Rating: M

Pairing: NaruHina, and more as the story progresses.

Author's Notes: Again, I can't apologize enough for making all you Naruto fans wait so long. I got caught up in a different story. It's a Invader Zim fanfic called When Your World Comes Tumbling Down. I know, it's embarrassing for a 17 year old to like those types of cartoons. But, I'm not ashamed. It's nice to keep an inner child inside you, and still be an adult (Without being creepy, anyway). But with all that aside, I am glad to say I am back with another update. We left off on a stressful part in the story. Zabuza Momochi is "back from the dead" and out for blood… Tazuna's blood, to be specific. But thankfully, Team 8 arrived onto the scene just in time to stop him. But now, how will things go for the team now that Zabuza knows their moves and abilities? Well, all of that will be answered right here, right now. So sit back, relax, grab a bowl of ramen and enjoy the much awaited chapter. PEACE!

Chapter 13: The Cry of Kyuubi no Kitsune

"I guess I should have expected this," Zabuza sighed, as Team 8 stood in between him and Tazuna. "Those pathetic thugs Gato sent to kill the woman and child weren't much in the first place. Just a couple imbeciles with knives." He then took another look at the team of Leaf Shinobi. Kurenai had a kunai in both hands, with explosive tags attached to them. Naruto had summoned a couple of shadow clones, also carrying kunai. Hinata had activated her Byakugan and was in her clan's signature fighting stance. And Chouji stood right beside Tazuna, with humongous arms, having just performed the Bubun Baika no Jutsu.

"I'm not surprised you're still alive, Zabuza," Kurenai hissed. "I remember that "Hunter-Nin" dragged you off after throwing those senbon into your neck. It was convincing, at first. But it was when he picked you up and left when I knew something was up." Zabuza folded his arms across his chest, wanting Kurenai to explain more. "Hunter-Nin never bring the bodies of Missing-Nin with them. They always cut the head off for proof, then dispose of them on the spot, usually with fire ninjutsu. But I assume that since you're still alive, that could only mean that Haku is with you, and isn't a real Hunter-Nin."

Kurenai narrowed her eyes at Zabuza when he started cackling to himself. "You're smarted than I gave you credit for, Yuuhi," the Missing-Nin replied, throwing his sword back on his shoulder. "You're right. Haku is with me." He paused, sighed, and turned his head. "Come on out, Haku," he shouted. "No point in hiding if they already know you're here!" At first, nothing. Kurenai and the others tensed up and looked around frantically. They knew Haku was there, but they didn't know where he was. The entire bridge was surrounded by thick fog. And since the fog was pumped full of chakra, Hinata's Byakugan couldn't look through it.

But she didn't have to. A few seconds after Zabuza called his name, Haku slowly emerged from the fog and stepped beside his master. And with a sinister smirk showing through his bandaged face, Zabuza continued on. "I have to admit, if Haku wasn't there to bail me out of that little fix I was in, I would've been done for," he admitted, as he started cracking his neck. "For a for a team of Gennin, they have a surprising amount of potential." Then, with all compliments aside, a dark glare appeared on Zabuza's brow. "But because you refused to hand the old man over when you had the chance, none of you will live long enough to show it to anyone else."

When Zabuza took his humongous sword from off his shoulders, Kurenai turned to Chouji. "Chouji, I need you to stay with Tazuna in case anything goes wrong." Hearing that he was not to be apart of the fight, a grumpy frown took over Chouji's face. "I know you want to help your friends," Kurenai continued, patting him on the shoulder, "but we can't leave Tazuna alone. Who knows? There might be a band of thugs waiting to kill him while we battle Zabuza and Haku. We need someone to take care of him. So I don't want to hear any complaining from you." Feeling that his sensei made a good argument, Chouji nodded his head.

Kurenai turned to Naruto and Hinata after she gave Chouji his orders. "You two are to go up against Haku. Zabuza would be too much for you two to handle, so I'll handle him on my own." Hinata and Naruto looked at each other, before looking back at their sensei with worried expressions. "Don't worry. If anything, make sure that you stay on the defensive, so that you can familiarize yourselves with his fighting tactics. After that, you two can work together and take him down. Understand?" Even though Naruto was a little nervous about this, he struck a neutral look and nodded his head, as did Hinata.

