their foes with a mixture of smirks, sneers and gleaming bloodlust filled eyes, all seemingly ready and rearing to go. Kakashi quietly counted their number, guessing that there must have been just over a hundred of them, all low level thugs and bandits, probably bought for spare change and the promise of plunder. If he were not so tired he could have probably took them on himself, but he was tired and fatigued, still recovering from injuries, and looking at Naruto and the blond haired Samurai he could see that both of them were also a little weary, Kiba and Sasuke were nowhere to be seen.

That left Sakura and the other Samurai still fresh and ready to fight. But Sakura was not a fighter, and he didn't have a clue as to the abilities of the other Samurai. He might not even be a wielder of one of those swords at all.

"Well, well well," the crowd of sneering thugs parted, allowing a short, middle aged man dressed in a business suit to step out into the open. This man was obviously the leader and that could only mean one thing. "So they were defeated huh? Can't say I'm surprised, they were useless."

Kakashi sighed as he brought down his headband to cover his sharingan eye, "I take it your Gato?"

The man smirked condescendingly as he raised a finger, "Bingo."

"I suppose I can't ask you to withdraw?"

"Not a chance, not when the picking are this ripe." The business tycoon cackled. "Look at all of you, most of you are either dead or halfway there, perfect for my boys here to kill you and show the Land of Waves the penalty for defying me."

Kakashi frowned, but before he could speak another voice beat him too it, calm and in control.

"I take it that you would have assembled this... force... here whether Zabuza won or lost." He looked over to see the other Samurai, blades drawn; two held in one hand, one held in the other as he looked upon the war-host with as much interest as someone watching a line of ants on the ground.

Gato growled at him, "So what if I was?"

"Not an attitude one would like in an employer, offering to pay them a substantial sum then breaking his word at the end," Izaya stated with a sigh as he took a step forward.

"So what?" Gato asked, advancing towards them with confidence. "The moron asked for far too much for his services, both of them did, and look what they got me. I wouldn't pay a single piece of coin for this scum."

Naruto growled low in her throat in outrage, taking a shaky step forward only to be stopped by a shimmering blade, Izaya placed it between her and the gang, eyes looking at her with a single message clear in them. Do not interfere. Naruto frowned at him, brow furrowing, before looking down and with a sigh backed away.

"You call him scum, yet it is you who fail to fulfil your side of a bargain once struck," Izaya tilted his head to the side and took another step forward. "You pathetic little man, my blades will enjoy taking your head from your shoulders."

"One of you," Gato asked in equal mirth and disbelief, "One of you against all these men, I think you overestimate yourself."

"We will see."

Izaya placed one of the blades in his mouth, fell into a fighting stance and rushed forward, form a blur of incandescent motion. He was right in front of the first line of thugs before they could even register his presence. A swing of blades led to screams of agony, splatters of blood and spinning limbs as half a dozen men fell before his opening strike.

He was like a hurricane, a whirlwind of blades, devastation followed in his wake as he weaved among the horde, blades in his hands flashing a pattern of death and annihilation, followed near instantly by the blade of the sword whose hilt was clamped between his teeth. Within the course of a few fleeting seconds another dozen men were lying on the ground, some dead while others were rolling in agony, holding onto stumps as blood pooled the ground.

"What are you idiots waiting for!?" Gato shouted, his confidence now gone and replaced by fear. "Kill him!"

The men hesitated, then uttered battle cries and rushed at the three blade wielding Samurai. Izaya rushed forward, meeting them head on, blades spun and sliced, killing and maiming men as he went, cutting through the onslaught of mercenaries in a blur of freshly spilt blood; cleaved limbs, shattered pieces of swords and spears. Izaya was a blur of glinting steel and flailing cloth amongst the chaos as he continued his advance, spinning, slashing, and pivoting on his heel as he continued his quick and almost blurring advance.

