Itachi was so close! He was three seconds from getting Sasuke's eyes and he died. I was loving that chapter until the end. I mean, Sasuke looked like a scared little child as he threw all those kunai at his brother just to have no effect on him. I thought he was going to wet himself!

I got my hands on The Arc of Truth. Now that is how you end a series! The only thing that could have made it better would be more space battles. The IOA has shit for brains for bringing back the replicators. I mean, they should have more faith in SG-1! How many times did they save the world? Half of them were on crazy chances. I just wish that the US Air Force would decide to start funding them again so they could cut their ties with the IOA.

Now, I have said this so many times that it is starting to get annoying. Naruto will not have a bloodline. I mean, the people in the first Naruto movie didn't have the bloodline and they still used ice based jutsus. Even Kakashi did one.

---

The land was dead. The tree's looked like fossils. The rivers and lakes had run dry, as if all the water had fallen through the cracks at the bottom. The ground, once lush with grass, was now bare and full of cracks. All this happened in three days in Uzu no Kuni.

Three days ago, Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked. The Uzu-nins did their best to stop it, but their skills were not enough to take done the large beast. While they fought the beast, the head of the Uzumaki clan sought out the only man who could summon the creature. He found the man sitting on a hilltop watching the death and destruction with a look of glee on his face.

The man had shown up earlier that day. He claimed to be an envoy from Konoha and claimed that their village wished to make an alliance with them during this time of war. He was, of course, treated with the upmost respect. Then, as he was touring the village, he stopped and summoned the Kyuubi in front of everyone and then vanished.

The head of the Uzumaki clan was a man who loved his home and would do anything to protect it. That is why he fought Uchiha Madara. At the cost of his own life, he managed to defeat Madara and believed that he had killed the bastard. Before he died the head of the Uzumaki clan called over the only witness to the fight, his own daughter, and told her the secrets of their clan's origins. With his last breath he made her promise to revive the clan. Uzumaki Kushina agreed.

That was three days ago. Now the population of Uzu was leaving their homeland. Kushina was helping people who were getting ready to board the boats to Hi no Kuni when she realized that her younger brother was not there. Muttering to herself she left her duties to find him. She couldn't believe he was acting like a spoiled brat. He wasn't the only one who lost someone, yet he carried on like some tragic victim. He wasn't even there when their father died! She found he five minutes later standing at the edge of the village. Every urge to punch him seemed to vanish.

"Hey ototo, let's get going," she said. Her brother just turned around and looked at her with piercing eyes. The same eyes he had since he learned that she planned on moving them to Hi no Kuni.

"I'm not going to Fire Country," he said causing Kushina to blink.

"Why not?" she asked as she put her hands on her hips.

"Because I'm going with Mizu no Kuni with some of the others," he replied. "They have the right idea about freaks."

"What are you talking about?" demanded Kushina as she began to grow worried.

"Haven't you heard?" he asked. "There is a small group of people who are hunting down people with a kekkei genkai. Right now their numbers are small but they are growing each day. The only way for anyone to be safe is if we kill all those monsters!" Kushina stared at her brother for a moment. Her face then twisted into an expression of anger as she raised her fist and hit him over the head. A large bump appeared on the head of her brother and he then looked at her with an equally angry expression. "What the hell?"

"You know why," she said. "You can't judge everyone with a kekkei genkai based on one bad experience. I have met several people with them and they were very nice."

"So was Uchiha Madara when he showed up," countered her brother. "Then he showed his true colors when he summoned the Kyuubi right in our village. They're all monsters that only look like humans. If you can't see the truth right in front of your eyes then you really are a baka and a dobe! Because only people like that would be foolish enough to stand by their kind after something like this. Hell, you want to go to the village where the Sharingan is from."

"I'm going there because I want to continue being a shinobi," replied Kushina. "They happen to be the strongest village at this moment and I want to be the best. I'm not going to let a little thing like my home being destroyed keep me from fulfilling my dream." She then paused and looked at her brother with a sad look that made him take a step back. "Tell me one thing. If you found a child with a kekkei genkai, what would you do?"

