Chapter Two
"You both have done remarkably well, mastering tree climbing," Kakashi said casually as Sasuke, Sakura, Tazuna, and himself walked towards the construction site. Kakashi had his hands in his pockets, his one eye constantly gazing around for any signs of danger.
"Tree climbing?!" Tazuna asked boisterously. "Is that what they teach you ninjas these days?" He let out a short laugh and looked at them with skepticism. "You all did better than I ever thought you would after I first met you, but you sure tree climbing is enough if that monster shows back up?"
"Nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems with ninjas," Kakashi said in a relaxed tone and a smile under his mask. Kakashi tilted his head as they got closer to the construction site straining his hearing. They were still a bit off, but something wasn't sitting right with him.
"You'd be surprised, Tazuna-san!" Sakura chirped. "It taught me a lot about my chakra." She gave him a small smile as she brushed her hair behind her ear. "It gives us a much stronger foundation for our jutsu and the next step in our training."
"What about you, boy? Did it help you get any stronger?" Tazuna asked Sasuke, who was taking up the rear.
"We'll see," Sasuke said shortly, disinterested in the topic of his strength. He grit his teeth, trying his hardest not to show his contempt. Tree climbing was a helpful skill. However, it wasn't what he thought Kakashi should be teaching them at this moment in time. 'I doubt we'd be able to best that monster just with better chakra control.' Sasuke thought to himself as he tilted his head slightly. He could feel the hairs on his neck stand up a bit as he realized he couldn't hear anything.
"Hopefully, we don't see," Tazuna grumbled as he scratched his face. "The last thing I want ever is to see that monster again."
"I think that's something we can all agree on," Sakura said with a small laugh. The hairs on her arms stood up slightly as an abnormally cool breeze blew through the trees on either side of the path they were walking on. She looked back and locked eyes with Sasuke. He met her gaze and gave the slightest nod almost imperceptibly. He sensed something was off too. Her bright green eyes locked onto the back of Kakashi's head. He'd made no move to alert them of anything and was still trotting along the path with his hands in his pockets. He looked utterly relaxed.
"Once the bridge is done, Gato will lose all his power and his money! Then he won't be able to afford him." Tazuna said with a laugh. "I can't wait to stick it to that awful man."
They were getting closer now. Kakashi had been coming down this path every day for the last couple of weeks. He should have heard something by now, anything. The banging of a hammer, or the sound of a saw cutting through wood, or builders talking and laughing. He heard none of that. Tilting his head up a bit he focused his chakra through his nose and took a sniff. Immediately he was assaulted with the smell of iron. The metallic sent burned through his nose and would have made his eyes water if he wasn't so used to it. 'Blood.'
"Sakura," Kakashi said as they continued walking through the clearing that led to the bridge, which was now within seeing distance. "Today, I want you to stick to Tazuna-san. You'll be his bodyguard. If anything happens, Sasuke and I will do the fighting." Kakashi said it so casually that Tazuna didn't notice a thing.
"Well, lucky me then!" Tazuna said with a laugh. "An old man like me should be lucky to have such a pretty young bodyguard!" He threw his head back and laughed a deep, bellowing laugh.
"Yes, Kakashi-sensei," she replied with an edge in her voice. Despite his casual tone, she could tell he'd noticed something too. She was so concerned she didn't even notice Tazuna's comments which would usually make her irate and feel embarrassed. Sakura resisted the urge to tense up as they walked closer to the clearing. Her stomach lurched as they got closer, and she could feel her heart start to race. 'Will I ever get used to this feeling?' She asked herself as they got closer. Her eyes darted behind her to see Sasuke following behind, his body tense and coiled, ready to strike but otherwise unaffected. She looked back at Kakashi, who seemed as calm and casual as ever.
The cool breeze ran through the trees again. This time it was even colder than before. She resisted the urge to shiver. She had to be ready to defend Tazuna at all costs. 'We're not ready for something like this! We should have gone back to Konoha!' Sakura grit her teeth and shook her head, pushing the thoughts away. "We can do this. I can do this. This is what I signed up for what I've been training for.' Sakura took a deep breath and focused her eyes on the clearing they were coming right upon it.
"NO!" Tazuna shouted as he stopped short of Kakashi. "My men!" he called again as he went to rush forward. Kakashi stuck out his arm, preventing him from going any further. Sakura was quick to catch up, having pulled a kunai from her pouch. She stopped just short of Kakashi and looked forward.
The clearing was filled with about a dozen men, all beaten down and broken in some way. Blood pooled beneath their bodies and filled the clearing with a sickening metallic scent. Sakura's eyes widened as she looked around. She could see kunai still lodged in some of their bodies. One man, in particular, had a kunai buried into the back of his head, and his left arm was so twisted and mangled it was stuck upwards in two different directions. Sakura could feel the contents of her stomach raising as the urge to gag enveloped her throat with a tight grip. She clenched her teeth so hard she thought they might shatter in her mouth. The grip on her kunai tightened as she felt Tazuna fall to his knees beside her.
"These poor men," he whispered, no longer joyful. "Oh god are they all…? That monster!" Tazuna shouted as he sat there, a look of horror on his face.
Sasuke moved forward, standing to Kakashi's right, his black eyes surveying the destruction laid out before them. Sasuke felt a chill run through his body as he looked around. He could feel his heart start to beat faster, hammering away in his chest, and his left hand began to tremble slightly. He clenched his fist and schooled his features.
"There is no value in killing the likes of you…little brother."
Sasuke shook his head as the cold tone echoed throughout it. He snarled as he pulled out a kunai as rage filled his chest. His chest burned with it. It felt like hot molten metal had been poured directly into it. Sasuke took a step forward, drawing a kunai into his hand smoothly.
Kakashi looked around, his black eye darting all around. It looked like there might be a few survivors, but there wasn't anything he could do about it right this moment. He could sense two people back towards the bridge. Despite the fog, Kakashi locked his black eye on them and didn't move when he spoke.
"Sakura stick to Tazuna-san," he commanded. As the words left his mouth, a thick, dense mist rolled in from the direction of the bridge. As it crept forward, the thick layers settled onto the ground covering the bodies of the men and obscuring the carnage before them. His eye never left its target as he watched as a dark silhouette moved forward.
The shadowy silhouette broke through the mist and came to a stop a few paces from them. It was a tall, imposing man with spiky black hair and severe features. His dark eyes were fixed on Kakashi, and despite the bandages covering the lower half of his face, it was apparent he was smiling. Kakashi could see blood splattered across the white linen of the bandages that covered the man's lower face and neck.
