Prepare for a lot of changes to the OG story, built from what happened in the last few chapters...
The next day with Tazuna and his family passed quickly for Team Seven, as they had all finished their training with the trees they all were able to swap the guard, with Sasuke and Naruto taking over with Tazuna and Sakura and Rai watching over Inari and Tsunami. It was an enlightening experience for Rai, guarding over these people and realizing the power he had over them. To make them feel safer, stronger, more assured in their lives. He felt humbled, oddly enough, and made a point to keep up that idea as time went on.
Even Sasuke seemed to feel swayed by this, his attitude calming ever so slightly. He was actually respectful towards their clients, a little at least, and acted much more mature then normal towards Naruto who had buckled down and was acting like a real ninja for once. Rai was pretty proud of his older brother...
However, not everything was so wonderful... Inari made sure of that during their last night of Dinner.
It started easily enough, with Tazuna talking to them all. "The bridge is almost complete, just a few more days of work and it will all be over. I have you to thank for that."
His daughter, putting away the dishes from dinner, piped in with a voice filled with concern. " You've all done great but you have to be careful."
"I have been meaning to ask you this but I haven't had the chance until now. Why did you stay and protect me even after you found out I lied to bring you here."
Kakashi, in a rare moment of wisdom, said. "Those who stray from the path of justice have no courage, but under the wing of a strong leader cowardice cannot survive."
Rai felt the shift in the room before Inari opened his mouth, looking up he saw the tears of the boy and his heart broke into a million pieces.
"But why?"
Naruto, who had been drifting off from the food and long day, turned to Inari. " What'd you say?"
"All this stupid training is just a waste of time. Gato's got an army, they'll beat you down and they'll destroy you, These cool things you say don't mean anything. No matter what you do, the strong always win and the weak always lose." Inari's voice was filled with so much pain it was hard to respond, to tell him how wrong he was...
At least for Rai it was, Naruto had no such inhibitions. "Speak for yourself. It won't be like that for me, you got that. "
"Why don't you be quiet, just looking at you make me sick. You don't know anything about this country your just butting in. Always laughing and playing around, you don't know what it's like to suffer and be treated like dir-ARH!" Inari's speech ended when he slammed into the wall, spit exploding from his mouth.
Everyone turned to Rai, who was standing, his chakra out of control. He could feel it bubbling around him, like a veil, wanting to lash out and kill something. The floor under his feet actually cracked but he barely noticed...
He was too pissed, looking at his boy with so much hate his vision blurred red. "Don't know suffering... Naruto and I are Orphans but until I was made he had no one, no family and a village that hated him when they should be calling him a hero for his sacrifice." He growled out, his heart beating a million miles an hour, his skin aching with heat. "Sasuke's entire family was butchered by his brother when he was seven! He's been alone ever since. Kakashi's entire team is dead, his Father dead... Sakura was bullied for years, mistreated and abused for her appearance. We've all known suffering, we just chose not to be defined by it.
Look at you, like a cowardly little worm you'd rather bury yourself in the dirt then fight back, the even beg for the promise of tomorrow. Your grandfather is risking everything just for the chance of that future, and he's not even a warrior. We are, and unlike you we will fight and we will win. One Genin is worth twenty brainless thugs, Kakashi is worth thousands. Sasuke is the best in our class by miles, Naruto can make a thousand physical clones! We have our own army and we will not lose, so shut your mouth before I make you, you whiny little shit!
And gods, you know what the worst part is, you acting like you have suffered the most. Half of your people can't buy food or have a roof over their heads. You have a loving family, food in your belly and a place to sleep... get over yourself."
Shaking and knowing he needed to leave, Rai turned on heel and marched out of the house into the cool air, hoping he didn't accidently kill the idiot boy he just bitch slapped across the room.
:::
Kakashi was used to making comparisons to Kushina with Naruto, but never with Rai. He was so calm and put together he always saw him as more like Minato. That changed right then, seeing Rai's explosive temper. It was all Kushina, her rage, her explosive chakra, her scathing evaluations of whomever pissed her off, her need for justice and hatred of people like Inari. For the first time, he saw that boy wasn't the perfect, put together entity he tried to showcase to the world. He had a serious flaw... one that could endanger many people if not managed.
Still, he couldn't blame his response... Rai was essentially a toddler in terms of emotional development. Yeah he acted put together but there were serious chinks in his armor that only age and experience would help.
