Team 7 was walking through one of the roads of the Fire Country on their way to Wave Country, Kakashi was in the back, book in hand, Sasuke and Sakura where guarding Tazuna's sides while Naruto was in front of the group.

They had been traveling for a few days and during this time Naruto had mostly kept to himself, he chatted with Tazuna or Sasuke a little but he didn't go out of his way to start conversations with them.

During the past 2 months Kakashi had been trying to improve his relationship with Naruto to no avail, Naruto did as he was told during training and missions and didn't talk back too often but he was always either cold and indifferent or angry and bitter to Kakashi and whenever he tried to talk to him outside of official duties Naruto brushed him off, ignored him completely or told him to leave him alone.

Kakashi felt saddend that the relationship between him and the son of his former sensei was as such. He blamed himself for not being there for the blonde when he needed him and for the hatred the blond held for his parents.

'Naruto, don't worry, I'm here for you now and I'm not giving up on you" He thought.

Naruto was excited for the prospect of real combat, he had spars before but they didn't hold the same thrill of real life and death even the "battle" with Mizuki counted since he didn't fight and Mizuki was hardly opponent material, being as weak as being defeated by canon Naruto simply by being mobbed by clones with no technique whatsoever.

He was on the lookout for the demon brothers' infamous "pond in the middle of a road with no other water source nearby and when it hadn't rained for over a week" for a while now and he was getting impatient.

'Where are those assholes?' He thought.

"Chill out kid, they're just ahead, I can feel them" Kurama said.

"Finally, I'm looking forward to kicking their asses"

"Just be carefull not to show too much, we don't want anyone geting wind of how strong you really are"

"Yeah, yeah, no tailed beast bombs, no s-rank techniques, no chakra modes or senjutsu, I know. I won't nuke the half the country fighting 2 chunin, don't worry"

"I hope not, you always get trigger happy during training and there are too many witnesses here, remember to keep the power trips to when we're alone" Kurama said.

They kept walking for a little while longer before Naruto saw the pond and had to hold back a smirk. With the emotion sensing he got from Kurama he could feel the brothers thought they had fooled them and that Kakashi had already spotted them.

They walked past the pond and just like he was expecting "Kakashi" was shredded.

"One down" One of the brothers said. They dashed at the genin but Naruto threw a wind infused kunai at the chain they were using, cutting it half.

Gozu reached Sasuke and tried to skewer him with the clawed gauntlet on his right hand but Sasuke easily dodged and punched him, he moved inside the rogue-nin's guard and kneed him in the stomach before uppercutting him in the jaw. Gozu send a kick that forced Sasuke out of his guard and attempted to use his half of the chain as a whip to hit Sasuke, the Uchiha dodged before grabbing the chain and channeling lightning chakra thought it, shocking the missing-nin unconscious.

Mizu rushed at Naruto, thinking that the genin would be easy pickings. He threw a punch that Naruto dodged and answered with a punch of his own, he brought his armored gauntlet to block but the force of Naruto's punch shattered the gauntlet and broke his arm. While he was recoiling from the shock and pain Naruto grabbed his chain, got behind him and kicked him in the back of the knee, forcing him down to his knees and tied him up with his own chain.

"You can come out now" Kakashi said as he walked out of the woods, his corpse nothing more than a log. Tazuna and the Sakura that was guarding him disappeared and the real ones came out of their hidding spot in the trees.

"You all did good" Kakashi said. "Sakura it was a good idea to hide the client and using genjutsu as a diversion was also a good move" Sakura blushed at the praise but looked proud.

"Sasuke, both you and Naruto did well to capture the attackers but I don't remember teaching you nature transformation" Kakashi said.

"Naruto and I learned our affinities and since mine was lightning I went looking for information on it" Sasuke said.

"I see, very good. Naruto would you care to share what's yours?" Kakashi asked.

"My natural affinity is wind but I got jutsu from all elements" Naruto said, he then smirked"What's not to love about the shadow clone jutsu's memory tranfer function"

"I'll get you to teach me that jutsu one day" Sasuke grumbled.

"Sorry Sasuke but your chakra reserves are way too small for you accomplish anything with it other than kill yourself with chakra exhaustion" Naruto said with a laugh.

