I am rarely proud of this story, it is harder to write but oddly fun when I succeed.
Haku is maybe High Chunin at best, Sasuke was able to best him without the mirrors...
Naruto cringed as more of his clones were killed, the man with a sword was skilled in Iado, his movements almost blindingly fast for the young genin. Naruto knew speed was not his forte, he was even slower then Rai and they used to be the same freaking person. "Sasuke, your need to handle the wannabe samurai, your way faster then I am. I'll get the thug with the club."
Sasuke, oddly enough, nodded. "Got it." As if he totally agreed with Naruto.
That was enough for Naruto to almost wig out, but training with Rai helped him to remained focused as they finally approached the small area where his clones were fighting the two idiots. The Samurai was tall with a straw hat and tan skin, the idiot with the club was fat and covered in a set of stripped clothes that didn't help him look any slimmer. They were both scowling as his clones bombarded them, kicking and punching at random intervals, leaving both covered in bruises.
Naruto felt a surge of satisfaction at that sight, knowing how hard he had been working to get strong enough to do some damage even to these thugs.
Without waiting for backup, Naruto shot forward, ducking under one of the sword strikes meant for a clone and popped up to deck the fat guy. He actually went flying back, the force of Naruto's punch enough to send him at least ten feet back. He charged him, not letting up as he went through his Katas. Sharp knee spike followed by an upper cut, dodge a punch, lash out with a kick to the knee and a final headbutt to the face.
His enemy, being slow and not really a good fighter, fell to his knees, gasping for breathe and breathing through a bloody nose. Naruto didn't let up, and slammed his knee hard into the man's face, enjoying and hating the loud crunch that came from his face the moment he did so. The man collapsed, unconscious and falling to his front. Naruto didn't hesitate and started tying him up with some of his ninja wire, hating how much it took to tie the man up.
When he was done, he turned and saw Sasuke doing the same to the wannabe samurai, the man jaw clearly broken and Sasuke smirking something fierce. Naruto couldn't help but feel a wave of jealousy at that, that Sasuke so easily beat someone that his clones had had so much trouble with. It was frustrating, filling him with a sense of impotence. Still there was one positive...
Not bothering to care about the fallen foe, Naruto walked over to the Samurai and stole the sword and sheath from him. " I am going to learn Iado. I suck at handsigns and the books we read say it's great against ninjas who rely on them."
Sasuke just looked at him, nodding slowly. " That isn't a bad idea..." Then he smirked. " Not that it will help you much, loser..."
Taking in a deep breathe, Naruto just smirked himself. "We'll see. Now we need to warn the others. I'll make more clones, have them watch over Tazuna's family. We need to get to the bridge, I bet something's up."
"I thought the same. Can your clones handle any more thugs? They couldn't even handle that Samurai and he was weak?"
Naruto shrugged. "If nothing else they will buy enough time for Tsunami and Inari to escape."
"""
Rai never thought he would be in this position, it just never occurred to him. He could barely move, The Hunter Ninja's senbon had been thrown with deadly accuracy and even greater speed, forcing Rai to pull Tazuna away, only to get hit himself. He collapsed against the old man, just so the Enemy could go after Kakashi. Sakura was screeching, standing over him and Tazuna while Kakashi was lured into what looked like a cage of icey mirrors. He couldn't see the man entirely, there was a thin mist over the bridge so it obscured his already muffled view.
"Sakura, you need to remove the senbon, I'll heal quickly. None of them are fatally placed."
The girl cringed but nodded, kneeling down to remove each senbon slowly and with a shaky hand. When he cringed, from her shaking more then the needles themselves, she stopped. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine, just hurry. I can't afford to be out of this..." He froze, his eyes widening as several chakra signatures just entered his range. He turned towards the source, the side of the bridge. They were muffled by the mist, which was filled with chakra, but they were clear enough to be sensed. "There are people coming, on the water. I can't figure anything else about them, but their coming. We need to hurry and be prepared."
