Invictus

by Raging Smurf

When I died, I never thought I'd get a second chance at life. Getting another chance in a world with Snake pedos, heart thieves, and peepers with doomsday capabilities wasn't a part of the memo. But I ain't selling my life cheap, that's for damn sure. Male OC NarutoInsert.

29. Fate

The newest chapter has made its arrival. This chapter was longer than expected as I wanted to include the final fight with Mr shirtless and sharktoothed.

The Noble jester: That game was my childhood and early teenage years. I played the hell out of OG Bf2 and the Force Unleashed from my wee years up until I was past being a teenager. My PS2 finally croaked a few years back and abandoned me to lesser games.

Each of the journal exerpts are for a reason. Any of my dear readers have a theory on what I'm doing? Comment what you guys think.

This chapter was going to come out on April 1st and be titled "Abandoned", but I decided to proofread it and post it the next day, to which I have to say I made the correct choice, 20k word chapters tend to have more than one error.

The fight with Zabuza ended up having scenes added to it after I already wrote the chapter, dissatisfied with the depth of it until I reached a certain amount of "meat" in the fight, I hope you guys enjoy it.

Anyway, here's a new chapter.

Nim2000: I made Haku a girl for no other reason than to give Kakashi a way to screw with Naruto, I thought it would be funny.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or anything I make references to. This is a work of fanfiction that I make no money off of.

---

Sasuke POV:

Sasuke woke up and stretched his arms, groaning slightly.

Checking the clock he had packed with him, he saw it was about 6:00.

Groaning at waking up earlier than he wanted to, he pulled himself up from the cot that was designated as his when Rin packed several things into storage scrolls to save weight.

I wonder if I can ask her to show me some things about Fuinjutsu? He thought.

He didn't want to ask Naruto, knowing the red haired Genin would expect some knowledge and of equal exchange for anything he was willing to part with.

It had been a couple days since Naruto had started sparring with him to help train his taijutsu while using his Sharingan. The payment Naruto requested was one that still left him irritated with him.

He'd have been angry, but he saw what Naruto's reasoning was. Naruto, despite any protests to the contrary, acted on a hair trigger whenever something concerning Rin happened. Possibly being in the sights of an S-rank clan killer would obviously have him on edge.

Shaking his head, he got up and went to the kitchen, fairly certain Naruto was awake already.

Sure enough, Naruto was awake, cooking what appeared to be some eggs.

"Sasuke." He said simply, not turning around.

"Naruto." He replied flatly, sitting down at the table, "Where'd you get the eggs?"

"Storage scroll." He shrugged, flipping the eggs with a slight sizzling sound being heard.

"How do you keep them cold?" He asked, genuinely curious.

Naruto sighed and lowered the heat on the stove.

"Add a couple different temperature absorption seals into the matrix to suck out the temperature in the pocket dimension, whilst still not contradicting any of the parts of the storage section, making it cold enough to be refrigerated."

"I didn't understand any of that." Sasuke said flatly.

Naruto just shrugged, turning up the heat again.

"I wouldn't expect you to."

The room was quiet except for the sound of the eggs cooking.

Naruto finished the eggs, loading them onto a plate and set it on the table, pulling some silverware and what looked to be salt from a small storage scroll he had in his pocket.

"Do you have seals for everything?" Sasuke asked, noticing how much Naruto used.

"Yes," Naruto said seriously, sprinkling salt in the eggs, "Anything I ever need is in storage seals."

Sasuke listened and noticed the shear amount of eggs on the plate.

"How many did you fix that for?" He asked, trying to judge how much was there.

"This is for me." Naruto pointed to himself, before taking a large bite.

"How the hell many did you use?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

Naruto started to look irritated at the questions, frowning as he swallowed the bite.

"I made ten," He said, taking another large bite, "Fixing food is always fun for me and Rin." he added sarcastically.

Sasuke had seen the amount of food Rin ate when they trained as a team, astounded at how she could eat that much food.

"How," Sasuke said, trying to make sense of it, "Can the two of you possibly eat that much and not look like an Akamichi?"

Naruto just snorted in amusement.

"Don't let Choji hear you say that," He warned, taking an additional bite, "But it's because our bodies burn through things faster, that's why we heal faster, have more energy, and we're stamina freaks. Now let me eat, I'm starving." He then went back to eating again.

At the look Sasuke kept giving him, Naruto shot him a glare.

"Oh for Kami's sake," He said irritably, "What the hell do you want to talk about? Quit beating around the bush and tell me what you want? Tell me or I'll assume you want some stale bread, Duck-san."

Sasuke twitched at the duck comment.

"Would you be able to show me some things about seals?" He asked flatly, returning the glare the other boy was sending him.

Naruto shook his head.

"We don't have the time," He said, pushing away his plate, "The bridge will be finished soon and we'll be on our way back to Konoha."

Rin and Naruto had been using their clones to speed up the construction of the bridge following several of the workers thinking about leaving.

But Sasuke heard about how a mysterious old man and a few helpers had been delivering food to the people in Nami. He even heard rumours that people woke up and had stacks of food in their living rooms.

"Could you at least show me the basics so I can study on my own?" Sasuke asked, his irritation starting to bleed into his tone.

Naruto gave him a look of condescension, before he pulled out a blank sheet of paper and wrote out a seal with a brush he took from another seal.

Where the hell are the seals even at? Sasuke thought.

Naruto only had his shirt and pants on, no jacket or anything else he could have multiple storage seals at.

"Here," Naruto smiled, looking at Sasuke like he was a child, "Have at it." he slid the paper to Sasuke.

Sasuke looked at it. And looked at it. And looked at it.

"I don't understand this." Sasuke threw his arms up, looking at the absolute nonsense on the paper.

"That is the most basic storage seal I know." Naruto said simply, "Sealing isn't like taijutsu or other physical things like Ninjutsu, it has it's own rules and issues."

"If I held your hand for the rest of the day and helped you along, any seal you'd make might last til morning."

Sasuke looked at the seal and felt himself get cold at his complete lack of understanding.

Whatever thing he did in learning the Shinobi arts, he could always think of something to get a certain technique or task done. His mind was sharp and he had the drive.

But he didn't even know where to begin looking at a simple seal.

"And the more complex ones will be different when I use them compared to you." Naruto added.

Sasuke looked at Naruto again, trying to keep the defeatism out of his mind.

"Explain, now." He demanded, seeing Naruto's eyes flash slightly.

Naruto stared at him for a few seconds, before he grabbed his plate again and took another bite of eggs.

Sasuke needed answers and grabbed Naruto's plate to stop him from eating.

He ended up nearly jumping out of his skin when a short chakra blade drove down towards his hand from Naruto's left, digging into the table.

"Don't." Naruto warned, fixing him with a glare, "I'm already in a foul mood because I've got a damn headache from helping build the damn bridge and all the feedback from my bunshin. I've got bunshin outside and I'm going to get some more feedback, so let me eat in peace, Uchiha."

Sasuke matched his glare with a glare of his own, not wanting to relent.

"Oh shit," The redhead muttered, the golden blade fading to reveal a deep gash in the wood of the table, "I'll need to pay to fix that."

Sasuke took a deep breath and decided he wasn't going to get anything out of Naruto and got up to leave.

As he went to go outside, he heard Naruto speak.

"Give me 10 minutes and I'll be done."

Sasuke nodded and continued on outside, spotting a slight flash of red near some trees.

The last week involved him polishing over the water walking exercise, tree walking already being covered during the group training with the other genin teams.

He hated that both Naruto and Rin always seemed to be a step ahead of him, Naruto probably being several.

Kakashi had trained them when they were younger, something that he didn't have.

He didn't have anyone to tell him if he was doing things right, he only had the clan library and his own intellect at his disposal.

The two obviously had something going on with them. He had heard Shikamaru and Ino talk about how Naruto had what appeared to be a red chakra cloak engulf him after they had fought off an ambush by several high ranking missing nin.

Sasuke couldn't bring himself to envy Naruto having the chance to test his mettle against competent Shinobi, having heard from eavesdropping on the other two Genin what had been said.

It was one thing to see him on the ground, gasping for air and mumbling "Not yet. Not yet." repeatedly, but that could be explained by Ino not using her jutsu properly combined with Naruto having a terrible memory.

But it didn't explain the worry in Shikamaru's voice.

"I don't know what's going on with him, and I hate not knowing. It's so troublesome to try and figure things out with him. Troublesome redhead."

Sasuke didn't buy it for a minute that Naruto went out into the woods simply to train destructive jutsu. He looked ready to leave the table when they first got to Tazuna's within minutes.

He was obviously hiding something, and he'd find out what it was eventually.

---

Sasuke was starting to piss me off now. The little duckling decided that since I'd started helping him in training, he had a monopoly on my time.

Dumbass.

The feedback I was getting from the clones was giving me headaches, coupled with continuing to train some more jutsu and the Lightning Cloak. But the biggest factor that had me on edge was that things were going down today. Haku had come back and said Zabuza was willing to take a deal, luring Gato towards the bridge to see Tazuna dead at his feet.

But the plan was that Zabuza would kill any of the bandits that Gato hired and would be given his sword back with whatever money he wanted from Gato's personal stash that wasn't extorted from Wave.

All in all, a decent deal that I didn't expect to happen.

I finished eating my eggs, dropping the plate in the sink, and went outside to talk with Sasuke and order my clones to dispell.

Getting outside, I saw Sasuke looking at the sunrise, before he turned when he heard me.

Wanting to be blunt and to the point, I spoke first.

"I've been learning seals for nearly six years, Sasuke. You aren't getting anywhere without someone pointing you in the right direction."

Sasuke scoffed.

"Explain it as easily as you can."

Deciding to humour myself, I chose an analogy.

"Imagine fixing oatmeal." I said, pulling out the sheet of paper I used earlier, pointing towards different parts, "It's crushed oats and either milk or water mixed in, possibly butter and sugar. Following?"

Sasuke nodded, paying rapt attention.

"Whether you eat it like a normal human, followed up with a proper warm up exercise, or you crunch oats with your teeth, chug boiling water and then do jumping jacks, the same material is in your gut."

"That is an awful metaphor." Sasuke said, looking more confused than before.

"Oh dear God." I muttered in English irritably, running my fingers through my hair, "How do you shit?" I asked out of the blue.

Sasuke looked at me like I'd gone insane.

"What?" He asked, his tone filled with disgust.

"Do you drop your pants and sit down before you shit?" I asked, my tone completely serious.

"I'm not dignifying that with a response."

"I'll assume you just fling it like a monkey then." I said flatly, turning up my nose.

"You're insufferable." He said.

"And you're acting like a whiny bitch," I snarked, "Not a girl, a bitch. Bellyaching and bitchy."

I'd never say that to or about a woman and mean it, but I needed Sasuke to stop whining and answer my question, no matter how weird it sounded, even by my standard.

Growling, Sasuke gave me a death glare, before exhaling exasperatedly.

"Drop my pants and sit." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Good, my apprentice, " I said, applauding his compliance, "This is a complex aspect of seals that isn't common knowledge for novice seal users, but here goes. Certain parts must be done in a certain order. It's not much of an issue with small seals like storage seals and cheap exploding tags, but anything of any true values submits to this rule."

"Why the analogy then?" Sasuke asked, impatience audible.

"How well do you think it would go if you shit before you drop your pants and sit down?"

Sasuke looked at me with disgust.

"Mucking up the order of things is very bad. The analogy is the same for high level seals, mess up the order and you're in for a shitty day, shitty days involving seals tend to be rather explosive."

"You ever blow yourself up?" Sasuke snarked, not noticing me flinch slightly.

Ashina blew himself up, I didn't want to know what that felt like. My clones were insane enough to blow themselves up with seals, I wasn't.

"My bunshin did." I admitted, "But let's not get sidetracked. Back to a complex part of seals."

Sasuke looked at me with a sharp look again, listening closely.

"Chakra affinity and ink composition matter," I continued, "Any high end sophisticated seals I make will be very difficult for Hinata to use since the two of us have opposing affinities in the form of fire and water. That is, if it isn't slightly modified for her."

