Naruto ran through the forests as birds chirped loudly overhead, his feet splashing in puddles from the light rain that had fallen the previous night.

"Damn it!" He leapt up to a high branch above, running and leaping between the trees for a shorter route. "I'm totally late!"

"Well, well... It seems my prediction was right on the money." Kakashi said casually as he kept a careful eye on the assassin.

"Prediction?" Zabuza narrowed his eyes and maintained eye contact with the Jonin.

"That little mask..."

Sakura's eyes widened and she stared at their opponents. "H-Huh?!"

"I knew it! Hmph." Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Haku, who met his gaze.

"So, the Elite Shinobi of the Hidden Mist thing was a bold-faced lie." Tazuna scowled at the masked boy.

"No matter how you look at him, he's obviously a comrade of Zabuza's." Kakashi shrugged slightly. "Standing beside him and all..."

Sakura put a hand on her hip and frowned slightly as she furrowed her brows. "How dare he show up like that after what he did!"

"I hate brats who think they're so cool." Kakashi added.

"He's better than you, Kakashi-sensei." Sakura glanced at her teacher.

"O-Oh... really?" Kakashi chuckled sheepishly and looked at her from the corner of his eye.

"I'll do it." Sasuke spoke up and scowled. "With his bad acting... I hate brats who think they're so cool."

"Sasuke, you're so cool!" Sakura blushed faintly and held her hands close to her face as she stared at him.

Kakashi let out a sigh and pocketed his hands. "That Sakura doesn't take stabs at Sasuke..."

"He's an impressive youth." Haku turned his head slightly to Zabuza. "Even though those Water Clones have only one-tenth the strength of their original... to think he took care of them so easily."

"Hmph." Zabuza smirked. "However, you made the preemptive move... Go!"

"Right." Haku nodded shortly and rushed forward, spinning as a small tornado formed around him.

"What?!"Sasuke gripped his Kunai tightly and prepared for the attack with a smirk.

Gato's assassins smirked and sliced a large opening into the side of the home

Tsunami turned toward the intruders and her eyes went wide.

"Aren't you Tazuna's daughter?" The smaller man said and gripped the hilt of his sword. "Sorry, but you're coming with us."

Upstairs, Inari heard clattering and his mother scream. Tsunami held her arms over her head as she trembled on the floor, as far from the two assassins as she was able to make it.

"Mom!" Inari rushed downstairs and stood in the doorway of the kitchen, freezing as he saw the two men.

"Don't come closer!" Tsunami looked at her son, waving her hand. "Get out of here, now!"

The tattooed man glanced over his shoulder at the boy with a chuckle. "What's with you, little brat?" He looked back at his partner. "Should we take him, too?"

"One hostage is fine."

Inari trembled and shrunk back, unable to look away. "Hostage?!"

The tattooed assassin turned back to the boy with a dark chuckle, beginning to draw his sword once again. "Then... shall I kill him?"

"Wait!" Tsunami narrowed her eyes, her lip quivering. "If you lay a hand on that child... I'll bite off my tongue and kill myself!" Her expression darkened. "You need a hostage, right?"

"Heh." The man chuckled and sheathed his blade and returned his arms to his side.

"Thank your mom, kid." The smaller man turned to the boy, who was crying silently.

Inari slowly sunk down the wall, crying harder and without a sound as tears poured from his eyes and fell on his hands.

"Oh, man... it's not enough..." The bigger man muttered under his breath.

"Knock it off. You just got to use your sword earlier. Forget it already and let's take the woman." The second man reached down to grab Tsunami's wrist and pull her to a stand roughly, then tied her hands together behind her back.

"Mom, I'm sorry..." Inari muttered under his breath, crying harder and wiping his face with the back of his hands. "I'm so sorry..."

He listened to the sound of their footsteps as they led the woman away and drew his legs in close.

"I'm weak, so I can't protect you..."

Inari hung his head and cried harder. "I don't want to die... I'm scared!"

"You crybaby!" Inari's eyes widened as he heard Naruto's words in his head. "So, you're just gonna cry all day like the lead in a tragedy? An idiot like you can just cry forever! You crybaby!"

"He's probably tired of crying. So, he knows the true meaning of the word strong." Inari sniffed as Kakashi's voice came to him. "Like your father."

