Good to see you all again, and I'm happy to be bringing you this next chapter! It's been getting hot here in Cali, and I'm aware so many others are having it worse than us! So please, stay cool, stay hydrated, and if we have any environmentalists/scientists in this audience, please get going on this crisis!

But I hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Kakashi's eyes widened as he sensed the growing chakra pressure. Though all shinobi trained to sense chakra, it was more often than not a conscious effort to do so. If one could sense chakra unconsciously, either their senses were attuned to such a degree not thought possible, or there was so much they couldn't help but detect them. "No! This is-!"

Zabuza chuckled despite himself, even with the dogs holding him down snd trying to take off some of his fingers. "It seems you and I are not so different." Zabuza said. "To use a boy like him as a weapon…you are not so different from me. In fact, I dare say you're even more cold-blooded than I am."

Kakashi clenched his fist. "Naruto joined us of his own free will, more so than many of our other genin!" Kakashi shouted. "I'm nothing like you! You kidnapped a boy and used him as your own tool against his will!"

Zabuza's eyes widened for a second, before scowling under his mask. "I am many things Kakashi." Zabuza said. "And like all ninja, I play those roles well. But in the end, that's all they are: roles." Little did Kakashi know, Zabuza was counting on this distraction. Not that what he was saying wasn't true, but he needed the truth to hide his deception. He tapped the center of his blade, and suddenly a spark went off in the groove. The entire blade exploded, sending shards of metal everywhere. Kakashi covered his body with his arms, his limbs taking the brunt of the cuts. The dogs were not so lucky, taking the metal directly into their bodies.

Though a couple tried to get up, Kakashi quickly dispelled them back to where they came from; otherwise, it would compromise his contract if his summons died in battle. On the plus side, Zabuza forfeited his best weapon in the process. Zabuza simply charged forward, and punched Kakashi across the face. As he ran low on chakra, the mist was dispelled. Zabuza tried another punch with his left, but Kakashi parried it and kicked him in the ribs. When Zabuza stumbled back, Kakashi tried to run towards the source of the power, but Zabuza used his long hilt to choke him out and press him towards him. "Like hell I'll let you!"

Haku stared into the raging fire within Naruto's eyes, the pressure getting to him. Before he could blink, Naruto was in front of him and punched him hard across the face. Haku's mask cracked as he flew into the water. Using an advanced version of the technique Naruto and Sasuke recently learned, he stuck to the surface of the water, walking on it like a holy figure.

Naruto leaped at him at an impossible height, following him. Haku jumped back towards the bridge, Naruto falling right into the ocean. Haku found himself back on the pier as he looked back into the water. He hoped Naruto was unable to swim, in spite of what he saw earlier. Even if that was true, Naruto's chakra forced him out of the water like a meteorite in reverse. Haku jumped out of the way as Naruto came for him, and punched in the steel where Haku once was.

The masked ninja fell into another mirror, but he wasn't confident it would keep him safe. The mirrors used up a lot of chakra, and whatever was doing it, Naruto was getting exponentially stronger and angrier. More mirrors were formed around Naruto, and Haku launched his needles. Each needle hit Naruto in their intended targets. Even with his enhanced abilities, Naruto couldn't avoid them. And yet, they seemed to have no effect.

Naruto raised his arms and the chakra simply pushed the needles out of him. Naruto then charged, punching a mirror. It shattered, Haku falling out. He didn't have the sufficient chakra to keep it up anymore!

Gato observed as he was able to see both Zabuza and Kakashi fight again, his samurai staying by him. If Zabuza was pushed this far, this was real bad! And there was another thing making him nervous, only he didn't know what it was. It was like some primal instinct was screaming at him to flee. Gato adjusted his tie, and asked one of his samurai "Did we find Tazuna?"

"I don't see him." He answered as he looked over the edge. "But he's probably still alive. Those damn ninjas!"

"Search the bridge, and bring me his head. The kids too, if you can find them, but Tazuna is paramount."

Another one of his samurai stepped forward. "Uh, sir. Momochi will not be pleased…"

"Don't worry." Gato sneered. He patted the left side of his coat. "I've got it all under control…"

Haku's mask sported three scratches, but still he managed to just stay out of the range of Naruto's clawed hands as he slashed at him. He was running for his life straight up a pier as Naruto chased after him. Haku set up a trap as he replaced himself with a Hyou Bushin, trapping Naruto as soon as he struck the clone.

Not wasting a moment, Haku wrapped his legs around Naruto's and got his neck in a sleeper hold. In this moment, no one should have been able to easily break out of his grip without proper leverage, even if they were twice as strong as he was. However, with one hand, Naruto pried his lock off and bit down on his arm. Haku let out a breathless scream as he desperately tried to hold the pain in. Naruto then simply threw him off, and simply ripped his arm out of the ice.

