Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto and I am making no profit from this story, it is only for entertainment.
Chapter Summary: In which the old Team Seven makes some friends and the new Team Seven fight for their lives
Is it just me or are these chapters getting longer? I don't mean to but I'm typing and then look at the work count and oops it's a thousand words longer than the last one.
I have no self-control.
Enjoy!
*All jutsu translations are at the end
Chapter 28: This Adventure Is Not Going the Way We Imagined
Rio hopped out of the wooden boat, watching the tree line carefully as Sakura and Tazuna exited the boat behind him. It was hard to see much through the thick white fog that extended from the water. He took a deep breath, the cold, damp air filling his lungs. He'd never been on a boat before and the sensation had been strange; the grass beneath his feet still felt like it was moving.
The boat trip had given them the opportunity to see what was already built of Tazuna's bridge. It was a lot bigger than he'd been expecting; it might take forever to finish.
"Rio, you take point," Kakashi ordered. "Tell me if you can smell or hear anything unusual. Sasuke and Sakura, you keep close to Tazuna. If anything happens, grab him and get a safe distance. I'll follow up the rear."
Rio nodded as Sasuke let out a 'hn' and Sakura chirped 'yes, sensei'. He began to walk and entered the forest, pushing some chakra to his ears. It was a trick that Tsume-baachan had taught him a while ago. His senses were already more sensitive than the average shinobi; Kazu-nee always said that he had spent too much time around the Inuzuka when he was younger. He did share more traits with them than a non-Inuzuka should.
The early morning was quiet and even as they walked further and further away from the shoreline, the air remained brisk and damp. He could hear the leaves rustling above them in the gentle breeze and the ground was finally starting to feel steady. The scent of this forest was different to the ones back in Konoha; he didn't expect that. He didn't think trees and bushes would be different in another country but he supposed it should've been obvious that they would be.
His ear twitched and his head snapped to the right, his eyes trained on a bush. He took a deep sniff of the air. There was something there.
"Rio?"
He watched the white rabbit bounce into view, his hackles lowering. Its little nose twitched and Rio met its dark eyes, something unsettling itching at the back of his brain. Why was there a white rabbit here? It stood out from the motley surroundings which he was pretty sure wasn't a great survival mechanism.
He caught a new scent on the next gust of wind and alarm shot through him, his heart beginning to beat like a hummingbird as all senses went on high alert.
"Kashi-sensei!"
"Everyone duck now!"
Rio threw himself to the ground as a massive silver sword flew overhead, right where his head would have been. He glanced behind him to see that everyone else had managed to get down. The sword landed with a thud into one of the trees, the blades sunk over halfway through the trunk. His eyes widened as a man dropped onto the still quivering handle; the smell of blood began to clog up his nose despite the fact he couldn't see any in the vicinity.
The man was dressed pretty plainly. Rio scanned his baggy black trousers and tight black vest carefully to try and find the source of the smell. His lower face and neck were covered up just like Kakashi but by worn, not quite white bandages and his hitai-ate was lopsided on his head. Rio squinted as he tried to remember which village had that symbol. Kiri?
"I want you to take Tazuna and get as far away from here as you can."
Three heads snapped towards their teacher.
"Kashi-sensei?" Rio asked hesitantly, his eyes never leaving the enemy nin.
"This is serious," Kakashi replied gravely. "That man is Momochi Zabuza; he's A-rank in the Bingo Book."
He reached a hand up to push his forehead protector up, a long vertical scar running through his closed eye. He opened it and Rio stared at the red iris. He had only seen it once before, when he was much younger. He had pestered his godfather until he'd caved and revealed it to him.
"I'm honoured, Sharingan no Kakashi, that you would give your all from the first move." The man folded his arms. "You are a dangerous opponent yourself. It would be a testament to my skill if I were the one to take you out."
"Sharingan?" He heard Sasuke matter, his teammate staring at Kakashi like he had never seen him before. "Why the fuck does he have a Sharingan?"
"Not the time, Sasuke," Rio shot back and Sasuke switched his furious glare onto him. "He'll tell you the story when someone isn't trying to murder us."
"Murder?" Sakura whispered.
"Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu."
A thick cloud of mist rolled towards them from where Rio could smell water. He scrambled to stand beside Tazuna, making sure his teammates had joined him to form a triangle around their client.
"I'm going to have my hands full with this guy so it's up to you three to protect Tazuna," Kakashi said firmly.
Laughter echoed around them.
"You're only delaying the inevitable."
Rio flinched hard as Zabuza suddenly appeared in the middle of their formation. He swung the massive sword at them and Rio clumsily pulled a kunai from his pouch in an attempt at defense. He hadn't even heard Zabuza extract the sword from the tree. Kakashi lunged from behind him and drove his own kunai into the man's guts. Rio let out a harsh breath as the man dissolved into a puddle, the water sinking into the grass beneath them. It caught in his throat as he watched Zabuza reappear behind Kakashi, slashing straight through his torso.
