*Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters in it. I simply borrow them for my own musings and fantasies and do not get paid for their use in said musings or fantasies. –Nira

Chapter 32

The team had woken up early, save for Naruto, and after breakfast, Kakashi, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna made their way to the bridge, waving good-bye to Yuriko who said she'd catch up after she wrote another report to the Hokage. She left immediately after it was sent and reached the bridge quickly only to find that Zabuza and his masked young friend had already made their appearance with Sasuke surrounded by mirrors made of ice and images of the young boy reflected on the innermost sides of each one. Yuriko assessed the situation and Sakura looked over to her, concern dominating her expression.

"Senpai… please tell me that isn't a Kekkei Genkai that Sasuke is caught in…" Yuriko demanded.

"It is…" Kakashi responded, just as concerned.

"I see…"

"Yuriko-san…"

Without saying anything else, Yuriko knew exactly what Kakashi meant and was saying. The whole time, her role on this mission was support for Team Seven however that support need be presented. Right now, that meant facing her past to take down Zabuza so that the others could accomplish their own mission of protecting Tazuna until the bridge was finished.

"Understood, Senpai."

"We're counting on you."

With that, Yuriko withdrew her fan and focused on the rogue ninja before her.

"Oh? What's this? Little Yuri-chan is here to play? This should be fun," Zabuza chided, his laugh menacing and degrading.

He released his Hidden Mist Jutsu and instantly, the fog rolled in thick and almost tangible, so Yuriko lifted a vortex of wind around Kakashi, Sakura and Tazuna to create a barrier between them and the mist and to allow Kakashi even ground should Zabuza decide to attack them. She then called a tidal wave of water to wash over the entire surface of the bridge making it all a giant puddle. Wherever he was, she'd surely be able to hear him. In the meantime, Yuriko focused her chakra, reaching out into the mist and feeling for the strongest beacon of Zabuza's chakra signature. When she found it, she paused, feeling Naruto's chakra signature with Sasuke's inside of the ice prison. She knew that she had to make this battle quick in order to help them, so she charged her fan and the senbon loaded into the ribs of it with chakra before hurling them in Zabuza's direction. When she felt his beacon move, dodging the attack, she smirked. She could hear his every move.

"You can't hide from me, you worthless sack of shit," Yuriko called out.

"Such foul language for a little girl…" he called back. "Someone ought to cut your tongue out."

"I'd like to see you try."

When he fell for the taunt and appeared behind her, Yuriko smirked and whipped around, catching Zabuza in her own water prison before he could draw his sword. Unfortunately, when she constricted the water, what she had caught was a water clone and it dissipated into the water prison.

"Kakashi-senpai!" she called out, warning him that Zabuza was indeed after him and the old man.

She heard Kakashi yell out in pain and Sakura scream, so she dispelled her vortex from around them and ran to their aid. As she was arriving, Zabuza disappeared into the mist again with an evil cackle. Shortly afterward, she felt an ominous chakra signature that she'd never felt before and looked toward the ice mirror prison that Sasuke, and now, Naruto was trapped in. She could physically see red chakra between the gaps of the mirrors and her heart constricted in fear. That wasn't Naruto's or Sasuke's or the masked shinobi's or Zabuza's chakra. That was something entirely different, and it was foreboding, especially since she could no longer feel Sasuke's chakra.

"Yuriko-san, we have to end this quickly," Kakashi whispered only loud enough for Yuriko to hear, so she nodded in understanding, the fear of possibly having lost Sasuke turning to nausea.

Kakashi pulled a scroll from one of his pouches and used his thumb to smear a streak of his blood from the slash that he'd gotten from Zabuza along the lettering to perform a summoning jutsu. It wasn't long before Yuriko heard what sounded like barking and growling and Zabuza yelling out in surprise. The fog started lifting just enough for Yuriko to make out a large figure just in the distance and she and Kakashi made their way over to it, ordering Sakura to stay and guard Tazuna. When they'd reached the figure, Yuriko gasped, seeing several dogs with vice-grip jaws clamped onto several parts of Zabuza, keeping him in place.

"It's over, Zabuza," Kakashi professed. "Death is in your future."

Yuriko's glare hardened as she charged her short sword with a volatile, violent version of her wind chakra in the hopes of doing a massive amount of damage and causing a great deal of pain. As she plunged the blade toward his heart, there was a flash of light and the masked shinobi stood in the way, taking the blade, himself, and Yuriko's eyes widened in shock and rage.

"N-No…" she whispered, and she heard the ice mirrors that were surrounding Sasuke and Naruto shattering.

