The chilling voice of Zabuza sent shivers down Hinata's spine as she found herself trembling in her place once again, the arm holding her kunai shaking dangerously.
Sasuke's hand was also trembling as he kept a focused look on his face, knocking any sort of emotions out of the ballpark.
"He's shaking again." Zabuza noted, despite not being there, right in front of them, Zabuza could sense Sasuke's movement and fear. Sasuke's trembling stopped as he soon realized that 5 Zabuzas had surrounded them.
Sasuke smirked, much to the surprise of the Zabuza Bunshin in front of him. "I'm shaking with excitement."
Kakashi have a confident eye smile, "Go for it, Hinata, Sasuke!"
All Zabuza's thrusted their swords toward the group, Hinata and Sasuke reacted quickly, with Hinata jumping over the blade and puncturing her kunai into Zabuza's chest, her hands were immediately met by dripping water as the Bunshin dissolved into water. Hinata pivoted her foot so she was facing the Zabuza Bunshin attacking Tazuna, who was frozen in place to move.
With great speed she jumped into the air and struck the Bunshin with a Juuken strike, the Zabuza she hit also turning into water.
Sasuke, meanwhile, simply rushed the first one, sidestepping his blade and slashing him across the stomach, he emplaned his foot onto the ground, jumping off of it and towards another Zabuza.
The Zabuza he was coming towards gripped his sword tightly, attempting to slash Sasuke with a left swing, only for the Uchiha to spring himself into the air, landing on the blade and taking another leap upwards, turning his body to the last Zabuza.
He flinged his kunai right for Zabuza's chest, the weapon getting implanting itself deep in the Bunshin's chest while Sasuke assaulted the Zabuza he was above, bringing his enclosed fists on the clone's head with great power.
Both Bunshins were killed.
"Kakashi-sensei, two more clones!" Hinata pointed to the sky, where two more Zabuza Bunshins were coming down on the group in an attempt of a sneak attack.
Kakashi merely pulled out some shuriken and hurled them at the Bunshins, stabbing and destroying them.
"Those kids got stronger, particularly the Uchiha." The voice of Zabuza was heard further down the bridge, the demon of the Mist standing there with his companion posing as a hunter-nin, "It seems a rival has appeared for you, Haku."
"So that kid really is aligned with you, Zabuza." Kakashi stated, referring to Haku.
"I'll fight him." Sasuke opted immediately.
"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata exclaimed out of surprise.
"I have to get him back for that little act he pulled on us. I hate conceited guys like that." Sasuke explained bluntly.
"I-I don't think that's a good idea…" Hinata whispered, however her voice was too soft for Sasuke to pick up on what she had said. And frankly, at that moment, he didn't care what she said, he was still gonna fight the guy named Haku.
But as she continued to look at the situation, Hinata realized there wasn't much they could do, they were pinned to the end of the bridge by Haku and Zabuza.
"Go, Haku." Zabuza commanded, with said person responding with "Yes sir" as he made his move.
The boy began to move towards Sasuke, but he was moving so fast that he looked like a blur spinning in circles.
"What?!" Sasuke gaped out of shock, taking out another kunai in his pouch, gripping it tightly. He focused, trying to keep up with Haku's speed as he ran forward, holding up his kunai, ready to strike.
CLANG!
The sound of kunai meeting with senbon rang throughout the air as the standing figures of Haku and Sasuke were seen glaring at each other, albeit Haku's eyes couldn't be seen due to his mask.
How interesting, he was able to catch up to his speed, even though he couldn't keep up me in the slightest while I held back in our last encounter...Zabuza noted as he glared at Kakashi, who glared back with his visible eye.
"Hinata, stay close to Tazuna-san and stand guard! Don't get too far from him! Without Naruto, we have one less person to help guard, so you cannot make a mistake! Let Sasuke deal with this guy!" Kakashi informed the girl.
The sound of a gulp could be heard coming from the girl as she began to sweat at the role forcefully assigned to her.
"Yes, sensei!"
Come on Hinata, this is no time to freeze up! Not when your comrades need you! Hinata took a stance, holding her kunai closer to her body as she shimmied over, closer to Tazuna.
Sasuke and Haku parted away from each other, taking a step back as they both spun in place, preparing to strike each other with their respective weapon, once again freezing in place due to a struggle with their weapons clashing against each other.
"I don't want to kill you, but you won't back off no matter what I say, right?" The shake of Sasuke's head along with his grin all but confirmed the answer, "As I thought...but you won't be able to keep up with my next move. I have the upper hand here!"
Haku held up his free hand and brought it up to his face, making a sign, much to Sasuke's shock.
He's forming a hand sign using only 1 hand! Sasuke widened his eyes as he realized that he could only block or take whatever Haku was going to dish out.
"Sensatsu Suisho (Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death)!" On Haku's exclamation, the water left by the Zabuza clones rose from the ground, before separating into 1000 bits, changing into a solid needle, all directed toward Sasuke.
Sasuke formed a hand sign as he began to mold Chakra right when the needles rushed towards him, preparing to strike in 1000 places in order to kill him. Haku leaped backwards.
"Sasuke-kun!" Hinata called out of concern as the needles seemed to have hit Sasuke, a blue cloud forming as a result, however, her concern turned to relief when she saw him leap at the last moment with her Byakugan, appearing to shoot right out of the cloud high in the sky, using his Chakra to propel himself in the air by transferring Chakra to his feet.
Haku skid to a halt, directed his gaze upwards as he saw Sasuke chucking shuriken at him, causing the fake hunter-nin to continuously leap backwards in order to avoid getting hit.
While Haku was distracted with dodging, Sasuke had appeared right behind him, commenting how slow he was as Haku quickly reacted, stepping away from Sasuke as both attempted to hit each other with the sides of their arms, only for them to collide and hold each other in place.
Sasuke smirked as he took the kunai in his free head and flicked it towards Haku's head with a twist of his fingers, Haku let out a sound of surprise as he crouched down to the ground, avoiding the kunai to the head.
However, Haku couldn't dodge forever, and right after he ducked down, his face was met with a powerful kick from Sasuke, sending the ninja flying back towards Zabuza.
"Haku was beaten in speed?" Zabuza widened his eyes, genuinely surprised for once by Sasuke's actions.
