Sasuke and Haku dashed at each other, with Sasuke holding a kunai while Haku wielding a senbon. The two clashed, trying to overpower the other.
Sasuke tried a low-kick, but Haku jumped over it and attempted to kick Sasuke in the temple.
Luckily, Sasuke leaned back, narrowly avoiding the kick, and headbutted Haku, cracking his mask and sending him sliding across the ground.
"Heh. It appears they're even in strength." Zabuza noted with an odd smirk. Kakashi noticed the emphasis on "appears", and was obviously worried, although he tried shrugging it off.
"Sasuke can handle his own, so I think it's time we settle the score." Kakashi said, lifting his headband once again to reveal his infamous Sharingan.
"Hmph. Sure, but don't think this'll be like last time." Zabuza replied with a bit too much confidence for Kakashi's taste.
"We'll see."
Zabuza smirked behind his white-taped mask. "Hidden Mist Jutsu." He casted as clouds of mist suddenly surrounded the two legendary jounins. Kakashi looked around to find Zabuza, but failed.
"I didn't pin you as one who would hide so shyly, Zabuza."
"Don't think I'll fall for that." Zabuza said almost laughably. "I did research on the Sharingan with Haku."
Kakashi raised an eye, still searching for Zabuza. "Oh?"
"The Sharingan can only be effective if you can actually see the opponent; wielders of it can predict the movements of the opponent with its sharp, keen eyesight, which you used in our last battle to copy my hand seals. And with that incredible observation, you can seemingly read one's thoughts and future."
"Looks like someone did their homework." Kakashi commented, even though he was now really worried.
Zabuza laughed. "Oh, but there's more." Zabuza added, causing Kakashi to narrow his eyes more nervously. "In our last battle, you didn't just copy my hand seals, but you forced me into the Sharingan's Genjutsu, suggesting my subconscious to do certain hand seals that both you and I know. And with those actions done, you completed the jutsu before I could. Actually, you could've even caused a delay in my hand seals with that genjutsu. Who knows? But that Sharingan genjutsu is dangerous nonetheless."
"..."
Zabuza chuckled. "You're like a cat stuck in a dog's cage; once you figure out the Sharingan, you can defeat the legendary Kakashi of the Sharingan."
'...damn. So Zabuza knows that all he has to do to avoid the Sharingan is not make eye contact or have the Sharingan's sight obstructed. This isn't good. This isn't good at all.' Kakashi thought worriedly.
Once again, Sasuke and Haku were clashing with their kunai and senbon respectively. They seemed to be even in strength.
"Looks like we're about even, huh?" Sasuke stated a bit proudly. Haku simply shook her head, and suddenly began doing one-handed hand seals, shocking Sasuke.
'What the...! One-handed hand seals!? I've never heard of anyone doing that!
"It's called holding back. Hidden Jutsu: One Thousand Needles of Death."
A thousand needles were formed from the surronding water and Sasuke had almost no way of dodging. Sasuke, remembering his training, closed his eyes and focused his chakra.
'Remember the training...mold chakra...and send it to my legs!'
Haku jumped back, and all the needles shot immediately towards Sasuke. However, the Uchiha was nowhere in sight, and the needles pathetically hit the spot that he was at before.
'He disappeared?' Haku thought worriedly. Haku sensed something above him, and narrowly dodged two shurikens. Haku jumped when he heard the Uchiha's voice behind him.
"You've gotten slow. Looks like I'll have to be the one to hold back." Sasuke said smugly.
Haku quickly got a senbon and tried piercing Sasuke with it. However, Sasuke got out his own kunai and countered it. The two clashed for a couple seconds, both trying to push the other.
Sasuke quickly formulated a plan in his head, and initiated it by using his free hand to throw a kunai from his pouch. Predictably, Haku moved his head out of the way, giving Sasuke the opportunity to kick Haku in stomach. Haku was sent flying in front of Zabuza, who had just finished a clash with Kakashi.
'What!? Haku lost!?' Zabuza thought, completely shocked.