He cleaved through the final line of men between him and his target, sending them flying through the air with a simple flick of his right blade, releasing a stream of cutting sickles of air which snapped weapons like twigs and left long fatal gashes which exploded in streams of blood. Izaya came to a stop, in a crouching stance, blood dripping from his blades in rivulets, yet not a single ounce of the liquid had touched his clothes or his exposed skin.

Gato backed away, entire form quaking in fear, "What is wrong with you idiots!? He's just one man!"

The black haired Samurai tilted his head to the side, eyes darting left and right to see that the rest of the gang were slowly advancing on him, with more caution this time. He shrugged, before once again launching himself forward with blurring speed. Gato didn't even know what hit him, one moment the man was at least ten meters away from him, the next he was right beside him, the blade of the sword clenched between his teeth levelled at the small statured businessman's throat.

The tycoon's eyes bulged in sudden fear, darting down at the blood soaked blade then into the dark eyes of his attacker. Izaya showed his teeth as his lips curled back, and then he whipped his head to the side. The blade cut clean through Gato's throat from ear to ear, blood splattering the ground as the small man gurgled, and fell back, dead before he hit the concrete with a meaty thump.

Izaya flicked both his wrists, sending the blood still clinging to his swords into the air before sheathing the two of them in a smooth dual motion. He then reached up with his now free right hand to take his third blade from his mouth, looking down at the dead form of the businessman with a look of pure distain as he took out a cloth and began removing the blood from his third, most prized sword. "So this is the mastermind behind all this, I'm kind of disappointed."

He then brought his attention to the large crowd of armed men, between him and the rest of his group. He must have taken down at least twenty five of them, and his sudden strike which killed their employer had definitely put them on edge. He guessed all they needed was a nudge for them all to flee.

That nudge came from the other side of the bridge, as the sounds of dozens of feet filled the air. At the other side of the bridge was a large, motley force of men and women, armed with a huge and equally diverse armoury of weapons, most of which probably weren't intended to be used as weapons in the first place, pitchforks, hammers, butchers knives, axes, clubs, sticks, staffs and a few swords and spears were also scattered about. The Samurai guessed they were the villagers, and to his surprise they seemed to be led by a young boy carrying a crossbow, arrow hooked and ready to fire.

The bandits were backing away now. Just one more little nudge would break their resolve and cause a route. It came when Naruto drew her katana from it's sheathe and took a step forward, Shizuma copying her motion with his own weapon. The elder Shinobi seemed to think, and then made a quick set of hand seals. A series of bursts of smoke showed a line of near perfect copies, Shadow Clones, not illusions.

That did it.

The horde of bandits turned and fled, many of them ran to the small trawler moored at the edge of the bridge, others jumped from the railings to the water below and began to swim, and more men fell into the water in the crushing stampede as the enemy ran for their lives. A roar of cheers reverberated from the villagers.


Naruto looked at the crowd of assembled villagers in time for her eyes to lock with Inari's. The young man caught her eyes, grinning happily in the victory and besides the situation the young woman managed a wry smile followed by a thumbs up, mere moments before Inari was picked up by a villager and placed on the huge mans shoulders.

There was no time for her to celebrate though, in truth she really didn't feel like it. She had a job to do, one which she knew instinctually that she would hate. She searched the bridge for the form of Kakashi Hatake and upon finding the masked Shinobi began to limp in his direction. The Jōnin noticed her approach and his eyes curled up in one of his signature smiles.

"Naruto," he greeted.

"Kakashi," she returned, looking up at him. "I have some bad news."


The two of them looked so peaceful, Naruto found herself noticing. Lying side by side the teammates and rivals almost looked like they were asleep, dreaming of something, but the Samurai knew that they were not asleep, that they were no longer among the living of the world.

The atmosphere was sombre, interrupted by the soft sobs of the last surviving team member of Team Seven. Sakura was on her knees, in between the two boys, head bowed, pink bangs hiding her face as her body was wracked with sobs, even from where she stood Naruto could just about see tears falling to the cold concrete ground. In her arms was the small bundle of Akamaru, the puppy in an almost catatonic state as it continued to look down at the still form of its master, emitting low, pitiful whines as if begging him to open his eyes.