"You can't make fun of our team just because we have children." Kakashi retorted as he continued, "Sasuke Uchiha is the top rookie of Konoha! Hinata Hyuga is the village's little princess who packs a punch!"
Hinata blushed slightly at the compliment despite the situation.
"And the last one likes to show off and he's number one when it comes to surprising people. He's the #1 hyperactive knucklehead ninja, Naruto Uzumaki!" Kakashi spoke with a hint of pride in his voice.
"Haku, do you understand that you're going to get defeated like this?" Zabuza asked his companion, who rose back to his feet.
"Yes." Haku answered as a purple fire like substance began to radiate off of Haku.
"Wh-What is that?!" Hinata wondered out loud.
"That's...cold air…" Sasuke identified, still confused on what Haku was doing as said boy made a hand sign.
"Sasuke-kun, behind you!" Came Hinata's voice, prompting the Uchiha to look behind him to see ice forming behind him, surrounding both him and Haku in multiple mirrors made of ice.
"Makyo Hyosho (Secret Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors)!" Haku recited the name of the technique as he proceeded to step into one of the mirror that formed, shocking everyone present, except Zabuza of course.
Sasuke widened his eyes as he witnessed Haku's entire body appear on each and every mirror.
"Damn it!" Kakashi cursed as he ran towards the mirror prison Sasuke was trapped in, only for Zabuza to appear right in front, cutting him off from the prison.
"I'm your opponent, remember? He's a goner now that Haku has unleashed that technique." Zabuza retorted with a cocky smile under his mask.
"Let's begin," Haku said as Sasuke scanned each and every mirror, "I will show you my true speed." Haku held multiple senbon in between his fingers as multiple senbon were thrown from all of the mirror at great speed, so fast that Sasuke didn't have time to react.
Sasuke yelled ou in pain as the multiple senbon nicked at his skin and clothes, causing blood to spill out and his clothes getting ripped.
"Sasuke/Sasuke-kun!" Both Kakashi and Hinata exclaimed in unison. Kakashi directed his attention to Zabuza, he had to finish this quickly and get to Sasuke.
"If you move without thinking, I'll kill the two behind you." Zabuza warned the copy ninja.
As Sasuke continued to get assaulted by the senbon, he gave it his very all to keep the kunai in his hand gripped, trying to fight through the pain, Sasuke threw his kunai at a mirror in front of him.
Fortunately, the assault of the senbon halted. However, what surprised Sasuke was that Haku had popped out of the mirror and grabbed the kunai.
Haku turned the kunai around so that the sharp point was aimed at Sasuke, and he was about to throw it at the Uchiha, who was still feeling the pain of the senbon.
However, the next thing they knew, Haku was hit in the face by a single shuriken, causing a crack to form in his mask as, the shuriken had come from the outside of the mirror prison. He fell out of the mirror and dropped to the ground, immediately getting up to his knees to guard himself.
Outside the prison, a proof of smoke appeared as the silhouette of a certain blonde appeared.
"Naruto Uzumaki is back in action!"
Later
With Naruto's arrival, the fight had eventually turned out for the better,
Originally, he only made it worse as he entered the mirror prison like an idiot instead of attacking it from the outside in succession with Sasuke, who was inside.
Despite this, they managed to hold on against Haku, and learned about how he really didn't want to be a Shinobi, and that he only became one so he could help fulfill Zabuza's dream.
Kakashi and Zabuza had also began their fight, with Zabuza taking the upper hand in their fight and making it so Kakashi couldn't help Naruto and Sasuke at the risk of Tazuna being killed.
As Naruto and Sasuke continued to struggle through their fight, Sasuke had started to just barely pick up on Haku's movements, actually managing to predict her movements at some moments, much to the boy's surprise.
Sasuke had went on to essentially carry Naruto through the battle, finally activating his Sharingan in the process. During the battle, Haku pulled out multiple senbon and began to target Naruto, with Sasuke resorting to take the senbon head on for the blonde…
"Don't let...your dream die…"
He had left this world with those words. Naruto hugged the body of his now dead friend tightly, not wanting it to be true.
"Sasuke-kun…" Hinata whispered out of fear. Thanks to her Byakugan, she could see that Sasuke was actually alive, but in a near-death state. Naruto was now fighting Haku alone…
Were they going to fail the mission? Naruto seemed to be fatigued, so without anyone to help, did they even have a chance?
"Is the first time you have seen a friend die?" Haku asked Naruto curiously, turning his body towards the boy holding the Uchiha pincushion. "That is the path of a ninja." Haku once again walked backwards into one of her mirror.
"Shut up…" Naruto spoke menacingly, "I hated you too...Sasuke…" Steam began to flow around Naruto and Sasuke, all gathering and rising to the sky in one spot. "You will pay…"
Haku shivered as she felt it. Menacing killing intent. Killing intent that rivaled Zabuza's own...no, this killing intent was even more menacing.
The white steam flowing around Naruto and Sasuke disappeared momentarily, before coming back with a red fiery hue, before turning complete orange.
Hinata noticed this orange Chakra with her Byakugan, and how it had basically devoured Naruto's blue Chakra. She also noted how dark and arid the air felt, with a high amount of killing intent that, if she had body hair, would make her hair stand up.
What is that orange Chakra? Hinata wondered with a worried look on her face, feeling helpless once again to the team.
Naruto's blonde hair became more jagged and pointed, his finger nails become sharper and longer like a predator as Naruto revealed his face, revealing blood red eyes with pointy teeth, his whisker marks more feral and pronounced than than before.
"I'm gonna kill you!" Naruto growled as he sent Haku an intimidating glare, the orange Chakra become more wild as it enveloped Naruto.
"This is impossible...the Chakra...it's taking form…" Haku mused, widening his eyes from under his mask
The orange Chakra began to form into a face, the face of the fox...the Kyuubi, the Biju with nine tails.
Naruto's wounds began to steam as the senbon stuck in Naruto's body popped off, his wounds beginning to heal and close rapidly.
"His wounds, they're healing so fast...just what is this boy?" Haku froze and took a step back when Naruto glared right at him, staring into her soul with fury, and an intent to kill.