"Zabuza," Kakashi said as his dark eye remained fixed on the man in front of him. He was dressed differently, this time with a dark green sleeveless top and matching pants. He still wore striped fingerless gloves that ran up to just below his elbows and matching shin guards. Strapped to his back was a sword almost as tall as himself. It resembled a large carving knife with a semi-circle cut out of the blade towards the bottom of the edge, and a large circular cut out towards the blade's tip.
"Copy Ninja Kakashi," Zabuza said in a low voice before letting out a soft chuckle. "How do you like my work Kakashi?" Zabuza looked around, still smiling under his bandages. "Not as pretty as some of yours, but just as effective."
Kakashi didn't respond to the man's taunt as he raised his hand to the forehead protector resting gently on his left eye. He pushed it up, straightening it out over his forehead and revealing his closed left eye. A deep scar rand down over his left eye from just above his grey eyebrow into the mask covering his face. Opening his eye, Kakashi revealed a dark red left eye with three small tomoe-shaped marks around the pupil.
"Getting down to brass tax already? Hope you're willing to give it your all this time." Zabuza said in a low hiss. Bracing his legs, he reached up and wrapped his hand around the giant black handle of his sword. Zabuza lifted the sword as effortlessly as Kakashi might lift a kunai, and he swung it down over his head. "Which of your brats do you want me to kill first?" Zabuza asked.
Zabuza suddenly disappeared and reappeared right in front of Sasuke. Sasuke jumped back just as he swung his large sword down on him. "You're faster than before, boy!"
"Fire Style: Great Fireball," Sasuke shouted as he flew through several hand signs quicker than most people could track. Sasuke took a deep breath and expelled the molded chakra from his mouth. A large stream of flame left his mouth and formed a giant fireball more enormous than Zabuza himself. The fireball blasted towards Zabuza, slamming into him and the ground before exploding with a loud bang.
"Not good enough!" Zabuza appeared behind Sasuke in an instant and brought his sword down on him. For in a moment, it looked like Sasuke had been cleaved in life before his image faded, leaving just a large chunk of split wood falling to the ground. 'Kawarimi!' Zabuza thought to himself for a brief moment right before the dark-haired ninja's leg slammed into the right side of his face from behind. Zabuza's head snapped to the left with a loud crack and went limp before quickly falling apart. Sasuke landed on the ground just as the water hit the ground with a loud splash.
"Not bad," a voice called from within the mist. The large man walked out from the fog, his sword in hand. "I was surprised you let the boy fight me, Kakashi," Zabuza said with a laugh. "Then again, someone like you knew it wasn't me, didn't you?"
'Water clone!' Sasuke thought to himself as he locked his dark eyes on the monster in front of them. 'Damn it! I thought it was him! Is the difference in our power that vast?'
"Haku," Zabuza barked loudly, not taking his eyes of Kakashi. "Take care of the boy, and I'll take care of the Copy Ninja and the little bitch." Zabuza growled as he lowered himself into a fighting stance.
"Sasuke, he isn't alone!" Kakashi barked just as a masked figure appeared in front of Sasuke. They were roughly Sasuke's height wearing a dark green haori over the standard brown pinstriped outfit of Kirigakure hunter-nin. The figure wore a white mask with thin slits over the eyes. A large red swirling pattern covered the bottom left side of the mouth. There were four wavy lines in the center of the forehead. The ninja had dark hair tied up into a white bun holder on the top of their head with two long black locks framing the white mask.
"I'm sorry, but this is my duty," the ninja said with a soft, almost caring voice.
Sasuke didn't bother responding, rushing forward with a kunai drawn. As he slashed at Haku, the ninja easily avoided it. Sasuke quickly drew a second kunai into his left hand in a reverse grip and slashed at Haku's stomach. Haku continued to back up, dodging Sasuke's blows.
'He's fast; I need to be faster.' Sasuke pushed chakra into his legs and pushed himself faster. "I won't let any more people die here today! It won't be like back then! I can do something now!' Sasuke thought. He anticipated Haku's dodge and moved his right arm over to slash at the ninja's chest. There was a loud clang as steel met steel. A long needle-like weapon had stopped Sasuke's kunai in its tracks.
"You're faster than I thought you would be," Haku said softly as his hand shook with the effort to hold the senbon straight. 'I'll need to end this quickly to help Master Zabuza,' Haku thought to himself. His eyes widened as Sasuke flipped the kunai in his left hand and thrust forward to stab Haku in the stomach. Haku disengaged and bent backward, avoiding the slashing motion of the kunai in Sasuke's right hand. Letting himself fall to the ground, he caught himself with his left hand. Haku lashed out with his right leg keeping low to the ground, kicking Sasuke's legs out from under him.
Sasuke felt his legs give out as he was hit. With a snarl, Sasuke twisted himself in the air and tucked his knees to his chest. Using his hands, he launched himself into the air and threw one of his kunai. It met a long senbon in the air with a clang before falling to the ground. Twisting in the air, Sasuke pulled four shurikens from his pouch and launched them at Haku before flipping once and landing on his feet. Sasuke watched as Haku knocked the shuriken out of the air with relative ease and threw several more senbon at Sasuke.
Sasuke molded chakra into his legs and sprang forward, dashing at Haku. Sasuke threw a punch with his right arm. Haku brought his left arm up to block and launched his left fist at Sasuke. Sasuke stopped the fist with his left hand and lifted his right leg to kick. Haku once again dodged and moved back. Sasuke continued to exchange blows with the mist ninja. Each one being blocked or dodged as they continued moving forward.
'He's so fast. Is he just playing with me?' Sasuke continued to move forward, drawing another kunai. Dodging a kick to his right side, Sasuke threw the kunai. Haku, not missing a beat, pulled out a senbon slashing the kunai out of the air. 'Now!' Sasuke launched himself into the air and flipped over Haku, his hands flying through hand signs.
"Fire Style: Holy Phoenix Flower," Sasuke called out as he pushed as much chakra as he could up from his chest and into his mouth. As Sasuke exhaled, what looked like a giant fireball blasted from his mouth. The giant fireball split into several smaller fireballs. As they soared towards Haku, Sasuke resisted the urge to smirk. 'It's over,' he thought to himself.
'These two monsters killed these men. Like they were nothing! I won't let that pass! I'll put them down, and then I'll be one step closer to killing him!'
Haku looked up; his brown eye's widening in surprise under his mask. His muscles tensed. He jumped back as fireballs rained down upon him. The fight had moved its way over to the half-finished bridge at this point. As each fireball landed on the ground, after he narrowly dodged them, they exploded. Large chunks of stone and wood flew into the air with each attack. Thick dust kicked itself up around the ninja as he barely avoided being hit.