Kakashi stood a few steps away, his eyes looking down upon the still forms of his two students with a haunted quality to them, in many ways his silence conveyed his grief not nearly as open as Sakura's. His was a quieter moment, tempered by the fact that this was not the first time he had seen comrades lost on the battlefield.

Tazuna looked down at the two bodies also, for the first time the large bridge builder was at a loss for what to do or say, Inari was at his side, in the same position as his grandfather. The villagers who had come to their aide were keeping their distance from the sight, many watching, others deciding to leave. Naruto wasn't sure where Izaya and Shizuma were, but knew that they were keeping their distance also.

For Naruto all she felt was guilt at her own failure to protect those two. She had been there, fighting alongside them. She had gone in there to try and get those boys out, and in that respect she had failed completely. Her thoughts were overtaken by helplessness and self-loathing. It was her fault they were dead, if she had only been faster she could have saved them.

"Did you know that I mesmerised all of the codes of the Ninja, every last one," Sakura spoke up at last, speaking to nobody in particular as her emerald eyes darted between Sasuke and Kiba's bodies. "One of the first ones was that a Ninja must never show emotion, under any circumstances... but... I-"

She broke down in a fit of low uncontrollable sobs again, unable to complete her sentence. No one around her spoke, feeling similar feelings to how she felt. Naruto closed her eyes and lowered her head. So this feeling was what it was like to lose a comrade, true she had only known them for a week, and there was a chance she would be fighting against them in the future, but here, now, they had been her allies.

There was a grunt, and Naruto opened her eyes to look up, frowning. Those blue orbs widened in surprise when she saw that Sasuke had opened his eyes with a groan, followed a second later by a whimper as Kiba too opened his, curling up into a ball. Both were completely ignoring, or unable to notice, the surprised to downright disbelieving looks the two corpses were gaining from their audience.

"Why does it feel like a mountain fell on me," Kiba asked no one in particular as he rolled back onto his back, a low whine from his pet puppy seemed to make the situation even more tenable.

Sasuke grunted in agreement, completely unprepared when Sakura fell on his chest, sobbing in obvious relief. "You're alright. You're both alright... thank goodness!"

"Sakura," Sasuke groaned in a raspy voice, each word seemingly difficult for him to pronounce. "You're... heavy."

"I almost died too," Kiba groaned, "Why don't I get a looking."

As if in response a little bundle of white landed on the side of his face and began to lick his cheek, Akamaru was there, barking happily, jumping from side to side before closing in to give its master a handful of slobbery licks.

"Thanks boy," Kiba allowed with a feral grin.

"But how," Tazuna asked everyone in disbelief, relieved disbelief, but still disbelief. "They were dead. Kakashi-san didn't feel a pulse."

Kakashi was thoughtful for a moment, and then shook his head in mild amusement. "That boy used the same technique he used to extract Zabuza."

"But why would he do that?"

"Because he's not a killer," Naruto murmured in response, shaking her head. "I met him once, a few days ago in the forest... he had the chance to kill me, yet he didn't. We talked and from what I learned of him it's that he hates the action of taking a life."

"Why didn't you tell us this?" Kakashi asked mildly, his voice calm.

Naruto shrugged, "To be honest it didn't seem all that important. We left promising we wouldn't cross paths again until the bridge, and no one would attack us until then either."

"We'll either way we need to get these boys back somewhere where they can rest and recuperate," Izaya said, coming between Naruto and Kakashi. "We will also need to see about the other boys treatment and incarceration until we can see about what to do with-"

Izaya's words were cut off by a scream of shock and disbelief, all looked up to see the bridge builder, starring wide eyed at the bridge, or what was left of the bridge. The others looked up as well, eyes widening at the scale of destruction the battle had brought. The once smooth concrete road and pavements were cracked with fissures and crevices, pieces of rock and debris were scattered everywhere and even as they watched a section of the railings gave way with a whine and fell into the ocean below, a loud splash signalling the continuation of its journey to the bottom.