Haku managed to land on the pier, but the impact still hurt a great deal. Seeing his best techniques did not work on Naruto, Haku jumped onto the water and ran.

Naruto snarled and dove in. Though he couldn't run on water like Haku, he paddled hard enough to keep up with him.

"Stay with Mom, Inari." Tazuna told his grandson. Tazuna jumped into the water and swam towards the wreckage. Tazuna was well into his golden years, but he was still a great swimmer. You had to be if you wished to live in the Land of Waves.

As he inspected the debris, something caught his eye, which widened in distress. "Oh no…"

Zabuza went in for a stab, which Kakashi parried with his wrist and tried to gain leverage with his own kunai. "You seem eager to leave!" Kakashi noted as made more strikes, Zabuza blocking them in turn.

"So do you!" Zabuza got the upper hand as he pushed Kakashi's wrist down to the concrete. "Let me go, Hatake!"

"Don't you dare try to fool me!" Kakashi twisted around and kicked Zabuza in the face. They resumed their deadly exchange. "That boy you have has a kekkei genkai! A ninjutsu bloodline!" Kakashi managed to cut Zabuza across the face, but Zabuza still kicked him back. "We know the previous Mizukage kidnapped children and experimented on them for their bloodlines! And you just wanted one for yourself when you escaped!"

"Shut up!" Zabuza screamed as he got past Kakashi's guard and managed to stab him in the shoulder.

Tazuna carefully scooped up Sasuke's body. Even with how bad it looked, he still desperately searched for a pulse. "I thought you were one scary kid, to be honest." Tazuna sighed. Despite trying to hold them back, his tears flowed. "Even so, you didn't deserve this." Tazuna sighed. "What are we going to tell your parents-"

Suddenly, a throwing dagger flew past his ear, and embedded itself into the pier. Tazuna looked up to see one of Gato's samurai across the way, grinning manically. "Gato-sama hired those ninja to kill you." Quickly, he pulled his katana from his sheath. "Imagine how happy he will be with us when WE bring your head instead!"

Something suddenly collided with the back of his head, his eyes rolling back and falling into the sea. "Tazuna-san!"

Tazuna saw one of his neighbors, waving at him. It seemed all he threw at him was a stick. "Ahi! What the hell are you doing?!"

"We came to back you up!"

Tazuna blinked. "What?"

"I hate to admit it," Tazuna's neighbor began scratching his head. "But we didn't come up with this idea on our own."

"What the heck is going on?!" Gato yelled as he raised his arm to shield himself from various debris being thrown at him. On the other end of the bridge, a bunch of the locals swarmed the other end of the bridge, probably crossing over by boat.

They raised various tools, shouting obscenities at the mobster. "You strong armed your way into our lives for the last time!"

"We won't let you kill Tazuna, you monster!"

So far, they were just throwing random trash at him. "Who got them riled up?!" Gato demanded.

"We don't know!" One of the samurai said. "We figured we'd face an uprising eventually, but we thought Tazuna or one of his family members would organize them!"

"It doesn't matter how they finally found their balls!" Gato shouted. "Right now, we've still got our swords! Use them!"

They all unsheathed their katanas, and charged.

"They're coming!" One of the civilians, holding a rake, warned as the samurai moved towards them.

"Don't panic, we knew this would happen." Sakura said as she stepped forward. "Do we have the oil ready?"

"Yeah."

"Fire away!"

"Yes, taichou!"

"Don't call me that!"

The islanders went to make-shift catapults, loading balls of rags onto the scoops. Lantern oil was poured on them, and they used their lighters on them to catch fire. Quickly afterwards, they released them. The fireballs flew forward, and many of the samurai were struck. Still, as siege weapons, they had poor accuracy, and many raced past the fireballs. "Everyone! Get the mace ready!" Sakura ordered.

She and a few others shook their cans, and threw them. The samurai thought nothing of it, thinking they were safe to ignore. But on contact, they exploded into red smoke, causing their eyes to water and their throats close. "The pepper bombs worked!" Sakura exclaimed in glee.

"Thank Shinichi! He grows the hottest peppers in the village!" One of the others exclaimed.

"Now, take them down!" Sakura ordered as she ran forward and the others charged.

Under normal circumstances, the Samurai would have been more than a match for the villagers, but incapacitated, they couldn't even raise their swords to protect themselves as the villagers engaged them with whatever make-shift weapons they could find. Sakura helped knock them out as they engaged with the villagers. "There's more coming!" One of the men said.

Sakura looked to the East as some Samurai came up the shore by motorboat. "Is the shrapnel ready?!" She asked.