Sakura let out a short scream but before Rio could react, his teacher dissolved into water, exactly like the enemy had moments earlier.
"I suppose it would have been too simple for you to fall for my decoy," Zabuza growled. "I have to say I'm impressed by Sharingan no Kakashi so far though; to think that you would copy my water clone so quickly and to use it to such effect. You are truly a worthy opponent!"
Kakashi appeared behind Zabuza and Rio allowed himself to hope.
"It's over, Momochi Zabuza," he mocked. "Your plan failed."
"Bold of you to assume that was the plan."
The words had barely registered when Zabuza proceeded to collapse into a puddle, a dark shape emerging from the mist behind their teacher. Rio tried to call out a warning but Zabuza had grabbed his arm, flinging him in the direction of the lake.
"Kaka-sensei!" Sakura called out desperately.
Sasuke remained silent but Rio could see that his fists were shaking. He looked down to see that his were doing the same. His gaze snapped back to the lake as he saw Kakashi break the surface of the water from where he had been thrown in. Zabuza popped up next to him and although Rio couldn't see his face, he could imagine the wicked grin the man must be wearing.
"Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu!"
Water swirled around the pair until Kakashi was trapped in a sphere of liquid, his form distorted and blurred. Zabuza's arm was stuck inside it as the man sent out another clone that began to make its way towards them. Rio glanced at Kakashi, his teacher's eyes intense in a way Rio had never seen before.
"Run."
The thought of doing just that sent a wave of unease through Rio. Was he just supposed to leave his godfather here? At the mercy of someone they'd already been told was dangerous? He was distracted by Sasuke stepping forward.
"We're not running," he pointed a kunai at their teacher. "I need answers about that eye of yours."
Rio took a deep breath, collecting himself. He set his shoulders and planted his feet, facing the enemy with a scowl.
"Yeah, Kashi-sensei, I thought you'd know us better than that!"
He ran through his options. If they could just get Kakashi free, they would stand a chance. He honestly didn't know if they could beat the clone so they would just have to avoid it as much as possible. They needed a decoy. Thoughts whirling around his head, he snatched a scroll from his backpack, summoning the massive fūma shuriken that had been stored inside. He shoved it at Sasuke.
"Remember when Nii-san and Kazu-nee made us play Capture the Flag?"
Sasuke stared back at him for a moment before it clicked. He grabbed the fūma shuriken from Rio and nodded. Rio immediately summoned a clone, using the smoke from the jutsu to cover his henge.
Sasuke proceeded to throw the fūma shuriken right at the water clone. The clone laughed as he easily caught the projectile.
"Is the best Konoha can do? These are the genin produced from the strongest village?"
He abruptly stopped laughing as a second fūma shuriken appeared in the shadow of the first and continued sailing past him towards the real Zabuza. It missed but as he got behind the enemy nin, Rio changed back, throwing a kunai towards the man. Zabuza was forced to let go of the water prison with a curse and as Rio hit the water, he heard the explosive tag go off. He broke through the surface of the lake to see the smoke lingering from the explosion and grinned as he spotted a fuming, lightly charred Zabuza.
He felt someone pick him up by his collar and looked over at Kakashi.
"You guys did good," he eye-smiled. "Now leave the rest to me."
He was carried back to the shore as the real Kakashi faced off against Zabuza in the middle of the lake. The Kakashi clone dissolved back into water as Rio was set down beside his teammates.
"I don't remember the explosive tag being part of the plan," Sasuke raised an eyebrow at him.
"Explosive tags should always be part of the plan," Rio beamed, shaking from the adrenaline. "Just a kunai didn't seem like it would be enough."
They were distracted by the commotion on the lake. Rio's mouth dropped open slightly as he watched two massive water dragons rise from the lake, facing off against each other. They collided and Rio was forced to cover his eyes as a torrent of water was flung towards them. He couldn't see much between the mist and the residual water from the techniques colliding. He heard something and whipped around, seeing Kakashi standing over Zabuza's unconscious body on the shore.
Before his teacher could do anything further, a needle came from above them, hitting Zabuza's neck. Rio watched his breathing stop as a hunter nin with long brown hair and a white mask dropped down to stand beside the body.
"Thank you for your assistance," the nin said, hauling Zabuza up onto his shoulder. "I have been hunting this man for a long time. I shall take him back to Kirigakure."
Before any of them could respond, the nin disappeared with Zabuza's body. Something niggled at the back of Rio's brain at the interaction but he dismissed it. He had enough to think about right now. They had barely been gone a moment before Kakashi crumpled, hitting the ground with a wed thud. Rio scrambled forward, sliding in on his knees to hover over his godfather.
Exhausted but still breathing. He leaned back onto his heels as he glanced over to Tazuna.
"Is your house far?"
The man fumbled for a moment, still in shock.
"N-no, I can take you there."
Rio nodded, the tiredness beginning to hit him now. He gestured to Sasuke and the other boy joined him on the ground. He grabbed one arm as Sasuke gripped the other and they hauled Kakashi up. Rio secured his teacher's arm around him.
