Chapter 10

o

Kiba knew that he wasn't always the brightest ninja in the whole world, he wasn't as dumb as Naruto, of course, but he was no egghead like Haruno Sakura. He also wasn't the strongest ninja, though he could certainly hold his own against most anyone roughly his age. There were, in fact, many areas where he wasn't the cream of the crop, but when it came to his sense of smell, he was second to none among his peers.

Part of it was breeding, naturally. His family was well known for its use of nindogs and somewhere along the way they had picked up and developed a few dog-like traits. Nearly everyone in his family had at least slightly enlarged canine teeth as well as thick, unruly hair that was very similar to dog hair and all of them had a sense of smell that was far more sensitive than that of most other humans. They weren't quite as good as their dogs yet, but since dogs had noses that were well over a hundred thousand times more sensitive than the average humans, that was to be expected.

It didn't take a dog's nose to smell blood and water in the air as Team Eight reached the bridge. He would have smelled it earlier, but the wind had been blowing in a different direction until that moment.

"Something's wrong, sensei," Kiba whispered as his right hand dipped into his kunai holster.

Kurenai and the others stopped, and Tazuna squinted his eyes as he looked down towards the far end of the bridge. "Wha-what the hell," he whispered and then, without warning, dashed ahead of the group.

Team Eight caught up with him just as he reached one of the five bodies lying on the ground. "Amachi, w-what happened?" Tazuna asked as Kurenai – leaning heavily on her crutch – reached them.

"A-a monster," the young, dark haired man whispered and then his strength failed him and he collapsed, either dead or unconscious.

"A monster?" Kurenai repeated, her red eyes scanning the area as a feeling of dread began to swell inside her injured body.

ooo

"Inari, come help me with the dishes," Tsunami's voice could be heard calling from inside the house as the two men reached the door.

"Oka-ay, just let me clean something up and I'll be down," the little boy's equally loud voice replied. The men chuckled as their thumbs pressed against the hilts of their swords.

"Waraji," Zori grinned with a mock bow of his head, "after you."

Waraji's sword slipped from its sheath, made six diagonal strikes against the aged wood of the door and wall, and then was back in its sheath before the wall came crashing in.

The dark haired woman, Tsunami, whirled at the noise, her eyes wide with fear and a dish rag hanging limply in her hand.

"You Tazuna's daughter, right?" Zori asked. She didn't reply, but it no answer was really needed, she was in Tazuna's house, doing chores, and the old man couldn't afford a maid. There was no doubt about her identity. "Our employer would like a word with the old man and he wants you to come with us so we have your father's attention."

Still she didn't reply or even move.

Waraji, always the short tempered one, crossed the room and kicked the table she was standing next to, sending it crashing on its side and shattering the clean dishes on the floor as Tsunami jumped out of the way. She backed away from his towering form until her back was against the cabinets.

"Didn't you hear him?" he demanded. "You're coming with us."

At that moment, Inari rushed down the stairs, having heard the noise from his room. "Mom!" he cried before he even realized that there were two other people in the house.

"What do you want, kid?" Zori growled as he spun on his heel towards the boy.

"Inari, get out of here! Run away!" Tsunami cried out.

"Do we take him too?" Waraji asked with a cruel smile at the boy.

"Gato-sama said we only need one hostage," Zori reminded him.

At the word 'hostage,' Inari cringed and hid halfway behind the corner of the wall, fearful tears welling up in his eyes as a cold sweat ran down his spine.

"Then," Waraji chuckled as he menacingly began to unsheathe his sword, "should I take his head in one swing or let him bleed out slowly?"

Inari was nothing more than one eye peeking around the corner by this point, his little legs shaking and paralyzing terror written all over his nearly hidden face. Waraji wondered if the boy would pee his pants before the blade even touched him… it would be fun to find out.

"Wait!!" cried Tsunami as she jumped to her feet. The threat to her son had wakened her from her fear. The two men turned towards her, perplexed. "You want a hostage, right? Well, if you touch one hair on his head, I will bite off my tongue and kill myself before you even get me out of the house."

The tone of her voice left no doubt that she was dead serious.

Zori snorted and brushed his long hair over his shoulder. "Thank your mom, kid. She just saved your life."

"Damn," Waraji grumbled as his sword slid back into its sheath with a soft click, "I wanted to cut something."

Inari crumpled to the ground and sobbed uncontrollably.

"Just give it a rest," Zori sighed. "You got to cut up lots of stuff on the way over here. Grab her and let's get going."

Inari could hear them leaving though he couldn't even bring himself to take one last look at his mother. "Mom," he whispered to himself, "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry… I can't protect you. I'm just a weak kid… I don't want to die. I'm so sorry … so sorry…"

"Maybe he is just waiting for you to be in need of protection… instead of living in fear all the time."

"If it's truly precious, even if you lose your life, you must protect it with these two hands."