"I would kill the little freak," replied her brother. "While it was small and couldn't harm anyone else." With that, Kushina turned around and walked away with tears rolling down her eyes. The brother she had known was dead.

---

"Game over," said Hisame as she watched Hinata become impaled on the wall. However, her grin vanished as quickly as Hinata's body did leaving behind only her jacket. "What the…" She never got to finish that as Hinata suddenly appeared couched at her feet. Hinata, while remaining crouched, rolled onto her hands and then used them like a spring to shot upwards. She then kicked upwards and right into Hisame's jaw. Michi turned away from her fight to see her partner fall to the floor.

"How the hell did she do that?" growled Michi with gritted teeth.

"It's called Utsusemi," said Hinata. She now looked like a different person without her jacket. Her figure was exposed to the world and it seemed to her male teammates that Inoand Anko were not as 'gifted' as they assumed. Her shirt was black and clung to her body like a second layer of skin. Her back was completely bare. "I had already moved when your partner 'killed' me. In reality, what she hit was an after image."

Michi said nothing. She looked at Hisame lying there on the floor knowing she wouldn't be able to get up. Then she saw the bug boy and his dog loving sidekick get up. As Michi looked at Hinata once again she began to assess the situation. Her teammate was down and any moment a jonin would be joining the fight. Not only that, their intelligence about the target was way off. She was supposed to be a weak little girl. This mission was a failure.

"Looks like we underestimated you," said Michi as she slowly reached behind her. "Believe me when I say this isn't over." Michi then pulled out a light tag from behind her back and tossed it at Hinata. Michi then closed her eyes as a bright light blinded everyone in the room.

When Hinata opened her eyes, the first thing that she noticed was that Michi was gone. She then scanned the room and saw that Hisame and her swords were gone as well. She then looked at Kiba and Shino to see how they were doing. Kiba looked a little sore and Shino looked a little ruffed up. But other than that they were fine.

"Damn Hinata-chan," said Kiba as he walked over to her while wincing slightly. "That was awesome. I had no idea you could kick ass like that!"

"She was amazing indeed," said Shino. "However our performances were lacking. That nin took us down too easily. We will need to work harder so that something like this doesn't happen again." Before Hinata could say anything to cheer them up, Kurenai came down.

"Damn those horny bastards," she muttered. She then noticed the many holes in the walls and her students exhausted appearances. "What happened down here?"

"The battle on the deck was a diversion," said Shino. "Most likely those pirates you fought were pawns. While you fought them, two real shinobi, most likely chunin, came in here and attacked us. I believe that their target was Hinata."

"I see," said Kurenai as she crossed her arms. "I should have been here to help or expected something like this."

"Sensei, it's not your fault," said Hinata. "But we'll talk about that later. Right now there is something that you should see." Hinata then walked over to the crates and kicked one at its base creating a hole. Items spilled out including a baggie full of a white powder. And it wasn't sugar. Hinata then tossed it at her sensei who caught it.

"Is this what I think it is?" she asked. It all made sense now. Why he didn't want a Hyuuga on the ship. Why he wanted Akamaru to stay out of this room. He was a drug dealer using his families shipping company as a front. She turned to Reimaru and gave him a phony sweet smile. "Don't worry; we'll make sure this gets to its destination. And afterwards, we'll inform the authorities about this."

---

"Damn that bitch!" screamed Michi. She was sitting cross legged on a giant clay turtle that was large enough to carry three people. Next to her was Hisame who was still out cold and lying on the shell. Michi had planned to use their ship to blast at them from a distance but apparently some dirty rum loving pirate had taken it while they were fighting. Now she had to go and inform the others that they failed to kill a genin. Her brother would never let her forget it. She could just here the snide comments that her art wasn't true art anymore. "I swear I'll kill that pale eyed bitch if it's the last thing I ever do!"

---

Naruto grinned at his opponent. Or at least his opponents reflection in one of the mirrors. It's kind of hard to tell which one was the real one when they all look the same.

"Naruto-san," said Haku. "I have no desire to harm you. If you promise not to interfere with our mission then I will let you and your teammates live."

"Hey Naruto-niisan, how did he know your name?" asked Hinoke.

