XVII: Rebirth
Road to Konoha, Present Day:
"The poor kid, how did he take it?" Shizune said during the silence that followed Zabuza's death in the story.
"Well, I'd say poorly, but something… unique… happened."
"What do you mean Jiraiya?"
The Bridge: Eight Months, Nine Days ago:
"It's not fair!" Naruto was sobbing, "They didn't deserve to die!" Naruto didn't notice the pain in his right eye, nor did he notice the tears of blood that once more began to pour from his eye, falling onto Haku's face…
"N-Naruto-kun's eye…" Hinata stared as a river of blood began to flow from his eye. "What's happening to it?" She activated her Byakugan, "Kami… It's so bright!"
Activating his Sharingan so he could see what Hinata was talking about, Sasuke stared in awe; the chakra pouring out of Naruto's eyes was pure white and so bright it hurt his eyes. Switching off his eyes Sasuke said, "Hinata, you might want to see this!" Naruto's right eye had begun to change, first the edge of his iris began to swirl the line separating it from the white of his eye visible thickened and darkened, then the purple from the band around his pupil began to flow outwards, leaving both bands paler then the left eye, with a slight slivery sheen. When the eye's transformation was complete Naruto's chakra spiked to ridiculously high levels. So much so that he began to actually glow, blue white chakra began to flow into Zabuza and Haku's bodies.
"What's he doing?" Sasuke wondered aloud.
"T-T-the wounds are c-closing…."
"That shouldn't even be possible…." Kakashi couldn't understand how pure chakra could heal a dead body.
Zabuza's eyes slowly open, "W-what's g-going on… I-I died. Didn't I?" Turning to his right his eyes widened as he saw Haku's wounds close. "How?" Was all he could say as Haku's eyes fluttered open.
"N-Naruto?" she asked as the last of her wounds closed. Naruto smiled faintly, before his eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he fell forward, unconscious and unmoving. His breath coming in short sharp gasps. "Naruto!" She tried to stand up, but her body was too weak and she collapsed. "Someone help him!"
Of team seven, Kakashi was the first to arrive, "I'm no medic, but what just happened shouldn't be possible," he said while checking Naruto's vital signs. Pushing a soldier pill, into Naruto's mouth and forcing him to swallow it, he continued, "I think he'll live, It seems to be a case of advance chakra exhaustion, or maybe a form of severe chakra imbalance, but we need to get him to Konoha as fast as possible."
"What number?" Zabuza asked.
"What do you mean?" Kakashi's brow wrinkled in confusion.
"I've seen someone with a chakra cloak like that before. I know what he is. All I want to know is what number? He's at least five."
"Nine." Kakashi said slowly.
Zabuza relaxed, "He'll be fine then; the man I wish to kill is only three. It'll take more than chakra exhaustion to kill him."
"Zabuza-sama, Naruto is like Yagura?"
"Yeah but his is a lot stronger if he's really the ninth," He turned to Kakashi, "So now what? The man who hired me is dead, and Haku is still alive, so we have no reason to fight."
"You're coming with us." Kakashi said. Hinata and Sasuke were really confused, first Naruto's eye changed, then he brings people back to life, now they're talking about Naruto and numbers and how it'll affect his chance of survival… just what was going on?
"What? Why? Are we under arrest?" Zabuza asked belligerently.
"No, but I have no idea what Naruto did, and you might hold the information necessary to heal him, so until the medics have a look at you, you aren't going anywhere."
"Fine… I owe the kid one anyway." Zabuza looked at Haku, "We need to have a long talk in private Haku."
"Would someone mind telling me what's going on?" Sasuke deciding that he couldn't wait any longer, butted into the conversation, "What did Fishcake just do? What do numbers have to do with anything?
"That's the thing Sasuke, we don't know", before Kakashi could continue a mob of villagers rushed onto the scene, led by Inari himself.
"Um… is it already over?" Inari asked. Then he noticed the gore splattered all over the bridge. "Naruto beat them all?" he swallowed trying not to throw up at the sight.
"Yeah Naruto won, but Zabuza here, killed Gato, and Naruto used up most of his chakra; we really need to go back to Konoha, and as fast as we can."
Tazuna stood up, "Give us 12 hours and we can have the bridge done if everyone here pitches in." he said. "Besides, you all look tired if you leave in that condition it'll take you longer to get back then if you let yourselves rest."
"Fine," Kakashi said. He bent down and picked Naruto up. "C'mon team, let's head back to Tazuna's house and get some sleep, Zabuza, Haku you two are coming with us."
"Of course, I want to make sure Naruto-kun is fine." Haku said. Hinata narrowed her eyes at the tone the other girl said Naruto's name in.
"Oh, it's 'Naruto-kun' now is it?" Zabuza teased Haku.
Sasuke placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Calm down Hinata. Naruto is too thick to realize anyone likes him. She won't steal him from you."
"Y-Y-Y-You k-k-know?" Hinata was blushing a furious shade of crimson.
"Hinata everyone knows, at least everyone but Naruto."
"E-E-Even m-m-my f-f-father?"
"Hinata, your father tried to tell Naruto how you felt about him. I think he likes Naruto."
Hinata let out a terrified squeak and passed out. Sasuke sighed and picked up Hinata.
"What happened to Hinata, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked Sasuke who was grumbling under his breath.
"She actually thought her crush on Naruto was a secret. When I told her that everyone knew, she passed out."
"I had hoped that being around him would help her grow out of that."
The next morning Team Seven, Zabuza and Haku set out for Konoha. The villager's gathered around to see off the Ninja who saved them. "So Tazuna," Giichi asked his old friend, "What do you think we should name your bridge?"
"How about the Great Naruto Bridge?"