Inari looked down at his trembling hands until a tear drop rolled down his nose and splashed in his palm. He was always so scared, so weak… so pathetic. He didn't want to move from where he was, but he didn't want to be scared anymore. He didn't want to go after the scary men who had invaded his home, but he couldn't stand to be weak anymore. There was no way he'd be so pathetic as to let them take his mother, the woman that man had loved even more than the village… that man who had once been… no, that man who was his father.

This time, Inari vowed, he was going to live in a way that honored his father.

He rose to his feet, his hands were sweaty and still trembling, but now with a new emotion. He stared at the hole in the wall that the men had taken his mother through, he wanted to throw up, but his fear – powerful as it was – was quickly being pushed back by the anger that was swelling within him.

'Can I do it, Dad? Can I be strong… like you?' he asked as he crossed the room and paused at the hole before stepping through. 'Please…protect me and help me protect mom with these two hands!'

Only a few meters away, Waraji and Zori pushed Tsunami along. "Seeing that pretty skin makes me want to… cut it!" Waraji told her just loud enough for Inari to hear.

"Stop!" the little boy yelled as he stepped out onto the walkway.

All three adults looked back at him in surprise.

"Inari!" Tsunami cried in alarm.

ooo

The yelling from the village below woke Naruto from his slumber, though his body greatly protested it. Even after getting several hours more sleep than he normally needed, his body was still so tired. Perhaps it was because this body was unaccustomed to the long hours that his adult body had been able to keep, or maybe it was that his chakra supply wasn't nearly what it had been when he was older, or maybe it was just that twelve year olds needed more sleep because their bodies were still growing. Whatever the reason, Naruto still felt physically exhausted, but his brain refused to allow his body to return to its slumber.

The first thing he noticed as his eyes opened was that it was far brighter out than it seemed like it should have been. It only took a second for him to realize that this was because he'd slept more than he should have… actually, he shouldn't have slept at all, but those two thoughts quickly were pushed aside when he realized what it was that had woken him.

Inari was staring down two men armed with swords who appeared to be abducting a young, dark haired woman. Up until that second, Naruto had completely forgotten about Tazuna's house being attacked, but now that he remembered it, he also remembered what it meant. Not only was Inari's mother being kidnapped, but the bridge was under attack by Zabuza and Haku.

"Of all the days to sleep in!" Naruto cursed as he jumped to his feet, his fatigue instantly forgotten as adrenaline rushed through his system. He brought his hands together and called out, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and then both Naruto's yelled "Henge!" as they transformed into the fisherman disguise from the previous day.

The clone took off in the direction of Inari's house while the real Naruto hurried towards the bridge. He'd arrived in just in the nick of time when it was Team Seven on the bridge, hopefully he could pull the feat off twice.

ooo

Kurenai knew that the worst possible situation had fallen upon her team when the fog came up and swirled around them, thicker even than what they'd seen at the lake. Kiba and Shino seemed to recognize the fog as well as they both pulled in close around Tazuna, protecting him as best their small bodies could manage, and drew kunai into shaking hands.

"What the hell is this?" Kiba whispered. "That guy's dead!"

"Other people can use that technique as well," Shino pointed out, "but it is a strange coincidence to run into it again so soon."

For a moment the bridge was totally silent, even the sounds of the sea below them seemed to have been blocked by the thick fog. In the silence, Kurenai offered up a small prayer to whatever gods might be listening, that Shino was right and this was simply another ninja using Kirigakure no Jutsu or better yet, that it was some sort of freak weather phenomenon caused by the sea. Sadly, her prayers went unanswered.

"Hmm, still shaking, aren't they… poor kids," Zabuza's disembodied voice chuckled from the mist. "What worthless excuses for shinobi!" At that, nearly a dozen Zabuzas appeared from within the fog each with a zanbato in his hand, surrounding the group.

"When I give the signal, you three are going to take Tazuna and make a break for it. I'll do my best to cover you," Kurenai whispered to her students.

Hinata gasped in alarm and started to stammer something.

"We aren't leaving you here, sensei," Kiba growled, essentially translating what Hinata was trying to say. Despite his brave declaration, his voice trembled while his wide eyes stared at the water clones surrounding them.

"This isn't a debate," Kurenai snapped, not taking her eyes off of the water clones. "I'm giving you an order, follow it!"

"No," Kiba replied, his voice growing more firm. "Put a reprimand in your report when we get back to Konoha, but I'm not leaving."

"Nor I," Shino added quietly.

"M-me n-neither, Kurenai-sensei," Hinata agreed as well.

Kurenai opened her mouth, but wasn't sure what to say to them at this point. They were all going to die, of that she was certain. At full strength, she and her genin had nearly been overwhelmed by an overconfident Zabuza. This Zabuza wouldn't make the same mistakes and, even if he did, Kurenai was no where near full strength. Maybe if her genin and Tazuna had made a break for it, she could have stalled him long enough for them to escape, but their reckless bravery was going to seal their fates… hers had been sealed from the moment Zabuza somehow returned from the dead.