Sakura's hands shook even worse but she managed to get out all of the senbon impeding his movement. The moment she finished, he stood up quickly and shot over to the side of the bridge and closed his eyes. With the same focus that came from walking up the tree, he sent out a pulse of chakra, feeling it wash over the bridge. It was instinctive, and not entirely a choice but it felt right. With the chakra he sent out, he felt more and more clearly.
He felt Kakashi's chakra, strong but low, he felt the enemy Ninja all cool and jittery. He felt Sakura, tense and wavering and very weak. He felt Tazuna, steadfast and oddly cool. He even felt the unconscious presence of the workers the enemy had knocked out but it wasn't enough and so he focused harder, feeling a headache forming in his temples as he strained to sense even more.
What had to be minutes passed and he finally felt the people on the water in greater detail. He strained to identify them, quickly realizing they were not Ninja due to their low chakra levels that paled even next to Sakura's low levels. They were jittery, their chakra wavering with some kind of... something.
'What is it... it is fear, hate, rage, bloodlust? I can't tell only that their coming slowly and on the water and that their not ninja. Damn this sensory power of mines, it's too underdeveloped to sense anything of value.' He cringed, cursing himself. 'Do I tell Kakashi, or do I-"
BOOM! A explosion shook the bridge and the mirrors shattered, the enemy ninja rolling across the bridge. Kakashi was there in a flash, a Kunai slashing downwards. He saw it, carving across the enemies throat. Blood spurt out, covering Kakashi and ending the life of their enemy.
"What the hell... so much for powerful..." Knowing he had to hurry, he rushed to Kakashi. "People are coming, I can sense them." He pointed to the side, just as the mist started to fade.
Kakashi turned to him, his chakra levels dangerously low. "What, damn I used too much energy to destroy the mirrors." He shook for a moment. "How many?"
"I couldn't tell, the Mist... but now that it's gone..." He focused hard, reaching out towards the people creeping towards them, cringing. "Maybe fifty? Maybe more."
'''
Kakashi cringed, hating his low reserves. The enemy Ninja, who had identified himself as Haku during their battle, was a strong shinobi. Maybe High Chunin but when he used that mirror jutsu he was easily Jonin level. It was not an easy battle, thankfully he was accustomed to fighting Gai and thus far faster speeds. He could easily dodge the Senbon, though it took using a clone and a mix of fire and wind jutsu to shatter the mirrors sending the young boy's jutsu to shatter. Unfortunately making a clone and using two high level fire and wind jutsu and using the Sharigan all at once was too much for his body. He was running low on reserves, though thankfully he hadn't needed to use the Chidori, that would have drained him entirely.
"How long till they arrive?"
Rai frowned. " Not sure, their slow so I'm guessing a boat and their rowing to be quiet like we were. Their not Ninja, that much is obvious to me but I... huh, Naruto?" He turned suddenly, just as Naruto and Sasuke both shot onto the bridge, Naruto carrying a fancy Samurai sword. " What are you doing here, who's guarding the family?"
Sasuke piped up, looking smug. "They sent two thugs after the family, we took care of them."
"Yeah and I got this cool sword." Naruto pulled out said sword, showing it off with a happy smug grin. "I'm going to learn Iado!"
Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle, thinking of Naruto's mother who used swordplay for probably the same reason as Naruto. A struggle with handsigns, and a preference for direct combat. It was almost hilarious to him, but he kept his mouth quiet, for the time being anyway.
"Good, it's good that your here. We have a group of thugs incoming, Naruto make your clones, Sasuke get ready. Sakura stay guarding Tazuna. Rai your with us." Satisfied with his choice, Kakashi tried to ignore the lack of chakra and how awful it made him feel, thankfully he had pulled down his headband, conserving what little he had. Thankfully he didn't need chakra to fight thugs.
"""
Pulling out his kunai, Rai hoped onto the side of the bridge and waited until the thugs came into view... "Their close Kakashi, maybe another minute."
"Good, get ready."