Kakashi's summoning jutsu dispelled and Zabuza took advantage of the distraction, reaching for and drawing his giant sword, attacking both Kakashi and Yuriko. Yuriko grabbed the boy, withdrawing and Kakashi jumped back with her. While she looked down at the boy, tears filled Yuriko's eyes. He was just a kid- probably no more than twelve or thirteen at most. Why had he thrown his life away to protect that vile waste of space and air? Kakashi took the boy's body from Yuriko and closed his eyes, laying him down to rest peacefully. Just then, Naruto ran over and his eyes widened upon seeing the boy lying motionless on the ground in front of Kakashi.

"Senpai…" Yuriko choked, her body trembling as her grip on her short sword tightened.

"It's fine…" he cooed in understanding.

Without another word, Yuriko charged at Zabuza, the intent to kill in her eyes. Ninjutsu wouldn't do to kill him. It needed to be more personal, she decided, for all of the suffering he'd caused and for heartlessly using the boy as a weapon. She put everything into her attacks using only with her weaponry and taijutsu. It wasn't long before both his arms were disabled and no matter what he did, he couldn't keep up with her attacks, only able to block. Yuriko made a move to charge again, but before she could, the voice of a man rang out and drew the attention of everyone present. A short man with wild hair and tiny circular glasses stood in front of a large group of henchmen, all armed to the teeth.

"Gato, why did you come here and who are those henchmen?" Zabuza demanded.

"Our strategy has changed a little. Hiring a regular shinobi is expensive, so I figured I'd hire rogue ninjas like you to save money. In the end, a fight between ninjas just ends up with them killing each other. You'll die here, Zabuza. It seems you're not worthy of being called the Demon of the Hidden Mist. You seem much too cute for that."

With that, the henchmen all laughed and Yuriko clenched her jaw. This stupid little person was ruining her fight and chance to kill Zabuza to avenge her parents. And him downplaying Zabuza's strength was even more cutting to Yuriko. It made her feel as though he was downplaying the strength of her parents, as well, and she wouldn't stand for that, either.

"Kakashi, Yuriko, I apologize. Our fight ends here," Zabuza said. "As long as my reason to take down Tazuna is gone, so is my reason to fight you."

"Like Hell it is!" Yuriko demanded, the most vicious glare in her eyes as she pointed her short sword at him.

"Y-Yuriko nee-chan…" came Naruto's concerned voice and Kakashi's own worried look.

Gato had hobbled over to Haku's dead body while Yuriko had hollered out and kicked the boy's face, and when Naruto threw a fit, charging at him, Kakashi held him back.

"Don't act so recklessly, Naruto," Kakashi demanded.

"Say something! Haku was your friend, wasn't he?! Didn't you spend a long time together? Doesn't it make you feel anything seeing him do that to him?!" Naruto hollered at Zabuza.

"Shut up, kid. Just as Gato used me, I used Haku. That is the life of a shinobi. We are all simply tools. What I wanted was Haku's skills, not Haku, himself. I have no regrets."

"Do you really mean that?" Naruto demanded.

"Naruto, stop. He is no longer our enemy. Besides…" Kakashi started but Naruto pushed him off.

"Shut up! He's still my enemy! He really liked you, you know! He liked you that much- enough to die for you! Even so, don't you feel anything at all?! You really, honestly don't feel anything? When a person becomes as strong as you, do they really behave like you? He threw his life away for you. He didn't even fulfill his own dreams, and yet, to die as a tool… That's… that's too painful..."

It was silent for a while aside from Naruto's sniffling and Yuriko felt conflicted, a tugging at her heart. There was that word again… Dream… What was Yuriko's dream? What had her parents' dreams been before Zabuza had stripped them away by taking their lives? Everyone seemed to have a dream, but what was Yuriko's?

"Kid… don't say anything else…" came a strangled version of Zabuza's voice and Yuriko's eyes widened. Was he… crying? "Haku was… He wasn't just thinking of me… He was feeling pain inside for you while he battled you guys, too. I know. He was too kind. I'm glad we could fight with you at the end." Zabuza then ripped the bandages that covered his face before he continued on. "It's like you said, kid… Even shinobi are human, too. Maybe it's impossible to become an emotionless tool… I've lost."

No. It wasn't fair. It couldn't end like this. Not after everything he'd done. Not after everything he'd put her through. He'd always been the Demon of the Mist. He couldn't show a human side- not now when Yuriko was so close to destroying him. She couldn't allow herself to feel sorry for him. So why was it so hard for her to find the hatred within herself that she needed to just run him through?

"Hey, kid. Give me that kunai."

Naruto hesitated for a moment but threw his kunai to him anyway. Zabuza caught it between his teeth and took off at a dead sprint straight for Gato who ran, telling his henchmen to kill Zabuza. They all rallied together, and one dared to ask if Zabuza thought he could actually win against so many of them. When the kunai sliced through his jugular, Zabuza made his point and continued on his tirade, mowing down everyone in his path until he made it all the way through to Gato.