This killing intent was so strong, that even Kakashi and Zabuza were startled by it. It was so menacing, that Kakashi had thought in disbelief that it wasn't even coming from Zabuza, much less Haku.
"No...this Chakra, this menacing and ill Chakra, it belongs to...don't tell me that his…" Kakashi gaped under his mask, a panicked expression growing as he feared the worst.
"This Chakra...and the killing intent, is it Kakashi? No, this Chakra is much too big to belong to Kakashi. Who is it then?!" Zabuza muttered to himself as he looked back at the ice prison, where Haku was fighting Naruto and Sasuke, and also where he saw the source of the orange Chakra. "Don't tell me that one of those brats are releasing the Chakra!"
Why...at a time like this, why did the seal have to break?!
Haku protected himself with his arms as the harsh wind blew all round Naruto, lashing out at any unfortunate soul nearby.
"This thirst for blood...he's different from the boy from a while ago...completely different…" Haku noted as Naruto let out a fierce roar, prompting Haku to put his guard up, ready for anything Naruto had planned on doing…
If that was even Naruto anymore…
Naruto leaped off his feet as he rushed towards the mirror Haku was in on all fours, like a lion or some other kind of beast.
Haku threw some senbon at Naruto, but an ensuing shockwave made of orange Chakra coming from Naruto deflected them before they could even get close.
Haku quickly reacted and switched mirrors, moving to one above and behind Naruto.
He deflected it with just his Chakra?! Haku thought out of disbelief. Then…
Haku appeared on each and every mirror as every copy lifted their arm to throw senbon.
Naruto glared at one behind him as he was implied by every senbon Aimee and thrown at his back. Naruto grimaced momentarily before letting out a fierce roar, once again blowing all of the senbon away.
All of the Haku's disappeared on the mirrors, except for one, Naruto galloped towards the mirror, jumped and punched the mirror hard, shattering it into pieces.
Hinata noticed the destruction of the mirror as she saw Haku appearing out one above Naruto, attempting to slam his body on top of the boy with senbon, only for the blonde side flip away from his spot with great speed, by the time Haku landed, Naruto had already set his sights on him.
He dashed towards Haku, who was left wide open and let out a mighty roar, holding back a tight fist to slug Haku right in the face, orange Chakra rushing everywhere
throughout the prison.
With grit teeth like an animal, Naruto unleashed his punch, smashing Haku right in the face as the sound of the punch was so loud it echoed in the distance for all to hear.
Haku was blown right threw a mirror, shattering as the shockwave formed from the punch destroyed all other mirrors. Haku tumbled across the bridge as his mask began to tear into two.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata widened her eyes as she saw the boy dash right towards Haku with great speed, feeling a ferocious intent to kill.
Haku rose to her feet, letting Naruto come to him as his mask began to fall off.
It's over...I can't compete with him...Zabuza-san...I…
Naruto released a punch towards Haku's face as the boy braced for impact, ready to accept his defeat at the hands of the blonde.
But the punch never came.
The flattering of his mask hitting the ground was heard as Naruto had stopped his punch, inches from Haku's face.
Hinata gasped out of shock as she looked at Naruto's Chakra…
It's blue again! Then...what was that orange Chakra? Hinata thought to herself out of confusion. Why did he stop? Hinata looked at Haku again to see a familiar face…
"Hinata, go help Naruto! I will protect Tazuna-san on my own from here." Kakashi commanded as Hinata nodded her head, making sure that Zabuza wouldn't make any suspicious moves before running down the bridge past Kakashi, despite the thick fog.
"Are you sure that is a good idea? Without anyone to guard the bridge builder, it is mere child's play to kill him now." Zabuza said.
"I am fully aware. But even without her, you won't be getting to Tazuna-san, you're having way too much fun with this fight right now, aren't you? The adrenaline running through your veins, the desire to take me down and finish me, so you'll have the right to say that you killed the Konoha Copy Ninja!" Kakashi exclaimed, and judging from Zabuza's grin that he could see due to the movement in his mask, he had hit the jackpot.
Naruto's features returned to normal, his eyes turning blue, his nails striking, his whiskers and teeth looking less feral and beastlike.
"You're the guy from before…" Naruto mused as he remembered the boy he had met in the forest, in the pink dress and long hair, thinking that he was a girl before Hinata had come.
"Why did you stop?" At Naruto's gasp, she clarified, "I killed an important friend of yours, but you cannot kill me?" Haku spoke with an emotionless look in his eyes, a stream of blood running down and out of his mouth.
Naruto's fist trembled as he remembered Sasuke's lifeless body lying down on the ground, his anger rising again, he brought his fist back, jumping forward as he punched Haku in the face, with nowhere near as much power as earlier with the orange Chakra.
Despite this, Haku stumbled backwards and dropped to the ground, letting out a cough as he rose to his knees.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata arrived at that moment, much to the blonde's surprise.
"Hinata?! I thought you were guarding the bridge builder!"
"Kakashi-sensei told me to come help you!" Hinata explained quickly as she took a Gentle Fist stance.
"Hinata wait, he's-"
"The boy you met in the forest." Hinata finished for the blonde, much to his surprise.
Hinata had chosen to leave the things like that Sasuke was alive and the the thing with the orange Chakra a secret for the time being, as now really wasn't the time.
"Where did that energy of yours go? You can't defeat me like that." Haku stated as he wiped his face with his arm, ignoring Hinata's existence. "He wasn't an important person to you, then?"
"Do you have a person that's important to you?"
"I want to protect an important person. I want to make his dream come true. That is my dream."
The two things that Haku had said in the past replayed in Naruto's head as he took a step back, with Haku getting back up fully.
"There are some people who have no idea. They fail to defeat an enemy, show them mercy instead, and decide not to take his life...if you ask me, doing something like that is not the same as having mercy. Do you know the pain of living without a dream? Knowing you're not needed by anyone?"
Hinata froze when she heard that, relating to it as she has never made any impact on anybody and has always been a burden to others rather than helping them. She deactivated her Byakugan as she chose to listen, clutching her head as she felt a light pain from overusing her Byakugan.
"Just where are you getting at?" Naruto asked the boy, confused on why he was saying this now of all times.
"Zabuza-san does not need a weak ninja. You took my reason to exist."