Inari lowered his hands from his face and stared at them, quiet as his father came to mind.

"For the things I truly hold dear to myself... I protect them until the end with both of these arms."

Inari wiped wiped face with his forearm and swallowed the lump in his throat. "Can I... can I also become strong?"

He sniffed a final time and stood, clenching his fists with his eyes now dry. "Dad!"

Tsunami walked with her head hung as the men led her away from the house and the tattooed man smirked as he touched his chin and looked the woman over.

"Looking at that beautiful skin of yours makes me want to cut you."

Tsunami shot him a glare and the other man tugged on her rope. "Hey, walk faster."

"Wait!" Inari screamed and stood on the pier with his fists clenched as he stared at the assassins.

"Inari!" Tsunami's eyes widened and she turned to see her son.

"What's this?" The tattooed man chuckled. "It's that kid from before."

"Get... Get away from my mom!" Inari glared and ran toward the men, screaming out a war cry.

"Man, this kid is hopeless." The man furrowed his brows and his mouth twitched.

"Let's do it." The shorter man sighed and began to draw his sword, his partner doing the same.

"No!" Tsunami pleaded. "If you do that, I'll—"

The first assassin smirked and struck the back of her neck, and her eyes fluttered shut as she collapsed to the ground.

"Shut up. Go to sleep."

The men smirked as Inari continued to run at them, screaming louder. Then, they fully drew their swords and sliced.

Sasuke blocked Haku's Senbon with his Kunai, both maintaining resistance as their blades clashed.

"Well, well... He can even see that speed, eh...?" Zabuza muttered, impressed.

"Yes." Kakashi agreed, keeping his eye on the rogue Ninja, then addressed his student. "Sakura, surround Tazuna and don't move away from me. Let Sasuke handle that guy."

Sakura nodded and obeyed, immediately jumping in front of Tazuna with her Kunai prepared. "Okay!"

Sasuke and Haku spun, aiming their Kunai for a strike, only for the blades to clash between them.

"I don't want to have to kill you..." Haku said flatly. "I'd prefer if you backed down."

Sasuke grinned faintly and narrowed his eyes. "Nonsense..."

"...I knew that would be your answer. But you won't be able to keep up with my speed." Haku continued. "Also, I've already made two preemptive moves."

"Two preemptive moves?" Sasuke muttered.

"The first is the scattered water." Haku explained, glancing around hem at the surface of the bridge. "The second was blocking one of your hands... Therefore, you'll just be able to defend my attack..."

Haku held up his left hand in front of him with two index extended upward, as Sasuke's eyes widened in surprised.

"What?! With one hand, he's...?!"

Haku completed a series of hand signs, with his free hand and Kakashi's eyes widened as he looked at the boy.

"A one-handed hand sign? I've never seen such a thing before."

Haku finished his last sign and kept his gaze steady on the Uchiha. "Thousand Needles of Death!" Stomping a foot down in the puddle beneath his feet, water lifted from the bridge's surface around them.

"So, he doesn't want to kill him, eh?" Zabuza chuckled to himself. "I wonder if that's how he really feels..."

"Sasuke!" Sakura narrowed her eyes, remaining in place as she guarded Tazuna anxiously.

The water in the air reformed into Senbon and Kakashi's eyes grew wider at the technique.

Sasuke held up one hand and closed h is eyes, managing to hold back Haku's Senbon from drawing nearer, and he exhaled slowly. "Remember that training... build up Chakra at one burst..." He opened his eyes, as Haku's water Senbon rained down on him.

Inari's hat flew from his head as the assassin's sliced through the boy, and then he vanished, leaving behind only a small, sliced log in his place.

One man blinked and looked at the log. "The Substitution Jutsu?"

"The woman?" The larger man looked around, grunting in confusion. "Hm?"

"Sorry I was late." Naruto apologized to Inari as he lay Tsunami down carefully on the pier, a safe distance from the assassins, and held the boy over his shoulder. "Heroes do usually appear late on the scene, so..."

Inari's eyes opened and he smiled at Naruto. "Naruto-niichan!"

Naruto grinned and set Inari down, meeting his eyes. "Inari, you did well!"

Naruto nodded. "Thanks to you distracting them, I was able to save your mom." He glanced down at the woman, who still remained unconscious.

