Hello! I bring you all the next chapter!
So we've come to the end of the Wave Arc. I'll be honest, I didn't think it would take this many chapters. Now, before we move on I think it's important that I tell you all that I will not be immediately jumping into the chunin exams. No, first I'll be taking Naruto through a few of the filler arcs and possibly adding some completely original story arcs along the way. I just need to decide with filler arcs I'll be putting before the exams but I have a few ideas on which I'll be doing first.
With that said I hope you all enjoy the chapter!
(Marshalanime does not own Naruto)
"...Alright Zabuza, enough talk. It's time to finish it" Kakashi told Zabuza as his summoning dogs held the rogue shinobi in place. "It wont be with sharingan, imitations of some other shinobi's tricks. No. It's time I introduced you too my own jutsu!" Kakashi said as Zabuza glared at him.
Sitting opposite one another the atmosphere surrounding Naruto and Haku was uneasy. The boy had sat and listened to her story, the pain she's had to go through was something Naruto couldn't begin to understand, even if he had suffered because of his jinchuriki status. Even if the whole village had its back turned too him he had always had his mother with him, and over time he had found more and more people to stand by him and share both the joy and sadness of live. Haku though, all she had left in this world was the bond she shared with Zabuza.
Haku watched as the blond stood up and then simply stared when he offered her his hand. "I'd like it... if I could become someone precious too you" Haku heard him say to her. With widened eyes she continued to stare at him as his smile grew.
"But, we are both shinobi, pitted against one another by the paths we've taken. Could you really become precious to someone you may have to kill?" Haku questioned the blond, the small glimmer of hope in her eyes dwindling. It was only reasonable that as long as they worked for Gato that her and Naruto would be enemies. Even if they both made it out of this alive they'd simply go their own ways and more then likely never see one another again.
Shaking his head the blond kept his hand out for her to take. "I don't care about what might happen. If you never try you'll never know what could happen" Naruto told her.
Hearing his words Haku's hand tentatively started to rise up. Reaching out for Naruto's hand Haku's fingertips were just about to brush against his skin when she got a bad feeling. 'I'm sorry Naruto...' the girl thought as she pulled her hand back and quickly rose to her feet. 'I can't except you offer' she thought with renewed determination in her eyes as she ran through several hand signs to create a new ice mirror.
'The mist is clearing' Sasuke mentally commented as he ran through the mist. As he moved forward two silhouettes came into view, one of them moving quickly towards the other. 'That's...' the young Uchiha thought as a flash of gold entered his vision.
In the blink of an eye Kakashi, Zabuza, and Haku were left wide eyed as golden chains surrounded them.
'What is this' Kakashi wondered as he looked from a stunned Haku to the summoning scroll riddled with senbon and finally to the chain binding his arm that had kept him from finishing his attack.
'Why did she...?' Haku thought as she looked from the dying chidori in Kakashi's hand to the red haired girl standing off to the side.
"My future's all used up, eh Kakashi?" Zabuza gleefully said as he reached up for his sword now that Haku had gotten rid of Kakashi's summons. However his movements came to a halt as Honoka tightened the chains around him and Haku, binding the two in place.
Kakashi pulled his hand back once Honoka released the chain around it. After taking in Zabuza and Haku's position the man turned to Honoka. "Why did you step in?" Kakashi asked the girl.
For Honoka's part she had the decency to act sheepish once Kakashi asked her that, the cool and collected body language she had a moment ago completely gone. Turning to the man Honoka through her arms up in front of her and began frantically waving them around. She had been content to let Kakashi handle everything but then Haku's chakra showed up next to Zabuza all of the sudden, she got worried and just rushed in without thinking.
"Hey! What's going on?" Naruto blurted out as he ran up to Sasuke who had stopped a few yards away from Kakashi.
"I don't know..." Sasuke told him as Naruto stumbled to a stop next to him. "But it looks like it's over" the Uchiha commented as he watched Zabuza and, to a lesser degree, Haku struggle and fail to get out of the chains binding them. Turning his sharingan off the teen slipped his hands into his pockets as he started walking forward again.
