Disclaimer: Nah ah. Not mine.

A.N: before I forget, I want to thank my beta, Philoworm for all that he has done for this story. He is really the reason that this story is even readable. Thanks.

As for all of your questions on alchemy: Do I Have To Have A Reason?

This author is too lazy to do the whole thing, so I won't be writing Kakashi's battle as it is the same as it happened in the manga. I will write the parts that changed though.

Part 10

Gods and Demons

"Renkinjutsu: Hyaku Niju Kunai!" Naruto yelled as his energy crackled out into the air, condensing the air molecules into one hundred and twenty crystal knives. The blades hung in the air, not moving, until Naruto began spinning around. The kunai followed his path, becoming a cyclone of death. The suddenly he stopped, hurling the crystal knives at the ice prison.

Haku had sensed the strange chakra that had appeared outside of his prison, but had thought nothing of it. 'Probably that lazy one who had been sleeping during Zabuza-san's fight.' That was until he felt the attack coming at him. He looked out from his mirror and dodged to the other side just in time to avoid being skewered in a million different places.

Naruto's attack had not done very much damage, and what it did do was repaired almost instantly, but it had done what he had wanted. It had given him a window to get inside the ice, which was in no way demonic, as the title claimed. Naruto dashed in to find Sasuke covered in ice needles.

Sasuke saw that Naruto had finally arrived, but was disappointed at his foolishness. 'I shouldn't have had such high hopes. His is the dead last after all.' "Naruto! You fool! You should have stayed outside and attacked from there." He yelled.

Naruto just grinned. 'This will be fun.'

Haku smirked. The boy had a good attack, but he was foolish. "Heh, this makes it easier for me." He warped to another mirror before throwing more needles at the two.

Sasuke shoved Naruto out of the way before making the seals for; "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" the flames that emerged from his mouth shot straight at one of the mirrors. The water on the ground turned to mist as the super heated air came in contact with it. When the mist cleared, Sasuke was stunned to find that his attack hadn't done anything.

Haku appeared behind them. "You can't melt my ice with a Katon Jutsu of that level. You'll have to do much better than that if you wish to defeat me." Just then a Haku appeared in every mirror, each throwing a dozen needles.

Naruto's armour and mizu supremacy protected him from the attack, but he still did not want to reveal himself. Besides, this would make good chakra control training. He sent out his chakra to attach to the senbon needles, pulling them to his body and holding them there. They still did not damage, but it looked like it had hurt him. All he had to do now was act the part. The trick was to keep the needles there the whole time and not drop them, at least until Sasuke gets knocked out.

Naruto and Sasuke both groaned. Naruto looked around; "Where's the real one?" he yelled, but he looked at the real one out of the corner of his eye.

Haku noticed and wondered what he was doing. The blond seemed to be helping him. But why? Out loud he said; "Following me is impossible. You will never find the real me."

Naruto smirked; "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he would save his true clone for later. He couldn't very well let it walk around, it might get him in trouble, and so he used one of his shinigami powers to seal it behind a shikifuujin seal. It would serve two purposes there. One, it gave him a hidden tool, and two, it would be very bad if the Hokage ever wanted to check up on his seal and it wasn't there. And that was something that he really did not want to have to explain. Ever.

Twenty clones appeared, all going at different mirror. Sadly, but as expected, each were killed before reaching the mirrors. The real Naruto looked at his right hand; 'Yep. Still there.' His power seal was still intact, that was good, and it seemed that it affected his clones as well. He faked falling to the ground. 'Can't wait till teme passes out.'

From one of the mirrors, Haku spoke; "I use these mirrors to transport my self at near sonic speeds. To me, you appear to move at a snail's pace."

Naruto glared at the mirror that he knew contained the real Haku. "Shimatta!" he yelled. ((Damn it)) Then he looked up smiling; "So what…" he fake grimaced. "I won't die here. My purpose has yet to be fulfilled." Then lower, almost inaudibly; "That and I bet Shinigami-sama would send me back right away. Not to mention Kyuu-chan."

Haku looked at the Konoha shinobi pleadingly from behind his hunter-nin mask. "It is difficult for me to become a true shinobi. I do not wish to have to kill you." He prepared himself for another attack. "But if you come between me and my duty to Zabuza-san, I will destroy my heart and become a true ninja. Here, at this bridge, we will fight to see whose dream is strongest."

Haku switched to another mirror. "I will fight for my dream, and you for yours. Don't hate me for what I must do. My dream is to fight for and protect the person that is precious to me. And for that, I can kill my heart." The two ninja could sense his seriousness. "I can kill you."