"Same with us." He gestured between the two of us.

I blinked at that. Did he not know?

"What?" Sasuke asked, noticing me stop.

"You don't know your affinity?" I asked, looking him dead in the eye.

"Fire." He said simply, like he were commenting on the weather.

"No, it's lightning." I said, "You seem to have developed a secondary fire affinity from using Katon jutsu constantly."

Sasuke's eyes widened, obviously being shocked by the news.

"How do you know?"

I just shrugged.

"Your chakra feels like Kakashi's. It crackles like his does and mine to a degree."

Sasuke then frowned and muttered something under his breath, sounding something like 'No wonder it was so hard.'

Fugaku probably didn't like how Sasuke was taking longer to learn fire release than Itachi was. At least that was one less thing Sasuke could brood over.

"But back to the elemental part," I said, trying not to get distracted, "Exploding tags and storage seals aren't bothered by different affinities, but the high tier seals are. To compensate for the slight difference, you need to add certain portions to ensure stability. That's why seal masters that can truly be called master are so rare. Certain seals have to be borderline custom built to the specific seal user."

The best chakra conductive ink involved using a small amount of your own blood in the ink, the fluid holding chakra in it for longer than others.

A high tier seal made by me could be used by Rin without any issue at all, our close blood relation meant that our chakra was similar enough, even if we had different affinities.

An opposing affinity basically meant that the seal needed to be tweaked by only about a 2 percent margin, which was massive when it came to the delicate art of seals.

Sasuke was quiet throughout my explanation.

"So you won't teach me anything because it would be too time consuming for me and dangerous if I do it on my own?" He asked, looking irritated at the thought of not being able to master a certain field of combat.

"It would serve you better to focus on Ninjutsu and Genjutsu," I replied, being blunt, "It would take you years to be competent, and I'm not giving information on some things."

Sasuke looked at me strangely at the last part.

"What do you mean?"

"There's certain things about sealing that I won't ever shar- stop it," I snapped when I saw him get irritated, "They're innovations and insights that my clan made. I wouldn't presume to expect you to tell me private things about the Uchiha."

Sasuke dropped the look on his face and at least tried to look contrite.

"Oh."

The only thing worth me 'sharing' anything would involve Sasuke telling me about the Mangekyo Sharingan and the Naka shrine, and I would bet big that that he'd never do that.

I looked away from him and made a clone, ordering it to send orders for the portion of my clones working on assorted things to dispell.

The clone nodded and dispelled in a puff of smoke, several clones dispelling seconds later.

I blinked and squinted my eyes from the slight headache I got, before it faded shortly after.

Sasuke looked at me again strangely, his face emotionless like it was when he was thinking.

I heard him take a quick intake of breath seconds later.

"You get memories from them," He stated, already knowing that, "That's how the two of you train."

A glanced towards him and didn't answer, wanting him to continue.

"You won't have to worry about blowing yourself up with seals. Show me how to do it." He nearly demanded the last part.

I just turned to look at him lazily.

"No."

Sasuke glared at me.

"What do mean no?" He said tightly, keeping his eyes on me.

"You'll melt your brain if you try the training Rin and I do."

"I don't believe you." He said.

"Not my problem," I shrugged, "Ask Kakashi about what happens when you make too many. Just a warning, it'll kill you."

Sasuke continue to glare at me, probably not wanting to drop it.

"Whatever," He bit out, "I'll figure it out on my own time."

"Try and copy me or Rin, and I'll break both your arms." I said flatly, no joking in my tone.

At Sasuke's look of shock, I explained.

"Ask for permission, not a problem. But if you copy any of our jutsu with your eyes, I'll make sure you regret it."

"What is the problem with me trying to get stronger?" He demanded, his posture was more guarded, almost like he were ready for a fight.

"The Jutsu I use were earned from me working my ass off training. I'm not willing to part with them just because you expect everyone to kiss your ass because of those damned peepers of yours." I gestured towards his face.

Sasuke huffed and turned away.

"Like you would understand."

"Believe me," I said seriously, "I understand."

"No, you don't." Sasuke turned to glare back at me.

I gave him a geniune look of surprise.

Did he really forget what the hell Rin told him?

Much to my irritation, Rin had shared the particular incident that nearly got me killed. I'd planned on using that specific event in a conversation with Sasuke to get through to him, which would have been now.

Looking at the sun to determine roughly how much longer Kakashi and Asuma would be, I turned back to Sasuke.

"I just talked with you a couple days ago about this shit," I glared, vexed by what seemed like a reversion in his behavior, "I'm not getting myself, Rin, or my friends killed because your brother decided to go murder happy."

"What does that have to do with you not helping me?" Sasuke demanded.

"You. Will. Kill. Yourself." I said very slowly, looking straight into his coal coloured eyes, "You won't pace yourself properly and someone will find you dead at a training ground from either chakra exhaustion or a brain hemorrhage."

At his skepticism, I went into an extremely detailed explanation of how Kage bunshin worked, including the feedback damage and how anybody that didn't heal quickly like Rin and me would get severe headaches at best from using several for training, or actual brain damage.

After the near pointless waste of my time, Sasuke finally exhaled and dropped the glare he kept aimed at me.

"Believe me, Sasuke," I said, still looking at him, "If I feared that you'd surpass me, I'd kill you now."

Sasuke's glare returned, but I raised a hand to placate him.

"You're a comrade and fellow Konoha Shinobi," I continued, leaning a little closer to him, "You being strong makes Konoha stronger and therefore safer. You're no good to anyone, especially yourself, if you get killed from training in certain fields that are unsafe when trying to rush it. I should know, I've lost count how many times I've been stabbed or how many bones I've broken."

Sasuke looked like he was about to say something, but he stopped when he saw me tense and turn to my left.

I felt a familiar chakra signature about 200 yards away, approaching at a sedate pace.

"Kakashi's here." I said, alerting Sasuke why I turned.

Kakashi came into view and he didn't look pleased, judging by his stride.

Most couldn't spot that, but I'd been around and interacted with the man for years, making it easy for me.

He got to us and raised a brow, glancing at the two of us.

"Am I interrupting something?" He asked, giving me a slight wink.

"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," I nodded, making a faux sense of embarrassment lace my voice, "Sasuke-kun isn't happy with me. I've been very bad."

"That works better when you're Henged." Kakashi deadpanned.

"Oh," My eyes widened, "I knew I forgot something."

I then Henged as 'Naruko'.

"Sasuke-kun," I simpered, trying to channel as much fangirl mojo as I could, "I've been a bad girl. Spank me, Sasuke-kun." I slapped the Henge's ass for effect.

Kakashi looked away, whether from trying not to laugh or because he wanted to hide his reaction, I don't know. But Sasuke at first reacted just as I expected, his face turning pink and trying to look away.

The next words out of his mouth caused my brain to nearly short circuit.

"Did you base that off of Rin?" He asked.

I blinked owlishly at what had just left the Uchiha's mouth.

"What?" I growled, dropping the Henge.

No way in hell did he just insinuate that. That little jutsu is based off what the blonde, chibi Naruto looked like using it.

"That's a blonde with whisker marks," He managed to say clearly, "And it almost looks like Rin's face."

"That is not what it's based on," I said tightly, "That's creepy to even humour. I did not base my sexy jutsu on my sister."

Just like that, I was in a shitty mood.

I wasn't in a joking mood now, so I turned to Kakashi.

"Any updates?" I asked flatly, turning away from Sasuke, who had a slight grin on his face.

"Nothing of importance," Kakashi replied, scratching the side of his head, "The bridge is almost complete and the other issue looks like it will be resolved soon."

The 'other' issue was whether Zabuza would keep his word or not and lure Gato to the bridge so he could be killed.

If Zabuza thought he could ambush me to get the sword, he'd be in for a surprise.

I had 8 explosive tags strapped to the blade, all them being linked so that they'd explode if one was removed.

Kakashi then turned to Sasuke.

"Go wake Rin and the others up." He instructed, "I need to speak with Naruto about something."

Sasuke, at the tone Kakashi used, didn't offer any protest and turned to go back to Tazuna's and the others up.

After Sasuke left, it was just Kakashi and me there.

Grinning, I looked at Kakashi with a knowing look. "I told you how Rin punches me when I try to wake her up, right?"

"Yes," Kakashi nodded, "Why do you think I mentioned her in particular?"

I snickered at how much our humour lined up. Sasuke was easy to dick around with, his emo-ness not completely cured yet.

"But I do need to speak with you though." He said seriously, his visible eye narrowing.

"About?" I asked, wondering why he was acting this way.

"One serious thing and one that's not. First, you have a plan for when we reach the bridge and encounter Zabuza?"

"Yes, I already have a plan." I said simply.

"Care to tell me? I trust that you have everything covered, but I don't want to go in blind."

I explained the plan I had, Kakashi looking pleased with what my plan was.

"Wait until Gato shows up while having explosives on the blade," He mused out loud, "Good plan. Now, the next question."

I noticed how Kakashi looked at me with irritation.

"When did you see Anko naked?"

I felt a shiver go down my spine at the question and more so the reminder of that memory.

"Hmm?" I asked, not giving an answer.

"The Henge is based on Anko, isn't it?"

I stayed quiet, not comfortable with Kakashi bringing it up.

"I assume you'd be able to tell that it's based on her?" I asked, shifting around a bit in discomfort.

Kakashi nodded while still looking at me. "Yes."

At the unwavering look he kept giving me, I regaled him with the harrowing tale of how I had witnessed Anko in her 'divine splendor'.

I'd been trying to track her by smell, something she insisted that I try and train into something useful, but it was a mixed bag on results.

Flooding chakra into my nose enhanced my already above average sense of smell, but being in an area with thousands of people made it hard.

I didn't think for a moment that the day I was tracking her was the day she'd go to the hot springs. I ended up wondering towards there without thinking that I was headed to the hot springs.

I ended up, and I still don't know how the hell I didn't get caught, getting a full frontal view of Anko when she didn't have a towel covering her.

Saying she was hot would be an understatement. She looked drop dead gorgeous and was near perfectly proportionate in her physical attributes, and how she was fit, toned, and looked sleek like a predator nearly drove me insane. The fact that she was dripping wet from bathing and her hair was down made things very uncomfortable for me that night.

Rin wondered why I'd been out of it that day, avoiding talking about Anko and seemingly lost in my own thoughts.

I couldn't even look Anko in the eye for a few days afterwords, worried that she'd notice something was off.

After I finished the explanation, he chuckled lightly.

"I don't know what you did to deserve the luck of the gods," He grinned, "But I don't know how she didn't spot you. Frankly, what were you thinking was gonna happen?"

"Pardon the hell out of me for not thinking that I'd see my first pair of tits that day." I snarked, not mentioning how they weren't the first pair I'd seen, but they were possibly the best.

"It wasn't just that that you saw, now was it?" He kept the damn grin on his face.

"Whatever," I groaned, not wanting to talk about it anymore, "It worked on Jiji, so bite me."

Kakashi's eye widened in shock, before started openly laughing at what he'd just heard.

"She will kill you if she finds out." He managed to force out between laughs.

Anko may not be shy about flaunting what she's got, but flaunting is very different from frolicking around naked in front of the Sandaime Hokage.

"That's why you aren't going to say a single damn thing, right?" I said firmly, fixing him with a glare.

"Obviously," He deadpanned, "I put too much effort in training you."

"I feel so loved." I scoffed, acting like I was insulted.

Kakashi continued to chuckle at me playing up my aggravation, until he calmed himself and quieted down.

"Seriously though, why did you choose blonde hair for the Henge and not red?" He asked.

I seldom saw my own hair day in day out, given that it wasn't long enough for me to see it until recently. I also have kept it tied back slightly now that it's gotten to a certain length. I saw Rin the most often, making the use of her shade of hair the easiest for me to use for a Henge.

Scratching at my nose, I answered. "I see Rin's hair more often than my own. Makes it easier to use that hair colour instead." I said.

At my answer, Kakashi seemed to understand.