"We may be a bit over our heads with this one," Rio admitted quietly.
He had never imagined when they had agreed to follow through with the mission that it would turn out like this.
"We're here," Sasuke said just as quietly. "We'll just have to deal with it."
Rio sighed as he adjusted Kakashi's weight across his shoulders. A thought occurred to him as they began to drag his teacher into the trees.
"If we don't die here, Nii-san is going to kill us."
Naruto shot an apologetic look towards his teammates as he continued extracting weapons from his person. He didn't think he'd managed to store this much but he had a tendency to seal stuff and forget about it. They were required to remove all weapons before they were allowed in front of the Raikage and they were being much more thorough than the gate guards had been.
He dropped a pack of senbon onto the large pile at his feet, smiling sheepishly at the scowling jounin in front of him.
"Is that everything?"
Naruto thought for a moment before he jumped, quickly reaching into the bandages wrapped around his shins and pulling out a wad of seals. He threw them onto the pile as he reached into the other leg and extracted several long daggers. He handed them over and stood straight once again.
The jounin narrowed his eyes at him and Naruto reached into a hidden crevice of his bracer, pulling out a final tiny kunai. He laughed nervously.
"I think that's everything."
He joined everyone in looking at the pile of kunai, sealing supplies, snacks, shuriken, water bottles, senbon, daggers, soldier pills and seals. It reached his hip in height and Naruto could not remember storing half this stuff. It had taken a solid twenty minutes to get it all out; seventeen minutes longer than it had taken Kazuya and Hana.
Was he a hoarder? Could someone be a hoarder if they didn't know they were doing it? It was going to be a nightmare to get it all back in place.
"Fucking hell, Aka-chan," Kazuya stared at him.
"Let's go," Yugito ordered, although she was also looking at him incredulously.
Naruto followed her through the doors and up the winding stone steps. They reached the highest level and Yugito paused before a massive set of doors, pushing them open and striding forward. Naruto followed a bit slower and watched her kneel before a large dark-skinned man. He was lounging on a weathered red sofa and Naruto's gaze was caught by all the workout gear spread out over the blue carpet. The room was lit by the expanse of windows that replaced the walls and he could see the entirety of Kumo from here. He supposed that was the point.
"Raikage-sama, I have brought you the fūinjutsu expert from Konoha and his escorts."
The man was so different from their own leader. The man was shirtless, leaving his massive, bulging muscles out for all to see. Thick gold bracers matched his garish, wide belt and his stern features were only highlighted by the tiny blond moustache and goatee he sported. Naruto met his dark, considering gaze before he felt his head being shoved down.
"Thank you for your generous hospitality, Raikage-sama," Kazuya announced respectfully. "We hope our presence here strengthens the bond between our villages and offers some measure of security for your citizens."
There was a heavy silence.
"So you're the silver-tongue of the bunch," the Raikage, his deep voice echoing around the large room. "I have no patience for your kind so do not speak again. Have the fūinjutsu expert approach."
Naruto made it a point to not look at Kazuya's taken aback expression as he stepped forward. The Raikage's gaze focused on him and Naruto planted his feet, meeting the weight with his own stare.
"An Uzumaki?"
Naruto couldn't read the man's expression.
"Yes."
The Raikage fell silent for a moment before he lounged further into the couch cushions. He seemed a bit quiet for his size; even Yugito was sending the main strange looks from her place beside him.
"I am told that you wish to teach our genin these seals of yours."
Naruto took that as permission to explain.
"I want to take them with me as I continue placing the seals around the other villages. Once placed, they will last several years but they will erode. That can be prevented by annual maintenance and you cannot rely on me to return every year to do so. It would be better for the country in the long run if I taught you how to do it. It can then be passed down so disasters like these can be stopped before they happen."
"And why would you do this? Konoha has never favoured Kumo before and I highly doubt your Hokage would change his mind so easily."
"This isn't Hokage-sama's decision," Naruto said firmly. "It's mine."
"You haven't answered why. What will you demand from us?"
Naruto frowned.
"I'm not doing this to gain favour or anything like that. It's civilians that are suffering; whose homes are being destroyed. Their lives should not be used as leverage. I understand that our villages have been hostile in the past but that is a matter between shinobi. I want to help the civilians of the Land of Lightning, not Kumo."
He held his head high.
"The seal is non-combative. It is designed for one purpose and one purpose only, although if anyone could figure out a way to use it in battle it would be Kumo," he trailed off, speaking mostly to himself by the end.
The Raikage held his gaze for a moment longer.
"You remind me of someone I once knew from Konoha," he said. "He had the same eyes and the same intent behind them."
Naruto tried not to freeze. It was inevitable that someone outside the village would draw connections between him and the Yondaime. He had been fortunate so far that no one had looked into it further.
"I believe actions and strength determine everything we do." The Raikage stood, the couch creaking under his large frame. "I do not have time for weakness and while your 'escorts' fall short, I will give you a chance to prove yourself."
He waved a hand over his shoulder as he walked over to stare out of one of the windows.
