Ahhh, at last I return.
After much time away from my computer and one grounding, I have at last come bringing tidings of new stories. All is good in the world as far as I'm concerned. Nothing has really happened while I was away either. Pity really...but you people don't care about that! You want action, plot holes, and stupid jokes.
Disclaimer- didn't own it then, don't own it now, won't own it yesterday. Stop asking.
Reiko walked back to Tazuna's house on the night of the seventh day they had been training. He had been gone for three days straight, with nobody actually looking for him. Memories of the incident with Inari came flooding back to him.
"Where have you been? We've all been worried sick about you!" Sakura berated as soon as he got in.
"I've been training." Reiko said with a shrug "I got the tree climbing thing down about four days ago, but decided to keep on training anyway. Every little bit helps you know."
"Well come and sit down. I'm sure you didn't have a decent meal while you were out there." Tsunami said in that lovingly annoyed way that only mothers can "I'm also very sure you haven't had a decent bath by the smell of you."
"Actually, I ate a few squirrels and rabbits and bathed in a nearby pond." Reiko said as he sat down with a smile "I try to take care of myself as best I can you know."
That night everybody had a nice dinner together, laughing and enjoying each other's company. After dinner was over however, all three boys retired to their beds, completely wiped out from the intense training they were undergoing.
The next morning everybody, with the exception of Naruto, headed for the bridge. Reiko was being much more calm than he normally was, which nobody commented on, for fear that it might go away.
What they found at the bridge was completely different than what they expected however. Like slaughtered lambs, the crew that had been working on the bridge lay before them in pieces. Before they could do anything though, the mist began to roll in. The demon Zabuza was among them.
"Kakashi sensei!" Sakura exclaimed, her very bones shaking "Is this Zabuza's Kirigakure technique?"
"It's been a while Kakashi." Zabuza's voice said, permeating through the mist "I see you've brought those brats along with you, just like last time. The boy is shaking again, poor thing…"
At that exact moment, they were surrounded by bunshins of Zabuza, each poised to attack on any signal.
Deciding to show off, Sasuke quickly eliminated them all, barely breaking a sweat as the water fell to the ground.
"It seems these brats have matured into worthy rivals, eh Haku?" Zabuza said to the masked figure from before who was standing at his side.
"Indeed." Said the masked figure.
Almost instantly, Reiko froze. Everything around him was chaotic, like normal, except for the masked boy. His thoughts suddenly flashed back to the girl in the woods. That's right, he refused to accept the being as anything but a female. Call it intuition, call it ignorance. The fact was, nothing so beautiful could possibly be male.
"I'm taking this one." Sasuke said as he suddenly stepped forward to face his new opponent, excited at the chance to show his strength.
Sasuke ran to face Haku while Zabuza stepped in front of Kakashi, blocking him off from Sasuke. Reiko walked up and stood at Kakashi's side while Sakura guarded Tazuna.
"Reiko, get back and help Sakura protect Tazuna." Kakashi said coolly to Reiko "Zabuza is way to powerful for you. You'll only get in the way."
"I'm not missing a chance to face my mentor in a battle, even if I am a liability." Reiko said evenly "Besides, with a single touch of my hand, I can put him in a genjutsu. All I would need is your help for the opening."
"Mentor?" Zabuza asked confusedly "Kid, I think you've got some serious problems concerning myself and my sword. If you try to take me on, I'll kill you."
"I'm not scared of death, blades, or men with no eyebrows." Reiko said with a smirk as he calmly lifted his hands into a single seal.
"Kakashi, it seems this one brat is the most amusing in your little squad." Zabuza laughed, "I was also told of your admiration of my sword brat. What do you think of it cleaving your head off?"
"I'd think it wasn't the first time my head's been plucked off." Reiko said with a smirk "But you are right, your sword and your fighting style have completely captivated me."
"Ha!" Zabuza snorted, "Kid, I think you'd make a worthy apprentice. How about I rid you of this pathetic team of yours and take you with me?"
"Sorry sensei." Reiko replied, "I'm on a mission. No matter what, the mission is what's important. If we'd met on different circumstances, it would be another matter completely."