A minute or so passed, the rest of the Mist fading just as the thugs appeared on the bridge, having climbed up. A man was in their middle, he was middle aged and tiny with a cast on his arm and a cane between then both. He was dressed in a suit and radiated smugness. "So you fought off the little bitch, good, I was going to have him killed for breaking my goddamn arm and killing my best two men." Gato, standing only a few feet from the dead body of their enemy, kicked it hard. "Too bad I couldn't kill them myself. Now, why don't you just give me the bridge builder and go away? I promise to let you live if you run off now."
Kakashi actually laughed, laughed at the man. "Your in no position to be giving orders, Gato. Naruto, show him what I mean."
"MULTISHADOW CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto screamed out, and there was a massive surge of chakra that filled the bridge with what had to be a hundred Naruto's. Each one was holding a sword and looking very smug.
Rai was oddly proud, though very jealous. 'Wish I could do that, would have been nice to be of more use in this battle...' But he didn't say that, he just bent into a stance and readied himself. He wasn't sure what he would feel about killing but today he would find out...
"What a joke, that's just an illusion, everyone knows that what you Ninjas are best at. Have at them boys."
At Gato's command, the thugs charged them...
Rai couldn't entirely remember all that happened next, only that it happened fast. Naruto's clones charged in first, many of them being dispelled by swords or fists or clubs, but soon his overwhelming numbers broke the weak formation of the thugs. That was when Kakashi, Sasuke and Rai went forward next.
Personally racing across the side of the bridge, Rai threw Kunai with perfect accuracy, ignoring the pain in his legs from the senbon that had pierced them earlier, hitting a thug in the throat on his first try. Two more kunai hit a thug in the side, and on in the eye. Naruto's clones finished them off with their new fancy sword, which Rai again felt a surge of jealousy towards.
Perhaps motivated by that, he threw himself into the fray, dodging a strike from a sword and kicking at someone's knee. Another kick, filled with the same chakra he used to climb the trees, and he snapped the man's neck.
The fight seemed to blur after that, filled with kicks and punches towards and from the Leaf Ninja. Rai received a punch the temple once, and a slice to his side that he mostly dodged. He ran into Sasuke at some point and saw his eyes bleed red, and he knew that his almost friend had received his sharingan. Naruto on the other hand was shaking and he sliced down people, he and all of his surviving clones seemed nauseous. Killing didn't seem to sit well with him...
After what felt like an hour the fight was over and only Gato was left, and he was running away. Rai was tired, his muscles aching, but his hate of the man was too intense to ignore. Without hesitation he yanked out a kunai from a man's body and tossed it at Gato, hitting him square in the back of the head. He went down easily...
"Good, very good you guys." Kakashi smiled at them, his one eyes closed. "How are you handling your first kills?"
Rai shrugged. " Ask me when it hits me." He wasn't sure why it didn't bother him so much, maybe he was just good at compartmentalizing or maybe there was something wrong with him. Either way he knew he would address it later, when he had the chance to deal with it.
"I'm fine." Sasuke said, but his chakra wasn't stable, so Rai knew that was not entirely true.
Naruto was actively shaking... but Rai had no idea how to help him, so he just sighed and walked over to his brother and put a hand on his shoulder. He said nothing as Naruto burrowed into his chest, not sobbing persay...but still shaking pretty hard. The deaths seemed to hit him very, very hard.
"Thank you." Tazuna barked out as they finally approached him, looking at him and a shaking Sakura. "He's... He's dead..."
"Yes, he is..." Rai sighed a little, expecting the pain to hit him but it just... didn't. "You can complete your bridge now and help your people. And I guess I was wrong, he didn't end up blowing the bridge up."
"Glad you were wrong then."
"Haha, so was I."
Chapter end, tell me what you think in the reviews.
This was very, very different then in canon. I was going to have Rai using Zabuza's sword but that just didn't fit so he won't...
I loved the OG arc but I realized with Rai present a lot of the lessons Naruto learned just wouldn't happen... so they didn't. Haku never become a random precious person... or any of that crap.
Love, your Ninja Overlord,
Mika.