Bridge

Team Seven, Zabuza, and Tazuna stood across from Gato and his army of thugs.

Zabuza said, "Gato, I don't understand. What is this?"

Gato smiled. "There's been a change in plans. You're going to die on this bridge Zabuza." Zabuza opened his eyes wide. "You're too expensive, so I've decided to take you off the pay roll. Even these thugs cost something, so slaughter a few of them. I'd appreciate it."

"You bastard!" Daichi angrily shouted shocking everyone as he stepped in front of Zabuza with his blade held firm. "This Shinobi was willing to die for you, yet you'd just betray him like this. You were scum before, but your even worse than scum now."

"Some punk kid with an ego." Gato chuckled as he walked forward. "Sticks and stones, kid."

Zabuza looked at Daichi before speaking to Kakashi. "Well Kakashi, seems our fight is at an end since I am no longer in Gato's employ. Tazuna is safe. We have no quarrel."

"I suppose you're right." Kakashi stated as he looked at Daichi. "Seems he really has come to respect Zabuza a great deal."

Gato stopped before Haku's body. "That reminds me. This one almost broke my arm. I've been meaning to repay that." He kicked Haku's body making Naruto gasp. "I only wish he was alive to feel that."

"Get away from him!" Naruto attempted to run forward, but Kakashi stopped him. "Are you just going to let him get away with that Zabuza!?"

"Be quiet you fool." Zabuza stated. "Haku is dead. What does it matter?"

Naruto struggled free from Kakashi's grasp and pointed at Zabuza. "You ungrateful rat. Haku did everything for you. He lived for you. You were everything to him. What, he meant nothing to you? He sacrificed everything, yet you never felt anything for him?

If I become stronger, will I have to become as cold hearted as you? I never will become cold hearted. Unlike you, I value my team. I want to grow stronger, so I never hold them back; however, I have dreams of my own." Naruto was tearing up.

"Dreams that Haku was never able to have himself. You know what? He didn't even care because he was happy. You… You just tossed him aside like he was nothing. A broken tool. That's wrong. So wrong!"

"You talk too much." Zabuza stated before shedding tears. "Your words cut deep. Deeper than any blade. While he fought you and your team, his heart was breaking in two. Haku was always to soft and kind.

He felt pain and sorrow. Curse him because I feel it to. Something else I feel is contempt that this is the way it ends." He ripped of his bandages with his shark teeth. "Cat got your tongue? Are you so surprised to discover that I am human?"

He looked at Daichi. "Kid, that blade. Give it to me and step out of the way."

Daichi looked at his blade and gripped it tightly before throwing the blade back. He then stepped aside. Zabuza caught the handle in his mouth and rushed forward forcing a frightened Gato to run back through his thugs.

"Take him down!" Gato ordered.

Even without the use of his arms, Zabuza was a force of nature. He charged through the thugs taking many down. Every weapon, he took in stride while rushing straight for Gato at the back. He ran right by the criminal with the blade and Gato's head rolled off the bridge as his body fell.

With his job done, Zabuza spat out the blade letting it clatter to the ground before looking at the thugs. This frightened them enough to part. With all the weapons still in his back, he slowly walked towards Haku's corpse.

Zabuza fell to his knees. "I never once thanked you Haku. Goodbye."

He fell to his stomach causing Daichi to run forward as Hinata and Naruto tried to look away.

"Don't look away." Kakashi firmly stated. "When you live like a warrior, this is how it ends."

Daichi fell to his knees as tears began to form in his eyes. "No!" He looked back at Kakashi. "Sensei this isn't right. This isn't an end for a warrior." He cried. "This isn't the end for a Seven Swordsman of the Mist." He looked at his Sensei. "You know a healing Jutsu. Please use it."

Kakashi sighed. "Zabuza wasn't really that bad." He walked forward and knelt by Zabuza's body before removing the weapons. "This likely won't work, but I might as well try to ease Daichi's mind."

Kakashi's hands glowed green as he began using the Mystical Palm Jutsu. At this point, the thugs had gotten over their fear, and one of them stepped forward banging their sheathed sword on the ground.

"Hey, don't go getting comfortable." The thug declared. "This party ain't over. Who's going to pay us now that Gato's gone? No way we're leaving empty handed, so we'll just have to hit the village and see what they've got."

All the thugs agreed, but before anyone could act, a cross bolt came from the other side of the bridge. The whole village stood behind the Shinobi. They were headed by Inari.

"There's one thing you're forgetting." A villager declared. "Before you set one foot in our village, you'll have to go through us."

The villagers all shouted as one.

Naruto happily exclaimed, "Inari!"

Inari rubbed his nose and laughed. "Hero's usually show up at the last minute."

Tazuna was on the verge of tears. "They've all come. The whole village."