"Looks like I'm the faster one here. Even if you're stronger than me physically, if you can't hit me, then it's all for nothing." Sasuke stated confidently.
Zabuza suddenly started laughing again. "Haku, you realize if this keeps up, you'll be defeated."
"Yes." Haku replied, a strange blue aura slowly surrounding him.
'That feels...cold.' Sasuke thought.
Suddenly, mirrors out of ice were being created out of water. Sasuke stood there, shocked. 'Is this a kekkei genkei?' He questioned.
"Crystal Ice Mirrors!" Haku chanted, surrounding Sasuke with over fifty indifferent ice mirrors. Haku quickly stepped inside one of them, causing the other mirrors to create reflections of him.
'What is he planning?' Sasuke thought worriedly.
And then came senbons. A lot of senbons. They kept coming and coming, making Sasuke look like a human-porcupine in a matter of minutes. Sasuke screamed in agony, and the kunai that he had in his hand was sent near Sakura and Tazuna. Sakura gulped her fear down.
"Sasuke!" Sakura cried out, throwing the kunai at him in hopes he would catch it.
Pausing his senbon assault, Haku came out of the mirror and caught the kunai. Sasuke and Sakura looked at Haku in defeat and fear. It was as if all hope was lost...
Suddenly, an orange blur punched Haku in his mask, sending him flying onto the bridge and cracking the mask itself slightly. The orange blur was non-other than Naruto! What a hero! Wow! Incredible! He totally wasn't camping until the right time...
'Thanks for the opportunity, Sakura! Looks like I didn't have to wait until Sasuke was defeated. I could've analyzed Haku's movements more, but it's whatever. At least I got to Observe Haku.' Naruto thought, definitely keeping Haku's stats in mind.
Name: Haku
Class: Mist Ninja
Level: Lv30
HP: 108,000
CP: 52,000
STR: 36
STM: 36
DEX: 36
INT: 36
WIS: 36
LUK: 36
Points: 0
Elemental Affinity: Water, Wind
Naruto continued his assault as he dashed towards Haku, who was already on his feet. Naruto tried delivering a punch to the stomach, but Haku caught it and pushed him back hard. With that small opportunity, Haku ran straight towards his Crystal Ice Mirrors.
"Oh no, you don't! Wind Style: Air Bullets!" Naruto shouted, creating over a dozen air projectiles. However, Haku jumped, flipping through the air and dodging the air bullets quite elegantly. After landing, Haku quickly entered his ice mirrors, which were only a few short feet away.
'Damn it! He got to his ice mirrors. This might be a bit harder then expected.' Naruto thought, disappointed. He thought that he could finish Haku off before he could get to his ice mirrors, but it seemed Haku was far better than he thought.
Naruto quickly jumped to where Sasuke was and helped him up.
"What the hell are you doing, dobe? If you stayed there, then we could've attacked the mirrors inside and out at the same time!" Sasuke told him angrily.
"It's elementary, my dear Sasuke." Naruto said, closing his eyes and raising a finger with a cocky smile. "This is an ice style technique, a combination of water and wind style-"
"-I know that, you imbecile!" Sasuke cut in. Naruto shot a glare at him.
"-anyway, we can't destroy the mirrors if we use our fire or wind jutsus since it's only one element. Maybe if we combined jutsus we could, but first, try using your fireball and you'll see what I mean." Naruto said insightfully.
Sasuke grunted in response. "Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke chanted, breathing out a huge fireball. However, the ice mirrors weren't even slightly melted from the attack.
'What!? Not even a scratch!?' Sasuke thought in surprise, before shaking his head and forming hand seals again. " Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"
This time, Sasuke sprayed twenty mini-fire balls right at the ice mirror he targeted at before. Haku simply stood in his ice mirror, knowing it would be ineffective, which was proven when the ice mirrors only slightly melted from the intense heat. Sasuke's face visibly hardened.
"Two of my most powerful jutsu's, and they barely melted the thing..." Sasuke grumbled under his breath in frustration, before glancing at Naruto. "What do you suggest we do then?"