Sakura stood by Tazuna, cheering her teammates on, but Kakashi cut her short. "No Sakura. Don't egg them on." He sensed her question. "Even if they could beat that technique, they could never defeat that boy."

"What do you mean sensei?"

Zabuza sneered at her. "He means that those two brats don't have what it takes to destroy their hearts and kill another person. Haku knows. He knows the true pain of being a ninja. A real shinobi cant live in a peaceful village like yours. Because there you cant have the most important thing. The experience of killing."

(Inside his own private pocket dimension the Shinigami chuckled. "How ironic. Too bad he doesn't know that the boy Haku is facing destroyed an entire world." An evil grin crossed his face as he continued to watch the show.)

Sakura yelled; "Then what can we do?"

Kakashi moved his hand to the hitai-ate that covered his left eye. "Sorry but, I'm going to end this now."

Zabuza smiled. "The Sharingan eh? Is that the only thing you can do?"

Back in the Ice Mirrors Naruto was sitting on the ground while Sasuke was standing, frantically looking around. "Damn it Sasuke, all we're doing is running around." Naruto complained.

"Shut up idiot! I can't fight him and protect you at the same time!" he got ready for the next attack. "We know were going to get hit, so try to avoid the critical ones. This guy must have a limit to his chakra." 'He's already slowing down.' He thought.

Naruto smirked behind his back. 'Just you wait Sasuke. Just you wait.'

Sasuke's eyes were on Haku who was still jumping from mirror to mirror. He was slowly adjusting to the ice-nin's speed. He was able to see his movements now, yet he couldn't see everything yet. Sasuke grunted as he felt several more needles enter his body. He looked at Naruto who was just as full of needles as he was, but there was something wrong about it, but he couldn't tell what so he dismissed it. he glared at his opponent; 'this is bad, he's just toying with us. I have to do something!'

Haku noticed something off about both of them. The black haired one was dodging his attacks, slowly learning his movements. 'This one can see something.' But when he came to the blond haired one that he had met in the woods he was stumped. All of his attacks had hit, but the boy seemed perfectly fine, yet he acted as if he were hurt. That and he was sure that he could see him. But why wasn't he doing anything? What was he waiting for? He looked down at them from the top mirror; "You move well… but this time I'll stop you.'

Sasuke focused on Haku. 'Calm down… concentrate… see through it!" his eyes suddenly snapped open as his eyes turned red with two comas in his right and one in his left. He easily dodged Haku's attack, bringing Naruto with him. Now he noticed that strange violet energy that was running just beneath Naruto's cloths. 'Must be some kind of Armour, little good it did him though.' He thought as he glared at the dobe. 'And where did he buy it and what does it do?' he wondered in the back of his mind.

Haku was surprised when Sasuke completely escaped his attack. 'No way! He dodged it!' he was even more surprised to find a pair of Sharingan eyes glairing up at him. "I see. So you also have a bloodline. I can't fight for much longer then. This jutsu uses up a lot of chakra, giving a limit to how long I can keep up this speed." He pulled out more senbon needles. "The longer this goes on the slower I will get and the better your eyes will be able to track me." He rushed at Naruto; "This is the end!"

Naruto knew what was going to happen, but he enhanced his armour with more chakra just in case.

Sasuke was shocked. He was not the target of this attack. Naruto was! 'Damn. Hope I make it in time.' He thought as he moved to defend his teammate.

With Kakashi and Zabuza, Kakashi was explaining why he though his team would win. He told Zabuza that Sasuke was the last surviving member of the Uchiha clan. The missing-nin was not impressed. He said that Haku was the same and that no one had ever beaten his attack. Then they charged at one another.

Naruto looked up to find that Sasuke had knocked Haku to the ground on the other side of the prison. He also saw that Sasuke was bloody and close to passing out. 'About time.' He thought. Outwardly he expressed his (fake) concern for the last Uchiha. He knew that he would survive, so he really didn't care. "Why… Why did you do it Sasuke?"

Sasuke grimaced; "I hated you…"

"Why? I never asked for your help!" Naruto yelled.

"I don't know. My body just moved by itself." And then he collapsed. Naruto caught him and set him down gently. "I told that man," he said weakly, "that I wouldn't die until I killed him." He closed his eyes. "Don't you die to." That was the last thing he said before he passed out.

Behind him, Naruto heard Haku speak. "That boy landed a blow on me without flinching. He died to protect you, a precious person, knowing that it was a trap." Haku stood to his feet. "He is a shinobi that deserves respect." He re-entered his mirrors. "Is this the first time that you have seen a friend die? This is the way of the shinobi…"

Naruto stood to his feet. "Shut up." When Haku remained silent he continued. "I know that he isn't dead, so stop talking as if he is. But still, we have to finish this battle. Now that he is out I can fight without holding back."