"Please, don't stop healing Zabuza, Sensei." Daichi stepped forward with a determined expression. "We'll handle them."

Naruto smiled. "You got that right."

They both wove the same hand signs. "Shadow Clone Jutsu."

5 clones of Daichi and Naruto appeared. This new development scared the thugs. Sasuke and Hinata walked forward to stand with Naruto and Daichi.

Sasuke smirked and drew a kunai. "No way I'm sitting this out."

Kakashi noticed something in Sasuke's eyes as he walked by. They were both red with a single black tomoe. "The Sharingan! Sasuke must have unlocked it in during the fight with Haku to keep up with the speeds of the combatants."

Hinata joined him. "Yeah, we'll fight to."

This caused the thugs to turn tail and run in terror.

Inari held the arm with the cross bow in the air. "Victory!"

The whole village was celebrating. Tazuna looked upon this with a big smile because the village finally had its courage back. Suddenly, Zabuza coughed up some blood as his breathing became steady. He was simply resting now, but Daichi had noticed the man breathe.

Kakashi looked at his student with wide eyes and softly said. "He'll live." He sweat dropped. "This man really is a demon."

Daichi couldn't help but smile as a gentle snow fell on the bridge.

Haku's Grave: Sunset…

Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke stood before the grave. Daichi and Kakashi had stayed behind at Tazuna's with Zabuza's unconscious body. Naturally, Hinata had been informed of everything that went down on the bridge.

After hearing everything, the Hyuga had to wonder, "Is this the ninja way? Use and be used by people like tools?"

"Shinobi are all merely tools in the hands of destiny. No point in wondering whether it's right or wrong. It just is. It's the same in The Village Hidden in the Leaves." Sasuke stated.

"If that's what being a ninja is about, then something's out of whack." Naruto firmly stated. "Is that why we go through all this training, just to end up like them?"

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets. "How am I supposed to know Dobe?"

Naruto clenched his fist. "No matter what the answer is supposed to be, I've found my own. From now on I'm walking my own ninja way. A way that's straight and true without any regrets. I'm following the way of Naruto."

"Your own Ninja way." Hinata smiled.

Tazuna's Home

Zabuza opened his eyes to find himself in a room with Kakashi and Daichi nearby. "You… You saved me. Why?"

"It was Daichi's idea." Kakashi admitted. "He's come to respect you greatly and saw your death on that bridge as an injustice. He begged me to correct it."

Zabuza looked at Daichi who nodded. "It's true. You're an amazing swordsman and Shinobi. Even if you may have lost your way, dying on that bridge would have only been an injustice. Not just to you, but Haku as well. Those that were closest to us, want us to live."

Zabuza stared at the celling shocked as Daichi's words made a realization dawn on the swordsman. "I have a second chance, so I won't waste it. Haku, I will live a life you can be proud of."

He noticed his blade leaning against a nearby wall before falling asleep. He was still drained, weak, and injured from his confrontation with Kakashi.

Forest

Sasuke had wanted badly to interrogate Kakashi Hatake on why he has a Sharingan ever since he showed it off against Zabuza the first time, but he refrained. If news of him, a Genin, questioning his Sensei got back to the village, he may very well be impeded on his road to power.

That didn't mean he wasn't enraged. He was simply masking his emotions and waiting for the best time to interrogate the guy. The Uchiha was currently, furiously, training by himself out here to work out his anger.

This was what Kakashi came upon when he went looking for his wayward student. "I had a feeling you would be out here."

Sasuke's shoulder's tensed before he relaxed. "What do you want Kakashi?"

"Considering we're alone, I want you to ask me the question that's been on your mind ever since I first revealed my Sharingan." Kakashi stated. "You may be able to keep your emotions in check around your teammates, but a Jonin is a different story. Ask me your question and I'll answer honestly. You even have my word that this won't reach anyone else's ears."

"The Sharingan." Sasuke turned on Kakashi now with free reign to let his anger out. "How do you have my clan's Bloodline!? Did you take it after Itachi, my brother, killed my whole clan!?"

"That couldn't be further from the truth." Kakashi was solemn as he looked at Sasuke. "I got my eye well before Itachi's massacre. It was during the Third Great Shinobi War. My teammates, Rin Novara and Obito Uchiha, had been tasked with destroying Kanabi Bridge in Kusa.

Our Sensei had to leave, so I was left in charge. We went further into Kusa and Rin was captured. I wanted to press on with the mission, but Obito was against it. He told me, 'Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum'.

We went our separate ways before I realized he was right. I met up with him and we attacked the ninja that captured Rin. In the process, I lost my eye to the enemy while Obito finally unlocked his Sharingan saving me from being wounded further.