After that being settled, Kurenai turned back to Zabuza and Haku, who were still standing patiently on the other side of the bridge. Zabuza was flexing his muscles, as if he was not concerned with the battle that was in the making. Haku just stood silently next to him, with his mask hiding any expression he might have. "Remember, Chouji," Kurenai whispered, getting ready to spring the attack, "whatever happens, just make sure Tazuna is safe." When Chouji nodded his head again, Kurenai, Hinata and Naruto leapt towards the two assassins, prepared to fight.

Meanwhile, Back in the Village….

All of the local villagers were gathering in the center of town, furious at what they have just heard. The workers from the bridge came into town, panicking and sweaty. When the villagers asked what was wrong, they were informed that Zabuza had arrived to kill Tazuna. "This has gone on for long enough," a villager shouted, causing all of the other angry villagers to give him their attention. "This is the work of Gato! That bastard wants Tazuna dead! He wants to ensure that Nami no Kuni will never get the help it so desperately needs. Gato will never let our suffering come to a end!"

The man picked up a bow and arrow, and lifted it into the air. Coincidentally, Tsunami and Inari were in the crowd, listening to the man's furious speech. "As long as the monster Gato is alive, Nami no Kuni will never be free! It is up to US now to fight back!" Inspired by the villager's words, everyone else cheered, agreeing with him. "We have four ninjas from Konohagakure fighting for our freedom, and three of them are mere children! It's time for us to stop hiding! It's time we stopped allowing Gato to get away with senseless murder of our innocent people! Because I, for one, will NEVER allow children to fight and die for my freedom! If there is to be any fighting or dying, let it be OUR blood that falls!" The other villagers cheered louder, raising various weapons into the air.

As Inari watched, he witnessed the once scared villagers he grew up with show the first shred of courage in a long time. "It's clear now that Gato will do everything in his power to ensure our suffering," another villager agreed, brandishing a katana by his side. "Michiro is right! We must fight for our freedom and take back what rightfully belongs to us!" The villager then walked into the center of the large crowd. "All women and children, find places to hide! Every man who has the strength to fight will come with us! If we are to die by the hands of Gato and his men, let us die while taking some of them with us!"

As Inari watched all the able-bodied men go off in the direction of the bridge, all he could do was stare at them in amazement. He never imagined that he'd ever see the day when everyone would be showing the same amount courage Kaiza showed all those years ago. They didn't care about them losing their lives. They wanted to fight back and are willing to die trying.

Back at the Bridge….

"You got guts, Yuuhi, I'll give you that much," Zabuza growled, dashing back and forth to avoid the explosive kunai being thrown by Kurenai. "But without your precious Genjutsu, you're nothing special! Without them, you're just another paycheck to me!" After avoiding the kunai, Zabuza swung his sword at Kurenai. When the blade came at her, Kurenai merely leaned backwards. So when the blade went over her, she performed a barrel roll in midair and delivered a well-placed kick to the side of Zabuza's head. The large man was sent stumbling backwards, holding the side of his face that was kicked.

"That's where you're wrong, Momochi," Kurenai disagreed, while Zabuza regained his balance. As a shuriken fell out of her kimono dress and into her hand, she smirked. "I have a lot more tricks up my sleeves." In the blink of an eye, Kurenai threw the razor sharp shuriken at the seemingly dazed man. But to her surprise, Zabuza's hand lashed upward and caught the shuriken in between his two fingers. He sent her a creepy grin, before looking to the ground. There was blood there. So he looked to the hand he was holding his face with and discovered that there was blood staining his bandages.

"Wow," he growled, throwing the shuriken to the ground. "That was an impressive kick, Yuuhi. To be able to break my skin with blunt force is quite something. That hasn't happened to me since I was a Gennin." Kurenai stared at Zabuza in confusion when he thrust his sword into the ground. "I see that my sword won't be as effective against you," he said, cracking his knuckles, "so I guess I'll just have to kill you up close and personally."

Then, without warning, Zabuza dashed forward and threw a punch at Kurenai. Thinking she could simply block the attack, Kurenai raised both her arms in front of her face. But when the punch landed, it had far more force behind it than anticipated. All of a sudden, Kurenai was sent skidding across the bridge. She skidded to a stop and let out a sharp hiss of pain. 'God damnit,' she thought, looking back up to see Zabuza casually walking towards her, 'it seems he was going easy on us the first time we fought.' Ignoring the pain in her arms, she dropped back down into her fighting stance. But to her surprise, Zabuza had stopped walking toward her. Now, he was standing up, with his hands on his hips. "Thinking on what to do next, Zabuza?" Kurenai asked, not expecting a straight answer.

