Confronting the Shadow

by NYC01234

Naruto Uzumaki and Sayuri Uchiha have more in common than they'd care to admit. After being thrust into the dangers of the world, they find solace in each other's company. However, their bond is soon put at risk when they are both forced to choose what they desire more — friendship or revenge? Will they endure? Or does fate have less savory plans for them? (Female Sasuke).

7. Chapter Seven

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Naruto Shippuden. All characters in this story, excluding those that are created by me, are the intellectual property of Masashi Kishimoto. Please show support by reading or watching the original source material.

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~Confronting the Shadow: Chapter Seven~

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"The Bridge of Hope"

Pain and cold were the two words that Sayuri would use to best describe her situation. The decrease in temperature actually made the needles cutting and piercing her skin hurt more than they probably would under ordinary circumstances. Still, after a while, the cold air would produce a numbing sensation in her skin that rendered her tender wounds to be an afterthought. Summoning her strength, Sayuri weaved through six hand seals and held her fingers in front of her mouth.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Having grown sick of being skewered by senbon, Sayuri used her signature jutsu in an attempt to melt the ice mirrors there and now. Imagine her surprise when her attack proved useless. This ice clearly wasn't ordinary since even a three-year-old kid knew that fire melted ice. Sayuri was overcome with a feeling of hopelessness for a brief moment but instantly squashed it away. No jutsu was perfect. Nobody was unbeatable. Everyone had a weakness. Sayuri swiveled her head and scanned over the various reflections of her masked opponent.

'I just need to figure out what yours is,' Sayuri thought with a frown.

"I don't want to kill you," Haku stated, his voice echoing all around. "Surrender, and I'll spare you."

Sayuri actually smirked at the gall of her opponent. Did this guy really think he was so powerful that he could have her begging for mercy? Regardless of whether he was genuine or not, his words were wasted on Sayuri. Needless to say, she didn't want charity from anyone. Hell, Sayuri wouldn't even allow someone to pull a chair out for her at a restaurant — not that she ate out often (or with others, for that matter).

'No choice,' Sayuri thought before activating her Sharingan. She'd hoped that she wouldn't need it for this fight, but she wouldn't allow her pride to lead to her defeat. There was a lot at stake.

The moment she activated her ocular jutsu, Haku's movements became far more readable. For the first time in the fight, Sayuri anticipated Haku's moves and deflected a barrage of senbon with a kunai, much to the masked boy's surprise. He noticed the change in Sayuri's eyes and melded back into a mirror.

Despite the shift in their match, Haku remained calm. Sayuri being able to predict his moves didn't mean that she had the physical prowess to counter them correctly. It was the primary weakness of the Sharingan's perceptive abilities — at least according to entries that Haku had read in the Bingo Book. Even if a user's eyes could track their opponent's movements, if their body wasn't just as fast, then all it accomplished was forcing the user to see their demise more clearly.

At least, that's what Haku thought before a barrage of shuriken nearly intercepted him when he was moving between mirrors. The smirk on Sayuri's face indicated that she was fully aware of the progress she was making. Despite not delivering any damage, the point was still made. Sayuri was able to see Haku and was slowly but surely becoming comfortable fighting against his speed. It was only a matter of time before attacks like that began landing.

'I'll need to increase my speed,' Haku realized before melding into another mirror.

This time, upon leaving the mirror, he did not transfer to another but instead headed straight for his opponent. Sayuri was surprised by the change in tactics and could barely raise her kunai to parry the direct attack. She stumbled back due to the force of the exchange but managed to shift her weight and rotate her hips to deliver a spinning back-kick to her opponent's chest. The force of the blow sent Haku sailing into the air, but he skillfully managed to form a seal with his right hand.

While Sayuri's leg was still extended from her kick, a patch of ice manifested under her planted foot. The unexpected change in her footing caused her to slip and fall onto her back and drop her kunai. Seizing the advantage, Haku diverted his path midair and dove straight for his downed enemy. Realizing where her opponent would strike, Sayuri formed a familiar set of seals while on her back before releasing a massive fireball that completely eclipsed Haku from view.

"Water Style: Water Bullet."

Sayuri's jutsu was then countered by a bullet of water identical in size to her jutsu. The collision of the two elements resulted in the fireball being snuffed out, and the water bullet being evaporated into a cloud of mist. With her vision now obscured, Sayuri only had an instant to react before another barrage of senbon were headed straight for her neck and chest. She was forced to raise her arms to block the attack, resulting in her forearms taking all of the damage.

Haku's attacks weren't causing all that much damage all at once, but they were slowly beginning to take their toll. Sayuri realized this when she struggled to get back up to her feet. She reached down to her thigh and pulled out a needle that had pierced her just above to knee and winced at the pain. The needles were inhibiting her movement by targeting specific muscles and pressure points in her body. Sayuri recalled how Zabuza's death had been faked during their first battle and realized that all it would take was a couple of senbon to the neck for her to be completely incapacitated.

Now that Sayuri was able to see Haku's movements, victory was possible. However, she couldn't afford to take any further damage. It was becoming rather apparent that it would take only one or two more attacks to put her out of commission for good, so she'd need to be perfect in her execution from here on out.

"Nobody ever said this would be easy," Sayuri mumbled to herself, but not loud enough for Haku to hear.

---

Mangetsu smiled as he retreated further down the bridge. Naruto was in hot pursuit, nipping at his enemy's heels the entire way. Finally, Mangetsu stopped in his tracks, causing Naruto to skid to a halt and raise his guard. He predicted some kind of attack to come, but nothing happened. Mangetsu simply opted to turn and face him.

"This should be better. We'll have privacy here," Mangetsu said. "Does this location work for you?"

Naruto frowned. They'd gone far enough down the bridge to where he could no longer see his team through the mist, but they were still close enough to hear the fighting. For a moment, Naruto worried about the wellbeing of his team, but then he remembered how Kakashi, Sayuri, and Sakura were each competent in their own ways. They would be fine. But now, it was his responsibility to ensure that this shark-toothed jackass didn't get his hands on Tazuna.

Taking his silence as approval, Mangetsu charged forward in a burst of impressive speed. Able to keep up well enough, Naruto performed six hand seals and focused intently on his opponent, "Water Style: Severing Wave," he muttered.

Chakra kneaded in Naruto's stomach, and he could immediately feel it being converted into water. Using the gathered water, Naruto released it from his mouth in a deadly high-pressure stream that could easily cut through most forms of defense. Mangetsu continued his advance but shifted to the side, allowing the jutsu to pass right over his shoulder. Naruto countered by turned his head to the left, directing the stream's direction toward Mangetsu's exposed body.

Mangetsu either didn't see the jutsu change direction or didn't care because he was immediately cut down at the waist. Naruto watched his upper body plop to the ground in an unceremonious thud. Yet, he refused to believe that the fight was over. He summoned a pair of chakra kunai once more and ran forward, intending to plunge one of them into Mangetsu's skull. However, before his attack could land, Mangetsu's legs reattached to his lower body just as his arm had earlier, and he blocked Naruto's chakra kunai with his blade.

Now that the two were standing face-to-face, they began to engage in close hand-to-hand combat. Naruto's chakra kunai proved to be rather effective for blocking Mangetsu's rapid and precise sword swings. Still, their range was too short for him to be able to land any significant strikes of his own. But even if they could, Naruto wasn't sure that any damage would be done. As far as he could tell, concussive damage, cutting damage, and piercing damage had all been proven to be fruitless. Sakura's paper bomb attack proved the former, and all of his failed attacks thus far proved the latter.

Suddenly, Mangetsu's body transformed entirely into water, which pooled onto the ground at Naruto's feet. He then quickly reformed directly behind Naruto and landed a diagonal slash on his back. Naruto arched his back in pain and swiveled around. However, Mangetsu simply performed the same maneuver and transformed into water again before kicking Naruto in the black with enough force to send him tumbling forward.

The kick had been intelligently placed and landed directly on the open wound, which increased the pain tenfold. Naruto remained on his stomach for a few moments before gathering the strength to push back to his feet. He heard Mangetsu casually strolling up behind him and scowled at the fact that none of his attacks were working. To make matters worse, Naruto's specialty was water style. He figured that using water style ninjutsu against someone who seemed to be practically made of the stuff was probably a bad idea.

Or was it?

It was at that moment that an idea popped into Naruto's head. He recalled the liquid state that Mangetsu could apparently shift into at will and wondered if it left him vulnerable. Obviously, conventional attacks wouldn't work at all, but Naruto had a theory that he wanted to prove. He hoped that it would work because he wasn't sure how many more attacks he could actually take before he began to lose control of himself. That would be difficult to explain to his team if they noticed him.

'Alright, just a little more,' Naruto mentally groaned before summoning a chakra blade in his right hand.

Mangetsu seemed almost offended that a novice swordsman wanted to tangle with him in his area of expertise. Nevertheless, he accepted the challenge and parried Naruto's initial attack. He had to admit, the boy's speed made up for his lack of skill, but it was clear that he had never received any formal training with a blade. Eventually, Mangetsu slammed the pommel of his sword onto the side of Naruto's head, knocking it to the side. However, before he could land a final strike, Naruto vanished in a body flicker and, in a stroke of irony, appeared at Mangetsu's back poised to strike.

Having underestimated Naruto's speed, Mangetsu transformed into water to assault Naruto's blindside. However, before he could do so, Naruto formed a hand seal with his left hand and pointed it directly at the puddle that Mangetsu had turned into. Much to his shock, Mangetsu felt a foreign chakra entering the pool of water and realized that the boy must have been attempting to use water manipulation to prevent him from transforming back.

Funny enough, it actually worked. Mangetsu wasn't sure if everyone he fought up until this point wasn't smart enough to try, or if this Naruto kid had a particularly strong affinity for water, but this was the first time anyone had ever taken advantage of his Hydrification Jutsu in this way. Up until this moment, he'd assumed that the only weakness to his jutsu was lightning style.

The strain of holding Mangetsu in place appeared significant, as Naruto needed to furrow his brow just to keep him in place. He allowed the chakra blade in his right hand to disappear and instead created what appeared to be an urn. Mangetsu began to panic when he realized what Naruto was doing. Using his left hand to direct the water, Naruto slowly inched it toward the urn where he intended to seal it shut. In such a small, confined space, Mangetsu would be unable to transform back into his body and would have no hope of escape.