"Teach B's genin and ensure Kumo never has to depend on Konoha again. Fail to back up your actions and Konoha will lose their fūinjutsu expert."
Naruto glared at the man shortly before he was shoved out the door by Yugito. Kazuya and Hana were already outside and his friend looked ready to hit him.
"What the fuck was that, Naruto?" Kazuya hissed. "That seal is the only leverage we have for Kumo not to kidnap us and stick us in some basement somewhere! The minute you hand it over, they're going to kill us anyway. That or take you for your sensing and fūinjutsu!"
He froze, the anger draining from his pink gaze as he turned to look at an unimpressed Yugito.
"No offence," he added.
Yugito narrowed her eyes at him.
"Sensing?"
Naruto didn't resist the urge to facepalm.
Rio followed his sensei through the trees, the pace slow due to Kakashi's make-shift crutches. He watched him carefully as the man limped along. If Kazu-nee was here, there was no way Kakashi would be up and about already. He paused. If Kazu-nee was here, Kakashi would be healed already. He was still pretty sure his godfather would've been forced on bed rest.
He had woken up a couple hours ago and had explained exactly who Zabuza was. Rio felt sick at the thought of massacring his entire graduating class and he felt more grateful than usual to have been born in Konoha. He just couldn't imagine going through with something like that. Did he not have friends in that class? People he cared about enough to curb the violence?
His teacher had then gone on to point out the reason that Ro had felt something off about the hunter nin. They normally destroy their target's body on the spot, sometimes taking the head as proof. This hunter nin had taken Zabuza with him. Kakashi said it was likely to be an accomplice of Zabuza especially since the guy had used senbon; not usually a weapon associated with hunter nin. Zabuza was going to be back and they would have to fight him off all over again.
Sasuke had also managed to corner the man into spilling how he'd gotten his Sharingan. Rio already knew the story but it was something that Kakashi didn't like to talk about. He was surprised he'd told Sasuke anything although he'd had to take Sakura downstairs so she didn't overhear.
Kakashi finally stopped in the middle of a clearing and turned to face them. Trees surrounded them on all sides and there was a collection of dark green bushes over to the side, neighbouring a murky looking pond.
"In light of the situation, I'm going to move your new training regime forward. I was going to start it after the mission but you need it now."
Rio shared a look with Sasuke. New training regime? They were going to get training?
"I am going to take a more proactive approach with you," Kakashi said cheerfully, although Rio could detect something not quite right in his tone. "Starting with chakra control. Who can do the tree-walking exercise?"
Rio raised his hand with Sasuke.
"Okay, Rio and Sasuke, you are going to work on water-walking next. Sakura, come with me and I'll show you the basics."
Rio walked over to the pond nearby and looked into its depth. It was pretty shallow; it couldn't be that much different than a tree. He placed a foot onto the surface, channelling the chakra like he normally would. He managed to remain above water for a second before he felt the surface move beneath his feet. He lost his grip and sank like a stone, submerging up to his shoulders. He looked up to see Kakashi walking over to them.
"It's not like a tree, Rio," the man eye-smiled. "The water's surface is always moving so the surface you're standing on is also changing. You need to regulate and adjust your chakra output as necessary the whole time you're on the water."
He reached out to snag Sasuke's collar, beginning to drag him back towards the clearing.
"You work on that while Sasuke and I work on his dodging. I'll rotate you once he manages to avoid being hit for five minutes."
Horror dawned on Rio as he realised what was happening.
"Nii-san promised not to tell you about that!"
"Naruto didn't," Kakashi shouted back gleefully. "His jounin-sensei did."
Rio vowed to unleash some sort of hell on Genma the moment they got back. He hauled himself out of the water and took off his jumper, dumping it off to the side with a wet thump. He glared at the water before he took a step forward, trying to follow Kakashi's instructions. He rapidly sank once again. This was going to be a long week.
It had been a long week.
Rio had wanted more effort out of Kakashi in regards to their training but this was hellish. Sakura had quickly mastered tree-walking and had joined him and Sasuke at their small pond. From there they took turns trying desperately to get out of the way of Kakashi's barrage of painted kunai. He had to take pity on Sakura at one point; if she couldn't do it after three hours, he didn't think she was going to.
That had just been the first two days. Kakashi had made sure they'd had variety for the rest of the week; physical conditioning and recognising water clones from the real thing had featured heavily. Rio had never quite wanted to stab someone as much as he did now. His teacher just sat there, appearing highly entertained by their misery. There was only so much that Rio could tell himself that it was for their own good before the words became meaningless. They had also rotated the guard around Tazuna and Rio hadn't ever thought that building a bridge would be a break.
He heaved a breath in as he lay flat on his back on the grass, staring up into the leaves above. Sasuke was propped up by a tree somewhere nearby and Sakura was on Tazuna-duty. He heard the quiet thumps of crutches approaching and he half-heartedly glared up at his sensei.
"You've done really well this week," Kakashi gazed down at him, his expression soft. "I'm really proud of you guys."