"No clue," said Naruto to his summoned salamander. Then he began to speak to his opponent. "I'm not going to let you kill that old drunk. This land needs him to finish this bridge to get back on its feet."

"I see," said Haku. "Then how about joining us. Zabuza-sama has shown great interest in your powers and would like to use them. If you agree to work for him, then I'm sure he would break the contract with Gato and leave Tazuna-san alone."

Naruto paused as he considered those words. If he did go with them it would be a new beginning. He could start over in a new place. He could leave behind all the cold glares and hateful words. But if he did go, then he would hurt the few people who cared about him. That alone was enough to make up his mind.

"No way," said Naruto. "My life back home may be hard but I have a reason to stay. You see, I've been hated my whole life. I don't have a family to go home to or anything like that. But I have meet people who have been willing to give me a chance. They have stood by me all this time and I refuse to betray them!"

"I understand," said Haku. "You see, I too am hated. In Mizu no Kuni, people with kekkei genkai are hated to the point where they are hunted like animals. My parents were poor farmers but loved each other very much. My mother was able to hide the fact that she belonged to a clan with a kekkei genkai. While it skipped her, I was not so lucky.

"One day my blood awakened and my father saw it. He gathered the other villagers and killed my mother right before me. If it wasn't for my powers, I would be dead right now.

"After that I was all alone. I was just a stray that no one wanted. I was without purpose and alone. Then I met Zabuza-sama. He needed me and my powers. He took me in and trained me. Now my sole purpose in life is to help him achieve his goals. His enemies are my enemies, no matter how much I don't want them to be."

Naruto was a bit taken back by this. The oinin was so similar to him. Both were outcasts because of something they couldn't control. But that didn't change the situation at all. They had to fight each other in order to complete the missions that were assigned to them.

"A sad story like that has no place in a fight," said Naruto. "I'm sorry about your past, but we both have to do what we believe is right." Naruto then shifted his body into a fighting position. "Let's have some fun!"

"Love to," said Haku. A moment later she began her attack. She shot from mirror to mirror at lightning speeds while throwing senbon needles at Naruto. The blond gritted his teeth as the needles pierced his flesh in at least a dozen spots. And then, it was over.

"That wasn't bad," said Naruto as he wiped away some blood away from his mouth. Haku said nothing as she held up another set of senbon needles and launched out in another attack. This time she was only able to get three hits in before Naruto began to spin around and yelled "Semputate!" Naruto then rose into the air as the wind began to surround him in the shape of a sphere. The winds seemed to suck everything that wasn't nailed to the ground. The needles on the ground, the passed out Sasuke, and Haku were all pulled into it.

Spinning around and around, it was like being in a twister. What was worse was when the jutsu ended; everything was tossed away from Naruto in all directions at incredible speeds. Sasuke was thrown between the ice mirrors and landed on Anko. The needles went in all directions and those that hit the mirrors went right threw them like a needle goes through fabric. Haku also hit an ice mirror, but sunk right into it. Naruto landed on the ground and smirked while his salamanders had spirals in their eyes.

What a terrifying jutsu, thought Haku as the world began to spin less. Instead of blocking or repealing my attacks, his catches them and then tosses it in all directions.

"I think you realize the power of my wind," said a proud Naruto. "Any ranged attack has to travel through the air to get to me and I can control the air. It's like giving me your attack and saying I can do whatever I want with it!"

Haku didn't reply. Instead she left her mirror from the back so that she was outside. She then made several hand signs before placing a hand on the mirror she just left and said, "Aisu Tengai no Jutsu!" Immediately the spaces between the mirrors began to fill in with ice, trapping Naruto and his summons inside.

"Time to pay the price for that cocky attitude," said Haku as she kept a hand on the ice. "As long as I keep physical contact with the ice, I can strengthen and repair it immediately."

In the ice dome, Naruto was considering his options. He could either try to break the ice dome or he could make a hole at the bottom and escape. However, there were some problems with option number two. The only jutsu he had that was strong enough to get him out that way was the Sempuken. What would happen if he destroyed a support beam or he accidentally destroy a large part of the bridge? Like hell he was going to get blamed for that! He then looked at the ice and decided to try getting out that way. And what better way to do it than with his salamanders helping him!

