Sorry for the late uploads. I'm planning on altering my schedule so to finishing the chapters by the end of monday, and then use tuesday to polish. That way I can upload and start the next chapter. Now, unlike the last chapter, I didn't rush with this one, and it was polished a little by my editor of sorts. Also, I don't know if it notifies you about re-uploaded chapters, but chapter six is now polished and explains the author's note at the end of this chapter.
I do not own Naruto-that right is still reserved to Kishimoto and the other creators . We will rule the day those rights are handed over to the fanfic community!
Team 7 stood in front of a massive lake. They looked out in wonder of the beauty of the sight. Kakashi disrupted the moment to start training, "Okay team, over the past two months, we haven't been able to train much. However, you were able to accomplish the tree walking exercise in that time. Today we'll be taking it to the next level, walking on water". Having said that Kakashi crutched over to the lake and started to walk out on the water, as if it was ground. Naruto's jaw hit the ground, not believing in the sight before him. Hinata and Sasuke however, were used to such things due to them coming from ninja families and occasionally seeing family members do this from time to time. However, they had never learned how to do it.
Kakashi smiled at Naruto's reaction, remembering his own amazement the first time he had seen it. "Just like the tree exercise, you have to use chakra to stay afloat. Too much and you'll make the water too unstable, too little and you'll sink. Any questions?". The genin shook their heads, understanding the exercise. Kakasuo's eye smiled, "You may now begin. I hope you brought an extra change of clothes". Finishing, Kakashi walked off the lake to go rest by a tree.
Naruto didn't have much for a change of clothes, he had an extra pair of shorts but that was it. Sighing, Naruto started to remove his jumpsuit, Hinata took this the wrong way, thinking he was stripping to his underwear. "What do you think you're doing?!" Hinata shouted her face now tinted pink. "I'm taking off the jumpsuit, I only have one of these, so I want to keep it dry. Don't worry I have shorts on". Hinata regained her composure and turned away, angry that her teammate didn't seem to care what his actions looked like to the rest of them. Kakashi had raised an eyebrow at Naruto when he had started, but lowered it after Naruto's explanation. Sasuke was unfazed by Naruto's actions and suppressed a chuckle watching Hinata's reaction.
Three genin stood in front of the water, Naruto and Sasuke in shorts, leaving their shirts on land. Hinata had only removed her shoes, still wearing her bulky beige jacket. Naruto was confused by this, "Hinata why aren't you taking off the jacket? I doubt it'll dry quickly if it gets wet". Hinata's ears turned pink, she was shy about her figure, one of the reasons why she wore baggy clothing. 'He does have a point. What's worse? Enduring the embarrassment now, or potentially suffering later while waiting for the jacket to dry'. Deciding that only her team seeing her without the jacket was far better than a whole town seeing her, Hinata went to a rock and took off her Jacket. Folding it neatly before turning around to rejoin her team. The reactions from her team were across the spectrum. Sasuke had no visible reaction to seeing her developed figure, Kakashi had raised his eyebrow but that was it. Naruto had turned red, being reminded of the boat incident and turned towards the water, shaking his head, trying to rid it of dirty thoughts.
Now that the genin were all ready, they channeled chakra to their feet and started to walk out onto the lake. They all made it 10 feet before Naruto lost his concentration and flailed about when falling. This caused the other two to lose their focus too. Since it was a lake they were above to stand up with the water coming to their ribs. Sasuke and Hinata shivered in the cold water, Naruto had been numbed to the cold, courtesy of his prisoner, when he was 4 having often gone to sleep in the winters without a blanket. The genin made their way back to shore, and started again. They're clothes soaked and sticking to them, leeching more heat out of the bodies that wore them. Naruto once again put his attention on the exercise, trying to distract himself from Hinata's clothing conforming to her body, and leaving even less to Naruto's imagination.
By the time noon came Hinata and Sasuke were exhausted. Hinata having mastered the exercise, and Sasuke close behind. While they took a break, Naruto continued to work, seemingly unfazed by the last 3 hours of the chakra exercise. While he had been able to get farther and farther each time. He would eventually lose control and fall, but he would always swim back to shore and start again. An hour later Sasuke too had mastered the exercise and had started sparing Hinata on the lake's surface. Naruto had made some clones, frustrated with the exercise. With the help of his clones, Naruto now could walk on water easily. However, running and fighting were still needing work. Two hours later, Naruto could now run and fight on top of water as if it was second nature. He was now battling Sasuke, right after Sasuke had taken another break. Hinata had emerged the victor in the sparring match and had been called over by Kakashi when she and Sasuke had finished their break.