"This fight is over!" Sasuke shouted as he dashed forward through the dust, a kunai in his right hand once again. "I'll kill you here and now! I will avenge these people!" Sasuke drew back his arm, coiling it like a snake, and then as he got close enough, he thrust it out towards Haku's chest, bracing his left leg to stop. Quicker than Sasuke could see, Haku drew two senbon, stepped back slightly, and brought them down towards Sasuke's arm. Haku watched in shock as Sasuke dropped to his left knee and rolled away.
Sasuke rolled away from the attack, his eyes burning as he quickly regained his footing; he twisted to face the ninja. Two crimson eyes locked onto the nin and in each eye were two dark tomoe-shaped marks.
"You're too slow now," Sasuke said through gritted teeth. "I can see every move you make!"
"For now," Haku said gently. "You must be an Uchiha. I'm sorry for your loss." There was something in Haku's voice to Sasuke. It almost sounded like the enemy ninja cared.
"I don't need pity! Not from someone just like him!" Sasuke barked, straightening out. "You and your master slaughtered these people…like animals!" Sasuke seethed out as he drew a second and his last kunai from his pouch. "So, I'm going to put you down. Like the rabid dog you are!" Sasuke pointed a kunai at Haku as he spoke.
"It's also an exceptional chakra control exercise. By mastering this technique, you can then take the principles of the chakra control exercises and apply them to other aspects of your ninja training."
Sasuke took a deep breath and pushed chakra into his legs and feet, more than he ever had before. Then he moved forward with a flash. Sasuke was on top of Haku faster than the ninja expected. Sasuke slashed upwards with the kunai in his right hand. Haku dodged the kunai, but Sasuke was already moving forward, pushing chakra into his arms. He flipped the kunai in his left hand and thrust it at Haku's head.
Haku moved his head to the side, but Sasuke's foot was there to meet it. Sasuke's foot slammed into the ninja's head and using the momentum Sasuke jumped up with his other leg and twisted in the air, throwing both kunai at him. One glanced off Haku's mask, and the other buried itself into his shoulder. As Sasuke landed, he didn't give up on his assault. As his muscles burned in protest, Sasuke moved forward and buried his left fist into the ninja's stomach. His right hand connected with the side of Haku's head, and his left fist reached back to strike.
"One Thousand Stinging Needles."
'One-handed seals?' Sasuke saw the water around him burst to life, forming what looked like hundreds, maybe even thousands of needles. Just as quickly as he saw it, they launched themselves at him. His muscles screaming in protest, Sasuke once again pushed as much chakra as he could into his legs. Jumping back, Sasuke twisted his body and moved his head as he tried to avoid as many of them as possible. Even with his Sharingan, there were too many to keep track of, and he saw them reach him. Sasuke felt several of them slice open his skin as he rolled onto the ground and got back on his knees. There were several thin trails of blood on the ground from where he tried to dodge. As quickly as he could, he looked over his body as he got back to his feet shakily. His arms and legs had been cut in several places but nowhere fatal.
"Now, this fight is over," Haku said with a hint of melancholy in his voice. He reached up, pulled the kunai out of his shoulder with ease, and tossed it onto the ground. Blood poured from the wound and down his arm. Lifting his hand, which was slick with blood, he made several one-handed seals once again. "I've seen your Kekkei Genkai. It's only fair for me to show you mine."
'He has a bloodline technique? It got to be the one-handed seals, right?'
"Demonic Ice Crystals," Haku said in the same gentle tone he'd used for most of the fight as he finished his hand seals. All around them, mirrors of what Sasuke could only guess was ice surrouned them. The mirrors formed a giant dome around the two of them. "With this technique, I'll put an end to this fight and rejoin my master at his side." Haku said as he took a few steps back and merged with one of the mirrors.
"I guess that leaves just us now," Zabuza said with a chuckle. This time it wasn't a clone. Kakashi braced himself and fixed his eyes on the man in front of him. He tensed the muscles in his legs getting ready to move at seconds' notice. Zabuza moved first as he charged towards Kakashi sword raised. Kakashi moved to block the blade with his arm guards but stopped. A bright yellow and orange blur had dropped in front of him in between him and Zabuza.
"Sorry pal, but I'm going first!" A loud voice shouted as just as a loud metal clang echoed through the air.
Standing in front of Kakashi was a young man just a bit taller than Sasuke. He was dressed in a pair of standard black shinobi pants with matching sandals and a dark orange haori with black trim. On the back in between the shoulders was a large familiar black swirl. A black long-sleeved shirt with matching dark orange cuffs stretched past the sleeves of haori to the ends of his wrists. In one of his bare hands, the young man held a long double-edged straight sword—a Jian. The handle seemed to be made of dark wood, and the hilt was fashioned from a darker metal in the shape of waves. The pommel was made from the same dark metal and fashioned into the same familiar swirl. In his other bare hand was kunai held in a reverse grip.
"Naruto?" Kakashi asked in surprise. The spiky blond-haired young man turned and grinned at him.
"Mind if I go first, Kakashi-sensei?" He asked before turning back to the beast of a man before him. "I want to see how strong The Demon of The Mist is."
"You'll regret finding that out, brat!" Zabuza snarled as he pulled his sword back.
"Maybe," Naruto said as he dodged a slash at his neck. Ducking, Naruto rolled under the sword and shot to his feet. Thrusting his sword forward towards Zabuza, the man dodged easily and changed direction. Naruto pushed forward, swinging his sword down over his head towards Zabuza's shoulder. The man countered it, quickly swinging his blade and nearly knocking Naruto's sword out of his hand. Zabuza pushed forward, throwing his elbow out to bash Naruto in the face. With a crunch, Naruto's head snapped back as a ribbon of blood escaped his now split bottom lip.
Naruto went with the momentum and flipped backward, slamming his sword into the ground. Naruto landed on the pommel of his sword and kicked off his hand, running through several seals.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm," Naruto called out as he clapped his hands together. With a snap Naruto extended his hands, and with a defining bang, a large burst of wind blasted from his palms. It exploded towards Zabuza, who was forced to jump back as the ground beneath him blew apart, and a strong wind blew through the whole area, clearing the mist.
'So much power!' Zabuza thought, his eyes wide in shock. 'He's stronger than Haku for sure. I better not play with this kid too much.' Looking back towards the ninja in the air forming a quick hand seal, Zabuza smirked beneath his bandages. The moister in the air came together forming a copy of himself just behind the boy.
Naruto recognized the hand sign Zabuza formed and felt as the water was leached from the air.