Zabuza shook his head. "Nope. I already know how I'm going to kill you," he answered, letting out another evil snicker. "I'm just enjoying the show, is all." Confused, Kurenai raised an eyebrow. That's when Zabuza raised his hand and pointed in her direction. Hesitantly, Kurenai turned her head slightly, so she could both look behind herself and not take her full attention off from Zabuza.

But when she saw what he was pointing at, her eyes went wide with fear. "Wh-what in the world is tha…"

Before she could even complete her sentence, Zabuza appeared in front of her and had grabbed her by the neck. He lifted her into the air and looked at her with a menacing scowl. "That is Haku's special jutsu. Now, I'm afraid your dear little students are done for…" Then, Zabuza pulled out a kunai. "But don't worry. I'll kill you before you can witness it. Because I am, believe it or not, a very merciful man!"

"Hey! Ugly! Don't forget about ME!" All of a sudden, Chouji appeared on the scene and sent his enlarged fist crashing into Zabuza's chest, sending him skidding across the ground on his back.

With Naruto and Hinata….

Naruto and Hinata stood back-to-back, gazing at the jutsu Haku had just performed. All around them were giant sheets of thick ice, all levitating in the air. It made a huge dome around the two, who were frantically looking around for any sign of Haku. "H-Hinata-chan, can y-you see him?" Naruto asked, darting his eyes from side to side.

Not wanting to waste any chakra, Hinata looked around without her Byakugan activated. They both saw Haku morph into one of those ice mirrors, but in the blink of an eye, he was gone. But when she activated her Byakugan, she was horrified to discover that all of the ice mirrors were being held up by chakra, which rendered her Byakugan useless. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun," Hinata apologized, reaching into one of her pouches and pulling out a shuriken, "but I can't spot him anywhere."

"That's because you both are trapped in my special jutsu." Naruto and Hinata whirled to where the familiar voice came from, and saw Haku, standing at the far end of the ice dome. He had his arms folded across his chest. When Naruto and Hinata turned to face him, Haku sighed. "There is no point in trying to escape. When you fall prey to my Crystal Ice Mirrors, there is no hope of escaping it."

"Oh yeah?" Hinata growled, hurling her shuriken at Haku. But before it could reach him, Haku stepped back and morphed into the ice mirror. The shuriken merely bounced off the hard ice, leaving Haku virtually unharmed. Getting annoyed, Hinata activated her Byakugan and charged. "Take this!" Hinata dashed in and sent a chakra filled palm strike right at the crystal mirror. But when her attack connected, she was shocked to discover two things. One, her Jyuuken attack had absolutely no effect on the ice mirror. And two, Haku was gone. "Where did he.." Hinata began. But before she could finish, a senbon flew in out of nowhere and flew past her face. She let out a hiss of pain, reaching up to learn that there was a nasty cut on her cheek.

"Hinata-chan!" Naruto cried as he forgot about Haku and rushed to her aid. "A-are you okay, H-Hinata-chan?" Before she could answer, another senbon flew in from behind Naruto and struck him right in the calf, causing him to let out a cry of agony before falling to the ground.

"Naruto-kun!" Enraged, Hinata pulled out a handful of kunai with explosive tags attached to them and hurled all of them in the direction the senbon came from. When the shuriken struck the mirrors, they all exploded. Hinata dropped to her knees to help Naruto, not bothering to look to see what damage she might have caused. "Naruto-kun, are you alright?" she asked, slowly pulled the thrown needle from Naruto's leg.

"Y-yeah, I th-think so," he hissed, squinting his eyes because of the stinging pain. Hinata ripped one of her jacket's sleeves off, and wrapped it around Naruto's punctured leg. It was almost as if she had forgotten they were in the middle of a battle of life and death. "Naruto-kun? Can you still walk?"

Wanting to know that for himself, Naruto reached up and wrapped his arm around Hinata's shoulders. She lifted both of them up, and gently sat him down on both legs. But Naruto immediately hissed in pain and dropped to one knee. The senbon left his leg in extreme pain, making it excruciatingly painful for him to stand.

