Chapter 13
After get everything out of the way, Naruto asked if he could help Haku with what 'she' was doing. 'She' thanked him for the help and the two began to pick herbs. While they did, Haku recognized the little destruction that was created. 'She' looked at Naruto and wondered if this was because of him.
"Was all that you doing Naruto?" Haku asked.
"Yeah, I was letting out some steam and I was working on this new jutsu." Naruto answered.
"Wow that must have been a strong technique." Haku said.
"Yeah, it's pretty strong. I would explain it but it would just bore you." Naruto said.
"Probably, I wanted to be a shinobi at one time but I don't really like to kill. I'm too soft to be a shinobi." Haku said. Naruto nodded and the two fell into some light conversation. Haku realized that the boy was not just blurting things out like 'she' hoped. He was definitely more skilled as Zabuza thought. After a while, they had finished picking the herbs and Haku was getting ready to leave. 'She' was walking anyway until she stopped and faced Naruto.
"May I ask you a question Naruto?" Haku asked.
"Sure." Naruto said.
"Do you have anyone precious close to you?" Haku asked.
"Say what?" Naruto asked.
"I believe that a person becomes truly strong when they have something or someone precious to protect. I think that it gives us great strength when something or someone we love very much is threatened. Do you have someone that like?" Haku asked. Naruto was surprised by the question and thought hard about it. He did have people like that. He thought of Anko, Iruka, Konohamaru, the old man Hokage and Hinata. Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura weren't really in his mind yet but he would protect them as he would the others. He smiled as he faced Haku.
"Yeah, I do have people like that and I would protect them with my life." Naruto said.
"Then I believe that you will truly become strong." Haku said with a smile. 'She' began to walk away again before stopping again. "By the way, I think we need to clear things up. I'm not a girl, I'm actually a boy." With that statement, he walked away. He smirked and could only image the expression on Naruto's face. As he walked he saw one of the other genin. They passed each other without glancing at each other. He continued on his way without pause. Sasuke looked back for a second but didn't think much about it. He then found Naruto. He was confused by the stupid look on his face but annoyed that he was just standing there like an idiot. He made his way to get his moronic teammate.
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The week was over. Kakashi was back at full strength, thanks to the medicine that Tsunami was providing. Sakura was battle ready and could not wait to show her stuff. Sasuke was prepared at well and was excited to fight again. As for Naruto, he was still sleeping soundly. It wasn't a surprise as he was mastering that water jutsu that nearly took out the docks.
Sakura looked at the snoring blond with a sigh.
"I can't believe that the idiot over-trained. Still, that was a pretty wicked jutsu he learned." Sakura said.
"He shouldn't really be using such a jutsu. It's an A-rank jutsu that he isn't ready for yet." Kakashi said.
"I don't know sensei. He looked pretty comfortable with that jutsu. He didn't even look winded after he launched it three times." Sakura commented. Sasuke just frowned at that but didn't comment about the jutsu. It did annoy him though that Naruto had such a jutsu in his arsenal. At best, he could only do C-rank jutsu.
"Anyway, let's leave him to rest. I'm sure that he'll awake soon and he can watch over the Tsunami and Inari." Kakashi said. The group left with Tazuna to go to the bridge. When they got there, Kakashi was suddenly on edge. There was a thin fog that did not look natural. They moved closer and saw some of Tazuna's men on the ground. Tazuna ran to one of them and asked what was wrong. He whispered 'a demon' before passing out. That's when they were hit by an intense killer intent.
"So, you did survive." Kakashi said.
"That I did. I notice that you're missing a brat. You won't be getting so far without him here." Zabuza said. So of the mist cleared and showed the team was surrounded by eight Mizu Bunshin (Water Clone). "Your other two don't look like they have changed much. The boy is still shaking like a leaf."
"I'm shaking… with excitement." Sasuke said with a grin.
"Sasuke! Sakura!" Kakashi barked. Sasuke moved like a blur and cut down six Mizu Bunshin in an instant. Sakura launched two shuriken with amazing speed and deadly accuracy, destroying the last two. They were nothing but puddles now. Kakashi was proud of Sasuke and a little surprised at Sakura. He would have to thank Naruto if they survived this. He turned his attention back to Zabuza who appeared with his partner.
"Well, well, the brats got some teeth. It looks like that you have a rival in speed Haku." Zabuza said.
"That is does Zabuza-sama." Haku replied. Sasuke stepped forward and glared at the masked teen and looked ready to take him on. Sakura stuck to Tazuna and watched as her sensei and her crush prepare to fight the two nukenin (missing-nin).
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Naruto awoke to the sounds of screaming. He was a little groggy but alert. He moved to the window and saw Tsunami was being held by two men dressed as thugs. He saw Inari facing them down, and then run at the two who were holding his mother. Naruto quickly moved into action. Just as the two men drew their swords, he grabbed Inari and replaced them with two logs. He then appeared next to Tsunami and put Inari down. The two swordsmen turned to face the three people.
"What the… I thought that those shinobi would be the bridge?" the man with skull cap asked.
"I guess they left him behind to guard the family." The man with the eye patch and tattoo answered. Naruto glared at the two as he processed what they said. If they were here to kidnap the family, it meant that Zabuza was attacking the bridge right now. He would get to his team later as he had to deal with the problem in front of him.