"Thanks, Kashi-sensei," Rio smiled back at him, heaving himself into an upright position.
"Once we get back to Konoha, we'll keep this up." Kakashi patted Rio's damp hair lightly. "I promise I'm going to be better."
"You were never bad," Rio responded, slightly confused. "What triggered all this anyway? Why did you change things?"
Kakashi straightened.
"It was actually a talk I had with Naruto. I should have been doing this from the start but I had stuff holding me back. He helped me move forward."
Rio's mood soured at the mention of his brother. Of course Nii-san had been involved. He had managed to avoid dwelling on thoughts of their fight until now but he couldn't help the resentment that lingered. He couldn't have anything to himself; Nii-san's shadow reached too far for him to ever be able to run from.
"Hey, you okay?"
He moved away from Kakashi's outstretched hand.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said shortly. "I'll meet you back at the house in a bit."
Kakashi lingered for a short moment before Rio heard the thump of the crutches get further away, vanishing among the trees. He wrapped his arms around his legs, pulling his knees to his chest.
"You're being an ass."
He snapped round to gape at Sasuke. The Uchiha was staring him down, expression set in an angry scowl.
"What do you mean?"
"This mess you've made with Naruto. You're being an ass and you know it."
Anger washed over him and Rio surged to his feet. Sasuke joined him in standing, his face unchanged.
"Hey, it's Nii-san's fault! He's the one who's always hovering and treating me like I'm dumb and can't do anything!"
"He loves you, Rio!" Sasuke yelled back at him and Rio stopped short for a moment. He's never heard Sasuke raise his voice like this; he was the silent, brooding type. "You can't resent him for taking care of you! He has given up so much for you, to make sure you want for nothing, and you're treating him like shit for it! What, did you want him to neglect you or something?"
"No!" Rio shouted hotly, the rage returning stronger. "I have to listen to people sing his praises and compare us and I am never going to win that game! I am never going to be like him! I am always going to be a disappointment next to him!"
"Why are you so fucking stupid? You are never going to disappoint Naruto! I'm pretty sure you could betray the village and become a missing nin and he would still think the sun shines out of your ass!"
"You don't get it, Sasuke!" Rio screamed. "I owe him! I am never going to be able to pay that debt back! I know how much he has had to give up; I had to watch it happen! He never let me help or do anything to lighten the burden! I'm weak and he's so strong and I am fed up with having that fact shoved in my face!"
"Kami, you are so fucking selfish!" Sasuke gripped his hair, his knuckles white. "Have you considered for a second that maybe he shielded you from all that because he didn't want you to go through what he did?"
Rio opened his mouth to yell something else but nothing came out. Sasuke heaved a sigh.
"Things have been weird since you fucked up and I know you hate the distance that Naruto's trying to give you. You can't have both. You can't be free of Naruto and have him there for you. You just need to take your head out of your ass long enough to see how lucky you are."
Rio scoffed.
"You act like Nii-san doesn't treat you the same way."
"You're right," Sasuke's mouth was set in a grim line. "Naruto took me in and gave me a home. He gave me a reason to live beyond my clan and you know what? I can never repay him for that either. He saved me. He treated me like a kid when every single other person treated me like a charity case."
Rio wasn't sure how to respond to that but Sasuke continued.
"I get the guilt and the inferiority complex and shit. You act like I didn't live in my brother's shadow growing up. That doesn't give you the right to shit on everyone around you. It doesn't give you the right to drag everything Naruto has done for you through the mud and it definitely doesn't give you the right to make someone who has only ever done the best for you feel guilty for doing that."
Sasuke proceeded to stomp out of the clearing, leaving Rio standing alone in the darkening clearing. Goosebumps began to rise as his sweat cooled in the evening air but he couldn't bring himself to move. Sasuke's words kept repeating themselves over and over in his mind and Rio knew he wouldn't sleep tonight.
"You drew that line backwards."
Naruto looked back to his own seal and finished up the final symbol. He tilted his head as he scanned it before nodding to himself. He drew a circle on the chain link component and pushed his chakra into the seal. The wall lit up blue and lines stretched out to either side, connecting to the other seals he had placed on the stone.
"It's a line," Karui scowled. "It looks exactly the same as when I draw it the other way."
"In fūinjutsu, it is not only the placement and type of line or kanji but the way you draw it," Naruto explained patiently. "For example, if you were to draw a spiral the seal would respond differently depending on whether you started from the centre or the edge. The symbol that your line will create will not do its job properly and that will throw the whole array off. Make sense?"
"That makes sense," she sighed, staring down at her scroll. "Why did we agree to this?"
Naruto chuckled as he looked over to check on the other genin. Omoi was quietly muttering to himself, a dark cloud hanging over him. He peeked over the boy's shoulder and smiled to himself at the decent seal. A bit more work and he'd be ready.
"You know, you should teach fūinjutsu," Kazuya piped up from his rock. His hair was dripping onto his face and he was swallowed up by the poncho in that sitting position. "You're a good teacher."