"Why…? Why do you fight for a guy like that? He makes money from horrible people and does so many bad things! Is that no-browed bastard really the only person important to you?!" Naruto questioned, curious to know the answer.
"A long time ago...I used to have people who were important to me." Haku answered.
Oh no, he said used to, that never meant anything good, Hinata just knew it.
"My parents...I was born to a small village in Mizu no Kuni (Land of Water), where the snow piled up deep. All we did was farm, and we were poor, but my father and mother were happy. I was happy, they were very kind parents. But when I first took notice of my surroundings something happened." Haku started as he wiped the blood streaming down his face, looking at it now that it was smeared on his finger.
"This blood…"
Naruto and Hinata gave looks of confusion at the two words…
Haku raised his head to face the two, his eyes blank, void of any emotion, and to any normal person, it was unbelievable how Haku managed to say what he had said with an emotionless face…
"My father killed my mother...and he tried to kill me too."
Naruto and Hinata widened their eyes and froze in place, horrified of the revelation.
Naruto especially, as he never had any parents, and never had a good example of a parent. Were all parents like this? Should he be glad he didn't even have parents at all?
"Mizu no Kuni has experienced many civil wars in the past, and those possessing a kekkei genkai were hated."
"You have a kekkei genkai?" Naruto repeated out of disbelief, he had actually thought that Haku wasn't from a clan.
Haku nodded her head, "Correct, and because of the kekkei genkai they possessed, the families were used in many disputes and the country itself feared them to be the harbingers of disasters and wars. After the wars, those families hid their abilities and lived on because of their secret was revealed, only death awaited them. That boy and this girl probably had a hard time with this as well…"
Hinata looked down at the ground, remembering the Hyuga Affair 9 years ago, around the day of her 3rd birthday. A Kumo ninja had snuck into the Hyuga Manor and kidnapped her while she was sleeping, and since she hadn't undergone any training, she could no nothing to defend herself...not that she would have stood a chance.
In the end, the father of her cousin, Neji, was sacrificed due to his resemblance to Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father, as the two were twin brothers.
"Yes…" Hinata murmured, as Naruto grew interested on what Hinata was thinking about at the moment.
"Those who possess a kekkei genkai are feared by everyone. My mother possessed a kekkei genkai, the same Ice Style that I use. She kept it a secret and married my father, and she believed that she could lead an ordinary life for the rest of her life…" Haku continued as he spoke about the day he had ruined those beliefs.
The day he had accidentally learned about his kekkei genkai and used them in front of his mother, earning a literal slap to the face and being forbidden from being able to use her kekkei genkai.
"Unfortunately, Father had seen…"
Haku remembered the day his mother died, and the men backing him up to a wall in order to murder him in cold blood, only for Haku to use his kekkei genkai out of defense, and then...darkness…
"When I came to, I realized that I killed Father. And I realized what the most painful thing to feel is. The feeling that you are needed by anyone in this world…"
Hinata hugged her body tightly as she pictured the clan, her father, and her cousin Neji, who had long since been controlled by anger and rage.
He's the same as me...Both Naruto and Hinata thought in unison.
"You said to me," Haku started, his attention directed to Naruto, "I want to become the strongest ninja in my village, and make everyone acknowledge me. When someone who accepts you from the bottom of their heart appears, that person should become the most important person to you."
Hinata snuck a glance at Naruto, not knowing if he had accepted her. But if he did, then she thinks that he would be the first...other than Hanabi, but her sister had long since changed…
"Zabuza-san knew that I had a kekkei genkai and raised me."
"Kid, do you want to be needed by someone? Do you want to give up everything for me?"
"Starting today, your ability is mine."
"Come with me."
"I was happy." Haku smiled as he looked down, "I'm sorry, Zabuza-san, I couldn't be the fool that you wished me to be." Haku looked up at Naruto and Hinata, walking towards them with Hinata sinking deeper into her stance, alarmed by Haku's actions.
"Naruto-kun, Hinata-san, one of you, please…kill me…"
Meanwhile-With Kakashi
"Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no Jutsu (Summoning: Earth Style: Fanged Pursuit Jutsu)!" Kakashi declared as he forced the scroll he was holding down into the ground, creating multiple ruptures in the ground.
"It's useless. You can't feel my presence at all. But, I know what you are doing very well, Kakashi. You have fallen into my trap completely." Zabuza said from somewhere in the thick fog, his eyes closed shooting his eyes open as he heard movement underground.
The next thing he knew, Zabuza was surrounded by multiple dogs who were all restraining him in some way, his arms, legs, every body part.
"That's what happens when you close your eyes in the mist. This is the summoning technique for pursuing purposes. Your weapon has my blood on them, my scent. Those are my cute ninken (ninja dogs), and their noses work better than any ordinary dog's, you fell into my trap, Zabuza."
As Kakashi spoke, the mist began to clear, revealing Zabuza's location, with no way to move due to the dogs.
"The mist has cleared. Your future is death. You fooled around too much, Zabuza, your ambitions are too big. You failed in the assassination of the Mizukage and the coup d'etat against Kirigakure. You ran away and became a rogue ninja, and your name was given to Konoha immediately. In order to gain money and avoid pursuing ninja, you sided with scum like Gato."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he brought a hand and pointed to his Sharingan eye.
"Zabuza, do you think that I survived with just this Sharingan? Even before I received my Sharingan, I took part in battles in the Third Shinobi World War, and now I will show you my technique. This is not a copy, it's my own creation."
With that statement, Kakashi began to form hand signs as he clutched his right wrist with his left hand, electricity forming in Kakashi's hand as blue Chakra began to flood the area around him.
Kakashi let out a yell as he forced his hand to the ground shouting, "Raikiri (Lightning Blade)!"
"What the...I can see the Chakra on his hand…" Zabuza mused as the crackling electricity in Kakashi's hand reflected off of his eyes.
"You're too dangerous. The person you are trying to kill, Tazuna-san, is this country's courage. The bridge he is trying to make is this country's hope. Your ambition sacrifices too many people. That's not what a ninja does."
Zabuza let out a wide smirk under his mask, "Who cares? I have fought for my ideal and dream. That won't change in the future either."