"All right guys," said Naruto as he began to spin his left arm around. "Time to pull out our ace."

"You got in Naruto-sama," said Ensho.

"Anytime nii-san," said Hinoke.

Soon, a twister began to form around Naruto's arm. While this was happening, Ensho opened his mouth and fire chakra began to flow out of it and into the twister. The fire chakra ignited the wind chakra causing it to burst into flames. Naruto then kept his wind chakra going to feed the flames on his combo jutsu. As the flaming twister continued to circle Naruto's fist it began to grow red from the heat. Naruto then punched the wall in front of him and yelled, "Katon: Sempuken!"

Outside, Haku felt incredible heat coming from the other side. She tried to keep the wall from melting, but this was just too strong. She jumped back in time before a cylinder for flames created a hole in her jutsu. Haku looked at the effects of Naruto's last jutsu. A large cylinder shaped hole was in the wall that looked like it had been cut with a razor blade. She then looked down and saw that the bridge looked like there were some spots were it had begun to melt.

"Shit," Naruto swore as he took a knee and held up his left hand to get a good look at it. His hand was now a lobster red and had steam coming off of it. He moved a couple of fingers and winced as he did so. "Not as bad as last time I tried this jutsu. At least this time I don't smell burning flesh."

"That's because last time you waited a whole minute before using that jutsu," said Ensho. He then gave Naruto a stern look. "Listen Naruto-sama, I want you to make this a forbidden jutsu. The longer it takes you to hit your opponent the more damage is done to your hand. It might reach the point where you will burn it to a crisp and never be able to use it again."

"But Naruto-niisan healed alright last time," said Hinoke. "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

"Sorry Hinoke," said Naruto, "but I have to go with Ensho one this one."

"I hope I'm not interrupting," said Haku as she made some hand signs. When she was done she yelled, "Hyouga Yaiba!" and her hand became covered in ice while taking the shape of a sword. "Because I'm cutting in!"

Haku then charged at Naruto who reached behind his back and pulled out the Raijin. The blade powered up as he swung it and blocked Haku's blade. Haku then pulled back before taking another swing just to have Naruto side step the attack and then punch her in her masked face. Haku stumbled backwards a bit and Naruto tried to take advantage of the situation but Haku managed to dodge him.

As the two fought, neither one noticed that the mist had cleared. Kakashi lay face down on the ground. His clothing was torn in several spots where he was bleeding. Zabuza stood over him, but had to use his sword as support. Their fight had taken its toll on the two of them and left Zabuza with little chakra left. He slowly turned around and saw that Haku was fighting the blond shinobi. Zabuza gulped because this meant that she was getting desperate. She was using her last resort to take down her opponent since her kenjutsu was not her greatest strength.

Haku and Naruto skidded away from each other and then raised their blades once more. A wind blew through the area as they both stared at each other. Haku looked awful. Her mask was full of crack and could give out at any moment. Her clothing was full of rips and sweat and her hair had come undone. Naruto only looked a little better. His hand still stung like hell, he was numb in some of the areas where the needles had pierced him, and he was panting lightly.

Then, the two charged at each other just as Sasuke woke up from his nap. Haku had struck first with a thrusting motion to Naruto's side. The blade of ice went through him in an instant. Naruto coughed up some blood before his face hardened and he get her with the Raijin. It was only a nick, but it was all he needed as powerful electrical currents went right through Haku's body. She screamed in pain as she fell backwards, he blade pulling out of Naruto as she did. When she hit the ground her mask broke and Naruto stood in shock to see the girl he had met earlier.

"HAKU!" screamed Zabuza. As he watched her fall, a feeling of dread came over him. It was unlike anything he had ever felt before. It felt like his heart was being rammed with a blade of lightning or something. He then began to limp over to where Haku lay and he began to hear them talking.

"Naruto-san, please kill me," begged Haku. "I am no longer of any use to Zabuza-sama since he has no need for weakness. I am just a broken tool that needs to be thrown away. If I lose him then I will be alone again and I can't bare that pain again. So please, end my life."