So focused was she on the impending death that was coming to those she'd been charged with training and protecting that she missed the first attack. The sound of falling water woke her from her thoughts just in time to see the second volley of kunai fly away from Kiba and Shino, eliminating the final four clones.

Their aim was far better than it had been when they fought Zabuza the first time and their speed had increased as well. They'd either been doing more than just the tree climbing exercise she'd given them or else they'd just been exceptionally nervous during the first battle. Even so, their improvement was remarkable.

"Ho ho ho," Zabuza chuckled from within the mist, "somebody's been practicing. Looks like you brats realized my clones are all pretty weak when there's that many of them."

The mist in front of them cleared a little as Zabuza and a small, masked ninja stepped into sight.

Kurenai had never seen the masked ninja before, but from the sound of Kiba's sudden intake of breath, her genin recognized him. It only took her a second to realize that this must be the boy who had shown up after their first fight with Zabuza.

"Bastard," Kiba growled as he pointed an accusing finger at the other ninja, "you said you were a Hunter-nin!"

"You're an idiot if you believe everything you're told, especially by someone you wouldn't know from the Mizukage," Zabuza snorted. "A real ninja would know better."

Kiba yelled something back at their enemy, but Kurenai didn't bother listening to it. There had to be a way to get her team out of this situation. She was dead, of course, nothing short of a bolt of lightening striking Zabuza in the next minute or so would save her, but she could accept that so long as her three charges somehow managed to escape – preferably with Tazuna, though that might be asking more of them than they could handle. The only problem was: how to separate them from herself so they didn't get caught up in the short (and mostly likely one-sided) battle between her and Zabuza. If only they'd retreated when she told them to she could have kept Zabuza's attention on herself long enough for them to… what? Live another few hours, if that, before he tracked them down? Maybe it was for the best that they were too foolhardy to know how outmatched they were or maybe they already knew and had reached the same conclusion she had: running would be futile.

"Kiba, Shino," she whispered just loud enough to be overheard by Zabuza and Haku if the two ninja were interested in listening in. "When I give you the signal, the two of you are going to rush the kid in the mask, I'll handle Zabuza." She glanced at Hinata who was fidgeting nervously and trying to appear braver than she no doubt felt. "Hinata, you do your best to cover Tazuna-san and use your Byakugan to keep an eye on the two of them in the mist."

Tazuna took a hesitant step back and looked around in terrified awe. "I'm sorry, Tazuna-san, but I don't think we'll be able to protect you very well while we fight them. Hinata can at least try to keep you safe, but she'll have to watch our backs as well, so her attention will be divided. If you run, it will only call attention to yourself, but if you get behind some of these crates and hide… you might be safe until things are decided one way or another."

The old man glanced at the crates she indicated and sighed. "You just want me to hide until they finish you off, is that it?"

"If things go badly… yes. I doubt you could make it home before they caught up with you anyway and if you stay here your family might be spared."

Tazuna sighed and then tilted his head back to look towards the heavens that were hidden somewhere beyond the mist. "Super."

"S-sensei, what about—" Hinata started to ask, but Kurenai cut her off before she could finish.

"I'll be fine," she said as she let out a slow breath and then eased the crutch from under her arm and tossed it aside.

It hurt more than she'd thought it would. Her wounded flank wasn't even close to healed and she was sure that the moment she stretched herself it would open up again. If she had any hope of survival, she might have been worried, but all she could do now was pray that the masked ninja would be unable to last against the combined efforts of Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru for as long as she could last against Zabuza. It was a gamble, as she had no idea how skilled he or she was, but it was all she really had. With any luck, they would have a couple of minutes head start before she fell and maybe Zabuza would be satisfied with her death and wouldn't bother with the rest of her team…

It wasn't likely, but they had better odds of survival than trying to fight along side her again.

Kurenai's eyes locked onto Zabuza as she took a deep breath, her muscles tightening in anticipation of the fight she was about to launch herself into.

"You hear that, Haku," the lanky ninja chuckled, "those little brats want to play with you."

"Will you need help with the woman?" Haku asked.

Zabuza snorted, "She won't last a minute against me unless I take my time."

The smaller ninja bowed its head. "Then I ask that you leave the rest of them to me."

"You're being greedy again, but it's fine with me. Three babies and a dog aren't even worth my attention." Zabuza tilted his head until his neck popped and then pulled at the strap across his chest, freeing his monstrous sword which he lifted single handedly over his shoulder and leveled at Kurenai. "Whenever you're ready, little girl."

