Sorry for the long wait people. I've just been so busy lately, that the word "busy" doesn't even begin to describe it. Anyway, enjoy.
Don't do drugs. Stay in school.
It was another day in Wave. While Naruto continued to train himself in the forest, Teams 8 and 7 continued to guard the bridge.
When Hinata had returned from checking on Naruto, Kiba immediately knew something was off. Hinata's clothing absolutely reeked of Naruto's scent. However he didn't say anything about it, lest he be accused of being a crybaby for complaining about the implications that there was no evidence to back off.
Later that day, Naruto came back to the house from his training. Before anyone could ask any questions, Naruto had already fallen asleep on the couch, out like a light to put it frankly.
Hinata gently put a blanket over him, and Sakura wondered why she was being so kind to Naruto, but not to Sasuke whenever he came back from his training.
Anyway, the next morning came, and Kurenai decided that since Naruto had been training so hard recently, even when he didn't have to, that he be allowed to sleep in that day. The rest would do him some good anyway.
There wasn't that much arguing about it. Although once or twice Sasuke did try to take Naruto's sword while he slept, obviously wanting to use its power for his own ends, only for Shino to force him back with the threat of turning him into "bug food".
Anyway, both teams left to guard Tazuna and the bridge builders, leaving where he lay. Little did they know that they'd be put to a very harsh test, and that Naruto's presence would determine whether or not they lived or died.
"So you say your students have progressed a bit?" Tazuna asked, although not really saying it as a question, as they all walked to the bridge.
"Yes, my students have-" Kakashi said before-
"Hatake's students have barely progressed at all," Kurenai said into Tazuna's ear. "Frankly, I give them ten minutes into the next encounter before one of them dies on us."
Kakashi paled. "Kurenai, was that really necessary?"
Kurenai just glared at Sasuke, Sakura, and Kiba in a scrutinous gaze, then looked back to Kakashi. "Yes. Yes it is."
However, as soon as they neared the bridge, Kakashi and Kurenai suddenly realized that things were too quiet, and that the mist was becoming thicker by the second.
"Its too quiet here," Sakura said. "And the mist is becoming thicker."
"Yeah thanks for nothing Ms. State-the-Obvious," Kiba muttered under his breath.
At that moment, Shino released a few of his bugs, and Hinata activated her Byakugan.
"Oh those techniques won't be necessary," an ominous voice said that sent chills up the genin's backs. "I'm right here."
"This isn't good," Kakashi said to himself.
"Ya think?" Kurenai spat back.
Back at Tazuna's house, Naruto was sleeping off his fatigue. His muscles were still sore from the other day, and he still had a way to go before he could successfully wield the massive Tetsusaiga at the same level as Inuyasha. If something heavily armored and fast attacked him at the moment, he'd be hard-pressed between a rock and a hard place.
At the same time, two of Gato's grunts stood in the shadows down the deck from the bridge builder's house.
"So this is the place then?" the first one asked. This one was short, had white skin, and wore a grey jacket and a purple cap. Around his waist was a black-handled katana.
"Yeah. Gato says we're to bring the bridge builder's daughter to him and kill the kid," the second one said. This one was taller than his partner, had darker skin, and had dark green tatoos on the right side of his body. He had an eye patch over his left eye, and a scar over his right. He carried a white-handled katana by his waist.
"Hold on a second though," the short one said stopping his partner from advancing. "There's still one ninja in the house, so we'll just have to wait until he leaves. Even if he's a genin, he could still get the jump on us if we're not careful."
The tall one grunted. "Fine. But I tell ya, I'm just dying to cut something up. It's been too long you know?"
Back at the bridge, Zabuza and Haku had revealed their presence, and were now engaging the two teams from Konoha in fierce combat.