Haku's eyes widened behind his mask when Naruto released the chakra holding his senbon. Everything that he had thrown at the boy fell to the ground useless, having done almost no damage at all. "But…what? How?"

Naruto sniffed. "I know he's not dead because you did the same thing to him as you did to Zabuza. The senbon are in the exact same places. And as for your needles, that was just a chakra control exercise." He pulled off his jacket, revealing his armour. "Custom armour made by alchemy." He stepped forward a bit. "Now, lets start again. Kitsune Jutsu: Hanyou Form!" Naruto was enveloped by violet chakra for a second before emerging in his half-demon mode. "History will take its path no matter what, unless someone who knows the way alters it." With that Naruto slammed his fist into Haku's stomach, sending him crashing through his own technique.

((Remember for this part that some of Kakashi's memory has been erased))

Kakashi and Zabuza's battle stopped when they both felt Naruto's demon chakra. Kakashi spun around just in time to see Haku come flying through one of the mirrors. 'This chakra, that force… No! Could it be that his seal has broke!' he turned back to a stunned Zabuza.

Zabuza was wondering where the powerful chakra was coming from. He knew that it wasn't Kakashi's; the energy was stronger than that. The closest person he knew that was even similar was that boy who had interfered the last time that he had attacked Kakashi and his brats.

Kakashi calmed down slightly. 'The seal hasn't completely broken, but it feels close. I'll have to make this quick.' He thought as he pulled out a summoning scroll.

Haku stood shakily to his feet. "Why?" he asked. "Why did you hold back until now?"

Naruto stepped out of the crumbling ice prison, carefully hiding his tails from the other's battle. "Why did I hide my strength you ask? For one I knew that Sasuke wouldn't die. Even if he did, I have death's favour so…" he left that sentence hanging. "And two, I like people to underestimate me. Back I my home village I have been hated since the day I was born. People fear me what had been sealed inside me. They feared that it would take over me and destroy them all. If I showed them how strong I was, they would surely try to kill me. No, it is better that they think me weak. For now at least."

Haku nodded. 'There is much wisdom in his words, far more than one his age should have.' Out loud; "You are just like me. Hated for something that you had no control over. But we are different in what we do with that power. You hide yours, while I put mine in the service of my precious person, and I will fight to the very last for Zabuza-san!" he stated while forming an ice sword in his hand.

Naruto nodded before forming a sword of his own out of earth using alchemy. "Lets finish this then."

They both ran forward, Haku pouring his all into the attack as Naruto did the same, but at the last second Naruto wavered. Haku would have to save Zabuza. That is what history dictated. So he moved his sword at the last second.

There was a flash of light and the two ninjas stood several yards apart.

Naruto brought his hand to his bleeding shoulder, staunching the flow of blood before his healing factor kicked in. Haku stood back facing him. His mask cracked before falling from his face. He turned to look at Naruto coming towards him, his shoulder smoking as his wound closed. 'Zabuza-san. I cannot defeat this boy. I'm sorry… Zabuza-san.' Haku closed his eyes and waited for the final blow.

Naruto brought his sword up and placed the tip of it a small distance from Haku's neck and did not move it. Haku opened his eyes when the blow did not come. He just stared at the sword in front of him. "Why did you stop? I tried to kill your friend, so why cant you kill me?"

Naruto lowered his sword, but his fist replaced it a second later on top of Haku's head. He had resumed his human form so he didn't do that much damage, only knocking him to the ground. "You're and idiot to think that I would kill you for that." He got a far away look in his eyes as he remembered the annihilation of his last world. "Life is far to precious to destroy. Your life is not worthless. If your reason for living is gone, find a new one. There is always something to live for." Knowing what would come next he continued; "Zabuza cares for you more than you think. Even if you lost this battle, you will still be useful to him in others. Learn from this and get stronger. Who knows what may come of it. And even if you don't feel like living right now…" he looked to his sensei's battle; "there is at least one more thing you can do for him." He said with a sad smile.

Haku followed his gaze to find his precious person being restrained by a pack of dogs while Kakashi stood a distance off powering up a chidori. His eyes widened as he realized what the blond haired shinobi in front of him was talking about. "You would really let me do that?" all he got for an answer was Naruto picking him up and throwing him into one of his last remaining mirrors. With the last of his energy Haku made one last mirror in front of Zabuza. He emerged from it and spread his arms wide, protecting his precious person with his life.