"What did you want to talk about Kakashi-sensei?". "Hinata, have you ever considered modifying the juuken fighting style?" Kakashi proposed. Hinata was shocked by Kakashi's question, such an idea was unimaginable to a Hyuga. "Never! The juuken fighting style can only be used properly by a Hyuga, and as such, every Hyuga should use it!" Hinata said. Kakashi had prepared for this and started his rebuttal. "First, While the juuken fighting style is very powerful, and difficult, a non Hyuga can do it just as well as a Hyuga, as long as they know where the chakra points are. So no, it is not a Hyuga's responsibility to only use the juuken fighting style. Second, the juuken fighting style relies on brute strength for most of its power. Strength you do not have, instead you have flexibility. Using that flexibility, you'll have an easier time fighting, and will be able to deliver more devastating blows. Just in a different way. Now, I will not force you into this decision, but I advise you as your sensei, to listen to me". Kakashi watched Hinata's face for any visible reactions, unfortunately for him, she was very skilled in hiding her emotions. To try and push her over the edge Kakashi used his trump card, a secret that not many people knew. "If you let me help you, you'll no longer need to worry about your sister beating you. Just like you she is more flexible than strong, however, she is not as flexible as you, so she currently has an easier time with the fighting style. If you are able to master this style, imagine how much stronger you and the Hyuga clan can become once you become…" Hinata had given Kakashi her full attention, few people outside of the clan knew about her duels with her sister for the title of heiress, 'how does he know all of this'. Kakashi finished his rebuttal with the thing Hinata had been working towards since the death of her mother, "Clan Head". Hinata froze, while it wasn't a secret, it was scary to have her ambition be used against the ideals of her clan. Kakashi saw she was deep in thought, trying to debate between her two options, and left to watch his other two genin. Hoping Hinata would accept his offer.
###########################################################################
When the sun had started to set, Naruto and Sasuke were sitting with their backs to a tree, practicing one of the many subjects they had started studying since they started taking advantage of their laid back Sensei. Sasuke practiced the lightning jutsu he had been working on on the way to Wave Country. Each time Naruto could hear Sasuke mumble "paralysis jutsu". Naruto had taken to practicing fuinjutsu, this time placing seals on top of my other seals.
Hinata had gone back to the house to think. She found herself agreeing with Kakashi's reasoning, but was worried about what the clan elders would think if they found out she had changed their sacred style. Her position as heiress was already on thin ice, and to change the fighting style would definitely cause her to lose the title. 'As it is now, I'll lose the title of heiress anyways within the next year. I'm a disgrace to the elders for being so weak. And what about father? What would he think of this.'. Hinata's mind was in turmoil, trying to decide between her development as a ninja, and the respect of her clan.
Kakashi was now sitting on a tree branch thinking of a battle strategy for next time they had to face Zabuza. 'If Gato can afford the services of such a powerful ninja. Who else has he hired to take out the old man? Then there's also the hunter nin that Sasuke had pointed out. A real hunter nin would've destroyed the body right there and then, not taken the body away. Something's not adding up here'. Taking a break from his thoughts, Kakashi looked to see that it was sunset. After yelling to Naruto and Sasuke that they'd be leaving, he started to walk towards Tazuna's house. Naruto and Sasuke running to catch up with him.
##############################################################################
One of Gato's Secret Safe Houses
In one of the medical rooms, Zabuza was laying in a bed, with an IV stuck into his arm. Be had been asleep for a full day now. Keeping the missing Mist nin company was the hunter nin that had "killed" him. In reality the nin had just hit certain nerves with the senbon to cause Zabuza to go into a death like state, but not actually die. This took great skill, skill that took years to achieve. A skill that no normal 14 year old had.
Haku was no ordinary boy. He had witnessed the death of his mother, at his father's hand, and then killed his father out of rage using his kekkei genkai. Kirigakure had made kekkei genkai illegal and it was seen as a sport to hunt down those with one. His kekkei genkai was the ability to have an ice element affinity. A rare element that could only be found in the land of snow now. Over the years he had started seeing Zabuza as a father figure and hated seeing him in such a state.
After killing his father, Haku was lost. He didn't have a home to go back too, and he didn't want to risk suffering the same fate as his mother. So he wandered the cold streets, looking for scraps of food. Then one harsh winter night, he lost the will to live and collapsed on a bridge, letting snow pile around him. He didn't know how long he laid there, wishing to die soon. But eventually someone walked up to him and nudged him with a foot. "Hey kid" said a man's voice. Haku didn't respond, hoping the man would let his little 4 year old body alone to die.
The man apparently didn't accept this. Grabbing Haku by the back of his shirt, the man lifted Haku out of the snow easily so he could look Haku in the eyes. Now seeing the man, Haku saw he had shark like teeth, and smelled of blood. "Look kid, I'm looking for a tool. Now I could leave your pathetic self here to die a meaningless death. Or I could take you with me, and teach you how to use chakra. But you'll have to do anything and everything I tell you without hesitation. A tool does not talk back to its wielder. Which do you choose?". Haku considered the man's words for a moment, 'If I live longer… maybe I can make sure no one else's Mommy or Daddy's are killed for their special powers'.
Haku looked back at the man with determination. "I'll be your tool". The man broke into a small smile, "Good". The man put Haku back on his feet and started to walk off. Haku went to follow and asked "My name is Haku. What's your's?". The man turned to the small boy beside him and said one word "Zabuza".
##############################################################################
It was quite in the house. Everyone had gone to sleep an hour ago. Everyone except Sasuke. He was determined to master the paralysis jutsu before having to guard the bridge builders, and Tazuna had said that everyone was ready even though it was such short notice. Slowly standing up, Sasuke started channeling chakra to his feet to make his footsteps silent. Slipping out the window, Sasuke started running to the area they had been training at earlier. The moon's light, the only thing lighting his path. The soft winter breeze blowing, and sending a small shiver down Sasuke's back.
Sasuke hated the winter. It brought back memories of that night, all those years ago. That was the most miserable he had ever been. If not for Naruto, he probably would have gone delusional in his rage, and be hell bent on getting revenge. But it still didn't make the winter any easier. Sasuke had been in the hospital for the first month, and then had to get an apartment, not being able to take a step into the Uchiha district without having the memories of that night flooding back to him.