"It doesn't matter if they left a ninja here. He's just a kid. He's probably the weakest of the group." The eye patch man said. Naruto faced him and grinned. Like a snake striking at something, Naruto threw a shuriken at him. It was lodged into his sword hand, forcing him to drop his blade. As he cried out in pain, Naruto was on him, slamming his knee into his neck. The man gasped as he dropped to his knees, grabbing the side of his neck.
"Waraji!" His partner roared. He looked at Naruto and brought his blade across quickly. Naruto used the Kawarimi (Body Replacement) to escape. The man growled but that soon turned into pain as he was struck by five kunai, two in the back of his knees, one in his shoulder joint, one in the elbow and the last one in his kidney. They both were on the ground, gasping and bleeding. They heard the sounds of rushing water and turned to see a torrent of water coming at them. They were both swept up by the water and sent deep within the forest. Naruto looked at the two clones that he created to watch the family. They nodded and made their way into the forest.
Naruto walked up to the mother and son. He looked at Inari for a while before smiling.
"Well, maybe you have a pair after all." Naruto said.
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Naruto put on his clothes and readied himself for battle. His clones returned, letting him know that the two were nowhere to be found. Naruto really couldn't concern himself with them as his team needed him at the bridge. Besides, the guy he kneed in the neck and the other he launched his kunai at would need immediate attention so they wouldn't be returning. He secured the house with traps before getting ready to go. He looked at the family and gave them a serious glance. He pulled out a kunai and gave it to Tsunami.
"I hope that you don't need to use it but it's just a precaution. I'm heading to the bridge now." Naruto said. As he turned to leave, Inari called out to him. Naruto turned and faced him.
"I… I'm sorry, about what I said." Inari said.
"Don't sweat it; I'm just glad that you realized that sometimes you got to put your life on the line if you want to survive. You've made your father proud today." Naruto said with a grin. He opened the door and took off to the bridge. He ran at top speed, hoping that everyone was okay.
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Things couldn't be more wrong at the moment for team Kakashi. At first it looked like that everything was going their way. Sasuke, with his new control of chakra, was able to match the older boy in terms of speed. Kakashi was doing his best against Zabuza and believed that he would be able to defeat him. Sakura was guarding Tazuna and was confident that she could. That's when everything changed in an instant.
Zabuza thicken the mist around him and Kakashi. When this happened, Kakashi could not tell where Zabuza was coming from with his Sharingan. This is why he was stabbed in the hand by Zabuza's kunai. The man smirked as he told Kakashi that he knew the weakness of his Sharingan, thanks to his 'tool', Haku. He explained what Haku explained to him and Kakashi was worried. Sensing his worry, he told him that the brat who was fighting Haku would soon be in the same situation as he was because of Haku's ability.
That ability of Haku was a kekkei genkai, which allowed the teen to create ice out of thin air. Sasuke was now on the defensive as he was nearly skewered by needles of ice. What really worried the young Uchiha was that he did that with just one hand, creating one-handed seals. He then did another seal and Sasuke was suddenly concealed in a dome of mirrors made of ice. Haku called this jutsu Makyō Hyōshō (Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals). Sasuke watched as Haku merged with the mirrors and appeared all around him. That's when Sasuke was bombarded with senbon at an incredible speed. He screamed out as he was attacked from all directions.
Kakashi and Sakura were helpless as they couldn't move to help him. That's when everything got chaotic as multiple explosions rocked the bridge. The explosion dispelled some of the mist. Within the smoke, Zabuza heard the sounds of metal flying at him and blocked it with his sword. He then swung his blade and sliced the airborne Naruto in two. He continued his swing and brought it down on another Naruto who was coming at him for the smoke, splitting him in two. He let out a vicious back fist and caught another Naruto that nearly stabbed him. All three dispelled into smoke, signaling that they were clones.
Haku was looking for an attacker when two kunai whizzed into the dome next to Sasuke. It exploded, consuming Sasuke and the done in a dark smoke. Haku was surprised that someone would just kill their own comrade in cold blood. When the smoke cleared, he was surprised to see that Sasuke was gone and not a trace of blood or body parts. He looked around and saw that Sasuke was fine. He was with his teammates, being looked over by the pink haired kunoichi. The blond had surrounded them with clones with one of them standing in the front.
When all the chaos was done, everyone was wondering what was going on. Zabuza was the first to break the silence.
"So the wonder brat arrives? That was pretty clever of you keeping my attention while you got your teammate." Zabuza commented.
"You're just as I thought you were. Sending thugs to get you a bargaining chip is pretty low." Naruto commented.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Zabuza asked.
"Don't play dumb! You sent two swordsmen to capture Tazuna's daughter and son. Well, it didn't work and they are either probably dead or dying." Naruto answered. Zabuza looked concerned about what he just said. What was Gatō thinking about sending thugs after the old man's family?
"Zabuza-sama, we should stick to the plan. I will handle the genin." Haku said.
"Very well, I leave them to you." Zabuza said before doing a signal seal. Everyone watched as the mist rolled in again. Haku and Naruto faced off against each other, both ready to fight.
"I commend you on your planning. I will take you seriously for here on end." Haku said.
"I'm glad to hear that because if you don't, I'm going to rip you apart." Naruto said. Two prepared to rush each other as the battle of the bridge continued.
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Authors' Notes – New chapter everyone and it turned out great in my opinion. I hope you enjoy it.