Barely able to muster up any resistance, Mangetsu finally managed to manifest one of his arms out of the mass of water that Naruto was attempting to seal. It was all he could do while his body was under the influence of the boy's incredibly powerful chakra, but it was more than enough for him to make it out of this fight. Mangetsu formed a finger gun with his hand and pointed it directly at Naruto. A small concentration of water then formed at the tip of his index finger, and Naruto only realized the danger when it was too late.

"Water Gun Jutsu!"

The droplet of water was fired with incredible force and speed. The only thing Naruto heard was a loud bang before the bullet went directly through his chest.

---

Kakashi remained silent and focused his hearing as he stood in the center of a thick mist. It was like a redo of their initial battle, but without having a genin team to protect, he was fairing much better. When the fight began, Kakashi had won the initial physical exchanges. Zabuza was then forced to fall back onto his specialty. However, Kakashi's perception was high enough for him to avoid pretty much all of Zabuza's attacks. Still, he found himself unable to mount much of an offensive assault due to his opponent's elusive nature.

However, Kakashi was then overtaken by a sense of urgency when he felt a familiar, malevolent chakra blanketing the bridge. His eyes widened in horror as he realized what the possible implications of the Nine Tails chakra being released could mean. Had the beast broken free? He then calmed his nerves and reasoned that there would be no basis to assume anything if the Nine Tails had escaped from the seal. Were that to be the case, there would be no doubt, and they would all probably be dead.

Quick to notice the almost venomous chakra as well, Zabuza initially assumed that it must have originated from Kakashi. However, after a moment of thought, he scrapped that theory. Kakashi was strong — undoubtedly so — but even he couldn't produce such a massive amount of chakra all at once. No. This was something else entirely.

Even if the Nine Tails hadn't been released, as far as Kakashi was concerned, whatever was going on with Naruto just made it to the top of his priority list — Zabuza be damned. He removed a small scroll from his vest and unfurled it, revealing sealing matrixes inside. He then slit his thumb with a kunai and dragged the bleeding digit against the interior of the scroll before sealing it shut once more.

"How about we wrap this up, Zabuza? We're both busy people," Kakashi said, concealing his worry behind a layer of bravado. He then formed a hand seal.

Zabuza chuckled through the mist, "Tempting. I'm curious to see how you intend to back up such strong words."

Summoning his chakra, Kakashi had only his team in his thoughts.

---

Both Sayuri and Haku paused in their battle when they sensed a malevolent chakra envelope the bridge, with the former assuming that it must be Zabuza, and the latter honestly having no clue. Haku felt a chill creep up his spine as the vile chakra polluted his senses like an unwelcome guest. On the other hand, Sayuri's heart began pounding in her chest as her body began to subconsciously produce adrenaline. Pushing aside the uneasy feeling that the chakra gave them, the two teens continued their fight.

Up until this point, their battle would be best described as an elaborate dance. With each move that one of them made, the other reacted perfectly and with grace. It would be beautiful to behold if not for the blood and needles littering Sayuri's body. There was no pain, though, only a developing numbness, which indicated that her time in this battle was shortening by the second. Sayuri needed to end this soon, but she wasn't sure how. They had reached an impasse, with neither really able to do any damage against the other.

Upon further inspecting the mirrors that surrounded her, Sayuri realized that no matter how fast she was, Haku would be able to retreat from one mirror to another at near-instantaneous speed. He moved faster than any shuriken, or fireball could travel. By the time her attack landed, Sayuri was already being forced to identify where Haku's counterattack would be coming from.

"Do you know why our battle has reached a stalemate?" Haku asked. "It's because neither of us truly desires to kill the other."

"And what makes you say that?" Sayuri asked, attempting to buy some time. She slinked her hand behind her back and began rummaging through her weapon pouch and counted eight kunai, twelve shuriken, and only one low-impact paper bomb.

If Haku was aware of the delay tactic, he refused to interfere, "Your demeanor," he replied as if it were obvious. "I sense no malice from you, even though I'm your enemy."

Sayuri frowned. Throughout the battle, she hadn't placed all that much consideration in her body language. She was far more concerned with actually staying alive.

"And let me guess. If you wanted to kill me, I'd be dead already?" Sayuri responded. It sounded like the kind of thing that an empathetic villain would say.

The silence that followed her question essentially provided the answer that she had been expecting. Sayuri wasn't sure if it was just arrogance on Haku's part, or if it was true that she was only still alive based on a whim. Regardless, it changed nothing. If Haku was going easy on her, she'd make him pay for that mistake. He'd receive no mercy from her.

"This battle will be decided the moment one of us resigns to taking the other's life," Haku confessed. "I'm struggling with that realization."

"Then why don't you just make this easy on yourself and surrender?" Sayuri asked, genuinely curious. If this guy was such a softie, why was he fighting her in the first place? Why did he even want to kill the bridge builder?

Based on his reaction, it was clear that Sayuri's suggestion was something that Haku had considered himself, "I'm sorry, but I can't," he said. "I am Master Zabuza's tool — his weapon. And since you have chosen to stand between him and his goal, then that makes you my enemy. Even if I have no desire to hurt you."

A tool? What wonderful self-image. Sayuri couldn't imagine a life where she lived in service to another person. Sure, she followed the orders of the Hokage and her sensei, but she hardly considered them to be her masters. The only person that stood as the master of her life was her, and the fact that this guy was so willing to basically sell his soul to another person was, frankly, baffling.

"Well, for a tool, you sure do talk a lot," Sayuri retorted before pulling her hand out of her weapon pouch and retrieving a handful of shuriken.

Seeing that Sayuri was about to execute an attack, Haku allowed three senbon to slip out from his sleeve, and he threw them directly for his opponent's exposed neck. The attack was intercepted by Sayuri's shuriken. Before the weapons could fall to the ground, Sayuri disappeared in a flash of speed. She then inexplicably appeared directly in front of the exact mirror that Haku was hiding in, much to his shock.

'She can see me?' Haku thought in shock before realizing that he needed to move. Using his superior speed, he made to brush past her but was shocked when his wrist was grabbed before he could make his way to another mirror.

Sayuri gripped Haku's wrist in a vice and pulled him toward her with a kunai in her other hand. Before Haku was able to mount much of any resistance, the weapon was plunged into his heart. The feeling of her kunai meeting Haku's flesh certainly felt real enough, and it took a moment for Sayuri to realize just what she had managed to do.

She'd taken a life.

The sound of Haku's blood pooling onto the ground knocked Sayuri out of her trance, and for a moment, she hesitated to look. However, once she did, she was shocked to see that there wasn't actually any blood at all — only water.

'He replaced himself with a clone!' Sayuri realized as the clone reverted back to water. She turned her head to see Haku looming behind her, senbon in hand.

Realizing her vulnerable position, Sayuri made to retreat but found that she was unable to move. Looking down, she was shocked to see that the water from the dispelled clone had frozen over around her feet. With Sayuri immobilized, Haku quickly closed the distance and stabbed senbon into her neck. Sayuri's eyes widened in pain, and her body tensed as she appeared to lose control over her limbs.

Beneath his mask, Haku frowned, "I'm sorry," he said, softly.

"I'm not."

Haku's eyes widened in shock, and he spun around on a dime to see Sayuri blitzing him from behind. Before he could react, he was struck in the head with an open palm and then kicked in the chest, resulting in him tumbling to the other end of the crystal ice dome. While the blow's force was indeed painful, Haku was surprised that his opponent hadn't attempted something more lethal. After rising back to his feet, he looked at the "Sayuri" he had captured and watched as it faded away before his eyes.

"Sharingan genjutsu," Haku assessed. "You got me."

Haku paused when he noticed the smirk plastered over Sayuri's face. He was then alerted to a sizzling sound and realized that it was originating from his forehead. Initial confused, Haku's eyes quickly widened before a small explosion destroyed his mask and caused his head to snap back from the sheer force before he collapsed onto the ground. The control he had been maintaining over his jutsu was unsurprisingly interrupted, and the crystal ice mirrors shattered into pieces — along with Haku's mask.

Sayuri approached her injured opponent with a kunai in hand, prepared to deliver the final blow — if it was even necessary. The paper bomb she had used was relatively weak, but it was still an explosive. Nobody could survive a point-blank explosion like that directly in front of their face — even if they were wearing a mask.

Before Sayuri could get in close, she was shocked to see Haku begin lifting himself back up from the ground. His back was facing her, but as he rose to his feet, Sayuri could see the pieces of his mask crumbling onto the ground. Astounded that Haku was actually alive, she wasn't quite sure what to expect when he turned around.

The first thing Sayuri noticed was the fact that Haku seemed to have sustained surprisingly little damage to his face, despite her best efforts. It was only after coming to this realization that Sayuri noticed that he looked somewhat familiar. Haku had a rather feminine face, with brown eyes and pale skin. His expression was melancholic, and his face was framed by long-brown hair that appeared almost womanly. Sayuri immediately recognized him, and her blood ran cold.

"You're the boy from the woods," Sayuri muttered in shock.

---

After Mangetsu transformed back into his body, he watched in morbid fascination as a putrid, red chakra began to envelop Naruto's body. Nobody could survive a bullet through the chest like that, not even a monster like Zabuza. And yet, despite all logic, Mangetsu saw the various wounds that littered Naruto's body begin to heal before his very eyes.

'What the hell?' Mangetsu thought to himself, having never seen anything like it before. This was different from his ability, which prevented him from taking any physical damage in the first place. This boy was instantly regenerating actual wounds that would kill an ordinary person.

Once his injures had been healed, Naruto slowly rose back to his feet. When Mangetsu was finally able to see his eyes, he nearly dropped his blade in surprise. He was met with a stare that could only be described as demonic, with crimson, slitted eyes. Naruto's demeanor was completely different now as well. Any uncertainty that was present in his stance had vanished. He now had the look of someone who held insurmountable power at his fingertips.

Mangetsu smirked, "Well, it looks like the Hidden Leaf Village has demons too."

Without a word, Naruto lunged forward like a wild animal. Mangetsu was stunned by the sheer speed of his advance but opted not to move as a clawed hand struck his head. An explosion of water was all it amounted to, and Naruto wasn't going to be pleased until he saw blood. He slashed and clawed without thought or concern for his own wellbeing. Mangetsu took it all, feeling no need to resist as his body was scattered all over the bridge.