"Unrelated thing," I said suddenly, remembering what I wanted to ask before, "I don't know if you know anything about it, but would I be able to open any of the Celestial Gates safely?" I asked.

Gai had used them in sparring against me a couple times to showcase them so all the Genin would be prepared for it in the event that a fight occurred with Gai going fully unleashed.

Kakashi raised a brow in question. "Why would you want to know that?"

There were two things I could use as a force multiplier to make me surpass nearly all of those out to kill me, even if I wasn't a Jinchuriki.

Those two things were either mastering the opening of the Gates or Senjutsu.

The Gates were likely the easy route, Gai obviously taking a shine to me despite me having a very "Unyouthful" sense of humour.

Gai valued hard work and loved the fact that he didn't need to cultivate a deep drive for greatness in me. I already had it. He could very likely teach it to me if I explained how the technique could help me to protect Konoha and my comrades.

Senjutsu gave me two paths to pursue, one that I would flat out reject.

Jiraiya would undoubtedly teach me, being mine and Rin's godfather, as well as knowing of the Akatsuki.

Senjutsu would make a normal A-rank into someone who could contend with a solid S-rank on even ground at the very least. And I wasn't going to be a simple A-rank by the time I mastered it.

The second path of learning it would be from the resident serpent of the world, Orochimaru. The less said about the son of a bitch, the better.

Even if I didn't know the depths of evil he had committed, I still wouldn't very well train under him.

Once is an event. Two is a coincidence. Three is a pattern.

Redheads that use lightning never mesh well with big ass serpents.

Jormungandr and Vritra seem to need some company. I thought amusedly, maintaining eye contact with Kakashi.

"It could be useful if I could use something as a last resort that isn't going to turn me into a wreck if I don't have it on a tight leash." I said firmly, letting my resolve to not be a liability known.

Kakashi was still for a moment, thinking to himself by the looks of it.

Putting his hand to his chin, he hummed slightly. "I'm not sure whether it would be safe for you or not. I'll need to talk with Gai and the Hokage to see if it would cause any seal disruptions. We don't need something to happen again."

I shivered slightly at the memory of that night, remembering the terror of it all.

"Naruto," Kakashi said softly, catching my attention, "I haven't asked you this, but since no one else is here, I will. Do you remember who did it? Anything at all that could point to who did?" He asked, leaning closer to me.

Why would he bring this up? I asked myself. It didn't make sense to me why he'd feel the need to ask at this specific time frame.

Taking a breath, I looked at him with a sense of resignation. "An Uchiha, I think."

At Kakashi's look of intense focus, I continued.

"The chakra of males and females feel different. So does the chakra certain clans have. I think it was a male Uchiha, or possibly someone with an eye like you do. That memory is burned in my head more than anyone could know." I whispered, almost hearing the sound of flesh getting pierced and the feeling of blood dripping down on me.

Kakashi put a hand on my shoulder, looking at me with sympathy.

"Everyone lost something that day, you more than most."

I shut off my sensing because I didn't want to feel the echo of Obito's chakra coming from right in front of me.

I could ask him now. I could ask about Minato and finish the charade right now. No, I'll wait. I'll wait until we get back to Konoha.

Kakashi looked over my shoulder and straightened up, clearing his throat.

I turned to see what he was looking at and saw the other Genin coming towards us, looking tired but awake.

"Where's Rin?" I asked, seeing that she wasn't with them.

"She didn't want to wake up." Sasuke ground out, his left eye looking swelled.

Shaking my head, I gave him a look of false disappointment. "You call yourself a genius?" I asked condescendingly, "Yet you don't know how to wake a girl up without getting punched?"

"I refuse to believe you know how to wake her up without getting punched." Sasuke ground out.

I turned to look and see that the others looked a little drowsy, but were awake. Shikamaru looked like he was ready to lay down on the ground and go back to sleep.

"Wake up, Shikamaru, or I'll help keep you awake." I grinned, letting some lightning chakra dance around my fingers as I wiggled them at him.

Shikamaru grumbled under his breath and dug at his eyes with two of his fingers. "Troublesome."

"Not my fault that you're a lazy ass." I grinned.

I then turned back to Sasuke.

"You failed in your task, Sasuke," I intoned imperiously, "You bring shame to Konoha."

"I tried waking her up," He growled, "She called me an asshole and punched me."

"Do or do not. There is no try." I grinned, enjoying the irritation on Sasuke's face.

"You do it then." He frowned, not wanting to talk anymore.

I grinned and made a hand seal to make a clone. I grinned at the clone, who grinned back at the thought I had in mind. The clone dashed to Tazuna's and went to grab one of the storage seals I had water in.

After about a minute or two, I heard screaming and profanity coming from the house.

"SASUKE!"

Sasuke looked at me with horror.

"What the hell did you do?"

"Dropped water on her." I shrugged, enjoying the renewed look of fear on Sasuke's face.

My clone Henged as Sasuke and dropped over two gallons of water on Rin after making some stupid comment about how, "I'm gonna make you so wet."

Rin came charging out of the house a minute later, her clothes drenched and sticking to her frame. Her hair was still soaking wet and clung to her face.

Her vision zeroed in on Sasuke, before she audibly growled and charged at him.

Sasuke threw his hands up into a guard position as Rin aimed a punch at his face. He blocked the punch and shifted to the side as she tried to aim a kick at his balls.

"Rin." I called out, trying to calm her down.

She ignored me and kept trying to punch Sasuke, one of her kicks sending him staggering from the impact of stopping it.

I stepped in front of the two of them right as Sasuke jumped back and caught one of her punches, ignoring the stinging in my palm.

"Let me go!" She growled, her chakra flaring slightly from being pissed.

"I'm the one that woke you up," I said flatly, "I Henged a clone."

Rin calmed slightly, before glaring at me.

"You're an ass." She grumbled, "I'm going back to get my gear."

She then ran back to get her things, reminding me that I needed to get my own.

"I need to get my stuff as well." I looked at Kakashi, who nodded and gestured for me to go, hiding his smirk.

Sparing the others a glance, who had been quietly watching the spectacle I made, I rushed to the house to grab everything I left.

I collected everything and put on all the essentials, the armour still having a gash in it that I tried to pry close and close shut with lightning chakra to make it useable.

Putting my jacket over the armour, I left the house to return to Kakashi and the others.

I failed to hide my amusement when I could feel Rin and Sasuke's stares boring into me.

Ignoring them to torment them further, I looked at Kakashi. "Where's Asuma?" I asked expectantly, assuming he was with Tazuna.

"At the bridge with Tazuna." Kakashi said, confirming my thoughts.

I nodded at the answer, feeling Rin's chakra sharpen.

Rin seemed to have enough of me avoiding looking at her and stomped towards me, huffing and puffing.

"We are going to talk," She gritted out in English, "Why did you wake me up like that?"

She probably couldn't fathom why the hell I'd say something like that. In my defense, my clones were certifiable insane, willing to blow themselves up without any hesitation. Making a teasing comment while looking like Sasuke was actually rather tame for what they usually do.

"Clones, remember?" I replied in English, ignoring the looks of confusion we were receiving, "My clones are insane."

"The clones are you!" She said angrily, her face twisted in irritation, "Why the hell would your clone say that?"

"The same reason they blow themselves up." I shrugged, having already explained.

"Grr." Rin shook her head, aggravated by it. But that didn't make sense. I've done crazier shit to get her mad. I couldn't understand why it would be bothering her as much.

I turned to Kakashi, who actually seemed annoyed by what was happening.

"We going to go?" I asked expectantly.

Kakashi gave me a deadpanned look. "Once you stop acting like an idiot."

Affronted by such an accusation, I refused to take such an insult without a proper counter.

"I am not an idiot," I said, chest puffed out, "I am a fool. A fool that learned from the greatest of fools." I grinned.

"Who's more foolish, the fool or the fool who follows?" He asked flatly, not amused by my antics.

A slight intake of breath was all that I showed, but my mind kicked into gear.

"Kenobi." I seemed to hear a near manic voice seem to echo in my mind.

Don't say it. Don't say it. I bit my tongue to stifle the response.

Kakashi probably mistook my reaction for me relenting, judging by what he said next.

"We're heading out now. The bridge will be finished today and we'll probably be heading out tommorow morning, fortune willing." he finished, fixing me with a discreet look.

One way or another, things would end today. I prayed Zabuza wouldn't try to pull anything stupid, but I wasn't holding out for that based upon how pissed Haku looked when I met her the second time and was making demands that favoured me and my own.

If he did try anything stupid at the bridge, I was prepared. The clones that had been helping to build the bridge had laced certain sections with seals that were buried under the wooden boards. The seals were there to either channel lightning chakra into traps or to act as gravity seals to hold the bastard down.

I let my mind wonder slightly as we left Tazuna's and headed towards the bridge.

I need to make some clones to protect the house.

I made a hand seal and spawned several clones that immediately sped off towards the house.

At the look Kakashi gave me, I shrugged. "Just in case something happens."

Nodding in acceptance, Kakashi took the lead and took us on a merry journey to the nearly complete bridge.

---

Shikamaru POV:

The others may not be able to see it, but Shikamaru could see how tense Naruto was. The red haired boy had always been an enigma to him. Whenever he would try and gauge someone's character, he was normally able to tell by how they spoke, walked, or acted.

Naruto acted more like his father than he did those his own age.

Shikamaru was aware of how few others his age were as intelligent as he was. Naruto, Sasuke, and Neji being the closest ones, with Naruto likely surpassing him.

But as they made their way to the bridge, Shikamaru kept thinking of what mystery had eluded him for the last few days since Naruto had been a near gibbering wreck for a few minutes following the ambush by Momochi Zabuza.

Naruto and Rin both would talk in a different language at times, completely different from what he'd ever heard. He assumed that Naruto was saying something concerning Rin after the Iwa nin had lied and said that Rin had been attacked.

Ino had spoken with him about how the chakra Naruto was radiating felt like. Hatred and malevolence would be an understatement. He'd seen the slight manic grin on Naruto's face as he swung the blade down and nearly cut the Iwa kunoichi's arm off. He'd seen the chakra cloak try and take the shape of something with ears on it, almost looking like some sort of dog or wolf.

The chakra cloak was something that wasn't the same as his ability to make chakra blades. It wasn't lost on the Nara of why Naruto asked him for some advice on how his own chakra would feel when he'd manipulate his shadow.

Naruto's ability was likely a yin release technique, the likelihood of it added onto by Ino mentioning how Naruto's chakra blade "felt" similar to a Nara's shadow.

So he's hiding something. Shikamaru thought, looking towards the object of his thoughts having an animated conversation with Ino and Hinata.

Neither of the two would speak about what they talked with him about, Hinata even threatening to hit him if he pushed for more details.

How such a sweet girl could become that, not vicious, troublesome more like it, was lost on him. His dad swore that women brought out the best in men, a sentiment that was absent with all the girls he could think of.

Ino acted too much like his own mom, Hinata had her eyes on no one but Naruto, and Rin was...He wasn't sure what to think about Rin. The girl wasn't an idiot, nor was she too harsh on him when he wouldn't keep up with her in taijutsu, but seeing Naruto's reaction to the ambush gave him pause. He didn't need to get more friendly with Rin, getting confused with a romantic feeling when she has a potentially unstable older brother that hovers over everything.

He didn't want to think of Naruto that way, but he saw how dangerous of a Shinobi he was. It's not normal for a 13 year old to be capable of fighting against Jonin level Shinobi and come out of it without any near lethal injuries.

Naruto was one of the guys that he could consider a friend that could actually trade barbs with him, being of a similar intellectual level, but again, he saw Naruto's reaction and Ino's when she jumped into his mind. Trauma can do terrible things to people, and Nara Shikamaru didn't know what the hell ability Naruto had that responded to his hatred and fury, making him more of an animal than anything else.

"Thinking of something, Shika?" Choji asked quietly, the two of them being a little bit further away from the others.

Scowling slightly, Shikamaru looked at Choji and nodded. "Troublesome things."

Choji frowned at his short reply, probably knowing something wasn't right. He was his best friend after all.