"Now," Kurenai whispered as she threw herself forward, a kunai already in her clenched fist and her mind trying to block out the pain that shot through her as her side opened up again.

ooo

Waraji almost laughed, "It's that kid again…"

Inari swallowed hard, almost feeling his resolve waver under the gaze of the three adults. "Get…" 'I can do it!' "…Get away from my mom!" And then, as though another presence had taken control of him, he screamed in rage and charged at the two full-grown men armed with swords.

"Geez," Waraji muttered, "what a stupid brat."

"Kill him," Zori said as his hand moved to his sword.

"Sure," Waraji replied, relieved that he could finally use his sword on something other than wood and a few stupid animals.

Tsunami screamed as the two men started their drawing motion. Their swords came up and began their arc downward.

Inari had just a split second to realize that he was going to die. 'Sorry, dad, I guess I wasn't strong enough.'

Before the swords could reach him, however, a dark object fell from the sky, landing on the two men's heads and driving them into the wooden walkway.

Inari looked up at the back of a tall man with dark, spiky hair and broad shoulders and gasped. The man took a step back and waited as Waraji and Zori rose to their feet and glared at him. Inari ignored the two swordsmen, he couldn't tear his eyes off the newcomer.

"D-dad?" he whispered in disbelief. From behind, the man didn't look exactly like his father, but the resemblance was enough that it could still, impossibly, be him.

The clone-Naruto stiffened, but didn't dare respond or turn around. For one thing, there were two very deadly men with extremely sharp swords standing in front of him, for another he didn't have the faintest idea how to dissuade the boy from foolishly believing him to be some sort of ghost nor did he have the time to think about such things.

Waraji and Zori twirled their swords expertly and advanced on him. They were beyond glib comments or threats. One look at their faces and there was no doubt as to their intentions, they planned on killing this man and anyone else they could find.

Waraji's sword came in from the side, Zori's from above, both arced perfectly towards the disguised Naruto, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone and their swords passed through air. Inari had never seen anything like it. Who could possibly move so fast he simply seemed to vanish like a ghost?

The clone reappeared behind Waraji and drove his toes into the back of the larger man's right knee. There was an audible cracking sound and Waraji cried out in pain as his leg gave out from under him. Before he could clutch at his injured joint or even really realize what had happened to him, the sharp edge of a knife was at his throat.

"If we were alone, you'd be dead right now. I would have killed you without thinking twice," the clone-Naruto whispered into the swordsman's ear. "The only reason you're still alive is because I don't want that little boy to have to watch you get your throat slit from ear to ear or your guts spill out all over the walkway after I cut you open, got it?" Waraji actually had the sense to nod his head ever so slightly. The clone smiled. "Good, thank the little boy that saved your life…"

Waraji swallowed hard and glanced out of the corner of his eye at Zori who was staring at the two of them in shock.

The blade pressed harder against his throat, its sharp edge drawing a small trickle of blood. "I wasn't joking, I really expect you to thank him."

"Th-thank you…"

"Thank you what?" The blade moved and Waraji could no doubt feel how easy it would be for his enemy to snuff out his life.

"Thankyouforsavingmylife!" he yelled quickly.

By this time, Zori had recovered from his shock. He snarled as he drove his blade at Naruto.

The clone didn't even think about his reaction. After all these years, manipulating chakra nature was almost as easy as taking a breath. Chakra was summoned into his hand and its nature was changed even as he made a slashing motion at Zori's sword, suddenly half of the katana's blade was flying off into the water. Wind chakra could cut like the sharpest of blades – sharper even – and the sword wasn't an extremely high quality one.

Zori stared stupidly at his broken weapon for a second before dropping it and turning to flee. A kunai flashed through the air and caught him in the back of the leg, just above the ankle. He took one more stumbling step, but then the injured leg gave out on him and he fell to the ground.

The clone brought the handle of his kunai down on the back of Waraji's head, knocking him out cold, and then did the same to Zori. Inari watched the whole thing in wonder, from his profile it seemed like the man's face probably wasn't that of his father, but at the same time there was a distinct resemblance. The appearance was close enough that Inari couldn't be sure that the differences weren't just his imagination or a trick of the light and the way the man's head was turned.

"Make sure you tie them up tightly," the clone-Naruto told Tsunami. "The village can decide what to do with them when this is all over." His eyes shifted towards Inari, though he didn't actually turn and face the little boy. "You did really good kid," he said with a smile, "really good. I was kind of worried, but you obviously didn't need me as much as I thought. You'll be a great leader for this village when the time comes. Just remember to grow up strong and good and stop moping all the time. You can't protect the things you love with your own hands unless you stop being scared and stand up for what you believe in, got it?"

Inari swallowed hard and nodded. Protect the things you love with your own hands… it was almost an exact quote of what his father used to say. Could it be? Had Hinata really been right all along? Had his father really just been waiting for him to need protection?