At that exact moment, Sasuke suddenly became entrapped in what looked like a cage of ice panels and was taking the beating of his life. All one could truly see were the needles flying at the figure of Sasuke in the center, but you knew that it had to hurt.
"Remember, any sudden moves and the other two behind you die." Zabuza said to them evilly.
"Kakashi, help me get over there and I'll get Sasuke out." Reiko said firmly "Just get a plan and I'll follow along."
"This could be a little bit of trouble right here." Kakashi said as the mist started to roll in, making everything around him obscured.
Kakashi suddenly took Reiko by the hand and swung him around before throwing him through the air towards the ice prison. On his way, Reiko put up a genjutsu around himself as he fell right through the ice panels to grab Sasuke.
Reiko had the Uchiha over his shoulder and was about to leave when a senbon shot through his hand, causing him to drop Sasuke to the ground. He didn't even turn around to face Haku. He simply pulled the senbon out of his hand and stretched it a little bit.
"It was very foolish of you to come in here boy." Haku said rather tauntingly "I don't want to have to kill you, but if you leave me no choice, I'll think nothing more of it."
"Is that so Haku?" Reiko asked, turning around to face Haku as he spoke "So I guess your precious person is Zabuza."
"That is correct. Zabuza san pulled me out of the gutter and taught me everything I know." Haku said evenly, his once angelic voice now cold "I see you've taken a liking to him as well. That's just too bad, you being the enemy and all."
"Haku…I'm glad I learned your name before I have to defeat you." Reiko said with a sad smile as Haku disappeared into the mirrors.
"Yo!" Said Naruto's voice suddenly from Reiko's side. "All right! It's time for Uzumaki Naruto to save the day!"
It was then that a barrage of senbon needles rained down upon them from all sides, deliberately sticking in non-vital areas of their bodies. There was no way to dodge or run, only wait and get hit.
"Damn, what the hell is this guy doing." Naruto asked as he stood up shakily after that barrage.
"Our opponent uses these mirrors to teleport between them and throw senbon at us from all directions at once." Reiko explained.
"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU" Naruto yelled, creating several clones that attacked the mirrors "If he's using the mirrors, we'll just smash 'em to bits!"
Then the senbon came again. Naruto found himself cringing in preparation for pain that never came. Upon slowly opening his eyes, he found Reiko standing over him, having taken all the senbon for him.
"Go…get em'…Naruto…" Reiko said as blood trailed out of his mouth and he fell to the ground with a thud.
"Oh what a pity." Haku said, appearing before Naruto, who was sitting over Reiko's lifeless body with tears in his eyes. "He was a much better shinobi than you or the others you know. It's really a shame that he had to die."
Before Haku knew what was happening, an evil chakra was resonating from Naruto's body. Reiko slowly half opened his eyes to witness a demonic Naruto beat the ever-loving snot out of Haku. He couldn't help but feel bad about letting the only person who outshone the demons that plagued him die. With new fortitude, he got up. His back was a pincushion, but that didn't stop him. He had already decided what he was going to do.
Kakashi stood in front of Zabuza with his Raikiri fired up and ready to plunge through a heart. Copycat Kakashi ran towards Zabuza with all his speed, ready for the final blow. What he didn't see was Haku come through an ice mirror to his side. He WAS able to see Reiko coming in from his other side, directly towards his attack. In a last minute effort, he curved his Raikiri off, letting it gash Haku deeply in the chest before burying over half of his arm into the ground.
Zabuza took the opportunity to slash Kakashi in half and took it, only failing because Kakashi was much too quick. The copy ninja merely jumped backwards through the air. As he landed, Zabuza was right on top of him with his blade flying. With all the quickness he could muster, Kakashi dodged and stabbed Zabuza's arms through with kunai.
"There go your arms Zabuza." Kakashi said to the demon of the mist "No more swords, no jutsus, and no katas, and Haku is most likely dead. You have lost."
"Well he's certainly made a fine mess out of you." A new voice said from the other side of the bridge "What a pity."
Upon turning, all of them found a short man with a walking stick standing in front of an army of thugs and samurai. He seemed far too smug to be just a passerby.
"Gato…What are you doing here?" Zabuza asked angrily "Why did you bring all of them."