"Here!" One of the men threw her a string of cans. Sakura caught it and ran forward. As she closed the distance between her and the samurai, she attached an explosive tag to the middle can, spun in like a sling and threw it at them. Again, the samurai underestimated her and the others, but as it came close the can exploded, sending shrapnel made up of rusted nails everywhere. The samurai crouched in pain, making them an easy target for the others.

"So far, so good!" Sakura thought as she observed them getting overrun by the villagers.

She then felt something. Something terrible she couldn't describe as it made her freeze. She turned towards the bridge, and saw two figures moving rapidly, one glowing bright orange. Her instincts told her to stay away, yet she had to see what it was.

Kakashi pushed the blade deeper into his shoulder, pulling Zabuza in closer and cupping his head. "I won't let you hurt anyone else!" Kakashi kneed him, knocking the wind out of Zabuza. "And I won't let you use any more children as weapons!"

Kakashi was about to stab Zabuza's side, but something in the mist nin snapped. "NGH!" Zabuza suddenly head-butted Kakashi. "Don't you dare talk about Haku like you know him!" Zabuza quickly released Kakashi to punch him across the face and knocking him to the floor. "Everything I did, I did for him!" He proceeded to kick Kakashi, causing him to roll over. "I fed him, clothed him-! I made him strong, so that on the day I finally go to hell, he will survive!"

Zabuza grabbed the stunned Hatake by the throat, picking him up. "Haku is not just my right-hand!" He squeezed, causing Kakashi to wince. "He is my son!"

Haku ran backwards onto the main beach, Naruto quickly following after him. Haku threw several needles, but Naruto kept swerving to the side, avoiding them. "He's getting faster as well!" Haku quickly made his one-handed signs and slammed his hand on the sand.

"Hyotoun! Hyoharinezumi no Jutsu!" An explosion of icicles sprang forward, threatening to impale Naruto. The blonde ninja simply crossed his arms and plowed right through it. It managed to cut his skin, but it got no further. Reaching the end, he grabbed hold of Haku's arm and cocked his right fist back, punching him in the face. The mask began to crack, but held firm. He punched again, damaging it further.

"MURDERER!" Naruto landed a third punch that echoed like thunder, sending Haku flying and destroying his mask. Haku rolled like a rag doll; when he stopped, one would have been certain he was dead. Still, Haku twitched.

He winced as he pushed himself up with his left hand; his right arm dislocated. Haku suddenly vomited blood; he may not have been dying, but he knew he had nothing left. The boy felt his heart race. "Is this…is this true fear?" He looked at Naruto, his feral features remaining. Not even from Zabuza did he ever feel such bloodlust. "This is it…" Haku resigned himself. "Today is the day I die…" He then felt something on his cheek.

Haku looked to see a snowflake touch his cheek. "Here-?" Haku looked up, it was snowing. It was the beginning of summer, and the Land of Waves didn't have the climate for snow! It was like a miracle… Naruto finally charged, and to Haku, time seemed to slow down. Haku closed his eyes smiling. "It was a day of snow when I lost my parents…it was snowing when you rescued me…" Naruto leaped into the air, intending to claw off his face. "And now, it seems I am destined to die in snowfall. Zabuza…thank you, for everything."

Naruto nearly reached him, when a kunai flew in between them, an explosive tag tied to it. It was a small explosion, only enough to get their attention. "Naruto, stop!" Sakura shouted. Naruto seemed to regain his sanity, his beastial features receding and his eyes turning back to their natural blue. "You won! You don't have to hurt anyone anymore!"

Naruto clenched his fists, growling. "He killed him."

"What?" Sakura asked.

"He killed Sasuke!" Naruto shouted. Seeing the look on Sakura's face, he turned away. "He's under the bridge." He choked, crying. "You should go to him."

Sakura could only stand in shock, her hand going limp as she dropped her kunai. "It can't be…"

"I am beaten." Haku said. "I've got nothing left. If you wish to mourn your comrade, go. I'm no longer a threat."

Sakura looked to Naruto, who was looking away. Finally, he looked at her with watery eyes, and nodded. Sakura also nodded, thanking him. She ran towards the shore and dove in, swimming quickly towards the bridge.

"Why'd you do it?" Naruto asked.

"I am a shinobi," Haku replied. "I am a-"

"Cut that crap put, right now!" Naruto shouted. "You've always had a choice! You didn't have to do a thing that murderer tells you to!"

"How could I not?" Haku asked, tears streaming down his face. "I owe my entire existence to Zabuza."

"To him? How?" Naruto asked.

Haku sighed. "Whenever it snows, it has always signified a turning point in my life. The first time I remember seeing snow…was the day I lost my parents."

Hyoharinezumi-Ice Hedgehog

Yeah, from here it's going to play out very similarly from the original. But I do hope to add more details and twists to it.

Please, please, let me know what you think, positive or negative!