"My bridge," Tazuna sputtered as he walked a few steps forward on shaking feet before falling to his knees, bulging eyes continuing to stare in shock at what was left, "My bridge!"

"Izaya," Naruto asked, herself looking at the ruins of the structure in a defeated monotone. "Who did this?"

Izaya sighed, folding his arms into his billowing sleeves. "I'll give you three guesses, but to be honest you're only going to need one."

Naruto sighed before turning in the immediate direction where the culprit was standing, emphasis on was standing, only to find that he wasn't there anymore. There was nothing but an empty space where he had stood. The blonde haired swordswoman sighed, took a deep breath and released a billowing scream of anger, emphasising each syllable of the man's name even as Tazuna sobbed before the tattered remains of his bridge.

"SHI-ZU-MA!"


Three days had passed since the confrontation on the bridge and during the simple space of those seventy two hours the entire outlook of the Land of Waves transformed from a defeated country on the verge of collapse to one with the outlook of a new nation.

Word of Gato's defeat and death spread quickly, and within two days Tazuna found a small army of new volunteers ready to help him and his men complete the bridge to the mainland. The story of his family and their protector's defiant stand against the tyrant had touched many, and the removal of his threat had brought many more to help. Among them was the grumbling form of Shizuma, tracked down by his fellow Samurai and conscripted into helping to build the bridge in debt to almost destroying it.

The tyrant's death had also had a profound effect on the fishing and trade of the small country, those who had been bought and threatened into his service suddenly found themselves without an employer, without his shadow over them these ships began working again. Fishermen began building new boats from lumber in the forest without worry of attack of sabotage, and traders began renewing their old routes, heading to familiar ports under the temporary command of the lands nobles to try and renew trade links with other nations.

At Tazuna's house the Shinobi and Samurai rested and healed. Sasuke and Kiba were still bedridden, much to the delight of Sakura, who nursed them, specifically Sasuke, back to full health. Kakashi and Naruto also decided to take it easy, both suffering from minor wounds and fatigue. Izaya and Shizuma were the ones who took over guard duty, Izaya during the day and Shizuma at night when he wasn't working off his debt at the bridge, but with Gato dead threats from his underlings were now considered null and void, so much so that the larger Samurai spent his nightly guard duties sleeping rather than watching.

There was still one last confrontation to consider, and Naruto was determined to meet it head on. That was the inevitable altercation with the only survivor of their opposition, still unconscious and under guard in the guest's bedroom.


Haku awoke with a start, sitting upright with a gasp before immediately regretting it. He winced, hissing out a pained gasp of breath as his wounds made themselves painfully clear, cracked ribs and a broken nose, he guessed that from the dull ache coming from his nose.

He was in a bedroom, a homely little room with a bed, a bedside table with a lamp, a cupboard, chest of drawers and a mirror were the only pieces of furniture, a mid-sized window to his right and a door to his left.

"I see you're awake," a calm voice said from beside him and Haku's head darted to the right in time to see the silver haired Shinobi, sitting in a chair with his arms folded and his legs crossed. He was still fully dressed in his Jōnin attire, headband worn diagonally across his left eye and lower face covered by a black cloth.

Haku frowned at him, before the memories of the last few days came back in painful focus, from the battle on the bridge, his battle with Naruto all the way to the sudden change in chakra signatures between her master and his opponent. It took him a moment to remember that Zabuza's opponent was sitting in the chair across from him.

"The battle," Haku asked, groaning in pain as his body protested the movements. "Zabuza-sama?"

"Zabuza is dead," Kakashi explained as he continued to sit nonchalantly in his chair. "Along with the Samurai allied with him and Gato himself. The Land of Waves is free and they've begun to rebuild. All who are left who haven't fled or died is you."