Naruto's teeth gritted in rage when he saw that water flowed where blood should have. Despite having been ripped limb from limb, Mangetsu's body began to reform itself as it had done many other times during their fight. Realizing that he was allowing his mind to be influenced by the rage of the Nine Tails, Naruto tried to calm himself down. He needed to make use of the beast's power without allowing his mind to be twisted. Strength wasn't what he needed for this fight — it was cunning. This power would merely enable him to execute his strategy.

"You could cut me to pieces and scatter my parts at every corner of the planet, and I'd still manage to put myself back together again," Mangetsu remarked, his voice laced with intrigue. "You're not the only freak here, kid."

"I will be soon."

"Ooooh, spoken like a scary monster," Mangetsu mocked, not at all intimidated by the chakra the emanated from Naruto. "But I think we both know that you don't mean it. Even with chakra like that, I can tell that you don't have the stomach for it."

Closing his eyes, Naruto took in a slow breath. He felt the rage that had infiltrated his body slowly began to dissipate. However, just before it left him completely, he latched onto it. What he needed now was controlled anger, one where his actions were executed with supreme power but also conducted by a rational mind. He would use the Nine Tails' chakra to his advantage, but he wouldn't allow it to consume him entirely. All of his training up until this day had prepared him for this moment.

Seeing that Naruto was beginning to calm down, Mangetsu's stance relaxed — though he remained on guard, "I know you're pissed that I hurt your friend, but I gave her the chance to walk away. It's her fault for not taking it," Mangetsu explained. "You see, my job was to kill the bridge builder, not fight with you, but I just couldn't help myself. Master Zabuza would be so frustrated by my lack of self-control. I'm sure that you can relate."

Naruto frowned.

"I could see the look in your eye. You thirst for the opportunity to prove your worth in battle," Mangetsu continued. "I live to surpass Master Zabuza, and I'll do anything to ensure that I become a shinobi worthy of his legacy — even if that means disobeying his orders. If I'm to become a monster, then that's fine. Because in the end, that's what I have to do to become like him. What is it that you strive for, I wonder?"

Having no desire to continue speaking, Naruto performed the clone seal, and dozens upon dozens of copies of himself — each also possessing the Nine Tails' chakra, surrounded Mangetsu. Familiar with the shadow clone jutsu and how it worked, Mangetsu couldn't help but marvel at the number of clones that Naruto created. The chakra required for such an incredible feat was immense. Still, numbers were irrelevant against him. One hundred strikes were just as ineffective against his jutsu as a single one was.

"Do you still merely wish to see me bleed, or have you resigned yourself to killing me?"

Naruto and his clones ignored the question, and they immediately swarmed Mangetsu in an attempt to overwhelm him. Despite being woefully outnumbered, Mangetsu delt with the clones with ease. The way that he was able to maneuver his body and time his strikes at the perfect moment was something to behold. It proved that he wasn't over-reliant on unique jutsu.

Suddenly, Naruto proceeded to dispel the jutsu, resulting in the clones each bursting into a smoke cloud that overwhelmed Mangetsu's vision. Realizing that this had been the entire reason that Naruto created the clones in the first place, Mangetsu moved to flee the smoke but was stopped when something wrapped around his ankle. He looked down in surprise to see that it was a red chakra chain. Before he could react any further, several other chains burst into his field of view and proceeded to restrain him.

"Advent of Creation: Binding Chains."

Once the smoke from the dispelled clones fully dissipated, Mangetsu followed the length of the chains and saw that they each extended from Naruto's lower back. The blond genin had his hands pressed together with a look of extreme concentration plastered over his face. It was clear that this jutsu was incredibly taxing — whatever it was. Still, it was nothing that he couldn't handle. Chains — no matter how strong — could never hope to restrain him.

Mangetsu then attempted to activate his Hydrification jutsu but was shocked when nothing happened. It was only then that he noticed that he didn't feel his chakra at all. He looked back at Naruto and realized that he must have been using a jutsu that entirely suppressed his chakra. He recalled hearing stories about such jutsu being used by the Uzumaki clan. Yet, he never would have expected a genin to be capable of using one.

"I don't need to kill you. I just need to keep you from killing the old man," Naruto retorted now that he had his opponent exactly where he wanted him.

For a moment, Mangetsu appeared to be shocked. However, after seeming to process his predicament for a few moments, his expression shifted to that of amusement as he openly laughed. Having not anticipated such a reaction, Naruto frowned in preparation to discover that his jutsu had somehow failed. Yet, no such declaration came, and eventually, Mangetsu's laughter slowly subsided.

"To think that I would be matched up with someone whose abilities counter mine so perfectly," Mangetsu said with a smirk. "I should have fought the Uchiha girl instead and let Haku deal with you."

"She would have found a way to defeat you as well. Trust me," Naruto assured, knowing from experience just how skilled Sayuri was. "Fact is, you've lost, and that's all there is to it."

Mangetsu seemed to weigh Naruto's word before eventually nodding in agreement, "I suppose you're right. There's no room for excuses in war," he replied before looking Naruto directly in his eyes. "Have you considered what I said earlier, or were you not paying attention?"

Somewhat surprised at how well Mangetsu was taking his defeat, Naruto frowned in apparent contemplation, "Justice for my family," he stated simply. "That's what I fight for."

"Justice against who?"

Naruto didn't answer.

"Well, I guess it's none of my business anyway," Mangetsu relented with a fanged smile. "I imagine that if someone were to kill Master Zabuza or Haku, then I would be motivated by revenge as well. But still, that's so dull."

"Why do you care anyway?" Naruto retorted. He was less interested in what Mangetsu wanted to say and was more curious about why he was so chatty in the first place. "You seem to have a lot to talk about."

Mangetsu's smile grew, "This will probably be the last conversation that I'll ever have, so I'm trying to make it count."

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. Mangetsu was so confident that he would meet his end here and was shockingly causal about his apparent impending death. In the heat of battle, anything could happen, but the fight between Naruto and Mangetsu was over. Killing Mangetsu now when he was defenseless would be no better than cold-blooded murder — at least in Naruto's eyes.

"I won't kill you," Naruto responded.

"Who said that you were going to be the one to do it?"

Much to Naruto's horror, Mangetsu arched his neck forward and placed his jugular directly above one of the many spikes located on the chakra chains that were keeping him subdued. Suicide, seriously? Naruto had never considered that his opponent would consider that as an option, especially considering just how carefree he seemed to be.

"I can't risk being used as a hostage against my master — nor can I live with the shame of failing him," Mangetsu said. Naruto noticed that his smile was then tinged by a touch of sadness. "Though, in the end, I'd at least hoped that I could have made him proud and become the inheritor of his legacy."

Naruto made to scream out, but before he did, Mangetsu dragged his neck against the chain, and blood immediately began to pour out. Mangetsu's eyes then widened due to the sheer amount of blood being pumped out of his neck, and his body slumped over as he began to be sapped of his remaining strength.

The Nine Tails chakra immediately vanished from Naruto's system, along with the chakra chains that were keeping Mangetsu standing. Mangetsu immediately collapsed face-first onto the ground, where the blood from his wound began pooling. Naruto merely watched in stunned silence as he realized what he had just witnessed. He'd never considered that someone would go to such extreme lengths to avoid capture. And yet, a small part of him was sure that this was what shinobi were expected to do when captured.

In the end, he decided that he wasn't satisfied to have made Mangetsu bleed after all.

---

Once Kakashi had gathered the necessary chakra, he performed four hand seals with the scroll still in his hands. Once he was finished, he slammed the scroll into the ground with enough force to generate cracks. The fuinjutsu scrawled within the scroll then began to leak out of the sides before eventually ceasing altogether.

"Summoning Jutsu: Earth Style Fanged Pursuit."

The was a suspenseful silence in the mist as Zabuza waited patiently for Kakashi's jutsu to take effect. Whatever it was, he was confident that he would be able to handle it well enough. In his eyes, he'd already seen the best that Kakashi had to offer during their first encounter, and this time things were going to end much differently.

"Pointless, don't you think?" Zabuza's voice echoed from all directions. "A jutsu is useless if you can't actually see the target."

Further back in the mist, Zabuza was forming a seal of his own and focusing. He knew exactly where Kakashi was, and was waiting for the opportune moment to strike, "I've got you exactly where I want you. How disappointing, Kakashi," he taunted. "But in the end, I can't help but agree with you. It's time to end this."

Suddenly, there was a low rumbling that made Zabuza freeze in place. The sensation quickly grew to become more powerful and it was much too late when Zabuza finally realized what was happening. A dog suddenly burst out of the ground and bit at his left leg. Zabuza managed to avoid the first bite, but then a number of other dogs — all varying in size — burst out of the concrete and seized him in their jaws. The pain was an afterthought as he realized that he was completely immobilized.

Kakashi rose back to his feet once he realized that his jutsu had been a success. The mist slowly began to fade, and he saw that Zabuza was wholly incapacitated by his shinobi dogs. The largest of the pack, Bull, was perched over Zabuza's back, with his jaws clamped down on his left shoulder. That would certainly leave that arm out of commission — which Kakashi imagined would have been problematic for Zabuza if not for the fact that he wouldn't be leaving this bridge alive.

"I realized that I would have to track you by sent in the mist, which is why I allowed my hounds to sniff some of your blood from our first battle," Kakashi explained, revealing that he had done more than just recover over the past week. "I've got you exactly where I want you. How disappointing, Zabuza."

Zabuza glared as he heard his own words from earlier repeated to him, "Are you going to shut up or keep talking?" he growled.

"I haven't decided yet," Kakashi replied. At this point the mist had cleared completely, and Kakashi closed the distance between himself and Zabuza until they were standing face-to-face. "I think it's good to let my hounds sink their teeth into something every once in a while, you know?"

As if to demonstrate that they could understand their master completely, each of the shinobi dogs bit down slightly harder, causing Zabuza to grit his teeth under his mask.

"All that ambition and look where it got you," Kakashi continued, comfortable with where things stood in the fight. "You seem like the type who never knows when to call it quits. I heard about how you attempted to kill the Mizukage and stage a coup d 'état. When that failed, you were forced to abandon your country, and you became a missing-nin known even in the Hidden Leaf Village."

It was no surprise that Kakashi was aware of his background. Still, Zabuza was pained by the reminder of his greatest failure. None of this would even be necessary if his plan had been successful all those years ago. Now he was always living on the move, never knowing if tomorrow would mark the end of his life.

