Chapter 1 - Death and a New Chance

He could feel the blades grating against his ribs as he continued running towards the midget. But he didn't care.

He could feel his blood leaking from everywhere and knew he wouldn't survive. But he didn't care.

He could no longer hold his sword, his only weapon being a kunai gripped in his mouth. That was all he needed, so he didn't care.

There was only one thing he cared about right now, and that was the arrogant little piece of shit. That bastard had not only planned to betray them, but he had desecrated the corpse of Haku.

Although he had never said it to the boy, he had seen him as a son. It had torn him apart when he had died saving him, thinking he was nothing but a tool to him. At that point honestly, he wished for Kakashi to kill him then and there.

And then that worthless waste of space had appeared. And now said waste of space was directly in front of him. He could smell the fear the midget was giving off. The kunai in his mouth was plunged as deep into his chest as he could manage.

"I-If you want to go to the same place as your friend...then go alone."

"I've no intention...of going to the same place as Haku..."

He could see the midgets mouth move, but he couldn't hear him. All he could hear was the blood rushing through his ears, slowing down ever so slightly with his approaching death.

He couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"I'm taking you with me...TO HELL!"

He pulled out the kunai and staggered a step back. It took all his willpower to remain standing, but there was something he still needed to do. And he would be damned if he collapsed before he did it.

"Even the unremarkable Kirigakure no Kijin...can die and become a real demon in hell..."

He crouched down, preparing for the last kill of his life.

"THIS WILL BE FUN! WE'LL HAVE PLENTY OF TIME TO SEE IF I'M A 'BABY DEVIL' DOWN IN HELL!"

With his last bit of strength, he moved his body severing the little shits head, letting it fly into the group of thugs.

He sent a last death glare at them before all strength left his body and he fell forwards.

His last goal had been accomplished. Now he could die.

Suddenly the thugs he saw scrambled and ran away. Kakashi had probably done something. He was thankful, the man had not only allowed him to go on his terms but apparently had also stopped the small army from doing anything further to him or Haku.

He thought he saw feet out of the corner of his eye, but he couldn't be sure, his vision was slowly turning black.

"K-Kakashi. I have a favor to ask. I want...to see his face."

Somehow he recognized the cold around him as snow, despite his ever cooling body. Then he saw it. Haku's face in front of him. He miraculously gathered the strength to touch his son's face.

"If I could. I'd like to...go to the same place...as you..."

His vision went completely black, but he still had some fight left in him. He heaved his other arm on his chest, he wanted to ask Kakashi to give him his sword, but couldn't speak anymore.

As his fist was closed around something by another one, he guessed the man had understood him and complied.

He could no longer feel anything. Hell better prepare itself, for it was about to get another demon, and this one was about to rip it apart to see his son again.

He could hear voices around him. Clearly, human voices, what was going on. There was no way, he, the Kirigakure no Kijin had gone to heaven.

"Oh great Heroes, please save our world."

His eyes snapped open. A group of people in weird robes were standing in front of him. He took a quick glance around. Seven people in robes in front of him, besides him three kids two with weapons, one with a shield. In the corner someone who concealed himself in the shadows, the only potential threat, since he couldn't see him and therefore was unable to ascertain his strength.

Four exits, a pair of big doors behind the robes, probably leading further into wherever he was right now. A secret door next to the concealed person. Both out of the question if he needed to make a run for it. The other two were windows, had he not been exhausted and on the brink of death from fighting Kakashi and the thugs, those would have made viable exits.

This had all been going through his mind within a second when his thoughts stopped. He didn't feel exhausted or injured. In fact, he felt perfectly fine. Now that he was paying attention to himself he could feel a familiar and reassuring weight on his back that dug the straps of his harness into his shoulders.

He had Kubikiribōchō and was at full strength, meaning he could get out of here whenever he wanted. Without visibly moving he checked the rest of his equipment by tensing some muscles and feeling the resistance.

Seven pronged kunai up each sleeve, check. Four senbon and another two regular kunai on the inside of his harness, check. Supply scroll in his left pocket, check. Water scroll in his right pocket, check. Explosive tags in his back pocket, check.

Wait, he checked his left pocket again. Something was hanging on his belt, something that was not supposed to be there. He discreetly looked down and saw...a sword?

He took it and held it in front of his face, while absentmindedly listening to the conversation that had started after the man had asked them to save their world. Examining the sword he was pretty sure he was no longer in any of the countries on his continent.

