Part 11

-Land of Waves Bridge-

Tazuna and his workers were all alarmed. They were cautioned about the dangers of working today by their blonde helper a few days back, but declined to leave behind the bridge; their hope for a better future behind for a day. Naruko sat high on a pillar with her eyes concentrated on the forest opposite of where she and the workers were, scanning for her enemy to show up.

Kakashi and Daisuke, who was in staff form, stood calmly and silently also waiting for their adversary, Zabuza to show up. Lifting his eye almost lazily at the abrupt emergence of ice that linked the forested area to the bridge, he motioned for Tazuna and his laborers to leave.

Nodding and yelling for his employee's to fall back out of the soon to be battlefield, Tazuna glanced up at Naruko who was now standing with her back towards him blocking out the setting sun. Wishing his savior good luck he too turned back and ran into the relative safe streets of the Wave missing the thumbs up the girl shot him and the workers running away.

Lowering her arm, Naruko jumped down and landed next to her part-time Sensei and watched as Zabuza and Haku approached them, already holding their withdrawn weapons. The giant great sword and two blades made from ice.

Naruko never let her eyes off Haku, even when Kakashi set his free hand on her shoulder and took a step towards Zabuza pointing the black Staff at him, to which he smiled beneath his bandages and ran to the copy ninja. She, too, took a step forward and then burst out in a sprint straight towards the blank faced mist kunoichi with two kunai drawn in both of her hands and a frown on her face.

"Argh!" Naruko yelled, jumping and slamming her kunai down on Haku's swords causing a mini crater in the bridge to form under the pressure of her attack. Getting pushed aside by Haku, Naruko landed a few feet away and scowled, seeing the girl jump down on the water below. Leaping from the bridge down to the water below she frowned seeing kunai and shuriken made from ice float around Haku before launching at her in the dozens.

Not surprised by the strange jutsu, Naruko dashed forward once more, evading the soaring weapons and created a clone who popped into existence behind Haku throwing a punch at the motionless girl only to burst when it was stabbed with the ice sword.

Grinning Naruko watched as a second clone emerged from the smoke and punched the girl her way, stopping her run with a stomp, Naruko reeled her fist back and used all the momentum she had from her run and all the strength she could muster before punching Haku in the face once more sending her crashing and skidding on the water.

Crossing her fingers again she and her newly created clones each smirked in delight seeing the big blue bruise on Haku's pale cheek and the surprise on her face that soon switched to anger.

Not being able to help it Naruko yelled, "If that's all you got give me back Haru!"

She tensed her muscles and widened her eyes feeling each of her connections with her clones stop and a prickle of pain on her cheek. Bringing her palm to her cheek she narrowed her eyes touching her moist and warm blood. Lowering her hand and gripping her kunai tightly she glared at Haku who was glaring back and strolling to her holding an empty glass.

Watching her toss the small glass vial, she raised her kunai in alarm as she felt something approaching her at high speeds. Slashing swiftly she grimaced, feeling her kunai hit a weapon made from ice. A senbon that she couldn't even see, just barely react to.

"Let's continue Namikaze," Haku stated, dropping one of her swords and sprinting towards her with ice running up her arm and freezing the water she stood on.

Running to the girl meeting her half-way Naruko ducked under the horizontal cut of Haku's sword and struck her kunai into her unguarded side only for ice to appear, protecting Haku and destroying Naruko's kunai. Haku's free hand sent a chakra-powered punch to Naruko's side to return the favor with a smirk on her bruised and red face.

Grunting at feeling something crack Naruko winked her eye shut and jumped back putting distance between the two of them. She'd misjudged the girl's abilities, given her speed that she was struggling to follow and sheer strength of her bloodline.

She dodged to the left feeling the water beneath her mold under her and form a bubble and snapped her head to Zabuza who was on the bridge laughing, manically and then turn back to block the strike of Kakashi and Daisuke who waved and continued after the swordsman.

Huffing in annoyance she slammed the back of her fist into the bubble popping it and flashed through hand seals, "Water style: Water bullet jutsu!"

The exploded water from the bubble took the shape of compact balls and launched towards Haku only to be pierced by ice senbon exploding much like the bubble she'd just popped.