'Th-this is bad,' Naruto thought, looking from side to side. 'If we d-don't do something, we're going to d-die.' Thinking quickly, Naruto made a single hand-sign. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" In a matter of no time, the entire dome was filled with shadow clones of Naruto. "H-Hinata-chan," he moaned, trying to stand up again, "wh-while my clones are d-distracting Haku, we sh-should try to e-escape."

"Good idea Naruto-kun," Hinata replied. "We'll get out of here an..."

POOF! POOF! POOF! POOF! POOF! POOF! POOF! POOF!

Hinata's sentence was interrupted by the sound of Naruto's shadow clones disappearing in puffs of smoke. The two turned to see senbon raining down upon all of the shadow clones from every perceivable direction. "I told you there was no escaping," Haku hissed, morphing out from the crystal mirror directly behind them. All of Naruto's shadow clones were destroyed, leaving only the senbon embedded in the ground once the smoke dissipated. "Your decision to fight me inside this dome was the worst and last mistake you two will ever make."

Back with Kurenai, Chouji and Zabuza….

Thanks to Chouji's help, Kurenai was able to wear Zabuza down. Now, the infamous Mist ninja was on his knees, covered in bruises and gasping for breath. Whenever he would go after one, the other would immediately find a way to get in a solid strike. Zabuza wasn't even able to perform any jutsu, because Kurenai and Chouji wouldn't allow it. Now, Kurenai was behind Zabuza, with a kunai pressed up against Zabuza's throat. And Chouji was standing in front, with both of his massive arms raised up into the air, ready the crush Zabuza at a moment's notice. "What kind of jutsu is Haku using?" Kurenai hissed, slowly pressing the blade into Zabuza's neck.

But despite the predicament he was in, the "Mist Demon" let out a cruel chuckle. "That is Haku's Kekkei Genkai," he answered, refusing to cease his laughter. "You see, my dear Kurenai, Haku is quite a unique young lad. He has the ability to manipulate ice at will. And thanks to my supervision and training, we've came up with this move called the Crystal Ice Mirror Jutsu." When both Chouji and Kurenai threatened to end his life, Zabuza continued. "Haku is unique because he possesses the ability to morph into any form of solid ice. And, with intense training, he became able to teleport from one ice mirror to another in the blink of an eye… Well, he doesn't really teleport. But he switches from spot to spot so fast, he might as well be teleporting." Kurenai's eyes went wide with fear when she looked back at her two students. When Chouji looked back, what he saw almost caused him to throw up.

Back with Naruto and Hinata…

"N-Naruto-kun…" Hinata and Naruto were in really bad shape. Hinata was on her knees, with large needles sticking out of her shoulders, arms and legs. There were a couple of new cuts on her face from thrown senbon. But she was more concerned about the boy who was laying in front of her. Naruto was pretty beat up. He had three senbon stuck in his legs, a senbon in each of his forearms. And one in his left shoulder, almost piercing his neck. Naruto's breathing was shallow, and he was struggling to keep his eyes open. So Hinata was trying her best to keep him awake. "N-Naruto-kun, please st-stay awake," she whispered, with tears threatening to fall from her white eyes. "W-we'll make it th-through this. But you h-have to stay a-awake."

"I'm sorry it has to be this way, Hinata Hyuuga." Hinata looked up to see Haku, standing no more than ten feet away from them, fidgeting with a couple of needles in one hand. He had his other hand in his pocket, and was leaning against the side of the ice dome. Hinata stared at the masked boy with a hate-filled glare. "But this is the way of the ninja. We are here only to serve others. You serve your village and Hokage, and I serve Zabuza."

Finally gaining enough energy, Naruto slowly opened his eyes. He gazed up at Hinata, and coughed violently. "H-Hinata-chan," he choked, coughing up a little blood in the process. Hinata looked down at him, with tears slowly falling from her eyes. "A-are you o-okay, H-Hinata-chan?" Hinata reached down, and pulled Naruto onto her lap. "I-I can't move," he whispered, as blood slowly started to fall down the side of his mouth. "H-Hinata…. Y-you need to e-escape. Please… be-before you die."

Hinata shook her head. "No Naruto-kun. I s-said we'd make it out t-together. And that's wh-what we're going to…"

"No you won't," Haku growled, flinging two senbon into Hinata's chest.

Hinata let out a gasp of pain when the two senbon struck her chest. Naruto looked up in horror, having just witnessed everything. As blood started soaking through Hinata's jacket, her body suddenly went limp.