Haku had erected a dome of mirrors made of ice, and was slowly wearing Sasuke and Kiba down with lightning-fast attacks, throwing senbon into their weak points and inhibiting their movement. At the same time, Kakashi was fighting Zabuza, who had heard rumors of the Sharingan eye, and was using the mist as cover to hide himself, while wearing Kakashi down with guerilla tactics. Hinata, Shino, and Kurenai were all that were left to protect Tazuna, in case either of the rogue ninja attempted to get by Kakashi's defense. And face it, with just Sasuke and Kiba, Kurenai knew that Haku would bring them down before long, their complete lack of training and teamwork finally catching up with them.
"I really hope Naruto gets here soon," Hinata said as she kept her Byakugan trained on the entire area. "We need reinforcements and fast."
"I know," Kurenai said under her breath. "We can only hold out until he gets here. He's the only one who can turn the tide of this battle."
Back at Tazuna's house, Naruto was sleeping off his fatigue from the previous day's training. At the moment Kirara was sleeping on the pillow next to his head. A few minutes later he suddenly bolted up, her fur standing on end as she began growling.
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr."
Naruto slowly woke up, immediately sensing something was wrong. "What is it Kirara?"
Kirara growled once more before scittering up to the window sill. Naruto looked out too, but didn't see anything immediately. However he immediately caught the scent of spent cigarettes in the air, plus two new smells that shouldn't be there. Hmmm. It seems that Gato's finally gotten desperate enough to try using hostages. If that's the case, then that means... The others are being attacked at the bridge!
Naruto immediately threw his covers from the bed and ran downstairs as quietly as he could. At that very moment, Inari was heading for the kitchen to get breakfast. Or at least he was until Naruto grabbed him by the collar and dragged him upstairs.
"Naruto! What's the big idea?" Inari demanded, only to have Naruto cover his mouth a moment later and whisper into his ear.
"There are two men with weapons outside the house. I need to leave to help my friends, but I'll leave Kirara here to defend the house."
Inari looked at Naruto's cat, which at the moment was cleaning her face, and looked at Naruto like he was insane.
"Don't worry," Naruto whispered. "Just trust me and everything'll be all right."
Inari reluctantly nodded. "I hope you know what you're doing."
A few minutes later.
"I've gotta get going!" Naruto said from the house as he straightened his kimono and placed his sword at his hip.
"All right then," Tsunami called from the house as Naruto leapt across the river and over the buildings on his way to the bridge.
In the shadows away from the house, the two swordsmen hired by Gato watched in amusement as the remaining ninja left their view.
"Okay then, he's gone," the taller one said as he put his hand on his blade.
"Remember, he wanted the woman alive," the shorter one reminded. "If she dies, then we don't get paid. And don't think I won't sell your ass out, because I will."
"Yeah yeah yeah," the taller one moaned as he and his companion walked up to the house.
After knocking on the door, Tsunami opened the door, but immediately backed away as the two swordsman came through the door.
"Sorry for the trouble," the shorter one said sarcastically, "but we'll be needing you to come with us."
"Hey you two! Stand back or else!" Inari said as he burst into the room with a kitchen knife in his hands.
"Well looky here. Looks like the kid's got a little fight in him" the tall one said as he kicked Inari to the ground. The next moment a small, cream-colored twin-tailed cat with blue eyes ran into the room and began growling at the two of them as her fur stood on end.
"Well look at this," the tall swordsman said as he grabbed the little cat by the scruff of her neck and held her at eye level. "Looks like this little one's even got a little fight in her too. Hahaha."
The next moment Kirara shot a hairball at the tall one's right eye with an audible splat.
"What the hell?" the tall one demanded as he suddenly dropped the cat. "That thing just chucked a hairball right in my eye". The next moment the hairball sizzled a bit before it became alight with flame. "Gaaaaaah! My other eye!"
As the tall one fell to the ground and tried to put the blaze over his eye out, the shorter swordsman drew his blade and poised it at the small cat-like creature. "Alright you little furball! Lets see what you can do when you opponent's actually prepared!"