"And since you're apparently a glutton for punishment, you want to try again," Kakashi deduced. "But for that, you need money. So you've stooped to serving at the beck and call of someone like Gatō."

"If you knew the kind of man that the Mizukage is, you wouldn't be looking down on my ambition," Zabuza responded gravely.

Not all that interested Zabuza's opinion, Kakashi decided that now was a good a time as any to end things, "I think I've given you enough time to process your demise," he said. "Now, I think it's time that I show you a jutsu that I didn't copy."

Kakashi then proceeded to form the seals of the ox, rabbit, and then monkey, before gripping his right wrist. Lightning then began to gather and flicker in his hand, much to Zabuza's shock. Eventually the lightning chakra started to gather in such a highly concentrated quaintly that Kakashi's entire right hand was completely enveloped in it.

"Lightning Blade!"

Zabuza watched the jutsu in awe. He had never seen someone display such skill in manipulating such a devastating concentration of chakra before. It was to the point that Kakashi was literally holding the most chaotic of the five elemental chakra natures in his hand as if it were nothing. Zabuza had heard before that Kakashi had mastery over lighting. Still, he would have never suspected that it would be to this degree.

Midst the crackling of the lightning, Kakashi spoke, "Whatever your reasons may be, I won't allow you to kill Tazuna. He's a hero who's trying to save his country and his people," he declared. "Killing someone like that for profit is not the way of the shinobi. You're a glorified bandit who doesn't care for anyone but yourself."

"Well, you're right about one thing. I don't care," Zabuza confessed with a grin. "Why should I care about the wants and needs of these strangers? Tazuna isn't the only person that's trying to save his country."

The lightning chakra in Kakashi's hand began to fluctuate even more, "If I were you, I wouldn't waste your final thoughts on a dream that won't ever come to fruition," he retorted. "Your foolish goal dies with you."

Without another word, Kakashi charged forward and prepared to plunge his Lightning Blade through Zabuza's heart.

---

Even though he had risen to his feet, Haku appeared utterly defeated. The battle had been hard-fought, with both he and Sayuri gaining an advantage over one another multiple times. Yet, in the end, the Sharingan prevailed. If not for the fact that Haku managed to form a layer of ice on top of his skin to defend against that explosion, he would have almost certainly been killed. And yet, despite managing to survive, he felt no triumph.

"You…You're the boy who was picking herbs with Naruto," Sayuri said.

Haku smiled sadly under his mask at the rather pleasant memory, "So, you were the one who was spying on us?" he replied, revealing that he'd noticed Sayuri's presence in the forest.

If not for the seriousness of the situation, Sayuri would have grown red in the face at the prospect of being caught in the act. Even for an enemy that she would probably never need to see again in her life, she still didn't want anyone getting the wrong impression about the whole "eavesdropping" situation. It was an accident, dammit!

"We're you planning on killing Naruto that day?" Sayuri asked, feeling that it was the most obvious answer.

Almost predictably, Haku shook his head, "I merely sought to retrieve medicinal herbs for Master Zabuza," he explained. "But I'll admit that the thought crossed my mind. In the end, however, I couldn't bring myself to do it. That's my weakness, I suppose."

"There's nothing strong about killing a defenseless person," Sayuri retorted, knowing from personal experience. "If Zabuza taught you that, then he's wrong."

Despite having his master's philosophy openly questioned, Haku didn't refute anything that Sayuri had said. He more than likely shared her sentiment but still desired to please Zabuza. It would explain the look of constant pain that was plastered over his face. Haku wasn't made for war; he was too kind. Yet, he forced himself to do things that he didn't want and work for people that he despised, all so that he could serve Zabuza. Sayuri imagined that it was a miserable existence, but it must have been better than whatever Haku had lived before; otherwise, he wouldn't have taken to it so passionately.

"You are like us, are you not?" Haku asked before clarifying. "Like Naruto and me."

Sayuri didn't respond. Her silence was answer enough.

"Then I will ask you the same question that I asked him, and once you've answered, you may do what you must," Haku said, resigning himself to his fate. "Do you have something precious that you want to protect?"

There was silence as Sayuri considered Haku's words. Initially, she made to say no, but then she thought about the last few weeks. She recalled meeting her team for the first time. In the beginning, she felt that they would be weights around her ankles, but after spending time with them, she'd be lying if she said that they hadn't grown on her. Kakashi was surprisingly competent, skilled, and an excellent teacher. Sakura was kind and considerate and had far more potential than she probably realized. And finally, there was Naruto…

"Yes, I do," Sayuri responded after extensive thought and consideration.

The smile that spread across Haku's face was absent of any of the sadness that had been present in it earlier, "Then I have no doubt that you will continue to become strong."

Silence then reigned on the bridge with a tension that was thick, like oil. Neither Sayuri nor Haku spoke, but it was clear that they both knew what would happen next. Nevertheless, Sayuri was hardly jumping for joy. The kunai in her hand felt oddly heavy, to the point that a part of her was considering actually dropping it to the ground.

"Do I have to?" Sayuri spoke, lowly — though Haku was able to hear her clearly.

Haku inclined his head ever so slightly, "One of us has to win, and in my current condition, I have no way of defeating you," he said. "However, if you refuse to kill me, I can't promise that I will grant you the same luxury. So long as I continue to breathe, I will do so in service to Master Zabuza."

After swallowing a lump in her throat, Sayuri looked down at the kunai in her hands and, for the first time, saw it for what it was — a weapon used for killing. In fact, most of the jutsu and skills that she had learned throughout her life were designed to take life. So why was she so hesitant? It was as Haku said. It was her or him.

Sayuri then began to take slow steps toward Haku, who stood like a statue. The fact that he was allowing it to happen made the entire situation feel much worse. Haku was so gentle that he would literally let a person murder him before he could bring himself to do the same. Sayuri recalled Haku saying earlier that he would kill her if she didn't kill him. Yet, she was almost sure that he was just saying it to make her decision easier.

In the end, despite how weird it seemed, this was what Haku wanted. He couldn't bring himself to go to the lengths of service that his master desired, so he preferred to die altogether. It was insane that the prospect of merely surrendering and living a new life wasn't even being considered by him. For Haku, there were only two acceptable outcomes. A life with Zabuza or death.

Steeling her nerves, Sayuri lunged forward and prepared to stab Haku through the chest. However, at the last second, Haku reached out and caught Sayuri's wrist, preventing the kunai from striking through. Initially, Sayuri thought that she had been deceived and that she would be attacked. Yet, she paused when she noticed Haku looking over his shoulder with wide eyes. After a few moments of the duo just standing there, Haku released Sayuri's wrist and offered a small smile.

"I'm sorry, but it seems that I can't die just yet."

And with that, Haku disappeared.

---

With the mist having full faded from the bridge, Sakura managed to get a general idea of what was happening. The main thing she noticed was that the dome of ice mirrors had dissipated. She then saw Sayuri and Haku facing each other, with the latter having lost his mask. Sakura was unable to see Kakashi or Naruto, as they were too far down the bridge, and she began to worry about their wellbeing.

Suddenly, Haku vanished from view, leaving Sayuri alone. For a moment, Sakura wondered what was happening before realizing that now was her opportunity to help her friend. She looked toward Tazuna for approval and received a quick nod. They then grabbed each other's hands and ran to Sayuri's side, being careful not to be attacked by anyone on the way.

Once they made it to their destination, they found Sayuri standing in stunned silence. To be frank, she looked exhausted and beat up, and it was a marvel that she was even standing up on her own. Now that she realized that the battle was over and that her enemy was gone, Sayuri's legs began to wobble, and she lost balance. However, before she could hit the ground, Sakura caught her gently.

"Sayuri!" Sakura shouted in worry, seeing all of the needles that littered his teammate's body. "Hold on, I'll help you."

A bit overwhelmed at where to start, Sakura eventually chose a senbon and pulled it out of Sayuri's flesh. Expectedly, the young Uchiha flinched, and Sakura immediately felt guilty for having caused the pain. She then removed a few more of the senbon placed in particularly problematic areas — such as around the chest and neck. After doing so, Sakura gulped as she decided to try something that she never had before.

"Alright, hold still. I'll try to make it better," Sakura assured. "Once we've dealt with these few of the open wounds, we can take the rest of the senbon out. We shouldn't do it all at once, okay?"

Sayuri nodded, almost despondently, and Sakura realized that she probably wasn't going to get much in the way of conversation. That was to be expected, though. Sayuri had just taken part in an intense battle, and as far as Sakura knew, she may have even been close to death on more than one occasion. That wasn't something that people came out of acting peachy — and Sayuri wasn't usually very talkative, to begin with.

"Okay, here I go," Sakura muttered before concentrating and focusing chakra into her palm. After a few moments, her hand was overtaken by a pale-green aura, and Sakura smiled at the success.

With the jutsu now complete, Sakura began to hover her hand over some of Sayuri's wounds. At first, she didn't notice a change, but then she saw that the less serious cuts were already beginning to slowly heal. After a few minutes, the more severe puncture wounds began to finally start closing up as well. In the end, only the blood and holes in Sayuri's clothing to indicate that she was ever wounded. Once Sakura was finished, she deactivated the jutsu and let out a tired sigh. She looked at the remaining senbon sticking out of Sayuri's body and resolved to take care of the rest next.

"Sakura."

Hearing Sayuri actually speak nearly caused Sakura to jump out of her skin.

"Yes?" Sakura asked, hoping that her jutsu hadn't hurt her teammate somehow.

"Thank you."

A warm smile spread over Sakura's face, and she stealthily reached up to rub away the tears that were quickly beginning to bud in her eyes.

"You're welcome."

---

Kakashi looked on in shock as his Lightning Blade failed to strike his intended target. At the last moment, Zabuza's underling, Haku, appeared out of nowhere, utilizing incredible speed to place himself between the fatal attack and his master. In the process, Haku took the damage himself, creating a horrid image of Kakashi's arm going through his chest. Yet, despite the obvious trauma, the boy managed to raise his hands and grip Kakashi's arm in a vice. An ice mirror was revealed the be at Kakashi's side. In the reflection, he noted that he looked like the villain in this scenario.