Haku could only look at him in shock, eyes wide. Zabuza-sama, his master, his teacher, was dead. The man he had promised to protect and stand beside with all of his strength was dead, and the man sitting beside him was the one who killed him. Anger welled in Haku's chest, coupled with the almost crushing shame that he had failed his master so spectacularly.

Kakashi hummed as he stood up, dusting off his pants before making his way towards the door. "Well I suppose now that you're awake there's no longer a need to look over you is there? You're free to go, so long as you don't endanger the bridge builder or his family I don't mind."

"Why let me go?" Haku asked, straining to keep his voice calm, using all of his willpower to stop himself from lunging at this man and try to tear his throat out.

"Because you didn't kill my student's, and Naruto spoke highly of you... those are the only reasons you're here." Kakashi replied stoically, turning to look at him before opening the door and closing it behind him with a soft thud. Haku listened to the footsteps as the Ninja walked away. He waited a few more fleeting seconds, seemingly lasting a lifetime, then he seemed to collapse in on himself, falling back into the bed and looking up at the ceiling yet not taking anything in.

Zabuza was dead. There was nothing for him to live for anymore. His whole life, his goal, was to follow Zabuza-sama, aide him in his goal of becoming the Mizukage and bringing balance to that strife ridden land. That was his purpose in life. The purpose was gone, Zabuza-sama was dead, and there was nothing left for him in this world.

He looked around for something to end his torment, and found it in a small, well kept comb on the bedside table just across from him. It was a cheap thing, remove the bristles and you had a blade as good as any to end a life, if aimed for the right place. With trembling hands Haku reached over, grabbed the small device and with a small chakra strengthened thrust broke off the wooden bristles from the comb. He looked at the razors edge for a long moment, then sat up, took a deep breath and plunged the sharpened remains of the comb towards the artery at his throat.

In a flash a hand blurred into his line of vision, gripping onto his wrist and stopping the descent of the weapon to his neck. For a split-second the two forces fought each other for control, and then another hand flew up while the other struck a pressure point in his wrist, forcing the sharpened stick from his grasp to fall into another waiting hand.

Not thinking straight, angry and distraught he cast a glare at the one who had stopped him, only for his eyes to widen slightly. It was Naruto. She leaned on his bed, one hand holding a steel grip onto his wrist while the other threw his hastily made weapon away, the razor pointed edge digging into the wooden wall beside the door.

Haku continued to struggle, but he was weak from his three day long coma and Naruto, while still injured by the obvious bandages, was still far stronger than him. She jumped on top of him, straddling his knees while each hand grabbed one of his wrists and forced them to the beds surface with little effort, she bent over to keep him at bay, eyes locked and mere centimetres away from each other, Haku's angry dark eyes meeting Naruto's determined azure.

He continued to struggle; knowing that it was useless but Naruto still would not relent. His attempts to buck and kick her off ended fruitlessly and finally he fell back into bed, exhausted and spent but still determined, still glaring up at the girl holding him down who returned it with a determined glare of her own.

"Let me die." He demanded, almost pleaded.

"No," was Naruto's stalwart reply.

"Let me die!" He shouted this time.

"No!" Naruto shouted back with equal intensity, "Why do you want to take your life, WHY!?"

"Zabuza-sama saved me from a fate worse than death, my whole life my only goal was to help him obtain his dream. But he isn't here anymore, and I have failed in my goals, and I will never see him take the title of Mizukage from that monster!" He looked into Naruto's eyes, glaring right back at him. "So I no longer have a purpose, it would be better to kill me now!"

A slap resounded throughout the small, cramped room. Haku's eyes were wide, taking in the stinging sensation on his cheek where the blonde haired girl had slapped him. Naruto was breathing hard, chest heaving too and froe as she continued to glare at him. "Do you really think life is so worthless that you would just throw it away like that!?"