Kirara's fur stood on end as she let out a low growl. The next moment her body was engulfed in flame, and she grew to her much larger form.
At that moment the shorter swordsman paled and his resolve wavered. "Wh-wh-what the hell is that thing?"
The shorter swordsman was cowering in fear, not knowing what to do, but only knew to get him and his partner out of there and get reinforcements. As the two of them were halfway down the walkway, Kirara lunged at him from the doorway and sunk her massive canines into his right shoulder, and with a mighty twist tore the swordsman's arm from his body in her grip.
"GAAAAAAAAAH!" the swordsman cried as he held his bleeding shoulder.
"Woah..." Inari said as he watched the whole spectacle, utterly speechless at what had just happened. At the moment Kirara had discarded the swordsman's arm into the water, leaving him to bleed out all over the walkway. "That's one awesome cat."
"Inari! You mustn't see this!" Tsunami cried as she put a hand over Inari's eyes, and closed her's tightly to try and not watch the spectacle.
"OH GOD!" the shorter swordsman cried as large amounts of his blood began to flow out into the water, tainting it an unholy shade of red as the giant flaming cat pressed down onto his chest with the force that only a mighty jungle cat could produce. "NOOOOOO!" he cried as the giant cat's fangs closed around him and ripped his head clean from his body, a horribly terrified look frozen onto his face, and tossed it into the water with an audible plop as it bobbed up and down before sinking in the waves. As the head sunk, the air bubbles inside the severed head rising to the surface, the water stained with blood until the remains were washed out to sea.
As the taller one finally got the flaming hairball out of his good eye, he carefully opened it and was greeted by the sight of his partner lying on his back on the bridge, his right arm and head missing, and his sword discarded just inches away from the water.
"What the fuck!" the taller swordsman said, horrified at the sight. As he looked around for who did it, a massive shadow loomed over him. He looked up, and his face became contorted with fear as the giant flaming cat bore down on him, clashing his left side wide open with her claws.
As he placed one hand on his side, he quickly drew his sword and poised it the best he could against the giant cat. "Alright you damned feline. Lets see what you can-"
The next moment Kirara shattered the man's sword with her mighty fangs, the shards of metal falling to the deck with small clicking sounds as the swordsman held what was left of his sword. "What the hell are you?"
"Graaaaorrrrr!" Kirara roared as lunged at the swordsman and tore his left arm from its socket before throwing it into the water. "Yaaaaaahhhhhhh!"
Tsunami continued to watch in a mixture of horror and amazement as the little cat he'd gotten to know had suddenly, and without warning, transformed into this giant beast and was tearing Gato's men to shreds, literally. Inari watched between closed fingers and watched with amazement at the whole spectacle. Seems he'd seen enough of Gato's handywork to know about blood and stuff like that.
Wow, even Naruto's cat has heroism in her, Inari thought to himself.
As Kirara finally tore the poor man's innards out into the water and crushed his head with her foot she slowly walked away from he blood bath, her claws and mouth covered in blood, which was not her own thankfully.
Instinctively, Tsunami held Inari to her chest and began to back away, fearing what the massive creature would to to them. The next moment however Kiara was suddenly engulfed in flame before returning to her smaller form, her fur completely soaked in blood.
As Kirara scuttled over to Tsunami and Inari, she realized that Naruto's pet wouldn't hurt them. As Kirara looked into Tsunami's eyes, she lightly mewed as she tried to shake off the blood caked on her fur, with little success.
"Man! That was so cool!" Inari cheered as he picked up Kirara by her armpits, only to accidentally drop her a moment later as some of the blood caked onto her fur got onto his hands.
"Inair! We need to wash your hands," Tsunami said as she tried to drag him to the kitchen. "Inari?"
Inari looked at the blood on his hands. It was at that moment that he remembered the words Naruto had said to him the night before.
"Everyone has heroism inside of them. It's all just a matter of finding it. So you shouldn't give up on what your father tried to instill in you."