"Yeah, like I have time for that," Naruto rolled his eyes good-naturedly.
He was just teaching them one seal; not the whole art of fūinjutsu. It would take him a couple years just to get the basics ingrained in them and those were years he didn't have.
"Are you done yet?"
Yugito strolled over to him, Hana close on her heels. Those two were closer than he'd been expecting. They'd said they were going to a perimeter sweep but Naruto had felt them stop in one place for at least half an hour. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of Yugito's hair coming out of its ponytail and he looked over just in time to see Hana tug up her poncho to cover some dark marks on her neck.
"Yeah." He pulled his hood further over his face, the rain pattering against it gently. "I want Omoi and Karui to do the last two villages so we might need to wait so I can get them up to scratch."
Yugito nodded and they began to walk out of the waterlogged village, heading back to Kumo. The genin spoke among themselves and Naruto could hear Kazuya grilling Hana about what she had been up to in the woods.
"Why did they send you here?"
He looked over to see a serious Yugito.
"Why did Konoha send you?" She insisted. "I've been trying to think for days about why they would send you and nothing makes any tactical sense."
"I'm a fūinjutsu expert," Naruto shrugged. "The only one in the village, currently, so it's not as if they could have sent someone else."
"Why not just refuse?"
"Hokage-sama probably wanted some sort of leverage on Kumo," he said, gaining a sharp look from the blonde. "Relax, I could care less about that. I came to help."
"What would they do if they lost you though?" Yugito stared at the wet grass beneath their feet. "You're so valuable; I'm pretty sure villages would kill to have you. You're an Uzumaki who's an expert in fūinjutsu and a natural sensor. You're like, genetic gold."
"They don't let me out often," Naruto laughed, pushing away the uneasiness at her words. "They thought it was worth the risk and so do I."
He had the thought that he wouldn't be quite so valuable if they knew about his condition. He was damaged goods after all.
"Are you going to let me go home or will you breed me like you tried to do with the Hyūga eleven years ago?"
Yugito turned shocked eyes towards him, missing a step. She collected herself quickly.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Okay."
Naruto decided to test the waters further.
"Do they treat you well? Being a Jinchūriki and all? Most ones I've met aren't as respected as you."
Yugito controlled her reaction this time.
"You sensed it?" She asked shortly.
"The first second I saw you."
There was a brief silence.
"You didn't react any differently to me."
"I'm a bit strange like that; must be those genetics you keep talking about."
He grinned at her slightly exasperated look. She wasn't so bad for a Kumo nin.
Rio trailed behind his team, kicking pebbles as he walked. Sasuke had really gotten to him yesterday and he could not stop thinking about it. The words refused to leave him and he hated to admit it but Sasuke was right. He didn't know how to deal with the guilt he had over what Nii-san gave up for him so he just picked the easiest emotion; anger. He couldn't even pinpoint why he only felt this way about Nii-san and not Kazu-nee. The worst thing about it all was he didn't know how to stop; he didn't know how to stop using anger as an outlet.
The dirt path turned to smooth stone beneath his feet and he looked up at the bridge, his frame going rigid at the sight. The workers were slumped in various stages of unconsciousness and littered haphazardly around the entrance to the bridge. Blood mixed with salt in the air and as the mist descended, he fell back into a defensive stance. It was mirrored by his teammates and he followed his teacher silently as they walked further onto the bridge.
They stopped abruptly as two figures appeared in the mist. One was clearly Zabuza and as Rio looked closely, the other was the hunter nin from before. In a loose, navy kimono and an olive green turtleneck, two long strips of hair framed the white mask while the rest was tied up into a bun.
"So I was right," Kakashi said calmly. "Your accomplice saved you."
"Haku."
At Zabuza's word, the hunter nin disappeared and Rio launched a kunai into the mist. It clanged off Haku's own and the nin was forced to duck as Sasuke swung a leg at his head. He hung back from throwing more as Sasuke and Haku exchanged blows. His gut twisted as Haku almost sliced his friend's arm.
"Your student is strong to be able to match Haku's speed," Zabuza commented.
They were interrupted by Haku's voice echoing through the mist.
"Makyō Hyōshō."
Rio's heart dropped as Sasuke vanished among a dome made up of sheets of ice and he shot forward, ignoring Kakashi's call behind him. He broke one of the mirrors as he stopped beside Sasuke, looking back to see it had already reformed.
"What the fuck did you just do, Rio?"
Rio snapped round to stare at his teammate, the Uchiha glaring daggers at him. They hadn't spoken since their fight last night and Rio was pretty sure Sasuke was still mad at him.
"I came to help!" He insisted.
"You should have attacked from outside," Sasuke hissed. "Now we're both stuck in here."
"I didn't think of that!"
"Obviously you didn't think!"
"Can you really afford to be arguing among yourselves?" A soft voice asked, seeming to come from every direction.
A hail of senbon emerged from a mirror and Rio tried to dodge but some still sank into his shin. Sasuke snarled as he sped through hand seals.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"
The massive ball of flames engulfed a chunk of the mirrors but it didn't make a dent. Rio moved through his own seals.