A second after Haku disappeared into his mirror, Naruto fell to the ground, racked with pain. His whole body was shaking violently as his chakra amassed around him. Even though he did not notice it, time had frozen around him. He shuddered and called out in his mind; 'K-kyuu-b-bi wh-what's hap-penning?' as his body continued to shake uncontrollably.

Kyuubi sat in the back of his mind muttering unintelligible things. It shouldn't be possible. This has never happened before. Why is this happening now? What's this mean?

Naruto yelled again; "Kyuubi!"

The fox snapped out of it. Just hold on Kit. This will be over soon.

"What's happening?" Naruto stuttered through the pain. As if in answer, all of his tails appeared silently behind him. The pain seemed to concentrate on the area where his tails connected to his body. CRACK Naruto howled in pain as another tail shot from the base of his spinal cord. The pain slowly began to disappear.

"Congratulations," said a female voice from behind him, "on becoming the first Juubi no Kitsune." Naruto did not worry; he knew the voice. The words flowed like a stream and the voice was warm and kind.

Naruto turned around with a smile on his face; "Tsunami-sama." He bowed.

Tsunami looked down on the blond kitsune lord and smiled. "Rise young one." When he had stood she continued speaking; "I'm sure you have no idea what just happened, and I know Kyuubi doesn't either." She laughed at the puzzled look he gave her. "That's because you are the first ever to have achieved ten tails. You see, a demon can get three tails before coming to a wall in their strength. Each wall has a different thing that must be done to over come it. And as you go on, each wall gets harder, even the first wall is near impossible. Kyuubi was the strongest because she had overcome two of these walls and gained as many tails as possible. You however, have overcome three walls, and that young Kit, has never been done before so no one has known what new powers come with it." at this she smiled. "As far as I can tell, the tail is a blank, meaning that it can be anything, so as your gift for achieving the impossible, I will be the one to decide the power of your tenth tail." At this she let out a small giggle. "I here by name you the God of Water." Kit looked up sharply and she put a hand on his forehead, "This is my last act as the Goddess of water. Kit Bikyuu, you now have complete control of all the waters in the world. It is your job to govern them as you see fit. Most of the time they will do as they have always done, but if you command it, they will do anything."

Kit spluttered; "But what about you?" his arm stung at his fusion seal gained another blue tail. As soon as it appeared, all of the other blue tails gained a golden lining.

Tsunami grinned; "I shall live inside of you with Kyuubi. From inside you, I will teach you how to use your new powers. Even though you now control everything about water, there are some styles that I will teach you that will compliment that power. I must also teach you all about different types, bodies, and states of water, as well as their currents and properties." She paused and looked over at the frozen Haku; "But for now I think that you should finish up this battle. What are you going to do this time? Now that you have the power to stop it?" she shook her head, "Never mind. It's not for me to know anymore. Trust your instincts, they will rarely lead you wrong." Tsunami began to fade into a glowing blue mist that spiralled around his head for a moment. "One more thing, next time you visit us in the elemental room, we'll unlock that one door that was chained up. I believe now that you have obtained both Oni and Kami status that you are ready to remember what had been forgotten."

The mist faded, leaving Kit (Naruto) looking at a still frozen battle. His hands moved on their own, moving so that one hand was on top of the other, his fingers curled so that each one touched its opposite on the other hand. His arms tensed as he spoke; "Jikoku Kai!" (Time Unseal)

A splash of blood coated Kakashi as his chidori ripped into his opponent, or so he thought. His nin-dogs disappeared in a cloud of smoke as he stared at the face of the person he had killed. His fist had pierced the left side of Haku's chest, right where the heart would be. Haku's last words before he fell were; "Good…bye… Zabuza-san."

Zabuza had been shocked when Haku had gotten between him and certain death, but he got over it quickly; "You were wrong again Kakashi." Was all he said. He was still alive, contrary to the Copy-nin's prediction. "Good job Haku."

Naruto watched from where he had been standing. His cloths, which had turned blue the moment he had gained the title of Mizukami were now melting into a pitch black. The mist that hid the bridge was being drawn toward him as he began to transform yet again. Sadly no one noticed, except for maybe Sakura, but she was more concerned about Sasuke behind him.

Zabuza brought his sword down with the intent of slicing through both Haku and Kakashi, but the Leaf Jounin would not allow that. He quickly grabbed the dead boy and jumped out of the way. He gently laid Haku down on the bridge before facing Zabuza again.

Zabuza laughed; "With Haku dead you can move again." He acted like he didn't even care.