While he believed there was more behind his brother's actions that night, it still didn't make the pain go away knowing that his brother had killed their entire family.
Arriving at the training area, Sasuke got to work. Making the hand signs he said "Paralysis Jutsu". Lightning erupted from his hands in thin and chaotic tendrils, moving all around as if searching for a target to flow into. Sasuke was deep in concentration, trying to control the lightning's chaos. It lasted for 8 seconds before the lightning went out of control and Sasuke's hands became slightly numb from the aftershock.
Shaking out his hands, Sasuke started again. He had been practicing this jutsu for weeks now, and had just recently figured out how to control the amount of lightning chakra. Now he just needed to practice so he could alternate between numbing and paralyzing an opponent.
Sasuke practiced for another 6 hours, taking a multitude of breaks to get feeling in his hands again, and was finally able to master the jutsu. The first time he had performed it without numbing his hands, Sasuke threw both hands into the air in victory, still crackling with lightning "FINALLY!". After weeks of practice, the young Uchiha was ecstatic about finally mastering the jutsu. The only thing keeping him from cartwheeling and flipping was his pride. While he was more humble than most of his late Uchiha kin, Sasuke did hold pride in himself and his clan, and he didn't think such a display would be appropriate for someone like him. Cancelling the jutsu, Sasuke made the hand signs he had been practicing for the past 6 hours and said "Paralysis Jutsu!". Just like before, Lightning crackled to life around his hands and he was able to move his hands without it dissipating. (imagine a chidori with the energy of a plasma ball)
Sasuke did this several more times before practicing fighting with the jutsu active, so he wouldn't accidentally hit himself while in combat. His punches left a trail of light from the lightning from the speed he was moving. Although, this practice of his taijutsu didn't last long for his passed out from exhaustion after a couple of minutes, finally letting himself sleep.
##############################################################################
Haku was walking through the forest, looking for medical plants to speed up Zabuza's recovery. He had dressed in a Kimono he had found, while it was girly, Haku didn't really care. He knew people often mistook him for a girl, but that worked to his advantage when trying to go about day to day business, like getting groceries. He didn't really socialize with others, unless he and Zabuza were taking a job. After Haku had been saved by Zabuza, he trained day and night to become the best tool he could be, and tools didn't go around making friends.
Looking around Haku spotted a boy sleeping in the middle of a clearing. 'What's he doing out here? He'll catch a cold'. Walking up to the boy, Haku saw that he was a leaf village ninja. Haku grew sad at this, 'I'll probably have to kill him later'.
Haku started walking away when he heard the boy wake. Turning around, Haku was met with two black holes staring into his soul. Haku had never seen someone with black irises before, and found himself staring at the boy. Snapping out of his trance Haku gathered himself and put on a fake smile. "Hello, what are you doing out here? You'll catch a cold".
Sasuke had woken up to a girl in a pink kimono in front of him. A strange sight to wake to in the forest. After shaking off his weariness, ignoring the Haku's question, Sasuke finally observed the girl in front of him and only one thing went through his head, 'she's…' "beautiful". His brain still waking up, Sasuke had accidentally voiced part of his thoughts. Haku had a light blush grow on his face, while he had been called beautiful before, for some reason this time was different. Sasuke didn't realize what he had done for a few seconds wondering why this girl had turned pink all of a sudden, then it dawned on him that he said the last word in his thoughts, causing him to have a blush crawl across his cheeks.
An awkward silence filling between the two, Haku decided to try asking his question again, "Soo… What were you doing out here? You could've caught a cold". Haku had hoped this would break the tension that had formed. Sasuke was thankful for the tension breaker and answered Haku's question. "I was…" not wanting to give away too much information Sasuke made up an excuse, "enjoying the beauty of the winter night". Haku didn't buy this, but didn't want to chase the truth. "Soo… what would your name be? My name is Haku". "Mine is Sasuke, it's nice to meet you Haku. Now, you asked me about what I was doing out here, but what are you doing?". Haku answered honestly, having no reason to lie. "I'm out here looking for medicinal herbs to help heal my sick… father", Haku felt strange referring to Zabuza as his father, but it was more accurate than being Zabuza's friend. Sasuke nodded at this, "You know, my companions that I came here with are skilled in the medical field, I'm sure they could help". Haku shook his head, "Sorry, but my father is a very paranoid man, and doesn't take kindly to strangers". Haku then tried to divert the topic of conversation, talking about the forest and the animals within it. The two spent 3 hours talking, with a few jokes here and there from Sasuke. Surprisingly the Uchiha could be quite the comic in a conversation.
When Sasuke finally realised what time it was, he forced himself to end the conversation with Haku. Haku was more disappointed than he thought he'd be when Sasuke said he had to go. Forgetting that they were enemies, Haku said "Could we be… friends?". A word that had never been spoken or thought of for the past 5 years surfaced, and while he did not show it, Haku was an internal mess. 'Will he say no? Is it too early? I've never had a friend before so I don't know how this works. Maybe it's an unspoken thing? What if he gets freaked out that I'm a guy?''.