Sighing at his friends expression, Shikamaru continued, being sure to keep his voice down.

"I need to talk to my dad about Naruto," He whispered, looking directly into Choji's eyes, "Something is with him and I hate not knowing."

Kakashi and Asuma reacted too quickly and with too much concern for Naruto when Ino used her clan Jutsu on him. She was tight-lipped on what she saw, meaning it had to have been bad.

Sparing Naruto a glance, he hoped that the boy would be able to trust him enough to share what he seemed to be burdened with all the time. The burden almost like how his dad looked when he was working extra shifts as Jonin Commander or when he'd been training alongside Inoichi and Choza more so lately.

A recently turned 13 year old he may be, but he was Nara Shikaku's son, a genius by the standards of his own clan. Something was going on that would shake the world, something that all the adults were aware of...and possibly Naruto.

Troublesome parents. Troublesome Senseis. And troublesome redheads. He grumbled to himself.

He was pulled from his thoughts when Kakashi lifted his left arm to halt them, stopping their walking.

His hand had his index and ring fingers raised up, signaling a possible attack.

The seven of them got into a ready position, most of them drawing kunai while Rin had her tanto out and Naruto's hand was glowing a slight shade of gold.

"Naruto," Kakashi said sharply, his tone tense, "Have your bunshin sensed anything? Hinata, see anything?"

They didn't just have a good sensor and a novice sensor in the form of Naruto and Ino, they also had a Hyuga.

Naruto spawned a bunshin and dispelled it instantly, a look of slight irritation on his face seconds later.

"Nothing." He said shortly, pressing his fingers to his brow discreetly.

Hinata had her Byakugan activated, the veins around her eyes enlarged.

"I don't see anything, Kakashi-sensei." She said, her eyes still active.

Kakashi reached into his jacket and pulled out a message scroll that matched the one that Asuma had, pressing some chakra into it to open it.

He popped open the scroll and looked at it for all of two seconds, before he straightened up and stuffed it back into his jacket.

"Double pace," He said, stretching his arms for a moment, "Message from Asuma: Zabuza is at the bridge."

Shikamaru heard Naruto say something under his breath that was obviously bad enough for Rin to shoot a glare at him.

"This is where the fun begins." He heard Naruto say, returning the glare to Rin.

The other genin tensed and readied to follow Kakashi, who right before he took off with a blistering pace, gave a quick look towards them.

Troublesome.

---

Naruto POV:

Offer an olive branch, and I get burned. I thought cynically, reaching the bridge that symbolized the entire region's hope.

We got to the bridge and I saw the resident antagonist, Zabuza, with 5 workers restrained and Haku standing several meters away.

Asuma was at one side of the bridge with Tazuna, eying the two, while Zabuza was closer to the other side, his hostages looking pale and frightened.

At the realization at what he was doing, I got angry. Not just angry, furious.

How dare he? I felt my chakra begin to flow faster in response to my emotion. I spare Haku and offer the chance of a bloodless option, but he does this.

Ignoring Kakashi clearing his throat, I approached Zabuza with Kubikiribocho on display in my right hand, dragging it across the ground for effect.

The Iwa bastards likely turned tail and ran. I thought angrily, cursing the fact that I let them get away. They'll probably spread the word that a redhead that uses a sword is in Konoha's employ, but fuck it. I'll kill anything that tries to kill me.

At the sight of me, Zabuza lifted up a sword in salute, the blade being very different from Kubikiribocho.

The blade Zabuza had looked more realistic to what a blade should look like in a conventional sense, being a katana about 3 feet long.

"Downsized?" I snarked, lifting up my own blade for comparison.

Zabuza laughed and swung the sword from side to side, hearing it cut through the mist heavy air. "Not my personal choice," He admitted, "But it's the next best I've got."

"Being on the run has a habit of making replacing your gear difficult," I grinned, before thinking of something better to say, "Not that I'd trust your judgement anyway, trying to over throw a Jinchuriki."

I felt Kakashi's chakra get closer, Zabuza readying his blade in a standard guard position.

The former Kiri nin made a quick hand seal and a Mizu bunshin appeared from the standing water next to the hostages, blade placed on one of their necks.

"Come closer, Hatake," He shouted, "And I'll make them a head shorter, one at a time." His bunshin tapping one of them on the neck repeatedly. I could hear the man weeping audibly and could see him shaking like a leaf.

"What do you want, asshole?" I demanded, a clone of mine popping to tell me that the clones I sent out minutes before I got here were Henged and in position. "I got your damn blade here." I gestured towards it, before spitting on it.

At the last action, Zabuza gave me a look of hatred.

"I value that blade more than I value the lives of this meat here," He snarled, jerking his hand towards the hostages, "I wasn't being cutesy when I said I'd kill them."

"Kill one of them," I promised, a chakra blade forming in my other hand, "And I'll feed you your own heart." My Killing Intent spiked as high as I could manage.

Zabuza didn't look fazed and actually chuckled at the little display, spiking his own.

Kurama was an inferno that felt like my very soul was burning, Zabuza's, while potent, wasn't anything in comparison to a vengeful Bijuu.

"I haven't come across a kid your age worth killing in a long time. I'm going to enjoy this." He laughed, looking positively gleeful.

"What the hell are you wanting, demon?" I asked mockingly, wanting to know what the bastard had in mind.

"My mentor talked of how the Uzumaki were some of the best fighters he went up against," He grinned, almost looking wistful at whatever memory he was thinking of, "I've always wanted to see what it's like to fight one on one against one."

"You're out of luck," I said simply, "What made you think I was one?"

"Don't play coy with me, boy," He warned, his chakra spiking to try and intimidate me, "A redhead your age that's skilled in Kenjutsu is pretty damn noticeable. That little blade trick you use was something my predecessor spoke about when he talked about the fall of Uzushiogakure."

I needed Gato to show up on time and give Kakashi or Asuma time to make a plan, so I decided to play for time.

"What did the pussy say?" I asked, enjoying the reaction to the comment that Zabuza displayed.

"He said how much they begged for mercy when their Kage was killed." He laughed, maintaining a guarded stance.

Zabuza was lying. Hiruzen shared what happened during the battle, especially the final hours of it.

Any surrendering Uzumaki would have had explosives strapped to them as a trap, probably why there weren't any bodies that Orochimaru ever used for experimentation, come to think of it.

Imagine if the bastard had access to an Uzumaki host? I thought, not liking the prospect.

"Funny how most of the coalition got killed." I grinned maliciously, "Makes you think on whether they were meat to be diced up."

Zabuza just laughed at my statement.

"It'll be a shame to kill you, so I'll try to go easy on you." He then stepped a few feet closer to me, prompting me to raise Kubikiribocho in a ready position.

"This," He pointed at the blade he held, "Is a chakra conductive blade I took from a Hunter nin that tried to kill me. Fight me alone, and I'll give you the blade, let the hostages go, and I'll kill Gato for you."

I felt Kakashi's chakra shift before he even speaking.

"Naruto," he began, but I cut him off.

"You altered the deal," I stated simply, frowning at him, "What's stopping me from letting Kakashi and Asuma turn you into fish food?"

Zabuza simply pointed at the hostages.

"Kill them," I countered, "And I'll make you beg for death before I kill you."

"You won't though," Zabuza chuckled, "You're a damn hero, aren't you? You want this to be nice, civil, and clean. You'll fight to protect them. You'll talk before you fight."

At the last sentence, something clicked. That was similar to what I said to Haku.

My gaze turned to Haku, who had her mask on.

The lives of the workers were on the line because she told Zabuza that I could possibly be manipulated by kindness.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Eying Zabuza's backup blade, I did something that had Kakashi looking at me with shock.

I lifted up Kubikiribocho and offered it to Zabuza.

"I'll trade you."

"What are you doing, Naruto?" He asked, his Hitai-ate lifted up to show his Sharingan.

"You will stay out of this," I demanded, fixing the older man with an unwavering gaze, "I'm not letting them get killed."

They might not have been in this situation if I hadn't shown that one act of mercy to Haku.

No, don't think that. I growled internally. You're not them.

I am not a monster. I am not Obito. I am me.

If I could manage it, Zabuza was going to die very painfully. I hate being played for a fool. Fuck the chance of him doing anything.

Kakashi just shook his head in irritation, knowing he wouldn't be able to convince me.

Zabuza looked ready and willing, flipping the blade around and ready to fling it to me.

"On the count of three?" He asked amusedly.

Nodding, I readied the blade to be thrown.

One. Two.

Three.

The katana came straight towards me as Kubikiribocho went sailing towards Zabuza.

I had the mind enhancement of the lightning cloak active in case Zabuza tried something. My eyes never left him though.

Catching the blade, I tested the reach and feel of it.

I could tell he wasn't lying about it being chakra conductive. I was pushing a small amount into it and it wasn't resisting.

This thing would have been damn expensive back in Konoha. I'd initially planned on buying one, but the money needed for food to take to Wave took priority.

Looking at Kakashi, I said one sentence.

"Back away. I will deal this scum myself."

Zabuza was busy tearing off the explosives I'd put on the blade, before he laughed at what I'd said.

I had deactivated them as a threw it.

I glanced towards everyone that was behind us, trying to not look at Rin who was hearing everything said.

The look of terror on her face almost made me reconsider what I was doing. Were the lives of the workers worth causing her emotional pain from worry? Was this worth risking getting hurt? I don't know. But I made my choice and I was going to stick to it.

The feeling of her chakra, the way it, Ino's, and Hinata's was shifting meant they were scared for me. Shikamaru and Choji's was as well, but to a lesser extent.

Sasuke's was very cold, something that I hadn't felt from him before. I had no idea what he was feeling right now.

Kakashi's chakra was one that I was so familiar with, I could feel the subtle shifts in it where I might as well be reading his mind.

He was flicking between anger, concern, and irritation at a rapid pace.

Steeling myself, I turned to face Zabuza with my new sword at rest.

"Your move." I said firmly, shooting a look of anger at Haku.

"You fool," Zabuza laughed, looking at how Kakashi had backed up to let the fight commence, "I've been trained by the greatest of swordsmen and killed a whole lot scarier Shinobi than you." He then raised his sword in a high guard.

This was it. The fight I'd been looking forward to. I picked my environment well. The seals were still in place based on the extremely faint chakra outline I could feel under the wood where I placed them. Zabuza had no idea what was coming.

Pushing chakra into my limbs, I felt the exhilaration of the upcoming fight push aside all doubt and worry.

"And they're all dead." I said firmly, " Dead at the hands of my clan. And I'm not a typical Shinobi. You think you know what a demon is because of your little pet name?" I demanded, my chakra flaring, "I know what a true demon is." I finished, channeling lightning chakra through the blade, the sound of crackling being heard across the bridge.

"I'll let your friends see that you had a good death." Zabuza promised, his chakra beginning to flow quickly in preparation for the fight.

"You are mistaken." I said firmly, adopting the most common Uzumaki stance for Kenjutsu.

Blade held horizontal to the right of my head, left hand held out with my index and middle fingers pointed out towards him in a challenge.

Zabuza raised his own blade and laughed loudly.

"Attack, Shinobi." He said the last word almost mockingly, beginning to twirl his blade as he approached me.

He kept swinging it in a certain pattern to scrape at the bridge to make a crunching sound as parts of the wood gave way under the swings. That little scare tactic might work on novices, but I wasn't one.

The moment he reached me, I lunged my blade forward to catch his mid swing.

The two met in a clash of sparks, followed by him pulling back and stabbing at me. I flipped over his head and slashed at his back, his own blade spinning around to intercept mine.

My feet touched the ground and I raised my sword to stop the horizontal slash towards my head. Zabuza pressed harder, attacking my guard in rapid succession, hoping to break my defenses down.

Each attack was blocked, dodged, or pushed aside, his attacks moving even faster.

A diagonal swing that I ducked left me an opening to stab at his gut, rewarding me with a glancing hit.

A grunt of pain was all I got from him, before he leaped back and stopped our little dance for now.

"You're better than before," He mused, touching at the cut just below his ribs, "More focused."