"I'll summon a couple shadow clones and see what we can do from there. Remember, I gain their memories so I should be able to find what we're dealing with here. Maybe we can try our combination attack after to see what happens." Naruto suggested.
Sasuke nodded, and let Naruto do his thing.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Naruto immediately summoned twenty shadow clones, and they all went for the mirrors. Unfortunately, all of them were quickly destroyed by Haku's raining senbons.
"Did you figure something out?" Sasuke asked as he took out a couple senbons from his arms.
"Nope! Again, Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Once again, a group of twenty Shadow Clones appeared in a puff of smoke, and they all charged at the mirrors. But like last time, they were quickly taken care of by the dozens of senbons.
"How about now?" Sasuke asked again.
Naruto stood still, thinking and analysing the memories for a solid ten seconds, before slowly grinning.
"Yeah. The ice mirrors allow Haku to move at very high speeds. In fact, the reflections are just there to confuse us into thinking that there are multiple Hakus. The technique probably takes a lot of chakra though. We might be able to outlast him, unless he takes us out first." Naruto informed Sasuke.
'Amazing. He found out the core of my jutsu in just a minute.' Haku thought, impressed.
"I assumed some of that. Anyways, let's do our wind and fire combination now." Sasuke said eagerly. Naruto nodded, before they both started forming the hand seals for their signature jutsu's.
"Alright! Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"
Both of the attacks combined into one giant fireball, and clashed against the ice mirrors. However, this fireball was able to slightly melt the ice mirrors, giving the two a bit more confidence.
"Alright! We melted the mirrors! Let's do that again, Sasuke!" Naruto said excitedly. He was about form hand seals again, but he quickly noticed how exhausted Sasuke was.
"Easy for you to say. I used a lot of chakra for the fireballs and the fight itself. I'll probably run out of chakra if I launch another one." Sasuke told him, panting tiredly.
'Damn it! He's right, he only has 2,000 CP. What can we do? Haku's not just gonna stand around anymore. Maybe if I use that...' Naruto slowly started grinning. "Don't worry, Sasuke. Leave this to me. It's time for my super secret new jutsu!"
'New jutsu? Just...how strong are you, Naruto?' Sasuke thought in both agony and surprise.
Kakashi was still battling Zabuza, trying his best to find the swordsman through the mist.
'I can't smell him, hear him, or sense his chakra. As expected of one of the Legendary Swordsmen. Let's try jumping into the air.' Kakashi thought, adding chakra to amplify his jump to around 20 feet. Even so, all he could see was thick mist.
'No good. The mist is still there.' Kakashi thought as he landed on the ground. However, in that instant, Kakashi was suddenly slashed across the chest by a large sword.
"Argh!" Kakashi grunted in pain, and quickly looked at the person responsible, which was obviously Zabuza. And without wasting a second, the swordsman was prepared to slash him again.
Kakashi tried using his Sharingan Genjutsu, but realized Zabuza's eyes were closed.
"It's over!" Zabuza landed another slash across Kakashi's chest, creating an X-mark onto the Konoha jounin's chest and causing him to ultimately fall to the ground.
"...hmph. Now that was disappointing. Looks like without your Sharingan, you're nothing." Zabuza said, turning around to walk away.
"Who said that?"
Zabuza turned around to deflect several kunai being thrown at him. And even though his eyes were still closed, his sense of smell found a burning piece of paper. Zabuza jumped away, guessing it was an explosive tag, which it was as indicated by the small explosion.
Boom!
"You have good reflexes, Zabuza." Kakashi complimented, the smoke that was covering him slowly settling. He looked a bit more serious now, and he had a very noticeable bloody cross across his chest.
"Heh. Not bad, Kakashi. You're still alive. However, you must've lost a lot of blood." Zabuza said confidently.
"That may be so, but this battle isn't over. And I intend to finish it now." Kakashi said, getting a scroll out of his vest, opening it, and rubbing it against his bloody chest.
"I won't let you use your jutsus any longer." Haku said, rushing at Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened. He recognized that voice...