"I will not say this again, give up. Your future is death."
With Haku, Naruto, and Hinata
"Please, kill me."
After meeting Naruto and Hinata's hesitant gaze, she closed her eyes and continued to speak.
"Why are you two hesitating?"
Naruto clenched his fist, shaking his head roughly as he took a few steps back, "I cannot believe that stupid story! Weapon? Tool? You call a person like that an important person?! You're really okay with that?!"
"Is it wrong?" Haku replied calmly, with no hesitation or any other emotion at all in his voice. "What's wrong with that?"
"But that's…" Hinata trailed off as Haku continued.
"Zabuza-san had hopes for me. He needed me. But I have lost the purpose that made me, me. Zabuza-san will no longer need me. That's why I'm asking you. Now, hurry…why do you hesitate?"
"I don't understand! Is remaining strong the only reason you have for staying in this world?! You could have made people recognize you through something else other than fighting!" Naruto bellowed at the top of his lungs.
"The day I met you in the forest," Haku spoke to Naruto, "I felt that you were like me. You should understand. I'm sorry I have to spoil your hands."
"Is that...is that the only way?!" Hinata asked the fake hunter-nin, who nodded his head.
"Yes."
Naruto shut his eyes as he grit his teeth, "If I had met you under different circumstances…we might have been friends." Naruto shot open his eyes as he ran towards Haku screaming at the top of his lungs, kunai pulled out, read to do what he didn't want to do.
Thank you…I know you will become strong...Haku closed his eyes, accepting his fate.
"Naruto-kun, don't!" Hinata's plea fell on deaf ears as Naruto kept on rushing, Haku widened his eyes as he came to a realization.
Naruto thrusted his kunai towards Haku as he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the blood spill, however, when he felt a hand clasp his wrist, he gasped and opened his eyes out of shock as he saw Haku standing there.
"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." Haku then glanced in the direction that Kakashi and Zabuza were fighting in, seeing Kakashi using the Raikiri, looking like he was going to charge.
It seems I can do one more thing for you, Zabuza-san…
Hinata, who didn't know Haku's intentions, assumed that he had tricked Naruto, she immediately rushed to his aid, only for Haku to disappear, much to their surprise.
Kakashi, who was running towards Zabuza with his hand surging with electricity, thrusted his hand forward, hitting flesh and impaling his hand through Zabuza's chest…
Or so he thought…
Zabuza had felt the ninken disappear, the summoning scroll Kakashi had used had senbon impaled in it, and Kakashi's hand was not impaled through his chest.
Kakashi and Zabuza widened their eyes out of shock, blood had spilled around everywhere, from the ground to on Haku's clothes and Zabuza and Kakashi's faces.
Kakashi felt the hand of the now bleeding and dying Haku grasp his wrist.
This scene was so familiar...all too familiar…
The scene of his hand thrusted through the chest of his friend, when he was actually trying to kill a Kiri Shinobi, he had killed the girl who was his friend and teammate instead, killing her and breaking his promise to Obito Uchiha.
"You're future is death." Zabuza quoted in a mocking tone, "You're wrong again, Kakashi."
Naruto turned around and circles, looking for wherever Haku would be, thinking that he was gonna come out of nowhere and kill either him or Hinata. He froze when he heard Hinata's horrified gasp.
"What is it?!" Naruto asked out of concern as he looked to where Hinata was looking, her hands covering her mouth, eyes widened.
Naruto widened his eyes as he saw Kakashi's hand on Haku's chest, a puddle of blood spilling the ground below them.
"Splendid, Haku." Zabuza stated with a smirk as Kakashi glared at the Demon of the Mist, who was in the air preparing to take out his sword and slice Kakashi and Haku's corpse in half. "I picked up something good! He gave me this opportunity at the very end!"
Zabuza unleashed a downwards slash, only for Kakashi to dodge the strike with a backflip, with Haku's body in tow.
"That bastard!" Naruto cursed something under his breath.
"Naruto, Hinata! Just stand there and watch! Don't interfere!" Kakashi commanded sternly, keeping his eyes on Zabuza as he set Haku's corpse down gently, placing his hand on his open lifeless eyes, closing them. "This is my fight!"
The old geezer is alright. Naruto noted at the sight of Tazuna. We're all alright! Except...Naruto looked behind him at Sasuke's body, shutting his eyes as tears appeared in his eyes. Is this what...being a ninja is like…?
"Don't look away from me, Kakashi!" Zabuza shouted as he came in running with sword, sending a side swipe towards Kakashi's head, with said Jonin ducking under the attack and kicking Zabuza hard in the stomach, sending the Jonin flying back.
"Naruto-kun." Hinata said the name of her teammate, Naruto didn't say a word, only making a sound to let Hinata know he was listening. "I didn't have time to tell you this because of the situation, but...Sasuke-kun is alive."
Naruto thought she was joking, and he was very mad at her because of it.
"Seriously, Hinata!" Naruto snapped, revealing an angry expression as he grabbed the collar of Hinata's jacket, "Don't give me that bullshit! I SAW Sasuke die in my hands! He's gone! He's...gone…" Naruto's angry expression softened into a sad one as tears sprouted in his eyes.
"No, I'm serious, his Chakra is still flowing, I can see it with my Byakugan, remember!" Naruto perked his ears up as he remembered Hinata announcing in the past that Zabuza was still alive, cleaning his tears, he ushered, "I'm sorry."
Albeit, he was relieved that Sasuke was merely unconscious. He felt like crying even more tears at the prospect of Sasuke being alive, but now was not the time.
"I'm going to go remove the senbon." Hinata spoke as she ran over to Sasuke's body behind them, with Naruto staying behind as he watched Naruto and Zabuza fight, seeing the two kunai stuck in Zabuza's arm.
Kakashi was effortlessly knocking Zabuza around, as the Demon of the Mist was heavily weakened, as he only had use of one arm, and Kakashi was currently behind him, Zabuza was attempting to swing his arms at Kakashi, only for the Jonin to stick his two more kunai into the Demon's arms, Zabuza's sword being flinged to another part of the bridge.
Now Zabuza couldn't use both of his arms.
The sudden sound of a cane hitting the ground was heard as everyone directed their attention to the end of the unfinished bridge, which they had long since left, continuing further down the bridge as they fought.