As they neared the forests of Fire country Kakashi said, "Since we're not escorting anyone we can take the fastest route back to Konoha." Kakashi said jumping into the trees. Naruto's condition hadn't improved during the night and Kakashi was getting worried. Leaping from branch to branch they sped off north towards Konoha. Twelve hours later they arrived at the gates to Konoha.
"Halt! Who goes there?"
"Genin Team Seven lead by Hatake Kakashi, accompanied by Momochi Zabuza, and his apprentice Yuki Haku. We need to head to Konoha General Hospital immediately, due to injuries sustained by one Uzumaki Naruto."
"I'm afraid Momochi Zabuza and Yuki Haku must be detained for questioning before being allowed entry."
"I'm afraid that's impossible. They're needed at the hospital as well. Uzumaki Naruto's condition is related to their physical condition, if the Hokage really needs to question them he can do so at the hospital." Kakashi pushed past the guards and headed towards the hospital. "C'mon you two, the doctors need to examine you too."
The Hokage was already waiting at the hospital. "What's going on Kakashi?"
"Naruto brought these two back to life."
"What? Are you sure? Are you sure they were actually dead?" A look of disbelief was clearly etched onto the Hokage's face.
"I personally ran my arm through Haku's heart. And Zabuza bled out not three feet away, and trust me I know what a person who's bled out looks like."
"I see..." The Hokage was lost in thought for a moment. "I'll have the medics examine them immediately."
After three hours of intrusive examinations the medics brought their findings Hokage and Kakashi. "We've isolated the cause of Naruto's coma. Momochi Zabuza and Yuki Haku were resuscitated with large quantities of Naruto's Yang Chakra, at the moment Naruto has almost no Yang chakra left. Unfortunately due to his… condition… he has a severe imbalance of his yin/yang chakras. He has an excess Yin chakra due to the presence of the Kyuubi's Yang chakra. If his chakra was balanced, he probably wouldn't have used enough of his Yang Chakra to make him pass out." The medic read from his notes. "As far as I can tell he will recover on his own in a week or two."
Konoha: Seven Months, Eighteen Days ago:
Naruto woke slowly. His whole body hurt, "Where am I? He asked as the room began to swim into view.
"N-Naruto-kun, You're awake!" turning his head he saw Hinata sitting next to him.
"Oh, Kami... I'm in the hospital aren't I?" Naruto looked panic stricken. "Wait! What happened to Haku and Zabuza! Before I passed out I could have sworn that they opened their eyes."
"H-Haku is sleeping in the ch-chair on the other side of your b-bed. She's h-had a very stressful few w-weeks."
"A few weeks, Hinata-chan how long have I been asleep for?"
"Um… Th-th-three weeks… the d-doctors said you used up a-all of your Yang ch-chakra."
"Hmm… Oh! Naruto-kun! You're awake!" Haku woke up when she heard Hinata talking. "I wanted to thank you for saving us."
"I'm sorry Haku. I almost killed you for no reason."
"I'm glad for what happened. I found out something that made me really happy!"
"Really? What happened?"
"Well… let me tell you."
Konoha: Seven Months, Twenty-Seven Days ago:
"Haku, I need to talk to you." Zabuza looked nervous.
"What's the matter Zabuza-sama?"
"I need to talk to you about why I brought you with me."
"Didn't you want me for my Kekkei Genkai?"
"No, not really. How do I say this?" Zabuza scratched the back of his head. "I never should have left you there in the first place."
"What are you talking about Zabuza-sama?" Haku was getting worried, Zabuza was acting weird. "You never left me anywhere…"
"Yes, yes I did actually. I left you with your mother, when I began my mission to free Kiri from Yagura."
"What do you mean Zabuza-sama?" Haku's heart was beating at a mile a minute. 'He can't mean… can he?'
"The man you killed wasn't your father…" Zabuza looked broken.
As he struggled to say the next part Haku interrupted. "D-Do you mean that… that… you're my father?"
Zabuza, still unable to speak nodded his head. "I-I-I'm sorry Haku, I should have been there for you."
Konoha: Seven Months, Eighteen Days ago:
"Wow! Haku that's amazing!" Naruto cheered.
"Yeah, I've never been so happy!"
A few moments later Kakashi entered the room with Sasuke in tow. "Ah, you're awake." Kakashi smiled when he saw Naruto. "I have some news for you that I think you'll like."
"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked his sensei.
"The Hokage wants to enter your team in the upcoming Chunin exams."
"When is it?" Sasuke asked.
"It's in six months. To qualify for the exams there's a set number of missions that you have complete successfully. We're going to have a very busy few months, but first we need to see how much you've degraded during your month long coma, Naruto. Plus, Jiraiya says the medics solved one of the problems he was having with your training. So we have a month of training before we go back to missions." Kakashi turned to leave.
"Oh, and before I forget both missions were bumped up to A-Rank. Congratulations, you're the only Genin team in Konoha that currently has two A-ranks under their belts.
Road to Konoha, Present Day:
"So Sensei insisted that they enter the Chunin exams?" Tsunade asked Jiraiya. They were almost half way to Konoha now, and Tsunade wondered how much more of the story there was to tell.
"Yeah, he wanted the best Konoha had to offer, and he believed that Team Seven had the most potential. The decision probably saved his life."
"So are you going to tell us about the Chunin exams next?" Shizune asked Jiraiya.
"No, there's a few more things to talk about before we get to the Chunin exams"
A/N Yes I know that in canon Zabuza would have been twelve when Haku was born. He's older (30) here and Haku is younger (13 1/2), and I thought it was an interesting take on their relationship that I personally have never seen.
Are there any filler episodes you'd like to see in-between now and the Chunin exam?