'That fast?!' Naruto thought briefly before the clone slashed at him through the air and the sword splitting his body just below his torso. The two pieces of his body fell through the air for a moment before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
'Shadow Clone?!' Zabuza thought to himself, his eyes widening in shock and his smirk growing even larger. 'This boy!'
Zabuza stood still as he heard several distinct thumps all around him. Surrounding him were five Naruto's. Each with their sword drawn and a smirk on their faces. Zabuza's eyes narrowed as he observed the clones. None of them had a cut lip.
"Impressive kid," The man grunted as he looked around. "To master such a difficult technique to that degree at your age."
"Thanks!" One of the clones said with a laugh.
"But it won't be enough!" Zabuza shouted as he rushed forward, sword out. As he closed in on one of the Naruto's, the other four fell in to surround him. For a moment, it was a flurry of slashes and clangs as Zabuza quickly dispatched each Naruto almost effortlessly. The man swung his sword with a roar as one charged at him to stab him. The clone tried to dodge but was bisected. The last remaining Naruto jumped onto Zabuza's blade and launched himself up into the air.
"Not this time, kid!" With ease, Zabuza reached out and grabbed him by the wrist, and slammed him into the ground. This one didn't vanish, though instead, it burst apart into a puddle of water.
'Water clone too?'
"Water Style: Spinning Water Drill," Naruto called out from the right. The water puddle at Zabuza's feet quickly took the shape of a giant spinning drill and blasted at him from the ground. Zabuza turned his sword to block the blast with the flat of his blade. However, the explosion of water still sent him sliding backward. A dark orange and blond blur dropped from the sky and slashed at him with his sword. Zabuza jumped to dodge but was just a second too late as the blade grazed his arm, cutting him slightly.
'Damn it!' Naruto thought as he landed on the ground with a loud thud.
It didn't take long for Zabuza to recover. The Demon of The Mist charged at Naruto with a speed the blond ninja hadn't seen before. Zabuza was too fast and too close. Naruto wouldn't be able to pull off a replacement technique. He had to try and block. Naruto lifted his sword just as Zabuza's slammed into his, cutting into the blade. Naruto felt his arms shake as the force of the blow traveled through them. It took all his will not to let them buckle. The missing-nin didn't stop there. He continued to rain blow after blow down on Naruto. Each one was slamming into his blade harder and harder, cutting into his sword each time. Naruto's arms were on fire with protest as he blocked each heavy blow one after another.
'I have to find a way out of this,' Naruto thought as he scrambled backward, trying to block each blow as they came in.
'Having to put in this much effort for a boy,' Zabuza pulled his giant sword out the Naruto's heavily damaged sword and swung down once again. 'I still have Kakashi to contend with after this too. Damn this kid, I can't afford to use up any more strength and still fight that damned Copy Cat.' As Zabuza pulled back one last time, he lashed out with one of his long legs, slamming it into Naruto's chest. 'No more tricks! It doesn't matter how good he is at the Shadow Clone Technique that will end it.' This time as Naruto flew back into the ground, rolling backward, his limbs flailing, he didn't disappear. For every second he fought his boy, it was a one-second advantage Kakashi got in their eventual fight. 'I shouldn't have played with this kid.'
'Ero-sennin was right. I can't beat this guy. It's not even close,' Naruto felt his body roll over the ground and grit his teeth, ignoring the pain. 'Best I can do is drag this out and make it an easy fight for Kakashi-sensei and try and survive.' Naruto felt himself coming to a stop and quickly placed his first two fingers together in the shape of a cross.
"Shadow Clone," He called out as Zabuza charged at him with his sword swinging out in front of him. Instantly six more clones appeared around Naruto. The first five charged forward and barely put up any fight before Zabuza tore through them in literal seconds. The sixth reached down and, with all its strength, threw Naruto into the air just as Zabuza grabbed it with his bare hand and slammed it into the ground crushing its skull before disappeared.
Naruto flipped through the air several times as he grabbed his right wrist with his left hand.
'This is it! This is all I have left. My strongest jutsu!'
"One Dozen Howling Blades!" Naruto thrust his right hand out, still gripping it with his left hand. Naruto molded the chakra in his hands forced it out through his palm. A loud screeching filled the air as the wind exploded from his palm. The wind chakra took the shape of 12 long blades that flew down towards Zabuza.
Zabuza tensed as an ear-piercing wind whipped up around him. He watched as a dozen blades of wind rained down upon him. Zabuza quickly jumped back several paces as they slammed into the ground. Large deep gouges off wood and stone were ripped up effortlessly. If any one of them had come close to him, he'd of been eviscerated.
'This kid is incredible,' Zabuza thought to himself as the kid landed on the ground with a thud. He was breathing heavily as he tried to catch his breath. 'Still, it was too early to try and fight me.' Zabuza lifted his sword and charged at the young man in front of him.
Naruto looked up as Zabuza charged at him. 'I didn't even hit him once. Ero-sennin was right. It's too unrefined. I can barely control it.' Naruto reached out with his chakra searching for it…he found it. He quickly molded his chakra pushed it through his body.
Zabuza reached Naruto, and with a shout, he brought his blade down slashed through Naruto. As his blade slid through the young man, his eyes widened. It wasn't a shadow clone. It was something more. The two pieces of Naruto turned into concentrated wind chakra and exploded. The wind slashed through Zabuza, and he fell apart into a puddle of water.
"Nice try, kid," Zabuza growled. He appeared behind Naruto, who was now on the edge of the bridge. Naruto turned just in time to see Zabuza's foot slam into his chest. Naruto was blasted into the ground and rolled over the broken bridge roughly. Just as he came to a stop, Zabuza was on top of him.
'I don't have any more clones, and I can't bloke this. I'm going to die.' Naruto stared up at Zabuza with wide eyes as he brought his blade down on him for what Naruto thought would be the final time.
"Mind if I take over? Naruto," Kakashi asked as he appeared in front of him, crouching his metal handguards blocking the giant sword. "If you can still fight, I need you to go check on Sasuke over there. It doesn't look great," Kakashi said, nodding towards the right. Naruto looked and saw what looked like a giant dome made out of ice sheets in the distance.
"Yeah, I just need a second," Naruto said as he got to his feet and rolled his shoulders.
"Don't take too long," Kakashi said just before he disappeared. Zabuza vanished as well, and Naruto could hear the clanking of metal just a short distance away.
'He was holding back that much?' Naruto thought as he turned towards the ice dome, his fists clenched.