The clone-Naruto smiled at Inari and gave the little boy a wink. "Just make sure you're strong enough to take care of yourself from now on, okay? I can't protect you all the time!" And then he brought his hands together and vanished in a cloud of smoke.

Inari stared in stunned silence as the smoke quickly dissipated. The only signs there had even been anyone else on the walkway were the two unconscious men and the broken sword. He didn't move for several seconds until his mother walked over to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him as she cried in relief.

Even as he returned her hug, he couldn't completely convince himself of what had just happened. Had it really been his father? It would be just like that man to be strong enough to protect the ones he loved even from beyond the grave and Hinata had said that he could just be waiting for the chance to do so… but it didn't seem possible. Maybe it didn't matter. Whether he was actually Kaiza or not, he'd said just what Inari could imagine Kaiza saying and that was enough.

'Thank you dad,' he thought as he continued to hold his mother, 'I'll be strong from now on. You won't have to protect me anymore. Just watch me become the man you taught me to be.'

ooo

Haku watched the two genin, Kiba and Shino, approach him and felt a strange flutter in his stomach. His old weakness was rising up again, just as it always seemed to when he was confronted with this sort of situation. He let out a slow breath, hoping to push the feeling away, but – predictably – it remained where it was.

It was a good thing Zabuza had most of his attention on the Leaf jounin, Kurenai, otherwise he might have been able to sense what Haku was feeling. Haku hated disappointing his master more than anything and if Zabuza had discerned what was happening within him, he would have ordered it gone and then Haku would have had no real choice.

As it was, he didn't have much of one anyway. Like it or not, he would probably have to kill these two boys, as well as Hinata, for no reason except that they were in Zabuza's way.

Kindness, Zabuza called it, a lack of desire to do harm. It had rested within Haku as far back as he could remember, even before Zabuza found him and gave him a reason to live. It held him back from being Zabuza's perfect weapon and his master reminded him – though usually without much anger – about it often.

He chanced a glance at Zabuza. Against more experienced shinobi, it could have been a fatal move, but against two young boys and a dog, Haku could get away with it.

Zabuza had deflected Kurenai's initial strike with ease and was now casually toying with her, swinging his sword about to force her to dodge, but not really trying to hit her with too much force. She was clearly far more injured than she'd let on, as Haku had predicted she would be. A wound like the one Zabuza had inflicted on her during their first meaning would not heal in less than a week, especially if there was only a relatively untrained medic-nin to treat it. The few times she attempted to swing her kunai at Zabuza were all short, tight movements with little follow through. Zabuza could kill her almost anytime he wanted and he clearly knew it too. His half-hearted attacks were only being used to prolong the fight so he could squeeze out every last drop of what little enjoyment he was getting from the battle.

"Where is your friend?" he asked as the two boys reached him, each tensing as they prepared for battle.

The two boys glanced at each other in mild confusion, but didn't reply. Apparently the blond hadn't let them know that he was in the area as well. Haku couldn't help but wonder what reason he could have for not joining forces with his fellow Leaf-nin. Perhaps he really wasn't from Konoha, or maybe he wasn't supposed to be here… it didn't really matter. He wasn't around at the moment and that made Haku's job fractionally easier, though no less unpleasant.

Haku bowed his head fractionally and a small, sad smile appeared behind his white mask. "I do not wish to kill you, but – since you are unlikely to get out of our way – I'll take solace in the fact that one less person has to witness your deaths."

If the two were further confused by his words, they didn't have a chance to show it as Haku was between them in an instant. His hand slipped across his kimono, coming away with a senbon. One foot shot out, catching Kiba in the chest and sending him tumbling away with an "ouff" sound as all the air in his lungs was unexpectedly pushed out. At the same time, he brought his senbon up and prepared to drive it into Shino at the indenture just above the clavicle where one of the muscles that helped turn the neck was located. With the incredible pain that the strike was sure to produce as well as the debilitating damage it would do to the muscle tissue, that one attack would nearly have put Shino out of the fight, certainly it would be enough to limit his movement enough to make him an easy target for Haku's second and third attacks which would finish him off.

Before Haku's senbon reached its intended target, however, Shino's left arm came up to block the attack. The Leaf ninja was a half second slower than he needed to be, though nearly a full second faster than Haku had expected him to be, so instead of fully blocking Haku's strike, all he ended up doing was pushing the senbon away from his neck and into his right shoulder.

Rather than the nearly silent sound of the razor sharp needle sliding through muscle tissue, there was a crack as the senbon hit something hard and almost unmoving.

'Cartilage,' Haku thought as he pivoted on his right foot until his back was almost completely turned towards Shino and then brought up his left leg and kicked the ninja hard in the stomach sending the larger boy crashing into the railing of the bridge, 'perhaps a bit of bone as well. His arm will be almost useless until he receives medical attention.'

He glanced over his shoulder at Shino for a second and frowned. It would have been easier on both of them if Shino had just let him get that first attack in.