Sasuke smiled at this question however, and said "I'd be happy to be your friend Haku". Butterflies formed in Haku's stomach at the sight of a rare full smile from the Uchiha, but then he remembered one little detail that he needed to make clear to Sasuke. "Great! But, just so you know, I'm a boy".
Sasuke's mind went blank for a second before rebooting and reprocessing this information. 'WHAT!?'. After a couple seconds of no answer Haku lowered his head, thinking that Sasuke would reject him as a friend. Sasuke saw this and knew he had to act fast, "No, wait, Yes, ummm… let me start over. I'd love to be your friend". Haku genuinely smiled at this and Sasuke felt his face start to heat up. Saying their final goodbyes the two went their separate ways, wondering what in the world just happened.
It wasn't until Haku got back to picking herbs that he remembered the current situation he was in, and realized that the one friend he has in the world will probably be killed by his hand within the next few days. This brought a tear to Haku's eye as he continued to gather herbs, trying to bury his emotions in work.
##############################################################################
When Sasuke finally arrived at the bridge he was met with an angry Naruto. "Why did you sneak off in the middle of the night! And without me!". Hinata and Kakashi had their sweat drop at Naruto's question. Sasuke smirked and did he knew would urk Naruto. "I did?". Naruto had steam coming from his ears "DAMN RIGHT YOU DID, BASTARD!". Sasuke looked to the clouds as if trying to remember something, "hm, I don't remember doing that. Are you sure it was me?". Naruto was about to tear his friend limb from limb and when Tazuna interrupted. "We're all ready! Before we get to work I need to show you where Gato's thugs usually attack from. Follow me". Team 7 followed with a smug looking Uchiha, furious Uzumaki, annoyed Hyuga, and seemingly disinterested Jounin in tow.
After showing the ninja the location of the bridge that the thugs usually climb to raid the bridge and describing past raids from the entrance of the bridge, Tazuna went back to work, looking at blueprints and helping out the builders here and there. Kakashi then divided his team in two. One team to watch the sides of the bridge and the other to watch the entrance. Sasuke was paired with Naruto, and Kakashi had paired himself with Hinata, hoping she had come to a decision about his offer. The two boys went to guard the entrance, and Kakashi and Hinata started walking towards the area that the thugs tended to climb out the bridge in.
Not wanting to waste time Kakashi was blunt with his questions, "Have you come to a decision yet about my offer?". Hinata had expected her sensei to ask about it and stayed silent for a few seconds to review with herself all the reasons she made yesterday to support her decision. Hesitantly Hinata answered, "Yes, I believe adapting the juuken fighting style will benefit me in the future. I know my clan won't be happy about it, but if we are to grow as a clan, we need to try new things in order to keep up with the times". While she was giving reasons to her sensei, it sounded more like she was reassuring herself with this decision more so than her sensei. Kakashi nodded, knowing what Hinata was risking by letting him modify the style for her.
When they reached their destination Kakashi turned to Hinata and said "now we're going to be here for a while. And while the criminals can attack at any time and I'm still recovering from my fight with Zabuza, I think I'll be able to hold them off myself if need be. So you are going to train in the meantime in the modified juuken form after I correct it. Now go through all the forms of the style one move at a time". Hinata nodded and got into her stance, waiting for Kakashi to tell her to make the next move. Kakashi had decided that even her stance needed modifying and the long process of modifying the juuken fighting style began.
Naruto had tried prying any information from Sasuke about the previous night. Sasuke had decided to tell Naruto about how he mastered the paralysis jutsu, but he didn't mention Haku. While Sasuke trusted Naruto with his life, he for some reason didn't feel comfortable telling Naruto about the mysterious boy he had met in the forest.
Naruto was satisfied with Sasuke's answer, but he knew there was more to the story. He was curious about what else happened last night, because he and Sasuke told each other almost everything, but he wouldn't pressure his friend for more. However, that didn't stop Naruto's thoughts from going into chaos. 'What could've happened last night to cause Sasuke to be so secretive? DID HE MEET SOMEONE?!'.
Naruto was consumed by his thoughts and ideas about what could've happened, ignoring the world around him. Sasuke sighed and left his friend with his thoughts, practicing some genjutsu as he guarded the bridge. After about an hour Naruto broke away from his thoughts and joined Sasuke, practicing his fuinjutsu again. Still guessing at what happened last night with Sasuke.
##############################################################################
Several hours later
Zabuza awoke from his short coma with a searing headache, that caused him to clutch his head in pain. Haku quickly gave him a cup of tea made out of the herbs he had been collecting earlier. It smelled awful, but Zabuza drank it like a shot of sake, knowing it would help. Although, tasting the drink could be considered worse than the headache it had stopped. After a quick shiver from the taste of the tea, Zabuza gestured for some water. Haku complied, handing him another cup filled with water.
Drinking quickly, Zabuza turned to Haku and asked, "how long was I out?". "Almost two days, anyone and it would've taken a week to wake up" Haku said. Zabuza nodded in understanding, feeling proud that his recovery system was better than most. Trying to stand Zabuza put a foot on the floor and pushed off the bed, only to fall into Baku's arms and be returned to the bed. "You'll need a few days to recover though, your nervous system is still recovering from the attack". Zabuza grunted in displeasure, "it'll only take a day for me". Returning to the bed, Zabuza sat using the wall to lean on, looking around the room he was in. "We're in one of Gato's Safe Houses?", Haku nodded in confirmation. Zabuza narrowed his eyes and let the back of his head hit the wall to relax a little.