Kakashi watched wide-eyed as Naruto traded blows with Zabuza. He watched as Naruto rolled under the sword and thrust his sword to pierce him. Zabuza raised an elbow and slammed it into the young nin, and Kakashi braced himself to intervene. His leg muscles twitched as he prepared to rush forward when a large hand rested on his shoulder. He snapped his head to look, and his eyes rested on Jiraiya. The tall white-haired ninja was standing just behind him, smiling widely.
"Long time no see Kakashi," he said with a chuckle. "Let's give Naruto a bit more time to stretch his legs." Jiraiya then nodded to the fight in front of them and looked back just to see Naruto's wind jutsu blast the bridge apart.
"He's stronger than I thought he would be," Kakashi said as he continued to watch both fights. His eyes were shifting rapidly between Sasuke and Naruto. 'Two once-in-a-lifetime prodigies on one team,' he thought to himself.
"He can't beat him, but he'll make your job a bit easier…probably," Jiraiya said quietly. His eyes locked on the fight between his student and the Demon of The Mist. Both of them were ready to act at a moment's notice if needed.
"Sensei?" Sakura asked from behind them. She was still standing guard over Tazuna kunai, drawn and ready. "Who is that?" She, too, was watching the fight with interest.
"That's Naruto," Kakashi said softly. "Shadow Clone?" Kakashi asked no one in particular as he watched Naruto disappear in a blast of smoke. "It took damage…" Kakashi said in a shocked tone as he observed the group of Naruto's that landed around Zabuza, each missing the cut on the lip the earlier one had obtained.
"Naruto has been using shadow clones for years now," Jiraiya said with a prideful look. "He's mastered that technique in a way very few ninjas ever have. They can even take a moderate amount of damage without disappearing. Especially if he only creates one."
"Don't tell me," Kakashi said, his eyes sliding towards Jiraiya. "That's how you trained him?" Kakashi asked, almost in disbelief. No wonder Naruto was so much more advanced than Sakura and Sasuke. "How many?"
"About five or six reliably," Jiraiya responded with a shrug. "It would be impossible for most, but with his you-know-what…" The older nin trailed off as Naruto used a clone to throw himself in the air.
"I'm surprised he isn't stronger," Kakashi said in disbelief as he watched Sasuke get cut with few water needles in the distance. 'Sasuke won't be able to keep that up much longer. I can't let Sakura leave Tazuna, and I can't leave Naruto with Zabuza…Maybe Jiraiya…'
"He didn't start using it for training until recently. I had forbidden it for the most part at first." Jiraiya scratched his chin as he watched Naruto create his wind clone. "Clever, but he's already swapped with his own."
There was an ear-piercing howl in the air as wind exploded from Naruto's outstretched hand. "Is that an original jutsu?" Kakashi asked Jiraiya as he stared at the chakra enhanced wind blades cut out large chunks of the bridge.
"Yeah, but it's unrefined. He can't really control it. It uses only the most basic shape transformation. It's mostly just nature transformation."
"A wind clone!?" Kakashi looked at Jiraiya.
"It's over for him, Kakashi; he's got nothing left," Jiraiya said as he watched Zabuza break apart into a puddle of water. "Send him to help the other kid. I'll keep watch here as your back up."
Sasuke exhaled slowly as his scarlet eyes darted around the mirrors. He could feel the cold from the ice biting into his skin and his breath floated in the air in front of him. Sasuke tensed the muscles in his legs, ready to dodge at a moment's notice. From his perspective, Haku had disappeared entirely from the battlefield.
'Is this his Kekkei Genkai? He must be hiding in those mirrors, but how? What's the advantage here?' Sasuke stayed ridged as he waited for a sign. Sasuke took another breath and watched it float in front of him. Everything burned. The muscles in his arms and legs were strained from the chakra. His arms and legs burned from the dozens of cuts on them. Even his eyes were starting to burn from the strain of using the Sharingan for so long.
Sasuke's left eye twitched as he saw a flash of green in the mirrors. His body reacted faster than his mind could comprehend. There were several flashes of green flowing through the mirrors faster than Sasuke had ever seen anyone move. Sasuke dropped to the ground and rolled forward. His hands were digging into the pouch on his waist. As he sprang up, he threw the four shurikens he'd pulled from the bag instinctively. As he did that, he turned to scoop up the bloodied kunai Haku had thrown to the ground.
The shuriken raced through the air, meeting senbon with a loud clang before dropping to the ground. It wasn't enough. Sasuke had only thrown four shurikens to meet the dozen-plus senbon thrown at him. Sasuke's eyes moved on their own as they followed the remaining senbon. The bloody kunai raised to meet them. Sasuke slashed through the air several times. With each connection, there was a loud clang followed by a quiet clatter as the senbon fell to the ground.
Sasuke grunted as he felt several pierce his skin and embed themselves into his muscles. His left leg folded in on itself involuntarily, and he fell to his knee with a thud. He felt his right hand go limp and heard the kunai fall with a clatter. He was panting heavily as he felt blood trickle down his cold skin. His scarlet eyes faded to black as he stared at the ground.
'God damn it,' he thought to himself as he stared at the ground. His body was on fire. His lungs felt like the cold air was stabbing them. He could feel several senbon stuck in his body. 'Is this all I'm capable of? After all this time?' He could hear the faint shuffling of Haku walking towards him calmly, but he couldn't raise his head to look at him. 'What would Itachi think if he could see me like this?' Sasuke grit his teeth as he felt overwhelming anger swell up inside him, filling his body with rage. He wanted to scream, but he couldn't work up the will to do it. 'Mom…Dad…I'm sorry,' he thought as Haku's sandaled feet entered his vision.
"You are one of the strongest ninjas I've ever fought," Haku said softly as he stood in front of Sasuke. "I'll do you the honor of ending this quickly and painlessly."
"I wanted to kill him," Sasuke said softly through gritted teeth. "I was supposed to kill him," Haku said nothing as he drew two senbon from his pouch.
"Don't give up that easily! You're supposed to be an Uchiha!" A voice shouted from above. Sasuke used all his strength to look up, and his black eyes widened in shock as a dark orange blur fell from the sky,
Naruto landed with a loud thud right where Haku had been standing a moment ago, ready to strike at Sasuke. His bright blue eyes meet with Sasuke's shocked black eyes for a moment before he turned away from him, his hands running through several hand seals.
"Wind Style: Gale Palm," Naruto called as he clapped his hands together. Instead of concentrating the chakra into a single blast, Naruto threw his hands apart, spreading the wind-infused chakra out wide. Hundreds of senbon had been launched at the two of them from the mirrors. The wind knocked them out of the air with ease.
"You're impressive," A voice called out through the dome. Naruto clenched his teeth as his eyes continued darting around.