Naruto walked toward them slowly. Kakashi, hearing his footsteps called out; "Naruto, stay back!" but when the footsteps didn't stop he turned around to tell the boy directly, but stopped short. Whatever he had expected, this was not it. His student was dressed in all black except for a white sash that held his kimono together. His hair was also snow white and his eyes glowed blue in the semi darkness. Kakashi knew that this was not the influence of the Kyuubi because its presence had faded some time ago, but this was almost just as scary.

Naruto kneeled down next to Haku's body and saw the death spirits that now hung around the body. He looked up at Kakashi and said; "Do what you must do, leave this one to me. Do not kill the man from the mist, for the one who commands him will prove himself a traitor. Bide your time and hold him off till then." He said ominously before going back to the body in his arms.

Kakashi could only nod; maybe this was Naruto's new bloodline. 'But those words, what could he mean by them?' no matter how he thought about them, he could not help but feel that he should follow them.

Sakura came up behind Naruto, bringing Sasuke's body with her. She watched as he passed his hands over the body and mumbled to himself. In truth, he was brushing away the spirits of death and telling them to leave that one alone. When they asked by what authority he commanded this he answered simply; "The Left Hand of Death." They nodded and left. Naruto then used some of his chakra to heal the wounds. A black energy moved about their bodies as Naruto restored Haku's soul, bringing it back from the land of the dead.

Sakura wanted to tell him that it wasn't worth it; that he was already dead, and besides, he was their enemy. She stopped when the dead boy's body regained some colour and moved slightly after the hole in his chest had been healed. She jumped back and squeaked. This was just creepy. First her dead last teammate was dressed in all black ((she thought that all he would ever wear was orange)) and standing next to a dead body. Then he heals that body and it comes back to life. 'Wait, comes back to life! Maybe he can bring back my Sasuke-kun!' she yelled in her mind.

She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention. When she had it she asked; "Hey, do you think that you could do that for Sasuke-kun?"

Naruto looked at her, then at Sasuke, then back at her. "No." was all he said.

When she heard his answer she blew up. "What?" she yelled. "You bastard. Why won't you do it? Is it because he's better than you? Do you think that with him gone people will like you more? Do you think that you would have a better chance with me with him gone? ARRRRRGGGGG! I wish you had died instead! You probably let him get killed!" she continued to rant at Naruto whose anger was growing by the second.

Finally he had had enough. SLAP! Sakura's head whipped around with a red hand mark on her cheek. Naruto glared at her; "I can't do the same for him because he isn't dead!" he said calmly, but some of his anger still leaked into his words. "Or hadn't you noticed that the needles are in the same place that Zabuza's had been? Just take them out and you'll have your precious Sasuke-kun back in a few minutes." He said disgustedly before walking to where Kakashi was holding Zabuza by the back of the neck.

There came the tapping of a cane on cement before a business like voice yelled; "It seems you've failed me again, Zabuza."

Zabuza spun out of Kakashi's grip. However he did not escape unscathed, the muscles in his arms were ripped open rendering them useless. Kakashi stared at him; "Now both of your arms are useless, you can't even do a hand seal."

Gato grinned evilly at his hired ninja. "How disappointing." He chuckled when Zabuza asked what he was doing there with a small army behind him. "The plan has changed a little. Originally I had planned to have you killed after you got rid of Tazuna, but seeing as how you are pretty defenceless right now I might as well take you down at the same time as these other incompetent ninja." A smirk appeared on his face; "I never intended to pay you, not from the beginning." From there he continued to put down, not only the ninja in front of him, but also every shinobi in the world. The final insult was to Zabuza's title, calling him a baby devil at best. The men behind him cheered for the carnage that was to come.

Zabuza turned to Kakashi; "I'm sorry, this fight is now over. I no longer have a reason to kill Tazuna." Kakashi let him go with a nod.

Gato glared at Haku then smirked and began walking toward the boy. "That's right. I owe this one for breaking my arm." But he was stopped by a giant sword that found its place in front of him.

Zabuza looked sadly at Haku, not knowing that he was still alive. "I'm sorry Haku. I used you just as Gato used me. But I will have revenge for your death." He pulled his sword out from the ground; Gato had since fled behind his army.

Naruto had thought about telling him, but instead decided to watch what played out. He still had his mask to keep up so he moved to follow, but Kakashi stopped him. "This is his fight." Said the masked jounin. "Let him be." Naruto nodded, but that didn't mean that he wouldn't help if he wanted. Kakashi let him go, both watching Zabuza intently.

"Boy." He called. "Let me borrow your kunai." Naruto nodded and brought it to him while enhancing it with some of his demon chakra.