The summoned shinobi hounds that had been holding Zabuza in place subsequently dispelled in puffs of smoke. Kakashi glanced down at his summoning scroll to see there were senbon piercing it, which resulted in the connection between him and the creatures being severed. He inwardly cursed. Using a scroll as a medium to summon was a strategy he employed to prevent himself from using chakra in battle. However, the weakness was that the scroll was needed to maintain the jutsu due to the chakra stored inside. Haku had been the first to ever exploit that weakness.

Zabuza was stunned by the display, confirming to Kakashi that this act of self-sacrifice had not been planned. Kakashi's Lightning Blade then dissipated, though Haku's grip remained firm, keeping the Copy Ninja in place. There was barely any light still flickering in Haku's eyes, indicating that he didn't have much longer.

"Strikethrough us both, Master Zabuza," Haku requested, with his voice fittingly sounding as though he was on the brink of death.

Suddenly ordered out of his trance, Zabuza scowled before grabbing the hilt of his blade. Kakashi's eyes widened when he realized that Zabuza was actually going to go through with it, and he grabbed Haku's body in preparation to get away. The blade was mere inches away from hitting them before Kakashi managed to separate with a well-timed body flicker. His eyes then narrowed when he noticed that Zabuza seemed slower than before — more hesitant.

Zabuza smirked behind his wraps, "Nice move, Kakashi," he complimented, though the smile did not reach his eyes. "You're quick even while holding a body."

Sakura and Sayuri were seated, not all that far away. Sakura continued to help remove the various senbon needles from Sayuri's body to eventually heal the wounds. They watched in shock, having just witnessed the death of one of their primary adversaries. The weight of the development was particularly heavy on Sayuri, seeing as she was the one who had just been engaged in mortal combat with Haku in the first place. Now, the boy was dead.

With the mist now dissipated, Naruto was revealed in the distance. Sakura couldn't find her voice when she saw the blood and tears that riddled her his clothing, but she was relieved to know that he was actually alive and seemingly well. Sayuri's focus extended a bit further out to see Naruto's opponent lying face-down on the ground in a pool of his own blood. With her Sharingan, she was able to see that his body was no longer producing chakra, which indicated that he was dead. This meant that Zabuza was the only one left.

"Let's go to Naruto," Sayuri said, softly. Her voice was clearly haggard due to the strain of battle, but she was still as authoritative as ever.

Sakura bit her lip in hesitation and turned over her shoulder to face Tazuna. Their mission was to protect him, and she's already taken enough risk by bringing him over to Sayuri in the first place.

"I'll go with you. That way, you'll still be following your orders," Tazuna spoke up, clearly able to pick up on her worry.

With the only approval she really needed, Sakura assisted Sayuri back to her feet. The trio made a slow advance to Naruto's position. Sakura made sure to keep her eyes placed securely on Kakashi and Zabuza to ensure that they didn't get in the way of their sensei's fight. The last thing they needed was for Zabuza to take one of them hostage to force Kakashi's hand.

Meanwhile, Kakashi placed Haku's corpse down on the bridge and frowned when he looked into the boy's dead eyes. In a sign of respect, he closed Haku's eyelids. Using the tragedy as a form of motivation, Kakashi stood to his feet and glared at Zabuza. The man stood for everything he opposed. His apparent willingness to disregard his comrades' lives made him worse than trash in Kakashi's eyes. He'd make sure he got what he deserved.

"What bit you in the ass, Kakashi?" Zabuza inquired in an attempt to get under his skin. "Can you really call yourself a shinobi if you feel pity for an enemy?"

"You don't know the first thing about what a shinobi is," Kakashi countered. The assurance in his voice made Zabuza grit his teeth.

It was this elitist idealism that led most people from his village to hate Hidden Leaf shinobi. For the most part, they thought that they were better than everyone else. Despite participating in every single Shinobi World War, they had themselves convinced that they were pacifists. They benefited from the fact that they were located at the center of the wealthiest nation on the continent. Therefore, they could afford to be merciful. However, shinobi from his village — and many others for that matter — were not afforded that luxury and had to steel their hearts to survive.

That's what a true shinobi was — someone who was willing to kill the joy inside their hearts in service to their master.

Feeling decidedly enraged, Zabuza wielded his Executioner's Blade in his only remaining good arm and charge at Kakashi. No more mist. No more misdirection. He was going to tear this bastard asunder there and now. Kakashi was quick to advance forward as well, meeting him head-on at every exchange. With each attempt, Zabuza would grow more and more fatigued, and his chances of victory were dwindling with every second. Though, deep down, he already knew that the fight was over.

---

Not too far back from their battle, Sayuri, Sakura, and Tazuna finally reached Naruto. Despite looking as though he'd been shoved through a meat grinder, he appeared mostly uninjured and unfatigued. When compared to Sayuri, his posture hardly even reflected that he'd been in a battle. Perhaps because she noticed this difference, Sayuri removed Sakura's arm from her shoulder and stood independently. After a momentary lapse of balance due to the wobbliness of her legs, Sayuri steadied herself and managed to stand on her own two feet.

"You won?" Sayuri asked as if it was the only thing she was concerned about.

Naruto's looked down at the body of Mangetsu before nodding joylessly. He supposed it was a victory, but it certainly didn't feel like one, "You?" he replied.

Seeing the lack of enthusiasm in his eyes, Sayuri was reminded of her own disappointment. Her first real deathmatch hadn't been at all what she'd expected. There was no triumph in the victory she'd been granted. Sayuri was unsure whether or not she was upset or relieved that the burden of taking Haku's life was taken away from her at the last moment.

"The boy I fought — Haku," Sayuri began, getting Naruto's attention. "He's the one from the woods."

It was clear that Naruto immediately recognized the person to which Sayuri was referring. He looked back over toward Kakashi and Zabuza's position and, for the first time, focused directly on Haku's face. His eyes widened when he noted the clearly beautiful, feminine features of the boy's face. He appeared different in dress, but the kind, yet sad smile eternally frozen on his face was all too familiar.

Sayuri was right. The corpse laying not even ten feet away from him was the very same herbalist he'd met merely two days ago. He recalled what Haku said about protecting someone precious and realized that he must have decided to give his life in exchange for Zabuza's based on those ideals.

"Oh."

Who knew that victory could feel so hollow?

Suddenly, Zabuza was sent flying back by a powerful back fist from Kakashi, resulting in him landing next to Mangetsu's body. Upon struggling to his feet, he initially failed to notice his subordinate's corpse, but after a moment, he finally did. Despite his best efforts to conceal his emotions, Zabuza couldn't stop his eyes from widening once more. Whether it be Haku's self-sacrifice or Mangetsu's shocking defeat, he wasn't sure how he should feel. Haku had been his loyal guardian, and Mangetsu was to be the inheritor of his blade and will. What was left for him now?

"Now, do you see?" Kakashi said, having closed in on Zabuza once more. "Everything you thought you were fighting for was a lie, and now you've just realized that your true purpose had been taken away from you."

Despite how cruel his words may have sounded, Kakashi clearly didn't take any pleasure in what he was saying. Whether someone was an enemy or not, nobody deserved to see everyone precious to them killed off — even if that person refused to acknowledge that they ever cared in the first place. Zabuza's words may have depicted a cruel, uncaring man, but his body language told a completely different story.

Kakashi continued, "You wonder why your movements have slowed, and your senses have dulled?" he said. "It's not just because you're injured, but because you have nothing to fight for anymore."

"Shut up."

"It only took your subordinates dying for you to realize just how much you actually cared for them," Kakashi said, ignoring Zabuza's warning.

As if given a second wind, Zabuza lunged forward and attempted to cleave Kakashi in two. Using his opponent's momentum against him, Kakashi merely avoided the attack and vaulted over Zabuza to land directly in front of his team. However, as he did so, he managed to plunge two kunai into Zabuza's right arm, virtually eliminating his ability to form hand seals or wield his blade.

Zabuza's Executioner's Blade clattered to the ground, and his arms hung limply at his sides. Instead of turning around and attacking Kakashi once more, Zabuza's gaze remained fixed on Haku. At this point, the outcome of this battle had become even more obvious than before. Even Zabuza could recognize that there was no hope left for him. He had lost.

However, even though their battle seemed to be finished, the war seemed to be just getting started. The sound of a cane slamming on concrete suddenly echoed throughout the surrounding area, revealing that a new party had arrived.

"Well, well, Zabuza. You look like hammered shit," Gatō taunted, with a legion of armed thugs gathered behind him. "I have to say, you disappoint me."

Team 7 looked on in shock, though Kakashi was far more measured. Based on Tazuna's reaction to this new figure, it was likely that he was Gatō. He looked roughly the same as everyone pictured him in their minds but seeing his vile smirk in person still managed to fill them all with disgust. So, this was the man who wanted to ruin this country for good?

"Gatō?" Zabuza replied, confirming Team 7's suspicions and revealing that he was just as taken off guard as they were. "What the hell is this? What's going on?"

Gatō chuckled in amusement, "Well, you see, there's been a slight change of plans," he explained. "I crunched the numbers, and I've come to the conclusion that you're too expensive. So, I've decided to remove you from the payroll."

Zabuza appeared stunned, "What?"

"That being said, these men that I've brought with me aren't cheap either. So, do me a favor and try to take as many with you as you can before you kick the bucket." Gatō continued before observing Zabuza's sorry state. "Think you can manage that, Demon of the Mist? Right now, you look as demonic as a wet kitten."

The thugs at Gatō's back laughed uproariously at the ridicule. Meanwhile, Team 7 watched the new development with caution. Frankly, things were more complicated now than they were before. They'd traded an already half-dead opponent and replaced him with an army of well-rested mercenaries. That wasn't even mentioning the fact that they were all pretty worn out from their fights as it was. Sayuri, in particular, was unsure if she would even be able to fight in her condition — not that she'd admit it if anyone asked.

"Well, Kakashi, it would seem that our fight is over," Zabuza said without turning around to face Team 7. "Since I'm no longer in Gatō's employ, Tazuna is safe from me. We have no quarrel."

Kakashi appeared weary from battle, "I suppose you're right."

While the two elite jōnin were finished deliberating, Gatō took note of Haku's corpse and smiled. He walked up to the body and looked about as pleased as someone could while looking at a dead child. He looked down at his bandaged right hand and recalled the way that Zabuza's flunky had snapped his wrist like a pair of chopsticks and scowled.

"You were so tough back then, bastard. What happened?" Gatō taunted. "I've been meaning to repay you for breaking my arm."