"My powers are double what they were." I snarked, enjoying the adrenaline pumping through my veins.

Zabuza grinned and charged me again, driving Kubikiribocho downward.

My sword stopped the attempt to cleave me in half, the force of it being felt in my joints.

The blades locked for but a moment, before I disengaged and attempted to make room for a Jutsu.

Zabuza pursued me and kept attacking to force me to use both hands to block his powerful swings.

I noticed his attacks started flowing into a pattern. Left. Right. Stab turned into a partial pivot to bring it around again. The speed that he was able to use when wielding that heavy of a blade was impressive.

A swing to my left was caught by the hilt of my blade, getting dragged up and over my head, giving me an opening to drive a kick into Zabuza's ribs.

I put as much force as I could into it, hearing him make an *oof* sound as he was pushed back several feet.

Without wasting a single moment of the opening I got, I Shunshined away while channeling lightning chakra into my brain to set my preferred distance.

With the couple of seconds I bought, I made several dozen clones and ordered them to attack Zabuza.

Watching the clones charge and engage him, I pulled out a kunai with an exploding tag on it and flung it at him. He obviously heard the whistling of it cutting through the air and switched with a stray piece of wood boarding that got torn apart from the explosion.

My clones pursued him and from the memories I was getting, he was getting more desperate.

Several of the stray objects on the bridge were in fact the clones I sent much earlier and were Henged.

The fact that they would explode when struck would make things fun.

Pushing out my chakra into the mist heavy air around the bridge, I made a hand seal to get my plan started.

Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu.

The mist responded to my will and began to form a shroud around me and Zabuza, obscuring us from sight.

Shutting my eyes to get a better image from my sensing, I felt where my own clones were at, getting cut down by a now vicious Zabuza.

"You think the mist is your ally?" He shouted, my last clone getting cleaved in half by him, "We Kiri nin are born in it. Molded by it. I didn't taste dry air until I was already a man."

I approached where I could feel him in the mist, the knowledge that I could feel people in my own mist was known by only 4 others.

With as much silence as I could muster, I dashed towards Zabuza, his back exposed, aiming to strike him down.

He turned and stopped my strike grinning at me maliciously.

He had an assortment of minor cuts on him from fighting my clones, his breathing quicker than normal.

"You won't be able to sneak up on me, kid," He grinned, "No matter how quiet you are."

I pulled my blade back and drove downwards towards his shoulder, followed by a slash to the other side.

The screeching of each contact between my blade, which had lightning coursing through it, and his, was making my ears ache from how high of a pitch it was. But I ignored it, continuing to try and shatter the bastard's guard.

Zabuza began backing up and giving ground to probably try and escape the mist, something I wasn't willing to let happen.

Right as we got near the edge of the mist, I feinted to my right and shot my left hand forward, Rasengan forming in my palm.

Zabuza brought his blade up to stop it, my hand stopping just inches away from his chest as my hand made contact with the flat end of his sword. A god awful screeching was sounding out from my chakra grinding into the steel of his sword.

Straining to keep the sword in place with my off hand, I dropped forward under his guard and lashed out with a kick aimed at his knee. The hit made contact and I felt something shift in his leg.

Growling in pain, he nearly stumbled backwards and swung down at me, thinking I had possibly tripped.

The flash of surprise on his face when I switched with a clone Henged as a log was priceless.

If not for the extra reach on his blade, he would have had a much worse injury than burn marks from when the exploding tag on it exploded.

As he stumbled back from the explosion, I shot forward and re-engaged him, my attacks driving him back.

I could see multiple cracks in the blade, the explosion and the Rasengan doing it no favours.

My attacks sped up and I channeled some lightning chakra into my mind to speed up my processing speed.

Everything seemed to go slower, my own breathing, Zabuza's movement, the drops of blood leaking from the multiple minor wounds he had, the slight favouring of one leg.

With the extra time to look for a weakness, I managed to notice a spot I could aim for.

With seemingly all the time in the world, I let my left hand drop from the supporting grip it had on my katana, pulling it closer to me to make a hand seal.

I saw Zabuza's face slowly shift to one of realization, not expecting me to switch to Ninjutsu at that moment.

I built up water in my gut and finished the half seal.

Suiton: Daitoppa.

A large ball of water shot from my mouth and struck Zabuza with enough force to launch him back several meters and out of the mist.

He jumped back to his feet and started making multiple hand seals, several of which I recognized the pattern of.

Mimicking the pattern, I grinned as I knew what he was going to try.

Over 40 hand seals were needed by those who weren't the most accomplished at shaping the chakra.

And I wasn't incompetent.

I managed to lower it to 15 hand seals, making it much more manageable.

Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu (Water dragon bullet)

The water around the bridge formed into a large dragon, a second joining it when Zabuza finished his just a moment later.

The two Jutsu clashed in a violent explosion of water, looking rather spectacular as the entire area got covered in the remnants of the two Jutsu.

I didn't let the display distract me from making several clones and launched several Suidon at him to keep him moving.

Zabuza managed to barely avoid the high velocity projectiles that came flying towards him, his movements beginning to look more sluggish.

That Jutsu had to have taken a lot out of him. He might have Jonin level reserves, but I had hardly tapped into my own.

The mist had begun to clear somewhat from the lack of adding to it, so I made two more clones to make some more and manipulate it to my needs.

I kept the lightning chakra enhancement on my mind as I Shunshined straight towards him, blade crackling.

He barely managed to raise his sword as I smashed into him full force.

He was breathing heavily and had multiple gaps in his guard as I punished every single time he was just a little too slow to stop me.

Shallow cut to the abdomen. Counter strike diverted and slash to the thigh.

He roared in rage, or perhaps pain, and seemed to get more frantic and actually managed to land a hit on my shoulder as he disregarded his own safety and lashed out with a vicious slash at me.

I felt the blade tear my sleeve off and left a sizable gash in my left arm, blood flowing down to my fingers.

He backed away from me, panting heavily.

"How the hell aren't you tired," He gasped, trying to catch his breath, "You can't be this good and not be winded."

If I hadn't been using Ninjutsu to bolster my fighting, I might have had more fatigue. But Ninjutsu was what I was most skilled at, being an Uzumaki Jinchuriki ensured that few could match me in stamina, even as a 13 year old.

"Your mentor tell you about the crimson haired demons that didn't need sleep?" I sneered, growling at the rapidly fading pain in my arm, being replaced by itching from the wound trying to close.

Zabuza gave a wet chuckle, spitting out some blood. "If a pubeless kid is this dangerous, I've got no fucking clue how anyone escaped that death trap."

Knowing that he was at my mercy, I decided to sate my curiosity since nobody could see us in the mist that my clones had draped around us.

"What does Kiri say about the Uzumaki?" I asked, honestly curious.

Zabuza chuckled and shifted his blade to support his weight, only once my own blade dropped to point at the ground in a rest position.

"That the world is better off without them. You wouldn't believe the ghost stories told about the Uzukage." Another wet cough being heard.

I might have cracked some ribs when I struck him with my Jutsu.

"Stories?" I asked, letting him catch his breath some.

"Only about a hundred Kiri nin survived that fight," Zabuza said, the visible part of his face twisted in a snarl, "I talked with a sensor who was their and he was pathetic." He paused to cough again.

"You need some water?" I asked flatly, letting some water pool into my hand, "I've got some here."

"Fuck you too, kid," He chuckled, shifting his stance slightly, "If you don't mind, I'll take something to fix it. I'll talk some more if you don't try and hit me."

I nodded and gestured for him to go ahead.

He pulled something out of a pouch and tossed it into his mouth, probably being some type of soldier pill.

His injuries seemed to stop bleeding as much and his posture straightened, looking much better than before.

"Thanks," He said, his eyes flicking to look at the mist and how the corridor that let us see each other was still intact, "What else you want to hear?"

"How the Uzukage is the Shinigami and eats babies or some shit." I shrugged, "Or whatever the sensor said." I added.

Scoffing slightly, Zabuza began to speak.

"The sensor, and he wasn't the only one to mention it, said it was a death trap the moment they landed. Couldn't even sense 10 meters in front of them because of all the damn mist."

Kirigakure no Jutsu was a hard counter to dojutsu users and sensors due to the flooding of chakra into it. No surprise that it would be a pain in the ass to see through any made by someone with potent chakra.

I remained silent and let Zabuza have his break in exchange for his tale.

"7 damned days of your senses being overwhelmed by kami knows what. Something about how it felt like the earth, sky, and water seemed to turn against them and didn't respond to their command."

I snorted at the near poetic sound of the description. "Didn't take Kiri for having poets."

"Jokes on you," He laughed, "That's exactly what I said when I heard it from my mentor. He said the chakra that was covering everything felt like nature itself was trying to kill them."

The word 'nature' had my mind start racing through possibilities.

Sage mode from the toads made you able to tank damage and crush anything with your fists, along with sensory abilities. Snake Sages I think can manipulate the environment by imbuing it with nature chakra. I have no damn clue if any other summons could have Sage training, or if this even is Senjutsu.

I knew of certain types of seals that can turn Jutsu against the caster, but not anything that hinted at being able to make the environment hostile to certain Shinobi with particular affinities.

Seals that could make it nearly impossible for Suiton and Doton jutsu to be used from the environment would turn the tide of any war or conflict with Iwa and Kiri.

But again, I had no fucking clue what in God's name could possibly explain it.

I decided to speak to hide that I was thinking deeply about what was said.

"Perhaps he was embellishing an event that robbed him of many comrades and friends to explain how they were killed." I remarked nonchalantly, pushing out my sensing to try and feel where my clones were at.

Tobirama was shown to be able to press a finger to the ground and feel what and where enemies were at, something I was also capable of doing.

The standing water on the bridge acted as an adequate medium to ping my senses through to feel the feet of others when my own mist made my 'sight' opaque.

Two of my clones were shifting the mist around to keep it thick enough to hide us, I wasn't wanting Sasuke to try and copy some of what I could do. I simply didn't trust him enough to not possibly get himself hurt or killed trying to speed his progress along.

The mist was thick enough for me to make a Mizu bunshin with it if I needed to, perhaps I could make one and kill the one that Zabuza had guarding the hostages.

All this thinking was bolstered by the lightning enhancement, dragging out over a minute of time from just a few seconds.

Zabuza looked unconvinced by my statement, shifting his stance to a more ready one.

"Many things the survivors of that battle may be," He said firmly, "But liar is not one."

I responded to his stance by readying my blade again, one hand on it.

"Anything else about the Uzukage?" I asked, wanting to know how Ashina was seen as.

"An old bastard that should have died long ago." Zabuza said simply, blade mirroring my own as we prepared for a resuming to our little disagreement, "Probably killed more Shinobi than the rest of his village. You related to him?" He asked.

I shook my head, obviously not wanting to share.

"Just wanting to know what the defeated feel about their victor." I shrugged, noticing the flash of irritation from Zabuza.

"I'll be sure to ask how you feel, now that I know how skilled you are." He grinned, shouting in fury as he charged at me.

I shot towards him like a bullet and felt my arms jolt as I smashed my blade against his, a loud clang sounding out.

I heard a slight splash of water to my left and saw one of my clones running around the two of us in a circle, for reasons unknown.

What am I thinking? I thought, grinding my blade against Zabuza's in a lock to try and strong arm him into staggering.

Against someone my height and weight, it might have worked. But Zabuza was about Kakashi's height and had plenty of strength in his body, especially with a soldier pill in his system.

Zabuza shoved back and forced me to take a step back, the opening allowing him to press an attack against me.

His attacks were coming swift and fast, the man obviously learning that it would be stupid to give me an opening to use a hand seal.

Each attack forced me to defend with two hands, the force of the impacts needing both to stop them.

A cut slipped through my guard and I heard metal screeching as the metal on the left side of my chest had the top part shaved off from the stab that would have left a decent cut in my ribs.

Backing away, I glanced towards my clone, who Zabuza also spotted.

I grinned when I could practically see what was about to happen.

A ring of mist surrounded us, obscuring us from view, but there was mist in the center.

Enough to make a bunshin.

I charged forward and let my blade lower, letting Zabuza have an opening for my chest.