There, they saw Gato, with his entire army.
"Looks like you beaten pretty badly, I'm disappointed, Zabuza."
"Gato, why are you hear?" Zabuza questioned, glaring at the man who executed Kaiza publically. "And what's with those subordinates?"
"We had a little change in plans. I'm sorry, Zabuza, but you're going to die here. If I rent official ninja, it would cost a lot of money, so I rented a rogue ninja like you. If you ninja had just killed each other, it would have saved me trouble and money." Gato scoffed as he insulted Zabuza, "And you call yourself the Demon of Kirigakure no Sato? You're just a cute devil if you ask me."
So that is Gato...Hinata thought to herself as she looked at the army, feeling very intimidated by it.
"Kakashi, I'm sorry, but the battle ends here. Since I don't have a reason to kill Tazuna, I have lost reason to fight you." Zabuza stated as the group watched Gato walk forward slowly, towards the corpse of Haku.
"That reminds me of a favor I owe this guy, he almost broke my hand!" Gato let out a sadistic smirk as he kicked the dead corpse, much to the horror and disgust of Kakashi, Hinata, and Naruto, the last two letting out gasps.
Zabuza didn't seem to react or seem bothered in the slightest.
"He's already dead." Gato muttered under his breath as he poked Haku's face with his cane, I only wish he was alive to feel it."
"GET AWAY! GET THE THE FUCK AWAY YOU BASTARD!" Naruto shouted at the top of his lungs, making a mad dash towards Gato, only to be stopped by Kakashi who caught him tightly by the back of his jacket before wrapping his arms around the boy to restrain him.
"Stop! Don't be so reckless!"
"Why about you, Zabuza?! He was on your side, right?!" Naruto questioned angrily.
"Shut up kid. Haku's dead, it doesn't matter anymore." Zabuza stated bluntly, not seeing the fact that his partner was dead to be a problem at all.
"You really don't feel anything about what he did, about what he sacrificed?! You and Haku were together for YEARS?!" Naruto put emphasis on the word 'years'.
"You don't understand how the way of a Shinobi works, brat. I used Haku, just like how Gato used me. We ninja are just tools, weapons. It's over. The loss of his great strength and skill, yes, that means something to me...the boy, nothing."
"Do you...Do you really mean that?! Cause if so, you're even worse than I thought you were!" Naruto exclaimed, only for Kakashi to put a hand on his shoulder.
"That's enough Naruto, he's not the enemy right now."
Naruto snapped and shoved Kakashi's hand off, pointing accusingly at Zabuza, "SHUT UP! AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED HE'S ENEMY NUMBER 1!"
Naruto took multiple deep breaths as Hinata, Kakashi, and even Zabuza looked at him.
"He...He really cared about you! He admired you! HAKU LIVED ONLY FOR YOU!" Naruto shot his body to Haku's corpse, and then back to Zabuza, the emotions flowing through him right now.
"Do you have someone that's important to you?"
"Haku admired you, you were the most important thing in the world to him!"
"A person is able to become truly strong when they wish to protect someone they cherish."
"And he was nothing?! He meant nothing to you at all?!"
"It is difficult for me to become a pure ninja."
"While he was sacrifice his humanity for you, his own life! He really meant nothing to you?!"
Hinata found tears already streaming down her face as she remembered Haku's words to her and Naruto, how the only thing he lived for was Zabuza.
"And if I become as strong as you, does that mean I'll end up as cold-hearted and ruthless as you are?! He gave up his life, he threw it away! And for what?! For you and your stupid dream!"
"I want to make his dreams come true."
"That is my dream."
"I was happy."
"And you just tossed him aside! Like he was just some tool! That's...just...wrong...SO WRONG!" Naruto couldn't hold it anymore, he broke down into tears, letting out sobs as he looked down, eyes closed and fists clenched to the point where his nails broke into his skin.
"You…" Zabuza ushered quietly, yet loudly enough for everyone to hear him, Naruto looked down at the ground to see water wettening, a small puddle of water on the ground.
And it wasn't raining, despite the multitude of clouds in the sky.
It was tears...Zabuza's tears.
"You talk too much...your words...they cut deep...deeper than any blade." Zabuza spoke as he looked at the sky, where Haku was most likely watching from. "While he fought, his heart was being torn apart...he was too soft and too kind for the life of a Shinobi. He felt pain and sorrow and curse him I feel them too! I'm glad...that this is how it ends, with you guys as our final opponents."
Zabuza breathed it and chomped on the paper mask, ripping it to shreds, revealing his lower face.
"Something wrong? Are you surprised to find that I'm even human? Even Shinobi are human, no matter how hard we try to escape that simple fact, we always fail. I...lose." Zabuza smile, before curving his lips into a deep frown. "Kid, hand me a kunai."
Naruto looked at the Demon out of confusion, before sighing out of defeat as he pulled out a kunai from his pouch, throwing it over to Zabuza, "Here…"
Time went slow for Zabuza as he remembered, remembered the little boy that he met all those years ago. How happy he looked when he told him that he had a purpose for the boy.
As he gripped the kunai handle with his teeth, he remembered these things, those feelings, during his final moments.
All of his time spending with Haku, he was denying one thing.
He was happy too…
Not Long Later
There lied Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Mist.
In a crowd of Gato's men, the leader of which was now dead, thrown into the water by Zabuza, into hell…
It was symbolic, the man was thrown off the bridge, left to drown and die underwater...sinking deep, where the only destination for him, would be hell…
"Don't look away." Kakashi had said to Naruto, who closed his eyes and turned away from the sight, saying that it was the end of a man who lived desperately.
Did I...die…? Came the thoughts of Sasuke Uchiha, who was now beginning to wake, much to Hinata's relief.
"Sasuke-kun."
Hinata...Sasuke recognized the voice, of he could hear her voice, then that means she was dead, right? That's where he was, in the afterlife…
He opened his eyes to see Hinata with a smile on her face, her Byakugan deactivated with tears as the corners of her eyes just daring to fall.
"Thank goodness!" Hinata wheezed as she covered her face. "You were in a near death state, I was so worried though...I thought that you were actually going to die for a moment." And with that, Hinata broke down at the prospect of someone she now considered close to her dying right in front of her.