This toothpick resembled no sword he had ever seen. It was too thick to be used in a quick manner and was certainly not meant for clean cuts. But it also wasn't nearly heavy or big enough to be meant for a more brutal style that relied more on power than speed, at least not one he knew of. Running his thumb over the edge he was thoroughly unimpressed by its sharpness, his kunai were sharper than this.

Noticing the others moving towards the exit he quickly replayed the conversation he had been listening to with half an ear.

The three boys were obviously pampered little shits that didn't know how the world worked, although two of them had shamelessly asked for compensation, so they may not be entirely useless. They were supposed to meet the king now.

Making a quick decision he threw the sword aside and followed behind them at the end of the procession. He would have loved to replace himself with a Mizu Bunshin, but there was no water source big enough around to do it discretely.

He glanced out of a window he passed. What he saw confirmed his earlier thought that he was nowhere in his world anymore. The architecture was too different from anything he had ever seen.

Now that he was looking at the blue sky he noticed something in the corner of his eye, with the blue sky as contrast he could clearly some sort of weird symbol in the lower right corner of his vision.

His first thought was a Genjutsu and he instinctively disrupted his chakra flow, without getting a result. The symbol was still there and he hadn't felt a Genjutsu refusing to be dispelled. So either this was not under a Genjutsu or the caster was too powerful for him to break out.

He focused on the thing only for his vision to be obscured by a transparent sign. His hand immediately went for Kubikiribōchō, while he lowered his posture preparing to strike. When nothing happened after a second he read the sign.

I-

Status

Zabuza Momochi "Kirigakure no Kijin"

Class: Sword Hero LV 1 (0%)

Equipment: Legendary Sword

[Error | Weapon not recognized]

Other-World Weapons

Other-World Scrolls

Other-World Clothes.

-I

He was thoroughly confused as to what this was supposed to be. His name and moniker he understood and that it was supposed to tell him what he had on him at the moment, but that was where it ended.

He was most certainly not a hero and what was a LV? Was that weird error thing supposed to be Kubikiribōchō? And why was it saying he still had that toothpick that was apparently a legendary sword when he had thrown it away back in that other room?

He looked down at his side and there was it again that sword that he had thrown away. He barely noticed they had arrived at the throne room and the king had started to speak. At his side was the sword he most definitely had thrown away, so why was it still there.

I-

Notice: The legendary weapon can not be unequipped until the Heroes duty is fulfilled. Upon loss, the weapon shall return to the Hero.

-I

Okay so if he could reforge it he potentially would have an infinite supply of kunai. He should see a blacksmith if it could be done, but for now, he should actually pay full attention to his surroundings.

He had decided to do so just in time as it seemed.

"Now then, Heroes. Tell me your names."

Did that wrinkly old fart just order him around? He would have loved to tell him to fuck off, but he needed more information before he could do that. He may be a cold-blooded killer and mass murderer, but he wasn't stupid. While not considered a genius he was still cunning and intelligent.

He studied the king intently for a second. A seemingly old and frail man on the outside. His posture on the other hand suggested a veteran soldier, the way he was ready at a moment's notice and his eyes studying him intensely were also concerning.

"Zabuza Momochi."

The King's gaze lingered on him for a few more seconds before moving to the spear wielding blondie.

"I'll go next, then. The name's Kitamura Motoyasu, college student, 21."

What in Kamis's name was college? Was that supposed to be some sort of advanced academy? But there was no way the kid was a warrior, much less a Shinobi. Especially not with those ridiculous clothes, so maybe it was a civilian thing he didn't know.

"Oh, me now? My name is Kawasumi Itsuki. I'm a 17-year-old high-school student."

Ok, that was even more confusing. What did it matter how high the building of a school or academy was? Maybe if it was high on a mountain so one could get used to the low oxygen in the air, but again, the kid was no warrior.

"Oh sorry. Guess I'm last. The name's Iwatani Naofumi, and I'm a 20-year-old college student."

So another college student, whatever that was in the end. Upon looking back at the king he just caught the look of hate and contempt the man sent the kid.

Now that was interesting. It probably wasn't because he thought him disrespectful, hell, then he should have glared at the other two as well and downright ordered his guards to arrest him when he only stated his name.

Was it because the kid only had that shield? If so, then the man was an idiot. Everything could be a weapon when you hit hard enough at the right spot. One well placed strike with the tip of that shield at someone's throat and they wouldn't get back up again.