Naruto wasn't sure what had just happened, one minute he was with Haku and the next she's gone. When he went to look for her he finds out that Honoka had everything just about wrapped up. With Sakura calling out to him and Sasuke it seemed to him like everything had worked out for the best.
"Well, well, this is how it turns out huh? Bound up tight by a little girl. Hee, some demon you are" a man's voice said, directing everyone's attention to the end of the unfinished bridge. With the mist completely gone now they could Gato standing their with a cast on his arm and a smug grin on his face as he stood in front a small army of hired thugs.
"Gato, I don't understand. What is this? Why are you here and who are these thugs you've brought with you?" Zabuza question the man.
"Well you see, there's been a slight change in plans" the small man said, tapping his cane against the ground as his smug look stayed firmly in place. "According to the new plan you die right here on this bridge Zabuza" the man tells him.
"What?" Zabuza question as his eye slowly widened. Damn it all! He should've killed the swine when he had the chance.
"That's right, you're too expensive. So I've decided to take you off the payroll. Of course, even these thugs I brought with me cost something. If you could manage to kill off a few of them that'd be appreciated" Gato told him.
Keeping his eyes on Gato Zabuza told Kakashi "It would seem our fight's at an end. Now that we're no longer on Gato's payroll the bridge builder's safe".
"Yeah, I suppose you're right" Kakashi said as Honoka let the two rogue shinobi go, pulling her chakra chains back into her body. Up ahead the silver haired jounin could see Naruto and Sasuke getting ready for a fight with Gato's men. That didn't last very long.
"You two can just stay out of my way" Zabuza said as he walked between the two Konoha genin, getting them to lower their stances as their attention turned to him. "Gato's mine" Zabuza said as his eye narrowed and he took hold of Kubikiribocho.
"Gwauh! That's enough of this, do it!" Gato cired out as he nearly stumbled over his own feet as he turned to hide behind his men. Zabuza made short work of any of Gato's men who stood between him and his goal, cutting them down where they stood. Coming out of the group Zabuza saw Gato running to the end of the bridge.
Turning around Gato was just in time to see Zabuza's blade come up and slash through his chest, sending blood flying. The cut was deep, but not deep enough to kill, Zabuza wanted him to feel every second of this. Re-gripping his blade Zabuza continued to make slash after slash till the short man was barely ably to stand. Gato truly was a pitiful sight and with a single kick Zabuza sent the man plummeting over the side and into the sea below. He'll either bleed out or drown, both were options Zabuza could live with.
Turning back to the group of men Gato had brought with them Zabuza let out a low grunt as he watched them part for him. Taking his time the man slowly walked back to where Haku stood, silently passing by Naruto and Sasuke. "Come on, we're leaving" Zabuza told the girl as he put Kubikiribocho on his back.
With a quick glance to see Naruto staring back at her Haku settled her thoughts. "Yes, let us leave" Haku told the man with a smile on her face. 'Please don't be saddened by this Naruto. Even if this is the last time we ever meet You have indeed become someone very precious to me' Hakuthought as she turned to leave with Zabuza, catching a glimpse of Naruto running towards them out of the corner of her eye as she did.
As the blond was about to call out to the girl the sound of metal repeatedly hitting concrete rang out across the bridge, stopping even Zabuza as he and Haku looked back with everyone else to see one of the thugs with a metal pool standing at the front of the group. "Don't go getting too comfortable" the man said as other soon joined in on his bravado.
"This party aint over yet! Who's gonna pay us now that Gato's gone?"
"No way we're gonna leave here empty handed. So we'll just have to hit that village and see what they've got for us"
"Not good" Kakashi remarked as the group of thugs erupted into loud cheers.
"Zabuza...?" Haku asked the man as he turned her head to look up at him. He could tell exactly what she was getting at just by looking in her eyes.
"Fine, we'll help out a little" Zabuza told her as he went to grab his sword again.
"Get em boys!" the man at the front yelled as the band of thugs ran forward. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately for the thugs, they didn't get far as a crossbow bolt came sailing through the air to land in front of their charging group.