"Bastard!" Kiba yelled, drawing Haku's attention to him as he leaped forward, one fist already drawn back and ready to strike.

Haku sidestepped the punch easily and then spun away from an open handed swipe by the boys opposite hand. None of the genin had done much fighting during their first encounter with Zabuza, so it was hard to anticipate their skill level beyond the fact that they were all novices. Kiba seemed to favor a sort of animal-like taijutsu style that relied more on instinct and brute force than on precision or finesse. In the hands of someone fast enough and strong enough, it could be a devastating style of attack, difficult to predict with the potential of causing heavy amounts of damage.

Fortunately for Haku, Kiba was nowhere near fast enough or strong enough to be that dangerous yet.

He slapped aside another wild kick, ducked under the follow up punch, and then spun behind the seemingly out of control ninja, drawing a senbon as he did. Before he could insert the senbon between Kiba's shoulder blades, he was forced to roll to the side as Shino's fist passed through the space where Haku's head had been only a second before. Shino's right arm hung uselessly at his side, but the pain and discomfort that he must have been feeling didn't seem to faze him.

Haku leapt back a pace slipping partially into the mist that still hadn't completely dissipated from the bridge – perhaps because at least part of it was natural – and watched the two Leaf-nin. He'd thought (or at least hoped) that Shino would stay down longer, giving him enough time to finish off Kiba and keep them from double teaming him. When there were two of them, it was much harder to be accurate and the fight could be drawn out longer than he wanted it to be.

"He's still directly in front of you, but a meter to the left of where he entered," Hinata called out.

Haku wished that she wouldn't do things like that. It wasn't that her warnings were going to have much effect on the fight – though her ability to see through the mist would make it a little more difficult – but because if her help ended up prolonging things more than was acceptable, he knew he would have to deal with her less kindly than he'd originally planned. She was a nice girl, he didn't want to have to hurt her more than was necessary.

"Hiding in the mist won't help you anymore," Shino informed him calmly as he brought his one good arm up. "Hinata can see through your jutsu and when you injured my arm, I had enough time to place a female kikai bug on you. No matter where you go now, I will be able to find you." A swarm of black bugs erupted from the jacket sleeve of his raised arm and headed straight for Haku.

Haku had seen and heard what had happened to Zabuza during the first battle. If enough of these bugs reached him, it wouldn't be a question of defeating the Leaf ninja quickly, but of finding a way to survive the battle.

A tool that had been blunted was worthless and should just be thrown away. He couldn't be thrown away, not again.

His hands moved almost of their own accord, forming seals before his brain fully caught up with them. As the swarm descended upon him, he bent his knees, his left hand dropping down so that it brushed against the wet stone at his feet, and then coming it up in an arc over his head as he straightened up again. Ice trailed mere centimeters behind his fingertips.

The bugs were almost upon him when they were caught in the ice as it spread back through their ranks running along the moisture of the mist like fire devouring dry leaves.

One eyebrow rose above Shino's dark glasses, the only sign of the surprise Haku hoped he was feeling. People who were shocked tended to hesitate, if only for a second, and that second was what he needed.

He reached out and caught the large chunk of ice with the dark core, hoping that he'd managed to catch all of the insects within it. It was heavy enough that he had to strain to keep it off the ground, which made it all the more effective when it slammed into Shino a second later sending him crashing into a stack of wooden boxes which shattered under the force of his landing.

Hinata immediately ran to him from her spot near the boxes Tazuna was hiding behind. Kiba took also stepped towards his teammate to help him, but in the process momentarily took his eyes off of his enemy. A rookie mistake.

He froze the second he felt the needle tip press against his jugular.

"I'm afraid, Kiba-kun, that you should have concentrated more on running from me than on helping your friend. You aren't ready to face someone like me, yet."

Just as Haku was preparing to drive the senbon into Kiba's neck, pain shot through his leg as Akamaru's sharp fangs clamped down on his calf just below the hem of his hakama. The moment's hesitation was all Kiba needed to twist away and deliver a punishing blow to Haku's head, cracking his hunter nin mask and making his ears ring.

Haku stumbled back, shaking his head to clear it, and then kicked his leg out, sending Akamaru flying away from him, a thin stream of blood trailing from his mouth. He flexed his leg once, to check the extent of his injury and found it to be only a superficial wound.

"Don't underestimate me and Akamaru," Kiba growled as the little white dog bared his fangs and growled next to him, "or we'll kill you before this even starts to get fun."

Haku eyed him silently from behind his mask and then bowed his head. "Forgive me for the insult," he replied calmly as his hand flexed around his senbon, "I will face you more seriously from now on."

Kiba's smirked confidently. "It won't matter." His hand dipped into his pocket and pulled out a round pill which he dropped into Akamaru's open mouth. The effect was instantaneous. Akamaru's fur seemed to stand on end as it went from white to a more reddish color. The puppy's growl which had been almost comical before suddenly grew deeper, far more threatening and far less funny.