"If you're so anxious to join your friend… you go on ahead by yourself!" Gato yelled and his henchmen stabbed Zabuza in the back until he looked like a pincushion.

"Unfortunately, I don't intend on going to the same place as Haku," Zabuza stated.

"How can you act so tough?" Gato inquired, backing away.

"You're going to Hell with me! It's no big deal. When the Demon of the Hidden Mist dies and goes to Hell he can become a real demon! Look forward to it! I'll let you find out for sure if I'm a cute little demon or not in Hell!"

With that, he pulled one of the kunai lodged in his arm out and used it to finish Gato off, sending his corpse over the edge of the still unfinished bridge. When he'd finished, he glared at the remaining henchmen who made a path leading to Haku, too afraid to approach him after seeing what he'd just done to get to Gato despite his massive injuries. Zabuza made it two steps before he collapsed and Naruto looked away.

"Don't look away. It's the end for a man who lived fiercely," Kakashi said.

Shortly afterward, Yuriko, Kakashi, and Naruto all heard Sakura call out from a distance that Sasuke was okay and Yuriko's head perked up, looking in the direction that the ice mirror prison had been to see Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna all standing with both Sakura and Tazuna looking relieved. A wave of relief rushed through her and tears bubbled up onto her lower eyelids that he was okay despite looking like a porcupine with all of the senbon sticking out of him. When the remaining henchmen drew attention to themselves, demanding some kind of payment, Yuriko's glare returned.

"I guess we have no choice but to ransack the town and take everything that's valuable!" one hollered, so they all rallied and started charging toward them.

"I'm already pissed off. Do you assholes really want to fuck with me?! I'll kill every single one of you!" Yuriko hollered.

She still had plenty of chakra to spare and was beyond pissed off with how things ended for Zabuza. A bolt from a crossbow embedded itself in the ground in front of the first henchman so they all stopped their attack to look towards the village. The entire town had come out with whatever they had, Inari at the front with the crossbow, and the villagers demanded that all enemies who came towards the town would not be allowed to live. To add to the group, Naruto made a few clones with the little chakra he had left, and Kakashi did the same, making at least fifteen of his own clones.

"Do you still want to fight?" Kakashi demanded of the henchmen, and they all took off back to the boat they'd come in on, some even going as far as to jump off of the bridge and into the water just to get away. Wanting to drive the point home and blow off a little steam, Yuriko sent a massive gust of wind, helping the rest of them get to the boat faster. With the battle over and won, Yuriko and Kakashi made their way over to Zabuza to see that he was still alive.

"It sounds like it's over…" Zabuza's voice was barely above a whisper and Yuriko found herself conflicted again. He sounded so weak and pitiful. "I… have a favor to ask…"

"What is it?" Kakashi inquired, covering his Sharingan.

"I… I want to see his face…"

While Kakashi pulled the weapons from his back, Yuriko stood there, watching with her fists clenching and unclenching as she was deep in thought.

"Why?" Yuriko finally demanded, her own voice shaky as she spoke. "You killed my parents! You cut my father down, beheaded my mother! You should be gutted and left for the dogs! So why do you, of all people get to die with dignity?! Why?! "

It was silent for a while aside from Yuriko's sniffling. "I've hated you for so long… I should run you through, myself! I should slaughter you like the gutless swine that you are! So why do I feel sorry for you? Why can't I kill you after all the tears I shed?! After the agonizing years of loneliness you put me through?! Why do you get to die while I-! I-!"

Yuriko trailed off her sentence and lowered her head, her hair cascading and shielding her face and all of its expressions from view. "Why do you get to die while I have to keep going with this unbearable emptiness?" she thought. It had begun to snow and Zabuza looked up to the sky.

"I'm... sorry… I was just following orders… I didn't know that they had a kid. I would have killed you too, but you managed to get away… They taught you well… I'm glad you escaped. You seem to have found yourself among good people, Yuriko-san… I'm sure your parents… would be proud."

Hearing his apology, Yuriko's eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat. Of all of the things she expected and hoped to come out of his mouth, that had not been one to cross her mind. She wanted him to throw some kind of snide remark or laugh in her face so her hatred could be rekindled and she could justify killing him, but now… now she just felt bad for him. He was now experiencing what she had all those years before. He would just have less time to suffer through it. With that, Yuriko's tears came more freely and she bowed her head in defeat, her body racked with suppressed sobs. Kakashi carried Zabuza away and laid him beside Haku before making his way back over to Yuriko. He wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders and walked her over to the group while she tried and failed miserably to pull herself back together, her hand clutched onto a small piece of his shirt.