-1Chapter 16: And So It Begins

The hospital room was filled with silence. Fear eminated from all of them. Tsunade stood there in the doorway. She had an outline of what was going on, but details were far from her reach.

Haku gripped his hands together to keep them still. His heart raced, beating against his chest. 'How could I just go and trust him. I took the liquid without questions or test. How foolish of me. I was used, again a tool for killing. This fate seems to be inescapable.' Sakura watched as Haku's face showed he was deep thought.

"Naruto, do you know have any idea what he wants from us?"

Naruto shook his head. Even though the wheels in his head were turning, they were producing any result. "I'm sorry Sakura-chan, I can't think of anything. Maybe... No."

"It doesn't matter if you think it's wrong." Sakura's voice was filled with worry. She tried to keep a straight face, 'That bastard, what did he want with Haku? And why had he given him such a powerful posion? Kawada, we trusted you. If you were trying to harm us, then why be so kind?' Sakura was literally screaming in her mind. So many questions, so little answers. She did know one thing though, Kawada was really injured when he was in the hospital. 'His wounds were real, they were fresh too. That could mean he was threatened to do this job.'

Tears slowly streamed down Haku's face. His heart was heavy and a guilty feeling engulfed him. Now that he had become free of revenge, it all came down on him at once. The pointless battles, the confusion in his heart, his rage; Nakamuru, Sakura, Kakashi, and even a little bit from Naruto. Nakamuru and Sakura had shown him friendship and that he wasn't alone. Naruto and Kakashi had held back in the fights and try to explain to him.

"All because I couldn't let go. Because I couldn't listen..." Sakura and Naruto turned to him as he spoke these words.

"Haku what are you talking about?"

"It's my fault! I wouldn't listen! I let my heart fill with anger. I didn't stop myself!" Haku stood up, knocking over his chair. "Kawada, what ever he's up to, he will pay for the way he used us." Then before they could do anything, Haku shot across the room and out the window.

"Haku!" Sakura ran over to the window and leaned out. "Haku!-come back!" But it was all too late. Haku had made up his mind to hunt Kawada. "He can't do it on his own! Kawada maybe weak as we saw him, but who knows what power he has. Plus he's clever and... and..." Naruto put a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan, we'll get him back. Let's hurry!" Naruto spun around to leave the room. But he was stopped by Tsunade. She stood in the doorway.

Her arms were on her hips, taking up all the space that there was, "Naruto! You can't just go off and chase after him. You need to plan. Besides, your injuries aren't fully healed, and that posion is still left in your blood stream. It's not a lot, but it's enough to effect you."

"Tsunade-sama, can't we just extract the posion?"

"I'm sorry Sakura-san. This, Kawada, person was very intelligent when it came to posions. This posion sticks to the blood cells. Until it wears away, there's nothing even I can do. Naruto, you can wait until tomorrow morning to go after Haku." Tsunade began to turn around. Then she shot a look at Sakura.

Sakura understood and closed the window and locked it. "Your not taking any chances, are you Tsunade-sama?" She smile and nodded as she left the room.

Naruto frowned and jutted out his jaw. He walked back over to the bed and sat down. Slightly bouncing from the springs. He looked back to Sakura, who wasn't at the window anymore. Instead she had walked over to the door once Naruto sat down. Her head was out and looking back and forth, up and down the hallway.

Then she turned back to Naruto, "Promise me something."

"What?"

"Don't use chakra until tomorrow afternoon."

"Sure, I promise."

"Good," Sakura said clutching her hands under chin. "Now lets go." She tossed Naruto his orange jacket. Naruto was confused.

'What is she up to?' "Sakura-chan?"

Sakura sighed, her face bright and excited. "I agree with Tsunade-sama, except for the part about not going after Haku until tomorrow."

Naruto stood up on his bed. He hadn't expected this! "Sakura-chan!" Naruto put on his sandals and jacket. Ready to go in an instant. Sakura had never disobey Tsunade before, after all she was the Hokage. But this was different. Somehow. Oh well, she'd figure it out later when she was being scolded for it.

The two raced out into the hallway. Naruto stopped, "Should we inform Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well we should check and see how he's doing, incase he needs to come."

