Naruto Uzumaki, 12 years old, genin of Konohagakure no Sato, and village pariah. While the young blonde was happy to have finally become a genin, he was frustrated with his sensei, one Kakashi Hatake. The scarecrow of a man was supposed to be a jonin, and he'd proven it during the bell test, but besides that he'd barely taught them anything besides teamwork exercises, and he'd only taken them on D rank missions.
"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura yelled at the man in tandem, which was becoming something of a ritual for all their team meetings, but this time instead of letting the man give another lame excuse, Naruto continued,
"If you're always so late can't you at least give us a cool ninjutsu to learn?" the blonde asked, barrelling into the question at the surprise of his team,
"Well, I suppose I could, but you kids aren't really ready-" Kakashi began to attempt to placate the excitable blonde but Naruto was having none of it,
"Oh come on, sensei! Just one simple ninjutsu? There has to be something genin can learn?" Naruto continued, insistent and sick of being told he wasn't ready for the kind of jutsu he wanted to learn was attempting to compromise. At his attempts at compromising, Sasuke, the brooding Uchiha spoke up,
"The dead last has a point, even I'm starting to doubt your abilities to teach." the blue wearing genin butt in, which prompted Sakura to do the same,
"Yeah, the academy only really teaches bunshin, kawarimi, and henge, surely you can teach us something!" the pink haired young girl exclaimed, eager to agree with Sasuke.
Kakashi decided not to point out that Sasuke already knew at least one ninjutsu beyond those, since he'd likely learned it from scrolls scavenged from his now empty clan estates, if not been taught it before the massacre.
"Alright, alright." Kakashi said, attempting to placate his students, "I'll teach you the shunshin if you all agree to practice it on your own time, but first we have to get to the mission office, can't be late!" he said the last part with an audible grin that made his students, even Sasuke, glare at him and grit their teeth.
With the deal struck and the timeline altered slightly, Team 7 made their way to the Hokage tower.
It had been less than a week, and Kakashi had kept his promise, teaching his students the basics of the simple shunshin. The idea was simple enough, using chakra to force your body to move fast enough to flicker from view. Sasuke had picked it up fastest, as expected, Sakura was having trouble mostly with having enough chakra to practice it consistently and, to everyones surprise, she'd fallen behind Naruto.
Naruto himself had the stamina to practice it enough that he was even keeping up with Sasuke, and having a fast movement technique had the blonde zipping all over the place. The most difficulty Naruto seemed to have was aiming himself as he regularly overshot and slammed himself into obstacles. His perfomance of course pushed Sasuke to practice more, something Kakashi noted with pride.
However it seemed it wouldn't keep the hyperactive blonde occupied for long as the prospect of yet another D rank mission had Naruto yell in outrage,
"Hell no! I want a cool mission for once!" Naruto shouted at the Hokage, prompting Kakashi to sigh and lament his student being such a knuckle head. Although the silver haired Jounin wouldn't say it out loud he knew part of Naruto's apparent disrespect towards the titled God of Shinobi who was their Kage was at least partially the fault of the Hokage himself for being such a kind figure in Naruto's life, and the fact the Hokage himself merely smiled in a grandfatherly matter instead of reprimanding him only confirmed this as Iruka, a Chunin who was apparently somewhat close with the hyperactive blonde, was the one shouting at Naruto for disrespecting the leader of their village with his outburst. Although they didn't voice it, it was obvious that Naruto's team agreed with him about the missions they were undergoing.
"Hm, Kakashi what do you think?" the old man asked, to which Kakashi could only shrug,
"If you've got a C rank I won't turn it down." the jonin responded simply, both of them surprising Iruka who was then told to bring in a man named Tazuna.
Naruto was giddy at the prospect, muttering to himself about finally rising through the ranks, until Kakashi and Sakura explained the ranking system to him and he realized that a C rank wasn't all that much more 'cool' than a D rank.