"Haku," said Naruto. "I don't think I can."

"Don't touch her," said Zabuza. Naruto backed up a bit as the larger nin moved next to Haku and then knelt down next to her. "Don't worry Haku; I don't think you're broken at all. We're still doing fine so don't you dare die on me." Zabuza looked down and saw the tears in Haku's eyes as he said this. However, the sound of someone clapping ruined the touching moment. Everyone turned their attention to the large group of thugs in front of them led by Gato.

"Well I never thought I'd live to here that come from the Demon of the Mist," laughed Gato. "Some demon, he only took down one guy and it's not the bridge builder. You're nothing more than a little baby devil."

"Gato, what the hell is going on?" demanded Zabuza.

"Well you see, I find that killing you nuke-nuns after you do your job saves me a lot of money," said Gato. "But since you couldn't do that then I'll just kill you for your incompetence and the rest of you as well." He then stopped and looked at Haku. "But I'll leave that bitch who tried to poison me live. I have a few clubs in the red lights districts that could use her. After all, she has to be good at something since she sucks at being a shinobi and cooking." That got a laugh out of everyone on Gato's side. Except for one. He was a shinobi from Ame who was on a recon mission for Hanzo. Gato was supplying weapons for the rebel faction in their village. It was his mission to find out what kinds of weapons, how many, and where they were.

"I won't let you do that," said an angry Naruto. A small red tint began to cover his body as his eyes turned red and slit.

"And what's a little baby like you going to do about it?" asked Gato. "Here's a lesson for you gaki. Money is the only true power on the planet. The more you have, the stronger you are. Just look at me, I took down an entire country without lifting a finger."

"That's where you're wrong," said Naruto as he began to make hand signs. The jutsu he was doing was from the scrolls he got when he was a kid. According to it, he could only use this jutsu under two conditions. The first was if he was surrounded by ice and snow. The other was if he was in a very cold and wet area. If it was the second then it would take three times as much chakra to use. But it was worth every drop as stopped and pulled back his fist before he yelled, "Hyoton: Kokuryubo Fusetsu!" A black dragon shot out of his fist as he punched the air in front of him and went right for a scared shitless Gato. "Let's see how much power your money has now!" yelled Naruto right before the jutsu hit Gato dead on. Him and several others behind him were killed and their bodies thrown into the air and landing in the water.

"Holy shit gaki," said Zabuza as he turned to look at Naruto. "That was…" He stopped as he noticed that Naruto was starting to sway. He then fell backwards and when he hit the ground his salamanders puffed away.

"Hey, that little shit killed our meal ticket," yelled one of the goons.

"Let's take it out on the town," said another. They started to charge when an arrow landed between them and our hero's. Everyone turned to see the people of Nami at the other end of the bridge with pissed off looks and sharp pointy objects.

"Like hell you're coming into our country," they began to shout. Anko saw this and smirked as she walked over to Naruto. When she got to him she saw that he was only asleep.

"Alright," said Anko as she bit her thumb. "I've been on the sidelines long enough. Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" There was a large puff of smoke and when it cleared, Anko was standing next to a snake the size of a van. "Say hello to my little friend." A moment later, all of the thugs were running for their lives.

---

A few days later the bridge was finished. Everyone had been patched up and were ready to head back to Kohana. Sasuke seemed to be a bit pissed off seeing that he was saved by Naruto. Kakashi, it seemed, was in such a powerful porn withdraw it had him sloppy when he fought Zabuza. Now that Gato was dead, Kakashi was finally able to get his hands on some porn. Anko was a bit pissed that she didn't do more on the mission but was happy when she found some stragglers in the area. Let's just say she let out all her frustrations on them. Naruto was talking to Haku who had decided to go with them.

"What about Zabuza?" asked Naruto. Haku grinned.

"He said that it was time for us to part ways for a while," she said. "He said he was going to start training so he won't need me as a tool and can win on his own strength. Something about our fight inspiring him to become better. He even buried his sword somewhere around here and said he would only come back for it when he knew he was ready to take another shot at Kiri."

"But why are you coming with us?" asked Anko hoping that it wasn't so she could try and be with Naruto.