Inari's eyes watered as he looked at his mother, then looked up at Naruto.

"Naruto-niichan... how did you know that those samurai were here?"

"Oh, well." Naruto scratched his cheek. "When I was in the forest, there was a boar that had been cut up with a sword. Other than that, there were trees with lots of cuts. They all headed in the direction of your house, so I got worried."

"I see." Inari stared up at him.

"Well, well..." The taller man scowled and eyed Naruto. "If it isn't that no-good Ninja that Tazuna hired..."

"Let's do it." The second gripped his sword as he smirked.

"Yeah!"

"Here they come!" Inari's eyes widened as the men began to run at them.

Naruto retrieved a pair of Shuriken from his pouch and threw them at the samurai, who easily knocked them away with their swords.

"Ha! Something like that won't work!"

Naruto stood and faced the men with a smile. "Fools."

"Prepare yourself!"

The Shuriken transformed and revealed Shadow Clones that each landed a hard kick to the men's faces. Their noses bled from the impact and they both fell onto the pier in shock. The Clones vanished in puffs of smoke and Inari gaped at Naruto.

"W-Wow!"

Naruto chuckled and held out his fist towards the boy. "It's done!"

"Naruto-niichan, you really are a Ninja!" Inari laughed loudly in relief.

"You fool!" Naruto laughed. "I was a Ninja to start with!"

They started to laugh louder as they met each other's eyes, until their eyes watered and their stomachs hurt.

The liquid Senbon needles rained down on Sasuke as his eyes burst open from his focus.

"Build up Chakra... to the feet!"

Haku leapt away as his weapons impacted and he blinked as the large splash of water from the attack cleared. "He vanished..."

His eyes wandered above, where Sasuke had jumped, then dodged a series of Shuriken the Uchiha threw at him. He landed, steady on his feet, and Sasuke appeared behind him with a smirk.

"You're surprisingly stupid." Sasuke's gaze narrowed at the back of the boy's head. "From here on... you'll only defend my attack!"

Sasuke held up a Kunai and Haku spun away from him, nearly fast enough to escapes his sight, and then Sasuke lunged at Haku with his Kunai knife, as Haku blocked his strike firmly with his forearm. Sasuke flicked his wrist, throwing the Kunai, and Haku easily dodged and squatted out of the way. Once low to the ground, Sasuke brought his left foot up for a sudden kick, knocking the boy back.

Haku flew backward toward where Zabuza stood patiently, skidding through the puddles until he came to a stop.

Zabuza glanced down at Haku and furrowed his brow. "To think that Haku would lose in speed..." He looked up at the Uchiha boy and carefully looked him over.

"It seems that I'm faster than you." Sasuke tilted his chin up as he looked over at Haku where he lay.

"I can't have you mocking our team, calling them brats..." Kakashi spoke up, looking at Sasuke briefly out of the corner of his eye. "He may not look it, but Sasuke is the number one rookie of Konoha. And Sakura is our sharpest."

Sakura's cheeks warmed at the praise and she giggled to herself. "Cha! Serves you right!"

"And the other one," Kakashi continued. "is the number one hyperactive, knucklehead Ninja Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto suddenly sneezed, and he rubbed his nose with his index finger grumpily.

"Do you have a cold?" Inari looked up at him, and he shook his head.

"I'm okay." Naruto looked out to the sea, with the bright blue sky above filled with fluffy clouds. The two samurai started to wake, wide-eyed as they realized they had tape over their mouths and were bound together by thick rope.

"Anyway... Sorry about yesterday, Inari." Naruto smiled at him and scratched his head. "Calling you a crybaby... forget I ever said that." He reached out and rubbed Inari's head. "You're strong!"

Inari sniffed and his eyes welled with tears, and Naruto blinked and drew his hand back. "Huh?"

Tears flowed slowly down Inari's cheeks as he gritted his teeth. "Dang it!" He wiped his face irritably. "I decided never to cry again, b-but..."

Naruto smiled faintly and turned his attention back to the sparkling of the sea. "What're you saying?"

Inari lowered his hands and looked up at him, sniffing again.

"Crying is okay... when you're happy." He turned back to the boy and broke into a large grin, crossing his arms behind his head as he chuckled. "You hear me? It's okay to cry when you're happy!"