"Alright, I think he's this way." Naruto pointed down the hall and they started moving again. Both of their hearts pounded with excitement. Now they were taking thing into their hands.

xxxXxXxxx

"No, he had somethings to attend to. But believe me, he'll come to us." Kawada talked into the darkness. He stood in the middle of a stone platform. Two torches lit the area, but the light didn't go deep enough to reveal the host of this meeting.

From the darkness came a voice that sent shivers up the bravest person's spine. "You failed in your mission. If the boy fails to be killed, then you take his place. Understand."

"Understood."

Silence. Kawada was afraid when there was silence when in the company of him. drip, drip, Water dropped from the ceiling of the cave into puddles that had formed on the floor. Kawada gulped, 'What's he waiting for? I'm loosing my mind just waiting.' Then his voice broke through the silence like thunder across an empty plain.

"Now, tell me, who exactly did you meet on your travels?" A sigh was released from Kawada.

He straightened up and spoke, "Three shinobi. According to the information I gathered, they're all from Konoha; the Hidden Leaf Village of the Fire country. A young boy, blonde. Goes by Uzumaki Naruto. A young girl, pink hair; goes by Haruno, Sakura. And a jounin. All I know him by is Kakashi. He's our biggest threat. I think the posioned needles I gave Haku should have taken care of him though," Kawada smiled at this idea. He heard a chuckle from the darkness.

"Still as deceiving and clever as ever. Make sure they all find this cave. I want to eliminate any enemy at once! Now go, leave 'clues' to where you went." Another sinister laugh came from the darkness. Then the torches went out. The only light was the moonlight at the end of the cave. 'I hope those shinobi can do something about him. He took my life away, and now he wants to erase any evidence of Zabuza's existence. Some brother he is.'

Kawada listened as his footsteps echoed in the cave. They disappeared, as if they were canceled out by the evil. Once his last step left the cave, the entranced collapsed. This surprised Kawada. It had never happened before. Usually a bolder just fell in front of it. "Not taking any chances are we?" he said to himself with a smile. Then he set off into the forest, setting marks and traps in places that would lead them to the cave.

xxxXxXxxx

Haku flew through the trees. The moonlight his only guide. He stopped. The stars were plenty that night. They stood out and showed off. Then he noticed how they grew dim and unnoticed as they got closer to the moon. 'Like a shinobi should be. Hidden, away from the others. Waiting to shine after the shroud moves. Stars, they can only burn so long. Humans, all life, it must quit sonner or later.'

"Maybe sooner than some intend," with that said Haku started running again. Tonight he would avenge Zabuza. Not just Zabuza, but all ninja that had died while fighting someone else's wars. For those who would lose their lives. He would take back what was his. His right to choose his fights. His usefulness in life. Now he had something to live for. Something to drive him forward.

"I'll come back to you. I'll be with you soon."

xxxXxXxxx

Sakura and Naruto raced down the white hallways of the hospital. When they weren't sure where to go. Sakura skid to a stop and decided to ask a nurse. "Exuse me?"

A nurse stopped and looked at Sakura and Naruto. She smiled, "Kids today. Yes, can I help you?"

"We were looking for the room of Hatake Kakashi, if he's in the hospital."

A look of worry came over her face. Then pity filled her eyes. "Are you his students?"

"Yes," Naruto replied. 'Why would she need to know this?'

"Ok, then I guess it's alright if you see him. This way." Her shoes clicked against the floor. They went down to the end of several halls. Turned around several corners, then stopped before two wooden doors. "He's in here. If he's sleeping, please be quiet. Don't get him excited over anything as well." The nurse turned away and entered another room.

Naruto and Sakura exchanged confused glances. Sakura asked Naruto, "Exactly what happened at the river?"

He ignored her question, it sounded like sarcasim in the first place. He turned and entered the room, Sakura close behind.

Their hearts sank when they saw their sensei. He lay on a bed in a large room. Besides him on the bed, there were several machines hooked up. A heart monitor, an iv, and stuff to keep his body stable. Sakura walked over to the side of the bed. She gave Naruto a look as if to ask, 'Seriously, what happened?' Naruto stepped beside her and said mainly to himself, "I guess more happened than I knew of."