Soon enough Tazuna, an old man with a bit of a gut came in, holding a half empty bottle of sake at what Kakashi was pretty sure was still late morning,
"This is my protection? These kids look like super brats, especially the short one with the stupid face. Are you really ninja?" the client said, which indicated to Kakashi he was not just drunk, but not used to dealing with ninja. Naruto was laughing,
"Haha, who is the short one with the stupid face?" he asked, looking to see which of his teammates just got insulted more, only to realize the were both struggling not to smile and he was shorter than both of them, which meant Kakashi had to grab the back of Naruto's jumpsuit to stop him leaping at Tazuna,
"Don't kill the person we're supposed to protect." Kakashi reprimanded lazily, "Besides which, I assure you, Tazuna-san, my Genin are more competent than they seem, and I myself am an elite Jounin." he continued, since Tazuna seemed nervous.
"I am the super expert bridge builder, Tazuna. I expect you to provide me super protection until I get back to my country and complete the bridge." the drunken man said.
So began the mission to protect the bridge builder.
Naruto was certain of one thing, the mission to Nami had been an absolute disaster. Knowing the shunshin really hadn't helped at all against the opponents they'd been fighting, and even learning tree walking had only given him enough chakra control to use it to get him in the ice mirrors, which had caused more harm than good apparently since it had gotten Sasuke killed. Worst of all Naruto couldn't even avenge his fallen team mate, even if he was an ass, because the enemy was someone who had been nice to Naruto.
Hearing Haku's story Naruto had been near numb, it was sad for sure, and Naruto felt for the guy, and the worst part was that Naruto recognised that Haku, as damaged as the enemy shinobi was emotionally, was kinder to Naruto than anyone besides maybe Iruka. Even worse was how similar they apparently were, if Haku was telling the truth.
"Naruto-kun, please" Haku began, interrupting the blonde genin's thoughts, "Kill me." the effeminite shinobi asked of Naruto. Naruto himself was shocked at the request, although it almost sounded like a demand, "Please hurry up and kill me." Haku asked again, Naruto continued to stand there, "Why are you hesitating?" Haku asked and Naruto finally reacted,
"I don't understand! Is being strong the only reason for you to be alive!?" Naruto shouted, looking for a way out of this situation, "Something other than fighting, you could have been acknowledged for something else." he continued, more subdued.
"The day I met you in the forest, I thought you were like me. You should be able to understand." Haku said with tired eyes, his words surprising Naruto, "I'm sorry that you will have to stain your hands." he finished.
"Is this... Is this the only way?" Naruto asked, trembling with anger at the whole situation.
"Yes." Haku answered simply. Naruto steeled his resolve and drew a kunai, "Please, fulfill your own dreams." Haku requested, Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat at those words and glanced back at Sasuke, lying lifeless with senbon in his neck,
"He... Sasuke also had a dream." Naruto said, pausing for a moment, "If we met under different circumstances, we might become friends." he said sadly before running at Haku,
"Thank you." Haku said, accepting Naruto's charge with closed eyes, seeming to accept death. At the last moment, Haku jolted, eyes widening and he grabbed Naruto by the attacking arm, confusion was evident on the blonde boys face, "Sorry, Naruto-kun! I can't die yet!" Haku said frantically, moving to make a hand sign. In an instant Haku disappeared in a shunshin, unsure of what else to do, Naruto growled, giving his confusion to anger he made his own handsign to shunshin after Haku.
Senbon pierced summoning scroll, and lightning wreathed hand pierced flesh, the mist cleared and everyone who could see what was happening was shocked.
Kakashi's nin dogs, that had been holding Zabuza pinned disappeared. Zabuza and Kakashi were splattered with blood. Haku, to his own shock, had been tossed to the ground. Sakura and Tazuna were both staring in abject shock through the clearing mist at the sight of Kakashi, with his hand going through Naruto's right shoulder from behind.
"My future was death? Wrong again Kakashi." Zabuza said with a dark laugh as he reached for his sword. "I sure picked up a useful tool!" Zabuza bragged and Kakashi forced himself to move, realizing Zabuza meant to cut through both himself and Naruto, but he need not have bothered, as an ice mirror suddenly jumped in the way of Zabuza's blade, surprising both Zabuza and Kakashi.
"What's the meaning of this, Haku!?" Zabuza demanded as Kakashi checked Naruto's vitals. The blonde boy was still alive, to Kakashi's shock, his lung had been hit and his breathing ragged, the boy seemed confused that he'd been hit at all and Kakashi suspected a genjutsu had tricked the boy if not for Haku's ice jumping to his defense just now.