'This is not the time to be unfocused. But still, I know that voice.' Naruto quickly shook his head, and got back into the battle.
"Grrr... Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto shouted, spawning over fifty clones. '48,000 CP left now!'
Haku blinked, surprised that he could still make that many clones. However, in the matter of a minute, Haku disposed of them with his dangerously precise senbons, which were seemingly raining from the heavens. Haku then rushed at the original Naruto, who was at the back and clearly focusing his chakra into his arms.
"My new super secret original technique! Wind Style: Hurricane Fist!"
Naruto's hands were suddenly covered in wind, almost blowing Sasuke away, both literally and figuratively.
'It worked! I was afraid that it would destroy my hands, but it looks like I was able to completely control my wind chakra! I have like 18,000 CP left, so it better be worth it!'
Naruto grinned and rushed at one of the mirrors. He punched it, completely shattering the mirror. Haku and Sasuke gasped; he was like a mini hurricane (pun intended).
Haku, realizing how dangerous he was, once again started to throw senbons at him, this time targeted at his vital points. However, Naruto simply lifted his hands near the general area od those senbons, and they immediately blew away. Haku quickly deducted that senbons wouldn't work against him, and tried going back to his mirrors.
Unfortunately for Haku, Naruto still rushed at him and tried punching him in the face. Luckily, Haku moved his head just in time and seemed to have dodged Naruto's fist. But somehow, Haku's head jerked back as an invisible force hit him incredibly hard.
'He didn't even hit him/me!' Sasuke and Haku thought at the same time. The invisible force was strong enough to send Haku crashing out of the ice mirrors, and make him tumble across the ground.
'I'm sorry, Master Zabuza. I failed you. If I had taken this fight seriously, then maybe it wouldn't have, but this boy is just too strong right now.' Haku thought sadly. Naruto came running at him, intending to finish him off with one final punch. But he abruptly stopped when he saw Haku's mask fall. Naruto recognized that face.
"You're the one from the forest." Naruto said, completely surprised. He knew he recognized his voice from somewhere...
"Aren't you going to finish me off? I have no purpose in life. Kill me." Haku said coldly.
"But why? Why would you serve someone like Zabuza?" Naruto asked him almost desperately. His Hurricane Fist slowly dissipated, and he hoped Haku wouldn't attack since he had 10 CP left.
"Because he saved me." Haku replied simply.
"Zabuza saved you?" Naruto repeated in confusion. Zabuza didn't strike him as the caring type at all.
"Yes. Before I met Zabuza, I had a family in Kirigakure: a mother and a father. They were simple farmers, but what my father didn't know was that my mother had a kekkei genkei, a kekkei genkei that I had unfortunately inherited."
'Ice Style.' Naruto noted.
"One day, I had proudly presented the ability to use this kekkei genkei to my mother. However, she slapped me, telling me not to use it again. At that time, and even today, kekkei genkei are feared and hated in Kirigakure, as they changed the tides in a previous war. Their influence in that war created a horrific scar in Kiri's history. This lead to a purge lead by Yagura, the Yondaime Mizukage. A purge that is even going on today, killing anyone who has kekkei genkei, even children."
'That sounds brutal, but...how come I've never heard of this? And why doesn't Konoha do anything about it!?' Naruto asked himself a bit angrily. Did Konoha really only care about itself, and nothing else!?
"Apparently, my father saw this in the shadows, and assembled a mob of villagers. I watched as my father killed my mother with tears flowing down his eyes. He loved her, but the villagers couldn't stand her having a kekkei genkei. Then, those same villagers forced him to kill me as well, but...out of fear...I..." Haku closed his eyes, tears threatening to leak out. "I...I killed him and everyone else with my ice jutsu."
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry." Naruto apologized, though knowing it wouldn't change anything. Haku simply opened his eyes as acknowledgement that he heard him.
"I was alone. An orphan. Roaming around the streets with no purpose in life. I was...unnecessary. There was no one in this world that wanted me...except Zabuza. He saved me from myself. He gave me a purpose, to fulfill his dream. And I will do that until my usefulness runs out."