'Should I tell him about my meeting with Sasuke? I'm his tool, and tools don't keep secrets, but I finally have a friend. Granted I'll probably be fighting him later, but I wear a mask, so Sasuke won't know. Maybe Zabuza will let me spare Sasuke'. With the hope of sparing his friend, Haku went to tell Zabuza of his meeting with the Lear Genin when Gato had one of his goons kick the door open. A short man with small glasses and a receding hairline entered the room with two thugs in tow, an annoyed look on his face. In a raspy voice that did nothing to hide his years of drinking and smoking he said "What am I paying you for?! You good for nothing ninja, I wanted that bridge builder dead before he returned to the village! And you get beaten by a team of genin! I'm starting to wonder just how good of a ninja you actually are Zabuza of the Blood Mist Village!".
Faster than Gato's goons could think, Haku was standing before Gato with a senbon poking both sides of his neck, threatening to kill him. Gato started sweating a little, and his goons were just drawing their weapons. "Haku isn't known to be a killer. Maybe today that will change, starting with you", warned Zabuza. Haku applied more pressure to Gato's neck with the senbon. Just enough for a trickle of blood to start.
Scowling Gato signalled his men to put away their weapons, then waited for Haku to remove the senbon from his neck. "I want that bridge builder to be gone by the end of the week, otherwise the deal is off and I'll find another assassin to do the job", said Gato. Turning around, he walked off, muttering something about how ninja cost more than they're worth.
Silence filled the room for a few seconds after, both ninja slowly reigning in their killing intent. After several seconds Zabuza turned to Haku, "were you going to say something earlier?". Haku shook his head, finding himself scared for if Zabuza said no, or threw him away for being a poor tool. Zabuza nodded and layed down on the bed. "In two days, we'll attack. For now lay low and keep out of trouble. After we get paid we're killing Gato and leaving Wave Country. I'm sick of these Kami forsaken islands".
Haku bowed to his master, and left the room. Heading off to train, trying to clear his mind of any doubts about the attack.
##############################################################################
Two Days Later
The sun trickled through the small window of the room she was staying in, tickling her nose with it's warmth. Hinata eventually woke up when the sun finally landed on her eyes, causing a rude awakening to the enjoyable dream she was having. Sitting herself up, she saw everyone else had left for the day.
After a brief stretching, Hinata entered the dining room/kitchen hoping to have a light breakfast while she rested for the day.
Over the past two days, Kakashi had drilled Hinata in her new modified juuken form. And while she felt much more comfortable and powerful in the fighting style. After two days of practicing it, she needed a rest. Kakashi had told her the night prior, to take the day off to rest, finally satisfied with her results.
Hinata went over to the counter and grabbed a pear from the fruit bowl. As she opened the cabinet to grab a plate, Hinata saw a little stash of chocolates hidden behind the bowls.
Checking to make sure no one was watching, Hinata snatched a chocolate, sliding into her sleeve. Having successfully stolen a sweet treat, she continued on her original task and grabbed a plate for herself.
On her way to the table, she grabbed a knife to cut up the pear with. She couldn't stand how sticky her hands felt when fruit juice got on them and almost always had her fruit cut up so she could avoid this annoyance. The few times she didn't have her fruit cut up was when she was too tired in the morning to properly take care of a snack for school and just threw a fruit into her bag.
After slicing up the pear, Hinata took a piece and bit into it. Enjoying the refreshing taste of a fresh pear on her tongue. Finishing her tasty breakfast, Hinata placed her plate and knife into the sink after throwing out the pear core.
Fishing out the chocolate from her sleeve, Hinata unwrapped the sweet and tossed it into her mouth. A small smile forming on her lips. A little known fact about the Hyuga's was their sweet tooth. To keep this sweet tooth in line, the Hyugas had bought Konoha's 4 dentist companies, making appointments every two months or so. That and her father always made sure that she and her sister brushed their teeth well every night. Telling them horrifying stories about Hyuga's that didn't and had their teeth rot and were cursed to never eat a sweet again.
Returning to the room, Hinata laid down on her futon that she had brought. Enjoying the quiet house, and sunlight warming her face.
##############################################################################
Naruto was unusually quiet that morning. Sasuke had asked if he was alright, but all Naruto would say is that he feels like something bad is going to happen today. Kakashi had raised an eyebrow at this and took note of his genin's feeling. Knowing to never ignore a ninja's instincts, no matter how inexperienced they were.
Going back to the posts the leaf shinobi were cautious when they went to their respective past times. Keeping an eye out for any suspicious activity.
Unfortunately for them, they didn't have to wait long before the suspicious activity they were looking for arrived. A dense mist rolled over the bridge within minutes, and soon the workers couldn't see farther than 10 feet in front of them.
"Naruto. Sasuke. Find Tazuna and protect him.
Naruto, make some shadow clones to get the workers off the bridge, and to alert Hinata" Kakashi ordered. His genin followed without hesitation. Within ten minutes all of the workers had been escorted off, and Tazuna was now being protected by the real Naruto and Sasuke.
Kakashi had lifted his forehead protector in preparation for the ensuing battle. Readying two kunai, Kakashi tried using sharingan to see through the mist to no avail. Working off of his other senses, Kakashi waited for his opponent to make the first move, and he had a sneaky suspicion about who it was.