"Hmm. Momochi, Motoyasu and Itsuki, very well..."

"Uh, your Majesty? What about me?"

"Oh, yes. My sincerest apologies...Naofumi."

Yeah, that wrinkly old fart definitely was biased against the kid. He could hear the man cursing under his breath something about an accursed devil. He didn't speak loud enough that he would have heard him without channeling chakra into his ears, but he was pretty sure no one else picked it up.

"Now if everybody could please confirm their statuses?"

Was that what that thing was supposed to be. He focused again on the symbol in the lower right corner, the weird semi-transparent sign opening up again.

Now that he looked closer there were three other things at the top of the sign as if something was marked in a binder. The first one said Status, so that was probably what the king referred to. The other two read Skills and Magic.

He had plenty of skill in Nin-, Tai-, and Kenjutsu so that was probably what was listed in there, but what intrigued him was the third section. Magic didn't exist. Yeah, some idiot would maybe describe Chakra and Jutsus as magic, but both followed strict rules and weren't something that you just waved around and suddenly it happened.

Deciding to look into that section he raised his hand and tried to pull that one to the front only for his hand to pass through without any resistance. He furrowed his brows. Maybe it worked like opening this thing, deciding it was worth a try he focused on the small sign, changing the thing in front of him to a new sign.

I-

Magic:

Other-World Water Magic

Other-World Support Magic

-I

He blinked in confusion before furrowing his brows even more. Was this thing calling his chakra magic? It would make some sense if it was referring to his Suiton Chakra and general Chakra enhancement and control as two separate things.

"Hey, man. Have you figured out how to do it?"

He looked to his right seeing the kids looking at him expectantly. Now should he tell them or not. He could feel the gaze of the king and everyone else on him, including several concealed persons who he still knew not how strong they were. So for now he'd play along.

"There's some shit on the lower right corner of your vision."

"Wow your right, thanks, man."

He once again ignored them, they were complaining about being too weak to help. If that was the case they should get off their asses and train. He decided to open the Skill thing. Only for it to be completely empty. Maybe it wasn't supposed to show general skills but special techniques of different fighting styles.

He set up a facade of silently listening, which he was with half an ear. You didn't survive as an S-Rank missing-nin, without always paying attention and being able to perfectly recall at least the last hour.

Now his next step should be gathering information. He'd look for some sort of library tonight, the king was sure to have one. After that maybe a quick trip into the city he had seen outside the window. Under a henge he would visit the two places you could get info no matter where you were, hoping that this rule applied in this world as well.

Bars and brothels. You could always get information there if you were willing to go the extra step of authenticating the info, but that was often easily achieved by cross-referencing the two sources.

And even when not both were available he would be able to judge some of the information. Although his methods there were rather limited with him not knowing the norm in this world, in regards to strength, common sense, and some other things. But he was pretty sure he could still rely on some of the nature of all humans.

The biggest one ironically being that humans would always lie. There would always be one person who would say something else unless saying something else was punished. That fact alone could already greatly reduce the amount of false information and simple rumors.

So he would first visit the King's personal library or the royal one if it existed. Then he'd visit a few bars and pick up some rumors and information while getting some money through gambling and bets. Lastly, he'd visit a brothel if they had those here and pay for some information.

Focusing back on the outside he almost missed their exit, masking his inattention he gave the king another calculating look as if judging the information he was told before following the kids to wherever they were supposed to go.

Another year another Story.

I just started reading the RotSH LN after reading up with the manga and while doing so had this brilliant idea.

I was surprised I didn't find anyone else already writing this. I mean Zabuza also has major issues just like Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu making this premise, not one where another hero just selflessly helps out Naofumi. Zabuza will help and sometimes assist, but he just began coming clean with himself having his world view turned upside down not an hour ago, so it will take some time, but we'll get there.

Before someone says that Zabuza is not as strong/smart/etc as this. I will respect Kishimoto's world-building more than his power scaling (which honestly is not that good). Zabuza was an S-Rank Missing Nin. He constantly had people after his head, and not just thugs like Gatos, but actual trained shinobi. The guy was part of Kirigakures elite troupe, Shinobi that are supposed to only be second to the Mizukage in power. And I really like him, so if you think so and don't want to read, the same as for all my other stories goes. Don't read if you don't like it.

Hope you enjoyed.

-Zimzimgar