"I guess he won't be coming with us."

Kakashi's eye opened at their voices, "Not coming where?"

Sakura was surprised and jumped a little. "I'm sorry did we wake you?"

"I'm a light sleeper, a fly on the wall could wake me. Now what were you talking about?"

Naruto jumped in, "Nothing, nothing really. So what happened to you? Did another fight break out?"

"No, it's... let me see... oh yes, severe chakra depletion. You heard of the needles didn't you?"

"Yes. Wow, we didn't realize you got hit with so many." Sakura put her hands down from when she had jumped a little.

Kakashi smiled under his mask, "Good to see your back Sakura. How'd you get back?"

Naruto would regret his next words later, but know he just wanted to be in the conversation. "Haku helped her. But now he's out chasing Kawada," in a lower tone he said, "Oops." Sakura glared at him.

"Going after Kawada right?" Sakura stopped, her fist a hair away from the top of Naruto's skull. "Don't look so surprised. I wasn't sure about him from the start. That's why I stayed close to him at the river."

"But how? How did you know?" Naruto was baffled. Sakura knew that he had an explanation. So she waited as Naruto was nearly jumping with excitement.

Kakashi let out a sigh, "First it was the cup of sake, oh by the way, thank you Naruto for spilling it." Naruto smiled, even though he had no idea why he was being thanked, "I took a closer look at it while you were asleep. The pieces of cup were lined with a certain slime. Most likely posion. Then their was at the river. Right before the log hit Sakura, I felt a surge of chakra go through kawada. I believe he pulled the log faster down the river to catch Sakura off guard." Kakashi's eye grew sad looking, 'He caught me off guard as well.'

They stood in silence. Sakura could tell that her sensei felt sorry for not doing something about Kawada sooner. She smiled and turned to Naruto, "Well we better be going. Haku won't wait for us before he attacks Kawada." Naruto nodded and began to turn around. Kakashi sat up in his bed.

"You can't go. It's too dangerous. Get someone else to come with you."

The two genin looked back at the injured jounin. "We can't ask anyone else to be involved with this." Before Kakashi could object, they were out of the room and heading down the hall. Kakashi sat there. His heart racing. He slowed down before the doctors could be alarmed.

'Those idiots. They can't defeat Kawada on their own. There's something not right about him. His chakra capacity is greater than Naruto's. They'll be like practice for him!'

xxxXxXxxx

The wind blew in their faces as they raced through Konoha. The streets were empty, shops dark, and hardly any lights were on in the houses.

At that moment they weren't worried about stealth, they just needed speed. Naruto moved, but he felt not fast enough. That's when Sakura surged forward and gained a huge lead. Naruto knew his body could go faster, so he channeled chakra to his feet to get a better push when his feet left the ground. But because of the posion his feet got a larger push than he had expected. Soon he was at least twenty yards ahead of Sakura.

When he tried to slow down, legs pushed harder. Slowly he reduced the amount of chakra in his feet. Slowly Sakura began to catch up. When Naruto could finally rest he was already a good eighty yards out of Konoha. Sakura landed on a branch next to his. Her face red with anger.

"I thought you promised not to use any chakra!" Her face faded from anger to worry. Naruto felt bad, he had promised her. How stupid could he get.

"I'm-I'm sorry Sakura-chan, it slipped my mind."

"Sorry isn't good enough! You have to wait just a little longer. Naruto, if you're not careful it could be your life." Sakura felt the hot tears coming to her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She turned away from Naruto and wiped them away. Right now she had to be strong, for Haku, for Naruto. They couldn't do this on their own. They needed her help and she sure hell wasn't going to hold back and cry all her troubles away. "Let's hurry. We have to get to Haku before he gets to Kawada."

The wood made a zipping sound as her sandals slipped off the moss covered branch. Naruto followed shortly after. He caught up to her and decided no more risk. He had to play this safe. "I'm sorry," he whispered to know one in paticular.