A couple minutes back
"What's this?" Zabuza asked as he heard Kakashi opening a scroll. He couldn't see Kakashi since he still had his eyes closed, not to mention being hidden by the mist.
"It's a summoning scroll." Kakashi answered calmly.
"...!" Zabuza suddenly realized the danger he was in, a valid emotion since a couple seconds later, a dozen ninja dogs came out from the ground and bit Zabuza in several different places to keep him still.
"W-what!? How did they find me!?" Zabuza asked in agony. He opened his eyes for the first in the battle, and saw Kakashi walking towards him.
"Did you know that dogs have an incredible sense of smell?" Kakashi asked, which made Zabuza think he was mocking him.
"I know that, fool! But even with that sense of smell, I can hide myself in a way that-"
"You may be able to hide yourself, but not the blood on your sword." Kakashi cut in. "When you cut my chest with your sword, you left my blood on it. All my dogs had to do was sniff out my blood, and there you were. You even had your eyes closed, making it easier for them to catch you."
Zabuza growled angrily. "Y-you...you...!"
"This battle is over, Zabuza. And this time, I'll make sure of it with an original technique. No more copying." Kakashi said, putting his arm out under him and holding it with his other hand. Zabuza suddenly sensed a huge build-up of chakra, and braced himself for it.
"Lightning Blade!" Kakashi casted, seemingly holding lightning in his hand.
'What!? His chakra is so strong it's visible! And he's holding it in his hand!' Zabuza thought, eyes completely wide.
"I won't allow you to kill Tazuna. He's a brave man with a noble dream. The bridge he's building is the hope of the people. You're like a disease, infect one and you'll infect them all. You don't care; that is not the way of the shinobi." Kakashi told him.
"You're right, I don't care! Why should I care about these petty people's dreams! I have a dream of my own!" Zabuza roared.
"But to have a dream, you need a future. And you used all of your future, Zabuza." Kakashi replied with a dangerous edge to his voice.
"It's over, Zabuza!" Kakashi aimed his lightning blade to pierce Zabuza's heart. But instead, he hit someone else.
"You know, we could've been friends had we met in different circumstances." Naruto said as he readied his kunai. He charged at Haku, intending to stab him.
However, Haku suddenly grabbed Naruto's wrist, ultimately stopping his attack. "Sorry, Naruto. But I still have some use to Zabuza." Haku quickly formed some hand seals and disappeared to where Zabuza was. Kakashi was just about to pierce Zabuza before he came in the way to protect him.
Kakashi, Zabuza, Tazuna, Sakura and Naruto looked at him in complete shock. Without any hesitation, Haku protected Zabuza...
'Hehehe... So you did have some use as a weapon.' Zabuza thought with just a bit of doubt. Zabuza readied his sword and started to swing it towards Haku and Kakashi.
Kakashi jumped back, bringing Haku with him. He then put the boy down on the ground, closing his eyes afterwards.
Kakashi looked over at Zabuza, and saw the demon ready to attack. He charged at Kakashi, only to be hit in the face. Zabuza tried again only for the same thing to happen; Zabuza was getting sloppier.
Zabuza once again charged at Kakashi, thrusting his sword right at his heart, only for Kakashi to side-step it, avoiding it completely. Zabuza then swung it vertically, aiming to cut him in half. However, Kakashi suddenly popped into smoke, with the real one appearing behind Zabuza with a kunai in hand.
"Look at you, falling apart. You have no idea what true strength is. In the end, you lose." Kakashi said, about to stab Zabuza in the back with his two kunai.
As if on instinct, Zabuza swung his sword clockwise, trying once again to slice Kakashi in half. However, Kakashi dug his kunai into Zabuza's arm, causing him to let go of his blade and make it slide across the ground, right it front of Sakura and Tazuna.
"I-incredible...I didn't sensei was this strong." Sakura muttered, watching the beat down with wide eyes. Naruto, who was helping Sasuke Sasuke, thought the exact same thing.