"Suiton: Mizu Shuriken!"
The projectiles splashed harmlessly against the icy surface. The pit of dread in Rio's gut deepened.
"A valiant effort but ultimately useless."
Another storm of senbon descended and Rio cursed as it caught his arm. Sasuke had been hit in the shoulder. There was no way to dodge in this ice cage as every time Rio thought he had pinpointed which mirror Haku was using, the enemy moved. He was so fast.
"Why are you even doing this?" He shouted in exasperation. "Why try to kill Tazuna?"
"Zabuza-sama needs the money in order to take back Kirigakure," Haku replied, their voice still soft. "I am a tool for Zabuza-sama; I exist to make him happy."
"Wait, what?" Rio frowned. "People can't be tools."
"Do you have a precious person? Someone you would do anything for?"
Several faces ran through Rio's head. Nii-san, Kazu-nee, Kakashi, Sasuke, Kiba, Tsume-baachan, Jiji, Hana-neechan, Shikamaru, Chouji; the list was endless. He hadn't quite realised how long it was until this moment and Nii-san was the first on that list. He needed to live through this to apologise to him.
"Yeah, I do."
He felt a strange sense of contentment surrounding them despite the tension in the air.
"That's good," said Haku. "When a person has something important they want to protect, that's when they become truly strong. I want to protect Zabuza-sama's dreams so I cannot allow you to stop him here."
A wave of senbon hit them from the side and Rio cried out as more hit his leg. Sasuke managed to dodge that round and Rio supposed that all that dodge training Kakashi made them do over the past was paying off for someone. He felt himself being hauled out of the way of the next wave and he looked up at Sasuke as he was dumped on the ground. His own eyes widened as he stared at his friend.
"Sasuke…"
"Get your head in the fight!" Sasuke snapped at him. "You can dodge these! They're getting slower."
"No, Sasuke, you can just see them better," stated Rio. "Your Sharingan…"
Sasuke blinked but before he could respond, Haku spoke.
"This battle is over."
He sent the largest wave yet straight at Rio and he desperately tried to stand to get out of the way. His leg gave up on him and he fell back to the ground, his mind racing trying to figure out how to get out of this. His thoughts came to a screeching halt as Sasuke's back appeared in front of him. He watched in horrified silence as the senbons hit home and his friend slumped to the ground, motionless.
"Sasuke?"
There was no response.
"Sasuke!"
His friend just lay there and Naruto couldn't see him breathing. His breath caught in his throat as he felt his eyes grow hot. He couldn't think. Rage descended over him and his vision turned red and he felt something burn its way through him and power he'd never felt before flow through his limbs. He ripped furious eyes away from the prone form of his teammate and locked onto where he could see Haku on the surface of the mirror.
Then everything went black.
Rio came to and he's not sure how he got here. His hands were on Haku's throat and he was breathing into his face. The mask had disappeared and he was surprised to see how delicate Haku's features were. At first glance he would have thought they were a girl but there was something in their jaw line that made him doubt that. He had backed up Haku into the bridge wall and as he looked behind him, his eyes widened at the debris strewn across the rest of the bridge. Piles of ice were scattered around and there were deep cuts in the brick.
He looked back down at Haku and opened his mouth, closing it after a long moment. He could feel Haku's pulse beneath his fingers and his dark eyes were glued to Rio's face, wide in fear. He loosened his grip slightly as he tried to gather his thoughts.
"What…" He began but he wasn't sure how to continue.
"You defeated me," Haku said quietly. "Now you must kill me."
Rio snatched his hands back and stared at them in horror.
"No, why do I have to do that? I beat you; you can just surrender."
"I have no more use as Zabuza-sama's tool. He doesn't need me anymore. Can you understand? Not having a dream of your own…not being needed by anyone. The pain of being alive; I'm better off dead!"
"No!" Rio shouted back. "No, you're not just a tool! No one is! You don't have to be needed to earn the right to live. You can find your own dream; that's what life is!"
"I only live to protect Zabuza-sama's dream!" Haku's expression was pained. "Often people have it wrong, mistakenly believing that showing mercy is a kindness. They spare the foe whose life is in their hands. But don't you see? It's an empty existence, to go on living…alone and unloved…when defeat has already cost you your dream!"
"Why do you think you only get one chance to achieve your dreams?" Rio insisted. "Getting back up after failing; that's the best way forward. As long as you're alive you can try over and over again."
"I killed your friend."
His eyes widened, gaze snapping to Sasuke. Something bothered him and he pushed as much chakra into his eyes as he could without damaging them. He saw the almost imperceptible rise and fall of his friend's breathing and he whipped around to look at Haku. He hadn't killed him. Sasuke was alive; hurt but alive. Then why had he insisted that he killed him?