Then, out of nowhere, Gatō kicked Haku's corpse square in the face. The act failed to get a reaction out of Kakashi or Zabuza. Yet, Sakura flinched in discomfort, Sayuri scowled in anger, and Naruto's eyes widened in fury. With Naruto being the only offended party that was actually capable of mounting any sort of attack, he lunged forward in an attempt to separate Gatō's head from his body. With all the things Gatō had done to the people of Wave, and the disrespect that he was showing Haku's body, Naruto had a feeling that this would actually feel good.

However, before he could reach Gatō, the back of his jacket was tightly grabbed, preventing him from continuing his advance. He struggled for a brief moment before eventually conceding and glaring back at Kakashi. He then shifted his attention over to Zabuza, and his glare grew even more fierce. Despite seeing what had been done to his comrade, the Demon of the Mist did absolutely nothing and merely looked on in apathy.

"What the hell are you doing, just standing there watching?" Naruto growled. "You're going to let that bastard do that? Don't you even care that your comrades are dead?"

"Shut up, idiot. Who cares?" Zabuza retorted, once more refusing to turn and face Team 7. "I merely used Haku and Mangetsu, just as Gatō used me. It would be hypocritical for me to weep for them and in the same breath curse Gatō."

Kakashi was unsure if Zabuza was trying to convince Naruto or himself.

"I already thought that you were a piece of shit, but now I'm certain," Naruto spat. Sakura was shocked by the genuine passion that her teammate was exhibiting. Kakashi tried to calm him down, but Naruto shrugged him off. "I don't care that Gatō and his cronies showed up. As far as I'm concerned, you're still the worst person standing on this bridge."

"All the time you spent with those two, and you don't even care that they're dead?" Naruto continued. He then pointed to Mangetsu's body. "You see him? He took his own life so that he couldn't be used against you. They sacrificed their lives to protect you, and you just discarded them in the end, like broken tools. Are you trying to tell me that's what a shinobi actually is? Because I'm not buying it!"

Sayuri listened closely to Naruto's words and felt his personal pain influencing each one. For someone like Naruto, who likely hadn't experienced what it felt like to be loved, it must have been infuriating to see someone like Zabuza refusing to value the people who loved him. If Naruto had someone like that in his life, he'd never let them go. Never.

With that being said, Sayuri could empathize with Naruto and Zabuza both — though she wasn't nearly vocal (or fit enough at the moment) to share those feelings with everyone. Having experienced significant loss herself, she knew better than anyone that a person shouldn't take what they had for granted. It could vanish at any moment, and you would be left with nothing. Zabuza's posture and demeanor reminded her of herself when she first overlooked the graves of her clansmen. Similarly, Sayuri tried to lie to herself to pretend that she wasn't feeling pain, all to appear strong.

It was then that Zabuza looked over his shoulder, revealing tears to be streaming down his face, "You talk too much, kid. Your words cut deep — deeper than any blade."

Everyone was shocked by the blatant showing of emotion on Zabuza's face, but none more so than Naruto, who watched in silent astonishment. He'd already reached his conclusions about Zabuza. Yet, it appeared that there was more to the missing-nin than he'd initially thought. On the other hand, Kakashi, while surprised by the tears, had long since seen through Zabuza's bravado.

"While Haku fought on this bridge today, his heart was breaking in two," Zabuza uttered, his voice filled with intense emotion. "Haku should have never been forced to become a shinobi. He was always too kind and caring. He was someone who could feel pain and sorrow, and because of him, I've come to realize that I can feel too."

Then, as if remembering a fond memory at a sad time, Zabuza chuckled sadly. "Look at me, shedding tears. To think that Mangetsu wanted to become like me. I was a terrible master when he was alive, and an even worse one now that he's dead."

Zabuza's shoulders seemed to relax as he came to some kind of realization, "And yet, I feel content that it ends this way," he said.

After a moment, Zabuza then began to bite through the wraps around his face, revealing a set of sharpened teeth, not unlike Mangetsu's. Once he was finished, he turned and looked Naruto in the eye and smirked at the boy's stunned expression. "What? Surprised to see that I'm actually human? Even shinobi are human. No matter how hard we try to escape that simple fact, we always fail. Well, at least I have failed."

Despite being wary of the eventual danger that they would face, Kakashi was appreciative of the lesson that his team was learning here today. It was something that he could have told them thousands of times in the safety of the village, but only seeing it firsthand like they were now would actually make them take the lesson to heart. Shinobi were tools, and yet, they were also human. But if humans couldn't be tools, what did that make a shinobi?

That was the inherent struggle of shinobi.

"Kid," Zabuza barked out directly to Naruto. "Conjure up a kunai and toss it over."

Naruto appeared surprised by the request, but he quickly pushed the feeling down and did as he was asked. A chakra kunai appeared in his hand, and he lobbed it over at Zabuza's head. Zabuza caught the weapon in his exposed mouth and tested the density with his teeth. Satisfied with what he felt, Zabuza grinned around the handle of the chakra kunai and sprinted toward Gatō and his band of thugs.

Realizing that Zabuza wasn't nearly as harmless as he thought, Gatō retreated back to the safety of his men. Despite how intimidating Zabuza's presence still was, the group of thugs still appeared rather confident. They didn't see how some armless guy would be able to take them out with just a blade in his mouth — even if he was some famous shinobi. However, once he got within arm's reach, he took his speed up a notch and managed to slice through the first two men that he came into contact with.

The genin of Team 7 watched in awe are Zabuza managed to take out scores of armed men with a mere kunai in his mouth. With every exchange, at least one of his enemies would be killed. Even if Zabuza sustained a blow of his own, he quickly overcame the pain and continued on. Naruto watched the proceeding and his mouth straightened into a thin line. In his eyes, what he was watching now was a true shinobi — someone who endured endless pain to reach their goal. That's what he wanted to be.

Eventually, despite having a spear and a sword sticking out of his back, Zabuza made it to the end of the bridge where Gatō was waiting in horror. As the billionaire shipping tycoon watched Zabuza's advance, he saw the silhouette of a demonic creature looming in the background. Gatō then realized just what he was facing off against. This wasn't a man. This was the devil!

The moment he was within range, Zabuza plunged the kunai directly into Gatō's chest. However, he was then stabbed several times in the back by the remaining thugs that had managed to survive his onslaught. And yet, now, with multiple spears and blades piercing his back, he remained standing. Zabuza's sheer tenacity and presence was enough to make the remainder of the armed thugs back away in fear. Could this man even be killed? Was he human?

Was this a shinobi?

"You bastard," Gatō groaned with blood dripping from his mouth. "If you're so eager to join your lackeys, go ahead. But you've got no businesses dragging me with you."

Hunched over and in incredible pain, Zabuza grinned bloodily, "That's where you're mistaken, Gatō," he said, all the while staring at the blood that was pooling at his feet. "Those children…where they've gone, I can never hope to follow. You and I…"

Zabuza then musted his strength and hobbled over to Gatō, who was still struggling with the grievous nature of his own injury. He attempted to step back to avoid meeting Zabuza's gaze, but with the end of the bridge behind him, he had nowhere else to go. He urged the Demon of the Mist to stay away from him, but predictably, his cries were ignored.

"You and I wouldn't be welcome where they are now. Hell would be the only fitting end for men like us," Zabuza assured, looking thrilled by the proposition. "I can't think of a more perfect place for me — I'll fit right in. But you — well — I fear that you're in for a long and excruciating eternity!"

Zabuza then hunched over and grabbed the chakra kunai still sticking out of Gatō's chest and pulled it out with his teeth, causing blood to spurt out. He then proceeded to slash Gatō across his torso multiple times, inflicting sweet pain in the process. But he wouldn't allow it to end there. He rotated his body in an attempt to generate as much force as possible, and in the process snapped Gatō's glasses under his foot. Then, in a fitting end for the tyrant of the Land of Waves, Gatō's head was sliced clean off of his shoulders. His body then plummeted into the sea below.

Silence reigned on the bridge as everyone watching the incredible display with mixtures of shock and awe. Zabuza then turned to face the remaining thugs and glared. The look's fierceness was enough to cause all the men to take a step back in trepidation, despite the vastly superior numbers that they possessed. Zabuza then began making slow and purposeful steps forward, and the thugs parted out of his way, with none having any desire to be taken down by this demon.

The kunai in Zabuza's mouth clattered onto the ground and vanished into oblivion. With each step, his vision became cloudier and cloudier. Still, he insisted on keeping Haku and Mangetsu in his line of sight. In the end, his strength abandoned him, and he collapsed to his knees.

'You two,' Zabuza thought to himself. In his near-death state, he saw both Haku and Mangetsu standing in front of him with smiles on their faces. Zabuza knew that what he was seeing wasn't real, but he chose to believe otherwise. 'So, this is goodbye at last. Not once did I ever thank you both. Forgive me for that.'

It was then that Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist and A-ranked missing-nin from the Hidden Mist Village, had fallen. Naruto attempted to avert his gaze, but Kakashi placed a firm hand on his student's shoulder, urging him to do otherwise.

"Don't look away. This is how a shinobi's life ends," Kakashi explained. "Honor him."

Naruto did as he was instructed and kept his gaze fixed on Zabuza's bloodied form. At that moment, he learned an incredible lesson of what real strength was. Through Haku's words and Zabuza's actions, he now knew the man that he needed to be.

---

While Team 7 would have appreciated the opportunity to mourn the loss of such a worthy adversary, they were quickly reminded of the fact that they still weren't alone on the bridge. Those of Gatō's thugs that remained began to grow rowdy, and Sayuri heard rumblings of sacking the nearby town since Gatō was no longer around to pay them.

Assessing the situation, Sayuri realized that only Naruto and Kakashi were fit to continue fighting — loathed as she was to admit it. As merciful as Haku was, he still did a number on her. Sayuri imagined that it would take at least a few hours and a full night's rest before she regained feeling in some of her muscles. Recalling her injuries, she was reminded that Naruto appeared virtually unharmed despite the blood, cuts, and puncture marks that marred his clothing. Did he have iron skin, or did he just heal absurdly quickly?

"Sayuri, I still have a couple of kunai and paper bombs," Sakura spoke up. "Would you be able to throw them if the need arises?"

Almost offended that Sakura would need to even ask, Sayuri grunted in affirmation. She then looked down at Sakura's side and, for the first time, noticed the bandage that was tinged by fresh blood, "Why did you use your jutsu to heal me when you're still injured?" Sayuri asked.