The thugs, along with everyone else turned their eyes to the far side of the bridge. There Inari stood with his crossbow in hand, Tsunami at his side, and the townsfolk standing at his back armed with whatever they could find and ready to fight for their homes. "There's one little thing you're forgetting about. Before you set one foot in our village you'll have to go through all of us!" a man at the front with a mining axe in hand yelled out, followed by loud cheers from everyone else
"Inari!" Naruto happily called out as he saw the boy.
With a wide grin the boy told him "Heroes arrive at the last second, don't you know?".
Seeing this Tazuna was brought to tears, "They've all come... the whole village".
'Hee, no way I'm going to miss out on all the fun!' Naruto thought as he turned to the already shaken thugs and called forth a small army of clones to face them.
Seeing this along with the villagers and Zabuza getting ready to fight the hired fighters turned tail and ran back to the boat they arrived on as quickly as they could. Some of the men simply dove off the bridge, concluding that the waters below would be safer than staying up on the bridge.
As the villagers started to cheer at their victory Zabuza took his hand off of Kubikiribocho's handle. "What a waste of time" the man muttered.
Just as he and Haku were about to continue on their way Naruto ran up to them. "W-Wait!" the blond all but yelled out as he came to a stop within arms reach of them, breathing a little heavy after the short sprint. After catching his breath the teen held his hand out.
With a bit of surprise on her face Haku stared down at the open hand. Though it didn't take long for a warm smile to spread across her lips as she reached out to take his hand.
'Hm, as kind as ever I see' Zabuza thought as he observed this small gesture.
Zabuza wasn't the only one to see this however. Walking up to them Tazuna was certain he'd kick himself for this later but, "Hey, don't take this the wrong way but you did just get rid of Gato for us" Tazuna said as he walked up to Zabuza, getting his and Haku's attention. "It would be rude of me if I didn't at least offer you a place to rest the night as thanks" the bridge builder told him, trying to hide the chill that ran up his spine as he made this offer to a man who had been gunning for his life just fifteen minutes ago.
After that time went by and the bridge was complete. Zabuza ended up staying longer than just a single night. Everyone except for Naruto were put on edge with him there but eventually they got use to the temporary living conditions. When it came time for Naruto and the others to return to the village their were a few tears shed on both ends during the farewells and it was decided that the bridge would be named 'The Great Naruto Bridge'.
Washing the dishes Tsunami had a small smile as she thought about the blond who had changed their lives. 'I wonder what Konoha looks like' the woman thought with a small chuckle.
"Ghua! You got to be kidding me!" Ami groaned as her and Honoka sat and watched Kushina helping Naruto train in their back yard. She was certain that she'd have a best story to tell about the mission her team went on while he was gone but then he comes back to tell her about what he's been through. "This is soooo unfair!" the girl said, muffling herself by biting into her shirt.
Honoka had been trying to comfort Ami for a while now but there was really only so much she could do in this situation. Maybe she's just out of touch? Or maybe it was just difficult to understand someone like Ami. She really couldn't tell at this point.
"Come on Naruto! You can do better than that!" Kushina shouted at the blond as he tried to stand on top of the small pond they had but ended up falling down to his knees. "I heard from Kakashi that it took you a week to complete the tree climbing exercise, so now were going to get you running on water within three days!" the woman loudly said, having every bit of confidence that Naruto will meet her expectations, even if her constant coaching was ruining his concentration and resulting in him repeatedly falling all the way into the water.
Within a secluded room of the Hokage's tower Haruzen had called in his old teammates along with Danzo, Shikaku, and Inoichi to handle a rather unique case that Naruto had brought before them. Standing in the center of the room was Zabuza Momochi, rogue shinobi of Kirigakure.
Naruto had pleaded with him that Zabuza and his apprentice Haku be aloud to stay in the village. While it would be a large boost to the village to have a shinobi as strong as Zabuza join it's not as simple as saying yes or no. Not only do they have to consider any possible motivation Zabuza may have for joining the village but they also have to consider how such an act would effect their standing with other shinobi villages, especially with Kiri in this case. It was safe to say that they'd be here a while.