We entered the cave where Rin was kept and ran into more of the enemy. Together we defeated the enemy and rescued Rin. Just as we had, reinforcements arrived outside and were bringing the cave down.

We booked it to the entrance, but I got hit by a falling rock. Obito came to help me, but a larger rock was falling. He chose to save me while half his body was crushed. He wasn't going to make it, so he gave me his eye before dying."

Sasuke could have assumed his Sensei was lying, but Kakashi seemed honest with what he told him. Still, it was a hard pill to swallow and part of the Uchiha didn't want to believe it; however, the conviction Kakashi spoke with was hard to deny.

"In the end, you're free to think of me as you will Sasuke, but I'm more like you than you ever knew. I may not have lost a whole clan, but like you, I lost everyone who meant something to me. My father, my teammates, and my Sensei. One way or another, I lost them."

Sasuke stared at Kakashi in shock.

"I've been around longer than you kid, and I've seen my fair share of troubles. In this world, you're not the only one to lose everything. What determines your path from here is weather or not you let new comrades into your life.

Sasuke hung his head as he thought about Naruto, Hinata, and Daichi who were smiling.

"Anyways, I think that's enough story time and lecturing." Kakashi stated. "You decide if anything I've said resonates with you or not."

Kakashi then body flickered away leaving Sasuke deep in thought.

Finished Bridge, Squad Seven's Departure…

The whole village came out to see the team off. Daichi had created three clones and transformed one into a gurney which held the injured Zabuza. Well, he was well enough to stay awake he just couldn't walk far yet.

The two remaining clones held that gurney up while the original held Zabuza's blade. Daichi had volunteered to take this burden because he wanted to impress the swordsman. Even though the blade was heavy, he wasn't about to complain.

"We never could have completed the bridge without you. I can't tell you how much I'll miss you." Tazuna said with a mixture of joy and sadness.

Tsunami said. "Do be careful."

Kakashi said, "Thank you for everything."

"Now, don't get all chocked up." Naruto stated. "We'll be sure to come back and visit soon."

Despite what Naruto said, Inari was all choked up. "You swear you will?"

"Of course, Inari." Naruto was also starting to get chocked up. "You know Inari, it's okay to cry if you want. There's nothing wrong with it."

"Who says I want to cry?" Inari questioned. "Anyways, if there's nothing wrong with it, why don't you cry?"

Zabuza growled in irritation. "One of you cry already so we can get going."

Kakashi chuckled. "The Leaf Village can wait a little while longer Zabuza."

Naruto looked back at the Jonin before both boys ran up to each other giving one another a hug and crying. Team 7 eventually started down the bridge.

"It was all his doing." Tazuna stated. "That boy made you stronger Inari, and you in turn made us stronger. It was thanks to that boy that we could build a bridge to a place we never knew. A place where we found our courage."

A villager asked, "Now that it's finished, what should we call the bridge?"

"I know just the name." Tazuna stated with a smile. "We'll call it, The Great Naruto Bridge."

With Team 7

The team walked on with the original Daichi trailing behind due to the massive blade. Zabuza had taken note of the fact that he wasn't complaining and thought about all he'd seen from Daichi.

This led him to a conclusion. "That boy has great potential to be a Shinobi. A better Shinobi than I have been."

Kakashi notice Zabuza give a small smile. "Looks like Zabuza has a little respect for Daichi as well."

"As soon as I get back, I'm going to let Iruka Sensei fix me up a whole mess of ramen to celebrate a mission accomplished." Naruto declared joyfully. "Just wait until Konohamaru hears about this. The kid's going to worship me."

Haku's Grave, Midnight…

A middle age man of average height approached the grave. He had short, red hair and azure blue eyes behind glasses. His attire consisted of a dark blue lab coat over a black shirt with matching pants. On the back of that lab coat he had the Uzumaki clan symbol.

The man smiled at the grave. "Haku, last of the Yuki Clan." He chuckled. "You did well in that battle, so your DNA should serve me well."

He began to dig the body up.

Leaf Village, Days Later…

Team Seven returned only to be greeted by Inochi and several others in black trench coats. "We'll be taking Zabuza in for interrogation and that blade for study."

Kakashi nodded. "Right."

Daichi gave up the blade and watched as Zabuza was transferred to a normal gurney. His clones dispelled as the Mist Jonin was take away. He really hoped they'd see he wanted to become one of them.

"You four did well, so go rest." Kakashi walked away. "I'll give the report to the Third myself."

Their Sensei left.

Naruto noticed that the Fusion member seemed down, so he patted him on the back. "Cheer up Daichi." He smiled. "I know, how about we go get a meal as a team?"

Daichi nodded. "That sounds good."

Hinata looked at the Uchiha. "Will you come as well Sasuke."

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets. "I guess I'm somewhat hungry."

The four Genin walked off to find a restaurant.