At that moment Inari knew what he needed, no, had to do.
"Inari?" Tsunami cried as he had run off, picking up Kirara and putting her on top of his hat. "Where are you going?"
"The village!" Inari called out from the other end of the walkway. "There's something I have to do, that the village should've done a long time ago."
"Inari..." Tsunami said as her son ran off, and for a moment she saw a bit of her late husband in him. "You really have become like her father haven't you."
As she looked to the side of the walkway, she saw the sword that the shorter swordsman had left behind in his... passing. As she walked over and picked it up, a dark gleam shone in her eyes.
Naruto had made it to the beginning point of the bridge and immediately noticed that things were much too quiet. He also took the time to notice that a thick fog had already formed at the other end of the bridge, blocking everything from view.
Inuyasha, its that mist again. Zabuza and Haku are probably here too, Naruto thought as he put his hand to his sword.
Inuyasha nodded. "Yeah, they're definitely here alright. I can smell them in the air, and that fog is definitely Zabuza's jutsu."
Naruto ran off into the mist as fast as his legs could carry him. "Please... Let me get there in time."
In the heart of the Crystal Ice Mirrors, Sasuke Uchiha and Kiba Inuzuka were gradually being work down by Haku's lightning fast attacks. Whenever they'd try and make a break for it, either a senbon would lodge itself in the back of their leg, or a lightning-fast kick would drive them back into the center.
"Dammit!" Kiba cursed as he was driven to his knees. "There's just no way we can beat this guy."
"If only I could release my Doujutsu," Sasuke cursed at himself as he struck the ground with his fist. "If I had it, then I'd be invincible."
"Relying on your family's kekkei genkai for victory will only guarantee your defeat," Haku said from her Ice Mirrors, openly mocking the last Uchiha.
"Like you're one to talk," Sasuke spat. "This entire fight you've only used your own kekkei genkai."
"The difference between the two of us is that I have enough power on my own to back up my claims," Haku said, "even without the use of my kekkei genkai."
"Oh yeah!" Sasuke goaded. "I'd like to see you try!"
The next moment Haku appeared before him, and suddenly drove a powerful kick straight into his jaw, sending him into the air. The next moment Haku delivered a mid-air roundhouse kick to Sasuke's stomach, driving him into the ground.
"See? The difference in our power is far too great at your current level of skill," Haku said as she melted back into her Ice Mirrors. "Now... It is time for me to end this."
At the moment the dozens of senbon left Haku's Ice Mirrors, Sasuke's fear of death finally activated his own kekkei genkai, the Sharingan. Sasuke could now interpret the battle more clearly, but his body simply wasn't strong enough to get out of the way in time.
Suddenly, a golden flash of light appeared in the air, and five figures suddenly dove down at the Crystal Ice Mirrors.
"Don't worry Kiba, I'll back you up!" Naruto said as he smashed three of the top mirrors with his Tetsusaiga as two pairs of clones dove over the two of them and used their robed bodies to deflect the storm of senbon.
Before Haku could react to the sudden appearance, the shadow clones grabbed Kiba and Sasuke as Naruto swung the Tetsusaiga in a series of wide arcs, smashing the mirrors until they were noting but shards of ice across the ground.
"Haku..." Naruto spoke as he sheathed his blade. "I had hoped you would've talked Zabuza into leaving."
"Naruto..." Haku said as she stepped out of her remaining ice mirror and removed her mask. "I didn't have any choice."
A short distance away, Sakura was fretting over Sasuke, while ignoring Kiba, when he caught a glimpse of the masked ninja's face. "That was a girl?" Kiba said shocked. "How could we lose to a girl!"
The next moment Hinata delivered a juuken strike to Kiba's shoulders, letting him fall to the ground with a plop.
Dammit! My Sharingan activated, but I was still unable to beat that ninja, Sasuke cursed to himself, ignoring Sakura's fretting. My Sharingan eye should've made me invincible, but I still get upclassed by this third-rate loser.