Hearing the air being cut by the blade, Kakashi ducked to avoid having his head cut clean off. Jumping away and turning around, Kakashi was just able to block the next strike, coming face to face with Zabuza. "So you are friends with that false hunter nin, interesting" Kakashi taunted. Zabuza stared at his opponent, "I underestimated you last time, now let's see how good you are when you can't use your fancy little sharingan to help you". With that Zabuza charged at Kakashi. Kakashi met his charge and the clash of blades began.
##############################################################################
Hinata had woken up from her nap and had started to do some flower pressing in the room, when she heard two unfamiliar voices coming from the other room along with Inari's voice. "It's simple, kid, just tell us where your mom is and we'll leave you alone" said an arrogant voice. "Yeah, Gato's not a patient man, and we want to have some fun with her before we have to turn her over to him," said the other in a deep voice. Inari weakly said, "I won't let you take my mother away. You can do what you want with me, but I will never tell you where she is". "Is that right" the arrogant voice said. The sound of a sword sliding out of its sheath could be heard. Leaving her jacket on the futon, Hinata chose that moment to interrupt and open the door to her room. Making her presence known to the two thugs.
The arrogant sounding one had an unsheathed sword with multiple chips in the blade. He was skinny, with spiky orange hair, and loosely wore a blue kimono, a cigarette hanging from his mouth. The other Thug was bald with a nose piercing. He wore a leather vest that exposed most of his large chest and stomach, and had faded brown pants with a multitude of holes in them. He carried a big ono war axe on his shoulder and had a tattoo of a scantily clad woman on his left bicep.
"Who's this? I thought it was only the daughter and the grandson" asked the deeper voiced thug. "Don't know, but since Gato only wanted the daughter, we can have this one all to ourselves" said the arrogant thug, licking his lips as he surveyed Hinata's body. Hinata's eyes were covered by a shadow, and her bangs covered the sides of her face, so neither of the thugs noticed her veins bulging. Inari started tearing up seeing the men not only say such things about his mother, but also about the girl who understood his pain more than even he did.
"You two want to play do you?". If a tone of voice could kill, the two thugs would find themselves killed ten times over. Never had Hinata used such a threatening voice with someone, and even she was surprised when she heard the words leave her mouth.
The thug with the deep voice took a step backwards, obviously being the smarter of the two. The other however, shook off Hinata's threatening tone after a few seconds and said "ooo, trying to act tough are we? Oh well, it'll just be more fun to break you later!". With that he charged at Hinata, a fist ready to knock her out with.
Hinata looked up to stare directly into the thug's eyes, letting him know exactly what he had gotten himself into. A second later the arrogant thug was slammed into the floor unconscious, with Hinata standing on top of him. The other thug saw the glint of Hinata's forehead protector and cursed for not realizing that she was a ninja. Trying to make his escape the other thug made a run for it.
As he was running, Tsunami just so happened to be walking home and the thug smirked. 'At least I get to have some fun later'. Running up to Tsunami, the thug went to quickly hoist her into his shoulder, but was met with a kunai to the neck when he momentarily stopped to knock her out with a punch.
Standing on the man's back with chakra, the Naruto Clone rhetorically inquired, "Now why would a dirty low life like yourself be running from the bridge master's house?". He had met up with Tsunami on his way to warn Hinata, and had been told about how she had seen two thugs with Inari heading to the house. Knowing Hinata could more than handle herself against two simple thugs, the Naruto clone decided to stay with Tsunami, in case either of the thugs escaped and made a go for her on the way out.
"Now I'm guessing you ran into Hinata and you and your friend made a few comments about having some fun later with her…. Well, I don't think I can let you go freely after doing such a thing. So I'll give you a choice. You can either die here and now, or even worse, I could hand you over to Hinata once she gets here.
Your choice, but the clocks ticking. She's about half way here as we speak". The thug turned his head to see Hinata slowly making her way across the little bridge connecting Tazuna's House to the island. The water to her sides lifted as if reacting to the killing intent she radiated and was trying to increase just how dangerous she looked.
If not for using the bathroom before all of this, the thug would have peed himself in terror. Trying to taunt the Naruto Clone into letting him have an escape the thug said, "Y-You don't have the balls to kill me, you just a shelter little brat who's never killed before! Too bad your momma ain't around to help you….". The thug's taunt was cut short due Naruto pushing harder on the kunai at his throat. "My momma hasn't been around for the last 13 years. Enjoy rotting in hell you piece of filth". Finishing his little speech, Naruto slit the thug's throat, killing him instantly.
Hinata broke out of her anger when she saw Naruto had killed the thug. While she had no problem causing serious injury, she had never killed someone before. And to see Naruto do so right in front of her eyes froze her in place. It was the last thing she had expected from the blond bastard. As he turned around she was met with his piercing blue eyes that were filled with pain and suffering. "We need you at the bridge. We're under attack and we need your eyes to see through the mist" the clone said before poofing into smoke. Hinata swallowed the bile rising in her throat and forced herself to pull the green faced Tsunami away from the body and towards the house.
Arriving at the house, they were greeted by Inari hugging them both. Hinata was taken back from the action, Tsunami gave a weak smile and bent down to hug her son back.
Refocusing on the issue at hand, Hinata informed Tsunami that the thug in the dining room won't be waking for another 8 hours and that he needed to be tied up. She then went to collect her ninja gear. Putting her jacket back on, Hinata made her way out the door.