"Your lucky... very, very lucky." Kakashi turned to the stunned Inari, who's face was turning a sharp red where Rai had harshly slapped him. "If you could feel chakra and the power that kid has. He is a skilled Ninja for his age, if he wanted to he could have gutted you before most of us would have thought to stop him. He is right, you live your life sulking and whining but there are a great many who have suffered as much as you have or even more. I do not know how he knew about my life, he probably read it somewhere, but he was right." Kakashi ignored the pang of pain that came from the reminder of his poor life. "You cannot live your life like that if you want to change anything. Many people are risking everything to better the world they live in, and your life is included in that...
And as for Rai, he's suffered too. He has no identity beyond his brother, he has no child hood or memories of his own. All that he is comes from his brother. He hide sit well but it gets to him. It's why he struggles to act smarter then Naruto, to be helpful and mature. He wants to prove that he exists beyond the incident of his birth. Can you say that you could do that?"
"""
"Alright, I leave Naruto and Sasuke in your hands today. They will guard you while we guard your father." Kakashi said to Tsunami, a smile on his face.
She smiled. "Alright, do try and be careful today."
"We will, dear. " Tazuna said. " Now, let's move out."
Naruto, watching from a distance, frowned and created fifty clones. "Create a perimeter, like we did the day before." He was proud of himself when the clones did as he asked, shooting into the trees and standing on the roof. All fifty hid themselves in various areas, covering the house in a comfortable perimeter, keeping their eyes peeled. Rai may be smarter then he was, but Naruto had been studying too.
Realizing that he could treat everything like a prank, Naruto found it easier to think about things. How could he prank the enemy and make sure they mess up trying to attack the house, make sure they were never able to sneak in in the first place! It was genius and he didn't need his brother to tell it to him. Maybe it was petty but he was getting sort of tired of Rai getting all of the attention.
He wanted to show that he was getting smarter too, he was reading the books Rai was, he was practicing his Katas, he was trying to be smarter and think about things more. Rai wasn't the only one improving damn it!
An explosion of information smacked into his mind, and he stumbled suddenly. "Someone is coming... Sasuke, one of my clones was attacked by a wannabe samurai and a random thug with a literal club."
Sasuke nodded. " Where are they?"
"Coming from that direction." He pointed towards the distance, in the opposite direction from where the rest of their team had went. "My clones are fighting them, but their actually pretty fast, especially the one with the sword. I think one is using this thing call Iaido, it's all about using one motion when unsheathing your sword. It's all about speed, we have to be fast for them."
Sasuke, to Naruto's surprise, stayed for a moment. " How'd you know that?"
"Rai isn't the only one reading up. He reads to me what he reads but I have been reading too." He felt sort of annoyed that someone looked at him so disbelieving but he had no time to question it. They had a fight ahead of them...
"Tsunami, Inari, get inside now!"
"""
The sight of Tazuna's entire crew laying on the ground, beaten and bloody but not dead was a startling sight for Rai.
"Someone got to them, someone did this!" Tazuna bellowed out, just as a thick mist covered the bridge.
"This isn't Tazuna, it's whoever saved him... the Hunter Ninja, it's their chakra." Rai called out, just as they all moved into formation, protecting Tazuna in a three way spiral.
"Rai, Sakura, get ready."
Both of them, already in position, pulled out their kunai. The air filled with malice, far greater then what Zabuza had produced. The air was chillier too, as if the sun itself was hiding in fear. There was a slow clap building in the mist, taunting them cruelly before it faded just enough to show the source.
There, standing in the middle of the unconscious workers, was a short statured Hunter nin. The very one that saved Zabuza...
"So you showed up, pity I didn't think you would have... tell me, how will it feel knowing you were killed by a child? I am not older then your students, Kakashi, and yet I am as strong as you are." The air filled with killer intent so powerful, Rai and Sakura almost blacked out in fear, seeing their own deaths at this monster's hands. Senbon to the eyes, a cruel hand wrapped around their throats... "You nearly killed Zabuza, I was hoping the idiot blonde would be here to kill but oh well, I'll make due."
Though it was impossible to see past the mask, Rai was sure he was smiling. He felt... wrong, unstable, as if something had broken inside of him... his chakra hadn't been like this before. Something had changed...
"""
Haku felt his tears falling behind his mask, freezing as they fell onto his skin. They too knew his pain, each tear a symbol of the years lost... of what he had lost...
When Zabuza died that morning, his wounds becoming too infected... taking his life while all Haku could do was watch.
He would not live past today, but he would be damn sure his enemies didn't either.
Even if he had to do it from the grave, he would see them dead...
All of them...
Every... single... One.
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was a fun chapter, simple but a great set up for more. Keep in mind Zabuza's injuries were intense...
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.