Rated T for violence, and reader discretion is advised. That about sums up the ambiguity and arbitrary bits.
I don't own Naruto. I can dream, but I'd sooner kick his ass.
Two senbon intercepted the shuriken.
Two senbon interrupted the seal.
Two sides, the same identity.
Self sacrifice…
"When will you people ever Learn?"
The shuriken spun. Lifting the senbon into the air.
The seal surged. The hurling scroll casting away the needles.
Along his back, one of the pups felt his fur stand on end and promptly fade into kingdom come. The hand of lightning surging into open air.
Three pairs of eyes opened wide. Four blue points spun around the copy nin's arm.
"Well well we-"
The shuriken turned. Two senbon yet hurtling back to earth. The four needle weapons crossed paths into the man's shoulders. He blacked out in a heartbeat.
Frosted mist drifted from the tips of the shuriken as they drifted astride the scroll, "Good talent is hard to find before you go wasting it."
"Gato-sa…" The thug's breath caught. The thump of the suit hitting the ground draining the color from his face faster than any eldritch horror, "GATO-SAMA!"
At the hysteric scream the line of bandits stumble back. "Who even moved?" "It must have been some trick…"
One knelt forward and slapped the midget brazenly, "Oi. Oi!" Before glancing up, "You better have a good excuse for taking out our meal tickets," Rising he hefted his sword, "Shinobi or not, you're gonna pay for that!"
"Haku!?" Zabuza glared at the boy incredulously, who shook his head in denial.
"Oh don't be like that Yuki." Cracking knuckles over a head of hair that danced with a dozen colors in the light of the breaking mist, "You know what happens whenever you pull stunts like this."
Palms drifted to either side. The drifting shuriken tweaked, snapping free a collectively woven eight senbon, "So stop talking like you get to walk out on this." Tilting his head back, "Get through this and I might consider sharing that trick on the house. Now one more time…"
His palms slammed into the ground, "Raze the roof! Fissures of snow and frost launched forward towards the genin before the web burst into sudden orange. A dome of red frost wrapping the Uchiha boy.
Naruto grunted in protest, a clatter of steel sounding from his give-or-take friend, "Sasuke!"
The sheet of frost continued relentlessly. Orange tips hissing venomously as they hurtled towards the group. The boy flickered before the surge and the tips rose like the kitsune it fed from, crackling with static and the lad purred into something akin to a cornered wolf, "Here's the ticket you vices of humanity."
Blue red and green burst over the end of the bridge. Retracting a few moments later to reveal none other - none other - than Gato himself. The Cheshire grin still on his face.
The boy settled onto the ground and turned to look over the shinobi gathered and shrugged, "I give him a week. What do you think, Yuki-chan? Is this one fared to rush recovery on stubbornness?" Dumping a thumb over his shoulder.
Zabuza's semi-functional hand tightened, "What of our cover, Haku?"
The sarcasm practically dripped down her backbone, and she hung her shoulders in defeat.
The portal closed around his hand. Kakashi had half a mind to draw it back in stunned silence, but the thing was quicker than even his chidori's charge. Fortunately it saw fit to replace his hand on this side of the barrier, his fingers brushing over the girl's chest as he came to see her for the first time.
Meshed fists crashed down, and brought the dome of frost crashing around the fallen Uchiha, "Damn it all. Why? Why'd you have to save me… again dammit?!"
A pair of sandals reached the ground before him before a curtain of pink hair fell over the boy's body. Trembling like a leaf and tears barely restrained by rapidly failing dykes, "Naruto… what happened?" Her voice broken.
"He took the lion's share. His selfless courage will bring him to an edge scarcely matched. It will be an immense hurdle to match meanwhile."
"Who the hell are you!?" Naruto shouted.
The boy glanced over his hands, bangs shifting before his face, "Otsutsuki…" His arms began to blur. Drifting like heat, he glanced up firmly, "You will come to know, as I come to cherish each of you." To Tazuna and back to Sasuke, "Do not worry. Their courage will not fade so readily."
Naruto tried to slap aside the boy's hand as it reached Sasuke's cheek, but to his surprise it was like striking a cloud.
"They just need a shift in the air."
Sasuke's face strained as his back shifted against the concrete.
Naruto's eyes widened and Sakura practically winded the poor boy with a desperate hug. The blond turned to him questioningly.
"I'd appreciate it if you forgave our Yuki friend. She… hmm." His Shoulders faded and he shook his head, "Well, We'll see. My time is up in this form. There will be others, but if you really need me again, I'll make due."
The shroud rose and dispersed quickly. Of the shuriken, one of which twirled as they clattered to the ground.
Haku's hand appeared around Kakashi's wrist. Her arm materialized such from a genjutsu, "I've failed you Zabuza-sama." She glanced over her mentor's back. The dogs… surely she had broken the summons. When a kunai reached her neck she closed her eyes and cursed her shortcoming.
"Are you done here? Fast or not, I'm rather confident my team can finish your client long before you're done with me." His words promised death, but…
"Do it then!" her poise was prideful before a scroll clocked her in the ear. Zabuza eyed the scroll as it rolled out behind the copy ninja, "Enough Haku." He hazarded a look for any stray dogs or explanation, but the heartstopping and raising techniques both churned fresh in his mind, "I doubt Gato showed up to cheer us on."
Doubt settled alongside the shame and stirred something in her, "No."
"What does your magic eye tell you this time? I'm gonna die yet again?" he shook his head pompously.
"Show me you're more valuable alive than bought. I won't hesitate to end you if you pose even an ounce of danger." He lurched forward. Pinning Haku's good hand and stabbing the kunai into the swordsman's arm, "The next medic you see will be one in confinement, or both of you are as soon cash checks."
Zabuza growled in this state, the Copy nin could disable him as well as any hunter. His injuries he could handle but he could see the knife cutting Haku's neck even as she drew frosty chakra through her good hand. She would make the decision for him, loyal to all of it's treacherous faults, "So be it."
The girl paused, as though checking that the words came from his mouth. Arms drawn back even her hand were tied with ropes that suppressed her chakra. She shouldered the Copy-nin before his knife hand stunned her, "Za- bu-za!"
A.N: Aight. A few additional notes.
As I mentioned in the summary, this is one of a number of rough drafts that made the cut. I work on these from time to time, but my style isn't yet up for producing a continuous plot. As I'm not yet satiating my pictures with my words, for now this file is gonna hold the best of my works. The best of what I have to offer content wise.