When Zabuza grasped it between his teeth his eyes widened at the chakra in the blade. He recognized the chakra. 'This boy is the one that defeated me earlier. And this chakra, it is that of one not human.' He nodded his respect to Naruto before glaring at the amassed bandits.

With no warning he charged them, ignoring Gato's orders for them to kill him. This would be his last fight; he had nothing to loose. This was his death march. The bandits cheered, that was until several found themselves dead, cut in several places, not only by steel, but also by the volatile chakra in the blade.

The chakra in the blade flared and emerged around Zabuza, making him look like a true demon. Somewhere in the midst of all the yelling that it caused, a low voice could be heard. "This is my gift to you, Demon of the Mist. The form of a demon given to a human by a real demon. Use it well."

The bandits soon overcame their fear and ganged up of the wounded mist nin, dog piling him. But Zabuza would not have it; he spun around the blade in his mouth easily slicing them all to bits until there was a clear path between him and Gato.

Outside the battle Naruto looked on with a blank look on him face. Kakashi looked at the boy worriedly, this was not the expression that he had expected. He was shocked even more when he heard Naruto speak. He almost didn't hear it. Naruto had spoken just loud enough for him to hear it. "Gato, the gods of death have seen what you have done, and they have judged you unworthy to keep your life. The Left Hand shall have your soul this day." Kakashi shivered at the boy's words and tone. It was icy cold. He hoped he would never hear something like that again from the normally warm ninja.

Zabuza grinned evilly. 'Revenge is nigh.' He reached Gato and held the blade to his neck, the chakra nicking the skin and feasting on the blood.

Gato gurgled out past the blood that was leaking from his mouth. "Just die already. If… you want to go to the same place as… your friend already."

Zabuza growled. "I have no intention of going to the same place as Haku."

Gato grinned past the blood; "You wont survive."

"You and I together… are going to hell!" Zabuza roared as he brought the kunai back and rammed it into Gato's neck, killing him. But that was not all that happened. The kunai began to gather all the remaining energy in the dead man's body, before exploding, leaving nothing left of the body. "Not too bad for a baby devil." was all Zabuza got out before falling to the ground.

The group of bandits recoiled for a second before yelling; "You killed our meal ticket! Now were gonna have to pillage this city!" they moved forward as one yelled; "Take anything of value!"

Just before that, Sasuke had just stared to regain consciousness. His eyes slowly blinked open to see a mass of pink above him. He felt a pain in his side as she removed one of the needles. "Sa..Sakura…" Sakura's head whipped up. "You're heavy."

A tear fell from her face. "Sasuke-kun!" she yelled over and over again, crying and hugging him the whole time.

Sasuke grunted. "Sakura that hurts." He shrugged off her apology before asking what happened to Haku.

Sakura replied that Naruto had defeated him with some strange technique and had left him for dead while he cared for their enemy. Sasuke grunted, that was just like the dobe, he didn't believe that Naruto had left him for dead though, Sakura was probably stretching that part. But he still did not like the fact that Naruto had defeated someone that he could not, even if he had been willing to give his life so that he could do it. He rationalized that he had worn him down to the point where even some one like Naruto could beat him.

Sakura went on complimenting him and putting Naruto down. One comment caught his interest; "Naruto just walked over to him and mumbled something and Haku woke up. I could have sworn he was dead. Then when I asked him to do the same for you he ignored me. Can you believe that?" the rest was lost to Sasuke as his mind went through the implications of that. One, Naruto had done the same thing that Haku had done to Zabuza and him, just to look cool. Two, Naruto was a great medic and had beaten Haku within an inch of his life. Those two would have been reasonable if they both hadn't led to Naruto being far stronger than he was supposed to be. The third thing was completely un-reasonable, and that was that Naruto really had brought him back from the dead. But if that were true, might he be able to resurrect his clan? No! He was not thinking like that. It was completely impossible, especially from the dobe. So he filed it away for later thought. Maybe.

Sasuke came back out of his thoughts when he felt the chakra in Zabuza's kunai explode, killing Gato. He watched intently for what would happen. As much as he hated to admit it, he wouldn't be able to do a thing if they attacked him in this state.

Naruto looked down on Zabuza's body. "You did well."

Zabuza looked up at Naruto and was about to let he know that he knew who he really was when Naruto stopped him. "Save your strength." He said. "Now is not your time to pass on, and neither was it Haku's. He's over there waiting for you." Then he bent down so that only Zabuza could hear him; "I will finish this." The black aura kicked up around him again as he stood once more. He took a few steps forward towards the rushing army.