They then moved to the captured brothers and before Kakashi could start the interrogation Naruto said "Now Gozu and Mizu, C-rank missing-nin from Kiri, would you kindly tell us why you're going after our client?"

Kakashi decided to watch and see how Naruto handled this. Gozu glared at Naruto while Mizu said "Fuck you, we ain't telling you shit"

"Is that so?" Naruto asked with a smirk that made the brothers' blood go cold. Suddenly a massive wave of killing intent hit them, making them both freeze and be consumed by images of them dying in slow and agonizingly painfull ways. "Don't get me wrong, your lives were forfeit the moment you attacked us, what's left to decide is if your going to die the quick way or the fun way"

"I-It was Gatou. He hired us to kill the bridge builder." Gozu said.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"W-we don't k-"

"Don't lie to me!" Naruto growled.

"He doesn't want the bridge to finish, he controls Wave's economy and the bridge will break it's hold"

"I see" Naruto said. He then turned to Tazuna and said "I don't enjoy being lied to Tazuna-san, would you kindly tell us the truth please"

Tazuna then explained to them the situation on Wave and what Gatou was doing to the country, in the end they decided to continue with the mission on the condition that Tazuna give them the apropriate mission pay when Wave Country was back on it's feet.

"Okay now that's been solved what to do with you two" Kakashi said while looking at the demon brothers.

"They die here" Naruto said. "I said they were dead from the moment they crossed me and I meant it, plus I want their bounties."

"Now I could kill them myself but you two haven't had your first kills yet" Naruto said while looking at Sasuke and Sakura, both of which looked visibly uncomfortable, the latter more than the former.

"You already had yours?" Kakashi asked.

"Mizuki remember"

"And how did you deal with it? The first kill tends to be intense and I don't remember you showing any sings of it"

"Mizuki crossed me so I killed him, I didn't particularly hate him so I took no pleasure from the kill but besides that I didn't really feel anything"

"I see" Kakashi said.

Naruto turned to his teammates and motioned for them, after a bit of hesitation Sasuke steeped forward, he nodded to Naruto and took out a kunai.

"N-No! Wait, please spare us" The demon brothers said.

Sasuke ignored them, he grabbed Gozu by the hair and looked him in eyes before slicing his throat and holding his head until he bled out. He then got up but before he could walk away Naruto put a hand on his shoulder and whispered "You did good. You have to be willing to do it if you want to avenge your clan and kill Itachi"

Sasuke stopped and looked at Naruto for a long moment before nodding, the combination of remembering the pain and trauma Itachi caused upon him, the feeling of taking his first life and the fact that after Naruto said it he could see Itachi's sharingan eyes as lifeless as Gozu's had been caused his vision to become much clearer suddenly.

Naruto smiled at him, patted him in the back and said "Congratulations, you just awakened your sharingan"

Sasuke pulled a kunai and saw the red eyes reflected on the surface, he smirked and thought 'I'm one step closer to my revenge'

"Sakura?" Naruto asked, motioning to Mizu who was sobbing next to his brother's body.

"N-No, I-I'd rather n-not" Sakura said while looking pale.

"Suit yourself"

Kakashi, who was watching how his students would handle this went to confort Sakura while Naruto just grabbed a kunai, coated it with wind chakra and chopped Mizu's head clean off with a normality that made Kakashi uncomfortable. He then took a storage scroll and stored both heads inside.

After burning the bodies they continued their journey, Sakura better but still unnerved by the killing, Sasuke testing his sharingan by activating and deactivating it, Naruto casually walking in the front without showing any sings of emotional turmoil and Kakashi in the back keeping an eye on his students while thinking sadly.

'You grew up fast Naruto, too fast'

A Few Days Latter

They had just got off the boat in Wave and where on their way to Tazuna's house, Naruto had been thinking about how to deal with Zabuza, he had a plan but he would have to carefull not to tip his cards before it was too late.

As they were walking Naruto felt what had to be Zabuza hidding in the bushes and another signature he assumed was Haku further away. There was movement in the bushes and Sasuke threw a kunai at them, when Zabuza's position changed and a small white rabbit came out of the bushes he had to hold back a smirk.