Zabuza, whether he didn't see what was about to happen, or simply didn't care of the risk, dashed towards me and raised Kubikiribocho upward to behead me.

My clone made a hand seal, a Mizu bunshin appearing from the mist to the immediate right of Zabuza.

I switched with the Mizu bunshin right as he brought the Zambata down, the sound of wood splintering and the slink of the Mizu bunshin being killed audible.

He didn't get his blade up in time to stop me from slashing across his right side and opening up a gash from his shoulder blade to the bottom of his ribs.

He howled in pain and swung blindly at me, growling in rage.

I switched with one of the Henged clones 20 feet away that had an explosive tag strapped to it, the same thing as before happening.

I was a little closer this time, my ears ringing from the blast. Zabuza looked like a mess, several burns on his chest and he was staggering from the blast possibly damaging his ear drums.

"Give up," I demanded, making several more clones, ordering them to begin my plan to finish this, "This will only end with you dead."

Zabuza evidently heard some of what I said and spat at his feet.

"If I'm going to die, I'm taking you to hell with me!"

I charged forward again and made multiple Kage bunshin, sending them forward.

They all shot towards him, intentionally dispelling right in front of him to obscure his vision of me using the smoke.

Another Mizu bunshin was made from the mist that was meer feet from him and was used as a substitution, putting me within striking range.

Seemingly being able to teleport would mess with anyone, even an A-rank like Zabuza.

Whether from hearing me right before a swung my blade, or from some sixth sense, he got Kubikiribocho up in time to stop his head from getting cut off, the clang of steel meeting drowning out his intake of breath from shock.

I stabbed at his gut, letting his parry propel me in a spin which I used to swing my foot around in a kick, driving it into his ribs.

He grunted from the impact and stepped back from me, looking at me with hatred.

An assassin he may be, but this was my playground. No one had permission to not get their ass kicked when I wanted to most definitely fuck you up.

I gave him no rest and continued to press him, multiple Mizu bunshin appearing at different intervals to land a glancing hit on him whenever he tried to stop my assault.

He got pissed once again and let me land a glancing hit on him, lunging forward and surprising me with a meaty fist being driven into my face when my sword was busy cutting into his flesh instead of protecting me.

Growling in pain, which turned into a roar when he avoided the Rasengan I drove towards his heart by switching with a Mizu bunshin of his that got shredded by my jutsu.

He clutched at his chest, specifically the newest injury I gave him, several medium gashes on the left side of his chest where I drove my Rasengan into his chest.

He obviously didn't substitute fast enough and took some of the hit. I thought, eying the heavy breathing he was making, trying to slow it down.

"Give up, Zabuza!" I shouted, "In this battle, I've got the advantage!"

"I won't lose to some ginger shrimp that's never gotten his dick wet!" He shouted, raising his sword in challenge

"Fool." I muttered, grasping ahold of the mist and making it dissipate.

I wanted the others to see how far I was willing to go to save the innocent, what it took to do the right thing.

I turned and saw the looks of worry on their faces, quickly turning to shock that I looked, aside from some blood on my arm, fine, while an A-rank missing nin looked like he was at every disadvantage imaginable.

Hinata had her eyes activated, while Ino's face was scrunched up like she was concentrating, and Rin looked extremely pale, paler than Sasuke normally was.

I turned away and eyed where Haku and the hostages were.

If Zabuza trusted her to be able to kill unarmed hostages, he wouldn't have left a Mizu bunshin.

My grin grew when I realized that the hostages had been moved some to be at the edge of the bridge.

A Henged clone was there.

I had to be quick, my clones were running out of chakra from being Henged for so long, the ones working on the mist already having been running on fumes.

"Clone!" I shouted in English, "Kill the water clone."

My clone dropped the Henge and Shunshined straight into the Mizu bunshin, driving a chakra blade through its heart before it could turn.

Before Zabuza could intervene at his leverage being taken from him, I made a hand seal to activate the seals under the boards.

A weakness of that particular seal structure was that it was only surface level, meaning that the Hiding like a mole Jutsu was all that was needed to escape it, the gravity being tied to the seals and not what was underneath. Obviously weird from a Laws of Physics perspective, but this was a world where you had natural pink hair, immortals, and reincarnations. Certain things needed to be played fast and loose in thinking of what was possible or not.

The gravity seals activated, but not as intensely as when I used them before.

The bridge ran the risk of collapsing if I botched one part of the seal matrix, making me be more cautious. Judging by the lack of creaking, I made all the seals properly.

Zabuza growled and tried to move, looking like he was trying to move through syrup.

"What did you do?" He gritted out, unable to even raise his blade without it shaking horribly.

"What else was said?" I shouted, channeling lightning chakra into my hands as I let my sword fall to my side, "You ever hear about never giving a seal user 5 seconds to prepare? WELL YOU GAVE ME ALL NIGHT!" I roared, activating the other set of seals.

I sped through hand seals and fired the strongest concentration of lightning chakra I could in a jutsu without hurting me.

The Jutsu I used was one that I had no shits to give about stealing it, given that the named user of it was out to kill me and Rin.

Raiton: Gian (False Darkness).

I blasted a bolt of lightning from my mouth, aimed directly at the supposed demon of the mist.

Zabuza's eyes widened and I heard Haku scream.

Zabuza managed to muster up the hysterical strength to throw Kubikiribocho at the lightning bolt, trying to stop it from hitting him directly.

It worked somewhat, the lightning exploding with a deafening boom that nearly shook the bridge.

I felt my hair stand on end and my tongue kept tingling, meaning I overdid the lightning chakra in my mouth.

The seals for conducting lightning made sure all of it stayed where it was supposed to, not running the risk of accidentally killing someone in or near the water.

As the smoke cleared, I saw a rather grim sight.

Zabuza was on his knees, blood flowing freely from several wounds all across his body.

Kubikiribocho was destroyed, only the hilt and about 6 inches of the base of the blade was intact, everything else was either in shattered remnants on the bridge, or were lodged in Zabuza's body.

At the weak state I saw him in, I made a decision.

I had to make sure he wouldn't get back up and try to kill me.

There was a specific nerve that ran from your neck, past you shoulder and into your arm that governed a majority of the movement and strength in your arm. Severing or crushing it would make it into a gimp limb. Nothing short of an Iryo-nin could fix it, no emergency soldier pill would heal it.

I'd tell you it won't hurt, but I'd be a fucking liar. I laughed to myself, realizing what I'd just done.

I defeated an A-rank. A Shinobi that had managed to give Hatake Kakashi a hard fought fight in a world where I wasn't born was at my mercy.

And I'd offer him the same sympathy that he showed his hostages.

Slowing down my perception with lightning chakra, I grabbed my new blade from at my feet and charged at Zabuza, deactivating the gravity seals right before I hit the area of effect.

Zabuza fell forward and put his hand out to hold himself up, pushing up and looking straight at me with contempt.

Minutes seemed to tick by, the thrill of triumph singing in my blood. My eyes zoned in on a nice spot where his arm connected into his shoulder where a sword would be a lovely add on.

But right as I had my blade ready to bring down on him, I felt more than one chakra signature behind me move.

Haku dashed towards me, followed immediately by Kakashi running towards the hostages, his chakra seeming to split like he made a clone.

My eyes shifted to my peripheral seeing a blur of brown and white appear in front of me.

My blade crashed into a blade of ice she made as she barely got to me and intercepted my strike.

Looking directly into her eyes, I could feel her straining to hold me back.

"Brave of you, Haku," I commended, looking at her masked face, "But I would have thought you learned your lesson."

"I won't let you take him from me." She spat, leveraging my blade away from a shocked Zabuza.

I pulled my blade away from her and brought it down over her head, forcing her to block it.

Right as I drove a kick into her chest, she switched with what I discovered was an ice clone when it exploded in ice shards and cut up my lower leg somewhat.

Growling at the pain, I shot towards where she was at, about 30 feet away.

Even with the cuts on my leg and the slight fatigue I felt from fighting Zabuza, it wasn't a contest.

Kakashi had gotten the hostages out and was roughly where Zabuza was at, probably standing guard.

Haku wasn't able to match my strength and had her arm knocked aside from the very first strike, my left fist smashing into her face with a resounding crack, the mask fracturing under my fist.

I stabbed at her chest, being twisted to the side as she pivoted and pushed it away with difficulty.

"You can't win, Haku." I said simply, noticing how she seemed to be favouring her arm, "I won't kill Zabuza. Just give up."

"I don't believe you." She shouted, making a quick hand seal and shooting a spike of ice at me.

I deftly shattered it by swinging my sword at it almost lazily, giving her a look of aggravation.

My head was hurting from using the lightning enhancement to help me defeat Zabuza and I was sore from the constant attacks from Kubikiribocho.

"Don't make me kill you, Haku." I almost begged her, wanting to avoid such a thing, even if she put innocent people at risk.

She responded by making a couple more hand seals and I felt the air turn cold and her chakra flood the area.

"Makyo Hyosho." I muttered, seeing how I was surrounded by a dome of ice.

Kakashi could probably shatter a mirror with his Raikiri, but he might be trying to see what could be done without hurting me.

Sensing her in the mirrors was a bit difficult, but not impossible.

I heard a faint whistle and shifted to my side and felt an ice senbon brush against a lock of my hair.

Several more senbon from multiple angles flew towards me, one or two hitting me, while the rest were deflected by my blade and a chakra blade I made in my left hand.

"You shift through the mirrors and try to hit me at a rapid speed." I shouted, letting her know I knew how her technique worked.

I felt her chakra signature stop moving and could tell which mirror she was in, specifically one to my right.

"Knowing my jutsu won't help you escape." She said, her voice much softer than before, "I know you or your comrades will kill Zabuza. I can't let you. Keeping you in here will insure they will let Zabuza leave."

"And what happens if my friends decide to kill you when Zabuza gets away?" I asked, knowing that wouldn't happen.

Kakashi had been skeptical of this working out in a peaceful way, but had let me try anyway. Zabuza decided to be a prideful asshole and wanted to beat me down. But that didn't work out for him the way he wanted to, obviously.

"Then I will have died protecting my precious person." Haku replied quietly, her chakra sharpening and feeling colder.

She truly was willing to die for Zabuza. I made a decision that I knew would leave me hated by her for the rest of her life.

"I know you would." I said, forming a Rasengan in my hand, "So I'll make the choice for you."

Before she realized what happened, I Shunshined straight at the mirror she was in, driving my hand into it with a near deafening screech from my chakra destroying the ice.

She was blasted from the mirror and the dome collapsed as I flew through the hole from my momentum.

I ended up staggering slightly, but managed to steady my feet.

The sound of Haku striking the ground over 30 yards away was not a pleasant one, nor was the gasps of pain I could hear.

She dragged herself to her feet and coughed up some blood, her clothes shredded and the mask covering her face shattered.

She clutched at her chest and looked at me, blood covering her face.

"No." I heard her cough, her breathing sounding like rattle, "I can't lose." I could see tears in her eyes.

She wasn't going to stop until either she was dead, or was physically unable to fight.

I did her the favour of charging straight at her and finish the fight.

I dropped my sword right as I got to her, not wanting to cut or stab her. My right foot shot forward and struck out towards her temple, her left arm failing to stop the hit completely and her head jerking from the impact.

Before she could get her footing, I landed several punches to her already battered ribs and a roundhouse kick to her gut.

The impact knocked her back to the ground and I heard coughing and crying.

The look she was giving me, and her chakra, was telling me she had given up.

"Please," She begged, "Kill me."

I looked down at her and pulled a seal out of my pocket and grabbed ahold of her, a slap from her too weak to hurt me.

I flipped her onto her stomach and pressed the seal into her spine, her entire body going stiff.

The seal sent out electrical impulses strong enough to disrupt the nervous system when applied to the spinal column, thus the reason it was called a paralysis seal.

I heard her whimper slightly, ignoring it to walk slowly to Kakashi, the adrenaline beginning to wear off.

My chakra reserves weren't completely diminished, but I had used enough to cause my healing to slow slightly, the ache in my joints and the lacerations on my leg not being healed completely.