Sakura looked at him. The trees passed by like the wind. The moon was out tonight and lit the way. "It's alright Naruto." She gave him the sweetest smile he had seen from her. That lifted his spirits and he raced ahead. Sakura and Naruto were two blurs. Never too far apart, never too close. They raced through the tangle of the forest. That's when Sakura noticed something on one of the trees.

Her feet almost went up as she tried to stop on the branch. "Naruto look!" He jumped over to her to see what it was. "One of Haku's needles."

Naruto looked closer at the tree and saw it as well. It was a wonder how Sakura had spotted it in the first place. "What do you think? Haku's close by?"

"My guess is as good as yours, let's hurry and see if there are any more." There were. Sakura was spotting on the trees all over the place. They seemed to be leading them in one direction. 'Could it be a trap?' She wasn't sure, but she wanted to find out.

Naruto could only catch those that reflected the light from the moon. After getting use to spotting them, he found them as fast as Sakura. Well, close enough. The needles created a path through the trees. On each side of them there were needles in the trees. They weren't stuck in various placed, but more like a line. A line right through the forest.

The two genins followed the needles all the way to where the tree line stopped. There they found an open field. It was beautiful at first. 'Just like the clearing,' Naruto thought. The grass had a certain glow from the moonlight getting caught in the dew. Fireflies flew across the dark green grass as it wavered in a small breeze. Sakura sighed. Indeed it was a beautiful scene, but it would only take one move to turn it into the end of a journey.

As they scanned the field, they noticed something moving in the grass. Sakura and Naruto each pulled out a kunai. They weren't in any mood to hold back on an enemy. Naruto was ready to jump and lash out as a figure rose out of the grass. But just as he jumped, Sakura moved quicker. Before Naruto could strike, Sakura had placed herself between him and the figure.

"What?" His feet slipped on the grass. Next thing he knew he was laying on the wet field looking up at Sakura and... "Haku! We found you in time!" Naruto could see the boy's face in the moonlight. It expressed sorrow, anger, pity, and happiness at seeing his friends.

Sakura smiled and helped Naruto up, both of them turned to Haku. "I'm glad we found you before you went off and did something that could cost your life."

Haku looked up at them. He had been thinking. "You shouldn't have come."

"Don't forget, your not the only one Kawada hurt! Besides your our friend, aren't we allowed to help you." Naruto said looking at Haku. He then smiled and got a smile from both Haku and Sakura. Sakura and Haku turned to each other and then to Naruto.

"Let's do thing, together." Naruto nodded, "Now all we need to do is find out where that bastard is hiding."

Haku looked over his shoulder and smiled, "I think I have an idea, follow me."

xxx

They followed Haku across the field for nearly an hour. It seemed like it would never end. Their legs were getting soaked with the fresh dew. Off way in the distant they saw a large shape rise above the field, and a pink sunset starting to begin behind it. Naruto smiled at this, 'Only a little longer until the posion wears off. When that happens...' His excitement began to build up again. He couldn't wait to beat Kawada. He wanted to show him the his true power.

As they got closer to the shape, the light was begining to help show the way a little more. Then Sakura could make a large mountian side. At the base was a cave, but the entrance seemed to be sealed off. "Is this it?"

"That it is!" Naruto's heart lept with excitement and anxiouty at the thought of the fight ahead. When the trio were forty yards away from the mountian that's when they saw him.

Kawada stood on top of the entrance, his arms crossed. Naruto could see the bandages over his face, but the rest were covered by his clothes. The three shinobi stopped. He had come to them. Now Naruto's heart filled with anger towards the man.

Kawada's eyes were dark and filled with joy. He looked down upon them from atop his perch. Letting out a laugh of amusement he spoke to them, "So you've come. I knew you would, such weak beings. You want revenge as Haku did. Well at least I can have some fun, as a morning treat."

A cylinder was strapped across his back, he pulled it off and then removed the contents. Two katana came out. Each with an elabrote design on the blade. Next came off the brown cloak he was wearing. It revealed his entire body wrapped up in bandages, he wore a pair of short black pants. In which in each pocket was another killing device and several posions. Kawada gave one more laugh as the others took out their weapons and got in an attacking stance.