"You're going to die demon, here and now." Gato sneered gleefully "I'm sure you've guessed that I've had this in mind the whole time. I never intended to pay you. Shinobi from villages are very expensive, and they tend to have friends who object to me killing them. It's so much simpler to hire you Nukenin. Nobody cares what I do to your kind once the job is done."
"Forgive me Kakashi…" Zabuza said, standing to his full height with his arms dangling uselessly to his sides, "It seems our fight is over now."
"Now, where's that little brat that broke my hand? I have a score to settle" Gato said, looking around for Haku.
"HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH THINGS YOU CREEP!" Naruto yelled as he tried to run at him, only to be stopped by Kakashi.
"Cool down Naruto, there are a lot of them and a few of us." Kakashi said, trying his best to stop the enraged blonde.
"Why don't you do something!" Naruto yelled at Zabuza, who stood defeated not twenty feet away. "He was practically your slave!"
"What do you want me to do?" Zabuza asked coldly without turning around "Haku is dead."
"But you should care! That fat scumbag is desecrating his good name!" Naruto continued to yell. "He was your comrade…your partner…He worked for you for years!"
"Gato's been using me, and I used Haku." Zabuza explained, impassionate to Naruto's words. "I didn't value Haku for himself, but for the taint his blood carried and what his talents could do for me. I apologize for nothing."
"Are you serious?" Naruto asked dazedly "Do you honestly believe that he was nothing?"
"Stop it Naruto! Leave him alone. Our quarrel is over." Kakashi said to him, trying his best to calm him down.
"SHUTUP!" Naruto yelled, pointing at Zabuza, who didn't move at all "HE'S STILL MY ENEMY!"
Everybody's ears were glued to Naruto. Some were uncaring, others were moved. But no conscious soul there didn't listen to what he had to say at the least.
"Haku loved you!" Naruto continued, "He was devoted to you! But you think that's just nothing, that he was nothing! You don't feel a thing! Are you really that heartless? Is that how you get when your powers are as strong as you are? He gave his life for you! He died without his dreams ever coming true…that's too much, too cruel…"
"Kid…" Zabuza said suddenly, turning around to show tears streaming down his dirty face "Not…another word…"
It seemed like everything stopped at that point, where the demon Zabuza shed tears for a person. It was probably the most rare and beautiful thing they had ever seen. Like a man who doesn't realize what he has until it's gone, Zabuza wept for Haku.
"What Haku did was not just for me." Zabuza went on "While we fought, he broke his heart over you and your friends. That's the truth. He was too kind, too gentle. I'm glad my last battle was against you."
Naruto smiled weakly at Zabuza's speech. Under the surface, Zabuza was no different from any of them. He tried his best to hide it in order to be a shinobi, but every man has a breaking point.
"Say what we will, do what we will, in the end we shinobi are still just people after all…with feelings all to human…and I've lost everything…" Zabuza said, undoing the bandages around his face with his teeth "Now, would you lend me your kunai?"
Naruto realized what was going to happen before it actually did happen. Some part of couldn't deny Zabuza his death though, and he begrudgingly threw Zabuza the kunai, watching it all the way. What nobody saw until the last minute was the kunai fall into a hand, intercepting it perfectly.
"No." Reiko said, clutching the kunai in his hand. Many of the senbon were still protruding from his back "I respect the demon Zabuza too much to allow his death to happen right in front of me."
"It's you again…" Zabuza said, "It's over boy. Haku is dead and I have nothing left. Let me die the way I want to."
"Now you see…I wish for the life of Haku as well…" Reiko said with a smirk as he stared in to the sky for a second "And so, I tell you that Haku is very much alive."
Zabuza's eyes widened. Nobody could tell exactly what he was feeling. Was it happiness? Was it surprise? In the end, it probably didn't matter anyway.
"Go to Haku, Zabuza sensei." Reiko said calmly, fixing his hateful gaze upon the army of men in front of him "I shall drive off these fools on my own."
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kakashi asked, incredulous. It was very possible that Reiko had gone insane and was preparing to kill himself "There's no way you could take them all out by yourself!"