Before Rio could point that out, his attention was caught by the fight further up the bridge as a bright burst of lightning cut through the mist. Haku vanished from in front of him and Rio cursed, following him. Kakashi had his fist aimed at Zabuza's chest and the chirping of birds surrounded them. He watched Haku dive in front of the lightning-encased fist and he had to think fast.
"Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha!"
He pulled from the sea water that surrounded the bridge and slammed it into the pair of mercenaries. He wasn't sure why he found water techniques so much easier to learn but he was grateful for it now. He would have to learn more when they got back to Konoha since that was his second and only other jutsu he had in his repertoire. Kazu-nee had tried to discourage him when he'd found him with the scroll but Rio was determined, even if it was a B-rank technique. All he needed to do it was a large body of water since he couldn't form that much from the air yet.
Kakashi's attack missed and Zabuza and Haku were washed up the bridge. Kakashi turned to face him, his eyes flaring with annoyance.
"You can't kill them!"
"Rio!"
"They're not doing this to be evil!"
"They are our enemy!"
"Well, what do we have here?"
They all turned towards the nasally voice. Rio spotted a small man with spiked up hair, tiny sunglasses and ugly black suit smirking at them. He was backed by dozens of rough-looking men, armed with a variety of weapons.
"Zabuza, why is the bridge builder not dead yet?"
Rio looked over to Tazuna for the first time, surprised to see Sakura still standing in front of him although she was sending fevered glances towards Sasuke's body.
"No matter," Gato continued. "It just means that I can kill you all in one sweep. Less chasing around for me to do."
"You would betray us?" Zabuza asked lowly, his tone dangerous.
"I was never going to pay you," Gato shrugged. "Now die quietly."
Rio looked up at his teacher as the hoard of mercenaries began to walk towards them. He was distracted by Zabuza stepping forward, raising his massive sword to his shoulder.
"Looks like we have no reason to be your enemy, Sharingan no Kakashi," Zabuza announced. "Tazuna is safe from us. Now, I can assist you with taking out the trash."
Kakashi and Zabuza nodded once to each other before they launched themselves forward. Rio watched them cut through the rank of mercenaries like it was nothing. Were they keeping score?
"Why did you do that?"
He turned to Haku, their eyes scanning him desperately.
"You didn't kill Sasuke," was all he said.
He looked back to see Zabuza decapitate Gato with a wide swing and something uncoiled in his gut. The mission was over; Tazuna and Wave would be safe. Haku moved past him to kneel next to Sasuke, carefully pulling the senbon from his body. The Uchiha sat up with a deep breath, his chest heaving and as he caught sight of Haku, he weakly tried to scramble away. Rio ran forwards and flung his arms around Sasuke.
"You can never do that again, okay?"
"What happened?" Sasuke asked, his voice right next to Rio's ear.
"I beat Haku and then stopped Kashi-sensei from killing both of them," Rio let him go but still held onto his shoulders tightly. "Then Gato turned with a bunch of other mercenaries and betrayed Zabuza. He and Kashi-sensei killed them all."
"So we aren't fighting them anymore," Sasuke tried to keep up.
"We have no reason to be enemies," Haku confirmed, echoing Zabuza's words from earlier.
The mist began to lift.
"So what are you guys going to do now?" Rio asked.
"Whatever Zabuza-sama desires," Haku said with a soft smile.
"You guys could go back to Kirigakure."
They all looked over to Kakashi.
"You needed money to overthrow the Mizukage, right?" He continued. "My guess is because of the Bloodline Purge; you want to keep Haku safe."
"You don't know anything," Zabuza snapped. "Haku is just a weapon; a tool to be used."
Kakashi waved a hand dismissively at his words.
"Yeah, yeah, try that again when you mean it. The new Mizukage has two bloodline limits. Haku would be welcomed with open arms and I'm sure they'd be happy to get one of their Seven Swordsmen back."
He stared pointedly at Zabuza's headband.
"If you were truly missing nin, you would have scored out your village's symbol a long time ago."
Zabuza appeared to think on Kakashi's words, gazing at Haku. Sakura dragged Tazuna over to them, her eyes still on Sasuke.
"Wait, just like that? You were all going to kill each other a minute ago and now we're friends?"
"Not friends," Kakashi and Zabuza said in unison.
"With Gato dead, they have no reason to kill Tazuna," Kakashi explained. "We have no reason to fight. It would just be a waste of resources and energy that could be better spent elsewhere."
Rio grinned at Haku.
"I wouldn't mind being friends."
Haku looked back at him in surprise before they smiled back at him. Rio let go of Sasuke as the Uchiha began to move slowly.
"Do you mind waiting to make friends with the guy who stabbed me until I'm at least five feet away?" He groaned.
Rio laughed, the relief strong. He felt light and while he was nervous about when he blacked out he decided not to focus on that right now. Things felt like they were finally going to be okay.
Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu – Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique
Suiton: Suirō no Jutsu – Water Release: Water Prison Technique
Makyō Hyōshō – Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu – Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
Suiton: Mizu Shuriken – Water Release: Water Shuriken
Suiton: Dai Bakusui Shōha – Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave.
Thanks for reading!