Haku stepped back into her mirror and performed a series of handsigns, causing the shattered fragments to rise into the air before forming the familiar prison of ice mirrors around Naruto once again. "I do not expect you to forgive me for this Naruto, but I must fight you, for the sake of Zabuza's ambition."
Naruto cracked his knuckles, an old habit he inherited from Inuyasha, and readied his claws for battle. "Fine then."
Haku started by launching dozens of senbon for all of Naruto's nerve points, but Naruto's robe and his claws deflected/broke them before they could do anything. Naruto quickly used the Iron Reaver Soul Stealer on one of the mirrors, only for Haku's image to leap out of it before Naruto's attack cut five massive scars across it.
That attack was powerful enough to cut through my Ice Mirror, Haku thought to herself as she switched to another mirror as Naruto attacked the one she was in. Even that one's Fire-Release jutsu didn't melt it. If I get hit by that attack, then I'll be done for. "I'll have to stop this quickly if I intend to gain the upper hand," she said to herself as she leapt out of the top ice mirror and performed a quick series of handsigns. "A Thousand Needles of Death!"
The water on the ground and in the mist suddenly pooled itself together and formed a thousand jagged ice needles made of water.
"Shit!" Naruto cursed as the thousand needles came at him all at once. "Gotta think fast!"
This is the end, Haku thought. Suddenly there was a golden flash of light, and her eyes widened. "What the?"
Naruto had drawn his giant sword and stabbed it into the ground behind him, and had placed his back against it as he attacked the ice needles at near-inhuman speeds with his claws.
He used his giant sword to take the needles from behind while destroying the ones in front of him and to the sides himself, Haku thought as she slipped back into her mirrors as Naruto lifted his sword from the ground and sheathed it. What kind of sword is that? And how is he able to compress such a large blade into such a small sheath?
"Haku, I'm sorry, but I can't let you kill Tazuna," Naruto said as he looked Haku in the eyes. "This bridge is this village's last hope, and I can't allow anyone to get in the way of that. Shadow Clones! ATTACK!"
Haku's eyes widened as a dozen shadow clones all wielding their giant blades came down from above and began smashing the ice mirrors. His attack was planned out from the beginning!
A moment later she realized that she was now standing in the only remaining ice mirror. Her eyes widened as Naruto came right at her, his right arm behind him. Zabuza, I've failed you, she said to herself as she waited for his attack to tear her to shreds.
"Clench your teeth!" Naruto shouted.
Haku's eyes suddenly bolted open, and she clenched her teeth as Naruto's fist broke through the ice mirror, sending her flying out of it and rolling across the ground. After rubbing on the bruise across her cheek for a minute, Haku looked up at Naruto as he walked over to her. She then looked over to Zabuza, who was now being restrained by the one-eyed ninja's massive ninja hounds.
"Go ahead. Finish me off," Haku pleaded as she turned her gaze to the ground. "There is nothing left for me."
"Well in that case, I'll save the boy the trouble and kill you myself," a snide voice demanded from the other end of the bridge.
Everyone's gaze turned. Coming from the mist was a short, portly man with a thin moustache, receding hairline, and round glasses dressed in a business suit. What was noticeable was that there was a thick cast over his right arm.
"So. You're Gato huh?" Naruto asked, feeling sick to his stomach from just looking at the guy. This guy makes me sick to my stomach just looking at him.
"That's right kid," Gato said with a sneer. "By the way, thanks for wearing yourselves out fighting my hired help. Things are going according to plan."
"What plan?" Zabuza demanded. "What is the meaning of this!"
"Quite simple really," Gato said as several hundred bandits, mercenaries, and rogue samurai formed up behind him. "Ninja are just so expensive, so I figure I'll just save myself the trouble and kill you myself after you've worn yourselves out. Killing the Leaf ninja and taking the kunoichi prisoner will be a bonus."