"Pitiful," and then he jumped.

xxx

Naruto jumped back as a katana sliced the air in front of him. He performed a hand seal and then realized a small pain in his arm, 'Damn, just a little longer.' As he said this, Kawada shot another attack at him, while using the other katana to reflect Haku's needles. The swords were getting closer to him with each strike.

"Hmph," Naruto fell flat on his back from tripping. Kawada thought he had him when... The ground rose up beneath his feet. Sakura stood behind him, smiling with her hand in the ground. But it made no difference to him. Kawada spun into the air as the ground launched him. While he was up there Haku threw many needles at him. Kawada shifted the katana in the air and a rain of needles was shot back at them.

He landed behind Sakura, her eyes widened at the realization. Her body moved to the right as a katana cut through the top of her left shoulder. "Aaaah!" she screamed in pain and grabbed her shoulder. Kawada saw this opening and lifted the katana for the final blow.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto pulled out three kunai and shot them at Kawada. The katana were close to Sakura's back when Kawada jumped back and lifted the katanas to reflect the kunai. Naruto jumped back to his feet. He couldn't hold back much longer. His life or not, he had to help Sakura and Haku.

Haku ran as fast as he could and was in the middle of forming the ice mirrors hand seal when Kawada saw and ran up beside him. Haku was force to stop his hands and pull out needles to shoot at Kawada. The two danced in a fury of blades and needles, everytime Kawada would advance, Haku would retreat. When Haku saw an opening, so did Kawada and they ended up canceling each other out. Finally Kawada slid back in the grass, Haku did the same, needles ready in his hand. Haku was breathing heavy, while Kawada had hardly broken a sweat.

"You fight well. Maybe you should come with me."

"Who... do... you think your talking to!" Haku rushed forward. Kawada smiled and brought forth the katanas. Kawada lunged forward with the swords, just as Haku surprised him. At the last minute Haku jumped and twirled behind Kawada. There he threw the needles, hitting Kawada in the back.

Kawada yelled in pain. He dropped the katana and fell to his knees. Before he could recover, he caught a flash of orange in the corner of his eye. Two Narutos were falling towards him. One of them had a blue ball of chakra in their hand. Then it all happened.

The second Naruto disappeared as the other one, the real one, thrust his hand forward into Kawada's back. Dirt, bandages, blood, everything flew up into the air as Naruto used rasengan on Kawada. When the air cleared, Haku ran over to Naruto and looked down on where Kawada lay. He was still breathing but barely. All the bandages came to reveal a man with bad burns on most of his body. The skin was still peeling away and in other places, muscle shown.

"I wish you would have killed me."

Naruto looked down as he spoke in the same voice that he had heard at the hospital. "Why?" Haku asked the beaten man. Kawada opened his mouth to answer when a laugh came from all directions. It wasn't a number of laughs, just one. One that sent chills up Naruto's spine.

"You failed me, Kawada."

They saw Kawada begin to shake in fear, "I'm sorry. I'll take their place. Let them live, their good people." His sudden change of attitude confused both of them. Then the evil voice spoke. Only this time more calm and even more sinister.

"I will kill you. But you did what I asked, you brought them here so I can kill them. Now that I have them there is no need for you," with those words Kawada's eyes grew wide. Naruto and Haku looked on as they notice that Kawada was struggling to breath. Then they saw a wire leading from Kawada's neck, and a trickle of blood. Then in a moment of horror, Kawada's neck was cut through and the wire fell to the ground, stuck on his spinal cord. "Your next," the voice spoke to them. Now, Haku and Naruto felt true fear.

xxxXxXxxx

Tsunade went into a dark room filled with monitors and three shinobi. They looked at her as she entered. As they did, the screens glitched. "How's he doing?"

"So far so good. He's beeen sleeping for quite some time now." Tsunade looked confused and then took a closer look at the monitors. Her eyes grew wide and she ran out of the room. Two of the operatives followed her into Kakashi's room.

Tsunade ran over to the bed. When she put a hand on the sleeping Kakashi, he disappeared into a puff of chakra. "Shit!" Tsunade hissed through her teeth.

XxXxxxXxXxxxXxX

Okay, next chapter is the last one in the story. Look for it on Saturday, August 26, 2006.

Read on...