Despite Sasuke neglecting and remaining distant from her, she still cared for the Uchiha, she actually, sort of saw him as a friend thanks to their time in the same team, like Naruto, albeit she had a crush on Naruto, but that was beside the point.
To Sasuke, this was a surprise. Hinata Hyuga, crying for him, Sasuke Uchiha. Hinata, the same girl who seemed intimidated by him, the only girl in his class who wasn't a Sasuke fangirl.
As Sasuke trembled, struggling to sit up, he spoke, "What happened to Naruto...and the masked guy?"
"Naruto-kun's fine, Haku, the masked boy...he died…" Hinata looked off to the side, away from Sasuke.
If Sasuke wasn't startled at the fact that he was still alive, this got him alert and it made it seem like he wasn't tired at and hurt at all.
"Died?! Did Naruto kill him?!" Sasuke asked, his face contorted with mixed emotions. Surprise, at the chance that Naruto could have done such a thing to someone so strong, jealous, if he actually did kill him, and among other emotions, was a sliver of relief that the boy was actually alive.
"No, Haku jumped in front of Kakashi-sensei's attack in order to protect Zabuza. However, not long after you lost consciousness, an orange Chakra surfaced in Naruto, and he delivered a powerful punch to Haku, even destroying all of the mirrors Haku created merely from the shockwaves of the punch…" Hinata explained quietly, this information surprising the Uchiha.
"Orange Chakra? And he destroyed the prison, with a shockwave? His attack was that strong?!" Sasuke summarized out of disbelief, thinking that Hinata was exaggerating just because of her crush on Naruto in an attempt to make him grow respect for the blonde.
However, judging from the look on her face, she was serious, and Sasuke had never seen Hinata Hyuga ever make a joke before nor exaggerate things…
Although, he didn't interact with her in the Academy that much...he hardly ever noticed her actually…
Sasuke looked further down the bridge to see Naruto, standing there, with Kakashi, the corpse of Haku, the lying figure of Zabuza in the middle of a crowd of multiple men with weapons impaled into his back.
"Naruto-kun!" Hinata yelled, surprised that her voice could even reach that volume. The blonde turned around and saw the Uchiha rising to his feet.
He knew Hinata said that he was still alive, but seeing him standing right now was stil unbelievable...and it relieved him...to know that Sasuke was alive.
Tears sprouted in Naruto's eyes, and Sasuke took note of this.
He's...crying...both of them...were crying for me…
Sasuke picked up Naruto mouthing the word "Bastard…" as he turned away, not wanting the Uchiha to see his tears.
Naruto then came to a realization as he looked Haku's corpse, the words of Zabuza replaying in his head.
"While he fought, his heart was being torn apart...he was too kind and soft for the life of a Shinobi…"
I see, so Sasuke is alive...I'm glad...Kakashi smile under his mask, closing his eyes, relieved that he didn't have to suffer the lost of a teammate (a student at that) like what happened to his old team.
The sound of a stick hitting the ground was heard as everyone directed their attention over to where Gato's army was.
"Don't think you guys are safe!" The man in front, holding Gato's stick, exclaimed.
"Damn ninja, you killed our source of revenue!" Another person in the crowd jeered.
"Now we have to attack the town and steal all the valuables." The army all cheered out of agreement.
"Kakashi-sensei, don't you have some cool technique that can take them all out?!" Naruto asked his sensei as Hinata and Sasuke inched closer p, ready for battle despite the fact that Sasuke was fatigued and Hinata was suffering strain from overusing the Byakugan.
"Get em!" The man with Gato's stick bellowed as the army charged, only to freeze when an arrow punctured into the ground in front of them. Hinata, Sasuke, Tazuna and the others looked to the other end of the bridge, which was connected to land.
There was a big crowd of the residents who lived in the village, and leading them was Inari, who held a crossbow in his hand, while everyone except Inari's mom, who was for some reason there, had some other sort of weapon in their hands.
"Anyone who gets any closer to this island will die facing the people of the island!" The crowd of people cheered, raising up their weapons in agreement as the man next to Inari and his mother shouted to the alive people of Gato's army.
"Inari!" Naruto grinned.
The boy smiled as he responded, "Heroes always arrive late!"
"Inari...all of you…" Tazuna found himself tearing up at the scene of his grandson and daughter standing among the residents of the island, standing up for themselves against Gato's army, ready to fight for their freedom.
"Alright!" Naruto lifted his hands, making a sign, "I'm gonna help out too, ya know! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
With his declaration, 4 more Naruto's appeared.
Oh well, I suppose I could use the same amount of Chakra and use it as a bluff…Kakashi thought to himself as he formed a hand sign, forming a bunch of Kakashi clones behind him.
"Now, shall we begin?" The Kakashi clones asked in unison as a means to intimidate the army, and it worked, as the next thing everybody knew, Gato's army were running back to their boat in a panic.
"ALRIGHT!" Inari cheered as the citizens of the island all cried out of joy, lifting their arms into the air out of triumph.
Kakashi silently walked over to the body of Zabuza, who was hanging onto his life by a thread.
"It looks like it's over." Kakashi said.
"Yeah…" Zabuza murmured, wincing from the pain in his back. "Kakashi...I have a favor to ask...I want...I want to see his face...one last time…"
Kakashi pulled down his headband, concealing his Sharingan eye, "Sure."
After removing all of the blades from his body, Kakashi picked up Zabuza's body and walked it over to Haku's corpse, and at that moment, it began to snow.
Haku...are you crying? Zabuza wondered.
As Kakashi put him down, Zabuza thanked him.
"You know it doesn't have to end like this, you might be able to live, and turn over a new leaf..." Kakashi whispered to the Demon with his back turned.
"Kakashi...you and I both know...that it's too late for me. I'm going to die. I'm going to accept my fate...both as a Shinobi...and as a human...just like Haku did." Zabuza responded as he turned his head to Haku.
"We've been together for all this time...so the least I can do is die next to you…" Zabuza spoke to the body of Haku, knowing very well that he wouldn't be able to hear him. "If possible...I want to go to the same place you're going to…" Zabuza mumbled as he brought his hand to Haku's face, stroking the side of his face gently.