"Naruto-niichan..." Inari smiled at him in admiration, crying harder as the emotion overwhelmed him.

Naruto chuckled again and lowered his arms and turned away, resting his hands on his hips.

"Now then... I can leave the rest to you, right?"

"Yeah!" Inari wiped his face again, nodding confidently.

"Aright! I'm gong to hop over to the bridge for a bit." He ran off, smiling as he left Inari behind on the pier. "Man, it's tough being a hero sometimes, that's for sure!"

Haku sat up slowly as Zabuza chuckled under his breath. "Haku, do you know what this means? At this rate, you'll be defeated by your intended victim..."

"Yeah..." Haku brought himself to a stand and Chakra started to emanate from his body.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and gripped his Kunai as he watched. "What's this...?"

"It's unfortunate..." Haku let out a quiet sigh.

"The air... it's getting cold." Sasuke scowled and Haku formed a strange hand sign, with this indexes and middle fingers crossing as he brought his hands together.

"Hidden Jutsu!" Haku muttered under his breath. "Crystal Ice Mirrors!"

A wall of ice formed behind Sasuke, creating a smooth, polished surface. Ice formed all around him, creating a dome of crystallized mirrors. Sasuke's mouth hung open as he watched the ice surround him, then he scowled once more and eyed them carefully.

Haku lowered his arms to rest at his sides and the mirrored surfaced glowed brightly.

Kakashi furrowed his brows. "What is that? What's that Jutsu?"

Haku stepped toward the mirror nearest him, leaning forward until his body became one with it as their eyes widened. Haku's image displayed on each of the mirrors, looking down at Sasuke in silence.

"Are these... mirrors?!" Sasuke gritted his teeth and watched as Haku appeared all around him. "What... in the world?!"

"Damn it!" Kakashi rushed at the mirrors and was blocked immediately by Zabuza, who smirked.

"I'm your opponent... aren't I?" Zabuza chuckled. "Since that Jutsu has been cast... he's done for."

"Now then..." Haku's voice echoed from every side. "I'll start. I'll shall show you my true speed."

Each of Haku's images held Senbon between their fingers and began to throw them down at his opponent, slicing at Sasuke's clothes and breaking the skin beneath.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi called out to his student, anger burning in his chest.

Sasuke held up his arms in an attempt to protect himself, but was volleyed from every angle as he cleaned his jaw and screamed in pain. HisKunai was knocked out of his hand, flying out of the dome to land on the groundin front of Sakura.

"Sasuke!" Sakura's eyes were wide at his cries, but remained fixed in place as Tazuna's guard.

"If you make a move..." Zabuza threatened. "I'll kill those two!"

"I'm sorry, Tazuna." Sakura bit her lip and clenched her fists. "I'm stepping away from here for a bit."

"Sure. Go." Tazuna nodded shortly.

Sakura reached down and picked up Sasuke's Kunai, and ran forward.

"Sakura!" Kakashi watched as she ran past him.

"Sasuke!" Sakura stopped running and jumped into the air, throwing the Kunai as hard as she could past the mirrors. "Take this!"

Sakura cracked open an eye and saw Sakura throw his Kunai, just as Haku reached a hand out of the nearest mirror and grabbed it out of the air. He held it up to look at it, then looked back at his rival.

"Tch!" Sasuke glared at the masked boy as he bled, his body trembling until he fell forward and collapsed.

Haku adjusted his grip on the knife and Sakura landed lightly on the bridge, her eyes wide as her face paled.

"H-He caught it?!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth and tried to lift himself from the ground, unable to move.

Suddenly, a Shuriken flew and struck Haku, grazing him enough to knock him out of the mirror as he leaned partially out. He fell to the ground and Sakura blinked slowly. "What?!"

Haku sat up and looked around for his attacker.

A small burst of smoke appeared on the bridge and Sakura turned her attention to it. "Who is it?!"

"That idiot..." Sasuke turned his head slightly, wincing in pain as he saw the smoke beginning to clear. "what a showoff..."

Haku stood and his eyes rested on the latecomer. "The number one hyperactive, knucklehead Ninja..."

"Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto completed the title with a smirk as the last of the smoke cleared. "Is finally here!"