Inari ran up to her and asked "where are you going now?". "There's trouble at the bridge, so I have to go back up my team" explained Hinata as she made her way out the door. "But what if you're killed?! Then what?!" shouted Inari, tears starting to trickle down his face.
Hinata turned to him, knowing full well what Inari was afraid of. "Heroes are heroes because they do the right thing no matter the odds. My team is in trouble, so I'll be damned if I didn't try to help. Your village is in trouble Inari. How are they ever going to get out of trouble if there's no heroes to guide them?". As she finished she turned and started sprinting towards the bridge to help her teammates. Leaving Inari once again with his thoughts.
##############################################################################
Naruto and Sasuke were looking all around for the enemy, hoping Hinata would arrive soon so they'd have a pair of eyes that would be able to see through the mist. Suddenly the fake hunter nin from earlier appeared in front of them. Sasuke did a quick series of hand signs and lightning erupted from his hands, lazily searching for an opponent to attack. Naruto took out a kunai with a weight seal attached to it, thinking of a plan to attach the weight seal onto the hunter nin.
The hunter nin was quiet. Blankly staring at the two genin, as if it was just a doll. Then it made a brief flick of the wrists, senbon needles falling in between it's figures.
"Naruto, I'm going to engage the nin in taijutsu, if you see an opening take it to use your seal," Sasuke said, his eyes never leaving the masked assailant. Naruto nodded, the memories of his clones flooding back to him, including the one sent to get Hinata. His face darkened and he drew another kunai, "Hinata is on her way".
Sasuke slowly nodded his head in understanding as he and the hunter nin had a stare down. After a minute of tension building between the two and the clashing of their respective teachers in the background, the two blitzed forward, meeting halfway with senbon meeting kunai. The hunter nin changing their grip so as to engage in close combat. The two stayed that way for a few seconds until they went into a multitude of deadly spinning and slashing attacks. Dodging a needle that was aimed to puncture his stomach. Sasuke punched the Hunter nin's arm, causing it to spasm. The hunter nin jumped back, clutching their arm, quickly hitting a few pressure points in their arm when they landed. The hunter nin had regained control of their arm and was about to start a jutsu when a barrage of kunai appeared out of the mist.
Acting off of their advanced reflexes, the hunter nin dodged and blocked the kunai as best they could. As the hunter nin was defending itself, it failed to notice a kunai with a paper slip attached to it, making a cut to it's arm. The seal on the paper, using that millisecond of contact to transfer the weight seal on it to the hunter nin. Still acting on it's reflexes, the nin tried jumping away from the kunai, only to find it's weight doubled. Naruto emerged from the mist with his two teammates beside him, Hinata's byakugan active.
Together, Sasuke and Hinata went to engage the hunter nin. However, the hunter nin started making one handed signs, while fending off the two genin. Finishing the jutsu, water in the bridge started to rise, and freeze around the three. Eventually the water, now ice rose to form a dome of icy mirrors, Naruto on the outside, watching it all.
Hinata and Sasuke were surprised, it was a rare sight to see someone do one handed seals, and this just so happened to be their first time seeing it. The Hunter nin used this surprise to slip into one of the mirrors, turning around to look like it was a moving painting. Then all of the mirrors became filled with the masked ninja.
Sasuke tried sending a fireball into one of the mirrors, and Hinata tried juuken striking one. Both ended with the same results, nothing. Naruto tried throwing kunai with explosion tags on them at the mirrors, but still, not a scratch was put onto the mirrors of ice.
The masked ninja then started throwing senbon needles, which appeared to be coming from every direction! Hinata used her byakugan to knock as many as she could down, while Sasuke used two kunai to protect himself. Naruto went to try attaching a weight seal to a mirror, but was caught by the throat by the hunter nin, who had temporarily left the mirrors and giving Hinata and Sasuke a break. Naruto struggled against the hunter nin, attempting to attach another weight seal to the hunter nin. The masked hunter snatched the seal before it could be activated and froze it until it crumpled. The nin then spun around with Naruto still in hand, throwing the blond straight into the bridge, causing a crater to form. The hunter nin then followed this launching several senbon at Naruto.
Naruto didn't rise from the crater. Sasuke's eyes went wide, yelling his friend's name to receive no response. The hunter nin flinched at how hurt Sasuke sounded and a silent tear fell out from beneath the mask. Hinata stopped breathing, unable to move in any way after seeing her teammate die. After getting no response from Naruto, Sasuke clutched his eyes in pain. Hinata snapped out of her shock and rushed over to him, using her byakugan to see chakra start to fill his eyes. Opening his eyes, the hunter nin turned to be met with the blood red eyes of an Uchiha, two tomoe in each eye. Sasuke's voice was filled with rage as he said, "You've killed the man that I think of as a brother. Now prepare to die".
The hunter nin felt another tear running down its cheek, and returned to their mirrors. Starting an even harsher barrage of senbon. Sasuke defected the senbon with ease now watching them as if in slow motion, now he just needed to get the rest of his body to catch up to the new speed of his eyes. However, he was able to see that the hunter nin wasn't actually in multiple places at once, but was in fact just jumping from mirror to mirror at speeds not even the a jounin could process. Thanks to his sharingan, Sasuke was able to see the hunter nin flicker between the mirrors. And could follow its path thanks to that flicker.