"What difference is it to you!? I no longer have a purpose!" Haku roared back ignoring the pain he was feeling from his injuries. Why did he even try to make this girl understand, why was he trying to convince her? "My master is dead, do you hear me, dead! My purpose here is spent, better to end it now than live a worthless-"

"Then join me!"

Haku's words died in his throat as he looked up at the girls steely blue eyes, his own mind taking several moments to digest her words. "What?"

"Join me, if you can't live without someone to serve then serve me, join and travel with me in Zabuza's stead," Naruto said, the words obviously not sitting right with her yet she said them all the same. "Maybe if I can keep you alive long enough I can rid you of this mindset, but until then travel with me, call me master if you want, help and protect me as I reach my goals... just... just-"

Something splashed against his cheek, and it took Haku a moment to realise that it was a tear. He looked up to see water streaming down Naruto's face as she continued to look down at him. "Just don't die, Haku, don't give up on life that easily, travel with me, and learn that life means more than that!"

Haku could only look on for a handful of moments before breaking her gaze, suddenly feeling dirty for what he had just attempted, yet his grief was still far too fresh. "I can't!"

Naruto gritted her teeth to stop the sob from escaping her throat, and in a quick motion she drew something from her waist and stabbed it into the table beside his bed. Haku looked over to see a knife, half imbedded in the wood of the cabinet. Naruto stood up, walked to the door and opened it, but remained where she was for a handful of moments before turning her head halfway to face him.

"I'll give you a choice then," Naruto said, head slightly bowed. "If you really want too then take that knife and end your life now, but if you decide otherwise then come down to the dining room and tell me to my face that you'll come with me, I'll show you that life means more than this!"

The ice Ninja looked at the knife, then at Naruto.

"I'll be waiting for your answer, you have one hour."

The door closed, leaving just Haku and the knife lodged into the bedside table. He looked at it for a long moment, hand twitching in its direction yet still remembering Naruto's words at the same time. It stayed his hand, at least for the moment, the decision to go with her, or to end his life now for his disgrace. It was a hard decision to make.

"Do you think you're words will have an effect on him?" Naruto looked over to see Kakashi, leaning against the wall, arms folded as he looked over at her with his one visible eye.

"We'll see, won't we?" Naruto replied as she took a deep breath and began to walk past the Jōnin, taking a deep breath as she passed him to steel her own resolve. "I really want to show him that life means more than serving someone till the death."

"That may not be your choice though," Kakashi advised, still from his place leaning against the wall. "Some people just cannot be saved."

"I know that," she replied tiredly, looking up at nothing in particular before turning her gaze back to Kakashi. "But I believe that he can be convinced."

To be honest even she wasn't sure what he would do and leaving him in that room with something capable of ending his life was one of the hardest decisions she wanted to make. Yet she knew that if she denied him that chance then he would probably take it at the earliest opportunity while travelling with her. She had to make sure he was willing to live.

That was what she told herself anyway, the truth was that she wanted him to live. She wanted to show him that life wasn't just torture and struggle, that there were good things to living as well as bad. It was still up to him though, completely up to him but if he made the choice to remain then she would do everything she could to prove to him that life was worth living.

She would prove it.

She had too.


Author's Note 1: Just to remind you that Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto and his team, I make no attempt to take ownership of his work. This is fanfiction, nothing more.

Author's Note 2: Sorry this update is so late team, I've had a rough couple of months at work. They've been tightening the restrictions on us, even I'm on a few warnings, and I've also lost half of my team in the timeline of a month, mainly from changing shifts and going to university and so on. On top of that considering half of them were people I've gone through training together with make's it a tough thing to take. I'm thinking of quitting myself to be honest, not until I find a job to replace it mind you, damn working life is so hard!

Author's Note 3: Anyway the first arc of Naruto: The Wanderer is almost over and done with, just another chapter or two to fix it up. I've also begun working on not just the Shinobi world but also the Samurai world west of the Land of Iron, I've got an idea of how it will role and I'm pretty happy with it and how it will turn out, not for a couple of arcs though so stay tuned.