'If he had really tried in the Bell Test, sensei could've killed us before I could've said Hokage.' Naruto thought, impressed and a tad bit afraid. Sasuke only watched with stoic eyes, already having expected someone of his caliber to be this strong.
"It over, Zabuza. Both of your arms are useless. You can't even make hand seals." Kakashi stated, before laughter suddenly consumed the battlefield.
"Bwahahahaha!
Everyone looked around to see Gato, a man of short stature with black glasses and brown puffy hair. More noticeably, his right arm was broken. Behind him was an army of thugs, who wielded all sorts of weapons.
"How disappointing, Zabuza. Losing to some brats. You look as demonic as a kitten." Gato joked, causing the thugs to laugh again.
"What about our deal?" Zabuza asked him with a raised eye. His arms were completely useless now, so he couldn't speak in a completely threatening manner anymore.
"You're too expensive, Zabuza. These thugs also cost a lot, so can you kill a few?" Gato said uncaringly. Some of the thugs looked uncomfortable, while some just smirked. They would be able to handle a ninja whose arms were useless, right?
"Hmph. It looks like our fight has come to an end, Kakashi. Tazuna is safe, as my services for Gato are over." Zabuza told him.
"So it seems." Kakashi replied.
"Oh, yeah." Gato said as he walked up to Haku's body, which was quite far away from the actual battle. "I still gotta pay you back for when you broke my arm!" Gato shouted, kicking Haku. "If only you were here to feel it..."
Naruto was angry. Pissed, in fact. The Gamer's Mind helped him not show too much of his emotions, but he still had something to say. He ran right behind Zabuza, abandoning Sasuke, and shouted, "Zabuza, are you just going to let him do that to Haku!?"
"Be quiet, you fool." Zabuza said coldly. "Haku's dead. What does it matter?"
"So you're just gonna stand there and let them treat him like a dog!? You and Haku were together for years, doesn't that mean anything?" Naruto asked with an angry and desperate tone.
"You don't understand the way of the shinobi." Zabuza stated, glancing at the blond. "I merely used Haku, just as Gato used me. His usefulness has come to an end. I care for his skills and power, yes, but the boy...?" Zabuza asked with a small pause. "Nothing."
"If that's the case, then you're a bigger wreck then I thought." Naruto insulted, hardening his features.
"Naruto, calm down, he's not the enemy." Kakashi said sternly. He had never seen the boy this angry before.
"Shut up!" Naruto snapped, before pointing right at Zabuza. "As far as I'm concerned, he's enemy number one! After everything he did for you..." Naruto panted, both from anger and all the shouting, "...you ungrateful bastard! Haku lived for you! You were the most important thing to him! And he meant nothing to you!? Nothing at all!?"
"..."
"While he sacrificed everything for you, you never felt anything for him!? He threw his life away! And for what!? For you and your dream! You didn't give him a dream of his own, but he didn't care! And you just tossed him aside like yesterday's trash! A broken tool..." Naruto looked down, eyes shut. "Man, that's just wrong. So wrong..."
"You talk too much." Zabuza said, looking up at the sky. Naruto opened his eyes to see the so-called Demon of the Mist crying. "Your words cut deep...deeper than any blade. While Haku was fighting you, his heart was breaking. He was always too soft, too kind. He felt pain and sorrow. And curse him, I feel them too."
Zabuza ripped off his taped-mask, causing Gato to flinch. "What? Surprised that I'm actually human? Even shinobi are human, no matter how hard they try to escape that fact. They always fail. Well, I have anyway...boy, give me your kunai." Zabuza demanded, not even looking at him.
"Here." Naruto lazily threw his kunai at Zabuza, who turned his head and caught it with his mouth.
Zabuza immediately dashed after Gato, who quickly ran behind his army. Zabuza slashed and dashed, effectively killing some of the thugs.
One of the thugs was able to stick his spear right into Zabuza's back, but a red aura suddenly appeared and the mist ninja cut the thug's throat. But in that same moment, another thug was able to land a cut on Zabuza's chest. The mist ninja turned around, and sliced that thug in the face.