Seeing the pattern in the hunter nin's movements, Sasuke prepared his fireball jutsu. Seeing his moment to strike approaching. Sasuke launched the fireball, having it crash into the top mirror leaving once again, no effect. However, when looking at the hunter nin, one could see that it now had burn on its left leg with half of its pant leg singed or burnt off.
Hinata was amazed at the increase of her teammate's skill. He was now on par with her when deflecting the senbon, and had even managed to hit the enemy! However, to prevent Sasuke from doing that again, the hunter nin gradually got faster and more and more senbon were slipping through their defences. After a few more minutes of more and more senbon breaking through their defences, it stopped. Sasuke and Hinata knelt, tired from deflecting so many senbon so quickly, and because of the pain of the senbon that had made it through. The hunter nin had gone back to being in one mirror and finally spoke for the first time during the battle, "I'm sorry… my friend".
Sasuke's eyes widened, realizing who it was. Haku felt another tear side down his cheek as he once again appeared in all of the mirrors. Hinata was confused by the hunter nin's words and forced herself to stand up, readying to deflect another rain of senbon. Sasuke had stayed kneeling on the ground, unable to believe that the ninja they were fighting was Haku all this time.
Each mirror launched around a hundred senbon each, making it impossible to see past them. Hinata closed her eyes, deactivating her byakugan. Not wanting to witness the hundreds of needles heading at her. After several seconds of still not feeling any pain, Hinata opened her eyes to see Naruto, struggling to stand with the amount of senbon that was now in him. Doubling the amount of senbon in Sasuke and Hinata combined, and the rest of the senbon on the ground in large piles.
The world had frozen in awe at the boy's feat. Haku was unable to believe that the blond had been able to knock so many down. Sasuke and Hinata were unable to make a noise, as they watched their teammate start to stand up straighter, his back turned to them. Then he released a killing intent that was just as potent the foul red chakra that came along with it. The needles covering his body were forced out, leaving the holes they created in their wake.
##############################################################################
Off at Kakashi's battle with Zabuza, the two jounin stopped in both in fear of this evil chakra, and what destruction it could bring. 'Did the seal break? For the love of Kami, please let that not be the case'. Kakashi raced off to his genin, in hopes of possibly reducing the damage that was to ensue.
Zabuza saw his opponent run off, and join him. Finding himself worried about Haku. As he followed his opponent to the source of that terrifying chakra.
##############################################################################
Naruto turned to face Haku, revealing his iconic whiskers to be enlarged, his teeth more ferrell, and his blue eyes turned blood red.
Hinata found herself scared of the blonde for the second time that day. Sasuke watched in confusion and fear, 'where is this chakra coming from?!'. A low growl emitted from Naruto's throat. Hinata could feel it vibrate throughout her bones, sending a shiver down her spine.
Haku readied senbon needles, hoping to stop things before they got out of hand. Before he could throw the senbon, Naruto crashed a fist into the mirror, breaking it instantly and sending Haku flying out the back.
Haku crashed into the side of the bridge, his masking cracking in half. The lower half, falling to the ground to show Haku with a trickle of blood running from his mouth. Landing on the ground, Naruto dropped to all fours, snarling at Haku. Zabuza and Kakashi had just arrived, ignoring their previous battle entirely. Zabuza saw the look in Naruto's eyes and knew Haku stood no chance against him. Against all logic and philosophy, Zabuza sprinted to Haku, not letting himself think.
Naruto charged forward at Haku, pulling back an arm for a punch. Sasuke yelled for Naruto to stop, but Naruto couldn't hear anything except for the fox whispering in his ear, provoking the boy even more. Haku gave a sad smile as he watched his killer approach. 'I hope I was a good enough tool… Zabuza… Father…'.
Blood splattered across Naruto's face, waking him from his rage. Regaining his senses, Naruto found himself staring into a pair of eyes that were filled with sorrow and pain. Removing his hand from the hole it had created, Naruto stumbled backwards. Terrified by what he had done.
Haku's eyes went wide, unable to believe what had just happened. Frozen in shock, Haku watched as Zabuza's body fell into him, a bloody hole through the center of his chest. As he fell into Haku, Zabuza said something that he thought would never leave his lips. "I'm proud of you, Haku, my," with his final breath Zabuza smiled, "son".
Lying in Haku's arms, Zabuza was motionless. Eyes apologizing for being so cold, for being a murderer, for using Haku as a tool, and for leaving him all alone in this heartless world. His wrappings, hinting to a small smile underneath. Rain had started to fall, blending in with the tears that streamed down Haku's face, as he watched the man he considered his father, died in his arms.
Okay so before I list off the ships I currently have planned for the future, I'd like to ask how to recommend stories at the bottom. Could someone explain, I want to publicize other stories, so then you can enjoy those stories too. Now enough said, here are the ships.
Naruto x Hinata
Sasuke x Haku
Shikamaru x Temari
Kakashi x Shizune
Shino x Fu
Sai x Ino
Neji x Tenten
Iruka x Anko
Choji x Yakumo
I'm still iffy whether or not I should hook Jiraiya and Tsunade up, and I'm open to suggestions about who should be paired up with Sakura. At the moment I was thinking Sakura x Lee, Sakura x Karin, or Sakura x Kiba. Please comment or review your thoughts about the JiraTsuna ship, and also comment who you think Sakura should be shipped with.