A thick mist covered the area and Kakashi was instantly on guard. Naruto felt a spike of malice and a huge butcher knife-like sword came flying towards them.

"Get down!"Kakashi shouted but just as the sword was about to hit them and Sasuke, who saw Naruto remain standing, was about to push him down Naruto grabbed the sword midair, twisted it and used its own momentum to pierce the ground with it blade first.

Zabuza appeared next to a tree and said "That's very impressive kid but I'm going to need that back"

"Well well well, if it isn't Zabuza Momochi, the demon of Kiri" Naruto said with a smirk while Kakashi took position between his team and Zabuza.

"Hoh, so you heard of me?"

"A few things, tell me, did you kill any Mizukages recently"

Zabuza frowned and said."So Konoha's heard"

"We do, though you were bitting a bit more than you could chew, don't you think? You're high jonin at best and Yagura is a perfect jinchuriki, he's a bit out of your weight class"

Zabuza growled and said "Kids these days, no respect"

"I know right" Kakashi said "I'm supposed to be team captain but he does all the talking and teaches them more than I do, I sometimes wonder if he isn't the jonin sensei"

Zabuza gave a bloodthirst grin and said "That's why I liked Kiri, killed everyone in my class to graduate, good times"

The Zabuza they were talking to disappeared suddenly and Kakashi blocked a kick that sent him away from the sword, giving the genin a chance to back away, Sakura stood in front of Tazuna while Naruto and Sasuke stood in front of her.

Zabuza retrieved his sword and disappeared into the mist while Kakashi lifted his headband and displayed his sharingan. He blasted them with a wave of killing intent but Naruto easily countered it, he felt Zabuza sneaking up to them and just as he was about to slice them Naruto spat our a blast of air the dispelled the water clone and scattered the mist.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough"

Another Zabuza jumped from the trees and attacked Kakashi, who started exchanging blows with him. After a while Zabuza kicked Kakashi into a lake nearby and moved to go after him, as Kakashi made to get out of the water but it suddenly grew heavy and pulled him into a sphere-like prison.

"Water Style: Water Prison" Zabuza said.

Zabuza then made several water clones who rushed at the genin. "No! You can't fight them, take the client and go!" Kakashi said form within the water prison.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, who had his sharingan active, and nodded, they went through hand seals simultaneously.

"Water Style: Wild Water Wave" Naruto said.

"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder" Sasuke said.

The combination attack hit most of the clones, dispelling them instantly while those that jumped up the trees where picked off by Sakura's invisible shuriken when they tried to attack.

'Using genjutsu to make the shuriken invisible, smart' Zabuza thought. Naruto then a threw kunai at Zabuza who dodged it, the kunai transformed in one of Naruto's clones when it hit the water before it went through hand seals.

"Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder"

Zabuza had to jump away from the electrified water, droping the prison in the process. As soon as he did the clone cancelled the jutsu and dispeled, Kakashi stood on the water and took deep breaths before saying.

"You guys did good but he's mine now"

"That's some scary genin you got there Kakashi" Zabuza said before he started going through hand seals, Kakashi started doing the same hand seals but before either of them could finish a Naruto clone appeared form the ground next to Zabuza and exploded, throwing the former Kiri-nin into a tree.

The team minus Sakura who was still guarding the bridge builder approached the downed form of Zabuza before Kakashi said "That was very rude Naruto, I said he was mine"

"We're ninja, if he really expected to be able to stand in place doing hand seals for several seconds while facing an entire enemy team he's either stupid or he thought we mere genin didn't pose a threat to him"

A senbon came out of the trees and hit Zabuza in the neck, causing him to stop breathing. They were on guard instantly but the hunter-nin that came out held his hands in a peace gesture.

"Thank you, I've been tracking him for weeks and you've given me the opportunity to kill him"

Kakashi moved to check but the Hunter-nin couldn't help but notice Naruto kept looking at him and he seemed to want to laugh.

"Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all, hunter-chan" Naruto said, berely able to contain his laughter.

"Okay?"

The hunter-nin then took Zabuza's body away and Kakashi slumped foward, suffering from chakra exhaustion. As his clones went to carry Kakashi to Tazuna's house Kurama asked

"Did you mark him?"