Kakashi was going to stop him, but he himself felt something stop him. He turned to see what it was but nothing was there. ((Naruto's tail))

The bandits laughed at the boy approaching them; "You guys are taking this too lightly!" they yelled. "Only sending a gaki to face us."

Naruto grinned before clapping his hands together and slamming them into the ground. "Renkin Sui-shinigami Jutsu: Kisu no Touketsu Zetsumei!" ((Alchemic Water-Death god Technique: Kiss of Frozen Death)) snow started to fall around the army of bandits making them laugh even harder. A sheen of ice spread from Naruto's hands across the bridge. The bandits continued on avoiding the ice but paying no attention to the snow.

"Yeeeeaaaaaaarrrrggggg!" one of the bandits yelled as the first flake of snow touched him. The seemingly harmless snow exploded on his arm turning it into solid ice. Spikes of frozen water shot out from the ice arm further damaging the unlucky bandit. The rest of them froze for a moment before scattering to get away from the deadly snow.

Naruto smiled as he straightened. He held out one hand and let the snow collect on it before blowing it out into the midst of the bandits. "So pretty yet deadly with the right application of a certain mix of chakra." He mumbled past the screams of the bandits as they were all turned into ice statues. Then he collapsed from chakra exhaustion, or so it seemed. It was really Tsunami pulling him into his inner world.

From the other side of the bridge an arrow zipped through the air and struck one of the statues, shattering it. a mass of villagers appeared at the other end of the bridge with Inari in the lead.

While everyone was distracted by the shattered bandit, Naruto's body disappeared in a plume of smoke. He teleported out of everyone's range and released the seal o his stomach that contained his True Bunshin. When it had resumed physical form Naruto told it to go join the others and act as if it didn't know what was going on, while he transformed into the Itazura Hitoshirenu, the Sennin of Shadows.

He jumped to where Naruto had been and looked at the startled group. "Sorry for the deception, but I thought it best to aid you while your third member was off resting."

Zabuza gave him a hard look until the bunshin Naruto came running up behind the villagers asking what was going on.

Inari whiled about not getting any action while the bunshin Naruto joined him. Sasuke stood off to the side glaring at him. "Dobe."

Hitoshi picked up his sword and swung it in the general direction of the bandits, moving them all into the sea. They were all dead already so this wouldn't hurt. Shinigami-sama would be having some fun for a while with all the new corrupt souls that he would be getting. He turned back to the ninjas. "Looks like its over. Zabuza, you and Haku should join with the Konoha ninjas. They could use some strong nins like you, I'm sure their Hokage wouldn't mind."

At this Kakashi interrupted; "That may be, but why are you sending them to Konoha instead of bringing them back to your own village? And why help us in the first place?"

Hitoshi grinned. "Simple, for the first one, they don't possess the requirement for entering Kagegakure, they would never make it past the front gates, and if they did they would have to have a constant escort if they didn't want to be forced out by the hidden chakra that exists there. And for your second question, I felt like it." He began walking to the side of the bridge but stopped. "I have a feeling that we all may yet meet again. One among you has the potential to enter my village unaided." And with that he disappeared, and a true snow began.

Zabuza looked at Haku; "What do you think, should we do as he said?"

Haku smiled. "It would be nice not to have to run anymore."

Zabuza nodded; "Then it's decided. We will go with you to Konoha, if that's alright with you."

Kakashi nodded absently. What that nin had said worried him a little. Not to mention that he had emitted a chakra signature very similar to the Kyuubi's. He had also said that one of them had the potential to come to his village by himself. If what he was thinking was correct, that was Naruto and the reason was Kyuubi. He would have to be cautious in the future. When he got back to Konoha he would inform the Hokage personally about this.

Sasuke looked at where Hitoshi had disappeared. 'So strong. I must find his village and become stronger so that I can kill my brother. He said that one of us could enter. He must have meant me, I'm the only one strong enough.' Sakura was thinking along the same lines while the Naruto clone was inwardly snickering at their foolishness.

Several days later the bridge was finished and the Konoha/ex-mist nins were preparing to leave. Naruto's clone was once again sealed within he and he had redonned his mask of stupidity. ((but how long will that last?))

Team 7 stood at the end of the bridge saying their farewells to Inari and his family. Tazuna spoke; "Thanks to you that Kage nin we were able to complete this bridge. This is super sad."

Kakashi thanked them and Naruto told them that they would come visit sometime. When Inari looked as if he were about to cry Naruto pulled him off to the side.

"Its Ok to cry when you're happy you know. And you have all the reason in the world to be happy. My friend saw what you did and said that he would revive your father for you."