'What can I do here? Any clones will just be destroyed by the senbon and take up too much space. He's using those ice mirrors to move around and strike without being seen. I need to take them out. I don't know any fire-based jutsu and water will be useless. Can I cut through them with wind?'
"You must be the ninja that's been fighting Master Zabuza," Haku's voice echoed through the dome.
'He was able to fight Zabuza!' Sasuke thought to himself in shock as he looked up at the spiky-haired ninja.
"I guess you can say that," Naruto said with a sly grin. "He was much stronger than me, though, but nothing my master Jiraiya the Gama-sennin can't handle." 'He's worried about his master; maybe I can bait him.'
The reaction was almost instantaneous as the mirrors filled with copies of Haku. Just like before, hundreds of senbon rained down on the two ninjas. Naruto reached into his pouch and pulled out two shurikens, and threw them into the air with ease.
"Shadow Clone!" Naruto called, crossing his fingers. Instead of creating copies of himself, hundreds of shuriken filled the air to meet the senbon. The dome was filled with shuriken as they met the senbon in the air, glanced off the mirrors, and even crashed into other shuriken before they fell back to the ground. For a moment, none of them could see anything.
As the last remaining shuriken fell to the ground, Naruto also fell to his knees. His body was covered in shuriken and even a few senbon.
"God damn it," Naruto groaned on the ground, blood trickling down his arms and face. "I overdid it again."
"You idiot!" Sasuke shouted from behind him, still on his knees, his left leg and right arm useless. His black eyes were wide in disbelief. "You've killed us both!"
"My fight with Zabuza took too much out of me," he groaned. "I couldn't control the amount of chakra I used."
"That was foolish," Haku said as he stepped out of a mirror directly in front of them. "As I said before, I'll make this quick so I can return to my master's side."
Haku approached Naruto with two senbon gripped in his right hand. As he raised his hand to strike the yellow-haired ninja, he lifted his head and grinned. Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke. 'A clone?!'
Suddenly Sasuke leaped to his feet and charged at Haku faster than he could react. Just as he closed the gap, there was a puff of smoke, and Sasuke turned into Naruto. Haku's eyes widened as he looked past Naruto to see Sasuke still on the ground just in front of where Naruto had been kneeling, pretending to be the other ninja.
"Wind Cannon," Naruto shouted as he condensed his chakra into his fist and molded it with wind chakra. As Naruto slammed his fist into Haku's mask, he released the chakra. A powerful, condensed blast of wind chakra hit Haku's face like a sledgehammer shattering his mask. Haku's head snapped back as his body was blown back with him. Haku slammed through one of his ice mirrors, destroying it. His body landed with a loud thud and rolled several times. The rest of the mirrors started to fall apart around Naruto and Sasuke disappearing into nothing.
Naruto turned and leaned over Sasuke's body. He pulled the senbon out and tossed them aside. "You should be able to move you're arm and leg in a minute or two." Naruto turned to where Haku was lying on the ground, dazed his arms and legs moving slowly as he tried to regain a sense of where he was. "Should we kill him?" Naruto asked casually as he looked back at Sasuke.
'This guy is on a whole other level,' Sasuke groaned as he got to his feet, his left leg shaking a bit. 'God damn it, to be outclassed like this. He took him down so easily…he fought Zabuza…what the hell am I doing? I barely compare to him!'
"Did you hear me or not? What should we do with him? Kill him or leave him?"
"It doesn't matter," Sasuke snapped as he glared at Naruto. "Do whatever you want with him. You're the one who beat him."
"That was only so easy because of how much you wore him down," Naruto said with raised eyebrows. He laced his fingers behind his head and exhaled. "If it weren't for that stupid mirror trick, you probably would have beaten him."
"I don't need your pity," Sasuke grunted as he rolled his left arm. "I was outclassed by both of you."
"Kill me," a soft voice called, catching Naruto and Sasuke off guard.
Naruto turned to look over towards Haku, who was now standing. The mask had broken and fallen to the ground. The ninja before them was younger than Zabuza around their age, maybe a bit older. He had a soft but angular face with large brown eyes.
"A cute girl!" Naruto shouted in surprise as he looked at Haku with wide blue eyes. Sasuke glared at Naruto before turning to snarl at Haku.
"I'm not a girl," Haku said, looking at Naruto solemnly.
"What! You're so pretty!" Naruto said as he stared at the ninja in shock. "This is confusing for me, you know?" Naruto grinned and let out a laugh. "You know we don't have to kill you. We could just go our separate ways for all I care."
"Even after all I did? Killing these men? Hurting your friend?"
"Well, you didn't kill any of these guys, did you? Naruto said, looking around. "I don't see any senbon. They've all been hacked up by that big sword. Plus, you didn't hurt my buddy too much." Naruto said, throwing an arm around Sasuke's shoulders.
"Get off me!" Sasuke snapped as he shrugged Naruto's arm off him. "If he won't do it, I will!"
"You can barely move," Naruto said with a laugh as he clapped Sasuke on his back. His left leg gave in, and he stumbled and struggled to stay on his feet.
"Listen, man, if you really wanna die, why don't you do it yourself? Why drag us into it? I mean, I could kill you, but I was mostly joking when I asked Mr. Sourpuss over here." Naruto sat down on the ground and crossed his legs. "Listen, your master is going to die. There's no question about that. He's fighting Konoha's two strongest ninjas right now. We'll say you got away." Naruto nodded his head at the end and smiled.
'What is with this guy?" Sasuke was looking down at the smiling blond with a puzzled expression. 'He completely wipes the floor with this guy and then laughs this all off?'
"You should kill me," Haku said softly. "I've failed my master, I'm a tool for killing, and I've failed at that. I'll weigh him down."
"That's depressing," Naruto said softly as he continued to stay sitting. "Don't you think your master cares if you live? Even a little?"
"He'd prefer this outcome," Haku responded, looking down at the ground. "I'm useless to him now."
"Don't say something so ridiculous!" Naruto shouted from the ground. "My master would do anything to protect me! Even if they're different, he must care about you! Even just a little! You lost one fight! You have your whole life ahead of you! Your master is going to lose, and Kakashi is going to kill him! You don't have to die! You can leave right now and find a new purpose!"
Just as Naruto finished shouting, he felt it. The air was alive with chakra, and a bright light flared to life several yards away from them. The air seemed to buzz with power. Naruto jumped to his feet and turned towards it.
"You're right. It seems there's one more thing I can do with this life."
"NO!" Naruto shouted as he started to move towards Haku. Haku formed several one-handed seals, and a mirror appeared behind him. Before Naruto could reach him, he had slid into the mirror and disappeared.