Hinata and Sakura felt a shiver run down their backs, but Kurenai took a defensive position in front of them and pulled out a kunai. "Don't worry you two. I won't let anything happen to you while I'm still breathing."
"As for you," Gato said as he sneered at Haku. "I'll kill you first for breaking my arm."
At that moment a dozen mercenaries with crossbows stepped out in front of Gato and shot straight at Haku.
"No!" Zabuza roared as he jerked himself free from the dog's fanged grip, tearing himself to pieces in the process, and threw himself in front of Haku, taking the full brunt of the attack.
"Zabuza!" Haku and Naruto cried as Zabuza buckled under the attack.
"Zabuza! Why?" Haku cried as she stared Zabuza into the eyes. "Why did you do that?"
"Because... You're not just a tool to be used," Zabuza said. "You're... the only real family I've ever had."
"Ugh, they missed," Gato cursed. "Men. Fire again, and this time don't miss."
As the dozen mercenaries were about to reload their crossbows, hundreds of black beetles suddenly flew through the air and into their eyes. As the mercenaries cried out in pain as the beetles began to eat their eyeballs, Shino, Hinata, and Kuranai stepped out beside Naruto.
"Thank you Naruto," Hinata said with a bow. "I was beginning to wonder when you were going to show up."
Naruto didn't hear. He was too busy staring at the torn and arrow riddled body of Zabuza. "Guys. Stay back."
"Huh?" the three of them asked.
Naruto removed his sword from his side and passed it to Hinata. "Hinata. Hold onto this for a minute."
"Why?" Hinata asked as Naruto handed her his sword. However, Naruto didn't answer her as he took a few steps towards Gato, and then stopped.
"What's the matter boy? You going to surrender?" Gato asked with a sneer.
Naruto didn't answer. Instead a cold wind blew through the air, pushing the mist away in the process. As Naruto stood in front of Gato's private army, he immediately felt a portion of Inuyasha's power go beyond the seal.
Gato and his men suddenly began quivering in fear, and the Konoha ninja were wondering what Naruto was doing. Then they saw what was scaring them so badly.
Naruto's body was twitching as the wind began to howl as it moved across the bridge and its supporting pillars. His hands began to shake as his claws suddenly doubled in length, causing blood to pour out of his fingers at the sudden transformation. His teeth clenched as they doubled in length, and his hair became more feral. Lastly, the whisker-marks on his face suddenly grew into six feral-looking purple scars, and his eyes turned blood red and his pupils green.
At that moment Kakashi felt a tremendous amount of killing intent coming from Naruto's body. The next moment to his horror, the ground beneath Naruto's feet cracked beneath him, and blue chakra flowed out of his body before turning red. Naruto! He's tapped into the Nine Tailed Fox's power!
Naruto looked straight at Zabuza with his blood-red eyes, his voice now demonic. "So tell me Gato. You really think you and your men can take me on now?"
Gato and his men continued to cower in fear, keeping a five yard gap between themselves and the apparent "demon-boy".
"Tell me Gato. How does it feel to be on the other end of the food chain?" Naruto asked as he continued to walk towards Zabuza.
Gato and his men began to quiver in fear, and half of them had already soiled themselves.
"Nothing in this world can save you," Naruto said as he flexed his claws. "And tonight, you'll all dine alongside the devil in the fiery pits of hell." With every step, the ground beneath jos feet cracked, and as he raised his clawed hand above his head to slaughter Gato and his men, his ears suddenly twitched and his nostrils flared. "Know what? I don't think I'll need to kill you and you men. I'll let then take care of it," a flare of killing intent rising from him when he said 'them'.
"Wh-wh-who's them," Zabuza said, cowering in fear under the blood-red gaze of the demon-boy.
"Heh. You should know by now," Naruto said as he held his hand out towards Hinata. Before she could pass it to him of her own will, it suddenly leapt out of her hands and into Naruto's own, shocking everyone in the process. "You've made a lot of enemies since you've taken over this village, and now there's hell to pay," Naruto said as he placed his sword back at his side, his voice returning to normal mid-sentence.