"With my own pain…" Reiko said as he pulled out the mask his parents had given him. He stared at it for a long time, a look of fear dominating his features. "…I will gain power, and raze all of these infidels."
Suddenly, Reiko jerked his head into the mask as if he expected it to hurt him. For a second nothing happened. In another second his veins turned black all over his torso and neck. It took less than a second for his body to start convulsing, and almost immediately after that, his screams of pain began echoing across the bridge. He clawed at his own flesh, tried to get the mask off, tried to end his tormenting pain.
Nobody knew what to do. They wanted to help, but knew that nothing they could do would be any kind of aid. Reiko was at the mercy of his own mind at the moment. Only he could overcome it.
Reiko suddenly wrapped his arms around his body, hugging himself tightly. From a distance he looked like a strange colored cocoon with a mask on. Then his body began to emit blue flames, covering his skin, but not burning him. That was when the explosion took place. Everyone was enveloped in Reiko's chakra without any warning, giving some burns, and others the chills.
"He's….a demon…" Zabuza said in awe as he watched what was right in front of him.
Reiko ran forward wildly at the thugs, baring only his fists and feet at them. The first line tried to stop his advance with their blades, but he merely jumped over them and ripped off two of the assailant's heads with his open hands. He fought his way through the rest of the crowd, ripping out a heart here, tearing off a limb there. It all went by so fast, Gato didn't even know he was being thrown into the ground until after he had already hit.
"MAY THE DEMONS OF HELL DRINK DEEPLY OF YOUR BLOOD!" Reiko screamed at him with one fist raised. His voice was cracking and unsteady, proving to any doubters that he wasn't in the right frame of mind. With one clean punch, he smashed Gato's head in. With about a hundred more, he reduced the former business tycoon into a bloody smear.
At that point the thugs tried to turn tail and run. You couldn't hardly blame them, after seeing a man's body be crushed in a boy's bare hands. None of them made it though. They were all torn to pieces before they could get the chance to defend themselves. Once there was nothing left to fight Reiko clawed away at his face until the mask came off.
"Oh my god…" Naruto gasped, seeing Reiko now " Kakashi sensei…what's happening to him? Why is he doing that?"
"It's his bloodline Naruto…" Kakashi said grimly "His pain and fear have caused him to lose control of himself and release a very dangerous power…He can turn what he sees into a reality…"
Reiko stood slumped over in front of them, covered in blood. His eyes were bleeding tears, and his body language told them that he was in pain. Naruto stepped forward to help him, but a large senbon suddenly stuck into the ground in front of him.
"Stay back!" Reiko yelled at him "All of you stay back! I don't believe in you! You can't hurt me!"
"Reiko-" Naruto began, but was cut off when a senbon lodged itself painfully into his shoulder.
"KEEP QUIET!" Reiko screamed at him "If any of you so much as move, I will plant these senbon into your skulls! I swear to god!"
"Reiko san…that's enough." Said a voice from behind everyone. Reiko's eyes grew even wider, but he didn't attack at the sound of the voice.
Haku slowly walked towards Reiko, holding a hand over the gash gained from Kakashi's Raikiri. Reiko didn't attack, or yell. He didn't let down his guard either though, and everybody was in suspense.
"Are you one of them?" Reiko asked nervously, motioning towards the others around them. "You don't look like one of them. How can I trust you?"
"You just have to Reiko san." Haku said with a smile as he suddenly collapsed into Reiko, who caught his friend easily before laying the body down on the ground gently.
"Thank you Haku…" Reiko said, almost inaudibly as he suddenly blacked out and fell to the ground with a thud. The hell in which he lived in, was now someplace far away, allowing him to sleep in the peace he had never known before.
Shang: Allright Shang friend. To be honest, I know what you're saying, and I do put a whole lot of thought into the things I alter within the story. But lets face it, if I left the story the same, it would be the same story, and there would be no point in reading it. All I can tell you to do is trust me.
Xeno: I knew you were crazier than you let on...thank you...
Blu Rose: Hooray for updates! I did it!
TwilightSoulTaker: Violence is the only thing bonding me with my sanity...or maybe that's Hellsing...at any rate, trangle on!
icydragon14: ahh...fresh reviewer meat. Your request is done. Simple as that.