After killing over a dozen thugs and running past them, Zabuza stabbed Gato in the chest. "Hehehe...I'm pretty sure I'll fit in, but I don't know about you. See you in hell." Zabuza said, before slicing Gato's head off and pushing him off the bridge.
Zabuza then turned around menacingly, a red aura surrounding him, and scaring the thugs completely.
They immediately made a path for him.
Zabuza walked and walked, trying to go to the direction of his fallen student. Alas, he collapsed onto the ground. The thugs waited for a solid ten second, before laughing at his fallen body.
"You killed our boss. We ain't going until we get something." One of the thugs said, going up to Zabuza's body and kicking it.
"LET'S GO!" The thugs all shouted aggressively.
Immediately after, an arrow landed in front of the thugs. Everyone looked behind them to see the people of Wave united with weapons.
"You're not gonna step in our country! Leave!" All of them shouted passionately.
Naruto looked at the people of Wave with a grin. 'I wish I could join in, but I only have 20,000 CP. Meh, that's enough for at least a solid twenty.'
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruto said calmly, spawning exactly twenty clones in a single puff of smoke. The thugs felt slightly intimidated, but they still had the numbers, and it was just a kid, right?
"Shadow Clone Jutsu." Kakashi casted with a single hand seal, also spawning around twenty clones. That caught the thug's worry, and some took a hesitant step back.
"Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"
A huge ball of fire suddenly went flying towards the direction of the thugs, and this time, they immediately ran for their lives, trying to escape the dangerous fire projectile.
Of course, after a solid minute of chasing the thugs, the fire ball dispersed, although that didn't stop the thugs from leaving with their tails between their legs.
After the short spectacle ended, everyone looked back to see Sasuke, who was panting with his hands tiredly on his knees. He simply sat down on the ground, ignoring everyone's looks. But that didn't stop everyone from celebrating.
"YES! WE WON!" All of Wave chanted. Inari, who was at the front, began grinning towards the sky, finding the image of his late step-father, Kaiza, imprinted there. Tazuna and Tsunami were with their son, and almost cried at seeing Inari's joyful face. Everyone was happy.
Well, except for one certain individual.
"Is it over?" Zabuza asked while lying on the ground helplessly.
"Yeah." Kakashi answered, approaching the legendary swordsman with no sign of previous worry or fear.
"Can you do me a favor?" Zabuza asked, his tone sounding as if he were pleading. "Can you...take me to him?"
Kakashi nodded and hid his Sharingan with his headband. He quickly picked Zabuza up, walking until he reached a certain long-haired boy. Kakashi slowly placed Zabuza next to Haku.
Zabuza hesitated, before slowly cupping Haku's face. "You were always at my side. The least I can do is to be beside you at the end. I know it cannot be, but I wish I could go to where you have gone. How I wish I could join you there, Haku."
A couple days later at Zabuza and Haku's grave
"Is this what it means to be a shinobi, sensei? Being used as a tool and nothing else?" Sakura asked as she reflected on the previous battle.
"We are sometimes used as tools for the greater good. The people who are precious to us give us strength. Strength to fight for them and for the right cause. It may not be right, but in a sense, we are tools." Kakashi said almost sadly.
"I don't believe ninjas are tools. Ninjas have their own mind, soul and heart. When I'm hokage, I'll bring peace to the elemental nations. A place where there is happiness and no one is used as tools like Haku." Naruto said with newfound determination.
"As long as there is hope, Naruto, anything can be achieved." Kakashi said fondly.
'Anything can be achieved with hope? No, I will kill my brother with my own abilities. But I will not stand being weaker than the dobe, I am an elite!' Sasuke thought darkly.
"So what do you think they'll call the bridge?" Sakura asked, trying to brighten up the mood.
"Wouldn't it be funny if they named it after me?" Naruto said jokingly, before a familar screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
Because you helped Tazuna with Completing the Bridge, your relationship with him is now Honoured.
Because you helped Complete the Bridge, your relationship with the General Public of Wave is now Honoured.
'Oh.'