Damnit, I'm feeling tired now. I thought, giving Kakashi a nod at his look of concern.

Kakashi glanced at Zabuza, then to Haku, then me, before opening his mouth.

"The hostages are safe and you got what you wanted." He gestured at the wounded but alive Zabuza and Haku.

I nodded and turned to Zabuza, hiding the wince when I put some weight on my leg.

Using Kurama's chakra would heal it in seconds, instead of the hour it would take on its own, but I wanted to avoid using it until I got back to Konoha to see what the hell was going on with it.

"Did you even tell Gato to come here?" I asked, already doubting what he had said from how he deceived me to get a fight.

Zabuza laughed, sounding more like a wheeze, groaning at the end.

"He should be here soon."

Seconds later, I turned 180 degrees sharply as multiple faint chakra outlines at the edge of my range appeared.

"Speak of the devil." I muttered in English, switching back at Kakashi's raised brow, "They're back there." I pointed behind where the others were looking at the conclusion of the fight.

Sections of wood were carved out from the density of some of the water jutsu I launched at Zabuza, other parts being scorched by my lightning jutsu.

Certain sections of the bridge would need to be replaced, but not enough to derail it completely, possibly needing another day or two to finish.

I looked at them and avoided Rin's gaze when I saw it.

Betrayal.

Her chakra felt less bright than it should have been, feeling like it did when a particularly bad day had occurred.

Taking a deep breath, I focused my vision towards the outline on the horizon.

Gato was here.

"Asuma!" Kakashi shouted, grabbing the man's attention, "Contact, 6 o'clock."

Asuma spun around and barked an order to the others, drawing his knives from his belt and adopting a ready stance.

The crowd of hired help got within speaking distance moments later, Gato at the front.

I turned to Kakashi and gestured towards Zabuza. "Will he bleed out if we don't treat him now?" I asked, seeing Kakashi look down at the injured man.

Zabuza spat blood out of his mouth at me.

"I'll take that as a no." Kakashi said unnecessarily, turning back to me, "You up to fighting?" He tilted his head towards the approaching enemies.

"Cut the head off of the snake and make it quick." I stated, reaching for my sword.

I realized, being a damned idiot, that I left the damn blade beside Haku, who was still prone on the ground several meters away.

"Fuck it." I muttered, pulling out a kunai from my storage seal in my sleeve, holding it in my right hand.

At Kakashi's raised brow, I shrugged in indifference.

"I got an idea." I said, advancing towards the others.

My plan involved a rather straight forward response.

Kakashi trailed behind me a couple feet, the two of us reaching the others.

"Well, well, well," Gato declared, looking at the state Zabuza was in, "Looks like you're not exactly what I ordered when you said you were a demon."

Zabuza didn't respond, trying to keep steady and not fall to the ground.

Gato then turned to Kakashi and Asuma, glancing at me as I was the only one that looked like I'd been in a fight.

"You Shinobi are open to contracts, right?" He asked, his voice shifting to smarmy kind that had me sneering at how damned oily it sounded.

The other genin looked confused at what he was insinuating, but Asuma and Kakashi weren't.

Gato wanted to buy out our services and have us stand aside and let his band of pricks kill Tazuna and commandeer the bridge.

I stepped forward, past everyone else, my kunai almost creaking in my grip.

Kakashi stepped forward and began to speak before I could.

"We don't break standing contracts." Kakashi said firmly, his hand seeming to flash to his waist and pull a kunai from his holster.

Gato just chuckled.

"I know how you Shinobi are. I'll pay ten times what you were offered. Konoha has done it before for me."

Being a billionaire tycoon, Gato likely wasn't lying about buying out standing contracts by offering insane amounts of money for hostile takeovers or assassinations to crush competitors.

Teddy and the Trust Busters didn't exist here, something that probably needed to be rectified.

Speak softly, but carry a big assstick.

As I stepped forward to speak, Kakashi grabbed at my shoulder to stop me.

"Naruto." He warned, fixing me with a look of concern.

I jerked my shoulder out of his grip and shot him a look of hatred.

I made the fucking choice. I growled internally. My burden. Gato will die by my hand and no other. I'm the protagonist. Not Rin.

I felt Kakashi's gaze on the back of my head as I stepped towards the front, all eyes on me.

"Been through the ringer, kid?" He laughed, looking at the state of my bloodstained and soaking wet clothes from the water, "You the one that broke Zabuza? I was expecting someone a little...older."

"And you're Gato, head of Gato shipping company," I grinned devilishly, "You're shorter than I expected."

A tick mark appeared at the side of his temple at the mention of his height.

"I'm going to ignore that," He said irritably, "But on to business. How much do you want if you step aside and hand over the bridge builder?"

Based on the chakra feel of everyone behind me, none of us humoured the idea of handing over Tazuna.

"What happens to the people in Nami if you take possession of this bridge?" I asked with false curiosity, caressing the kunai in my hand with my index finger.

The hired help behind him were eying Kakashi with apprehension, probably from his Sharingan being uncovered.

Kakashi had spent most of the nights here killing any bandit that wanted to get some "Cheap action" from some of the starving people here, something that filled me with a near consuming fury.

"Oh you shouldn't worry about that." He smiled, "We can circle back on the details after you tell me what you want."

I threw my head back and laughed at the absolute hilarity of his request.

The things he was willing to give weren't things that I wanted.

At his look of confusion, I began to speak.

"What I want, Gato," I spat the name out like it was poison, "Is for you to leave and never return. I want you to return back to whatever shithole you crawled out from. I want you to return everything you took from the people of Wave with you on your knees begging for forgiveness. And above all else," My chakra frothing and my Killing Intent spiking at the highest I could muster without calling on Kurama's chakra, "I want to see the light leave your fucking eyes for what you have done!"

I saw through my clones eyes how broken the people of Wave almost were, the desperation in their eyes.

Kakashi didn't tell me any details of what he was seeing in the village, but I didn't need him to give vague details on what I had already seen and felt through my clones.

I saw the shivering of girls hardly older than Rin nearly weeping as they offered themselves to an unfamiliar face in the form of a Henged clone, their underdeveloped chakra network stinking of despair.

There was too much death and despair in the world already. I was a Shinobi, a creature that prowls in the night. A person with the power to kill hundreds if I decided to cast aside my morals and other values that separated me from a beast.

But I was also something else, something that was greater than many could ever dream of being.

With the power I had, the world could be led into an era of peace, freedom, justice, and security, where people did not fear having their dreams cast upon the cruel altar of the unworthy parasites like Gato.

Shine the brightest. Or cast the darkest shadow. Who shined the brightest amongst the Host? Who casts the darkest shadow, the brightest light.

No one will stop me from the choices I make. They are my own.

Gato managed to speak through the oppressive atmosphere of my chakra practically drowning in fury.

"Zabuza did a little trick like that." He said tightly, "You just fucked up with the threats, kid. The lot of you can't stop all my boys here." He jerked his thumb to the several dozen men he had at his command.

"Nami will never be free so long as scum like you walk around." I growled, lightning crackling along the blade of my kunai, "If I let you escape, you'll come back like a plague on them."

"You just sealed your fate, Shinobi." Gato shouted, gesturing for his men to step forward.

Rin, Hinata, Kakashi, Asuma, and all the others tensed and prepared for battle, Kakashi's chakra starting to crackle where I could smell ozone slightly.

Almost everything precious to me was here, every living thing in front of me hellbent on taking them from me.

I grasped ahold of my chakra and pushed lightning into the nerves and muscles of my right arm.

"I am the master of my fate." I murmured in English, flinging my kunai with all the force my body could muster, my entire arm a blur.

The pointed blade of Konoha forged steel, mined from Hi no Kuni itself, flew through the air at an incredible speed, tearing through the heart of its target.

Gato gasped in shock, looking down at the hole in his chest, not even imagining that I would tear his black heart out without a moment's hesitation before he could turn tail and run, collapsing to the ground in a boneless heap.

The kunai tore through more than one person, lodging itself in a plank of wood over a hundred meters away, a thunk sound being heard.

The hired men looked at me in shock, caught off guard by what I just did.

"He just killed our meal ticket!" One shouted, raising a sword and charging towards us.

What happened next lasted all of 20 seconds.

Asuma yelled an order to his team, just as Kakashi did.

Shikamaru used his shadow to bind several of them, Choji using his clan jutsu to smash them with an expanded fist.

Ino threw several kunai and shuriken at the ones Choji missed.

Rin and Sasuke fired off a wind and fire jutsu combo respectively, creating a massive fireball that tore through most of them.

Hinata, being a Hyuga, didn't use her strongest ability and instead did what Ino did and flung several kunai in rapid succession.

Kakashi and Asuma, followed by me, charged into the remaining ones and cut them down.

My right arm wasn't responding properly to my commands, my fingers twitching too much for me to grip a kunai.

One bastard swung a blade down at me, the speed absolutely pathetic.

A kunai I pulled from my holster with my left hand caught his strike and let me kick his knee from his shoddy footwork preventing him from backing up.

A crunch from the joint bending backwards, followed by a scream, was cut off when I smashed my fist into his head, hearing and feeling a crack from his neck giving out from the impact.

I ignored the light leaving his eyes and charged towards another enemy, flinging my kunai into his chest.

The man was close to 7 feet tall, letting me jump onto his chest as his knees hit the ground, the kunai being yanked out of his chest by me, only to find its new home in another targets throat.

The crowd of lights that were their chakra signatures vanished like wheat in a field, Kakashi and Asuma wiping out the remaining ones with a frightening level of speed and efficiency that was expected for veteran Jonin.

Only one person still stood alive after the "exchange" if you could even call people that were normal that faced the closest thing to supermen in this world an exchange, his eyes nearly vacant from the shock of his comrades, perhaps friends, being turned into mincemeat.

Kakashi and Asuma didn't look fazed at all, the two having some blood on them, but not much.

They killed their opponents cleanly, unlike me.

The large man had covered me in blood from the kunai being pulled from his chest.

The lone survivor dropped his blade and fell backwards, trying and failing to crawl away from us, the ground slick with the ashes and remains of the dead forming a disgusting swirl of claret.

I approached him softly, not caring of the foul liquid soaking my boots.

Seeing someone break down and start weeping at the sight of you can be an exhilarating feeling, but it can also be a terrible one.

The last surviving member of Gato's thugs was looking at me how a child looks at the dark, clinging to his mother's leg.

"Please." He begged, slipping in the blood, shaking visibly, "I didn't kill anyone. I'm new."

He looked maybe 17 or 18 at the most.

I leaned down towards him, hiding the spasming in my right hand.

"Are you lying to me?" I asked softly, my voice hiding the near predatory threat in it.

The near boy shook his head profusely.

"Please, I swear to Kami I'm not lying," He wept, "I was hungry and needed a job. The civil war in Kiri is why I'm here. Please you have to believe me. I didn't join along with them." He pointed frantically at the stacks of corpses on the ground, his hands shaking as he began to have a panic attack.

Another life possibly destroyed by Obito breaking Yagura. If all roads lead to Rome, the links that make up the chain of death seem to lead back to that son of a bitch.

A poor, unlucky kid getting caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, another travesty laid at Obito's feet.

Wanting to stop feeling how much he was terrified of me, I backed away some, paying mind to the severed limb from one of Asuma's presumed victims that was at my heel.

"I believe you." I said softly, pointing at the opposite direction, "Run and don't come back."

The survivor managed to stammer out a thank you, turning and running, several bloodstained footsteps leading away from the bridge.

I turned around and gave Kakashi a nod to show I was okay, not expecting what was about to happen.

My leg, the one that had been cut up by Haku's clone, caught on a body and I ended up twisting my ankle and falling forward.

Kakashi rushed forward and caught ahold of me before I fell into a pool of blood.

"Motherfucker." I growled under my breath, knowing that I jacked up my ankle based on the wet pop I heard.

"You alright?" Kakashi asked, pulling down his Hitai-ate to conserve his chakra.

I ignored his question and paid attention to what Ino and Choji's chakra felt like.