"Yeah, his sword, we'll be able to track them now"

"I still think you're being stupid, why risk it when you can just let him die at the bridge?"

"Because I want to take them both on alone, without having to worry about showing too much. Besides that way both bounties will be mine alone and while for now where fine eventually we'll leave Konoha and then we'll need money, I've half a mind to just take the money Gatou stole from Wave Country but there's no need and they haven't wronged me so might as well let them keep it"

"Sure, whatever you say, we both know you just want to toy with them for the feeling of power it gives you"

"...Shut up stupid fox"

The Next Day

They had arrived at Tazuna's house to be met with his daughter Tsunami and grandson Inari, they got Kakashi to a bed and were sitting on the table and wondering what to do.

"I'll leave some clones in the house to protect them and Kakashi but we should train in case someone else comes" Naruto said.

"But who'll come, that Zabuza guy is dead, isn't he?" Sakura asked.

"I'm not so sure about that, hunter-nin usually deal with the body on site, he most likely was working with Zabuza, plus there's no guarantee that Gatou didn't simply hire more people to come after Tazuna"

"That makes sense, if he's coming to fight us again we need to get stronger" Sasuke said.

Naruto felt Sakura gathering her courage to ask him something and turned to her.

"You want to say something is it?

"Well...why do you act the way you do with Kakashi-sensei?"

He looked at her for a long moment, wondering how he should answer or if he should answer at all. In the end he decided that telling the truth didn't hurt.

"My sperm donor was Kakashi's sensei and surrogate father, when he decided to orphan me on purpose and curse me on his way out Kakashi decided to leave me to the mercy of a village that hates me for something the bastard did but worships him for doing it, choosing instead to drown his grief in sex, alcohol and high ranking missions. I spent most of my life alone and hated because the people who should have cared about me above all else decided I was expendable, that I wasn't important enough to care about, that I didn't matter, people like Kakashi, who was too much of a coward and a hypocrite to see a newborn child in need of someone to give a damn about them and not turn his back on them. If there's one thing I learned, Sakura, is that when push comes to shove you're own your own, none of that bullshit teamwork and bonds they preach in Konoha matter, you either save yourself or you die and I have no intention of dying before my dream is achieved, even if I have to claw my way out of hell to do it"

Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at Naruto with faces full of confusion and concern but before they could say anything he got up and left without saying a word, Naruto's head was so full of raging thoughts and emotions that he barely registered the spike of hurt and sadness coming from behind Kakashi's door.

"I don't get it" Sakura said.

"Me neither" Sasuke said.

"Didn't he say that Kakashi-sensei's sensei was the Fourth Hokage? Does that mean Naruto is his-"

"I don't know Sakura"Sasuke cut her off "But family has always been a delicate subject near Naruto and I know he hates the Fourth but not why"

"But he couldn't hate the Fourth, could he? He's a hero and if the Fourth is his dad then..."

"I don't know but I recommend you don't call him Naruto's father near Naruto, he's reserved but when certain subjects come up Naruto tends to get angry" Sasuke said.

"Maybe Ino would know, she's always spending time with Naruto"

"Maybe..."

The Woods Nearby

Naruto shattered another tree in anger, several more lay in the ground.

"Calm down kid" Kurama said.

"That son of a bitch, I'll kill him, I'll bring the bastard back all so I can kill him again"

"I know you get angry when he's brought up but you gotta control yourself, he's in the shinigami's stomach, there is no worse fate than that"

"I know! I know... It's just that that bastard pisses me off, honestly there are times I wish you had just crushed me with that paw, then razed his precious village to the ground and slaughtered everyone inside. Honestly I really wish we didn't have to get him out of there just to get your other half"

"I know but think of all the power we will gain by recovering my other half"

"You're right, thanks Kurama"

"Anytime kid, we are partners, we're in this together"

"Always"

A Few Days Latter

Team 7 were having diner in Tazuna's house, Kakashi had "awoke" a few hours after Naruto left for the woods and agreed with them that Zabuza might still be alive and that they needed to train in case he came back. There was an aura of sadness around him but Sasuke and Sakura decided not to ask, Naruto came back from the woods latter that night but went to bed without saying a word to anyone.

After that there were always one of them as well as clones guarding both the house and Tazuna on the bridge,Naruto had for the most part returned to normal but there was still a sense of restrained anger in his movements.