Kiba bent down and Akamaru easily leapt onto his back. "This time we'll do it perfectly, Akamaru, just like we practiced" Kiba promised.

Akamaru barked out something that Haku thought almost sounded like the name of a jutsu while Kiba yelled, "Beast Effect no Jutsu!" and then Kiba's voice and another bark, that seemed to syllabically follow Kiba's words, called out, "Beast Human Bunshin!"

There was a large explosion of smoke, which dissipated almost as quickly as it had appeared and suddenly Haku found himself staring at not one, but two Kibas, each with more animalistic features: enlarged canines, fingernails that had lengthened into claws, and eyes that seemed to have lost much of their humanity. Each of the Kibas growled and then attacked in a pincer movement with more speed and strength than Kiba had been capable of before. Haku took a swipe across the chest, cutting open his gray-blue kimono and drawing blood.

Until that moment, he hadn't been sure how dangerous Kiba and Akamaru would be with their unexpected technique, but now he could see that the fight truly wouldn't be as easy as he'd hoped. They still weren't as fast as he was, but there were two of them now and numbers could counter speed so long as they worked in harmony with each other.

He really was going to have to start getting serious.

ooo

Hinata knew she had disobeyed orders by leaving Tazuna to help Shino, but she couldn't just stand there watching as her team was slaughtered by two terrifying opponents. She'd given the old bridge builder a small apologetic glance when Shino went down and received a nod in return. Tazuna understood, or at least thought he did, he ducked lower behind the crates, sitting all the way down and turning his back away from the fight to try to make himself as small and inconspicuous as possible.

Hinata wasn't just leaving him because she felt the need to help her teammates, she simply knew that she was doing no one any good by staying where she was. She couldn't stand against someone like Zazuba or the boy called Haku, not even for a second. She was no more protection for Tazuna than the crates he was cowering behind.

But maybe, if she could help her teammates against Haku, maybe her small contribution to their efforts would be enough to help them – some of them anyway – live through this. If nothing else, they would probably offer more of a challenge to Zabuza than she would.

As she helped Shino into a sitting position, she could instantly see that the damage was not great. A dark bruise was forming on his face and his sunglasses were broken, but other than that, he would be fine once he managed to shake free of the daze that held him after taking such a powerful blow and crashing through a stack of crates.

"Hold still, Shino-kun," Hinata whispered as her eyes simultaneously examined him, watched Kiba and Akamaru attacking Haku, tried to keep watch over Kurenai and Zabuza's fight, and showed her where several workers were hiding – including one who seemed so small he couldn't be much older than her.

Her efforts to heal Kurenai after their first fight with Zabuza hadn't been great, but they'd given her some practice with healing jutsu and she tried to put what she'd learned to good use as she began soothing away his pain as quickly as possible.

ooo

Kurenai flipped backwards away from the enormous sword that Zabuza was swinging around like a toy. She almost didn't make the full turn and had to put a hand down to keep from landing on her face. The second she touched down she dove to the side to dodge the attack she guessed was coming next.

Her dive was awkward and her side screamed in protest, freezing her muscles for a split second. Instead of smoothly rolling up to her feet as she had planned, she rolled along the ground until she hit something cold, hard, and distinctly metallic.

"Come on," Zabuza snorted as he glared down at her while leaning on the sword that her back had come to a rest against, "you aren't even making this worth my time. I thought maybe you'd put up a bit of a fight so I could feel like our last fight didn't end the way it did just because I was being careless. You must have some talent, right?"

Kurenai tried to roll away and scrambled to her feet, only managing to make it half way before her shaking muscles quit on her once more. Zabuza could kill her at any time, she knew it, he knew it and probably anyone who was watching knew it. The only reason he hadn't was because of her previous "victory." He wanted to prove just how far above her he was.

Maybe if she asked nicely, he'd wait until she'd totally healed before demanding the rematch…. Were her situation not so dire, she might have smiled at the absurdity of the thought.

"You aren't going to use your injury as an excuse, are you?" he asked with a smirk, still just leaning casually against his sword, completely off balance, totally open to attack…

…and completely aware that she had no way of taking advantage of any of it.

"No," she grunted, finally forcing herself to stand and drawing a kunai as she did, "I just didn't get much sleep last night. It's taking me a little while to wake up."

"Ah, that must be it," he chuckled. "Here, let me help you then!"

His movements were so fast she almost missed them as the tip of the blade came up and then sped towards her. With only centimeters to spare she twisted to the side, feeling her wound reopen even farther than it already was, and dodged the attack that would have taken off the top half of her head.

Or thought she did.

"You're slow," Zabuza sighed, "This isn't even challenging."