Haku flashed through hand seals of her own and whispered, "Ice release: Crystal ice Mirrors," and slammed her hands down on the water. Less than a second later before Naruko could escape, several mirrors surrounded her. Each showing Haku standing still with ice Senbon in between each of her knuckles in one hand and her sword in the other.

Glaring due to now seeing more than one image of her most disliked person. Naruko bit her lip and punched the mirror as hard as she could, only to pull her fist back with a tear threatening to fall from her eye. She'd be fine, though. She was a fast healer, after all.

"Give up Naruko Namikaze and I won't kill you. Do it for Haru-san," Haku forced out, beginning to feel her bloodline become harder to control. Her response from the blonde was her creating some clones and assuming a defensive position with kunai drawed.

Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she let a vial of Blue Shader drop in her hand and consumed it. Dropping the bottle, her eyes flashed a rich blue as ice crawled up to her face and encase her entire right arm where her sword was. Shooting forward just as the glass hit the water she threw a hail of Senbon at Naruko and her clones within quick succession, destroying the duplicates and impaling the original immediately.

Looking at her stunned and bloodied form, Haku raised her blade to finish the girl off but was surprised by Naruko stabbing her kunai into her already impaled leg and shaking her head. Letting her battle lusting eyes meet Naruko's determined blue eyes, she smirked. She'd make an exception for Naruko her Haru's special person.

She'd kill her as fast and slowly as possible.

XxLine BreakxX

Yahoshi along with a group of Gato's thugs who Zabuza had demanded to accompany them or die approached the bridge builder's home with smirks and blood lust coming from their bodies. Kicking open the door, Yahoshi smirked in amusement as Tsunami and Inari cowered in the corner of the living room behind a couch.

She sure has a nice figure, was the first thing coming from his mind as the woman shoved her son behind her and glared at him and the approaching thugs with dread and anger. Holding up his hand and flaring his chakra the genin smiled seeing the thugs stop frozen in fear along with the two civilians in front of him.

"She's mine boys. Go check around the house for anyone or anything else of importance," Yahoshi said to the three scared thugs as he flipped a table over and strolled towards the terrified mother and screaming child.

Tsunami glanced fearfully at the stairs that the three men had just went up, praying that Satsuki wasn't asleep. Seeing the couch be shoved away, she looked up at the teenager in fear, his eyes were wild and spoke of how dangerous he was or could be. Freezing at the touch of his hands grabbing her chin roughly, she instinctively brought her hand up and slapped the boy on the cheek.

She gasped in shock when his hand blurred and back handed her sending her to the ground shocked from the pain. With one eye open she let her tears fall when the boy lowered her eyes to her breast and reached out for them only to be hit by her son Inari and his tiny fist.

Seeing the boy smirk at her stunned son and raise his fist to mimic what he had done to him, she lunged forward on her eight year old son fully intending on taking the punch for him.

Landing on the ground with Inari beneath her, her already tearful face increased in tears seeing Satsuki holding the blonde boy's fist; blood on her hand.

Ignoring the boy who she had in her grasp, Satsuki took a glance back at Tsunami with her sharingan and then closed her eyes seeing the woman bury her face in Inari to hide her bruises and tears. "I've already dealt with the other three Okaa-san. Don't go up stairs, I'll be back in a minute."

As she was speaking she increased her grip more and more on the boy as she dragged him out of the living room past the dead bodies of the thugs who were each piled on top of each other. Opening the door and throwing the blonde through it, she sent one last look at Tsunami and Inari's sobbing bodies.

Closing the door behind her, she glared at the smirking boy who had just finished blowing on his hand and drinking some strange drink. One minute starts now. Letting her two tomoed Sharingan focus on the boy, she was taken off guard by his speed at which he ran towards her. Slightly.

Slashing her kunai forward at the running boy cutting him in the chest she grabbed his already sore hand and threw him into the bark of a tree finding him to be very light smirked seeing him crash through it and slump down on the ground, faking his injury.

Jumping over the now fallen over tree she did some hand signs and spit out a giant fireball to the boy not caring whether he was alive or dead, he'd pay for what he'd done to that kind woman and her son. She frowned, seeing him in a panic dash away from the fire ball only to see a clone of her performing and spitting out the same fireball.