"I'm sorry, Zabuza-san, my body moved on it's own." Haku responded with uncertainty, mirroring the words of the Uchiha earlier. Zabuza seemed concerned by the answer and tone Haku had given.
Kakashi meanwhile had a different problem, he couldn't fight Zabuza or perform first aid for Naruto with his arm stuck through Naruto, but if he took his arm out he would need to work fast to save Naruto's life and Zabuza was still in action. Worse still Haku was right there and Sasuke was nowhere in sight, and Kakashi knew Sakura couldn't keep up with these opponents. So Kakashi was staring at Haku to see what he'd do.
Haku got up from the ground onto his knees and stared blankly at Naruto, barely realizing from the confusion in Naruto's eyes that the smaller boy had not intended to take the blow for him. Haku was quite certain that with a wound like that, in this situation, Naruto had effectively killed himself to stop Haku from killing himself to save Zabuza, and all Haku had managed to do in return was save the life of the sensei of the younger ninja, the sensei who was still technically in battle with Zabuza.
"Haku?" Zabuza questioned again, confused by Haku's continued inaction,
"Oh what the hell is this?" a new voice on the bridge interrupted everything, "You can't even control your own subordinates? What a mess, the bridge builder isn't dead yet, and the only casualty seems to be self inflicted by your opponents. Some 'demon of the hidden mist' you turned out to be!" the voice patronized arrogantly. The mist cleared more, revealing Gato and an army of thugs and mercenaries.
"What the hell is the meaning of this, Gato?" Zabuza asked, deciding to shelve the issue of Haku's insubordination for now. Haku didn't, or couldn't, tear his gaze away from the wound Naruto had sustained.
"Well you missing ninja are such an arrogant and annoying bunch to work with, expensive too." Gato answered, gesturing with his good hand to the army backing him up, "These fine gentlemen come at a fraction of the cost, and I bet they'll actually get the job done unlike you blow hards. I should have known ninja were all talk!" he continued,
"Don't you dare underestimate shinobi!" a voice wet with blood called out, enraged but raspy. Haku's eyes widened at seeing Naruto suddenly spring to life in anger, and Zabuza glanced over at him too to wonder just what the hell the kid was actually made of,
"Well, seems my contract is over." Zabuza said suddenly, seeming to have come to a decision, "So our fight is over, tend to your brats." he told Kakashi,
"Sakura, bring me a medkit, now!" Kakashi ordered at those words, "Tazuna get over here too!" he added quickly.
"Aren't you ninja acting too arrogant again? I don't think you realize the situation you're in!" Gato called out angrily as Sakura and Tazuna moved to follow orders, "Stop wasting your time trying to save the life of that worthless blonde shit-" he started ranting, only to be cut off by his own scream of pain and fear as a pair of senbon went through the muscles in his right leg, knocking him on his ass.
"Not another word." Haku intoned coldly, glaring at the shipping magnate with hate filled eyes. Zabuza's own eyes narrowed, wondering just what the hell had happened in their fight for the situation to have turned out like this.
With the medical supplies, Kakashi was working fast, giving Naruto painkillers before removing his arm from the wound and working fast bind the wound with bandages soaked in disinfectant.
"Will Naruto be okay?" Sakura asked when she recovered from the shock enough to ask,
"He'll be fine." Kakashi answered, much to the shock of everyone who could hear him, except Naruto himself who seemed barely aware of the situation at this point,
"Thank goodness, but where's Sasuke?" Sakura asked,
"I couldn't bring myself to kill him." Haku answered, causing Zabuza to scoff, "Your other team member is in a death like state further up the bridge." Haku explained, unable to bring himself to look at the Konoha ninja.
"You damn ninja! Can't you kill anyone!" Gato shouted, earning another senbon in his leg for the outburst,
"Argh! Would you kill them already!" the short businessman yelled the demand to his army,
"Quit putting holes in our pay check!" one of the thugs yelled as the army surged towards them, only to stop as the first line of them was cut down before they could react by one swing of Zabuza's blade.
"There's just one of him!" another mercenary shouted as the bridge became a battleground and Zabuza proved the difference between a shinobi and a regular warrior, Haku running interference with senbon to strike at any who attempted to surround Zabuza.