Then, through the clouds, the sun bled through, shining on Haku's face, and the entire bridge for that matter.
He didn't know if he was imagining it or not, he was probably hallucinating it since he was about to die, but...he could have sworn that he saw a tear run down the boy's face...or maybe melted snow turning into water…or maybe it was just a hallucination to Zabuza, as the life finally left his eyes.
"He...He said he was born into a village where it snowed a lot…" Naruto mumbled to Kakashi as tears streamed down his face, just like Hinata's.
"Is that a fact? Well...that boy was pure white...just like the snow." Kakashi replied calmly.
You can go there, Zabuza. Together...
Later
They had buried the bodies of Haku and Zabuza on a cliff, right next to each other, where the view was best. It was a view of the entire village, and it was a beautiful sight indeed. They had implanted Zabuza's sword Kubikiribocho (Executioner's Blade) at his grave.
"Kakashi-sensei...I was wondering…" Hinata spoke as she sat in front of the grave of Haku, "Does a ninja really have to be the way they said a ninja should be, a tool?"
"Shinobi are not supposed to find out their reason for existence. It's important that they exist as a tool." Kakashi answered, taking a pause before continuing, "That idea exists in Konoha as well, not just in Kirigakure."
"Does becoming a ninja really mean that?" Naruto asked his sensei. "I don't like that...at all!"
As Zabuza had stated before he went in to attack Gato's army with a kunai in his mouth, even Shinobi are human, no matter how much they denied it.
They were human deep down, and they cannot ever escape that simple fact of the world.
"Do you think that way also?" Sasuke enquired curiously.
"Well, no. That's why ninja unconsciously suffer from that idea, like Zabuza and that boy."
A long sea of silence followed that statement, before Naruto stood up fully, looking up at the sun, breaking the silence.
"Alright! I've decided, ya know! I'm going to follow my own nindo, my ninja way! I'm going to run straight down the path where I'm not going to regret anything!"
Kakashi widened his visible eye before eye smiling, once again getting reminded of the boy's determination in relation to Obito Uchiha.
Hinata smiled as she looked at the boy in the sun, and even Sasuke couldn't help but grin as well.
Shinobi just weren't tools, they are human also. And although they were taught to suppress their emotions, they shouldn't neglect them completely, as that's what makes them...human.
That is what Hinata learned. That, and...to always follow a dream. Live for someone important. And live for your dreams as well.
Haku-san, I will follow the path of the Shinobi. I'll be kind like you were, and I'll be a strong ninja! There is nothing wrong with doing something for someone important to you, someone you admire. Hinata glanced at Haku's grave and back to Naruto.
I'll become strong! And I'll live for what is right! I won't back down, and I will be more confident in myself!
That, is my vow to you…
Days Later
"We've completed the bridge thanks to you, but we're going to miss you." Tazuna spoke for the entire village.
"Be well." Tsunami wished Team 7 as they stood at the newly created gate to the bridge.
"Now, now, old man Tazuna, we'll visit you again one day." Naruto said with a grin.
Inari grimaced, trying not to cry, "Promise?"
Naruto gaped as he saw Inari holding back tears, and Tazuna patting him on the head didn't help much either.
Naruto's tears shined as he found tears of joy in his eyes, "Inari...You're going to get lonely, aren't you? You can cram ya know, cry…"
"I'm not going to cry! You can cry, too, Naruto!" Inari replied.
"Is that so…" Naruto whispered as he could feel the first drop rolling down, "Later…" Turning his back around, both he and Inari cried manly tears while Hinata giggled at the scene. "It's not funny, Hinata!"
"Oh, I-I'm sorry…" Hinata apologized as she suppressed even more giggling.
Tazuna merely watched as Team 7 began to walk down the bridge, beginning the road home.
"That boy changed Inari's heart and Inari changed the hearts of the villagers. That boy created a bridge, known as courage, which led to hope."
Bridge, oh shit! We have to name this bridge too!
"I've got the perfect name for this bridge." Tazuna stated.
"What is it?" Tsunami asked her father.
"What do you think of, the Great Naruto Bridge?" Tazuna asked his daughter, who nodded her head out of approvement.
"That is a good name." Tsunami admitted.
"Alright! Once I get home, I'm going to have Iruka-sensei treat me to ramen to celebrate the completion of this mission! Also, I'm going to make Konohamaru listen to my tale of bravery!" Naruto boldly stated, "Hey, Hinata, if you want, you can join me for some ramen when we get back instead of Iruka-sensei's treat!"
Hinata blushed at the offer. How could she decline, she was talking to her crush for Pete's sake.
"S-Sure."
"Can you two lovebirds shut up, I actually want to have a walk without a loud mouthed dobe blabbing his mouth off!" Sasuke retorted, much to the anger of Naruto as a tick mark formed on his head while Hinata blushed madly at her and Naruto being called lovebirds.
"Teme!" Naruto shouted as he ran up to Sasuke, the two of them bringing their faces close to each other as a lighting bolt formed in between the two, signifying the everlasting tension between the two Genin. It was unbelievable to think the they the both of them worked together in two instances. One against Zabuza, and once again when facing Haku. Yet here they weren't at each other's throats again.
"G-Guys…" Hinata tried to break the two up, still blushing madly, only for them to completely ignore her and continue arguing with each other.
Kakashi sighed, but he couldn't help but smile under his mask as he continued to listen to the bickering of his team.
Team 7.
The team that bore so many similarities to his own.
Is this how you felt when you taught our team, Minato-sensei?
Alright, the Land of Waves are is done!
Honestly, I could have skipped this arc completely, but come on, it's the Land of Waves arc!
Now, as stated before, the next 2-3 chapters will focus on Team Kurenai, focusing from when they are assigned to their team, their test, and he'll maybe their first mission. (C-ranked mission, anyone? An actual C-ranked mission and not a cop out like Tazuna).
Now, while this fanfic is called 'The Hyuga Factor', which highly implies only to the changes made to Hinata, I might make some of my own changes that won't relate to Hinata being in Team 7 at all.
Gonna be completely honest, I couldn't think of a good name, and 'The Hyuga Factor' just seemed like a good name.
With all that aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter.
Take care, goodbye!