They had just taken their first lives today.

"Let me go." I said quickly, limping towards them.

I wanted to talk with Rin, your twin brother fighting an A-rank Shinobi one on one, combined with the incinerating of several people didn't exactly make for a good day.

But Ino was visibly shaking and Choji was extremely pale and was looking at the crushed and broken remains of the people he killed with his own fists.

Shikamaru looked almost as pale, but looked to be using his mind to think through and process things to not freak out.

"Asuma." I said, trying to get his attention.

The younger Sarutobi was already making his way to Choji, leaving me the task of speaking with Ino.

I felt another crowd of people a ways away, recognizing the faint chakra of Inari and Tsunami, the rest likely being the people of Nami arriving at the bridge to fight their oppressor.

Thankfully, none of their lives were endangered by a fight. We already ended it before innocent life could be lost.

Ino took a step or two to meet me, collapsing into my arms, weeping openly.

"Shh," I soothed her, much like I did with Hinata with the rabbit, although this was much worse, "It's okay. You're alright."

My leg felt like I had someone working a knife into it, the rest of my body aching.

Through force of will, I made my right hand stop spasming and ran it through her hair, continuing to hold her.

I could hear Asuma speak to both Choji and Shikamaru, most of it to Choji.

Kakashi made a clone and sent it towards the people of Wave, probably filling them in on what happened, the man himself going to Sasuke, Hinata, and my sister.

Tazuna rushed towards his daughter and grandson, pulling them into a hug.

A part of my mind wondered why I didn't get the memories of the house being attacked, but my main focus was on the girl crying in my arms.

"I killed them." She choked out, her eyes not wanting to meet mine.

I cupped her cheek with my hand, lifting her face to meet mine. "They would have killed us." I said softly, my own eyes looking into her turquoise ones, eyes just like her father's, a man that helped me when I needed it as a child that didn't know why my mind would fight me.

"If I just worked on my clan jutsu," She said to herself, her breath quickening, "I could have made them drop their weapons and stop."

"Ino." I said, not wanting her to torture herself.

"If I would have trained like Rin, they wouldn't have died. I'm a monster." She started crying more.

I didn't let her look away from me, my other hand grabbing her other cheek gently.

"Sense them." I said, "Sense the chakra of the people we saved."

I felt her chakra shift slightly, meaning she was using her sensing to feel them.

Her sensing was both better and worse than mine, depending on what was favoured.

Combat wise, mine was superior in every way. I could feel the affinity, rough strength, and gender of the individual. Ino wasn't as capable at that, but she could feel the emotions in chakra in a way that exceeded mine no matter how much I trained my sensing.

I had to roughly guess what people were feeling, based on how their chakra would shift around when feeling certain emotions.

Ino could actually tell what was what, each emotion having a certain 'flavour,' as Inoichi put it when he asked me to give Ino some advice on what I did with my sensing when he wasn't training her.

Her eyes widened slightly when she felt them.

I didn't need to having her sensing to know what their emotions were.

Freedom is one of the most beautiful things to experience when you realize it has been returned to you. Tazuna had rushed to his family and I could hear the people cheering his name.

A man, a drunkard that had no ability to fight, defied a billionaire to save his family and his village from having the noose tightened around their necks.

It didn't take a demigod with the eyes of Hagoromo to make the world a better place, it only took a spark of courage from one of the lowliest and humble of places, a small village without a single Shinobi in its employ.

The joy and cheering felt like I had a warm blanket draped over my body, everything feeling like it would be alright.

"There will be generations because of what we did." I whispered to her, pulling her close, feeling the chaotic nature of her chakra calming into a softer flow, "They will go home because we saved them from fighting."

Ino calmed and gave me a weak smile, her eyes watery.

"Thank you, Naruto." She hugged me, her body pressed against mine.

She eventually let me go and I looked towards Asuma, who had just finished speaking with the two male members of Ino's team.

Asuma glanced at me with a raised brow, looking between Ino and me.

I nodded slightly to let him know everything was fine now, or at least better.

Asuma straightened up and patted Choji on the shoulder, whispering one last thing before walking to Kakashi.

I let my mind wonder as I took a deep breath to stave off the pain I was feeling.

The headache wasn't as bad now, but it still hurt. My injuries would take a little while to heal from the chakra I used with the mind enhancement and the jutsu I fired off.

I wouldn't say no to staying another night here, the weight of the potential fight was gone now, letting me appreciate the crisp ocean air and the beauty of the land.

I wouldn't be resistant to taking a break. I thought, shutting my eyes to feel everything.

---

Kakashi POV:Serves him right. Kakashi snickered to himself, watching Naruto look uncomfortable being surrounded several pretty girls his age.

Naruto was the resident hero to the people of Nami, second only to Tazuna. Naruto was the one that killed Gato, protected the bridge, and fought Momochi Zabuza and defeated him in single combat.

Kakashi had breathed a sigh of relief at how the ordeal of the mission was over, the whole thing being nothing but a continuous headache.

The first day started out terribly with them getting ambushed, requiring him to talk with all three of his genin about the first time they'd killed someone, only to get a message from Asuma telling him that Naruto had fallen apart and manifested a chakra cloak from the Kyuubis' chakra.

Just as that part died down, Naruto assuring him everything was okay, the bastard Hurin decides to make his grand appearance and helping the people who were starving.

He didn't look forward to explaining everything to the Hokage. He could see hours of talks in his foreseeable future debriefing.

The fact that he was trusted by Hurin only second to Sarutobi Hiruzen wasn't lost on him. He was told things about the Mangekyo Sharingan that hardly any non-Uchiha could know.

He knew his father had been a part of the force from Konoha that tried to break through the encirclement around Uzushiogakure, or at least the remnants of his forces that escaped the double defeat at the hands of Kumo and Iwa, maintaining a fairly cohesive force still.

The Hokage's tale his father had told him concerning the last grandson of Uzumaki Ashina burning to ash after putting a mask on struck a memory of his, specifically the part about what it looked like.

The description of what happened sounded similar to what Gai's opening of the Gates looked and felt like when they had upped their joint training, the kind that left the two of them a battered mess afterwards.

Gai had never gone past a certain point, having never been in a situation that demanded he open the seventh gate, or Kami forbid, the eighth.

Gai's father had killed half of the Seven Swordsmen when he opened the eight gate. It was wrong to speak ill of the dead, but he wasn't going to delude himself into think Maito Duy was anything but a Shinobi lacking in talent, all of his greatness being tied to his inability to give up.

If a suicide Kinjutsu that was the opening of the eighth gate would make a man like that Kage level for several minutes, what would Gai, or an Uzumaki become?

The effects would have been much greater than what his father witnessed if it were the eighth gate being opened by the mask.

It was possible that the Uzumaki's powerful chakra caused them to overload with too much chakra after opening only a few gates, but he wasn't sure.

He feared telling Naruto a flat out no, causing him to pursue trying it out of spite.

Naruto had gone the riskier route and fought against an A-rank on his own, making mist to hide what was happening.

If it were for any other reason than saving innocent workers, he would have torn into Naruto and called him an idiot and a fool, but he saw the hatred on Naruto's face when he shouted at Gato.

All the money in the world wouldn't have bought him off. Some people were simply unable to be reasoned with or be made to stop hurting the innocent.

Gato was one of them.

He shook his head and looked at the seemingly polar opposite aspects of a boy he saw as family.

In battle and fighting, he was unshakable and steadfast, just like his father.

But have dozens of girls requesting he dance with them during the celebration that was happening tonight? He was like a fish out of water.

Nami decided to have a massive celebration of their freedom from Gato, the populace giving them thanks.

Naruto looked about as uncomfortable as a boy could be from girls his age and older showing interest in 'giving thanks' to the 'Hero of the Waves'.

If that wasn't enough to have Kakashi struggle to not openly laugh, the treatment Rin was receiving made it even worse.

She got the same treatment as her brother, all the boys her age trying to chat her up, seeing how pretty she was.

Ino and Hinata stuck near Naruto to avoid most of the attention from the boys, leaving Rin on her own in having several boys' attention.

The scowl constantly on her face reminded him so painfully much of Kushina, the irritation from constantly being at the center of attention being unwelcome.

He politely declined any offer from the older women his age to reward him for helping save them, not wanting to feel like he was taking advantage of their desire to pay them back.

It definitely didn't have anything to do with Anko, none whatsoever.

He felt a large hand pat his shoulder, causing him to look to his right.

"What is that, the sixth one you turned down?" Asuma laughed, the taller man having a wide grin.

"I'm sure Kurenai would love to know how many propositioned you." He snarked back, grinning slightly at Asuma's facial expression.

"Don't joke about that," He grumbled, shaking his head, "She'll probably put a Genjutsu on me of me naked with a sumo wrestler or something." he shivered slightly at the end.

Kakashi hummed slightly and nodded, already being acquainted with the morbid imagination Kurenai utilized in her Genjutsu.

The silence between the two lasted a few minutes, until Asuma cleared his throat.

"So," he started, glancing towards his students, "How do you think they're handling it?"

"Surprisingly," Kakashi said, his own eye flicking towards his students, "Naruto might be a budding Inoichi in speaking to those who need it."

Asuma nodded at Kakashi's assessment, his expression looking a little concentrated thinking.

Naruto hadn't needed to talk with Hinata or Rin when they got their first kills, he'd been there instead.

Ino and Choji happened right in front of him.

Asuma initially, and Shikamaru some time after, were able to talk with Choji about the lives he had taken, about how it was necessary to protect the innocent and complete the mission.

It wasn't until he had started training Naruto that he really started to think deeply about how a sensor, especially an empathic one like a few of the Yamanaka were, would feel when killing people.

His Sharingan could see chakra, but he didn't feel it like Naruto described his sensing.

Warm, but not warm like warmth. Was the rather nonsensical way he described it, trying to explain it to someone that didn't feel the world like he did.

He perhaps thought it was like trying to describe colour to someone completely colourblind at birth, context being absent.

Ino had been frantic and crying, Naruto rushing to her, disregarding his own injuries to help her.

Zabuza and the Yuki were holed up in a hidden area after their injuries had been treated, a few vengeful civilians potentially trying to attack them in futile attempt to get vengeance.

Kakashi glanced at Asuma and clapped his shoulder in response.

"Nothing personal, but I want to be alone with my thoughts." He looked at Asuma's dark eyes.

"I understand," Asuma nodded, turning to walk to his two male students sat at a hastily put together table next to other people, "We all need that at times."

After Asuma had left him, Kakashi continued to look at Naruto.

Kushina's hair and Sensei's face.

He looked to Rin berating a boy who didn't get the message that she wasn't interested.

Sensei's hair and Kushina's face, the same set of violet eyes that looked upon him like he was her own flesh and blood after the death of his last teammate.

The second father and mother he had may have been dead for over 13 years now, but they weren't completely gone.

They lived on in their children, the determination to end a conflict as fast as possible shined in Naruto's eyes just as brightly as his Sensei's when he went on to fight the forces of Iwa in that battle.

Kakashi let his mind relax, the near instinctive sense of guardedness being difficult to relax, but he managed to do it.

As he looked at them, hearing all the revelry and joy being had, he considered the mission a success.

All in a day's work. He smiled. All in a day's work.

---

End Chapter:This chapter is the longest I've ever written, something I didn't expect when first writing it out.

Naruto defeats his first A-rank, even if he got a little cut up and bruised in the process.

And Naruto, my man, you aren't escaping the curse that Sasuke is afflicted with... Fangirls... Dun. Dun. Dun.Ino got a talking to by Naruto, just as Hinata needed it when she first killed the rabbit.

The part on Fuinjutsu being tied somewhat to chakra affinity in how someone writes out seals is something I've seen in a few stories, which I decided to do to explain why the Uzumaki and Konoha seemed to be the only ones that had extensive abilities in that Shinobi art.

More character Povs will get filled out next chapter when the gang gets back to Konoha.

Anyway, here's a Splendid and Youthfully long chapter. I hope you guys enjoy. Comments are welcome and I hope you all have a wonderful day.

Raging.