While they were eating Inari walked into the room, glared at them and said

"Why do you try so hard?Gatou is just going to kill you"

Everyone of the Konoha-nin but Naruto turned to look at him with a confused expression.

"You should just leave before Gatou kills you"

"Inari don't talk to them like that" Tsunami said.

"But why? They're just going to die anyway"

"Inari-" Tsunami was interrupted by Naruto, who had finished his meal and got up, he put the plate in the sink, thanked Tsunami for the food, ruffled Inari's hair and walked out of the house with a smirk in his lips and an aura of excitement replacing the restrained anger that was previously there.

Everyone was confused by Naruto's reaction, or rather the lack thereof, to Inari's outburst and especially confused by his sudden change in disposition, even Inari was confused by the blonde's apathy.

"Is it time to go after Zabuza and his tool yet?" Kurama asked.

"Not quite, that's tomorrow but for now we got a philosophical discusion with a guy dressed as a girl over the merits of caring about people"

"By your tone you don't agree with him"

"Don't get me wrong, its very understandable of him to be this loyal to Zabuza after he saved them but just because I understand doesn't mean I agree"

Naruto walked into the woods and started his training, he couldn't train seriously because he was about to go into a fight and while he was confident in his strength he was not stupid to go into a fight exhausted unless there was no other option.

A few hours latter he was taking a break under a tree when he felt a signature approaching him, the signature was clearly suspicious of him but didn't seem to realize Naruto knew he was the hunter-nin.

The boy approached Naruto with a basket full of medicinal herbs, Naruto saw them coming and said

"Its dangerous for a pretty girl like you to go wondering in the woods, you know" Naruto said.

Haku looked at Naruto and said "Don't worry, I know these woods very well"

Naruto had to admit, he could see why his canon self mistook Haku for a girl, he was definitely very attractive.

"You're gonna make this yaoi, will you" Kurama asked with a teasing voice.

"Kurama...fuck you"

"I see" Naruto told Haku "Why are you gathering these plants?"

"They're medical, someone precious to me got injured and while he's nearly recovered these should get him back to top form" Haku said, he then turned to Naruto and asked

"I see you have a headband, tell me, are you a ninja?"

"I am, I'm from Konoha"

"I see, you must be pretty strong then"

"I can handle myself but I'm nowhere near the power I want to achieve" Naruto said.

"I believe that the only way to be truly strong is to protect your precious people, do you have anyone precious to you?"

"No, I never did"

"Oh" Haku looked down "You should find some people that are precious to you, only by protecting them you will get truly strong"

Naruto shook his head and said "If there's one lesson that life beat into me is that when shit hits the fan you're on your own. You tell me I should find "precious people" to protect but how can I when the people who should have been my precious people, who should have cared about me saw me as unimportant, as expendable, when they abandoned me when I needed them the most. I don't have precious people because the only one who's precious to me is myself, because I had to care for myself because nobody else would, how can I care about them when they didn't care about me"

Haku was taken aback by the hurt in the blonde's voice and said.

"Just because people hurt others doesn't mean we should stop caring, we should try to help others, make them understand, make them care"

"The closest thing I have to people I care about are a girl who's more casual entertainment that loved one or even friend, a boy that's my friend but I wouldn't give up my goal to save him if that's what it took just as I'm sure he wouldn't give up his to save me, and my parther who's life is literally linked to my own so its more about coexistence and mutual benefit than anything else"

"Love you too" Kurama mocked.

"Shut up fox"

"I see" Haku looked disappointed. " I have to go now, to get these plants to my precious person"

"Sure just do me a favor" Naruto asked and Haku motioned for him to continue while wondering what the blonde would ask of him.

"Tell Zabuza that I'll be coming for both of you tonight and he better make it fun for me"

Haku was instantly on guard and said "How did you know? Who are you?"

"I know a lot of things, Haku of the Yuki clan of Kiri, user of Ice Release" Upon seeing the apprehension in his face Naruto continued "Don't worry, you can be a good litle tool and die before he does"

"I won't let you hurt Zabuza-sama"

"Oh I hope you don't, why do you think I let Zabuza recover and am telling you when I'll attack, I hope you fight with all you have, otherwise it isn't fun" Naruto said with a smirk.