Sakura seemed to perk up at the response and looked down toward her injury, almost as if she were just reminded that she had it in the first place. Having been caught red-handed, Sakura chuckled abashedly, "Well, helping you was the first time that I ever used that jutsu on anything other than a leaf."

One of Sayuri's delicate brows perked up.

"So, I was your guinea pig, then?"

Sakura waved her hands erratically, realizing the negative implication, "No, no, of course not!" she assured. "I was just like, "it's now or never". You know? And then you were all like—"

"Sakura."

"Yes?"

"I was joking."

With a shake of her head and a smirk, Sayuri continued, "As if I would get annoyed at you for helping me," she said. "Is that really something you think I would do?"

The silence from Sakura spoke volumes.

"Really?"

Sakura smiled awkwardly, "Well, you ARE pretty stubborn about letting other people help you," she explained before her smile grew warm. "But so is Naruto. You two are really similar in that way."

They both looked to the boy in question and saw that Naruto, along with Kakashi, was preparing to square off with the remainder of Gatō's thugs. While Zabuza had killed quite a few of them before his death, Team 7 was still incredibly outnumbered. The thugs couldn't use chakra, which was advantageous to them, but they were still armed to the teeth. They would definitely need to be taken seriously.

'Similar to Naruto, huh?' Sayuri thought to herself while looking at Naruto's back. A small smile then spread over her face. 'As if.'

The thugs then rallied together and prepared to charge forward but were stopped when a single arrow soared through the air and landed in their path. This alerted everyone on the bridge to a new presence. They all turned to see what could only be described as an armed mob of what seemed to be every able-bodied person in the village. Not all of their weapons were suited to battle, but their numbers were overwhelming — far superior to the thugs.

At the front of the mob stood Inari, wearing a metal cooking pot on his head with a crossbow in his hands. Sakura immediately recognized Giichi — the man who had quit working on the bridge a few days ago — standing at Inari's side with a pickaxe in his hands. Seeing everyone from his village gathering together to take a stand caused tears to build up in Tazuna's eyes.

"Everyone," Tazuna muttered before he couldn't stop the flow of tears any longer.

"If you want to reach our village, you'll have to go through all of us!" Giichi yelled, earning shouts of agreement from everyone else in the crowd.

Then, to make matters worse for the remaining thugs, both Naruto and Kakashi created dozens of shadow clones to aid in the impending battle. Thankfully, no conflict ensued, as the thugs realized that the village wasn't nearly as easy of a target as they'd anticipated it would be. Sayuri and the others watched in amusement as the thugs all attempted to board their boat to escape, with several pulling and shoving each other like crabs in a bucket.

Once the crisis was clearly fully abated, there was a celebration. While Team 7 finally let down their guards and relaxed, the people of Wave began to cheer and hug each other when they realized that their nightmare was finally over. Gatō was DEAD. None appeared happier than Inari and Tazuna, with the latter picking up his grandson and hugging him tightly.

While everyone decompressed, Kakashi's focus shifted over to Zabuza's prone form. He left his team, walked over to Zabuza's body, and removed the various swords and spears sticking out of his back. It was only upon doing so that Kakashi realized, much to his astonishment, that Zabuza was still alive. Though, it was clear that he had only minutes at best to live. If not for the fact that he was a shinobi, Kakashi was confident he would have been dead already.

"Kakashi," Zabuza muttered. Though his voice was weak, he somehow still managed to sound strong.

"Yes?"

"Take me to them."

Immediately understanding what Zabuza was requesting, Kakashi picked up the dying man and began carrying him over to Haku's body. He then exchanged a look with Naruto, who quickly got the message and leaned down, picking up Mangetsu's body with ease. Sayuri attempted to help but was stopped by Sakura, who gave her a stern look. Despite the elation of their country being free, the people of Wave all quieted down as they realized what was happening.

Naruto laid down Mangetsu's body first, and Kakashi placed Zabuza between the bodies of his two students so he could be close to both of them in the end. Inexplicably, a light snow began to fall over the bridge, even though it was entirely out of season. Zabuza internally remarked that it must have been Haku's doing before looking over the bodies of Haku and Mangetsu closely.

"I wish that I could go where you two are," Zabuza muttered with his final breath.

Everyone mourned silently, even those who weren't familiar with the fallen. Kakashi looked over the body of the man who was once his enemy. He thought that Zabuza going wherever it was that Haku and Mangetsu were wasn't such a far-fetched idea. After all, it wasn't how a person lived, but how they died that defined who they were.

---

Team 7 stood atop a small hill overlooking Tazuna's bridge, with three freshly marked graves — one of which had Zabuza's blade plunged in the ground directly behind it. Sakura was crouched before the wooden crosses, decorating them with flower arrangements. Meanwhile, Naruto, Sayuri, and Kakashi watched her in silence.

It had been a week since the final battle, and since then, the bridge had been completed. For the first time in their nation's history, the Land of Waves was finally connected to the mainland. With the threat of Gatō gone, pretty much every able-bodied man in the village assisted in the completion of the bridge. With the extra help, the work was finished nearly ahead of schedule.

"So, sensei, was Zabuza right?" Sakura asked after finishing with the grave markers. "Are shinobi just tools?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Kakashi replied causally, causing Sakura's shoulders to sag. "It's something you think about a lot in the beginning, but eventually, you'll just come to accept it. That's just the way that things are."

With a small frown, Sakura nodded in understanding. It wasn't like she had the right to complain or anything. She chose to be a shinobi, and at no point was she lied to about what such a career would entail. The instructors at the Academy would regularly explain the dangers of being a shinobi. It was only after Sakura's first real mission that she finally took those warnings to heart.

"You can believe that if you want, but I don't," Sayuri coolly countered. "I'm not some tool to be used for someone else's satisfaction."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "It's more of a symbolic thing, really," he explained, though Sayuri hardly seemed convinced. "You make it sound really creepy when you say it like that, you know?"

Naruto stepped forward and stood before the three graves and stuffed his hands into his pockets. Haku and Mangetsu died believing that they were tools. With his final act, Zabuza realized the flaws in his philosophy and died as a human being. In Naruto's eyes, that wasn't fair. Both Haku and Mangetsu deserved to make the same realization before death, but they died thinking that they were nothing. They never got the opportunity to see that Zabuza actually cared for them as comrades.

"I think Sayuri's right, sensei," Sakura chirped with a smile before turning to Naruto. "What do you think, Naruto? If you side with us, I think we might be able to change Kakashi-sensei's mind!"

A grin immediately covered up Naruto's internal rumination, "I can get on board with that," he replied before winking at Kakashi. "That makes it three to one. Now you owe us ramen, sensei."

A trickle of sweat dripped down Kakashi's head as Team 7 left behind the graves of their fallen foes.

"Who said anything about ramen?"

---

With the day of their departure finally arriving, nearly the entire village had come down to the bridge to see Team 7 off. Sakura appeared flustered by the attention and turned beet-red when a group of boys her age each brought her some flowers as thanks — much to Sayuri's secret amusement. Sayuri imagined that she would have received similar gifts if not for the fact that she was so intimidating, and frankly, unapproachable. Just the way she liked it.

"Well, it goes without saying that we'll miss ya," Tazuna said, serving as the representative of the village with Inari and Tsunami at his side. "I know I said this already, but none of this would have ever been possible without your help. This country will forever be in your debt."

Tsunami nodded in agreement, "Please be careful on your trip home, and don't forget to visit us again someday!"

"We have you all to thank, too," Kakashi replied with an eye smile.

Despite himself, Inari felt overwhelmed with emotion and was struggling to fight back the tears. Tazuna placed his hand on the boy's head to comfort him, but it only served to make keeping up his manly façade even more difficult. His attention was focused almost solely on Naruto, who perked up when he noticed Inari's struggles.

Seeing Inari fight so hard to keep the tears back, Naruto smiled, "It's okay to cry when you're happy, ya know?" he explained.

As if that was all the permission he needed, the tears began to fall from Inari's eyes in droves, "You better come back one day!" he demanded.

"You got it, big guy," Naruto assured with a smirk before Team 7 finally departed.

As they did, the villagers began openly discussing all the amazing things that had happened over the past few weeks. Eventually, the topic of conversation shifted solely to the bridge, in which everyone was trying to decide what they were going to name it. Surprised that he had forgotten something so important, Tazuna pondered some possible names before his eyes fell on the backs of Team 7 — in particular, Naruto.

While certainly a bit of a pain in the ass, Naruto had done something that nobody ever could. He helped Inari find his courage again. It was that small act that enabled Inari to gather the villagers to defend their home. Had Naruto not taught that lesson, then it was possible that the Land of Waves would have never been free again. With that in mind, choosing the name became easy.

"How about, The Great Naruto Bridge?" Tazuna proposed, to immediate approval.

Inari wiped away his tears and smiled softly as he watched Naruto and his team vanish into the distance. Yeah. The Great Naruto Bridge would be a perfect name.

---

Once Team 7 finally returned to the Leaf Village, Kakashi decided that it would be best to allow everyone to return home while he reported to the Hokage. Secretly relieved that they wouldn't need to be present for something a monotonous as a briefing, Naruto, Sayuri, and Sakura each waved goodbye before heading on their way. Coincidentally, due to the locations of each of their homes, they each took different routes.

Naruto hadn't spoken much with his teammates following the completion of their assignment. His mind was more fixated on images of death. In particular, witnessing the life fade from Mangetsu's eyes weighed heavily on his mind. It was difficult for Naruto to fathom someone willingly taking their own life. Mangetsu had dreams and ambitions — he told Naruto that himself — and yet he appeared content to just throw that all away. And the worst part was that his death didn't amount to anything.

Eventually, Naruto caught sight of his apartment building and realized that he was home. It was a reasonably nice complex, mostly occupied by people that were living alone. The apartments were too small to house families, so most of his fellow tenants were young people who'd finally managed to move away from their parents. However, with that being the case, nobody ever lived in his building for more than a few years, so people hardly knew or spoke to one another.

With his apartment being at the top of the building, Naruto almost considered using his chakra to climb up the wall. Yet, in the end, he decided against it. It was evening now, and people were probably eating or finishing up for the day, and the last thing they would want was someone walking up their walls. Besides, it wasn't like walking up a few flights of stairs would kill him.