It took her nearly three full seconds to even register the pain radiating from her cheek, but even as she brought her hand up to feel the damage, she knew she'd been cut deep. She could feel the blood running down the side of her face.

"You're beginning to bore me," Zabuza informed her lazily as he hefted the enormous weapon on to his shoulders with ease. "If this is all you've got, I'll just finish you now and move onto the old man."

Kurenai braced herself for the attack she knew was coming and tried to come up with a way to fight back. Nothing came to mind. He was faster than her, stronger than her, and not hampered by a devastating injury the way she was. Physical combat was out. He would be prepared for a genjutsu attack and she wasn't even sure she could concentrate enough to create one in the limited time she had. That left her with ninjutsu. Unfortunately most of her powerful jutsu involved fire and he clearly favored water. She was also versed in Water jutsu, but that didn't help her here. She needed to use an Earth jutsu and none of the ones she knew were going to be strong enough to help her.

Zabuza drove his sword into the bridge so that it would remain standing when he released it and then brought his hands together, forming seals. "Suiton: Suiryoudan no Jutsu!"

Kurenai's eyes widened as an immense watery dragon rose up on the other side of the bridge. It opened its great mouth and hissed before rearing back and diving at her. That amount of water would crush her already injured body and she was too weak and too tired to stop it.

Maybe if she wasn't injured she could have escaped. Maybe if a different jounin was in her spot he or she would know how to get away. Maybe if Asuma was with her…

ooo

Naruto was torn as he watched the two fights going on, his body wrapped in Meisaigakure no Jutsu to hide it from everyone but Hinata should she focus her eyes back behind her. He'd known, on some level, that it might come down to this, where things were going so badly that he was certain he was going to have to step in, but for some reason, knowing it didn't stop him from hesitating.

He could enter the battle now, giving away who he was – at least to Hinata and possibly Kiba and Akamaru – even if he continued to use the illusion of the fisherman who apparently looked similar to Inari's dead father, but the rest of his life would practically be thrown away. He'd have no chance of becoming friends with all the people he loved and cared for once it was known that he was strong enough to take on Zabuza and could also use shadow clones to cover his tracks while he slipped out of the village. Any friendship with people his physical age would be factitious, at best, but perhaps there was already no hope for anything but that. He'd already been manipulating Sakura and trying with Sasuke… at least this way they'd be allowed to manipulate him as well, that was probably fair.

No, he didn't care about fair. He wanted a life, a real life, where things worked out better than they had originally. Announcing what he was would be a last resort. He'd do it if it was the only way to save Team Eight, but not until he was sure it was the only way.

That meant he had to help from the shadows, for now, anyway. Somehow he would find a way to keep everyone on the bridge alive… even Zabuza if he could.

Then, Haku and Kiba's fight began to turn more serious while Zabuza grew tired of playing with Kurenai and began his Water Dragon jutsu. At that point, there was no longer time to question or debate or whine about wanting to have a semi-normal life while manipulating everyone around him for their own good. It was time for action and he was the sort who couldn't hide during such times.

As always seemed to happen when he was faced with a difficult situation that he was not completely prepared for, a small, fragmented plan almost instantly began to form in his mind.

'What I wouldn't have given for another day to prepare for this,' he thought as he committed himself to a course that could easily lead to him being discovered. His fingers came together even as he leapt over the boxes and ran towards Kurenai.

o

o

A/N: -sigh- I suppose it was too much to ask for to be able to finish this whole fight in just this one chapter… it took Kishimoto something like 12 chapters to get through the fight and I think mine was a little longer than his or at least seems longer because it was written out. Just the story here is about 16 thousand words long! Thankfully that divides down nicely into two chapters. You'll have to wait until Sunday to see what happens when Naruto enters the fight, though, since I have to finish up most of my Psychology class this weekend. Anyway, how was it… other than not being finished, of course? This is the first really long fight scene that I've done for the Narutoverse – the earlier Team Eight one wasn't really all that big – so I hope it came out right. They aren't as easy to write as easy as Dragonball Z fights are and I don't have a bunch of episodes of the anime to watch so I can get a feel for how they should go. Well, I'll leave it up to you to decide if it was any good or not, but try to keep in mind that Naruto's time is coming next chapter before you complain about him not doing much. Sunday will have the next update… but maybe if I hit thirty reviews in one day I'll update Saturday night…though you'll all have to live with being my downfall in Psychology if that happens (not really, my grade in the class is secure unless I completely bomb these last two tests)!

Meisaigakure no Jutsu – Hiding Camouflage. Used to make yourself somewhat invisible (camouflaged) though you can still be smelled and the Byakugan can see through it (as with all other jutsu). I think this was used in the Kakashi Gaiden by the Rock-nin that kidnapped Rin.

Suiton: Suiryoudan no Jutsu – Water Release: Water Dragon Blast. Zabuza (and Kakashi) uses this in the first fight between him and Kakashi.