Haku threw senbon at him but he easily dodged and said "Now, now, don't get too excited, we'll fight tonight, I'll come for you in that treehouse of yours and I hope you two entertain me before I claim your heads

Haku threw more senbon at him before jumping to the trees and rushing off, Naruto sat down with a smirk and looked towards the village, specifically towards Gatou's compound and thought

"After them I'm coming for you"

That Night

Naruto jumped through the woods, moving towards the signature he could feel with the tracking seal he put on Zabuza's sword. As he saw the treehouse in the distance he made 4 clones and told them

"Make sure they can't escape and that no unexpected guests interrupt my fun"

The clones nodded and moved to circle the treehouse. Naruto kept moving towards it until he felt Zabuza hidding in the trees while a clone walked out of the house to meet him.

"What did you tell me kid? That I was bitting of more than I could chew? Funny coming from the genin that not only walks into my turf but also warns me about it beforehand" Zabuza said with a bloodthirsty grin.

"Not really, I could crush you whenever I please, I just want to have some fun beforehand, holding back all the time is stressfull you know" Said Naruto with a smirk.

"If your sensei won't teach you respect kid, then I will, too bad you won't live long enough to use it" Zabuza said before rushing at Naruto and moving to stab him with his sword.

Naruto caught the blade by its sides, easily disarmed Zabuza and stabbed him through the chest, making the clone and the sword dissolve into water. He then turned to the real Zabuza and said

"If that's all you got then its no wonder you had to run from Yagura like a bitch"

Zabuza growled at the insult and jumped at Naruto with an overhead slash from him hiding spot, Naruto dodged and punched Zabuza, who flew back at the force of the blow, Naruto followed and fell onto Zabuza with an axe kick he was barely able to dodge and that shattered the tree they were standing on and created a massive crater in the ground bellow.

"Holy shit! That's a genin!?" Zabuza thought, shocked.

Naruto flew through hand seals at a lightning fast pace and said

"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame"

A massive wave of fire flew at Zabuza, reducing to ashes everything it touched.

"Ice Style: Frozen Shield"

Suddenly a wall of ice sprouted from the ground and tried block the flames, however the flames were too hot and the wall melted. When the jutsu died down there was no one behind where the wall was.

"So the tool has appeared, I was wondering if you were going to watch me kill your master, or maybe you wanted to save him to seduce him, that's why you crossdress right" Naruto taunted. A red barrier appeared around the area and Naruto smirked.

"Sorry Zabuza, I made sure you wouldn't run away from this fight, you know, like a bitch"

"Water Style: Water Dragon"

A huge dragon made of water flew at Naruto who countered with his own jutsu.

"Earth Style: Stone Dragon"

Naruto's dragon battered Zabuza's aside easily before rushing towards the real Zabuza in the trees and crashed into him. That Zabuza then turned into a clone and Naruto jumped back to dodged a hail of ice shuriken.

"You can't hide from me Zabuza" Naruto said as he made a sword made of earth and coated it with wind before turning back and locking blades with with Zabuza.

"Haku, now!" Shouted Zabuza.

An ice spear came out of the trees and flew towards Naruto, who merely smirked and let the spear pierce him, only to turn into lightning and shock Zabuza. The real Naruto took this opportunity to fire another jutsu.

"Lightning Style: Thunderclap"

A thunderbolt shot from Naruto's hands and flew at Zabuza, who was saved by Haku at the cost of being hit himself. Zabuza threw shuriken at Naruto who dodged but gave him enough time to perform his signature technique.

"Water Style: Hidden Mist"

A thick mist covered the area and Zabuza said "I don't know what the hell you are kid, you're clearly no genin, but I'm a master of the silent killing technique and I'll show you why!"

Zabuza's voice came from everywhere and Naruto could feel he though he had bested the blonde.

"If I was a regular sensor this might be problematic, the mist is covered in his chakra" Naruto smirked "Too bad I can feel his emotions" Naruto said as he felt a spike of killing intent and dodged a hail of shuriken.

Zabuza stealthfully came behind the blond and tried to cut him in half, only for him to dodge and cut Zabuza across the chest with his own blade. Naruto then backfliped to dodge the ice spike that came flying at him.