"It's over, Zabuza," Kakashi said, his right hand ablaze with pure lightning chakra.
Zabuza was standing a few feet away, pinned down by several ninja dogs. His body was covered in blood and two kunai were protruding from his left arm.
Kakashi sprang forward, running as fast as he could. It took seconds to clear the distance. He pulled his arm back, braced his left leg to stop in front of Zabuza, and thrust his right arm forward with all his strength. His eyes widened as a mirror appeared in front of Zabuza. Haku leaped from the mirror just as Kakashi's hand made contact. He felt his hand blast through the young ninja's chest and go out through his back just inches away from Zabuza.
Haku's warm blood flowed down Kakashi's arm soaking through his sleeve. Blood sputtered from Haku's mouth, spraying over Kakashi's horrified face.
"Master, was I useful to you?" Haku asked softly before his body fell limp. Kakashi quickly wrapped his free arm around the young ninja's waist and pulled his hand from the boy's chest.
"Yes, Haku! You were useful for something after all!" Zabuza shouted as the ninja dogs disappeared in puffs of smoke. Raising his sword with his remaining working arm, Zabuza moved to bring it down on Kakashi and Haku.
Kakashi tightened his grip on Haku's body and jumped backflipping through the air, creating a gap between them. Kakashi landed and fell to his knees immediately. He gingerly laid the body down the ground. Kakashi grit his teeth and gently laid his hand over Haku's eyes and closed them gently.
"God damn it!" Naruto shouted as he appeared from the fog a few steps away. He looked at the body and dropped down to his knees next to Kakashi. "You didn't have to do this," Naruto said as he looked down at the ninja's body.
"He did," Zabuza said indifferently as he lifted his large sword over his shoulder. "His purpose in life was to be used as I saw fit. It's about time he did something useful for me."
"How could you say something like that?" Naruto asked as he stared at Haku's body. "You were supposed to be his master! It was your job to protect him!"
"Are you out of your mind, kid! We're ninjas! We're tools for death and destruction! He was always going to die eventually. At least it was to save me! Now I can kill you all and be done with this job."
"You sit here and talk about him like he was nothing," Naruto said through gritted teeth. Naruto stood to look at Zabuza, his fists clenched. Sounds from his past filled his head as he stared at the man in front of him.
"Don't go near him!"
"Look at that nasty boy. It doesn't look like he's bathed in days!"
"Look mommy it's the monster boy!"
"Why won't he just crawl into a hole and die!"
"I hate people like you," Naruto said as he forced the voices in his head to go away. "He wanted me to kill him because he failed you! He cared enough about you to sacrifice his life for you! Everything he did was for you! And you toss him aside like he's garbage!" Rage swelled inside of Naruto as his stomach burned with anger. "He asked me to kill the wrong person!" Naruto shouted as he shot off.
"Naruto, no!" Kakashi shouted. It was too late. Naruto was already moving. Naruto grabbed his previously discarded and battered sword from the ground and dashed at Zabuza.
Zabuza dodged the slash with ease and brought his sword down to kill Naruto. Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza and quickly drove two more kunai into Zabuza's other arm. The effect was instant, and Zabuza lost his grip on his massive sword as it slipped from his grasp. Naruto barely rolled out of the way in time to avoid it being bisected by it.
Naruto quickly spun on his heel, preparing to strike at Zabuza again. This time however it was Jiraiya that appeared in front of Naruto. Jiraiya quickly knocked the sword from Naruto's hand, sending it flying through the air.
"It's over, kid," Jiraiya said sternly. "It's time to give it a rest." Jiraiya turned away from Naruto to look out into the fog. A large group of men had appeared being led by a short ugly man with thick brown hair and a large forehead. Resting beneath thick brows were a pair of tiny round sunglasses.
"Ah, Zabuza, I'm a bit surprised to see you've failed." He walked forward, his cane tapping on the ground with each step. "I was expecting it just to be you and the kid here." The stocky man walked forward, coming to rest at Haku's body. "I was hoping we'd get to kill the kid ourselves." He lifted his foot and pressed it into the side of Haku's face. "Our contract is voided, Zabuza. My men here will clean this up and finish you off themselves."
"Gato," Zabuza growled as he turned around to face him.
"Don't you touch him!" Naruto shouted as he moved forward to attack the man. He felt Jiraiya's large hang grip his shoulder tightly.
"Naruto." Jiraiya snapped again sternly as he gripped his shoulder tightly, stopping him from moving forward.
"Are you going to let him do that!" Naruto shouted at Zabuza. "You're just going to stand there while he steps all over him like garbage! He gave his life for you! DON'T JUST STAND THERE!"
"Haku knew what he was getting into!" Zabuza shouted back as he faced Gato. "He knew what a shinobi's life was like. We're all disposable, not just him!" Zabuza looked down at the ground, his shoulders shaking. "God damn it, kid! Just… SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH ALREADY!"
'Haku…' It was at that moment Naruto realized he didn't even know his name before that moment. 'Why do I even care so much?' Naruto asked as he looked down at Haku as he felt a pit of sadness settle into his stomach. He'd only known him for a few minutes at most, and almost all of it had been spent fighting. Naruto's eyes widened as he noticed the water dripping onto the ground in front of Zabuza.
There was a ripping noise as Zabuza turned to face them. He was tearing the bandages away from his mouth with his teeth. "Toss me a kunai kid."
Naruto stared at him for a second before reaching into the pouch on his right leg and pulling out a kunai. Naruto held it for a second as he stared at the man in front of him. Naruto looked down at the kunai for a second before flipping it into the air. Naruto watched as the kunai flipped through the air and started to descend towards Zabuza.
Zabuza's caught the kunai with his mouth with a clang. With a growl, Zabuza turned towards Gato and smirked. "Now that our contract is terminated. Nothing is stopping me from killing you, is there?"
The threat had an instant effect. The mercenaries moved forward quickly to surround Gato. With their weapons drawn, they were ready to take on the Demon of The Hidden Mist. Zabuza let out what sounded like a chuckle before he took off in a blur. The mercenaries would have been no match even for an academy student. Let alone an elite jonin like Zabuza…even without his arms.
Zabuza tore through them one by one. Dragging the kunai across their chests, turning his head to stab them through the chest, and using his legs to kick them so hard their chests collapsed. Zabuza ducked a lazy swipe at his head with a katana. Turning, he angled his head and bent down at the waist. He plunged the kunai into the man's stomach and dragged it up towards his chest, gutting him.