"Well Naruto-san told me that he was able to meet some good people who accepted him," said Haku. "I'm hoping that the same thing can happen to me despite the fact that I have a kekkei genkai."

"No worries there," said Kakashi as he limped over to them. "Our village welcomes anyone with a kekkei genkai. I'm sure you'll be welcomed with open arms."

"Thank you Kakashi-san," said Haku as bowed at him.

"Oh by the way," said Kakashi as he remembered something that he forgot to ask her. "What's your full name? I can't introduce you to the council without that."

"Uzumaki Haku," said Haku. Everyone stopped and stared at her for a moment. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," said Naruto. Haku was so shocked that she covered her mouth with her hands.

"M-My tousan told me when I was younger that he had a sister that lived in Kohana," she said. "But other than that I don't anything else about our clan. This means that…"

"…we're family," finished Naruto as he moved to hug her. As they held each other, Naruto could feel Haku's tears run down her cheeks. After they released each other, Haku then went right for her bag and then pulled out a tray of cookies.

"I was saving these for when we got home but this looks like a time to celebrate," she said. "Tsunami and I made these." Everyone looked at the cookies. Half of them looked nice and smooth and others looked bumpy. Naruto and Anko went for the nice looking ones, but Kakashi grabbed them and gave half to Sasuke.

"We deserve these," said Kakashi. Naruto and Anko sighed as they went for the…less fancy looking ones. A moment later Kakashi and Sasuke were on the ground with purple skin and crying their eyes out.

"It looks like my cookies need work to," sighed Haku as she ate one of Tsunami's messy ones while Naruto and Anko were laughing their asses off.

---

"Hanzo-sama," said a chunin who had returned from a mission. "I am here to report the situation with Gato." Hanzo stopped what he was doing and gave the chunin his full attention.

"Tell me," said Hanzo. "What is Gato selling Pein?"

"Nothing now sir," said the chunin. "Gato was killed in Nami and his men are seizing his stuff all over the place. We were lucky sir. If those weapons had gone out, Pein would have been able to strike within a month. I'd say we got ourselves another couple of years before he is able to move out in force."

"That is true," said Hanzo. "Tell me, who killed that little worm? Was it one of his men?"

"No sir," said the chunin. "It was a genin from Kohana." This caught Hanzo's interest.

"What did he look like?" asked Hanzo. The chunin had expected something like this so he had taken a picture of the boy. He handed it to Hanzo who looked at it in shock. "My, my, Naruto-kun as grown up so much." Hanzo then pulled out a piece of paper from his desk and wrote a note on it. When he was done he handed it to the chunin. "Give this to the boys who write the bingo book." The chunin looked down and gasped.

"Hanzo-sama, why are you adding the blond to the bingo book?" he asked. It didn't make any sense. "And why are you calling him the Kaze-shu?"

"Because I want him to fight," said Hanzo. "Right now I am giving him a C rank, capture alive request. People will see that and go after him and he will fight them. He will gain experience and others will know his name. And when his rank reaches S, then I will be able to see for myself how much he has truly grown."

"Hanzo-sama, don't you think you have better things to concentrate on?" asked the chunin.

"I forget how young you are sometimes," said Hanzo with a sigh. "I gave Naruto-kun the salamander contract because I saw the potential in him back when he was a child. But with the way things are going here, I can't afford to sit and wait. I would like to fight Naruto-kun before my death. That has been my dream for the last ten years; to fight the only person in the world who can fly, the Kaze-shu. I never got to face Minato-kun, so I'll take his son."

"Wait," said the chunin. "This Kaze-shu is the son of Namikaze Minato?"

"Hai," said Hanzo. "It took a little digging, but I found out that he had a son. Plus it doesn't hurt that they look alike. Now go." The chunin bowed and left the room to do what he was told to do. Hanzo walked over to a circular window and looked out of it. "If Pein is doing what I think he's doing, then Naruto-kun will need to be stronger than me."

Kaze-shu: Wind Lord

Hyouga Yaiba: Glacier Sword

Aisu Tengai no Jutsu: Ice Dome Jutsu