The Konoha ninja began to step to the sides as Wave's villagers began to march forward, leading the group was Inari riding the giant Kirara. Nearly all the villagers were armed, either with real weapons or sharpened gardening tools. They also had makeshift armor tied onto their bodies, mostly pots and pans, but a few had actual armor on them.
"Gato! We're taking our village back today!" Inari shouted to the crowd as Kirara stood up on her hind legs befor letting out a loud growl. "For Wave! For Kaiza!"
"Yahhhhhh!" the villagers roared as they charged headfirst at Gato's forces, which were already running for their lives.
While Gato was knocking his own men over to get away, the villagers and Inari (armed with a crossbow and shouteing "Kaiza!") were cutting the mercenaries and bandits down to size with their pointed gardening tools. The collective killing intent coming off the villagers was enough to make the weaker-willed samurai jump off the bridge and try to swim for the mainland.
"Dammit! I have to get away!" Gato shouted as he ran through the crowd, only to bump into a line of bandits staring out at something. "What the hell're you staring at?"
The bandits pointed forward. Gato followed their gaze to a woman in her thirties with a sword on her back, and a small detonator in her hands.
"Who the hell're you?" Gato demanded. The men being cut down by angry villagers behind him wasn't helping matters either.
"I'M A HOULSEWIFE YOU FUCKERS!" she shouted as she pressed the button on the detonator. The next moment there were three massive pillars of fire behind her that shook the bridge, the blast causing her hair to whip about in the wind.
"Ahhh! The boats!" one mercenary cried, turning to run the other way, only to be stabbed in the face by a pitchfork on the way out.
"No! This can't be happening to me!" Gato cried as tried to find an escape route, only to be blocked off on all sides. Outside the ring of angry villagers (though pissed off would be more appropriate) were stabbing, goring, or bludgeoning his forces to death. The Konoha ninja would only step in if one of Gato's men was about to attack someone from behind.
"Burn in hell Gato!" Inari cried as he pulled the trigger on his crossbow. As Gato turned around to see who said that, Inari's arrow suddenly lodged itself into his right eye socket, causing blood to gush out across the bridge. "Damn I missed."
"What do you mean Inari?" Tsunami asked as she took the borrowed sword off her back, just in case it was needed.
"I was going for between the eyes," Inari said curtly. "Oh well, I guess I'll just let the other villagers have their share."
As Gato tried to silence his whimpering, he looked up with his one good eye to see the angry looks of the villagers bore down on him. The next moment the only thing bearing down on him were swords, knives, and makeshift weapons as the villagers took out their pent-up hatred on him.
While all that was happening, Naruto and Haku kneeled by Zabuza's side. He was bleeding across the deck from tearing himself free from the dogs, and the dozen arrows lodged in his chest, arms, and legs looked like they'd brought on very serious injury.
"Zabuza..." Haku cried out as she took his hand. "Don't leave me."
"Naruto..." Zabuza moaned as he looked into Naruto's eyes. "Take care of Haku... Give her the life... she's always... wanted."
"Zabuza don't talk like that!" Haku pleaded as tears streamed from her eyes. "You're going to be alright! Just hang on!"
Zabuza's eyes began to close. "Haku... Continue living... Not for me... But for yourself."
With that, Zabuza's eyes closed. Haku fell to tears and cried into Zabuza's chest. The gathered ninja who were still conscious (or not fretting over emo kids) bowed their heads in respect for the Swordsman of the Mist.
However after a few moments, Haku noticed something was out of place. She lifted her face from Zabuza's chest and saw that Zabuza hadn't passed away, but that he was merely sleeping out of exhaustion.
Haku's expression changed from one of despair to sheer anger, and everyone who was wary for their own life took the opportunity to back away.
"Uh oh. That can't be good," Kakashi said to himself before he closed his eyes and turned away from the possibly violent display.