Smirking in sadistic amusement as the two fireballs collided into the boy, creating a explosion that uprooted many of the nearby trees and no doubt shake the house to its foundations. Seeing the smoke clear, Satsuki walked to the boy's charred shaking body and felt no remorse when he lifted his hands for mercy, and she merely slapped his hands away and dragged his body back to the house.

Dropping his body to the floor directly beneath Tsunami who was now holding an ice pack to her head and sitting on the couch next to Inari who looked terrified at the burnt boy lying on his floor.

Dropping his body to the floor beneath Tsunami who was now holding an ice pack to her head and sitting on the couch next to Inari who looked terrified at the scorched boy lying on his floor.

He should've tried harder to be the one to stay back and watch over their hostage. Dammit.

"Apologize or I'll end you," Satsuki demanded stepping on his burnt hand eliciting a howl of pain from him. "Now," she ordered over his screaming.

He raised his brown eyes rimmed with a faint blue to the woman he had manhandled and grimaced, seeing her flinch when his wild eyes met hers again. My looks? What I did to her? Why was she looking at him like that? He just wanted a girl to look at him like Haku looked at Haru.

Glaring at her he opened his mouth to give her a piece of his thoughts, but froze and turned his head towards the door when a powerful demonically evil pulse of chakra erupted outside the house. Unable to withstand it his eyes rolled in the back of his head, and he fell face first onto the floor damaging his now fragile face.

Satsuki widened her eyes and gulped under the pressure the malicious chakra was exerting. Hearing a thump, she turned her head to the burnt mist genin and then to Tsunami and Inari's unconscious bodies. Lifting her foot from the boy's hand she ignored the imprint her sandals left in his hand and picked up Inari and Tsunami and taking them up stairs to her and Naruko's room.

Looking outside the window, Satsuki closed her eyes and reopened them, knowing that they had matured completely. Knowing that her rival could handle anything thrown at her, Satsuki turned back to the sleeping woman, studying her injuries.

"Hnn, a minute and ten seconds, should've beaten him some more," Satsuki muttered, wiping the blood from her fist on her Uchiha branded shirt.

XxLine BreakxX

Haru was awoken by a splash of cold water being poured on him by the guy he saved yesterday. He smiled awkwardly, seeing the guy smile down at him for a whole two minutes. "So, where's Haku-chan?"

Stare….

"Why'd he always get the weirdos?" Closing his eyes to hide his annoyance at being ignored yet not ignored, Haru turned his head when the boy walked behind him and placed a paper seal on his ice cuffs. He opened his eyes at the feeling of his arms being free after an entire day of waiting to be freed by Haku.

Springing to his feet, Haru smiled at the boy and then ran off in the forest searching for his teammates. He would not risk being held captive any longer. Hanging out with Haku was great, especially when they would train together, and she would get touchy.

"Thanks, buddy!" He yelled over his shoulder. Letting his body run on autopilot. As he pictured Haku's naked body lying on top of his kissing him and Naruko and Satsuki hiding their bodies shyly with cute blushes behind towels, flashed in his mind. He couldn't wait to get back to them, but he would miss Haku though.

Seeing a massive mansion set up in the middle of the forest Haru ducked in some bushes hearing a man's screaming and a heavy door close shut. Peering through the shrub he first saw what looked to be more than thirty dead mercenaries sprawled out on the ground, each lying there peacefully without a wound on their bodies.

He then saw a short man be thrown down some steps that lead to the house. Watching him tumble slowly down the steps crying out in pain with each step fell down Haru wanted to go and help him. But that all stoped when he saw someone descend the steps revealing more and more of their body until it was Rin, his sensei glaring down at the man crying on the floor.

Stumbling back at the fact it was his beloved happy go lucky sensei torturing the man he gulped and looked back through the bushes. Only to see her tie the man up, gagging him in the process and drag him on the ground past a few of his dead workers into the forest opposite of himself.

Standing up from his hiding spot he dashed out in the open to follow her and her captive, but fell to his knees feeling the darkest chakra he's ever felt flood his body and soul. Clawing desperately at the ground in fear of passing out he watched in awe as trees exploded from the Earth shielding him from the dark chakra.

Placing his hand on the tree he felt his own chakra coursing within it. Down at his feet he saw small roots slither around on the ground much like alive snakes. Picking one up, he noticed it also had his chakra in it. What the hell did he do now, he wondered looking up at the leaves of the trees high above as a root slithered up his body.

-End-