With Kurenai, Chouji and Zabuza….

Kurenai and Chouji was horrified at what they just saw. They had just witnessed Hinata Hyuuga, the loudest and friendliest kunoichi they've ever met, get struck down by Haku's senbon. It was clear, even from where they were standing that the needles struck something vital. They watched as Hinata's body fell to the ground next to Naruto. "HINATA!" Kurenai and Chouji cried out.

Back With Naruto and Hinata….

Naruto watched as Hinata fell to her side. She was laying right next to him, looking down at him with half opened eyes and blood dripping from her mouth. "N-Nar-Naruto-kun," she spoke, her voice only a little louder than a whisper. Tears stained Naruto's eyes as he used every scrap of strength he had to pull himself to his knees. He gently turned Hinata onto her back, so that she was looking up at him. "I-I'm sorry, N-Naruto-kun," she continued. "I-I wish I c-could have d-done more to s-save us. And I-I'm so-sorry that I c-couldn't live t-to see you b-become H-Hokage." Even when she was impaled with needles, even though she could barely keep her eyes open, Hinata Hyuuga cracked a small smile. "I'm sorry that you h-had to be m-miserable y-your whole life. I w-wish I could have h-helped you." But soon, Hinata's breathing became harder and harder to hear. And eventually, after shedding one last tear, Hinata's eyes finally drifted shut.

Hinata Hyuuga was dead.

As he looked upon the lifeless body of his best friend, Naruto slowly reached down and shook her shoulder. "H-Hinata-chan," he whispered, tears running down his face. She didn't answer. He tried again, but this time, Naruto reached down and put one arm underneath her back and one hand behind her head to lift her up. "H-Hinata-chan…. P-please, wake up." But it was as Naruto feared. Hinata was dead. "No… Please, not her," Naruto cried, pulling Hinata in and held her close to him. "No… No…"

Suddenly, something inside Naruto snapped. Without warning, blood red chakra shared radiating off of Naruto's body. Haku watched as all of the senbon that were embedded in Naruto's body slowly started to slide out and fall to the ground. 'What the hell?' he though, as he pulled out another senbon and flung it at the grief stricken boy. But to Haku's surprise, when the senbon touched the barrier of red chakra surrounding Naruto, it was immediately repelled before it could even touch him. 'Wh-what on earth is he?'

Slowly, Naruto stood up with Hinata cradled in his arms. He just stood there, with his back to Haku. But soon the red chakra that was merely surrounding him was swirling around him like a hurricane. Naruto's ocean blue eyes suddenly changed to crimson, and resembled the eyes of a fox. Slowly, his short fingernails grew into razor sharp claws. Naruto's canines slowly grew, almost growing twice their normal length. His whisker birthmarks became darker and thicker than before.

Haku was slowly backing away, fearing what was taking place before his eyes. He had thrown all the senbon he had with him at Naruto, but like before, all the senbon were repelled by the red chakra. But when he was about to morph into a mirror, Naruto was suddenly gone. 'Where is he?' Haku thought, looking around frantically.

"YOU!" All of a sudden, Naruto came crashing through the crystal mirror Haku was about to morph into, and delivered a powerful punch directly into Haku's face. With his mask being shattered on impact, he was sent flying through the air, and slammed up against another mirror. He fell to the ground, with blood pouring from his nose. Then Haku looked up, and looked upon the face of his assailant.

Naruto glared down at the terrified Haku. "You…. You killed her," he growled, pointing at Haku. "You killed Hinata-chan! She was the kit's closest friend and you KILLED her!" The red chakra was still swirling around Naruto wildly, taking the senbon that were stuck in the ground and sending them into the air. "You just made the biggest mistake of your life, Haku," the possessed boy continued, dropping onto all fours, "because now, you've got Kyuubi no Kitsune to worry about! Now DIIIIIIIIIE!"

To Be Continued….

Aw snap! Shit is definitely about to hit the fan, isn't it? I know, this is sort of the same scenario in all my NaruHina stories, but I'll try to mix it up in the next chapter, I promise. But enough about that. How did you all enjoy it? I hope it was worth the wait. And I hope the quality was also up to standards. It may be a while before I update this story again, since I have a butt-load of other stories to update as well. But I hope that this chapter with be sufficient. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I look forward to hearing what you all thought of it. Mr. Alaska, out!