Once he finally reached his door, Naruto reached for the handle and paused. His door was slightly ajar, revealing that he had either left it open before leaving for his mission or someone had broken inside. Trusting that he wasn't a dumbass, Naruto conjured a chakra kunai and slowly opened the door. The lights were still off, and he opted to keep them that way; otherwise, he might alert whoever was intruding in his home.

Slowly scanning his apartment's interior, Naruto's eyes immediately narrowed when he noticed a shadowy mass on his couch. He wasn't able to make out any distinguishable features due to the dark, but it was obviously a person. Having identified the threat, Naruto took a silent step back before reaching for the light switch. He would be useless fighting in the dark, and this way, he would at least be able to get a jump on his intruder before the bastard knew what hit them.

In rapid movement, Naruto flipped the switch and immediately lunged forward with his chakra kunai still in hand. He got an inch away from plunging the weapon into the mysterious intruder before his wrist was grabbed in a vice. Naruto immediately recognized the red and green clothing of the intruder, as well as the mane of white hair, before he was subsequently flipped onto his head.

"Jeez, kid. Hello to you too."

Naruto scowled, and his chakra kunai immediately vanished. Crouched before him was a man of rather imposing size, with waist-length, spiky white hair tired into a ponytail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. He wore a green short kimono shirt and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armor that is visible at his wrists and ankles. He also wore handguards, a black belt, traditional wooden geta sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. Strangely, he also sported a horned forehead protector with the kanji for oil in place of a traditional shinobi headband.

"What the hell do you want, Pervy Sage?"

The perverted sage in question stood back up to his feet before returning to laying on the couch, "For you to stop calling me that, for one," he casually responded while getting comfortable. "And after that, you can tell me all about your grand adventures since we last saw each other."

"You ask that like you don't already know," Naruto scoffed, knowing that his unexpected visitor had eyes and ears everywhere. He then walked over to his couch and shoved his guest over to the other side so that he could sit as well, earning an almost comical groan in return. "Are you drunk?"

"I could be at the hot springs conducting research right now. Yet, I decided to welcome my cute little student back home instead," the man complained, clearly having expected a more polite greeting. "You know, most people would be more grateful to know someone of my stature so personally."

Naruto rolled his eyes and leaned back into his couch cushion, "Yeah, yeah. 'You're the great Master Jiraiya.' I've heard it a million times already," he responded with a blatant lack of enthusiasm. "But to me, you'll always just be the perverted old man who bums on my couch, eats all my food, and spends all my money on booze and women."

"And who teaches you cool jutsu," Jiraiya added, not denying anything that Naruto said.

It had been a couple of years since Naruto and Jiraiya first met. It started when Naruto came across Jiraiya, peeping on a group of women swimming in a river. After realizing that Jiraiya was a shinobi, Naruto threatened to alert the women to his presence unless he taught him a jutsu. After a bit of whining on Jiraiya's part, Naruto's demand was met, and the two had stayed in touch ever since.

"The old man told me that you finally became a genin, and I had to come see for myself," Jiraiya spoke up after a few moments of silence. "I heard that you're on Kakashi's team."

"You know Kakashi-sensei?"

Jiraiya shrugged, "Once you get to a high enough level, everyone's heard of each other," he said. "Kakashi is pretty good. You'd do well to listen to what he teaches you."

"But let me guess, not quite as good as you, right?" Naruto asked with a cross of his arms.

With a grin, Jiraiya replied, "And here I thought that you were a lost cause. It seems that you can learn after all."

The two talked for a little while longer. Naruto explained how he became a genin, decided to teach Konohamaru, and all about what happened in the Land of Waves. Jiraiya appeared mildly interested throughout, though, similar to Kakashi, it was obvious that he was more attentive and invested than he let on.

"You becoming a genin wasn't the only thing the old man and I spoke about," Jiraiya said once Naruto was finished, his voice growing serious. His posture then straightened as he looked Naruto in his eyes. "How is the seal?"

Not at all surprised by the question, Naruto scowled, "How would I know?" he asked. "Whenever I try to ask you how it works, you just shirk the question."

"Naruto," Jiraiya began before pausing as if deciding his words carefully. "I know that I'm the one who told you that the Nine Tails chakra should be a tool for you to use, but you need to be careful. If you're not, you may lose yourself to it entirely."

This was a conversation Naruto and Jiraiya had gone through a dozen times. It was almost strange how worrisome Jiraiya would get about the Nine Tails chakra, considering just how easygoing he usually was. It was him who taught and encouraged Naruto to draw on the chakra in the first place! And now that he was actually getting the hang of controlling it, he was being discouraged? Adults could never decide what they actually wanted, it seemed.

"I'm not an idiot, Pervy Sage," Naruto replied. "I don't use the chakra carelessly. This time I didn't even mean to. I almost died, and the chakra took over."

Initially upset at still being referred to by the irritating nickname, Jiraiya's expression grew pensive. Naruto rolled his eyes and looked up at his ceiling. He knew how this was going to go. Jiraiya wasn't going to tell him anything significant and would just give him some vague warning about how he needed to be responsible. That was how it always went down. People were never honest with him.

"And against Mizuki? Did you almost die there too?" Jiraiya asked, causing Naruto's shoulders to stiffen. "From what I was told, you beat him to within an inch of his life."

"He deserved worse than just that," Naruto countered. "And I had to use the chakra there too. Konohamaru was about to be burned alive by his own chakra, and I needed to suppress it with that jutsu."

Jiraiya frowned, but nevertheless nodded understandingly, "Still can't create the chains without the demon's chakra, huh?" he asked, with Naruto's silence being the only answer that he needed. "One day, you'll figure it out. It's a complex and powerful jutsu. Nobody ever said that it would be a piece of cake to master."

Whether he liked it or not, the Nine Tails chakra was as much a part of him as his own chakra. With that in mind, Naruto saw no issue with using the chakra in times of crisis. It wasn't like he used it for arbitrary reasons or anything, anyway. He could have used it in the bell test to almost certainly steal a bell from Kakashi, but he didn't. Naruto wasn't an irresponsible fool.

"Anyway, it's getting late, huh?" Jiraiya noted as he looked over his shoulder and out the window. "I was already trying to sleep before you interrupted me."

Once more, Naruto could only roll his eyes, "Yeah, sure. You can sleep on my couch for the night," he muttered rhetorically, as if Jiraiya had asked permission. "Again."

With the conversation practically finished, for now, Naruto removed his sandals and placed them near the front door. He then turned the lights back off and allowed his eyes to adjust before making his way over to his room. He heard Jiraiya snoring and rolled his eyes at how quickly the old pervert could fall asleep. If only he were so lucky. Upon opening his bedroom door, Naruto noted that his room was illuminated by moonlight. Now able to see clearly, he prepared to step through but paused when he heard a voice.

"Naruto," Jiraiya spoke up from the darkness, causing Naruto to pause in his doorway. "I trust you."

Despite hearing him loud and clear, Naruto closed his door behind him and plopped down onto his bed. While staring up at his slowly rotating ceiling fan, he pondered his teacher's words, "Trust?" he quietly pondered out loud before smiling. "With all of your shit that I put up with, you owe me that, at least."

Do you have someone precious to you in your life?

Naruto pondered Haku's words as his thoughts centered around Jiraiya. Was the Pervy Sage precious to him? Up until now, Naruto had never really thought about him — or anyone for that matter — in that way. Jiraiya was essentially Naruto's unofficial guardian, who ensured that the seal containing the Nine Tails was secure. Yet, now that Naruto thought about it, he was so much more than just that. Back when he was an incompetent loser, Jiraiya taught him how to be a shinobi.

After considering Jiraiya's importance in his life, Naruto's thoughts then shifted over to his team. Kakashi was definitely an elite jōnin for a reason and had taught him a lot in their short time together. Yet, Sakura was the one who surprised Naruto the most. She had a knack for showing up whenever he needed help the most and was nice enough not to rub his nose in it. For that alone, she was more than alright in his book. And then, there was Sayuri...

"Someone precious to me?" Naruto mumbled before a tired smile spread over his face, as he drifted into sleep. "Maybe."

---

~End~

---

Hope you guys enjoyed the update. I'm pleased that I could get this chapter finished as quickly as I promised that I would last time. This chapter is actually the longest so far, reaching roughly 17,000 words (not including this Author's Note).

I hope you guys enjoyed the parallel that I did with Sayuri's scene with Haku and the final scene with Naruto returning to his apartment. Because of Haku, they both realized that they have precious people in their lives. I even wrote the two paragraphs when they each thought about their teammate's almost precisely the same way. It was meant to show that they're both in similar places in their respective journeys. They both want to avenge the deaths of their loved ones, but they also can't deny that they have people in their lives that they care about.

With this chapter, I've finally pretty much explained why Naruto is so much more competent than he was in canon. In my story, Jiraiya became a part of his life far sooner and essentially changed him from being a student at the bottom of his class to what he is now. For the most part, though, Naruto was too stubborn to admit that Jiraiya was someone he cared about. So he never considered Jiraiya to be someone precious to him during his talk with Haku. It was only after meeting Haku that Naruto realized just how important Jiraiya was to him. Kind of like how Zabuza realized how much he cared for Haku and Mangetsu after they died.

So, as you can see, Naruto learned a lot of the same lessons during this arc that he did in canon. You'll just have to wait and see how he interprets these lessons and how they drive his actions as the story progresses.

The person who changed the most during this arc was definitely Sayuri. Learning that Naruto was similar to her was a critical step in her progression. At this point, she already considers him to be her first real friend. In my story, their relationship will be much more conventional than it was in canon. They'll seem more like actual friends, but they'll still always be rivals trying to outdo each other at every turn.

As for Mangetsu, I hope the fight with him was satisfying. However, I really want to convey to you guys the fact that at this point in the story, Mangetsu was WAY stronger than Naruto — even with the Nine Tails chakra. The only reason Naruto won was because he has specific abilities that hard counter Mangetsu's. If not for Naruto's strong water affinity, he wouldn't have almost sealed Mangetsu away. If not for the Nine Tails chakra, Naruto would have been killed by the water pistol jutsu. If not for his chakra chains, Naruto would have never been able to stop Mangetsu, and his attacks would have continued to be useless. See what I mean? Also, in this story, Mangetsu is 16 and not 19 like when he died in canon, so he was never a member of the Seven Swordsmen and didn't have any of the seven swords at his disposal.

Again, thanks for your continued support!