Haku started throwing senbon at him and one hit him in the leg, making him stumble and fall, when Zabuza tried to capitalized Naruto just smirked and said "Gotcha" before he exploded, Zabuza was blown back and hit a tree.

The real Naruto flew through hand seals and shouted

"Water Style: Crushing Wave"

He spat a massive wave that hit Zabuza and toppled the tree he was leaning against, after a while Zabuza came out of the water, battered, bruised and breathing heavy.

"It's about time to finish this, don't you think?" Naruto said.

"What the hell are you, you're as strong as Yagura!" Zabuza shouted.

"Believe it or not I've been holding back quite a bit" At Zabuza's shocked face he continued. "For example, I haven't even tapped in the power of my tailed beast yet" Zabuza grew pale at that and said

"No..You're lying. Monster!'

Naruto smirked and suddenly he was covered by a golden glow, nine majestic tails appeared behind him and the pressure of his chakra made Zabuza choke. As fast as it appeared it was gone.

"Don't worry, I won't use Kurama's power on you, I'm more than strong enough to take you by myself"

Naruto was suddenly assailed by a hail of senbon that kept coming, getting tired of dodging he sped through hand seals and shouted

"Wind Style: Raging Hurricane"

The wind spun rapidly, creating a hurricane that uprooted several trees, deflected all the senbon and dissipated the mist. When he could see again Naruto saw Haku going through handseals before shouting

"Ice Style: Demonic Ice Mirrors"

Several Haku's reflected on the mirrors and they all threw hundreds of senbon at Naruto who flew through handseals and said

"Earth Style: Rock Armor"

All the senbon bounced harmlessly on Naruto's rocky shell, he smirked and said

"Very well, let me show you a bit of what I can do" He made some handseals before taking a deep breath and screaming

"Inferno Style: Vacuum Bomb"

Naruto spat out a while hot ball of flames that heated the air around it into plasma as it flew rapidly towards the ice mirrors, when it hit them it exploded in a massive ball of heat that incinerated all of them and blew Haku out of them and through the flaming trees nearby.

Naruto moved to the downed form of Zabuza and said "Well Zabuza, I thank you, I hadn't been able to let loose even a little outside of training before and I'm feeling much better now that I could"

"What's your name kid? I want to know the name of the one who killed me" Zabuza said.

"That's very gracefull of you, acepting your death with dignity, my name is Naruto Uzumaki"

"I'm not a coward Naruto, I won't run or beg for mercy, the only reson I fled the Mizukage is that I wanted to continue helping the rebelion"

Naruto gave a nod of respect and said "If it's worth anything, I'll kill Yagura and the man that's controlling him eventually, and I hold no ill will towards the rebelion. Hell, I hold nothing against you either, we just happend to meet on opposite sides of the battlefield"

"So he really is being controlled, hah, I knew Naruto, I appreciate you doing this even though I get the feeling you're not doing this for me"

Naruto shook his head with a smile and grabbed Zabuza's sword, he looked at it and said "I'll return this to Kiri when I can" After receiving an appreciative nod from Zabuza he lifted the sword and said

"Goodbye Zabuza Momochi, I won't forget you" He moved to strike but Haku moved in front of the blade and took the blow for him.

"Zabuza-sama..."

Haku looked at Zabuza and let out a tear before hugging him and dying in his arms.

"He loved you like a father" Naruto said.

"I know, he was a son to me, even if I never told him that, please, let me die besides him"

Naruto nodded and as Zabuza hugged Haku back and also shed a tear Naruto removed both their heads in one clean move, he then stored both of them in a storage scroll and burned the bodies.

He looked up at the the sky and thought "This is the world we live in huh"

"You okay kid?"Kurama asked.

"Yeah, just...I guess I still saw all this as somewhat fake, you know, only now do I really see these people as real people and not fictional characters"

"Does that change anything?"

"No, not really, I still have my goal and I will still do what it takes to achieve it"

"Good, we don't want you to give it up for some hero complex"

"Hah, as if, this world's fate is in its own hands, I'm not a hero, I'm just a mad man in a suicidal quest for power"

"And I wouldn't have you any other way"