As he pulled away his face covered in blood, he looked around as he dodged swords. 'Where is that fat bastard!' He thought to himself as he slashed the throat of another mercenary. He saw him. The fat little man was running towards his boat. Zabuza pushed the last bit of chakra he had left into his legs and ran. The world was a blur around him as his eyes fixed on Gato. He only had one target here, one desire. To kill the man that led them to their deaths.
Gato could hear the rush of footsteps behind him. Instinctively he turned to look, and that would be his last mistake. His eyes widened as Zabuza closed the gap between them faster than he thought possible. He tried to turn away and get to his boat when he felt it. A sharp pain was bursting through his chest. It radiated from the middle and down his arms and into his fingers. His chest burned with unimaginable pain as he gasped for air. His eyes darted down into his chest, and he saw what he could only describe as a demon. Zabuza, his face covered in blood, was staring up at him, his eyes boring into his own. The kunai had been buried to the handle into his chest.
Zabuza pulled the kunai out and slashed upwards, opening a deep cut over Gato's chest as blood poured from the open wounds. "You and I are going to hell!" Zabuza shouted through gritted teeth as he made a second slash opposite of the first one. Gato sputtered as blood started to fill his mouth, and his legs buckled. Just as Zabuza reared back to strike one more time, he stopped. He felt the same blinding pain as Gato just had as he felt cold steel slide through his flesh and into his back.
Naruto watched wide-eyed as Zabuza tore through the mercenaries with nothing but that kunai. His arms were dangling uselessly at his side. Several mercenaries were able to land cuts and other blows to him, but none were strong enough to stop him. Zabuza tore through the men blood, splashing and arcing through the air along with occasional organ and chunk of loose tissue. His stomach turned, and for a moment, he felt like he might be sick. Naruto had seen blood had fought bandits and mercenaries before. He'd even gotten close to killing one once but had never seen anything like this before. Naruto turned his head away before he felt a firm grip on the back of his head.
"You have to see this kid," Jiraiya said solemnly. This is the path you've chosen to walk. The path we've all chosen to walk." Jiraiya had turned Naruto's head back to the carnage. "There is a part of me that's spent every day since we've been together hoping you'd never see something like this. That you'd never do something like this." Jiraiya stopped and turned his face down towards Naruto's. "This is the path of the ninja, and we walk this path you and I hoping to one day achieve peace."
"You think this is how we'll achieve that peace?"
Jiraiya didn't respond. Instead, he smiled solemnly at Naruto before turning back to watch the mayhem before them.
Naruto's eyes widened as Zabuza made his way to Gato and plunged the kunai into his heart. He shouted something Naruto couldn't quite make out and watched as he slashed at the man again, then moved to strike again. Then it happened. One of the mercenaries broke from the crowd and ran forward, stabbing Zabuza in the back with a second-rate katana. Three or four more of them ran forward, driving their swords into his back. Naruto moved to rush forward and intercept them to defend the man who had just moments before been his enemy. Jiraiya stopped him putting his arm in front of him cutting him off.
"He'll die!" Naruto shouted as he looked up at Jiraiya with wide eyes.
"He was always going to die. The moment he attacked Kakashi and your team. He's just choosing his way. Respect it, kid."
Zabuza groaned as he felt the blades penetrate his body. The cold steel was pulsating through his body, chilling him to the bone with pain. He felt his legs give out under him and fell to the ground at the edge of the bridge. He tried to stand, but his legs wouldn't move. They ignored his pleas to work.
'Haku..' Zabuza thought as he fell to the ground. He could feel blood pooling into his stomach as its contents leaked out, burning his insides. It took all the effort in his body to turn onto his side. Through the legs of the men behind him, he could see Haku's still body several yards away. He locked his eyes on it as another sword pierced his side and slid in between his ribs. He barely felt that one as blood pooled under his body, warming it from the ice-cold chill on the inside.
"This is over," A voice called from a distance. Zabuza lifted his head and watched as Kakashi strode towards the mercenaries. "Your boss is dead, and his death avenged. Leave here or die." Kakashi said sternly.
"What are you going to do! You're barely standing yourself!" A man shouted at the leaf nin. Zabuza wished he had the strength to chuckle.
"Shadow Clone," Kakashi called as he crossed the first two fingers on each hand. Instantly there were four copies of him. Two on each side of him, each with a kunai in their hand. "Do you want to test that theory?" The men stood around nervously, and one went to move towards Kakashi.
It was almost instant. Kakashi appeared behind that man and drew a kunai over his neck, splitting the skin. Blood poured from the wound as he grabbed the dying man and turned him towards the others. Kakashi held him there for a moment before throwing him to the ground like he was nothing. Then men stood frozen in their spots, not of them daring to move as the other copies of Kakashi appeared in the middle of the crowd standing there staring them down coldly.
"L-lets go, guys; this isn't worth it." A larger man said he slowly stepped back and started making his way to the boat. The others followed suit as they hesitantly turned their backs on Kakashi and made their way towards Gato's ship. As they started to climb onto it, Kakashi released his clones, who disappeared in a puff of smoke. Kakashi turned and looked down at Zabuza sadly as he made his way over to the dying man.
Leaning down, Kakashi picked the man up silently as Zabuza groaned. Slowly and carefully as to not cause the man any more pain, Kakashi brought him over to the others. Stopping, Kakashi gingerly laid the man down just a few inches away from Haku and stepped back. Kakashi reached up and pulled his forehead protector back down over his Sharingan and resisted the urge to sigh in relief as he felt the chakra fueling the eye get cut off.
"Haku…" Zabuza groaned as he turned his head to face his student. With great effort, Zabuza slowly moved his arm towards Haku. He groaned in pain as his arm slid across the bridge slowly. After what seemed like an eternity of pain, his hand came to rest on Haku's face gently. Zabuza stared at his fallen student, his heart heavy with a different type of pain than the rest of his body was already feeling.
'I'm sorry, Haku…' Zabuza thought to himself as the edges of his vision started to fade. Inky darkness seemed to spread from the outside of his vision. As it crawled inward, covering his vision, he didn't even notice he could no longer feel Haku's skin under his hand. 'You deserved better, kid…I should have done better…you were too good for this world.' Zabuza could no longer see Haku's face as the tiny pinprick of light that remained in vision was swallowed up. He felt his mind start to drift as images of a young Haku filled his mind. Then, he was gone.
A/N: This is my second chapter. After a lot of debate, I decided to go with English for the Jutsu names. I'll probably use the Japanese names for a few of the jutsu, but honestly, I want to use as many original jutsu as I can and I don't want to make some kind of bastardized Japanese names for them.
Let me know what you think? Should I use Japanese for all the cannon jutsu and just English for my original jutsu?
Please leave a review and let me know what you think. Chapters 3 and 4 should drop soon.