"Ya think?" Naruto asked sarcastically as he pulled his headband over his eyes so he wouldn't have to watch the spectacle.
Cue far-off picture of the end of the bridge.
"ZABUZA YOU IDIOT!"
SMACK
"OW! WHAT THE HELL!"
Of course at the moment it didn't help that the sound of Gato being gored to death kept filling the background. But hey, its an angry mob, what can you do about it?
Omake
Setting: Konoha
Gai, Lee, Neji, Tenten, and Koten were all diligently training at one of Konoha's training grounds outisde the village practicing their taijutsu skills. Tenten practiced her weapon throwing as well, while Neji practiced his own family's taijutsu stance. Lee, Gai, and Koten were all training in the same style, except that for some reason Koten used his legs even when a punch or a jab would be perfectly acceptable as well.
After a few hours or so of practice, while everyone else was having a lunch break, Koten stopped sparing with Lee and walked over to Gai.
"Gai-sensei, can I ask you a question?" Koten asked.
"Sure thing my student," Gai said patting Koten's shoulder enthusiastically. "Ask away."
"What does it mean to get to second base?" Koten asked rather openly. And of course before coming to Konoha he'd been living in the wilderness, so of course he isn't going to know what that means.
At that moment Gai completely froze in the traditional anime-esque fashion. At the same time, Neji and Tenten spewed out their drinks, Tenten trying to hide her laughter while Neji grumbled to himself.
"Uhhh..." Gai said as his thoughts tried to find a solution to this problem. Curses! Why did Koten have to ask me that, and in front of Lee too? If I told them what second base was, it would taint their youthfulness, but at the same time if I don't tell them, they may ask someone else, and have their youthfulness tainted even worse!
"Gai-sensei," Lee addressed as he stood. "I too would like to know what second base is." Lee's excuse is that he's just weird. But you probably knew that already from that green jumpsuit that doesn't leave much to the imagination.
At that comment, Tenten spewed the water she had drunk at Neji, still trying to hide her laughter. Neji grumbled about something possibly fate-related as he wrung the drink out of his hair and clothes.
"Um... Well... You see... The thing is..." Gai stuttered, hoping to stall for time so that something would bail him out of this mess.
"You're hiding something aren't you!" Koten said with a dark look in his eyes. "Tell me what second base is!"
"Tell us! Tell us! Tell us!" Lee and Koten chanted, neither wanting to be denied due knowledge.
At the childish display of her teammate and the new guy, Tenten couldn't hold her laughter back any longer and fell flat on her back, kicking and laughing like someone gone mad as the spectacle continued.
"We will not stop chanting until you tell us what second base is!" Koten shouted between chanting. "I demand to know what second base is!"
At that moment, Gai fell into the depths of obscurity, tears streaming from his eyes as his shoulders slumped. Oh Kami! Why did this have to happen?
"Whyyyyyyyyyyyyy?" Gai cried into the heavens.
Author's Note:
When my previous chapter went out, I got a couple angry messages, and in case any of you match their ideals.
When I said - "This story IS NOT going to be a NaruHina story. It will be a NaruHAREM story." - in the previous chapter, what I was implying was that this Fic wasn't going to be EXCLUSIVELY a Naruto & Hinata FanFiction, but that it was going to be a Naruto-Harem story.
Sorry for the mix-up. If I ever need to put any announcements at the end of my chapters, I'll try to word them a bit more clearly (and avoid a lot of hell that some people seem intent on giving me).
As for the villagers of Wave, I imagined they wouldn't be satisfied until they were paid back in blood. I myself have a bit of a psychotic side (which I'll add are in perfectly normal proportions) and thus felt inclined into making this chapter as gory as possible. But hey, that's what the M-rating is for, amongst other things.
Also (in case you don't know already), the definition of "second base" that Koten and Lee are asking about is NOT the one from baseball.
And that's all I'm going to say on the matter. See you next time.