Kakashi finished bandaging Naruto, "Sakura, go check on Sasuke, if he is in a death like state then remove the senbon from his neck and begin standard first aid when he wakes up. Tazuna, keep Naruto's upper body elevated." the jonin ordered, standing and drawing a kunai after giving Naruto to Tazuna.
Gato meanwhile had been picked up by one of his hired swords and was retreating to the back of the army, promising more and more money to whoever could kill Zabuza to keep said army fighting. Despite further promises of wealth the mercenaries were getting demoralized when Kakashi put his kunai in Gato's neck with a shunshin. Kakashi left the kunai behind and used kawarimi to avoid getting cut up by the angered body guards,
"He killed our meal ticket!" one shouted as Kakashi and Zabuza stood against them, the fighting pausing as the mercenaries began to break.
A crossbow bolt hit the bridge, "The hero always arrives late!" Inari's voice shouted from the other side of the bridge. Zabuza let the mist clear fully to reveal the situation, showing that the citizens of Nami no Kuni had formed a militia and rallied behind a child. With that the remaining mercenaries decided that even if they could get past the ninja still standing, it would not be worth it to have to cut down the militia, even if it was untrained and shoddily armed with farming tools and knives. The rest of Gato's army broke, retreating.
Zabuza holstered his Kubikiribocho and turned to Kakashi, "Hatake, we need to talk." the missing nin of Kiri said. Haku approached, head down in apparent shame.
"Oh? What about?" Kakashi asked flippantly,
"Your village is clearly soft on kids." Zazuba began as he glanced towards Naruto, then glanced towards Haku, "A blade with a soft heart would do well there." he finished and Haku tensed up at his words,
"No, I-" Haku began, cut off by Kakashi's response,
"You can't expect Konohagakure to just snatch up an illicit shinobi from a neutral foreign land during piece time." the Konoha jonin said as he lowered his headband back over his sharingan eye. Away from them the citizens of Nami were helping Sakura with Sasuke and Inari was asking Tazuna about Naruto's condition.
"Haku isn't in the bingo book, and he was never technically in the Kiri ninja program." Zabuza said simply,
"An immigrant with obvious shinobi training is not something even I can slip by the gates. I'd have to bring him before the Hokage." Kakashi explained, noticing Haku's eyes were watering as the boy looked at Zabuza in shocked dejection,
"As long as you keep my name out of it I'm sure your village would consider him a boon." Zabuza responded,
"Zabuza-san please-" Haku tried,
"Quiet Haku, and get that tremor out of our voice. You-" Zabuza began before looking away, "You're a good blade, but you're too damn soft for this life. Besides I can't have my weapons owing their lives to another ninja, go be useful to that blonde brat before he dies." the missing nin ordered gruffly,
"Naruto will be fine, I'm sure he'll make a full recovery." Kakashi said as Haku turned and walked slowly to where Naruto was resting, "Is that all?" Kakshi asked Zabuza, who nodded and disappeared.
Kakashi moved towards where Naruto was with Tazuna, catching up to Haku who was checking on Naruto mechanically, "How? I heard him earlier, his lung-" Haku mused, surprised by Naruto's steady breathing,
"He heals fast." Kakashi interrupted. Haku turned to look up at Kakashi, surprised that the man was even answering him. Haku's eyes gave Kakashi pause, there was confusion at first, almost curiosity, then nothing. Haku turned back to Naruto, silent. Kakashi frowned under his mask then took Naruto from Tazuna, "I'll get Sakura to help Sasuke back to your place if he can stand." the man told Tazuna,
"Go home with your mother, Inari." Tazuna said to the boy, who was relieved to hear Naruto would be fine, "I need to get this bridge cleaned up, and hopefully recruit some people to help me finish it." the old man explained, standing up and stretching. Inari nodded and ran back to his mother and the militia, ensuring everyone that Naruto would be fine and talking up how much of a hero the blonde was. Kakashi followed long enough to get to Sakura and saw her still carefully removing senbon from Sasuke, who was now awake. Haku followed Kakashi and Sasuke looked up in surprise.
"Kakashi?" Sasuke asked, moving his eyes between his sensei and the fake hunter nin.
"Fighting is done Sasuke, I'll explain more at Tazuna's place. Help him home, Sakura." Kakashi said, leading his genin team somewhere safe to debrief them on the odd situation.