Inari smiled and yelled. "I wasn't about to cry, but you can. Thank you and your friend for this, but I don't need my father here anymore. Sure I'll miss him, but I'm sure he's in a better place and it would be selfish of me to bring him back. I have a family here to take care of and that's all that matters."

Naruto nodded. "That's what I wanted to hear. You truly are worthy of it." he ruffled the boy's hair. "You will be a great leader for this place, Inari. I'm sure of it."

Naruto re-joined his team as Inari went to his family. After a few more words all of the ninjas departed for Konoha. A small tear could be seen slipping down Naruto's cheek.

Tazuna gazed after the retreating shinobi. "That boy changed Inari's heart, and the ninjas saved us all. Especially the one from the Shadow. They gave us a bridge to strength, hope, and courage. Wait a moment!" the turned to his family and was a little surprised to find every villager there with them. "This bridge still needs a name! what should we call it?" he asked. Several answers came forward, including: "The Great Naruto Bridge," before Tazuna came up with the perfect name.

"From this day forward, this bridge shall be known as: The Great Shadow Leaf Bridge!" every person there cheered for them name. They all liked it. "One day this will be a super famous bridge whose name will be known through out the world."

Moments later a shout of "The Great Shadow Leaf Bridge!" could be heard for miles around.

A certain group of Ninjas smiled when they heard the noise. It was a good name indeed.

((Stop here? I could, but I'll give you a little more. Hehehe)) ((-/ your author is completely insane))

Half way to Konoha the group stopped for camp. Sasuke stalked off to the edge of camp wanting nothing more than to be alone. But sadly ((depending on who you are)) he would not get it. A certain pink leech had attached herself to his arm and was chattering his ears off.

Naruto left, offering to get firewood. No one said anything so he went anyway. Deep inside the woods he pulled out a large blank scroll. This would soon become the summoning contract for the kitsune. But this would not be a normal summoning contract. Before the person could sign it he or she would have to have met him and been given permission to sign it. Then if that person wanted to summon one of his foxes and it didn't like that person or want to come, the fox wouldn't have to. He also put in the option for if the situation was too difficult for the kitsune summoned, it could return to where it had came from. The only way a person would be allowed to summon any of his kitsune was if they befriended the kitsune. That ruled out most of Konoha, and there was only one person there that he would even consider letting sign his contract.

Naruto sat down in front of the scroll and bit his thumb drawing blood. He then began inking in the terms and conditions of the contract as well as all structured that went into summoning. When he had finished he made some places for the future summoners to sign before rolling it up and placing it in his other-space den.

Up in the trees Sasuke watched the whole process. He had become curious as to what was taking the dobe so long. Whatever it was had to be a thousand times better than being killed slowly by a pink haired kunoichi. He had watched at Naruto began drawing on a scroll that was as large as the scroll of seals. This was interesting, but what was the purpose of the scroll. He knew nothing about summoning contracts and he was about to jump down and ask when Naruto opened a black hole in the air and shoved the scroll in. the dobe was hiding something, he was sure of it. He would keep all of this to himself for use later. Maybe one day Naruto would become a good sparing partner so that he could become stronger himself. 'Itachi, your days are numbered.'

He turned back to camp, putting up a silencing jutsu around his ears. He had come up with that one himself a while ago, but it took some time to set up and was pretty obvious what he intended it to do. Not to mention the concentration it took. Simply put, he couldn't do it around Sakura.

Naruto followed soon after with a bundle of firewood. If one looked closely at the ends they would have found claw marks, but no one did.

A.N: The clues keep stacking up. How long will it be until someone finds out who he really is? Who is the person that will be the first Kitsune Summoner? And what is behind the sealed door? Only your author knows. So stay tuned to find the answers in the next chapter of Henzuru.

B.N: Wow this is the first Beta Notes in this fic so far, I usually don't do this but I've got something to say. First of all I noticed a few chapters back that someone complained about the Demon Lord Jutsus lacking in power… well I guess that was corrected later neh? Anyway remember that when Naruto learned the jutsus he put the lowest possible amount of chakra in them. I think our esteemed author already covered this but as their creator I felt like going on a small rant. Second I want you all to know that if you got any questions regarding the fic I'm available for questioning… as long as the questions are sensible… and NO FLAMES! I flush those down the drain. Thirdly the possible future Kitsune summoner… hehehe I know something that you don't know. The first reviewer that guesses the correct person will receive a cookie and… something else. Please keep in mind that it can be ANYONE and that you must explain your reasoning behind your choice. Good luck readers.